Numerous studies have explained the significant correlation between monetary policies and asset pricing bubbles. This study uses data on the overall UK housing market and the five UK regions with the highest house prices to evaluate the correlation between monetary policies and pricing bubbles in the UK housing markets. This study uses a theoretical model to verify whether monetary policies affect asset pricing bubbles. Fluctuations in house prices are classified into fluctuations related to fundamentals (the mean reversion behaviour and responses to information in the current period) and fluctuations unrelated to fundamentals (self-related behaviour). After estimating the fluctuation behaviour of house prices through quantile regression, this study asserts that a monetary easing environment can significantly increase housing returns. The self-related phenomenon of asset returns has increased significantly and has thus continuously increased prices and formed a bubble.


Adult lesbians are insufficiently active to achieve health benefits. An 8-week pilot intervention targeting coping skills to overcome barriers, was designed to increase moderate physical activity (MPA) among adult lesbians. Sixteen lesbians aged 29 to 55 years (experimental condition [EC] [n = 10]; control condition [CC] [n = 6] completed measures at baseline and end-program. Mixed repeated-measures ANOVAs used to examine between-group differences in average daily: (a) MPA, (b) task self-efficacy (TSE), and (c) self-regulatory efficacy (SRE) from baseline to end-program, were not significant. Two data trends with moderate effect sizes were identified: (1) the EC maintained 24 minutes/d of MPA (P = .10; d = .43); and (2) TSE was maintained among the EC but decreased for the CC (P = .09; d=.44). Only a small effect size was found (P = .56; d = .16) for SRE. The intervention appears to stem declines in MPA and task-related efficacy beliefs.


The environmental distribution of the neurotoxic amino acid, 3-N-methyl-2,3-diaminopropanoic acid (BMAA), first isolated in 1967, was initially believed to be limited to tropical and subtropical plants of the genus Cycas. The seeds of one such species, which had been used historically on the Pacific island of Guam as a foodstuff, had a reputation for neurotoxicity. Some 40 years later the amino acid was detected in terrestrial and aquatic cyanobacteria and in other aquatic organisms. Overlooked was the discovery of BMAA in peptides of bizarre structure that had been isolated in 1975 from Paenibacillus pulvifaciens during a search for antibiotics. More recently (2014), peptides of similar structure were isolated from Paenibacillus larvae; this organism is causative of American Foulbrood, a lethal disease of honeybee colonies. These are interesting chemical and environmental observations, but knowledge of the bacterial distribution of BMAA is limited to just these two species of Paenibacillus, while more than 200 Paenibacillus spp. are known. Paenibacillus spp. are ever present naturally in the environment and are used agriculturally; recent research reports that some species infect human foods - including cow's milk - and have been isolated from human body fluids. We wish to stimulate interest in the environmental distribution of the neurotoxic BMAA in Paenibacillus spp. by drawing together previously isolated streams of research and by proposing experimental approaches by which this matter might be resolved.


Most of the research to date focuses on bilingual sign language translation (BSLT). However, such models are in-efficient in building multilingual sign language translation systems. To solve this problem, we introduce the multilin-gual sign language translation (MSLT) task. It aims to use a single model to complete the translation between multiple sign languages and spoken languages. Then, we propose MLSLT, the first MSLT model, which contains two novel dy-namic routing mechanisms for controlling the degree ofpa-rameter sharing between different languages. Intra-layer language-specific routing controls the proportion of data flowing through shared parameters and language-specific parameters from the token level through a soft gate within the layer, and inter-layer language-specific routing controls and learns the data flow path of different languages at the language level through a soft gate between layers. In order to evaluate the performance of MLSLT, we collect the first publicly available multilingual sign language understanding dataset, Spreadthesign-Ten (SP-10), which contains up to 100 language pairs, e.g., CSL→en, GSG→zh. Experi-mental results show that the average performance of ML-SLT outperforms the baseline MSLT model and the com-bination of multiple BSLT models in many cases. In ad-dition, we also explore zero-shot translation in sign language and find that our model can achieve comparable performance to the supervised BSLT model on some language pairs. Dataset and more details are at https://mlslt.github.io/.


The heterogeneous boiling of liquids on hot surfaces, despite its importance, is an extremely complicated and murky phenomenon. It involves the random probabilistic nucleation of multiple bubbles whose growth, interaction, and departure, further, depends on processes involving heat transfer, fluid flow, and interfacial phenomena. This, and the random tumultuous nature of boiling makes experimental studies of the process extremely difficult. For achieving a phenomenological understanding of boiling, several researchers have relied on experiments involving artificially generated bubbles on solid surfaces. In this paper, we evaluate these methods of artificial bubble generation and explore how closely they replicate actual heterogeneous boiling conditions experienced by bubbles. Based on this, we assess the suitability of these methods for conducting phenomenological boiling studies, and identify their potential advantages and drawbacks.


With the increasing evidence of climate change in the coming decades, adaptive mechanisms present in nature may permit crop survival and growth on marginal or saline soils and is considered an important area of future research. Some subspecies of Restharrow; O. repens subsp. maritima and O. reclinata have developed the remarkable ability to colonise sand dunes, shingle beaches and cliff tops. α-onocerin is a major component within the roots of Restharrow (Ononis) contributing up to 0.5% dry weight as described by Rowan and Dean (1972b). The ecological function of α-onocerin is poorly understood, with suggestions that it has waterproofing properties, potentially inhibiting the flow of sodium chloride ions into root cells, or preventing desiccation in arid environments.
The fact that alpha-onocerin (a secondary plant metabolite) biosynthesis has evolved a number of times in distantly related taxa; Club mosses, Ferns and Angiosperms, argues for a relatively simple mutation from non-producing antecedents. No direct research has been reported to have investigated the biosynthetic mechanism towards α-onocerin synthesis via a squalene derived product originally characterised by Dean, and Rowan (1972a). A bi-cyclisation event of 2,3;22,23-dioxidosqualene by an oxidosqualene cyclase, may provide plants with an alternative mechanism for synthesising a range of triterpene diol products via alpha-onocerin (Dean, and Rowan, 1972a). This mechanistic possibility presented the opportunity to investigate the biosynthesis of α-onocerin using a multi-disciplinary approach.
This thesis presents supporting data, that α-onocerin is a derivative of 2,3;22,23-dioxidosqualene via an oxidosqualene cyclase. Genetic markers were developed for Ononis versions of squalene cyclase, squalene epoxidase and a putative oxidosqualene cyclase. It was determined that squalene epoxidase; At4g37760 (SQE3), from A. thaliana showed the highest level of amino acid sequence conservation with the O. spinosa version. SQE3 is known to cyclise 2,3;22,23-dioxidosqualene (Rasbery et al., 2007). Based on amino acid sequence alignments and predictive protein modelling a partial putative oxidosqualene cyclase isolated from O. repens III subsp. maritima is likely to be an Ononis version of β-amyrin synthase rather than a multifunctional oxidosqualene cyclase. Further functional characterisation studies are needed.
Methods were developed for analysing the transcriptome and metabolome in Restharrow which will aid future functional characterisation studies. Within O. spinosa root SQE3 was highly expressed. In contrast SQE3 was expressed at low levels in O. spinosa leaf and O. pusilla root and leaf. This data was supported by metabolomic profiling of five species of Restharrow; O. spinosa, O. repens, O. repens subsp. maritima, O. pusilla and O. rotundifolia. Triterpenes α-onocerin and 2,3;22,23-dioxidosqualene were not present in O. rotundifolia and O. pusilla. Where 2,3;22,23-dioxidosqualene was present in plant extracts, α-onocerin accumulation was also detected. O. pusilla and O. spinosa can be utilised for studying the occurrence of alpha-onocerin within plants. The data presented in this thesis provides the necessary background information providing targets for functional expression studies of squalene epoxidases and oxidosqualene cyclases from Restharrow.
In summary the results in this thesis support the hypothesis proposed by Dean and Rowan (1971). There is good evidence to suggest the ability of Restharrow to cyclise alpha-onocerin, may be dependant on the availability of 2,3;22,23-dioxidosqualene as the primary precursor. This was shown in development, tissue specific, ecotype and cell free enzyme analytical chemistry assays. There was little evidence to suggest a single specific oxidosqualene cyclisation event was primarily responsible for alpha-onocerin biosynthesis. The work also presents evidence to suggest that differences in the squalene epoxdiase sequence and transcription signals may affect the plants ability to cyclise alpha-onocerin. This may have ecological implications and allow plants to adapt to their environment by providing and alternative route to biosynthesising membrane constituents via an alternative substrate specific mechanism.


The development of a 3G/GSM dual-system Radio-On-a-Chip for mobile handsets in CMOS technology depends on the GSM transmitter's compliance with the receive-band noise mandated by the standard. An integrated direct conversion solution eliminates filtering at the intermediate frequency stage, requiring a low-noise transmitter chain. The transmitter synthesizer is the main noise contributor due to the high phase noise of the voltage controlled oscillators integrated in CMOS technology. While the integrated LC-oscillators have a better phase noise performance than the ring-oscillators, the high loss of the integrated inductor has prevented the fully integrated solution in GSM transmitters so far. The compromise solution consists of an integrated active circuit coupled with an off-chip, discrete resonator. The thesis motivation was to implement novel design techniques and achieve completely integrated oscillator in CMOS technology, capable of meeting the strict receive-band noise requirements of GSM mobile handset.An integrated oscillator operating at frequencies sufficiently higher than the transmit carrier frequency has two main benefits: the immunity from power-amplifier output injection locking, and higher Q-values of integrated inductors. The oscillator phase noise at large offsets depends on the resonator Q-value, which in turn is dominated by the integrated inductor Q-value. In addition, the phase noise is inversely proportional to the power in the resonator, achieved by a large voltage swing across the differential nodes. However, a large voltage swing across the resonator varactor modulates its capacitance due to the nonlinear voltage-to-capacitance function. This effect increases the phase noise at close offsets through the AM-to-FM noise conversion mechanism. An optimum solution is an oscillator achieving the phase noise requirements at all offsets.The problem of varactor capacitance modulation due to the large voltage swing is fairly new phenomena, expected to be encountered more frequently in the future as the supply voltages become lower and oscillator tuning ranges become larger.The expressions of the effective capacitance and modulation are derived for a variety of C(V)-curve-linearization techniques, aimed at reducing the modulation while keeping the varactor tuning range intact. Novel technique of anti-parallel varactor branches, which are non-symmetric about the tuning line, is presented and confirmed in a prototype design. The varactor elements of each branch have different reactance, and therefore experience different voltage amplitude. When optimized, the varactor element having a more nonlinear C(V) function will experience lower voltage amplitude while a more linear element will experience a larger amplitude. This will lead to an overall lower capacitance modulation. The branches are placed in anti-parallel manner across the oscillator differential nodes, maintaining the large differential swing and symmetry, while lowering the AM-to-FM noise conversion, i.e. the close-in phase noise.In order to keep the far-out phase noise low integrated inductor is optimized by trading its physical size for higher performance. The performed research indicates that an integrated inductor of large physical size and low inductance value operated at higher frequency can achieve Q-values 2-3 times larger than those at GSM transmit carrier frequency. It is desirable that the designs are portable across different foundries, i.e. maintain the performance independent of the semiconductor process chosen. The inductor losses can be grouped into ohmic, i.e. conductor losses, and losses due to the electromagnetic radiation and coupling, dominated by the substrate loss. Methodology for fast identification of loss mechanisms in integrated inductors is developed, based on the element values of standard single-π network inductor model.The presented theory is practically confirmed through a test chip. The close-in phase noise of a reference oscillator design incorporating a traditional varactor is compared to the oscillator design with the new varactor topology. The close-in phase noise profiles measured on a test chip compare closely with the derived theory. The novel oscillator experiences less varactor capacitance modulation, and has a flatter phase noise across the tuning range. The reference oscillator suffers from strong capacitance modulation, and its close-in phase noise profile corresponds to that predicted by the theory and previous works, having a non-monotonic shape across the tuning range. The resonator of the reference oscillator has a higher Q-value and therefore has a better far-out noise performance at same biasing conditions. Therefore, the inductor characteristics dominate the far-out phase noise, and the varactor characteristics dominate the close-in phase noise in the large voltage swing oscillator.The last part of this thesis presents the results of a case study of the enhanced LC-tank resonators. The topology is modified such that oscillator overharmonics are either filtered or boosted within the resonator. The result is a lower phase noise and a possibility of an overharmonic oscillator. This novel technique relies on a harmonic analysis of enhanced LC-tank, and is an attractive topic for further research.


OBJECTIVE We evaluated the safety and efficacy of closed-loop basal insulin delivery during sleep and after regular meals and unannounced periods of exercise. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS Twelve adolescents with type 1 diabetes (five males; mean age 15.0 [SD 1.4] years; HbA1c 7.9 [0.7]%; BMI 21.4 [2.6] kg/m2) were studied at a clinical research facility on two occasions and received, in random order, either closed-loop basal insulin delivery or conventional pump therapy for 36 h. During closed-loop insulin delivery, pump basal rates were adjusted every 15 min according to a model predictive control algorithm informed by subcutaneous sensor glucose levels. During control visits, subjects' standard infusion rates were applied. Prandial insulin boluses were given before main meals (50–80 g carbohydrates) but not before snacks (15–30 g carbohydrates). Subjects undertook moderate-intensity exercise, not announced to the algorithm, on a stationary bicycle at a 140 bpm heart rate in the morning (40 min) and afternoon (20 min). Primary outcome was time when plasma glucose was in the target range (71–180 mg/dL). RESULTS Closed-loop basal insulin delivery increased percentage time when glucose was in the target range (median 84% [interquartile range 78–88%] vs. 49% [26–79%], P = 0.02) and reduced mean plasma glucose levels (128 [19] vs. 165 [55] mg/dL, P = 0.02). Plasma glucose levels were in the target range 100% of the time on 17 of 24 nights during closed-loop insulin delivery. Hypoglycemia occurred on 10 occasions during control visits and 9 occasions during closed-loop delivery (5 episodes were exercise related, and 4 occurred within 2.5 h of prandial bolus). CONCLUSIONS Day-and-night closed-loop basal insulin delivery can improve glucose control in adolescents. However, unannounced moderate-intensity exercise and excessive prandial boluses pose challenges to hypoglycemia-free closed-loop basal insulin delivery.


The demand for cloud based resources has been increasing, catering to the need for enormous growth in Cloud data centers to serve its customers by providing different types of VMs and providing support too many business applications is always challenging. Cloud data center is the collection of physical resources, which provide services to its customers in a virtual manner. There is need for effective scheduling algorithms along with scheduling maintenance activity of the servers. To provide continuous and uninterrupted services to its customers, data centers is to be maintained properly by looking at the issues like scheduling the server's resources to requests, queuing the requests to the servers and proper maintenance time allocated to each server. Devising the algorithm and implementing is done in algorithmic perspective with Open Nebula toolkit and the results are evaluated using the sunstone GUI server. To enable resources in Open Nebula toolkit, ruby scripts are coded with embedded C. Open Nebula CLI commands are used to check the performance of the proposed design.


In the exploration of new osmium based double perovskites, Sr2FeOsO6 is a new insertion in the existing family. The polycrystalline compound has been prepared by solid state synthesis from the respective binary oxides. Powder X-ray diffraction (PXRD) analysis shows the structure is pseudocubic at room temperature, whereas low-temperature synchrotron data refinements reveal the structure to be tetragonal, space group I4/m. Heat capacity and magnetic measurements of Sr2FeOsO6 indicated the presence of two magnetic phase transitions at T1 = 140 K and T2 = 67 K. Band structure calculations showed the compound as a narrow energy gap semiconductor, which supports the experimental results obtained from the resistivity measurements. The present study documents significant structural and electronic effects of substituting Fe(3+) for Cr(3+) ion in Sr2CrOsO6.


Background
Chronic pain can be disabling. It is a major cause of morbidity and increased usage of
healthcare services. The effects of a physiotherapy led-programme using Interactive
Behavioural modification therapy (IBMT) with a 3-month follow-up for patients with
musculoskeletal pain is unknown.
Aims
To examine pre to post and medium term (3 months) effects of a physiotherapy-led
programme, the Functional Rehabilitation programme (FRP), for patients with chronic
musculoskeletal pain, in terms of fear of movement, disability, self-efficacy, depression
and physical function.
Design
The study included two phases. Phase one was a preliminary retrospective study using
data from 278 patients. Phase two used a prospective pre-experimental medium-term
follow-up study design with 53 participants. The FRP programme was delivered over a 5-
week period, each group had between 8 and 10 participants. Both phases were
undertaken at Fairfield General Hospital outpatient physiotherapy department, Pennine
Acute NHS Hospitals Trust.
Outcome measures
Primary outcome was Tampa scale of Kinesiophobia (TSK), secondary measures included;
Roland Morris Disability Questionnaire (RMDQ), Pain disability questionnaire (PDQ), pain
self-efficacy questionnaire (PSEQ) and the Hospital anxiety and depression scale (HADS).
In addition physical function tests included speed and distance of walking and step up
repetition.
Results
Improvements were observed in all outcome measures. Minimal clinical important
difference (MCID) was reached in those measures with recognised levels (TSK and RMDQ)
and were sustained at 3-month follow-up. In addition, depression scores reduced to within normal level (0-7). There was no statistically significant difference in outcomes
between condition types.
Conclusions
A physiotherapy-led group intervention using a psychologically informed approach
produced positive changes in reducing fear relating to movement, pain-related disability,
depression and anxiety in a mixed chronic pain aetiology group. There was no statistically
significant difference in outcomes between low back pain and multi-site pain. Future
studies should look at a longer term follow-up with an RCT design of the impact of
physiotherapist's management.
In relation to the growing problem of managing increasing numbers of people with
chronic pain, this study adds to the growing body of evidence of how physiotherapist's
could take a lead role in chronic pain management. This would help to address the
current shortage of skilled professionals to deliver pain management and expand the
professions repertoire. Further, it adds weight on previous research carried out by
physiotherapists which has focussed on chronic low back pain to this study's mixed
chronic pain cohort.


An aspirational global food system is one that delivers across a suite of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), including universal access to healthy diets, which can also codeliver on climate and environment SDGs. The literature has downplayed the relative contribution of dietary change to sustainable food systems. In this perspective article, we argue that the potential for positive transformational change in diets should not be underestimated, for two sets of reasons. First, the dynamism of diets over long‐term and, especially, recent history shows the potential for rapid and widespread change, including toward more diverse and healthier diets. Second, contemporary behavioral research demonstrates promising tactics to influence consumers' dietary choices. Since the entire food system creates the circumstances of those choices, the most effective strategies to shift diets will involve multiple approaches that deliberately aim not just to influence consumers themselves but also to incentivize all actors in the food systems, taking into account multiple agendas and values. The effectiveness of actions will depend on the political economy at local, national, and global levels. Overall, there are reasons to be hopeful about the potential for accelerated global dietary change, given both historic trends and the growing suite of tools and approaches available.


Although positive policies and laws promote the Inuit language and Inuit qaujimajatuqangit (IQ) in all sectors of Nunavut society, including at all levels of Inuit schooling, many Nunavut schools are still struggling to overturn colonizing practices and mindsets that have hindered effective education of Inuit youth. In this article, we document perceptions of students, teachers, principals, parents, and community members related to school transformation under the leadership of an Inuk principal and and Inuk co-principal in two Nunavut high schools. These oral accounts show that having an Inuit principal enhanced students' opportunities to learn and practise the Inuit language and IQ through enhanced, localized programming and increased exposure to Inuit ways of speaking and being. Parents were mobilized and equipped to support and advocate for their children, including joining local District Education Authorities, when they were able to communicate easily and effectively with the principal, and saw their knowledge, culture, and language valued and practised in the school system. We argue that the strong, community-anchored leadership modelled in these two schools transformed the context for effective intercultural, bilingual education. Results point to the importance of leadership by school principals in actualizing the goals set out in Nunavut's Education Act (2008), governmental mandates, and language laws.


Background: Studies have shown associations between health indices and access to "green" environments but the underlying mechanisms of this association are not clear. Objectives: To examine associations of perceived neighbourhood "greenness" with perceived physical and mental health and to investigate whether walking and social factors account for the relationships. Methods: A mailed survey collected the following data from adults (n  =  1895) in Adelaide, Australia: physical and mental health scores (12-item short-form health survey); perceived neighbourhood greenness; walking for recreation and for transport; social coherence; local social interaction and sociodemographic variables. Results: After adjusting for sociodemographic variables, those who perceived their neighbourhood as highly green had 1.37 and 1.60 times higher odds of better physical and mental health, respectively, compared with those who perceived the lowest greenness. Perceived greenness was also correlated with recreational walking and social factors. When walking for recreation and social factors were added to the regression models, recreational walking was a significant predictor of physical health; however, the association between greenness and physical health became non-significant. Recreational walking and social coherence were associated with mental health and the relationship between greenness and mental health remained significant. Conclusions: Perceived neighbourhood greenness was more strongly associated with mental health than it was with physical health. Recreational walking seemed to explain the link between greenness and physical health, whereas the relationship between greenness and mental health was only partly accounted for by recreational walking and social coherence. The restorative effects of natural environments may be involved in the residual association of this latter relationship.


We investigate the workforce heterogeneity of startups with respect to education, age and wages. Our explorative study uses data on the population of 1,614 Danish firms founded in 1998. We track these firms until 2001 which enables us to analyze changes in workforce composition over time. Such a dynamic analysis constitutes a hitherto neglected area of entrepreneurship research. To assess relative workforce heterogeneity, we construct a simulated benchmark to which we compare observed workforce heterogeneity. We find that the initial workforce is relatively homogeneous compared to our benchmark. Our result holds both for non-knowledge-based and, to a lesser extent, knowledge-based startups.This seems surprising since a vast management literature advocates heterogeneous teams. The difficulties associated with workforce heterogeneity (like affective conflict or coordination cost) as well as "homophily" (people's inclination to bound with others with similar characteristics) hence appear to generally overweigh the benefits of heterogeneity (like greater variety in perspectives or more creativity). We also document that workforces become more heterogeneous over time – startups add workers with skills different from the workforce at startup. The initial supposedly "poor" mix of workforce characteristics is hence adjusted as the startup matures. This increase in workforce heterogeneity is, however, smaller compared to our benchmark but substantially larger than is team additions had the same characteristics as the initial team members.


The purpose of this study was to investigate the kinetics of hydrogen absorption and hydride formation and their effect on the mechanical properties in Zr-1Nb and Zr-1Nb-1Sn-0.1Fe alloys, which were thermomechanically processed and gaseously hydrided at 320oC under 10 bar hydrogen pressure. X-ray diffraction (XRD) confirmed the formation of α-Zr matrix after final heat treatment. The alloys absorbed almost the same amount of hydrogen, although with different kinetics. Absorption began almost immediately in Zr-1Nb alloy whilst in Zr-1Nb-1Sn-0.1Fe hydrogen absorption started after 11 h besides a faster hydrogen kinetics. Results showed that tensile strengths for both alloys were nearly independent of absorbed hydrogen. Fractographic examinations indicated ductile fractures for unhydrided condition whereas quasi-cleavage features were observed for all hydrided specimens.


This study compares the effectiveness of productand category-specific advertising personalization in Social Retargeting. Social Retargeting combines the features of social advertising, targeting consumers based on social connections, and retargeting, using consumers' browsing behavior to personalize ad content. We conducted a large-scale randomized field experiment in collaboration with a major e-retailer. Contradicting prior empirical findings, our results indicate that product-specific ads outperform less personalized category-specific ads. While theory suggests a positive effect, we find that social targeting decreases the performance of personalized ads. Surprisingly, socially targeted consumers are not more responsive to product-specific ads. We show that our results remain robust and are driven by ad personalization when controlling for temporal targeting and how deep consumers browse the e-retailer's website. Our study contributes to the IS and marketing literature related to personalization in digital advertising and provides valuable suggestions for firms' personalization strategies.


HIV-1 infection, once established, requires lifelong treatment due to the ability of the virus to maintain latent infection in its host and become reactivated during an interruption in antiretroviral treatment (ART). Although preventing transmission and acquisition of HIV is an important goal, no ART thus far have exploited harnessing a component of the host immune system to combat transmission of the virus. ABSTRACT Sphingosine-1-phosphate (S1P) is a sphingolipid modulator of a myriad of cellular processes, and therapeutic targeting of S1P signaling is utilized clinically to treat multiple sclerosis. We have previously shown that functional antagonism of S1P receptors reduces cell-free, cell-to-cell, and latent HIV-1 infection in primary CD4 T cells. In this work, we examined whether targeting sphingosine kinase 1 or 2 (SPHK1/2) to inhibit S1P production would prevent infection using multiple HIV-1 primary isolates and infectious molecular clones. SPHK inhibition reduced HIV transmission between primary CD4 T cells in both cell-to-cell transmission and pretreatment coculture models. Mechanistically, pharmacological inhibition of SPHK reduced susceptibility to infection primarily by downregulating phosphorylated SAMHD1 (pSAMHD1), enhancing the activity of this innate HIV-1 restriction factor. Furthermore, genetic disruption of either SPHK1 or SPHK2 by CRISPR/Cas9 reduced phosphorylation of SAMHD1, demonstrating the role of these kinases in modulation of SAMHD1 activity. The effect of SPHK inhibition on limiting HIV-1 infection in CD4 T cells was observed irrespective of the biological sex or age of the donor, with neither variable significantly influencing the effectiveness of SPHK inhibition. Our results demonstrate that targeting SPHK inhibits transmission of HIV-1 via modulation of SAMHD1 phosphorylation to decrease permissiveness to infection in CD4 T cells and suggests that therapeutic targeting of this pathway early in infection enables development of strategies to prevent establishment of infection and hinder cell-to-cell transmission of HIV-1. IMPORTANCE HIV-1 infection, once established, requires lifelong treatment due to the ability of the virus to maintain latent infection in its host and become reactivated during an interruption in antiretroviral treatment (ART). Although preventing transmission and acquisition of HIV is an important goal, no ART thus far have exploited harnessing a component of the host immune system to combat transmission of the virus. We have previously shown that inhibition of sphingosine-1-phosphate (S1P) receptors, a component of S1P signaling, reduces HIV-1 infection in human CD4 T cells. We therefore investigated inhibition of sphingosine kinases, another element of this signaling system, in this work. We found that inhibition of sphingosine kinases 1 and 2 (SPHK1/2) could reduce HIV-1 transmission, both among CD4 T cells and between macrophages and CD4 T cells. Our research therefore suggests that therapeutic targeting of SPHK or S1P receptors may aid in the development of strategies to prevent establishment and transmission of HIV-1 infection among immune cells.


Abstract The informational opacity of small businesses makes them an interesting area for the study of banks' lending practices and procedures. We use data from a survey of small businesses to analyze the micro level differences in the loan approval processes of large and small banks. We provide evidence that large banks ($1 billion or more in assets) employ standard criteria obtained from financial statements in the loan decision process, whereas small banks rely to a greater extent on information about the character of the borrower. These cookie-cutter and character approaches are compatible with the incentives and environments facing large and small banks.


Myrica esculenta Buch.-Ham. ex D. Don is a multipurpose tree occurring throughout Nepal between 1000-2100m asl. Provenance variation in this tree from four different parts of Kathmandu valley and two hilly regions of central Nepal were studied. The provenances are located in different altitudinal ranges and diversified climatic conditions. Substantial variability in morphological traits and flavonoid contents were observed in natural populations representing six provenances. Nagarkot and Shrinagar stands of M. esulenta were likely to be superior to other stands for their growth and other morphologial characters. Statistically, large variation was observed among provenances for stem diameter, wood specific gravity and height of the plants. Highly significant positive correlation was observed for height and stem diameter. The natural variations in populations are considered important for tree improvement,  selection, hybridization and breeding programmes.


An understanding of the rate and the mechanism of reaction is of fundamental importance in the many facets of chemistry. Electrochemical systems are further complicated by the heterogeneous boundary, between the solution and the electrode, that the electron passes through before any electrochemical reaction can take place. This thesis concerns the development of methods for analysing electrode kinetics. One part involves the further development of the Global Analysis procedure to include electrodes with a spherical geometry which are traditionally the most popular form of electrodes. Simulated data is analysed to ascertain the accuracy of the procedure and then the known artifacts of uncompensated solution resistance and charging current are added to the simulated data so that the effects can be observed. The experimental analysis of 2-methyl-2-nitropropane is undertaken and comparisons are made with the Marcus-Hush electrochemical theories concerning electrode kinetics. A related section explores procedures for the kinetic analysis of steady state voltammetric data obtained at microdisc electrodes. A method is proposed under the name of Normalised Steady State Voltammetry and is tested using data obtained from a Fast Quasi-Explicit Finite Difference simulation of diffusion to a microdisc electrode. In a second area of work using microelectrodes, the electrochemical behaviour of compounds of the general formula M(CO)3(η3 - P2P1) where M is either Cr, Mo or W and P2P' is bis(2-diphenylphosphinoethyl)phenylphosphine) is elucidated. The development of instrumentation and mathematical procedures relevant to the measurement and quantitation of these systems is also investigated. The tungsten compound represents the first examples where the 17-electronfac+ and mer+ isomers are of comparable stability.


Surface segregation is studied via the evolution of reflection high-energy electron diffraction (RHEED) patterns under different values of As 4 BEP for InGaAs films. When the As 4 BEP is set to be zero, the RHEED pattern keeps a 4×3/(n×3) structure with increasing temperature, and surface segregation takes place until 470 C. The RHEED pattern develops into a metal-rich (4×2) structure as temperature increases to 495 C. The reason for this is that surface segregation makes the In inside the InGaAs film climb to its surface. With the temperature increasing up to 515 C, the RHEED pattern turns into a GaAs(2×4) structure due to In desorption. While the As 4 BEP comes up to a specific value (1.33×10 4 Pa–1.33×10 3 Pa), the surface temperature can delay the segregation and desorption. We find that As 4 BEP has a big influence on surface desorption, while surface segregation is more strongly dependent on temperature than surface desorption.


This paper describes the experimental analysis of eye movement during the generation of a trajectory by the human upper limb, carried out to elucidate the human mechanism for visual-information recognition. In the experiments preformed, subjects were asked to draw the trajectories of some kinds of images: a complete circle, semicircle, stippled circle. Reflective markers were attached to the subjects for motion capture, and a head-mounted eye-mark recorder was used to record eye movement. The results showed that the subjects adopted an eye-movement pattern called the subgoal travel method (fixating in the vicinity of the fingertip while drawing/tracing) for the complete circle. Subsequently, when the target trajectory was one of incomplete shapes, some subjects continued following the subgoal travel method by drawing the missing part of the target trajectory, while others followed two other eye-movement patterns. The first is called the center-point fixation method, in which subjects consider the center point as the most important point for generating the target-image trajectory, and therefore, fix their gaze at the center point throughout the experiment. The second is called the point-to-point travel method, in which the subjects' gazes shift between the center point of a displayed image and their fingertip. The results showed that the center-point fixation method provides greater visual information than the subgoal travel method. Further, the results confirmed that the eye-movement pattern, movement accuracy, and drawing speed are correlated. Additional experiments clarified the conditions for which different eye-movement patterns are suitable: the subgoal travel method is suitable for high-accuracy drawing; the center-point fixation method is suitable for higher-speed drawing. This study has revealed some interesting points underlying the eye-movement strategy used by humans for generating a trajectory.


In a placebo-controlled, multicenter study, 180 male and female outpatients, ages 18-65, with DSM-III-R generalized anxiety disorder, were treated with abecarnil (a partial benzodiazepine agonist), alprazolam, or placebo for 4 weeks. This was followed by a rapid (1-week) taper, during which patients were assessed for any taper-related symptoms. All patients were identified via a structured clinical interview for DSM-III-R and randomly assigned to one of the three treatment groups. More than 70% of each treatment group completed the study. In the acute-treatment phase, both abecarnil and alprazolam showed evidence for efficacy that was significantly better than that of placebo. Both active agents were tolerated well. After the swift taper, a significantly greater number of taper-related symptoms occurred in the alprazolam-treated group than in the abecarnil-treated group, which was not different than in the placebo-treated group. Additionally, less residual improvement followed the taper in the alprazolam-treated and the placebo-treated groups. These data indicate that the partial benzodiazepine agonist abecarnil may be useful as a safe, effective, short-term treatment for anxiety. Theoretical and practical implications of these findings are discussed.


Lucy Clout's 'Warm Bath' is a home movie. It is a looping fiction telling two interlocking stories. The first, a group of seven women, each obsessed with the movement of water within their shared, UPVC and mildew, North London house. The second, a man who films a particular drainage ditch twice a day, every day, in the sunny Southern Californian endoergic basin. The video begins as an investigation into the desire to record the unremarkable passing of time and becomes a looking-based experiment in permanence, place, leaky systems and intimacy.
'Warm Bath' documents structures by which people maintain themselves – physically, socially and via repetition/routine. We see the prosaic economic relationship that is a house-share: necessarily impermanent, a place of continual constructional negotiation. It's a practical, provisional agreement between themselves: a structure that functionally understands it's own instability.
Through the nauseating repetitive movement of the individual hand, Clout shows one-sided stories of comfort, attachment and joining in.


The purpose of this study was to explore O'Connor's four factors contributing to mothers' uncertainty concerning gastrostomy tube (G-tube) insertion in their children (lack of information; unclear value trade-offs; lack of support; social pressure) in a substitute decision-making context. Fifty mothers participated in one semi-structured interview at the time of their children's G-tube insertion. Children's ages ranged from 2 weeks to 17 years, slightly more than half were male, and most had a primary diagnosis related to a neurological (n = 27) or cardiac (n = 10) condition. Two-thirds of the mothers identified topics about which they wanted more information, the majority reported both gains and losses associated with their decision, three-quarters reported that they had received support during decision making, and half reported that they had felt pressure from family and health care professionals. Results indicate that mothers' decisions about G-tube insertion are complex and difficult. The existence and importance of O'Connor's factors in this context are confirmed by mothers' accounts. Because these factors are believed to be modifiable, health care professionals have the opportunity to potentially minimize the extent to which the factors contribute to decision uncertainly. It is recommended that health care professionals implement interventions focused on minimizing uncertainty.


In classification problems where additional information is obtained from different data sources having heterogeneous features, a classifier trained earlier on the original data can not be updated to learn new data. One solution is to fuse this data by using classifiers to learn from each source and to combine outputs in order to get a more accurate final decision. Ensemble methods are well suited to solve data fusion problems since they use all data sources available while taking advantage of complementary information. Robust methods are proposed for combining classifiers, aimed at reducing the effect of outlier classifiers in the ensemble. The proposed methods are shown to have better performance leading to significantly better classification results than the previously employed techniques.


Swaziland has the highest HIV prevalence rate in the world, despite the billions of dollars' worth of prevention efforts mobilised to curtail the epidemic. In this article I will argue that Swaziland's HIV prevention campaign fundamentally misperceives the causes of the epidemic by focusing on individual behaviour change to the exclusion of the wider socio-economic context of disease transmission. This model derives from a western biomedical paradigm that fetishizes the individual as the locus of responsibility and obscures the structural violence that constrains people's agency. Over the past few decades, Swaziland has been subject to a regimen of neoliberal economic policies that have created an environment of unprecedented HIV risk. Structural adjustment programmes and export-oriented investment strategies have led to declining rates of economic growth, formal employment and agricultural productivity, exacerbating pressures for labour migration and transactional sex among poor households. At the same time, free trade agreements have hobbled the public health system and prevented the rollout of antiretroviral therapy. This article concludes that high HIV prevalence in Swaziland is less a biomedical condition than a symptom of neoliberal market policy and that the burden of behaviour change should lie not with HIV patients but with the architects and beneficiaries of the prevailing economic order.


1.The responses of the cockroach descending contralateral movement detector (DCMD) neurone to moving light stimuli were studied under both light- and dark-adapted conditions. 2.With light-adaptation the response of the DCMD to two moving 2° (diam.) spots of white light is less than the response to a single spot when the two spots are separated by less than 10° (Fig. 2). 3. With light-adaptation the response of the DCMD to a single moving light spot is a sigmoidally shaped function of the logarithm of the light intensity (Fig. 3a). With dark-adaptation the response of a DCMD to a single moving light spot is a bell-shaped function of the logarithm of the stimulus intensity (Fig. 3b). The absolute intensity that evokes a threshold response is about one-and-a-half log units less in the dark-adapted eye than in the light-adapted eye. 4.The decrease in the DCMD9s response that occurs when two stimuli are closer than 10°, and when a single bright stimulus is made brighter, indicates that lateral inhibition operates among the afferents to the DCMD. 5.It is shown that this inhibition cannot be produced by a recurrent lateral inhibitory network. A model of the afferent path that contains a non-recurrent lateral inhibitory network can account for the response/intensity plots of the DCMD recorded under both light-adapted and dark-adapted conditions. 6.The threshold intensity of the DCMD is increased if a stationary pattern of light is present near the path of the moving spot stimulus. This is shown to be due to a peripheral tonic lateral inhibition that is distinct from the non-recurrent lateral inhibition described earlier. 7.It is suggested that the peripheral lateral inhibition acts to adjust the threshold of afferents to local background light levels, while the proximal non-recurrent network acts to enhance the acuity of the eye to small objects in the visual field, and to filter out whole-field stimuli.


Pleated electret HVAC filters are often used in residence to mitigate the particles that originate both indoors and outdoors. These filters are usually tested with particles larger than 300 nm. However, residential particles can contain a significant amount of nanoparticles with size below 50 nm due to cooking, smoking, cleaning, wood burning, and outdoor infiltration. In order to characterize the nanoparticle removal by electret HVAC filters, penetrations of 3–50 nm silver nanoparticles through five different flat sheet electret media used in commercial residential HVAC filters were tested with face velocities of 0.05, 0.5, and 1.0 m s–1. Experimental results showed that all media had significantly high penetrations with 0.35–0.8 at the most penetrating particle sizes (MPPSs) for all three velocities, which were in the sizes of 10–30 nm. A model based on single fiber theory for particle penetration predictions was used and compared with the experimental data. Results showed that the model predicted the nanoparticle penetrations very well for all media and all face velocities tested. According to the model, for enhancing the nanoparticle efficiency of the current commercial HVAC filters, the fiber diameter should be reduced or the number of pleats should be increased. However, by doing these, pressure drop and cost may be largely increased. On the other hand, this study found the existing commercial mechanical HVAC filters were much capable for sub–50 nm nanoparticle removal when their minimum efficiency reporting values (MERVs) were larger than 13 and it is concluded mechanical HVAC filters can do a better job than electret ones. However, the quality factor analysis showed electret filters could be regarded as the best filter media for removing particles smaller than 300 nm. Copyright 2015 American Association for Aerosol Research


Hospitals are increasingly needed by the public. The increasing demand makes hospital growth increase. An increase of 154.7% occurred between 1997 and 2017. However, the increase in hospitals was not in line with improved services. Many complaints come from patients to the services provided by the hospital. This research is a study using a combination of qualitative methods and quantitative methods. Data collection techniques in qualitative methods were by observation and interviews with informants who worked at Mandaya Hospital Karawang and Resinda Hotel Karawang managed by Padma Hotels as a comparison. Data collection on quantitative methods is by distributing questionnaires to 100 respondents of patients at Mandaya Hospital Karawang. The results showed that the principle of hospitality services is very relevant to be implemented in the Mandaya Hospital Karawang. The implementation of these policies changed the old culture that had been used to become a new culture with the principle of hospitality. Various efforts have been made by management to anticipate changes and maximize service. Front office employees who accept changes in policies and facilities are expected to be able to provide quality services to their patients. By quantitative methods, researchers found a correlation test showed that service quality had a strong and positive effect on patient satisfaction.


I argue in this dissertation that tragic and tragicomic plots centred on the wedding
night were a major convention on the English Renaissance stage. Previous scholarship
has identified 'broken nuptials' in Shakespeare and 'subverted wedding nights' in
Beaumont and Fletcher, but these scenarios have not been addressed as part of a wider
convention. I contend that almost every dramatist of the era, working individually or
in collaboration, utilised 'tragic wedding' designs. Whilst they drew upon various
precedents, particularly from the classical period, their dramaturgical focus on the
wedding night was highly distinctive. My thesis highlights the employment of
'delayed consummation' structures – familiar from romance and comedy – to a tragic
end; I also consider 'displaced consummations' in which the bridal chamber is subject
to the incursion of revengers or rivals, often leading to rape, murder or martyrdom.
'Wedding night tragedy' takes shape in the Elizabethan era and becomes a
recognizable sub-genre by the Caroline period. The subverted transition rites lead, I
suggest, to fluctuations in sexual identity, as a range of competing discourses on
marriage and eros are sounded. The prevailing matrimonial idealism of the age is
challenged by residual patristic doctrine or emergent libertine ideology. The dominant
discourse tends to win out, I maintain, even in tragic defeat, but moral absolutism is
frequently shaken. The wedding night focus was accompanied by major mimetic
breakthroughs, as dramatists developed symbolic means by which to suggest the
consummation, and depicted the marital bedchamber for the first time. Scenes of
unprecedented intimacy were staged, often to unnerving or sensational dramatic
effect. I exemplify my arguments with detailed discussions of a range of texts, from
famous plays such as Othello and The Changeling, to less familiar (but often vital)
works such as Alphonsus, Emperor of Germany and Sophonisba.


This book traces the impact on Jewish culture in Western Europe of the migration of Russian Jews following the 1917 Revolution as they enabled the creation of a single sphere of Jewish culture common to all parts of the European diaspora.


An analytical method for calculating the incremental line inductance of a permanent-magnet synchronous motor is proposed in this paper. First, the incremental inductance is simplified as a linear combination of the slot inductance and the air-gap inductance, which are both estimated by the equivalent magnetic circuits. The reluctance of the rotor back irons and the stator back irons are ignored when the slot inductance is calculated. However, for the calculation of the air-gap inductance, the iron saturations and the perturbations of the permanent magnet are considered. The proposed method is verified by a finite-element method.


In the presentework, a theoretical study on the structural and vibrational properties of three tautomers of theii-adrenergic agonist clonidine agent and their protonated species was reported by using the hybrid B3LYPmethod together with the 6-31G* and 6-311++G** basis sets. The inter-conversion between the three tautomers of clonidine and the reaction paths connecting these three structures with the corresponding transition states were studied by using the Synchronous Transit-Guided Quasi-Newton (STQN) method and those two levels of theory. TheNaturalBondOrbital (NBO) andAtoms inMolecules theory (AIM) calculations were employed in order to evaluate their atomic charges, bond orders, stabilization energies and topological properties. The analysis of the frontier orbitals suggest that the pres-ence of two Cl atoms in the phenyl rings is essential for increase the reactivity of a hydrochloride species. Moreover, theN-Hgroup between the two phenyl and imidazoline rings increase the reactivity of clonidine hydrochloride, as compared with tolazoline hydrochloride. The study of the frontier orbitals predicted that the protonated form of clonidine is the less reactive in the gas phase. The tentative vibrational assignments for the four studied species were reported together with the force constants whichwere comparedwith those obtained for similar antihypertensive agents.


Introduction: Accurate biophysical models of tumor growth that can be used to provide predictions of future tumor growth and therapy response on an individual basis would be a powerful tool for clinicians to select and guide patient therapy. The reaction-diffusion equation is one such model that has been extensively used to model in vivo glioma growth. This model describes the change in tumor cell number over time due to the net proliferation of tumor cells (reaction) and the random movement of tumor cells (diffusion). One shortcoming of this model is that tumor growth is essentially spatially unrestricted resulting in inaccurate tumor growth predictions. It is well-known, however, that tumor expansion is restricted in response to increased mechanical stresses, and we have incorporated these effects into a more realistic mechanically coupled reaction-diffusion model. Using in vivo MRI measurements of glioma growth, model parameters for both the mechanically and non-mechanically coupled models can be estimated and used to generate individualized tumor growth predictions. Thus, the goal of this study is to evaluate the accuracy of tumor growth predictions made with the mechanically and non-mechanically coupled reaction-diffusion models to in vivo measurements of glioma growth. Methods: The mechanical reaction-diffusion model alters the standard model by changing the tumor cell diffusion coefficient spatially and temporally as a function of the local von Mises stress. The von Mises stress is determined by calculating the tissue displacement caused by the growing tumor. As the tumor grows and causes increased tissue displacement, the von Mises stress also increases, resulting in a decrease in the tumor cell diffusion coefficient. To evaluate this model, rats (N = 2) with C6 gliomas were imaged over ten days with diffusion-weighted MRI (DW-MRI) and contrast enhanced MRI (CE-MRI). Signal enhancement observed in the CE-MRI datasets were used to identify tumor regions. Tumor cellularity was then estimated within these enhancing regions using DW-MRI data. Model parameters (i.e., tumor cell proliferation rate and tumor cell diffusion coefficient) from the standard and mechanical models were then estimated from day 10, day 12, and day 149s cellularity measurements. For the mechanical model, several weights of mechanical coupling were investigated to determine the optimal value for a given tumor. These estimated parameters were then used to evaluate the model from days 14 through 20 to predict future tumor growth. Predicted tumor growth obtained from the standard and mechanical models were compared quantitatively to the in vivo measurement of tumor growth at the local (concordance correlation coefficient (CCC)) and at the global (percent error in total volume and Dice value) levels. Results: The standard model predictions ranged from 23.3% to 91.6% error in tumor volume estimates on days 15, 16, 18, and 20. Mechanical model predictions ranged from in 3.6% to 15.5% error on days 15, 16, 18, and 20. The standard model resulted in Dice values ranging from 0.60 to 0.75, while the mechanical model had values ranging from 0.77 to 0.83. However, a poor level of agreement was observed for voxel predictions of tumor cellularity resulting in low CCCs (less than 0.03) for both the standard and mechanical models. Conclusions: Incorporating the inhibiting effects of mechanical stress on tumor expansion resulted in improved global level predictions (i.e., decreased percent error in tumor volume, and increased Dice values) compared to the standard model. Both models, however, poorly predicted the observed intratumor heterogeneity in cell number. Therefore, the mechanical model is a more accurate description of in vivo C6 glioma growth at the global level, but further improvements are needed to provide a more complete description intratumor cellularity changes. Citation Format: David A. Hormuth, II, Jared A. Weis, Michael I. Miga, Thomas E. Yankeelov. A mechanically coupled reaction-diffusion model for predicting in vivo C6 glioma growth in rats. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the AACR Special Conference: Advances in Brain Cancer Research; May 27-30, 2015; Washington, DC. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2015;75(23 Suppl):Abstract nr A42.


There has been recent, sometimes intense, debate about when to begin screening and how often to screen women for breast cancer with mammography. However, there should be no controversy regarding screening women who are unlikely to benefit from the procedure, such as those with a serious, life‐limiting illness who would not live long enough to benefit from the potential detection and treatment of breast cancer. Identifying characteristics of physicians who recommend mammography for terminally ill women can help guide efforts to minimize patient risks and make better use of health care resources.


Introduction: The Red Reflex Test (RRT) consists of visualizing the reflection that light causes in the retina when it passes through the pupil. It is a screening test for pathologies that can lead to blindness, which still have great social and economic impact on families and the government. Teaching through simulators allows students and health professionals to acquire and improve their clinical skills. Objective: The aim of the study is to develop a low-cost dummy, 3D printed and based on the Arduino platform, for the training of the red reflex technique (RRT) in newborns and evaluate its educational effectiveness. Method: A RRT dummy was presented to 7 expert judges: 6 pediatricians and 1 ophthalmologist to evaluate its applicability in medical learning. For this purpose, they used a 14-item Likert scale of 5 points. Subsequently, 40 individuals participated in a course: 33 medical students, 5 pediatric residents, a nurse and a general physician. The participants were randomly assigned to two groups: control (CG) and experimental (EG) group. Each group consisted of 20 participants. The EG went through 4 stages: 1) theoretical background; 2) handling of the simulator; 3) simulated clinical practice and; 4) evaluation in real-life patients. Whereas the CG went through the following teaching methodological processes: 1) theoretical background; 2) direct training in real-life patients and; 4) practical evaluation in a real-life patient. After each respective group intervention, both groups were assessed on their learning in 40 newborns at Santa Casa de Misericórdia do Pará Foundation in Belém, state of Pará, Brazil. Results: At the judges' evaluation regarding the simulator positive items (design, similarity, interest, relevance, content, memorization, didactics, previous reminiscence, comprehension and application), 49.2% answered 'strongly agree' and 44.4%, 'agree'. Regarding the negative questions (difficulty in understanding, information overload, abstraction, difficulty in handling and clarity of operation), 40.0% answered 'strongly disagree', and 57.1%, 'disagree'. The judges were 94.9% favorable to the use of the simulator in medical education. However, comparing the two groups of students, regarding the time of exam, the results showed no statistically significant difference (p-value = 0.29). Conclusions: The dummy showed its applicability for the learning of RRT, with the advantage of being able to perform the exam without having to disturb a real-life patient.


This article analyses the constellations of interests, the circulation of experts and the constant toing and froing between national and international levels that led to the elaboration of several key reports on ageing by the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank during the first half of the 1980s. The present cartography demonstrates how these multilateral organisations contributed to shape an alarmist conception of the ageing process and its impact on old-age provision systems, in order to justify controversial social security reforms. More generally, this case study also underscores the ways of action and mobilisationof these international organisations, in a period that witnessed a radical questioning of expanding social security programmes.


Abstract Background Transplantation of Human Organ Act was passed in India in 1994 to streamline organ donation and transplantation activities. It is time to retrospect ourselves and analyze the method to increase organ donation. Type of study Retrospective observational analysis. Objectives To evaluate the change in organ donation rate and reasons for changes in rates. Subjects Brainstem dead declared patients whose family consented for organ donations in the last 23 years (1997–2019) at Ruby Hall Clinic, Pune, India. Materials and methods Retrospectively demographic data of the brainstem dead declared donors, the primary diagnoses, comorbidities, and the complete data of their management till organ retrieval was assessed. Results One hundred cases in the age group 15–75 years (mean 41.6 ± 15.3 years) of brainstem death consented for organ donation were retrospectively studied. The period was divided into two groups, group I and group II included study duration from 1997 to 2013 and from 2013 to 2019 respectively. During the entire period, though the major cause of donor death remained road traffic accidents (RTA) in both the groups (84.21% till 2013 vs 48.15% after 2013), the proportion of donors declared brain dead due to RTA dipped significantly after 2013 (p = 0.004) and the non-RTA causes of brain dead contributed more than RTA causes (51.85% non-RTA vs 48.15% RTA). The major contributor among non-RTA causes was intracranial bleeds (5.26% before 2013 vs 33.33% after 2013, p = 0.014). Compared to the previous 17 years (from 1997) there were more than fourfold rise in the rate of transplantation in the last 6 years (2014–2019) at our institute. Kidneys were retrieved from 90% donors followed by cornea 84%, liver 65%, heart 22%, skin 7%, lungs 6%, and pancreas 5%. Conclusion We have observed that the cadaveric organ donation rate significantly improved after 2013. Reasons might be widening of the donor pool by the selection of more of non-RTA brain death donors over RTA, acceptability of elderly population donor (>60 years) by our transplant teams, early identification of potential organ donor, and better protocol-based management of the cadaver organ donor. How to cite this article Zirpe KG, Suryawanshi P, Gurav S, Deshmukh A, Pote P, Tungenwar A, et al. Increase in Cadaver Organ Donation Rate at a Tertiary Care Hospital: 23 Years of Experience. Indian J Crit Care Med 2020;24(9):804–808.


The antibiotic albomycin is transported into cells of Escherichia coli K-12 by the same uptake system as the iron-supplying ferrichrome complex. The iron-complexing hydroxamate moieties of albomycin and ferrichrome are structurally similar. During the phase of rapid iron uptake the chelators were not found in the cells. In order to understand the antibiotic activity of albomycin, it was labeled in the hydroxamate with tritium and in the presumed antibiotically active area with radioactive sulfur. While the tritium label was not retained by the cells, part of the sulfur label was taken up and concentrated 500-fold within the cell. The sulfur was not incorporated into proteins or nucleic acids since it was recovered as a low molecular weight component. Gel filtration on Bio-Gel P-2 revealed one tritium-labeled and two sulfur-labeled cleavage products in the incubation medium. We conclude that albomycin is actively transported via its ferrichrome-like portion into the cells and that the growth-inhibitory moiety is released by hydrolysis intracellularly and remains there.


Although fisheries production and seafood trade are global in scope, with billions of dollars in exports, the rebuilding of collapsed fisheries often focus on national fisheries policy and management measures, with little attention to global supply chains and international consumer markets. Even with two moratoria and two decades of policy changes since the Northern Gulf cod fisheries collapsed in eastern Canada, rebuilding has stalled and the fishing industry and coastal communities continue to undergo challenges with economic viability and resource sustainability. This paper examines and analyzes the global supply chain and marketing dimension of Northern Gulf cod fisheries. Drawing upon fisheries bioeconomics and governance theory, a pre- and post-collapse analysis is undertaken to understand key drivers and institutional mechanisms along global fish supply chains for an effective and successful rebuilding. Findings indicate that the collapse of the cod fishery has cascading effects that go beyond ecosystem changes to new harvesting activities, industry restructuring, supply chain reorganization, new global markets and consumer preference for certified seafood. This suggests that a holistic rebuilding approach is necessary, one that integrates institutional and behavioral changes for both producers and consumers at various scales of fisheries production, political economy issues, as well as cross-scale policies on marine conservation and regional economic development.


ABSTRACT Campylobacter jejuni has been identified as the predominant cause of antecedent infection in Guillain-Barrésyndrome (GBS) and Miller Fisher syndrome (MFS). The risk of developing GBS or MFS may be higher after infection with specific C. jejuni types. To investigate the putative clonality, 18 GBS- or MFS-related C. jejuni strains from The Netherlands and Belgium and 17 control strains were analyzed by serotyping (Penner and Lior), restriction fragment length polymorphism analysis of PCR products of the flaA gene, amplified fragment length polymorphism analysis, pulsed-field gel electrophoresis, and randomly amplified polymorphic DNA analysis. Serotyping revealed 10 different O serotypes and 7 different Lior serotypes, thereby indicating a lack of serotype clustering. Two new O serotypes, O:35 and O:13/65, not previously associated with GBS or MFS were found. Serotype O:19 was encountered in 2 of 18 strains, and none was of serotype O:41. The results of all genotypic methods also demonstrated substantial heterogeneity. No clustering of GBS- or MFS-related strains occurred and no molecular marker capable of separating pathogenic GBS or MFS from non-GBS- or non-MFS-related enteritis strains could be identified in this study. Sialic-acid-containing lipopolysaccharides (LPS) are thought to be involved in the triggering of GBS or MFS through molecular mimicry with gangliosides in human peripheral nerves. Therefore, further characterization of GBS- or MFS-related C. jejuni should target the genes involved in the synthesis of LPS and the incorporation of sialic acid.


The ability to plan their own motions and to reliably execute them is an important precondition for autonomous robots. In this paper, we consider the problem of planning the motion of a mobile manipulation robot in the presence of deformable objects in the environment. Our approach combines probabilistic roadmap planning with a deformation simulation system. Since the physical deformation simulation is computationally demanding, we use an efficient variant of Gaussian process regression to estimate the deformation cost for individual objects based on training examples. We generate the training data by employing a simulation system in a preprocessing step. Consequently, no simulations are needed during runtime. We implemented and tested our approach on a mobile manipulation robot. Our experiments show that the robot is able to accurately predict and thus consider the deformation cost its manipulator introduces to the environment during motion planning. Simultaneously, the computation time is substantially reduced compared to a system that performs physical simulations online.


Leather industry is one of small industries in Special Yogyakarta Province which contributes Regional Gross Domestic Product (PDRB) and generates employment. This re¬search analyzes cross section data in 2000th using purposive sampling method for data col¬lecting. Data analysis is Gender Inequality and Equivalent Index (IKKG) and Logit Model. Based on the empirical analysis, conclusions of this research are: 1) IKKG of entrepreneur leathers who have Educational Elementary School (SD), SMP, and SMA is 0 (zero). IKKG of the Leather Industrial person according to educational background is only female who has high education, with the value of 1, on the other hands the lower level education background has 0 (zero) value of IKKG. 2) The value of IKKG of the female workers who have SD, SMP, and SMA education background have lower chance to work compared with the male worker. Even that so the chance of SD workers is bigger than that of SMP or SMA workers. 3) The production expansion probability on leather industry is altogether affected by management's perspectives genders, business managing experience, level of education and mounts of workers. Partially the factors affect it are: business management experience, mount of workers, and application of partnership, and on the other hand   level of education does not affect it. Key words: Gender Inequality and Equivalent Index (IKKG), Logit Model, gender perspectives.


customer paths can be used for several purposes, such as understanding customer needs, defining bottlenecks, improving system performance. Two of the principal difficulties depend on discovering customer paths due to dynamic human behaviors and collecting reliable tracking data. Although machine learning methods have contributed to individual tracking, they have complex iterations and problems to produce understandable visual results. Process mining is a methodology that can rapidly create process flows and graphical representations. In this study, customer flows are created with process mining in a supermarket. The differences between the paths of customers purchased and non-purchased are discussed. The results show that both groups have almost similar visit duration, which is 87.5 minutes for purchased customers and 86.6 minutes for non-purchased customers. However, the duration of aisles is relatively small in non-purchased customer flows because customers aim to return or change the item instead of buying.


SUMMARY

Modelling dynamic rupture for complex geometrical fault structures is performed through a finite volume method. After transformations for building up the partial differential system following explicit conservative law, we design an unstructured bi-dimensional time-domain numerical formulation of the crack problem. As a result, arbitrary non-planar faults can be explicitly represented without extra computational cost. On these complex surfaces, boundary conditions are set on stress fluxes and not on stress values. Prescribed rupture velocity gives accurate solutions with respect to analytical ones depending on the mesh refinement, while solutions for spontaneous propagation are analysed through numerical means. An example of non-planar spontaneous fault growth in heterogeneous media demonstrates the good behaviour of the proposed algorithm as well as specific difficulties of such numerical modelling.


UV emitting scintillating screens based on single crystalline films (SCFs) of Lu3Al5−xGaxO12:Pr garnet have been developed by the liquid phase epitaxy (LPE) growth method onto Y3Al5O12 (YAG) substrates using a lead-free BaO based flux. The absorbance, luminescence and scintillation properties of these SCFs have been investigated depending on the Ga content in the x = 0–1.9 range. We have found that the absorption and luminescence spectra of Pr3+ ions as well as the scintillation light yield (LY) and decay kinetics of Lu3Al5−xGaxO12 SCFs are non-linearly affected by the gallium concentration x in the mentioned solid solution due to preference for the distribution of Ga3+ and Al3+ ions between the tetrahedral and octahedral positions of the garnet host, respectively. The best scintillation properties of Lu3Al5−xGaxO12:Pr SCFs are achieved at the Ga content in the x = 1.0–1.2 range. The LY of the Lu3Ga1.2Al3.8O12:Pr SCF is comparable with the LY of the best reference LuAG:Pr single crystal counterpart and significantly (up to 3 times) overcomes the LY of LuAG:Pr and Lu3Al4–3.5Ga1.0–1.5O12 SCFs, grown onto the YAG substrates from the conventional PbO–B2O3 flux.


Static var compensator (STATCOM) is a widely used power electronic device for dynamic reactive power compensation, and its current detecting and control method generally adopts d-q decoupling method based on the synchronous rotating coordinate transformation. However, in the traditional method, the load reactive current component is directly used as the command of STATCOM output current, so it is required that the installation position of STATCOM must be consistent with load current detecting point. But in practice, STATCOM installation point and load current detecting point may be located at two different sides of the transformer. For this situation, this paper proposed an improved reactive current detecting and control method based on the principle of power balance, achieving the current detecting and control strategies when the two points are located at different sides of transformer. Finally, the simulation of system with STATCOM accessed from the third winding of transformer verifies the correctness and feasibility of the proposed method.


Texas lignite occurs in three Eocene (lower Tertiary) geologic units - the Wilcox Group, Jackson Group, and Yegua Formation - and in three ancient depositional systems - fluvial, deltaic, and strandplain/lagoonal. Near-surface resources in Texas at depths between 20 and 200 ft (6.1 and 61 m) in seams 3 ft (0.9 m) or thicker are 23,377 million short tons (21,208 million metric tons) and are dominantly fluvial in origin. More than 90 percent of the resources occur in the Wilcox and Jackson Groups north of the Colorado River. The size of individual deposits ranges from 50 to 500 million tons (45 to 450 million metric tons). The average seam thickness is less than 5 ft (1.5 m); a 10-ft (3.0-m) seam is exceptional. Depending on mining depth, reserves are estimated to be 8635 to 11,102 million tons (7834 to 10,072 million metric tons). Deep-basin resources at depths between 200 and 2000 ft (61 and 610 m) in seams 5 ft (1.5 m) or thicker are 34,819 million tons (31,588 million metric tons), 70 and 30 percent being in the Wilcox and Jackson Groups, respectively. Approximately 2.4 million acres (1.0 million ha) are leased for lignite; 84, 12, and 4 percentmore » of the acreage is in the Wilcox, Jackson, and Yegua, respectively. Wilcox lignite is the best grade. Yegua is intermediate, and Jackson is the poorest grade lignite in Texas. Typical Wilcox lignite has a heating value of 6500 Btu/lb (3612 kcal/kg) and a 33-percent moisture, 1-percent sulfur, and 15-percent ash content. Lignite reserves are adequate to meet the projected needs (6 to 7 billion short tons (5.4 to 6.3 billion metric tons)) of the electric utility and industrial sectors into the next century. Most of the lignite will continue to be used to generate electric power; however, lignite will be used in the future to produce synthetic fuels and chemicals.« less


It is known that, adding the number of lattice points lying on the boundary of a reflexive polygon and the number of lattice points lying on the boundary of its polar, always yields 12. Generalising appropriately the notion of reflexivity, one shows that this remains true for $\ell$-reflexive polygons. In particular, there exist (for this reason) infinitely many (lattice inequivalent) lattice polygons with the same property. The first proof of this fact is due to Kasprzyk and Nill. The present paper contains a second proof (which uses tools only from toric geometry) as well as the description of complementary properties of these polygons and of the invariants of the corresponding toric log del Pezzo surfaces.


Debates about how best to check executive branch abuses of secrecy focus on three sets of actors that have access to classified information and that traditionally have served—in one way or another—as our surrogates: congressional committees, federal courts, and leakers or whistleblowers. These actors provide only limited checks on the Executive's misuse of secrecy, however. Most legal scholarship bemoans their flaws but concludes that the status quo is the best that we can do. This article challenges this account, arguing that there is a different set of actors—a set of unsung "secrecy surrogates"—that can provide additional checks on the quality and legality of the Executive's classified operations in the cyber, election, and counter-terrorism settings.

Technology companies, states and localities, and foreign allies have become an integral part of U.S. national security operations and enjoy some critical advantages over our traditional surrogates. These actors possess expertise about—and in some cases control—national security-related targets, making them essential partners for the Executive. Further, these surrogates have incentives to check the Executive in ways that advance the public law values of accuracy, accountability, and legality. Finally, unlike leakers, these unsung secrecy surrogates can challenge the Executive without revealing government secrets. These surrogates can only check government abuses of secrecy as long as the Executive requires their cooperation, but they have begun to supplement our traditional surrogates in important ways.

This article maps the growing role of these unsung secrecy surrogates, argues that they are well-situated to address some persistent secrecy problems, and proposes ways to preserve and enhance the surrogates' position in the secrecy ecosystem in the future.


Community park provides a vital natural healthy space for recreational and socio-cultural activities for the local community. Yet, it sustains the importance of natural resources like rivers, wetlands, forest and coastal ecosystem, by offering a clean, healthy, green and natural habitat for the native flora and fauna.

Unfortunately, Bukit Mertajam lacks of a community park for enhancing the local recreational activities and the ecological environment. The environment of Sungai Rambai at Bukit Mertajam is lack conducive for outdoor activities, due to the flooding problems, lack of green spaces, environmental pollution, noise and busy environment. Moreover, the local authorities, architects and dwellers neglect the importance of sustaining the natural resources of Sungai Rambai river.

Therefore, this project is held to propose the sustainable landscape development for Sungai Rambai Community Park at Bukit Mertajam. Whereby, Sungai Rambai is located at the central part of Bukit Mertajam Town, which consists of the residential, commercial and natural areas.

Sungai Rambai Community Park is designed for offering a wide range of recreational and leisure activities for local community, such as cycling, exercise, relaxing, rejuvenating, social communicating, natural walk, kayak, boating, fishing and birds watching. Although of that, the natural environment of Sungai Rambai and its ecological values are preserved, restored, rehabilitated and enhanced for building the sustainable landscape development.

As a result, Dragonfly is metaphorically interpreted in designing the Sungai Rambai Community Park. Dragonfly symbolize the unique natural wetland ecosystem at Sungai Rambai, while describing the robustness of the Sungai Rambai Community Park with the variety activities from wet to dry, as well as from passive to active activities.

Sungai Rambai Community Park has three important zones, which are including of the active zones, moderate active zones and passive zones. Active zones are related to the active and viable activity space, such as the central court gathering spaces, promenade, adventure park, and the jetty. Active zoning spaces are important to enhance the anticipation and affordance of public to visit the park, while enhancing the sense of happening and gaining the profits for sustaining the park.

However, moderate active zones refer to the local neighbourhood activity spaces, such as jogging path, fishing shelter and pier, orchard garden, neighbourhood garden, children playground, elderly exercise space, picnicking and camping area. These spaces are playing a very important role for developing the sense of belonging and community among the local community to the park, where are serve the basic needs of the local community for having the daily leisure and recreational activities.

In contrast to the active and moderate active zones, passive zones are providing the passive activities which is including of wetland eco-tour, birds watching, boardwalks and outdoor learning activities. The passive zones are developed to enhance and rehabilitate the eco-environment, while developing the appreciation and awareness among the public toward the natural resources. Moreover, the passive zones offer the opportunity for the nature lovers, student and researchers to develop their hobbies and works in relation to the nature ecology.

In conclusion, Sungai Rambai Community Park is designed for serving the needs of the social in relation to leisure and cultural preferences, while increasing the environmental quality and aesthetic landscape value of the Sungai Rambai.


Human immunodeficiency virus-1 (HIV-1) infections cause global health problems. Indole derivatives have been considered as one of the promising HIV inhibitors. Recent inventions have focused on substituted indole and azaindole derivatives that possess unique antiviral activities against HIV-1. In this review, the evaluation of recent advances in substituted indole and azaindole derivatives for the treatment or prevention of HIV-1 and acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) has been focused. In this respect, compounds having drug and bio-active properties, including their synthesis and pharmacologic properties have been reported. In addition, anti-HIV properties of compounds, the structural features of inhibitors, the current progress in terms of therapeutic interventions and the leading groups in the field are discussed. Moreover, clinical and ADME (Absorption, Distribution, Metabolism, Elimination) properties of some clinically important compounds such as BMS-378806, L-737126 and IDX899 are reported.


Detection of biomarkers at low concentrations is essential for early diagnosis of numerous diseases. In many sensitive assays, the target molecules are tagged using fluorescently labeled probes and captured using magnetic beads. Magnetic beads facilitate washing and separation steps, are well suited for automation, and improve the assay sensitivity. Current devices rely on quantifying the target molecules by detecting the fluorescence signal from individual beads. Thus, to detect low concentrations of target molecules, these devices require sophisticated optical detectors, making them bulky and expensive. Here, we propose a compact fluorescence-based system that simply uses a small permanent magnet with a conic tip to aggregate the magnetic beads, forming a cluster of fluorescently labeled probes whose fluorescence signal is much greater than that of a single bead. Using the magnetically aggregated biosensors to detect human Interleukin-8, we demonstrated a limit of detection of 0.1 ng/l and a 4-log dynamic range performance, which is on par with the most sensitive devices but is achieved without their bulk and cost.Detection of biomarkers at low concentrations is essential for early diagnosis of numerous diseases. In many sensitive assays, the target molecules are tagged using fluorescently labeled probes and captured using magnetic beads. Magnetic beads facilitate washing and separation steps, are well suited for automation, and improve the assay sensitivity. Current devices rely on quantifying the target molecules by detecting the fluorescence signal from individual beads. Thus, to detect low concentrations of target molecules, these devices require sophisticated optical detectors, making them bulky and expensive. Here, we propose a compact fluorescence-based system that simply uses a small permanent magnet with a conic tip to aggregate the magnetic beads, forming a cluster of fluorescently labeled probes whose fluorescence signal is much greater than that of a single bead. Using the magnetically aggregated biosensors to detect human Interleukin-8, we demonstrated a limit of detection of 0.1 ng/l and a 4-log dynam...


The Arnoldi method is applied to boundary layer instability, and a finite difference method is employed to avoid the limit of the finite element method. This modus operandi is verified by three comparison cases, i.e., comparison with linear stability theory(LST) for two-dimensional(2D) disturbance on one-dimensional(1D) basic flow, comparison with LST for three-dimensional(3D) disturbance on 1D basic flow, and comparison with Floquet theory for 3D disturbance on 2D basic flow. Then it is applied to secondary instability analysis on the streaky boundary layer under spanwise-localized free-stream turbulence(FST). Three unstable modes are found, i.e., an inner mode at a high-speed center streak, a sinuous type outer mode at a low-speed center streak, and a sinuous type outer mode at low-speed side streaks. All these modes are much more unstable than Tollmien–Schlichting(TS) waves, implying the dominant contribution of secondary instability in bypass transition. The modes at strong center streak are more unstable than those at weak side streaks, so the center streak is 'dangerous' in secondary instability.


Pulsatilla vernalis is one of several endangered plant species that benefit from wildfires and small scale disturbance events that repel competing vegetation and create open patches in the vegetation cover. Previous studies argue that Pulsatilla vernalis is decreasing in numbers due to vegetation changes associated with the decrease in wildfires, forest grazing and changes in forest management. In this study, 17 populations of P. vernalis were inventoried in order to examine if soil and/or vegetation structures affect the population structure of P. vernalis (i.e. population size, presence of flowering individuals, density of juveniles) and if performed conservation attempts in the populations have been positive for P. vernalis. This was done by counting the number of vegetative, flowering and juvenile individuals and examining soil and vegetation structure in the populations. The population sizes were then compared with estimates of population sizes from earlier inventories of P. vernalis at the same localities. The study also presents specific recommendations for an improved conservation management of P. vernalis. The results of this study show that mechanical conservation management had a positive effect on the population size and that open areas in the vegetation cover provided better conditions for viable populations of P. vernalis. To prevent the trend of decreasing population sizes of P. vernalis, conservation measures must be carried out to repel competing vegetation and to restore or maintain open patches in existing populations.


In recent years, Augmented Reality (AR) has received increasing emphasis and researchers gradually promote it Over the worlds. With the unique abilities to generate virtual objects over the real-world environment, it can enhance user perception. Although AR recognised for their enormous positive impacts, there are still a ton of matters waiting to be discovered. Research studies on AR toward conceptual change, specifically in scientific concept, are particularly limited. Therefore, this research aims to investigate the effect of integrating AR on conceptual change in scientific concepts. Thirty-four primary school students participated in the study. A pre-test and post-test were used to assess participants' understanding of the scientific concepts before and after learning through AR. The findings demonstrated that 82% among them had misconceptions about the scientific concepts before learning through AR. However, most of them (around 88%) able to correct their misconceptions and shifted to have a scientific conceptual understanding after learning through AR. These findings indicate that AR was effective to be integrated into education to facilitate conceptual change.


Antisocial behavior and aggression are prominent symptoms in several psychiatric disorders including antisocial personality disorder. An established precursor to aggression is a frustrating event, which can elicit anger or exasperation, thereby prompting aggressive responses. While some studies have investigated the neural correlates of frustration and aggression, examination of their relation to trait aggression in healthy populations are rare. Based on a screening of 550 males, we formed two extreme groups, one including individuals reporting high (n=21) and one reporting low (n=18) trait aggression. Using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) at 3T, all participants were put through a frustration task comprising unsolvable anagrams of German nouns. Despite similar behavioral performance, males with high trait aggression reported higher ratings of negative affect and anger after the frustration task. Moreover, they showed relatively decreased activation in the frontal brain regions and the dorsal anterior cingulate cortex (dACC) as well as relatively less amygdala activation in response to frustration. Our findings indicate distinct frontal and limbic processing mechanisms following frustration modulated by trait aggression. In response to a frustrating event, HA individuals show some of the personality characteristics and neural processing patterns observed in abnormally aggressive populations. Highlighting the impact of aggressive traits on the behavioral and neural responses to frustration in non-psychiatric extreme groups can facilitate further characterization of neural dysfunctions underlying psychiatric disorders that involve abnormal frustration processing and aggression.


ABSTRACT Objective Critically ill patients boarding in the ED have higher mortality rates. Several strategies have been implemented to deliver care to boarding patients. Our institution opted for a strategy consisting on deploying an Intensive Care team in the ED. This article reports outcomes before-and-after implementation of that team. Methods On November 2020, a Medical Intensive Care Team was deployed in the ED. The team performed consultations for ICU patients boarding in the ED. A retrospective analysis of critically ill patients arriving to the ED before-and-after team implementation was performed. Outcome data were reviewed. Direct hospitalization costs per patient, and direct costs per department were assessed. Wilcoxon rank sum and Chisq-test were utilized to compare differences pre- and post-implementation. Multivariate analyses to model outcomes toward pre- and post-implementation and other variables were performed. Results 1,828 and 3,272 patients were included in the pre- and post-intervention groups. ICU LOS (days) pre- and post-intervention were 3 (1,6) and 3 (1,6), respectively (p = 0.41). ICU readmission rates were 6.7% pre-intervention and 7.4% post-intervention (p = 0.37). Total direct costs were US$ 19,928 (11,006, 37,815) and US$ 15,795 (9016, 28,993), respectively (p < 0.01). Multivariate analysis showed no association between team deployment and ICU LOS or readmission. However, there was association between its implementation and hospitalization cost reduction per patient of US$ 7,171. Conclusion The implementation of a Medical Intensive Care team in the ED is not associated with a reduction of ICU LOS or ICU readmission. Nevertheless, its implementation is associated with a reduction of hospitalization costs.


We report a new method for peeling graphite to graphene, with which we develop a facile procedure for the fabrication of bulk Bi0.45Sb1.55Te3.02/graphene by pushing thin graphite foils into pressed Bi0.45Sb1.55Te3.02 powders and then foliated into graphene under pressure and high direct current (up to 1000 A). The pushing force results from the huge repulsive Coulomb force between the layers in the graphite foil. The Coulomb force arises from electron agglomeration as a result of the Lorentz force that the large direct-current-produced magnetic field applies on the moving electrons in the graphite foil. The incorporated graphene sheets act as growth templates for the Bi0.45Sb1.55Te3.02 grains. Consequently, fast grain growth and a densely textured microstructure with laminates were observed in the Bi0.45Sb1.55Te3.02/graphene bulk. By combining direct current and applied pressure, anisotropic textures were obtained, with the laminates oriented mostly along the axial direction. Since the laminates can filter low-energy carriers and scatter long-distance phonons, an increased Seebeck coefficient, decreased thermal conductivity, and a consequential 25% enhancement in the figure of merit, ZT (1.40 at 90.9 °C), were observed in the direction along which pressure was applied. This work suggests that graphene can be utilized as a template to rapidly grow single crystals of materials with similar crystal structures, as well as to adjust the textures of materials. This facile method is expected to be applicable in the fabrication of bulk semiconductor or graphene/alloy composites.


This chapter demonstrates how contemporary imaginary structures, which urge us to move up in life by making the most of the possibilities we are faced with, may operate in an industrial setting where users are involved in the production of heavy duty vehicles. Opening up new domains for value creation, devoid of established norms and regulations, this appeal to elevate ourselves arguably provides little guidance for how to do so. Demanding ever more from those subjected to its call, this appealing power, the chapter suggests, follows the logic of the Lacanian superego, which according to Salecl (2004, p. 51) "commands the subject to enjoy yet at the same time mockingly predicts that he or she will fail in this pursuit of enjoyment." As such, it makes out a central component in a creative force that feeds excessive outgrowths, which perpetually contribute to pervert, displace, and fragment established grounds for value creating activities within this industrial domain.


The aim of this paper is to analyse the translation of the national policies at local levels in order to draw some conclusions about the impact of the strategies upon an equitable distribution of an esociety in terms of ethnicity and disadvantaged groups, such as the elderly and disabled. Three data gathering activities were conducted in the UK local areas of Hillingdon and Medway: a survey that included 620 completed responses from the citizens; focus group discussions in both locales and interviews with the local government managers responsible for the local e-government initiatives. To ensure a high response rate from the ethnic groups and disabled citizens the snowball data gathering strategy was employed. The findings of this study illustrate that by employing the diffusion theory of King et al, the local government policies are reducing the digital divide. However, the danger does exist that in pursuit of providing an equitable distribution of an e-society a novel and diverse form of digital divide, a rural and urban and diverse ethnic groups divide could occur. This research should offer a substantial contribution to various stakeholders including government agencies, management consulting firms, Internet Service Providers and IT organisations who may want to identify areas where e-government services can still be improved. This will also assist government agencies to understand the problem of low adoption and formulate a strategy to promote awareness and diffusion.