A test series using eight unembalmed cadavers was conducted to investigate factors affecting the creation of cervical spine damage from impact to the crown of the head. The crown impact was accomplished by a free-fall drop of the test subject onto a load plate. The load plate striking surface was covered with padding to vary the contact force time characteristics. The orientations of the head, cervical spine, and torso were adjusted relative to a laboratory coordinate system to investigate the effects of head and spinal configuration on the damage patterns. Load and acceleration data are presented as a function of time and as a function of frequency in the form of mechanical impedance. For the covering abstract of the conference see HS-036 716. (Author/TRRL)


ICP0 is a 110,000-molecular-weight immediate-early protein of herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1) which is encoded by three exons. It has been shown to function as a promiscuous transactivator of a variety of different HSV-1 and non-HSV-1 promoters in transient expression assays. Analysis of mutations which truncated the carboxy-terminal end of this 775-amino-acid (aa) protein demonstrated that a polypeptide which contained only aa 1 to 553 still possessed significant transactivation potential. Additional carboxy-terminal truncations which sequentially removed aa 245 to 553 and thus the remainder of the third exon resulted in the eventual loss of transactivation capability in these mutants. However, further analysis of these truncated derivatives demonstrated that they behaved as dominant-negative mutants to the wild-type polypeptide. Moreover, one of the mutants was found to act as a promiscuous repressor, in that it could dramatically inhibit a variety of HSV-1 promoters, non-HSV-1 promoters, and heterologous transactivator proteins in transient expression assays, despite having lost almost the entire third exon. These results indicate that a domain encoded by the first two exons probably interacts with, and can effectively titrate, the unknown cellular factor(s) through which ICP0 mediates transactivation.


The behaviour of fluid flow in industrial processes is essential for numerous applications and there have been vast amount of work on the hydrodynamic pressure generated due to the flow of viscous fluid. One major manifestation of hydrodynamic pressure application is the wire coating/drawing process, where the wire is pulled through a unit either conical or cylindrical bore filled with a polymer melt that gives rise to the hydrodynamic pressure inside the unit. The hydrodynamic pressure distribution may change during the process due to various factors such as the pulling speed, process temperature, fluid viscosity, and geometrical shape of the unit (die). This work presents the process of designing a new plasto-hydrodynamic pressure die based on a tapered-stepped-parallel bore shape; the device consists of a fixed hollow outer cylinder and an inner rotating shaft, where the hollow cylinder represents a pressure chamber and the rotating shaft represents the moving surface of the wire. The geometrical shape of the bore is provided by different shaped inserts to set various gap ratios, ancl the complex geometry of the gap between the shaft and the pressure chamber is filled with viscous fluid materials. The device allows the possibility of determining changes in the hydrodynamic pressure as the shaft speed is altered while different fluid viscosity during the process is considered.

A number of experimental procedures and methods have been carried out to determine the effects of various shaft speeds by using Glycerine at 1 to 18 °C and two different types of silicone oil fluids at 1 to 25 °C on the hydrodynamic pressure and shear rate. Viscosities of the viscous fluids were obtained at atmospheric pressure by using a Cone-plate Brookfield viscometer at low shear rate ranges.

Moreover, Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) was used to develop and analyze computational simulation models that demonstrate the pressure units, which studies the drawing process involving viscous fluids in a rotating system. A finite volume technique was used to observe the change in fluid viscosity during the process based on non-Newtonian characteristics at high shear rate ranges. The maximum shaft speed used in these models was 1.5m.sec'1. Results from experimental and Computational models were presented graphically and discussed.


Maturation of the immune system starts early in fetal life. Lymphocytes of the B series develop in the liver by 9 weeks' gestation and are present in the blood and spleen by 12 weeks. T lymphocytes start to leave the thymus from about 14 weeks' gestation and subsequently cells with helper and suppressor phenotypes are present in the spleen. The relative lack of development of secondary lymphoid tissues in healthy fetuses most probably reflects the lack of antigen stimulus. Newborn plasma contains adult levels of IgG which is acquired across the placenta from the mother. The small amounts of IgM (less than 20 mg/dL) which are normally present in healthy newborns have been reported to include antibody with specificity for maternal lymphocytes. IgA synthesis normally starts in the secretory immune system, about 2-3 weeks after birth. Poor antibody responses by newborns following immunization, especially with bacterial capsular polysaccharides, suggest that newborn immune responses are immature as compared with adults. The susceptibility of newborns to severe HSV and VZV supports this view. In vitro correlates of this immaturity include 1) deficiency of the response by newborn B cells to polyclonal activators, and 2) a lack of T cells which proliferate in HSV- or VZV-stimulated cultures. These characteristics more likely result from a lack of prior antigen stimulation and resulting clonal expansion than from intrinsic lymphocyte suppression. Antigen handling by newborn monocytes, in contrast, appears to be mature by the time of birth.


Introduction Available evidence suggests that probiotics have different biological functions that depend on several mechanisms, such as antioxidant and DNA-protective activities. The probiotic consortium includes bacterial cultures such as Streptococcus thermophilus, Lactococcus lactis, Lactobacillus plantarum, and other bacterial cultures isolated from traditional Kazakh dairy products (ayran, kumys, shubat, and healthy clinical material). The aim of this study was to investigate the total antioxidant activity of the consortium of probiotic bacteria and to determine the activity of superoxide dismutase, glutathione reductase, and DNA-protective action. Material and methods In vitro comet assay was used to determine the antigenotoxicity of the probiotic consortium. Total antioxidant activity was determined using a method of analysis with Trolox as the equivalent. The analysis method of superoxide dismutase activity assesses the inhibition rate of the nitroblue tetrazolium reduction to formazan by superoxide dismutase. Determination of glutathione reductase activity is based on the measurement of the NADPH oxidation speed. Results A significantly high level of the total antioxidant activity of the probiotic consortium intact cells (15.3 mM/ml) was observed whereas the activity index of lysate was 11.1 mM/ml. The superoxide dismutase activity of probiotic consortium lysate was evaluated, with values that peaked at 0.24 U/mg protein. The superoxide dismutase activity of the consortium was lower in comparison to L.fernentum E-3 and L.fernentum E-18 cultures with values of 0.85 U/mg and 0.76 U/mg protein, respectively. SOD activity of probiotic consortium whole cells was not observed, which is typical for lactic acid bacteria. Glutathione reductase plays an important role in the optimal protection from oxidative stress. Glutathione reductase activity of the studied probiotic consortium was low; moreover, the activity of the lysate was two times higher than the activity of the cells reaching 0.01 units/ml. Investigations by Dr. Li have shown that the intracellular glutathione may give a significant protection of Lactococcus from the damaging action of H2O2, even at very low concentrations. The data from our study suggests that the co-incubation of the epithelial cells with probiotic bacteria reduces the percentage of damaged cells (damage index–0.60). Conclusion The studied probiotic consortium has antigenotoxic and antioxidant activities. Preparations and products of this probiotic consortium may serve as a protective component in the intestinal microbial ecosystem.


The influence of intermediate resonant dissociative channels in the few-photon ionization dynamics of H2 is demonstrated in a pump-probe scenario. Two-photon ionization of H2 by two sequentially applied pump and probe vuv/fs 1011 W/cm2 laser pulses is reported. The kinetic energy distribution of the ejected protons is calculated by solving the time-dependent Schrödinger equation within the Born-Oppenheimer approximation, including the electronic three-dimensional and vibrational one-dimensional motion. Population is effectively transferred from the 1sσg to the 3pσu potential surface, via resonant one-photon absorption, by applying a chirped pump pulse. The molecule is ultimately ionized by the probe pulse. It is found that a double-peaked structure appears in the resulting kinetic energy release spectra of the nuclear fragments. A corresponding modulated structure also appears in the dissociative channels, merely demonstrating that the double-peaked structure in the spectra originates from the molecular 1sσg-3pσu electronic dynamics, and an inherent twocenter interference in the underlying electric dipole coupling. It turns out that the dipole coupling between the 1sσg and 3pσu electronic states vanishes at an internuclear distance of 2.25 a.u., i.e., close to the equilibrium internuclear separation. The resulting node in the R-dependent dipole coupling imposes a minimum in the corresponding kinetic energy release spectra of the dissociating nuclei. By creating a negative or positive chirp in the applied pump pulse, it is found that the modulations can be made more or less salient.


To evaluate the impact of a small-scale irrigation scheme on the level of malaria transmission in a semi-arid area, entomological studies were conducted in Zeway area, Central Ethiopia. Larval and adult anophelines were sampled during the dry and short-rainy seasons from irrigated and non-irrigated villages. Overall, significantly higher density of Anopheles larvae were found during the dry season in the irrigated village (Mean = 38.3 larvae/100 dips) than the non-irrigated village (7.4 larvae/100 dips). Canal leakage pools, irrigated fields and irrigation canals were the major sources of Anopheles mosquitoes. Larval and adult Anopheles pharoensis and An. arabiensis, principal malaria vectors in Ethiopia, were more abundant in the irrigated village than the non-irrigated village throughout the study period. Hourly light trap catches revealed that peak indoor and outdoor biting activities of An. arabiensis and An. pharoensis occurred during the early period of the night before the local inhabitants retire to bed. The majority of blood-engorged An. arabiensis (0.78) and An. pharoensis (0.69) had fed on humans, suggesting that their highly anthropophilic nature in Zeway area. Plasmodium falciparum infection rates of 1.02% and 0.54% were determined for An. arabiensis and An. pharoensis, respectively, in the irrigated village. This study demonstrated that due to poorly maintained irrigation structures, the irrigation scheme created conducive breeding grounds for malaria vector species, particularly during the dry season. Consequently, the period of malaria transmission might possibly extend from seasonal to year-round, involving the dry season. Proper water management coupled with environmental management such as source reduction could reduce vector abundance and hence malaria transmission in the irrigation schemes.


Abstract The ITER Neutral Beam Test Facility (PRIMA - Padova Research on ITER Megavolt Accelerator) is planned to be built at Consorzio RFX (Padova, Italy). PRIMA includes two experimental devices: a full-size plasma source with low voltage extraction called SPIDER (Source for Production of Ions of Deuterium Extracted from RF plasma) and a full-size neutral beam injector at full beam power called MITICA (Megavolt ITER Injector Concept Advancement). The beam source components are exposed to high and focused heat loads during beam production, and they are actively cooled, being at high voltage, by ultrapure water, which flows through cooling channels machined inside the components. The high power loads, the complexity of the cooling circuits, and their small, rectangular cross sections are design critical issues. The results of the tests carried out on the single cooling channel prototypes (SCPs) for the SPIDER accelerator grids and their performances in terms of pressure drop and heat exchange calculation are presented. The SCPs have been tested in environmental conditions similar to injector ones, i.e., they have been subjected to thermal loads up to the average heat power density of 1 MW/m2, in a vacuum environment (0.5 Pa). The experimental results have been cross-checked with computational fluid dynamics analyses and analytical models.


In a recent article, Oscherwitz et al. endeavor to enhance the immunogenicity of a multiple antigenic peptide (MAP) vaccine that targets a loop-neutralizing determinant (LND) of Bacillus anthracis protective antigen (PA) (1). They showed in a previous study (2) that this MAP, consisting of four copies of amino acids 305 to 319 of PA (PA 305-319) extending from a lysine core, can elicit humoral immunity in rabbits that is specific and strongly neutralizing for the 2β2-2β3 loop in domain 2 of PA. However, LND-specific antibodies were not detected in rabbits immunized with whole PA, and it was concluded that PA 305-319 may be a cryptic epitope. T cell assays in PA 305-319-immunized mice showed that this peptide appeared to lack activity as a T helper cell epitope.

We have good evidence that humans exposed to PA, either following cutaneous anthrax infection or through vaccination, generate long-term, T cell memory to both whole PA and PA 305-319. In a study including samples from naturally exposed patients recovered from cutaneous anthrax, from vaccine-hyperimmunized AVP (anthrax vaccine precipitated) donors, and from recombinant PA-vaccinated donors, positive T cell gamma interferon (IFN-γ) enzyme-linked immunospot (ELISPOT) assay responses were detected across all groups on restimulation of peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) with both whole PA and PA 305-319 (Table 1; unpublished data). This shows that humans exposed to B. anthracis and whole PA recognize and generate memory to PA 305-319, suggesting that it is immunodominant rather than cryptic. Donors expressed a range of HLA haplotypes, with a majority being HLA-DR4 positive. While many important discoveries on the immunology of infection are made in experimental models, the human T cell response to PA in this respect differs from that of both rabbits and mice.

In this light, the epitope used by Oscherwitz and colleagues may indeed be more relevant to eliciting appropriate human immunity than previously envisaged.


Power side-channel attacks exploit variations in power consumption to extract secrets from a device, e.g., cryptographic keys. Prior attacks typically required physical access to the target device and specialized equipment such as probes and a high-resolution oscilloscope.In this paper, we present PLATYPUS attacks, which are novel software-based power side-channel attacks on Intel server, desktop, and laptop CPUs. We exploit unprivileged access to the Intel Running Average Power Limit (RAPL) interface that exposes values directly correlated with power consumption, forming a low-resolution side channel.We show that with sufficient statistical evaluation, we can observe variations in power consumption, which distinguish different instructions and different Hamming weights of operands and memory loads. This enables us to not only monitor the control flow of applications but also to infer data and extract cryptographic keys. We demonstrate how an unprivileged attacker can leak AES-NI keys from Intel SGX and the Linux kernel, break kernel address-space layout randomization (KASLR), infer secret instruction streams, and establish a timing-independent covert channel. We also present a privileged attack on mbed TLS, utilizing precise execution control to recover RSA keys from an SGX enclave. We discuss countermeasures and show that mitigating these attacks in a privileged context is not trivial.


In the foreseeable future there will be two legal framework instruments covering transboundary water issues in force at the global level: the 1997 United Nations (UN) Watercourses Convention and the 1992 UN Economic Commission for Europe Water Convention. This development raises questions about the compatibility of both instruments, and how they might be implemented in a coordinated manner. A comparative analysis of the text of both instruments demonstrates that there are both similarities and differences between them, but that they are complementary. There is therefore significant benefit in promoting and implementing the conventions as a package. Three basic institutional options can be envisaged to support this 'package approach', each with their strengths and weaknesses. Ultimately, whichever option is chosen, the 'package approach' to the implementation of both conventions offers the best means by which to strengthen the law of international watercourses.


Despite the advent of non-fluoroscopic technologies, fluoroscopy remains the cornerstone of imaging in most interventional electrophysiological procedures, from diagnostic studies to ablation interventions and device implantation. The purpose of the European Heart Rhythm Association survey was to provide an insight into regulatory policies and physicians' clinical practice when using fluoroscopy during ablation procedures and device implantation. The survey has shown that only 50% of the participating centres worked with low frame rates (3-6 frames per second) and that the left anterior oblique projection, with higher radiation exposure for the physician, is used for nearly every ablation target. Although three-dimensional imaging systems may reduce the radiation exposure, most centres never used these systems for standard ablation procedures and a trend is that non-fluoroscopy technologies are even less frequently used than in 2012, when the use of robotic systems was still rare. Even less costly equipment such as lead gloves, lead glass cabins, or radiation absorbing pads are still not routinely used.


Background: First-time lateral patellar dislocations have historically been treated with a nonoperative approach; a clinical tool to predict patients who are most likely to redislocate may have clinical utility. Purpose: (1) To determine if there are discriminating factors present between patients who redislocated their patellas and those who did not after a first-time lateral patellar dislocation and (2) to use this information to develop a model that can predict the recurrence risk of lateral patellar dislocation in this population. Study Design: Case-control study; Level of evidence, 3. Methods: The study population included those with first-time lateral patellar dislocation, magnetic resonance imaging within 6 weeks, and 2-year minimum follow-up. Cohort A was from a prospective study with 2-year follow-up. Cohort B was a prospectively identified cohort with retrospective chart review. Follow-up was obtained clinically or via mail for patients without 2-year clinical follow-up. Results: Sixty-one patients (42%) out of 145 with primary lateral patellar dislocation had recurrent dislocation within 2 years. Stepwise logistic regression analysis demonstrated that skeletal immaturity (odds ratio, 4.05; 95% CI, 1.86-8.82; P = .0004), sulcus angle (odds ratio, 4.87; 95% CI, 2.01-11.80; P = .0005), and Insall-Salvati ratio (odds ratio, 3.0; 95% CI, 1.34-6.70; P = .0074) were significant predictors of redislocation. Receiver operator characteristic curves defined the cut points to be sulcus angle ≥154° and Insall-Salvati ratio ≥1.3. The probability of redislocation based on the presence of factors was 5.8% with no factors present and 22.7% with any 1 factor present, increasing to 78.5% if all 3 factors were present. Conclusion: This model demonstrates a high risk of lateral patellar redislocation when a patient presents with skeletal immaturity as well as magnetic resonance measurements of sulcus angle ≥154° and patellar height as measured by Insall-Salvati ratio ≥1.3. A patient will have a low risk of lateral patellar redislocation with the inverse findings.


Objective: Infection prevention in spinal surgeries involving implantation of hardware is of utmost priority. Furthermore, successful eradication of infection in hardware salvage is likewise critical in maintaining the long-term retention of the spinal hardware construct. Approach: We report a retrospective case series of three cases where the utilization of a VAC with instillation (VACi) in conjunction with surgical debridement aided in infection control and eradication for both preimplantation and hardware salvage spine patients. Results: Three patients were included. In case 1, VACi was utilized in conjunction with surgical debridement and IV antibiotics in the setting of acute preoperative infection to eradicate infection and enable necessary spinal hardware implementation. Cases 2 and 3 are representative of VACi for salvage of exposed spinal hardware in both the early and delayed infection presentation settings. In both cases, patients developed postoperative infections following spinal instrumentation VACi was utilized in conjunction with surgical debridement and IV antibiotics. Hardware removal was avoided in both cases. All three patients healed completely without residual evidence of infection. Innovation: VACi showed its effectiveness in timely infection eradication before spinal hardware instrumentation and with postoperative spine hardware salvage. Conclusion: This case series demonstrates that VACi can provide infection eradication both preoperatively in high-risk surgical sites, facilitating necessary hardware implementation and postoperatively in situations of hardware salvage.


Whether you are a first time student or returning to study, it can seem very daunting. This book can help you get the most from studying and shows how to make good use of your time and achieve success. This 4th edition has been thoroughly revised and updated. It demonstrates how to develop and build on existing strengths and experiences to get the most out of any course. Using a down-to-earth and user-friendly style, it concentrates on what you need to know. It can help you to: get the most from reading and lectures; access libraries; use the internet and databases; develop IT skills; learn through reflection; develop a portfolio; prepare assignments; and, get the most from placements.


The paper explores the relevance of the Text-To-Text Transfer Transformer language model (T5) for Polish (plT5) to the task of intrinsic and extrinsic keyword extraction from short text passages. The evaluation is carried out on the new Polish Open Science Metadata Corpus (POSMAC), which is released with this paper: a collection of 216,214 abstracts of scientific publications compiled in the CURLICAT project. We compare the results obtained by four different methods, i.e. plT5kw, extremeText, TermoPL, KeyBERT and conclude that the plT5kw model yields particularly promising results for both frequent and sparsely represented keywords. Furthermore, a plT5kw keyword generation model trained on the POSMAC also seems to produce highly useful results in cross-domain text labelling scenarios. We discuss the performance of the model on news stories and phone-based dialog transcripts which represent text genres and domains extrinsic to the dataset of scientific abstracts. Finally, we also attempt to characterize the challenges of evaluating a text-to-text model on both intrinsic and extrinsic keyword extraction.


Bronchoscopy obtaining bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) fluid and bronchial secretions (BS) and/or high-resolution computed tomography (CT) of the lungs were performed in 33 patients with pulmonary aspergillosis from 1987 to 1992. The sensitivity of BAL fluid or BS for detecting histologically proven fungal disease was 33 and 50%, respectively, whereas positive serologies were only documented in 8% of the cases. CT scans contributed to the early diagno sis of opportunistic fungal pneumonia: characteristic CT signs were found in 16 of 19 episodes. The more frequent use of bronchoscopy and CT scans between 1990 and 1992 compared to 1987-1989 for the differential diagnosis of new pulmonary infiltrates resulted in earlier appropriate treatment. The average introduction of intravenous (i.v.) antifungal therapy after the onset of pneumonia was shifted from 12 to 7 days (p < 0.05). The timely implementa tion of i.v. antimycotic therapy had a significant impact on survival. Initiation of antifungal treatment later than 10 days after the onset of pneumonia resulted in a mortality of 90%, as opposed to 41% with an earlier start of antimycotics (p < 0.01). The earlier use of appropriate antifungal therapy in the second treatment period improved survival from 33 to 50% (NS). Bron choscopy and high-resolution CT scans are mutually complementary diagnos tic tools and should be performed as early as possible in the course of pneumo nia for patients at high risk for aspergillosis.


Hydrogen permeation and diffusivity in V1−xNbx alloys (x = 0.25, 0.5 and 0.75) were investigated over a temperature range between 573 and 673 K. The alloy sheets surface-coated with Pd (100 nm) by ion-beam sputtering technique were subjected to the hydrogen permeation measurement with hydrogen pressures less than 3000 Pa. It was found that the hydrogen permeation is strongly suppressed especially at low hydrogen pressures; the hydrogen permeation is considered to be controlled by some surface processes. The V0.50Nb0.50 alloy showed the largest permeability 1.4×10−8 mol H2 m−1s−1Pa−1/2 at 673 K which is larger than that for pure Pd. The diffusivity which was determined from the fitting of the permeation curve decreases with the alloy concentration at both the Nb- and V-rich sides and takes a minimum value at x=0.75. The hydrogen potential obtained by a first-principles calculation showed that V atoms act as trapping centers for hydrogen in the Nb matrix and Nb atoms act as anti-trapping centers in the V matrix.


BACKGROUND
Symptom clusters have not been previously explored in acute pain patients (APPs) and chronic pain patients (CPPs) with non-cancer pain.

OBJECTIVES
The objectives of this study were to determine in CPPs and APPs which somatic and non-somatic symptoms cluster with each other, the number of clusters, and if cluster number and cluster symptom makeup differ by pain level.

STUDY DESIGN
Study sample was 326 APPs and 341 CPPs who had completed a pool of questions that had included current symptom questions other than pain. Symptom cluster analyses were performed on 15 somatic and non-somatic symptoms for APPs and CPPs and for 2 CPP subgroups with moderate and severe pain.

SETTING
  APPs and CPPs were from rehabilitation facilities located in 30 states in all geographical regions of the United States.

RESULTS
APPs had 4 symptom clusters and CPPs had 5. For CPPs, the clusters represented memory, neurological, behavioral, somatic, and autonomic problems. CPPs with moderate and severe pain had 3 and 4 symptom clusters, respectively, and differed in cluster symptom constitution.

LIMITATIONS
Patients selected themselves for study inclusion and were paid for their participation. This could have affected random selection. Lastly, we used the current time definitions of acute pain versus chronic pain (90 days) to separate our patients into these groups. Currently, no consensus exists regarding the optimal time duration to divide acute from chronic.

CONCLUSIONS
APPs and CPPs are characterized by symptom comorbidities that form clusters. In CPPs, cluster number and cluster symptom makeup are affected by pain level. This has implications for clinical practice and future research.


Speak the speech, I pray you," Hamlet tells the player, "trippingly on the tongue; but if you mouth it, as many of your players do, I had as lief the town cryer spoke my lines" (3.2.1-2). (1) Turning from elocution to execution, Hamlet continues, "Nor do not saw the air too much with your hand, thus" (1.4). Most editors girdle "thus" in commas, a typographical hiccup indicating that, here, an action suits the word. For 400 years, this moment of textual apnea has guaranteed the play's modernity by gesturing towards an archaic playing style: BURBAGE: "thus" BETTERTON: "thus" GARRICK: "thus" KEMBLE: "thus" KEAN: "thus" BOOTH: "thus" BERNHARDT: "thus" BARRYMORE: "thus" Gielgud, Olivier, Kline, Fiennes: "thus, thus, thus, thus," ad Branagh, ad infinitum. If it is true, as Tyrone Guthrie claimed, that, "Hamlet is always going on somewhere," then in accent variable and gesture indeterminate somewhere a player is always offering a kinetic description of what constitutes precisely too much air sawing (72). Richard Burbage's unrecoverable semaphore at "thus" signifies the stubborn invisibility of the actors who gave William Shakespeare's words first flesh. Act 3, scene 2 of Hamlet--a scene sufficiently memorable to earn its own shorthand, "The Advice to the Players"--has been many things to many critics: a winking bit of theatrical in-joking; a Donation echo on the purpose of playing; and an exemplary instance of the happy "variety" that distinguished Hamlet to Samuel Coleridge and Dr. Johnson. (2) Most durably, Hamlet's advice has provided scholars a tantalizing glimpse into the style of playing on the Elizabethan stage. "Tantalizing" because for all Hamlet says, he does not say much: in short, 'Not too much; not too little; I know what I like.' Undeterred by thin evidence, scholars have persistently characterized Elizabethan and Jacobean playing in terms predictable--"formal" or "natural"; "rhetorical" or "naturalistic"--and those less so: "presentational" or "ceremonial." (3) Lacking substantive graphical or textual witness, scholars have turned to rhetorical manuals, oratorical tradition, and bald speculation to recover playing methods in the age of Shakespeare. (4) For the longstanding attempt to exhume the Elizabethan actor, Hamlet's advice to the players presents something like forensic evidence. Most critical discussions of actors and acting on the Elizabethan stage are not even wrong. The terms in which the debate is conducted simply do not mean anything. We never know exactly what we are talking about when we talk about acting. One critic bewails the lack of "comparative evidence, in the form of iconographic or objective critical descriptions, which could tell us how a given actor or company did in fact present particular scenes or moments in plays" (Marker 95). Should an "objective" account one day ascend from a dusty Bodleian volume, it probably would not illuminate the discussion. Witnesses rarely tell us anything about acting because the witnesses usually say the same thing: 'Not too much; not too little; we know what we like.' For 400 years, Hamlet's advice to the players has been more closely heeded by critics than by players, enabling a paradigm for scholarly work on acting that depends on false binaries to replace the elusive "objective criticism." Hamlet's advice has advanced a Whig history of mimetic style, a history that promotes the plays and players of the Shakespearean theatre as the triumphant fluorescence of sophisticated art over the crudities of the past. Such criticism fundamentally misunderstands trans-historical truths about performance: acting does not get better; it gets different. The best acting is "natural." Bad acting is not. It has always been thus. Hamlet's advice is therefore a necessary point of departure to ask what precisely was at stake at moments of intra-dramatic acting critiques. …


Optimal utilization of computational resources mandates spatio-temporal variation in resolution for computing complex engineering flows. Closure modeling in regions bridging between different resolutions is rendered difficult due to changing interactions between resolved and unresolved fields. We develop a closure model for the bridging region based on energy conservation principles. Then we proceed to provide a proof of concept in decaying isotropic turbulence with temporally varying resolution. The simplicity of the flow permits a thorough examination of various aspects of the proposed closure not feasible in more complex flows. The results demonstrate the potential promise of the approach, but more validation studies need to be performed.While the present development is in the context of partially averaged Navier–Stokes (PANS) method, the closure principle should apply for other variable-resolution (VR) approaches.


This investigation assesses the seismic response of parametric elastic models of reinforced concrete isolated elevated water tanks. From the study of the physical and geometric variables that characterize elevated water tanks, it was possible to define parametric models with the purpose of obtaining a widely representative family of structures. The parameters were grouped in the following form: a) elevated tank: ratio of heights, ratio of slenderness, ratio of diameters, ratio of diameter to thickness, and ratio of water mass to structure mass, b) isolation system: ratio of slenderness, horizontal and vertical stiffness, c) water: the waterstructure interaction effect is modeled using the mechanical analogy proposed by Housner. This special type of continuous structure, similar to an inverted pendulum, has been discretized according to the lumped mass criterion and the support structure of the tower was partitioned in ten one-dimensional elements. As seismic loads were applied, the design spectrum of accelerations was used as recommended by the Chilean code NCh 2745 Of.2003. The maximum responses were obtained for the lateral displacements, the shear forces and bending moments. The sensitivity analysis of the structural models of isolated elevated water tanks allowed us to observe that the maximum bending moments and the maximum shear forces are equivalent to one eighth of the maximum responses obtained for a similar fixed-base elevated water tank, and that the relative lateral displacements are lower than 0.2‰, reducing the deformations in the structure significantly.


Kinetics and mass transfer for supported ionic liquid catalysts (SILCAs) were studied for complex catalytic hydrogenations of unsaturated aldehydes. The system can be characterized as a gas−liquid−liquid−solid system, where gaseous hydrogen and an unsaturated aldehyde, citral, diffuse from molecular solvent to a thin layer of ionic liquid containing the catalytically active species, metallic palladium nanoparticles. The intrinsic kinetics was determined at 353−423 K (80−150 °C) and pressures ranging from 10 to 50 bar. A kinetic model was proposed that was able to predict the experimental concentration data successfully. In order to obtain more understanding about the importance of mass-transfer and diffusion limitations for these kinds of processes, a number of models describing the concentration profiles of the reactants in the catalysts were developed. The developed reaction-diffusion models revealed important insight into the potential limiting phenomena for this type of reaction systems.


Abstract The FUDOTERAM is a national Canadian light detection and ranging (LIDAR) project founded by the Canadian Network of Excellence GEOmatics for Informed DEcision (GEOIDE) that investigates data fusion from airborne, marine, and terrestrial mapping sensors. In March 2009, the second Fusion des Données TERrestres, Aériennes et Marines (FUDOTERAM) workshop was held in Quebec City, Quebec, Canada. The focus of the workshop was on international collaboration: Workshops can provide an international platform for sharing ideas and study results among academy, industry, mapping and charting organizations, and service providers. LIDAR work and research included data collected from seven different coastal areas in four nations. This special issue contains selected studies from the second FUDOTERAM workshop on LIDAR technology applied in coastal studies and management. Current studies in this special issue explore LIDAR processing in charting and mapping organizations, shoreline mapping, data integration, coastal processes and coastal management, and seafloor characterization.


"Labor and Imperial Democracy in Prewar Japan" examines the political role played by working men and women in prewar Tokyo and offers a reinterpretation of the broader dynamics of Japan's prewar political history. Gordon argues that such phenomena as riots, labor disputes, and union organizing can best be understood as part of an early twentieth-century movement for 'imperial democracy' shaped by the nineteenth-century drive to promote capitalism and build a modern nation and empire. When the propertied, educated leaders of this movement gained a share of power in the 1920s, they disagreed on how far to go toward incorporating working men and women into an expanded body politic. For their part, workers became ambivalent toward working within the imperial democratic system. In this context, the intense polarization of laborers and owners during the Depression helped ultimately to destroy the legitimacy of imperial democracy. Gordon suggests that the thought and behavior of Japanese workers both reflected and furthered the intense concern with popular participation and national power that has marked Japan's modern history. He points to a post-World War II legacy for imperial democracy in both the organization of the working class movement and the popular willingness to see GNP growth as an index of national glory. Importantly, Gordon shows how historians might reconsider the roles of tenant farmers, students, and female activists, for example, in the rise and transformation of imperial democracy.


The renewed success of ancient atomism in the seventeenth century has baffled historians not only because of the lack of empirical evidence in its favor but also because of the exotic heterogeneity of the models that were proposed under its name. This essay argues that one of the more intriguing reasons for the motley appearance of early modern atomism is that Democritus, with whose name this doctrine was most commonly associated, was a figure of similar incoherence. There existed in fact no fewer than four quite different Democriti of Abdera and as many literary traditions: the atomist, the "laughing philosopher," the moralizing anatomist, and the alchemist. Around the year 1600 the doctrines of these literary figures, three of whom had no tangible connection with atomism, began to merge into further hybrid personae, some of whom possessed notable scientific potential. This essay offers the story of how these Democriti contributed to the rise of incompatible "atomisms."


Firm scleral fixation is of prime importance when attempting to perform a McLean corneoscleral groove in preparation for cataract surgery. The same principle applies when a keratome entry in the anterior chamber is made, or in cases of glaucoma surgery, where an ab externo incision is desirable. If fixation of the scleral is made near the upper limbus, a few millimeters distance from the line of incision, much less rotation of the globe results. The operation will then follow with greater facility. To accomplish this aim a sturdy double pronged forceps is employed.* The fixation points of each arm are set 1.5 mm. apart. When the forceps is closed one tooth of either side of one arm enmeshes in between two teeth of each side of its opposite arm. The points are sharp, set at an angle, and measure 0.5 mm. in length. When the arms are closely approximated, no


Objective: To examine the relationship between high altitude and microtia in Ecuador. Methods: We evaluated the epidemiological issues of 1298 cases of microtia reported in Ecuador from 2001 to 2007.We used data arising from the Vital Statistics National Reports: Annual Survey of Admissions and Discharges in this 7 year period. The register is national and population based, run and funded by the government. Results: We reported a total of 1298 cases of microtia out of 34654 cases of congenital malformations described in the registries. The overall prevalence was 2.38/10000 admissions/discharges calculated out of 5462263 admissions. An overall percentage (of 90.22%) were admitted before 19 years of age with the most prevalent group between 5 to 9 years of age (31.90%). There was a progressive increase of cases every year; from 132 cases in 2001 to 304 in 2007. Total male cases in the study were 723 (55.70%) and female cases were 575 (44.30%). Tungurahua reported the highest prevalence of 18.31/10000 births, followed by Chimborazo, Azuay, Pichincha and Cotopaxi; all of them located over 2500 meters above sea level. We found that highest prevalence was 10.21 over 2700 meters above sea level followed by 8.28 over 2800 meters above sea level; with both having a cumulative prevalence of 8.81. Conclusion: There is a higher prevalence of microtia in patients living above 2500 meters above sea level. This study could not establish a relationship between microtia and different ethnic groups.


PURPOSE The aims of this research were to determine the epidemiological profile of dental caries in 3- and 4-year-old preschool children living in Bogota, Colombia, and to compare two different caries indices--the standard def and Nyvad's new caries diagnostic criteria. METHODS The children were screened by two calibrated examiners who first brushed the children's teeth and air dried them for 5 seconds before they were examined. The diagnostic criteria used were the standard def-t and def-s and the def-t and def-s of the new caries diagnostic system proposed by Nyvad. The chi-square test2 was used with a significance level of 5%. RESULTS Prevalence of caries was 70% using the standard def-t criteria and 97% with the criteria proposed by Nyvad. The standard def-t and def-s were 3.3 and 5.7, respectively, and the def-t and def-s with the Nyvad citeria were 8.7 and 14.3, respectively. CONCLUSIONS Prevalence of caries was high, indicating that the population studied had a high disease rate. The results obtained with the more detailed Nyvad new caries diagnostic criteria were higher than the ones obtained with the standard def-t index, both for teeth and surfaces.


Emotional Intelligence (EI) is a capacity that profoundly affects all other abilities in every human being, either facilitating or interfering with them. This study investigated emotional intelligence of library personnel and library work productivity in selected Academic Libraries in Oyo State, Nigeria. Responses were generated from 186 library personnel across eight (8) selected academic libraries in Oyo State, Nigeria. The questionnaire was used for data collection. Using the Pearson Product Moment Correlation, it was found out that Self-Awareness (r = .521; P < 0.05), Self-Management (r = .154; P < 0.05), Social Awareness (r = .192; P < 0.05), and Relationship Management (r = .790; P < 0.05) were positively correlated with Library Work Productivity. Likewise, Emotional Intelligence (r = .085; P < 0.05) has significant positive relationship with Library Work Productivity. The ANOVA showed that self-awareness, self-management, social awareness and relationship management jointly and significantly predict library work productivity by 52.1%. The paper therefore, recommended academic library Managements can therefore include quality EI training and coaching in their on the job training programs. Those who work extra hours to make up for yet to be realised goals should adequately be motivated. Finally, Emotional Intelligence Quotients should form part of the criteria for employing library personnel in Nigerian academic libraries.


This paper investigates the subjective understanding and perception of financial information and their impact on investment decisions. A consumer testing approach is applied in order to explore: i) how different representation formats (or Templates) are appraised in terms of complexity, usefulness and information content, ii) how different Templates influence risk perception, iii) how different Templates affect willingness to invest. A sample of 254 Italian investors were submitted different Templates, each delivering in different modes the same information on risk, return and costs of four financial instruments (two structured bonds -- one outstanding and the other newly issued -- negotiated on the Italian retail bond market and two Italian listed stocks).Risk is alternatively disclosed through four approaches. The first relies on a synthetic risk indicator, aggregating information on market, liquidity and credit risks. The second discloses unbundled quantitative measures of the market risk (volatility and value at risk), the liquidity risk (turn-over ratio) and the credit risk (Moody's official rating and expected default probability). Both the synthetic and unbundled formats compare the risk/return characteristics of the product with the risk/return attributes of a benchmark portfolio. The third mode is based on what-if scenarios. The fourth resorts to probabilistic modelling of expected returns. Costs are disclosed according to three options. The first shows the impact of costs on the internal rate of return. The second highlights the impact of costs on principal and interest. The third unbundles the product fair value into its bond and derivative components, with specific indication about costs. First, investors were asked to rate the complexity and the usefulness of the Templates and to assess the riskiness of the presented products. In order to control for familiarity bias, in the first stage of the test neither the issuer's name nor the type of the assets were disclosed. Perceived complexity turns out to rise moving from the synthetic representation to the unbundled one and reaches its highest for the performance scenarios (both what-if and probabilistic). As for usefulness, both what-if and probabilistic modelling are perceived to be less useful than the synthetic and unbundled representations. Perceived complexity and perceived usefulness of financial information are generally inversely related: in other words, the higher the complexity of the information, the lower the perceived usefulness. Second, in order to assess the relation between information disclosure and risk perception investors were asked to rank products by their riskiness. In general, risk perception results to be positively affected by perceived complexity of the information disclosure. The percentage of respondents correctly ranking the risk of products is higher when unbundled formats are used, whereas performance scenario representations are associated with a higher percentage of wrong answers in ranking products' riskiness. In details, risk tends to be more frequently over-estimated when participants inspect the what-if scenario representation and to be more frequently under-estimated when probabilistic modelling is taken into account.Finally, respondents were asked how much they would invest in each product, given an initial endowment, a time horizon and an investment objective. This allowed observing propensity towards investment driven exclusively by the representation of the financial information. As expected, perceived complexity results to be the main driver of the willingness to invest, since it always contributes to reduce propensity to invest. To this respect, perceived complexity seems to trigger a standard adverse selection problem: it is as if difficulty of understanding cast individuals into uncertainty, leading them to abstain from entering into the market. Financial knowledge, personal traits and investment habits do play a role in the perception of complexity and risk as well as in the attitude towards investment, although with a certain degree of heterogeneity across different representation modes. Higher levels of financial knowledge are generally negatively associated with perceived complexity and with indecision individuals may experience in the assessment of products' risk. However, being less hesitant is generally associated with the wrong risk ranking. Another interesting consideration is that, in line with the insights of the behavioural literature, in our sample high financial 'literate' individuals are not necessarily free of inclination towards behavioural biases. This evidence, coupled with a positive correlation between risk propensity (as measured through the Grable & Lytton test) and the inclination towards behavioural biases, would point to a latent variable, i.e. the overconfidence fed by a good level of financial knowledge, driving the positive relation between high knowledge and inclination towards behavioural biases. This point claims for financial education initiatives attuned also as debiasing programs, in order to be an effective investor protection tool. Finally, making frequently investment decisions, delegating investment choices to an expert, trusting financial advisors are all associated with an easier understanding of financial information and a higher propensity to invest. This evidence indirectly confirms that financial experts and advisors may actually make the difference, by playing an educational role and, by this way, changing individuals' attitude towards financial choices.Overall, the present paper shows that risk perception is context-dependent and mainly determined by the way financial information is disclosed. It adds to the existing literature by providing new evidence on the impact of framing of different representation modes, partially overlapping with the formats mandated by regulators and super-visors and/or used by the industry. Relying on the actual appraisal elicited from a sample of Italian investors, the study provides insights on how people actually read and understand financial information, which may turn useful in the design of financial disclosure and investor education programmes. For instance, it highlights that simplifying financial disclosure is not sufficient to ensure correct risk perception and unbiased investment choices. Moreover, evidence about investors' heterogeneity and behavioural biases affecting risk perception supports the idea that the 'optimal' disclosure may not exist and the 'one-size-fits-all' approach cannot be effective in ensuring a suitable level of investors protection. This paper is in line with the approach adopted by some regulators increasingly engaged in the definition of evidence-based rules and may offer useful insights for the design of effective investor education programmes.


The purpose of this study was to evaluate the reliability and validity of the Korean version of the Temperament and Character Inventory (TCI), a self-report questionnaire based on Cloninger's biosocial model of personality. The TCI was translated into Korean and administered to 851 Korean college students. A test-retest study of the TCI was conducted across a 3-month interval with 130 subjects. Internal consistency was calculated by Cronbach alpha. Test-retest reliability was analyzed by Pearson correlation analysis. Factor analyses for the temperament and character dimensions were performed using principal component analysis, rotating factors obliquely by promax. A comparison of TCI scores between Korean and United States college students was done using independent t tests. Cronbach alpha values for the TCI scales ranged from.60 to.85 for the temperament scales and from.82 to.87 for the character scales. Test-retest correlations (r) ranged from.52 to.72 for the temperament scales and from.52 to.71 for the character scales. Principal component factor analyses showed similar factor structures of four temperaments and three characters as the American version of the TCI, except for the Reward Dependence and Persistence temperament scales. Explorative factor analysis with a condition of eigenvalue greater than 1 produced five factors, as compared to seven factors extracted in Cloninger's original report. Results using a preset seven-factor solution was forced and did not successfully extract Cloninger's seven factors. Korean college students had higher mean scores on Harm Avoidance and lower mean scores on the rest of the scales as compared to a sample of US college students. The results of this study confirm that the Korean TCI has satisfactory psychometric properties and reflects Cloninger's biosocial model of personality.


In this paper, we address wireless sensor network localization problems that have high reliability in an environment where physical node destruction is possible. We propose a range-independent localization algorithm called security localization based on Detecting malicious beacon nodes (DMBSL) that allows sensors to passively determine their location with high reliability, without increasing the number of reference points, or the complexity of the hardware of each reference point or node. In DMBSL, constraints of wireless sensor network are used to find and remove the malicious beacon nodes, then the maximum likelihood method is used to calculate the location of unknown nodes, so that the location calculation is very robust and is able to resist malicious attacks. In this paper, the location performance of DMBSL algorithm is deeply analyzed. The results of the simulation show the algorithm can get lower average positioning error, meantime malicious attacks have little side effects to location performance.


The friend-enemy distinction is one of the most influential concepts of modern politics. It dominates both theory and practice in international relations and conditions the imaginations of political leaders and those they lead. For realists, friend-enemy manifests an individual disposition writ large, as they project a Hobbesian conception of the state of nature onto an international level. War, for Hobbes, "is first and foremost a de facto condition of human nature," and is a result of "the passions of human beings" (Thivet 2008, 702, 705). For realists, "states are motivated by a survival instinct…" (Maoz, Terris, Kuperman, and Talmud 2007, 101). Schmitt's importance, in this context, is as "the forerunner of political realism, as exemplified in the work of Hans Morgenthau, E. H. Carr and Hedley Bull" (Chandler 2008, 45). Indeed, unlike the approach of the Greeks of the classical era, who "did not place friendship directly into a relation to war…[,] the modern notion of 'the friend' already includes this relation in the opposition between 'the friend' and 'the enemy', as Schmitt has already argued in The Concept of the Political…" (Lambert 2008, 44).


With the advent of microarray technology, there is a growing need to reliably extract biologically significant information from massive gene expression data. Clustering is one of the key steps in analyzing gene expression data by identifying groups of genes that manifest similar expression patterns. Elucidating the patterns hidden in gene expression data offers a tremendous opportunity for an enhanced understanding of proteomics. However, the large number of genes and their measurement complexity greatly increase the challenges of comprehension, interpretation and limited progress on cluster validation and identifying the number of clusters. In this paper, an intelligence based clustering algorithm is integrated with the validation techniques to assess the predictive power of the clusters. Through experimental evaluation, this approach is shown to outperform the other clustering methods greatly in terms of clustering quality, efficiency and automation. The resulting clusters offer potential insight into gene function, molecular biological processes and regulatory mechanisms.


Fine needle aspiration of the lung is an excellent method in the diagnosis of lung cancers, mediastinal tumors and other specific inflammatory lung lesions. The correct diagnosis of lung cancer by FNA in this study was a reported sensitivity of 97.8 per cent and specificity of 100 per cent. There was no false positive in this study, and only 1/60 patient had pneumothorax, which was cured after insertion of chest drain.


The authors review the literature on intra-adenomatous pituitary apoplexy with special emphasis on pathophysiology, diagnosis and therapeutic approach. They present five cases, from a series of 86 patients with pituitary tumors, that developed this syndrome. The patients were diagnosed and followed by the Neurosurgery and Endocrinology Services of Hospital Universitario Clementino Fraga Filho, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro. Diagnosis was confirmed by CT-Scan and MRI in all cases, and the treatment of choice was surgical. Conclusions point to the diagnostic difficulties and the urgency of treatment in this clinical setting.


Hereby presented is a case of a rather unusual community-acquired Mycoplasma pneumonia ( M. pneumonia ) infection in a 47 year-old woman with pneumonia associated with confusion, sleepiness and disorganisation before her hospital admission. Later on, she developed a clinically significant cold agglutinin hemolytic anemia which required a blood transfusion support. Other extrapulmonary symptoms should be looked for in patients infected with M. pneumonia . The central nervous system (CNS) involvement being the most common one, other systems such as cardiac, renal, skin, gastro-intestinal and rheumatologic could be affected. M. pneumonia should be searched for by serology, if available in your hospital, as it is one of the common atypical pneumonia that needs to be kept in mind by all primary care physicians. Recognizing this infectious agent is crucial for everybody as the patient needs to be isolated as it is an airborne transmission and they need to stay in a warm room to prevent or reduce the associated hemolytic anemia complication. It also typically responds to macrolides and fluoroquinolones specifically but doxycycline can also be used in the treatment arsenal. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.4021/jmc1233w


The aim of this paper is to evaluate the application of the wavelet packet transform (WP) and support vector machines (SVM) to transient evoked otoacoustic emissions (TEOAE) in order to achieve a detection of frequency-specific hearing loss. We introduce a system to determine detection rates between groups of persons with normal hearing, high frequency hearing loss, and pantonal hearing loss. The validity and use of our approach is verified on a different patient group.


OBJECTIVE
To study long-term changes in the mandibular asymmetry of patients with hemimandibular elongation (HE) treated with two-phase surgical orthodontic approach.

DESIGN
Descriptive clinical study.

SETTING AND SAMPLE POPULATION
Private practice setting. Seven (six females) out of 47 diagnosed and treated patients for severe mandibular asymmetry were included with the following criteria: diagnosis of HE based on clinical, radiological and single photon emission computed tomography bone scintigraphic studies, good quality orthopantomograms (OPT) available at six time-points, two-phase surgical treatment (high condylectomy, HC, and orthognathic surgery, OS) and measurements of maximal mouth opening (MMO) available.

METHOD
Mandibular ramus height and corpus length were measured on OPTs at six time-points. Ratios between the affected/non-affected sides were calculated.

RESULTS
All patients had progression of mandibular asymmetry before any operation, which finding together with the scintigraphy resulted to the decision to perform HC. Thereafter ramus and corpus asymmetry decreased compared with the initial measurements. After OS, stable symmetry of corpuses and alignment of skeletal and dental midlines were obtained. MMO reduced on average 50% after HC, regained 20% after OS and recovered almost totally at the last follow-up.

CONCLUSIONS
High condylectomy to stop excessive growth and OS to correct facial asymmetry is considered successful and necessary treatment for patients with HE. MMO can well recover after surgical traumas. Orthodontists should consider mandibular asymmetry as abnormal and need for surgical treatment if asymmetry is progressive and the ratio between affected/non-affected sides approaches 10%.


The four phenyl groups of 1,1,3,3-tetraphenyl-2,2,4,4-tetrakis(trimethylsilyl)cyclotetrasilane were partially replaced by chlorine atom(s) by successive treatment with trifluoromethanesulfonic acid and lithium chloride. The replacement of all phenyl groups was carried out with hydrogen chloride in the presence of aluminum chloride. The structural features of the resulting mono-, di-, and tetrachlorocyclotetrasilanes were compared by X-ray crystallography.


The space-charge field of the photorefractive grating in planar waveguides in cubic crystals is considered. Analytical expressions are derived from three cases: the initial stage of photorefractive grating formation, the steady state, and the photorefractive grating formation in waveguides with a short diffusion length and high dark conductivity and without trap saturation. The orientation dependencies of the waveguiding two-beam coupling factor for the (110), the (111), and the (100) cuts of the substrate are considered. The overlap factors of the cross distributions of the space-charge field and the light field of the waveguide modes are calculated for waveguides with a step-shaped profile of the refractive index.


Despite a key role of amyloid‐beta (Aβ) in Alzheimer's disease (AD), mechanisms that link Aβ plaques to tau neurofibrillary tangles and cognitive decline still remain poorly understood. The purpose of this study was to quantify proteins in the sarkosyl‐insoluble brain proteome correlated with Aβ and tau insolubility in the asymptomatic phase of AD (AsymAD) and through mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and symptomatic AD. Employing label‐free mass spectrometry‐based proteomics, we quantified 2711 sarkosyl‐insoluble proteins across the prefrontal cortex from 35 individual cases representing control, AsymAD, MCI and AD. Significant enrichment of Aβ and tau in AD was observed, which correlated with neuropathological measurements of plaque and tau tangle density, respectively. Pairwise correlation coefficients were also determined for all quantified proteins to Aβ and tau, across the 35 cases. Notably, six of the ten most correlated proteins to Aβ were U1 small nuclear ribonucleoproteins (U1 snRNPs). Three of these U1 snRNPs (U1A, SmD and U1‐70K) also correlated with tau consistent with their association with tangle pathology in AD. Thus, proteins that cross‐correlate with both Aβ and tau, including specific U1 snRNPs, may have potential mechanistic roles in linking Aβ plaques to tau tangle pathology during AD progression.


In this contribution to the annual administrative law symposium sponsored by Duke Law Journal, Professor Pierce explains why he has changed his position and is now urging the Supreme Court to replace the Chevron test with the Skidmore test. He supported the Chevron test for decades because it gives politically accountable agency heads, rather than politically unaccountable judges, the power to make policy decisions and because it increases the number of federal statutes that have the same meaning in all parts of the country.

Professor Pierce now believes that the country can no longer afford the cost of the Chevron test. In the conditions of extreme political polarity that now exist in the U.S., the Chevron test empowers each president to change the most important policies of the federal government every time that an election changes the party that controls the executive branch. As a result, citizens, corporations and prospective investors cannot make wise decisions based on their expectations of future conditions.

The multi-factor Skidmore test authorizes courts to uphold or reject agency policy decisions depending on the quality of the data and analysis the agency provides to support each decision. If a court upholds a policy decision through application of the Skidmore test, the policy remains in effect unless and until the agency can provide high quality data and analysis to support a change in policy.


Optical and Mechanical Characterization and Analysis of Nanoscale Systems
ABSTRACT
Daniel N. Lamont, Ph.D.

University of Pittsburgh, 2016

This thesis discusses research focused on the analysis and characterization of nanoscale systems. These studies are organized into three sections based on the research topic and methodology: Part I describes research using scanning probe microscopy, Part II describes research using photonic crystals and Part III describes research using spectroscopy. A brief description of the studies contained in each part follows. Part I discusses our work using scanning probe microscopy. In Chapter 3, we present our work using apertureless scanning near-field optical microscopy to study the optical properties of an isolated subwavelength slit in a gold film, while in chapter 4 atomic force microscopy and a three point bending model are used to explore the mechanical properties of individual multiwall boron nitride nanotubes. Part II includes our studies of photonic crystals. In Chapter 6 we discuss the fabrication and characterization of a photonic crystal material that utilizes electrostatic colloidal crystal array self assembly to form a highly ordered, non closed packed template; and in Chapter 7 we discuss the fabrication and characterization of a novel, simple and efficient approach to rapidly fabricate large-area 2D particle arrays on water surfaces. Finally, in Part III we present our spectroscopic studies. In Chapter 9 we use fluorescence quenching and fluorescence lifetime measurements to study electron transfer in aggregates of cadmium selenide and cadmium telluride nanoparticles assemblies. Chapter 10 features our work using the electronic structure of zinc sulfide semiconductor nanoparticles to sensitize the luminescence of Tb3+ and Eu3+ lanthanide cations, and Chapter 11 presents our recent work studying photo-induced electron transfer between donor and acceptor moieties attached to a cleft-forming bridge.


Surface mass balance (SMB) provides mass input to the surface of the Antarctic and Greenland Ice Sheets and therefore comprises an important control on ice sheet mass balance and resulting contribution to global sea level change. As ice sheet SMB varies highly across multiple scales of space (meters to hundreds of kilometers) and time (hourly to decadal), it is notoriously challenging to observe and represent in models. In addition, SMB consists of multiple components, all of which depend on complex interactions between the atmosphere and the snow/ice surface, large‐scale atmospheric circulation and ocean conditions, and ice sheet topography. In this review, we present the state‐of‐the‐art knowledge and recent advances in ice sheet SMB observations and models, highlight current shortcomings, and propose future directions. Novel observational methods allow mapping SMB across larger areas, longer time periods, and/or at very high (subdaily) temporal frequency. As a recent observational breakthrough, cosmic ray counters provide direct estimates of SMB, circumventing the need for accurate snow density observations upon which many other techniques rely. Regional atmospheric climate models have drastically improved their simulation of ice sheet SMB in the last decade, thanks to the inclusion or improved representation of essential processes (e.g., clouds, blowing snow, and snow albedo), and by enhancing horizontal resolution (5–30 km). Future modeling efforts are required in improving Earth system models to match regional atmospheric climate model performance in simulating ice sheet SMB, and in reinforcing the efforts in developing statistical and dynamic downscaling to represent smaller‐scale SMB processes.


Software Architecture remains a difficult topic to teach. This is because of the problem's complexity, and the integration of interpersonal and technical skills with knowledge from different areas. This paper presents the introduction of Project-Based Learning (PBL) and Team-Based Learning (TBL) in a Software Architecture undergraduate course. The goal for students is to apply in practice the concepts learned using ATAM (Architecture Tradeoff Analysis Method) to evaluate case studies of real-world architecture. PBL is known for allowing students to experiment with realistic problems and improve their negotiation and communication skills. TBL offers a different approach to group-based activities, by using them to determine the structure of the course. This approach is applied in an optional course in a Systems Engineering degree; its results are positive, having increased students' attendance and active participation levels. A student survey also shows acceptance of the new methodology.


The goal of this work is to understand the effect of process conditions on part porosity in laser powder bed fusion (LPBF) Additive Manufacturing (AM) process, and subsequently, detect the onset of process conditions that lead to porosity from in-process sensor data. In pursuit of this goal, the objectives of this work are two-fold:
 (1) Quantify the count (number), size and location of pores as a function of three LPBF process parameters, namely, the hatch spacing (H), laser velocity (V), and laser power (P).
 (2) Monitor and identify process conditions that are liable to cause porosity through analysis of in-process layer-by-layer optical images of the build invoking multifractal and spectral graph theoretic features.
 This is important because porosity has a significant impact on the functional integrity of LPBF parts, such as fatigue life. Furthermore, linking process conditions to sensor signatures and defects is the first-step towards in-process quality assurance in LPBF. To achieve the first objective, titanium alloy (Ti-6Al-4V) test cylinders of 10 mm diameter × 25 mm height were built under differing H, V, and P settings on a commercial LPBF machine (EOS M280). The effect of these parameters on count, size and location of pores was quantified based on X-ray computed tomography (XCT) images. To achieve the second objective, layerwise optical images of the powder bed were acquired as the parts were being built. Spectral graph theoretic and multifractal features were extracted from the layer-by-layer images for each test part. Subsequently, these features were linked to the process parameters using machine learning approaches. Through these image-based features, process conditions under which the parts were built was identified with the statistical fidelity over 80% (F-score).


In optical burst switching (OBS) networks, when contention occurs at an intermediate node, two or more bursts that are in contention can be dropped because a forwarding path reservation is not made for a burst. This is the reason why one of the critical design issues in OBS networks is finding ways to minimize burst dropping resulting from resource contention. In this paper, we propose a configuration management policy based on an operation cost model developed according to network status information which relates to guaranteeing quality of service (QoS). Also, we develop the criteria for the configuration management by providing the alternate path using bounded range of the sensitivity of this cost model. Finally, throughout the theoretical and experimental analysis, we can obtain that our proposed scheme has good performance in an aspect of blocking rate and outperforms the conventional scheme in complexity as results


Colorectal cancer (CRC) is one of the most prevalent cancers. Early diagnosis has a major impact on survival, and can be achieved with screening programs. CRC screening participation with faecal immunochemical tests (FIT) detects CRC at an earlier and more treatable stage, resulting in a decrease in mortality, and a reduction in incidence through detection and subsequent removal of precursor adenomas. CRC screening, as well as the need for individuals to have ongoing surveillance colonoscopy following diagnosis of neoplasia, results in an increasing burden on colonoscopy resources. This can result in lengthy waiting times for colonoscopy, with a potential consequence being increased stage of disease as well as patient anxiety. These issues associated with FIT programs could be addressed through improving test accuracy in both sensitivity and specificity, as well as tailoring screening to the risk factors of the individual. FIT hemoglobin (Hb) concentrations in combination with clinical risk factors could be used to plan screening intervals as well as triage for diagnostic colonoscopy. Smart use for FIT could also be within symptomatic patients or in the higher risk population with a view to achieving more efficient and cost-effective use of colonoscopy. The evidences underlying these strategies are explored in this review, with a focus on enhanced applications of FIT to reduce the burden on limited colonoscopy resources.


Abstract Malaria transmission is unstable in Pakistan with the highest number of cases reported during the monsoon season. Despite its high incidence, malaria is still a poorly resourced, poorly funded and an uncontrolled disease especially in far-flung areas. Pakistan's National Malaria Control Program (NMCP), although operational since its inception in 1947, has suffered due to the unstable political, socioeconomic and financial situation prevalent in the country. In Pakistan, more than 300 000 cases of malaria are reported every year with 68% of the cases caused by Plasmodium vivax. It is estimated that about 70–80% of the population accesses the private sector for treatment. As the private sector does not routinely report data to the government, the actual malaria burden could be 4–5 times higher than reported. P. vivax now accounts for more than 85% of all cases requiring hospital admission compared to 54% in 2000. In this review, we have described the saga of poor control of malaria in Pakistan over several years in context of restructuring of the Malaria Control Program, challenges to improvement, and way forward.


Tourism is one of industries that is growing quite rapidly and cannot be separated from the roles of other sectors. One of those sectors is transportation. Air transportation service, as the most important transportation, needs assistance from airport that has one of tourism elements which is accessibility. One of the airports in Indonesia, which is Husein Sastranegara Bandung airport, always faces increase in the number of passengers in every year which cause over capacity. It makes PT Angkasa Pura II, as the maintainer of the airport, receive many complaints from the passengers. Those complaints will affect the passengers' satisfaction. In order to decrease service failure, the airport management applies service recovery in the form of actions, efforts, or process to increase passengers satisfaction. In this study, service recovery that consists of procedural justice, interactive justice and outcome justice. In the other hand, passengers satisfaction which is obtained from the comparison result between the performance perceived by the passengers (perceived) and the passengers' expectation (expected).The population of respondents in this study is 100 passengers who have ever made complaints and received service recovery at Husein Sastranegara airport. The method used in this study is descriptive- explanatory method with less than a year length of research (cross sectional method). The data analysis and hypothesis test technique used in this study is multiple linear regression. The purposes of this study are to gain and/or get the result about passengers satisfaction towards service recovery. The result of this study shows that the entire dimension of service recovery has significant influence towards passengers satisfaction.


Saturation of a Kerr-type nonlinearity in the nonlinear Schroźdinger equation (NLSE) can be regarded as a singular perturbation which regularizes the well-known blow-up phenomenon in the cubic NLSE. An asymptotic expansion is proposed which takes into account multiple scale behavior both in the longitudinal and transverse directions. In one dimension, this leads to a free boundary problem reduction where the solitary wave acts solely to reflect impinging waves and is accelerated by an elastic transfer of momentum. In two dimensions, we find that interaction of a solitary wave and an adjacent wave field is governed by behavior of certain eigenfunctions of the linearized fast-scale operator. This leads to an outer solution with a free logarithmic singularity, whose position evolves by virtue of a large transfer of momentum between the ambient and solitary waves. However, for a certain value of wave power, we find there is essentially no interaction and the solitary wave is asymptotically transparent to the ambient field. We test our results by numerical simulation of both the full equation and free boundary reductions.


For most applications, sensor nodes rely solely on batteries for their power supply and hence battery depletion may have a great impact on the overall network performance. Consequently, most of the current research work in wireless sensor networks (WSNs) is focusing on improving architectures and protocols with energy conservation as the main focus. Instead of using a competing approach such as used in traditional wireless networks, sensor nodes are proposed to cooperate to achieve a common goal. Multiple sensor nodes can be used to transmit and receive cooperatively and such a configuration is known as a cooperative Multiple-Input Multiple-Output (MIMO) system. Cooperative MIMO systems have been proved to reduce both transmission energy and latency in WSNs. However, most current work in WSNs considers only the energy cost for the data transmission component and neglects the energy component responsible for establishing a cooperative mechanism.
When the energy cost of cooperative mechanism establishment is considered, the total energy consumed as a function of the increasing number of cooperating nodes becomes of particular interest. In addition, most of the previous work in WSNs focused only on Space-Time Block Coding (STBC) schemes and ignored other potential MIMO schemes. In this book, both transmission and circuit energies for both components are included in the performance models. Three major cooperative MIMO systems, namely Beamforming (BF), STBC and Spatial Multiplexing (SM) are compared and analysed. WSNs are assumed to operate in quasi-static Rayleigh fading channels with M cooperating transmit nodes and N cooperating receive nodes.
The cooperative BF scheme outperforms both the cooperative SM and STBC schemes in terms of energy efficiency and packet latency for both synchronous and asynchronous scenarios. Synchronous scenarios assume perfect synchronisation between cooperating nodes. Also, the cooperative BF outperforms cooperative SM with higher diversity gain. A cooperative BF scheme with two transmit nodes is suggested as the optimal energy efficient cooperative MIMO system with the lowest packet latency when operating below 0.4Tb clock jitter difference and below 800mW radiated power in imperfect synchronisation scenarios. Tb is the bit period which corresponds to the system bit rate.
In previous work all sensor nodes are assumed to be always on which could lead to a shorter lifetime due to energy wastage caused by idle listening and overhearing. Low duty cycle MAC protocols have been proposed to tackle this challenge in WSNs. However, most of the low duty cycle MAC protocols have been proposed for non-cooperative systems. In this book, a new cooperative low duty cycle MAC protocol (CMAC) is proposed for two cooperative MIMO schemes: Beamforming (CMACBF) and Spatial Multiplexing (CMACSM).
Performance of the proposed CMAC protocol is evaluated in terms of total energy consumption and packet latency for both synchronous and asynchronous scenarios. All the required energy components are taken into consideration in the system performance modelling and a periodic monitoring application model is used. The impact of the clock jitter, the check interval and the number of cooperative nodes on the total energy consumption and latency is investigated. The CMACBF protocol with two transmit nodes is suggested as the optimal scheme when operating at the 250 ms check interval with the clock jitter difference below 0.6Tb.


The Revolution of 1688, also known as Glorious Revolution, is often remembered as a revolution that effectively limited the monarch's power and introduced a strong and permanent parliamentary system to the British Isles. In the context of England's political development, much scholarly attention has been given to the constitutional aspects of the revolution, and the role of religion is often under-emphasized or seen as secondary. This essay examines a variety of Williamite propaganda piece and argues that religious ideas and symbols were used extensively in these propaganda pieces to convince people of the new regime's legitimacy. Instead of seeing religious and political elements as separate, this essay argues that religious elements were used in conjunction with constitutional ones to support William's reign.


We introduce lower bounds for the rate of entropy production of an active stochastic process by quantifying the irreversibility of stochastic traces obtained from mesoscopic degrees of freedom. Our measures of irreversibility reveal signatures of time's arrow and provide bounds for entropy production even in the case of active fluctuations that have no drift. We apply these irreversibility measures to experimental recordings of spontaneous hair-bundle oscillations in mechanosensory hair cells from the ear of the bullfrog. By analyzing the fluctuations of only the tip position of hair bundles, we reveal irreversibility in active oscillations and estimate an associated rate of entropy production of at least ∼3k B/s, on average. Applying thermodynamic uncertainty relations, we predict that measuring both the tip position of the hair bundle and the mechano-electrical transduction current that enters the hair cell leads to tighter lower bounds for the rate of entropy production, up to ∼103 k B/s in the oscillatory regime.


Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) became a pandemic and is causing unprecedented biopsychosocial, spiritual and economic issues across the world while mostly affecting unprivileged populations. Turkey has gradually implemented new regulations, which slowly affected the entire country and increased the need for mental health services disproportionally. We conducted a comprehensive literature review on mental health in Turkey during COVID-19. There was no well-grounded peer-reviewed manuscripts or projects utilized a framework. Therefore, we wrote this manuscript to provide a conceptual framework grounded in ecological systems theory, acceptance and commitment therapy, and community-based participatory action research to introduce contextually evidence-based online mental health services: hotline, psychiatric interview, counseling, and Read-Reflect-Share group bibliotherapy. The framework aims to (1) address biopsychosocial spiritual and economic issues, (2) enhance wellbeing, and (3) empower the mental health profession in research and practice. Our preliminary findings and clinical experience indicated that the proposed framework and interventions derived from the framework enhanced wellbeing and decreased psychopathological symptoms in experimental group compared to control groups. Based on the preliminary analysis, most of the online, phone based, or face-to-face mental health services introduced in this manuscript were highly recommended by the participants to be provided to general public during and after COVID-19. Mental health professionals and authorities can use the proposed framework and interventions to develop interventions and research in order to alleviate pandemic-based biopsychosocial spiritual and economic issues and enhance wellbeing.


A six year old Percheron mare was presented with a history of spontaneous unilateral epistaxis of 24 hours duration. The blood one stage prothrombin and partial thromboplastin times were markedly prolonged. A diagnosis of moldy sweetclover poisoning was made on the basis of the history and clinical and laboratory findings. A single whole blood transfusion and four daily intravenous injections of vitamin K(3) proved to be a successful treatment.


Time synchronization for wireless sensor networks has been studied in recent years as a fundamental and critical design problem. This paper proposes an adaptive multi-hop timing synchronization (AMTS) which aims at minimizing overall network-wide energy consumption in timing synchronization. According to the current network status, AMTS determines the synchronization mode either the always on or sensor initiated mode, then adjusts the re-synchronization period to minimize energy consumption. Besides, it adapts a joint clock offset and skew estimation mechanism to achieve long term reliability of synchronization. AMTS has significant benefits in terms of energy-efficiency, and can be applied to various types of wireless sensor networks having different regulations.


The purpose of an intervention in a city district of Bremen was to reduce the discrepancy between the possibilities and realities of pain therapy. All the important participants were included in measures and actions on several levels and for several target groups for a period of two years. An inquiry revealed a high degree of consent among the medical practitioners. The effect of the intervention was an improvement in the prescription of opioids by those physicians who had already been prescribing them, whereas there was no noticeable change in the behaviour of physicians who had not been prescribing opioids to date. In a second step the intervention was examined for reasons and limitations of its efficacy. In conclusion, this is brought in line with the present state of knowledge on the ways and mechanisms by which new medical advances come to the attention of medical practice. The elements of promising strategies to effect positive changes in health services are pinpointed.


Abstract An earthfill tailings retention embankment across the Ok Ma valley in a remote tropical rainforest area of western Papua New Guinea was abandoned during construction in early 1984 because of a very large landslide that occurred in the eastern abutment of the dam. Ensuing litigation between the mine owners and their insurers brought together highly qualified and experienced geotechnical experts. The experts developed their own views on the form, nature and mechanism of the landslide which occurred in limestone colluvium and Miocene mudstone bedrock. After preliminary studies and site investigations, work for the mining company on the tailings dam was carried out as a design-and-construct package by a major consortium. Sub-sequent design investigations used most of the available techniques, including aerial photograph interpretation, seismic traverses, pitting, drilling and in situ and laboratory testing, all carried out by experienced specialist companies. Although concern was expressed on various aspects of temporary and permanent slope stability, the large size of the landslide came as an unforeseen event. This paper presents the authors' interpretation of six different models proposed for the landslide by various authorities who worked on the case. This has been done to illustrate the difficulties in attempting a precise interpretation of a large landslide and as a commentary on the state of the art on the subject.


Aimed for the real-time requirement of Ethernet in embedded system, an agent-based system was presented. There were one managing node and a lot of control nodes in this new system. In order to reduce the real-time decline resulting from channel conflict, every control node was assigned a default priority and the control nodes with the same priority formed a group. Every control node communicated with each other and managing node based on the priority groups they belonged to. Master agent in managing node received different status data from every sub agent in the control nodes in different cycles. A dynamic adjustment model was set up in master agent. The status data gathered from control nodes were counted as inputs of the model; thus, through the model, the priorities of these control nodes could have dynamic adjustments. Network communication distributed channel resources by way of dynamic priorities, ensuring not only that there was less communication conflict among nodes at a certain moment, but also that adaptive adjustments of priorities could be achieved to improve transmission efficiency. The analysis and the simulation results demonstrate the method is correct and efficient


An in-depth analysis of the most comprehensive dataset on microbiological contaminants in foodstuffs in the EU is presented in this report for the years 2004-2009. The report covers findings of Salmonella, Campylobacter, Listeria, Yersinia, verotoxigenic Escherichia coli (VTEC), Brucella, as well as histamine, Enterobacter sakazakii and staphylococcal enterotoxins in foodstuffs. Information on the latter three is presented for the first time and covers the period 2006-2009. The total number of samples reported by Member States (MSs) was large, however when the data were broken down to the fine level of categorization required in this report, they were often too sporadic for calculations of EU or MS group totals. Conclusions regarding temporal trends are therefore based on the interpretation of descriptive tables and figures. Generally, there were no clear changes in the proportion of positive samples at different sampling stages along the food chain. However, it should be emphasized that the vast majority of investigations on ready to eat food (RTE) products for all six years revealed no or very low levels of microbiological contaminants. In 2008 and 2009, the proportion of Salmonella positive samples in meat and meat products tested at retail seemed to stabilize at the relatively low level of approximately 1% compared to previous years. This may be a consequence of the microbiological criteria that came into force in 2006. For Salmonella, Listeria, histamine, Enterobacter sakazakii and staphylococcal enterotoxins microbiological criteria are set in the Regulation (EC) No 2073/2005 and most investigations were in compliance with the criteria. © Technical University of Denmark


The present study illustrates the methodology and application to evaluate the sensory data issued from an in-hall test session applied to a group of wines. It aims to provide a global vision of the sensory profiles and free descriptions of wines using the classical statistical methods and treating the two types of evaluations separately, as well as taking into account more complex structure of such data and approaching them jointly, by applying specific tools of extended multiple factor analysis methodology. Furthermore, the study focuses on precising the perceptual typicality concept from the experts point of view by highlighting the sensory attributes of wines subjected to the study percieved as typical by the panel. Results demonstrated that specific characteristics showed to be predictive of high typicality ratings for a wine, whilst others showed to be predictive of low typicality ratings.. A large panel of 43 experts has evaluated 60 wines of the DOQ Priorat through classical 24 descriptors and free comments. This project intents to capture what is behind the typicality of these wines, as expressed by the experts


Objectives: In this study, we aimed to evaluate memory and extra-memorial functions and neuroimaging in operated and non-operated temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE) patients. Patients and methods: Medical files of a total of 90 patients (47 males, 43 females; median age: 33 years; range, 19 to 68 years) who were diagnosed with TLE at Uludag University, Faculty of Medicine, Department of Neurology between January 2002 and December 2011 were retrospectively and prospectively analyzed. All patients were hospitalized in the video-electroencephalography (EEG) unit of the clinic. Seizure follow-up, video-EEG, cranial magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), and positron emission tomography (PET), and neuropsychometric testing (NPT) were performed in all patients. Thirty-seven of these patients underwent amygdalohippocampectomy + anterior temporal lobectomy by neurosurgery department, while the remaining 53 patients were followed with medical treatment. Results: Video-EEG, MRI, PET, and NPT showed similar results in terms of lateralization. The operated patients had improved memory and extra-memorial functions in the following controls. A significant decrease in seizure frequency was found in the operated patients after surgery. A significant improvement was observed in the quality of life with reduced seizure frequency and better cognitive functions. Conclusion: Based on our study results, the diagnostic value of verbal memory tests alone is 63% on the left, whereas the diagnostic value of the Wechsler Memory Scale visual memory test alone is 69% on the right.


When selecting prey, carnivores optimise energy gained when consuming prey against energy spent when pursuing and subduing prey. Additionally, predators seem to preferentially predate on prey which presents a low risk of injury. When defending itself against predators, baboons (Papio spp.) can inflict serious injury and cause mortality. Although part of Africa's large carnivores' diet, predation on baboons is usually avoided. We investigated prey selection patterns of African wild dogs (Lycaon pictus) in Mana Pools National Park, Zimbabwe. Based on direct and indirect observations and analyses of faecal samples, we show that baboons form a substantial part of the African wild dog diet and were more frequently predated on than would be expected based on availability. Predation on baboons did not vary over baboon sex or age classes but was affected by seasonality. This is the first study to describe a preference for predation on this unusual prey species.


We present the details of the sol-gel processing used to realize inverse silica opal, where the silica was activated with 0.3 mol% of Er3+ ions. The template (direct opal) was obtained assembling polystyrene spheres of the dimensions of 260 nm by means of a vertical deposition technique. The Er3+-activated silica inverse opal was obtained infiltrating, into the void of the template, the silica sol doped with Er3+ ions and subsequently removing the polystyrene spheres by means of calcinations. Scanning electron microscope showed that the inverse opals possess an fcc structure with a air hollow of about 210 nm. A photonic band gap in the visible range was observed from reflectance measurements. Spectroscopic properties of Er3+activated silica inverse opal were investigated by photoluminescence spectroscopy. A bandwidth of 21 nm was measured for the 4I13/2 → 4I15/2 transition of Er3+ ions upon excitation at 514.5 nm. The luminescence decay curve of the 4I13/2 metastable state of the Er3+ ions presents a lifetime τ = 16.8 ± 0.1 ms giving a very high quantum efficiency of the fabricated system. Core-shell Er3+-activated silica spheres, where the core is the silica sphere and the shell is an Er2O3-SiO2 coating is proposed as a possible route for opal fabrication. For core-shell system a quantum efficiency of about 70% was estimated.


Exposure to radiation, as well as holding under conditions of limited mobility during 24 h, induced decrease in thymus cell number, increase in number of DNA breaks. The content the products of lipid peroxidation reactive with thiobarbituric acid in blood serum of mice decreased as well. The stress effect is comparable with radiation doses in the range of 50-60 cGy.


We evaluate the Friedman-Schwartz hypothesis that a more accommodative monetary policy could have greatly reduced the severity of the Great Depression. To do this, we first estimate a dynamic, general equilibrium model using data from the 1920s and 1930s. Although the model includes eight shocks, the story it tells about the Great Depression turns out to be a simple and familiar one. The contraction phase was primarily a consequence of a shock that induced a shift away from privately intermediated liabilities, such as demand deposits and liabilities that resemble equity, and towards currency. The slowness of the recovery from the Depression was due to a shock that increased the market power of workers. We identify a monetary base rule which responds only to the money demand shocks in the model. We solve the model with this counterfactual monetary policy rule. We then simulate the dynamic response of this model to all the estimated shocks. Based on the model analysis, we conclude that if the counterfactual policy rule had been in place in the 1930s, the Great Depression would have been milder.


Don't put your Daughter on the Stage features a chorus line-up of dancers and pays homage to early 20th century dance, infiltrating and injecting life into the past, and painting a loving portrait of a lost archive. Quoting research from forgotten grand dames of dance, (Fuller, Weisenthal, Akesson), this montage performance is glued in place by an all female troupe who vie to be seen and heard amongst the litter of their surprisingly contemporary history. In keeping with a personal dance genealogy, 'Don't put your Daughter on the Stage', has emerged from a sustained period of practical research into predominantly female European Ausdruckstanz solo performances. This choreography of this live work 'Don't put Your Daughter on the Stage' (2008 and reconstructed for 2009) was commissioned by University of Chichester for their in-house MapDance Company. Research methods include: revealing archaeology and uncovering history from photographic, text and critical evidence: taking new narratives from old forms: creating a momento of a performing self and placing it within a new context. 'Don't put your Daughter on the Stage' makes a commentary on the female performer by juxtaposing spoken texts by Noel Coward and Otto A Harbach, and creating tableaux vivantes.