A large integrated data set of cores, outcrop data, and seismic transects from the mud-buried Vars-Winchester esker in the Champlain Sea basin, Canada, was studied to gain insight into how muddy glaciated basins fill with sediment, and how esker sedimentary systems contribute to this process. Three stratigraphic units—a till sheet over carbonate bedrock, the Vars-Winchester esker , and overlying Champlain Sea mud—are identified in the data set. The till is massive, mud rich, carbonate rich, and drumlinized. The esker is also carbonate rich, and rests erosively on till or bedrock. It consists of two elements, a narrow gravelly central ridge and a broad sandy carapace. Three units comprise the overlying mud package: gray carbonate-rich rhythmites, massive bioturbated mud, and carbonate-poor, red-and-gray rhythmites. A sequence stratigraphic model is proposed to explain these observations. Emphasis is placed on gradual ice-front translation superimposed by rapid meltwater events. The esker is interpreted to have been derived from the underlying till by water that flowed through a subglacial conduit (R-channel), within which the narrow gravelly central ridge was deposited. Most mud and finer sand bypassed the conduit and was deposited proglacially on the floor of the Champlain Sea, first as sandy outwash and, farther basinward, as muddy carbonate-rich rhythmites. Gradual ice-front retreat superposed distal facies over proximal facies, generating the upward-fining succession that starts with the esker gravel and ends with muddy rhythmites. Most esker sediment appears to have been deposited during rapid, jokulhlaup-like floods that punctuated gradual retreat. Discharges are estimated to have been high, possibly on the order of several hundred to, perhaps more commonly, several thousand cubic meters per second. The chaotic and random-looking appearance of the resultant sedimentological signatures in the esker sensu stricto is sharply contrasted with the regularity of the muddy rhythmites. If the rhythmites are indeed correlative to the esker, which seems reasonable given their geochemistry and the fact that their volume scales to the volume of mud in the till, the flood events that deposited the esker must have been seasonally mediated, and the basin water must have attenuated the flood signal, resulting in a rhythmic "on-off" signature in more distal portions of the system. The regularity of the rhythmites does not betray the chaotic nature of the esker sensu stricto, and vice versa. Studying either one in isolation would lead to a very different "end-member" impression of how eskers form and how esker sedimentary systems operate during the infilling of glaciated basins.


Many structures and buildings such as nuclear power station and chemical plant are often subjected to impact and explosive loadings. The understanding of material response to highamplitude, short-duration, impulse loads is very important, dynamic behavior of concrete under high strain rate has been paid much attention to. In the present paper, experimental study on the dynamic tension behavior of concrete is carried out. Based on the former theoretical introduction, dynamic splitting tensile tests at different strain rates are conducted on 74mm diameter concrete specimens in a Split Hopkinson Pressure Bar to study the effect of strain rate on the dynamic tension behavior of concrete. The mechanism and speed of crack propagation of concrete cylinder planar surface in dynamic splitting tensile test are discussed briefly.


Participation in an international study program provides students with invaluable exposure to another culture and a multitude of academic and life experiences. Rapid advances in communication technologies now make it possible for students to share these experiences with their support network at home as they occur. The responsibility of doing so by means of a web page built on-location 1) motivates students to increase their awareness of, and participation in, their surroundings, 2) changes how students view their surroundings and activities in which they participate, 3) increases content learning, 4) extends the number of people involved in the international study program, and 5) results in a professional written and visual documentary. Faculty involved in supporting an on-location web site are advised to develop the web site prior to the trip, ensure the equipment and internet access can support the task, improve their computer literacy, and exercise flexibility and patience.


This paper presents an adjustment to the 'weighed dates' method developed by Van Beek and Depauw in 2011, and which was updated by Depauw in 2015. By spreading the date range of sources across all respective years, it is thus possible to incorporate imprecisely dated material in detailed chronological overviews. Plotting individuals raises extra challenges, however, especially since many people mentioned in ancient source material are often only attested as genealogical identifiers. In these cases, the dates of the texts they appear in do not reflect the period in which they themselves were active. To remedy this, I have fine-tuned the weighed dates method by adding an extra step in which the date range of these individuals is recalibrated.


Agriculture workers have increased rates of airway and skeletal disease. Inhalant exposure to agricultural organic dust extract (ODE) induces bone deterioration in mice; yet, mechanisms underlying lung-bone crosstalk remain unclear. Because Toll-like receptor 2 (TLR2) and TLR4 are important in mediating the airway consequences of ODE, this study investigated their role in regulating bone responses. First, swine facility ODE stimulated wild-type (WT) bone marrow macrophages to form osteoclasts, and this finding was inhibited in TLR4 knock-out (KO), but not TLR2 KO cells. Next, using an established intranasal inhalation exposure model, WT, TLR2 KO and TLR4 KO mice were treated daily with ODE or saline for 3 weeks. ODE-induced airway neutrophil influx and cytokine/chemokine release were similarly reduced in TLR2 and TLR4 KO animals as compared to WT mice. Utilizing micro-computed tomography (CT), analysis of tibia showed loss of bone mineral density, volume and deterioration of bone micro-architecture and mechanical strength induced by ODE in WT mice were significantly reduced in TLR4 but not TLR2 KO animals. Bone marrow osteoclast precursor cell populations were analyzed by flow cytometry from exposed animals. In WT animals, exposure to inhalant ODE increased osteoclast precursor cell populations as compared to saline, an effect that was reduced in TLR4 but not TLR2 KO mice. These results show that TLR2 and TLR4 pathways mediate ODE-induced airway inflammation, but bone deterioration consequences following inhalant ODE treatment is strongly dependent upon TLR4. Thus, the TLR4 signaling pathway appears critical in regulating the lung-bone inflammatory axis to microbial component-enriched organic dust exposures.


With the topic of Smart Grids taking up momentum, challenges to integrate systems from various vendors' at large scale in a critical infrastructure have arisen. This issue is usually tackled utilizing standards and, therefore, agreements between the various parties. However, the aspect of the interoperability between systems is not only defined by physical connections, but has a multi-faceted dimension which needs to be dealt with at all layers in order for a semantic and cost-efficient integration. Within this contribution, we motivate the need for a procedural way to deal with interoperability in Smart Grids, show the theoretical foundations and the approach taken and present case studies that cover the problem in scope. Based on these case studies, results are critically reflected and conclusions are drawn.


We developed "sci-LIANTI", a high-throughput, high-coverage single-cell DNA sequencing method that combines single-cell combinatorial indexing ("sci") and linear amplification via transposon insertion ("LIANTI"). To characterize rare chromosome mis-segregation events in male meiosis and their relationship to the landscape of meiotic crossovers, we applied sci-LIANTI to profile the genomes of 6,928 sperm and sperm precursors from infertile, interspecific F1 male mice. From 1,663 haploid and 292 diploid cells, we mapped 24,672 crossover events and identified genomic and epigenomic contexts that influence crossover hotness. Surprisingly, we observed frequent mitotic chromosome segregation during meiosis. Moreover, segregation during meiosis in individual cells was highly biased towards either mitotic or meiotic events. We anticipate that sci-LIANTI can be applied to fully characterize various recombination landscapes, as well as to other fields requiring high-throughput, high-coverage single-cell genome sequencing. One Sentence Summary Single-cell genome sequencing maps crossover and non-meiotic chromosome segregation during spermatogenesis in interspecific hybrid mice.


The Brane-World black hole models are investigated to evaluate their relative energy and momentum components. We consider Einstein and Moller's energy-momentum prescriptions in general relativity, and also perform the calculation of energy-momentum density in Moller's tetrad theory of gravity. For the Brane-World black holes we show that although Einstein and Moller complexes, in general relativity give different energy relations, they yield the same results for the momentum components. In addition, we also make the calculation of the energy-momentum distribution in teleparallel gravity, and calculate exactly the same energy as that obtained by using Moller's energy-momentum prescription in general relativity. This interesting result supports the viewpoint of Lessner that the Moller energy-momentum complex is a powerful concept for the energy and momentum. We also give five different examples of Brane-World black holes and find the energy distributions associated with them. The result calculated in teleparallel gravity is also independent of the teleparallel dimensionless coupling constant, which means that it is valid in any teleparallel model. This study also sustains the importance of the energy-momentum definitions in the evaluation of the energy distribution of a given space-time, and supports the hypothesis by Cooperstock that the energy is confined to the region of non-vanishing energy-momentum tensor of matter and all non-gravitational fields.


In the late 1950s, it seemed clear that Britain would soon grant Nigeria her independence. However, to guarantee her economic and strategic interests in independent Nigeria, it sought to manipulate the decolonisation process. One key strategy employed was to side with the faction of the Nigerian petty bourgeoisie whose political, economic and class interests were in agreement with that of Britain, and this was the Northern Nigeria political elite. Unfortunately, the faction's economic base was weak. Although it was the largest and supposedly the most populated region, the North was also the poorest. Thus, the faction could not develop its region much less guarantee British interests—unless its economic base was further developed. One key sector of the economy that could be used for the purpose was agriculture. However, the greatest obstacle to further agricultural production was the inefficiency of the existing transport system, particularly the railway. From early 1950s, the Northern establishment began to pressurise the central colonial government into constructing a railway extension into the potentially agriculturally rich Bornu province. The pressure worked, and the Bornu Extension was adopted despite concern for its viability, and lack of finance for it. The 400-mile extension was eventually constructed and opened in 1964. Lagos Historical Review Vol. 6, 2006: 148-170


The introduction of SRAM-based field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs) has opened-up a new dimension to parallel computing architectures. This paper describes an alternative approach to parallel computing-reconfigurable or virtual parallel processing (VPP). Rather than mapping an application onto a given parallel machine, the VPP approach synthesizes the appropriate type and number of processing elements, as well as the interconnection topology, that is optimal for the application. For each application, configuration data is downloaded to the machine that personalizes the hardware for the task at hand. The paper provides a brief description of the authors reconfigurable computer, Archimedes. The benefits of the VPP approach are highlighted by an example application-the 2-D FFT. A novel parallel implementation of a polynomial transform based 2-D transform is described and compared to results for distributed memory parallel machines that have been reported in the literature. The comparison highlights the computational advantage provided by reconfigurable computing.


We investigate the problem of control of quantum systems. Various notions of controllability of quantum systems are discussed and Lie algebraic techniques are employed to derive necessary and sufficient conditions for the resulting degrees of controllability. The results are employed to study the degree of controllability for various model systems. The problem of optimal control is formulated as a problem of maximisation of the expectation value of an observable of the system subject to dynamical constraints and costs. A class of iterative algorithms is discussed, and shown to converge to a solution of the Euler-Lagrange equations, which is a necessary condition for optimality of a solution. A numerical realisation of the algorithm is presented and potential implementation of the resulting control fields in the laboratory is discussed. The algorithm is applied to find optimal control fields for a variety of applications including selective and simultaneous excitation of individual quantum dots in a globally addressed ensemble, creation of superposition states, and selective excitation of certain vibrational modes of a simple molecule such as Hydrogen Fluoride. In each case we systematically explore the parameter space of the algorithm to select solutions with desirable physical features from the multitude of possible choices. As there are many possible optimal control fields which give similar yields the question of whether some are more robust than others is investigated. A number of optimal fields are analysed quantitatively in terms of robustness with regard to temporal and spectral noise affecting the fields, uncertainty in the model parameters and the effect of experimental limitations such as restrictions on the bandwidth of the fields. It is shown that whilst the solutions tend to be sensitive to uncertainty in the energy levels chosen for the model, they appear to be surprisingly tolerant to even severe bandwidth limitations.


A double barrel with differential velocity (DBDV) was proposed to improve the mixture quality. Temperature is one of the indexes to evaluate the mixture quality. At present, there are few studies on the heat transfer of DBDV. The heat transfer of particles in DBDV was studied by CFD-DEM to deeply understand the proposed DBDV. The heat transfer process in DBDV was analyzed. The distribution law of temperature field under the coupling effect of particles and fluid was obtained. The influence of fluid speed on particle temperature and the regeneration proportion in DBDV were analyzed and compared with the existing double barrel. And the main heat transfer mode of particles in DBDV was to be obtained. The results show that the mixture temperature in the proposed DBDV is generally higher than that in the existing DB. And the mixture produced by DBDV is not only friendly to the environment, but also the mixture temperature can meet the construction requirements even if more than half of the RAP materials are added to the mixture. Compared with DB, the addition proportion of DBDV is increased by 9.38% - 20.70%. And the reliability of the simulation work was verified by the indoor experiment platform, which lays a foundation for the application of DBDV.


Information posted by youth in online social media contexts is regularly accessed, downloaded, integrated, and analyzed by academic researchers. The practice raises significant social justice considerations for researchers including issues of representation and equitable distribution of risks and benefits. Use of this type of data for research purposes helps to ensure representation in research of the voices of (sometimes marginalized) youth who participate in these online contexts, at times discussing issues that are also under-represented. At the same time, youth whose data are harvested are subject (often without notice or consent) to the risks associated with this research, while receiving little if any direct benefit from the work. These risks include the potential loss of online social community as well as threats to participant rights and wellbeing. This paper explores the tension between the social justice benefit of representation and considerations that would suggest caution, the latter including inequitable distribution of research-related costs and benefits, and the traditional ethics concerns of participant autonomy and privacy in the context of youth participation in online discussions. In the final section, we propose guidelines and considerations for the conduct of online social media research to assist researchers to balance and respect representational and participant rights or wellbeing considerations, especially with youth.


Quantifying the sensitivity of warm rain to aerosols is important for constraining climate model estimates of aerosol indirect effects. In this study, the precipitation sensitivity to cloud droplet number concentration (Nd) in satellite retrievals is quantified by applying the precipitation susceptibility metric to a combined CloudSat/Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer data set of stratus and stratocumulus clouds that cover the tropical and subtropical Pacific Ocean and Gulf of Mexico. Consistent with previous observational studies of marine stratocumulus, precipitation susceptibility decreases with increasing liquid water path (LWP), and the susceptibility of the mean precipitation rate R is nearly equal to the sum of the susceptibilities of precipitation intensity and of probability of precipitation. Consistent with previous modeling studies, the satellite retrievals reveal that precipitation susceptibility varies not only with LWP but also with Nd. Puzzlingly, negative values of precipitation susceptibility are found at low LWP and high Nd. There is marked regional variation in precipitation susceptibility values that cannot simply be explained by regional variations in LWP and Nd. This suggests other controls on precipitation apart from LWP and Nd and that precipitation susceptibility will need to be quantified and understood at the regional scale when relating to its role in controlling possible aerosol‐induced cloud lifetime effects.


1. Adrenal bodies have been shown to be present on the anterior or ventral surface of the kidneys of Xenopus . Extracts of this region of the kidney contain a sympathomimetic substance, probably adrenaline. 2. Active preparations are best obtained by extracting freshly excised kidneys with normal saline solution. The extracts should be used immediately. 3. Amphibian tissues appear to react more sensitively than mammalian tissues towards the extracts.


The Preamble to the IARC Monographs describes the objective and scope of the programme, the scientific principles and procedures used in developing a Monograph, the types of evidence considered and the scientific criteria that guide the evaluations. The Preamble should be consulted when reading a Monograph or list of evaluations. Soon after IARC was established in 1965, it received frequent requests for advice on the carcinogenic risk of chemicals, including requests for lists of known and suspected human carcinogens. It was clear that it would not be a simple task to summarize adequately the complexity of the information that was available , and IARC began to consider means of obtaining international expert opinion on this topic. In 1970, the IARC Advisory Committee on Environmental Carcinogenesis recommended '... that a compendium on carcinogenic chemicals be prepared by experts. The biological activity and evaluation of practical importance to public health should be referenced and documented.' The IARC Governing Council adopted a resolution concerning the role of IARC in providing government authorities with expert, independent , scientific opinion on environmental carcinogenesis. As one means to that end, the Governing Council recommended that IARC should prepare monographs on the evaluation of carcinogenic risk of chemicals to man, which became the initial title of the series. In the succeeding years, the scope of the programme broadened as Monographs were developed for groups of related chemicals, complex mixtures, occupational exposures, physical and biological agents and lifestyle factors. In 1988, the phrase 'of chemicals' was dropped from the title, which assumed its present form, IARC Monographs on the Evaluation of Carcinogenic Risks to Humans. Through the Monographs programme, IARC seeks to identify the causes of human cancer. This is the first step in cancer prevention, which is needed as much today as when IARC was established. The global burden of cancer is high and continues to increase: the annual number of new cases was estimated at 10.1 million in 2000 and is expected to reach 15 million by 2020 (Stewart & Kleihues, 2003). With current trends in demo-graphics and exposure, the cancer burden has been shifting from high-resource countries to low-and medium-resource countries. As a result of Monographs evaluations, national health agencies have been able, on scientific grounds, to take measures to reduce human exposure to carcinogens in the workplace and in the environment.


Even though the public has been exposed to a tremendous number of recruitment ads with over a half billion spent annually on advertising specific trials, response rates are as low today as they were twenty years ago. What steps are necessary to improve recruitment for cancer prevention research? The first critical step is public education that is not study specific, that addresses the broader benefits of clinical research, and that is collectively embraced by all the stakeholders in clinical research and healthcare. The need for outreach and education is clear: 74% of the public say that they have no "real" knowledge of the clinical research process, and 98% don9t know where and how to identify and evaluate appropriate clinical studies. Furthermore, there is an erosion of confidence in the clinical research enterprise that is rooted in many causes, including widespread media coverage of industry missteps and tragic errors resulting in harm to patients. These have contributed to an atmosphere of suspicion and doubt which have left the public troubled and confused. If we are to engage the public, the stage must be set for the message to be heard and that calls for a national public education media campaign. With pro‐bono support from the international advertising and marketing agency Ogilvy & Mather, a new public service campaign has been developed to educate and win over the public about the importance of clinical research participation. During the campaign9s yearlong development process and extensive focus group testing, strong support was expressed for Medical Heroes9 easy‐to‐remember messaging and acknowledgement of ordinary people9s contributions to public health. During screenings before test audiences, the ads were lauded for their "humanity and emotional appeal," as viewers declared, "These people are heroes in their own way," "They9ve done something great for all of us," and "I see the benefit of clinical research to society." The Medical Heroes campaign has been market tested in 30 sites across 18 U.S. markets by Eli Lilly and Company. In wave 1 of the market test, the control group was established as 12 markets that ran their typical recruitment ads; in 6 comparable markets, concurrent Medical Heroes ads were run as well as recruitment ads — and these markets showed a 38% increase in patient recruitment rates over the control group. The test was repeated and the results of wave 2 showed that response rates to recruitment ads more than doubled in the markets where the Medical Heroes campaign was also run. The campaign met its ultimate goal of providing the public with an increased awareness of research participation and an improved perception of clinical research volunteers. Implementation of the Medical Heroes national media plan is enabling the campaign to reach over 120 million people quarterly through print, radio and TV ads. In order to dramatically increase the reach and frequency of this important public service message, CISCRP provides the Medical Heroes print, radio and TV ads to all those organizations who contribute to the national campaign — which enables these organizations to run the Heroes ads in their local markets. This broad public awareness is encouraging more people to seek information about clinical trials prompting a greater need for educational tools in the form of easy‐to‐read brochures, DVDs, and newsletters. CISCRP has a growing collection of educational brochures that take complex questions about clinical research and put them into everyday language. Foremost among the materials is the Education Before Participation series, widely used today by universities, hospitals, clinical research organizations, Boards of Health, civic organizations, and community health clinics to educate people about clinical trials and the need for participation. Expanding the outreach to minority audiences, CISCRP has also developed customized versions for African Americans and Hispanics, and has translated the brochures for use globally with country‐specific lists of government, disease‐advocacy, and industry resources for residents of Argentina, Brazil, Canada (French speaking), China, Czech Republic, France, Germany, India, Italy, Mexico, Netherlands, Philippines, Poland, Russia, South Korea, Spain, and Ukraine. By providing valuable information about the benefits and risks of participation, questions to ask, and places to find more information, the Education Before Participation series is a valuable tool for beginning the discussion with prospective clinical research volunteers. Clinical research sites have found that these brochures ease the informed consent process. Beyond the use of educational brochures, there is real value in providing the public with disease‐specific educational DVDs that use the voices and images of real‐life volunteers and healthcare experts. Input from prominent African American and Hispanic researchers and physicians was obtained to help guide the content and earmark culturally relevant issues as well as ethnomedical values and beliefs. The DVD series targets specific areas such as clinical research and cancer, diabetes, mental illness, breathing problems, and heart disease. CISCRP plans to continue the clinical research series with additional disease‐specific educational DVDs. Such DVDs have great impact when they are being shown on a loop in waiting rooms, and they can also be posted on websites. Most important is providing prospective volunteers with DVDs to be watched at home‐as a tool to help them influence their families and friends who criticize them for choosing to be "guinea pigs." Another educational tool is The Medical Heroes newsletter, published by CISCRP every other month throughout the year. The newsletter focuses on subjects that matter to current and future clinical research volunteers, and provides ongoing information and valuable resources. A look at some recent issues offers insight into the newsletter9s impact. In one edition, the inspiring story is told of John Cleland, who was successfully treated for metastatic testicular cancer in a clinical trial of the drug cisplatin 36 years ago. In another issue, an article addresses readers9 fears about getting a placebo. Another article explains the process of accrediting human research protection programs and why participants need to know about it. Beyond educational tools, outreach is critical to the learning process. CISCRP conducts events entitled "AWARE for All‐Clinical Research Education Days" in major cities across the United States. These free public programs are the culmination of a 3‐ to 6‐month outreach process. AWARE brings together disease advocacy groups, hospitals and healthcare organizations, educational institutions, and community organizations to provide health information and exhibits, as well as free health screenings. In addition, distinguished local politicians and opinion leaders, physicians and healthcare providers, and clinical research professionals serve as keynote speakers and workshop leaders‐all volunteering their time on a Saturday to help educate the public. In each AWARE location, CISCRP9s outreach efforts take many forms. Active contact is made with 30 to 50 community partners, and personal outreach and education is extended to the distinguished members of each city9s Honorary Committee. Local churches, community and health centers, and disease‐specific organizations give grassroots support by bringing AWARE9s message directly to their constituents. To date, close to 300,000 people have been impacted by the program. AWARE has put a human face on the people who volunteer for clinical trials while building public understanding of the risks and benefits of participating. AWARE is building a movement at the local level and there is a need to bring this form of outreach to many more communities. When asked whether they are more likely or less likely to participate in a clinical trial after attending AWARE, 75% of the attendees respond, "more likely." With all of the information about clinical research that is available online, what the public wants most can be difficult to find. In a CISCRP survey of more than 4,500 online registry users, the public explained that they are not concerned about the volume and sophistication of clinical trials data they can find online. Instead, users want easy‐to‐process trial summaries that help them find trials in convenient geographic locations as well as contact information for those trials. These eye‐opening findings prompted the development of CISCRP9s free public service, www.SearchClinicalTrials.org (SCT). Launched in November 2006, this online tool uses sophisticated technologies to scan the web and compile clinical trial listings and results in one location. But when the online search is too difficult, the public is urged to call CISCRP. Their search request is fulfilled via mail or email and includes an educational brochure as well as contact information for research site staff who can help them decide if the trial is right for them. Education and outreach are the keys to increasing trust and understanding. Working together across the industry ‐ healthcare, patient advocacy, government, and research professionals ‐can provide the public with educational resources and shift the public9s mindset from confusion and concern to recognition and appreciation. From CISCRP9s point of view, it9s time to say "Thank You" to the millions of people globally who give the gift of participation each year and to stay committed to educating, informing and empowering the public about what it means to be an active participant in the clinical research process. That is the key to effective recruitment for cancer prevention research. Citation Information: Cancer Prev Res 2010;3(1 Suppl):ED06-02.


Abstract. Coastal locations are highly influenced by input from freshwater river runoff, including sources of terrestrial carbon, which can be expected to modify the 14C reservoir age, or R (t), associated with marine water. In this Baltic Sea case study, pre-bomb museum collection mollusc shells of known calendar age, from 30 locations across a strategic salinity transect of the Baltic Sea, were analysed for 14C, δ13C and δ18O. R (t) was calculated for all 30 locations. Seven locations, of which six are within close proximity of the coast, were found to have relatively higher R (t) values, indicative of hard-water effects. Whenever possible, the Macoma genus of mollusc was selected from the museum collections, in order to exclude species specific reservoir age effects as much as possible. When the Macoma samples are exclusively considered, and samples from hard-water locations excluded, a statistically significant correlation between Macoma R (t) and average salinity is found, indicating a two end-member linear mixing model between 14Cmarine and 14Crunoff. A map of Baltic Sea Macoma aragonite R (t) for the late 19th and early 20th centuries is produced. Such a map can provide an estimate for contemporary Baltic Sea Macoma R (t), although one must exercise caution when applying such estimates back in time or to 14C dates obtained from different sample material. A statistically significant correlation is found between δ18Oaragonite and Macoma R (t), suggesting that δ18Oaragonite can be used to estimate Macoma palaeo-R (t), due to the δ18Oaragonite signal being dominated by the salinity gradient of the Baltic Sea. A slightly increased correlation can be expected when δ18Oaragonite is corrected for temperature fractionation effects. The results of this Baltic Sea case study, which show that R (t) is affected by hydrographic conditions and local carbon inputs, have important consequences for other coastal and estuarine locations, where R (t) is also likely to significantly vary on spatial and temporal bases.


The financial behavior of corporations has changed greatly in the last ten years. Previously most of the cash that stockholders received from corporations took the form of dividends, and economists' models that have dividends as the ultimate determinant of equity values were not far off the mark. This paper documents how much things have changed. There are strong tax incentives for nondividend cash payments between corporations and shareholders. These payments can take the form of a repurchase by the company of its own shares, or the acquisition of the shares in another company. There has been tremendous growth in the magnitude of nondividend cash payments. In the early 1970s these payments amounted to roughly 15 percent of dividends. By 1984, they exceeded dividends, and in 1985 the amounted to $120 billion, or almost 50 percent more than total dividends in the economy. The paper shows that dividends per unit equity have not fallen. Rather, the acquisition of equity has allowed firms to retain relatively constant debt equity ratios in the past five years despite strong equity markets. Firms have chosen to absorb equity and issue debt, roughly holding leverage constant, and have thus saved large amounts of taxes. The paper estimates that the cost to the Treasury of treating share purchase payments differently than dividends was more than $25 billion in 1985. It also finds that future corporate tax collections are significantly reduced by the resulting decline in corporate equity. The paper suggests that the existing model of dividend driven equity valuation must be discarded. It simply is not consistent with the facts. Further research on the form of payments between firms and their shareholders is clearly merited.


Sustainable Development is invariably epitomised by economy, environment and society represented as three equal sized rings in symmetrical interconnection. This assumes a separation, even autonomy, and detracts from the fundamental connections. Much debate is now centred on how to integrate these sectors, rather than seeking trade-offs between them. Up to the 20th Century, public squares, offered clear examples of this integration as they are representative of the values of the society that created them. There are numerous examples from different time periods in a variety of cultures. In the second half of the 20th Century, British cities experienced increasing competition for space, which partly led to domination by market economies. As city centres became commodities, more devices were employed to attract consumers. One of the most significant was the indoor shopping centre. As malls were constructed over city streets, increasingly public space became privatised. The public sector is now experiencing substantial decline and the balanced model of economy, environment and society has been grossly distorted. Social capital may be a means of regaining equilibrium. This paper will demonstrate the significance of squares in sustaining vibrant communities; and consider mechanisms for their re-introduction as a means of contributing to the integration of economy, environment and society.


In twin-roll thin strip casting, the temperature of casting roll affects the roll thermal stress, and influences the thermal deformation, the generation of roll surface cracks, the strip shape and the service life of casting roll. In this paper, the features of the casting roll materials have been analysed, the effects of the clad materials and thickness on temperature field of the casting roll have been simulated and discussed. The developed temperature model of casting roll is helpful in optimising processing parameters and the design of casting roll during twin-roll thin strip casting.


ABSTRACT Ribeiro, A.S.; Sousa, M. C.; Lencart e Silva, J. D., and Dias, J.M., 2016. David and Goliath Revisited: Joint Modelling of the Tagus and Sado Estuaries. Proceedings of the 14th International Coastal Symposium (Sydney, Australia). Journal of Coastal Research, Special Issue, No. 75, pp. 123-127. Coconut Creek (Florida), ISSN 0749-0208. The Tagus and Sado estuaries discharge in the same coastal region into the Portuguese continental shelf. Several studies focus on the investigation of the complex circulation at the mouth of Tagus or Sado estuaries, however, the interaction between these two systems was never taken into account and were not performed previous studies dedicated to this topic. To study this important issue, numerical modelling is an important tool that allows researching the interaction between plumes under different conditions. Thus, it was developed an implementation of the three-dimensional model Delft3D-Flow integrating Tagus and Sado estuaries and adjacent shelf to investigate the complex interaction between flows. The numerical model was calibrated using sea surface height, salinity and water temperature data, and then applied to research the role of river discharge and wind effects on the plumes interaction. To examine the response of the estuarine plumes to different wind directions, four scenarios of moderate winds were considered blowing from each of the main four compass points. Two markedly different realistic scenarios were chosen: moderate and high Tagus and Sado River discharges. Independently of rivers discharges, the results revealed an intrusion of the Sado plume in Tagus estuary. This intrusion occurred in the bottom layers in all scenarios due to the ambient coastal current, even when the river discharges decreases. The reverse pattern was not observed, demonstrating an unexpected impact of the smaller estuary on the larger.


Background: Adverse developmental experiences influence the development of emotion regulation (ER) strategies; and ER strategies are associated with individual differences in mental health. This study's sought to determine if: (1) sex, age, peer-rejection, parental supervision, childhood adversities, and attachment styles were associated with adaptive and maladaptive ER strategies; and (2) ER strategies were significantly associated with anxiety/depression symptoms and psychological wellbeing, respectively, after controlling for sex, age, and adverse developmental experiences.

Methods: A non-probability convenience sample was used including participants from a forum for victims of childhood abuse (N = 235). Self-report measures were employed and data were analyzed using standard and hierarchical multiple regression analyses. Findings: In the case of objective 1, the standard multiple regression models explained 11% and 32% of variance in cognitive reappraisal (adaptive ER) and expressive suppression (maladaptive ER), respectively. Peer-rejection and anxious attachment were negatively associated with cognitive reappraisal; and secure attachment was negatively associated with expressive suppression. In the case of objective 2, hierarchical multiple regression results found that ER strategies significantly contributed to the explanation of anxiety/depression symptoms and psychological wellbeing scores, after controlling for demographic and developmental factors. Cognitive reappraisal, but not expressive suppression, was associated with positive and negative psychological health.

Discussion: Attachment styles and peer-rejection are particularly important correlates of adaptive and maladaptive ER strategies. Furthermore, ER evidenced incremental validity in the prediction of mental health status. Clinical interventions seeking to improve mental health should pay particular attention to cognitive appraisal.


variety of sensory receptors scattered throughout the body can become activated by exteroceptive, interoceptive, or proprioceptive input. Exteroceptive input relays sensory information about the body's interaction with the external environment. Interoceptive input relays information about the body's internal state, whereas proprioceptive input conveys information about position sense from the body and its component parts. Each receptor is specialized to detect mechanical, chemical, nociceptive (L. nocere, " to injure, " " painful "), or thermal stimuli. Activation of a sensory receptor is converted into nerve impulses and this sensory input is then conveyed via the fibers of the cranial or spinal nerves to their respective relay nuclei in the central nervous system (CNS). The sensory information is then further processed as it progresses, via the ascending sensory systems (pathways), to the cerebral cortex or to the cerebellum. Sensory information is also relayed to other parts of the CNS where it may function to elicit a reflex response, or may be integrated into pattern-generating circuitry. The ascending sensory pathways are classified according to the functional components (modalities) they carry as well as by their anatomical localization. The two functional categories are the general somatic afferent (GSA) system, which transmits sensory information such as touch, pressure, vibration , pain, temperature, stretch, and position sense from somatic structures; and the general visceral afferent (GVA) system, which transmits sensory information such as pressure, pain, and other visceral sensation from visceral structures. ·· A 60-year-old woman complains of falls, imbalance, and numbness and tingling in her hands and legs. There is also some incoordination of hand use and she has difficulty manipulating small items such as buttons. She is unable to play the piano now since she cannot position her fingers correctly on the piano keys. She thinks the strength in her arms and legs is adequate. Symptoms started with very slight tingling sensations , which she noticed about 5 years ago. The falls and difficulty walking have been present for about 2 months. Higher order cognitive functions are intact according to her husband. Her vision is normal. On examination, the patient shows normal mental status. Strength seems essentially normal throughout. Sensation, particularly to vibration and joint position , is severely diminished in the distal upper and lower limbs (arms, legs, hands, and feet). Tendon reflexes are normal in the arms, but somewhat brisk in the legs at the knees and ankles. Gait is moderately ataxic …


Some search topics pose little challenge to a search system ("easy"), and some are more difficult ("hard"). We investigated the relationship between one measure of searcher behavior (queries entered per minute), and one measure of system response (the average length of the lists returned) for topics at two levels of difficulty. Specifically, each of 36 participants searched for information about 12 topics: 2 that were "easy" and 10 that were "hard". We find that when working on easy topics, searchers entered queries less frequently over the course of the search. We also find that lists of retrieved items, as returned by the system, were longer on average for easy topics. We propose that these findings may be useful in designing interactive search systems capable of "awareness" of search difficulty.


A new home network control protocol is proposed to resolve the problem of automatic generation of the interface of plug-and-play devices. Based on the protocol, the technologies of the automatic generation of control interface, the process of interaction, and the mechanism of safety communication are defined. Plug and play and control interface automatic generation of device is implemented in a simulating home network, result shows that the proposed protocol is available.


Introduction: Leptin, generated by the obesity gene, acts as an anti-obesity hormone that plays a key role in regulating weight. We aimed to investigate the effects of eight weeks of selected aerobic training on serum leptin levels, anthropometric indices and maximal oxygen consumption (VO2max) in obese men. Methods: Twenty healthy elderly men were selected by convenience sampling method and were randomly assigned to control (n = 10) and experimental (n = 10) groups. The program training included 45 minutes per session, three times per week for eight weeks of participation in aerobic exercise classes with 55-60% HRR. Pre- and post-aerobic exercise, serum leptin levels, anthropometric indices and VO2max were evaluated. To make intra and intergroup comparisons, t-test for dependent and independent samples were used. For all statistical comparisons, the level of significance was set at P > 0.05. Results: Eight weeks of aerobic exercise led to a significant increase of Vo2max (P = 0.01). The amount of leptin (P = 0.007), weight (P = 0.002), BMI (P = 0.003), body fat percentage (P = 0.002) and WHR (P = 0.013) in sedentary obese men in the experimental group significantly reduced. The variations of weight, BMI, BFP, WHR and Vo2max in the two groups had differences. Conclusions: The results of this study showed that the selected aerobic training had a favorable influence on improvement of serum leptin levels and VO2max in obese men.


OBJECTIVEThis study assesses the safety, effectiveness, and practicality of endovascular therapy for ischemic stroke within the first 3 hours of symptom onset. METHODSA retrospective chart review (January 2000–July 2008) was performed of 94 consecutive patients who had endovascular therapy within 3 hours after acute ischemic stroke onset. Endovascular therapy was administered in patients in whom intravenous (IV) thrombolysis failed or was contraindicated. Outcome measures analyzed were recanalization rate, intracranial hemorrhage (ICH) rate, procedural complications, modified Rankin Scale score, National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale (NIHSS) score, and mortality rate. RESULTSThe study included 41 male and 53 female patients with a mean age of 68 years (age range, 13–98 years). The mean NIHSS score at the time of admission was 14.7. Eight-three patients had anterior circulation ischemic events, and 11 had posterior circulation ischemic events. The cause was determined to be arterioembolic in 21 patients (22%), cardioembolic in 45 (48%), arterial dissection in 2, left-to-right cardiac shunt in 1, and unknown in 25 (27%). Endovascular interventions included intra-arterial (IA) pharmacological thrombolysis (n = 44), mechanical thrombolysis (Merci Retrieval System, intracranial or extracranial stent, microwire) (n = 79), and intracranial or extracranial angioplasty (n = 32) in various combinations. The mean time from stroke onset to angiogram was 72 minutes. Thirteen patients received a half dose (n = 8) or full dose (n = 5) of IV thrombolysis (tissue plasminogen activator [tPA]) in conjunction with endovascular therapy. Twenty-two patients received IA or IV adjunctive glycoprotein IIb/IIIa inhibitor (eptifibatide). Partial-to-complete recanalization (Thrombolysis in Myocardial Infarction scale score of 2 or 3) was achieved in 62 of 89 of patients (70%) presenting with significant occlusion (Thrombolysis in Myocardial Infarction scale score of 0 or 1). Postprocedure symptomatic ICH occurred in 5 patients (5.3%), which was purely subarachnoid hemorrhage in 3 patients. Of these, 2 received IA tPA in conjunction with Merci Retrieval System passes; the others each received IA tPA, mechanical thrombectomy (guidewire), or extracranial angioplasty. The total mortality rate including procedural mortality, progression of disease, and other comorbidities was 26.6%. Sixteen patients (17%) were discharged home, 49 (52%) to rehabilitation, and 4 (4%) to long-term care facilities. Overall, 36.7% had a modified Rankin Scale score of 2 or less at discharge. The mean NIHSS score at discharge was 6.5, representing an overall 8-point improvement on the NIHSS. CONCLUSIONEndovascular therapy within the first 3 hours of stroke symptom onset in patients in whom IV tPA therapy is contraindicated or fails is safe, effective, and practical. The risk of symptomatic ICH is low and should be viewed relative to the poor prognosis in this group of patients.


This study inspired by a hermeneutic premise, aims to explore the role of the modern Yoga teacher and the pedagogy employed by individuals who teach Yoga. Yoga is here acknowledged as a vast concept; this paper regards the Ashtanga as composed by Shri Patanjali in 400B.C. as a possible definition of Yoga. Yoga has developed into a globalized industry, with an estimated 100,000 people holding certificates as Yoga teacher, segmented into small, privately owned and run businesses and studios, and while there are forces working towards creating corporate-based structures, no regulatory boards or standards for practice or set professional codes of conduct for Yoga teachers currently exist. Qualitative interviews were conducted with ten individuals, all currently working in some capacity as Yoga teachers. The informants represent a wide range of nationalities; with different backgrounds and relationship to their teaching. Not all informants teach Asana [poses] and generally considered Yoga a spiritual practice, albeit with a physical component. The responsibilities of a Yoga teacher were considered to include the cultivation of a healthy ego, knowledge of traditions and scriptures, and keeping authentic to the practice. The increased objectification of Yoga as a commercialized product made for consumption can create expectation on the Yoga teacher, both in respect to physical appearance and teaching methods. The teachers described their different pedagogical philosophies and teaching methods, resulting in a discussion of the hierarchal changes in power structures as teachers become subordinate to the expectation of the student, as a paying customer with expectations. A possible conclusion is that the commercialization of Yoga is the result of a reappropriation of Eastern mysticism and capitalisation of Western desire for spirituality and physical wellbeing.


The tidal fronts of Haro Strait, British Columbia, are associated with currents in excess of 3 kn, with significant horizontal stratification, leading to significant frontal turbulence and upwelling. Volumetric mapping of these fronts using traditional oceanographic sampling techniques is virtually impossible due to the spatial and temporal aliasing produced by the extremely dynamic oceanography. The concept of acoustically focused oceanographic sampling (AFOS) was developed to overcome this problem. AFOS combines the autonomous oceanographic sampling network (AOSN) [Curtin etal ., Oceanography 6(3) (1993)] with acoustic tomography. The network nodes used for communication with and navigation of AUVs is equipped with vertical arrays and tomography sources. In addition an AUV carries a source for adaptive, moving source tomography. The array data are transmitted to shore via a wireless local‐area network and processed in real time for estimation of current distribution and frontal geometry. The results are...


Original Articles are accepted by the Editors of this Journal on the condition that they have not previously been published elsewhere. Twenty-five reprints are alloived each author. If more are required it is requested that this be stated when the article is first forwarded to this Journal. Such extra reprints will be charged to the author. The Editors are not responsible for opinions expressed in original Articles or Abstracts in this Journal. Editorial Communications are to be addressed to "Editors of JOURNAL OF LARYNGOLOGY, care of Rebman Publishing Company, Limited, 11, Adam Street, Strand, London, W.C."


The state of reinsurance contract law as unregulated has continued to this day. One of the reasons for reluctance in adopting particular legislation for reinsurance contracts lies in the fact that it is a legal job between professionals − two legal entities who have adequate professional knowledge and who do not need a specifi c legal framework to regulate their legal relationship. However, aft er the outbreak of the World Financial Crisis at the end of 2007, it became apparent that the fi nancial sector had to submit to stricter rules on risk management and providing suffi cient capital to cover them, unless possibleotherwise. In this regard, an initiative for formulation of the appropriate reinsurance contract law at supranational level was launched in 2015. Th e fi rst version of the Principle of Contract Reinsurance Law published in November 2019 is the subject of attention in this paper. In this paper, the authors investigate the content and eff ect of the provisions of these Rules, but do not analyze in more detail relevant provisions of the Rules of International Trade Agreements of the International Institute for the Unifi cation of Private Law of 2016, which apply supplementary to the reinsurance contract law. In this research, the authors primarily considered the aforementioned solutions and their eff ect on the rights and obligations of the reinsurer and the reinsured, with reference to the views of legal reinsurance theory.


Background: - Researchers have provided evidence that managers mislead stakeholders with organizational façades in the non-financial reports. However, few, if any, studies have studied if the reported information in financial reports is used in the same way. Purpose: - The purpose of this study is to investigate if managers use earnings management as a façade or organized hypocrisy. Method: - This study uses panel data analysis to test if managers use discretionary accruals earnings management to report inconsistent earnings in the years adjacent to the IPO. The authors selected 44 companies that performed an IPO between 2009 and 2017. Conclusion: - Using a sample of 330 firm-year observations, the authors find a negative correlation between the year of the IPO and discretionary accruals earnings management. In contrast to previous research, the discretionary accruals did not offer a significant difference from the average. The findings offer similarities to both the decision, the action and the talk criteria discussed in organizational façade literature. test are The values from the VIF test and the tolerance values shows and tolerance level


Scientific editing by Alex Maltman.

J. C. W. Cope writes: The paper by Watts et al. contains interesting ideas on landscape evolution, but by concentrating their observations locally, and by overestimating post-Anglian erosion, they may have lost sight of more widespread effects that could have been major contributors to the features they describe, and thus their causative mechanisms may need re-examination.

⇓Cope (1994) suggested that uplift centred in the Irish Sea explained the loss of >2 km of Mesozoic cover there, explaining apatite fission track analyses from the eastern Irish Sea and northwestern England. The southeasterly regional dip of the Mesozoic outcrop of the English Midlands could be attributed to this uplift; although a mantle plume was suggested as the cause, the same effect could be attributed to mantle underplating. Substantial igneous activity is known around the Irish Sea region before the earliest Antrim basalts. The Fleetwood dyke, in the Eastern Irish Sea is dated at 65.5 Ma (⇓Arter & Fagin 1993) and similar ages are known from dykes in North Wales (⇓Evans et al. 1973). Pre-basalt dykes exist in Northern Ireland whence ⇓Simms (2000) records dykes cutting Chalk and truncated by the basal Palaeogene lavas. ⇓Cope's (1994) reconstruction of the missing Mesozoic cover of the area from the Cheshire Basin southwards led him to suggest that the resultant average gradient imparted over the Midlands from the Cheshire Basin to the Chiltern scarp was 1: 87.5. What was incorrectly calculated from this figure by ⇓Cope (1994) was the angle of dip represented by that figure, which is 0.7° and not 2°. The former is close to that recorded by Watts et al. for the area of Oxfordshire they considered and this suggests that they may have overestimated the uplift caused by lithospheric flexuring.

There may be …


A PEDAGOGIC INFORMATION SYSTEM (APIS) IN A WEB-BASED STATISTICS CLASSROOM Socrates G. Boussios This study investigated the potential application of web-based pedagogy for teachers of elementary statistics, using A Pedagogical Information System (APIS), in order to explore ways in which teachers can enhance instruction via technology in the classroom. This information system would provide new opportunities for practical teacher education, given that the literature on statistics pedagogy and web-based teaching and learning is sparse. The purpose of the study was to examine issues of efficacy, efficiency, and effectiveness of the use of Internet websites in the instruction of introductory statistics at the college level. The design of the study was qualitative and used a phenomenological interpretive method. The participants in this study were four instructors of introductory statistics courses at the undergraduate level of higher education in a northeastern state in the United States. They were interviewed individually for approximately 60 minutes in a semi-structured format in which they discussed their experiences and perceptions about using Internet sources for instruction of students in Introductory Statistics. The results of the study indicated that teachers welcomed incorporating technology into their classrooms. Participants found that having students with different learning styles, allocating time to deal with details, and having difficulty managing the interplay between topics as being key problems that could arise in the organization of a web-based introduction to an elementary statistics course. Although all participants agreed that there is a lack of uniformity among statistical topics, most wanted to emphasize descriptive statistics, distributions, probability, inference, confidence intervals, and regression. They acknowledged that web-based learning would radically alter student and teacher roles, so that the teacher would become a mentor and students would become active learners. Instruction would be geared more to practical applications than to theory. Instructors would have to make decisions about how much webbased information they would use and would have to become knowledgeable about web content.


BACKGROUND
The problem of the assessment of noise annoyance in the workplace has long been a topic of discussion. Several studies led to the definition of a set of descriptors suitable to describe noise in the workplace and its effects in terms of annoyance of the subjects exposed.

OBJECTIVES
The aim of the study was to analyse the performance of different indices in terms of correlation with subjective sensation, taking into account those indices which combine both the intensity and the spectral quality of noise.

METHOD
A noise survey was carried out in ten ofice buildings, covering 85 rooms. Objective measurements of environmental noise were made together with subjective evaluations collected through questionnaires. Subjective ratings were then averaged and correlated with objective parameters. Linear regression analyses were performed in order to assess the reliability of objective noise indices.

RESULTS
The most important sources of noise were face-to-face and telephone conversations. All spectra had excess high frequency content. Regression analysis showed that under these conditions most noise indics provide a reliable prediction of subjective annoyance. However, the best performing parameter was the A-weighted equivalent sound pressure level followed by the Combined Noise Index which combines noise intensity and its spectral quality.


Because so little is known about the pathogenesis of recurrent bacterial vaginosis (BV), a longitudinal microbiological study was conducted on 13 women with recurrent BV treated sequentially with conventional metronidazole therapy. A rapid clinical response characterized by disappearance of mal odor and an improvement in vaginal discharge occurred in 92% of 31 clinical episodes of BV, with patients no longer satisfying the composite clinical criteria for the diagnosis of BV. However, prospective evaluation of these asymptomatic women revealed profound residual biochemical and microbial abnormalities which were best evident on Gram stain and wet mount examination of vaginal secretions. Other common residual abnormalities included mild persistent elevation of vaginal pH and polyamine and fatty acid levels and the presence of clue cells in small numbers. Residual abnormalities could be quantified to create an overall symptom code which predicted recurrence, and it was found that the severity of residual abnormalities was inversely related to the time required until the next recurrence occurred. The severity and prevalence of residual abnormalities following clinically successful therapy support the concept that BV recurrence, especially when it is early, represents a relapse rather than a reinfection. This concept may have important therapeutic implications.


The present paper introduces an up-to-date methodology to detect Early Warning Signals of critical transitions, that manifest when distress stages in financial markets are about to take place. As a first step, we demonstrate that a high-dimensional dynamical system can be formulated in a simpler form but in an abstract phase space. Then we detect its approaching towards a critical transition by means of a set of observable variables that exhibit some particular statistical features. We name these variables the Leading Temporal Module. The impactful change in the properties of this group reflects the transition of the system from a normal to a distress state. Starting from these observations we develop an early warning indicator for determining the proximity of a financial crisis. The proposed measure is model free and the application to three different stock markets, together with the comparison with alternative systemic risk measures, highlights the usefulness in signaling upcoming distress phases. Computational results establish that the methodology we propose is effective and it may constitute a relevant decision support mechanism for macro prudential policies.


The Code of Federal Regulation (CFR) Title 49 lists substances that are classified as hazardous materials and limits their transportation in commerce. Although some of these materials-mainly fuels are regulated, their newly developed storage devices, such as cartridges in portable fuel cell devices are not. As such, require the approval of the U.S. government through U.S. Department of Transportation, other nations and various International agencies before they can be transported in commerce across state boundaries. Various nations and international organizations typically apply their regulations for transportation of hazardous materials in mass transportation systems. This paper addresses current regulatory Framework by air, land, water and rail and suggests means for obtaining various governmental approvals.


OBJECTIVE
To determine the prevalence of recognized and unrecognized health concerns and risks in an elderly population.

DESIGN
Questionnaire survey.

SETTING
Institutional primary care practice in a small southern Ontario city.

PATIENTS
Volunteer sample of all patients older than 65 years (N = 1385) who were registered with the practice; were not demented, unstable, or residing in institutions at the time of contact; consented to participate; and completed a questionnaire (n = 674).

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES
Self-reported health concerns and health risks, including compliance with periodic health examinations; patient-generated concerns; and medical, lifestyle, and psychosocial issues.

RESULTS
Most (92%) patients had at least one health concern or risk; 83% of these had one or more unreported or unrecognized health concerns or risks. The proportion with at least one concern or risk did not differ by sex or by age group. Many but not all complied with periodic health examinations. Loneliness was a meaningful psychosocial problem. Many patients had unreported medical concerns; the proportion rose slightly with age. Seniors with more concerns visited more frequently.

CONCLUSIONS
Although most seniors had health concerns or risks, on average, each patient had only one or two concerns. These concerns are not concentrated in any particular area. Although non-attenders have fewer concerns, many have risk factors for diseases likely to progress without preventive measures, such as influenza vaccine and screening procedures for hypertension and breast, cervical, and prostate cancer.


Distributed constraint optimization problems can be solved by BnB-ADOPT+, a distributed asynchronous search algorithm. In the centralized case, local consistency techniques applied to constraint optimization have been shown very beneficial to increase performance. In this paper, we combine BnB-ADOPT+ with different levels of soft arc consistency, propagating unconditional deletions caused by either the enforced local consistency or by distributed search. The new algorithm maintains BnB-ADOPT+ optimality and termination. In practice, this approach decreases substantially BnB-ADOPT+ requirements in communication cost and computation effort when solving commonly used benchmarks.


State-of-the-art electronic health record systems with advanced clinical decision support (CDS) capabilities can fundamentally improve quality and reduce costs of health care.1,2 However, these outcomes have not been universally achieved.3,4 As the study by Fiks et al5 in this issue of Pediatrics demonstrates, providing CDS in the form of "alerts" to encourage desired health care activities may not be sufficient to make a substantial impact.6 Maximizing the potential of CDS for improving quality and safety of care requires attention to several factors, not all of which are related to the computer system.7

The goal for the study by Fiks et al was to increase vaccination rates in asthmatic children, so in examining the results one must first consider what caused the low vaccination rate in their population. Several factors could account for the low initial vaccination rates and, hence, could explain the minimal improvements with alerting. Without knowledge about these factors, it may be too much to expect alerts alone to fix the problem. Alerts are helpful when an unusual occurrence must come to a physician's attention or when a necessary process might be overlooked in a busy encounter. When other underlying problems lead to low vaccination rates, such as poor patient acceptance, difference of opinion about vaccinating patients late in the season, or low priority of vaccination when a patient has an acute problem, they must be addressed before the alert can be successful. Indeed, studies of influenza vaccination reminders in adults have had varying results, and in some cases these results were directly attributable to such noncomputable factors.8,9 It would have been enlightening if the decision support used in this study also captured the reasons for failure of the providers to act on the alert by having them select or enter a reason for nonvaccination.10

In addition, one should also consider whether presentation of the vaccination alert as soon as the patient encounter was opened within the electronic health record was the best CDS intervention to achieve the desired objectives, compared with other intervention types such as facesheet displays, order sets, patient education handouts, and end-of-visit forms. In a guide to CDS implementation that we published in 2005,11 we suggested that different types of CDS presentation, applied at different parts of the visit workflow, can have very different effects depending on what it is that one is trying to encourage the physician to do. Moreover, communication through group academic detailing(used in this study) may not be the best strategy to educate and change the behavior of clinicians regarding the concepts behind clinical alerts.12,13

To achieve a specific clinical objective by using a CDS intervention, one must consider whether the communication and acceptance groundwork has been laid to maximize the intervention's impact, and also consider what type of CDS, applied when in the encounter, is likely to have the greatest impact.14 From the aforementioned CDS guidebooks11,14 and other published reviews of CDS effectiveness factors,15,16 we support the following list of questions to consider before the implementation of any real-time, point-of-care CDS intervention designed to interrupt clinicians during their work.

Communication and acceptance:

1. Has the clinical rule or concept that will be promoted by the intervention been well communicated to the medical staff in advance?

2. Does the intervention, if accepted, change the overall plan of care, or is it intended to cause a limited, corrective action (such as preventing an allergic reaction to a drug)?

3. Are the data used to trigger the alert likely to be accurate and reliable, and are they a reliable indicator for the condition you are trying to change?

4. What is the likelihood that the person receiving the alert will actually change his or her patient management as a result of the alert?

5. Is the patient likely to agree that the recommended actions are beneficial?

Intervention technique:

6. Is an alert the right type of intervention for the clinical objective, and is it presented at the right time?

7. Is the intervention presented to the right person?

8. Is the alert presented clearly, and with enough supporting information, so that the clinician feels confident in taking the recommended action immediately?

9. Does the intervention slow down the workflow?

10. Is the overall alert burden excessive ("alert fatigue")? Were the study providers receiving other types of alerts at the same time?

11. Is the clinical information system, including the use of CDS (eg, the alerts), well-liked and supported by clinicians in general?

Monitoring:

12. Is there a way to monitor the response to the alert on an ongoing basis?

Real-time, point-of-care CDS interventions can be highly effective if the right intervention for the desired clinical objective is used, if the recommendation has been accepted clinically by the physician and patient, if the alert is accurate and clearly understood, if it is presented at a point in the encounter at which the physician can confidently take action on it, and if it makes it easy for the physician to take such action without prolonging or confusing the workflow.

Improving clinical quality objectives through CDS, such as increasing influenza vaccination rates, can be substantially improved by using a systems perspective to address aspects of communication, medical acceptance, clinical workflow, choice of computerized display, and ongoing monitoring. Taken together such extensive interventions can lead to better health outcomes for our patients.


A shape evolution approach based on the thermally activated self‐organization of 3D printed parts into minimal surface area structures is presented. With this strategy, the present communication opposes currently established additive manufacturing strategies aiming to stipulate each individual volumetric element (voxel) of a part. Instead, a 3D structure is roughly defined in a 3D printing process, with all its advantages, and an externally triggered self‐organization allows the formation of structural elements with a definition greatly exceeding the volumetric resolution of the printing process. For enabling the self‐organization of printed objects by viscous flow of material, functionally graded structures are printed as rigid frame and melting filler. This approach uniquely combines the freedom in design, provided by 3D printing, with the mathematical formulation of minimal surface structures and the knowledge of the physical potentials governing self‐organization, to overcome the paradigm which strictly correlates the geometrical definition of 3D printed parts to the volumetric resolution of the printing process. Moreover, a transient liquid phase allows local programming of functionalities, such as the alignment of functional particles, by means of electric or magnetic fields.


This chapter examines how European Union policies are made. Most EU legislation is now adopted according to the Ordinary Legislative Procedure, under which the Council and the European Parliament have equal powers. The basic policy-making rules laid down in the Treaties have been supplemented over the years by formal agreements and informal understandings between the main actors in the decision-making institutions. EU policy-making is open to criticism on grounds of democracy, transparency, and efficiency, but it continues to deliver an impressive amount and array of policy outcomes. The chapter considers the basic rules and principal actors involved in EU policy-making and how the policy-making process works in practice. It also asks whether the EU policy-making process is democratic, transparent, and efficient, before concluding with an assessment of the theory and practice underlying the process.


The o-nitrobenzylidene acetoacetic esters 1 dimerize in the presence of BuLi or LDA to give the cyclohexenes 2 in poor yield. Two diastereomer of 2b were isolated, whose configuration is deduced by nmr-spectroscopic methods.


This paper explores online learning approaches for detecting malicious Web sites (those involved in criminal scams) using lexical and host-based features of the associated URLs. We show that this application is particularly appropriate for online algorithms as the size of the training data is larger than can be efficiently processed in batch and because the distribution of features that typify malicious URLs is changing continuously. Using a real-time system we developed for gathering URL features, combined with a real-time source of labeled URLs from a large Web mail provider, we demonstrate that recently-developed online algorithms can be as accurate as batch techniques, achieving classification accuracies up to 99% over a balanced data set.


In this paper, short-carbon-fibers (Csf) reinforced Ti3SiC2 matrix composites (Csf/Ti3SiC2, the Csf content was 0, 2, 5 and 10 vol.%) were fabricated by spark-plasma-sintering (SPS) using Ti3SiC2 powders and Csf as starting materials at 1300 oC. The effects of Csf addition on the phase compositions, microstructures and mechanical properties (including hardness, flexural strength and fracture toughness) of Csf/Ti3SiC2 composites were investigated. The Csf, with a bi-layered transition layers, i.e. TiC and SiC layer, were homogeneously distributed in the as-prepared Csf/Ti3SiC2 composites. With the increase of Csf content, the fracture toughness of Csf/Ti3SiC2 composites increased, but the flexural strength decreased, while the Vickers hardness decreased initially then increased steadily when the Csf content was higher than 2 vol.%. These changed performances could be attributed to the introduction of Csf and the formation of much stronger interfacial phases.


Older people are an increasing section of the UK population as part of what has been described as a global ageing phenomenon. It is projected that by the year 2021, 12.3 million people in the UK will be over pensionable age. It is suggested that the decentralisation of many food retailers to edge-of-town and out-of-town locations has resulted in some older people experiencing difficulty in accessing food shops. Older people who experience the greatest difficulties in food shopping are considered to be at the greatest nutritional risk. Varied diets are generally considered to be associated with increased nutrient intake and healthier diets. The present study examined how older people residing in Guildford accessed food shops. The study considered the extent to which the availability of food shops, the stores older people use and their attitudes with regard to diet and health may influence their dietary variety. Shopping behaviour and dietary variety were investigated using focus groups, a face-to-face questionnaire and a food frequency questionnaire (FFQ). A dietary variety score system, developed from the FFQ, is employed in this study. Attitudes with regard to healthy eating were measured using questions based on the Theory of Planned Behaviour. Neither access to food shops nor store choice was found to have an influence on dietary variety. Store choice was primarily influenced by respondents' ability to reach food stores, namely in terms of the method of transport available and their perceived ease of access to the store Respondents reported shopping more frequently or relying on friends or relatives, in order to maintain their independence and reach food shops. Attitudes to diet and health were found to influence dietary variety. Findings suggest that older people in Guildford employ coping strategies as a means of reaching food shops, obtaining food and maintaining independence and social inclusion.


Plant growth‐promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR) can enhance plant growth and defence. Via plant‐mediated effects, PGPR have been reported to impact the performance of generalist leaf‐chewing insects either negatively or positively. However, only a few insect species, mainly feeding on aboveground tissues, have thus far been investigated. Here, we investigated how addition of rhizobacteria to the soil in which cabbage plants are growing affects the performance of three chewing insect herbivores, two leaf chewers and one root feeder. In a greenhouse experiment, we grew white cabbage (Brassica oleracea) plants in soil supplemented with and without the rhizobacterium Pseudomonas simiae WCS417r. We investigated the consequences for three important insect pests of Brassica species, larvae of the cabbage moth Mamestra brassicae, the diamondback moth Plutella xylostella, or the cabbage root fly Delia radicum after 5 weeks of plant growth. We recorded aboveground plant biomass, insect biomass, plant defence marker gene expression levels and plant defence‐related hormone concentrations. Rhizobacterial inoculation increased aboveground plant biomass in non‐infested plants but not in infested plants. Rhizobacterial inoculation affected insect performance differently: on PGPR‐inoculated plants biomass of Plutella xylostella was lower, while biomass of Delia radicum was higher than on control plants. However, no effect was found on Mamestra brassicae biomass. Rhizobacterial inoculation increased the expression of the defence marker gene LOX2 in P. xylostella‐infested plants and MYC2 in M. brassicae‐infested plants. Transcription levels of the plant defence marker gene PAL1 showed upregulation between inoculated and non‐inoculated insect‐free plants. Levels of the phytohormones jasmonic acid, salicylic acid and abscisic acid were similar in inoculated and non‐inoculated plants. We conclude that rhizobacterial inoculation has potential to be applied in the protection of cabbage crops against the diamondback moth whereas this does not apply to reducing damage caused by the cabbage moth or cabbage root fly.


Mental health disorders are becoming more prevalent in the society. Any mental health alteration causes a severe impact in the people quality of life. So, their treatment has achieved great importance. Initiatives are needed to discern not just which treatment is effective, but in which conditions and for whom and, if possible, achieve it in the shortest time. Once the efficacy is established, further step must be taken to establish the effectiveness. After that, the third step to consider would be the efficiency.The current thesis has a double objective. Firts, it attempts to verify whether the Empirically Supported Treatment ETS can prove effectiveness in the applied field, especially in the anxiety disorders. Second, it is hoped that the present work serves to the dissemination of knowledge among psychologists.The current research gathers the results of four articles. The sample was form with the patients that had sought care in the Clinical Psychology Unit of the UCM, being a total of 122, and patients of the University Psychology Clinic of the UCM who demanded treatment for Social Phobia N igual a71 and Panic Disorder with Agoraphobia N igual a50. Patients profile was of a woman, young, single and with university studies.The independent variable was the administration of EST for each disorder. The dependent variables were divided into sociodemographic, clinical, treatment and economic factors. A quasi-experimental design has been used for these works, without random assignment and incidental samples. Among people who look for assistance in the clinical practice, social phobia was the most common within the anxiety disorders. The comorbidity was 21per cent, and the presence of problem in the Axis III or IV rose up to 27per cent and 60per cent. The average number of objectives and techniques were 8.1 and 12.34. And the mean number of therapy sessions was 35.70. Considering a single diagnosis, the social phobia 16 sessions, and 15 for the panic disorder with agoraphobia. The factors that explain the longer treatment length were the presence of comorbidity, the number of applied therapeutic techniques and the diagnosis presence such as the Posttraumatic Stress Disorder PTSD and the Dysthymia. The psychological treatment is comparable to the pharmacological cost. The results showed that at least 64per cent of the patients achieved discharged. The effect sizes reached were large d mayor que 1, with changes statistically significant p menor que.05 after treatment. Psychological length treatment in the clinic does not take much longer than when an action protocol is applied. The utility of generalizing the ETS developed in research setting to a welfare clinic is defended. As well as being able to extrapolate the results of the efficacy studies to the daily clinical work.


Motile benthic diatoms exhibit rhythmlc vertical migrations that are influenced by tidal and llght cycles. As a consequence of these periodlc migrations, corresponding periodicities in benthic microalgal production should occur. Using oxygen microelectrodes, hourly measurements of microalgal production were obtained from subaerially exposed cores collected from low-intertidal muddy sediments in North Inlet estuary, South Carolina, USA Microalgal productivity at low tide was twce that at high tlde (mean difference 52 %) and was significantly correlated with diurnal and tidal periodicities (r2 = 0.41; p < 0.0001). Production values ranged from 28.0 to 460.5 pm01 O2 mg chl a-' h' and maximum rates were achieved during mid-afternoon low tides. A curvilinear regression equation was constructed to simulate daily and monthly benthic microalgal production based on tidal and light cycles. Comparisons between predictions of the curvilinear equation and published data sets showed a reasonable agreement (r2 = 0.77), suggesting similar phenomena in other estuaries. Current benthic microalgal production models do not account for hourly variability in productivity, leading to potentially large errors when measurements are extrapolated over monthly and annual time scales. Although other physiological and abiotic factors also influence benthic microalgal productivity, much of the short-term variability in production rates may be simply attributed to migratory rhythms within estuarine sediments.


recurrence of symptoms with much suffering. It may also be a dangerous action in women with depression responsive to oestrogen. This approach might be used to justify a study of the pharmacokinetics of implants, but we would argue that this is inhumane management of individual patients. We would agree that there is currently no evidence that such high oestradiol concentrations are dangerous, but we need more information about those patients who seem to need increasingly frequent hormone implants. On the other hand, we do know that treatment with percutaneous oestradiol produces a greater density in vertebral and femoral bone than does oral treatment. This difference is directly related to oestradiol concentrations.< Indeed, in a prospective study we found an 8% increase in spinal bone density and a significant correlation between the incremental increase in vertebral bone density and the oestradiol concentrations achieved after one year of treatment with percutaneous implants (unpublished data). Oestrogen replacement therapy in postmenopausal women is probably the most important advance in preventive medicine in the Western world for half a century. There is much evidence that oestradiol implants, by virtue of the higher oestradiol concentrations achieved, are the most effective and acceptable mode of hormone replacement therapy. The occasional finding of supraphysiological concentrations of oestradiol does not encourage us to change this view. JOHN STUDD


This paper concerns the problem of computing the densest k-vertex subgraph of a given graph, namely, the subgraph with the most edges, or with the highest edges-to-vertices ratio. A sequence of approximation algorithms is developed for the problem, with each step yielding a better ratio at the cost of a more complicated solution. The approximation ratio of our final algorithm is O/spl tilde/(n/sup 0.3885/). We also present a method for converting an approximation algorithm for an unweighted graph problem (from a specific class of maximization problems) into one for the corresponding weighted problem, and apply it to the densest subgraph problem.<<ETX>>


In this paper inventory management is analyzed as an organic part of the supply chain managing process. In today's competitive economic environment traditional inventory policies should be improved. Simulation models enable a priori managing and analyzing variety of possible results and implication of selected inventory policies. The model presented in this paper uses the Monte Carlo simulation method and variables taken as random, in order to depict a harmonization and integration of dynamic quantitative analysis and theoretical, qualitative concepts of inventory management.


Locations are often expressed in physical coordinates such as an [X, Y] tuple in some coordinate system. Unfortunately, a vast majority of location-based applications desire the semantic translation of coordinates, i.e., store-names like Starbucks, Macy's, Panera. Past work has mostly focused on achieving localization accuracy, while assuming that the translation of physical to semantic coordinates will be done manually. In this paper, we explore an opportunity for automatic semantic localization -- the presence of a website corresponding to each physical store. We propose to correlate the information seen in a physical store with that found in websites of the stores around that location, to recognize that store. Specifically, we assume a repository of crowdsourced WiFi-tagged pictures from different stores. By correlating words inside the pictures, against words extracted from store websites, our proposed system can automatically label clusters of pictures, and the corresponding WiFi APs, with the store name. Later, when a user enters a store, her smartphone can scan the WiFi APs and consult a lookup table to recognize the store she is in. Our preliminary experiments with 18 stores in a shopping mall show that, our prototype system could correctly match the text from the physical stores with the text extracted from the corresponding web sites and hence label WiFi APs with store names with an accuracy upwards of 90%, which encourages us to pursue this study further. Moreover, we believe the core idea of correlating physical and web sites has broader applications beyond semantic localization, leading to better product placement and shopping experience, yielding benefits for both store owners and shoppers.


Abstract The potential influence of Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) on higher education institutions is much discussed and debated, with some arguing that MOOCs are a disruptive innovation that will radically change existing models of higher education. However, analyses of whether and how MOOCs might disrupt higher education models are relatively scarce. This paper analyses whether MOOCs should be considered a disruptive innovation according to the concept's defining criteria. It compares characteristics of disruptive innovation with current developments in MOOCs, suggesting three perspectives – performance, benefits, and market – that can be used as a lens and analytic framework to explore and evaluate current practice. The findings indicate that MOOCs do not match all the characteristics of disruptive innovation as they are commonly identified in the literature. However, MOOCs may be a sustaining innovation that establishes new markets for learners who are not served by universities.


Title: What kind of a child? On children's everyday life, Early Childhood Education, and psychological development Abstract: Public discussions about day care more or less explicitly refer to models about children's development. My argument is that the field of Early Childhood Education does need understandings offered by the discipline of developmental psychology, but that the hegemonic ones strongly restrict ways of talking about what is going on at the day care institutions, and what day care means to the participants, included parents and other caretakers. A more context sensitive and meaning making oriented version of developmental psychology is presented, and empirical examples are used to demonstrate how this way of understanding children widens up ways of talking about day care: as an arena for children's participation, as a link in parents' chain of care for their child, and as a meeting point for diversity. Keywords: Developmental psychology; Day care; Everyday life; Parenthood; Chain of care; Social participation


A novel polymeric pseudostationary phase for electrokinetic chromatography is introduced and characterized. Siloxane polymers are of interest for this application because of the range of chemistries that could be developed based on these backbones, and because successful development of siloxane polymers would make it possible to employ much of the stationary phase chemistry developed in the past thirty years. A commercially available water‐soluble siloxane with a hydroxy‐terminated alkyl group was converted to the sulfate derivative. This siloxane polymer is water‐soluble, effectively eliminating this limitation associated with siloxane polymers. When employed as a pseudostationary phase, this compound provided rapid, efficient, and selective separations. The electrophoretic mobility of the polymer was less than sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) and poly(sodium 10‐undecenylsulfate), providing a compressed migration time range, which is the main limiting factor for this polymer. The chemical selectivity of the siloxane sulfate was somewhat different than SDS micelles. The siloxane was employed in buffers modified with a large amount of acetonitrile to separate a number of polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons. The addition of acetonitrile caused an apparent discontinuity in the electrophoretic mobility of the polymer, which may indicate a change in the structure with increasing organic solvent content.


Canadian hog producers are eligible for a federal/provincial hog stabilization program which, under certain conditions, makes deficiency payments to producers enrolled in the program. Currently, producers pay premiums of approximately one-third of the cost of the program, whereas federal and provincial authorities share the remaining two-thirds of the cost. There are no direct subsidies to pork processors. In 1984, U.S. hog producers alleged that the Canadian stabilization program was an unfair production subsidy resulting in larger Canadian hog and pork exports that caused serious economic hardship for U.S. hog producers. The consequent trade actions against Canadian exports have entailed a countervailing duty on hog exports applied sporadically over the same time period. This paper provides a summary of the Canadian hog stabilization program and an overview of the economic and legal arguments made in the U.S. countervailing duty case involving Canadian hog and pork exports.


Structural equation modeling (SEM) is a comprehensive statistical modeling tool for analyzing multivariate data involving complex relationships between and among variables (Hoyle, 1995). SEM surpasses traditional regression models by including multiple independent and dependent variables to test associated hypothesizes about relationships among observed and latent variables. SEM explain why results occur while reducing misleading results by submitting all variables in the model to measurement error or uncontrolled variation of the measured variables. The purpose of this article is to provide basic knowledge of structural equation modeling methodology for testing relationships between indicator variables and latent constructs where SEM is the analysis technique of the research statistical design. It is noteworthy, SEM provides a way to test the specified set of relationships among observed and latent variables as a whole, and allow theory testing even when experiments are not possible. Consequently, these methodological approaches have become ubiquitous in the scientific research process of all disciplines.


To achieve a desired ethanol concentration and maximize substrate concentration, the fed-batch simultaneous saccharification and fermentation (SSF) process was performed on steam-exploded corn stover using the yeast strain Saccharomyces cerevisiae Y5. The fed-batch SSF experiments were conducted with feed loading and scheduled feed time conditions that were optimized with response surface methodology (RSM). The overall ethanol yield (based on the raw material cellulose content) in 48 h was as high as 64.0%, which was achieved with a final substrate loading of 26%(w/w), enzyme loading of 7 FPU/g cellulose, and dry yeast loading weight of 2.0 g/L. No additional yeast cells or enzymes were added during solid substrate fermentation.


The major protein fractions of peach kernel was extracted and isolated by Osborne's method. The proteins were then characterised by gel electrophoresis, differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and scanning electron microscopy(SEM) in order to elucidate its nature and structural properties. It was shown that albumins (85 g/100 g) and globulins(9 g/100 g) were the main components of the protein extract. Glutelins and prolamins are minor components (<2 g/100 g). Sodium dodecylsul- phate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS- PAGE) revealed a number of proteins with molecular masses ranging from approximately 20 to 63 kDa for peach kernel proteins; All the curves of DSC had two distinct endothermic peaks; One of The denaturation temperature (Td1) for various peach kernel proteins was less than 60°C, and the other (Td2) was more than 90°C. SEM showed that various proteins had some difference in microstructure .


The solvent and temperature used in the Gilch synthesis of poly[2-methoxy-5-(2-ethylhexyloxy)-1,4-phenylenevinylene] (MEH-PPV) were varied to achieve an improved set of reaction conditions. A range of molecular weights from 20 to 500 kg mol−1 were obtained in moderate to near-quantitative yields. The best conditions for producing low molecular weight MEH-PPV (32 kg mol−1, 97% yield) was to use n-pentane as the reaction solvent at 25 °C. For high molecular weight (397 kg mol−1, 65% yield), toluene at 55 °C gave the best result. The photophysical properties for all MEH-PPV samples were examined and no significant variation was found between samples obtained under different polymerization conditions.


Quad flat pack (QFP) leads/Sn-3.5Ag-X (X=Bi and Cu) joint was thermally cycled between 243 K and 403 K or 273 K and 373 K, and relationship between thermal fatigue of QFP solder joint and isothermal fatigue properties of bulk solder has been discussed. Both metallographic examination and mechanical pull test were preformed to evaluate thermal fatigue damage of the joint. The addition of bismuth drastically degrades the thermal fatigue resistance of Sn-3.5Ag solder. On the other hand the pull strength of Sn-3.5Ag-Cu solder joints slightly decreased with increasing number of thermal cycles, though it still remains higher in comparison to that for conventional Sn-37Pb or bismuth containing solder joints. The behavior observed here reflects the isothermal fatigue properties of bulk solder because thermal fatigue crack initiates at the surface of the solder fillet and propagates within the fillet in an early stage of fatigue damage.


: Corticosteroid metabolism in the liver and the level of c-AMP in the liver and spleen of rats with experimental toxic hepatitis were investigated after splenin administration. Hydrocortisone metabolites were isolated by a method of two-dimensional thin-layer chromatography. It was shown that their production and the level of c-AMP in the liver and spleen after simulation of experimental hepatitis were considerably reduced. The administration of this drug returned the indices under study to normal. The results obtained demonstrated that humoral factors could produce protective action in toxic liver lesion.