Summary Traditional approaches of utilizing the dispersion curves in S-wave velocity reconstruction have many limitations, namely, the 1D layered model assumption and the automatic/manual picking of dispersion curves. On the other hand, conventional full-waveform inversion (FWI) can easily converge to one of the local minima when applied directly to complicated surface waves. Alternatively, a wave equation dispersion spectrum inversion can avoid these limitations, by inverting the slopes of arrivals at different frequencies. A local-similarity objective function is used to avoid possible cycle skipping. We apply the proposed method on the large-scale ambient-noise data recorded at a large-N array with over 3000 recorders. So we can estimate the shear-wave velocities down to 1.8 km depth. The main benefits of the proposed method are 1) it handles lateral variations; 2) it avoids picking dispersion curves; 3) it utilizes both the fundamental- and higher-modes of Rayleigh waves, and 4) it can be solved using gradient-based local optimizations. A good match between the observed and predicted dispersion spectra also leads to a reasonably good match between the observed and predicted waveforms, though the inversion does not aim to match the waveforms.


There is no national policy for school libraries which compels school governing bodies and principals to have a library in their schools. It is thus not surprising that in 2011, only 21% of state schools had libraries, only 7% had stocked libraries and 79% of schools had no library at all (Department of Basic Education (DBE) Republic of South Africa, 2011a:23). This article forms part of a broader qualitative study which investigated 10 primary schools in Gauteng Province, South Africa that had libraries, or were in the process of setting up a library, with the intention of providing a rich description of the issues and challenges facing these schools. The 10 schools used in this study were chosen on the basis of their location and fee structures. They represented the full continuum of fees within the state structure. In this article, we discuss three core categories of predicaments faced by primary school libraries. These were resourcing the library, operating the library and the role of the library. Our main contention is that school libraries are not playing an effective role in supporting and enabling quality education for all South African children. This needs to be addressed by government as a matter of urgency.


A 94GHz phased array receiver IC in 130nm BiCMOS technology is reported. The design integrates 32 front ends with gain and phase control configurable using look-up table memory, two separate 16∶1 power combiner trees, two 94GHz to ∼10GHz (IF) down conversion mixers, an IF to baseband (BB) quadrature down conversion mixer, and a 42GHz PLL followed by a frequency doubler implementing the LO source. The IC occupies an area of 6.7mm×5.6mm and can either support a 32-element phased array or a 16-element polarimetric phased array if connected to 16 dual-polarized antennas. In on-wafer measurements at 94GHz and 25C, the design achieves maximum RF to IF array conversion gain of 39dB, maximum RF to BB array conversion gain of 69dB, 20dB of RF front-end gain programmability, NF of 6 dB, and RMS phase error <1.5° for a 5° phase step. Total power consumption varies from 3W to 4.6W from minimum to maximum RF front-end gain settings.


AbstractTHE UNIVERSITY OF MANCHESTER,Abstract of thesis submitted by Adam S. Darwich, for the degree of PhD and entitled: "Physiologically-based pharmacokinetic modelling and simulation of oral drug bioavailability: Focus on bariatric surgery patients and mechanism-based inhibition of gut wall metabolism"Month and year of submission: November 2013.Understanding the processes that govern pre-systemic drug absorption and elimination is of high importance in pharmaceutical research and development, and clinical pharmacotherapy, as the oral route remains the most frequently used route of drug administration. The emergence of systems pharmacology has enabled the utilisation of in silico physiologically-based pharmacokinetic (PBPK) modelling and simulation (M&S) coupled to in vitro-in vivo extrapolation in order to perform extrapolation and exploratory M&S in special populations and scenarios were concerns regarding alterations in oral drug exposure may arise, such as following gastrointestinal (GI) surgery or metabolic drug-drug interactions (DDIs).Due to the multi-factorial physiological implications of bariatric surgery, resulting in the partial resection of the GI tract, the inability to rationalise and predict trends in oral drug bioavailability (Foral) following surgery present considerable pharmacotherapeutical challenges. PBPK M&S is a highly implemented approach for the prediction of DDIs. Reoccurring issues have emerged with regards to predictions of the magnitude of mechanism-based inhibition (MBI) where overestimations of DDIs have repeatedly been reported for drugs exhibiting high intestinal extraction.The aim of this thesis was to explore the interplay between oral drug absorption and metabolism occurring in the GI tract through the exploration of the impact of bariatric surgery on oral drug exposure and by theoretically examining the nesting and hierarchy of enterocyte and enzyme turnover and its impact on MBIs in the small intestine. This would be carried out by utilising a systems pharmacology PBPK M&S approach under a general model development framework of identification and characterisation of critical intrinsic factors and parameters, model implementation and validation.Developed post bariatric surgery PBPK models allow a framework to theoretically explore physiological mechanisms associated with altered oral drug exposure pre to post surgery, which could be assigned to the interplay between dissolution, absorption and gut-wall metabolism, where dissolution and formulation properties emerged as the perhaps most important parameters in predicting the drug disposition following surgery. Model validation identified missing critical factors that are essential for additional model refinement. Developed post bariatric surgery PBPK models have the potential of aiding clinical pharmacotherapy and decision-making following surgery. A mechanistic PBPK model was developed to describe the hierarchical dependency of enzyme and enterocyte turnover in the small intestine. Predicted enzyme recovery using the nested enzyme-within-enterocyte turnover model may potentially account for reported overpredictions of mechanism-based inhibition. Developed models in this thesis showcase the advantage of PBPK M&S in the extrapolation of oral drug exposure to special population and the potential of a PBPK approach in understanding underlying the underlying mechanism governing Foral and additionally highlight the need for generation of interdisciplinary data to support model development.


We consider the nonlinear, non-hydrostatic dynamics of seiches in small to medium-sized lakes. Using numerical simulations of shallow water equations modified to include weakly non-hydrostatic effects, we illustrate how spatially varying bottom drag and finite amplitude topography lead to the bending of wave trains that develop from the initial standing wave. For the case of variable topography, we discuss how the seiche and the wave trains that develop can resuspend material (e.g. nutrients) from the bottom of the lake and redistribute it in space. The numerical methods employed are spectrally accurate in space and second-order in time, yielding excellent accuracy and little numerical dissipation. We find that while the resuspension itself is largely due to the long standing waves at early times, the redistribution of nutrient distribution that is seen at later times is profoundly influenced by the development of the wave trains; a fundamentally non-hydrostatic effect.


Upper Miocene to Pliocene strata in north Westland and Marlborough Districts, New Zealand, contain abundant fossils representing a bioseries of planktonic foraminifera showing gradual progressive morphological changes. The bioseries commenced with Globorotalia miozea Finlay and ended with Globorotalia crassaformis (Galloway and Wissler). The form representing one stage of the bioseries in Marlborough difers slightly from the corresponding form in north Westland, 150 miles to the southwest, but the endform is the same in both areas. The Globorotalia crassaformis bioseries in north Westland and Marlborough, New Zealand JAMES P. KENNETT Geology Department Victoria University of Wellington Wellington, New Zealand


Automatic analysis of human behaviour in large collections of videos is gaining interest, even more so with the advent of file sharing sites such as YouTube. Human behaviour analysis methods can be categorised into three classes based on the type of features. The three representations are local, region of interest and densely sampled based representations. Local feature representation, such as Spatio-Temporal Interest Points (STIP), are quite popular for modelling temporal aspects in human action recognition. Region of Interest (ROI) based feature representations try to capture and represent human body part regions. Densely sampled representations capture information at uniformly spaced intervals spread in space and temporal directions of the given video. In this paper, we investigate the effect of human body part (ROI) information in large scale action recognition. Further, we also investigate the effect of its fusion with Harris 3D points (local representation) information and densely sampled representations. All experiments use a Bag-of-Words framework. We present our results on large class benchmark databases such as the UCF50 and HMDB51 datasets.


Mechanical pulping is a kind of high yield pulping that comes with the comprehensive utilization of plant material. Mechanical pulp has lots of benefits, such as simple process, low pollution, good bulkiness, fine stiffness, excellent optical performance and good printability. However, it also has disadvantages of lower paper physical strength and higher refining energy. In this paper, AU-MTPE90 enzyme and acid xylanase were used to modify the masson pine mechanical pulp before refining. The effects of modification on the shape parameters of masson pine mechanical pulp fiber and pulp properties were studied. The results showed that after modified by AU-MTPE90 enzyme and acid xylanase,the drainability of the refined pulp increased, the average fiber length increased and the fines percent decreased. The curl index and kink index increased slightly after modified by AU-MTPE90 enzyme,while the kink index decreased after modified by xylanase.


Today, some sixty years after passage of the Taft-Hartley amendments to the National Labor Relations Act, it seems that the centerpiece of the Act has become the right to refrain from protected, concerted or union activity. The original 1935 legislation was enacted, of course, to protect the right to engage in that activity, and to encourage the practice of collective bargaining. For nearly sixty years after Taft-Hartley added the right to refrain to Section 7's employee protections, the Board has struggled to reconcile the sometimes competing statutory goals of promoting the stability of collective bargaining relationships and the individual freedom of choice, preserved by Section 7. That has changed, however, as the National Labor Relations Board, in several recent decisions, has said for the first time, that freedom of choice?which is to say, the freedom to reject union representation?prevails in the statutory scheme. It is as if the law, in abandoning the primacy of achieving economic justice through collective action, has been turned inside out. The stakes for this shift in policy are great.


We present research observing and documenting the model organism, Pseudomonas fluorescens (P. fluorescens), building biofilm on a natural mineral substrate composed largely of bornite (Cu5FeS4), a copper-iron sulfide mineral, with closely intergrown regions of covellite (CuS) and chalcopyrite (CuFeS2). In examining biofilm establishment on sulfide minerals, we investigate a potential habitable niche for microorganisms in extraterrestrial sites. Geochemical microenvironments on Earth and in the lab can also serve as analogs for important extraterrestrial sites, such as sheltered, subsurface microenvironments on Mars. The sulfur cycle has been important to Mars's surficial and interior processes during most of its geological record (King and McLennan, 2010; McLennan and Grotzinger, 2009). By growing P. fluorescens on polished chips of a sulfur-rich mineral (a Martian microenvironment analog material), we asked which distinct mineral phases bacteria selected as adhesion points. We collected cell count data, applied Raman spectroscopy, and tested FTIR spectroscopy as a complementary tool, to query whether biologically derived signals increase in intensity as bacteria grow in culture, and if the character of the mineral substrate controls cell distribution to some degree. Through use of the ANOVA statistical test on Raman peak intensity data, we found significant differences between the biologically derived signal intensity (i.e., bonds related to EPS, amide I, amide III) for minerals: amide presence on bornite differs from on other substrates. ANOVA tests of cell counts yielded no significant difference between mineral substrate. We report that bornite mineral surfaces are subtly preferred in early adhesion by this model biofilm former.


We report on the enhancement of turbulent convective heat transport due to vapour-bubble nucleation at the bottom plate of a cylindrical Rayleigh–Bénard sample (aspect ratio 1.00, diameter 8.8 cm) filled with liquid. Microcavities acted as nucleation sites, allowing for well-controlled bubble nucleation. Only the central part of the bottom plate with a triangular array of microcavities (etched over an area with diameter of 2.5 cm) was heated. We studied the influence of the cavity density and of the superheat $T_{b}-T_{on}$ ( $T_{b}$ is the bottom-plate temperature and $T_{on}$ is the value of $T_{b}$ below which no nucleation occurred). The effective thermal conductivity, as expressed by the Nusselt number $\mathit{Nu}$ , was measured as a function of the superheat by varying $T_{b}$ and keeping a fixed difference $T_{b}-T_{t}\simeq 16$ K ( $T_{t}$ is the top-plate temperature). Initially $T_{b}$ was much larger than $T_{on}$ (large superheat), and the cavities vigorously nucleated vapour bubbles, resulting in two-phase flow. Reducing $T_{b}$ in steps until it was below $T_{on}$ resulted in cavity deactivation, i.e. in one-phase flow. Once all cavities were inactive, $T_{b}$ was increased again, but they did not reactivate. This led to one-phase flow for positive superheat. The heat transport of both one- and two-phase flow under nominally the same thermal forcing and degree of superheat was measured. The Nusselt number of the two-phase flow was enhanced relative to the one-phase system by an amount that increased with increasing $T_{b}$ . Varying the cavity density (69, 32, 3.2, 1.2 and $0.3~\text{mm}^{-2}$ ) had only a small effect on the global $\mathit{Nu}$ enhancement; it was found that $\mathit{Nu}$ per active site decreased as the cavity density increased. The heat-flux enhancement of an isolated nucleating site was found to be limited by the rate at which the cavity could generate bubbles. Local bulk temperatures of one- and two-phase flows were measured at two positions along the vertical centreline. Bubbles increased the liquid temperature (compared to one-phase flow) as they rose. The increase was correlated with the heat-flux enhancement. The temperature fluctuations, as well as local thermal gradients, were reduced (relative to one-phase flow) by the vapour bubbles. Blocking the large-scale circulation around the nucleating area, as well as increasing the effective buoyancy of the two-phase flow by thermally isolating the liquid column above the heated area, increased the heat-flux enhancement.


Mass Media and Cultural Identity: Ethnic Reporting in Asia. Anura Goonasekera and Youichi Ito, eds. London, UK: Pluto Press, 1999. 305 pp. Price not available. University education in international journalism and intercultural communication in the United States has been predominantly rooted in the Cold War ideology with a subsequent Euro-centric twist. Pioneers in the field often worked For government projects ranging from propaganda studies to uses of modern communication strategies in national development around the world. Unlike lesser-prone disciplines in liberal arts such as comparative literature and philosophy, journalism and media studies have stayed firmly entrenched in that particular ideology of politics and power. Only of late have we seen works of nonWestern scholars emerge that attempt to redress an imbalance of intellectual works with an idea of self-representation in journalism academia and journalism practice. Most recent of these works, refreshingly, is this book edited by two Asian media scholars, Anura Goonasekera and Youichi Ito. Asia, to make a classic understatement, is in the throes of transition. To make an attempt to understand this vast continent in its enormity of languages and cultures, customs and faiths, at best, remains an attempt. The book itself is a noble endeavor in locating ethnicity solidly in the domain of international and intercultural communication studies. The book is an excellent collection of chapters written by native Asian communication scholars assessing the relationship between Asian media, ethnic violence, and cultural identity in the continent. This book is definitely one of the first in terms of depth-and one of the best in terms of breadth-in the field that focuses on the role of communication media, particularly the newspaper and television, in the management of ethnic relations in several countries such as India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Pakistan, the Philippines, Singapore, and Sri Lanka. The book could have been close to being comprehensive if the People's Republic of China and Taiwan were included in the analyses relating to regionalism, nationalism, struggles in faith, and dominance in society. Considering the fact that English is a second language to many of these scholars whose works are compiled in the book, the quality of writing is very good. Their analyses of various scenarios in different social contexts are rigorous; and the organization of their studies in the book is logical. The chapters are comprehensive and adhere to the vision of the editors. Each chapter makes an outstanding contribution to the field. I didn't expect anything less since all the contributors are established and resident scholars in specific Asian countires. Editor Goonasekera is the head of research at the Asian Media Information and Communication Centre (AMIC) in Singapore; Ito, the co-editor, is a professor of mass communications and international communication in the Faculty of Policy Management at Keio University in Japan. This volume originated with a joint effort by the Sasakawa Peace Foundation and AMIC in launching an empirical research project in 1994 to study the role of print and broadcast media in the management of ethnic relations in Asia. …


Protein phosphatase 1 (PP1, Glc7p) functions in the final stage of SNARE-mediated vesicle transport between docking and fusion. During this process, trans-SNARE complexes, formed between molecules in opposing membranes, convert to cis-complexes, with all participants in the same lipid bilayer. Here, we show that glc7 mutant cells accumulate SNARE complexes. These complexes are clearly different from those found in either wild-type or sec18–1 cells as the Sec1p/Munc18 (SM) protein Vps45p does not bind to them. Given that PP1 controls fusion, the SNARE complexes that accumulate in glc7 mutants likely represent trans-SNARE complexes. Vps45p dissociates from the membrane in the absence of PP1 activity, but rapidly reassociates after its reactivation. These data reveal that SM proteins cycle on and off membranes in a stage-specific manner during the vesicle transport reaction, and suggest that protein phosphorylation plays a key role in the regulation of this cycle.


A proportion of diabetic patients experience chronic pain that is frequently refractory to treatment with conventional analgesics. Experimentally diabetic animals exhibit a range of behavioral abnormalities indicative of pain, and can be used to model human painful diabetic neuropathy. Studies suggest that pain during diabetes is not associated with structural damage to the peripheral nerves, and biochemical amplification of nociceptive processing may be of importance. The formalin test is used to measure spinal sensitization in animals. Diabetic rats exhibit exaggerated flinching during this test, in addition to increased constitutive spinal expression of cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) protein. Studies were designed to establish causality between increased spinal COX-2 activity and formalin hyperalgesia in diabetic rats. Rats with one, two or four weeks of streptozotocin-induced diabetes exhibited significantly increased levels of spinal COX-2 protein and activity, along with exaggerated paw flinching in response to 0.5% paw formalin injection. Increased flinching of diabetic rats was attenuated by intrathecal pre-treatment with a selective COX-2 inhibitor immediately prior to formalin injection, confirming the involvement of COX-2 activity in formalin hyperalgesia observed in diabetic rats. We hypothesized that glucose flux through the polyol pathway in the central nervous system (CNS) causes elevated spinal COX-2 expression and formalin hyperalgesia in diabetic rats. Chronic treatment with insulin or ICI222155, an aldose reductase inhibitor (ARI) previously shown to cross the blood-brain barrier (BBB) and prevent formalin-evoked hyperalgesia in diabetic rats, prevented elevated spinal COX-2 protein and activity in diabetic rats. In contrast, the ARI IDD676 showed efficacy against AR activity only in the peripheral nervous system, and had no effect on elevated spinal COX-2 or hyperalgesia to paw formalin injection, despite demonstrating efficacy against indices of peripheral nerve dysfunction. In the spinal cord, aldose reductase (AR) expression was observed solely in oligodendrocytes, which also expressed COX-2. These data suggest that activity of AR in spinal oligodendrocytes may be a primary initiating factor linking hyperglycemia with hyperalgesia in diabetic rats. Further, CNS targeting of ARIs may be important in treating painful diabetic neuropathy in patients


Rapidly evolving genes are those genes that exhibit accelerated rates of nonsynonymous substitutions between species, i.e. the number of nonsynonymous substitutions per nonsynonymous site (amino acid altering) significantly exceeds the number of synonymous substitutions per synonymous site.

Keywords:

rapid evolution;
positive selection;
synonymous substitution;
reproductive proteins;
nervous system and human accelerated region


Epoxidized natural rubber (ENR-50) has been used as a compatibilizer for natural rubber-recycled acrylonitrile-butadiene rubber (NR/NBRr) blends, vulcanized by sulfur. NBR gloves have excellent resistance to punctures, tear and many types of chemicals, while NR has good physical and mechanical properties. Incorporation of ENR-50 into the rubber blends has improved processability, stiffness, resilience and excellent oil resistance. NR/NBRr blends were prepared by two-roll mill with five different compositions with the ENR-50 content fixed at 10 phr. Cure characteristics, mechanical properties and morphology (SEM) studies were performed to determine the compatibility of NR/NBRr blends in the presence of ENR-50. The cure characteristics showed that NR/NBRr blends with the presence of ENR-50 have lower scorch time (ts2) and cure time (t90) than NR/NBRr blends without ENR-50. However, the NR/NBRr blends with ENR-50 exhibited higher minimum torque (ML) and maximum torque (MH) which indicated difficult processability of the blends after compatibilization. Incorporation of ENR-50 into NR/NBRr blends improved all the tensile properties (tensile strength, tensile modulus and elongation at break) compared with NR/NBRr blends without ENR-50. The improvement in hardness upon compatibilization is due to an increase in crosslink density. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM images) of the fracture surfaces indicates that, with the addition of ENR-50 in NR/NBRr blends, better adhesion between NR and NBRr was obtained, thus improving the compatibility of NR/NBRr blends.


This study deals with the micro v-grooving of a single crystal diamond tool that is implemented on a 3-axis micro-stage. A method for monitoring the machining conditions is investigated using acoustic emission (AE) signals and cutting force signals in the micro-grooving. The AE signals and machined surface profiles are obtained under various machining conditions. The signals are acquired from an AE sensor that is attached to the tool holder and are investigated to identify the correlation with the machined surface profiles. It is found that the AE signal is an effective parameter for monitoring the texture of the machined surface.


Studying the relationships among quasar spectral features is essential to unveil the origins of the emission lines and the quasars' physical processes. Principal component analysis (PCA) is a powerful tool to investigate correlations between variables. Here, we present the results of PCA on the spectra of low-redshift SDSS quasars. The rest-frame wavelength range studied is 4000 – 5500 Å, involving some typical features of quasar spectra, such as Hβ, [O iii] and Fe ii emission lines. The first principal component is the anti-correlation between [O iii] and Fe ii, the well-known eigenvector one (EV1). The next six principal components also show clear (anti-)correlations between line strengths and/or velocity widths of various features, which agree well with measured spectral properties. By comparing the weights of these principal components with other quasar properties, we can identify their underlying drivers. We find that the second principal component represents spectral slope, and can quantify quasar host fraction, intrinsic slope and reddening well. The third component exhibits the velocity width variation of Hβ, and may be a proxy for orientation. In addition, we calculate the fractional-contribution spectra to investigate which components dominate the variance at individual wavelength ranges. Our results also indicate that the optical Fe ii emission may have distinct origins.


The forecasting accuracy of five competing naive and futures-based localized cash price forecasts is determined. The third week's price each month from 1987-96 is forecasted from several vantage points. Commodities examined include those relevant to Midwest producers: the major grains, slaughter steers, slaughter hogs, several classes of feeder cattle, cull cows, and sows. Relative forecasting accuracy across forecast methods is compared using regression models of forecast error. The traditional forecast method of deferred futures plus historical basis has the greatest accuracy - even for cull cows. Adding complexity to forecasts, such as including regression models to capture nonlinear bases or biases in futures markets, does not improve accuracy.


This paper is aimed at analysis of correlation between age of 132/33kV and 33/11kV transformers with furfural concentration and carbon oxides content of oil. Also, the correlation of moisture content and relative humidity of oil/paper insulation system with furfural concentration of oil is investigated. The secondary data was obtained from the raw data of research studies which have been done in Malaysia on inservice power transformers. As a result, it is not only confirmed that furfural content in the oil was increased by increasing moisture content of the oil, but also there is a good correlation and significant relationship between furfural concentration of the oil and relative humidity of oil/paper insulation system. Also, descriptive statistics such as mean, standard deviation and normal distribution of furfural and moisture content per year of service of transformers described the level of evolution of moisture and furfural for these transformers at normal temperature.


This article summarizes our current views on the dynamic structure of the mitotic spindle and its relation to mitotic chromosome movements. The following statements are based on measurements of birefringence of spindle fibers in living cells, normally developing or experimentally modified by various physical and chemical agents, including high and low temperatures, antimitotic drugs, heavy water, and ultraviolet microbeam irradiation. Data were also obtained concomitantly with electron microscopy employing a new fixative and through measurements of isolated spindle protein. Spindle fibers in living cells are labile dynamic structures whose constituent filaments (microtubules) undergo cyclic breakdown and reformation. The dynamic state is maintained by an equilibrium between a pool of protein molecules and their linearly aggregated polymers, which constitute the microtubules or filaments. In living cells under physiological conditions, the association of the molecules into polymers is very weak (absolute value of ΔF 25°C < 1 kcal), and the equilibrium is readily shifted to dissociation by low temperature or by high hydrostatic pressure. The equilibrium is shifted toward formation of polymer by increase in temperature (with a large increase in entropy: ΔS 25°C ≃ 100 eu) or by the addition of heavy water. The spindle proteins tend to polymerize with orienting centers as their geometrical foci. The centrioles, kinetochores, and cell plate act as orienting centers successively during mitosis. Filaments are more concentrated adjacent to an orienting center and yield higher birefringence. Astral rays, continuous fibers, chromosomal fibers, and phragmoplast fibers are thus formed by successive reorganization of the same protein molecules. During late prophase and metaphase, polymerization takes place predominantly at the kinetochores; in metaphase and anaphase, depolymerization is prevalent near the spindle poles. When the concentration of spindle protein is high, fusiform bundles of polymer are precipitated out even in the absence of obvious orienting centers. The shift of equilibrium from free protein molecules to polymer increases the length and number of the spindle microtubules or filaments. Slow depolymerization of the polymers, which can be brought about by low concentrations of colchicine or by gradual cooling, allows the filaments to shorten and perform work. The dynamic equilibrium controlled by orienting centers and other factors provides a plasusible mechanism by which chromosomes and other organelles, as well as the cell surface, are deformed or moved by temporarily organized arrays of microtubules or filaments.


BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES
East Tennessee State University's (ETSU) Department of Family Medicine initiated Quality Improvement (QI) training in its three residency programs in 2008. The purpose of the project was to develop, implement, and assess a formal curriculum and experiential learning process to train family medicine residents in QI knowledge and skills.

METHODS
Family medicine faculty members received training in QI theory and design. Rising second-year residents received a day-long workshop on the basics of QI principles. Residents worked in teams to develop and implement QI projects. Self-assessed QI proficiency was measured prior to and immediately following the workshop. QI knowledge was assessed with the Quality Improvement Knowledge Application Tool (QIKAT) at baseline and following project completion.

RESULTS
Two groups of residents (n=37) received training and completed at least 1 year on their projects. Analyses revealed that residents' self-assessed QI proficiency improved after receiving a day-long training workshop and was consistent for both groups of resident training. Application of QI knowledge as assessed by the QIKAT did not improve following QI project participation in resident Group 1 but did improve in resident Group 2.

CONCLUSIONS
A formal QI curriculum was successfully developed and implemented into three family medicine residency programs. Residents' QI knowledge and skills improved following training and experience conducting QI projects. Faculty and resident commitment to the program and competing time demands proved challenging to the introduction of QI training. Future studies should assess residents' sustained learning and translating QI residency experiences into practice.


This paper explores the suitability of videogame making as an educational approach to train young adults intending employment in the game and multimedia industry. As society evolves towards a more technological and globalized world, the importance of creativity in education and training becomes a central issue. There is a growing demand for innovative individuals, capable of performing tasks that involve exploration, experimentation, imagination and flexibility, all attributes of creative processes oriented to achieve innovative solutions. Despite some criticism, videogames have proved to be powerful educational tools to promote creativity. Computer games can give the opportunity to learners to explore their imagination (Millians, 1999). Fantasies and non-real situations in computer games can be used to stimulate learners' creative behavior (Vockell, 2004). Virtual game environments may increase creative thinking and cooperation when working in small groups (Tulenko & Kryder, 1990) and the development of creative actions in verbal dialogue and non-verbal expressions when playing multiplayer games (Wright et al, 2002).
However, the educational potential of videogames has usually been considered from the player's perspective. Little research has been devoted to explore the impact of videogame making for learning (Kafai, 2006) and only recently this area has gained more followers among researchers. Research in videogame making has evidenced that videogame creation is an intrinsically creative and constructive process, fueled by both individual characteristics of team members (i.e. analogical thinking, gaming experience), and group dynamics (i.e. discussion, brainstorming). Videogames do not necessarily follow traditional principles of technological product development that emphasize logically and functionally coherent design, allowing a continuous and iterative process of conceptualization and redesign through all its phases (Tschang, 2006). Videogame creation is seen as a process combining creativity and innovation: creative thinking for idea development with a more rational process of problem solving to delineate and organize the different components of the game (Tschang, 2003).
A real experience using this approach is presented to illustrate the application of videogame design in a vocational training course for multimedia design. The results suggest designing videogames can help create exceptional learning environments that enhance creativity emergency.


In January 2004, the Royal Dutch/Shell Group of Companies announced that it would reduce its estimate of proved oil reserves by nearly 4 billion barrels, or 20 percent. The announcement set off a series of events, including a drop in the company's share price, internal and external investigations, and the resignation of several senior officers. During this period, details came to light about the sometimes bitter disputes among company officials over its reserve practices. Company officials had to decide what changes to make to restore public confidence in the organization.


Hypertension is a major public health problem worldwide. In Nigeria, records have shown an increasing prevalence with suboptimal evaluation of blood pressure (BP) control. Generally, antihypertensives have recorded significant successes in BP control over the years. This study was aimed at investigating antihypertensive regimens and BP control in patients with hypertension. The study was a retrospective study on randomly selected hypertensive patients receiving treatments in Ahmadu Bello University Teaching Hospital (ABUTH) Zaria. Patients' demographics, co-morbidities, BP readings and antihypertensives were collected from the patients' case files using a semi-structured Performa between July, 2013 and June, 2015. Data obtained were presented in charts and figures as percentages. A total of 94 patients were captured in the study. The patients were mostly females (71.3%) and between the ages of 41-60 years (64.0%). Combination therapy with mostly diuretics (bendroflumethiazide and hydrochlorothiazide) were recorded (91.0%). Overall BP control was low (35.1%). In conclusion, the study revealed maximal utilization of antihypertensive combination therapy with a poor overall BP control. A non-pharmacological approach alongside rational use of the antihypertensive regimen is encouraged. Keywords: Antihypertensive, Blood Pressure control, Diuretics, Regimen, Retrospective


Titanium has extremely attractive properties for air vehicles ranging from excellent corrosion resistance to good compatibility with graphite reinforced composites and very good damage tolerance characteristics. At current Buy to Fly ratios, the F-35 Program will consume as much as seven million pounds of titanium a year at rate production. This figure is nearly double that of the F-22 Program, which has a much higher titanium content. Lockheed Martin has initiated "Project Black Ti" to reduce the cost of titanium parts by reducing the titanium consumption but not the quantity of titanium parts. Ultimately, we want to reduce the inherent waste in the current processing of titanium alloy products. The Kroll process, by which most titanium product is made today, is nearly 60 years old. Kroll himself predicted the process would be replaced within 15 years due to inherent inefficiencies – in 1950. Titanium is also mis-characterized as a precious metal, which it is not. It is the ninth most abundant element on the earth's surface. Aluminum by comparison is the third most abundant but has a much more efficient method to convert it to a usable form. Until the turn of the 20th century, aluminum was considered to be as precious as platinum until the Bayer Process brought prices down from $1200/kg to $0.60/kg. Regarding titanium, one way to improve efficiency and buy less material to make the same parts is via Powder Metallurgy (PM). Until recently, titanium alloy powder was very expensive. However, new methods of producing titanium alloy have been developed which generate powder as an output versus massive ingots, which require multiple melts to achieve homogeneity. With powder, in theory, we should be able to get much closer to net shape and reduce the initial buy and reduce significant machining costs. These low cost titanium powders are becoming commercially available, which has the potential to initiate a paradigm shift in the applications of titanium. PM technologies and the consolidation of these new powders are now economically viable with the potential cost of the new powders running approximately an order of magnitude less than conventional PM grade powders. This paper will present the current status of "Project Black Ti" and its potential impact to the F-35 program.


The spectral properties (absorption and fluorescence) of laser dyes (R6G& R B) mixture have been studied; this type of laser dye belongs to the Xanthenes family, and has been dissolved in chloroform to prepare (1*10 -5 , 2*10 -5 , 5*10 -5 , 7*10 -5 , 1*10 -4 M) at room temperature. The achieved results pointed out to an increase in the absorption and fluorescence intensities with the increased concentration which are found in agreement with Beer – Lambert law. These results have been also showed an expansion in the spectral range of absorption and fluorescence with a noticed shift in the direction of longer wavelength. The quantum efficiency of the dissolved Rhodamine mixture in chloroform has been calculated by using the same above concentration (96%, 91%, 80%, 71%, and 66%) respectively. The radiative life time ( 0.21 , 0.41,0.89,1.19 and 1.48 ) ns and fluorescent life time (0.20 , 0.37,0.71,0.84, and 0.97 ) ns respectively . It has been determined that the resulting overlap between the absorption spectrum and fluorescence spectrum for(R 6G&RB) mixture is more than that shown for the every dye alone solution, therefore stock shift will be more.


In this paper, the transient heat conduction and transient thermal stresses in an infinite plate with double-sided functionally graded coatings (FGM coatings) under the convective boundary condition are investigated. The thermo-physical properties of the two symmetrical FGM coatings are assumed to have distributions of power forms along the thickness direction of the plate, the effects of which on the thermal shock resistance of the FGM coated plate are analyzed via numerical calculations. And consequently some design rules for the double-sided FGM coatings are put forward, which provide a guidance for the development of FGM coated cutting tools.


Preparation of semi-solid Sn–58Bi alloys by mechanical stirring casting method was investigated. The effect of temperature below the melting temperature on the microstructures and mechanical properties of semi-solid Sn–58Bi alloys was discussed. The experimental results showed that long plate shape, block shape and suborbicular Sn phases were formed by mechanical agitation during the casting solidification process. The non-lamellar Sn-Bi Microstructure improves prominently the elongation of Sn-Bi alloy. The elongation of semi-solid Sn-Bi alloy with suborbicular Sn phase is enhanced up to 37% compared with the elongation of lamellar eutectic Sn-Bi alloy prepared by conventional die casting. After the agigation above 130 °C, non-lamellar Sn-Bi eutectic structure is formed and lamellar Sn-Bi eutectic precipitates. When the agitating temperature was 135 °C, the elongation of semi-solid Sn-Bi alloy mixed with non-lamellar and lamellar Sn-Bi alloy microstructure is enhanced up to 24%.


Purpose: In proton therapy, the patient quality assurance (QA) is performed by measuring the beam range, spread‐out bragg peak (SOBP) and the output factor. There is a method to get the output factor without patient QA procedure but predicted output factor from other patient's QA data. The purpose of this study is that we estimate the output factor prediction conformity and study the method which has no statistical limitation of patient QA data. Method and Materials: To evaluate the prediction conformity, We compare the predicted output factor which is came from the function of r = (Range‐SOBP)/SOBP, with measured output factor by patient QA. The parameters of the output factor function are calculated by fitting 2‐dimensional graph which is consisted of r and output factor. This study is base on 100 patients QA data at National Cancer Center (NCC) in Korea. In addition, we tried to find another method of output factor expectation by measuring 10 points of data set at each options. This method will be from statistical limitation of patient data. Results: The output prediction from patient QA data shows less than 2% of discrepancy. The output prediction using beam data set provides good agreement as less than 2% of discrepancy from real measurement. Conclusion: The beam data based output prediction is well matched with measurement as patient data based prediction which has statistical limitation.


Autism spectrum disorder is a developmental disorder characterized by significant social, communication, and behavioral challenges. Individuals diagnosed with autism, intellectual, and developmental disabilities (AUIDD) typically require long-term care and targeted treatment and teaching. Effective treatment of AUIDD relies on efficient and careful behavioral observations done by trained applied behavioral analysts (ABAs). However, this process overburdens ABAs by requiring the clinicians to collect and analyze data, identify the problem behaviors, conduct pattern analysis to categorize and predict categorical outcomes, hypothesize responsiveness to treatments, and detect the effects of treatment plans. Successful integration of digital technologies into clinical decision-making pipelines and the advancements in automated decision making using artificial intelligence (AI) algorithms highlights the importance of augmenting teaching and treatments using novel algorithms and high-fidelity sensors. In this article, we present an AI-augmented learning and applied behavior analytics (AI-ABA) platform to provide personalized treatment and learning plans to AUIDD individuals. By defining systematic experiments along with automated data collection and analysis, AI-ABA can promote self-regulative behavior using reinforcement-based augmented or virtual reality and other mobile platforms. Thus, AI-ABA could assist clinicians to focus on making precise data-driven decisions and increase the quality of individualized interventions for individuals with AUIDD.


Abstract Lessons Learned. Percutaneous thermal ablation combined with in situ granulocyte‐macrophage colony‐stimulating factor cytokine therapy was technically feasible and well tolerated. No significant clinical or immunologic responses were seen. Background. Melanoma tumor‐derived heat‐shock proteins (HSPs) and HSP‐peptide complexes can elicit protective antitumor responses. The granulocyte‐macrophage colony‐stimulating factor (GM‐CSF) chemokine can also promote uptake and processing by professional antigen presenting cells (APCs). On this basis, we designed a pilot study of percutaneous thermal ablation as a means to induce heat‐shock protein vaccination plus GM‐CSF to determine safety and preliminary antitumor activity of this combination. Materials and Methods. This study was designed to assess overall safety of percutaneous ablation combined with GM‐CSF for unresectable, metastatic melanoma including uveal and mucosal types. All patients received heat‐shock therapy (42°C for 30 minutes), then received one of three treatments: (a) intralesional GM‐CSF (500 mcg standard dose); (b) radiofrequency ablation (RFA) + GM‐CSF; or (c) cryoablation plus GM‐CSF. The primary endpoint of the study was the induction of endogenous HSP70 and melanoma‐specific cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTL). Results. Nine patients (three per study arm) were enrolled. No dose‐limiting toxicity was observed as specified per protocol. All patients developed progressive disease and went on to receive alternative therapy. Median overall survival (OS) was 8.2 months (95% confidence interval [CI] 2–17.2). The study was not powered to detect a difference in clinical outcome among treatment groups. Conclusion. Percutaneous thermal ablation plus GM‐CSF was well tolerated, technically feasible, and demonstrated an acceptable adverse event profile comparable to conventional RFA and cryoablation. While HSP70 was induced following therapy, the degree of HSP70 elevation was not associated with clinical outcome or induced CTL responses. While percutaneous thermal ablation plus GM‐CSF combinations including checkpoint inhibitors could be considered in future studies, the use of GM‐CSF remains experimental and for use in the context of clinical trials.


ABSTRACT: Exposure to wave action is an important factor determining the distribution and abun-dance of marine species on rocky shores. We studied the primary and secondary effects of waveexposure on sublittoral blue mussel Mytilus edulis populations in a fragmented archipelago in thetideless northeastern Baltic Sea. Triplicate bottom samples were collected by SCUBA divers from4 depths at 30 locations along a wave exposure gradient defined by an exposure index. From 15 ofthese locations, water samples were collected in order to measure physicochemical and biologicalconditions at each site. Results showed that mussel densities increased steadily with increasing waveexposure. Biomasses, however, were highest at areas with intermediate exposure. Water chemistry,seston and chlorophyll a concentrations did not differ between locations. Recruitment and growthexperiments on artificial substrata carried out at the same 30 locations showed that exposure neitherinfluenced the abundance of recruits on ropes nor markedly influenced the growth of adult mussels.This suggests that lack of mussels at less exposed localities may originate from problems in recruit-ment processes to adult populations or early post-recruitment mortality. We hypothesize that eventhin films of stagnant sediment on rocks may have a profoundly negative effect on mussel recruit-ment. Results suggest that increasing sedimentation of rocky bottoms may limit the spatial distri-bution of mussels, pushing stable mussel beds towards outermost areas of the archipelago wherestrong wave action keeps bottoms free of sediments.KEY WORDS: Physical stress · Predation · Recruitment · Rocky shore · Sedimentation · Artificialsubstrata · Wave exposure index · Depth distribution


. Using organic wastes as agricultural amendments is a productive alternative to disposal in landfills, providing nutrients for plant growth and carbon to build soil organic matter. Despite these benefits, a large fraction of organic waste is sent to landfills. Obstacles to the adoption of wastes as sources of plant nutrients include questions about harmful effects to crops or soils and the wastes' ability to produce satisfactory yields. We compared six organic waste amendments with a mineral fertilizer control (CN) to determine effects on soil quality, soil fertility, crop quality, and crop yield in 2013 and 2014. Waste amendments were applied at a rate sufficient to supply 10,000 kg organic C/ha over two seasons, and mineral fertilizer was applied to control plots to provide 112 kg-N/ha/yr. The experiment was laid out in a randomized block design with four replicates and three crops: sweet corn ( Zea mays L. cv. Applause, Brocade, and Montauk), butternut squash ( Cucurbita moschata Duchesne cv. JWS 6823), and potatoes ( Solanum tuberosum L. cv. Eva). Amendment with biosolids/yard waste cocompost (BS), dehydrated restaurant food waste (FW), gelatin manufacturing waste (GW), multisource compost (MS), paper fiber/chicken manure blend (PF), and yard waste compost (YW) did not have a negative impact on soil moisture, bulk density, electrical conductivity (EC), or the concentration of heavy metals in soil or plant tissue. Our potential uses for including significantly raising soil pH (MS) and soil organic matter (YW and BS)]. The carbon-to-nitrogen ratio (C:N) of not a predictor of soil inorganic N levels, and some increased potentially mineralizable nitrogen (PMN) levels relative to the control. Plots with BS, FW, and GW produced yields of sweet corn, butternut squash, and potatoes comparable with the control, whereas plots amended with YW, PF, and MS produced lower yields of sweet corn, squash, or both, although yields for potatoes were with the control. In addition, the marketability of potatoes from PF was better than that of the control in 2014. None of the in this on soil properties, provided to soil quality, and all produced for at least that all


The difficult problem of orientating robot control in Cartesian space is solved by utilizing the Euler parameters for the first time. The complexity of the utilization of the approach is discussed in detail. A simple explicit algorithm is obtained, and its superiority over other methods is shown. The application of the Euler parameters to other control schemes for robots in Cartesian space is considered. It is expected that this approach will make the practical implementation of the Cartesian control strategies possible.<<ETX>>


In the year 1660 the Royal Society was founded. On the scale of cosmic evolution three centuries are as nothing, but by the measure of human life they constitute an impressive span of history. Time in Newton's philosophy flowed uniformly on, but is the matrix of events significant to men it is not measured by the clock. For thousands of millions of years the present galactic cycle has continued, for a few thousand civilization has been spreading round the earth, and for a few hundred only there has been in progress that rapidly accelerating conquest of knowledge and power over nature, which has so largely created the world of today. The foundation of the Royal Society was symbolic of the conscious undertaking of this endeavour. In achievement the 300 years have exceeded all the infinite wastes of evolutionary time: by the scale of human events they are the fullest and longest in all existence. For ourselves in whom the dramatist can arouse emotion by recreating the events even of our own brief lifetimes they have in virtue of their scope an almost epic grandeur. Yet they are short enough to move us in another way. The men who lived in Charles the Second's reign are still familiar to us as human beings. We can picture in imagination the King himself, and the echoes of his witty sallies have not yet grown faint. For all the rapid change that continuously dissolves and re-creates the scene of human activity the men who originated the Royal Society and who are in a sense the fathers of the present age are no further removed from us than our nearer ancestors. Their portraits look down on us, their words remain for us to read, we can feel we know them and have towards them something of a filial piety. We honour them and pay just tribute to them, and our admiration is infused with friendliness and warmth.


One promise of personalized medicine is that it will be possible to make useful predictions about the phenotypes of individuals from their complete genome sequences (e.g. concerning their susceptibility to disease). However, to what extent is knowledge about an individual's genotype, together with information about the environment that they have experienced, sufficient to predict phenotypic variation? In the present review, we argue that, although the 'typical' phenotypic outcome of an individual's genome can be predicted, it is much more difficult to predict the actual outcome for a particular individual. We highlight three reasons for this. First, the outcome of mutations can be influenced by random (stochastic) processes. Second, genetic variation present in one generation can influence phenotypic traits in the next generation, even if individuals do not inherit this variation. Third, the environment experienced by one generation can influence phenotypic variation in the next generation. These contributions to phenotypic variation have long been appreciated by quantitative geneticists, although they have only recently been studied at the molecular level. Taken together, they mean that, in many cases, the genotypes of individuals and the environment that they experience may not be sufficient to determine their phenotypes. A more comprehensive genotype‐to‐phenotype model will be required to make accurate predictions about the biology of individuals.


Purpose Selective laser trabeculoplasty is a safe and effective procedure for reducing IOP, but its mechanism of action is not fully elucidated. We evaluated the morphologic and cellular changes as well as DNA synthesis after SLT treatment of human trabecular meshwork (TM) tissue explants. Methods Corneoscleral rim tissues that underwent SLT treatment were compared to control segments that had no laser treatment. Light microscopy (LM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) were used to assess cell morphology. The Click-iT 5-ethynyl-2'-deoxyuridine (EdU) imaging kit was used to compare DNA synthesis/cell proliferation with a confocal microscope. All tissues were assessed for vitality. Results SLT treatment does not reveal notable cell damage in the juxtacanalicular (JCT) region, but mildly disrupts superficial trabecular beams and uveal TM, ablates TM endothelial cells from the undamaged beams as detected by both LM and TEM. This superficial destruction was not observed in some SLT treatment spots on higher magnification by SEM. SLT treatment increased mitotic activity and DNA synthesis near the lining of Schlemm's canal after several days. Conclusion SLT treatment disrupts endothelial cells in the corneoscleral TM and causes superficial ultrastructural changes to the uveal TM. SLT treatment also shows a trend towards dynamic time-dependent changes in (DNA synthesis) with an increase in mitotic activity at 7 days cell proliferation.


Two-dimensional simulation of the sidegating effect in GaAs MESFET's has been performed. The result confirms that Schottky contacts on a semi-insulating substrate cause se- rious high substrate leakage current and drain current reduc- tion in GaAs MESFET's. The threshold behavior in sidegating effect is found to correlate with the conduction behavior of the Schottky-i-n(sidegate) structure when the sidegate is negatively biased. Shielding and enhancement of the sidegating effect by the Schottky contacts have also been studied and the results agree with the experimental findings. Besides, the presence of hole traps in the semi-insulating substrate is found to be essen- tial to the sidegating effect.


DNA profiling has become a universal technique
for identifying individuals for evidential use in courts of law. In more complex cases such as sexual assaults, identifying the origin of a stain or sample offers valuable information as to the events that occurred. Currently, many 'in service' body fluid identification (BFID) techniques are presumptive, require significant sample volumes and generate false positives. As such, the development of a highly specific and reliable BFID technique would be highly beneficial to forensic scientists in provide more informative and reliable evidence.

MicroRNAs (miRNA) are short, stable, non-coding RNA's which modulate gene expression. Expression of some of these miRNA are body fluid specific, making them a potentially robust tool for BFID. The possibility for the integration of a robust, miRNA based BFID technology for forensic casework employing stem-loop reverse transcription and qPCR analysis was the theme of the research presented here. To be incorporated into the workflow of current forensic laboratories, the protocol must be able to be carried out alongside current techniques with limited addition of cost, equipment, analysts and time.

A range of custom designed miRNA markers were
analysed on vaginal material, menstrual blood, saliva, venous blood, semen, seminal fluid and skin. Screening indicated specificity of hsa mir-124 to vaginal material, hsa-mir-10a, 135a and 888 to semen, hsa-mir-412 and 507 to menstrual blood, hsa-mir-144-3, 144-5, 142 and 451 to blood and although highly expressed in saliva, hsa-mir-205 was also observed in vaginal material. Universal expression was observed in hsa-mir-93, 508, 1260b and SNORD 47 providing a means of normalisation through the designation of these markers as endogenous controls. A combined panel of markers are presented which were capable of identifying all body fluids, excluding skin from single stains. The panel was successful at identifying certain mixtures such as semen within vaginal material but was unable to confirm saliva presence within vaginal material. Screening of hsa-mir 205 within vaginal material uncovered the observation that hsa-mir-205 was impacted by the use of female contraception.

Once a full BFID panel was generated the robustness of the markers was further analysed across the menstrual cycle. No significant difference (p>0.001) was seen in markers highly expressed in vaginal material during screening (hsa-mir-124, 203a, 205). Expression of non specific markers highlighted the importance of the optimisation of input miRNA. Differential extraction of genetic material was found to be detrimental to miRNA sample integrity. As such, total DNA extraction was employed for vaginal swabs obtained from volunteers following unprotected sexual intercourse, markers hsa mir-10a, 135a and 888 were able to successfully detect semen presence for up to 96 hours.

The data generated to date has highlighted a number of miRNA markers that provide a platform for BFID. The developed protocol is reliable and robust; requiring minimal optimisation and is capable of integration with current laboratory workflow with minimum implications to time and cost. The markers identified for BFID have been implemented within studies that are representative of real case scenarios, and have demonstrated their ability to be stable, specific and successful in the identification of certain body fluids. Overall, this research showcases a reliable and body fluid specific protocol capable of being performed alongside DNA profiling.


Empirical evidence shows that conditional market betas vary substantially over time. Yet, little is known about the source of this variation, either theoretically or empirically. Within a general equilibrium model with multiple assets and a time varying aggregate equity premium, we show that conditional betas depend on (a) the level of the aggregate premium itself; (b) the level of the firm's expected dividend growth; and (c) the firm's fundamental risk, that is, the one pertaining to the covariation of the firm's cash-flows with the aggregate economy. Especially when fundamental risk (c) is strong, the model predicts that market betas should display a large time variation, that their cross-sectional dispersion should be pro-cyclical, and that investments in physical capital should be positively related to changes in betas. These predictions find considerable support in the data.


Background: Establishing physical activity (PA) and motor behaviors in early childhood are important for developing healthy activity behaviors. Parents play a central role in shaping young children's PA and fundamental motor skills (FMS). This qualitative study explored parents' attributes, values, perceptions, and practices related to PA and FMS. Methods: Thirty-one parents (26 mothers) of preschool-aged children participated in semi-structured in-person interviews. Interviews were audio-recorded, transcribed verbatim, coded and analyzed using an iterative approach. Results: Four themes related to PA and FMS emerged: (1) parent attributes; (2) parent–child interactions; (3) parent perception of children's attributes; and (4) parenting practices. Although most parents enjoyed playing with their child, some did not realize the importance of engaging in PA with their child and even believed that FMS are naturally developed. Parents indicated that children's temperament may influence their preference for practicing motor skills. Conclusions: Social support and positive parenting practices, including encouragement, monitoring, logistical support, co-participation, and facilitation, are important for the development of PA and FMS. The findings add emphasis to the importance of parents' role in the development of young children's PA and FMS, and they inform future strategies aiming to promote young children's activity behaviors.


Experimental results for focal spot field characteristics are presented. These results do not agree completely with results published by Moores and Roeck but are in agreement with Doi's theory as applied to separable focal spots. A new image plane origin called the principal ray is proposed. The variation of the star test pattern image for separable, symmetric focal spots is described. The equation for the field variation of the RMS equivalent rectangle is presented.


Histological analysis of 29 ovaries removed at midcycle from 19 bonnet monkeys (Macaca radiata) has revealed an unusual mode of follicular growth. All nonatretic follicles greater than 1.5 mm diameter were observed to have deeply folded walls giving the appearance of collapse due to inadequate follicular fluid production. The evidence presently available indicates that ovulation from these collapsed follicles results from their full inflation by blood plasma after LH stimulation. The corpora lutes formed from this unusual follicle were not different from those observed in other macaque species except for large numbers of eosinophilic granulocytes found in the interstium. Two modes of luteal regression were observed. In one instance a vascular stigma resembling a fresh ovulation stigma was found over an aberrent corpus luteum; the risk of misin- terpretation of such structures is explained. The morphologic observations were correlated with peripheral blood levels of total estrogens and luteinizing hormone.


progress towards relieving the South's crippling debt burden, which now exceeds £1 OOObn. For the poorest countries of the world this failure is a cause for real despair.' The lethal interaction between deepening poverty and environmental degradation is set to continue, especially in Africa. Political will to find a solution is lacking as the British government offered little resistance to Japanese objections. The summit ended weakly with an affirmation of the 1989 Trinidad Terms, which have been so diluted that they have contributed little to the tiny amount of debt cancellation in 17 countries. Plummeting commodity prices and rising interest rates mean that sub-Saharan Africa now owes more than it earns. Over the past decade debt has almost quadrupled from 28% to 109% of gross national product, bleeding the continent of $1 Obn in annual interest repayments alone-four times as much as it spends on its health service. With infrastructure collapsing and the average living standards (already the lowest in the world) falling, the leaders at the summit made no commitment to respond to Africa's special needs. They ignored the fact that African debt can never realistically be repaid in the present climate of unfair trading conditions and the International Monetary Fund's monetarist policies which dominate the continent's economies. Despite media hype about a breakthrough in the general agreement on tariffs and trade the progress on trade will benefit rich countries more than poor. Agreements on textiles, clothes, and agricultural products, which are important to the Third World, were glossed over. Very poor countries will be forced to open their markets to foreign competition as they watch the relative value of their current trade practices diminish. The summit also failed to tackle the crisis in commodity prices, which is at the heart of Africa's deepening economic problems.


This discussion paper examines how private capital can be mobilised for sustainable infrastructure, with particular reference to the newly created Asia Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) and the New Development Bank (NDB), also known as the BRICS Bank. These banks are an important addition to the development finance architecture. The paper provides an overview of how development banks can mitigate the global investment gap in the area of sustainable infrastructure through targeted lending and various financial instruments. The paper builds on the experiences of the European Investment Bank – as well as multilateral and other regional and national development banks – to draw possible lessons for the AIIB and the NDB. In particular, various instruments for mobilising private capital that complement the traditional credit financing of ecologically sustainable infrastructure are examined. Although environmentally sustainable infrastructure is currently not always the most cost-effective option in many countries, it is important to make the right investment decisions now, as investments in infrastructure projects are locked-in for the long term; this applies, in particular, to renewable energy projects with their long lifecycles. Targeted financing by development banks allows for the realisation of projects that are currently not attractive enough for financing from private investors alone, and helps to avoid a long-term commitment of capital to non-sustainable infrastructure. Mechanisms presented to support environmentally sustainable infrastructure investments include the application of shadow carbon prices, the European Investment Bank's Global Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Fund, and the Co-Lending Portfolio Programme, which is managed by the International Finance Corporation. This discussion paper is based not only on the authors' literature and experiences to date, but also on a large number of personal interviews with senior executives held in Luxembourg, Washington, DC, London and (by telephone) Paris.


Introduction With escalating prevalence over the past 3 decades and increasing cost of care, Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) represent a major public health concern. Despite the ongoing extensive research, no specific pathophysiological pathway has been universally accepted. However, converging evidence sheds the light on the important role of immunologic dysfunction in ASD. Objectives To our knowledge, this is the first study to analyse levels of selected chemokines (monocyte chemotactic protein [MCP]-1, macrophage inflammatory protein [MIP]-1α and regulated upon activation normal T-cell expressed and secreted [RANTES]) in maternal amniotic fluid of individuals diagnosed with ASD later in life and controls. Methods We adopted a case-control study design utilising Danish nation-wide health registers and a historic birth cohort (HBC) kept and maintained at Statens Serum Institute in Copenhagen. 414 Cases and 820 controls were retrieved from the HBC. Chemokines measurements were performed using Luminex xMAP technology. Case-control differences in biomarker levels were assessed as continuous measures (Tobit Censored regression models) or dichotomised at below the 10th percentile or above the 90th percentile cutpoints derived from control biomarker distributions (logistic regression). Results and Conclusion We found no significant overall difference in the pattern of the analysed amniotic fluid chemokines in ASD cases compared to controls. However, females tend to show a different chemokine pattern compared to males, especially for MIP-1α, but with no statistical significance (Elevated 90th percentile OR=2.24 [95% CI 0.90 to 5.59]). Larger-scale studies with more sensitive assays are needed to investigate the role of chemokines and other cytokines in ASD.


Analyzing spatio-temporal data like video is a challenging task that requires processing visual and temporal information effectively. Convolutional Neural Networks have shown promise as baseline fixed feature extractors through transfer learning, a technique that helps minimize the training cost on visual information. Temporal information is often handled using hand-crafted features or Recurrent Neural Networks, but this can be overly specific or prohibitively complex. Building a fully trainable system that can efficiently analyze spatio-temporal data without hand-crafted features or complex training is an open challenge. We present a new neural network architecture to address this challenge, the Convolutional Drift Network (CDN). Our CDN architecture combines the visual feature extraction power of deep Convolutional Neural Networks with the intrinsically efficient temporal processing provided by Reservoir Computing. In this introductory paper on the CDN, we provide a very simple baseline implementation tested on two egocentric (first-person) video activity datasets. We achieve video-level activity classification results on-par with state-of-the art methods. Notably, performance on this complex spatio- temporal task was produced by only training a single feed-forward layer in the CDN.


Objective : The wall-carving (WC) imaging technique is used to evaluate early gastric cancer using multidetector row computed tomography (MDCT) image data for only the arterial phase. Our purpose was to investigate if WC images derived from portal phase MDCT images can enhance the visualization of early gastric cancer. Subjects and methods : Fourteen consecutive patients (average age/age range (years)= 75.8/61 to 86 ; male/female = 9/5) were enrolled. They were diagnosed with early gastric cancer and underwent contrast-enhanced MDCT before treatment. WC images of the arterial and portal phases were created from images scanned by 64-detector-row MDCT 40 and 60 seconds after the initiation of the contrast material injection, respectively. The correlation between the detection rates of lesions in the WC images and pathological findings was investigated. Results : Totals of 71.4% (10/14) of arterial phase WC images and 71.4% (10/14) of portal phase WC images showed lesions. The imaging ability improved to 85.7% (12/14) when the two sets of images were combined. Well-differentiated adenocarcinomas tended to be visualized better in WC images of any phases. Conclusion : WC is an excellent image analysis technique for visualizing early gastric cancer lesions. The depiction rates were improved by using a combination of arterial and portal WC images. The scan timing after the contrast material injection should be carefully investigated to improve the detection rate of lesions.


Increasingly public institutions are making use of project management to implement service delivery programmes. Through the delivery of various non-formal certificate courses in Project Management at various public institutions, at local, provincial and national levels, it became evident that public managers to a considerable degree, fail to infuse project management as part of the functional operations, processes and structure of the institution. Furthermore, there is an apparent lack of understanding on how to utilise project management on an ongoing basis for the operationalisation of institutional strategies and objectives. This article proposes a process to address these two issues. The main recommendation is that senior management should establish a Management by Projects approach whereby all functional activities for service delivery are seen as projects. Guidelines will be proposed to implement this approach in public institutions.


: Skepticism about the limits of online learning is as old as online learning itself. As with other technologically-driven innovations in pedagogy, there are deep-seated worries that important educational goods might be effaced or obscured by the ways of teaching and learning that online methods allow. One family of such worries is inspired by reflections on the bodily basis of an important kind of understanding, and skepticism over whether this bodily basis can be inculcated in the absence of actual, flesh-and-blood, classroom interactions (e.g. Heath 1997; Dreyfus 1999, 2008; Ess 2003; Dall'Alba & Barnacle 2005; Maiese 2013). This paper focuses on the ways in which such worries arise in the influential work of Hubert Dreyfus (1999, 2008). The negative conclusion for which I argue is that endorsing Dreyfus's Merleau-Pontian picture of the relationship between bodily skill and understanding does not commit us to his general pessimism concerning online learning – bodily, emotional, and interactive dimensions might be essential to learning, but we lack reasons to think that online learning necessarily lacks these dimensions. The negative argument motivates a positive claim: rather than giving up on online learning we should focus on designing courses and pedagogies that scaffold the bodily, affective and interactive dynamics constitutive of understanding in a particular domain.


With over 500 family members, kinases are key mediators of many important disease relevant signaling pathways involved in cancer and immune-inflammatory diseases. Since the US FDA approval of imatinib in 2001, inhibitors of kinases are now one of the most important classes of drug molecules, covering diverse chemical scaffolds with a broad range of activity and family selectivity. Recent advances discussed in this chapter highlight the notable more recent application of macrocycles as small molecule kinase inhibitors. The potential benefits of macrocyclization are discussed in detail with highlighted case studies presented from literature studies. The key features of macrocyclic kinase inhibitors that enable them to bind specifically in ATP sites are discussed along with the different modes of inhibition. The chemical synthesis of macrocyclic kinase inhibitors is also summarized covering a surprisingly wide range of different chemistry approaches and strategies. Macrocyclic kinase inhibitors have now progressed into clinical testing where they have the potential to give additional benefit to patients. An update on clinical status is provided showing the most advanced agents may soon be approved as drug molecules.


The somatic size, shape, dendritic and axonal morphology, and synaptology of representative neurons in layer II of the primate entorhinal cortex (EC) were analyzed. Layer II "islands" contained large spinous multipolar cells with triangular somata and local circuit axons in addition to multipolar neurons with large, radially arrayed, aspinous, primary processes and thick tapering axons. Small pyramidal neurons with a single, spinous, apical primary segment that bifurcated a short distance from the somata were also found in layer II. Subsequent spinous segments of these neurons with long terminal segments exhibited a paucity of branching in addition to having thick axons tapering into subjacent layers. The importance of providing these additional axonal, dendritic, and synaptic characterizations lies in the contextual role these neurons play in the connectional patterns of the EC with regard to olfaction, olfactory memory, and pathological variations.


Ulrich Beck´s theory of risk society has been criticised because of lack of empirical evidence, which this study focuses on. By comparing people with different life contexts and experiences, the aim was to study how they view risk and if "new" risks are perceived differently by different groups in society. Five focus group interviews were conducted in Sweden, 2004/05, with people in rural and urban areas, people with foreign background and experts. The groups consisted of four people each and lasted for two hours. The results show that "new" risks are not something people worry about, "risk" is associated with personal experiences and life context. This indicates a traditional or at least modern way of viewing risk and contradicts the idea of a reflexive view of risk. However, there are differences between the groups where a division between the urban versus the rural-transnational groups appears; the urban groups show a more fatalistic/global view of risk, while the rural-transnational group shows a more traditional approach to risk where control and the local context are in focus.


Interconnected capital markets allow mobile global capital to flow into immobile local assets. This paper examines how foreign demand affects U.S. housing markets, and uses this demand shock to estimate local price elasticities of supply. Other countries introduced foreign-buyer taxes meant to deter Chinese housing investment beginning in 2011. We first show house prices grew 8 percentage points more in U.S. zipcodes with high foreign-born Chinese populations after 2011, subsequently reversing with the onset of the U.S.–China trade war. Second, we use international tax policy changes as a U.S. housing demand shock and estimate local house price and quantity elasticities with respect to international capital. We find that a 1% increase in instrumented foreign capital raises house prices at the zip code level by 0.27%, and housing supply by 0.004%. Finally, we use the two elasticities to construct new local house price elasticities of supply for the largest 100 CBSAs. These supply elasticities average 0.1 and vary between 0.02 and 0.7, suggesting that local housing markets are inelastic in the short run and exhibit substantial spatial heterogeneity.


Malaria is a human disease caused by a sporozoan from the genus Plasmodium, transmitted by a bite of Anopheles mosquitoes. Insecticides remain the major tool for control of malaria vectors in Kenya and therefore the potential of such programs to be compromised by the reported insecticide resistance is a major concern. Studies in western Kenya have reported reemergence of morbidity and malaria attributed child mortality which has been linked to reported spread of insecticide resistance in anophiline mosquitoes. The aim of this study was to evaluate the residual effect of insecticides used for indoor residual spraying and impregnated on long lasting insecticide nets, and also determine the status of insecticide resistance in malaria vectors from western Kenya. Wall bioassays were performed on mud slabs and filter papers sprayed with lambdacyhalothrin and deltamethrin using mosquitoes collected from Ahero, Kisian, Chulaimbo, Emutete, Emakakha, Iguhu and Kabula. Net bioassays were performed on long lasting insecticide nets (LLINs) collected from the field using wild caught mosquitoes from Emutete and Kabula. Kisumu strain, a susceptible reference strain was used as a control. Chemical analysis of the netting material was performed using gas chromatography. World Health Organization tube bioassays was conducted using standard diagnostic dosages of Lambdacyhalothrin, Deltamethrin, Permethrin, DDT, Bendiocarb and Malathion tested on Anopheles mosquitoes collected from Ahero, Kisian, Chulaimbo, Emutete, Emakakha, Iguhu and Kabula. Biochemical assays, where the enzymatic activity of three enzymes (monooxygenases, esterases and Glutathione S-trasferases) were performed on susceptible and resistant mosquitoes preserved after WHO tube bioassays. Mosquitoes were identified to species level using Polymerase Chain Reaction. Genotyping was done on the susceptible and resistant mosquitoes after the WHO tube bioassays using Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction. Pyrethroid susceptible An. gambiae and An. arabiensis colonies from Bungoma and Ahero was raised and their genetic and biochemical changes monitored from generation to generation. The mortality of mosquitoes from all sites decreased significantly with time after spraying (75% mortality after six months) and with the age of the LLINs (60% mortality after 24 months). Insecticide concentration decreased significantly from 0.14 μg/ml in new LLINs to 0.077 μg/ml in LLINs older than 18 months. WHO susceptibility tests indicated that An. gambiae has developed high level of resistance to pyrethroids and DDT in Ahero, Kisian, Chulaimbo, Emutete, Emakakha, Iguhu and Bungoma. Resistant to bendiocarb in Iguhu and Kabula and susceptible to Malathion (100% mortality) in Ahero, Kisian, Chulaimbo, Emutete, Emakakha, Iguhu and Bungoma. There was an elevation of monooxygenases and esterases enzymatic activities in resistant An. gambiae mosquito populations exposed to Lambdacyhalothrin, Permethrin, Deltamethrin and DDT but no elevation in glutathione stransferases. A high frequency of L1014S allele was detected in


We analyse the development of foreign bank penetration in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) and its influence on the stability of bank credit. We measure both cross-border credit and activities of foreign bank subsidiaries within CEE. By combining BIS statistics and BankScope data into a unique database we are able to make a clear distinction between these two kinds of activities. Our analysis shows that the relative importance of foreign bank subsidiaries in CEE has increased considerably during recent years. However, in Estonia, Hungary and Poland foreign banks were also important during the first transition years, as they provided substantial amounts of cross-border credit. We do not find evidence of foreign banks deserting CEE, e.g. during adverse economic times. Although cross-border credit did decrease during some periods, our results show that foreign banks acquired new local subsidiaries or expanded the credit supply of existing subsidiaries at the same time.


This article concerns the understanding of two important concepts used by researchers in memory studies: lieux de memoire (sites of memory) and carriers (storages) of memory. The author believes that these terms should not be used interchangeably. He also presents suggestions for their understanding and indicates the areas of research which they confront.


Background
The success of the Sterile Insect Technique for areawide vector control relies crucially on the ability of sterile males to outcompete their wild counterparts for mating with wild females. Competitiveness tests are commonly performed for assessing quality sterile males intended for field release programs, but there are few reports on the optimal age and ratio for sterile Aedes albopictus male release in a SIT program.
Objective
Here, a series of mating competitiveness experiments with different age (1, 3, and 5 d post-emergence) and ratios (1:1, 5:1, and 10:1) of sterile to wild males were carried out in a walk-in field cage under semi-field conditions to examine variations in the mating competitiveness of irradiated adult Ae. albopictus males.
Methods
Pupae from laboratory-reared Ae. albopictus were irradiated at 35 Gy and introduced in field cages at different ages post emergence and at different ratios with a cohort of wild males and females. The mating competitiveness of sterile versus fertile males, and sterility induction into wild females measured through the egg hatch were observed.
Results
 The age of sterile males Ae. albopictus significantly affected their competitiveness when confronted with wild males of the same age. Competitiveness of sterile males was significantly lower after emergence (1-day old) than when they were older (3-5 days old). Presumably, 3-days old sterile males may be considered as the optimal age for sterile male releases. At this optimal age, induced sterility rates increased as the proportion of irradiated males relative to the wild male increased.
Conclusion
Our study points to the fact that sugar feeding prior to field release, could be administered for 3 days post-emergence in order to enhance the performance of sterile males. Consistent with early investigations under competitive situations differing in sterile male-to-wild male ratio, the level of induced sterility in the wild females increased as the proportion of irradiated males relative to the wild male increased.


The goal of this study was to determine the feasibility of producing graded muscle contraction in individual muscles or muscle groups by electrically stimulating motor neurons in the lumbo-sacral spinal cord. Recruitment curves were obtained for quadriceps, tibialis anterior and triceps surae/plantaris by stimulating their activation pools in the ventral horn of the feline spinal cord. Mean twitch times-to-peak for quadriceps, tibialis anterior and triceps surae/plantaris were 33.0, 41.0, and 36.0 ms, respectively. Twitch duration as a function of stimulus strength demonstrated a mixed motor unit recruitment order, distinctively different from the inverse recruitment order exhibited by conventional methods of electrical stimulation of peripheral nerve. The recruitment curve slopes (expressed as a percentage of maximum force per nanocurrent of delivered charge) were shallow: 7.9 for quadriceps, 2.6 for tibialis anterior and 8.5 for triceps surae/plantaris. These results show that graded control of force in individual muscles or muscle groups can be obtained through spinal cord stimulation, and suggest that spinal cord stimulation could be used for functional neuromuscular stimulation applications.


Background: Intestinal infections with Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli (STEC) in children can lead to the hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS). Shiga toxins (Stx) released in the gut by bacteria enter the blood stream and target the kidney causing endothelial injury. Free toxins have never been detected in the blood of HUS patients, but they have been found on the surface of polymorphonuclear leukocytes (PMN). Methods: With respect to their clinical features, the clinical relevance of the amounts of serum Stx (cytotoxicity assay with human endothelial cells) and PMN-bound Stx (cytofluorimetric assay) in 46 patients with STEC-associated HUS was evaluated. Results: Stx-positive PMN were found in 60% of patients, whereas negligible amounts of free Stx were detected in the sera. Patients with high amounts of Stx on PMN showed preserved or slightly impaired renal function (incomplete form of HUS), whereas cases with low amounts of Stx usually presented evidence of acute renal failure. Conclusions: These observations suggest that the extent of renal damage in children with STEC-associated HUS could depend on the concentration of Stx present on their PMN and presumably delivered by them to the kidney. As previously shown by experimental models from our laboratory, high amounts of Stx could induce a reduced release of cytokines by the renal endothelium, with a consequent lower degree of inflammation. Conversely, low toxin amounts can trigger the cytokine cascade, provoking inflammation, thereby leading to tissue damage.


For the many patients who suffer chronic pain, we seek the most effective anti‐inflammatory drug with the least side‐effect profile and the greatest long‐term safety. Etoricoxib, a selective COX2 inhibitor, has been shown to be as effective as non‐selective non‐steroidal anti‐inflammatory drugs in the management of chronic pain in rheumatoid arthritis and osteoarthritis, for periods of up to one year. Data on etoricoxib efficacy in chronic low back pain is beginning to emerge. The side‐effect profile of etoricoxib suggests it is well tolerated with similar adverse effects to non‐selective NSAIDs. Larger studies are awaited, to see whether superior gastrointestinal tolerability can be proven. Further work will be required to show that etoricoxib is safe in patients with pre‐existing cardiovascular or gastrointestinal comorbidity, and the potentially confounding role of aspirin still needs to be elucidated. However, etoricoxib shows promise as a new and effective COX2 inhibitor in clinical practice.


Abstract In this article, we investigate seismic amplitude reduction for the chemical explosions conducted in low‐coupling fractured rocks. The explosions used in this study were detonated in the fracture zones left by earlier explosions (repeat shots) in granitic rocks in Barre, Vermont. The seismic amplitudes from the repeat shots were compared with the amplitudes from the same‐yield explosion conducted in the intact rock in the same area. The results of the experiments show seismic amplitude reduction for the repeat shots by a factor of 1.5–2 in the entire frequency range. The amplitude reduction observed for the fractured rock explosions can be explained by compaction due to pore collapse, other inelastic losses, and by reduced elastic moduli in a localized damage zone around the charge. We used the Mueller and Murphy (1971) model to calculate spectra of the first and repeat explosions. To account for the reduction of the elastic moduli in the damage zone, we propose a hybrid medium model with the intact medium outside the elastic radius and the medium with reduced elastic moduli inside the elastic radius. The contribution from the pore collapse and other inelastic losses can be modeled by changing the compaction parameter d . Both models (higher compaction and the hybrid elastic moduli) predict reduced amplitudes at all frequencies and qualitatively agree with the observations. Because of the complexities in the explosion processes and the uncertainties in the damage zone configuration, the proposed model may not exactly reproduce the explosion source; however, using the models with a combination of the parameters can provide bounds on the resulting spectral ratios.


The details of the death of Jezebel as told in 2 Kgs 9: 30-37 stay in the mind long after the account has been read. In this reading I apply different interpretive frames in an attempt to understand the dynamics both within and behind the text, recognizing that Jezebel and the writer(s) can be seen in different lights depending on the viewing. A reading that highlights the "woman in the window" motif hints at a goddess dimension within the Jezebel frame, which resists the text's attempted erasure. An overlying psychoanalytical frame allows the text to be read as one of many textual grapplings with the M(Other) lingering within the body. The possibility of such an innate resistance provides an answer to the question whether such careful viewing of such a text matters.


At the present, immunoproliferative small intestinal disease (IPSID) is considered a fairly homogeneous entity. Isolated heavy chain production is so closely related with IPSID that has been considered as a natural biologic marker for it. By contrast, we report here the case of a 63-year-old female that developed a multinodular small bowel lymphoma without clinical malabsorption symptoms. The main tumour mass was located in proximal jejunum and the neighbour intestinal mucosa did not show neoplastic cell infiltrates. Immunohistochemical methods demonstrated restrictive presence of IgA1 subclass in the neoplastic cells without presence of light chains. Cases as present are extremely infrequent and their potential relationship with IPSID has not been completely outlined, being useful in trying to understand the spectrum of gut lymphomas.


In this study, we investigate a concept that can be used to improve the magnetic field homogeneity in a microwave cavity applied in a novel, high-performance atomic frequency standard. We show that by modifying the boundary conditions in the case of a loop-gap geometry, a good improvement of the field homogeneity can be obtained. Such a design demonstrates high potential to improve the frequency stability; it is compact and hence suitable for a future generation of compact, high-precision frequency standards based on vapor cells and a pulsed optical pumping (POP) regime (POP atomic clocks).


For porous organic materials, the defined morphology in the micrometre or a larger scale plays an extremely important role in fully exhibiting their molecular-level properties in the bulk phase, thus tuning the synergetic effects of different components and facilitating their fabrication and processing. However, the synthetic strategy towards porous organic materials with well-controlled morphologies is still very limited and full of challenges. Herein, we report a simple self-templated method to construct conjugated porous polymer microtubular bundles in the fused fashion. In the synthesis processes, the monomer 1,3,5-benzene-tricarbohydrazide is firstly assembled into crystalline microfiber bundles as the template, which is then condensed with 1,7-para-formylphenyl-perylene-3,4,9,10-tetracarboxylic diimide via the dynamic covalent acylhydrazon linkage. Upon a quasi-Kirkendall effect and Ostwald ripening process, a conjugated porous polymer featuring smooth microtubular bundles can be essentially constructed. Such defined hierarchical morphology exhibits the substantial co-used tubular walls and orientated channels with sub-micrometre-sized diameters and lengths in tens of micrometers, thus rendering an extremely high accessibility of their redox active sites.


A wire-cylinder-plate electrode configuration is presented to generate ionic wind with a dc corona discharge in air at atmospheric pressure. The objective of the work is to maximize the power supplied to the flow in order to increase acceleration while avoiding breakdown. Thus, the proposed experimental setup addresses the problem of decoupling the mechanism of ion generation from that of ion acceleration. Using a wire-plate configuration as a reference, we have focused on improving the topography of the electric field to (1) separate the ionization and acceleration zones in space, and (2) guide the trajectory of charged particles as parallel to the median axis as possible. In the proposed wire-cylinder-plate setup, a dc corona discharge is generated in the space between a wire and two cylinders. The ions produced by the corona then drift past the cylinders and into a channel between two plates, where they undergo acceleration. To maximize the ionic wind it is found that the geometric configuration must be as compact as possible and that the voltage applied must be right below breakdown. Experimentally, the optimized wire-plate reference setup provides a maximum flow velocity of 8 m s−1, a flow rate per unit electrode length of 0.034 m2 s−1, and a thrust per unit electrode length of 0.24 N m−1. The wire-cylinder-plate configuration provides a maximum flow velocity of 10 m s−1, a flow rate per unit electrode length of 0.041 m2 s−1, and a thrust per unit electrode length of 0.35 N m−1. This 46% increase in thrust is obtained by increasing the electric power per unit electrode length by only 16% (from 175 to 210 W m−1), which confirms the gain in efficiency obtained with the decoupled system. In comparison with a simple wire-wire corona configuration, the wire-cylinder-plate configuration increases the ionic wind velocity by up to a factor of 3, and the thrust by an order of magnitude.


Incorporating either rotation equivariance or scale equivariance into CNNs has proved to be effective in improving models' generalization performance. However, jointly integrating rotation and scale equivariance into CNNs has not been widely explored. Digital histology imaging of biopsy tissue can be captured at arbitrary orientation and magnification and stored at different resolutions, resulting in cells appearing in different scales. When conventional CNNs are applied to histopathology image analysis, the generalization performance of models is limited because 1) a part of the parameters of filters are trained to fit rotation transformation, thus decreasing the capability of learning other discriminative features; 2) fixed-size filters trained on images at a given scale fail to generalize to those at different scales. To deal with these issues, we propose the Rotation-Scale Equivariant Steerable Filter (RSESF), which incorporates steerable filters and scale-space theory. The RSESF contains copies of filters that are linear combinations of Gaussian filters, whose direction is controlled by directional derivatives and whose scale parameters are trainable but constrained to span disjoint scales in successive layers of the network. Extensive experiments on two gland segmentation datasets demonstrate that our method outperforms other approaches, with much fewer trainable parameters and fewer GPU resources required. The source code is available at: https://github.com/ynulonger/RSESF.