Global Visual Cultures is a definitive anthology that provides a new and groundbreaking perspective on the field, and addresses multiple interpretations of the visual, from considerations of the "everyday" to global political contexts. Expands the theoretical framework for considering visual culture Brings together a rich selection of readings relevant in a variety of disciplinary and interdisciplinary settings, from critical theory, anthropology and history, to political science, architecture, and ethnic, race and gender studies Analyzes cultural phenomena in global and local contexts and across a broad geographical and geopolitical terrain Address multiple interpretations of the visual, from considerations of the "everyday" to global political contexts Offers ample, useful pedagogy that reveals the multi–faceted nature of visual culture.


Due to lack of strong legislation and guidelines to control untreated wastewaters and industrial effluents, surface and groundwater sources have been deteriorated seriously in Kathmandu Valley. Although, there are five centralized wastewater treatment plants in the valley, most of them are out of order. In recent years, constructed wetlands (CWs) have gained attention in the country for treating domestic wastewaters. The Nepal's first CW was introduced in 1997 to treat the wastewaters from Dhulikhel hospital. Since then the number of CWs have been increasing in Nepal. At present, there are 13 CW systems in operation for treatment of domestic wastewaters including grey water and fecal sludge. Relatively higher pollutant removal efficiency (>95%) in terms of suspended solids, organic pollutants and ammonium ion (NH4+-N) were found in all the existing CWs. Despite having higher removal rate of organic pollutants, CW technology is still in its infancy stage in Nepal. Therefore, further research and development is necessary for making the CW technology as a promising decentralized technology for treating wastewaters in Nepal.

 Key words: Constructed wetland, domestic wastewater, scarcity of water, water pollution.


Summary: During bacteriophage studies of group A streptococci, some strains produced an inhibitory substance active against other group A strains. The inhibitory material was not found in broth cultures and could only be extracted from cultures grown in semi-solid agar; its activity was assayed by the inhibition of growth and killing of a sensitive group A strain, 12203. Viable counts showed that 2 h exposure to the factor at 37°C produced greater than 90% inhibition and more than 60% killing of the treated culture. Turbidimetric measurements indicated no gross lysis of the sensitive culture and a dose-response curve demonstrated that approximately two bactericidal factor molecules were sufficient to inactivate a colony-forming unit of strain 12203. The inhibitory factor was of low molecular weight as judged by its diffusibility; it was concentrated by lyophilization and partially purified by gel filtration on G-10 Sephadex. The factor was resistant to proteolytic enzymes, nucleases and lipase as well as reducing and oxidizing conditions. Activity was lost at 60°C, but the factor was stable at ---70°C. The bactericidal substance was stable within the pH range 2 to 12. These properties, as well as the wide range of activity of the bactericidal factor on several Gram-positive and -negative organisms, suggest that it is an inhibitory substance other than a bacteriocin.


The properties of ester fluids and mineral oils differ in many cases in a qualitative way. This means that these liquids may look like very similar in some experiments while in others they behave very differently. These differences must be understood and taken into account in the design of ester filled transformers to avoid unexpected failures. Classic models such as the two-parameter Weibull statistics of breakdown voltage are in some respects too simple to properly catch the underlying physics. We discuss the importance of segregating initiation and propagation processes to properly interpret results of experiments with esters and mineral oil. In transformer design it is in some parts more important to avoid initiation while in others it is more important to stop propagating streamers. Furthermore, to obtain low probability statistics from high probability breakdown experiments, both average and spread of breakdown voltages are required. The difference in spread of initiation and propagation voltages is discussed. Esters and mineral oils behave in a qualitatively similar way regarding initiation while they differ substantially in the propagation process. In this paper we compare some different experiments in terms of initiation and propagation.


Autophagy was first discovered by transmission electron microscopy more than 50 years ago. For decades, electron microscopy was the only way to reliably detect autophagic compartments in cells because no specific protein markers were known. In the 1970s, however, the introduction of biochemical methods enabled quantitative studies of autophagic-lysosomal degradation, and in the 1980s specific biochemical assays for autophagic sequestration became available. Since the identification of autophagy-related genes in the 1990s, combined fluorescence microscopy, biochemical and genetic methods have taken the leading role in autophagy research. However, electron microscopy is still needed to confirm and verify results obtained by other methods, and also to produce novel knowledge that would not be achievable by any other experimental approach. Confocal microscopy, with its ever-improving resolution, is probably the best-suited morphological approach to investigate the dynamic aspects of autophagy. However, for analyzing the ultrastructural details of the many novel organelles and mechanisms involved in specific subtypes of autophagy, the electron microscope is still indispensable. This review will summarize the impact that electron microscopy has had on autophagy research since the discovery of this self-degradation process in the mid-1950s. Astonishingly, some of the "novel" concepts and principles of autophagy, presented in the recent studies, were already proposed several decades ago by the pioneering, accurate and passionate work of virtuoso electron microscopists.


The design of wideband radar systems is often limited by existing analog-to-digital (A/D) converter technology. State-of-the-art A/D rates and high effective number of bits result in rapidly increasing cost and power consumption for the radar system. Therefore, it is useful to consider compressive sensing methods that enable reduced sampling rate, and in many applications, prior knowledge of signals of interest can be learned from training data and used to design better compressive measurement kernels. In this paper, we use a task-specific information-based approach to optimizing sensing kernels for high-resolution radar range profiling of man-made targets. We employ a Gaussian mixture (GM) model for the targets and use a Taylor series expansion of the logarithm of the GM probability distribution to enable a closed-form gradient of information with respect to the sensing kernel. The GM model admits nuisance parameters such as target pose angle and range translation. The gradient is then used in a gradient-based approach to search for the optimal sensing kernel. In numerical simulations, we compare the performance of the proposed sensing kernel design to random projections and to lower-bandwidth waveforms that can be sampled at the Nyquist rate. Simulation results demonstrate that the proposed technique for sensing kernel design can significantly improve performance.


BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES
Previous research has been inconclusive about whether adding psychosocial treatment to medication assisted treatment (MAT) improves outcomes for patients with co-occurring psychiatric and opioid use disorders. This study evaluated the impact of MAT and psychosocial therapies on treatment outcomes for patients with co-occurring opioid use disorders and PTSD.

METHODS
Patients meeting criteria for PTSD and substance use disorders were randomly assigned to one of three treatment conditions: Standard Care (SC) alone, Integrated Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (ICBT) plus SC, or Individual Addiction Counseling (IAC) plus SC. Substance use and psychiatric symptoms were assessed at baseline and 6 months. Only patients with opioid use disorders were included in the present analyses (n = 126). Two-way ANOVAS and logistic regression analyses were used to examine associations between treatment conditions and MAT, for substance use and psychiatric outcomes.

RESULTS
MAT patients receiving ICBT had significantly decreased odds of a positive urine drug screen, compared to non-MAT patients receiving SC alone (OR = .07, 95% CI = .01, .81, p = .03). For PTSD symptoms, a significant MAT by psychosocial treatment condition interaction demonstrated that MAT patients had comparable declines in PTSD symptoms regardless of psychosocial treatment type (F(2, 88) = 4.74, p = .011). Non-MAT patients in ICBT had significantly larger reductions in PTSD.

CONCLUSIONS AND SCIENTIFIC SIGNIFICANCE
For patients with co-occurring opioid use disorders and PTSD, MAT plus ICBT is associated with more significant improvement in substance use. For non-MAT patients, ICBT is most beneficial for PTSD symptoms.


In this paper, we present the importance of using a single criterion approach to DecisionBased Design (DBD) by examining the limitations of multicriteria approaches. We propose in this paper an approach to DBD as an enhancement to Hazelrigg's DBD framework that utilizes the economic benefit to the producer as the single criterion in alternative selection. The technique of Discrete Choice Analysis (DCA) is introduced for constructing a product demand model, which is crucial for the evaluation of both profit and production cost. An academic universal motor design problem illustrates the proposed DBD approach. It appears that DBD, when applied correctly, is capable of unambiguously selecting the preferred alternative in a rigorous manner. Open research issues related to implementing the DBD approach are raised. The focus of our study is on demonstrating the approach rather than the design results per se. @DOI: 10.1115/1.1587156#


Sir,-Does chronic exposure to styrene impair colour vision? Fallas et al (1992;49:679-82) found subclinical impairment of colour vision among workers exposed to styrene applying the Farnsworth 100 hue test during working hours in daylight. In daylight, however, neither colour temperature nor illumination are constant and good results depend on the use of standard lighting conditions,2 for instance standard illuminant C or D65.3 The authors do not state if those wearing glasses used their own. In our experience most glasses are coloured at least slightly and it is imperative that colour testing should not be performed on subjects wearing coloured glasses or coloured contact lenses.4 In such cases we use clear glasses with different refraction taking into account the fact that we cannot correct astigmatism. The Farnsworth 100 hue test was designed to test hue discrimination among subjects with normal colour vision and to evaluate chromatic discrimination loss in those with congenital defects of colour vision.3 Subsequently it was applied to test acquired defects. The prevalence of congenital dyschromatopsia is about 8% among men.5 Fallas et al apparently did not distinguish between those with congenital and acquired colour vision defects when calculating the error scores and the ranges. We guess that the results are influenced by congenital defects in colour vision. Furthermore the term "range" was not defined by the authors. Acquired dyschromatopsias can be caused by many systemic and ocular diseases. Therefore a complete ophthalmological examination is desirable, but probably not feasible in many epidemiological studies. For screening at least the visus should be examined, however. The mean of the error score of the controls given by the authors is high compared with data published by others5 6; we think that this discrepancy could be caused by extraprofessional and by congenital dyschromatopsias. The subjects were examined during the shift so that they were actually exposed to styrene before testing. Ethanol, another organic solvent, is known to cause an acute and transient impairment of colour vision.78 To our knowledge, comparable studies on the effect of styrene have not been published. It is an obvious supposition that styrene can cause an acute and transient impairment of colour vision, too, if there are effects caused by a chronic exposure.9 If the colour vision is examined during a shift, it is impossible to differentiate between acute and chronic effects. In conclusion we think that the paper does not give any evidence of an impairment of colour vision caused by styrene. AXEL MUTTRAY DETLEV JUNG JOHANNES KONIETZKO InstitutfiirArbeitsund Sozialmedizin der _Johannes Gutenberg-Uniersitdt Mainz, Obere Zahlbacher Stra,Be 67, 6500 Mainz, Germany


This article takes an ethnographic approach to examining the present day Nation of Islam (NOI) and the implications of its history and sustained efficacy for the Church. Research centers around several devout members of the NOI living on Chicago's south side. Themes discussed in the article focus on concepts of African American identity, ultimate truth, divine judgment, and self-pride, all of which serve the purpose of elevating group and individual self-confidence and independence. In light of the rise to prominence of the NOI and its message, as well as its continued viability long after its founders have passed away, implications for the Church and its relationship with African Americans are explored and suggestions are made for the Church moving forward.


We consider the method of entanglement witness operator to verify genuine multipartite entanglement for single-particle $W$ states involving $N$ parties. In particular, linear optical schemes using photodetectors and beam splitters are proposed to implement two different types of witness operator in experiment. The first scheme that requires only a single measurement setting is shown to detect genuine multipartite entanglement for the overall efficiency beyond $1\ensuremath{-}1/N$. On the other hand, the second scheme with $N+1$ measurement settings achieves success at a significantly lowered efficiency than $1\ensuremath{-}1/N$.


VALUE-ADDED FOOD INGREDIENT by AUDREY SANDRA VARNER (Under the Direction of WILLIAM L. KERR) ABSTRACT Crushed beetroot was dried into powders with different dehydration methods. Powders were evaluated for betalain content and physical properties such as flowability, bulk density, hygroscopicity, and particle size. Modeling of drying with a vacuum belt drier was done to understand the dehydration mechanism. Powder making conditions such as maltodextrin level and drying temperature were optimized with a vacuum belt drier. Powders dehydrated with a vacuum belt dryer at 95°C were found to have the highest drying rate without betalain degradation or unfavorable physical properties. Vacuum belt dried powder was then compared against conventional spray-dried beet powder and golden standard freeze-dried powder, as well as tray-dried and drum-dried powders. Vacuum belt dried powder was found to have comparable betalain content to the freeze dried powder without any unfavorable physical properties. Use of a vacuum belt dryer is effective in creating a quality beet powder for use as a value-added food ingredient.


Introduction: Occupational noise exposure and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) are common in the United States, but so far their association has not been explored. Given the neuroimmunological effects of noise, such an association seems plausible. Thus, the present study aimed to explore the association of occupational noise exposure with prevalent COPD in the US general population. Materials and Methods: We used data from the population-based National Health Interview Survey (NHIS) 2014. The cross-sectional association of self-reported duration of exposure to very loud noise during participants' occupational lifetime with self-reported COPD and emphysema was explored using weighted logistic regression. Results and Discussion: The fully adjusted model yielded odds ratio (OR)≥15 years = 1.68 [95% confidence interval (CI): 1.28, 2.21] for COPD and OR≥15 years = 1.61 (95% CI: 1.13, 2.30) for emphysema. Race/ethnicity was a significant effect modifier. In sensitivity analysis with cumulative noise exposure based on a job exposure matrix, we found no effect. Conclusion: In conclusion, we found a relationship between self-reported occupational noise exposure and the risk of prevalent COPD in the US general population, but none with objective noise levels. Being the first study on the subject matter, and given the design limitations, these findings are tentative and should be treated with caution.


This paper introduces the criteria and the procedures for mapping the Chinese Agricultural Thesaurus (CAT) to FAO's multilingual agricultural thesaurus AGROVOC. It proposes modifications to the interthesaurus mapping rules provided in the Simple Knowledge Organization System (SKOS) specification.
It outlines in detail the criteria for the application of each of the mapping rules. We will describe the procedure for the application for these rules and give concrete examples taken from both thesauri.


This report is the third in a series of guides designed to tackle and, importantly, exploit the thorny issue of office obsolescence. First, it sets out the international scrutiny afforded to office obsolescence in academic literature and practice-based research. It then responds with some practical guidelines on and solutions to office obsolescence alongside an appraisal of the wider socio-economic environment, which must be considered in any office-building change. It concludes with a set of recommendations for the industry, arguing that the working environment has changed forever – disrupted by new flexible business models – and that office landlords and investors must respond and adapt to this situation with their own agile solutions.


Abstract. This study investigated the effect of membership in farmers' association on adoption rate of land-enhancing technologies in Ogun State, Nigeria by gender. Specifically, it describes the socio-economic characteristics of the farmers by gender, identifies land-enhancing technologies adopted by farmers in the study area, determines the adoption rates of the technologies by gender, and determines the membership in farmers' association on the adoption and intensity of use of land-enhancing technologies by gender. Multistage sampling procedure was used to select 120 respondents for the study. The data were analysed using descriptive statistics and the Cragg's (double-hurdle) model. The results of the descriptive statistics, which are expressed by gender, reveal that the sampled population were majorly comprised of males (58%), than females (42%). The level of association membership was 54% for females and 35.29% for males, and only 33.82% of the respondents had contact with extension agents. The results also show that 17.65% of males and 10% of females did not adopt any technology. The results from the Cragg's double hurdle model show that extension contact significantly influenced the adoption of most of the technologies. It had a positive relationship with the adoption of all the technologies across both genders, except for organic manure whose adoption was negatively influenced. It is therefore recommended that relevant governments and stakeholders improve extension services, as well as consider farming associations as means of getting across to female famers in order to improve their adoption levels and productivity.


Category: Ankle; Hindfoot; Sports Introduction/Purpose: Surgical treatment of adult flatfoot deformity has traditionally be driven by tendon transfers and osteotomy. In acquired deformity, injury to the spring ligament and superficial deltoid ligament is common. The procedures mentioned previously do nothing to restore the function of the medial ligament complex. Studies have shown that reconstruction of the medial ligament complex, and thus the medial talonavicular joint, has benefit to patient outcomes. The question still remains of how much correction the medial ligament reconstruction confers on its own. The purpose of this study is to compare isolated medial ligament reconstruction procedures to other flat foot correcting procedures in the treatment of acquired flat foot deformity. Methods: 18 patients were identified that underwent procedure for flatfoot deformity. Of these patients there were 7 patients that underwent isolated medial ligament complex reconstruction and 11 patients that underwent non-tendon transfer procedure for correction of flat foot deformity. Imaging was performed on patient's weight bearing (WB) and non-weight bearing (NWB) before and after surgery. Measurements included Angles: calcaneal pitch, talo-1st metatarsal, talocalcaneal, talar declination, calcaneal 1st metatarsal and Distances: talar height, navicular height, 1st cuneiform height, cuboid height, and 1st to 5th metatarsal distance in lateral X-ray, and Angles: talonavicular coverage, talar 1st metatarsal, talar 2nd metatarsal and Distances: talonavicular uncoverage distance in AP. The differences in measurement between the pre-op and post-op non-weight bearing are considered as bony correction effect while differences between pre-op and post-op weight bearingare considered as soft tissue correction Results: For non-weight bearing; medial ligament reconstruction impact was seen on calcaneal pitch (19 to 35 degrees, p=0.007), 1st cuneiform height (21 to 28mm, p=0.016), talonavicular coverage (6 to 3 degrees, p=0.026), and Talar 1st metatarsal angle (14 to 7 degrees, p=0.008). Other corrections had an impact on calcaneal pitch (15 to 24 degrees, p=0.006), Talo-1st metatarsal angle (11 to 6 degrees, p=0.019), Calcaneal 1st metatarsal (139 to 129 degrees, p=0.044), Talar height (31 to 42mm, p=0.001), navicular height (24 to 34mm, p=0.002), and 1st cuneiform height (18 to 22mm, p=0.016). For weight bearing; reconstruction impact was seen on talocalcaneal angle (36 to 44 degrees, p=0.011), 1st-5thmetatarsal distance (12 to 18mm, p=0.047), and hindfoot moment arm (16 to 6mm, p=0.031). Other corrections had an impact on talar height (34 to 40mm, p=0.028), navicular height (26 to 30mm, p=0.031), cuboid height (p=0.021), and hindfoot alignment angle (17 to 7 degrees, p=0.003). Conclusion: When compared to procedures that only address bony changes in the foot, it is clear from this study that medial ligament repair plays a different, but significant, role in correction of flat foot deformity. Interestingly, the non-weight bearing and weight bearing results show that medial ligament reconstruction affects different aspects of the correction in these two distinct phases. This study serves to suggest that medial ligament reconstruction has a role in the correction of flat foot deformity that is not completely addressed in the more common procedures performed.


Dynamic mutations involve expansion of the number of repeat units consisting of three or more nucleotides in tandem (i.e. adjacent to one another) present in a gene or in its neighborhood. These repeats may occur in different genes and may code for different aminoacids. According to expansions sizes, it is possible to have unaffected individuals that are carriers of a pre-mutation. Instability of triplet repeat size can lead to gradual expansion through generations, a phenomenon called anticipation. Genetic anticipation is characterized by the reduction in the age of disease onset and by a worsening of symptoms in affected individuals in successive generations. This work describes dynamic mutations giving emphasis on triplet repeats diseases, making the parallel with disease anticipation. Treatment strategies that have been developed during the last years are also discussed.


Urothelial cell carcinoma (UCC) is the second most common genitourinary malignant disease in the USA, and tobacco smoking is the major known risk factor for UCC development. Exposure to carcinogens, such as those contained in tobacco smoke, is known to directly or indirectly damage DNA, causing mutations, chromosomal deletion events and epigenetic alterations in UCC. Molecular studies have shown that chromosome 9 alterations and P53, RAS, RB and PTEN mutations are among the most frequent events in UCC. Recent studies suggested that continuous tobacco carcinogen exposure drives and enhances the selection of epigenetically altered cells in UCC, predominantly in the invasive form of the disease. However, the sequence of molecular events that leads to UCC after exposure to tobacco smoke is not well understood. To elucidate molecular events that lead to UCC oncogenesis and progression after tobacco exposure, we developed an in vitro cellular model for smoking-induced UCC. SV-40 immortalized normal HUC1 human bladder epithelial cells were continuously exposed to 0.1% cigarette smoke extract (CSE) until transformation occurred. Morphological alterations and increased cell proliferation of non-malignant urothelial cells were observed after 4 months (mo) of treatment with CSE. Anchorage-independent growth assessed by soft agar assay and increase in the migratory and invasive potential was observed in urothelial cells after 6 mo of CSE treatment. By performing a PCR mRNA expression array specific to the PI3K-AKT pathway, we found that 26 genes were upregulated and 22 genes were downregulated after 6 mo of CSE exposure of HUC1 cells. Among the altered genes, PTEN, FOXO1, MAPK1 and PDK1 were downregulated in the transformed cells, while AKT1, AKT2, HRAS, RAC1 were upregulated. Validation by RT-PCR and western blot analysis was then performed. Furthermore, genome-wide methylation analysis revealed MCAM, DCC and HIC1 are hypermethylated in CSE-treated urothelial cells when compared with non-CSE exposed cells. The methylation status of these genes was validated using quantitative methylation-specific PCR (QMSP), confirming an increase in methylation of CSE-treated urothelial cells compared to untreated controls. Therefore, our findings suggest that a tobacco signature could emerge from distinctive patterns of genetic and epigenetic alterations and can be identified using an in vitro cellular model for the development of smoking-induced cancer.


Metacarpal osteotomy and distraction lengthening is an excellent method of treating patients with multiple digit aplasia, metacarpal hypoplasia, and some types of digit amputation. The authors describe their technique and the results obtained in 24 patients operated on for 41 metacarpals.


Cucurbit yellow stunting disorder virus (CYSDV) (genus, Crinivirus: family, Closteroviridae) is an emerging plant pathogen, transmitted by the sweet potato whitefly Bemisia tabaci Gennadius (Hemiptera: Aleyrodidae), which infects cucurbit crops causing significant economic losses. A TaqMan® real-time fluorescent, one-step reverse transcription (RT), polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assay for the detection of the virus has been developed and optimized. The assay is over 100-fold more sensitive than conventional RT-PCR and involves template preparation that does not require RNA purification. The assay can be accomplished either by first spotting the sap extract on a positively charged nylon membrane and elution, or by the direct addition of crude plant extract into the real-time reaction cocktail. Several factors affecting the efficiency of the tests were studied, such as the type and amount of reverse transcription (RT) enzymes and the use of different additives on the elution extract. The addition of 5 units of RT enzymes in the real-time PCR cocktail and the use of Tween 20, Triton X and Betaine in the virus release buffer resulted in improved detection efficiency. The applicability of the real-time RT-PCR assay was validated with CYSDV isolates from the USA, Mexico, the Mediterranean Basin, Jordan, and the United Arab Emirates and provides a simple, efficient and accurate detection technique, whereas the membrane preparation techniques can be used for long-term storage of samples allowing the shipment of samples from the field to remote laboratories for testing without compromising the reliability of the test.


Ploidy and productivity of yeast strains and hybrids obtained by crossing various industrial races were studied. Biological productivity of yeast cultures increases with ploidy as was found by comparing biological productivity (biomass accumulation) in haploids, diploids, triploids, and tetraploids. Possible factors causing an insignificant decrease in productivity of some tetraploids as compared to triploids are discussed.


Almost twenty years ago, Trunkey showed that deaths due to trauma followed a trimodal distribution over time. Half of these deaths were delayed by at least one to two hours after the initiating insult. This interval (the "golden hour") can be exploited, especially in specialized trauma centers (where the most severely injured patients are cared for), to aggressively treat these patients, thereby reducing morbidity and mortality. In Belgium, this hierarchy of trauma care centers is non-existent; patients are distributed within the healthcare system randomly, depending on the localisation of the accident and the directives of the unified "100" call centre. Because this limits the number of cases any one centre treats, this type of arrangement acts to inhibit the acquisition of competency in the handling of these complex patients. The relative lack of experience of individual emergency departments leads to difficulties in establishing diagnostic and treatment priorities for the most severely injured trauma victims. The approach to these patients must follow very precise guidelines, established scientifically in order to minimize the impact of the injury on life and maximize chances of satisfactory functional recovery. In this paper, we describe the general principles of the initial approach to victims of complex multiple trauma.


In order to explore the feasibility of producing a Babesia divergens live vaccine free of bovine material contaminants the parasite's ability to grow in human, sheep and horse erythrocytes and serum and serum-free medium was investigated. B. divergens was successfully maintained in bovine erythrocytes overlaid with serum-free HL-1 medium. Supplementation of the culture medium with bovine or sheep serum improved parasite growth (monitored by measuring parasitaemia and uptake of tritiated hypoxanthine) whereas horse and human sera reduced parasite growth. As assessed by Giemsa's stained and FITC-labelled blood smears, the parasite invaded all erythrocyte types. Polyparasitism was less common in sheep and horse erythrocytes than in bovine and human erythrocytes. Accole stages were observed in bovine, human and sheep but not in horse erythrocytes. Proliferation following invasion was higher in human but lower in horse and sheep erythrocytes compared with bovine erythrocytes. Long-term cultures of B. divergens reached similar peak parasitaemias in human, sheep and bovine erythrocytes. Attempts to establish long-term cultures in horse erythrocytes failed. These results suggest that B. divergens is not host specific at the level of host cell attachment and invasion. Instead, parasite survival appears to be decided once the organism has gained access into the cell.


The present study employed a dual-language version of the Reicher-Wheeler task to examine the word superiority effect (WSE) in Irish-English bilinguals and L1 English speakers with some Irish language proficiency. Superior skills in written English would be expected in both groups. Forty-nine participants completed a word–letter WSE forced-choice task in both Irish and English. For both languages, and for both groups, an advantage was found for words over letters. The word–letter difference for English stimuli exceeded that for Irish stimuli, at 9% and 4% respectively; however this difference between the languages did not reach statistical significance. Performance did not differ significantly between the two groups, despite a trend suggesting a lower WSE in English for the bilingual group. The lack of difference based on proficiency may reflect the high frequency words employed or similar exposure to written Irish in the two groups, given the dominance of the English language.


A parameter equation based on cutting edge of ball-end mill is set up by analyzing the parameters of ball-end mill influence the milling force in virtual NC milling process. The relationship among elemental cutting force, instantaneous radial chip thickness and cutting edge length is analyzed, and the dynamic milling force of ball-end mill at arbitrary feed direction is established. The milling force parameter model by quadratic regression equation in different cutting conditions is built. Through experiments in NC machining center and using orthogonal combination and principal components analysis, the regression coefficients are calculated. The correctness of milling force model is testified by experiments. All these can provide theoretical basis for physics modeling and simulation of virtual numerical control milling.


I. IntroductionThis Note discusses the near impossibility of obtaining immunity for defense witnesses in federal criminal cases. It provides a statistical overview suggesting that the "prosecutorial misconduct" standard used in ten of the twelve circuits fails to provide adequate protection for the accused. The Note then analyzes arguments on both sides of the matter before concluding that the Supreme Court, yet to rule on the issue, should expand a defendant's right to obtain immunity for essential witnesses.One of the earliest cases to explore defense witness immunity, Earl v. United States,1 was written by Judge (and later Chief Justice) Warren Burger when he served on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia. Earl was convicted of selling heroin to an undercover policeman.2 During the trial Earl sought to prove his innocence via the testimony of Frank Scott, but when called to the stand Scott invoked the Fifth Amendment.3 Scott, also involved in the heroin sale, would have testified that Earl was not present and that a man resembling Earl was at the sale.4 This testimony would have corroborated the defense theory of mistaken identity.5 Ultimately the trial judge denied Earl's request to immunize Scott, and on appeal, Earl's conviction was sustained. 6 Judge Burger explained that under the circumstances a court could not grant immunity on its own without authorization from Congress.7The relevant statute for understanding defense witness immunity is the use-immunity statute, 18 U.S.C. § 6002.8 This statute gives a prosecutor broad discretion to grant immunity to a witness, but provides no corresponding right to a defendant.9 Recognizing this imbalance, courts have fashioned two distinct approaches to the issue: (1) directly granting judicial immunity10 or (2) indirectly requiring immunity by threatening to dismiss the case if the prosecutor refuses to grant immunity.11This Note explores the need to expand defendants' rights in federal criminal cases to obtain immunity for their witnesses.12 Part II provides an overview of the current state of defense witness immunity and identifies the split among the courts of appeals. It offers an empirical overview of all the cases on the topic, and details the approaches employed by the circuit courts. Part III highlights the arguments in favor of defense witness immunity, and Part IV shows the weaknesses inherent in the arguments against immunity for defense witnesses. Part V argues that the Supreme Court should adopt the Ninth Circuit's test for defense witness immunity because that test will best protect a defendant's due process rights. The Note concludes that the majority approach to defense witness immunity is inadequate and Supreme Court action is necessary to protect defendants' rights.II. The Current State of Defense Witness ImmunityDefense witness immunity is a subject that continues to divide both state and federal courts. In the last five years these divisions have only grown greater as jurisdictions such as the Ninth Circuit and the State of New Mexico have expanded a judge's ability to grant immunity to defense witnesses.13 This Part of the Note provides an overview of the current state of federal law.A. A Statistical Review of Defense Witness Immunity CasesBefore discussing individual cases, a broad summary of how defendants fare when they seek an immunity grant for a witness is provided in Table A.14 Table A shows the success rate of defendants in obtaining use immunity for defense witnesses.The first number in each box is how many requests for immunity were granted, and the second number is how many requests were made. Thus, at the district court level, one hundred eleven requests were made, and only four were granted (3.6%). Noticeably, in nine of the twelve circuits, defense witness immunity has never been granted. Overall, there were three hundred thirty-five cases in which defense witness immunity was at issue, and only twelve times was the request granted by the court. …


Direct numerical simulations are performed to investigate the three-dimensional stability of compressible flow over open cavities. A linear stability analysis is conducted to search for three-dimensional global instabilities of the two-dimensional mean flow for cavities that are homogeneous in the spanwise direction. The presence of such instabilities is reported for a range of flow conditions and cavity aspect ratios. For cavities of aspect ratio (length to depth) of 2 and 4, the three-dimensional mode has a spanwise wavelength of approximately one cavity depth and oscillates with a frequency about one order of magnitude lower than two-dimensional Rossiter (flow/acoustics) instabilities. A steady mode of smaller spanwise wavelength is also identified for square cavities. The linear results indicate that the instability is hydrodynamic (rather than acoustic) in nature and arises from a generic centrifugal instability mechanism associated with the mean recirculating vortical flow in the downstream part of the cavity. These three-dimensional instabilities are related to centrifugal instabilities previously reported in flows over backward-facing steps, lid-driven cavity flows and Couette flows. Results from three-dimensional simulations of the nonlinear compressible Navier–Stokes equations are also reported. The formation of oscillating (and, in some cases, steady) spanwise structures is observed inside the cavity. The spanwise wavelength and oscillation frequency of these structures agree with the linear analysis predictions. When present, the shear-layer (Rossiter) oscillations experience a low-frequency modulation that arises from nonlinear interactions with the three-dimensional mode. The results are consistent with observations of low-frequency modulations and spanwise structures in previous experimental and numerical studies on open cavity flows.


Author(s): Inman, Bryce Gareth | Advisor(s): Franks, Peter JS | Abstract: Microscale chemical gradients facilitate nutrient uptake by phytoplankton, recycling of organic matter by bacteria, and prey and mate finding by zooplankton. By mediating planktonic interactions, chemical microstructure is an important factor in the productivity of the largest ecosystem on the planet. Two main sources of chemical microstructure have been identified up to this point: planktonic excretions and turbulent stirring of large-scale gradients. The gradient deformation mechanism quantified in this work represents a third, previously unrecognized source of chemical microstructure. Gradient deformation occurs when sinking particles and swimming plankton drag fluid with them, leaving trails of gradient enhancement that extend for hundreds of body lengths and last for minutes.Numerical simulations of a sphere falling through a linear tracer gradient demonstrate that the gradient deformation primarily depends on the Peclet number. When the diffusivity of the tracer is small compared to the size and speed of the object, Pe g 100, contours of tracer wrap around the sinking sphere, stretching vertically and accumulating horizontally downstream. The maximum tracer contour displacement scales as L_{Def} ~ Pe^{1/3}, the maximum gradient enhancement is G_{Max} ~ Pe^{4/5}, and the amount of tracer flux across a given contour is M ~ Pe^{2/3}. A novel dyegraph apparatus was developed to measure the tracer disturbance left by sinking spheres and swimming copepods. Dropping spheres through linear gradients of dye and salinity in dyegraph experiments confirms the predictions from numerical simulations. Cruising copepods displace seawater both anteriorly and posteriorly and enhance the background gradient up to afactor of 190 l G_{Max} l 450. The deformation trail left by a 3 mm copepod is estimated to be at least 1 m long and increases the flux of chemical by a factor of 40 through a surface roughly the size of the organism. While the bulk flux of tracer induced by this mechanism in the ocean is minimal, the combined gradient enhancement of all migrating zooplankton and sinking particles may have a significant impact on phytoplankton productivity, particularly in the vast oligotrophic regions of the world's oceans.


I develop a method to detect collusion and estimate its effect on the seller's revenue in first-price auctions with independent, private valuations. The challenge is that colluders can use a simple and costless strategy to make their bids appear competitive. If the econometrician observes an exogenous shifter of the level of competition in the auction in addition to the winning bids, a statistical test for collusion by a given bidder can be formulated as a test of independence between the exogenous shifter and the valuations that rationalize its bids under the null hypothesis that it is not colluding. Simulations confirm this test performs well even when colluders attempt to disguise their behavior. I then adopt a multiple hypothesis testing framework to simultaneously test for collusion bidder by bidder. By controlling the probability of making one or more type I errors, the set of rejected hypotheses serves as a lower confidence bound on the set of colluders. To produce a lower confidence bound on the cost of collusion, I use consistent estimates of the bidders' valuation distributions to numerically solve for the seller's expected revenues in auctions with and without collusion. To provide an example of this identification strategy, I use exogenous variation in the reserve prices at British Columbia's timber auctions to estimate the extent of collusion in the years preceding a lumber trade dispute between the United States and Canada.


In certain circumstances property takings are part of a larger strategy to further subjugate a certain group within the polity by denying their humanity or their capacity to reason. These takings involve more than the confiscation of property; they also involve the deprivation of dignity. In her book, We want what's ours: Learning from South Africa's land restitution program, Atuahene has called these dignity takings. The Popela people are a resource-poor, but culturally-rich African community from South Africa's Limpopo region that the colonial and apartheid regimes subjected to dignity takings. The post-apartheid state was interested not only in providing compensation for property taken from the Popela community and others, but also facilitating dignity restoration – a comprehensive remedy that addresses the deprivations of property as well as dignity. At the end of a protracted legal battle, the Constitutional Court ruled that the Popela community was entitled to reparations requiring the post-apartheid state to purchase the disputed land from its current owners and return it to the community. However, the state went above and beyond the Court-ordered remedy and tried to facilitate dignity restoration by expanding the number of community members entitled to land and increasing the amount of land transferred. The problem, however, is that over ten years since the much-celebrated court victory, the state has failed to deliver the more modest reparations mandated by the Constitutional Court as well as the more ambitious remedy designed to bring about dignity restoration. This article charts the consequences of the state's failed move from reparations to dignity restoration. AFRICAN HUMAN RIGHTS LAW JOURNAL


People throughout the world place a strong value on the landscape, natural environment, and compact settlement pattern of Upstate New York. The Adirondack and Catskill mountains, the Finger Lakes, the Lake Ontario shoreline, Lake Champlain, and the Thousand Islands attract hundreds of thousands of visitors annually. At the scale of the entire landscape, farms and forests define the edges of Upstate's cities, villages, and hamlets and form a distinctive matrix of land uses. These cities, villages, and hamlets have a distinctive character that includes a mix of land uses, pedestrian-friendly streets and neighborhoods, and a rich endowment of historic buildings.


A series of isatin derivatives bearing three different substituent groups at the N-1, C-3 and C-5 positions of the isatin scaffold were systematically designed and synthesized to study the structure–activity relationship of their inhibition of bacterial peptidoglycan glycosyltransferase (PGT) activity and antimicrobial susceptibility against S. aureus, E. coli and methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA (BAA41)) strains. The substituents at these sites are pointing towards three different directions from the isatin scaffold to interact with the amino acid residues in the binding pocket of PGT. Comparative studies of their structure–activity relationship allow us to gain better understanding of the direction of the substituents that contribute critical interactions leading to inhibition activity against the bacterial enzyme. Our results indicate that the modification of these sites is able to maximize the antimicrobial potency and inhibitory action against the bacterial enzyme. Two compounds show good antimicrobial potency (MIC = 3 μg mL−1 against S. aureus and MRSA; 12–24 μg mL−1 against E. coli). Results of the inhibition study against the bacterial enzyme (E. coli PBP 1b) reveal that some compounds are able to achieve excellent in vitro inhibitions of bacterial enzymatic activity (up to 100%). The best half maximal inhibitory concentration (IC50) observed among the new compounds is 8.9 μM.


We have verified the suitability of seismic data from a physical model for a quantitative amplitude analysis of anisotropic targets. Physical model data have often been used for traveltime analysis, while incorporating them in an amplitude analysis was limited due, in part, to the large size, highly-directional physical model transducers employed as sources and receivers. We acquired multi-offset, multi-azimuth, seismic data over a simulated fractured layer overlain by two isotropic layers with the most top layer being water. We simulated the fractured medium by constructing a physical layer, with horizontal transverse anisotropy (HTI), from phenolic material. Acquisition was designed to avoid the overlapping of the primary and ghost events. We treated the large-size transducers as seismic arrays and employed an array-type correction to compensate for their effects on seismic amplitudes. The PP reflection amplitudes from the top of the simulated fractured layer, after required AVO corrections, reveal a clear azimuthal variation caused by the simulated fractured layer and agreed with amplitudes predicted theoretically.


The seislet transform uses the wavelet-lifting scheme and local slopes to analyze the seismic data. In its definition, the designing of prediction operators specifically for seismic images and data is an important issue. We have developed a new formulation of the seislet transform based on the relative time (RT) attribute. This method uses the RT volume to construct multiscale prediction operators. With the new prediction operators, the seislet transform gets accelerated because distant traces get predicted directly. We apply our method to synthetic and real data to demonstrate that the new approach reduces computational cost and obtains excellent sparse representation on test data sets.


Singing voice is one of the most challenging musical instruments to model. For decades, much research and study has been performed in order to synthesize and imitate it. The fruit of this labor was a large number of synthesizers. Among all these approaches, the sequential concatenation of samples from a database is the one that had most success. However, it has some weak points regard to the flexibility and expressivity. In addition, current systems designed for voice samples transformation, such as: transposition, timescaling, or resampling, among others, may cause a decrease in sound quality, and they do not allow lyrics modification. The goal of this thesis is to model, synthesize and transform Vocal Riffs: short rhythmic, melodic, or harmonic vocal figures charged of personality that provides the singer taste to a song. The modeling process extracts high level features from the target Vocal Riff and stores them as a template in a database. This template can be directly synthesized or transformed in order to create new Vocal Riffs. The software aspires to not lose sound quality during the transformation process, since the transformation is applied to the features in the template, instead of being applied to the sample. Furthermore, this fact allows other singing voice aspects to be modified, such as the lyrics, and provides flexibility to the usage of Vocal Riffs.


It is argued in (Eklund et al., 2018) that the quantale [L,L] of sup-preserving endomaps of a complete lattice L is a Girard quantale exactly when L is completely distributive. We have argued in (Santocanale, 2020) that this Girard quantale structure arises from the dual quantale of inf-preserving endomaps of L via Raney's transforms and extends to a Girard quantaloid structure on the full subcategory of SLatt (the category of complete lattices and sup-preserving maps) whose objects are the completely distributive lattices. It is the goal of this talk to illustrate further this connection between the quantale structure, Raney's transforms, and complete distributivity. Raney's transforms are indeed mix maps in the isomix category SLatt and most of the theory can be developed relying on naturality of these maps. We complete then the remarks on cyclic elements of [L,L] developed in (Santocanale, 2020) by investigating its dualizing elements. We argue that if [L,L] has the structure a Frobenius quantale, that is, if it has a dualizing element, not necessarily a cyclic one, then L is once more completely distributive. It follows then from a general statement on involutive residuated lattices that there is a bijection between dualizing elements of [L,L] and automorphisms of L. Finally, we also argue that if L is finite and [L,L] is autodual, then L is distributive.


In this paper we study boosting methods from a new perspective. We build on recent work by Efron et al. to show that boosting approximately (and in some cases exactly) minimizes its loss criterion with an l1 constraint on the coefficient vector. This helps understand the success of boosting with early stopping as regularized fitting of the loss criterion. For the two most commonly used criteria (exponential and binomial log-likelihood), we further show that as the constraint is relaxed---or equivalently as the boosting iterations proceed---the solution converges (in the separable case) to an "l1-optimal" separating hyper-plane. We prove that this l1-optimal separating hyper-plane has the property of maximizing the minimal l1-margin of the training data, as defined in the boosting literature. An interesting fundamental similarity between boosting and kernel support vector machines emerges, as both can be described as methods for regularized optimization in high-dimensional predictor space, using a computational trick to make the calculation practical, and converging to margin-maximizing solutions. While this statement describes SVMs exactly, it applies to boosting only approximately.


A tightly focused pulsed laser beam can locally modify the crystal structure inside the bulk of a scintillator. The result is incorporation of so-called optical barriers with a refractive index different from that of the crystal bulk, that can be used to redirect the scintillation light and control the light spread in the detector. We here systematically study the scintillation light transport in detectors fabricated using the laser induced optical barrier technique, and objectively compare their potential performance characteristics with those of the two mainstream detector types: monolithic and mechanically pixelated arrays. Among countless optical barrier patterns, we explore barriers arranged in a pixel-like pattern extending all-the-way or half-way through a 20 mm thick LYSO:Ce crystal. We analyze the performance of the detectors coupled to MPPC arrays, in terms of light response functions, flood maps, line profiles, and light collection efficiency. Our results show that laser-processed detectors with both barrier patterns constitute a new detector category with a behavior between that of the two standard detector types. Results show that when the barrier-crystal interface is smooth, no DOI information can be obtained regardless of barrier refractive index (RI). However, with a rough barrier-crystal interface we can extract multiple levels of DOI. Lower barrier RI results in larger light confinement, leading to better transverse resolution. Furthermore we see that the laser-processed crystals have the potential to increase the light collection efficiency, which could lead to improved energy resolution and potentially better timing resolution due to higher signals. For a laser-processed detector with smooth barrier-crystal interfaces the light collection efficiency is simulated to  >42%, and for rough interfaces  >73%. The corresponding numbers for a monolithic crystal is 39% with polished surfaces, and 71% with rough surfaces, and for a mechanically pixelated array 35% with polished pixel surfaces and 59% with rough surfaces.


Humans effortlessly and accurately judge their subjective probability of being correct in a given decision, leading to the view that metacognition is integral to decision making. This thesis reports a series of experiments assessing people's confidence and error-detection judgements. These different types of metacognitive judgements are highly similar with regard to their methodology, but have been studied largely separately. I provide data indicating that these judgements are fundamentally linked and that they rely on shared cognitive and neural mechanisms. As a first step towards such a joint account of confidence and error detection, I present simulations from a computational model that is based on the notion these judgements are based on the same underlying processes. I next focus on how metacognitive signals are utilised to enhance cognitive control by means of a modulation of information seeking. I report data from a study in which participants received performance feedback, testing the hypothesis that participants will focus more on feedback when they are uncertain whether they were correct in the current trial, whilst ignoring feedback when they are certain regarding their accuracy. A final question addressed in this thesis asks which information contributes internally to the formation of metacognitive judgements, given that it remains a challenge for most models of confidence to explain the precise mechanisms by which confidence reflects accuracy, under which circumstances this correlation is reduced, and the role other influences might have, such as the inherent reliability of a source of evidence. The results reported here suggest that multiple variables – such as response time and reliability of evidence – play a role in the generation of metacognitive judgements. Inter-individual differences with regard to the utilisation of these cues to confidence are tested. Taken together, my results suggest that metacognition is crucially involved in decision making and cognitive control.


We report the results of limbal lensectomy for ectopia lentis in 50 eyes of 30 children over a period of 7 years. The reasons for surgery were poor visual acuity in 47 eyes and dislocation of the lens into the anterior chamber in three. Best-corrected visual acuity improved in all except two patients, both of whom had glaucoma : in one (with an unusual syndrome), a vitreous hemorrhage occurred that resulted in light-perception-only vision ; in the other, a persistent uveitis developed that eventually required secondary vitrectomy. Visual acuity was unchanged in two patients. Peaked pupil occurred in seven. We conclude that, unless there are associated ocular diseases, limbal lensectomy in childhood ectopia lentis effectively improves visual acuity with few complications.


The position of boron atoms in minute crystals of (Y0.6Ca0.4)(SrBa)(Cu2.5B0.5)O7−δ was studied by means of image processing based on the combination of high-resolution electron microscopy and electron diffraction. The structure image was obtained from a single image by image deconvolution based on the principle of maximum entropy. Its resolution is limited by that of the electron microscope. Then the image resolution was enhanced to about 1 A by direct-methods phase extension in combination with an empirical method of electron diffraction intensity correction. To study the substitution of boron atoms for copper, in the second cycle of diffraction intensity correction two different structure models were proposed. The one corresponding to a more reasonable atomic shape in the derived projected potential map (PPM) was accepted. In this model, the boron atoms are located at the `chain' Cu sites.


Black American boys are the only adolescent group in the United States to experience a significant trend increase in obesity rates from 1999 to 2010 (Ogden, Carroll, Kit, & Flegal, 2012). We used the National Survey of American Life–Adolescent, a nationally representative survey of Black American adolescents, to examine the relationship between male closeness and body mass index (BMI) in father-present and kinship households (n = 563). In father-present households, the primary paternal figure is the child's biological father. In kinship households, the primary paternal figure is a nonbiological father or a social father. The National Survey of American Life–Adolescent focuses on experiences of Black American adolescents and includes two ethnic subgroups: African American and Caribbean Black adolescents. Obesity levels were similar between father-present (19.2%) and kinship households (20.6%). However, kinship households reported a higher percentage of paternal closeness (49.2%) than father-present households (46.1%). Ethnic differences in paternal closeness were not present between father-present and kinship households. In a bivariate regression analysis, paternal closeness scores were negatively correlated with BMIs in Black American boys (p = .05). After accounting for age, income, ethnicity, and leisure time physical activity, higher paternal closeness scores were predictive of lower BMIs only in kinship households (p < .001) in a multivariable regression analysis. Family structure has a microlevel role on obesity in Black American adolescent boys. Future interventions for Black adolescent boys may focus on male bonding as a mechanism to reduce obesity.


Neuropeptides are emerging as key regulators of stem cell niche activities in health and disease, both inside and outside the central nervous system (CNS). Among them, neuropeptide Y (NPY), one of the most abundant neuropeptides both in the nervous system and in non-neural districts, has become the focus of much attention for its involvement in a wide range of physiological and pathological conditions, including the modulation of different stem cell activities. In particular, a pro-neurogenic role of NPY has been evidenced in the neurogenic niche, where a direct effect on neural progenitors has been demonstrated, while different cellular types, including astrocytes, microglia and endothelial cells, also appear to be responsive to the peptide. The marked modulation of the NPY system during several pathological conditions that affect neurogenesis, including stress, seizures and neurodegeneration, further highlights the relevance of this peptide in the regulation of adult neurogenesis. In view of the considerable interest in understanding the mechanisms controlling neural cell fate, this review aims to summarize and discuss current data on NPY signaling in the different cellular components of the neurogenic niche in order to elucidate the complexity of the mechanisms underlying the modulatory properties of this peptide.


Most language modeling methods rely on large-scale data to statistically learn the sequential patterns of words. In this paper, we argue that words are atomic language units but not necessarily atomic semantic units. Inspired by HowNet, we use sememes, the minimum semantic units in human languages, to represent the implicit semantics behind words for language modeling, named Sememe-Driven Language Model (SDLM). More specifically, to predict the next word, SDLM first estimates the sememe distribution given textual context. Afterwards, it regards each sememe as a distinct semantic expert, and these experts jointly identify the most probable senses and the corresponding word. In this way, SDLM enables language models to work beyond word-level manipulation to fine-grained sememe-level semantics, and offers us more powerful tools to fine-tune language models and improve the interpretability as well as the robustness of language models. Experiments on language modeling and the downstream application of headline generation demonstrate the significant effectiveness of SDLM. Source code and data used in the experiments can be accessed at https:// github.com/thunlp/SDLM-pytorch.


Ni-Mo coated TiC powders were prepared by electroless plating technique assisted by ultrasonic wave with hydrazine as reducing agent. The surface microstructure of the Ni-Mo coated TiC powders was characterized with scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy dispersive X-ray analysis (EDX) and X-ray diffractometry (XRD). The results showed that the as-plated powders, which were of nearly spheric shape, were the composite of TiC and Ni-Mo alloy. The Ni and Mo elements were uniformly distributed around the TiC powders with some plating leakage. In addition, the Ni-Mo plated thin layers on the surface of TiC powders were amorphous or microcrystalline in a supersaturated state. Diffraction peaks corresponding to Ni and Mo weren't found, and the Ti (NO3)4 and an unknown phase were formed as the load decreased from 15 g/L to 5 g/L.


Summary

This case report describes an unusual diagnosis of central nervous system botryomycosis in a horse. A 16-year-old Welsh Section D gelding was evaluated for acute onset of hypermetric ataxia, leaning to the left and head tilt to the right. Based on the neurological signs, a cerebellar lesion with accompanying vestibular disease was suspected and supportive therapy consisting of antimicrobial and glucocorticosteroid drugs and hypertonic saline was instituted. This resulted in marked clinical improvement over a 48 h period. Computed tomography performed in the standing, sedated horse following initial stabilisation identified extensive sclerosis and lysis of the right temporal and occipital bones, consistent with an infectious or neoplastic process. Based on the grave prognosis for survival despite the clinical improvement, euthanasia was undertaken. Post mortem magnetic resonance imaging identified a mass lesion impinging on the right cerebellar hemisphere, sclerosis of the temporal and occipital bones lateral and ventral to the mass, as well as destruction of the temporal bone between the inner ear and the cerebellum. These changes corresponded to the presence of a mass within the right dorsal temporal bone, extending into the right lateral temporal bone. The mass extended to compress and adhere to the right lateral hemisphere of the cerebellum. A histopathological diagnosis of botryomycosis was made, affecting the temporal and occipital bones and compressing the cerebellum.


Expansion and collapse are two key features of a financial asset bubble. Bubble expansion may be modeled using a mildly explosive process. Bubble implosion may take several different forms depending on the nature of the collapse and therefore requires some flexibility in modeling. This paper develops analytics and studies the performance characteristics of the real time bubble monitoring strategy proposed in Phillips, Shi and Yu (2014b,c, PSY) under alternative forms of bubble implosion that can be represented in terms of mildly integrated processes which capture various return paths to market normalcy. We propose a new reverse sample use of the PSY procedure for detecting crises and estimating the date of market recovery. Consistency of the dating estimators is established and the limit theory addresses new complications arising from the alternative forms of bubble implosion and the endogeneity effects present in the reverse regression. Simulations explore the finite sample performance of the strategy for dating market recovery and an illustration to the Nasdaq stock market is provided. A real-time version of the strategy is provided that is suited for practical implementation.


Purpose

The paper is concerned about parameter adaptation of a novel, simplified and nonlinear switched reluctance motor (SRM) model. The purpose of the presented on-line procedure is to give an opportunity to set the model parameters' values to obtain a relatively good convergence with the real control object. This is important when a reference model is used for control (e.g. optimal) or object state classification (e.g. fault detection) purposes. The more convergent the real object model is, the better operation quality may be expected.

Design/methodology/approach

In the paper, a 12/8 pole's SRM as a control object is analyzed. The model equations were verified experimentally by comparing phase current model estimations with reference (measured) ones at different operational points. Differential equations of motor winding currents were chosen as an approximation function in the fitting (parameter adaptation) process using the Newton and Gauss–Newton methods. The structure of the adaptation system is presented along with the implementation in simulation environment.

Findings

It was confirmed in the simulation tests that Newton and Gauss–Newton methods of nonlinear model parameters' adaptation may be used for the SRM. The introduced fitting structure is well suited for implementation in real-time, embedded systems. The proposed approximation function could be used in process as an expansion to Jacobian and Hessian matrices. The χ2 (chi2) coefficient (commonly used to measure the quality of the signal fitting) reduced to a low value during the adaptation process. Another introduced quality coefficient shows that the Newton method is slightly better in scope of the entire adaptation process time; however, it needs more computational power.

Research limitations/implications

The proposed structure and approximation function formula in the parameters' adaptation system is appropriate for sinusoidal distribution of the motor phase inductance value along the rotor angle position. The inductance angular shape is an implication of the mechanical construction – with appropriate dimensions and materials used. In the presented case, the referenced model is a three-phase SRM in 12/8 poles configuration used as a main drive part of Maytag Neptune washing machine produced by Emerson Motors.

Practical implications

The presented method of parameter adaptation for novel, simplified and nonlinear SRM model provides an opportunity for its use in embedded, real-time control systems. The convergent motor model, after the fitting procedure (when the estimations are close to the measurements from real object), may be used for solving many well-known control challenges such as detection of initial rotor position, sensorless control, optimal control, fault-tolerant control end in fault detection (FD) systems. The reference model may be used in FD in the way of deducing signals from the difference between the estimated and measured ones.

Originality/value

The paper proposed a new system of parameter adaptation for the evaluated nonlinear, simplified 12/8 poles SRM model. The relative simplicity of the proposed model equations provides the possibility of implementing an adaptation system in an embedded system that works in a real-time regime. A Two adaptation methods – Newton and Gauss–Newton – have been compared. The obtained results shown that the Newton fitting method is better in the way of the used quality indicator, but it consumes more computational power.


Aigoul Abdoubaetova researches the growing gap in educational opportunities in Kyrgyzstan. She is Programme Manager of the MA in Politics and Security at the OSCE Academy in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, and has over nine years of professional experience working in higher education administration. Previously, Aigoul worked for a number of non-profit organizations specializing in the areas of youth, international adoption, and other social issues. She holds an MA in International Studies from the University of Oregon and a BA in Foreign Languages from Osh State University.


Abstract. Springs are important groundwater discharge points on the high altitude (>800m) plateaux of the Cairngorm mountains, Scotland and form important wetland habitats within what is often a dry, sub-arctic landscape. The hydrogeochemistry of a typical spring in the Allt a'Mharcaidh catchment was examined between 1995-98 in order to characterise its chemical composition, identify the dominant controls on its chemical evolution and estimate groundwater residence time using 18O isotopes. Spring water, sustained by groundwater flow in shallow drift deposits and fractured bedrock, was moderately acidic (mean pH 5.89), with a very low alkalinity (mean 18 μeq l-1) and the ionic composition was dominated by sea-salts derived from atmospheric sources. Geochemical modelling using NETPATH, predicted that the dissolution of plagioclase mainly controls the release of Si, non-marine Na, Ca, K and Al into spring water. Hydrological conditions influenced seasonal variations in spring chemistry, with snowmelt associated with more rapid groundwater flows and lower weathering rates than summer discharges. Downstream of the spring, the chemistry of surface water was fundamentally different as a result of drainage from larger catchment areas, with increased soil and drift cover, and higher evaporation rates. Thus, the hydrogeochemical influence of springs on surface waters appears to be localized. Mean δ18O values in spring water were lower and more damped than those in precipitation. Nevertheless, a sinusoidal seasonal pattern was observed and used to estimate mean residence times of groundwater of around 2 years. Thus, in the high altitude plateau of the Cairngorms, shallow, coarse drift deposits from significant aquifers. At lower altitudes, deeper drift deposits, combined with larger catchment areas, increase mean groundwater residence times to >5 years. At high altitudes, the shallow, permeable nature of the drifts dictates that groundwater is vulnerable to impacts of environmental changes that could be usefully monitored at spring sites.


SummaryTobacco smoke exposure has obvious and complex effects on the immune system of the human upper respiratory tract, including pro-inflammatory and anti-immune effects. Exposure to tobacco smoke is closely related to the occurrence and development of allergic rhinitis, the common rhinitis and sinusitis. The innate immune system is influenced by tobacco smoking through its effects on the respiratory mucosa and its adjuncts, natural killer cells, dendritic cells, neutrophils and innate immune receptors. Cigarette smoke can also affect the humoral immunity and cellular immunity, altering the acquired immune condition of the upper respiratory tract. Tobacco smoke exposure promotes the occurrence and development of the upper respiratory tract infectious diseases and allergic diseases by changing the composition of microflora in the upper respiratory tract.


A structural engineering approach to the pleated wings of Odonata has been developed during a functional study of wing morphology in the group. The wing can be regarded as a folded plate structure within which each pleat-side acts as a deep plate-girder. Small cross-veins act as stiffeners within the girders, allowing the membrane to carry web shearing forces as pure tension, through a stressed-skin effect. Bending experiments confirm that the membrane significantly increases the rigidity of wing components. The properties of the membrane are unknown. It lacks birefringence, is very thin, and may be pure epicuticle. The advantages of stressedskin construction are discussed, and possible modes of structural failure considered. The wing seems adapted to yield reversibly to unpredictable heavy loads.


Ozone generation in both positive and negative corona discharges DC corona, both operated in glow regime, feed by dry CO2 has been studied. Higher ozone concentrations were observed in negative corona discharges. Ozone formation was found to be strongly dependent upon both the flow rate of the gas and on the radius of the outer electrode. The physical characteristics of the discharge were monitored through measurement of the discharge current. Small increases in the gas flow rate were observed to cause a significant increase in the discharge current of a negative corona discharge but little/no effect was observed in positive corona.


A smart helmet has been developed which includes various features such as the two way communication, detection of the hazardous gases, providing notification in the case of helmet removal, collision (miners are struck by an object), panic switch for emergency situations, continuous monitoring of the environmental conditions such as temperature and pressure in the mining industry and GPS is provided to track the location of the miner. Once the poisonous gas is detected the helmet opening gets closed and the oxygen supply is provided within the helmet for the miners by the opening of solenoid valve of the oxygen cylinder. Panic switch is provided for the safety of the miners and it is used to provide alert signal to the control room during any emergency situations .Temperature and Pressure sensors are used for the continuous monitoring of environmental conditions .The information are sent to the control room through wireless network. The layout of the visualization was completed and displayed in the control room with the help of a Lab VIEW software .This paper presents the undertaken design detailing solutions to issues raised in previous research. Keywords-mining, environmental condition, collision, hazardous gases.


The issue of succession in family owned agribusinesses may be a contentious matter, but it need not be if carefully considered well in advance of the need to seek a new leader. Nevertheless, succession is particularly disruptive since the founder-owner has been central to shaping and developing the company. At the early stages it is crucial that companies improve succession by strengthening the company's leadership development and focus on those people, internal and external, who might one day take on the role of CEO. Potential new leaders must be good for the company's existing customers, for the company itself and for the management team. A leadership development program which considers succession as a central element at all levels in the company can be a major part of the company's value proposition, one that competitors cannot understand, let alone imitate.


The contributions of mast cells to the pathology of allergic diseases, as well as to the expression of immunoglobulin E (IgE)-dependent host responses to parasites, reflect both the amounts and types of cytokines and other mediators that are released by these cells in such settings. Whereas mast cells cannot intrinsically express immunologically specific functions, the binding of IgE to high-affinity IgE receptors (Fc epsilonRI) on the surface of mast cells primes these cells to secrete cytokines and other biologically active products upon subsequent exposure to specific antigens. We now report that both HMC-1, a growth factor-independent human mast cell leukemia cell line, and growth factor-dependent human umbilical cord blood-derived mast cells can secrete the multifunctional C-C chemokine, macrophage inflammatory protein-1alpha (MIP-1alpha). In addition, we found that in vitro exposure of human umbilical cord blood-derived mast cells to concentrations of IgE within the range observed in the serum of subjects with allergic diseases or parasite infections, which markedly up-regulates the ability of these cells to bind IgE to their surface, also significantly enhances the ability of the cells to secrete MIP-1alpha upon subsequent passive sensitization with IgE and challenge with anti-IgE. Thus, IgE-dependent enhancement of human mast cell IgE-binding ability permits these cells to respond to Fc epsilonRI-dependent challenge with significantly increased secretion of MIP-1alpha, a chemokine that can have diverse functions in inflammation, allergic reactions, and host responses to infection.


Designing security softwares that evolve as quickly as threats is a truthful challenge. In addition, current software becomes increasingly more complex and difficult to handle even for security experts. Intrusion Detection Softwares (IDS) represent a solution that can alleviate these concerns. This paper proposes a framework to automatically build an effective online IDS which can check if the program's expected behavior is respected during the execution. The proposed framework extracts relevant information from the program's source code to build a dedicated IDS. We use the GCC compiler to produce the structure of our behavior's model and ensure the IDS is correct. Thanks to Petri nets, our framework allows program offline monitoring and simplifies the online monitoring development.


96 Background --While standard x-ray arteriography remains the traditional gold standard for peripheral arterial imaging, it has obvious limitations and is associated with significant local and systemic complications. Technological advances in duplex ultrasonography have allowed lower-extremity arterial mapping, primarily of the femoropopliteal segment, based on morphological and hemodynamic parameters. However, inadequate sonographic visualization of the infrapopliteal arteries is seen as a major limiting factor for the liberal use of duplex ultrasonography as a sole preoperative imaging modality. Others have documented the feasibility and reliability of infrapopliteal duplex ultrasound arterial mapping. These divergent results may be partially explained by the operator-dependent nature of this exam and different types of scanners utilized by various investigators. To date, there has been no validation study done in the Philippine Heart Center on the duplex sonographic evaluation of the peripheral arteries in patients suspected of having peripheral arterial occlusive disease. This study was conducted to determine the diagnostic accuracy of duplex scanning in patients suspected of having peripheral arterial disease. Methods --This was a cross-sectional validation study involving duplex ultrasonography studies of femoral arterial segments of patients suspected of peripheral arterial disease. The results of these were compared to the results obtained using subtraction angiography. Each segment was graded as normal, 50% stenosis, near total-occlusion , and total occlusion. The duplex scan results were evaluated independently by two vascular specialists while the arteriogram result was evaluated by an experienced interventional cardiologist. The Kappa statistic was used to examine the level of agreement between angiography and ultrasound. Results --The Kappa level (95% confidence interval) of agreement between ultrasound and angiographic assessments for distinguishing hemodynamically significant (>50%) stenosis was 0.55. Poorest agreement was observed from ultrasound assessments of the popliteal artery as compared to the other arterial segments studied. Conclusion --It has been demonstrated that Duplex ultrasonography produces satisfactory agreement with arteriography for the diagnosis of peripheral arterial occlusive disease, and this technique can even limit the need for arteriography in assessing this subset of patients. Phil Heart Center J 2007; 13(2):96-100.


Everyone who has pondered the vagaries of poetic reputations knows that Edmund Waller is a problem. When he died in 1687, his tomb was graced with a Latin epitaph that declared him "among the poets of his time, easily the first"--and the poets of his time included Milton, Cowley, the Cavaliers, several of the Metaphysicals, and Dryden. This praise was by no means a distortion of his contemporary reputation: as late as 1766 the authors of the Biographia Britannica could still call him "the most celebrated Lyric Poet that ever England produced."(1) To modern critics such estimates seem the result of an affected (or perhaps depraved) poetic taste. Today when Waller is not ignored, he is generally disparaged.(2) Those who would approach him sympathetically remove him from his contemporary context and turn him into a "predecessor," into the poet who showed the way to Dryden and Pope. F. W. Bateson, for example, posited two Wallers, "a minor Renaissance poet and a major Augustan poet."(3) If my intention were to rehabilitate Waller, I would probably follow a similar strategy; but I wish to do something else, to put Waller into an authentic seventeenth-century context that should enable us to grasp both what was new in his poetry and why it should have been praised so highly during his life and for nearly a century after his death. Waller was, of course, a man of his times; but what were those times? He was born two years before Milton and fifteen before Marvell. When he came to maturity as a writer in the 1630s, England was awash in poetic styles. George Herbert's The Temple and Phineas Fletcher's The Purple Island both appeared in 1633, as did the first edition of Donne's poems. By this time Robert Herrick had published nothing, though his work apparently circulated in manuscript. Comus, performed in 1634, was published in 1637, "Lycidas" in 1638. Metaphysicals, Spenserians, sons of Ben, all flourished simultaneously. Waller, though, does not fit easily into any of the categories we have constructed for his contemporaries. Although a member of Lord Falkland's Jonsonian circle at Great Tew,(4) he has never seemed a true "son of Ben." Even as a Cavalier poet he is usually given a chair along the wall, away from the main action. But as I shall show, Waller was responding to a powerful contemporary influence that modern critics seem largely insensitive to. Through various poetic mannerisms, Waller attempted to bring English verse closer to a continental standard of wit and sophistication. He was the first, and perhaps the only, English precieux poet. The term precieux does not conform easily to English notions of poetic practice or poetic vocation; it has a distinctly French aroma. But this alien concept offers the clearest explanation of why Waller often seems so out of place in his own day, for we have failed to recognize how precieux influences operated during the first half of the seventeenth century. Labeling Waller a precieux, of course, runs the risk of damning him, for the concept of preciosite is generally associated nowadays with the affectations of language that Moliere satirized in Les Precieuses ridicules. But a brilliant satire will rarely offer a solid basis for writing literary history. In fact, modern French critics generally agree that the so-called jargon of the precieux salons actually enriched the French language while the stylistic characteristics of the authors provided the foundation for French "classicism."(5) As Daniel Mornet has suggested, the revolution of Boileau, Rapin, and Bouhours had already been fought and won at the hotel de Rambouillet.(6) In order to recognize the precieux qualities of Waller's verse, it is first necessary to understand the nature of the movement in France and its potential influence on the English. Preciosite was in fact a social rather than a literary movement. During the early decades of the seventeenth century, it represented a flight from the vulgarity of the French court and an attempt to refine both manners and speech. …


ABSTRACT Food can be considered a substance that brings people together through its material and sensuous qualities, through affecting shared memories of people and place, and through traditions of hospitality. It is a human necessity with multiple levels of communal understanding, and conviviality. Currently, much of the UK faces the fragmentation of communities based on closely divided political views. In this case, conflicting feelings related to Brexit, migration and refugees. This paper offers a qualitative analysis of a series of 'multicultural lunches' – named and organized by a local equality advocacy charity and partner volunteer organizations. The multicultural lunches took place in 2017. Drawing from 13 semi-structured interviews and 6 participant observations we provide detailed discussion that links food with leisure and community. Analysis of the findings illustrates the nature of local response to broader societal fragmentation and conflict, and offers discussion of the value of food to community development.


Calcium- and sodium- activated potassium channels are members of the 6TM family of K channels which comprises the voltage-gated KV subfamilies, including the KCNQ subfamily, the EAG subfamily (which includes hERG channels), the Ca2+-activated Slo subfamily (actually with 6 or 7TM) and the Ca2+- and Na+-activated SK subfamily (nomenclature as agreed by the NC-IUPHAR Subcommittee on Calcium- and sodium-activated potassium channels [125]). As for the 2TM family, the pore-forming a subunits form tetramers and heteromeric channels may be formed within subfamilies (e.g. KV1.1 with KV1.2; KCNQ2 with KCNQ3).


Metamorphic flagstones are characterised by a regularly spaced mica foliation separated by quartzo-feldspathic domains, along which the rocks can be cleaved into commercial slabs. In the thrust nappes of the Scandinavian Caledonides, such deposits are essentially developed from psammitic rocks in high-strain zones. Recent investigations have shown that the industrial quality of many flagstone deposits can be linked to several aspects of the tectonometamorphic development of the rocks, and especially to rapid vertical and lateral variations in strain. Field relations and microtextures from three different flagstone deposits are described and used as examples. Finally, a structural and textural characterisation of flagstones is proposed.


Currently, most of the vehicles make use of fossil fuels for operations, resulting in one of the largest sources of carbon dioxide emissions. The need to cut our dependency on these fossil fuels has led to an increased use of renewable energy sources (RESs) for mobility purposes. A technical and economic analysis of a one-stop charging station for battery electric vehicles (BEV) and fuel cell electric vehicles (FCEV) is investigated in this paper. The hybrid optimization model for electric renewables (HOMER) software and the heavy-duty refueling station analysis model (HDRSAM) are used to conduct the case study for a one-stop charging station at Technical University of Denmark (DTU)-Risø campus. Using HOMER, a total of 42 charging station scenarios are analyzed by considering two systems (a grid-connected system and an off-grid connected system). For each system three different charging station designs (design A-hydrogen load; design B-an electrical load, and design C-an integrated system consisting of both hydrogen and electrical load) are set up for analysis. Furthermore, seven potential wind turbines with different capacity are selected from HOMER database for each system. Using HDRSAM, a total 18 scenarios are analyzed with variation in hydrogen delivery option, production volume, hydrogen dispensing option and hydrogen dispensing option. The optimal solution from HOMER for a lifespan of twenty-five years is integrated into design C with the grid-connected system whose cost was $986,065. For HDRSAM, the optimal solution design consists of tube trailer as hydrogen delivery with cascade dispensing option at 350 bar together with high production volume and the cost of the system was $452,148. The results from the two simulation tools are integrated and the overall cost of the one-stop charging station is achieved which was $2,833,465. The analysis demonstrated that the one-stop charging station with a grid connection is able to fulfil the charging demand cost-effectively and environmentally friendly for an integrated energy system with RESs in the investigated locations.


Intelligent transportation systems (ITS) have become common in public transit systems, particularly providing real-time transit information. For new implementations, it remains difficult to predict and quantify system and user benefits of technology implementation. Although previous studies have quantified the operational benefits of real-time transit traveler information systems, a gap in knowledge exists around passenger benefits of such systems. The objective of this research was to create a refined method for evaluating transit rider benefits from real-time traveler information and predict changes in traveler behavior. The study was conducted on a rural university campus, isolating the impacts of the system from the multiple influences that often affect transportation in larger metropolitan areas. This study uniquely integrated transit system performance, pedestrian travel times, and traffic simulation to determine travel times and predict mode split. Findings indicated that reducing passenger waiting anxiety was the most significant measure of traveler benefit from such a system. While the benefits found were specific to the study site, the methodology can be used for other transit systems evaluating real-time transit technology investments in rural or urban environments.


BACKGROUND: Vitamin D deficiency is becoming a worldwide public health concern as it increases the risk of many diseases and disorders. Little is known about the health outcomes of such deficiency in the South Asian population, in which it is more pronounced. The aim of this thesis was therefore to investigate the ethnic differences between South Asians and Caucasians with regard to the effect of vitamin D status on osteoporosis and cardiovascular disease risk. Furthermore, the study aimed to determine the extent of the problem and the genetic or social reasons behind it. METHODS: The research involved three sub-projects; the first of which undertook further analysis of the data from the original Vitamin D, Food Intake, Nutrition and Exposure to Sunlight in Southern England (D-FINES) study. Subjects from D-FINES were then re- invited to take part in the second part of this research, which measured volumetric bone density of the tibia and radius as using (pQCT)estimates of bone health. General health and biomarkers of cardiovascular disease and osteoporosis were assessed by standard clinical biochemical blood assays. The final stage utilised an interventional study design to test the efficiency of vitamin D production in both ethnic groups following controlled exposure to ultraviolet (UV) radiation. RESULTS: In general, South Asian women had significantly lower vitamin D status, HDL cholesterol and insulin sensitivity; significant higher BMI, insulin level, insulin resistance and beta cell function compared to Caucasian women. All of these undesirable biochemical indicators put South Asian women at higher risk of cardiovascular disease. South Asian women also had lower bone areas in all sites measured; and lower cortical bone thickness and volumetric bone density at some sites of tibial bone. All of these bone parameters indicate lower bone strength among South Asian women compared to Caucasian women; leading to a higher risk of osteoporosis long- term. Despite consistently lower vitamin D levels in South Asian women they were shown to synthesise vitamin D just as efficiently as Caucasians when exposed to the same dose of UV. Interestingly, the baseline level of vitamin D rather than ethnicity influenced the amount of UV needed to reach equal serum concentrations. This novel finding indicated no effect of skin tone on the production of vitamin D and identified that length of exposure was the critical factor. Inferences made from data collected on UV skin exposure behaviour of the two groups suggested that the main reason for predominant vitamin D deficiency in south Asians is their tendency to avoid sunlight for fear of tanning. CONCLUSION: More research and public health messages to the South Asian population are urgently required to reduce cardiovascular and osteoporosis risk factors. This could be achieved by a number of ways 1. Encouraging more widespread use of vitamin supplements 2. Educating on the health benefits of safe UV exposure to increase their vitamin D status. 3. Encouraging a vitamin D rich diet Furthermore the association between vitamin D, bone health indices and lipid profiles warrant additional research in both groups.


The standard approach for characterizing boldness rarely considers the influence of social environment on the expression of boldness in group-living animals. We studied a wild-caught, captive population of monk parakeets ( Myiopsitta monachus ) to investigate the impact of conspecific presence on boldness — a personality trait in monk parakeets — in a controlled environment. We quantified seven boldness metrics across three types of behavioural assay: novel object, emergence, and predator exposure tests in the presence of a companion pair of flock mates. Because of the high degree of sociality in this species, we hypothesized that the presence of companion birds would facilitate the focal individuals' behavioural responses (i.e., increase the average boldness level). We found that behavioural response in a risky foraging context was inversely correlated between solitary and social condition in males, but not in females. Our results have implications for characterizing sex-specific differences of risk-taking behaviour in social animals.


On the basis of analyzing the brittleness, ductileity, and the removal mechanisms of the^nano-ZrO2 Ceramics, the critical ductile grinding depth formula of the nano-ceramics was established. Due to superductileity of the nano-ZrO2 ceramics, it couldn't apply the formula of the common engineering ceramic material according to experimental results. The value of material coefficient ζ has relations with not only the material characteristics but also the processing methods and the processing parameters. It was proved that ζ has great effects on the accuracy of theoretical calculation. Experimental results showed that the critical ductility grinding depth of the nano-ZrO2 ceramics is up to 12 µm in common grinding methods, while in ultrasonic grinding is up to 20µm. The grinding chips with and without ultrasonic vibration assistance were discussed.


Effects of nutrient solutions on quantitative and qualitative indices of tulip (Tulipa gesneriana cv. Apricot parrot) were studied in a completely randomized design with 5 nutrient solutions, 4 experimental units and 3 replications. Plants were fed with five nutrient solutions (S1, S2, S3, S4 and S5) having NH4 -N/total N ratios of 0, 0.038, 0.074, 0.11 and 0.14, respectively. All nutrient solutions had similar concentrations of mineral elements. The five treatments consisted of 2.5 meq/L total N, and concentration of all the nutrients was 8.4 meq/L. Based on the results, increasing the ammonium level in nutrient solutions decreased N and total protein storage in the bulbs, but increased N concentration in the shoots. The ammonium level had no significant effect on potassium concentration of shoots, but increased phosphorus concentration in the shoots. Maximum calcium and magnesium concentration in shoots, wet weight and length and diameter of flowering stem were obtained in plants fed with S2 solution. Increasing the ammonium level increased number of bulblets, but decreased their size. Increasing the ammonium level decreased time to flowering of bulbs. The highest longevity of cut flowers was observed in plants fed with S2 solution. In general, based on the results of this research, with increasing the ammonium level in the nutrients solution, the qualitative traits of tulip, such as length and diameter of flowering stem, were increased, but longevity of cut flowers and number of produced bulblets were decreased.