The scale-rich spatiotemporal organization in biological membranes has its origin in the differential inter- and intra-molecular interactions among their constituents. In this work, we explore the molecular-origin behind that variety and possible degeneracy in lateral organization in membranes. For our study, we post-process microsecond long all-atom molecular dynamics trajectories for three systems that exhibit fluid phase coexistence: (i) PSM/POPC/Chol (0.47/0.32/0.21), (ii) PSM/DOPC/Chol (0.43/0.38/0.19) and (iii) DPPC/DOPC/Chol (0.37/0.36/0.27). To distinguish the liquid ordered and disordered regions at molecular scales, we calculate the degree of non-affineness of individual lipids in their neighbourhood and track their topological rearrangements. Disconnectivity graph analysis with respect to membrane organization shows that the DPPC/DOPC/Chol and PSM/DOPC/Chol systems exhibit funnel-like energy landscapes as opposed to a highly frustrated energy landscape for the more biomimetic PSM/POPC/Chol system. We use these measurements to develop a continuous lattice Hamiltonian and evolve that using Monte Carlo simulated annealing to explore the possibility of structural degeneracy in membrane organization. Our data show that model membranes with lipid constituents that are biomimetic (PSM/POPC/Chol) have the ability to access a large range of membrane sub-structure space (higher degeneracy) as compared to the other two systems, which form only one kind of substructure even with changing composition. Since the spatiotemporal organization in biological membranes dictates the "molecular encounters" and in turn larger scale biological processes such as molecular transport, trafficking and cellular signalling, we posit that this structural degeneracy could enable access to a larger repository to functionally important molecular organization in systems with physiologically relevant compositions.


: Three capillaroscopic features to be found at the base of nails are recognizable in rheumatoid arthritis. This is in conjunction with the clinical picture, the biological data, and the course of development. In the first, the tissue is transparent, there are many small comma-shaped capillary loops; the second feature is characterized by extreme transparency, pale base and long "hair-pin" loops spread in treillis form over the venular plexus in slow, granular circulation. A third feature recalls from the start a state of collagenosis, because of the inhomogenous opacity of the tissue, the presence of capillary hemorrhage and the irregular appearance of the loops, often of the "megacapillary" variety (I.E. congenital capillary dilatation). This division into three categories determines the character prognosis and treatment. It corresponds histologically to "pulp" biopsy and to the region of glomie arterio-venous anastomosis. There is therefore a real rheumatoid histoangiopathy.


The 'competition–stability/fragility' nexus is one of the more debated issues in the banking literature. However, while there is ample evidence concerning the relationship between competition and stability/fragility in different countries and regions, no prior study investigates this in the context of Islamic and conventional banks. We do this using data on both types of banks drawn from 16 developing economies over the period 2000–12. We measure the lack of competition using the Lerner index, and stability using both accounting-based measures, comprising the Z-score and the nonperforming loan ratio, and market-based measures, including Merton's distance to default. We employ panel vector autoregression and two-stage quantile regression to estimate the relationship. Our results lend support to the competition–fragility hypothesis in both Islamic and conventional banks. We also find the magnitude of the market power effect on stability is greater for conventional banks than Islamic banks. Lastly, banks in the median quantile of stability have a greater ability to reduce credit risk through gaining market power than banks in the lower and upper quantiles. (This abstract was borrowed from another version of this item.)


The biochemical and serological characteristics of lactose-utilizing strains of Neisseria were determined. These organisms were found in the nasopharynx of man and grew well on Thayer-Martin Selective Medium. They were compared with N. meningitidis to ascertain whether they were variants of this species. Differences between the lactose-using strains and the recognized species of Neisseria were considered significant enough to warrant designation of a new species, Neisseria lactamicus. This group has not been widely recognized as being separate from N. meningitidis; therefore, the normal incidence and clinical significance of these organisms has not been fully established. These organisms are oxidase-positive and positive for β-D-galactosidase activity; they demonstrate fermentation in King Oxidation-Fermentation Medium; and they produce acid from only glucose, lactose, and maltose, of the 27 substrates incorporated in Cystine Trypticase Agar. Individual strains vary in their ability to grow on Nutrient Agar at both 25 and 37 C and in their pigmentation on Loeffler Medium. Results indicated that these organisms are serologically distinct from the N. meningitidis serogroups. Only 34 of 116 strains of N. lactamicus were smooth and could be tested by slide agglutination. None of the 34 could be grouped as N. meningitidis group A, B, C, D, X, Y, or Z. Thirty-one of these strains could, however, be specifically grouped with antisera prepared with N. lactamicus strains. Cross absorptions confirmed that N. lactamicus is serologically distinguishable from N. meningitidis.


Producing targeted climate information at the local scale, including major sources of climate change projection uncertainty for diverse emissions scenarios, is essential to support climate change mitigation and adaptation efforts. Here, we present the first chain of computationally efficient Earth System Model (ESM) emulators allowing to rapidly translate greenhouse gas emission pathways into spatially resolved annual-mean temperature anomaly field time series, accounting for both forced climate response and natural variability uncertainty at the local scale. By combining the global-mean, emissions5 driven emulator MAGICC with the spatially resolved emulator MESMER, ESM-specific as well as constrained probabilistic emulated ensembles can be derived. This emulation chain can hence build on and extend large multi-ESM ensembles such as the ones produced within the 6th phase of the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project (CMIP6). The main extensions are threefold. (i) A more thorough sampling of the forced climate response and the natural variability uncertainty is possible with millions of emulated realizations being readily created. (ii) The same uncertainty space can be sampled for any emission pathway, 10 which is not the case in CMIP6, where some of the most societally relevant strong mitigation scenarios have been run by only a small number of ESMs. (iii) Other lines of evidence to constrain future projections, including observational constraints, can be introduced, which helps to refine projected future ranges beyond the multi-ESM ensemble's estimates. In addition to presenting results from the coupled MAGICC-MESMER emulator chain, we carry out an extensive validation of MESMER, which is trained on and applied to multiple emission pathways for the first time in this study. The newly developed MAGICC15 MESMER coupled emulator will allow unprecedented assessments of the implications of manifold emissions pathways at regional scale.


Abstract This article introduces the Haitian Independence Debt of 1825 to the odious debt and sovereign debt literatures. We argue that the legal doctrine of odious debt is surprisingly and perhaps indefensibly narrow, possibly because of historical contingency rather than any underlying logic or principle. The story of the Haitian Independence Debt of 1825 serves as an illustrative case study. In the context of telling that story, we provide estimates of the evolution of Haiti's external debt-to-GDP ratio over 1825–2020, and discuss the implications of the independence debt for the economy of Haiti. We conclude by discussing the implications of Haiti's Independence Debt for the doctrine of odious debt and the possibilities for Haiti to recover compensation.


After an explosion of conversions to Pentecostalism over the past three decades, tens of millions of Nigerians now claim that 'Jesus is the answer'. But if Jesus is the answer, what is the question? What led to the movement's dramatic rise and how can we make sense of its social and political significance? In this ambitiously interdisciplinary study, Ruth Marshall draws on years of fieldwork and grapples with a host of important thinkers - including Foucault, Agamben, Arendt, and Benjamin - to answer these questions. To account for the movement's success, Marshall explores how Pentecostalism presents the experience of being born again as a chance for Nigerians to realize the promises of political and religious salvation made during the colonial and post colonial eras. Her astute analysis of this religious trend sheds light on Nigeria's contemporary politics, post colonial statecraft, and the everyday struggles of ordinary citizens coping with poverty, corruption, and inequality. Pentecostalism's rise is truly global, and "Political Spiritualities" persuasively argues that Nigeria is a key case in this phenomenon while calling for new ways of thinking about the place of religion in contemporary politics.


We analyze the degree of contract completeness with respect to staging of venture capital investments using a hand-collected German data set of contract data from 464 rounds into 290 entrepreneurial firms. We distinguish three forms of staging (pure milestone financing, pure round financing and mixes). Thereby, contract completeness reduces when going from pure milestone financing via mixes to pure round financing. We show that the decision for a specific form of staging is determined by the expected distribution of bargaining power between the contracting parties when new funding becomes necessary and the predictability of the development process. To be more precise, parties choose the more complete contracts the lower the entrepreneur's expected bargaining power - the maximum level depending on the predictability of the development process.


Although Aboriginal women and girls in Canada are at a higher risk of being trafficked for the purposes of sexual exploitation, the types of acts perpetrated against them are often not viewed as "trafficking." Historical representations of Aboriginal women, poverty, racism and criminalization of Aboriginal girls have worked together to cloak crimes committed against them in invisibility. Aboriginal women and girls do not fit the "picture" of the trafficked victim constructed by mainstream media and work that has been done to deconstruct this image has been largely unsuccessful. This article discusses the particular ways in which Aboriginal women and girls in the Prairie Provinces are recruited into the sex trade by third parties under exploitative circumstances and the ways in which these acts fit within the definition of "trafficking in persons" in Canadian criminal law. It speaks to "trafficking" of Aboriginal women not as a new phenomenon but rather a new name given to a subset of the exploitation that has been persistently perpetrated against Aboriginal women and girls. Trafficking of Aboriginal Women and Girls in Canada Aboriginal Policy Research Series ii


The major aim of this project is to construct a growing database of information regarding specific manifestations of congenital heart diseases (CHDs), subsequent treatments, clinical cases, and patient outcomes. This will include 3D models generated from clinical imaging of individual patient hearts and respective de-identified clinical case information — all of which will be incorporated onto the free-access Atlas of Human Cardiac Anatomy website (http://www.vhlab.umn.edu/atlas/), where anyone can learn more about these diseases and their complexities [1]. Generated models can also be used for 3D printing, such as for pre-surgical planning, as well as for incorporation into virtual reality in order to expand outreach and education efforts [2]. Future work will incorporate computational modeling to enhance insights relative to treatment strategies and surgical planning. By studying a broad range of these unique individual cases, it will be possible for patients, clinicians, and medical device designers alike to better understand the clinical presentations of congenital heart diseases and develop more effective treatment strategies.


In 1989, New Hampshire established its first women's prison in response to a lawsuit filed by inmates charging the state with sex discrimination in its treatment of women prisoners. This litigation reflects a growing use of legal reform based on equal protection rights by female inmates to express and remediate correctional needs. The purpose of this dissertation is to examine the conditions that led to the creation of the women's prison, and the unintended consequences that have resulted from legal reform on the correctional treatment and court processing of female offenders. This research uses qualitative and quantitative methods. Qualitative analysis examined archival documents on corrections in New Hampshire, court orders, and other legal documents relating to the creation of the prison. A quantitative analysis of all female felony cases referred to the Hillsborough County Superior Court for prosecution between January 1, 1986 and May 31, 1993 sought to determine whether court referrals, prosecution, incarceration, and length of sentence increased following the opening of the women's prison. An increase in referral, prosecution, and incarceration of female felony offenders during the postprison period was found. Conversely, case dismissals, rejections, and the use of suspended sentences decreased. It is concluded that the use of legal reform based on demands for parity of treatment has only provided women prisoners with partial relief in identifying and meeting their correctional needs. Most female inmates still perceive the quantity and quality of prison programs available to them as unsatisfactory. Legal reform was used to present a correctional problem. The creation of a prison was the offered solution. For the inmates, correctional problems still exist, and the creation of the prison has introduced an additional problem--the expansion of the institutional model to more broadly encompass female offenders.


High-throughput sequencing (HTS) technologies are one type of genome sequencing techniques where short DNA segments, or reads, are sequenced or sampled from genome. Compared with the traditional genome sequencing techniques, they have advantages such as low-cost and they are able to parallelize the sequencing process to produce millions of reads. These technologies have been widely used in many important problems related to human genetic variations. We mainly target three human genetic variation problems with the reads generated by HTS.
It is well-known that human individuals differ from each other by 0.1%. The majority of the differences is in the form of SNPs, or Single Nucleotide Polymophisms. Haplotypes, defined as the sequences of SNPs on each chromosome of a human genome, are important for problems such as imputation of genetic variants, relatedness of human individuals, etc. A difficulty in haplotype inference is the presence of sequencing errors and a natural formulation of the problem is to infer haplotypes which are most consistent with the data from a combinatorial perspective. Unfortunately, this formulation of the haplotype assembly is known to be NP-hard. We proposed a few techniques including dynamic programming, MaxSAT and Hidden Markov Model (HMM) to solve the problem optimally from different perspectives.
Structural variations and in particular Copy Number Variations (CNV) have dramatic effects of disease and traits. We first proposed an efficient algorithm to detect and reconstruct CNVs in unique genomic regions, where the sequencing reads generated from HTS are mapped to a reference genome and signatures indicating the presence of a CNV are identified. Then we extend the algorithm to a much more challenging problem where CNVs are in repeat-rich regions and the reads may be mapped to multiple mapping positions. To our knowledge, our method is the first attempt to both identify and reconstruct CNVs in repeat-rich regions.
Recent advances in sequencing technologies set the stage for large population based studies, in which the DNA or RNA of thousands of individuals will be sequenced. A few multiplexing schemes have been suggested, in which a small number of DNA pools are sequenced, and the results are then deconvoluted using compressed sensing or similar approaches. These methods, however, are limited to the detection of rare variants. We provide a new algorithm for the deconvolution of DNA pools multiplexing schemes. The presented algorithm utilizes a likelihood model and linear programming and is able to genotype both low and high allele frequency SNPs with microarray genotyping and imputation.


France has a long and unique experience of public intervention in household debt restructuring. When facing financial distress, households can file a case to a "households' over-indebtedness commission" (HOC). These HOCs either grant a delay of payment or impose a partial reimbursement of the secured or unsecured debt. This paper evaluates the ex post impact of this decision on the creditors' recovery rate, the household's re-default rate and the net benefit of the treatment, defined as the amount recovered by the creditors minus the public cost of treatment of the file. The random allocation of the households over file managers with different pro-household friendlinesses is used to correct for endogeneity. Sixty percent of households are ordered to repay part of their debt. Over a two-year horizon, the possibility to grant a delay of payment decreases the average redefault rate and the average repayment rate respectively from 13 to 7 percentage points and from 14 to 12 percentage points. The net benefit over a small fraction of low distressed households offsets the loss observed over a large fraction of more distressed households. Our results highlight a substantial impact of the severity of the case manager.


Abstract Extensive studies are available that analyse time series of carbon dioxide and water flux measurements of FLUXNET sites over many years and link these results to climate change such as changes in atmospheric carbon dioxide concentration, air temperature and growing season length and other factors. Many of the sites show trends to a larger carbon uptake. Here we analyse time series of net ecosystem exchange, gross primary production, respiration, and evapotranspiration of four forest sites with particularly long measurement periods of about 20 years. The regular trends shown are interrupted by periods with higher or lower increases of carbon uptake. These breakpoints can be of very different origin and include forest decline, increased vegetation period, drought effects, heat waves, and changes in site heterogeneity. The influence of such breakpoints should be included in long-term studies of land-atmosphere exchange processes.


Astroviruses cause diarrhea, but it is not known whether they circulate in human plasma. Astrovirus MLB2 was recently discovered in diarrhea samples from children. We detected MLB2 in the plasma of a febrile child, which suggests that MLB2 has broader tropism than expected and disease potential beyond the gastrointestinal tract.


New technologies have opened several risks to safety of journalists. More importantly, in the state of emergency caused by the Covid-19 outbreak, journalists and media actors have shifted their activities online more than ever, which also made them more prone to digital threats and attacks. In some regimes there are even organized intimidation campaigns against political opponents causing chilling effect and self-censorship, and jeopardizing freedom of expression in general. Hungary as a member of the European Union since 2004 and Serbia as a leading candidate to join the EU are two countries where the problems and concerns about media freedom is growing every day. The fear from the unknown during the international pandemic gave opportunity to some governments to hide their real political agendas and cover their desire for the 'good-old-fashioned' censorship. The number of countries where some kind of censorship could be found is growing every day. The authors will show two country-case-studies from Hungary and Serbia, where the leaders and the political situations are very similar and could show a (good or bad) example to other countries that would like to follow the illiberal views on media issues.


This study aimed to explore the factors that contributed to patients' failure to complete inpatient detoxification for drug and/or alcohol dependence. A review of case files at a 25-bedded detoxification unit in UK was undertaken. During a 12-month period N = 503 patients accessed treatment. Treatment was predominantly offered to patients with alcohol-related problems (66%), patients with drug-related problems (22%) and patients with both drug and alcoholrelated problems (12%). The mean length of treatment was two weeks. Just over half of the sample had a previous criminal conviction, with 24% of all offences being for violence. From the total admissions n = 35 (7%) breached the unit rules and n = 48 (10%) left treatment early against medical advice. Patients who breached unit rules were typically undertaking drug detoxification, they had poorer pre-admission preparation, and they had poor engagement in the therapeutic programme. A high-risk time for breach was on the weekend, where the most commonly cited reason was illicit substance use. Patients who left treatment against medical advice typically had an admission for drug or drug/alcohol detoxification, lived closer to the unit, had previous criminal convictions and had lower treatment engagement. Introduction Substance addiction has direct harms for substance abusers, their families and wider society. The provision of detoxification is a cost-effective way of reducing this burden (Raistrick, Heather, & Godfrey, 2006). Where patients have complex presentations a hospital-based detoxification, as opposed to community-based one, is often advised. For example, inpatient detoxification is recommended for those who have physical health problems such as epilepsy, are malnourished, have a history of previous complicated withdrawals, psychiatric illness, multiple substance misuse, are at risk of suicide, or have had previous failed home (community-based) detoxifications (Clinical Guidelines on Drug Misuse and Dependence Update 2017 Independent Expert Working Group, 2017; FreyerAdam, Gaertner, Rumpf, John, & Hapke, 2010). It is estimated that the cost of inpatient detoxification is more than 20 times that of a community-based one (Gossop & Strang, 2000) and access to such services is limited (Best, O'Grady, Charalampous, & Gordon, 2005). Given the cost implications and limited access to inpatient detoxification, it is crucial to ensure that service users complete their treatment episode. Despite continuous improvements in treatment services, the rate of relapse postdetoxification remains between 60-90% (Aguiar, Neto, Lambaz, Chick, & Ferrinho, 2012; Becker, 2008; Raistrick, 2006; Spada, Nuamah, Luty, & Nikcevic, 2008). It is currently unclear how many individuals fail to complete hospitalbased detoxification or the factors that might be associated with treatment failure. Previous literature has identified that an individual's cravings, motivation, and distress tolerance, and their ability to connect to staff along with the activity provision can all impact treatment completion rates in longer residential treatments (Daughters et al., 2005; Nordheim, Walderhaug, Alstadius, & Kern-Godal, 2016; Palmer, Murphy, Piselli, & Ball, 2009). Factors associated with early discharge from shorter, inpatient detoxification, has not been explored. The purpose of this report is to determine the various factors that are associated with patients who (a) breach the unit rules and are subsequently discharged from treatment and (b) choose to leave prior to treatment completion at a 25-bedded specialist detoxification unit in the United Kingdom. Methods A retrospective review of all case notes were accessed for the n = 503 patients who presented for inpatient detoxification from July 2013 to July 2014. Each case file was examined by hand, and a pre-determined checklist was used to identify the required information to be inputted onto a computerized database. Patient discharge outcomes were categorised as: (a) "Planned" if patients successfully reached a predetermined treatment outcome and were discharged as planned; (b) "AMA" if patients discharged themselves prior to their pre-planned treatment targets and Against Medical Advice (AMA); and (c) "Breach" if patients breached the unit rules (e.g., they used illicit drugs or alcohol on the unit, they were violent or aggressive to others) and were discharged. A total of N = 503 service users attended treatment at the detoxification unit over a 12-month period. The sample comprised n = 341 males (68%) and n = 162 females (32%). The mean age of the sample was 43.5-years-old (sd = 9.7) and service users' age ranged from 21to 79-years-old. The largest proportion of service users (66%) presented with primary alcohol-related problems, 22% with primary drug-related problems, and 12% with both alcoholand drug-related problems. The reason for referral in the majority of cases was for detoxification (97%), with a small proportion undertaking stabilization (2%) and an even smaller proportion undertaking a reduction in their prescribed medication(s) (1%). For those with primary alcohol-related problems the expected length of stay was 12.0 days (SD = 4.0) with the actual length of stay at 11.4 days (SD = 4.6); for those with primary drug-related problems the expected length of stay was 18.3 days (SD = 6.0) with the actual length of stay at 13.3 days (SD = 6.5); for those with both alcoholand drug-related problems the expected length of stay was 18.7 days (SD = 7.4) with the actual length of stay at 14.2 days (SD = 8.2). A total of n = 410 (81%) service users had a planned discharge, n = 48 (10%) left Against Medical Advice (AMA) and n =35 (7%) were discharged for a breach of rules (breach). The treatment outcome of the other n = 10 (2%) service users comprised one death and some missing data. Results Numerous analyses such as chi-square tests of independence were conducted to determine which of the factors were related to treatment outcome. A number of these factors showed no significant relationships. For example, it was suspected that a higher risk assessment score would be associated with a negative treatment outcome, yet no relationship was found in the data for self-neglect scores (X2(6, N = 484) = 4.78, p = .574) suicide scores (X2(6, N = 484) = 4.82, p = .777) and violence scores (X2(6, N = 484) = 12.44, p = .053). Treatment completion was not significantly associated with the number of previous detoxification episodes undertaken (X2(24, N = 440) = 29.66, p = .196). Evaluation of case files indicated that early discharge from the unit (Breach or AMA) was more likely in service users admitted for drug detoxification. Patients admitted for drug detoxification accounted for 65.7% of all breaches and 43.8% of all discharges AMA; patients admitted for both drug and alcohol detoxification accounted for 22.9% of breaches and 33.3 % of all discharges AMA; patients admitted for alcohol detoxification only accounted for 11.4% of breaches and 22.9 % of all discharges AMA. Those service users who were admitted for drug detoxification were significantly more likely to have an early discharge before treatment completion in comparison to service users admitted for alcohol detoxification only (X2(4, N = 433) = 82.12, p <.001). On average, 20.5% of drug users breached compared to 13.6% of drug and alcohol users and just 1.2% of alcohol users. This finding is consistent with Callaghan and Cunningham (2002), who reported that drug abusing service users were more likely to terminate their treatment earlier. The planned treatment completion rate was 94.5% for alcohol users, 57.6% for drug and alcohol users, and 58.0% for drug users (See Figure 1). [Insert Figure 1 Here] An additional variable of interest was the percentage of planned completion rates according to the distance patients resided from the hospital location. For example, it was shown that planned completion rates were lower for those patients who lived closer to the unit: Region 1 planned completion rates were 66% compared to Region 2 (73.3%), Region 3 (77.6%), Region 4 (82.6%), Region 5 (83.9%) and Region 6 (73.7%)1. The implication here is that living closer to the treatment unit was associated with poorer outcomes. Forensic history was also significantly associated with treatment outcome. If the discharge was planned, just under half (46%) of individuals had a previous conviction, however, three quarters or more of service users who breached (77%) or who left AMA (75%) had a previous criminal conviction. As shown in Figure 2 (below), service users who breached or who left AMA were significantly more likely to have a conviction than not (X2(2, N = 471) = 25.56, p <.001). This effect was found regardless of the service users' substance category or psychiatric health. These convictions could be anything from a driving offence to violent behaviour. More specifically, though, service users who breached (37.1%) or left AMA (33.3%) were significantly more likely to have a previous conviction for violence compared to service users who had a planned discharge (21.2%) (X2(2, N = 470) = 7.33, p =.026). [Insert Figure 2 Here] 1 Note the unit is located within Region 1; Region 2 = 20 miles (32km) to the unit; Region 3 = 30 miles (48km) to the unit; Region 4 = 50 miles (80km) to the unit; Region 5 = 70 miles (112km) to the unit; & Region 6= 80 miles (128km) to the unit. Another variable associated with treatment outcome was pre-admission preparation. Significantly more people who had a planned discharge (i.e., 69%) or left who AMA (i.e., 61%) had pre-admission preparation compared to those who breached (e.g., with just 39% having received pre-admission preparation), (X2(2, N = 417) = 12.08, p =.002). It is unclear whether those who were most likely to breach were the people who refused to engage in pre-admission preparation or whether a lack of preparation contributed to breach; an additional plausible factor was som


The Bikilal layered gabbro-complex is composed of zones/layers of olivine/ pyroxene gabbro and hornblende gabbro. Within the hornblende gabbro, repeated lens-like thin and elongated bodies of hornblendite are found intimately associated with massive and disseminated ilmenite-magnetite bodies, in places with apatite. Petrological examination of the hornblende gabbro shows 50-55% hornblende, 40-45% plagioclase, 5-7% opaque minerals/ilmenite + magnetite/, and 5-15% apatite and that of hornblendite shows 75% hornblende, 10-15% apatite, 10-15% ilmenite and rare sulphides, and traces of Uranium. Regardless of the type of lithological units, two main zones of phosphate mineralization ,the upper and lower zones, were identified and delineated entirely based on phosphate (P2O5) assay values of chip, channel and, core samples, . The strike length of the upper zone is 1600m. There are two main layers of phosphate mineralization in the upper zone; the average thickness of each layer is 30m and 40m respectively. The strike length of the lower zone is 3000m having a thickness of 60m ─ 200m. The mineable reserve of Soji-Bikilal phosphate deposit is estimated to be 181 million tons, at a grade of 3.5% P2O5. Preliminary beneficiation trial reveals commercial grade concentrate, at which the overall weight recovery, is in the range of 3-5%. The Radioactivity of Uranium has not been determined and hence re-evaluation of the phosphate rock for Uranium content should be carried out. Similar Gabbro intrusions occur in Western Ethiopia and in East Africa which should be assessed for phosphate potential to develop the fertilizer potential of the East Africa Region.


The construct of quality management has moved on greatly since the "quality policing" concepts of the 1980's. Continual improvement and customer centric business development philosophies have become the norm within a "total" business environment. Typically, organisations exploit a series of matrices, templates and models to monitor and control their operations. It has however been noted that, often, due to minimal formal user centric instructions being available, even simple quality and business models are misused and fail to deliver their potential to impact on the business. This paper discusses the possibilities of applying knowledge based engineering fundamentals into quality and business frameworks and discusses a scenario where live, interactive benchmarking and predicative analysis could become common place within business design and improvement modelling.


We propose an efficient and deterministic algorithm for computing the one-dimensional dilation and erosion (max and min) sliding window filters. For a p-element sliding window, our algorithm computes the 1D filter using 1.5 + o(1) comparisons per sample point. Our algorithm constitutes a deterministic improvement over the best previously known such algorithm, independently developed by van Herk (1992) and by Gil and Werman (1993) (the HGW algorithm). Also, the results presented in this paper constitute an improvement over the Gevorkian et al. (1997) (GAA) variant of the HGW algorithm. The improvement over the GAA variant is also in the computation model. The GAA algorithm makes the assumption that the input is independently and identically distributed (the i.i.d. assumption), whereas our main result is deterministic. We also deal with the problem of computing the dilation and erosion filters simultaneously, as required, e.g., for computing the unbiased morphological edge. In the case of i.i.d. inputs, we show that this simultaneous computation can be done more efficiently then separately computing each. We then turn to the opening filter, defined as the application of the min filter to the max filter and give an efficient algorithm for its computation. Specifically, this algorithm is only slightly slower than the computation of just the max filter. The improved algorithms are readily generalized to two dimensions (for a rectangular window), as well as to any higher finite dimension (for a hyperbox window), with the number of comparisons per window remaining constant. For the sake of concreteness, we also make a few comments on implementation considerations in a contemporary programming language.


Annexin I (lipocortin 1) is abundant in lung secretions. Concentrations rise after oral glucocorticoid, but the effect of inhaled budesonide on annexin I release is unknown. Extracellular annexin I in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) from 11 asthmatic patients was unaffected by inhaled budesonide (800 μg twice daily for 4 wk; mean after budesonide, 110 ng/mg albumin; after placebo, 107 ng/mg albumin). Rat alveolar macrophages (AMs) and alveolar epithelial type II (ATII) cells were cultured alone and with budesonide or dexamethasone. Mean basal concentrations of cellular (3.5 ng/106 AMs; 4.4 ng/106 ATII cells) and secreted (1.4 ng/106 AMs; 1.8 ng/106 ATII cells) annexin I were similar in AMs and ATII cells. Although budesonide subdued annexin I secretion from both cell types, dexamethasone stimulated annexin I release. Annexin I release from ATII cells peaked at 10-7 M dexamethasone but at 10-3 M dexamethasone from AMs. Thus, at low concentrations of dexamethasone, ATII cells probably contribute more annexin I to respiratory tract secretions than AMs, although at high concentrations, both cells probably contribute. The study demonstrates previously undescribed differences between glucocorticoids and between AMs and ATII cells with respect to annexin I regulation.


Free theorems are a charm, allowing the derivation of useful statements about programs from their (polymorphic) types alone. We show how to reap such theorems not only from polymorphism over ordinary types, but also from polymorphism over type constructors restricted by class constraints. Our prime application area is that of monads, which form the probably most popular type constructor class of Haskell. To demonstrate the broader scope, we also deal with a transparent way of introducing difference lists into a program, endowed with a neat and general correctness proof.


By employing a novel dataset on international capital flows, this paper examines the impact of Fed's quantitative easing (QE) policies on flows to emerging markets economies (EMEs) and the EU countries. Episodes of QE are examined separately, with the last episode divided between pre- and post-tapering. We find evidence that QE was associated with an increase in capital inflow, while tapering was associated with a period of retrenchment. The magnitude of the impact varied by different episodes of QE and the types of assets (bonds or equities). Our results show that the EU countries behaved differently than the EMEs. We also find support for the importance of "pull factors" and individual country characteristics for capital inflows. However, the paper shows that episodes of QE accounted for most of the variation in capital inflows during 2008-2014. G20 statements during the episodes of QE show that countries are increasingly cognizant of their inability to control flows and have thus called for better monetary policy coordination to avoid excessive volatility and negative spillovers.


The eastern coyote (Canis latrans) has become common and widespread in many eastern states. We surveyed 331 sheep producers in Pennsylvania (PA); 22% reported predator losses in 1991, primarily to dogs and coyotes. Losses were heaviest in the southwest part of PA and producers reporting losses tended to have more sheep and more acreage in pasture. To reduce losses, producers used lambing sheds, fences, guard dogs and donkeys, confinement of sheep, trapping, and shooting. It appears that we can expect greater depredations in the future because of increased coyote numbers and a relatively low level of protection of sheep; however, most sheep losses were to old age, disease, lambing problems, and accidents.


This paper gives a complete four-parameter solution of the simultaneous diophantine equations $x+y+z=u+v+w, x^3+y^3+z^3=u^3+v^3+w^3,$ in terms of quadratic polynomials in which each parameter occurs only in the first degree. This solution is much simpler than the complete solutions of these equations published earlier. This simple solution is used to obtain solutions of several related diophantine problems. For instance, the paper gives a parametric solution of the arbitrarily long simultaneous diophantine chains of the type $x^k_1+y^k_1+z^k_1=x^k_2+y^k_2+z^k_2=\ldots=x^k_n+y^k_n+z^k_n=\ldots,~~k=1,3.$ Further, the complete ideal symmetric solution of the Tarry-Escott problem of degree $4$ is obtained, and it is also shown that any arbitrarily given integer can be expressed as the sum of four distinct nonzero integers such that the sum of the cubes of these four integers is equal to the cube of the given integer.


Thirty‐two accelerometers were deployed in the Livermore Valley, California, for approximately one year to study sedimentary basin effects. Many local and near‐regional earthquakes were recorded, including the 24 August 2014 M w 6.0 Napa, California, earthquake. The resulting ground‐motion data set is used to quantify the seismic response of the Livermore basin, a major structural depression in the California Coast Range Province bounded by active faults. Site response is calculated by two methods: the reference‐site spectral ratio method and a source‐site spectral inversion method. Longer‐period (≥1  s) amplification factors follow the same general pattern as Bouguer gravity anomaly contours. Site response spectra are inverted for shallow shear‐wave velocity profiles, which are consistent with independent information. Frequency–wavenumber analysis is used to analyze plane‐wave propagation across the Livermore Valley and to identify basin‐edge‐induced surface waves with back azimuths different from the source back azimuth. Finite‐element simulations in a 3D velocity model of the region illustrate the generation of basin‐edge‐induced surface waves and point out strips of elevated ground velocities along the margins of the basin.

Online Material: Figures comparing 5% damped acceleration response spectra for data and synthetics.


Analysis and design of a phase-locked loop (PLL) is presented for the power factor control of grid-connected three-phase power conversion systems. The dynamic characteristics of the closed loop PLL system with a second order are investigated in both continuous and discrete-time domains, and the optimisation method is discussed. In particular, the performance of the PLL in the three-phase system is analysed under the distorted utility conditions such as the phase unbalancing harmonics, and offset caused by nonlinear loads and measurement errors. The PLL technique for the three-phase system is implemented in software of a digital signal processor to verify the analytic results, and the experiments are carried out for various utility conditions. This technique is finally applied to the grid-connected photovoltaic power generation system with the current-controlled PWM inverter as a subpart for generating the current reference of the inverter. The experimental results demonstrate its phase tracking capability in the three-phase grid-connected operation.


Hamster airway epithelial secretory cells were investigated by light and electron microscopic cytochemistry to study possible changes in their carbohydrate content induced by human neutrophil elastase (HNE), an agent known to cause replacement of Clara cells by mucous cells in hamster bronchi. Characterization of secretory cell carbohydrates by the AB/PAS, PA-TCH-SP, HID-TCH-SP, and LID-TCH-SP sequences indicated the existence of periodate-reactive acidic glycoconjugates, but the absence of sulfated or carboxylated glycoconjugates in both treated and control animals. Differences were seen in the quality and quantity of historeactive carbohydrates throughout various regions in the lower respiratory tract. This was especially evident in the HNE-treated animals. It is concluded that the HNE-induced expression of the mucous cell phenotype is associated with an increase in the amount of neutral and acidic nonsulfated and noncarboxylated polysaccharides stored in the secretory granules of these cells.


To the Editor.— It is common practice in dermatology to treat patients suspected of having dermatitis herpetiformis with sulfapyridine or with a sulfone. While these drugs are often effective, they have many well-known toxic effects. It would be especially desirable to avoid their use in young people with dermatitis herpetiformis, who face a long period of cumulative exposure to these agents and their toxicities. Sulfasalazine (Azulfidine) has been reported 1-5 to be effective in treating dermatitis herpetiformis. It is widely used in treatment of ulcerative colitis, and, to a lesser extent, of pyoderma gangrenosum and livedoid vasculitis. Although it is apparently converted to sulfapyridine, and is well known to cause severe and even fatal reactions, it appears that the frequency of serious side effects (other than nausea and vomiting) is much lower with sulfasalazine than with sulfapyridine or the sulfones. This is a clinical impression I cannot confirm by hard


Policymakers have had a long-standing interest in improving the motor vehicle safety of both younger and older drivers. Although younger and older drivers share the distinction of having more crashes and fatalities per mile driven than other age groups, the problems posed by these two groups stem from different origins and manifest in different ways. A number of state-level policies and regulations may affect the number of motor vehicle crashes and fatalities in these two high-risk groups. A critical review of the existing literature in regard to the risk factors and the effects of various policy measures on motor vehicle crashes in these two high-risk populations provides direction for policymakers and high-priority areas of interest for the research community.


: The study demonstrates an effective operant conditioning treatment technique to train appropriate eating behavior in a child with brain damage. The child, a 7-year-old boy, received the training during brief hospitalization in a pediatric rehabilitation unit. The principal treatment modality consisted of verbal commands, praise, and manual guidance. During 2 baseline meals the child ate appropriately on the average of 21% of the time. Rapid improvement in correct eating responses occurred during the first week of treatment, reaching a level of 100% in 2 of the last 4 training meals. Following withdrawal of treatment, correct responses decreased to an average of 69%. When treatment was resumed the child reached a correct eating response level of more than 90% on the fifth meal. This level of performance was maintained when hospital staff and the child's mother were introduced into the program. The child's teacher was trained in the technique prior to his discharge from the hospital. School follow-up of more than 15 weeks indicated proper performance had been maintained at more than 90%. High levels of appropriate eating behavior can be learned in the hospital and generalized to the home and school if parents and teachers are actively engaged in rehabilitation efforts.


ABSTRACT All clocks, classical or quantum, are open non equilibrium irreversible systems subject to the constraints of thermodynamics. Using examples I show that these constraints necessarily limit the performance of clocks and that good clocks require large energy dissipation. For periodic clocks, operating on a limit cycle, this is a consequence of phase diffusion. It is also true for non periodic clocks (for example, radio carbon dating) but due to telegraph noise not to phase diffusion. In this case a key role is played by accurate measurements that decrease entropy, thereby raising the free energy of the clock, and requires access to a low entropy reservoir. In the quantum case, for which thermal noise is replaced by quantum noise (spontaneous emission or tunnelling), measurement plays an essential role for both periodic and non periodic clocks. The paper concludes with a discussion of the Tolman relations and Rovelli's thermal time hypothesis in terms of clock thermodynamics.


Composite damage modelling with cohesive elements has initially been limited to the analysis of interface damage or delamination. However, their use is also being extended to the analysis of inplane tensile failure arising from matrix or fibre fracture. These interface elements are typically placed at locations where failure is likely to occur, which infers a certain a priori knowledge of the crack propagation path(s). In the case of a crack jump for example, the location of the jump is usually not obvious, and the simulation would require the placement of cohesive elements at all element faces. A better option, presented here, is to determine the potential location of cohesive elements and insert them during the analysis. The aim of this work is to enable the determination of the crack path, as part of the solution process. A subroutine has been developed and implemented in the commercial finite element package ABAQUS/Standard[1] in order to automatically insert cohesive elements within a pristine model, on the basis of the analysis of the current stress field. Results for the prediction of delamination are presented in this paper.


【Spot welding is a process that sheet metals are joined in one or more spot by heating at the faying interface. In this process, the spatter is dispersed from melted area. It has been reported that spatter generation has adverse effects on weld quality. However, no systematic study has been carried out to find out its effect on weld quality in resistance spot welding processes. In this study, specially designed specimen are used to perform experimental investigation of spatter generation and its effect. Major finding of this study show trends in tensile-shear strength for various amounts of spatter generated during spot welding process. Thus, optimum welding conditions are proposed in view of spatter generation and tensile-shear strength. (Received December 11, 2002)】


The modern society is rapidly becoming a fully digital society. This has many benefits, but unfortunately it also means that personal privacy is threatened. The threat does not so much come from a 1984 style Big Brother, but rather from a set of smaller big brothers. The small big brothers are companies that we interact with; they are public services and institutions. Many of these little big brothers are indeed also being invited to our private data by ourselves. Privacy as a subject can be problematic. At the extreme it is personal freedom against safety and security. We shall not take a political stand on personal privacy and what level of personal freedom and privacy is the correct one. Aspects of Personal Privacy in Communications is mostly about understanding what privacy is and some of the technologies may help us to regain a bit of privacy. We discuss what privacy is about, what the different aspects of privacy may be and why privacy needs to be there by default. There are boundaries between personal privacy and societal requirements, and inevitably society will set limits to our privacy (Lawful Interception, etc.). There are technologies that are specifically designed to help us regain some digital privacy. These are commonly known as Privacy Enhancing Technologies (PETs). We investigate some these PETs including MIX networks, Onion Routing and various privacy-preserving methods. Other aspects include identity and location privacy in cellular systems, privacy in RFID, Internet-of-Things (IoT) and sensor networks amongst others. Some aspects of cloud systems are also covered. Content: Getting a Grip on Privacy The Legal Context of Privacy Anonymous Communications Secure Multi-party Computations and Privacy Privacy and Data Mining in Telecommunications Requirements for Cellular System Subscriber Privacy The 3GPP Systems and Subscriber Privacy Future Cellular Systems and Enhanced Subscriber Privacy Sensor Networks Radio Frequency Identification Privacy and Trust for the Internet-of-Things Privacy in the Cloud Summary and Concluding Remarks


Autonomous systems may operate with different Levels of Autonomy (LoA), from remote control to fully autonomous. The latter is not expected in the near or intermediate future for most systems. Thus, operation relies on the interaction between human and system. The Human-System Interaction in Autonomy (H-SIA) method aims to analyse autonomous systems including their interaction with operators in a monitoring or controlling role. The Concurrent Task analysis (CoTA) is a success-oriented method introduced in H-SIA. It models the interactions between tasks performed by different agents (e.g., humans and autonomous system). The CoTA allows for analysing the system as whole and to model an operation with dynamic LoA. These aspects make the CoTA a suitable tool to analyse Autonomous Remotely Operated Vehicle (ROV) operation. ROVs have been recently gaining more autonomous capabilities, allowing for part of their operation to be autonomous with human monitoring. This article applies the CoTA method to autonomous ROV operations for subsea installations inspection. It further discusses how the CoTA can be used to develop operating procedures. These procedures are expected to improve current operations, making them safer with respect to human and environmental safety.


Bandwidth adaptation (BA) mechanisms provide an effective solution for handling congestion in wireless multimedia networks. Several factors go into the design of a bandwidth adaptation mechanism. In this paper, we investigate some of these factors and study their effect on the performance of bandwidth adaptation mechanisms. A simple model was proposed to help us with our study. Simulation results show that each of the studied factors can positively affect the performance of bandwidth adaptation mechanisms in certain scenarios.


Lung cancer is the second most prevalent type of cancer. Early detection and classification of lung tumors helps in better survival. The paper presents a computer aided diagnosis (CAD) system for chest computed tomography (CT) images that focus on a new algorithm to classify lung tumor into benign or malignant using advanced neural network based classifier. Statistical textural features are extracted which aids in better classification. The accuracy of the algorithm is also computed. Methods: Input image is pre-processed by median filtering and segmented to extract the portion of lungs. This is followed by identifying the tumor objects alone from the region of interest of the lungs. Statistical textural features are extracted only from the tumor objects. Classification of tumor into benign and malignant tumor is done using feed forward back propagation neural network classifier. The result shows proposed algorithm gives classification accuracy above 99% which suggests that the developed CAD system has greater potential for automatic classification of lung tumor.


This is the story of how Bill Clinton fashioned the incredible, the unbelievable, the 100 to 1 shot victory in the campaign of 1992 that made him the forty-second President of the United States. In the beginning, it wasn't supposed to happen that way. With the Soviet Union in collapse at the end of the Cold War, the hero of the Persian Gulf War, President George Bush, was initially regarded by friend and foe alike as unbeatable. Except for a brief charge by Pat Buchanan, no one really challenged him in the Republican primaries for renomination. While among the contenders for the Democratic nomination, there were only five - none nationally known. Clinton was in the pack. But one by one, the strongest Democrats - Paul Tsongas, Jerry Brown, and Bob Kerrey - fell into obscurity. In the end, against all odds, Bill Clinton and running mate Al Gore emerged to reunite the divided party. The Clinton/Gore ticket went on to lead a growing entourage of twenty- and thirty-something campaigners. Noble ideals, high energy, and rock music made the Democratic party a powerhouse of youth and vitality. The Clinton message spoke to a generation of voters who statistically had been labeled apolitical and, along with more mature voters, moved them to embrace the possibility for change. "The Economy, Stupid" codified the single greatest concern of voters throughout the country, despite their parting views on other matters. The overconfident President Bush lambasted his youthful rival on every issue, from unfamiliarity with national government to assertions of weakness in leadership and flaws in character. And yet, even after Ross Perot split off a part of the Democratic vote as well as a section of Bush'ssupport, the man from Hope, Arkansas, beat them both on Election Day - the third youngest after Theodore Roosevelt and John Kennedy to enter the White House. Employing the skills he has shown in his earlier books, a "crisp, narrative style...[and] discerning editorial mind" (The Ne


Traditional sandwich structure consists of two face sheets and a core. With an internal sheet inserted into the core, a two-core sandwich structure is then formed. Two-core sandwich structures with composite laminated face sheets and a thin internal sheet subjected to low velocity impact are studied in this paper. Local displacement of the core under the point of impact is investigated. Simulated results show that the local displacement of the core along the direction of the impact has been decreased significantly by introducing the internal sheet into a traditional single sandwich structure and by reducing the space between the internal sheet and the impacted face sheet. Shear deformation in the cores of a two-core sandwich structure is also investigated and attention is focused on shear strains on interfaces between face/internal sheets and the cores. Results further show that strain levels in selected elements at the interested interfaces depend upon locations of the selected elements and arrangements of the internal sheet.


The first archaeal aconitase was isolated from the cytosol of the thermoacidophilic Sulfolobus acidocaldarius. Interestingly, the enzyme was copurified with an isocitrate lyase. This enzyme, directly converting isocitrate, the reaction product of the aconitase reaction, was also unknown in crenarchaeota, thus far. Both proteins could only be separated by SDS gel electrophoresis yielding apparent molecular masses of 96 kDa for the aconitase and 46 kDa for the isocitrate lyase. Despite of its high oxygen sensitivity, the aconitase could be enriched 27-fold to a specific activity of approximately 55 micromol x min(-1) x mg(-1), based on the direct aconitase assay system. Maximal enzyme activities were measured at pH 7.4 and the temperature optimum for the archaeal enzyme was recorded at 75 degrees C, slightly under the growth optimum of S. acidocaldarius around 80 degrees C. Thermal inactivation studies of the aconitase revealed the enzymatic activity to be uninfluenced after one hour incubation at 80 degrees C. Even at 95 degrees C, a half-life of approximately 14 min was determined, clearly defining it as a thermostable protein. The apparent K(m) values for the three substrates cis-aconitate, citrate and isocitrate were found as 108 microM, 2.9 mM and 370 microM, respectively. The aconitase reaction was inhibited by the typical inhibitors fluorocitrate, trans-aconitate and tricarballylate. Amino-acid sequencing of three internal peptides of the S. acidocaldarius aconitase revealed the presence of highly conserved residues in the archaeal enzyme. By amino-acid sequence alignments, the S. acidocaldarius sequence was found to be highly homologous to either other putative archaeal or known eukaryal and bacterial sequences. As shown by EPR-spectroscopy, the enzyme hosts an interconvertible [3Fe--4S] cluster.


Abstract Monetary policy is neutral even with fixed prices if free entry determines product variety optimally, as in Dixit and Stiglitz (1977). Entry substitutes for price flexibility in the welfare-based price index when individual prices are sticky. In response to aggregate demand expansions, the intensive (quantity produced of each good) and ex tensive (number of goods being produced) margins move in offsetting ways, leaving aggregate production unchanged. Price stickiness thus generates deviations from monetary neutrality only in conjunction with entry frictions: when variety is not optimally determined (preferences are not Dixit-Stiglitz) or when entry is subject to sunk costs and lags. Wage stickiness instead implies nonneutrality even in the frictionless-entry benchmark.


Lactic acid (LA) plays an important role in the tumor metabolism and malignant progression of various cancers. Herein, we have developed a one-step, wash-free microfluidic approach with droplet biosensors for the sensitive detection of LA secreted by a single tumor cell. Our assay integrates the enzyme-assisted chemical conversion of LA in small-volume (4.2 nL) droplets for fluorescence signal readout. The microdroplet assay achieved a limit of detection of 1.02 μM and was more sensitive than the commercial ELISA kit by nearly two orders of magnitude. A good specificity has been demonstrated for this assay by testing various ions and biomolecules from the culture medium. This droplet assay allows us to acquire the profiles of the lactic acid secretion of tumor cells under the influence of glycolytic inhibitors at the single-cell level. It offers a useful research tool to study the cell-to-cell differences of LA secretion and glycolytic inhibitor screening for cancer research.


Tritium NMR studies provide a convenient way of obtaining detailed information about conformational equilibria, dynamic processes and specific interactions in protein-ligand complexes provided that suitably 3H-labelled molecules are available. In this study [7,9-3H]- and [3',5',7-3H]folic acid, and [3',5',7-3H]methotrexate were synthesised and the NMR spectra of their complexes with Lactobacillus casei dihydrofolate reductase (DHFR) were assigned and analysed as a function of pH (DHFR-folate complexes) and temperature (DHFR-methotrexate complexes). From these data it was possible to obtain further evidence about the orientation of the pteridine ring in the complexes, and to monitor the dynamic processes in the bound ligands. In the 3H NMR spectra of the ternary complexes of the 3H-labelled folic acids with DHFR and NADP+, each labelled tritium gave rise to multiple signals, confirming previous findings that there are three interconverting, pH dependent, conformational forms of bound folate (forms I, IIa and IIb) in the ternary complex. The folate benzoyl ring could be shown to be in essentially the same environment in the different forms with the major differences being associated with the pterin ring. The appearance of a single resonance for the 3',5'-tritons showed that the benzoyl ring is flipping rapidly in all three forms. In contrast, the methotrexate binary complex and also the ternary complex with NADPH were shown to exist as a single conformational state with the benzoyl ring flipping rate being too slow to give a single averaged signal for the 3',5'-tritium nuclei over the temperature range 283 - 313 K. 3h{1h} Nuclear Overhauser enhancement experiments have been conducted on the small molecules, [3H]dimethyl sulphoxide, [3',5',7-3H]folic acid and [3',5',7-3H]methotrexate as a prelude to 3H-1H heteronuclear NOE experiments on binary and ternary complexes formed using Lactobacillus casei DHFR and the ligands [3',5',7-3H]methotrexate and [3',5',7-3H]folic acid.


SUMMARY. The mean duration and amplitudes of the lead II electrocardiogram were determined in the peregrine falcon (Falco peregrinus brookei) using 10 birds ranging in age from 1 to 5 yr. Electrocardiograms were performed on unanesthetized falcons in order to avoid the anesthesia effect on the electrocardiogram, by a method which seems to induce a tonic immobility-like reaction. All the falcons had a normal sinus rhythm, with a mean heart rate of 268 beats per minute. Mean durations of PR, ST, QT, and RR intervals were higher (but not statistically significant) in females than in males, except for the ST segment, with similar values in both sexes. P-wave deflections were positive in I, II, III, aVL, and aVF and negative in aVR. The normal patterns of wave forms of the QRS complexes in all leads were of QS and rS types, except for aVR and aVL, which presented an R configuration. The mean electrical axis was negative, with an average of-99.9 degrees. T-wave deflections were positive in I, II, III, and aVF leads II and negative in aVR and aVL. The data collected in this study may serve as a guide for electrocardiographic monitoring of peregrine falcons.


Apples (Malus domestica Borkh) are the good source of phenolic compounds and antioxidants, which are not only potential nutrients but also effective in chronic diseases. Four famous varieties of apple namely Shin Kulu, Amri, Kaja, and Tor Kulu from different areas of Balochistan province were collected and analyzed for phenolic contents and antioxidant activities in methanol-water (80:20% (v/v)) extract by using standard spectrophotometric methods. The results of average extract yields of the antioxidant component obtained in dry weights (dw) of both peel and pulp were found 27.3±0.52g/100g and 19.1±0.21g/100g respectively. The different varieties of apples contain quantity of entire phenolics content on apple peel and pulp ranged from 13.12±0.22mg to 17.87±0.10mg GAE/g dw for peel and 7.21±0.10mg to 11.57±0.08mg GAE/g dw for pulp and total flavonoids content were found from 12.22±0.11mg to 15.30±0.18mg CE/g dw for peel and 6.01±0.03mg to 9.69±0.14mg CE/g dw for pulp. The variations in reducing power of the 10 mg/mL were ranged in peel from 2.139 to 2.725 and pulp from 1.181 to 1.724. The variations in the inhibition of DPPH scavenging activity of the 80% methanolic extracts were seen from 79.6% to 67.6% in peel and 57.8% to 41.2% in pulp. The variations were also found on the basis of genotype, soil fertility, care of watering and climate of the area. The results reveal high concentration of phenolics content, flavonoids content and antioxidant capacity in peel than pulp, so the consumption of peel with fruit might be strongly recommended to achieve better nutritional benefits.


Mobile devices, together with touch-screen interfaces, have become part of the everyday usage items of many information consumers across the globe. However, it is clear that the learning curve for touch-screen interfaces is steeper than what was expected. This presents some problems especially along with the current trend towards designing more complex mobile applications. The objective of this research was to determine how users interact with applications on touch-screen mobile devices, and how they progress through the various learning phases. A literature study, two pilot studies and a full survey questionnaire were used to gather data and perceptions about the status quo of learning within mobile touch-screen interfaces. Results indicated the presence of recurring patterns in users' preferences. In particular, associations with personal characteristics, namely age, gender and the length of experience, were observed. These patterns might provide fundamental value as a theoretical ground for designing intuitive mobile applications.


A position-dependent pattern of epidermal cell types is produced during root development in Arabidopsis thaliana. This pattern is reflected in the expression pattern of GLABRA2 (GL2), a homeobox gene that regulates cell differentiation in the root epidermis. GL2 promoter::GUS fusions were used to show that the TTG gene, a regulator of root epidermis development, is necessary for maximal GL2 activity but is not required for the pattern of GL2 expression. Furthermore, GL2-promoter activity is influenced by expression of the myc-like maize R gene (35S::R) in Arabidopsis but is not affected by gl2 mutations. A position-dependent pattern of cell differentiation and GL2-promoter activity was also discovered in the hypocotyl epidermis that was analogous to the pattern in the root. Non-GL2-expressing cell files in the hypocotyl epidermis located outside anticlinal cortical cell walls exhibit reduced cell length and form stomata. Like the root, the hypocotyl GL2 activity was shown to be influenced by ttg and 35S::R but not by gl2. The parallel pattern of cell differentiation in the root and hypocotyl indicates that TTG and GL2 participate in a common position-dependent mechanism to control cell-type patterning throughout the apical-basal axis of the Arabidopsis seedling.


Spent catalysts represent a large amount of refinery solid waste. In particular, hydro-processing catalysts contain base valuable metals, such as nickel, vanadium and molybdenum and, for their toxic component, these wastes have been classified as hazardous by the Environmental Protection Agency in the USA. The development of an innovative eco-sustainable process for the valorisation of such wastes would undoubtedly give significant advantages also taking into account primary resources preservation. This paper deals with bioleaching of metals from hazardous spent hydro-processing catalyst by means of iron/sulphur oxidizing bacteria. The exhaust catalyst was rich in nickel (45 mg/g), vanadium (44 mg/g) and molybdenum (94 mg/g). Before bioleaching, the solid was washed by means of a mixture of Tween 80 and ethyl alcohol, for hydrocarbon removal. The effects of elemental sulphur, ferrous iron and actions contrasting a possible metal toxicity (either the presence of powdered activated charcoal or the simulation of a cross current process by means of filtration stages in series) was investigated. Ferrous iron resulted to be essential for metal extraction and for bacteria adaptation. Nickel and vanadium were successfully bioleached in the presence of iron, reaching extraction yields of 83% and 90%, respectively; on the other hand extractions around 50% for nickel and vanadium were observed both in biological systems in the absence of iron and in the chemical controls with iron. As concerns molybdenum, the highest extraction yields experimentally observed was about 50%, after 26 days bioleaching in the presence of iron, while a maximum extraction of 25 % was observed in the other treatments. In conclusion, a bio-oxidative attack with iron could successfully extract nickel, vanadium and partially molybdenum. Further actions aimed at contrasting a possible metal toxicity resulted not to be effective.


L-acetylcarnitine (LAC), a drug utilized for the treatment of neuropathic pain in humans, has been shown to induce analgesia in rodents by up-regulating the expression of metabotropic glutamate receptor 2 (mGlu2) in dorsal root ganglia (DRG). We now report that LAC-induced upregulation of mGlu2 expression in DRG cultures involves transcriptional activation mediated by nuclear factor-kappaB (NF-κ B). A single application of LAC (250 μ M) to DRG cultures induced a transient increase in mGlu2 mRNA, which was observable after 1 hour and was no longer detectable after 1 to 4 days. In contrast, LAC treatment had no effect on mGlu3 mRNA expression. Pharmacological inhibition of NF-κ B binding to DNA by caffeic acid phenethyl ester (CAPE) (2.5 μ g/ml for 30 minutes) reduced the constitutive expression of mGlu2 and mGlu3 mRNA after 1–4 days and reduced the constitutive expression of mGlu2/ 3 protein at 4 days. This evidence combined with the expression of p65/RelA and c-Rel in DRG neurons indicated that expression of mGlu2 and mGlu3 is endogenously regulated by the NF-κ B family of transcription factors. Consistent with this idea, the transient increase in mGlu2 mRNA induced by LAC after 1 hour was completely suppressed by CAPE. Furthermore, LAC induced an increase in the acetylation of p65/RelA, a process that enhances the transcriptional activity of p65/RelA. These results are consistent with the hypothesis that LAC selectively induces the expression of mGlu2 by acting as a donor of acetyl groups, thus enhancing the activity of the NF-κ B family of transcription factors. Accordingly, we show that carnitine, which has no effect on pain thresholds, had no effect on p65/RelA acetylation and did not enhance mGlu2 expression. Taken together, these results demonstrate that expression of mGlu2 and mGlu3 mRNA is regulated by the NF-κ B transcriptional machinery, and that agents that increase acetylation and activation of NF-κ B transcription factors might induce analgesia via upregulation of mGlu2 in DRG neurons.


Objective: to determine adherence of an indigent African HIV‐infected cohort initiating antiretroviral therapy (ART); to identify predictors of incomplete adherence (< 95%) and virologic failure (> 400 HIV RNA copies/ml). Design: Prospective monitoring of adherence in a poor HIV‐positive cohort, attending a public sector hospital and receiving ART through phase III studies. Methods: Adherence to ART was determined over 48 weeks by counting tabletreturns. Logistic regression models including age, WHO HIV stage, home language, socio‐economic status, complexity and type of regimen were fitted to determine predictors of incomplete adherence and virologic failure at 48 weeks. Results: 289 patients were recruited between January 1996 and May 2001. Median (mean) adherence of the cohort was 93.5% (87.2%). Three times daily dosing [risk ratio (RR), 3.07; 95% confidence interval (CI), 1.40–6.74], speaking English (RR, 0.41; 95% CI, 0.21–0.80) and age (RR, 0.97; 95% CI, 0.94–0.99) were independent predictors of incomplete adherence. Socio‐economic status, sex and HIV stage did not predict adherence. Independent predictors of virologic failure included baseline viral load (RR, 2.57; 95% CI, 1.57–4.22) and three times daily dosing (RR, 2.64; 95% CI, 1.23–5.66), incomplete adherence (RR, 1.92; 95% CI, 1.10–3.57), age (RR, 0.96; 95% CI, 0.92–0.99) and dual nucleoside therapy (RR, 2.69; 95% CI, 1.17–6.15). Conclusion: The proportion of individuals achieving viral suppression matched results from the developing world. Speaking the same language as site staff and simplified dosing frequency were beneficial. Socio‐economic status had no impact on adherence and should not be used as a limitation to ART access.


Pinke G, Pal RW, Toth K, Karacsony P, Czucz B & Botta-Dukat Z (2011). Weed vegetation of poppy (Papaver somniferum) fields in Hungary: effects of management and environmental factors on species composition. Weed Research51, 621–630.

Summary

Poppy (Papaver somniferum) is a sporadically cultivated crop species, with idiosyncratic life history traits, management systems and highly specific and under-researched weed communities. This study aimed to assess the management and environmental factors determining the weed species composition of poppy fields over a relatively large area (Hungary in central-eastern Europe), one of the focal regions of poppy production worldwide. The abundance of weed flora was measured in 102 poppy fields across Hungary, along with 41 management and environmental factors. The set of explanatory variables was reduced by stepwise backward selection to a minimal adequate model containing 15 terms, which explained 34.3% of the total variation in species data. The net effects of 10 variables on species composition were significant. Sowing season was found to be the most important explanatory variable, showing a clear distinction between the weed flora of autumn-sown food poppy and spring-sown alkaloid poppy fields. Other management factors, such as preceding crop, herbicides mesotrione and isoxaflutole, fertiliser N and row spacing, were also significant. Only four environmental variables (temperature, soil texture, soil Mg and Ca content) were significant, which can be attributed to the narrow ecological tolerance of poppy, resulting in short environmental gradients.


This paper develops a deeper understanding of applicant interview satisfaction by examining the construct of 'applicant satisfaction', and then by using a presented model, exploring whether some individual-level factors might affect the level of applicant interview satisfaction and whether applicant satisfaction influences the results of interviews. First, an original measurement instrument was developed using qualitative and quantitative approaches. Next, data were collected from real applicants to obtain the final measurement instrument. Finally, the hypothesized relationships were tested using structural equation modelling. The two-dimensional applicant satisfaction scale is statistically meaningful, valid and reliable, whereas hypothesized relationships mostly lead to results parallel to theoretical expectations. Since applicant interview satisfaction has not yet been formally conceptualized and operationalized by academicians, this research will reveal an opportunity for recruiters to obtain deeper understanding of applicant perceptions and also to improve their ability to attract candidates to their organizations.


In this paper, the novel flow control strategy called dimensional bubble flow control (DBFC) is presented. The flow control strategy of DBFC builds on virtual cut-through switching and credit-based flow control mechanism and analyzes the credit value of port and the routing information of the packets to realize the point-point flow control. In the 2-D mesh network on chip, when the flow control strategy of DBFC is accepted, the adaptive dimensional bubble routing (ADBR) algorithm designed in this paper can get the goals including deadlock-free and minimal distance even if the cyclic dependencies exist. In this paper, the detail proof is provided for these conclusions. Lastly, we adapt the source code of NOXIM that is a popular simulator of on-chip networks and realize the flow control of DBFC and ADBR algorithm in NOXIM. We test the performance of ADBR on NOXIM. The simulation performance shows our scheme is superior to the usual approach such as XY dimension-order routing, with nearly 17.5% improvement in the packets latency and throughput.


OBJECTIVE: To determine if the Ottawa ankle rules are valid in the setting of an urban teaching hospital in the UK. DESIGN: A prospective survey. SETTING: Accident and emergency department, Western Infirmary, Glasgow from 1 April 1995 to 31 August 1995. SUBJECTS: 800 patients with an acute ankle injury. RESULTS: 800 patients were used for analysis of which 584 (73%) were radiographed; 70 (12%) had fractures, 63 (10.8%) of which were significant. Four of these patients with fractures fulfilled none of the Ottawa ankle rules criteria for plain radiography. CONCLUSION: Application of the Ottawa ankle rules to this group of patients would have produced a sensitivity of 93.6%. Although useful, decision rules should be used with care and not replace clinical judgment and experience.


BACKGROUND
Accurate assessment of the effect of dementia on healthcare utilization and costs requires separation of the effects of comorbid conditions, often poorly accounted for in existing claims-based studies.

OBJECTIVE
To determine whether two different types of comorbidity and risk adjustment scales, the Chronic Disease Score (CDS) and the Cumulative Illness Rating Scale for Geriatrics (CIRS-G), perform similarly in older persons with and without dementia.

METHODS
All subjects in the community-outreach diagnostic program of the University of Washington Alzheimer's Disease Research Center Satellite were included (N = 619). Subjects' mean age was 75 ± 9 years; 40% were cognitively normal, 17% were cognitively impaired but not demented, and 43% were demented. CDS and CIRS-G scores (neuropsychiatric disorders excluded to reduce colinearity with group) were examined across strata of age, education, and cognitive classification by using analysis of variance, analysis of covariance, and linear regression.

RESULTS
CIRS-G scores were sensitive to factors known to be associated with chronic disease burden, including age (F = 21.3 [df = 2, 616], p <0.001), education (F = 6.6 [df = 3, 614], p <0.001), and cognitive status (F = 40.5 [df = 2, 616], p <0.001), whereas the CDS was not. In the subset of persons with CDS scores of 0 (40% of the total sample), CIRS-G scores ranged from very low to high burden of disease and remained significantly different across age, education, and cognitive status groups. In regression analyses predicting CIRS-G score, CDS score and cognitive status interacted (β = -0.10, t = 1.9 [df = 1, 609], p = 0.06). After controlling for age, the amount of variance shared by the CIRS-G-13 and CDS differed by cognitive group (>32% for normal and mildly impaired groups combined, 17% for dementia).

CONCLUSION
Different methods of measuring and adjusting for comorbidity are not equivalent, and dementia amplifies the discrepancies. The CDS, if used to control for comorbidity in comparative studies of healthcare utilization and costs for persons with and without dementia, will underestimate burden of comorbid disease and artificially inflate the costs attributed to dementia.


We investigated the effect of Xe dilution of silane on structural, optical and electrical properties of nanocrystalline Si films deposited by HW-CVD. With increase in Xe dilution of silane nanocrystalline-to-amorphous transition or amorphization has been observed in nanocrystalline Si films. The amorphization has been confirmed from dark and photoconductivity measurement, Raman spectroscopy, low angle XRD and atomic force microscopy analysis. The FTIR spectroscopy analysis showed that with increase in Xe dilution of silane, in addition to di-hydrogen [Si-H2] and poly-hydrogen [(Si-H2)n] complexes, hydrogen incorporated in these films in mono-hydrogen [Si-H] bonded species. The hydrogen content was found < 5 at. % over the entire range of Xe dilution of silane studied and it increases with increase in Xe dilution of silane. On the other hand, ETauc and E04 show decreasing trend with increasing Xe dilution of silane. The ETauc decreases from 2.4eV to 1.9eV whereas E04 decreases from 2.9eV to 2.3eV. The optical band gap values estimated from E04 method are found higher than ETauc values calculated from Tauc's method. Finally, it has been concluded that Xe dilution of silane in HW-CVD enhances the deposition rate but has adverse effect on the crystallinity of nanocrystalline Si films. Copyright © 2015 VBRI Press.


Volatile organic compounds like furan and its derivatives are important for atmospheric properties and reactions. In this work the known abiotic formation of furan from catechol under Fenton-like conditions with Fe 3+ sulfate was revised by the use of a bispidine Fe 2+ complex as a model compound for iron with well-known characteristics. While total yields were comparable to those with the Fe 3+ salt, the bispidine Fe 2+ complex is a better catalyst as the turnover numbers of the active iron species were higher. Additionally, the role of iron and pH is discussed in relation to furan formation from model compounds and in natural sediment and water samples collected from the Dead Sea and several salt lakes in Western Australia. Various alkylated furans and even traces of halogenated furans (3-chlorofuran and 3-bromofuran) were found in some Australian samples. 3-chlorofuran was found in three sediments and four water samples, whereas 3-bromofuran was detected in three water samples. Further, the emission of furans is compared to the abundance of several possible precursors such as isoprene and aromatic hydrocarbons as well as to the related thiophenes. It is deduced that the emissions of volatile organic compounds such as furans contribute to the formation of ultra-fine particles in the vicinity of salt lakes and are important for the local climate.


Examining authorship position in aquaculture facilitates an improved understanding of status of women in the discipline, as authorship is a critical factor in professional success. In a review of more than eight million papers in the JSTOR Corpus across disciplines, West et al. 2013 found that men predominate in the first and last author positions and women are underrepresented in single-authored papers. Other studies have assessed women authorship, and found that a gender gap in published literature persists. This study applies the large sample size and methodology of West et al. 2013 to the broad discipline of aquaculture, and compares these results to gender authorship in the International Aquaculture Curated Database (IACD) – a compilation of 543 peer-reviewed publications supported by four international aquaculture programs headquartered at Oregon State University -- and two curated databases in the JSTOR in the Web of Science. Results reveal that the percentage of women authors (13.8%) was similar for the JSTOR aquaculture subsample and the IACD (15.7%), yet significantly lower for that of the Web of Science database (3.7%). Women are not well represented any of the databases, and remain underrepresented as authors in any position in aquaculture journals. To contextualize our findings, we examined the number of women graduates in agricultural, biological, natural, and social sciences who earned degrees in the U.S. from 1991-2015. Results from the U.S. Department of Education's National Center for Education Statistics and the percent of female graduates in the IACD show that the percent of women graduates each year has increased with women representing more than 50% of graduates, providing contextualization for the proportion of women in the discipline. Learning how authorship has changed in the aquaculture discipline over the recent decades is critical for promoting gender equity for future aquaculture scholarship and the sustainability of the professional discipline.


The crisis in Somalia is one of the worst crises that have ever happened on both local and international scene. It is characterised by violence, which keeps on escalating between Transitional Federal Government and the Islamic Courts union. This situation has made Somalia a dangerous country to the extent that since 1991 it has been without a central government. This persistent crisis in Somalia has caused Somalia into intractable conflicts both locally and internationally. In the light of this, there has been international intervention and withdrawal of external actors due to complexity of the crisis. In this context this crisis has been perceived differently. This paper attempts to explain the Somali crisis in the context of Michael Brecher's definition of international crisis. The focus is on the key drivers for the persistent breakdown of Somali society that have kept the crisis alive. The paper concludes that Somalia has been plunged into continuous spiralling violence resulting into persistent crisis and conflicts both internally and externally due to internal and external political dynamics of the country as portrayed in Brecher's ideas on the landscapes of international crisis.


This study identifies the job characteristics that tourism management students consider as important, thus affect their job selection upon graduation. It further identifies student perceptions on how well travel agency jobs possess such characteristics. An empirical study involving 184 tourism management undergraduate students in Hong Kong reveals that the five most important job characteristics affecting their job selection are as follows. (1) The job should be one that they like. (2) The job should allow them to have a harmonious relationship with colleagues. (3) The job should have a reasonable workload. (4) The job should offer good promotion opportunity and a good starting salary. This study also reveals that the travel agency sector may not possess the job characteristics that students consider as important. Students perceive that a good starting salary, reasonable workload, and good promotion opportunity are the worst performing characteristics for jobs in the travel agency sector. The importance-performance analysis indicates that the travel agency sector needs to concentrate on improving the delivery of job characteristics important to students by providing more opportunities for promotion, making the job more dignified, reducing workload, maintaining work–life balance, and increasing the starting salary. Students with different personal, contextual, and experiential characteristics are found to have significantly different perceptions regarding job characteristics, which are important in influencing their respective career choices and those associated with jobs in travel agencies. Lastly, taking courses related to travel agencies is determined to be correlated with the willingness of students to work in a travel agency.


Malnutrition remains a major threat to child survival, growth and development in Kenya. To mitigate this threat, cassava, a crop that was initially seen as a poor man's crop, has received intensive promotion in East Africa, Kenya included. The current study was part of a larger intervention project known as the Eastern Africa Agricultural Productivity Project(EAAPP) which together with the Kenya Agricultural and Livestock Research Organization (KALRO), was undertaken to promote research in cassava as well as ensure increased production and utilization of cassava in different parts of Kenya, particularly Western and Coastal regions. The main objective of this study was to establish the contribution of cassava to nutrition of children 2-5 years and their primary care givers in coastal Kenya.
The study was a cross-sectional survey carried out in Mombasa, Kilifi and Kwale Counties. Multi-stage sampling was used, where 20 villages were selected in the region, in which a total of 220 households were randomly selected. Data was collected on household demographic characteristics, cassava production and consumption, dietary diversity of 2-5 years old children, their morbidity experiences and anthropometric measurements which included weight, height and the mid upper arm circumference (MUAC) were taken and the age of each child recorded. Eight samples from two cassava varieties were collected from KALRO Mtwapa for laboratory analysis to determine the effects of boiling on cyanide and protein content. A semi-structured questionnaire, food frequency questionnaire and dietary diversity questionnaire were the main tools used to collect the data. Results were analyzed using the statistical package for social scientists (SPSS), Nutri-survey and ENA for SMART softwares.
Respondents for this study were the primary care givers of the children, mostly mothers. The results showed that households in Coastal Kenya had a mean of 5 people, with a sex distribution of 45% males and 55% females. Sixty three per cent of the households were farming households, out of which 88% produced cassava in addition to other crops. About 98% of the households consume cassava, most preferred variety being Kibanda Meno by 54% of the households. Primary care-givers obtained up to 28% of their daily energy from cassava every consumption time, while children obtained approximately 22% of their daily energy requirements from cassava every consumption time. Boiling resulted in losses of protein and cyanide in the two varieties of cassava analyzed. Significant (p<0.05) losses were noted in protein content of Kibanda Meno roots and leaves. The mean dietary diversity score of the children was found to be 5.2 with a standard deviation of 1.45. This was above the expected dietary mean score of 4. Food consumption patterns indicated that the children consumed various protein rich foods more than 3 times in a week, which, together with appropriate dietary diversification, serves as a positive step towards preventing cases of protein energy malnutrition (PEM).
Nutritional status of the children showed that more than 90% of the children had normal weight for age and weight for height. However, stunting levels, which indicate chronic malnutrition, showed that 22% of the children were moderately stunted, while 7% were severely stunted, indicating prolonged periods of food shortage. About 94% of the children had received all the necessary immunizations, although more than 50% of the children were found to have been sick two weeks prior to the survey.
It can be concluded that cassava serves as a good source of energy for children and primary care givers in Coastal Kenya. Majority of the children had normal levels for the three indicators of malnutrition assessed. However, due to the low nutrient content of cassava, adequate dietary diversification is required in order to meet dietary requirements and prevent deficiencies.


Abstract. Bacterial wilt disease (pathogen: Pseudomonas solancearum) is a major problem affecting brinjal crop. Infected leaves show yellowing, loss in turgidity, drying and ultimately the entire plant collapses. The study aims to examine the potential of hyperspectral remote sensing for detection of biotic stress caused due to bacterial wilt disease and identify best spectral band widths and hyperspectral indices indicative of disease infestation. This study was conducted in a farmer's plot at Alampur in Baruipur block, South 24 Pargana district, West Bengal. Canopy spectra (using ASD Fieldspec 2 Spectroradiometer), chlorophyll content (by Chlorophyll meter) and Leaf Area Index (LAI) (by plant canopy imager) were collected. The healthy plants had green and fully turgid leaves whereas diseased plants had lower chlorophyll content and LAI. The reduction in chlorophyll content lowered reflectance in green region and internal leaf damage in near-infrared region. A correlation analysis was carried out between reflectance at specific bandwidths and hyperspectral indices with chlorophyll content and LAI of healthy and stressed plants. Bandwidths of 528–531 nm, 550–570 nm, 710–760 nm, and single bands such as 800 nm and 920 nm and indices viz. Greenness index, Modified Chlorophyll Absorption in Reflectance Index (MCARI), Transformed Chlorophyll Absorption in Reflectance Index (TCARI), Triangular Vegetation Index (TVI), Simple Ratio Pigment Index (SRPI), Photochemical Reflectance Index (PRI 2), Lichtenthaler Indices (LIC1, LIC2), Structure Intensive Pigment Index (SIPI) etc. were found to have strong positive correlation (R2 > 0.9) with plant parameters. These specific bandwidths and indices can be helpful in biophysical parameter estimation and early detection of crop stress, crop growth and disease monitoring.


Previous experimental and theoretical studies on isolated human knees have shown that increasing the contact area over the knee during blunt impact can prevent serious knee injury (i.e. joint fracture). Because large contact areas are typically associated with lower stiffness impact interfaces, this suggests that instrument panels could provide some protection to the knee during a car accident. Further, the knee-to-instrument panel (IP) contact is one of the first contact events which occur during a head-on crash, thus, one optimal scenario might be to dissipate as much energy as possible at the knee without causing serious knee injury. This would help minimize the kinetic energy in the upper body, possibly reducing the need for more aggressive countermeasures (i.e. air bags) later in the impact event. The authors' objective in the current study was to determine how different car interior geometries and crash pulses would affect specific occupant responses during a head-on crash. To study a 'worst-case scenario', the occupant was unbelted and there was no airbag. An experimentally validated MADYMO-Pamcrash model was used to study the effect of the following 'input parameters' on the risk of knee injury and the kinetic energy of the upper body: instrument panel stiffness, seat height, knee-instrument panel distance, knee flexion angle, toe-pan angle, instrument panel angle, and crash pulse delta-V. It was found that the risk of knee injury was most sensitive to the IP stiffness, crash pulse delta-V, and the precrash distance between the knee and IP. The kinetic energy of the upper body, however, was sensitive to the seat height and initial knee flexion angle, as well as the delta-V and initial distance between the knee and IP. Regression models were developed which predicted the MADYMO-Pamcrash femur loads, knee contact areas, and upper body kinetic energy as a function of the input parameters described above. These statistical models provide the advantage of a first generation estimate of some key occupant responses without expending resources associated with computer modeling or experimental tests. These data may prove helpful in the future design of multi-component injury prevention systems (air bags and knee bolsters) because one may anticipate specific loads, energies, and injury risks associated with the crash event. In conclusion, the current study identifies key vehicle design and crashworthiness parameters, which affect the risk of knee injury and the kinetic energy of the upper body.


referencein detail to casesoccurrinc thirty, forty and a hundred years ago. The drawing of a child suckltng at an accessorybreastsituatedon the thigh may find a place in a museumof medical rarities, it is hardly worth a full pageillustration in a book of this nature. The authorhasnot hesitatedto expressstrongly his own views on the many problems in this important branch of surgery. It is interestingto note that he believes before long we shall be in possessionof the ability to demonstratethe microbic origin of malignantdisease. We agree with him thatPaget'sdiseaseof thenipple is carcinomatous from the very beginning and should be treatedby radical operation.