Objectives: The impact of the spread of COVID-19 on the mental health and its mitigating factors of high school athletes is not fully understood. The aims of this study were 1) to describe the psychological distress and stressors experienced by high school athletes during the COVID-19 pandemic and to elucidate the relationships between them and 2) to determine the relationship between psychological distress and social support. Methods: Participants of this cross-sectional study were recruited from public high schools in East Japan. We conducted either an online or paper-based questionnaire survey from July 12 to 31, 2020, and used data collected from 3017 high school student athletes (valid response rate: 88.7%) for the analyses. We evaluated psychological distress (K6 [≥]10), stressors to athletes during the COVID-19 pandemic (SAC-19), and perceived social support from others. Logistic regression analysis was used to calculate odds ratios (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) for developing psychological distress. Results: Among the participants, 764 (25.3%) experienced psychological distress. Among the five factors extracted from the SAC-19, self-restraint requests (OR = 1.03, 95% CI: 1.01-1.04), pressure from the surrounding environment (OR = 1.15, 95% CI: 1.12-1.18), and difficulties in maintaining athletic activities (OR = 1.16, 95% CI: 1.12-1.21) increased the risk of psychological distress. On the other hand, participants who were satisfied with the support from family members (OR = 0.77, 95% CI: 0.67-0.90), teammates (the same grade) (OR = 0.81, 95% CI: 0.67-0.98), and coaches and instructors (OR = 0.77, 95% CI: 0.65-0.91) showed lower psychological distress. Conclusions: During the COVID-19 pandemic, high school athletes experienced more psychological distress than usual. Stressors such as self-restraint requests, pressure from the surrounding environment, and difficulties in maintaining athletic activities increased the risk. On the other hand, social support from family members, teammates (the same grade), and coaches and instructors can help alleviate these stressors.


The objectives of this study were to develop a rapid method for sex determination for several mammalian species using polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and to use this method to determine whether there is a significant developmental difference in spherical diameter between male and female d-10 or -11 porcine embryos. The PCR system was developed and verified using genomic DNA from pigs of known sex, then it was tested with genomic DNA from several other mammalian species. Sex is determined by amplification of two genes in a single reaction. The presence or absence of a region of the Sry (sex-determining region Y) gene determines sex, and amplification of the Zfy (male) or Zfx (female) genes acts as a positive control for PCR. Sex determination was successful for all animals tested, including pigs, cattle, sheep, goats, llamas, horses, humans, baboons, dogs, cats, rats, and mice. A total of 209 embryos were collected from 21 crossbred gilts on d 10 or 11 of gestation, and their diameters were measured. No significant difference in embryo diameter was detected between male and female embryos, indicating that sexual dimorphism in embryonic growth in pigs does not occur before the period of rapid embryo elongation. The present sexing technique using PCR is rapid (approximately 6 h from receipt of embryos to results), and it may be useful for examining the effects of sex on any trait of interest in early porcine embryos and embryos from several other mammals.


Online booking services for accommodation have gained increasing importance in the tourist services provided by tour operators. This study intends to identify the main dimensions that characterize each of the payment methods and, for each of them, seeks to characterize the tourists' perception of the main advantages and limitations associated with them. This study adopts a quantitative analysis methodology through the use of an online survey. A final sample of 238 responses was considered. The data were explored using Stata software and adopting statistical inference methods based on the analysis of variance. The findings allow us to conclude that cash payment is the payment method that simultaneously presents better availability and easiness. However, it is also the most insecure of the considered payment methods. For its part, the debit card is considered the safest method. This study didn't intend to analyze the evolution of these payment methods over time. Furthermore, other emerging payment methods such as NFC, QR codes, mobile wallets have gained recent relevance and may be interesting their inclusion in future studies. The results are mainly relevant for tourism agencies and demonstrate that tourists' perception is conditioned mainly by their age and the number of performed trips.


The ability to block gene function with antisense oligodeoxynucleotides has become an important tool in many research laboratories. Because activation and aberrant expression of proto-oncogenes seems to be an important mechanism in malignant transformation, targeted disruption of these genes and other molecular targets with oligodeoxynucleotides could have significant therapeutic utility as well. In this regard, the potential therapeutic usefulness of oligodeoxynucleotides has been demonstrated in many systems and against several different targets including viruses, oncogenes, proto-oncogenes and an increasing array of cellular genes. These studies in aggregate suggest that synthetic oligomers have the potential to become an important new therapeutic agent for the treatment of cancer in humans. Nevertheless, it is clear that considerable optimization will be required before antisense oligonucleotides will emerge as an effective agent for treating disease in humans. Progress will need to occur on several fronts. Included are issues related to the chemistry of the molecules used: for example, how chemical modification has an impact on uptake, stability, and hybridization efficiency of the synthetic DNA molecule. A clearer understanding of the mechanism of antisense-mediated inhibition, including where such inhibition takes place, will also be required. Finally, cellular "defense" mechanisms, such as increasing transcription of the targeted message, may also be factors to consider in planning effective treatment strategies with these agents. Finally, choice of target is also obviously an important issue.


The fragmented nature of the Nag Hammadi treatise known as The Testimony of Truth (NHC IX,3) has seriously impeded our interpretation of this remarkable text, the only Nag Hammadi text in which opposing Gnostic Christian groups are identified by name. Nevertheless, in the past decade, this treatise has become an important reference to the early Christian debate about martyrdom. The question should be asked, however, whether the passages cited by scholars have been interpreted correctly, if we have not first understood the rhetorical strategy of the author and the Sitz im Leben of the text. As the speaker advises an audience seeking after the truth, this text is best read as deliberative speech, despite its many lacunae. Viewing the text rhetorically allows us to reconstruct the message of the text, and interpret its arguments accordingly. When this is done, it becomes clear that the author does not try to persuade his audience with respect to martyrdom, but rather with respect to the passions of the soul that could prevent the soul's salvation. The Sitz im Leben of the text is the shared discussion among Christians in general and Gnostic Christians about the efficacy of testimony and baptism for salvation, and the acceptability of sex and procreation.


Herbicide resistance is a common occurrence in southern Australia. The evolution of herbicide resistance is influenced by the selection pressure placed on the weed species controlled by that herbicide. Results from resistance screening of ~4500 annual ryegrass (Lolium rigidum Gaud.) samples were entered in a GIS database, together with several agricultural parameters used in the Australian Bureau of Statistics Agricultural Surveys. This allowed a study of the associations between mode of action of resistance, geographic distribution of resistance across southern Australia, and farming practices employed in particular regions. Cultivation was negatively associated with resistances in acetyl-CoA carboxylase (ACCase)-inhibiting cyclohexanedione and acetolactate synthase (ALS)-inhibiting herbicides. Higher proportions of wheat sown were associated with higher incidences of resistance. ACCase-inhibiting aryloxyphenoxypropionate and cyclohexanedione and ALS-inhibiting resistances were higher in those shires where soils were predominantly acidic. This study demonstrates the association between farm practice and the evolution of herbicide resistance. The analysis provides reinforcement to the principle of rotating chemical modes of action with non-chemical weed control measures to minimise the risk of herbicide resistance evolution in any farming system.


This paper presents a positive theory of corporate social responsibility set in a managerial capitalism context in which managers instead of markets allocate resources, including social expenditures. The theory focuses jointly on the operational management of the firm and on its social expenditures as influenced by a compensation contract chosen by shareholders in a capital market that prices social expenditures. The theory provides three explanations for compensation systems that encompass social performance. First, consumers may reward the firm for its social expenditures; second, managers may have personal preferences for contributing to social causes; and third, the shareholder clientele a firm attracts may prefer social expenditures. The more consumers reward the firm for its social expenditures the higher powered are the profit incentives, so management compensation in increasing in corporate social expenditures. In the theory firms with higher ability managers have both higher operating profits and higher social expenditures when times are good, so a positive correlation is predicted. In bad times, however, the correlation is negative, except for firms with very low ability managers in very bad times, where the correlation is zero.


In the recent years, social networks in business are gaining unprecedented popularity because of their potential for business growth. Companies can know more about consumers' sentiments towards their products and services, and use it to better understand the market and improve their brand. Thus, companies regularly reinvent their marketing strategies and campaigns to fit consumers' preferences. Social analysis harnesses and utilizes the vast volume of data in social networks to mine critical data for strategic decision making. It uses machine learning techniques and tools in determining patterns and trends to gain actionable insights. This paper selected a popular food brand to evaluate a given stream of customer comments on Twitter. Several metrics in classification and clustering of data were used for analysis. A Twitter API is used to collect twitter corpus and feed it to a Binary Tree classifier that will discover the polarity lexicon of English tweets, whether positive or negative. A k-means clustering technique is used to group together similar words in tweets in order to discover certain business value. This paper attempts to discuss the technical and business perspectives of text mining analysis of Twitter data and recommends appropriate future opportunities in developing this emerging field.


The water distribution network of The Netherlands contains around 30,000 km of asbestos cement (AC) pipes, which constitutes around 25% of the total network. As a pipe material, AC has a relatively poor performance, and therefore is a high priority for renewal. To help decide an effective order of replacement, the water utilities need condition assessment techniques that help them determine which pipes have the highest risk of failure. In the presented work, X-ray computed tomography (CT) was used to measure the degradation of AC pipes taken out of the field. These scans provide a description of the pipe degradation with unmatched detail. The results are compared with strength tests performed on the same pipes, revealing that detailed knowledge of the complete pipe degradation is more important than previously assumed. Moreover, comparison of the CT results to those of a commercial, non-destructive inspection technique was used as a new avenue for validation of this technique, demonstrating its future usefulness for attaining the detailed measurement of pipe degradation required by water utilities.


Supply chain visibility is generally seen as a positive attribute for individual supply chain partners and the supply chain as a whole. There is limited research on how increasing levels of supply chain visibility can impact individual organizations, particularly smaller entities (SME's). This paper uses an Australasian SME (Orion) as a case study to investigate how increasing visibility is affecting them and the way they operate within international supply chains.  The results indicate that increasing visibility can pose significant challenges and potentially negative consequences for smaller organizations. In addition to the extra resources required and complexity for the SME itself, diverging expectations and a lack of trust between supply partners can negatively impact on supply chain relations and long term supply chain innovation.  Within the supply chains Orion operates, increasing visibility does not appear to be leading to improvements in collaboration, risk sharing or shared goals. Viewed through the lens of Michael Porter's five forces model Orion is in a precarious environment, although there remain options for increased visibility to be used to Orion's advantage.


Our research proposes a new, multi-attribute, parameterisation of Tversky's Elimination-
By-Aspects (EBA) model. The EBA model conceptualises choice as a covert sequential
elimination process with choice probabilities formulated over all consideration sets of the
choice set. This specification attempts to capture the effect of context on choice behaviour.
However, the EBA model has seen limited usage due to the large number of required
parameters given the set of items under study. For a set of items T, it has 2|T| - 3 free
parameters, which is infeasible for all but the simplest of contexts. To provide a practical
operationalisation, we impose a set of a priori constraints on the parameter space. We
define a generic multi-attribute structure to the set of aspects. This restricts the cardinality
of the set of unknown scale values while retaining the functional (recursive) form of the
model. The EBA hypothesis of a population of lexicographic decision-makers can therefore
be tested in more market-realistic contexts, and inferences made over a large universal
set of items described by the complete factorial. We call this model the Multi-attribute
Elimination-By-Aspects (MEBA) model. The MEBA model reduces the set of unknown
free parameters to a maximum of |T|-1. We develop a general algebraic expression for the
MEBA choice probabilities as a function of the attributes of the options in the choice set.
This enables the derivation of a likelihood function, and consequently maximum likelihood
estimation. We also consider the form of optimal MEBA paired comparison designs. Using
Monte Carlo simulation and a discrete choice experiment with consumers, we conduct an
initial empirical test of the model against the special case of the MNL model (that assumes
no context effects) and find the MEBA model to be a better approximation of observed
choice behaviour. This is achieved on a common set of parameters, and so it is due solely
to the difference in functional form of the two models. We conclude with a discussion on
future research directions, in particular the introduction of heterogeneity into the model,
and the description of optimal choice experiments for larger choice set sizes.


Advances in technology have driven changes in books into the digital age. Even the Indonesian government, in this case, the Ministry of Education and Culture has implemented it in the form of school electronic books or commonly called BSE. However, ebooks or BSE in schools today, still have weaknesses that should be improved. One of them through e-books in the flipbook format. The purpose of this study is to describe the use of flipbook science media in science learning in elementary schools. This research is a qualitative descriptive study conducted in class V SDN Cemara Dua Surakarta, SDN Mangkubumen Lor No.15 Surakata, and SDN Mangkubumen Kidul No.16 Surakarta in 2016/2017 school year. Data collection techniques are carried out using triangulation of data or sources through observation, interviews, and documentary studies. Data analysis starts from the stage of data collection, data reduction, data presentation, and data verification. The results showed that the use of flipbook science media in science learning in elementary schools can be used optimally if the elementary school has supporting facilities or facilities, such as PCs, LCDs, and sound systems as well as good teacher and student resources in the field of technology. basic computer operating skills. In addition, the use of flipbook media must be used in accordance with the learning objectives to be achieved, so that the effectiveness of the use of flipbook media can be felt optimally


An anti-bacterial composition capable of being activated in the gastro-intestinal tract of mammals is provided. Said composition comprises an effective amount of lactoferrin and lactoperoxidase, and an activating system present in sufficient amounts to activate said lactoperoxidase in the gastro-intestinal tract. In accordance with another aspect of the present invention, the anti-bacterial composition is introduced into the gastro-intestinal tract of mammals as a component of foodstuff and/or animal feedstuff. In accordance with yet another aspect of the present invention, a method for treating gastro-intestinal infections is disclosed. This method for treating gastro-intestinal infections in mammals comprises introducing the above anti-bacterial composition into the intestinal tract of mammals.


Background: A physically inactive lifestyle is associated with an increased risk for a variety of chronic diseases and health conditions. One population at greatest risk of physical inactivity is older adults. Studies: The specific aims for my dissertation research focused on further development of the Actigraph accelerometer to measure physical activity in community dwelling older adults. I proposed to first further define what an "activity count" from the Actigraph accelerometer represents. By comparing Actigraph counts to raw accelerometry, oxygen consumption and pedometer step count data at usual and slow walking speeds we found that counts per second were correlated with raw accelerometry and energy cost. Actigraph counts, raw acceleration, pedometer step counts and oxygen consumption were higher for usual versus slow walking conditions as expected. We were able to formulate a regression equation to estimate energy cost from Actigraph counts in community dwelling older adults. For the next project, I investigated the reliability and validity of the various ways to present data from the Actigraph accelerometer. All Actigraph measurement units of interest were highly correlated with each other as well as with performance based measures of mobility, function, age and self reported physical activity. Actigraph counts per minute and standard deviations of counts were able to distinguish between low and high mobility and functioning groups. Using ROC curves, we established a cut off value of 150 counts per minute to detect mobility and function problems. Finally, I determined meaningful change values of physical activity measured by the Actigraph over a 12 week exercise intervention in community dwelling older adults with walking difficulty. We found a value of 30 counts per minute to indicate substantial change beyond spurious error. Actigraph counts per minute did not change over the course of exercise intervention. However, people who were more active at baseline exhibited improvements in mobility and functional measures compared to those who were less active at baseline.Conclusion: From the projects described above, Actigraph counts have been validated in older adults against raw accelerometry, oxygen consumption, mobility, function, and self-reported physical activity measures. Inter-rater reliability was excellent for the multiple outputs of the Actigraph accelerometer. Actigraph counts per minute data output is our recommendation since it is the default output, has the least amount of processing, produces high inter-rater reliability and validity against mobility and function.


This article presents a simple yet efficient method for solving lemma ambiguity as a part of morphological tagging of Estonian. By lemma ambiguity authors mean the situation when a word-form has several (mostly two) possible morphological readings and the only difference between these readings lies in the correct form of lemma, i.e. the POS and grammatical categories are the same, but possible lemmas are different. This type of ambiguity is characteristic of 1.5% of tokens in an otherwise morphologically disambiguated text. A textand corpusbased method is used to disambiguate this kind of ambiguity. The precision of the method is 0.94 and recall 0.67.


Background Estimates of the economic impact of cardiovascular events in patients with type 2 diabetes are scarce. The aim of this study was to determine the health care costs associated with acute myocardial infarction (AMI) and stroke in patients with type 2 diabetes in Sweden. Design Population-based open cohort study of 9941 patients with type 2 diabetes retrospectively identified in primary care records at 26 centres in Uppsala County. Methods Episodes of AMI and stroke suffered by study patients were tracked in the Swedish National Inpatient Register. Annual per patient costs of health care were computed for the years 2000-2004 using register data covering inpatient care, outpatient hospital care, primary care and drugs. Panel data regression was applied to determine the impact of suffering a first or repeat AMI or stroke on health care costs during the year of the event and in subsequent years. Results Total health care costs of patients suffering a first AMI/stroke increased by 4.1/6.5 during the year of the event [95% confidence interval (CI): 3.1-5.4/4.9-8.5] and by 1.1/1.4 during subsequent years (95% CI: 1.0-1.3/1.2-1.6), controlling for age, sex, the event of amputation and presence of renal failure, heart failure and diabetic eye disease. Total health care costs of patients suffering a first or repeat AMI/stroke increased by 4.1/6.4 during the year of an event (95% CI: 3.2-5.2/5.0-8.1) but were not significantly higher during subsequent years. Conclusion Estimates of the costs related to major cardiovascular complications of type 2 diabetes are critical input to economic evaluations.


We aimed to describe the quality of life (QOL) among parents of adolescent and young adult brain tumor survivors as well as parent, survivor, and diagnosis/treatment-related factors associated with adverse QOL. A cross-sectional study of 28 parents of adolescent and young adult brain tumor survivors (who were on average 10 y postdiagnosis) was used to assess QOL. Parent QOL was measured using the Patient-Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System Global Health measure. Factors associated with adverse parent QOL were explored using logistic regression including: parent, survivor, and diagnosis/treatment-related factors. Parent QOL was within the normal range; however, 40% scored below the clinical threshold of 0.5 SD below the mean for physical and mental health. Parent perceptions of greater family impact, survivor emotional/behavioral health problems, improved cognitive function, and recurrence were associated with adverse parent physical health. Parent anger/sorrow, uncertainty, survivor emotional/behavioral health problems, speech/language problems, and recurrence were associated with adverse parent mental health. Parental emotional resources and perceptions of improved survivor peer relationships were associated with greater parent physical and mental health. The impact of a brain tumor diagnosis and treatment on the QOL of parents may be significant. Interventions are needed to ensure that the needs of parents are met.


Leaf rust caused by Puccinia triticina is an important disease of wheat in many regions worldwide. Durable or long-lasting leaf rust resistance has been difficult to achieve because populations of P. triticina are highly variable for virulence to race-specific resistance genes, and respond to selection by resistance genes in released wheat cultivars. The wheat cultivar Toropi, developed and grown in Brazil, was noted to have long-lasting leaf rust resistance that was effective only in adult plants. The objectives of this study were to determine the chromosome location of the leaf rust resistance genes derived from Toropi in two populations of recombinant inbred lines in a partial Thatcher wheat background. In the first population, a single gene with major effects on chromosome 5DS that mapped 2.2 centimorgans distal to IWA6289, strongly reduced leaf rust severity in all 3 years of field plot tests. This gene for adult plant leaf rust resistance was designated as Lr78. In the second population, quantitative trait loci (QTL) with small effects on chromosomes 1BL, 3BS, and 4BS were found. These QTL expressed inconsistently over 4 years of field plot tests. The adult plant leaf rust resistance derived from Toropi involved a complex combination of QTL with large and small effects.


We estimate the impact of bank merger announcements on borrowers' stock prices for publicly traded Norwegian firms. In addition, we analyze how bank mergers influence borrower relationship termination behavior and relate the propensity to terminate to borrower abnormal returns. We obtain four main results. First, on average borrowers lose about 1 percent in equity value when their bank is announced as a merger target. Small borrowers of target banks are especially hurt in mergers between two large banks, where they lose an average of about 3 percent. Small target borrowers are not harmed, and appear to even gain, from mergers between small banks. Second, bank mergers lead to higher relationship exit rates for three years after a bank merger, and small bank mergers lead to larger increases in exit rates than large mergers. Third, target borrower abnormal returns are positively related to pre-merger exit rates, indicating that firms that find it easier to switch banks are less harmed when their bank merges. Fourth, we find weak evidence that target borrowers with large merger-induced increases in exit rates are more negatively affected by bank merger announcements, suggesting that target borrowers can be forced out of relationships and suffer welfare losses as a result of bank mergers.


The transfer of the major part of the motion between the Philippine Sea Plate and the Sunda block is accommodated along a north-west shear wide zone partly on the Philippine Fault and partly on the Sibuyan Verde Passage Fault (SVPF) as indicated by global positioning satellite and geological data. Given the limited motion along the SVPF and the important motion along the Philippine Fault, as well as the necessity of a connection between these faults and the southern Manila Trench, a transtensional motion along the northeast-southwest Macolod Corridor (MC) may be predicted. We used synthetic aperture radar European remote sensing (SAR ERS-1) images to analyze the volcano– tectonic features of this area, because these images are sensitive to minute textural or topographic contrasts resulting from small effects of recent deformation. In addition, they allow us to determine accurately the shape of the base of volcanic edifices and to detect linear clusters of very small adjacent cones. The results presented herein allow us to extend the features recognized earlier to a larger MC. Large faults actually connect the Philippine Fault to the Sibuyan Verde Passage Fault all across the Taal Volcanic Field. In addition to extension along north-east faults, we identify an important component of leftlateral strike–slip underlined by fault scarps, dykes, alignments of volcanoes and pull-apart basins, accompanied by extension along north-south faults. A relative chronology of the fractures and volcanic edifices is proposed. When compared to the existing ages of the volcanics, an evolution scheme of the area may be proposed, according to which extension shifted from a nearly north-south opening between 5 and 2 million years to a direction close to east-west at Present. The early north-south extension existed in the Marinduque Basin and may have migrated northward and rotated to the present MC.


System signatures are useful tools in the study and comparison of coherent systems. In this paper, we define and study a similar concept, called the joint signature, for two coherent systems which share some components. Under an independent and identically distributed assumption on component lifetimes, a pseudo-mixture representation based on this joint signature is obtained for the joint distribution of the lifetimes of both systems. Sufficient conditions are given based on the respective joint signatures of two pairs of systems, each with shared components, to ensure various forms of bivariate stochastic orderings between the joint lifetimes of the two pairs of systems.


The purpose of this study was to examine the effectiveness of the hinged ankle‐foot orthosis (HAFO), posterior leaf spring (PLS), and solid ankle‐foot orthosis (SAFO), in preventing contracture, improving efficiency of gait, and enhancing performance of functional motor skills in 30 children (21 male, 9 female; mean age 9 years 4 months; age range 4 to 18 years,) with spastic hemiplegia. Following a 3‐month baseline period of no ankle‐foot orthosis (AFO) use, each AFO was worn for 3 months after which ankle range of motion, gait analysis, energy consumption, and functional motor skills were assessed. The HAFO and PLS increased passive ankle dorsiflexion and normalization of ankle rocker function during gait. Normalization of knee motion in stance was dependent upon the knee abnormality present and AFO configuration. The HAFO was the most effective in controlling knee hyperextension in stance, while PLS was the most effective in promoting knee extension in children with >10° knee flexion in stance. Energy efficiency was improved in 21 of the children, with 13 of these children demonstrating the greatest improvement in HAFO and PLS. Improvements in functional mobility were greatest in the HAFO and PLS.


Background: Cyclopia is endemic to regions of the Cape Floristic Region across the Eastern and Western Cape provinces of South Africa and is commonly known as honeybush. Honeybush has historically been used as an herbal tea, and has proven medicinal properties. Honeybush biomass and extracts are used in the functional foods and cosmetics sectors, both locally and overseas. The growing demand for honeybush calls for increased agricultural production and a shift away from the predominantly wild harvested supply.Objectives: The current study aimed to address the lack of baseline knowledge on honeybush phenology and its associated arthropod community to advance sustainable production of commercially valued plants in the genus.Method: The study was conducted on wild and cultivated Cyclopia species (Cyclopia maculata and Cyclopia genistoides) at respective sites in the Overberg region. Sampling took place from April 2014 to April 2015 using qualitative methods for recording seasonal honeybush phenology and suction sampling for aboveground arthropods. Focal insect taxa (Coleoptera, Hemiptera, Thysanoptera, Lepidoptera and Hymenoptera) were sorted and identified to family level and classified into functional feeding guilds.Results: Qualitative phenology observations of wild C. maculata and cultivated C. genistoides indicated a high level of congruency in seasonality of phenophase stages. Associated arthropod assemblages contained a diversity of families per functional feeding group, namely phytophagous, zoophagous and omnivorous taxa, with high seasonal variability.Conclusion: Findings highlight the complexity of ecological elements to be taken into consideration for ecologically sound honeybush cultivation. Outcomes can be applied to land management practices and governance policies promoting sustainable agroecosystems in honeybush production areas.


Background Cytochrome P450 1 (CYP1) genes are biomarkers for aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AHR) agonists and may be involved in some of their toxic effects. CYP1s other than the CYP1As are poorly studied in birds. Here we characterize avian CYP1B and CYP1C genes and the expression of the identified CYP1 genes and AHR1, comparing basal and induced levels in chicken and quail embryos. Methodology/Principal Findings We cloned cDNAs of chicken CYP1C1 and quail CYP1B1 and AHR1. CYP1Cs occur in several bird genomes, but we found no CYP1C gene in quail. The CYP1C genomic region is highly conserved among vertebrates. This region also shares some synteny with the CYP1B region, consistent with CYP1B and CYP1C genes deriving from duplication of a common ancestor gene. Real-time RT-PCR analyses revealed similar tissue distribution patterns for CYP1A4, CYP1A5, CYP1B1, and AHR1 mRNA in chicken and quail embryos, with the highest basal expression of the CYP1As in liver, and of CYP1B1 in eye, brain, and heart. Chicken CYP1C1 mRNA levels were appreciable in eye and heart but relatively low in other organs. Basal transcript levels of the CYP1As were higher in quail than in chicken, while CYP1B1 levels were similar in the two species. 3,3′,4,5,5′-Pentachlorobiphenyl induced all CYP1s in chicken; in quail a 1000-fold higher dose induced the CYP1As, but not CYP1B1. Conclusions/Significance The apparent absence of CYP1C1 in quail, and weak expression and induction of CYP1C1 in chicken suggest that CYP1Cs have diminishing roles in tetrapods; similar tissue expression suggests that such roles may be met by CYP1B1. Tissue distribution of CYP1B and CYP1C transcripts in birds resembles that previously found in zebrafish, suggesting that these genes serve similar functions in diverse vertebrates. Determining CYP1 catalytic functions in different species should indicate the evolving roles of these duplicated genes in physiological and toxicological processes.


A discrete representation of the reconstruction process, consistent with the method of data collection, has been used to derive expressions for the noise power spectrum, autocorrelation function and noise equivalent quanta (NEQ) of a computed tomography (CT) image. These parameters have been expressed in terms of basic scanning factors such as tube current, exposure time, slice width and number of detectors. Each of these factors affects the overall magnitude of the noise power spectrum, but the spatial frequency dependence is also determined by the type of reconstruction filter used in the computer algorithm. The noise power spectrum has been calculated for scanners employing either a ramp or Hanning weighted ramp filter. Predictions made from this theoretical analysis have been compared with experimental measurements made on various CT scanners. Measurements were made of the modulation transfer function (MTF) by techniques which permitted the authors to deduce the contributions of the algorithmic and nonalgorithmic components to the overall MTF. NEQ values have been calculated for a number of CT scanners.


Robotic maintenance has been a topic in several master's theses and specialization projects at the Department of Engineering Cybernetics (ITK) at NTNU over many years. This thesis continues on the same topic, with special focus on camera-based mapping and navigation in conjunction with automated maintenance, and automated maintenance in general. The objective of this thesis is to implement one or more functionalities based on camera-based sensors in a mobile autonomous robot. This is accomplished by acquiring knowledge of existing solutions and future requirements within automated maintenance. A mobile robot prototype has been configured to run ROS (Robot Operating System), a middleware framework that is suited to the development of robotic systems. The system uses RTAB-Map (Real-Time Appearance Based Mapping) to survey the surroundings and a built navigation stack in ROS to navigate autonomously against easy targets in the map. The method uses a Kinect for Xbox 360 as the main sensor and a 2D laser scanner to the surveying and odometry. It is also developed functional concepts for two support functions, an Android application for remote control over Bluetooth and a remote central (OCS) developed in Qt. Remote Central is a skeletal implementation that is able to remotely control the robot via WiFi, as well as to display video from the robot's camera. Test results, obtained from both live and simulated trials, indicate that the robot is able to form 3D and 2D map of the surroundings. The method has weaknesses that are related to the ability to find visual features. Laser Based odometry can be tricked when the environment is changing, and when there are few unique features. Further testing has demonstrated that the robot can navigate autonomously, but there is still room for improvement. Better results can be achieved with a new movable platform and further tuning of the system. In conclusion, ROS works well as a development tools for robots, and the current system is suitable for further development. RTAB-Maps suitability for use on an industrial installation is still uncertain and requires further testing.


. Bird strike incidents are not uncommon and cause significant flight safety threats to aircraft operations . An aircraft must show compliance with "continued safe flight and landing" requ irements following specified types of high-energy bird impact (See FAR 25.571/25.631). A bird strike is classified as a high-velocity soft body impact, because the stresses which are generated in the contact region are significantly greater than the strength of the bird, but lower than the strength of the impacted structure. High deformability of the impactor (bird) causes spreading of the impact load over a certain area of the structure that requires the use of special strain-rate-dependent material models. If the structure is deformable, the impact load depends on the structural response that, in turn, depends on the impact load. During the design process, a means to predict the structural behavior on a birdstrike event has to be employed to size the structure. Final certification is usually made by tests. To simulate this phenomenon, the soft impactor body is modelled using smoothed Particle hydrodynamics. An equation of state is used to provide a hydrodynamic material model, it describes the pressure as function of specific internal energy and density. Aircraft (Target) structure is modeled using a Lagrangian Finite Element Mesh. Large displacements and material plastic behavior (strain rate dependant) are considered. This paper presents the bird strike simulation methodology used at FAdeA SA based on the Smooth Particle Hydrodynamics technique. Examples of analysis models developed using ABAQUS Explicit are presented.


The construction industry is complex, fragmented and
struggles to cope with an intricate and geographically
diverse Supply Chain (SC) where sophisticated flows
of materials, information and capital take place in a
dynamic environment. In this context, building trust
among partners is a necessary requirement to deliver a
successful project on time and on budget. This paper
investigates the main factors that build inter-firm trust
in large construction projects and explores the
disruptive effect that the Internet of Things (IoT) and
Blockchain (BC) could have in this process. The
findings are based on an in-depth analysis of the
literature and ten one-to-one telephone and face-toface interviews. The findings contribute to the
literature by suggesting that a Blockchain-enabled IoT
ecosystem has the potential to generate inter-firm trust
at the front-end, during contract development, and
throughout the construction phase. Moreover, the data
denotes the need for further technological adoption in
the construction industry as a means of smoothing the
transition from relational trust to technological trust.


Although polythiocyanogen (SCN)(x), has been known for a long time, its solid state structure continues to be uncertain and controversial. Reported here are density functional calculations for linear polymers comprising repeating 1,2,4-dithiazole or 1,2,4-thiadiazole rings, an S-S bridged isomer, and a variety of cyclic phyrin-like systems resulting from cyclization of these linear polymers. The computed energies and comparison of GIAO-derived relative magnetic shieldings for the (13)C and (15)N nuclei with experimental values reported by Woollins and co-workers confirms their assignment of the polymer as based on the 1,2,4-dithiazole ring. It is proposed here that the cyclic forms of this polymer are a better match with experiment than the purely linear forms; the (33)S spectra are likely to be the best discriminator for these diverse structures. A number of these cyclic forms are modelled on the conformations of analogous phyrins such as the recently reported dodecaphyrin, and have lemniscular figure-eight or helical topologies which are recognized here as being double or higher twisted Möbius pi-conjugated rings. The aromatic character of several forms is dissected using ELF(pi) (electron localization) analyses. Based on the propensity of the phyrin rings to form both mono and dinuclear metal complexes, and a specific analogy to a uranylpentaphyrin, it is proposed that a UO(2) complex of e.g. a (SCN)(2) pentamer might be isolable.


Malaysian agriculture industries produce large amount of biomass residue every year. Oil palm solid waste, rice husk, coconut shell and sawdust from wood are being disposed in an uncontrolled manner presently. Alternatively, this biomass can be used to produce energy by controlled combustion system or gasification process. This process produces producer gas that could generate electrical or mechanical energy. Pressurized induced flow was utilized in a downdraft gasifier with low emission burner. In this research, downdraft gasifier was coupled together with an air ejector, orifice cylinder and gas burner. Palm oil (Elaeis guineensis) shell and coal were used as feed. The solid feeds were combusted at a controlled condition inside the gasifier. Primary compressed air was supplied to assist the process. The process produced producer gas, which was consisted of methane, carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide and hydrogen. Producer gas flowed out from the gasifier to the orifice cylinder and gas burner to re-burn again. Secondary compressed air was supplied to the gas burner through an air ejector to assist the burning process. This ejector also acted as an induced flow. High pressure and high velocity air streaming through the ejector caused pressure inside of the gas burner to drop. This situation allowed producer gas inside of gasifier, which was at a higher pressure to flow into the gas burner. The orifice cylinder's function was to enhance the air-fuel ratio mixture before it was being burnt. Air ejector configuration was carried out using computer simulation software, FLUENT 5.3. Five orifice cylinders with the diameters of 60, 70, 80, 100 and 120 mm were simulated to investigate the profile of gas flow mixing. From the simulation, orifice cylinders with 60 and 70 mm diameter produced choked gas flow. Thus, only orifice cylinder with 80, 100 and 120 mm diameters were tested in the experiment. Secondary air pressure supplied was varied from 0.5 to 1.0, 1.5, 2.0, 2.5 and 3.0 bar to obtain the emission level. From the experiment by using palm oil shell as feed based, and at 2.5 bar secondary air pressure supplied, it was found that orifice cylinder with 80 mm diameter produced 53% NOx less than the gas burner without orifice cylinder. The combustion efficiency was also increased by 13%. Furthermore, gas burner with 80 mm diameter orifice cylinder and 40o vane decreased NOx by 15% besides increasing combustion efficiency by 3%. Gasification with coal feed based produced less than 20% NOx compared to palm oil shell feed based, at 92.1% combustion efficiency.


Waste materials are often disposed in facilities constructed from natural earth materials. Frequently, the natural materials, especially clays, are emplaced to meet specifications designed to limit the migration of the wastes or their leachates from the disposal facility. However, as waste leachates permeate through earth materials, chemical reactions can occur which may cause the emplaced materials to no longer meet the disposal facility design specifications. A test procedure has been utilized to assess the long-term effects of waste leachates upon earth materials, that is, permeant-porous media interactions. The test consists of compacting representative specimens of the porous media to represent its field hydraulic conductivity, determining a reference hydraulic conductivity, based on a 0.01 N calcium sulfate (CaSO/sub 4/) solution, site groundwater or tap water, and then changing the permeant to the anticipated waste leachate. Field-time conditions are accelerated by permeating the waste fluid through the porous media under pressure. By monitoring the time, flow, and chemistry of the permeant effluents and with assessments of hydrologic and geochemical parameters, it is possible to evaluate long-term characteristics of flow and mass transport through the porous media. Evaluation of the performance of waste disposal facilities, including changes in the hydraulic conductivity of themore » porous media due to chemical reactions with the permeant and calculation of retardation factors for solutes of interest, has been the primary concern of our testing. Retardation factors are defined as the dimensionless ratio of the average linear water velocity to solute migration velocity, and can be determined by monitoring the solute front advancement within the porous media in relation to a tracer that does not react with the porous media. The testing methods and evaluation of the results are presented.« less


A method is described for producing several liters of nuclear spin polarized 129Xe gas via spin exchange with an optically pumped Rb vapor. We use a 140 W AlGaAs laser diode array whose broad spectral output is efficiently absorbed by employing ∼10 atm of 4He to pressure broaden the Rb D1 absorption profile. 129Xe is polarized in a continuous gas flow and is then cryogenically accumulated and stored. Extensions of this technique should enable the production of tens of liters of 129Xe with a nuclear spin polarization of order 50%. Production of laser‐polarized 129Xe in liter quantities is important for the continued development of magnetic resonance imaging using spin‐polarized 129Xe.


In many species, male secondary sexual traits have evolved via female choice as they confer indirect (i.e. genetic) benefits or direct benefits such as enhanced fertility or survival. In humans, the role of men's characteristically masculine androgen‐dependent facial traits in determining men's attractiveness has presented an enduring paradox in studies of human mate preferences. Male‐typical facial features such as a pronounced brow ridge and a more robust jawline may signal underlying health, whereas beards may signal men's age and masculine social dominance. However, masculine faces are judged as more attractive for short‐term relationships over less masculine faces, whereas beards are judged as more attractive than clean‐shaven faces for long‐term relationships. Why such divergent effects occur between preferences for two sexually dimorphic traits remains unresolved. In this study, we used computer graphic manipulation to morph male faces varying in facial hair from clean‐shaven, light stubble, heavy stubble and full beards to appear more (+25% and +50%) or less (−25% and −50%) masculine. Women (N = 8520) were assigned to treatments wherein they rated these stimuli for physical attractiveness in general, for a short‐term liaison or a long‐term relationship. Results showed a significant interaction between beardedness and masculinity on attractiveness ratings. Masculinized and, to an even greater extent, feminized faces were less attractive than unmanipulated faces when all were clean‐shaven, and stubble and beards dampened the polarizing effects of extreme masculinity and femininity. Relationship context also had effects on ratings, with facial hair enhancing long‐term, and not short‐term, attractiveness. Effects of facial masculinization appear to have been due to small differences in the relative attractiveness of each masculinity level under the three treatment conditions and not to any change in the order of their attractiveness. Our findings suggest that beardedness may be attractive when judging long‐term relationships as a signal of intrasexual formidability and the potential to provide direct benefits to females. More generally, our results hint at a divergence of signalling function, which may result in a subtle trade‐off in women's preferences, for two highly sexually dimorphic androgen‐dependent facial traits.


This article critically assesses the criminal law on consensual harm through an examination of the legality of fighting sports. The article begins by considering fighting sports such as bare-fisted prize fighting (dominant in the nineteenth century). It then, in historical chronology, examines the legality of professional boxing with gloves (dominant in the twentieth century). Doctrinally, the article reviews why and how, in a position adopted by the leading common law jurisdictions, fighting sports benefit from an application of the "well-established" category-based exceptions to the usual bodily harm threshold of consent in the criminal law. Centrally, fighting sports and doctrinal law on offenses against the person are juxtaposed against the theoretical boundaries of consent in the criminal law to examine whether and where the limit of the "right to be hurt" might lie. In sum, this article uses fighting sports as a case study to assess whether the criminal law generally can or should accommodate the notion of a fair fight, sporting or otherwise, predicated on the consent of the participants to the point that the individuals involved might be said, pithily, to have extended an open invite to harm.


Abstract. To improve the operation efficiency and reduce the risks associated with exposing surveyors to danger during on-site operations, this paper presents a volume measurement approach of the sand carrier using unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) imagery. Instead of the 3D surface interpolation of the sand carrier by total station measuring method or real-time kinematic global positioning system (RTK GPS) measuring method, the finely detailed surfaces of the sand carriers are reconstructed from dense point clouds derived by UAV-based mapping. Then, the volume of sand is calculated by the differential method, which multiplies the height difference between the UAV-derived 3D surfaces of the vessel and sand by the resolution of these surfaces. A total of 10 sand carriers are selected to test and evaluate the performance of the proposed approach, the absolute values of relative deviation between the volume obtained by UAV-based and the reference volume are approximately equal to 2%, which can be considered acceptable and satisfy the need of volume measurement of sand carriers. Compared with the manual field measurement and the laser scanning-based method, the proposed approach performs better in the accuracy of volume measurement or the reliability under the circumstance of a moving carrier. The overall results suggest that UAV-mapping can be used as an effective alternative to the commonly used method for volume measurement of the sand carrier.


This research contributes to theory on self-control at work through applying and extending the limited-capacity model of self-control to examine the extent to which daily self-control work demands predict self-control failure and driving behavior during the commute after work. We develop a dual-pathway model in which resisting-distractions demands and impulse-control demands at work have unique relationships with speeding behavior via two separate pathways of self-control failure: one reflecting a failure to regulate attention and the other reflecting a failure to suppress impulses, which is moderated by negative affect. In two studies of daily work experiences and driving behavior, we find support for our model, over and above the effects of cognitive and affective work demands, postwork fatigue, and motivation. We discuss the implications of our findings in relation to the concept of self-control work demands and self-control depletion theory. Our findings also contribute to research on the links between work and commuting, and driving commuting most specifically, which is important because work-to-driving spillover represents a substantive safety issue for organizations.


The review presents a research perspective that defines mentalizing functions as a very promising topic to bridge psychopathology and neurobiological foundations of mental disorders. However, the high diversity of existing observations in mentalizing research calls for a structured assessment of functional mentalizing subdomains. A notable problem is the overlap of functional systems involved in mentalizing and emotion processing. A proposed solution is to conceptualize mentalizing functions due to their content (visuospatial vs. emotional) perspective and substrates (cognitive or explicit signals). This conceptual organization is mirrored in functional imaging experiments dissociating anteromedial and posterolateral brain regions, especially the involvement of the medial prefrontal cortex in mentalizing emotions and the temporoparietal cortex in visuospatial perspective taking. The present state and perspectives of mentalizing research are demonstrated in two major fields of mental disorders, depression and schizophrenia. In depression the existent contradictory findings demand a control of cognitive impairments, which are frequently associated with depressive disorders. In schizophrenia there is already consistent evidence that defines mentalizing functions as promising endophenotype, which can possibly link psychopathology to its neurobiological foundations.


ABSTRACT The vancomycin resistance vanB2 gene cluster is disseminated worldwide and has been found in phylogenetically remote bacterial genera. The vanB2 operon is part of conjugative transposons Tn1549/Tn5382, but conjugative transposition of these elements has not been demonstrated. We have obtained transfer of a Tn1549-like element (referred to herein as "Tn1549-like") from Clostridium symbiosum MLG101 to Enterococcus faecium 64/3 and Enterococcus faecalis JH2-2 in the digestive tract of gnotobiotic mice and to E. faecium 64/3 in vitro. Retransfer of Tn1549-like from an E. faecium transconjugant also containing Tn916 to E. faecium BM77 was obtained in vitro, albeit at a very low frequency. Transfer efficiency was found to be both donor and recipient dependent. Pulsed-field gel electrophoresis analysis of total SmaI-digested DNA of 48 transconjugants indicated in 27 instances the acquisition of ca. 34 kb of DNA. Two transconjugants harbored two copies of the transposon. Sequencing of the flanking regions of Tn1549-like in 48 transconjugants revealed 29 integration events in 26 loci in the E. faecium genome, and two hot spots for insertion were identified. Integration of the transposon was associated with the acquisition of 5 (n = 18) or 6 (n = 7) bp of donor DNA or with 5-bp duplications of target DNA in the remaining transconjugants. These data demonstrate functionality of the Tn1549-like element and attest that the transfer of the vanB operon between enterococci and human commensal anaerobes occurs in the intestinal environment.


We demonstrate a carbon nanotube based high-resolution biosensor for acetylcholine sensing. Carbon nanotubes are deposited on a silicon wafer in a repeated fashion with layer-by-layer nano self-assembly technique. With nano-assembled acetylcholinesterase molecules on the surface, the carbon nanotube biosensor is capable of detecting acetylcholine at an ultra-low concentration of 100 pM. The sensitivity of the acetylcholine sensor is measured as 7.2 µA/decade. The real-time measurement shows the response time of the biosensor is approximately 6 sec. Both the carbon nanotube film and the acetylcholinesterase film are crucial in the sensing process. Due to its high resolution, fast response, small size, and low cost, the carbon nanotube biosensor has tremendous potential for applications in medical research and clinical diagnosis.


We report small- and large-signal performances of 140-nm gatelength field-plated GaN HEMTs at Ka-band frequencies, in which the GaN HEMTs were fabricated with n+ source contact ledge. The parasitic channel resistance is reduced by ~ 50%, whereas the peak extrinsic transconductance is improved by 20% from 370 to 445 mS/mm. The GaN HEMTs with n+ source ledge exhibit improvement of maximum stable gain by at least 0.7 dB over reference devices without n+ ledge. At 30 GHz, CW output power density of 10 W/mm is measured with peak PAE of 40% and associated gain of 8.4 dB at Vds = 42 V. At Vds = 30 V, the output power density is measured as 7.3 W/mm with peak PAE of 50%, peak DE of 58%, and associated gain of 8.5 dB. The best PAE was measured as 55% at 5 W/mm at 30, 33, and 36 GHz, where the associated gains were 7.9, 7.6, and 8.2 dB, respectively.


The primary goal of this research is to examine the overall utility of nonradiographic dental records for the establishment of individual identifications. It was found that even without radiographic lines of comparison, charts and notes that accurately detail a missing individual's antemortem dental condition can be essential for establishing an identification. Based on an analysis of two large datasets, individual dental patterns were determined to be generally unique, or at least very uncommon. Through this type of empirical comparison, it is possible to establish a strong, quantifiable association with a missing individual. The results of this research indicate that a definitive number of points of concordance do not need to be established in dental identification cases. Each case must be assessed individually. The critical factor is to remove subjective judgment calls from dental comparisons. This research has proposed a new method of empirical comparison that allows forensic odontologists to derive objective frequency information regarding the occurrence of specific dental patterns in the general population. The method is similar to that used for mtDNA casework, and a computer program (OdontoSearch) has been developed to make the technique accessible. It was found that even a small number of common dental characteristics may produce a very rare dental pattern, a point that may be counterintuitive to many forensic odontologists.


Outcomes after heart and lung transplants have improved, and many recipients survive long enough to develop secondary renal failure, yet remain healthy enough to undergo kidney transplantation. We used national data reported to United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS) to evaluate outcomes of 568 kidney after heart (KAH) and 210 kidney after lung (KAL) transplants performed between 1995 and 2008. Median time to kidney transplant was 100.3 months after heart, and 90.2 months after lung transplant. Renal failure was attributed to calcineurin inhibitor toxicity in most patients. Outcomes were compared with primary kidney recipients using matched controls (MC) to account for donor, recipient and graft characteristics. Although 5‐year renal graft survival was lower than primary kidney recipients (61% KAH vs. 73.8% MC, p < 0.001; 62.6% KAL vs. 82.9% MC, p < 0.001), death‐censored graft survival was comparable (84.9% KAH vs. 88.2% MC, p = 0.1; 87.6% KAL vs. 91.8% MC, p = 0.6). Furthermore, renal transplantation reduced the risk of death compared with dialysis by 43% for KAH and 54% for KAL recipients. Our findings that renal grafts function well and provide survival benefit in KAH and KAL recipients, but are limited in longevity by the general life expectancy of these recipients, might help inform clinical decision‐making and allocation in this population.


McIntosh's, Unsettled: Denial and belonging among White Kenyans, is an ethnography of White Kenyan settler descendants who are battling with their identities and sense of belonging in the post-colonial Kenya. The author shares numerous stories of various ordinary interactions with her respondents (aged 20 – 80), as well as interactions from semistructured and open ended interviews. McIntosh notes that "ethnographies of elite groups are somewhat unusual; most cultural anthropologists prefer to explore the experiences of people who don't have much of a voice" (pg.14), but with this ethnographic account of White settler descendants, the author provides the reader with a critical look into Whiteness and White privilegeby documenting how the respondents situate themselves between the colonial past and post-colonial present.


Cardiovascular disease (CVD) has become the primary cause of global deaths and inflicts an enormous healthcare burden on both developed and developing countries. Frequent monitoring of CVD-associated risk factors such as the level of lipids (e.g., triglyceride (TG) and total cholesterol (TC)) and lipoproteins (e.g., low-density lipoprotein (LDL) and high-density lipoprotein (HDL)) can effectively help prevent disease progression and improve clinical outcomes. However, measurement of these risk factors is generally integrated into an automated analyzer, which is prohibitively expensive and highly instrument-dependent for routine testing in primary care settings. As such, a variety of rapid, simple and portable nanomaterial-based biosensors have been developed for measuring the level of lipids (TG and TC) and lipoproteins (LDL and HDL) towards the management of CVD at the point-of-care (POC). In this review, we first summarize traditional methods for measurement of lipids and lipoproteins, and then present the latest advances in developing nanomaterial-based biosensors that can potentially monitor the risk factors of CVD at the POC.


In a participatory approach by social scientists, role playing games (RPG) are effectively used to understand real thinking and behavior of stakeholders, but RPG is not sufficient to handle a dynamic process like negotiation. In this study, a participatory simulation where user-controlled avatars and autonomous agents coexist is introduced to the participatory approach for modeling negotiation. To establish a modeling methodology of negotiation, we have tackled the following two issues. First, for enabling domain experts to concentrate interaction design for participatory simulation, we have adopted the architecture in which an interaction layer controls agents and have defined three types of interaction descriptions (interaction protocol, interaction scenario and avatar control scenario) to be described. Second, for enabling domain experts and stakeholders to capitalize on participatory simulation, we have established a four-step process for acquiring negotiation model: 1) surveys and interviews to stakeholders, 2) RPG, 3) interaction design, and 4) participatory simulation. Finally, we discussed our methodology through a case study of agricultural economics in the northeast Thailand.


Cochlear microphonic potentials (CMs) were recorded from the sharply tuned, strongly resonant auditory foveae of 1- to 5-week-old mustached bats that were anesthetized with Rompun and Ketavet. The fovea processes Doppler-shifted echo responses of the constant-frequency component of echolocation calls. During development, the frequency and tuning sharpness of the cochlear resonance increases, and CM ringing persists for longer after the tone. CM is relatively insensitive at tone onset and grows linearly with increased stimulus level. During the tone, the CM is more sensitive and grows compressively with increased stimulus level and phase leads onset CM by 90° for frequencies below the resonance. CM during the ringing is also sensitive and compressive and phase leads onset CM by 180° below the resonance and lags it by 180° above the resonance. Throughout postnatal development, CMs measured during the tone and in the ringing increase both in sensitivity and compression. The cochlear resonance appears to be attributable to interaction between two oscillators. The more broadly tuned oscillator dominates the onset response, and the narrowly tuned oscillator dominates the ringing. Early in development, mechanical coupling between the oscillators results in a relatively broadly tuned system with several frequency modes in the CM at tone onset and in the CM ringing. Beating occurs between the resonance and the stimulus response during the tone and between two components of the narrowly tuned oscillator at tone offset. At maturity, the CM has three modes for frequencies within 10 kHz of the resonance at tone onset and a single, sharply tuned mode in the ringing.


ABSTRACT
Background
The use of Monoclonal Antibodies (MABs) has provided a new approach to treat various diseases and is in constant evolution.
Hospital at home, new regulations and technologies are the next challenges for which healthcare professionals are confronted with.
Therefore, risk assessment of MAB handling and administration must be considered.
The aim of this study was to develop a tool providing recommendations regarding the MAB handling and administration.
Method
A review of the scientific literature was undertaken to identify MABs hazard characteristics, their immunogenic potential and their
complexity of preparation. A tool was developed to classify MABs requiring a preparation in different groups providing specific
handling and administration recommendations.
Results
An evaluation algorithm was developed to classify MABs regarding their toxicity and complexity of preparation.
28 MABs and 2 fusion proteins were assessed: 6 MABs presented a carcinogenic and/or mutagenic potential in animals. More than
65% of the MABs assessed exhibited teratogenic potential and 25% were highly or moderately immunogenic.
3 groups were defined providing specific recommendations for working staff.
MAB side effects were also listed highlighting particular precautions for administration.
Conclusion
Most of the MABs assessed were not listed in known hazard drug lists (NIOSH, IARC). However, the literature reviewed has
highlighted that some MABs exhibit carcinogenic or mutagenic properties in animal studies. Many of them are toxic for reproduction.
Furthermore, sensitizing reaction and serious side effects can be observed.
Despite their high molecular weight, MABs inhalation (ability to generate aerosol or powder handling) has been described as a
potential route of occupational exposure.
Studies on humans at low dose exposure should be conducted to allow the establishment of clear safety guidance for MABs handling
and administration.


Pseudocercospora fijiensis, causal agent of black Sigatoka of banana, produces polyketide synthase (PKS) pathways shown to be important in disease development by related Dothideomycete fungi. Genome analysis of the P. fijiensis PKS8-1 gene identified it as part of a gene cluster including genes encoding two transcription factors, a regulatory protein, a glyoxylase/beta-lactamase-like protein, an MFS transporter, a cytochrome P450, two aldo/keto reductases, a dehydrogenase, and a decarboxylase. Genome analysis of the related pathogens Pseudocercospora musae, Pseudocercospora eumusae, and Pseudocercospora pini-densiflorae, identified orthologous clusters containing a nearly identical combination of genes. Phylogenetic analysis of PKS8-1 identified homology to PKS proteins in the monodictyphenone and cladofulvin pathways in Aspergillus nidulans and Cladosporium fulvum, respectively. Analysis of clustered genes showed that the PKS8-1 cluster shares genes for enzymes involved in the production of the emodin intermediate in the monodictyphenone and cladofulvin pathways, but differs in many genes, suggesting production of a different metabolic product. Time course analysis of gene expression in infected banana showed up-regulation of PKS8-1 and four of eight clustered genes as early as 2 weeks post-inoculation and remaining high through 9 weeks. Overexpression of the pathway through constitutive expression of an aflR-like transcription factor gene in the cluster resulted in increased expression in culture of PKS8-1 as well as the four clustered genes that are up-regulated in infected plants. No differences were seen in timing or severity of disease symptoms with the overexpression strains relative to controls, however gene expression analysis showed no difference in expression in planta by an overexpression strain relative to controls. Thus constitutive expression of the aflR-like gene is not sufficient to upregulate the pathway above normal expression in planta. Pathway expression during all phases of disease development and conservation of the pathway in related Pseudocercospora species support a role for this pathway in disease.


Twenty-one years of war, destruction, and the displacement of over 1.5 million people have turned northern Ugandan into a humanitarian disaster. One of the war's principal perpetrators has been the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA). A significant shift in the war occurred in late 2005 when the LRA withdrew its forces to the southern Sudan and then crossed the Nile, assembling in Garamba National Park in the Democratic Republic of Congo. In the summer of 2006, peace talks between the Government of Uganda and the LRA commenced in Juba, and a first Cessation of Hostilities Agreement was signed on 26 August 2006. With the withdrawal of the LRA to the Congo, security in northern Uganda has improved considerably. Some displacement-camp residents have moved to new settlement sites closer to their villages. Yet others fear leaving the relative safety of the camps until a final peace agreement has been signed and the LRA fighters have been demobilized. This is a delicate stage of the conflict, and a deeper understanding of the needs and desires of affected populations will be crucial to a long-term resolution.This report presents the findings of a population-based study conducted by the Human Rights Center, University of California Berkeley, Payson Center for International Development, Tulane University, and the International Center for Transitional Justice. The research was based on a cross-sectional survey of 2,875 individuals, supplemented by in-depth qualitative interviews, in eight districts of northern Uganda most affected by the conflict from April to June 2007. The study capture attitudes about peace, justice, and social reconstruction while peace talks were taking place between the Ugandan government and the LRA in Juba, south Sudan.


Nonprofits are increasingly asked to provide evidence that their programs help clients. Even without such pressure, they should operate and manage their resources in a way that is most effective for clients. Regularly collected feedback on service outcomes can help provide the needed evidence on impacts and create learning organizations that constantly improve their services. This guide is the first in a series designed to help nonprofits that wish to introduce outcome management or improve their use of the process. It documents the key steps in establishing and maintaining an outcome-oriented measurement process and in using the data collected.


There are few studies on the characteristics of debtors in individual rehabilitation procedures, though research in this field is needed. The scarcity of research means that public policy and perception are being made with inadequate information and, to a certain extent, based on personal prejudices and misconceptions. The purpose of this study was to find out demographic, economic and psychological characteristics of debtors in individual rehabilitation procedures. For this study, an in-depth interview was used. The major findings were as follows : The focus of this study is debtors in individual rehabilitation procedures. They were all under 40 and received relatively high educations. Interestingly, they showed a high tendency to use debt and an inability to manage their money. They had short time horizons and imperfect self-control in consumption and borrowing decisions. Monthly income, expenditures, asset and debt of the debtors, and monthly payment to creditors were reported. There were a lot of reasons for their bankruptcy : business failure, job loss, the cost of raising children, and expenditures for entertainment causing them to file for individual rehabilitation procedures. One of the major conclusions of this study was the discovery that their psychological characteristics were nearly the same. The implications of the study suggest that financial education and counseling must consider psychological characteristics.


One pot in situ preparation of poly(acrylic acid)-block-polystyrene (PAA-b-PSt) or poly(acrylic acid)-block-poly(acrylic acid-ran-styrene) (PAA-b-P(AA-r-St)) diblock copolymer nano-objects with multiple morphologies was developed through dispersion RAFT polymerization in ethanol/water mixtures mediated by hydrophilic poly(acrylic acid) (PAA)-based macromolecular RAFT agents. The polymerization shows characteristic features of "living"/controlled radical polymerization and the experimental results are confirmed by transmission electron microscopy (TEM), gel permeation chromatography (GPC), dynamic light scattering (DLS) and 1H NMR. The effects of various parameters including the monomer conversion, St/AA feed ratio and solvent composition on the morphologies of PAA-b-PSt diblock copolymer nano-objects were investigated in detail. A faster polymerization rate was observed with increasing content of water in mixture solvents, and three stages with two clear turning points at which the rate was enhanced were observed during the polymerization process. Spherical micelles, worms, vesicles, and lacunal nanospheres have been obtained for PAA-b-PSt with the extension of the PSt block in 70/30, 80/20 and 90/10 w/w ethanol/water mixtures. Our results demonstrate that the interesting lacunal morphology of PAA-b-PSt diblock copolymer assembly can be successfully prepared and tuned at high styrene conversion. More interestingly, the residual AA, which was introduced to prepare the random P(AA-r-St) block, can promote the evolution of the copolymer aggregate morphology from spherical micelles to worms and pure vesicles in 90/10 and 80/20 w/w ethanol/water mixtures. The copolymerization of the residual hydrophilic monomer can be a convenient and effective method to tune the morphology and size of the block copolymer aggregates via polymerization-induced self-assembly (PISA). Finally, the in situ formation of silver/polymer composite nanoparticles was demonstrated, suggesting excellent applications in catalysis.


Stars that escape globular clusters form tidal tails that are predominantly shaped by the global distribution of mass in the Galaxy, but also preserve a historical record of small-scale perturbations. Using deep grz photometry from DECaLS, we present highly probable members of the tidal tails associated with the evaporating globular cluster Palomar 5. These data yield the cleanest view of a stellar stream beyond ≈20 kpc and reveal: (1) a wide, low surface-brightness extension of the leading tail; (2) significant density variations along the stream; and (3) sharp changes in the direction of both the leading and the trailing tail. In the fiducial Milky Way model, a rotating bar perturbs the Palomar 5 tails and can produce streams with similar width and density profiles to those observed. However, the deviations of the stream track in this simple model do not match those observed in the Palomar 5 trailing tail, indicating the need for an additional source of perturbation. These discoveries open up the possibility of measuring the population of perturbers in the Milky Way, including dark-matter subhalos, with an ensemble of stellar streams and deep photometry alone.


Author(s): Espinoza, Eli Misael | Advisor(s): Vullev, Valentine I | Abstract: Molecular-level control of charge transfer is essential for organic electronics and solar energy conversion, as well as for comprehending a wide range of biological processes. Photoconversion efficiency is mainly hindered by interfacial charge recombination. In nature, charge recombination is suppressed by incorporating molecular electrets, systems with ordered electric dipoles. Local electric fields originating from molecular dipoles can thus aid in overcoming charge recombination while promoting the desired forward charge transfer. Protein alpha helices present the best example for natural molecular electrets, that is, they have intrinsic dipoles originating from the ordered amide and hydrogen bonds.A principal challenge of polypeptide charge transfer systems composed of native amino acids is the inherent distance limitation for efficient transduction of electrons and holes. Along their backbones and hydrogen bonds, protein -helices mediate electron transfer via tunneling, the rate constants of which, ket, fall off exponentially with an increase in the length of the electron-transfer pathways, ret, i.e. ket∝exp(−β ret). Specifically, for protein -helices, β is about 1.3 A-1. The inherent presence of competing nanosecond processes, such as fluorescence, internal conversion and intersystem crossing, therefore, places a practical limit of about 2 nm for attaining photoinduced charge transfer with acceptable efficiency in such bimolecular structures.Because of the importance of long-ranger charge transfer via hole hopping, we focus on the development of suitable electron deficient sensitizer for initiation hole transfer. Hence, the photosensitizer must absorb away from the electron donor in the visible region of the spectrum, and have a carboxylic acid (or amine) functionality for covalent attachment to molecular electrets that are polypeptides themselves.Therefore, my initial studies focused on characterization of non-native aromatic beta-amino acid residues, derived from anthranilic acid, as building blocks of hole-transfer molecular electrets. The aromatic moieties provide the means for attaining long-range hole transfer. Chemical modification of the distal position of the anthranilamides allows for adjusting the reduction potentials of oxidation over a range of one volt. My major contribution to this work was discovering what makes oxidized N-Acylanthranilamides stable. By correlating the electrochemical data with the spin-density distribution of the radical cation, I determined that for radical cations of the anthranilamide to be stable 1) their reduction potential must be at about 1.5 V or below vs. S.C.E., and 2) the electron spin density should not extend over the C-terminal amide. Indeed, this proved valuable for increasing our library of building blocks for molecular electrets that have practical feasibility. A significant part of my studies encompass various aspects of synthesis of electron deficient photosensitizers for initiating the hole transfer in the anthranilamides, focusing on pyrene, nitropyrene and diketopyrollopyrolle chromophores. From my pyrene work I was able to shed light on the effect of the orientation of amide bonds on the electronic properties of polycyclic aromatic molecules. Incorporating an electron deficient diketopyrollopyrollo chromophore as an electron acceptor in donor-acceptor conjugates, where we use anthranilamides as donors, allowed us to determine the two important requirements for enhancing dipole effects on charge transfer and how to harness them. 1) The electric dipole has to be as close as possible to the charge-transfer systems. Indeed, incorporating the dipoles in the components of the charge-transfer systems presents the ideal case. 2) The media polarity should be lowered. While non-polar media impedes charge-separation processes, it also enhances the permiation of the dipole-generated electric fields. We demonstrated that the later of those two opposing effects can prevail. Changing the solvent from acetonitrile to toluene leads to a six-fold increase in charge separation rates when the electron transfers along the dipole. The same change in the solvent polarity completely shuts down the charge transfer when the electron is pushed to move against the dipole. These findings show rectification of photoinduced charge separation that is practically infinity and have important implications about the utility of dipole effects for electronic and energy materials and devices. The most significant contributions from my doctoral research include: (1) the determination of the effects of location and strength of electron donating substituents on the stability of the radical cations of the non-native amino acids for building molecular electrets; (2) demonstrating that amide bonds are not just linker but they can significantly affect the properties of the moieties they are attached to; and (3) developing of electron-deficient and conjugating them with anthtanilamides, which showed us to demonstrate dramatic dipole effects on charge transfer.


[1] A unique time series of moored bio‐optical measurements documented the 2004
spring‐summer bloom in the southern Labrador Sea. In situ and satellite chlorophyll data
show that chlorophyll levels in the 2004 bloom were at the upper end of those typically
observed in this region. Satellite chlorophyll and profiling float temperature/salinity data
show that the main bloom, which typically peaks in June/July, is often preceded by
ephemeral mixed layer shoaling and a lesser, short‐lived bloom in May; this was the case
in 2004. The particulate backscatter to beam attenuation ratio (bbp[470 nm]/Cp[660 nm])
showed peaks in the relative abundance of small particles at bloom initiation and during
the decline of the bloom, while larger particles dominated during the bloom. Chlorophyll/Cp
and bbp/chlorophyll were correlated with carbon export and dominated by changes in
the pigment per cell associated with lower light levels due to enhanced attenuation of solar
radiation during the bloom. An NPZ (nutrients, phytoplankton, zooplankton) model
captured the phytoplankton bloom and an early July peak in zooplankton. Moored acoustic
Doppler current profiler (ADCP) data showed an additional mid‐June peak in zooplankton
biomass which was attributed to egg‐laying copepods. The data reported here represent
one of the few moored time series of Cp, bbp and chlorophyll extending over several months
in an open ocean region. Interpretation of data sets such as this will become increasingly
important as these deployments become more commonplace via ocean observing
systems. Moreover, these data contribute to the understanding of biological‐physical
coupling in a biogeochemically important, yet poorly studied region.


Acrylic resin is the dominant material that is broadly utilised to produce partial and complete dentures. The exposure of the denture-base acrylic resins to the oral environment as well as storing media for a certain period causes saliva sorption. In this study, composite materials-based polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA) reinforced with 1 wt% of glass fibres and (3, 6 and 9 wt%) yttrium oxide (Y2O3 ) have been prepared, and the addition influence upon some mechanical tests (tensile, flexural, hardness and surface roughness) has been investigated. Afterward, the mechanical properties of composite materials afterimmersion in artificialsaliva forseven days have been evaluated. The results show that the Y2O3 percentage is 6%, which possesses a perfect feature. Thus, such a sample may be an encouraging material for achieving the needed properties for denture use. Furthermore, all mechanical properties were decreased after immersion in synthetic saliva.


Image Embedding into Generative Adversarial Networks Rameen Abdal We propose an efficient algorithm to embed a given image into the latent space of StyleGAN. This embedding enables semantic image editing operations that can be applied to existing photographs. Taking the StyleGAN trained on the FFHQ dataset as an example, we show results for image morphing, style transfer, and expression transfer. Studying the results of the embedding algorithm provides valuable insights into the structure of the StyleGAN latent space. We propose a set of experiments to test what class of images can be embedded, how they are embedded, what latent space is suitable for embedding, and if the embedding is semantically meaningful.


Designing cost-effective, highly efficient and stable electrocatalysts for oxygen evolution reaction is of paramount importance. Although extensive studies have focused on the relatively cheaper 3d transition metal oxide catalysts, the effect of trimetallic composites on the catalytic ability still remains elusive. Herein, we selected FeCo catalyst as the platform and investigated the catalytic activity of trimetallic composites, which were synthesized by incorporating Mo, W or Ni into the FeCo catalyst. The experimental results evidenced that FeCoMo/CP exhibited high catalytic activity towards water oxidation in alkaline solution, which required an overpotential of only ∼270 mV. Such impressive catalytic performance of FeCoMo/CP can be attributed to the fact that the introduction of Mo appreciably modulated the electronic structure of the Fe and Co centers, leading to an enhancement in intrinsic active sites. Benefiting from the tight contact with the highly conductive carbon paper substrate, FeCoMo/CP showed excellent stability up to 120 h. These results indicate that the surface engineering of FeCo-based catalysts by incorporating non-noble metals is a rational strategy to promote the performance of electrocatalysts.


The Clinton administration's prescription for the "health care crisis" that was a hot campaign topic will be forthcoming. Mrs. Clinton is not backing away from the 100-day deadline set by the President. Hillary has already begun to focus on some of her big hits, if one can believe the media reports about her comments related to drug companies. The months ahead will be crucial for solo and independent physicians and should be used by them to prepare for a change in how they practice medicine. The following article suggests one area to which they may choose to direct their energies.


Hippocampal plasticity and mnemonic processing exhibit a striking time‐of‐day dependence and likely implicate a temporally structured replay of memory traces. Molecular mechanisms fulfilling the requirements of sensing time and capturing time‐related information are coded in dynamics of so‐called clock genes and their protein products, first discovered and described in the hypothalamic suprachiasmatic nucleus. Using real‐time PCR and immunohistochemical analyses, we show that in wildtype mice core clock components (mPer1/PER1, mPer2/PER2, mCry1/CRY1, mCry2/CRY2, mClock/CLOCK, mBmal1/BMAL1) are expressed in neurons of all subregions of the hippocampus in a time‐locked fashion over a 24‐h (diurnal) day/night cycle. Temporal profiling of these transcriptional regulators reveals distinct and parallel peaks, at times when memory traces are usually formed and/or consolidated. The coordinated rhythmic expression of hippocampal clock gene expression is greatly disordered in mice deficient for the clock gene mPer1, a key player implicated in both, maintenance and adaptative plasticity of circadian clocks. Moreover, Per1‐knockout animals are severely handicapped in a hippocampus‐dependent long‐term spatial learning paradigm. We propose that the dynamics of hippocampal clock gene expression imprint a temporal structure on memory processing and shape at the same time the efficacy of behavioral learning. © 2009 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.


We view molecular optimization as a graph-to-graph translation problem. The goal is to learn to map from one molecular graph to another with better properties based on an available corpus of paired molecules. Since molecules can be optimized in different ways, there are multiple viable translations for each input graph. A key challenge is therefore to model diverse translation outputs. Our primary contributions include a junction tree encoder-decoder for learning diverse graph translations along with a novel adversarial training method for aligning distributions of molecules. Diverse output distributions in our model are explicitly realized by low-dimensional latent vectors that modulate the translation process. We evaluate our model on multiple molecular optimization tasks and show that our model outperforms previous state-of-the-art baselines.


Multiaxial compression (MAC) is a severe plastic deformation (SPD) method that allows sequential uniaxial compression of prismatic samples to relatively large cumulative strains. The technique involves a change in loading direction (x to y to z to x…) between successive compression passes. A high-purity α-iron containing 60 mass ppm C was thus strained using passes of ε ∼ 0.4 at room temperature (0.16 Tm) and 450 °C (0.40 Tm) to total ε ranging from 1.4 to 2.9. Both optical and electron microscopy were used to characterise the deformed microstructures. Fragmentation of the initial grain structure occurs mainly in the form of a dense, homogeneous network of low angle boundaries (LAB) delimiting subgrains of about 1 3m. The original grains are easily distinguishable and maintain a relatively equiaxed appearance even at larger strains. At room temperature, high angle boundaries (HAB) are observed within some of the initial grains, and not necessarily close to the grain boundaries. These HAB may be open or closed, and tend to align themselves at approximately 45° to the orthogonal axes, suggesting the presence of microshear bands and thus a heterogeneous deformation. Such bands of localised strain criss-cross as a result of different slip systems being activated from one pass to another. When the temperature is increased to 450 °C, grain boundary migration becomes significant owing to the lack of impurities that could otherwise provide a pinning effect. The resultant subgrain structure is coarsened to about 4 3m. Besides, the enhancement of recovery at higher temperatures also appears to discourage the generation of HAB by dislocation accumulation processes.


We have used multicolor FACS analysis, immunohistology, and functional assays to study the expression of CD1 on B cell subsets from normal and beta 2m-/- mice. Two B cell subpopulations were identified that express high levels of CD1 in normal mice: splenic marginal zone B cells (IgMhigh IgDlow CD21high CD24intermediate CD23- CD43-) and a newly identified subpopulation of follicular B cells. The latter cells are unusual, because they are IgDhigh CD23+, like follicular B cells, but express high levels of CD21 and IgM, an expression pattern that is associated with marginal zone B cells. Therefore, the high-level expression of CD1 and CD21 was found to be closely associated on splenic B cells. Immunohistology confirmed the expression of CD1 on marginal zone B cells and on clusters of B cells in splenic follicles. Both the high-level CD1 expression by these cells and the low-level CD1 expression by subpopulations of B cells in the spleen, lymph node, peritoneal cavity, and bone marrow were markedly reduced in beta 2m-/- mice. Despite this, a CD1-restricted T cell clone proliferated vigorously in response to LPS-activated spleen cells that had been obtained from both beta 2m-/- and wild-type mice. This response was inhibited by the 3C11 anti-CD1 mAb. These results show the heterogeneity of B cell subsets in their expression of the beta 2m-dependent form of CD1. They further suggest that a beta 2m-independent form of CD1 is expressed on B cells that can stimulate T cells; however, this form is not easily visualized with the anti-CD1 mAb used here.


Ninety-Nine Iron is the story of the 1899 Sewanee football team. The University of the South, as it is formally called, is a small Episcopal college on Mounteagle Mountain in southeastern Tennessee. It is a respected academic institution not known for its athletic programs. But in that final year of the 19th century the Sewanee football team, led by captain "Diddy" Seibels, produced a record that is legendary. In six days, on a grueling 2,500-mile train trip, the team defeated Texas, Texas A&M, Tulane, Louisiana State University, and Ole Miss - all much larger schools than Sewanee. In addition to this marathon of victory, the 21 members of the Sewanee Iron Men won all 12 of their regular games, and of their 12 opponents, only Auburn managed to score at all against them. Ten of these 12 victories were against Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association opponents, which put Sewanee in the record books for most conference games played and most won in a season. In Ninety-Nine Iron, Wendell Givens provides a play-by-play account of that remarkable season. He includes an overview of campus life at Sewanee and profiles of the players, the team's coach (Billy Suter), the manager (Luke Lea), and the trainer (Cal Burrows). In the five years he researched the work, Givens conducted interviews with Seibels and visited the five cities in which the Iron Men had played - Austin. Houston, New Orleans, Baton Rouge, and Memphis. Givens has written a vivid account of a sports achievement not likely to be seen again.


The ANSE project has been working with the CMS and ATLAS experiments to bring network awareness into their middleware stacks. For CMS, this means enabling control of virtual network circuits in PhEDEx, the CMS data-transfer management system. PhEDEx orchestrates the transfer of data around the CMS experiment to the tune of 1 PB per week spread over about 70 sites. The goal of ANSE is to improve the overall working efficiency of the experiments, by enabling more deterministic time to completion for a designated set of data transfers, through the use of end-to-end dynamic virtual circuits with guaranteed bandwidth. ANSE has enhanced PhEDEx, allowing it to create, use and destroy circuits according to it's own needs. PhEDEx can now decide if a circuit is worth creating based on its current workload and past transfer history, which allows circuits to be created only when they will be useful. This paper reports on the progress made by ANSE in PhEDEx. We show how PhEDEx is now capable of using virtual circuits as a production-quality service, and describe how the mechanism it uses can be refactored for use in other software domains. We present first results of transfers between CMS sites using this mechanism, and report on the stability and performance of PhEDEx when using virtual circuits. The ability to use dynamic virtual circuits for prioritised large-scale data transfers over shared global network infrastructures represents an important new capability and opens many possibilities. The experience we have gained with ANSE is being incorporated in an evolving picture of future LHC Computing Models, in which the network is considered as an explicit component. Finally, we describe the remaining work to be done by ANSE in PhEDEx, and discuss future directions for continued development.