ABSTRACT  Hurricane Isabel (September 2003) was the largest, most damaging hurricane to hit Virginia in at least 70 years. Permanent plots established in a maturing upland hardwood forest in 2002 were resampled in 2004 to assess hurricane damage. Tree loss among stems ≥10 cm diameter breast high (dbh) varied from none in 7 of the 20 plots to 50% of stems and 83% of canopy cover in a plot hit by a local microburst. Loss was greater on ridges and other higher elevation sites, and downwind of expanses of water. Loss was significantly higher in trees ≥60 cm dbh. Loss in Quercus velutina (46.6%) was significantly higher, and in Fagus grandifolia (7.7%) and Acer rubrum (7.4%) loss was significantly lower than the overall loss rate (16.9%). The latter two species occurred mostly in the lower canopy and understory, where tree loss was generally lower. Among stems ≥2.5 cm dbh but <10 cm dbh, all loss was secondary damage from falling larger trees, but was significantly higher in Oxydendrum arboreum (36.4%) and significantly lower in Acer rubrum (3.6%) than the overall loss rate for this size class (11.0%). Ilex opaca had a low loss rate in both larger and smaller size classes, but in both classes, difference from the overall rate was just short of the p < 0.05 level.


We present a case study of requirements for "data wrangling" capabilities in a healthcare application context. Data wrangling is an increasingly common requirement for data scientists, policy makers, market researchers, intelligence analysts, and other professions where existing data must be used in ways that were not envisioned when it was first collected. We characterise data wrangling as a programming problem, in which aggregate data must be restructured in ways that remain consistent with its semantic origins or ontological referents. We recommend the table as a lowest common denominator representational device, affording both direct manipulation and programming by example. We describe work in progress, in which we have identified new opportunities for clinical end-users to interact with the content of a customisable information system, through a focus on tables as an approachable analytic tool.


Despite the legendary narrations of Bonpo chronicles about the mythical past, some Bonpo masters of flesh and bones start to appear only from the turn of the first millenium onwards. There is a legend that Zhugom Trulzhig (Zhu sgom 'khrul zhig, 11th century) traveled from Central Tibet to Amdo and became a teacher of eighteen so-called zhigpo (zhig po). These zhigpo represent non-celibate ascetics or "crazy yogis" whose teachings were transmitted through the family lineages. Though at least two monastic communities in Amdo linked their origins to the alleged disciples of Zhugom Trulzhig, the legend seems to exaggarate. The early Bonpo masters from Amdo are also grouped into the triad called "three elevated ones" ('phags pa gsum). One of them is a certain Kyangphag (sKyang 'phags), who is the main focus of this article. Three texts that are allegedly composed by him might provide a glance into the lives and teachings of the early Bonpo masters in Amdo.


The English schooling context has seen radical and rapid reform in recent times with the processes of devolution or deconcentration of centralised school governance, on the one hand, and the instating of ever-increasing and rigid external accountabilities, on the other. These reforms driven as they are by neo-liberal and neoconservative ideologies have created a new kind of 'system' of schooling in England, one that is 'heterarchical' in governance, increasingly complex in its overlap, multiplicity and asymmetric power dynamics, but one that remains strongly tied to and regulated by the reductive and narrow measures of 'success' imposed by the state. Against this complex and changing backdrop, what constitutes quality and equitable schooling has been transformed. This special issue explores these concerns and, in particular, focuses on how the current demands of the English schooling context construct student achievement and identity, teachers' work, conceptualisations of knowledge and pedagogy, and school organisation and collaboration. The issue has a strong equity focus. Many of the papers to this end focus on how teachers and schools are navigating through the demands of current policy reform to mobilise spaces of possibility for equity and good schooling. In this paper, we provide a context and framework to set the scene for the subsequent papers in the issue.


BACKGROUND
Heart failure (HF) patients develop important changes in body composition, but only a small number of studies have evaluated the associations between these changes and functional class deterioration in a prospective manner.

OBJECTIVE
The aim of this study was to evaluate whether changes in bioimpedance parameters were associated with NYHA functional class deterioration over six months.

METHODS
A total of 275 chronic stable HF patients confirmed by echocardiography were recruited. Body composition measurements were obtained by whole body bioelectrical impedance with multiple frequency equipment (BodyStat QuadScan 4000). We evaluated functional class using the New York Heart Association (NYHA) classification at baseline and after six months.

RESULTS
According to our results, 66 (24%) subjects exhibited functional class deterioration, while 209 improved or exhibited no change. A greater proportion of patients exhibited higher extracellular water (> 5%), and these patients developed hypervolemia, according to location on the resistance/reactance graph. A 5% decrease in resistance/height was associated with functional class deterioration with an OR of 1.42 (95% CI 1.01-2.0, p = 0.04).

CONCLUSIONS
Body composition assessment through bioelectrical impedance exhibited a valuable performance as a marker of functional class deterioration in stable HF patients.


Abstract. We investigate the interannual and decadal variability of the North Atlantic atmospheric blocking frequency and distribution in connection with long-term observational and proxy records from southwestern Greenland. It is shown that warm (cold) conditions in southwestern Greenland during winter are related with high (low) blocking activity in the Greenland-Scandinavian region. The pattern of winter temperature-blocking variability is more complex than the blocking pattern associated to the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO). We find, furthermore, that a North Atlantic blocking index is significantly correlated with seasonally resolved stable isotope records from Greenland ice cores. Both suggest a possible reconstruction of blocking variability in this region. During summer, high (low) blocking activity in the Euro-Atlantic region is associated with cold (warm) conditions in southwestern Greenland. We conclude that historical temperature records, as well as proxy data from Greenland, can be used to obtain information related to interannual and multidecadal variation of winter and summer blocking during past periods.


The difference in dynamic behavior of the rotor-bearing system supported by the bearing model that considers both lateral and angular whirling motions of the journal (model A), and the model that considers only lateral whirling motion (model B) is investigated. The rotor model consists of a slender shaft, a large disk, and two small disks supported by a self-aligning rolling element bearing (REB) and an axial groove journal bearing (JB) of length-to-diameter ratio (L/D) = 0.6. Three positions of the large disk: 410, 560, and 650 mm measured from the REB, are investigated. Numerical integration of the rotor-bearing system which is modally reduced to the first forward (FWD) mode is performed at above the onset speed of instability until either a steady-state journal orbit or contact between the journal and the bearing occurs to identify the bifurcation type. Numerical results using model A indicate subcritical bifurcation with the contact between the journal and the inboard (IB) side of the bearing in all three large disk positions, whereas those of model B indicate subcritical bifurcation when the large disk position is at 410 mm, and supercritical bifurcation is observed in the other two cases. Finally, the experiments at the same three large disk positions are performed. Subcritical bifurcation with the contact between the journal and the IB side of the bearing is observed in all large disk positions, which conforms with the calculation result of model A. Hence, model A is essential in nonlinear vibration analysis of a highly flexible rotor system.


The essential oil of Cinnamomum camphora is the most widely consumed and used spice in the world today. It has therapeutic effects in medicine and has been shown to have good antibacterial and bacteriostatic effects in agriculture. This study found that C. camphora oil significantly induced plant disease resistance activity. Linalool, its main active component, significantly induced plant disease resistance activity (67.49% at a concentration of 800 μg/ml) over the same concentration of the chitosan oligosaccharide positive control, but had no direct effect on TMV. In this study of its antiviral mechanism, linalool induced hypersensitive reaction (HR), the overexpression of related defense enzymes SOD, CAT, POD and PAL, the accumulation of H2O2 and SA content in N. glutnosa. Besides, linalool induced crops resistance against Colletotrichum lagenarium, Botrytis cinerea, Sclerotinia sclerotiorum and Phytophthora capsica. Taken together, the anti-TMV mechanism of linalool involved the induction of plant disease resistance through activation of a plant immune response mediated by salicylic acid. Linalool-induced plant disease resistance activity has a long duration, broad spectrum, and rich resources; linalool thus has the potential to be developed as a new plant-derived antiviral agent and plant immune activator.


SIR: Oestrogens and their relationship to endometrial cancer have recently attracted considerable publicity in both medical and lay Press. The wisdom of widespread use of oestrogen therapy in the prevention and treatment of menopausal flushing is now being challenged. A recent editorial (Journal, July 17) ended by saying that " ... the prudent practitioner will avoid the use of oestrogens of any kind in (postmenopausal) women-except for the relief of significant menopausal symptoms ...". The most common menopausal symptom is flushing. It is estimated! that flushes occur in 85% of menopausal women. Of this group, 25% seek medical assistance and of these 15% to 20% require symptomatic treatment. 2 By the very nature of the condition, one would expect a high placebo response to therapy and this further emphasizes the need for a safe non-hormonal treatment. During the last 18 months we have treated upwards of 50 patients with Dixarit (c1onidine 25 Ilg) for menopausal flushing. Approximately 80% of the patients reported total resolution or reduction in the number, duration and/or severity of the flushes. Climacteric patients tend to report a variety of concurrent non-specific symptoms and conditions, but the only drug-induced side effects we encountered were occasional reports of dry mouth or giddiness. Dixarit acts in migraine by altering the vascular response to vasoactive amines. The success of Dixarit in migraine led to consideration of its use in related conditions of vascular instability. Menopausal flushing is an obvious case, but in addition, reports have been published regarding the successful use of Dixarit in dysmenorrhoea.' and acne rosacea." Our collective data are in agreement with controlled studiess and support the contention that, since the most common symptom experienced in the climacteric is that of hot flushes, it is fortunate that they can usually be controlled without hormone therapy by using Dixarit in a dose range of 25 to 75 ug twice a day." 270 Sandy Bay Road, L. BUCKINGHAM, Hobart, Tas. 7000. G. DAVIDSON, D. GREENWOOD, B. MATHER.


This paper proposes an acceleration-based robust controller for the motion control problem, i.e., position and force control problems, of a novel series elastic actuator (SEA). A variable stiffness SEA is designed by using soft and hard springs in series so as to relax the fundamental performance limitation of conventional SEAs. Although the proposed SEA intrinsically has several superiorities in force control, its motion control problem, especially position control problem, is harder than conventional stiff and SEAs due to its special mechanical structure. It is shown that the performance of the novel SEA is limited when conventional motion control methods are used. The performance of the steady-state response is significantly improved by using disturbance observer (DOb), i.e., improving the robustness; however, it degrades the transient response by increasing the vibration at tip point. The vibration of the novel SEA and external disturbances are suppressed by using resonance ratio control (RRC) and arm DOb, respectively. The proposed method can be used in the motion control problem of conventional SEAs as well. The intrinsically safe mechanical structure and high-performance motion control system provide several benefits in industrial applications, e.g., robots can perform dexterous and versatile industrial tasks alongside people in a factory setting. The experimental results show viability of the proposals.


We consider two problems that arise in machine learning applications: the problem of recovering a planted sparse vector in a random linear subspace and the problem of decomposing a random low-rank overcomplete 3-tensor. For both problems, the best known guarantees are based on the sum-of-squares method. We develop new algorithms inspired by analyses of the sum-of-squares method. Our algorithms achieve the same or similar guarantees as sum-of-squares for these problems but the running time is significantly faster. For the planted sparse vector problem, we give an algorithm with running time nearly linear in the input size that approximately recovers a planted sparse vector with up to constant relative sparsity in a random subspace of ℝn of dimension up to Ω(√n). These recovery guarantees match the best known ones of Barak, Kelner, and Steurer (STOC 2014) up to logarithmic factors. For tensor decomposition, we give an algorithm with running time close to linear in the input size (with exponent ≈ 1.125) that approximately recovers a component of a random 3-tensor over ℝn of rank up to Ω(n4/3). The best previous algorithm for this problem due to Ge and Ma (RANDOM 2015) works up to rank Ω(n3/2) but requires quasipolynomial time.


: Ten patients with tumors of the supplementary motor area were observed. Speech blocking is the clinically most frequently occurring function disturbance. With respect to the mechanism representing the basis of speech, speech disturbances occurring in connection with lesions of the supplementary motor area can be divided into two groups: (1) Elementary disturbances, Speech block, reiterations, aphemia (mutism), reduction in speech drive. These phenomena are related to the motor process proper, the initiating of speech. They may occur in case of lesions of one of the two hemispheres. (2) Dysphasic understanding. These disturbances only occur in case of lesions of the speech-dominant hemisphere. The supplementary motor area plays a role especially in the motor control and sequential modulation of speaking and in a lesser degree in the storing and calling off of concepts.


Drs M HAMED, H MrrcHEL, and D J CLow (Dumfries and Galloway Royal Infirmary, Dumfries DG1 4AP) write: In September 1992 a 10 year old boy was admitted unconscious (Glasgow coma scale 6) and hypothermic (temperature 33°C). He had previously had primary nocturnal enuresis, for which he was initially given intranasal desmopressin 20 ,ug at night for two months; later the dose was increased to 40 ,ug for five months, after which imipramine 25 mg at night was added. Two weeks before admission he had had a minor head injury. On the day of admission he had fine twitching movements of both hands and clenched teeth, which progressed to a generalised tonic seizure lasting 10 minutes and which was terminated by 5 mg of rectal diazepam. The cause of his deep coma was not clear. His weight was 31-8 kg and his height 138-8 cm, both measurements being above the 50th centile. His haemoglobin level was 125 g/l, white blood cell count 19x 109/l, neutrophils 16 2x 109/1. Although blood urea, calcium, ammonia, and glucose concentrations were normal, his serum sodium was 1 13 mmol/l, serum potassium 3-3 mmol/l, plasma osmolality 244-7 mmol/, and urine osmolality 561 mmol/l. Hyponatraemic convulsion was diagnosed and treated. There was progressive clinical and biochemical improvement over 36 hours, confirming the diagnosis of hyponatraemic convulsion secondary to desmopressin or imipramine, or both. He was discharged after four days without medication and reviewed in the outpatient clinic, where he appeared in good health. A drug overdose was unlikely because of parental supervision. The other possibility was hyponatraemia induced by imipramine' 2or desmopressin.34 Although the manufacturer of desmopressin recommends reassessment after three months' treatment,5 this is often ignored. We would recommend that imipramine is not prescribed in combination with desmopressin, that parents should be warned of the dangers of excessive fluid intake when desmopressin is used, and that the initial trial period before reassessment should be only four weeks.


Clustering methods are nowadays commonly used to improve knowledge base. The main objective is to gather objects based on similarity between their characteristics. However, resulting clusters usually lack of semantic due to too macroscopic insights. This is due to the fact that features are mostly considered as independent dimensions of the metric space in the clustering process. The dependency relationship can be represented by a partial order between features to manage the abstraction and a relation of type is-a can bind them. Therefore, using domain taxonomy in the clustering process, i.e. prior knowledge, should bring more semantic information. More specifically, we suggest a potential alternative based on semantic similarity measures to the use of classical distances within the clustering process. Such semantic measures have the property to take into account relationships between features to address correlation issue. Experiments have been conducted on a real dataset from the biomedical field. Results underline the interest of our proposal.


In this thesis we focus on multiscale and multiphysics problems. We derive a posteriori error estimates for a one way coupled multiphysics problem, using the dual weighted residual method. Such estimates can be used to drive local mesh refinement in adaptive algorithms, in order to efficiently obtain good accuracy in a desired goal quantity, which we demonstrate numerically. Furthermore we prove existence and uniqueness of finite element solutions for a two way coupled multiphysics problem. The possibility of deriving dual weighted a posteriori error estimates for two way coupled problems is also addressed. For a two way coupled linear problem, we show numerically that unless the coupling of the equations is to strong the propagation of errors between the solvers goes to zero. We also apply a variational multiscale method to both an elliptic and a hyperbolic problem that exhibits multiscale features. The method is based on numerical solutions of decoupled local fine scale problems on patches. For the elliptic problem we derive an a posteriori error estimate and use an adaptive algorithm to automatically tune the resolution and patch size of the local problems. For the hyperbolic problem we demonstrate the importance of how to construct the patches of the local problems, by numerically comparing the results obtained for symmetric and directed patches.


Water-bearing geological structure is a serious threat to coalmine safety. This research focuses on detecting water-bearing geological structure by transient electromagnetic method. First, we introduce the principle of mining transient electromagnetic method, and then explain the technique of Finite Different Time Domain using in the transient electromagnetic method. Based on Maxwell equations, we derive the difference equations of electromagnetic field and study the responses of water-bearing geological structure using FDTD. Moreover, we establish the relationship between receiving electromagnetic field and geological information. The typical coal geological model of goaf-water is chosen to do the numerical simulation. Besides, we verify the availability of the method by numerical simulation using coal geological model. Finally, we use the method in the coalmine which is located in Linfen city in Shanxi province in China, and the detecting result is verified by drilling.DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5755/j01.eie.23.3.18326


OBJECTIVES
The risk of fatal pulmonary and systemic thromboembolism is high in patients with dilated cardiomyopathy with cardiac thrombus. This study was planned to reveal the efficacy of antiaggregant therapy in patients with low left ventricular systolic ejection fraction (LVEF).

STUDY DESIGN
The present study retrospectively reviewed the files of 83 cases (42 males, 41 females) with dilated cardiomyopathy who were followed between June 2004 and December 2011.

RESULTS
Intracardiac thrombus was detected in five (6%) cases; of these five patients, dilated cardiomyopathy was idiopathic in four and secondary to chronic renal failure in one. The cases were followed for a mean of 33.6±35.6 months (3 days-168 months). Mean LVEF on transthoracic echocardiography was found as 35.2±2.7% (32-38%) for the cases with intracardiac thrombus, whereas it was 34.7±11.0% (10-55%) for the cases without intracardiac thrombus. No statistically significant difference was found between the groups (p=0.910). Cases with LVEF ≤30% were routinely receiving acetylsalicylic acid at antiaggregant dose.

CONCLUSION
We think that prophylactic antithrombotic/antiaggregant therapy should be started at the time of diagnosis even in patients with LVEF >30%, as thrombus development was seen in cases with LVEF >30% without any antiaggregant therapy.


Background: The Shilla growth guidance technique has been developed to treat spinal deformities without the necessity of repeated operative lengthenings. The dual stainless steel rods are fixed to the corrected apex of the curve by pedicle screws with limited fusion about the apex. Vertebral growth occurs in a cephalad and caudad direction through extraperiosteally placed sliding pedicle screws. A retrospective review of patients treated with the Shilla growth guidance technique for early-onset spinal deformity was performed to study patients with >2-year follow-up and describe outcome parameters. Methods: From a cohort of 38 patients, 10 patients with a mean age of 7+6 years were identified as qualifying for 2-year follow-up inclusion. Results: The average preoperative curve of 70.5 degrees was corrected to 27 degrees at 6 weeks follow-up and maintained at 2-year follow-up. The space available for lung improved an average of 13%. Truncal height (C7 to S1) increased an average of 12%. One patient required rod revision, 1 required rod change to a smaller size rod, and 1 required rod replacement. Two patients required wound debridement for low-grade infection in the early-postoperative period for a total of 5 procedures beyond the index correction. No patient had changes neurologically as a result of surgery. Patients were braced for the first 3 months postoperatively while the fusion was incorporating then not thereafter. Conclusions: At 2-year follow-up, the Shilla procedure has allowed children correction of their spinal deformity with an acceptable complication rate and ability to grow brace free without repeated trips to the operating room for lengthenings. These patients would have had 49 scheduled lengthening procedures after their initial correction if treated by conventional distraction growing rod methods. Level of Evidence: IV case series of therapeutic study investigating results of treatment.


OBJECTIVE. The advent of universal newborn hearing screening in the United States and other countries, together with the identification of genes involved in the process of hearing, have led to an increase in both the need and opportunity for accurate molecular diagnosis of patients with hearing loss. Deafness and hearing impairment have a genetic cause in at least half the cases. The molecular genetic basis for the majority of these patients remains obscure, however, because of the absence of associated clinical features in ∼70% (ie, nonsyndromic hearing loss) of patients, genetic heterogeneity, and the lack of molecular genetic tests that can evaluate a large number of mutations across multiple genes. DESIGN. We report on the development of a diagnostic panel with 198 mutations underlying sensorineural (mostly nonsyndromic) hearing loss. This panel, developed on a microarray, is capable of simultaneous evaluation of multiple mutations in 8 genes (GJB2, GJB6, GJB3, GJA1, SLC26A4, SLC26A5 and the mitochondrial genes encoding 12S rRNA and tRNA-Ser[UCN]). RESULTS. The arrayed primer extension array for sensorineural hearing loss is based on a versatile platform technology and is a robust, cost-effective, and easily modifiable assay. Because hearing loss is a major public health concern and common at all ages, this test is suitable for follow-up after newborn hearing screening and for the detection of a genetic etiology in older children and adults. CONCLUSIONS. Comprehensive and relatively inexpensive genetic testing for sensorineural hearing loss will improve medical management for affected individuals and genetic counseling for their families.


: In deciding whether or not to treat cattle with left-sided abomasal displacement, economic factors play an important role. The loss suffered on surgical treatment involving laparotomy is determined by the cost of treatment, the loss of production and the result of treatment which can be expected. A computer will assist in calculating that, when the likelihood of successful treatment varies from 70 to 80 per cent, surgery by laparotomy will only be preferable to culling when the animal shows a level of production, which is obviously above the average. Of the alternative methods of treatment, the roll-and-suture procedure will markedly affect the choice in favour of treatment in view of the smaller cost of therapy when the result of treatment is satisfactory and the drop in production may be smaller.


ABSTRACT We evaluate the treatment of climate-related financial risk by bilateral finance organizations and related policymaking bodies involved in the design and implementation of thermal coal power generation technology financing. Our empirical focus is Japanese bilateral financing of thermal coal power generation in the Asia-Pacific. We differentiate between three approaches that organizations can adopt to assess climate change risk. In the first, the organization assesses climate risk and includes consideration of stranded asset risk. In the second, the organization assesses climate risk but does not take into account stranded asset risk. In the third, an organization does not explicitly consider climate risk although it may use alternative criteria for deciding whether to support an investment, such as the broader environmental implications of a proposed project. We review publicly available documents from nine organizations, supplemented by interviews, and find that while some Japanese lending and policy-setting bodies take climate risk into account, none are required to consider the risk that infrastructure investments may become stranded. Our paper contributes to the study of stranded asset risk in two ways. First, while export finance plays a crucial role in thermal coal power plant investments in the Asia-Pacific region, lending by bilateral finance institutions has not been a focus of such research to date. Second, we extend research into stranded asset risk to bilateral finance organizations and related policy bodies. Our approach can be adopted to understand how finance decision-making bodies in other geographic contexts and technology-types assess the risk that assets may become stranded. Key policy insights Bilateral finance organizations are important in infrastructure exports for thermal coal power plant technologies. Japanese bilateral finance organizations and policy bodies take climate risk into account when making lending decisions for thermal coal power plant technologies, but until recently have not explicitly addressed stranded asset risk. Impairments to the asset value may be incurred by the asset holders or the government. This risk should be taken into consideration in investment decisions.


This paper presents a quantitative mathematical model of sanitary demands from occupants in shopping complexes. In-situ measurements and interview surveys with occupants were conducted in typical local shopping malls in order to determine the model parameters for their visiting patterns, load patterns, demand patterns and their preferred or acceptable duration for waiting and using water closets (WCs). The model is used to assess the probable acceptance of sanitary facilities towards the acceptable amount of time for waiting at a typical female washroom designed for an occupant load of 600 occupants in a shopping mall. The results showed that the current sanitary provisions for female washrooms in local shopping malls could meet occupants' minimum expectation, while with an additional 33% of WC, the sanitary would fully satisfy 'all' occupants in terms of amount of time for waiting. Practical applications: This paper presents a quantitative mathematical model of sanitary demands from a group of building occupants. This model is applied to evaluate the performance of sanitary provisions at typical female washrooms in Hong Kong shopping malls and to quantify the provisions required to achieve the most acceptable amount of time for waiting to their users.


Estradiol is known as the indicator of the presence of hormones as Endocrine Disruptor Compounds (EDCs) in water and wastewater. The entrance of these compounds into water resources through daily liquid wastes of societies as well as pharmaceutical industries, ranching, and pathology laboratories leads to an increase in their concentrations in these resources. Consequently, due to the metabolic properties of these substances they can cause adverse effects on consumers and aquatics. The main purpose of this research is to determine the occurrence and the fate of estradiol as indicator of endocrine-disrupting compounds in drinking water, surface water, and wastewater in Ahvaz, Iran. 17β-estradiol was detected in 37.5% of samples obtained from drinking water and 68.75% of samples from the Karun River. In the urban drinking water and Karun River, the mean concentrations of 17β-estradiol were 2.96 and 13.66 ng l, respectively. In the domestic and industrial wastewater, the concentrations of 17β-estradiol were higher than that detected in the drinking and surface waters. The mean concentrations of this hormone in these wastewaters were 57.46 and 70.6 ng l, respectively. The highest amount of 17β-estradiol was measured in the hospital wastewater. The fate of 17β-estradiol in the slaughterhouse wastewater treatment plant, in which a septic tank, an anaerobic pond, and an aerobic tank were used for wastewater treatment, was higher than 75%. The highest level of removal in the aerobic stage was also obtained by breaking estradiol down to other metabolites.


Carbonate aeolian deposits are common along arid to semiarid, wind‐exposed, present‐day coastlines bordered by productive carbonate ramps. Lithified carbonate dunes (aeolianites) have been described around the world in marine terraces of Quaternary age, but these deposits have seldom been identified in the Pre‐Quaternary record. Several authors have suggested that this scarcity reflects that these deposits form and are preserved only during icehouse periods characterized by high‐amplitude sea‐level changes. Others [e.g. McKee and Ward Carbonate Depositional Environments (1983) , AAPG Memoirs, Vol. 33, pp. 131–170] suggest that the scarcity of aeolianites in the Pre‐Quaternary record could reflect the 'great difficulty in recognising wind blown carbonate deposits and in differentiating between them [aeolianites] and other carbonate sands of nearshore environments'. It has been considered that carbonate shoreface/foreshore deposits are very difficult to discriminate petrographically from backshore deposits. This petrographic study of recent sediments from the shoreface to backshore along the northern coast of Chrissi Island, Crete, confirms that carbonate aeolian sands can be very easily misinterpreted as shoreface deposits. Textural examination of thin sections by image analysis techniques indicates, however, that grain orientation patterns differ between facies. Shoreface deposits exhibit a unimodal distribution of grain orientation (flat rose diagram), whereas backshore deposits show a tendency towards a bimodal distribution with a significant proportion of vertical grains. This observation has been confirmed in Pleistocene aeolianites from Tunisia and Western Australia. Grain verticality thus seems to be a reliable criterion for discriminating wind‐lain carbonate bodies from shoreface deposits. Vertical grains in aeolian carbonate deposits could reflect gravity effects (e.g. reorientation of grains because of meteoric water percolation and air pull‐up). Laboratory experiments conducted on carbonate sands under the action of percolating waters confirm this hypothesis. This reorganization process is preferentially developed in recently deposited and loosely packed sands resulting from grainfall and/or grainflow. In addition, this suggests that the presence of vertical grain orientation might be an indicator of the frequency and intensity of rainfalls during deposition.


The effect of neutralizing FSH or LH on ovarian lipids in the cycling hamster was studied. In the normal cycling hamster on the day of proestrus, histochemical examination revealed the presence of sudanophilic lipids in the granulosa cells of the follicles and in the interstitium. A clear reduction in the intensity of lipid staining was observed on proestrus in the ovary of hamsters treated with FSH antiserum on the previous proestrus. Similar treatment with antiserum to LH, on the other hand, caused an accumulation of lipids in these structures.

Estimation of the free and esterified fractions of cholesterol and triglycerides in the nonluteal tissue of the ovary of hamsters on proestrus following treatment with FSH antiserum on the previous proestrus revealed a significant reduction in all 3 lipid components. Even a short term deprivation of FSH caused a similar reduction in these lipids in the ovary. In contrast, treatment with LH antiserum either on the previous proestrus or on the previous day (diestrus-2) resulted in an enhancement in esterified cholesterol and triglycerides, while it caused a reduction in the free cholesterol fraction of the ovary on proestrus.It is suggested that though treatment with antisera to either FSH or LH causes a disruption in follicular maturation, their effect on lipid metabolism is different. A positive role for FSH and LH in maintaining normal sterol and triglyceride levels in the nonluteal ovarian tissue of cycling hamster is indicated.


A community survey of skin disease was carried out in Lambeth, London. A postal questionnaire asking recipients to give details of the presence of skin disease was sent to a stratified sample of 2180 adults; a subsample of 614 persons were interviewed at home and an inspection was made of the exposed parts of their skin. Altogether 92 conditions were identified. These were graded for clinical severity and classified into 13 groups. The overall prevalence of skin disease thought to justify medical care was 22-5%. The most common important condition was eczema with a prevalence of 6-1%. Age, sex, and social class trends in prevalence were found in certain groups of skin disease. Of those with a skin disease thought to justify medical care, only 21% reported having attended their general practitioner in the past six months for a skin complaint. The reported use of medical care and self medication is discussed in relation to the presence of skin disease and other factors.


Fresh model cement mixtures, with the same w/c ratio and particle size distribution, were simulated by the SPACE system that is based on a dynamic mixing algorithm. Thereupon, they were hydrated by the HYMOSTRUC 3D system. Boundary conditions were varied, rendering possible assessment of their influence on percolation of capillary porosity by serial sectioning and using the overlap of slices. Simulation results revealed increases in total porosity and in connected fraction of capillary pores due to the existence of aggregate. The de-percolation threshold of capillary porosity was found not only related to total porosity and image resolution, but also governed by the spatial distribution of capillary pores.


Studies of human movement have proliferated in recent years. This greatly expanded and thoroughly updated reference surveys the literature on the corticospinal control of spinal cord circuits in human subjects, showing how different circuits can be studied, their role in normal movement and how they malfunction in disease states. Chapters are highly illustrated and consistently organised, reviewing, for each pathway, the experimental background, methodology, organisation and control, role during motor tasks and changes in patients with CNS lesions. Each chapter concludes with a helpful resume that can be used independently of the main text to provide practical guidance for clinical studies. The final four chapters bring together the changes in transmission in spinal and corticospinal pathways during movement and how they contribute to the desired movement. This book is essential reading for research workers and clinicians involved in the study, treatment and rehabilitation of movement disorders.


We study the order ten polynomial equation satisfied by the radius of the spherical timelike orbits for a massive particle with a generic energy around a Kerr black hole. Even though the radii of the prograde and retrograde orbits at the equatorial or polar plane for particles with zero or unit energy have a monotonic dependence on the rotation parameter of the black hole, we show that there is a critical inclination angle above which the retrograde orbits have a nonmonotonic dependency on the rotation of the black hole. Thus the capture cross-section of these retrograde orbits decrease with increasing black hole spin. Hence their efficiency to reduce the black hole's spin is decreased. We also provide an equation for the critical inclination angle that shows exactly at which point the nonmonotonicity starts. In addition, we employ the Lagrange-Bürmann method to find approximate analytic solutions from the known exact solutions.


Abstract Using for comparison with, and as outgroups for, supertribe Cicindelitae, we describe and illustrate the mandibles and labrum-epipharynx of the basal geadephagans Trachypachus gibbsii LeConte, 1861 (family Trachypachidae), and family Carabidae: Pelophila rudis (LeConte, 1863) (supertribe Nebriitae, tribe Pelophilini) and Ceroglossus chilensis (Eschscholtz, 1829) (supertribe Carabitae, tribe Ceroglossini). The range and pattern of variation in structure of mandibles and labrum-epipharynx within the supertribe Cicindelitae was assessed using scanning-electron (SEM) images of these structures in nine exemplar taxa: Amblycheila baroni (Rivers, 1890), Omus californicus (Eschscholtz, 1829) and Picnochile fallaciosa (Chevrolat, 1854) (representing the Amblycheilini); Manticora tuberculata (DeGeer, 1778) (representing the Manticorini): Tetracha carolina (Linnaeus, 1767) (representing the Megacephalini); Pogonostoma chalybeum (Klug, 1835) (representing the Collyridini); and Therates basalis Dejean, 1826, Oxycheila species, and Cicindela longilabris Say, 1824 (representing the Cicindelini). An evolutionary transformation series was postulated for the mandibles and labrum-epipharynx, based on a reconstructed phylogenetic sequence, which, in turn, was based on morphological and DNAevidence.Principal features of the transformation series for the mandibles included development of a densely setose basal face; wide quadridentate retinaculum; a lengthened incisor tooth; a multidentate terebra (one to five teeth; two-three most frequent), followed by subsequent loss of one or more such teeth; development of a diastema in the occlusal surface; development and subsequent loss of scrobal setae, and reduction and loss of the scrobe. Principal features of the transformation series for the labrum included evolution of form from transverse, sub-rectangular to elongate almost square, to triangular; position and number of setae evolved from dorsal to insertion on the apical margin, the number increased from 8-10 to as many as 36, and decreased to as few as four. The epipharynx broadened evolutionarily, the pedium evolving in form from narrow, triangular and nearly flat, to broad, palatiform, and markedly convex; anterior parapedial setae both increased and decreased in number, and in orientation, from a row parallel to the parapedial ridge to a setal row extended forward at about a right angle to the latter.


This paper reports the measurements and the research of noise characteristics in three-phase four-wire low voltage power network channels with overhead conductor structures. The study focuses on noise classification, loads characterization, the characteristics of noise distribution along the power lines, and that from coupling across different phases. The measured frequencies range from 1 kHz to 1 MHz. Simultaneous measurements of the characteristics of noise distribution were carried out with two sets of instrument of same performance to eliminate the influence of time variance and to improve measurement accuracy. Our results show that: 1) at the frequencies of interest, the noises of power network are mainly produced by the loads. The closer to the noise source (loads), the higher level the noise is. 2) The noise level varies from different coupling phases. The noise level of phase to phase coupling is usually far less than or at least not greater than that of the related two single-phase-to-neutral coupling, respectively. 3) At lower frequencies, the power spectrum density of the power-frequency harmonic noise is much higher than that of the background noise


Although researchers have been concerned with the effects of parental socialisation on children's outcomes, there has been surprisingly little work on the socialisation of children's moral emotions and behaviour. The purpose of this study was to explore the role of observed parental affect and encouragement in children's empathy-related responding and moral behaviour (i.e. cheating). Moreover, the moderating influence of children's characteristics (i.e. sex) on this relationship was investigated. Ninety-seven girls and 119 boys (mean age = 73 months) with a parent participated in the study. Children completed a dispositional sympathy and empathy questionnaire and were observed in a resistance-to-temptation task. Further, parents' affect and encouragement were assessed during two parent-child interactive situations. Results indicated that parents' positive affect and encouragement were positively related to children's sympathy. In contrast, parents' interactive style was not related to children's empathy. ...


It is conjectured since long that for any convex body $K \subset
\mathbb{R}^n$ there exists a point in the interior of $K$ which belongs to at
least $2n$ normals from different points on the boundary of $K$. The conjecture
is known to be true for $n=2,3,4$.
 Motivated by a recent results of Y. Martinez-Maure, and an approach by A.
Grebennikov and G. Panina, we prove the following: Let a compact smooth
$m$-dimensional manifold $M^m$ be immersed in $ \mathbb{R}^n$. We assume that
at least one of the homology groups $H_k(M^m,\mathbb{Z}_2)$ with $k<m$
vanishes. Then under mild conditions, almost every normal line to $M^m$
contains an intersection point of at least $\beta +4$ normals from different
points of $M^m$, where $\beta$ is the sum of Betti numbers of $M^m$.


Smart materials and soft robotics have been seen to be particularly well-suited for developing biomimetic devices and are active fields of research. In this study, the design and modeling of a new biomimetic soft robot is described. Initial work was made in the modeling of a biomimetic robot based on the locomotion and kinematics of jellyfish. Modifications were made to the governing equations for jellyfish locomotion that accounted for geometric differences between biology and the robotic design. In particular, the capability of the model to account for the mass and geometry of the robot design has been added for better flexibility in the model setup. A simple geometrically defined model is developed and used to show the feasibility of a proposed biomimetic robot under a prescribed geometric deformation to the robot structure. A more robust mechanics model is then developed which uses linear beam theory is coupled to an equivalent circuit model to simulate actuation of the robot with ionic polymer-metal composite (IPMC) actuators. The mechanics model of the soft robot is compared to that of the geometric model as well as biological jellyfish swimming to highlight its improved efficiency. The design models are characterized against a biological jellyfish model in terms of propulsive efficiency. Using the mechanics model, the locomotive energetics as modeled in literature on biological jellyfish are explored. Locomotive efficiency and cost as a function of swimming cycles are examined for various swimming modes developed, followed by an analysis of the initial transient and steady-state swimming velocities. Applications for fluid pumping or thrust vectoring utilizing the same basic robot design are also proposed. The new design shows a clear advantage over its purely biological counterpart for a soft-robot, with the newly proposed biomimetic swimming mode offering enhanced swimming efficiency and steady-state velocities for a given size and volume exchange.


It is a misconception that Multidisciplinary research is new and is only applicable to the disciplines of science and technology. Recent trends have witnessed a sea change, and new innovations and multidisciplinary research are being practiced by the subjects of Humanities too. Research in English Literature is no longer confined only to studies based on themes, characters, and rhetoric. Recent research practices in English Literature have not only embraced multidisciplinary collaborations with other disciplines of humanities and social sciences, but also with disciplines of Science and Technology. In the present time people have witnessed how literary texts are being treated not only as stories but as alternative histories, subaltern narratives- providing voices to the economically weaker and the socially downtrodden people, whose stories are generally ignored in the state sponsored documents. Even popular genres like the Fairy Tales, comics and graphic novels are being reinterpreted in multidisciplinary research, through the lens of Gender and Culture Studies, to show how culture and or behavioral patterns were being codified and propagated for women and children. Also, the concept of the "text" in English Literature, which traditionally meant a book has now broadened to include street signs, advertisements, movies, paintings, songs, styles of clothing, or even body language, or anything that has meaning, and people can draw information from. It will be the endeavor of this paper to analyze how this evolved concept of the "text" and use of research methodologies from other disciplines have helped research in English Literature become multidisciplinary and innovative. It analyzed the changed "text-methodology" relationship with respect to the use of philosophy in Calvin and Hobbes, cultural studies and postcolonialism in Tintin and feminist studies in popular Fairy Tales, to see how research in English Literary has embraced multidisciplinarity and innovation.


Exposure to drug cues has been shown to induce cravings and precede relapse in substance abusers. This extends from the specific implements of drug administration to the context and environment in which the drug is used. These learned associations are problematic for the treatment for drug addiction, as it is exceedingly difficult to avoid all places, people and objects that dominated one's life prior to recovery. The proposed method by which these cues elicit cravings is through classical conditioning. This conditioning has been experimentally manipulated in rodents in a paradigm known as conditioned place preference (CPP), in which an animal can be conditioned to prefer a specific environment through repeated pairings of a rewarding substance to that environment. We have created a virtual analogue of the CPP paradigm to explore the contributions of contextual conditioning to substance abuse in humans. In this study, four non-treatment seeking cocaine abusers have been given repeated pairings of cocaine in one specific virtual environment, and a placebo in a different virtual environment. Before and after the pairings, the subjects were allowed unrestricted access to both environments without the influence of cocaine. Following the pairings, participants spent an increased percentage of time in the cocaine-paired environment as well as rated the cocaine paired room as ~42% more preferable than the placebo paired room. Subjective ratings of drug effects and mood were also collected using a visual analogue scale throughout the experiment. This work is the first report of an experimentally induced CPP in humans, and this paradigm could be used to test the efficacy of treatments aimed at reducing the effect of these conditioned cues on substance abuse


The shout-circuit ruggedness of prototype 1.2kV SiC MOSFETs has been investigated. The short-circuit measurements were carried out at 25 °C and 125 °C with a dc bus voltage of 800 V and an on/off state gate voltage of +20/-10 V. The small difference in tfail between 25 °C and 125 °C indicates that the destructive breakdown occurs at temperatures much higher than 125 °C. The temperature at destructive breakdown estimated from the Wunsch-Bell formula is about 1400 °C. At such high temperatures, intrinsic carriers are increased markedly and generated heat leads to the destructive breakdown. tfail of all the SiC-MOSFETs studied is longer than 10 μs, meaning that the short-circuit ruggedness satisfies system requirements. These results show that the SiC-MOSFETs are promising for power electronics applications.


associated with a male karyotype including an abnormal X chromosome was reported by Bernstein et al.5 The abnormal X was interpreted as a duplication of p21-+pter. In addition to sex reversal, H-Y antigen was found to be virtually absent. This finding was interpreted as interference with a putative regulatory element on the X chromosome. The recent tentative localisation9 of the H-Y antigen suppressor gene distal to Xp22 would perhaps explain why the sexual development in Bernstein's patient with a distal duplication was severely affected, while our patient, with a more proximal duplication, had a male phenotype; however, unfortunately, H-Y antigen studies were not carried out in our patient. Anomalous segregation of the Xga allele in Bernstein's patient might suggest that the Xg locus was involved in the inactivation process, but recombination at meiosis was also a possibility. Since both our proband and his brothers were Xg(a-) and the mother was Xg(a+), the findings in our patient do not seem to help in elucidating this problem. Furthermore, there was no evidence from BrdU incorporation for inactivation of short arm material on the X chromosome in the proband.


Mechanical ventricular assist devices (VADs) have led to survival in patients who develop postcardiotomy cardiogenic shock (PCCS) refractory to conventional therapies. To elicit determinants of survival, the authors reviewed records of 26 patients at our institution who required Pierce-Donachy VADs for PCCS. Thirteen patients were weaned from ventricular assistance (50%), nine (34.6%) achieved long-term survival, and 17 died. Survivors and those that died were equivalent in terms of age, sex, NYHA class, type of operation, and preoperative hemodynamics. Ventricular assist pumping was established earlier in survivors (P = 0.006) although aortic cross-clamp and total cardiopulmonary bypass times were equivalent between the groups. The development of biventricular failure was significantly associated with the inability to wean from mechanical circulatory assistance. Despite an equal incidence of biventricular failure, survivors had milder forms of this entity and all patients with severe biventricular failure requiring a biventricular assist device failed to wean and ultimately died (N = 5). Of all complications, inadequate cardiac output was a significant determinant of weaning. Perioperative myocardial infarction and renal failure were found to be univariate determinants of survival. Inadequate cardiac output and biventricular failure preclude weaning from mechanical circulatory assistance. Survival is associated with the expeditious establishment of assist pumping, and with the avoidance of irreversible perioperative myocardial injury and renal failure.


Dynamic Neural Radiance Fields (NeRFs) achieve remarkable visual quality when synthesizing novel views of time-evolving 3D scenes. However, the common reliance on backward deformation fields makes reanimation of the captured object poses challenging. Moreover, the state of the art dynamic models are often limited by low visual fidelity, long reconstruction time or specificity to narrow application domains. In this paper, we present a novel method utilizing a point-based representation and Linear Blend Skinning (LBS) to jointly learn a Dynamic NeRF and an associated skeletal model from even sparse multi-view video. Our forward-warping approach achieves state-of-the-art visual fidelity when synthesizing novel views and poses while significantly reducing the necessary learning time when compared to existing work. We demonstrate the versatility of our representation on a variety of articulated objects from common datasets and obtain reposable 3D reconstructions without the need of object-specific skeletal templates. Code will be made available at https://github.com/lukasuz/Articulated-Point-NeRF.


Cholera is an acute enteric infectious disease caused by the Gram-negative bacterium Vibrio cholerae. Despite a huge body of research, the precise nature of its transmission dynamics has yet to be fully elucidated. Mathematical models can be useful to better understand how an infectious agent can spread and be properly controlled. We develop a compartmental model describing a human population, a bacterial population as well as a phage population. We show that there might be eight equilibrium points, one of which is a disease free equilibrium point. We carry out numerical simulations and sensitivity analyses and we show that the presence of phage can reduce the number of infectious individuals. Moreover, we discuss the main implications in terms of public health management and control strategies.


This study describes the egg membrane structures of angelfish (Pterophyllum scalare), morpho-physiological changes during angelfish embryogenesis from activation to hatching under optimal conditions (28°C; pH 6.8), the developing larvae and fry, the effect of alkaline pH on the early developmental stages of the species, the relationship between food item size and fry survival. Egg membranes (thin, transparent, 1.67-2.18 µm thick) are covered by a sticky substance. The amber-coloured angelfish eggs were oval in shape, with average diameters of 1.436 and 1.171 mm, i.e., a mean volume of 1.033 ± 0.095 mm3. The survival rate of embryos and larvae kept in water with an elevated, slightly alkaline pH was very low: as few as 2% of the embryos survived, while in the batch kept in optimal water conditions very few eggs died. The first larvae hatched after 1288 h of embryonic development. The newly hatched larvae measured on average 2.60 ± 0.093 mm and had large (0.64 ± 0.077 mm3) yolk sacs. They attached themselves to the substrate with a secretion of thin, viscous threads, which was released from glands situated on the top of the head. The glands vanished on day 5. The 1-day-old larvae showed the first pigment cells on the body and the eyes of the 2-day-olds were already fully pigmented. Between day 4 and 5 of larval life, the larvae began feeding on live food. The 23-day-old fry looked like a miniature versions of the adults. Mortality of the angelfish larvae during their first days after hatching was higher in those fed brine shrimp (Artemia salina) nauplii than those fed protozoans and rotifers.


Design informatics, which is the efficient design methodology, has three points of view. The first is the efficient exploration in design space using evolutionary-based optimization methods. The second is the structuring and visualizing of design space using data mining techniques. The third is the application to practical problems. In the present study, the influence of the difference among the seven pure and hybrid optimization methods for design information has been investigated in order to explain the selection manner of optimization methods for data mining. The practical problem of a singlestage hybrid rocket is picked up as the present design object. A functional analysis of variance and a self-organizing map are employed as data mining techniques in order to acquire the global information in design space. As a result, mining result depends on not the number of generation (i.e. convergence) but the optimization methods (i.e. diversity). Consequently, the optimization method with diversity performance is the beneficial selection in order to obtain the global design information in design space.


Schema modes are strong, predominant, momentary (state-like) emotional and cognitive states, and maladaptive coping responses that occur when underlying personality schemas are activated by emotional events. The current study employed the Schema Mode Inventory for Adolescents (SMI-A) to assess such schema modes in a sample of non-clinical adolescents (n = 530). Confirmatory factor analysis revealed that the hypothesized model of the SMI-A with 14 separate schema modes provided a good fit for the data. Reliability coefficients for the various schema modes were all in the adequate to good range. Finally, the validity of the SMI-A was supported by significant and meaningful relations between schema modes on the one hand and early maladaptive schema domains, symptoms of psychopathology, and quality of life on the other. Taken together, the psychometric properties of the SMI-A are promising, and the SMI-A can be considered a viable instrument to assess schema modes in adolescents.


Rules and regulations may have different impacts on risk-taking by individual banks and on banks' systemic risk levels. That is why implementing prudential rules and policies requires careful consideration of their impact on bank risk and systemic risk. This chapter assesses whether market-based measures of systemic risk and recent regulatory indicators provide similar rankings on the systemically importance of large European banks. We find evidence that regulatory indicators of systemic importance are positively related to systemic risk. In particular, banks with higher scores on regulatory indicators have a stronger link to the system in the event of financial stress, rather than having a higher level of bank risk.


Abstract Ernst Lubitsch's To Be or Not to Be (1942) was filmed during World War II and takes place in the early period of the Nazi occupation of Poland, yet it focuses on the story of a theater group, on actors, and on the metaphysical question of what makes up a convincing performance. Some early critics suggested that this was not the way to tackle a dire political situation, and that the portrayal of Nazis as humans, with their own sense of humor and theater, was disrespectful to the plight of the Poles and Polish Jewry. For the film, however, the political action and the tracing of the philosophical implications of a theatrical performance are not alternative procedures, but are closely linked to one another, and in this respect Lubitsch follows Shakespeare's own staging of power. The article pursues this argument, firstly, in the analysis of the series of Shylock monologues in the film ("Hath not a Jew eyes?"), focusing on the hyper-theatricality of each repetition. Secondly, it analyzes the series of encounters between two main characters, the Nazi Colonel Ehrhardt and the Polish actor Joseph Tura, especially their last encounter. The author compares the encounter between Ehrhardt and Tura to the Mousetrap scene in Hamlet and argues that it functions as the primal scene—in the Freudian meaning of the term—of the film as such. Their encounter is comical, yet at the same time both politically and metaphysically completely serious: The film shows us two visions of Hamlet, and with that, two visions of modernity, embodied in a Nazi colonel and a Polish actor. The film seems to suggest that there is no defeating Nazism without a thorough understanding of the theatricality of power as such—a Shakespearean lesson that is vital also for our contemporary moment.


Abstract : The Strategic Defense Initiative Organization (SDIO) and its proponents plan to conduct Demonstration/Validation tests of the ERIS technology. These tests will demonstrate the ability of the technology to perform the required tasks, and validate a future decision whether to proceed with Full-Scale Development. Demonstration/Validation tests would be conducted at the Arnold Engineering Development Center, National Test Facility, Nevada Test Site, Harry Diamond Laboratories, Vandenberg Air Force Base/Western Test Range, U.S. Army Kwajalein Atoll, U.S. Naval Pacific Missile Range at Barking Sands, and contractor facilities. Tests would include analyses, simulations, component/assembly tests, and flight tests. This document addresses the potential environmental consequences of the Demonstration/Validation testing of the ERIS technology. Keywords: Environmental impact; Test facilities.


This paper presents a Takagi-Sugeno (T-S) model-based fuzzy control design approach for electrohydraulic active vehicle suspensions considering nonlinear dynamics of the actuator, sprung mass variation, and constraints on the control input. The T-S fuzzy model is first applied to represent the nonlinear uncertain electrohydraulic suspension. Then, a fuzzy state feedback controller is designed for the obtained T-S fuzzy model with optimized H infin performance for ride comfort by using the parallel-distributed compensation (PDC) scheme. The sufficient conditions for the existence of such a controller are derived in terms of linear matrix inequalities (LMIs). Numerical simulations on a full-car suspension model are performed to validate the effectiveness of the proposed approach. The obtained results show that the designed controller can achieve good suspension performance despite the existence of nonlinear actuator dynamics, sprung mass variation, and control input constraints.


Gabapentinoids have clinically been used for treating epilepsy, neuropathic pain, and several other neurological disorders for >30 years, however, the definitive molecular mechanism responsible for their therapeutic actions remained uncertain. The conventional pharmacological observation regarding their efficacy in chronic pain modulation is the weakening of glutamate release at presynaptic terminals in the spinal cord. While the α2/δ-1 subunit of voltage-gated calcium channels (VGCCs) has been identified as the primary drug receptor for gabapentinoids, the lack of consistent effect of this drug class on VGCC function is indicative of a minor role in regulating this ion channel's activity. This current review targets the efficacy and mechanism of gabapentinoids in treating chronic pain. The discovery of the interaction of α2/δ-1 with thrombospondins established this protein as a major synaptogenic neuronal receptor for thrombospondins. Other findings identified α2/δ-1 as a powerful regulator of NMDA and AMPA receptors by potentiating the synaptic expression, a putative pathophysiological mechanism of neuropathic pain. Further, the interdependent interactions between thrombospondin and α2/δ-1 contribute to chronic pain states, while gabapentinoid ligands efficaciously reverse such pain conditions. Gabapentin normalizes and even blocks NMDAR and AMPAR synaptic targeting and activity elicited by nerve injury. Significance Statement Gabapentinoid drugs are used to treat various neurological conditions including chronic pain. In chronic pain states gene expression of cacnα2/δ-1 and thrombospondins are upregulated and promote aberrant excitatory synaptogenesis. The complex trait of protein associations that involve interdependent interactions between α2/δ-1 and thrombospondins, further, an association of NMDAR and AMPAR with the C-tail of α2/δ-1 constitutes a macromolecular signaling complex that forms the crucial elements for the pharmacological mode of action of gabapentinoids.


This paper proposes a theoretical framework to analyze the impacts of credit and technology shocks on business cycle dynamics, where firms rely on banks and households for capital financing. Firms are identical ex ante but differ ex post due to different realizations of firm specific technology shocks, possible leading to default by some firms. The paper advances a new modelling approach for the analysis of financial intermediation and firm defaults that takes account of the financial implications of such defaults for both households and banks. Results from a calibrated version of the model highlight the role of financial institutions in the transmission of credit and technology shocks to the real economy. A positive credit shock, defined as a rise in the loan to deposit ratio, increases output, consumption, hours and productivity, and reduces the spread between loan and deposit rates. The effects of the credit shock tend to be highly persistent even without price rigidities and habit persistence in consumption behaviour.


From the beginning of systematic research on sexual victimization, it has been recognized that a substantial proportion of women report nonconsensual sexual experiences meeting the defining criteria of rape in response to behaviorally specific items, but do not acknowledge their experience as rape in response to broad questions about whether they have ever been raped. Recent studies suggest that rates of unacknowledged rape may be as high or even higher among men than among women. This study examined rates of unacknowledged female and male victims of rape and sexual assault by comparing responses to behaviorally specific items of the Sexual Aggression and Victimization Scale (SAV-S) with responses to broad questions using the labels of sexual assault and rape (SARA) in 593 participants (303 women) in Germany. As predicted, more women and men were classified as rape victims based on behaviorally specific items than on the basis of the broad rape item. The rates of unacknowledged rape were about 60% for women and 75% for men. The gender difference was not significant. Against our prediction, no significant differences in acknowledgement of sexual assault were found in relation to coercive strategy and victim-perpetrator relationship. Few cases of rape and sexual assault identified by the SARA items were missed by the behaviorally specific questions. The implications for establishing prevalence rates of rape and sexual assault and for comparing victims and nonvictims in terms of vulnerability factors and outcomes of sexual victimization are discussed.


The space debris population has increased in the last decades and is still growing. This problem results amongst others in protecting spacecraft against particle impacts, especially for manned missions in low Earth orbits. Depending on the mission, even for smaller spacecraft, it is reasonable to protect the main structure agains t space debris and meteoroid impacts. For the risk analysis of spacecraft in meteoroid and space debris environment, so called risk analysis and damage prediction codes such as BUMPER or MDPANTO have been developed [1]. They are used in order to quantify the risk for a defined mission resulting from impacts of particles. This analysis can be done based on two idealization concepts of the spacecraft surface. In the first concept, the surface area of the shield is taken for the analysis, in the second concept the surface area of the protected structure is taken. Due to the difference in surface area of the shield and of the protected structure, the analysis results could be described on one hand to be conservative and on the other hand to be optimistic. For large spacecraft this difference in surface area is negligible, but for small spacecraft it becomes more important. In this paper, an approach is developed in order to estimate a surface area, that reflects better the actual impact relations for small spacecraft.


This study examined sociodemographic and contraceptive use factors that affect contraceptive failure (CF) during the first 8.5 years of contraceptive use and pregnancy outcomes in China. Data were obtained from complete fertility and contraceptive histories among 17,887 currently married women, aged 15-57 years, included in the 1988 Two-per-Thousand Fertility Survey. 4053 contraceptive use periods during 1980-88 ended in failure. The methods of Trussel and Hammerslough (1983) were used to estimate method-specific hazard models of CF. Findings of relative risk indicate that for male and female sterilization, duration of use and number of living children were determinants of CF among only rural couples. The rate of CF was greatest in the first few months and declined to almost zero after 36 months. Rural women with 3 or more children had a significantly higher rate of CF. The effect of female sterilization had a smaller effect on duration. Significant determinants of CF for mixed methods were duration of use, age at start of use, and number of living children. Risk of CF, after 1984, was lower by 18-32% depending upon method. 61.7% and 62.4% of CFs for male and female sterilization, respectively, resulted in live births. 45.0% of IUD CFs and under 25.0% of reversible method CFs resulted in live births. Number of living children was a significant determinant of a live birth outcome. More children was related to a greater risk of a live birth. The demographic impact of CFs varied by method and area of residence.


In this paper we consider a general equilibrium model where heterogeneous agents specialize either in legitimate market activities or in criminal activities and majority rule determines the share of income redistributed and the expenditures devoted to the apprehension of criminals. We calibrate our model to the U.S. economy in 1990, and we conduct simulation exercises to evaluate the effectiveness of expenditures on police protection and income redistribution at reducing crime. We find that while expenditures on police protection reduce crime, it is possible for the crime rate to increase with redistribution. We also show that economies that adopt relatively more generous redistribution policies may have either higher or lower crime rates than economies with relatively less generous redistribution policies, depending on the characteristics of their wage distribution and on the efficiency of their apprehension technology.


Animal models provide convenient and clinically relevant tools in the research on neurodegenerative diseases. Studies on developmental disorders extensively rely on the use of laboratory rodents. The present mini-review proposes an alternative translational model based on the use of fetal bovine brain tissue. The bovine (Bos taurus) possesses a large and highly gyrencephalic brain and the long gestation period (41 weeks) is comparable to human pregnancy (38–40 weeks). Primary cultures obtained from fetal bovine brain constitute a validated in vitro model that allows examinations of neurons and/or glial cells under controlled and reproducible conditions. Physiological processes can be also studied on cultured bovine neural cells incubated with specific substrates or by electrically coupled electrolyte-oxide-semiconductor capacitors that permit direct recording from neuronal cells. Bovine neural cells and specific in vitro cell culture could be an alternative in comparative neuroscience and in neurodegenerative research, useful for studying development of normal and altered circuitry in a long gestation mammalian species. Use of bovine tissues would promote a substantial reduction in the use of laboratory animals.


Carole Jenny's "Child Abuse and Neglect: Diagnosis, Treatment and Evidence" focuses attention on the clinical evidence of child abuse to help you correctly diagnose and treat such cases in your own practice. This unique, well-illustrated clinical reference provides new insights into the presentation and differential diagnosis of physical abuse, a look at shaken baby syndrome, sex offenders and abuse in religious organizations, information on the biomechanics of injury, and more. Great for general review, as well as clinical reference, it's also ideal for those taking the American Board of Pediatrics' new subspecialty board exam in Child Abuse Pediatrics.


Biologically inspired design (BID) applies natural solutions to engineering challenges. Due to the widespread success of BID, we examine the following research question: how does the purpose of applying, the inspiration source, and the application of BID differ between academics, the public, and practitioners? Answering this question can help us design the tools used to support BID, provide an understanding of the current 'state of BID' and identify where BID solutions have not been widely utilized. Identifying gaps in utilization could prompt investigations into BID methods in new fields. To answer this research question, 660 BID samples were gathered equally from three data sources: Google Scholar, Google News, and the Asknature.org 'Innovations' database. The data were classified across seven dimensions and 68 subcategories. The conclusions of our research deliver insights into three areas. First, we identify trends in BID independent of source. For example, 72.5% of the biomimicry samples had the purpose of improving functionality and 87.6% of the samples impacted the usage phase of a product's life cycle. Secondly, by examining the distribution of BID within each source, we identify areas for potential outreach or application. Finally, by contrasting BID results between three sources (academic, news, and practical case studies) we gain an understanding of the disparities between the three. This analysis provides BID researchers and practitioners with a useful insight into the present state of this field, with the goal of motivating future research and application.


Exploiting a sample of galaxies drawn from the XXL-North multiwavelength survey, we present an analysis of the stellar population properties of galaxies at 0 . 1 ≤ z ≤ 0 . 5, by studying galaxy fractions and the star formation rate (SFR)–stellar mass ( M (cid:63) ) relation. Furthermore, we exploit and compare two parametrisations of environment. When adopting a definition of "global" environment, we consider separately cluster virial ( r ≤ 1 r 200 ) and outer (1 r 200 < r ≤ 3 r 200 ) members and field galaxies. We also distinguish between galaxies that belong or do not belong to superclusters, but never find systematic di ff erences between the two subgroups. When considering the "local" environment, we take into account the projected number density of galaxies in a fixed aperture of 1Mpc in the sky. We find that regardless of the environmental definition adopted, the fraction of blue or star-forming galaxies is the highest in the field or least dense regions and the lowest in the virial regions of clusters or highest densities. Furthermore, the fraction of star-forming galaxies is higher than the fraction of blue galaxies, regardless of the environment. This result is particularly evident in the virial cluster regions, most likely reflecting the di ff erent star formation histories of galaxies in di ff erent environments. Also the overall SFR– M (cid:63) relation does not seem to depend on the parametrisation adopted. Nonetheless, the two definitions of environment lead to di ff erent results as far as the fraction of galaxies in transition between the star-forming main sequence and the quenched regime is concerned. In fact, using the local environment the fraction of galaxies below the main sequence is similar at low and high densities, whereas in clusters (and especially within the virial radii) a population with reduced SFR with respect to the field is observed. Our results show that the two parametrisations adopted to describe the environment have di ff erent physical meanings, i.e. are intrinsically related to di ff erent physical processes acting on galaxy populations and are able to probe di ff erent physical scales.


For many species, the highest predation rates are on the earliest life stages, favoring the early development of predator detection mechanisms. Aquatic larvae of Spotted salamanders, Ambystoma maculatum, suffer very high mortality rates and juveniles are vulnerable to a new suite of terrestrial predators after metamorphosis. In some species, adult salamanders assess predation risk via chemical cues released by damaged conspecifics and some heterospecifics ("alarm cues"), but responses of larvae and metamorphs have not been tested. Our first experiment confirmed that field-caught, experienced larvae responded with fright to chemical cues of damaged conspecifics, but not to control cues or alarm cues from toad tadpoles. Responses of sedentary hatchlings in the next experiment indicated that the alarm cue was not present in damaged tissues of hatchlings (1-day-old), but was present by the time the larvae reached the age of 1 month. The third experiment tested responses of naïve lab-reared, free-swimming larvae to alarm cue. In contrast to the other two experiments, these larvae without experience did not distinguish between conspecific alarm cues and control stimuli, suggesting that either embryonic learning or reinforcement learning as larvae may be required to develop or maintain the alarm response. In the fourth experiment, post-metamorphic juveniles raised from field-experienced larvae significantly avoided alarm cues from conspecifics but not control stimuli, indicating that the production and recognition of alarm cues can be retained after metamorphosis. Our study provides the first evidence of chemical alarm cues produced by both larval and juvenile salamanders and indicates that alarm responses may vary according to experience.


Guarded evaluation is a power reduction technique that involves identifying subcircuits (within a larger circuit) whose inputs can be held constant (guarded) at specific times during circuit operation, thereby reducing switching activity and lowering dynamic power. The concept is rooted in the property that under certain conditions, some signals within digital designs are not "observable" at design outputs, making the circuitry that generates such signals a candidate for guarding. Guarded evaluation has been demonstrated successfully for application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs); in this paper, we apply the technique to field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs). In ASICs, guarded evaluation entails adding additional hardware to the design, increasing silicon area and cost. Here, we apply the technique in a way that imposes minimal area overhead by leveraging existing unused circuitry within the FPGA. The primary challenge in guarded evaluation is in determining the specific conditions under which a subcircuit's inputs can be held constant without impacting the larger circuit's functional correctness. We propose a simple solution to this problem based on discovering gating inputs using "noninverting" and "partial noninverting" paths in a circuit's AND-inverter graph representation. Experimental results show that guarded evaluation can reduce switching activity on average by as much as 32% and 25% for 6-input look-up table (6-LUT) and 4-LUT architectures, respectively. Dynamic power consumption in the FPGA interconnect is reduced on average by as much as 24% and 22% for 6-LUT and 4-LUT architectures, respectively. The impact to critical path delay ranges from 1% to 43%, depending on the guarding scenario and the desired power/delay tradeoff.


A 45-year-old man who was admitted with nausea, vomiting, and abdominal pain was found to have severe metabolic alkalosis, with a PaCO2 of 11.4kPa (85.5 mm Hg), PaO2 of 5.8 kPa (43.5 mm Hg), pH of 7.61, and plasma bicarbonate concentration of 82.0 mmol/l. He was treated with oxygen, intravenous physiological saline, and phenytoin and improved within 48 hours. Radiographs showed gastric outlet obstruction secondary to peptic ulcer, which was treated by surgery. Though sever, the rise in carbon dioxide concentration in this patient was probably lifesaving. The PaCO2 was therefore allowed to fall gradually as the alkalosis was treated. The return of both PaCO2 and plasma bicarbonate values to normal in parallel suggests that hypoventilation compensated for the metabolic alkalosis and emphasises the importance of conservative treatment in cases of metabolic alkalosis.


IZA DP No. 15986 MARCH 2023 Health Implications of Building Retrofits: Evidence from a Population-Wide Weatherization Program* What is the impact of housing upgrades on occupant health? Although economists and policymakers are certain about the health implications of housing upgrades, empirical evidence is largely missing or else only based on small-scale experiments in developing countries. This study provides the first population-representative quasi-experimental estimates based on a large-scale refurbishment program that renovated half of the East German housing portfolio in the aftermath of German reunification. During the 1990s, the German government devoted significant financial resources to upgrading the insulation and heating systems of over 3.6 million dwellings in East Germany. We link the renovations to individual demand for the healthcare of occupants using the German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP) as well as administrative records of universal hospital admissions in Germany. Exploiting the staggered roll-out of the renovation program, our results show that an improvement in housing quality enhances the health of vulnerable age groups. Evidence from hospital records suggests that reductions in hospitalization were due to a lower risk of cardiovascular problems for older individuals (45 years or older) which were mainly driven by days with extremely hot and cold ambient temperatures. Our findings have strong policy implications and can enrich the cost-benefit analysis of public investments in weatherization programs. JEL Classification: H54, I18, R21, R23, R38


Mentoring is a key component of the John A. Hartford Foundation's initiative on Building Academic Geriatric Nursing Capacity (BAGNC). For an in-depth description of this program, see the first article in this issue. Without strong mentoring, neither the objectives of the Program, nor the successes of the Hartford Centers of Geriatric Nursing Excellence (HCGNE) would have been realized. This implicitly, if not explicitly, required commitment by the directors and senior faculty of the Centers, who viewed mentorship as central to strengthening the field of geriatric nursing, as well as assuring its future. In this article, we discuss the concept of mentoring broadly to include not only one-to-one mentor-mentee relationships, but also comprehensive approaches to faculty, diverse levels of students, and community partners. Over a 5-year period, mentoring came to encompass a multitude of programs and activities for undergraduate and graduate students, pre-doctoral scholars and post-doctoral trainees, faculty, and practicing nurses preparing for leadership roles as geriatric nurse clinicians, educators, and scientists. In addition, outcomes from the overall initiative are described, as well as a synthesis of themes based on the experiences of each HCGNE.


This article discusses three major approaches connecting culture to law. The first is the historical school that arose in German jurisprudence in the first half of the nineteenth century. It views law as a product of a nation's culture and as embedded in the daily practices of its people. The second approach is the constitutive approach that developed in American jurisprudence in the 1980s. This approach views law as participating in the constitution of culture and thereby in the constitution of people's minds, practices, and social relations. The third approach, found in twentieth-century Anglo-American jurisprudence, views the law that the courts create and apply as a distinct cultural system. Law practitioners internalize this culture in the course of their studies and professional activity, and this internalization comes to constitute, direct, and delimit the way these practitioners think, argue, resolve cases, and provide justifications. The writings of Karl Llewellyn, James Boyd White, Pierre Bourdieu and Stanley Fish are discussed. Beyond these three approaches the article points out nine additional approaches in legal scholarship concerning the relationship between law and culture. This mapping is tentative. It is hoped, however, that it gives readers a preliminary idea of the widespread use of the concept of culture in the law and that it invites further reflection on other possible ways to employ the concept of culture in legal scholarship for a richer understanding of the legal phenomenon.


Agroforestry provides multiple ecosystem services. The understanding of the relationships between it and the ecosystem services can help to minimize undesired trade-offs. The aim of this study was to determine the trade-offs between agroforestry and ecosystem services among smallholder farmers in Machakos County, Kenya. This study demonstrated that smallholder farmers who had adopted agroforestry in the semi-arid areas of Machakos County achieved several ecosystem services from the practice. Ecosystem services supporting functions included nutrient recycling and soil formation which were the most important. These were followed by regulatory functions (soil erosion control, water infiltration, microclimate regulation, flood control and disease/pest control). Provision of ecosystem services such as fuelwood, fruit, nuts, poles, timber and fodder was the third most important function as perceived by the local community members while the least was cultural functions that are rarely performed within the agroforestry ecosystems. Given the low knowledge of the entire range of agroforestry ecosystem services in the area, there should be concerted effort to educate the local community members about the wide range of ecosystem services to maximize the exploitation of these services from agroforestry.


British cognitive developmental psychology is characterized by its interest in philosophical questions, its preference for linking basic research to applied issues in education and cognitive disorders, and its willingness to learn both methodologically and theoretically from work in animal psychology and in physiology more generally. It has also been influenced profoundly by Jean Piaget's cognitive stage theory although in general British work has focused on demonstrating early strengths, rather than early deficits, in infant and child cognition. Following an overview of British work that encompasses past and present interests, issues and challenges for the future are highlighted. While the perspectives of the founding members of the British Psychological Society (BPS), as outlined by Edgell (1947), are still apparent in British research in cognitive developmental psychology today, it is argued that future cognitive work must become even more interdisciplinary and that the symbiotic relationship between research in adult cognition and in cognitive development needs greater recognition.


Genomic instability is a feature of almost all tumors but the exact mechanisms that underpin this cancer hallmark are poorly defined. Perturbation of DNA repair machinery promotes genomic instability and therefore represents an important target to design new therapeutic strategies. In this regard, the alternative non-homologous end joining (Alt-NHEJ) pathway, that is still partially understood, is considered to play a pivotal role as promoter of cancer genomic instability. Growing evidence links up-regulation of this error prone pathway with the acquisition of new genetic changes which lead to cancer onset and progression. The efficacy of poly (ADP ribose) polymerase (PARP) inhibitors has demonstrated the relevance of synthetic lethality-based approaches in cancer treatment, which might be exploited also when Alt-NHEJ plays a dominant role. In this review, we summarize recent findings which link Alt-NHEJ to the pathogenesis of different tumors, highlighting its role as genomic instability master regulator and therefore as new promising target in the precision oncology scenario.


Women play an immense role in rural non-farm economy. Hence, objective of this study was to assess women's participation in non-farm activity in Shebel Berenta Woreda, Amhara Region, Ethiopia. Mixed research method with explanatory research design was employed for data collection and data analysis. The questionnaire survey was collected from 267 systematically selected women from randomly selected four rural Kebeles, purposively selected key informants and focus group discussants in the study area. The result showed that more than half of respondents(51%) participate in NFA and their extent in NFA participation revealed that, majority of rural women regularly participated in trade, making and sale of local drinks, casual laboring or daily laboring, pottery, food for work, selling of firewood and charcoal production, selling of vegetable and fruits, and retail shopping. While, women has involved in lesser extent on leather works, traditional hair dressing, grain milling and weaving or spinning. In addition, women were constrained from the involvement in carpentry or masonry, community assigned local position, private sector employment and traditional medicine of the non-farm sector in the study area. The employment status of women's participation in non-farm showed high in self-employment, while limited saying in wage employment. Correspondingly, majority of women pursue NFA in the nearest town or local away from home, whereas small numbers of women pursues NFA through migratory. To enable rural women active participant the government should work on education, providing credit services and built local infrastructure.
 Key words: Gender, Livelihood, Employment, Non-farm activity, Participation, Shebel Berenta Woreda.


We have developed a distributed quadtree dictionary (DQTD) algorithm, which allows lossless, multiresolution compression of single-crystal diffractometer (SCD) datasets from the Argonne National Laboratory in Chicago, IL. This is of prime importance to high-energy physicists who need to manipulate and visualize SCD datasets, but cannot due to their overwhelming memory requirements. Distributing a quadtree dictionary necessarily introduces redundancy to what was previously a minimal QTD. We have developed a method to reduce the tree redundancy in the QTD, thereby providing a tighter upper bound on the size of our QTD. We compare the DQTD algorithm with a distributed square wavelet transform (SWT). Experimental results on three sample 1GB SCD datasets show that, on a level-by-level basis, our algorithm performs no worse than SWT in terms of energy conservation and adjusted energy conservation, while providing 59:1 overall compression in the average case.


How has "the migrant crisis" affected musicology? What "edges" now appear, with what implications for musicology's persistent call to historicize? This article suggests these have been more persistent questions than the current language of "crisis" might suggest. Taking some examples with the ongoing Syrian war as a backdrop, the implications of Mieke Bal's injunction to "remember with" are explored as a route to thinking through the dilemmas of activism and compassion.


In-situ synthesis of ZnO and Nb2O5 composites was carried out in alkaline medium. The obtained composites were characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), Raman spectroscopy, diffuse reflectance UV-Vis spectrophotometer (DRS), Powder X-ray diffraction (XRD), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) surface area method, N2-sorption isotherms, Thermo gravimetric analysis (TGA), Particle size and Field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM/EDX). The synthesized composite was used as photocatalyst in the degradation of reactive red-198 (RR), methylene blue (MB) and 3-chloro phenol (3CP) under visible light irradiation. The catalytic activity and removal percentage of dye was determined by the spectrophotometric method, it indicates high percentage of degradation for the ZnO:Nb2O5 composite. The kinetic parameters were found to obey pseudo-first order oxidation reaction, which may be due to the fixed amount of the catalyst and concentration of the dye solution. The recycled and purified composites of ZnO:Nb2O5 was tested the catalytic activity and was compared with that of the fresh catalyst. Copyright © 2015 VBRI press.


"Soluble" adenylyl cyclase (sAC) is a widely expressed source of cAMP in mammalian cells that is evolutionarily, structurally, and biochemically distinct from the G protein-responsive transmembrane adenylyl cyclases. In contrast to transmembrane adenylyl cyclases, sAC is insensitive to heterotrimeric G protein regulation and forskolin stimulation and is uniquely modulated by bicarbonate ions. Here we present the first report detailing kinetic analysis and biochemical properties of purified recombinant sAC. We confirm that bicarbonate regulation is conserved among mammalian sAC orthologs and demonstrate that bicarbonate stimulation is consistent with an increase in the Vmax of the enzyme with little effect on the apparent Km for substrate, ATPMg . Bicarbonate can further increase sAC activity by relieving substrate inhibition. We also identify calcium as a direct modulator of sAC activity. In contrast to bicarbonate, calcium stimulates sAC activity by decreasing its apparent Km for ATP-Mg 2 . Because of their different mechanisms, calcium and bicarbonate synergistically activate sAC; therefore, small changes of either calcium or bicarbonate will lead to significant changes in cellular cAMP levels.


Abstract. The tropospheric ozone depletion events (ODEs) and the related enhancement of reactive bromine in the boundary layer were observed in the springtime of Arctic almost 40 years ago. It is found that various substrates in polar regions such as the snowpack are able to release bromine, which is responsible for the consumption of ozone in the boundary layer. In the present simulation, a snowpack module which represents the mass transfer between the ambient air and the snowpack is implemented in a box model, aiming to clarify the influences of the snowpack on ODEs and the associated bromine explosion in the ambient air as well as in the interstitial air of the snowpack. In the snowpack module, the processes including the deposition of bromine containing compounds onto the snowpack, the mass exchange between the snow interstitial air and snow particles, and the release of Br2 from the snowpack to the ambient air are parameterized by estimating the transfer resistances which an air parcel experiences when being transported through the boundary layer into the snowpack. The present model successfully captures the complete removal of ozone both in the boundary layer and in the snow interstitial air. The temporal and spatial distributions of bromine species such as Br2 are shown and compared with observations. By changing the properties of the snowpack, it is found that the size of snow grains, volume fraction of the liquid-like layer (LLL), and the rate of the mass exchange between the snow interstitial air and the snow particles are the critical parameters which determine the occurrence of ODEs. The simulation results show that a smaller size of the snow grains considerably accelerates the ozone depletion process. Moreover, the decrease of LLL volume fraction in snow grains is found to slow down the scavenging process of HOBr by the snow particles, which prohibits the occurrence of ODEs in the snowpack. In addition, according to the simulations with the modification of the snowpack thickness, the depletion of ozone in the ambient air is shown to be influenced more heavily by the bromine explosion occurring in the surface snow layers instead of the deep snow layers. The importance of each step in the mass transfer processes occurring between the boundary layer and the snowpack is identified by conducting a local concentration sensitivity analysis. It is shown that the snow chemistry occurring in the surface snow layers has a relatively larger impact on the depletion of ozone in the ambient air compared to that within the deep snow layers. Besides, during the period of the ozone depletion, the mixing ratio of ozone in the boundary layer is mostly influenced by the deposition of HOBr onto the surface snow layers and the release of Br2 from the snow layers close to the ground surface. In contrast to that, in the interstitial air of the surface snow layer, the uptake of HOBr by snow particles is indicated as the most dominant step for the ODE.