India is having a long-term oriented culture where people are more focused on their future rather than present. Due to this the savings rate in India has always remain at a significant level. India's savings performance has been quite impressive in a cross-country context. India's gross domestic savings rate in the recent period is comparable to Indonesia, Thailand and Korea, much lower than that of China, Malaysia and Singapore but much higher than that of many other emerging and advanced economies. India ranked 2nd in terms of gross domestic savings among top 10 economies of the world in the year 2015, just below that of China. The gross domestic savings which stood at around 23 per cent in 1990 has reached around 35 per cent in 2015, well above the world average of 23.5 per cent. Various factors which resulted in an increase in gross domestic savings rate are rapid economic growth, large scale migration of rural population to urban area, Rise in income of government employees after 6th pay commission, persistence of saving habits among households, awareness programs by government and financial institutions etc. Household savings has always remained a major component of gross domestic savings followed by private corporate savings and public sector savings. It was the result of high savings rate that the Indian economy stand strong during the global recession of 2008. During the tenth five year plan i.e. from 2002-2007 the increasing in gross domestic savings was maximum among all. Bank deposits have always remain the most preferred avenue for savings for households. Total deposits in Indian banks crossed Rs100 billion mark in 2017.


Increases in petroleum prices have affected the prices of its derived products. In addition, the interest in issues related to the environment and energy security at world-wide level has been increased. All of these factors have contributed to the development of alternative fuel such as the ethanol, biodiesel and natural gas. This study analyzes the main agricultural products used to produce biodiesel, their production costs and the utilization of those inputs in other industries. This study will also include a brief summary of different legislations in those countries under analysis. On the other hand, we will find break-even points and apply a sensibility analysis associated with distinct scenarios in terms of input-output prices.


This paper presents a printed slot antenna using the printed structure in order to improve its dual-band and compact size performances. The printed slot structure is used as additional resonators to produce dual-band operation for covering the worldwide interoperability for microwave access (WiMAX) and the 5.2-GHz wireless local area network (WLAN) bands. In order to achieve wideband and multi-band operation, the slot antennas with a slotted structure and an inverted-L slot structure for covering the wireless communication operations are developed. Finally, we propose a novel and compact printed slot antenna with mixing slot structures to obtain and cover for the 2.4-GHz WLAN (2.4–2.484 GHz), the WiMAX (IEEE 802.16e in the Taiwan: 2.5–2.69/3.5–3.65 GHz), and the 5GHz WLAN (5.15–5.35/5.725–5.825 GHz). Several properties of the proposed antennas for dualand multi-band characterize radiation performances such as impedance bandwidth and radiation pattern. Measured gain has been confirmed experimentally for the multi-band wireless communication systems.


A recent finding, based on empirical data of 153 rotationally supported galaxies, with very different morphologies, masses, sizes, and gas fractions, revealed that the baryonic and the dark matter in galaxies are strongly coupled, such that, if the first is known, the second follows and vice versa. Here, we propose a completely theoretical analysis of the dynamics of rotationally supported galaxies, which results in the same conclusion. We find that the relationship between baryonic and dark matter densities at any radius r is governed by the law, ρ(r)_M + ρ(r)_DM = ρ_0, where ρ(r)_M, and ρ(r)_DM are, respectively, the densities of matter and dark matter at radius r, and ρ_0 is the density at the galaxy's center. Strikingly, we also found that the radius r_s, at which the rotation velocity is equal to half of its maximal value, constitutes a vivid signature of the galaxy, in the sense that it reveals rich information about the galaxy's dynamics, including the distribution of its matter and dark matter and their total amounts in the galaxy.


Calculations of the neoclassical transport rates due to particles trapped in the helical ripples of a stellarator's magnetic field are carried out, based on solutions of the bounce-averaged kinetic equation. These calculations employ a model for the magnetic field strength, B, which is an accurate approximation to the actual B for a wide variety of stellarator-type devices, among which are Helical-Axis Advanced Stellarators (Helias) as well as conventional stellarators and torsatrons. Comparisons are carried out in which it is shown that the Helias concept leads to significant reductions in neoclassical transport rates throughout the entire long-mean-free-path regime, with the reduction being particularly dramatic in the nu -1 regime. These findings are confirmed by numerical simulations. Further, it is shown that the behaviour of deeply trapped particles in Helias can be fundamentally different from that in classical stellarator/torsatrons; as a consequence, the beneficial effects of a radial electric field on the transport make themselves felt at a lower collision frequency than is usual.


P/M aluminium components are attracting interest in an increasing variety of industries due to the possibilities for weight saving in engineering parts. There are many processes for manufacturing from powder feedstocks that are either in production, becoming commercialised or still undergoing development. The nature of these processes and the required properties of the end products mean that powders of different particle size, shape, composition and microstructure must be produced. The requirements of various processes requiring aluminium and aluminium alloy powders for metal matrix composites, laser sintering, powder forging and metal injection moulding are discussed in relation to powder particle size and structure. The key requirement of the powder manufacturer is to supply cost effective materials for these different processes. This may require compromises to be made by the supplier and consumer while the techniques evolve from development to large scale production.


Under the conditions of the dynamic development of international integration and an exchange of professional information English was adopted as an operation language in international business and has become a tool of effective transmission of professional information. Manual LSP: English of Professional Communication is grounded on the result of scientific research in the field of stylistics. In the twenty-three chapters described are the features of each specific variant of English exposed in system: lexicon, grammar, syntactic structures and composition patterns. Each chapter gives a systematized review of specialist terminology and patterns of design: contract, business letter, power of attorney, minutes, etc. The book is furnished with a glossary and a list of references. The manual serves as a tutorial for all those who are engaged in linguistic research - students, postgraduate students and academics. Considered are not only the concrete steps of scientific research, but also the schemes and samples of description of the results of research such as a course work or a thesis.


Background: Physical activity professional development programs for Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) educators are a viable strategy for improving preschool children's physical activity behavior. This pilot intervention evaluated the effectiveness of 'nature play' and 'fundamental movement skills' (FMS) professional development programs on ECEC educators' practices on physical activity. Methods: 148 ECEC educators from 20 ECEC centers took part in either the Nature play or FMS professional development programs in Perth, Western Australia. Educators self-reported their physical activity related practices at baseline and three months post-professional development training, using established items. Wilcoxon's test and adjusted models using Mann–Whitney U tests were run at the individual educator level to examine the change between baseline and post-professional development educator physical activity behavior. Results: Educators' self-efficacy to engage children to be active significantly increased in both the Nature play and FMS professional development programs (p < 0.05). In the Nature play professional development program, ECEC educators' perceived time set aside for children to participate in nature-based play increased by 9.2%, and their perceived behavioral control for supporting general and nature-based play activities for preschool children increased by 5% and 10.3%, respectively (p < 0.05). However, these results were no longer significant after adjusting for educator socio-demographics. Conclusion: Both the Nature play and FMS professional development programs were effective in improving educators' self-efficacy to engage children to be active in Nature play or FMS activities. Larger pragmatic trials are required to confirm the impact of these professional development programs on educator perceived physical activity behavior.


One hundred and seventeen patients undergoing allogeneic bone marrow transplantation (BMT) for severe aplastic anemia (n = 18) or leukemia (n = 99) who were alive on day +180, were analysed for the incidence and severity of chronic graft-versus-host disease (cGVHD), developing before or after discontinuation of cyclosporin A (CSA). All patients received CSA for GVHD prophylaxis for 94 to greater than 988 days post-BMT. cGVHD developed in 74 patients (63%) before CSA discontinuation (de novo n = 12, progression from acute GVHD n = 42, following resolution of acute GVHD n = 20). CSA was discontinued in 112 patients: electively (n = 80), because of toxicity (n = 8), or following relapse of leukemia (n = 24). In five patients CSA was never discontinued. After discontinuation of CSA, progression or de novo cGVHD was seen in 25 patients, with a significant difference in patients treated for more or less than 150 days (8% vs 41%, p = 0.0007). In 15 patients CSA had to be re-instituted and in 14 it could be discontinued a second time. Overall 111/117 (94%) patients have finally discontinued CSA. In conclusion cGVHD will progress or appear de novo in 41% of patients receiving CSA for less and in 8% of those receiving CSA for more than 150 days respectively, indicating that the drug should be administered for at least 5 months post-BMT. Most patients (94%) will eventually become CSA independent.


Toxicity testing of hydrophobic organic compounds (HOCs) in plastic cell culture plates is problematic due to compound losses through volatilization and sorption to the wells and culture medium constituents. This leads to poorly defined exposure and reduced test sensitivity. Passive dosing can overcome these problems by the continual partitioning of HOCs from a dominating reservoir loaded in a biologically inert polymer such as silicone, providing defined and constant freely dissolved concentrations and also eliminating spiking with cosolvents. This study aimed to select a suitable passive dosing format for in vitro tests in multiwell plates and characterize its performance at 37 degrees C. Silicone O-rings were the most suitable format; they were both practical and demonstrated excellent passive dosing performance. (1) The rings were loaded by partitioning from a methanol solution containing polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) (log K(OW), 3.33-6.43) that served as model compounds, followed by removal of the methanol with water. This resulted in highly reproducible HOC concentrations in the silicone O-rings. (2) The release of PAHs into aqueous solutions was rapid and reproducible, with equilibrium partitioning being reached within hours. (3) The buffering capacity of the O-rings was sufficient to maintain stable concentrations over more than 72 h. The O-rings were then applied to test a range of PAHs at their aqueous solubility in an array of established in vitro cell culture assays with human cells and cell lines. These included the formation of reactive oxygen species, induction of the IL-8 cytokine promoter, and secretion of MCP-1 by the cells. The biological responses depended on the melting point of the individual PAHs and their maximum chemical activities (a(max)). Only those PAHs with the highest a(max) stimulated the formation of reactive oxygen species and MCP-1 secretion, while they inhibited the induction of the IL-8 cytokine promoter.


Individuals often have misconceptions about education policy issues. Prior research has shown that refutation texts can address misconceptions in other areas (e.g., climate change, GMOs); this study is the first to explore whether participants' views on controversial education policies—the Common Core State Standards and charter schools—are similarly malleable through refutation text interventions. Results of two experiments show that refutation texts reduced participants' misconceptions and increased their correct conceptions about both policy issues. These impacts persisted for at least a week in both cases. Our findings hold promise for policymakers, implementers, and researchers seeking to buttress support for policies through direct, evidence-based refutation texts.


Antibodies are neutralising proteins produced by plasma cells of the mammalian immune system to combat invading pathogens. The specificity of antibodies towards antigenic epitopes is paramount to successful vaccination therapies. This thesis set out to enhance antibody specificity by introduction of a 'molecular address tag' (MAT) to vaccines for targeting antigens to cells of the immune system. The aim was to produce antibodies more specific and more potent towards antigenic epitopes, eliminating the need for adjuvants. β-1,3-Glucan tags of 15 degrees of polymerisation were synthesised for use as address tags, along with laminarin, a commercially available storage polysaccharide of brown alga consisting of β-1,3-glucan backbone with β-1,6-glucan side chains. Following conjugation to BSA, MATs were studied for their ability to interact with Dectin-1, a C-type lectin receptor with an affinity for β-(1-3)-glucans, and to stimulate a Dectin-1-mediated signalling response, by utilising a Dectin-1-expressing reporter cell line. This study revealed a signalling response triggered by conjugated β-(1-3)-glucans with β-(1-6)-side chains, and particulate β-(1-3)-glucans of DP15 either free or unconjugated.

The latter half of this thesis focused on antigen generation and immunisation trials. Fungal β-(1-2)-mannan antigens of DP3 and DP4 were synthesised enzymatically and isolated via gel permeation chromatography. However, conjugation efforts were unsuccessful and time did not allow for further optimisation. Two vaccines to protect against the causative agent of Q fever, Coxiella burnetii, were generated. Both vaccines comprised of a virus-like-particle core to which lamarin address tags were conjugated as well as a virenose antigen. The antigen comprise of either α-Vir(1-4)-α-Vir or β-Vir(1-4)-β-Vir, depending on the vaccine. Immunisation trials were performed in rabbits, and serum analysis performed by ELISA, revealing a specificity towards both α and β-virenose antigens when immunised with β-Vir(1-4)-β-Vir, but a specificity towards α-vir when immunised with α-Vir(1-4)-α-Vir. These findings


The social and economical condition, cultivated land resources and general situation of grain production of research area are introduced. According to relevant data of cultivated land of Kunming City in 2006, taking the minimum per capita cultivated land and index model of cultivated land pressure, and combining with two conditions of per capita grain demand which are 300kg and 400kg, the comparative research method was used to calculate and analyze the minimum per capita cultivated land and index model of cultivated land pressure. The results show that when per capita grain demand-Gr is 300kg, the per capita cultivated land in Kunming City has regional differences, reflects different regular patterns of spatial distribution, and presents obvious and typical radial distribution. Urban area of Kunming has the lowest point and be taken as the center, per capita cultivated land decreases progressively from suburban to the periphery; when per capita grain demand-Gr is 400kg, under the same consumption level, cultivated land pressures of each county in Kunming City are different, and so are the driven factors; when per capita grain demand-Gr is 300kg or 400kg, the indexes of cultivated land pressure in Kunming are all greater than 1, cultivated land pressure is enormous, the indexes of cultivated land pressure of each county (district) have two conditions—greater than 1 and less than 2, and the reasons differ from one another. Combining with the spatial distribution characteristics of the cultivated land and food and the situation of industrial development, the countermeasures and suggestions are put forwarded to make full use of back-up cultivated land, to plan the distribution of industrial structure in each county (district) of Kunming City as a whole, to dispose cultivated land resources reasonably and so on.


Background: The inflorescence of Chrysanthemum morifolium cv. 'Hangju' has been widely used in China due to its antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties. The biosynthesis and regulation of flavonoids, a group of bioactive components, in C. morifolium are poorly understood. Transcriptome sequencing is an effective method for obtaining transcript information. Therefore, single-molecule real-time (SMRT) sequencing was performed to obtain the full-length genes involved in flavonoid biosynthesis and regulation in C. morifolium.Results: High-quality RNA was extracted from the inflorescence of C. morifolium at different developmental stages and used to construct two libraries (0-5 kb and 4.5-10 kb) for sequencing. Finally, 125,532 non-redundant isoforms with a mean length of 2,009 bp were obtained. Of these, 2,083 transcripts were annotated to pathways related to flavonoid biosynthesis, and 56 isoforms were annotated as CHS, CHI, F3H, F3'H, FNS Ⅱ, FLS, DFR and ANS genes. Based on gene expression levels at different stages, we predicted the major genes involved in flavonoid biosynthesis. By phylogenetic analysis, we found two candidate MYB transcription factors (CmMYBF1 and CmMYBF2) activating flavonol biosynthesis.Conclusions: Based on the full-length transcriptomic data and further quantitative analysis, the major genes involved in flavonoid biosynthesis and regulation in C. morifolium were predicted in our study. The results provide a valuable theoretical basis for the introduction and cultivation of C. morifolium cv. 'Hangju'.


We take the hierarchical resource allocation model in Van Zandt (2003a) and derive a simpler, reduced-form model of balanced hierarchies. This model uses continuous approximations; we derive bounds on the errors due to these approximations. We then give results that indicate that optimal hierarchies in the general model of are approximately balanced. In particular, we show that aggregation should be balanced if the hierarchical structure is balanced, and we show the hierarchical structure should be balanced if aggregation is balanced.


An extensive study of the dynamic performance of multitrailer vehicles, and the influence of double-drawbar dollies (C-dollies) on that performance is reported. Six vehicle configurations (five double-trailer combinations and one triple) are considered. The performance of the six vehicles is examined using a matrix of seven different converter dollies (an A-dolly and 6 C-dollies) and 15 different vehicle parametric variations (e.g., center-of-gravity, height, tire-cornering stiffness, roll stiffness, etc.). The performance quality of the vehicles is judged using measures such as rearward amplification, yaw-damping ratio, static rollover stability, offtracking, and dynamic-load-transfer ratio. The results from over 2800 computer simulation runs are used in a statistical regression analysis to produce simple methods for predicting performance numerics for A-trains based on vehicle parameters easily obtained in the field. Performance improvement factors for C-dollies are also developed. Recommendations for minimum performance standards and for C-dolly specifications are also reported. An economic analysis comparing A-dollies and C-dollies is presented. This analysis is based on data from a field survey and the literature and includes purchase, start-up, operational, and accident cost considerations. The report also includes the ancillary performance issue of backing ability. This volume, Volume I, is the Final Technical Report. Extensive appendices are included in Volume II. Volume III is a Technical Summary.


BACKGROUND
The authors conducted a survey of dentists in Hawaii to assess their knowledge of, perceived readiness for and willingness to respond to bioterrorist (BT) events.

METHODS
Using a cross-sectional study design to access a random sample (n = 240) of all licensed dentists residing in the state of Hawaii (N = 1,016), the authors mailed study participants an anonymous survey up to three times during June and July 2004. Knowledge-based questions were taken from accredited Internet-based free continuing medical education offerings.

RESULTS
Of 234 deliverable surveys, 133 were returned (response rate of 56.8 percent). Only 2.3 percent of respondents reported having received prior BT preparedness training. A total of 14.5 percent felt able to identify and recognize a BT event, and 9.2 percent indicated they were able to respond effectively to a BT attack. A total of 73.8 percent expressed willingness to provide assistance to the state in the event of a BT attack. Dentists scored a mean of 62 percent correct (5.6 of nine questions) on the objective knowledge-based questions.

CONCLUSIONS
A low prevalence of prior training coupled with a high degree of willingness to provide assistance indicates the need for additional BT preparedness training. This should be provided as continuing education offerings to practicing dentists and incorporated into the dental school curriculum.

CLINICAL IMPLICATIONS
Dentists have the basic knowledge and experience to perform a number of key roles in a BT event; however, additional training must be provided to develop BT preparedness competencies.


A total of 600 patients with suspected alimentary food poisoning were hospitalized. The ++clinico-laboratory findings showed that 27 (4.5 per cent) of them had Campylobacter infection. The cultures of Campylobacter jejuni and Campylobacter coli were isolated from 24 and 3 patients, respectively. The patients underwent complex pathogenetic treatment with oral rehydration saline solutions, symptomatic agents, enzymatic preparations and diet (the basic therapy) supplemented with biological bacterial preparations in less severe cases (8 patients). Antibacterial drugs such as furazolidone (roxytromycin), gentamicin and levomycetin, as well as fluoroquinolones such as ofloxacin and ciprofloxacin were additionally used in the treatment of both the patients with the generalized infection and those with more severe processes of the disease, pronounced diarrhea with blood traces and persisting isolation of Campylobacter (12 patients). The most favourable results in the treatment of more severe patients with Campylobacter infection were obtained with the fluoroquinolones used after inadequately efficient therapy with furazolidone or antibiotics especially in the cases with repeated isolation of campylobacteria.


In this present work, the effects of surrounding outer porous cylinder on vortex structure downstream of a circular inner cylinder are investigated experimentally in deep water flow. The porosity of outer cylinder were selected as β = 0.4, 0.5, 0.6, 0.65, 0.7, 0.75, 0.8 and 0.85. Porosity is defined as the ratio of the gap area on the body to the whole body surface area. The ratio of outer cylinder diameter to inner cylinder diameter, Do /Di was selected as 2.0, i.e. the inner cylinder diameter is Di = 30 mm where the outer cylinder diameter is Do = 60 mm. All experiments were carried out above a platform. The water height between the base of the platform and the free surface was adjusted as 340 mm. Free stream velocity is U = 156 mm/s, which corresponds to the Reynolds number of Rei = 5,000 based on the inner cylinder diameter. It has been observed that the outer porous cylinders have influence on the attenuation of vortex shedding in the wake region for all porosities. The turbulent intensity of the flow is reduced at least 45% by the presence of outer porous cylinder compared to the bare cylinder case. The porosities β = 0.4 and 0.5 are most suitable cases to control the flow downstream of the circular cylinder.


In revealing the transformatory moment of learning technology, a holistic andongoing critique that is related to a range of socio-cultural factors is required.This critique further uncovers the social relations that frame the place of learningtechnology in bourgeois capitalist work and the development of the knowledgeeconomy. This article argues that critical social theory, and the social and powerrelationships that it highlights, is central to the uncovering of this revelation. Asa result of a holistic, or totalising, analysis based upon the political economy oftechnology in education, a framework that enables educators to examine its educationalvalue is uncovered. Iterating and re-producing this framework works asa constant critique of educational practice within capitalism, and critiques deterministicor hegemonic views of technology-as-progress. As a result, this articleseeks to demonstrate how critical social theory might enable educators to analyselearning technology as historically situated, and thereby to use critique to revealand produce practical alternatives to sociocultural problems. 10.1080/21567069.2011.624996


Background: Stereotactic radiosurgery is an important clinical tool for the treatment of small lesions in the brain, including benign conditions, malignant and localized metastatic tumors. A dosimetry study was performed for Elekta 'Synergy S' as a dedicated Stereotactic radiosurgery unit, capable of generating circular radiation fields with diameters of 1-5 cm at isocentre using the BEAM/EGS4 Monte Carlo code. Materials and Methods: The linear accelerator Elekta "Synergy S" equipped with a set of 5 circular collimators from 10 mm to 50 mm in diameter at isocentre distance was used. The cones were inserted in a base plate mounted on the collimator linac head. A PinPoint chamber and Wellhofer water tank chamber were selected for clinical dosimetry of 6 MV photon beams. The results of simulations using the Monte Carlo system BEAM/EGS4 to model the beam geometry were compared with dose measurements. Results: An excellent agreement was found between Monte Carlo calculated and measured percentage depth dose and lateral dose profiles which were performed in water phantom for circular cones with 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 cm in diameter. The comparison between calculation and measurements showed up to 0.5 % or 1mm difference for all field sizes. The penumbra (80-20%) results at 5 cm depth in water phantom and SSD=95 ranged from 1.5 to 2.1 mm for circular collimators with diameter 1 to 5 cm. Conclusion: This study showed that BEAMnrc code has been accurate in modeling Synergy S linear accelerator equipped with circular collimators. Iran. J. Radiat. Res., 2007; 5 (1): 31-36


High-value landscapes, habitats, and species are protected increasingly through a range of local, national, and international designations and policies. Often one site may be protected by a multitude of designations. However, international designations are commonly implemented through national mechanisms. Using the Forvie Sands and Ythan Estuary area of northeast Scotland as an example, we review the effectiveness of multiple environmental designations. After an examination of existing and proposed designations for the study area, overlaps and loopholes in environmental protection are identified. We conclude that protection from more than one designation may either afford the site additional protection or emphasise the importance of the site at different levels; local, national, and international. The principal loophole relates to unregulated activities undertaken beyond the designated site which may have an adverse effect on the protected area. Possible solutions include extending the designation to include the sources of the threat or to combine an appropriate designation strategy with effective regulation of the threat itself. In developing designation strategies, environmental protection agencies should consider these options.


Larval growth recorded as accumulation of protein was measured in Aedes aegypti, Culex nigripalpus and Culex quinquefasciatus, raised on liver powder or dry brewer's yeast. In the early stages all 3 species grew faster on liver powder, but at pupation there was no significant difference in protein content between diets and among species. Aedes aegypti pupated one day ahead of Culex.


In this project, a technology-supported learning challenge has been developed to replace a conventional visitation program at Sydney Olympic Park. The educational approach taken is based on a general social constructivist model of learning, challenging learners with a problem based perspective directly linked to specific syllabus outcomes. Students engage in work on the web, in class, in the field and in technology 'pods' with an emphasis on student-centred tasks and field activities that will require them to explore data and information, construct and test hypotheses, and present conclusions and solutions in the form of artefacts. This paper describes the learning design of the challenge, and describes the results of formative evaluation in the form of user review and interviews with teachers of the program.


Warm asphalt has been gaining increasing popularity in recent years; however there are several characteristics about warm asphalt that are still unknown. While several studies have been conducted to study the performance of warm asphalt mixtures, aging characteristics of warm mix asphalt (WMA) binders are not known in great detail. This paper presents the results of a limited study to evaluate the aging characteristics of two WMA binders artificially aged in the rolling thin film oven (RTFO) and the pressure aging vessel and comparing them with binder extracted from freshly prepared and artificially aged warm asphalt mixtures. RTFO aging was performed at 163°C and a lower temperature to simulate warm asphalt aging. Tests on binders aged in the laboratory and binders extracted from freshly mixed and aged mixtures indicated that the WMA binders extracted from WMA mixtures had significantly lower viscosities and G∗/sin δ compared to binders extracted from hot mix asphalt (HMA) and binders aged in the RTFO at 163°C (325°F). This indicates that the lower mixing and compaction temperatures reduce the aging of the warm asphalt binders. Also, binders extracted from WMA had significantly lower creep stiffness values and significantly higher m-values compared to warm asphalt binders aged in the RTFO at 163°C (325°F) and binders extracted from HMA. Binders containing WMA additives did not have higher G∗ sin δ values, indicating that the warm asphalt additives do not negatively affect the fatigue properties of the binders. Gel permeation chromatography analysis indicated that the addition of the warm asphalt additives did not have any significant effect on the %LMS of the binders used in this study.


The aim of this study was to design, synthesize and validate a multifunctional antidepressant probe that is modified at two distinct positions. The purpose of these modifications was to allow covalent linkage of the probe to interaction partners, and decoration of probe-target complexes with fluorescent reporter molecules. The strategy for the design of such a probe (i.e., azidobupramine) was guided by the need for the introduction of additional functional groups, conveying the required properties while keeping the additional moieties as small as possible. This should minimize the risk of changing antidepressant-like properties of the new probe azidobupramine. To control for this, we evaluated the binding parameters of azidobupramine to known target sites such as the transporters for serotonin (SERT), norepinephrine (NET), and dopamine (DAT). The binding affinities of azidobupramine to SERT, NET, and DAT were in the range of structurally related and clinically active antidepressants. Furthermore, we successfully visualized azidobupramine-SERT complexes not only in SERT-enriched protein material but also in living cells stably overexpressing SERT. To our knowledge, azidobupramine is the first structural analogue of a tricyclic antidepressant that can be covalently linked to target structures and further attached to reporter molecules while preserving antidepressant-like properties and avoiding radioactive isotopes.


The complexity of commerce in today's globalized era and the rise of technology have sparked new developments in the debate surrounding unauthorized practice of law (UPL) statutes. Proponents of UPL statutes argue that these rules protect consumers from the incompetency of nonlawyers. Opponents, however, argue that UPL statutes are designed to protect lawyers' monopoly on legal and law-related services, contending that these statutes are written so broadly that the distinction between what is legal advice versus nonlegal business or strategic advice is indeterminate. Further, these statutes seem to suggest that, as a profession, we have been unable to define the practice of law in a concrete way. Thus, many argue for the abolishment of UPL statutes. In doing so, opponents of UPL statutes believe that, amongst other benefits, access to justice will increase because nonlawyers will be able to do what was traditionally lawyer-only work, and lawyers will lose the power of a monopoly-rooted competitive advantage. Proponents do not appear to disagree and, in fact, have been accused of protecting UPL statutes for this very reason.Are the opponents to UPL statutes right? This is the primary issue I seek to examine: will abolishing UPL laws enable nonlawyers to encroach on lawyers' monopoly of services?Arguably, UPL statutes are most contentious on the margins — those areas where the line between business and law is the hardest to draw. More and more lawyers are moving into these quasi-legal jobs, where a legal license is not required but having a law degree provides an advantage. As such, both lawyers and nonlawyers perform key roles and often work together. Although there is debate over who should take the lead, and many scholars have thoroughly studied the unauthorized practice of law by nonlawyers, it does not appear that scholars or regulators have focused on lawyers or nonlawyers working in these quasi-legal roles in relation to UPL or the influence they might have on the reputation and status of the legal profession.Thus, to fill this gap and analyze whether elimination of UPL restrictions will decrease lawyers' monopoly of legal and law-related services, I explore two growing areas straddling the border between business and law in which lawyers and nonlawyers compete for jobs: compliance and claim funding (also commonly known as alternative litigation funding). To aid in this exploration, I use: (1) information from interviews I conducted with seventy general counsels and compliance officers of SP and (2) my own personal work experience as a consultant to a start-up commercial claim funding company. This set of data and my experience bring to life how some compliance officers, lawyers, and commercial claim funders view and describe their jobs, and, ultimately, aid my analysis of the effect that eliminating UPL statutes may have on lawyers' monopoly of law-related services.My analysis leads me to three conclusions. First, the work conducted by compliance officers and claim funders could be considered the practice of law, and therefore, UPL statutes could prohibit such work if conducted by nonlawyers. Second, often the people with legal training and practice experience play the role of compliance officers and claim funders. Third, because of their degrees, training, and experience, attorneys may be considered more qualified or better situated to fill these mixed business-law consultant roles than their nonlawyer counterparts.If these conclusions are correct, they lead me to two preliminary hypotheses. First, contrary to the arguments made in support of abolishing UPL statutes, such a move may not end lawyers' monopoly of legal and law-related services. Instead, lawyers (those trained in the law) may be able to monopolize (or at least maintain a stronghold in) the marketplace for these closely law-related services, even if UPL statutes are eliminated. The role of the corporate attorney has expanded as clients' needs have grown more complex. Clients may prefer that their lawyers fill these law-related roles for two reasons: first, because they have played them historically, and second, because they have the expertise and training to play them well.Moreover, although law is arguably a business, lawyers are still part of a profession, a delineation that only serves to protect the monopoly.Second, these lawyer-nonlawyers may add to what Tanina Rostain identified a few years ago as a growing industry of law consultants, who are not necessarily part of the legal profession, and, therefore, not held to the rules governing professional conduct. Because ambiguity surrounds lawyers' work in these quasi-legal areas and the issue of what is the practice of law is also nebulous, lawyers in consultant positions may be able to evade ethical obligations and help clients find legal loopholes because of their training and expertise as lawyers. This raises special concerns for the public and for the legal profession in terms of its reputation and position in the marketplace.Granted, I examine only two areas that lay on the margins of law and business. More research needs to be done on other areas to determine if these hypotheses have merit elsewhere.Part I begins by providing a brief overview of the debate over UPL statutes and the theory behind lawyers' monopoly of legal services. Part II describes and explores the type of work that compliance officers and litigation funders conduct. It analyzes whether these law-related jobs could be considered law practice and what skills and expertise are needed to fill these roles. Part III attempts to answer the question posed above: Will eliminating UPL statues potentially enable nonlawyers to fill the role that lawyers currently play in these areas on the border between business and law? In other words, if UPL laws were abolished, would a nonlawyer or lawyer get the job? My analysis leads to the hypothesis that in the areas of compliance and litigation funding, the lawyer will still get the job. Further, collaboration may not increase between lawyers and nonlawyers, and negative unintended consequences may result from abolishing UPL statutes.


Sustaining low CO2 emission pathways to 2100 may rely on electricity production from biomass. We analyze the effect of the availability of biomass resources and technologies with and without carbon capture and storage within a general equilibrium framework. Biomass technologies are introduced into the electricity module of the hybrid general equilibrium model Imaclim-R. We assess the robustness of this technology, with and without carbon capture and storage, as a way of reaching the RCP 3.7 stabilization target. The impact of a uniform CO2 tax on energy prices, investments and the structure of the electricity mix is examined. World GDP growth is affected by the absence of the CCS or biomass options, and biomass is shown to be a possible technological answer to the absence of CCS. As the use of biomass on a large scale might prove unsustainable, we illustrate early action as a strategy to reduce the need for biomass and enhance economic growth in the long term.


The aim of this paper is to test an explanation for the crisis in contemporary capitalism and unveil new ways to understand the way in which uneven development occurs. The crisis in neoliberal capitalism represents the decline of a project that pretended or intended to restructure and expand neoliberal capitalism. Led by collective imperialism in an epoch, which places humanity at a corresponding crossroads: capital or life. Anticipating capital as the possible answer, this paper postulates the need to generate alternatives to postneoliberal or post-capitalist development, (which still contributes to the overexploitation, environmental devastation and centralized accumulation), in order to create better working and living conditions for most of the population and thus, into the center of the need to guarantee the reproduction of human life on the planet.


Bacterioplankton have the potential to significantly affect the cycling of organic matter in the ocean; however, little is known about the linkage between bacterial assemblage structure and carbon metabolism. In this study, we investigated whether changes in the phylogenetic composition of bacterioplankton were associated with changes in bacterial carbon processing (bacterial produc- tion, respiration and biomass) in the subtropical NE Atlantic Ocean. We found consistent differences in the composition of the bacterial assemblage, as revealed by denaturing gradient gel electrophore- sis (DGGE) and catalyzed reporter deposition-fluorescence in situ hybridization (CARD-FISH), along a gradient from the NW African upwelling to the oligotrophic North Atlantic Subtropical Gyre. The percent contribution of Bacteroidetes, Roseobacter and Gammaproteobacteria significantly increased towards more productive waters, whereas the SAR11 clade of the Alphaproteobacteria remained rel- atively constant (average 28% of DAPI-stained cells) throughout the area. Changes in the composi- tion of the bacterial assemblage detected by DGGE were weakly but significantly correlated with changes in carbon processing variables. The abundances of Roseobacter and Gammaproteobacteria were highly correlated with the concentration of particulate organic carbon and chlorophyll a, reflecting the affinity of these groups to nutrient-enriched conditions. The abundance of Roseobacter was also positively correlated with heterotrophic bacterial production, suggesting their active partic- ipation in carbon processing.


In this paper, we assess using two alternative allocation schemes, namely exergy and primary energy saving (PES) to compare products generated in different combined heat and power (CHP) geothermal systems. In particular, the adequacy and feasibility of the schemes recommended for allocation are demonstrated by their application to three relevant and significantly different case studies of geothermal CHPs, i.e., (1) Chiusdino in Italy, (2) Altheim in Austria, and (3) Hellisheidi in Iceland. The results showed that, given the generally low temperature level of the cogenerated heat (80–100 °C, usually exploited in district heating), the use of exergy allocation largely marginalizes the importance of the heat byproduct, thus, becoming almost equivalent to electricity for the Chiusdino and Hellisheidi power plants. Therefore, the PES scheme is found to be the more appropriate allocation scheme. Additionally, the exergy scheme is mandatory for allocating power plants' environmental impacts at a component level in CHP systems. The main drawback of the PES scheme is its country dependency due to the different fuels used, but reasonable and representative values can be achieved based on average EU heat and power generation efficiencies.


In vitro thymus explants culture designed in this paper can mimic the thymic microenvironment as it were in vivo. Theoretically, thymus explants are cut off free from blood stream. So if some developing or developed thymocytes had the inclination to migrate into the periphery, they would only be accumulated in the blood vessels within thymus explants. After 3-day's culture, under transmission electron microscope we observed the migrating thymocytes accumulated in the blood vessels of C57BL/6 mice thymus explants, and these thymocytes were occurring apoptosis at different stage. To our knowledge, this findings offers the first morphological evidence that thymocytes do not necessarily die inside the thymus in situ, and that having acquired the death signals thymocytes can migrate into the blood stream and die quickly outside the thymus. But this is not to say that we deny the intrathymic death hypothesis. On the contrary, we found the number of thymocytes occurring in situ apoptosis on the surfaces of stromal cells is far more than that of migrating into the blood vessels. So, our proposal is that there are two sites for thymocytes apoptosis, some die inside the thymus and the others die outside the thymus.


In this paper we test some hypotheses about individual decision making under risk based on the unique Russian TV show «Sdelka?!» participants behavioral data. The show presents the game where participants are supposed to choose between guaranteed amount of money and lottery which may result in gains or losses. Participants are assumed to make decisions based on prospect theory and cumulative prospect theory including both subjective probability trans formation and reference-dependent behavior. Herewith it is assumed that reference point is dynamic so it may change through the game. In order to estimate parameters associated with participants decision making mechanism we propose econometric binary choice model based on quasi maximum likelihood method. The results suggest that contestants adapt reference point depending on the game process. Adaptation seems to be asymmetric since reference point shifts noticeably to the right in response to gains and substantially less to the left if the game goes poorly. In addition, we have found weak evidence in favor of loss aversion effect. In order to demonstrate the robustness of the results we are using various approaches to subjective probabilities transformation. According to Akaike information criteria econometric models incorporating probability transformation are superior to objective probability mode.


Abstract Coupled thermal-mechanical models of convergent orogens offer a novel way to investigate the interactions between heat and tectonics that lead to regional metamorphism. In this study, the effects of different distributions of heat-producing material in the crust and upper mantle on crustal thermal histories and deformation fields are investigated. The models involve subduction-driven collision with moderate convergence and erosion rates. For models involving standard continental crust, where heat production is initially concentrated in the upper crust, P-T-t paths do not intersect the field of typical Barrovian P-T conditions. However, heat-producing material can be tectonically redistributed, for example, by subduction of crustal rocks to upper mantle depths, or by formation of thick accretionary wedges or continental margin sequences during convergence. Models that include a wedge of heat-producing material in the upper mantle generate high temperatures in the lower crust and upper mantle that lead to a change in orogenic style; radioactive heating of partially subducted crustal material on time scales of 10–30 Ma yields temperatures high enough for partial melting. However, crustal P-T-t paths are unlikely to intersect the Barrovian field unless erosion or convergence rates change. Models that include a crustal-scale region with moderate, uniform heat production, simulating a large accretionary wedge or tectonically thickened continental margin sequence, generate P-T-t paths that intersect the Barrovian field. However, as convergence proceeds, the heat-producing region is deformed, eroded, and reduced in volume, so that the model orogen begins to cool down after about 20 Ma. The model results provide an explanation for many first-order tectonic and metamorphic features of small orogens, including metamorphic styles ranging from blueschists to the Barrovian series to granulites, late-orogenic granitoid magmatism, and the crustal-scale tectonic features associated with regional metamorphic belts. We conclude that the thermal state of an orogen is controlled by the evolving competition between cooling by subduction and radioactive heating within the deforming orogen.


The Saudi Arabian Government believes that having students undertake study at leading international universities is a key pillar underpinning the development of an international standard workforce for the Kingdom. North America (Canada and the USA) has been the major destination for Saudi students wishing to study abroad for many decades. Indeed, over 60% of all Saudi students currently studying at universities outside the Kingdom are studying in North America. This paper reviews the nature and effectiveness of the scholarship programs provided by the Government of Saudi Arabia to support students wishing to study at North American Higher Education institutions. It identifies a significant range of personal benefits to Saudi students from their engagement with academic and community life in North America, but proposes that significant research needs to be undertaken in order to clearly identify the impact of students studying in North America on the Kingdom itself, particularly in areas such as social and economic development, education, business management, urban planning and health.


In January 1997, PCR genomic analysis of the TSG101 gene showed frequent large intragenic deletions. The investigators used a small cohort of sporadic breast cancers. Li et al. proposed human TSG101 as a breast tumor suppressor gene. Since then, several teams have worked on large series of breast cancers, using a variety of techniques. They have shown that intragenic deletion, if it exists at all, is rare. Is TSG101 a tumor gene or an impostor?


Matrix metalloproteinase 9, MMP-9 is an extracellularly operating enzyme that has been demonstrated as an important regulatory molecule in control of synaptic plasticity, learning and memory. Either genetic or pharmacological inhibition of MMP-9 impairs late phase of long-term potentiation at various pathways, as well as appetitive and spatial memory formation, although aversive learning remains apparently intact in MMP-9 KO mice. MMP-9 is locally translated and released from the excitatory synapses in response to neuronal activity. Extrasynaptic MMP-9 is required for growth and maturation of the dendritic spines to accumulate and immobilize AMPA receptors, making the excitatory synapses more efficacious. Animal studies have implicated MMP-9 in such neuropsychiatric conditions, as e.g., epileptogenesis, autism spectrum disorders, development of addiction, and depression. In humans, MMP-9 appears to contribute to epilepsy, alcohol addiction, Fragile X Syndrome, schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. In aggregate, all those conditions may be considered as relying on alterations of dendritic spines/excitatory synapses and thus understanding the role played by MMP-9 in the synaptic plasticity may allow to elucidate the underpinnings of major neuropsychiatric disorders.


The USDA collects a large amount of information directly from farmers and ranchers across the United States. Farmers and ranchers own the majority of the land dedicated to the production of agricultural products, yet a significant portion of our nation's farmland is rented or leased from non-operating landlords. In 2010, the USDA collected detailed information on land tenure, ownership patterns, and rental agreements through supplemental questions in the Agricultural Resource Management Survey. The goal was to provide more detailed information on land rental agreements and address important questions about landlord characteristics.


China aviation project has little sample and the traditional method can not estimate the project cost accurately. This paper proposes a method estimating aviation project cost based on gray systematic theory. We divide aviation product into systems or parts and regard them as cost estimation unit. The gray forecasting model GM (1, 1) was set up based on historical cost data of cost estimation unit. If the model's precision doesn't meet with the requirement of aviation project cost estimation, the revision model GM (1, 1) must be set up to raise the estimation precision The experimental results show the method can get the more high-accuracy estimation value using the little sample and is suitable for the cost estimation of the our country aviation project.


Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, social work and social care practitioners had some the worst working conditions of any sector in the UK. During the pandemic, data revealed that social care occupations had higher COVID infection and mortality rates than the general population. The article reports the changing working conditions (measured via the Work-Related Quality of Life scale) and well-being (measured via the Short Warwich–Edinburgh Mental Well-being Scale) of UK social care and social workers across three timepoints between May 2020 and July 2021 through an online cross-sectional survey of working conditions and well-being. Analysis of variance demonstrated that both well-being and working conditions were significantly poorer in July 2021 (phase 3 [n = 1,606]) than the previous two phases (n = 2,523 and n = 2,424, respectively), suggesting that both working conditions and well-being worsened within the social care and social work workforce across the pandemic. Furthermore, each of career satisfaction, working conditions, control, general well-being and home–work interface predicted poorer well-being at Time 3. Whilst chronically poor working conditions can lead to poorer individual psychological and physiological health outcomes, our findings highlight continually poor conditions in this sector, with potential further impacts on organisations and the service users that social care workers support. It is therefore important that individuals, organisations and government develop mechanisms to support these critical workers during and following the pandemic.


Modern techniques for the investigation of correlated materials in the time domain combine selective excitation in the THz frequency range with selective probing of coupled structural, electronic and magnetic degrees of freedom using x-ray scattering techniques. Cryogenic sample temperatures are commonly required to prevent thermal occupation of the low energy modes and to access relevant material ground states. Here, we present a chamber optimized for high-field THz excitation and (resonant) x-ray diffraction at sample temperatures between 5 and 500 K. Directly connected to the beamline vacuum and featuring both a Beryllium window and an in-vacuum detector, the chamber covers the full (2–12.7) keV energy range of the femtosecond x-ray pulses available at the Bernina endstation of the SwissFEL free electron laser. Successful commissioning experiments made use of the energy tunability to selectively track the dynamics of the structural, magnetic and orbital order of Ca2RuO4 and Tb2Ti2O7 at the Ru (2.96 keV) and Tb (7.55 keV) L-edges, respectively. THz field amplitudes up to 1.12 MV cm−1 peak field were demonstrated and used to excite the samples at temperatures as low as 5 K.


STEM CELLSJERUSALEM AND HAIFA-- Ongoing controversy over the ethics of research involving human embryonic stem (ES) cells has meant that in many countries biologists have spent more time lobbying politicians and courting public opinion than they have in their labs learning about the cells. But thanks to liberal regulations governing embryo research and broad public support, Israeli scientists have been at the forefront of ES cell research. Because of their head start, Israeli scientists have helped set the pace for the rest of the world.


The flow mechanism that is realized in 3-D depending on the fabric's porosity structure determines the fabric's permeability performance. During the flow movement that happens both in the in-plane and through-plane directions, not only the inter-yarn pore properties but inter-fiber pore properties play a significant role as well. The aim of this study is to offer a new method to identify intra-yarn porosity, which has mostly been neglected during the theoretical studies. In this method, initially the cross-sectional images of the cotton yarn in the fabric were achieved, and then the intra-yarn porosity was predicted via image processing and analysis steps. Besides, intra-yarn porosity was calculated theoretically depending on fiber and yarn parameters. The results that were obtained through the image analysis method and theoretical approaches were compared with the experimental data achieved by using Stereo Investigator. As a result, it was observed that the image analysis method was giving fast, objective, successful and expected results while predicting the intra-yarn porosity.


In an excitation control system of some DC generator, there are accidents sometimes thanks to the snobbery unit. To solve these bothersome, based on an snubber unit of the excitation control circuit, namely a Buck converter topology with rectifier bridge, with the filter capacitance and the exciting winding impedance parameter assured, the preferences of the resistance and capacitance of the snubber circuit is investigated by simulation. The result is that it can limit the switching-on peak current of the switch when the snubber resistance and capacitance's parameters are increased suitably, and the former one can lose more energy on the snubber resistance, then the latter one can reduce the striking current in the snubber resistance at the switching-on time. Finally, the simulation results are provided to verify that the exact selection of the snubber resistance and capacitance's parameters can make excitation controlling circuit more stable and reliable.


Profiles of energy metabolites and haptoglobin (Hp) in dairy cows that are transitioned from conventional to organic management in various Alberta farms were compared with those of dairy cows managed conventionally at the University of Alberta dairy farm. Blood samples were collected during the following periods: Dry, 0 - 30, 30 - 60, and 60 - 90 days in milk (DIM, n = 7 cows). Concentrations of metabolites were evaluated by enzymatic colorimetric methods. Concentrations of Hp were determined by bovine ELISA kits. Data were analyzed by the mixed procedures of SAS. Concentrations of NEFA and BHBA in blood were elevated (P < 0.001) 0 to 30 d, intermediate 30 to 60, and 60 to 90 d, and lower in the dry period. In addition, BHBA was higher (P < 0.0001) at all stages of lactation in conventional than organic cows (e.g. 1289.4 ± 88.6 vs. 883.6 ± 47.5 µmol/L in conventional and organic cows at 0 - 30 d, respectively). Serum concentrations of cholesterol increased with increasing DIM and returned to nadir levels during dry period and was higher (P < 0.0001) in conventional than organic cows. Low glucose concentrations were observed 0 to 30 d, levels were intermediate 30 to 60 and 60 to 90 d, and peaked during the dry period (P < 0.0001). However, glucose concentrations did not differ (P < 0.54) between conventional and organic cows. Lactate did not (P < 0.24) vary with DIM or day × farm type but was higher (P < 0.0001) in organic cows than in conventional cows. Serum concentrations of Hp were elevated during dry period; reached peak levels 0 to 30 d and decreased gradually with increasing days postpartum and were much higher at all periods in conventional than organic cows. Overall, concentrations of Hp were 528.1 ± 45.2 µg/mL in conventional cows vs. 261.1 ± 16.9 µg/mL in organic cows (P < 0.0001). Taken together, these data indicate that metabolic changes associated with initiation of lactation are preceded by an acute phase response in dairy cows, and that cows in organic systems seem to be healthier than cows under conventional systems. These differences might be due to differences in nutritional management in the two systems.


Analytical methods to assess the content of free carbohydrates in solution range from simple tests of reductive power to combinations of chromatography and mass spectrometry. Soluble carbohydrates such as lactose, maltose, fructooligosaccharides, and galactooligosaccharides are commonly found in infant formulas either as sources of energy or soluble fibers. On the other hand, a rich repertoire of lactose-based carbohydrates occurs naturally in human milk.  The advent of novel biosynthesis technologies resulted in the availability of human milk oligosaccharide structures that are being used as ingredients in infant formulas.   Notably, 2'Fucosyllactose has been tested in preclinical and clinical studies to determine its safety and to explore its potential health benefits in the context of pediatric nutrition. Several chromatographic methods for the analysis of human milk oligosaccharides have been published and, the main challenge associated with 2'Fucosyllactose quantitation has been to improve its resolution from lactose, which is present at concentrations around 70 g/l in both, infant formula and human milk. We developed a high-performance anion exchange chromatography method to detect and quantify 2' Fucosyllactose in the presence of lactose by expanding the elution time between these saccharides. We validated the analytical procedure which behaved linearly (average R=0.99951) at concentrations as low as 1.75 µg/ml (limit of quantitation) with an average limit of detection of 0.43 µg/ml.


Abstract. Wildfires and their emissions have significant impacts on ecosystems, climate, atmospheric chemistry, and carbon cycling. Well-dated proxy records are needed to study the long-term climatic controls on biomass burning and the associated climate feedbacks. There is a particular lack of information about long-term biomass burning variations in Siberia, the largest forested area in the Northern Hemisphere. In this study we report analyses of aromatic acids (vanillic and para-hydroxybenzoic acids) over the past 2600 years in the Eurasian Arctic Akademii Nauk ice core. These compounds are aerosol-borne, semi-volatile organic compounds derived from lignin combustion. The analyses were made using ion chromatography with electrospray mass spectrometric detection. The levels of these aromatic acids ranged from below the detection limit (0.01 to 0.05 ppb; 1 ppb  =  1000 ng L−1) to about 1 ppb, with roughly 30 % of the samples above the detection limit. In the preindustrial late Holocene, highly elevated aromatic acid levels are observed during three distinct periods (650–300 BCE, 340–660 CE, and 1460–1660 CE). The timing of the two most recent periods coincides with the episodic pulsing of ice-rafted debris in the North Atlantic known as Bond events and a weakened Asian monsoon, suggesting a link between fires and large-scale climate variability on millennial timescales. Aromatic acid levels also are elevated during the onset of the industrial period from 1780 to 1860 CE, but with a different ratio of vanillic and para-hydroxybenzoic acid than is observed during the preindustrial period. This study provides the first millennial-scale record of aromatic acids. This study clearly demonstrates that coherent aromatic acid signals are recorded in polar ice cores that can be used as proxies for past trends in biomass burning.


The precordial stethoscope allows direct monitoring of infants in the delivery room during neonatal resuscitation. The use of this monitor is already mandated as a standard of care practice in pediatric and adult anesthesia. A simple preparation and application of this monitor is described. The routine use of the precordial stethoscope during infant resuscitation in the delivery room may improve quality of care, especially pertaining to airway management, in an area otherwise devoid of monitors. It may be useful in other pediatric resuscitation settings and when transporting ill or sedated pediatric patients.


Demographic and life-history responses of Daphnia galeata to predation by cyprinid fish were studied in a mesocosm experiment where four levels of predation were repeated at two inorganic nutrient loads. No clear trend was observed in response to nutrient enrichment, so the competition hypothesis, as shaping the demographic profile of the studied population was discarded and only the predation effects were analysed. The changes in body size distribution and reproductive effort estimated through the proportion of ovigerous females and brood sizes were analysed and compared to predicted patterns. Both a significant decrease in body size and an increase in proportion of egg-carrying females in the population could be attributed to increasing vertebrate predation. The direct effect of selective predation resulted in a decrease in population size despite an increased reproductive effort and high food abundances. An analysis of egg size vs. ovigerous female body size revealed treatment related clusters with little or no overlap which indicates that not only the direct size-selective effects take place in natural populations but that a phenotypic response takes part. The increase in proportion of ovigerous females under predation can provide a qualitative estimation of phenotypic response if size-selectivity of predators is assumed.


Dissolution experiments to support an active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) form change in Verubecestat immediate release tablets were performed following current regulatory guidance published by health authorities in Canada, Australia, Japan, the EU, and the USA. Verubecestat API meets the requirements of a Biopharmaceutics Classification System class 1 compound and tablets are very rapidly dissolving in aqueous dissolution media. While the in vitro data were reviewed favorably by these agencies, the divergence in regulatory requirements led to unnecessary work and highlights several issues companies operating globally face to justify product changes that have very little impact on quality. The data presented in this manuscript provide a compelling case for adjustments to the current draft ICH M9 guidance which provides recommendations for biowaiver applications. Specifically, this manuscript contains recommendations with respect to API attributes, selection of dissolution media and apparatus, and methods to assess dissolution similarity if needed, which should be considered for inclusion in a science- and risk-based global guidance document to benefit patients, regulators, and the pharmaceutical industry.


The European Variscan belt, which is characterized by a huge amount of granitic intrusions, displays several significant rare-elements pegmatites and/or granites fields which could represent an important source of raw materials. An overview of these occurrences gave the possibility to discuss the processes at their origin and their common classification. Indeed, the spatial and temporal distributions of rare-element pegmatites in the European Variscan belt suggest that rare-elements magmatism would rather be related to local specific conditions (in particular sources, tectonic and thermal regime) than lower crustal processes like rare-elements enrichment subsequent to their release during granulite metamorphism. Actual classification of rare-elements pegmatites, based on their geochemistry and mineral composition, does notallow to discern pegmatites formed in different tectonic regimes and which exhibit various internal structures (e.g. the pegmatites of the lepidolite-subclass from Western Iberia and from the Moldanubian domain of the Bohemian Massif for example).


The present thesis offers a set of theoretical reflections on postmodern and postcolonial territorial restructuring. It is mainly based on fifteen years of scientific research on the demarcation processes at local and provincial levels in African contexts (South Africa, Morocco and Niger) and at intermunicipal level in France. A broad international bibliography on the issues of demarcation and territorial engineering is also used. Chapters deal with specific entries: the arguments on the choice of new provincial capital cities and county-towns; territorial solutions and innovations introduced in borderlands institutional and local government design; the evolution of the optimal territorial pattern in the public policies of spatial planning and devolution. Lastly some laws and trends arising from this work are applies to territorial restructuring beyond local and national political clouts.


Flowers of Ipomoea tricolor Cav. (cv. Heavenly Blue) were cut at various stages of development and evaluated for their ability to metabolize ethylene. Freshly cut buds or flowers were treated in glass containers for 8 hours with 6 mul/liter of highly purified (14)C(2)H(4). Following removal of dissolved (14)C(2)H(4), radioactivity was determined for the different flower tissues and trappd CO(2). (14)C(2)H(4) oxidation to (14)CO(2) and tissue incorporation occurred at very low to nondetectable levels 2 to 3 days prior to flower opening. About 1 day prior to full bloom, just at the time when mature buds become responsive to ethylene (Kende and Hanson, Plant Physiol 1976, 57: 523-527), there was a dramatic increase in the capacity of the buds to oxidize (14)C(2)H(4) to (14)CO(2). This activity continued to increase until the flower was fully opened reaching a peak activity of 2,500 dpm per three flowers per 8 hours. It then declined as the flower closed and rapidly senesced. A similar but smaller peak occurred in tissue incorporation and it was followed by a second peak during late flower senescence. This first peak in tissue incorporation and the dramatic peak in ethylene oxidation slightly preceded a large peak of natural ethylene production which accompanied flower senescence. The ethylene metabolism observed was clearly dependent on cellular metabolism and did not involve microorganisms since heat killing destroyed this activity and badly contaminated heat-killed flowers were unable to metabolize ethylene.


Electric Submersible Pump (ESP) account for over 60% of artificial lift methods used globally and contribute significantly to the CAPEX and OPEX of a project. They tend to be the least reliable component in the system with an average life-span of 2 years. This paper demonstrates how artificial intelligence was used to unlock insights from sensor data around an ESP to understand the operating conditions which lead to a trip and failure of these systems.

 Autoencoders were used for the detection of anomalous behavior in an ESP and the determination of the root cause of an anomalous event. Autoencoders are neural networks trained to reconstruct input data. They have an encoding and decoding section, the encoder compresses the input vector, while the decoder reconstructs the original input from the compressed vector. This process allows the network to understand the patterns in a dataset. We trained the network on stable operating data from a 2-years historical data dump of 97 sensors. This allowed the model to understand the patterns of stability in an ESP.

 The autoencoder was developed using the Python programming language along with the Keras deep learning framework. It had 7 layers with the exponential linear unit as the activation function for training. During reconstruction, the autoencoder never produces a perfect reconstruction of input data, it, however, performs a good reconstruction on data similar to what it was trained on. In our case, the model reconstructs stable data well and struggles with unstable data. The reconstruction error is used to distinguish a normal event from an anomalous event because it increases prior to an event and reduces as the system returns to stability. During the historical time period, the ESP experienced 5 major trips, three of them were due to gas locks while the other two were due to electrical issues. The model was able to detect the gas locks on average 5 hrs in advance and electrical issues several days in advance before the actual events. The top ten sensors responsible for each event were determined based on the relative magnitude of the individual sensor reconstruction errors, the validity of this output was confirmed by the Subject Matter Expert.

 Autoencoders can make non-linear correlation between features in a dataset and have been used for anomaly detection in images and other fields, this paper demonstrates their usefulness in intelligent surveillance of ESPs. This solution is currently used for near real-time intelligent surveillance of ESPs with the ability to send out email notifications whenever any sensor strays away from stability.


This study used positivist quantitative approach to
examine the mathematical concepts acquisition of' KS4 (14-16)
Special Education Needs (SENs) students within the school sector
education in England. The research is based on a pilot study and the
design is completely holistic in its approach with mixing
methodologies. The study combines the qualitative and quantitative
methods of approach in gathering formative data for the design
process. Although, the approach could best be described as a mix
method, fundamentally with a strong positivist paradigm, hence my
earlier understanding of the differentiation of the students, student –
teacher body and the various elements of indicators that is being
measured which will require an attenuated description of individual
research subjects. The design process involves four phases with five
key stages which are; literature review and document analysis, the
survey, interview, and observation; then finally the analysis of data
set. The research identified the need for triangulation with Reid's
phases of data management providing scaffold for the study. The
study clearly identified the ideological and philosophical aspects of
educational research design for the study of mathematics by the
special education needs (SENs) students in England using the virtual
learning environment (VLE) platform.


The ever-increasing functionality and the nonfunctional constraints that must be satisfied by embedded systems lead to an enormous growth in the complexity at the system level In this paper we investigate the notion of cognitive complexity and argue that it is not the embedded system, but the models of the embedded system that must be simple and understandable. The introduction of appropriate levels of abstraction in modeling and the associated concept formation help to reduce the emerging complexity by focusing on the relevant properties and omitting irrelevant detail, thus leading to a simpler representation of the evolving artifact. In the second part of the paper we present examples of basic-level concepts that we find essential in the design of distributed embedded systems and summarize the insights by presenting a set of concise design patterns that support the component-based design of embedded systems.


Migratory insertion (MI) is one of the most important processes underpinning the transition metal-catalysed formation of C–C and C–X bonds. In this work, a comprehensive model of MI is presented, based on the direct observation of the states involved in the coupling of alkynes with cyclometallated ligands, augmented with insight from computational chemistry. Time-resolved spectroscopy demonstrates that photolysis of complexes [Mn(C^N)(CO)4] (C^N = cyclometalated ligand) results in ultra-fast dissociation of a CO ligand. Performing the experiment in a toluene solution of an alkyne results in the initial formation of a solvent complex fac-[Mn(C^N)(toluene)(CO)3]. Solvent substitution gives an η2-alkyne complex fac-[Mn(C^N)(η2-R1C2R2)(CO)3] which undergoes MI of the unsaturated ligand into the Mn–C bond. These data allowed for the dependence of second order rate constants for solvent substitution and first order rate constants for C–C bond formation to be determined. A systematic investigation into the influence of the alkyne and C^N ligand on this process is reported. The experimental data enabled the development of a computational model for the MI reaction which demonstrated that a synergic interaction between the metal and the nascent C–C bond controls both the rate and regiochemical outcome of the reaction. The time-resolved spectroscopic method enabled the observation of a multi-step reaction occurring over 8 orders of magnitude in time, including the formation of solvent complexes, ligand substitution and two sequential C–C bond formation steps.


BACKGROUND
Unconjugated hyperbilirubinemia results from Gilbert syndrome and from antiretroviral therapy (ART) containing protease inhibitors. An understanding of the interaction between genetic predisposition and ART may help to identify individuals at highest risk for developing jaundice.

METHODS
We quantified the contribution of UGT1A1*28 and ART to hyperbilirubinemia by longitudinally modeling 1386 total bilirubin levels in 96 human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-infected individuals during a median of 6 years.

RESULTS
The estimated average bilirubin level was 8.8 micromol/L (0.51 mg/dL). Atazanavir increased bilirubin levels by 15 mu mol/L (0.87 mg/dL), and indinavir increased bilirubin levels by 8 micromol/L (0.46 mg/dL). Ritonavir, lopinavir, saquinavir, and nelfinavir had no or minimal effect on bilirubin levels. Homozygous UGT1A1*28 increased bilirubin levels by 5.2 micromol/L (0.3 mg/dL). As a consequence, 67% of individuals homozygous for UGT1A1*28 and receiving atazanavir or indinavir had > or =2 episodes of hyperbilirubinemia in the jaundice range (>43 micromol/L [>2.5 mg/dL]), versus 7% of those with the common allele and not receiving either of those protease inhibitors (P<.001). Efavirenz resulted in decreased bilirubin levels, which is consistent with the induction of UDP-glucuronosyltransferase 1A1.

CONCLUSIONS
Genotyping for UGT1A1*28 before initiation of ART would identify HIV-infected individuals at risk for hyperbilirubinemia and decrease episodes of jaundice.


Viruses provoke considerable economical losses in agriculture. New molecular approaches to develop genetic resistance based on translational genomics and precision genetic modifications are highly expected. The type II Clustered, Regularly Interspaced Palindromic Repeats (CRISPR) system including Cas9 nuclease represent a promising and very powerful tool to specifically modulate the expression and activity of genes involved in biotic stress responses. In this study, we describe an approach to develop a platform system based on CRISPR system for genome editing technology in tomato. Tomato is an excellent plant for this approach considering the high-quality genome sequence, the rapid life cycle, the highly efficient in vitro plant culture and transformation protocols, Genome editing can be used to allow resistance to Tomato Spotted Wilt Virus (TSWV) infections by the successful obtainment of two specific objectives: (1) Development of a Genome Editing (GE) system using CRISPR-Cas9 system in tomato (Objective 1) and (2) test the system in inducing genetic resistance to TSWV infections. First, it will be necessary to model the molecular dynamics of key host and pathogen proteins predicting how targeted mutations affect these interactions. Then these host players will be targeted by CRISPR-Cas9 technology. The obtained plants can be evaluated for their phenotypic resistance and deeply analyzed using "omic" platforms to gain insight into gene regulatory networks of plant resistance. Outcomes of the proposed project will be essentially three: (1) Identify host target proteins interacting with pathogenic proteins and model their dynamic interactions; (2) develop a platform technology usable to obtain resistant tomatoes to TSWV inducing targeted genetic modifications in the genome; (3) facilitate the adaption of this platform to the improvement of important traits in other specialty crops.


A self-consistent Boltzmann-Poisson-Schrodinger Solver is used to study the transconductance degradation in high electron mobility transistor (HEMT), which has extensively been reported by both experimental [1]-[8] and computational [9]-[ 13] researchers. As the gate voltage of a HEMT device is increased, its transconductance increases until it reaches a peak value, beyond which, the transconductance is degraded rather sharply with further increase in applied gate bias. We previously reported a two-subband self-consistent Boltzmann-Poisson- Schrodinger Solver for HEMT. [14] We further incorporated an additional self-consistency by calculating field-dependent, energy-dependent intersubband and intrasubband scattering rates due to ionized impurities and polar optical phonons.[15] In this work, we have used our Boltzmann-Poisson-Schrodinger Solver and studied the effects of the intersubband and intrasubband scatterings of electrons, on the transconductance of a single quantum well HEMT device. The results of our simulations exhibit the same pattern reported by others [1]-[13]. We concluded that the degradation of transconductance of the device with applied gate bias is attributed to the increased intersubband and intrasubband scattering of electrons, and hence to the reduction of electrons velocity in the channel.


Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is the leading cause of death in women, and disparities affect the diagnosis, treatment, and outcomes of CVD for women. Biology, genetics, and race contribute to these disparities. Obstetric-gynecologic health care providers routinely encounter women who are at risk for developing CVD and are uniquely positioned as a point of access to intervene to improve/prevent CVD by assessing for risks and discussing healthy lifestyle changes during routine visits.


In the framework of the crystal chemical investigation of Tetragonal Tungsten Bronze (TTB) niobates, the Ba2NdFeNb4−xTaxO15 solid solution has been investigated in order to gain insights on the relaxor to ferroelectric crossover and its features. Single-phase ceramics were synthesised by conventional two-step firing and sintering and they underwent extended chemical, structural, microstructural and physical characterizations. For Nb-rich compositions (x ≤ 0.5), the temperature dependence of the dielectric permittivity, the pyroelectric coefficient, and also the ferroelectric hysteresis loops revealed a nonconventional relaxor to ferroelectric crossover, which was confirmed by piezoelectric measurements for x ≤ 0.1. A thermal hysteresis of the ferroelectric transition revealed the existence of a metastable ferroelectric phase in these TTB niobates. An accurate and reliable dielectric phase diagram is established from these observations, which allows discussing the original sequence of dielectric phase transitions encountered in this solid solution.


Research on the degradation of methyl violet has been done by using photosonolysis method. The purpose of this study is to determine how much time the optimum, optimum pH and the amount of doping TiO2 optimum degrade methyl violet as well as the percent degradation, determined the crystal structure and particle size of the catalyst synthesis of ZnO-TiO2 optimum degrade methyl violet using XRD, determine the value of the band gap Of the optimum ZnO-TiO2 catalyst synthesis in degrading methyl violet using UV-DRS, determining the absorption peak of Zn-O-Ti bonds from optimum ZnO-TiO2 catalyst synthesis in degrading methyl violet using FTIR. The results showed that the optimum time to degrade methyl violet was 45 minutes with 94,1371% degradation percentage. For pH variation, the optimum degradation results at pH 6 with percent degradation of 99.2857%. The effect of TiO2 doping variation showed optimum degradation result obtained on doping variation of TiO2 5% with percentage degradation of 96,2500%. The optimum catalyst structure of ZnO-TiO2 catalyst in degrading methyl violet with XRD is wurtzite (anatase) and the particle size is 42.65 - 107.60 nm. The band gap value of the optimum ZnO-TiO2 catalyst in degrading methyl violet with UV-DRS is 3.18 eV. The absorption peak of ZnO-Ti for optimum catalyst ZnO-TiO2 in degrading methyl violet with FTIR is 745.70 cm-1.


This paper proposes DeepSynth, a method for effective training of deep Reinforcement Learning (RL) agents when the reward is sparse and non-Markovian, but at the same time progress towards the reward requires achieving an unknown sequence of high-level objectives. Our method employs a novel algorithm for synthesis of compact automata to uncover this sequential structure automatically. We synthesise a human-interpretable automaton from trace data collected by exploring the environment. The state space of the environment is then enriched with the synthesised automaton so that the generation of a control policy by deep RL is guided by the discovered structure encoded in the automaton. The proposed approach is able to cope with both high-dimensional, low-level features and unknown sparse non-Markovian rewards. We have evaluated DeepSynth's performance in a set of experiments that includes the Atari game Montezuma's Revenge. Compared to existing approaches, we obtain a reduction of two orders of magnitude in the number of iterations required for policy synthesis, and also a significant improvement in scalability.


To better comprehend the relationship between perioperative blood transfusion and survival time after curative gastrectomy for advanced gastric cancer, the authors reviewed retrospectively data on 568 patients treated in their clinics from 1965 to 1983. of these 568, 195 (34.3%) required no blood transfusion and 373 (65.7%) required transfusions within the perioperative period. Univariate analysis indicated that the survival time of the transfusion recipients was significantly less than that of the patients who had no transfusions (P < 0.01). in subgroups of the authors' patients stratified to adjust for stage of disease, there was, however, no significant difference between the survival rates. Subsequently, multivariate analysis, using the Cox regression analysis, which adjusted for sex, age, and other covariates, indicated that perioperative blood transfusion was not a useful factor for predicting survival time. Multivariate analysis suggested that tumor size (P < 0.01), degree of invasion into the gastric wall (P < 0.01), and status of lymph node metastasis (P < 0.01) were the most important covariates after curative gastrectomy for advanced gastric cancer. the authors' findings revealed the lack of any relationship between perioperative blood transfusion and survival time of patients who underwent curative resection for advanced gastric cancer.


A total of 138 strains of slowly growing mycobacteria, which were received as members of 18 named species, were classified by scoring matching coefficients. Eighty-eight characters were tested for each strain; of these, 48 were useful for differentiating between strains. Mycobacterium tuberculosis and M . bovis were clearly separated fiom the other species. M . kansasii, M . mar inum, M . gastri, and M . shimoidei were regarded as species clearly distinct from each other and from other species in the genus. The other species studied formed a large cluster within which M . szulgai and M . simiae were distinct. The remaining species could be divided into two large subclusters, one consisting of M . asiaticum, M . av ium, M . intracellulare, M . scrofulaceum, M . gordonae, and M . xenopi, and the other consisting of M . nonchromogenicum, M . terrae, M . novum, and M . triviale. Within the former cluster, M . gordonae was regarded as a distinct species, and M . asiaticum and M . xenopi as fairly distinct species. In contrast to these, M . av ium, M . intracellulare, and M . scrofulaceum were not clearly differentiated from each other and appeared to belong to a single species, for which the name M . av ium has priority. Within the latter cluster, M . triuiale appeared to be fairly distinct from the others. M . nonchromogenicum, M . terrae, and M . nouum could not be differentiated from each other, and they appear to belong to a single species, for which the name M . nonchromogenicum has priority.


Summary
Particles of cowpea chlorotic mottle virus (CCMV) underwent an abrupt structural transition as the pH was raised to near pH 6.75. At low ionic strength (I = 0.2) the transition was observed as a decrease from 83S to 73S in the sedimentation coefficient of the virus particle. At high ionic strength (I = 1.0) the virus disassembled to components sedimenting at about 40S. These observations suggest a structural role for the RNA in maintaining virus stability. As ionic strength at pH 7.5 was increased, a critical point was reached (I = 0.4) at which the virus disassembled to the 40S aggregates. The effect of raising the temperature of both unswollen and swollen virus was to gradually, but substantially, reduce the sedimentation coefficient.


Although water reuse has been practiced in many countries for centuries, severe water scarcity in many parts of the world has aroused renewed interest. In addition, it is imperative to destroy the dangerous pathogens transmitted by the fecal-oral route by adequately disinfecting wastewater. Though chlorine has been used widely as a disinfectant, its inability to inactivate certain viruses and protozoan parasites and its reaction with certain contaminants to form carcinogenic trihalomethanes has made imperative the search for alternatives. Chlorine dioxide has been found to be an effective USEPA-approved replacement, though it poses safety issues, being explosive at concentrations of 10% (w/w) or more, sensitive to pressure, and somewhat toxic to juvenile fish. Small packets of precursor chemicals are now commercially available to generate small quantities of chlorine dioxide onsite. The aim of this research was to develop an automated delivery device for dispensing this disinfectant in the form of a packet, which would strongly mitigate the safety issues and make the dispenser user-friendly. The automation of the delivery device involved the design of a 30-slot Geneva mechanism to drop the packet into a reaction chamber. This packet-dropping mechanism was designed for use both in a manual mode, requiring no electricity, and an automated mode, powered through electricity. A fully functional prototype was built to demonstrate the automation of a disinfection delivery device. Disinfected water is safe for discharge on open lawns and gardens since the chlorite ion, a byproduct, is present in low concentration. However, wastewater discharge and reuse may be subject to local or state regulations.


OBJECTIVES
Determine the clinical repurcussions of adherence, metabolic control, hypoglycemia and cardiovascular events (CVE) and economics (resources and costs) in the combination therapy of metformin vs DPP-4 (dipeptidyl peptidase-4) inhibitors and sulfonylureas in patients with type 2 diabetes. Materials and methods. Observational-multicenter and retrospective design. We evaluated patients ≥ 30 years of age in treatment with metformin and who started a second oral antidiabetic treatment during 2008-2009. 2 study groups were established: a) metformin + DPP-4 inhibitors, and b) metformin + sulfonylurea.

MAIN MEASURES
comorbidity, metabolic control (HbA1c <7%), compliance and complications (hypoglycemia, CVE). Follow up was conducted over two years. The cost model differentiated between direct healthcare costs (primary/ specialty care), and indirect costs (labor productivity).

STATISTICAL ANALYSIS
logistic regression and ANCOVA models. Results. 1,405 patients were recruited (average age 67.1 years old; 56.2% male). 37.0% started a second treatment with DPP-4 inhibitors, and 63.0% with sulfonylureas. After two years of follow up, patients treated with DPP-4 inhibitors showed greater treatment adherence (70.3% vs. 60.6%; p <0.001); better metabolic control (64.3% vs. 60.6%; p<0.001), and a lower proportion of hypoglycemia (13.9% vs. 40.4%; p <0.001, respectively). The average/unit of adjusted total costs was € 2,341 vs. € 2,512; p = 0.038. CVE and renal failure rates were 3.7% vs. 6.4%; p = 0.027. Vildagliptin was the most used drug among DPP-4 inhibitors. Conclusions. Sulfonylureas were the most used drug for diabetes treatment. Patients treated with DPP-4 inhibitors had higher adherence and control of diabetes, with lower rates of hypoglycemia and CVE, resulting in lower healthcare costs.


Those that do not sow care little about such mundane things as equinoxes or planting seasons, or even crop rotation for that matter. Wherever and whenever the reavers reave, the mood is always foul and the nights are never warm or pleasant. For the rest of the good folks of Westeros, however, a decent grasp of the long-term weather forecast is a necessity. Many a maester have tried to play the Game of Weather Patterns and foretell when to plant those last turnip seeds, hoping for a few more years of balmy respite. Tried and failed. For other than the somewhat vague (if not outright meaningless) omens of "Winter is Coming", their meteorological efforts have been worse than useless. To right that appalling wrong, here we attempt to explain the apparently erratic seasonal changes in the world of G.R.R.M. A natural explanation for such phenomena is the unique behavior of a circumbinary planet. Thus, by speculating that the planet under scrutiny is orbiting a pair of stars, we utilize the power of numerical three-body dynamics to predict that, unfortunately, it is not possible to predict either the length, or the severity of any coming winter. We conclude that, alas, the Maesters were right -- one can only throw their hands in the air in frustration and, defeated by non-analytic solutions, mumble "Coming winter? May be long and nasty (~850 days, T<268K) or may be short and sweet (~600 days, T~273K). Who knows..."


Children's use of hospital services in the UK has been increasing rapidly since the late 1990s.1–6 Findings from the latest QualityWatch report show significant increases in emergency hospital admissions for infants (23%) and young children aged 1–4 years (11%) between 2006/2007 and 2015/2016 (data have been adjusted for population increases in each childhood age group), while children over the age of 15 years showed a decrease in emergency admissions6 (see box 1 for their definition of emergency admission).Box 1
### Definition of an emergency admission

'An admission to hospital that is unpredictable and at short notice because of clinical need. This admission can come via a variety of routes, including the hospital's A&E department, a general practitioner, a consultant clinic or a bed bureau. Our definition excludes transfers of admitted patients from other hospital providers in an emergency'.6

This paper discusses some of the theories and research which provide some insight into the increase in hospital admissions for infants and children under 5 years of age in the UK. Research has been identified in the following areas: social expectations of parents with a sick child, the media and parental anxiety, access to primary care, acuity of the illness, thresholds for admission, duration of hospitalisation and readmission rates, and the impact of health policy, each of which is discussed briefly below.

The unwritten rules of society place pressures on parents to conform to social expectations. When their children are acutely ill, parents are expected to contain the management of the illness within the family if the illness is minor and to seek help if the illness is serious.7 Parents learn from experiences, in the early days as parents, that they will be subject to felt or enacted criticism if they seek help at the wrong time, or in …


We present an active mixer based on the creation of virtual source-sink pairs in a polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) chip. Perfect mixing is achieved in only a sub-second time interval for a compact 5 μL mixing volume. This excellent performance is achieved thanks to the implementation of co-rotating vortices inside the mixing chamber by using micro-plumbing technology. A DNA isolation and purification protocol using magnetic beads in the mixing chamber is per-formed on-chip, showing the enhanced DNA binding performance due to active mixing.


Redox stabilities of the hydrogen electrode with in situ exsolved Fe–Ni nanoparticles from Sr2Fe1.4Ni0.1Mo0.5O6−δ (SFMNi) perovskite are studied by analyzing the evolution of the phase composition and morphology during the redox cycles. It is found that certain amount of the exsolved nanoparticles have been oxidized to the transition metal oxide (Ni,Fe)O instead of reincorporating into the parent perovskite lattice upon re-oxidizing at 800 °C in air. However, the (Ni,Fe)O secondary phases show no adverse effect on the subsequent reduction treatment. The redox reversibility mechanism is explained by the regular-solution model. The electrodes are almost fully recovered in the reducing atmosphere, and the symmetrical cells measured under 9.7% H2–3% H2O–87.3% N2 conditions show a stable specific area polarization resistance of around 1.93 Ω cm2 at 800 °C during 13 redox cycles. Single cells using the Ni–Fe nanoparticles structured electrode exhibit a stable electrode polarization resistance of about 0.598 Ω cm2 at 800 °C under open circuit voltage conditions and a steady electrolysis current density of about −653 mA cm−2 at 1.5 V during the steam electrolysis process over 5 redox cycles. These results indicate that the SFMNi material is a very promising electrode candidate for steam electrolysis application with robust redox reversibility.