Purpose: This paper is, on one hand, a presentation connected with recruiting foreigners to work in our country, and on the other hand, an attempt to reflect on the possibilities of improving this process including mainly reducing bureaucracy. The authors of this article presented some observations resulting from the diagnosis of the discussed process, with particular emphasis on employees from Ukraine. These phenomenon has become particularly relevant in the era of military operations in this country. The purpose of this article is recognition and assessment ofprocesses used to recruit and adapt foreign workers within legal and organizational considerations. Design/Methodology/Approach: Creative analysis of literature and acts of law regulating the issue of hiring foreigners in Poland. Findings: The research results were presented in a form of legal and organizational advice for entrepreneurs. Practical implications: The research results will help entrepreneurs to hire foreigners in a way that is compliant with current law. Originality/ value: The research was conducted on the basis of the newest acts of law related to hiring foreigners.


Coronary artery fistulas (CAF) are precapillary communications between a coronary artery and a cardiac chamber or vessel. CAF have been described as the most common hemodynamically significant congenital coronary anomal. However, it remains a relatively uncommon clinical problem. Coronary fistulas originates slightly more common from the right than from the left coronary artery, but the bilateral fistulas—those that originate from both coronary arteries—accounts for only 5% of total cases. These bilateral fistulas have a unique tendency to terminate in the pulmonary artery. More than half of the bilateral and only 17% of unilateral fistulas, terminates in this manner [1]. CAF are believed to be embryological remnants of sinusoidal connections between the lumens of the primitive tubular heart. This was first described by Maude Abbott in 1908 [2]. These fistulas are usually discovered incidentally upon coronary angiography [3]. Their incidence in the overall population is reported about 0.002% and constitutes 0.13% of congenital cardiac lesion, however, they are found in 0.05% to 0.25% of patients who undergo coronary angiography. The most common site of drainage is the right ventricle seen in 41% of patients. Congenital CAFs usually result from abnormal embryological development of the myocardial vascular system. Acquired CAFs are seen after trauma, endovascular procedures like coronary angiography, endomyocardial biopsy etcor cardiac transplantation. True fistulas of the circulatory system are characterized by an ectatic vascular segment that shows aberrant flow connecting two vascular territories governed by large pressure differences. We report a case of double coronary to pulmonary artery fistula discovered during emergent coronary angiography for acute inferior wall ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) in a patient with no prior cardiac symptoms.


Climate change, recurrent economic and financial crises and food security issues are forcing society to look at the increasingly widespread use of "sustainable" production practices. These are often translated into innovations for businesses that are not always easily achievable other than through specific investments. This work sets out to assess the sustainability performance of organic farms, which represent a sustainable production model in terms of values, standards, practices and knowledge on the ground. The research was carried out in two geographical contexts (the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Sicily, Italy) which have certain environmental and socio-economic issues in common, particularly in productive sectors representative of organic agriculture. This was done with the help of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) Sustainability Assessment of Food and Agriculture Systems (SAFA, in the rest of the text) framework and social network analysis to study the sustainability performance of organic farms within non-structured local production systems in the form of formal enterprise networks that, on the contrary, operate with a recognized and common aim. The results demonstrate both their attainment of excellence and the existence of criticalities, thus, identifying routes to possible improvement.


tion too early has long been recognised as undesirable. Dr St Leger is also clearly unaware that even those fortunate enough to be exempted from part I MFCM examinations have nevertheless to pay the fees for them, as otherwise he would recognise that the present policies ofthe Faculty ofCommunity Medicine are founded on educational grounds rather than fiscal ones. After reading his letter it is hard to resist the temptation to generalise and conclude that perhaps after all the present policies are the right ones.


Introduction: VCAM-1 and Tie1 are endothelial molecule and receptor, respectively that may participate in atherosclerosis disease. Endothelial cells are very sensitive to mechanical forces, including microgravity and the morphological and functional changes in this condition. To examine the effect of gravity on atherosclerosis disease, we analyzed the expression of VCAM-1 and Tie1 genes in microgravity condition in HUVEC cells. Methods: The research method was experimental. HUVEC cells purchased from Pastor Institute. We used a clinostat to simulate microgravity condition for 2, 24 and 72 hours. Real time PCR technique was used for gene expression analysis after extraction of RNA from cells. Results: Our results showed that microgravity led to a significant decrease in gene expression of VCAM-1 and Tie1 (p<0.05).This response remained similar after 72 hours of exposure to microgravity. Conclusion: It seems that weightlessness has a positive impact on reducing the factors causing atherosclerosis and can be used as a new strategy in the treatment of the atherosclerosis disease. Microgravity also can be used to study development and progression of vascular disease.


Several experimental studies in recent years have shown an effect of the appearance of embodied avatars in a digital environment on subsequent behaviors in unrelated context. However, such studies often focus exclusively on the appearance of avatars, and do not consider the nature of the behavior carried out in-game. This article presents an experiment exploring the combined effects of avatar appearance and in-game behavior on subsequent prosocial behavior in an unrelated task. 120 undergraduate students from a medical and health sciences course traversed a digital environment in a roleplaying game, battling opponents ("mobs") along the way. Using a factorial design, participants embodied either a heroic or a villainous avatar, and battled good or evil mobs. Results show that mob appearance, but not avatar appearance, affected prosocial behavior in a subsequent unrelated task. Participants having battled negative-looking mobs tended to exhibit more prosocial behavior than those having battled positive-looking mobs. These results, highlighting the potential of avatar's behavior to influence user's subsequent behavior, are discussed in terms of self-perception, theoretical insight and research on the Proteus effect.


Non-medical prescribers face increased
levels of responsibility relating to the range
of medicines available for them to prescribe.
However, the increasing range of drugs
available to prescribe highlights the need to
assimilate legal knowledge - for example
capacity and consent - to practise safely.
The Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC,
2004) directs nurses to work within their
sphere of practice. Non-medical prescribers
must have a firm knowledge of the NMC and
National Prescribing Centre (NPC) guidelines,
but it is just as important that common law
and statute law should underpin practice
before prescribing can commence. This
paper will explore the background legislation
specific to nurses acting in the non-medical
prescribing role, and further highlight the
challenges in knowledge within the legal
concepts of consent and capacity. The
paper will set out the historical perspective
of non-medical prescribing legislative
influences, with a focus on capacity and
consent legislation.


The first published report of the snowflake coral in Hawai'i comes from Pearl Harbor in 1972; subsequent identification as the Caribbean octocoral Carijoa riisei led to the general conclusion that it was introduced to Hawai'i from a Caribbean source. In an attempt to confirm the source of the Hawaiian population, we used mitochondrial (mtDNA) and nuclear (nDNA) sequence data to com- pare Hawaiian populations with samples of Carijoa (N = 244) collected worldwide. In addition, cumu- lative vessel traffic patterns from 1940-1979 were compiled for the Pacific Ocean to determine mar- itime connectivity to and from Hawai'i during the assumed time of introduction. Carijoa sampled from throughout Hawai'i (N = 94) share none of the Caribbean mtDNA haplotypes and only a single nDNA allele (0 of 28 and 1 of 27, respectively), indicating that the Hawaiian populations derive from Indo-Pacific rather than Caribbean-Atlantic origins. Furthermore, both mtDNA and nDNA show sig- nificant isolation-by-distance patterns overall and among the Pacific and Hawaiian sampling regions. These data indicate that Carijoa is native to the Indo-Pacific. Published reports of geographically wide-ranging invasions of Carijoa throughout the Pacific appear unfounded because our global sam- pling shows higher diversity in mtDNA (He = 0.87; ! = 0.0023) and nDNA (D = 0.91; ! = 0.042) through- out the Pacific relative to the Caribbean-Atlantic, indicating long evolutionary presence of Carijoa in the region. Our data clearly refute a Caribbean origin for Carijoa in the Hawaiian Archipelago, and indicate that the genus Carijoa is native to the Pacific and in need of further taxonomic evaluation.


SYNOPSIS This article advocates for a new focus in the area parenting science; namely, how parents help their children cope with and recover from events and conditions that threaten serious disruption to normal, healthy development. These events and conditions, organized under the rubric of developmentally challenging circumstances (DCCs), include events such as war, natural disasters, parental suicide and sexual abuse, serious personal loss that may come with the death of a family member, highly destabilizing interpersonal circumstances such as can occur when family members have serious mental health and substance abuse problems or when children witness interparental violence, and highly destabilizing social or physical circumstances, which can occur as a result of divorce, homelessness, or parental incarceration. These circumstances are at the upper end of conditions that cause stress; they are of a kind that create high levels of emotional distress and threaten long-term maladaptive reorganization of personality. The article offers a broad framework, organized around the major tasks of parenting, for systematic and integrative inquiry on what parents do to assist their children in managing DCCs and moving toward recovery. It also argues for research on the effects of these efforts.


Research on resistance to information technology is characterized by the fact that there is still no unified understanding about resistance to change of IT-induced organizational change projects (Vithessonthi 2007). In order to provide a deeper understanding why people reject technologies when introduced in organizations this paper develops a Model of Resistance to IT-induced Organizational Change based on micro-organizational change (Oreg 2006) and technology acceptance literature (Venkatesh and Bala 2008). The model posits that work, technology and process related outcomes of business process change are determined by a tri-dimensional resistance to change conceptualization (Piderit 2000; Oreg 2006) and evaluation of process and technology characteristics (Venkatesh 2006). Moreover these dimensions are determined by the context of the change and individual differences such as personality traits. First case study results show that the model is appropriate to gain a deeper understanding why people reject technologies.


In this paper, we study various hyperbolicity properties for a quasi-compact
K\"ahler manifold $U$ which admits a complex polarized variation of Hodge
structures so that each fiber of the period map is zero-dimensional. In the
first part, we prove that $U$ is algebraically hyperbolic and that the
generalized big Picard theorem holds for $U$. In the second part, we prove that
there is a finite \'etale cover $\tilde{U}$ of $U$ from a quasi-projective
manifold $\tilde{U}$ such that any projective compactification $X$ of
$\tilde{U}$ is Picard hyperbolic modulo the boundary $X-\tilde{U}$, and any
irreducible subvariety of $X$ not contained in $X-\tilde{U}$ is of general
type. This result coarsely incorporates previous works by Nadel, Rousseau,
Brunebarbe and Cadorel on the hyperbolicity of compactifications of quotients
of bounded symmetric domains by torsion-free lattices.


A series of phase-controlled and composition-tuned strontium tantalate homo-semiconductor composite photocatalysts were fabricated by adjusting the initial atomic ratio of Ta/Sr precursors for synthesis. A strong correlation between the phase compositions and the photocatalytic activities for hydrogen evolution was demonstrated, which can be attributed mainly to the significantly improved photogenerated charge carrier separation via interfacial type II junctions. Without any co-catalysts, finely phase-tuned composites, namely Sr5Ta4O15/Sr2Ta2O7, Sr5Ta4O15/Sr2Ta2O7/SrTa4O11 and Sr2Ta2O7/SrTa4O11, exhibited approximately 20, 38 and 76 times, respectively, higher H2 production rates from aqueous methanol solutions than pure Sr5Ta4O15. Furthermore, by modification with a 1 wt% NiO co-catalyst, both the photocatalytic overall water splitting (OWS) activities and stabilities of the composites were remarkably improved for the simultaneous evolution of H2 and O2 in a nearly stoichiometric ratio. The highest activity with a corresponding photon efficiency of up to 64% was achieved for NiO deposited on Sr2Ta2O7/SrTa4O11. The study on the feasibility of the strategy for fabricating homo-semiconductor composites will open up a direction to exploit new high-performance photocatalysts for hydrogen production and OWS.


OBJECTIVE
To detect the expressions of p-MAPK, cyclin D1 and p53 protein, and investigate their relationship in osteosarcomas.

METHODS
SP immunohistochemical technique was used to detect the expressions of of p-MAPK, cyclin D1 and p53 protein among the 58 osteosarcomas and 14 osteoid osteomas samples.

RESULTS
The positive rates of p-MAPK, cyclin D1 and p53 protein were 77.6% (45/58), 60.3% (35/58) and 44.8% (26/58) respectively in 58 osteosarcomas, and 21.4% (3/14), 21.4% (3/14) and 7.1% (1/14) in 14 osteoid osteomas. Their positive rates and expressive intensities in osteosarcomas were higher than those in osteiod osteomas. Their positive correlation was significantly observed between p-MAPK and cyclin D1 proteins (P < 0.01), and wasn't observed between p-MAPK and p53 proteins (P < 0.05) in osteosarcomas.

CONCLUSIONS
MAPK phosporylation may be one of causes for activation of cyclin D1, which play an important role in osteosarcogenesis. The mutation of p53 oncogene may not result in osteosarcogenesis by MAPK signaling pathway. Detecting p-MAPK by immunohistochemistry may be one of diagnostic indexes for osteosarcoma and benign osteoma.


Developmental and reproductive health indicators in developing countries are still deplorable, and adverse health consequences have been linked to poor socio - economic growth and development. Healthcare problems in developing countries are multifaceted and result from a combination of factors, socio-cultural, economic, political as well as poor planning and/or poor implementation of health policies and programmes. Also, there is the problem of availability, accessibility, affordability, sustainability of services and weak referral systems. These problems are reviewed and practical suggestions made on the way forward.

 Key words: Healthcare problems, solutions, developing countries.


: We report a case of mucinous adenocarcinoma of the prostate. A 80 years-old patient was diagnosed with a transrectal multiple biopsy. We comment on the special histological patterns of the tumor as well as the established criterion for an appropriate diagnosis.


Embedded in canonical macroeconomic models is the assumption of frictionless financial markets, implying that the composition of borrowers' balance sheets has no effect on their spending decision. As a result, these models have a difficult time accounting for the feedback effects between financial conditions and the real economy during periods of financial turmoil. Financial frictions — reflecting agency problems in credit markets — provide a theoretical link between the agents' financial health and the amount of borrowing and hence economic activity in which they are able to engage. This paper attempts to quantify the role of such frictions in business cycle fluctuations by estimating a DSGE model with the financial accelerator mechanism that links balance sheet conditions to the real economy through movements in the external finance premium. Our estimation methodology incorporates a high information-content credit spread — constructed directly from the secondary market prices of outstanding corporate bonds — into the Bayesian ML estimation. This credit spread serves as a proxy for the unobservable external finance premium, an approach that allows us to estimate simultaneously the key parameters of the financial accelerator mechanism along with the shocks to the financial sector. Our results indicate the presence of an operative financial accelerator in U.S. cyclical fluctuations over the 1973–2009 period: Increases in the external finance premium cause significant and protracted declines in investment and output. The estimated effects of financial shocks and their impact on the macroeconomy also accord well with historical perceptions of the interaction between financial conditions and economic activity during cyclical fluctuations over the past three decades and a half.


Mitochondrial components, including mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA), when released extracellularly, can act as "damage‐associated molecular pattern" (DAMP) agents and cause inflammation. As many elderly people are characterized by a low‐grade, chronic inflammatory status defined "inflamm‐aging," we evaluated if circulating mtDNA can contribute to this phenomenon. Eight hundred and thirty‐one Caucasian subjects were enrolled in the study, including 429 siblings aged 90–104 (90+ siblings). mtDNA plasma levels increased gradually after the fifth decade of life. In 90+ subjects, mtDNA values of two members of the same sibling relationship were directly correlated, suggesting a role for familiar/genetic background in controlling the levels of circulating mtDNA. The subjects with the highest mtDNA plasma levels had the highest amounts of TNF‐α, IL‐6, RANTES, and IL‐1ra; the subjects with the lowest mtDNA levels had the lowest levels of the same cytokines. In vitro stimulation of monocytes with mtDNA concentrations similar to the highest levels observed in vivo resulted in an increased production of TNF‐α, suggesting that mtDNA can modulate the production of proinflammatory cytokines. Our findings therefore show that circulating mtDNA increases with age, and can significantly contribute to the maintenance of the low‐grade, chronic inflammation observed in elderly people.


Objective: The Neural Response Telemetry (NRT™) recovery function measures the electrically evoked compound action potential (ECAP) in response to a second biphasic pulse (the probe) after masking by a first pulse (the masker). The masker-probe interval is varied and the ECAP amplitude is measured at each masker-probe interval, giving an inverse exponential recovery. The prevailing understanding of the recovery function has been that faster recovery indicates a more efficient response to the individual pulses within a pulse sequence. Psychophysical data in the past have not supported this view, and in fact, the opposite result has been observed. This study explores this phenomenon from theoretical and experimental viewpoints. Fundamentally, a distinction is made between the refractoriness of a single fiber and the refractoriness of the whole nerve. The hypothesis is that the size of the neural population heavily influences whole nerve refractoriness: large neural populations operate near threshold and are more susceptible to masking, leading to slower ECAP recovery; however, they maintain temporal responsiveness through greater numbers of nonrefractory neurons. Design: In phase I, the hearing loss durations (indicators of neural survival) of 21 adult Nucleus® Freedom™ implantees were compared with the corresponding median recovery function time-constants (calculated per implant array). The data were separated by implant (nine Contour™, 12 Straight) and the means of these two groups were compared. The Straight array, delivering broader excitation, is expected to engage a larger neural population. In phase II, a computational model of the ECAP recovery function was constructed based on data from the cat auditory nerve. The model allows the neural population size to be manipulated; accordingly, recovery functions from different neural populations were compared. In phase III, ECAP thresholds (via AutoNRT™), ECAP recovery functions, and T- and C-levels were obtained from a subset of 12 subjects. Psychophysical levels were measured using pulse train stimuli at six different stimulation rates, spanning 250 to 3500 Hz. At each electrode, the recovery function time-constant &tgr; was compared with two measures of temporal responsiveness: (i) the gradient of the linear trend in psychophysical levels with stimulation rate; and (ii) the difference between ECAP threshold (a single pulse measure) and 900 Hz T-level (a pulse train measure). Results: In phase I, a trend toward shorter recovery function time-constants with increasing hearing loss durations was observed. The mean recovery function time-constant of the Contour implant group (0.51 msec) was significantly shorter than that of the Straight implant group (0.90 msec). When, in phase II, the recovery functions from the computational model were compared at equal ECAP amplitude, the larger neural population was associated with slower ECAP recovery. In phase III, the recovery function time-constant was significantly correlated with both temporal responsiveness measures, with slower ECAP, recovery associated with greater temporal responsiveness, thus confirming the results of previous studies. Conclusions: Slower ECAP recovery, at equal loudness, is associated with larger neural populations. The collective results suggest that this neural population view of the recovery function explains the observed association between slower ECAP recovery and greater temporal responsiveness.


Transitions in technology are shaping, defining and establishing the future of the globalized social sphere with increasing pace and impact. As seen from a systemic viewpoint, the overall process seems to consist of a two-fold movement, in which an outer process of transition is joined by an inner transformational drive. While new social media like Facebook, Twitter, webcams, smartphones and iPads change the outer dimension of how we perceive, interpret and handle our social lives, thus transforming our habits of cultural consumption, contemporary brain and consciousness research are changing the inner dimension of the contemporary social by dramatically re-shaping the self-perception and interpretation of the individual through the findings, cultural distribution and practical applications of neuroscience and neurotechnology, thus questioning the conceptual cornerstones of sociality as conceived by Western modernity. This two-fold argument examines both processes from the inside out and the outside in. As such, the primary task as at now may not be trying to explain the meaning(s) of the new developments, but rather to identify an array of crucial questions at the inter- and trans-disciplinary crossroads between the different societal fields, culturo-political trends and scientific disciplines.


A temporal dissipative Kerr soliton (DKS) frequency comb can be generated in an optical micro-cavity relying on the rigid balance between cavity decay (dispersion) and parametric gain (nonlinear phase modulation) induced by an intense pump laser. In practice, to maintain such delicate double balances experienced by the intracavity soliton pulses, it requires precise control of the pump laser frequency and power, as well as the micro-cavity parameters. However, to date there still lacks experimental demonstration that simultaneously stabilizes all these key parameters to enhance the long-term DKS stability. Here, we demonstrate continuous working of a on-chip DKS microcomb for a record-breaking 14 days without showing any sign of breakdown. Such improved microcomb stability is enabled mainly by robust pump power coupling to the micro-cavity utilizing packaged planar-lightwave-circuit mode converters, and faithful locking of the pump frequency detuning via an auxiliary laser heating method. In addition to superior stability, the demonstrated DKS microcomb system also achieves favorable compactness, with all the accessory modules being assembled into a standard 4U case. We hope that our demonstration could prompt the practical utilization of Kerr microcombs in real-world applications.


ABSTRACT  Two species of Mazus (Mazaceae) are naturalized in North America, Mazus pumilus and Mazus miquelii. A new guide for distinguishing these species is provided. Comparisons of North American plants with the type specimen of the name M. miquelii and with specimens from the native range of that species support the inclusion of the naturalized plants sometimes called Mazus reptans in M. miquelii.


Cuba offers a unique perspective as a case study of sustainable transport prac¬tices. Although the country has many characteristics similar to other developing nations, it is alone in the fact that it has endured one of the longest economic blockades in recent history. Since 1960, Cuba has faced enormous pressures from its nearest potential trading partner (the United States) due to the blockade, which has caused innumerable problems in all sectors of the economy. Cuba has endured a huge decrease in transport investment and oil imports due to a long-standing economic Blockade and the collapse of the Former Soviet Union (FSU). This chapter examines the effect of the blockade and the collapse of the FSU on the transport sector. These events have led to a transformation in how goods and people are moved, not least because of a huge reduction in the amount of hard currency available to pay for fuel, vehicles, and spare parts but also due to consequential changes in society.

These societal changes resulted in a number of innovative behavioural and technologi¬cal outcomes both in transport and in food production, biotechnology, literacy, medical training and practice. This chapter describes, therefore, the sustainable transport practices which have stemmed not only from the situation in Cuba but also from the ingenuity of the Cubans in their own approaches to mobility. The islanders have had to invent novel ways of achieving mobility by creating a new mass transit system (camel buses) and formalizing car-sharing. By shifting to higher vehicle occupancies, using more public transport, and encouraging more walking and cycling, Cuba exemplifies sustainable transport practices.

The chapter closes with some more speculative ideas about how the transport sector might develop in the future and the challenges it faces in terms of sustainability.


This thesis describes the synthesis of diphenolate and dithiophenolate complexes of ZnII, NiII and CuII that derive inspiration from the natures of the active sites of the nickel-containing superoxide dismutase (NiSOD) and the copper-containing galactose oxidase (GO).
Chapter One introduces the roles of transition metals in biology. The structures of the active sites of NiSOD and GO are described, together with a discussion of the proposed mechanisms of their action. A brief review of the coordination chemistry relevant to the chemistry of the actives sites of NiSOD and GO is presented and the aims of the research described in this thesis are set out.
Chapter Two describes the syntheses and structural characterisations of a series of pentacoordinate ZnII, NiII and CuII diphenolate complexes MRLoNMe (M= Zn, Ni, Cu; R = Cl, Br, Nap, Ph, PhMe, PhOMe, tBu/Br, tBu/Ph, tBu/PhMe, tBu/PhOMe; page xiii) that differ in the natures of the substituents at the 3- and 5-positions of the phenolate rings within the ligand backbone. X-ray crystallographic studies on the ZnII, NiII and CuII complexes, and room temperature and frozen solution EPR spectroscopic experiments on the CuII complexes provide insight into the influence of the 3- and 5- substitution on the coordination geometries. The changes in substitution at the 3 position of the phenolate rings in MRLoNMe (M= Zn, Ni, Cu; R = tBu/Ph, tBu/PhMe, tBu/PhOMe) have significantly less influence on the geometry about the metal centre when compared to complexes that have substitutions that vary at the 3 and 5 positions in MRLoNMe (M= Zn, Ni, Cu; R = Ph, PhMe, PhOMe). DFT calculations provide a qualitative description of the electronic structures of these complexes, suggesting an increase in the metal character within the HOMOs for the NiII complexes relative to those of their ZnII and CuII counterparts.
Chapter Three describes the electrochemical characterisations of the complexes synthesised in Chapter Two [MRLoNMe (M= Zn, Ni, Cu; R = Cl, Br, Nap, Ph, PhMe, PhOMe, tBu/Br, tBu/Ph, tBu/PhMe, tBu/PhOMe)]. Cyclic voltammetry demonstrates that MRLoNMe (M= Zn, Cu; R = Cl, Br, Nap, tBu/Br) possess oxidation processes that are not reversible. MRLoNMe (M= Ni; R = Cl, Br, Nap, tBu/Br) possess a reversible oxidation process assigned to the NiIII/NiII redox couple. MRLoNMe (M= Zn, Ni, Cu; R = Ph, PhMe, PhOMe, tBu/Ph, tBu/PhMe, tBu/PhOMe) display multiple oxidation processes, some of which demonstrate electrochemical reversibility, particularly when M = Ni or Cu. UV/Vis and EPR spectroscopic studies on the oxidised species [MRLoNMe]+ (M= Zn, Ni, Cu; R = Ph, PhMe, PhOMe, tBu/Ph, tBu/PhMe, tBu/PhOMe), supported by DFT calculations, suggest that the first oxidation process is significantly more metal based when M = Ni than for M = Cu or Zn and for the generation of [NiRLoNMe]+ is associated with the formation of formal NiIII species. The UV/vis and EPR spectroscopic results also suggest that [NiPhOMeLoNMe]+ exhibits temperature-dependent NiIII-phenolate  NiII-phenoxyl redox tautomerism. The variation of the aromatic substituents systematically decreases the redox potential in the order R = Ph > PhMe > PhOMe, consistent with the relative electron donor properties of each group.
Chapter Four examines complexes that incorporate an aromatic, N-donor group pendant to the ligand background. These complexes serve as analogues of the active site of NiSOD. The dithiophenolate and diphenolate complexes NitBuLSPy, NitBuLSPyOMe, NitBuLOPy, NitBuLOPyOMe, and NitBuLOPh are prepared and characterised to examine the effect of different N-donor groups as potential axial donors to the metal centre on the redox properties of each complex. Advanced pulsed ESSEM and HYSCORE EPR spectroscopic studies probe the weak superhyperfine couplings involving the 14N imine donors in [NitBuLSPy]+, and benchmark the spin densities associated with these donors calculated by DFT. These spectroscopically validated DFT calculations show how the distribution of spin density varies between complexes incorporating an N-donor pendant to the ligand backbone and those that do not. Thus, those incorporating an additional N-donor possess spin density that is considerably more localised at the formal NiIII centre than those that do not.
Chapter Five discusses the key conclusions of the research described in this thesis and compares and contrasts the chemistry exhibited by ZnII, NiII and CuII diphenolate and dithiophenolate complexes. The structural and electrochemical differences observed upon the introduction of alternative diphenolate substituents in MRLoNMe (M= Zn, Ni, Cu; R = Cl, Br, Nap, Ph, PhMe, PhOMe, tBu/Br, tBu/Ph, tBu/PhMe, tBu/PhOMe) are summarised, together with the importance of the geometric structure of NitBuLSPy in controlling the redox chemistry of this centre. Finally, implications for the chemistry of the active sites of GO and NiSOD are discussed.


This study explores how support for computer users can be conceptualized and measured in information systems research. A number of studies have proposed that support for computer users plays an important role in the acceptance and utilization of information technology applications. In these studies, the support concept has been conceptualized in a variety of ways, and the findings have often not been as hypothesized. The paper provides a conceptual framework for understanding support for computer users, and then describes the development of an instrument to measure support for computer users in a business school lab environment. The paper should help further understanding and measurement of a concept that seems important, as well as problematic, for information systems research.


A large part of German motorways is increasingly in need of modernization. In addition, the dimensioning of traffic routes has to be adapted to consistently growing traffic volumes. Worksites that have to be installed for road preservation and development are planned, following the existing technical regulations. However, the human factor is only considered poorly. Many accidents and traffic disturbances at worksites could be avoided if the driving behavior of road users would be taken into account for the particular situation "worksite". Therefore psychological aspects need to be taken into account for the design of future worksites. In the present study, funded by the Federal Ministry of Transport and Digital Infrastructure, not only driving behavior, but also heart rate and eye movement of the subjects were measured during test drives in real worksites in order to capture the behavior, workload and attitude that arise for road users when passing a worksite. In addition, longitudinal and lateral distances were detected by means of video cameras and additional measurements were performed at cross-sections. Based on these variables, local traffic parameters were determined. Based on the findings obtained in the study, recommendations for the installation and arrangement of worksites will be compiled which give consideration to the driving behavior. Overall, the aim is to reduce workload for road users in areas of worksites and thereby increase traffic safety.


The British Geological Survey was commissioned by the Crown Estate to assess geological conditions in the Irish Sea in relation to the possible constraints they may place on development of offshore infrastructure. The report describes the geology between 0 m and 50 m below seabed, which is the depth most relevant to current pile foundation technology.
The report reviews the best available data from a variety of sources including, BGS legacy data, map sheets, and regional reports, as well as site investigations carried out for hydrocarbon and offshore renewable industries. Additional data collected for the proposed Round 3 offshore wind farm in the Irish Sea (Celtic Array) was also included. Prof. Richard Chiverrell and Dr. Katrien Van Landeghem (of Liverpool and Bangor universities), who together have extensive experience working in the Irish Sea, provided valuable advice and guidance.
The report is split into four principle sections as summarised below.
Section 3 summarises seabed topography, sediments and processes. The topography of the report area is split into shallow platforms and deeper troughs. Seabed sediments are subdivided into regions of soft mud- (clay and silt) rich sediment in the eastern and western Irish Sea and a central gravel belt comprising coarse sand and gravel. Small areas of bedrock outcrop at seabed are also recognised. Currents in the Irish Sea mobilise sediment to form a collection of marine bedforms ranging from ripples to very large (up to 36 m in height) solitary sediment waves and banner banks. Predicting bedform migration speeds and pathways is difficult and requires repeat surveys. Bedform migration rates of 0 m/yr to 66 m/yr, with average values around 6 m/yr have been observed. Shallow gas is expected in some areas of the Irish Sea. Where this gas is present, pockmarks or methane derived authigenic carbonate may occur.
Section 4 summarises the Quaternary history of the Irish Sea and its impact on the distribution, thickness and properties of sediment. Growth and collapse of ice sheets and associated sea level fluctuations principally determine geological properties of Quaternary sediments. The stratigraphy in the report area reflects three major glacial periods with the last one having the most pronounced influence. Very stiff diamicts (glacial 'boulder clays' or tills) are present across most of the report area of variable thickness. In enclosed deeps, locally sediment thickness can be >100 m. Glacial landforms are preserved at the seabed and can be used to predict sediment properties. Extensive studies onshore can provide analogues to assess potential geological properties offshore.
Section 5 provides a review of bedrock distribution and properties. Where Quaternary sediment cover is <50 m, bedrock will be encountered in the shallow subsurface. The predominant bedrock lithologies in the report area are Triassic and Carboniferous sandstone and mudstone. Geotechnical properties of Triassic rocks are comparable and potentially predictable. Carboniferous rock show high lateral and vertical variability. There are a number of igneous intrusions in the report area and rock properties near to the location of these igneous bodies may differ due to alteration of the host rock during intrusion.
Section 6 summarises the geological constraints identified in preceding sections with reference to engineering activities and infrastructure.
The report outlines the current state of knowledge of geological conditions in the Irish Sea. It is recommended for use as a guide and should not replace a detailed site investigation.


Youth entrepreneurship figures prominently in the development agendas of many developing countries including Malaysia. This paper offers a glimpse into what empirically constitutes contemporary Malaysian youth entrepreneurship through an analysis of the findings of a field research involving 531 youth entrepreneurs located in the country's Klang Valley. The aim is to arrive at a general profiling of the youths in terms of personality traits, socio-economic background, nature of business activities and level of enterprise development. The study found that Malaysian youth entrepreneurs were mostly Malay males, aged between 25 and 40, had was upper secondary and university education, married, and possessed the normal business attributes of willingness to take risk, to work hard, to continually learn and to be undaunted by challenges. They had participated in at least a business course and were running enterprises they built rather than inherited. Their enterprises, mainly of the sole proprietorship type and set more for selling goods than services , had been running for the past one to ten years. They started with less than RM50,000 (USD 15,000) initial capital, employed up to seven male and female employees, and were at a moderate development stage at the time of the study. The paper concludes that the insights this study had furnished qualify, if not contradict, the stereotype long held about the relative inability of Malays to participate in competitive modern business, and may help agencies concerned with the economic development of the nation's youths to finetune their intervention strategies.


The research goal is to develop the methodology of ecologic and meliorative monitoring of old-irrigated soil condition. The analysis of aqueous extract data showed no significant deterioration of the lands' meliorative condition over the period of irrigation. There following had occurred: the redistribution of salts, change in their composition and development of resalinization in some local areas near water bodies. The issues of resalinization are associated not only with phreatic rise and evaporation of mineralized groundwater, but also with the increase of salinity and alkalinity of groundwater. Some changes in the soil occurred over the period of irrigation. The study of the arable layer showed that the soil reaction in the humus horizon of an irrigated plot ranged from weak-acid to alkaline though it was close to neutral in the greater part of the area. Most soil tests (over 45%) characterize the soil as low-humus, slightly humic soils make about 33%, and medium-humic soils are found in 22% of samples. The content of labile phosphorus in the arable layer of the plot varies from very low to high (the data of 2014). During ten years of irrigation the soil was impoverished in terms of labile phosphorus content over the greater part of the plot; the labile phosphorus moved down the terrain. In spite of some changes the soils are suitable for irrigation provided strict observance of agronomical practices. The substantiation of the methods of soil water-salt regime control requires the consideration of the dynamics of soil solution content and soil absorbing complex, i.e. the consideration of the transporting processes of calcium, sodium and magnesium ions in the soils taking into account the ion-exchange sorption.


We illustrate how CAP policy reforms influence the transmission of world prices to domestic markets. Monthly wheat price data in Germany are used to obtain price transmission elasticities. Correctly accounting for structural breaks and the time series properties of the data yield transmission elasticities that differ dramatically among policy regimes.


It is now clear that the advent of accurate self-consistent (local) spin density function (LSDF) calculations for surfaces, interfaces, and multilayers means that theory is no longer limited to simple parameter-dependent models. These complex magnetic systems are of growing interest because the reduced symmetry, lower coordination number, and availability and role of highly localized surface and interface states offers the possibility of inducing new and exotic phenomena and so holds out the promise of new device applications. A key question and goal has been the possibility of inducing 2D magnetism in a controlled way. We describe some methods used to obtain structural, electronic and magnetic properties and how these calculations can give not only a clearer understanding of the experimental results but also predictions on novel systems not yet made experimentally. In particular, the magnetization (including its anisotropy) and charge and spin densities obtained can be compared directly with experiments (e.g., conversion electron Mossbauer spectroscopy). For excitations (like spin-polarized photoemission and inverse photoemission), spin polarized photocurrents can be calculated from the LSDF results. Illustrative examples demonstrate that it is possible not only to make quantitative predictions for real systems, but more importantly, one gains insight into the underlying physics of these materials.


As assessed by molecular sieve chromatography and quantitation by a specific radioimmunoassay, apoA-IV is associated in plasma with the triglyceride-rich lipoproteins, to a high density lipoprotein (HDL) subfraction of smaller size than HDL3, and to the plasma lipoprotein-free fraction (LFF). In this study, the turnover of apoA-IV associated to the triglyceride-rich lipoproteins, HDL and LFF was investigated in vivo in normal volunteers. Human apoA-IV isolated from the thoracic duct lymph chylomicrons was radioiodinated and incubated with plasma withdrawn from normal volunteers after a fatty meal. Radioiodinated apoA-IV-labeled triglyceride-rich lipoproteins, HDL, and LFF were then isolated by chromatography on an AcA 34 column. Shortly after the injection of the radioiodinated apoA-IV-labeled triglyceride-rich lipoproteins, most of the radioactivity could be recovered in the HDL and LFF column fractions. On the other hand, when radioiodinated apoA-IV-labeled HDL or LFF were injected, the radioactivity remained with the originally injected fractions at all times. The residence time in plasma of 125I-labeled apoA-IV, when injected in association with HDL or LFF, was 1.61 and 0.55 days, respectively. When 125I-labeled apoA-IV was injected as a free protein, the radioactivity distributed rapidly among the three plasma pools in proportion to their mass. The overall fractional catabolic rate of apoA-IV in plasma was measured in the three normal subjects and averaged 1.56 pools per day. The mean degradation rate of apoA-IV was 8.69 mg/kg X day. The results are consistent with the conclusions that: apoA-IV is present in human plasma in three distinct metabolic pools; apoA-IV associated with the triglyceride-rich lipoproteins is a precursor to the apoA-IV HDL and LFF pools; apoA-IV in LFF is not a free protein and its turnover rate is faster than that of apoA-IV in HDL; since no transfer of apoA-IV from the HDL or the LFF occurs, these pools may represent a terminal pathway for the catabolism of apoA-IV; and the catabolism of apoA-IV in HDL is dissociated from that of apoA-I although both apoproteins may reside on the same lipoprotein particles.


This paper argues that German occupation, through its military state of Ober Ost, fundamentally transformed Lithuania and Courland in 1915–1918. The German occupiers were determined to solve the refugee crisis, resulting from Russian evacuation policies, and the ensuing social and economic disorder by controlling all transport of people and goods. External borders were hermetically closed and internal district borders used to supervise and control movement within Ober Ost. These measures, however, impeded economic recovery entirely and had a disastrous impact on the everyday life of the population as well as on the image of the German occupiers. Large parts of the population resorted to smuggling to make a living. Increasingly, mobility policy was used to control repatriation – especially in the case of Courland, which became earmarked for annexation. Ultimately, German defeat meant that Ober Ost movement policies provided Lithuanians with a territory that was completely transformed and disengaged from the former imperial space, while at the same time impeding Latvian state formation. The Lithuanian state was thus able to inherit core strategies of territorialization from the occupation regime, such as economic monopolization and Ober Ost's specific border policies.


SAGB 7618. Organization Theory. (3 Credits) While discussion of business is often couched in economic terms, more often than not business is influenced by sociological and psychological factors. In this class, you will study the key dimensions of what is known as "Macro OT" (sociological perspectives) and "Micro OT" (psychological perspectives). Macro OT coverage will include Institutional Theory (legitimacy, certifications, and isomorphism), Network Theory (structure, position, tie type, and network dynamics), and Social Movement Theory and Media Construction (performances). Micro OT coverage will include Search Theory and Organizational Learning Theory (exploration vs. exploitation), Decision-making Biases (confirmation bias, anchoring, etc.) and Agency Theory (monitoring and incentive alignment). Other Meso Theoretical Constructs covered include Identity, Myths and Artifacts, Roles, and Deviance/Conformity.


Currently, there is a big increase in the usage of data analytics applications and services because of the growth in the data produced from different sources. The QoS properties such as response time and latency of these services are important factors to decide which services to select. As a result of IT expansion, energy consumption has become a big issue. Therefore, establishing a QoS-based web service recommender system that considers energy consumption as one of the essential QoS properties represents a significant step towards selecting the energy efficient web services.

This dissertation presents an experimental study on energy consumption levels and latency behavior collected from a set of data mining web services running on different datasets. Our study shows that there is a strong relation between the dataset properties and the QoS properties. Based on the findings from this study, a recommender system is built which considers three dimensions (user, service, dataset). The energy consumption values of candidate services invoked by specific users can be predicted for a given dataset. Afterwards, these services can be ranked according to their predicted energy values and presented to users.

We propose three approaches to build our recommender system and we treat it as a context-aware recommendation problem. The dataset is considered as contextual information and we use a context-aware matrix factorization model to predict energy values. In the first approach, we adopt the pre-filtering model where the contextual information serves as a query for filtering relevant rating data. In the second approach, we propose a new method for the pre-filtering implementation. Finally, in the last approach, we adopt the contextual modeling method and we explore different ways of representing dataset information as contextual factors to investigate their impacts on the recommendation accuracy.

We compare the proposed approaches with the baseline approaches and the results show the effectiveness of the proposed ones. Also, we compare the performance of the three approaches to discover the best-fit approach when being measured using different metrics. Both prediction and recommendation accuracy of the proposed approaches are significantly better than the baseline models.


The history of the month of May and the celebrations of May Day became interesting to me while I was doing some reading for a course entitled ''Medieval Heritage.\ I found a vast amount of material which pertained to this subject, yet historians and scholars are still baffled as to the origin of the Maytime festivities. This spring event seems to have been lost in the antiquities of the centuries. I therefore felt that a thesis showing the development of May Day Medieval Literature from early references to the end of the sixteenth century might be interesting and advantageous to others who have wondered about the heritage of an almost forgotten holiday. It seemed logical to begin this thesis with an \Introduction\ to some May Day references as they have appeared for years in literature. The first chapter states the assumed history of the origin of May Day; followed by a chapter devoted to \Geoffrey Chaucer's Reflections of May Day Lore\; and Chapter III reviews the English May Day celebrations as they reached their height of popularity during the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. The poem, \The Lusty Month of May,\ speaks for itself as it undoubtedly exemplifies the true spirit found in the medieval May observances. I wish to express grateful acknowledgement to the members of my graduate committee: Dr. Roberta C. Stout, for her suggestions in the early planning stages of my thesis; Mr. Marion F. Coulson, for his helpful criticisms on the writing of my thesis; and Mr. Marc T. Campbell, for his kindness in loaning and securing library materials which were needed for this thesis. To Dr. Ralph V. Coder, chairman of my committee, I am especially grateful for his patient, constructive guidance and his faith in my ability to accomplish the task of writing a thesis. I am equally appreciative of my parents and brother and all of the many friends who have all offered their steadfast confidence and encouragement which became a source of inspiration.


The goal of this experiment was to assess the impact that experience with a task has on the context specificity of the learning that occurs. Participants performed an instrumental task within a computer game where different responses were performed in the presence of discriminative stimuli to obtain reinforcers. The number of training trials (3, 5, or 8) with each discriminative stimulus varied between participants. A single test trial was conducted in the context where training occurred or in a different but equally familiar context. The change in context attenuated performance in participants that received 3 training trials, but not in the others, suggesting that the influence of context on performance decreases when training increases.


The ability of a country to import food depends on several factors. Considering food security as a priority issue, we focus in this paper on the FDI inflows and the energy price as determinants of food import dependency. Indeed, on the one hand FDI as a substitute/complement to trade flows could impact the depending nation. On the other hand, energy price affects production and transport costs, thereby impacting international trade in food productions. To investigate this relationship, we follow the methodology of Love and Zicchino (2006) by estimating a panel vector autoregressive model (PVAR) of 40 developing countries for the period between 1990 and 2012. The panel is split into two sub-samples. We found that FDI inflows explain food import dependency in low and lower middle-income countries and the energy price proxy influences food import dependency in upper-middle income countries. The impulse response functions' results are close to those from panel VAR, where an increase in FDI inflows or in energy price leads to more food import dependency in low and lower-middle income countries or in upper-middle income countries, respectively.


Abstract Aerosols represent a potential transmission route of COVID-19. This study examined effect of simulated sunlight, relative humidity, and suspension matrix on stability of SARS-CoV-2 in aerosols. Simulated sunlight and matrix significantly affected decay rate of the virus. Relative humidity alone did not affect the decay rate; however, minor interactions between relative humidity and other factors were observed. Mean decay rates (± SD) in simulated saliva, under simulated sunlight levels representative of late winter/early fall and summer were 0.121 ± 0.017 min−1 (90% loss, 19 minutes) and 0.306 ± 0.097 min−1 (90% loss, 8 minutes), respectively. Mean decay rate without simulated sunlight across all relative humidity levels was 0.008 ± 0.011 min−1 (90% loss, 286 minutes). These results suggest that the potential for aerosol transmission of SARS-CoV-2 may be dependent on environmental conditions, particularly sunlight. These data may be useful to inform mitigation strategies to minimize the potential for aerosol transmission.


BACKGROUND
To evaluate the long-term prognostic value of dobutamine stress-echocardiography (ECG) test for new coronary events (new episodes of angina pectoris, cardiac-related deaths, and reinfarctions) early after the first uncomplicated myocardial infarction.

METHODS
Dobutamine stress-echocardiography tests were performed in all of 104 patients 10-20 days after the first myocardial infarction. Patients were followed-up for 36 (29 +/- 7) months. Kaplan-Meier cumulative survival curves were tested by Breslow test (Log Rank).

RESULTS
Two cardiac deaths (1.92%), nine nonfatal myocardial infarctions (8.65%), and three cases of recurrent angina pectoris (2.88%) occurred during the prospective follow-up. Cumulative survival curves showed that in patients with negative findings of dobutamine stress-echocardiography test, survival time without significant events was 35.31 months, while in the group with positive findings of dobutamine stress-echocardiography test it was 30.91 months (log Rank 7.22; p<0.01). Prognostic value of dobutamine stress-echocardiography test was analyzed by Cox regression model and was 2.92, meaning that the risk of significant events was 2.92 times higher in the group of patients with positive findings of dobutamine stress-echocardiography test.

CONCLUSION
Patients with negative findings of dobutamine stress-echocardiography test were with significantly higher possibility of surviving without significant events in comparison with the patients in whom the findings of dobutamine stress-echocardiography test were positive. In combination with clinical signs and ECG results, the results of dobutamine stress-echocardiography test improved prognostic value in the patients with the first uncomplicated myocardial infarction, and in that way influenced the strategy of their further treatment.


The company Sensefarm develops in the field of precision agriculture, more specifically a product for measuring and logging information on local environmental conditions. The collected data is transmitted to a remote server using GSM technology. They are looking into ways to improve their product. The purpose of this project is to evaluate the M66 GSM module and the accompanied OpenCPU technology. In the current product the GSM module is only used for the communication with the server. All other processing is done by a dedicated processor. The OpenCPU technology allows for running customized firmware on the GSM module, possibly allowing it to take over the responsibilities of the dedicated processor. An application implementing all the necessary functionality was developed to test this capability. The finished application was able to fulfill all the requirements specified, although it was not able to be tested in the field.


The emerging growth of the sharing economy demonstrates the need to understand the factors driving this growth and the business models and practices of sharing economy service (SES) companies. Using case vignettes as the research method, this article analyzes the operations of a large number of these companies and presents a set of building blocks that are useful for generating the business models of SES companies. An examination of the successes and failures in the practices of SES companies provides a number of managerial recommendations.


Introduction. The creation of rational combined medicines with hepatoprotective activity is an urgent task of medicinal science. Ademetionin shows pharmacological ef-fectiveness in cytolysis, cholestasis, synthetic insufficiency. Silybin, in turn, is effective in cytolysis, synthetic insufficiency, mesenchymal inflammation, fibrosis and pathological regeneration. Thus, the combination of these substances covers almost the entire set of clinical and morphological syndromes of liver damage and has a wide range of effects in various liver pathologies.Aim. The purpose of this study was to develop a combined granular dosage form containing a thick extract of milk thistle, ademetionin and analytical support for this process.Materials and methods. To obtain a thick extract from the fruits of Silybum marianum L. a traditional percolation method was used in a battery of 3 diffusers. Extractant removal was performed using a rotary evaporator IR-1M3 under vacuum. For the analysis of silybin in the obtained thick extract from the fruit of S. marianum L. the method of HPLC was used. Validation evaluation of the method was performed according to generally accepted parameters.Results and discussion. A modular combined dosage form based on a thick extract of S. marianum L. and ademethionine was developed. Lactose was introduced as an auxiliary agent. The quality of pellets was evaluated according to generally accepted criteria. The validation parameters of the manufactured dosage form were determined using the HPLC method. Accuracy and precision were determined by the method of additives in a series of 9 experimental samples of granules. The results of determining the linearity, precision and correctness of the method for determining silybin and ademetionin in a combined model drug form showed correct results.Conclusion.Thus, a combined granular dosage form containing a thick extract of milk thistle, ademetionin, has been developed. Analytical support of this process using the HPLC method was performed. Validation studies of the developed methodology were carried out. The field of application of the obtained results is practical pharmacy. Further research should concern the conduct of a set of pharmacological tests.


The mechanism of transient Vth shift after erase is studied in detail. It is concluded that the main mechanism is hole redistribution in the charge trap layer. A new erase scheme is proposed and demonstrated to reduce transient Vth shift. The impact of transient Vth shift on the 3D charge trap device is investigated, as well.


Building a socially intelligent agent involves many challenges, one of which is to teach the agent to speak guided by its value like a human. However, value-driven chatbots are still understudied in the area of dialogue systems. Most existing datasets focus on commonsense reasoning or social norm modeling. In this work, we present a new large-scale human value dataset called ValueNet, which contains human attitudes on 21,374 text scenarios. The dataset is organized in ten dimensions that conform to the basic human value theory in intercultural research. We further develop a Transformer-based value regression model on ValueNet to learn the utility distribution. Comprehensive empirical results show that the learned value model could benefit a wide range of dialogue tasks. For example, by teaching a generative agent with reinforcement learning and the rewards from the value model, our method attains state-of-the-art performance on the personalized dialog generation dataset: Persona-Chat. With values as additional features, existing emotion recognition models enable capturing rich human emotions in the context, which further improves the empathetic response generation performance in the EmpatheticDialogues dataset. To the best of our knowledge, ValueNet is the first large-scale text dataset for human value modeling, and we are the first one trying to incorporate a value model into emotionally intelligent dialogue systems. The dataset is available at https://liang-qiu.github.io/ValueNet/.


This article is derived from a study of clients' moment-to-moment experience session. Their recollections of the experience were stimulated through the replay of a tape of the session and the transcribed interviews were analyzed in tenus of the grounded theory form of qualitative analysis. The article focuses on accounts given by some of these clients indicating that they were resistant to their counsellor because they were ambivalent about his or her approach to counselling. The returns from the analysis are discussed in terms of current notions of resistance and of the concept of the working alliance in counselling.


Artificial intelligence is by its very nature synthetic, its motto is "Understanding by building". In the early days of artificial intelligence the focus was on abstract thinking and problem solving. These phenomena could be naturally mapped onto algorithms, which is why originally AI was considered to be part of computer science and the tool was computer programming. Over time, it turned out that this view was too limited to understand natural forms of intelligence and that embodiment must be taken into account. As a consequence the focus changed to systems that are able to autonomously interact with their environment and the main tool became the robot. The "developmental robotics" approach incorporates the major implications of embodiment with regard to what has been and can potentially be learned about human cognition by employing robots as cognitive tools. The use of "robots as cognitive tools" is illustrated in a number of case studies by discussing the major implications of embodiment, which are of a dynamical and information theoretic nature.


We report near- to far-field measurement of optical wavefronts emanating from a nanoslit formed in a thin (50 nm thick) Ag film. The evolution of optical phases is imaged using a self-interference technique in conjunction with a scanning probe method. The phase relationship of the slit-transmitted waves with respect to the direct transmission through the thin metal film is quantitatively established. The singular-phase points resulting from the interplay of slit diffraction and surface plasmons are identified in the intermediate-field region.


Although stochastic gradient descent (SGD) is a driving force behind the recent success of deep learning, our understanding of its dynamics in a high-dimensional parameter space is limited. In recent years, some researchers have used the stochasticity of minibatch gradients, or the signal-to-noise ratio, to better characterize the learning dynamics of SGD. Inspired from these work, we here analyze SGD from a geometrical perspective by inspecting the stochasticity of the norms and directions of minibatch gradients. We propose a model of the directional concentration for minibatch gradients through von Mises-Fisher (VMF) distribution, and show that the directional uniformity of minibatch gradients increases over the course of SGD. We empirically verify our result using deep convolutional networks and observe a higher correlation between the gradient stochasticity and the proposed directional uniformity than that against the gradient norm stochasticity, suggesting that the directional statistics of minibatch gradients is a major factor behind SGD.


Experiments that require the use of human participants are time consuming and costly: it is important to get the process right the first time. Planning and preparation are key to success. This practical book takes the human-computer interaction researcher through the complete experimental process, from identifying a research question to designing and conducting an experiment, and then to analyzing and reporting the results. The advice offered in this book draws on the author's twenty years of experience running experiments. In describing general concepts of experimental design and analysis she refers to numerous worked examples that address the very real practicalities and problems of conducting an experiment, such as managing participants, getting ethical approval, preempting criticism, choosing a statistical method, and dealing with unexpected events.


Kr gas-puff Z-pinch experiment performed recently on Qiang-guang I pulsed power generator is reported. The generator has a 1.5 MA current with a pulse width of 100 ns. The total x-ray energy as well as its spectrum has been obtained, and the average power of x-ray radiation in 50-700 eV measured by XRDs is 2 TW. The generator configuration, gas-puff load assembly and diagnostic system for the experiments are described.


Abstract Extensive ecological studies have been conducted on insects inhabiting native stands of smooth cordgrass, Spartina alterniflora Loisel; however, this is not the case for insects found in smooth cordgrass in a nursery habitat. We investigated species composition and larval disposition among stemborers (Lepidoptera: Coleophoridae and Crambidae) infesting stems of smooth cordgrass in nursery plots. One thousand and forty stems of smooth cordgrass were randomly selected in 2003 and examined for presence of stemborer larvae. Height of larvae on or within stem, height of stem from ground level to top-visible dewlap, and condition of the leaf-whorl were documented. Stemborers representing six species of Lepidoptera were recovered. These species were Blastobasis graminea Adamski (Lepidoptera: Coleophoridae); a four-species complex comprised of Diatraea saccharalis (F.), Chilo demotellus Walker, Chilo plejadellus Zincken, and Thaumatopsis probably actuella Barnes & McDunnough (Lepidoptera: Crambidae); and Donacaula probably unipunctella Robinson (Lepidoptera: Crambidae). Larvae were generally on different parts of the stem and, with the possible exception of larvae of the four-species complex, seemed unlikely to contact one another. Blastobasis graminea was the most abundant species collected (n = 128; 52%) and was located at the base of the stem (eq x̄ eqx- = 6.7 ± 5.4 cm). The four-species complex was the next most abundant (n = 85; 35%) and was always found within the stalk about mid-way up the stem (eq x̄ = 16.7 ± 8.6 cm). Donacaula sp. was the least abundant species (n = 32; 13%) and was always found in the tight leaf-whorl just above the stem meristem (eq x̄ = 23.6 ± 15.4 cm). A total of 544 (52%) of the stems sampled had a dead leaf-whorl, but only 140 (26%) were infested. Stemborer species did not significantly affect the number of plants with and without deadhearts.


Traces the development of the personal computer (PC). The article first considers the technological underpinnings; how integrated circuits and microprocessors replaced vacuum tubes etc. The computer had been developed mainly by and for large organisations, but it was the amateurs that caused the emergence of the PC, beginning with the Altair 8800, which the user assembled himself. The interface consisted of switches and flashing lights. The hardware and interfaces then developed and new manufacturers entered the market. Finally, the emergence of graphical user interfaces and user-friendly applications software made the PC of interest to users without the skill or inclination to be programmers.


The rapid growth of small form, mobile, and remote sensor network systems require secure and ultralow power data collection and communication solutions due to their energy constraints. The physical unclonable functions (PUFs) have emerged as a popular modern security primitive. They have the property of low power/energy, small area, and high speed. Moreover, they have excellent security properties and are resilient against physical and side-channel attacks. However, traditional PUFs have two major problems. The first is that current designs are analog in nature and lack susceptibility in environmental and operational conditions, e.g., supply voltage and temperature. The second is that due to the analog nature, the analog PUFs are difficult to be integrated into existing digital circuitry.Therefore, in this thesis, we propose the digital PUF, as a new type of security primitive. It preserves all the good properties of traditional analogy PUFs and is stable in the same sense that digital logic is stable. It has a small footprint, a small timing overhead, a low energy consumption, and can be easily integrated into existing designs. The key observation is that for any analog delay PUF, there is a subset of challenge inputs for which the PUF output is stable regardless of operation and environmental conditions. We use only such stable inputs to initialize the look-up tables (LUTs) in digital bimodal functions (DBFs) that are configured in such a way that the digital PUF is formed. We first demonstrate the concept and the FPGA-based architecture of the digital PUF. Then we present our security analysis on digital PUFs using standard randomness tests and confusion and diffusion analysis. Finally, we address security protocols of digital PUF: public key communication, and remote trust.


This paper presents the footage from a hi-speed camera used in the experiment on both cases of a non-filled and water-filled aluminium tank. The objective was to determine the failure stages that will be used as a reference in the simulation works later on. The tank was impacted by fragment simulating projectiles (FSP) at 260 m/s for the non-filled tank and 972 m/s for the water-filled tank. The aluminium tank was 3 mm thick, 150 mm wide and 750 mm long. The ends of the tank were closed with two Polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) windows. The gas gun was used to launch the projectile and a digital chronograph was used to capture the velocity of the FSP that impacted the tank. For recording purposes, a digital high speed camera with the capability of 250,000 frames per second (max) and the highest resolution of 1024 x 1024 was used. For the data acquisition and processing, Photron Fastcam Viewer (PFV) software was used. The test was conducted at the Science and Technology Research Institute for Defence (STRIDE), Batu Arang, Selangor, Malaysia. The results showed four main failure stages for the non-filled tank, these being, first contact between FSP and the tank, partial perforation, full perforation with FSP and plug still intact and lastly separation of FSP and plug. Meanwhile for the water-filled tank, there were seven main failure stages, which were first contact between FSP and the tank, partial perforation, full perforation, drag phase, cavity phase, bounce wave event and the collapse of the cavity.


Minding Time: A Philosophical and Theoretical Approach to the Psychology of Time offers an innovative philosophical account of the most fundamental kinds of time representation. Drawing on biological clocks, it explains how representations of duration and simultaneity relate to the consciously experienced present moment.


Layered P2-Na(x)[Ni(1/3)Mn(2/3)]O(2) (0 < x < 2/3) is investigated as a cathode material for Na-ion batteries. A combination of first principles computation, electrochemical and synchrotron characterizations is conducted to elucidate the working mechanism for the improved electrochemical properties. The reversible phase transformation from P2 to O2 is observed. New configurations of Na-ions and vacancy are found at x = 1/3 and 1/2, which correspond to the intermediate phases upon the electrochemical cycling process. The mobility of Na-ions is investigated using the galvanostatic intermittent titration technique (GITT) and the Na diffusion barriers are calculated by the Nudged Elastic Band (NEB) method. Both techniques prove that the mobility of Na-ions is faster than Li-ions in the O3 structure within the 1/3 < x < 2/3 concentration region. Excellent cycling properties and high rate capability can be obtained by limiting the oxygen framework shift during P2-O2 phase transformation, suggesting that this material can be a strong candidate as a sustainable low-cost Na-ion battery cathode.


In C(4) plants such as maize, pyruvate,orthophosphate dikinase (PPDK) catalyzes the regeneration of the initial carboxylation substrate during C(4) photosynthesis. The primary catalytic residue, His-458 (maize C(4) PPDK), is involved in the ultimate transfer of the beta-phosphate from ATP to pyruvate. C(4) PPDK activity undergoes light-dark regulation in vivo by reversible phosphorylation of a nearby active-site residue (Thr-456) by a single bifunctional regulatory protein (RP). Using site-directed mutagenesis of maize recombinant C(4) dikinase, we made substitutions at the catalytic His residue (H458N) and at this regulatory target Thr (T456E, T456Y, T456F). Each of these affinity-purified mutant enzymes was assayed for changes in dikinase activity. As expected, substituting His-458 with Asn results in a catalytically incompetent enzyme. Substitutions of the Thr-456 residue with Tyr and Phe reduced activity by about 94 and 99%, respectively. Insertion of Glu at this position completely abolished activity, presumably by the introduction of negative charge proximal to the catalytic His. Furthermore, neither the T456Y nor inactive H458N mutant enzyme was phosphorylated in vitro by RP. The inability of the former to serve as a phosphorylation substrate indicates that RP is functionally a member of the Ser/Thr family of protein kinases rather than a "dual-specificity" Ser-Thr/Tyr kinase, since our previous work showed that RP effectively phosphorylated Ser inserted at position 456. The inability of RP to phosphorylate its native target Thr residue when Asn is substituted for His-458 documents that RP requires the His-P catalytic intermediate form of PPDK as its protein substrate. For these latter studies, synthetic phosphopeptide-directed antibodies specific for the Thr(456)-P form of maize C(4) PPDK were developed and characterized.


Summary Pavian is a web application for exploring metagenomics classification results, with a special focus on infectious disease diagnosis. Pinpointing pathogens in metagenomics classification results is often complicated by host and laboratory contaminants as well as many non-pathogenic microbiota. With Pavian, researchers can analyze, display and transform results from the Kraken and Centrifuge classifiers using interactive tables, heatmaps and flow diagrams. Pavian also provides an alignment viewer for validation of matches to a particular genome. Availability and implementation Pavian is implemented in the R language and based on the Shiny framework. It can be hosted on Windows, Mac OS X and Linux systems, and used with any contemporary web browser. It is freely available under a GPL-3 license from http://github.com/fbreitwieser/pavian. Furthermore a Docker image is provided at https://hub.docker.com/r/florianbw/pavian. Contact email@example.com Supplementary information Supplementary data is available at Bioinformatics online.


Bortezomib/PS-341/Velcade, a proteasome inhibitor, is widely used to treat multiple myeloma. While several mechanisms of the cytotoxicity of the drug were proposed, the actual mechanism remains elusive. We aimed to identify genes affecting the cytotoxicity of Bortezomib in the fission yeast S.pombe as the drug inhibits this organism's cell division cycle like proteasome mutants. Among the 2815 genes screened (covering 56% of total ORFs), 19 genes, whose deletions induce strong synthetic lethality with Bortezomib, were identified. The products of the 19 genes included four ubiquitin enzymes and one nuclear proteasome factor, and 13 of them are conserved in humans. Our results will provide useful information for understanding the actions of Bortezomib within cells.


In the Outer Moray Firth area of the UK Continental Shelf, some 3 × 10 9 BBL of recoverable hydrocarbons have been discovered. The reservoir rocks are primarily shallow marine (Piper) and deep marine (Claymore) sands of Late Jurassic age, with subordinate amounts of hydrocarbons contained in Lower Cretaceous sandstones. The major fields include Piper, Scott, Claymore and Tartan. Whilst these are principally classical tilted fault block footwall traps, all except Piper have elements of downthrown, hanging wall trapping that add significantly to the reserve base. Several other fields and discoveries, including Scapa, Saltire, Perth, and Lowlander are entirely dependent upon downthrown fault closure. A number of exploration wells drilled on valid downthrown terraces have, however, proved dry, apparently a result of lateral fault seal failure. An examination of the success and failure cases suggests that the critical factors controlling the trap integrity in this area are the geology and geometry of the sediments in the footwall, the timing of fault movement and the nature of the depositional system in the hanging wall. These appear to be more important than the more commonly used shale smear or gouge criteria. Consideration of these factors has allowed the construction of a ranking system for downthrown Mesozoic prospects.


This paper describes a model for a virtual community of practice (VCP) to support faculty efforts to adopt research-based instructional strategies in Chemical, Materials and Biological Engineering courses. The VCP was built on published recommendations for successful faculty development programs. The VCP program began with a 10 week virtual training period for five pairs of VCP leaders, during which they acquired the skills and knowledge needed to lead the faculty VCP. The faculty VCPs focused on one of five technical disciplines and were led by a pair of leaders having expertise in a specific technical focus area as well as in engineering pedagogy. Workshops were held using Internet conferencing software: the first 8 weekly workshops provided training in research-based pedagogy, and the second 8 biweekly workshops supported faculty efforts to implement chosen strategies in their courses. The participants were full-time faculty members with a range of teaching experience and pedagogical expertise, ranging from novice to expert. Improvement was measured via pre/post survey in the areas of familiarity and use of research-based pedagogy, as well as in perceived student motivation. The second part of the paper focuses on the translation of faculty participant experiences from the VCP into the classroom as they implemented a variety of instructional methods in their courses. We describe their approaches and preliminary results using different instructional methods such as flipping the classroom, using game-based pedagogy, promoting positive interdependence in cooperative-learning teams, peer instruction, small group discussion, Process Oriented Guided Inquiry Learning (POGIL), and using Bloom's Taxonomy to structure a course.


We present an improved three-dimensional 19-velocity lattice Boltzmann model for immisicible binary fluids with variable viscosity and density ratios. This model uses a perturbation step to generate the interfacial tension and a recoloring step to promote phase segregation and maintain surfaces. A generalized perturbation operator is derived using the concept of a continuum surface force together with the constraints of mass and momentum conservation. A theoretical expression for the interfacial tension is determined directly without any additional analysis and assumptions. The recoloring algorithm proposed by Latva-Kokko and Rothman is applied for phase segregation, which minimizes the spurious velocities and removes lattice pinning. This model is first validated against the Laplace law for a stationary bubble. It is found that the interfacial tension is predicted well for density ratios up to 1000. The model is then used to simulate droplet deformation and breakup in simple shear flow. We compute droplet deformation at small capillary numbers in the Stokes regime and find excellent agreement with the theoretical Taylor relation for the segregation parameter β=0.7. In the limit of creeping flow, droplet breakup occurs at a critical capillary number 0.35<Ca(c)<0.4 for the viscosity ratio of unity, consistent with previous numerical simulations and experiments. Droplet breakup can also be promoted by increasing the Reynolds number. Finally, we numerically investigate a single bubble rising under buoyancy force in viscous fluids for a wide range of Eötvös and Morton numbers. Numerical results are compared with theoretical predictions and experimental results, and satisfactory agreement is shown.


The paper, prepared by CIGRE WG D1.03 (TF 09), presents the guidelines for risk assessment procedure on defects in GIS based on PD diagnostics. The procedure, described in detail in CIGRE Technical Brochure 525, starts with sensitive PD measurement to detect the critical defects and follows with identification of the type of the defect and its location inside the GIS. This information taken together with other essential data from laboratory measurements, manufacturer's experience, design aspects and trend analysis of the PD activity, are the base for the estimation of the criticality of the defects. Finally, the risk assessment is performed based on the estimated dielectric failure probability and failure consequences that can be different in case of on-site testing or in service activity.


An amphoteric PQS-attached photocatalyst has been prepared that undergoes self-aggregation in water into nanomicelles. This covalently bound species enables Ir-based photoredox catalysis to be conducted in the absence of additives or co-solvents. Representative reactions are described using this new catalytic system, which require no additional investment of external energy in the form of heating or cooling. The entire aqueous reaction mixture readily undergoes in-flask recycling and thus, represents a sustainable precious metal technology.


Cancer is a disease that threatens life and body integrity. A method of cancer prediction is genetic testing, thus the primary detection of individuals who have oncogenes and are at risk of a hereditary cancer. Genetic counseling is the translation of technical information by physicians and the analysis of the problems subsequent to this information, into the therapeutic relationship. Generally, the communication between medical staff and patient must follow certain rules. There are two goals; the physician's comfort when he is dealing with giving news, especially bad news and the maintenance of patient's hope during making decisions for his health and his life. Communication skills focus on emotional reaction and empathy towards the patient.


Background Exhausted CD4+ T cells are recognised by low proliferation, increased cell death and high expression the inhibitory co-receptor programmed cell death-1 (PD-1). CD4+ T cells in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) have recently been reported to show signs of exhaustion.1 Exhaustion of CD4+ in experimental infection was associated with expression of interferon (IFN) response genes,2 referred to as the IFN signature. In human, the IFN signature has been suggested to predict rheumatoid arthritis (RA).3 We investigated if CD4+ T cells with an exhausted phenotype and IFN signature are accumulating in peripheral blood of RA patients. We study a connexion between CD4+ T cell exhaustion and survivin expression in RA. Materials and methods IFN response genes, PD-1 and survivin expression were analysed in peripheral blood of RA patients and healthy women with different smoking status using flow cytometry and qPCR. The role of survivin in the formation of exhausted CD4+ T cells was studied in the collagen-induced arthritis model, where mice where treated with nicotine or vaccinated with survivin peptides. Results High frequency of exhausted PD-1+CD4+ cells was found in smoking RA patients. The numbers of PD1+CD4+ cells correlated inversely with the PD-1 expression by cytotoxic CD8+CD107+ cells (r=−0.62, p=0.01). Additionally, the frequency of PD-1+CD4+ cells increased with reduction of the CD4+ population (r=−0.71, p=0.002). The IFN signature was found exclusively among smoking RA patients. The patients with the IFN signature all had CD4+ cells with low survivin production. Sorted Th17 cells from RA patients with high serum levels of survivin had higher transcription of exhaustion related genes compared to healthy controls. CD4+ cells with high survivin expression were negative for PD-1. In mice, the survivinhiPD-1- population of CD4+ cells was reduced in nicotine-treated mice (p=0.03) and in response to activation of survivin targeting cells through vaccination (p=0.009). Conclusions We show that smoking associates with exhaustion of CD4+ T cells in RA. Smoking increases the frequency of PD-1+CD4+ cells with the IFN signature by activating survivin targeting mechanisms. References Frenz, T, et al, CD4+ T cells in patients with chronic inflammatory rheumatic disorders show distinct levels of exhaustion. Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, 2016;138(2):p.586–589.e10. Crawford, A, et al, Molecular and Transcriptional Basis of CD4+ T Cell Dysfunction during Chronic Infection. Immunity2014;40(2):p.289–302. Lübbers, J, et al, The type i IFN signature as a biomarker of preclinical rheumatoid arthritis. Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases2013;72(5):p.776–780.


International students are enrolling in American colleges and universities in increasing numbers, yet we know little of their communicative experiences on United States campuses. This study examined perceptions of intercultural communication competence and adaptation in international students studying on an American campus. Participants in the study were 101 international students enrolled in a medium‐sized university in the Midwest. Results suggest that while the affective and behavioral dimensions of intercultural communication competence are related to students' satisfaction with their communication skills, talking with American students was the single most important factor in perceptions of communication competency and adjusting to American life. Practical implications of these results for communication instruction are discussed.


A comprehensive study is done for optimizing antireflection coatings at mid-infrared wavelengths around 3.4 μm for applications in semiconductor lasers. Different materials are tested for single and double layer coatings. The coatings are characterized by comparing the change in the threshold currents before and after coating the lasers. The change in the differential slope efficiency was used to estimate the loss in the coatings. The lowest value achieved for a single layer coating was 5% using aluminum oxide while a minimum value of reflectivity of 7 × 10−4 was achieved with a double layer coating of zinc selenide and silicon dioxide. The coatings' quality was tested using scanning electron microscopy and tape test. The study provides a comprehensive list of materials that can be used for antireflection coating applications in the mid-infrared region.


More than 45% of Australians buy health insurance for private treatment in hospital. This is despite having access to universal and free public hospital treatment. Anecdotal evidence suggests that avoidance of long waits for public treatment is one possible explanation for the high rate of insurance coverage. In this study, we investigate the effect of waiting on individual decisions to buy private health insurance. Individuals are assumed to form an expectation of their own waiting time as a function of their demographics and health status. We model waiting times using administrative data on the population hospitalised for elective procedures in public hospitals and use the parameter estimates to impute the expected waiting time and the probability of a long wait for a representative sample of the population. We find that expected waiting time does not increase the probability of buying insurance but a high probability of experiencing a long wait does. On average, waiting time has no significant impact on insurance. In addition, we find that favourable selection into private insurance, measured by self-assessed health, is no longer significant once waiting time variables are included. This result suggests that a source of favourable selection may be aversion to waiting among healthier people.


Moving from macro to micro aspects, the paper gives some details on the recent evolution of the labour market and the so-called "society of services" and on the digital professions, in order to depict the emerging characteristics not yet deployed in all their potential. The digital professional is a social agent of high profile, young and qualified, leaving behind conflicts and consents of a past era, while introducing the seeds of new cultures and habits. Crucial are the following key-points: i) interpretation of the socio-productive transformations by the means of a structural perspective, using a longitudinal and comparative analysis of researches on the agricultural, industrial and services' sectors; ii) focus on the services' sector, the changing of the structure of the labour market and its polarization process, referring to the co-existence in the same arena of highly qualified professional profiles and the so-called mcjobs; iii) focus on digitalization as a social process able to meet the "Zeitgeist", and in particular on the highest professions of the ICT sector and most relevant professionals of the digital Era.


This book introduces fundamental concepts and theories in pervasive computing as well as its key technologies and applications. It explains how to design and implement pervasive middleware and real application systems, covering nearly all aspects related to pervasive computing. Key technologies in the book include pervasive computing-oriented resource management and task migration, mobile pervasive transaction, human computer interface, and context collection-oriented wireless sensor networks.


Cognitive products o f anxiety related to the automatic questioning style proposed by Kendall and Ingram (1987) were examined in the context of chron& worry using a method modeled after the cognitive therapy technique o f decatastrophizing. As chronic worriers generated sequences of possible catastrophic consequences for two worry topics, they generated significantly more catastrophic steps than nonworriers. Also, worriers reported a significant increase in subjective discomfort as catastrophizing progressed while nonworriers' reports revealed no change. With few exceptions, the content of won~iers ' catastrophic sequences did not differ from that of nonworriers. Despite this, worriers rated the events in their sequences as significantly more likely to actually occur than nonworriers. These results are consistent with the view of Ingram and Kendall (1987) that anxiety is associated with automatic questions of the form "what if?." It is argued that the differences between the cognitive products of worriers and nonworriers observed during catastrophizing reflect worriers' more ready access to elaborate memory stores o f answers to catastrophic "what if?." questions that have been acquired through frequent repetition.


Glass sponges are enigmatic members of the deep-sea fauna that inhabit shallow waters in only a few locations world-wide. In order to understand what factors influence the distribution of glass sponges, patterns of distribution and abundance of reef and non-reef forming hexactinellids in fjords of British Columbia, Canada, were analyzed from photographs and transcripts recorded on dives undertaken by the 'Pisces IV' manned submersible during the 1980s. Hexactinellids are widely distributed throughout all fjords from 16 to 650 m depths, and in some fjords abundances reach 240 individuals in 10 m 2 . In all fjords hexactinellids were most abundant at depths of 20 to 260 m, even where water depths exceeded 500 m. Glass sponges were rare in regions of inlets where oxygen levels fall below 2 ml l -1 , or in areas of high sediment deposition. Highest abundances coincided with water conditions of high dissolved silicate, low light, temperatures between 9 and 10°C and low sus- pended sediments. Extensive glass sponge skeletons in the inner basin of Howe Sound reflect past stress in this fjord that may include oxygen deficit, sediment loading from a mine and contamination from industrial sites. The observations from 'Pisces IV' suggest that glass sponges may be sentinel species for current and past seawater conditions in coastal British Columbia.


Relative equilibria of molecules are classical trajectories corresponding to steady rotations about stationary axes during which the shape of the molecule does not change. They can be used to explain and predict features of quantum spectra at high values of the total angular momentum J in much the same way that absolute equilibria are used at low J. This paper gives a classi® cation of the symmetry types of relative equilibria of AB2 molecules and computes the relative equilibria bifurcation diagrams and normal mode frequencies for D2H ‡ and H2D ‡ . These are then fed into a harmonic quantization procedure to produce a number of predictions concerning the structures of energy level clusters and their rearrangements as J increases. In particular the formation of doublet pairs is predicted for H2D ‡ from J o 26.


The aim of this work was to develop indinavir pediatric anti-HIV/AIDS formulations enabling convenient dose adjustment, ease of oral administration, and improved organoleptic properties by means of the generation of drug-loaded microparticles made of a polymer that is insoluble under intake conditions and dissolves fast in the stomach in order to completely release the active agent. Indinavir-loaded microparticles made of a pH-dependent polymeric excipient soluble at pH < 5, Eudragit E100, were prepared using a double emulsion solvent diffusion technique and the in vitro release profiles characterized. Finally, taste masking properties were evaluated in blind randomized sensory experiments by ten healthy human volunteers. The use of a w/o/o emulsion system resulted in indinavir loads around 90%. Thermal analysis of the microparticles by differential scanning calorimetry revealed that indinavir appeared mainly dispersed at the molecular level. Concentrations of residual organic solvents as determined by gas chromatography were below the upper limits specified by the European Pharmacopeia for pharmaceutical oral formulations. Then, the behavior of drug-containing microparticles in aqueous media at different pH values was assessed. While they selectively dissolved in gastric-like medium, in tap water (intake conditions), the matrix remained almost unchanged and efficiently prevented drug dissolution. Finally, sensoring taste tests performed by volunteers indicated that systems with indinavir loads ∼15% displayed acceptable taste. This work explored the production of indinavir-containing microparticles based on a common pharmaceutical excipient as a means for the improvement of medicines of drugs involved in the treatment of HIV/AIDS. For systems containing about 15% drug, taste studies confirmed the acceptability of the formulation. In pediatric regimes, this composition would require an acceptable amount of formulation (0.7–1.5 g).


Abstract.  The last decade methods for quantifying the research output of individual researchers have become quite popular in academic policy making. The h‐index (or Hirsch index) constitutes an interesting combined bibliometric volume/impact indicator that has attracted a lot of attention recently. It is now a common indicator, available for instance on the Web of Science. In this article, we establish the asymptotic normality of the empirical h‐index. The rate of convergence is non‐standard: , where f is the density of the citation distribution and n is the number of publications of a researcher. In case that the citations follow a Pareto‐type respectively a Weibull‐type distribution as defined in extreme value theory, our general result specializes well to results that are useful for practical purposes such as the construction of confidence intervals and pairwise comparisons for the h‐index. A simulation study for the Pareto‐type case shows that the asymptotic theory works well for moderate sample sizes already.