Carlos Nelson Coutinho Gramsci's Political Thought, Brill, Leiden, 2012; 198 pp: 9789004228665, 99 [euro] (hbk) Domenico Losurdo Gramsci: Du liberalisme au 'communisme critique'. Trans. Jean-Michel Goux, Editions Syllepse, Paris, 2006; 238 pp: 284950064X, 22.31 [euro] (pbk) The next left will arise out of the ruins of the 20th-century citadels that bore the names 'liberalism' and 'socialism', and its architects must ponder what is to be rescued from the last century for constructive use in the next. The question for radical democrats, with their long immersion in the Marxist tradition, has been since 1956 a difficult one: what is living and what is dead in 'the tradition'? Yet it would be easy to miss the even more difficult challenge facing liberals, confronted today with the contradictions inherent in their own seeming triumph. In its contemporary neoliberal form, their doctrine, released from all the restraints imposed by its socialist competitors, now reconfigures the globe. Possessive individualism--that property-centred ethos that arose alongside their political theory in the 17th century--now overpowers and imperils all other aspects of the liberal tradition. Michael Freeden, one of the most sophisticated of the contemporary liberal explorers of ideology (see Freeden 1986, 1996, 2007), suggests that liberalism is a pliant tradition, or rather a 'family' of traditions, held together by different ideological threads (Freeden 2005: 12). For Freeden, 'liberalism' and 'liberality' come close to meaning the same thing: 'to be liberal evokes generosity, tolerance, compassion, being fired up with the promise of open, unbounded spaces within which the free play of personality can be aired ...' A key to Freeden's liberalism is tolerance, and this in turn 'suggests a flexibility, a movement, a diversity--of ideas, of language, and of conceptual content--that sets liberalism aside from most of its ideological rivals, whose declared aspiration is to finalise their control over the political imagination' (Freeden 2005: 3). In addition to the conventional objections radical liberals like C. B. Macpherson have made to such ahistorical representations, with their tell-tale avoidance of all questions of class and property (Macpherson 1962; 1973; 1977; 1978; 1987), and to those less conventional ones lodged by Marxists alert to slavery and empire (Losurdo 2011), a more pertinent challenge to Freeden would be to dwell upon his own definitional distinction between liberals and their finalising Others. To 'finalise their control over the political imagination' --who could imagine a better job description for the neoliberals who coined the phrase, 'There is no alternative?' (1) Contemporary liberals, in short, are caught in Macpherson's dilemma, compromised by liberal social relations that render nugatory the liberties they cherish. Yet rather than rejoicing in their dilemma, Marxists should extend to them the gift of historical materialism--analytical resources that can help rescue liberty from contemporary market-focused liberalism. As both Carlos Nelson Coutinho and Domenico Losurdo remind us, Antonio Gramsci is perhaps the pre-eminent democratic theorist capable of illuminating the liberals' dilemma. Today's 'Gramsci,' one might say, is the fourth: Gramsci 4.0, so to speak. The first Gramsci was the loyal Communist, the Italian Communist martyr (b. 1891, d. 1937) who became his party's patron saint. Over time, this Italian Gramsci morphed into the leading light of Eurocommunism, an umbrella term that covered various attempts from the late-1950s to the mid-1980s to find national, non-Soviet, often primarily parliamentary 'paths to socialism'. Gramsci 3.0--the 'cultural Gramsci'--took off with the fuller recovery and dissemination of the Prison Notebooks in both Italian and many other languages from the 1960s on. (2) This Gramsci was a social theorist, inspirer of cultural studies, and (improbably) a postmodern political philosopher. …


Reflectance measurements on dyed nylon fabric showed that the color yield (depth of color per unit amount of dye in the fiber) of dyeings produced by the DuPont "Infinity" process was higher than that of conventional dyeings produced by controlled uptake of the dye using a gradual temperature increase of the dye solution. Microscopic examination of cross sections of dyed multifilament yarn confirmed that this dyeing process gave unsymmetrical coloration of the nylon filaments on the exposed yarn surfaces, with the filaments in the interior of the yarn bundle remaining undyed. This particular dye distribution arises from dyeing under conditions where the rate of dye adsorption is high but the rate of its diffusion into the filaments is relatively low. Although the dye is mainly located on the multifilament yarn surfaces, analysis of the percentage loss of color strength of the dyed fabrics on repeated washing, or on exposure to light or to ozone under wet conditions, indicated little difference in color fa...


Two years ago, in the matter of Shamil Bank of Bahrain EC v Beximco Pharmaceutical Ltd,1 the English Court of Appeal ("English Court") decided for the first time questions of the validity, interpretation, and breadth of a choice of law provision in a murabaha agreement. The judgment is of far-reaching significance in the fields of Islamic finance and Shar'ah-compliant investments.2 This is because the English Court evaluated the agreement solely under English law, even though the disputed choice of law provision stated that English law was only to be applied "[s]ubject to the principles of the Glorious Sbaria'a."3 The English Court qualified this clause as a nonbinding statement of purpose. As Islamic investments and Islamic financial transactions become increasingly relevant in the US and continental European countries, the decision is likely to be considered by other courts in the future, and it is worth examining how German courts may react. To be sure, the decision was made under English law. The Beximco decision may nonetheless influence courts in other countries and not only those within the Anglo-American tradition. I. INTRODUCTION A. INTRODUCTION TO THE MATTER IN DISPUTE: ISLAMIC FINANCE Factors driving the growing demand for Islamic finance products and Shari'ah-compliant investment opportunities for both borrowers and investors include the ongoing high price of oil, near-peak capacity oil production, and a growing commitment to religious codes of conduct in the Muslim world. This has led to the introduction of Islamic principles to broad reaches of economic activity. Recent years have seen the establishment of increasing numbers of Islamic financial institutions worldwide. A specifically Islamic capital market is now emerging and solidifying alongside conventional capital markets.4 The central characteristic of the Islamic financial system, apart from the prohibition of a number of trades considered religiously objectionable and illegal,5 is a comprehensive prohibition against the charging of interest (riba).6 Obviously, this prohibition is diametrically opposed to the essential importance of interest in modern banking. Muslim enterprises and Islamic financial institutions are required to do business on a wholly Shari'ah-compliant basis including their cross-border dealings and global investments. In this context, a widespread financing concept is the murabaha.7 This method of financing was also the basis of the decision of the English Court. The murabaha is a short-term business financing, often referred to as "costplus financing" or "mark-up sale." In this sort of financing, the bank, acting for a customer, buys a commercial good from a supplier and then resells the good to the customer at a contractually specified mark-up (either a percentage or a lump sum). This entails two different contractual relationships: a purchase agreement between the bank and the supplier and an additional purchase agreement between the bank and the customer. Though the bank pays the purchase price immediately to the supplier, it defers receipt of the resale purchase price from the customer. In lieu of interest, the bank then charges a "mark-up" or "cost plus" as payment for extending the purchase price in advance. Through the use of two purchase agreements and no credit agreement in the classic sense, the bank receives-from a legal standpoint-no interest, only profits from a sale. This is viewed as permissible in Islam.8 At times, agency agreements under property law are reached pursuant to which the customer takes possession of the goods direcdy from the supplier on behalf of the bank.9 The rules, like those in all areas of business, are not uniform because no single codification of the Shari'ah exists. Differences between regions and even between individual Shari'ah scholars are not uncommon. It would be wrong to characterize the murabaha as circumvention of the interest prohibition. As Balz notes, the murabaha is an alternative financing form with its own risks. …


During processing and qualification, packages are subjected to significant temperature changes. Thermal cycling test is commonly applied for reliability qualification to determine the ability of components and interconnects to withstand mechanical stresses induced. Thermal oxidation of metal surface, especially on copper leadframe, is unavoidable. In this study delamination between Epoxy Molding Compound (EMC) and copper leadframe is investigated using the button shear test and the X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy (XPS) technique. The button shear samples were subjected to thermal cycling in accordance to JEDEC standard. The shear test was conducted on the sample after the thermal cycling. A thin copper oxide film is formed on the leadframe across the EMC-leadframe interface after molding. The change in adhesion between oxide film and EMC has been investigated as a function of the thickness and the chemical content of the copper oxide by other investigators. The oxide thickness in the samples was extremely thin and did not reach the critical value reported in previous studies. The chemical composition is examined by the XPS technique after the shear test showing only cuprous oxide at the intact interfacial area, while both cuprous and cupric oxides were observed in other areas of the sample. The button shear test results showed an increase in critical shear force at the initial phase of the thermal cycling test followed by a gradual fall in value. The increase in shear force indicates that chemical in addition to mechanical factors are significant in thermal cycling. After analyzing both the button shear and XPS results, a linear relationship between the cuprous oxide content and the adhesion force is found. This leads to the observation that the change in interfacial adhesion is related to the growth of cuprous oxide content on the leadframe.


This work present a low resistance dye-sensitized solar cell (DSSC) based on metal substrates. Different kinds of metal meshes are used to fabricate nanocrystalline TiO2 electrode and counter-electrode. The nanoporous TiO2 thin films were fabricated via an aerosol deposition method. The TiO2 colloid was produced by dissolving P25 powder in deionized (DI) water and atomized using an ultrasonic nebulizer. The flexible electrodes can be sintered under 450–550 °C and exhibit high-temperature sinterability. The tuning of TiO2 film thickness coated on metal mesh towards optimization of solar energy conversion efficiency had been investigated. Experimental results show that the excellent electric conductivities improve the fill factor and conversion efficiency for the large-size DSSCs due to the reduced internal resistance of the cell. These flexible metal substrates are a promising approach especially from the viewpoint of large-scale, cost effective industrial manufacturing of solar cells.


In this paper, we extensively study the impact of social signals (users' actions) obtained from several social networks on search ranking task. Social signals associated with web resources (documents) can be considered as an additional information that can play a vital role to estimate a priori importance of these resources. Particularly, we are interested in the freshness of signals and their diversity. We hypothesize that the moment (the date) when the user actions occur and the diversity of actions may impact the search performance. We propose to model these heterogeneous social features as document prior. We evaluate the effectiveness of our approach by carrying out extensive experiments on two different INEX datasets, namely SBS and IMDb, enriched with several social signals collected from social networks. Our experimental results consistently demonstrate the interest of integrating fresh and diverse signals in the retrieval process.


: In 2015, the Surviving Sepsis Campaign six-hour bundle was updated. The revised version now recommends documenting the reassessment of volume status and tissue perfusion after initial fluid resuscitation through a repeated focused examination. This article addresses the practice and interpretation of two components of this examination in adults: capillary refill time and skin mottling score. It further discusses how to best integrate these noninvasive parameters into the care of patients undergoing resuscitation for septic shock.


Background Domestic violence against women is regarded as an important health problem among women and a serious concern in issues related to human rights. To date, a few screening tools for domestic violence exist for Iranian married women, but they assess only some of the domestic violence components. Objectives The present study aimed to design and determine the validity and reliability of a screening instrument for domestic violence in a sample of Iranian women. Materials and Methods The present study was a cross-sectional psychometric evaluation conducted on 350 married women in Ilam, Iran, in 2014. The samples were selected through multistage sampling and the main method was cluster sampling. A 20-item, self-administered questionnaire was validated by exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA). An Eigen value > 1 and a loading factor > 0.3 for each component were considered as indices for extracting domestic violence components. Reliability was calculated by test-retest and Cronbach's alpha. Also, the content validity index (CVI) and content validity ratio (CVR) were used to measure content validity. The data were analyzed using SPSS-13 and LISREL 8.8 software programs. Results The self-administered instrument was completed by 334 women. The CFA and EFA methods confirmed embedding items and the three-factor structure of the instrument including psychological, physical, and sexual violence, which explained 66% of the total variance of the domestic violence. The ICC and Cronbach's alpha coefficients were > 0.7 for the components of the questionnaire. The test-retest also revealed strong correlations for each of the domestic violence components (r > 0.6). Conclusions The used instrument for measuring domestic violence had desirable validity and reliability and can be used as a suitable instrument in health and social researches in the local population.


Surface treatment of Ni-Ti fibers were processed by using various chemical solutions, including the hydrochloric acid, the mixture solvent of hydrofluoric-nitric acid and the solvent of potassium dichromate-vitriol. Scan electric microscopy (SEM) and fiber pull-out test were adopted to characterize the corrosive effect of the chemicals and the shear strength of the fiber/resin interface. The results showed that the surface of the alloy fiber is corroded most seriously after acid treatment with the mixture of hydrofluoric acid and concentrated nitrate. Tensile test result also shows that the maximum interfacial bonding strength is obtained by treatment with this acid. The effect of the cross-link agent in epoxy was also discussed.


Abstract In Central Europe, medieval and early modern burials sometimes contain iron sickles placed on the body or in direct contact with the deceased. Previous interpretations have considered them as markers of social status or occupation, or as magical and apotropaic. Detailed analysis of sickle burials from a cemetery at Drawsko in Poland leads to a discussion of demonology beliefs, dual faith and a resurgence in paganism following the Counter-Reformation. The results illustrate how the sickle might have served as an indicator of social identity, the nature of the individual's death and the way the deceased was perceived within their community.


Background and objectives: Forests and rangelands are the most important natural resources of a country. In addition, they have a special position in the ecosystem of the earth, and, thus, they play an essential role in soil conservation as well as climate moderation. However, serious and, sometimes irreparable, damage has been ocuured by both natural and man-made factors. One of the areas where degradation of rangelands and forests could clearly be recognized over the past years is the central District of the Dena County. Therefore, the purpose of the current study was to identify and analyze factors affecting the degradation of rangelands and forests in the central District of Dena County. Materials and methods: A mixed research method including qualitative and quantitative methods was used in two phases, using interview and questionnaire as instruments. In the first phase of the study, the population comprised the villagers and officers of the Department of Agriculture, Dena County and also the Provincial Department of Natural Resources in Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad Province. In the second phase, the population consisted of the academic faculty members of local universities who were native and were familiar with the region. Snowball sampling technique was adopted in both phases of the study. Results: Factors affecting the degradation of rangelands and forests were identified in the first phase of the study. These factors comprised organizational factors (monitoring, supportive and administrative), infrastructural, socio-cultural, legal, economic and natural factors. Following that, in the second phase of the study, the participants were asked to rank the factors identified based on AHP procedure principles. The results showed that lack of grazing management in monitoring factors, less governmental support for natural resources in supportive factors, administrative corruption in administrative factors, road construction in infrastructural factors, poor cultural patterns in socio-cultural factors, lack of appropriate legal actions when faced with illegal possession in legal factors, rural poverty in economic factors, and finally drought in natural factors were the most important factors contributing to the problem of degradation. Conclusion: Finally, out of the recommendations made to prevent the degradation of forests and rangelands, one can mention the employment of native people to improve the management of rangelands and forests in areas of guarding and conservation affairs of natural resources. In addition, for the purpose of constructing roads, building power plants, etc. it is necessary to seek the expert advice of engineers with expertise in road construction, civil engineering and rural development.


OBJECTIVE To evaluate the possibility that latex antigens (natural rubber) can contribute to or cause local sensitivity at insulin injection sites. CASE A subject with documented local cutaneous allergic reactions at the site of insulin injections and with systemic latex allergy manifested as anaphylaxis was tested with intradermal injections of insulin diluent from two manufacturers and with two brands of insulin syringes. RESULTS The subject had high titer anti-latex Ige and elevated total levels of IgE in serum. Anti-insulin IgG and IgE antibodies were absent. Erythema and wheals occurred at the sites of intradermal injection of insulin therapy components (insulin diluent and syringes) that contain natural latex rubber but not at the site of injection of insulin therapy components that do not contain natural latex rubber. CONCLUSIONS Small quantities of natural latex rubber antigens in insulin injection materials can be sufficient to produce local cutaneous reactions at the site of insulin injection in individuals highly allergic to natural latex rubber.


Customer ratings are valuable sources to understand their satisfaction and are critical for designing better customer experiences and recommendations. The majority of customers, however, do not respond to rating surveys, which makes the result less representative. To understand overall satisfaction, this paper aims to investigate how likely customers without responses had satisfactory experiences compared to those respondents. To infer customer satisfaction of such unlabeled sessions, we propose models using recurrent neural networks (RNNs) that learn continuous representations of unstructured text conversation. By analyzing online chat logs of over 170,000 sessions from Samsung's customer service department, we make a novel finding that while labeled sessions contributed by a small fraction of customers received overwhelmingly positive reviews, the majority of unlabeled sessions would have received lower ratings by customers. The data analytics presented in this paper not only have practical implications for helping detect dissatisfied customers on live chat services but also make theoretical contributions on discovering the level of biases in online rating platforms.


The zero lower bound on nominal interest rates began to constrain many central banks' setting of short-term interest rates in late 2008 or early 2009. According to standard macroeconomic models, this should have greatly reduced the effectiveness of monetary policy and increased the efficacy of fiscal policy. However, these models also imply that asset prices and private-sector decisions depend on the entire path of expected future short-term interest rates, not just the current level of the monetary policy rate. Thus, interest rates with a year or more to maturity are arguably more relevant for asset prices and the economy, and it is unclear to what extent those yields have been affected by the zero lower bound. In this paper, we apply the methods of Swanson and Williams (2013) to medium- and longer-term yields and exchange rates in the U.K. and Germany. In particular, we compare the sensitivity of these rates to macroeconomic news during periods when short-term interest rates were very low to that during normal times. We find that: 1) USD/GBP and USD/EUR exchange rates have been essentially unaffected by the zero lower bound, 2) yields on German bunds were essentially unconstrained by the zero bound until late 2012, and 3) yields on U.K. gilts were substantially constrained by the zero lower bound in 2009 and 2012, but were surprisingly responsive to news in 2010–11. We compare these findings to the U.S. and discuss their broader implications.


The liquid phase Prins condensation of formaldehyde with butenes on H-ZSM-5 (MFI) zeolite catalysts was investigated showing that reaction rates follow the order isobutene > 1-butene > cis-2-butene. The catalytic rates for medium-pore zeolite H-ZSM-5 were not only a larger than for H-beta, but also selective for 3-methyl-3-buten-1-ol during formaldehyde condensation with isobutene. Isoprene forms, under the optimal reaction conditions, either in a second dehydration step of the unsaturated alcohol, or in a single step over H-ZSM-5 with optimal Si/Al ratio (Si/Al = 40). Mechanistic studies revealed that sequential Prins cyclization and hetero-Diels–Alder reactions of the desired products, forming six carbon species, occur only at slow rates over H-ZSM-5. Using DFT methods it was determined that the reaction follows a two-step mechanism: protonation of formaldehyde and electrophilic attack to the alkene, and deprotonation of the resulting intermediate carbocation. For isobutene and 1-butene, the electrophilic addition is coordinated with the protonation of the formyl group, but for cis-2-butene, it is coordinated with the proton back-donation step. The rate-limiting step switches from electrophilic addition for isobutene to proton elimination for the other two C4 isomers.


The prevalence of substandard medicines in Africa is high but not well documented. Low and Middle-Income Countries (LMICs) are likely to face considerable challenges with substandard medications. Africa faces inadequate drug regulatory practices, and in general, compliance with Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP) in most of the pharmaceutical industries is lacking. The majority of pharmaceutical manufacturers in developing countries are often overwhelmed by the GMP requirements and therefore are unable to operate in line with internationally acceptable standards. Non-conformances observed during regulatory inspections provide the status of the compliance to GMP requirements. The study aimed to identify the GMP non-conformances during regulatory inspections and gaps in the production of pharmaceuticals locally manufactured in Uganda by review of the available 50 GMP reports of 21 local pharmaceutical companies in Uganda from 2016. The binary logistic generalized estimating equations (GEE) model was applied to estimate the association between odds of a company failing to comply with the GMP requirements and non-conformances under each GMP inspection parameter. Analysis using dummy estimation to linear regression included determination of the relationship that existed between the selected variables (GMP inspection parameters) and the production capacity of the local pharmaceutical industry. Oral liquids, external liquid preparations, powders, creams, and ointments were the main categories of products manufactured locally. The results indicated that 86% of the non-conformances were major, 11% were minor, and 3% critical. The majority of the non-conformances were related to production (30.1%), documentation (24.5%), and quality control (17.6%). Regression results indicated that for every non-conformance under premises, equipment, and utilities, there was a 7-fold likelihood of the manufacturer failing to comply with the GMP standards (aOR=6.81, P=0.001). The results showed that major non-conformances were significantly higher in industries of small scale (B=6.77, P=0.02) and medium scale (B=8.40, P=0.04), as compared to those of large scale. This study highlights the failures in quality assurance systems and stagnated GMP improvements in these industries that need to be addressed by the manufacturers with support from the regulator. The addition of risk assessment to critical production and quality control operations and establishment of appropriate corrective and preventive actions as part of quality management systems are required to ensure that quality pharmaceuticals are manufactured locally.


This work focuses on the analysis of Italian social media messages for disaster management and aims at the detection of messages carrying critical information for the damage assessment task. A main novelty of this study consists in the focus on out-domain and cross-event damage detection, and on the investigation of the most relevant tweet-derived features for these tasks. We devised different experiments by resorting to a wide set of linguistic features qualifying the lexical and grammatical structure of a text as well as ad-hoc features specifically implemented for this task. We investigated the most effective features that allow to achieve the best results. A further result of this study is the construction of the first manually annotated Italian corpus of social media messages for damage assessment.


Kombucha is a beverage made from sugared tea transformed by yeasts and acetic acid bacteria. Being originally homemade, it has become an industrially produced soft drink whose quality standards are poorly defined and whose production process is still not fully controlled. Based on current knowledge in beverages, links between kombucha's chemical composition and sensorial compounds are drawn. Macromolecules create turbidity, whereas uncharacterized tea pigments derivatives participate in the color. Residual sugars bring sweetness and organic acids produced by acetic acid bacteria form its characteristic sour taste. Acetic acid is also part of its aroma profile, although little data are available on the smell of kombucha. Carbon dioxide, potentially polyphenols, and residual ethanol are involved in the mouthfeel. In this review, after defining the key compounds that shape the characteristic sensory properties of kombucha, the impact of different production parameters is discussed. Water composition is determinant in the extraction of tea compounds along with the tea type and infusion duration and temperature. The type and amount of sweeteners play a role in the sweetness and influences the production kinetics. Similarly, the amount of inoculum and its microbial composition have an effect on the production, but the role of the vessels' geometry and temperature are also essential parameters that can be used to adjust the acidification phase's duration. Despite the amount of research carried out, further investigations of kombucha's sensory characteristics are needed. Such research could lead to a better definition of kombucha's quality and to an improved control over its production process.


In this paper we consider the problem of multi-view face detection. While there has been significant research on this problem, current state-of-the-art approaches for this task require annotation of facial landmarks, e.g. TSM [25], or annotation of face poses [28, 22]. They also require training dozens of models to fully capture faces in all orientations, e.g. 22 models in HeadHunter method [22]. In this paper we propose Deep Dense Face Detector (DDFD), a method that does not require pose/landmark annotation and is able to detect faces in a wide range of orientations using a single model based on deep convolutional neural networks. The proposed method has minimal complexity; unlike other recent deep learning object detection methods [9], it does not require additional components such as segmentation, bounding-box regression, or SVM classifiers. Furthermore, we analyzed scores of the proposed face detector for faces in different orientations and found that 1) the proposed method is able to detect faces from different angles and can handle occlusion to some extent, 2) there seems to be a correlation between distribution of positive examples in the training set and scores of the proposed face detector. The latter suggests that the proposed method's performance can be further improved by using better sampling strategies and more sophisticated data augmentation techniques. Evaluations on popular face detection benchmark datasets show that our single-model face detector algorithm has similar or better performance compared to the previous methods, which are more complex and require annotations of either different poses or facial landmarks.


The impact of obesity can be better understood by studying the growing medical and socioeconomic burden of this often neglected public health epidemic. Traditionally associated with cardiovascular risk factors like hypertension, hyperlipidemia, and diabetes mellitus, morbid obesity has increasingly contributed to mortality among Western as well as Third World populations. Contemporary evidence has also consistently linked this patient cohort with a greater risk to develop coronary artery disease. Recent population‐based registries indicate that 43 and 24% of all cases of coronary revascularization were performed in overweight and obese patients, respectively. In this context, although popular thought has reaffirmed the positive correlation between obesity and increased cardiovascular morbidity, some authors have opined a better clinical outcome in overweight and obese patients, a phenomenon they termed "obesity paradoxon." Conflicting data and the possibility of confounding bias have festered an ongoing debate challenging this "obesity paradox." In this review article, we present updated evidence and discuss the validity of the "obesity paradoxon" in a variety of clinical settings.


Within the field of cinema studies, the question of visual representation is a fundamental pillar. An immense volume of theoretical work has been written on the subject, with various academic approaches such as feministic, postcolonial and gay/lesbian. Yet there is a large social group that seems to have been overlooked within the representational discourse: the elderly. This group of people appears to be a blind spot on the multicultural retina, too often neglected within the area of cultural studies. But as the baby boomer generation, who has always redefined the different stages of life (youth, adulthood, middle age), is entering old age, things are slowly changing. Utilizing a post-structural framework, this essay investigates the visual representation of elderly within the cinematic landscape of the western world. Since the subject is somewhat uncharted territory, a broad interdisciplinary approach is necessary where modern social gerontology meets the field of cinema studies. In a cultural context, social grouping based on age implies a distinct position versus the normative, compare to other types of minorities. Changes of sex, skin colour or sexual preference are uncommon, whereas changing age is the fate of every human being. The elderly as the "the Other" is thus every man's future destiny. This rather unique position carries an immanent paradox since the only way to avoid the periphery in question is death. As a philosophical counterpoint to this rather dystopian outlook, Gilles Deleuze's theory of becoming is brought into the discussion. The theoretical part of the essay ends with the ontology of age, a historical review of the field of gerontology and the concept of ageism. After a descriptive section, where contemporary examples of film and other media with old age as a main theme are identified, the analytical part of the essay ensues. With the French sociologist Pierre Bourdieu as a theoretical frame of reference, a close reading of the films Avalon (Axel Petersen, 2011), About Schmidt (Alexander Payne, 2002) and RED (Robert Schwentke, 2010) are performed, emphasising aging identity and imposed age-normative behaviour. The semiotics of the aged body is discussed through Jacques Lacans mirror stage and Julia Kristevas abject theory, exemplified by the works of Donigan Cumming. The final part of the essay concerns the great eternal questions within film philosophy: life, death, time and memory, which for the elderly are not merely philosophical concerns but rather notable existential realities. Using Deleuze as a philosophical toolbox, these grand topics are illuminated with examples from The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (David Fincher, 2008), Amour (Michael Haneke, 2012) and Ingmar Bergmans classical works, such as Smultronstallet (1957), Saraband (2003) and Gycklarnas afton (1953).


There are numerous reasons why pedestrians choose to cross railway tracks in South Africa and in Cape Town in particular. Whilst this behavior generally forms part of their desire line and is often part of their journey, the crossing of railway lines is illegal and unsafe and is causing a significant amount of injuries and fatalities within the rail network in the City. Such incidents occurring along railway lines cause a great disruption to the railway operational service with a resultant negative effect on the economic growth of the City. In this paper, an investigation into the Non-Motorised Transport (NMT) movements along and across all railway lines, within the jurisdictional area of the City of Cape Town, has been undertaken using innovative video-based techniques and assessed using GISmapping methods. The investigation identified several "hotspot" locations where various types of recommendations and/or intervention strategies are urgently needed to enhance public (pedestrian) safety and ensure uninterrupted train service. Intervention strategies proposed have been drawn from international best practice tailored to suit the unique South African pedestrian culture. The paper highlights the "Nomzamo rail crossing" as a special case study as it demonstrates the failure of town planning processes to consider the impacts of locating developments next to railway lines. The Nomzamo case study is an example of a largescale, low-income urban development that has been allowed to develop alongside a rail line without due consideration of NMT desire lines that have materialised across the rail line. Currently, approx. 3,000 pedestrians cross the railway line at the Nomzamo location in the 2½-hour morning peak period, which include scholars and cyclists


SAE 8620 steel is typically used in the carburized condition for powertrain applications in the automotive industry, e.g. gears, roller bearings, camshafts. Such steels always contain retained austenite to varying degrees in the as-hardened and also in the tempered microstructures. As well as retained austenite, heat treatment can produce residual stresses, which lead to distortion (size and shape). The intent of this study was to investigate the effect of heat treatment parameters on the amount of retained austenite, residual stress and distortion in carburized SAE 8620 steel. A specially designed specimen, the Navy C-ring, was used for this study. The steel was first normalized prior to machining the Navy C-ring specimens. The specimens were then heat treated by carburizing at 927°C or 954°C (1700°F or 1750°F) at four levels of carbon potential (0.9, 1.0, 1.1, 1.2) followed by oil quenching and tempering at either 149°C or 177°C (300°F or 350°F). The distortion of the C-ring was evaluated by dimensional measurements of the inner diameter, outer diameter, gap width and thickness for size distortion, as well as flatness, cylindricity and roundness for shape distortion. X-ray diffraction (XRD) techniques were used to determine the residual stress and the amount of retained austenite. The amount of retained austenite was also measured by optical metallography. The amount of retained austenite and the residual stress increased with increasing carburizing temperature and carbon potential and decreased upon tempering. There was not a significant further reduction in the amount of retained austenite and residual stress when the tempering temperature was increased from 149°C to 177°C. Distortion was influenced by both the amount of retained austenite and the magnitude of the residual stress. With increasing retained austenite/residual stress, the distortion became more serious. Based on the distortion data for 3 parameters (OD, gap width and flatness) for the quenched and tempered specimens, the amount of retained austenite for minimum distortion was approximately 25%.


Prostate cancer is the most commonly diagnosed cancer in American men and accounts for approximately 11% of cancer-related deaths. Although promising treatment strategies have been developed and are currently being tested in clinical trials standard practices in the treatment of prostate cancer remain inadequate. This is due in large part to the heterogeneous and multifocal nature of prostate tumors which severely complicates efforts to stratify patients and to identify therapeutic targets to effectively treat prostate cancer. A better understanding of the molecular mechanisms that drive prostate cancer initiation and progression to advanced stages is needed in order to design effective diagnostic and treatment strategies.  The transmembrane protein with EGF-like and two follistatin domains 2 (TMEFF2) is selectively expressed in the adult brain and the prostate and is overexpressed in prostate cancer suggesting a potential role in the establishment and/or progression of the disease. Previous reports on TMEFF2 function have revealed a complex biology with seemingly diverse cellular effects and its role in prostate cancer has remained unclear. The studies presented here examine the biological function of TMEFF2 in prostate cancer in order to evaluate its potential as a molecular target for prostate cancer or as a diagnostic/prognostic biomarker. Data obtained using prostate cancer cell lines pointed to a role for TMEFF2 as a tumor suppressor as its overexpression resulted in a potent inhibition of anchorage-independent growth reduced proliferation rates the promotion of apoptosis and a decrease in invasion. The tumor suppressor function of TMEFF2 was further demonstrated through the inhibition of subcutaneous tumor development in a TRAMP-C2 allograft model.  Evidence that TMEFF2 expression can be upregulated by androgen stimulation in a post-transcriptional fashion suggests a potential mechanism by which its expression can be modulated in prostate cancer. We therefore investigated the post-transcriptional regulatory pathway controlling the expression of TMEFF2 in prostate cancer cells and its connection with androgen signaling. The presence of conserved upstream open reading frames (uORFs) in the 5' leader region of its mRNA transcript prompted us to investigate the possibility that androgen signaling stimulates TMEFF2 translation through these regulatory sequences. Our results show that TMEFF2 translation is inhibited by its uORFs under normal conditions; however the uORFs mediate a translational increase in TMEFF2 expression in response to androgen stimulation through the phosphorylation of the initiation factor eIF2α. This effect is dependent on a functional androgen receptor (AR). During the course of prostate tumorigenesis the selective translational increase in uORF-containing transcripts by androgen signaling may represent a mechanism by which certain transcripts are selectively regulated to influence tumor progression.  As a tool to study role of TMEFF2 in prostate tumorigenesis in vivo and to evaluate its potential as a biomarker we generated and initiated the characterization of a novel transgenic mouse model with TMEFF2 expression exclusively in the prostate epithelium. Ultimately this model will be used to study the function of TMEFF2 in the development/function of the prostate gland and in prostate cancer.


We study strategies for local load balancing of irregular parallel divide-and- conquer algorithms such as Quicksort and Quickhull in SPMD-parallel environments such as MPI and Fork that allow to exploit nested parallelism by dynamic group split- ting. We propose two new local strategies, repivoting and serialisation, and develop a hybrid local load balancing strategy, which is calibrated by parameters that are derived off-line from a dynamic programming optimisation. While the approach is generic, we have implemented and evaluated our method for two very different parallel plat- forms. We found that our local strategy is superior to global dynamic load balancing on a Linux cluster, while the latter performs better on a tightly synchronised shared- memory platform with nonblocking, cheap task queue access.


Specific leaf nitrogen (SLN, g/m(2)) is known to affect radiation use efficiency (RUE, g/MJ) in different crops, However, this association and importance have not been well established over a range of different nitrogen regimes for held-grown sunflower (Helianthus annuus L.). An experiment was conducted to investigate different combinations and rates of applied nitrogen on SLN, RUE, and growth of sunflower, A fully irrigated crop was sown on an alluvial-prairie soil (Fluventic Haplustoll) and treated with five combinations of applied nitrogen, Greater nitrogen increased biomass, grain number, and yield, but did not affect harvest index energy-corrected for oil (0.4) or canopy extinction coefficient (0.88), Decreases in biomass accumulation under low nitrogen treatments were associated,vith reductions in leaf area index (LAI) and light interception, When SLN and RUE were examined together, both were less in the anthesis to physiological maturity period, but relatively stable between bud visible and anthesis, However, the effects of canopy SLN on RUE were confounded by high SLN in the top of the canopy and the crop maintaining SLN by reducing LAI, Measurements of leaf CO2 assimilation and theoretical analyses of RUE supported that RUE was related to SLN, The major effect of nitrogen on early growth of sunflower was mediated by leaf area and the distribution of SLN in the canopy rather than direct effects of canopy SLN on RUE alone. Greater responses of RUE to SLN are more evident later in growth, and may be related to the demand of nitrogen by the grain.


The Internet is an integral part of higher education today. Students, faculty, and staff must have access to the institutional web for essential activities. For persons with disabilities, the web is a double-edged sword. While an accessibly designed website can mitigate or remove barriers, an inaccessible one can make access impossible. If websites that provide necessary information are not accessible, those with disabilities will be unable to independently complete their daily tasks or compete in the modern world. Project GOALS (Gaining Online Accessible Learning through Self-Study) has developed a document outlining a set of four institutional indicators of Web accessibility. Postsecondary institutions can use this document in their efforts to ensure that online content is accessible to all users. This dissertation evaluated the social validity of the document to determine if it was appropriate, understandable, usable, and satisfactory to provide a framework for implementing and promoting institution-wide web accessibility across a variety of demographic markers including job type (administrator, faculty, and technology specialist) and institution type (2- and 4-year). Ninety-seven participants reviewed the document and completed an online survey. All four indicators with their subsequent benchmarks were found to be "good" or "very good" based on the evaluation criteria. Administrators rated the document somewhat lower than faculty or technology specialists. Participants from 2-year schools consistently rated the document higher than their 4-year counterparts. In general, the longer participants had been in their positions, the less favorably they rated the document. The median ratings for all questions of appropriateness, understandability, usefulness, and satisfaction were a 6 or 7 on a 7-point scale across the board. This result would indicate that while different aspects of the indicator document may appeal to different groups, participant ratings across job and institution type show that these criteria achieve acceptable levels that validate the use of the indicators as a tool to assist institutions in their web accessibility efforts. This dissertation utilized the multiple-paper format recommended by the committee.


The purpose of the study was to obtain a positive control to validate molecular techniques (reverse transcription- polymerase chain reaction [RT-PCR]) used in the diagnosis and research of viral infections. From strains of Chikungunya virus (CHIKV), Zika virus, and Dengue virus (DENV-1, DENV-2, DENV- 3, and DENV-4) viral RNAs were extracted to obtain complementary DNA using RT-PCR from the nsP4 (CHIKV), NS5 (Zika virus), C/prM-M, and 5'UTR-C (DENV-1, DENV-2, DENV-3, DENV-4) sequences, which were cloned into pGEM®-T Easy. Cloning was confirmed through colony PCR, from which plasmid DNA was extracted for fragment cloning verification. Cloning of cDNA corresponding to nsP4, NS5, C/prM-M, and 5'UTR-C of the different viral agents was achieved. In conclusion, recombinant plasmids were obtained with each of the sequences specified for further assessment as positive controls in molecular techniques in an effort to avoid the use of cell cultures, which can be costly, time-consuming, and potentially dangerous.


BACKGROUND AND AIMS
Delirium is an acute brain dysfunction and a frequent complication in critically ill patients. When present it significantly worsens the prognosis of patients. The aim of this study was to evaluate the incidence of delirium and risk factors for delirium in a mixed group of trauma, medical and surgical ICU patients.

METHODS
A prospective observational study was conducted in one of the six-bed Intensive Care Units of the University Hospital Ostrava in the Czech Republic during a 12-month period. We evaluated the incidence of delirium and its predisposing and precipitating risk factors. All patients were assessed daily using the Confusion Assessment Method for the ICU (CAM-ICU).

RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS
Of the total of 332 patients with a median APACHE II (the Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation) score of 12, who were evaluated for delirium, 48 could not be assessed using CAM-ICU (47 due to prolonged coma, 1 due to language barriers). The incidence of delirium was 26.1%, with trauma and medical patients being more likely to develop delirium than surgical patients. Risk of delirium was significantly associated with age ≥ 65 years, and alcohol abuse in their anamnesis, with APACHE II score on admission, and with the use of sedatives and/or vasopressors. Delirious patients who remained in the ICU for a prolonged period showed a greater need for ventilator support and had a greater ICU-mortality.


Introduction and Objectives: The ESBLs producing organisms are reported worldwide in increasing numbers for which Clinical Laboratory Standard Institute (CLSI) recommends screening for ESBLs producing Escherichia coli and Klebsiella species by phenotypic methods. The study was undertaken to assess the burden of ESBL and comparison of Double Disc Synergy Test (DDST) and Phenotypic Confirmatory Test (PCT) with gold standard E-Test for ESBL detection in clinical isolates of tertiary care hospital, Bhopal. Materials and Methods: 223 clinical isolates of E.coli and Klebsiellae species were included in the study and those showing zone size of < 22 mm for Ceftazidime were selected as potential ESBL producers. The ESBL were confirmed with gold standard E-test and later DDST & PCT were performed over the suspected strains were compared with E-test. The data was maintained in MS Excel and appropriate tests of proportion and significance were applied. Result: Out of 223 isolates 124 were potential ESBL producers with preponderance of E.coli 58.3%. E-Test showed confirmed cases of ESBL 72/124(58%) which was much higher than by DDST 44/124 (35.5%) but close to PCT 70/124 (56.4%) among suspected clinical isolates. Overall ESBL burden out of 223 isolates was 32.28% which is quite alarming. ESBL producing strain showed maximum sensitivity to Colistin, polymixin-B & Imipenem nearing 100% whereas sensitivity ranging from 60 to 85% for beta lactamase inhibitor combinations. Non-ESBL producers were more sensitive to Amikacin, Fluoroquinolones, Nitrofurantoin, Cotrimoxazole with sensitivity ranging between 40 to 70%. Conclusion: With rise in ESBL producing strains with multi drug resistance, screening with Ceftazidime should be done to detect probable ESBL producer. PCT can be used with confidence with comparable results with that of MIC tests in resource poor microbiology laboratories which will save human, technical and monitory resources in terms of its confirmation by molecular genotypic methods.


Natural–synthetic fiber hybrid composites offer a combination of high mechanical properties from the synthetic fibers and the advantages of renewable fibers to produce a material with highly specific and determined properties. In this study, plain-woven kenaf/glass reinforced unsaturated polyester (UP) hybrid composites were fabricated using the hand lay-up method with a cold hydraulic press in a sandwich-configuration laminate. The glass was used as a shell with kenaf as a core, with an approximate total fiber content of 40%. Three glass/kenaf weight ratios percentages of (70/30)% (H1), (55/45)% (H2), and (30/70)% (H3) were used to fabricate hybrid composites. Also pure glass/UP and kenaf/UP were fabricated for comparison purposes. Monotonic tests, namely tensile, compression, and flexural strengths of the composites, were performed. The morphological properties of tensile and compression failure of kenaf and hybrid composites were studied. In addition, uniaxial tensile fatigue life of hybrid composites were conducted and evaluated. The results revealed that the hybrid composite (H1) offered a good balance and the best static properties, but in tensile fatigue loading (H3) displayed low fatigue sensitivity when compared with the other hybrid composites.


The significance and role of emotional intelligence in managing the job related stress of employees in 21st century organization just cannot be ignored. The intensity and the level of job stress are in increasing spree with the passage of time. To enhance the productivity and achieve excellence in performance the utilization of emotional intelligence plays a pivotal role. The emotional intelligence can come to our rescue in potentially stressful situations, empowering us to respond effectively, so as to eliminate the perceived stress or reduce its harmful consequences to the minimum. Emotional Intelligence can be defined as knowing what feels good, what feels bad and how to transform from the latter to the former. Unlike IQ, EQ/EI can be improved throughout life on a continual basis. Regarding the relationship between emotional intelligence and perceived stress, the authors feel that the emotionally competent individual will encounter significantly less quantum of perceived stress than the emotionally incompetent. The present study investigates the relationship between emotional intelligence and perceived stress among male (N=50) and female (N=50), senior and junior bank employees in the state capital of Odisha. Emotional intelligence test (EIT) developed by Chadha and perceived stress scale (PSS) developed by Cohen, Karmarck and Mermelstein were used for the study. Correlation analysis has proved that EI is negatively correlated with perceived stress. The analysis was done by applying statistical tools t-test. The analysis reveals that there is no gender difference for EI and perceived role stress among bank employees. However, the study reveals a significant difference of mean score between the senior and junior bank employees. Keywords: Emotional intelligence, Perceived stress


My aim in this paper is to draw attention to ways of writing American music history and to draw from its narrative approaches implications for black music research. In the process, I touch upon three subjects: narrative strategies for writing American music history, an impediment to the writing of a complete history of American music, and an idea for the construction of a model for the latter by combining musical practice with a diasporal approach to black music history. In an article entitled "Defining American Music," the British musicologist and Keele University professor David Nicholls asked the question, "What do we mean by American music?" His description suggests that it is classical music written by American composers who live, or have lived, in the United States. He touts as "profoundly American," for example "Lou Harrison, Peter Garland, La Monte Young, Terry Riley," and, "arguably," he says, John Cage. (Nicholls 1999). He sees the question "What is American music?" as one plagued by the "continuing dominance" of Eurocentric folk nationalism, with George Gershwin and his compositions as examples (Nicholls 1999, 4). Joseph Horowitz, in his book Classical Music in America: A History of Its Rise and Fall (2005) takes the position that most classical music composed in the United States is "European," and not "American," except that which makes use of identifiable and non-abstract folk music. He draws on Dvorak's musings on the future of American classical music, which the latter hoped would be based on the country's indigenous music. Then there is the strictly vernacular notion of American music, which excludes all that is "classical" from its boundaries and makes a.claim for folk music and its sacred and popular derivatives as the only musical expressions that can be considered as American--that is, expressions ranging from the Negro spirituals to contemporary rock and popular music of all kinds. Finally, there is the conception that all music made in the United States by Americans is grist for the American-music mill. None of these definitions take into account music outside the United States of America. Ultimately, however, American music might be defined, I hope, to embrace any music in the Western hemisphere that reached its maturity, in the form of new genres or in substantial modification, in the Americas, a notion to which I will return later in this article. Each of these ways of viewing, discussing, and otherwise considering music in the United States has determined, and continues to determine, what their proponents include, emphasize, and exclude in their research and teaching and, ultimately, how much we know and choose to know about the field of American music. But these definitional influences are not alone; the perspectives from which our histories emanate are several, and they have deeper impacts on how we variously function in the profession. In his forthcoming book Stories We Could Tell: Putting Words to American Popular Music, David Sanjek identifies eight strategies that constitute typical approaches to writing about, and even making, American popular music. The first strategy is what he calls instinctual. The proponents of this strategy sometimes write "from the hip," so to speak, with aggressive zeal, and are dismissive of competing points of view. The second, which he refers to as the Darwinian, conceives of popular music as having "a fixed body of characteristics," the core of which resists change (Sanjek, n.d., 4). (This narrative is similar to that which governs the canon of European music; in other words, what's here is here to stay, and none other shall enter.) In the third, the heroic narrative, certain musicians are considered to be geniuses who command "rapt imagination" from admirers and devotees. (This narrative is, again, similar the canon of European music, which places on pedestals figures such as Mozart, Strauss, Schoenberg, and the like, and it also applies to jazz, which sets forth Armstrong, Parker, Coltrane, and a host of others as heroic. …


Adenocarcinoma of the esophagus and esophagogastric junction (EGJ) has become the predominant histological cell type in western countries due to the prevalence of obesity, gastroesophageal reflux disease and Barrett's esophagus. There is some evidence that this is increasing in the East as well. Surgery aims at achieving an R0 resection with clear margins, together with adequate and appropriate lymphadenectomy. Siewert type I and II cancers are more likely to be associated with Barrett's esophagus (especially in western countries), while type III cancers are mostly proximal gastric cancers that have grown upwards to involve the EGJ. For type I cancers, most surgeons would perform an esophagectomy, with at least an infra-carinal lymphadenectomy. It is more controversial for type II tumors, with some surgeons preferring an esophagectomy, while others may opt for a proximal or total radical gastrectomy via an abdominal approach. All procedures can be performed using open or minimally invasive methods. In addition to oncologic reasons, the chosen surgical approach also depends on expertise available, safety issues, and postoperative quality-of-life considerations. More data are needed in this area. How to integrate knowledge and also multimodality treatment strategies is an active area of research.


Clathrin-mediated endocytosis (CME) is an important entry pathway for viruses. Here, we applied click chemistry to covalently immobilize reovirus on surfaces to study CME during early host-pathogen interactions. To uncouple chemical and physical properties of viruses and determine their impact on CME initiation, we used the same strategy to covalently immobilize nanoparticles of different sizes. Using fluorescence live microscopy and electron microscopy, we confirmed that clathrin recruitment depends on particle size and discovered that the maturation into clathrin-coated vesicles (CCVs) is independent from cargo internalization. Surprisingly, we found that the final size of CCVs appears to be imprinted on the clathrin coat at early stages of cargo-cell interactions. Our approach has allowed us to unravel novel aspects of early interactions between viruses and the clathrin machinery that influence late stages of CME and CCVs formation. This method can be easily and broadly applied to the field of nanotechnology, endocytosis, and virology.


We apply computational seismic holography to high-frequency helioseismic observations of the quiet Sun from SDO/HMI to locate predominant sources of seismic emission with respect to the structure of the solar granulation. The regions of greatest seismic emission are the edges of photospheric granules. Seismic emission from regions whose continuum brightnesses are 95–100% of the mean, as resolved by HMI, are about 2.5 times as emissive as regions whose brightnesses are 100-104% of the mean. The greater seismic emissivity from regions whose brightnesses are somewhat less than the mean is roughly in line with expectations from an understanding that attributes most seismic emission to cool plumes plummeting from the edges of granules. However, seismic emission from regions whose continuum brightnesses significantly exceed 104% of the mean is also remarkably high. This unexpected feature of high-frequency seismic emission from the solar granulation begs to be understood.


Cloud computing has emerged as an exciting hosting paradigm to drive up server utilization and reduce data center operational costs. Even though clouds present a single unified homogeneous resource pool view to end users, the underlying server landscape may differ in terms of functionality and reconfiguration capabilities (e.g., support for shared processors, live migration). In a private cloud setting where information on the resources as well as workloads are available, the placement of applications on clouds can leverage it to achieve better consolidation with performance guarantees. In this work, we present the design and implementation of CloudMap, a provisioning system for private clouds. Given an application's resource usage patterns, we match it with a server cluster with the appropriate level of reconfiguration capability. In this cluster, we place the application on a server that has existing workloads with complementary resource usage profile. CloudMap is implemented using a hybrid architecture with a global server cluster selection module and local cluster-specific server selection modules. Using production traces from live data centers, we demonstrate the effectiveness of CloudMap over existing placement methodologies.


Salinization and sodification are important processes of soil degradation affecting irrigated lands. A large proportion of the global irrigated area is affected by some degree of soil salinity or sodicity caused by the intensification of irrigation. The increase of the frequency of adverse climatic conditions, like high temperatures and variations in precipitation patterns caused by climate change, will potentially amplify these processes in arid, semi-arid, and Mediterranean areas. The use of integrated approaches for the spatial and temporal prediction of the risk of salinization and sodification in irrigated areas is of great value, helping in the decision-making regarding land uses and choice of more suitable agricultural practices. In this study, based on key criteria for the assessment of irrigation-related salinization processes (e.g., climate, topography, soil drainage, water quality for irrigation, and crop irrigation method), we developed a methodology for the prediction of soil salinity and sodicity risk in irrigated lands, using two composite indices, the Salinization Risk (RSA) index and the Sodification Risk (RSO) index. The application of these indices to a real scenario (a Mediterranean area in Southern Portugal) showed that 67% of the potentially irrigated area presented a low risk of salinity development, 68% had a moderate risk of sodification, and 16% was of high risk of sodicity development. Areas under moderate risk of salinization (26%) were mostly characterized by low slopes and fine-textured soils, like Luvisols and Vertisols, with limited drainage conditions. Areas with high risk of soil sodification presented a large incidence of low slope terrain, moderate-to-restricted soil drainage, in high clay content Luvisols, Vertisols and Cambisols, and land use dominated by annual crops irrigated with surface or sprinkler systems. These risk prediction tools have the potential to be used for resource use planning by policymakers and on-farm management decision by farmers, contributing to the sustainability of irrigated agriculture in Mediterranean regions.


The recent detection of gravitational waves and electromagnetic counterparts from the double neutron star merger event GW+EM170817 supports the standard paradigm of short gamma-ray bursts (SGRBs) and kilonovae/macronovae. It is important to reveal the nature of the compact remnant left after the merger, either a black hole or neutron star, and their physical link to the origin of the long-lasting emission observed in SGRBs. The diversity of the merger remnants may also lead to different kinds of transients that can be detected in future. Here we study the high-energy emission from the long-lasting central engine left after the coalescence, under certain assumptions. In particular, we consider the X-ray emission from a remnant disk and the nonthermal nebular emission from disk-driven outflows or pulsar winds. We demonstrate that late-time X-ray and high-frequency radio emission can provide useful constraints on properties of the hidden compact remnants and their connections to long-lasting SGRB emission, and we discuss the detectability of nearby merger events through late-time observations at ∼30–100 days after the coalescence. We also investigate the GeV–TeV gamma-ray emission that occurs in the presence of long-lasting central engines and show the importance of external inverse Compton radiation due to upscattering of X-ray photons by relativistic electrons in the jet. We also search for high-energy gamma rays from GW170817 in the Fermi-LAT data and report upper limits on such long-lasting emission. Finally, we consider the implications of GW+EM170817 and discuss the constraints placed by X-ray and high-frequency radio observations.


Pose estimation of a moving camera rig from the images alone has been investigated by the computer vision community for decades, because the location and direction information of the cameras are the basis for more advanced applications, such as 3D reconstruction and Simultaneous Localization and Mapping (SLAM). Visual Odometry (VO) is the accumulation of the relative pose estimation while the camera rig moves. There are some visual odometry methods for mono view, stereo, omnidirectional and multi-cameras that require additional sensor input(odometry, compass, e.g,) and/or synchronized cameras. However, in our Virtual Exercise Environment (VEE) system, and other low-cost multi-camera setups, none of the above methods can be applied. The Bundle Adjustment(BA) is the general approach for a non-regular case like the VEE system. BA puts all the known variables in one huge matrix and solves the unknowns at once with Levenberg-Marquardt iterations. Thus, the BA is computationally expensive in nature with the complexity of O ( n 3 ), and sometimes infeasible. In this thesis, I propose a `divide and conquer' approach that generates additional observations from consecutive images in neighboring camera pairs. I show this approach to solve the critical condition and drastically speed up pose estimation when compared to BA. The performance with different conditions and sub-algorithms are also tested and discussed.


Although courses on auto/biography and life writing are taught at different universities in Europe, and elements of contemporary life writing issues are addressed in different disciplines like sociology and history, life writing courses, as described in Teaching Life Writing Texts , are certainly not taught at all European universities. Also, quite a few teachers of life writing courses have to devise their own curricula and syllabi – as Richard Holmes demonstrated in  "The Proper Study?", an essay on teaching auto/biography -  treading on unknown territory and unable to share their experiences with their colleagues. Apart from this, some life writing courses at European universities have had to make room for other courses when budgets are tight, as they are these days. Other university teachers struggle with the institutional framework they have to work in, operating in a specific faculty or masters programme context which poses limits as to which subjects to choose from and to discuss with the students. With these problems in mind, we thought it useful to share our experiences with other European teachers of life writing classes, and introduce a new cluster to the Journal of European Journal of Life Writing : "Teaching Life Writing in Europe." In this cluster articles will be published which focus on the daily experience of teaching life writing classes, addressing questions like how to design a course about life writing that logically builds on and follows from your students ' knowledge, expertise and reading experience and does justice to current research as well. This article was submitted to the European Journal of Life Writing in December 2014 and published on 16 March 2015.


We present real-time, stereo vision based autonomous landing system for small Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV) onto an unknown landing target. The paper describes the algorithms and design of FPGA based co-processor implementing Artificial Neural Network (ANN) to implement real time object tracking, 3D position estimation using Visual Odometry(VO), Horizontal displacement and Euclidean distance from landing target. This approach doesn't require any explicit marker or landing target, it estimates attitude, track safe landing area, and compute distance and horizontal displacement form landing target. Experimental results show suitability of the real-time stereo vision landing approach using FPGA for tracking, that doesn't require any explicit landing marker.


Human plasma alpha-1-antiproteinase interacted with porcine trypsin in two different manners. One was a well known interaction, which resulted in inhibition of the proteolytic activity of the trypsin. The other has not been described to date, and resulted in retention of the amidolytic activity of the trypsin towards benzoyl-L-arginine p-nitroanilide in the presence of soybean trypsin inhibitor. The latter, so-called trypsin-protein amidase, activity is essentially the same as that observed with vertebrate alpha-macroglobulin and rodent murinoglobulin under similar conditions. All attempts to separate the two different activities as well as to abolish either activity by means of chemical or physical modifications were unsuccessful. The proteolysis-inhibiting interaction, which was virtually completed within 5 min, was predominant over the amidolysis-retaining interaction, when the inhibitor/trypsin molar ratio was less than 1. On the other hand, the amidolysis-retaining interaction, which proceeded much more slowly, became evident when the molar ratio was greater than 1.


The catalytic activity toward NaIO4 driven water oxidation of a series of [RCp*IrCl(μ-Cl)]2 dimeric precursors, containing tetramethylcyclopentadienyl ligands with a variable R substituent (H, 1; Me, 2; Et, 3; nPr, 4; CH2CH2NH3+, 5; Ph, 6; 4-C6H4F, 7; 4-C6H4OH, 8; Bn, 9), has been evaluated at 298 K and pH = 7 (with phosphate buffer). For each dimer, the effect of changing the catalyst (1–10 μM) and NaIO4 (5–40 mM) concentration has been studied. All precursors exhibit a high activity with TOF values ranging from 101 min−1 to 393 min−1 and TON values being always those expected assuming a 100% yield. The catalytic activity was strongly affected by the nature of the R substituent. The highest TOF values were observed when R was electron-donating and small. The results of multiple consecutive injection experiments suggest that a fragment of the initial C5Me4R, still bearing the R-substituent, remains attached at iridium in the active species, despite the oxidative in situ degradation of the same ligand. The decrease of TOF in the second and third catalytic runs was completely ascribed to a drop of the redox potential caused by the conversion of IO4− into IO3−, according to the Nernst equation. This hypothesis was verified by performing catalytic experiments in which the initial redox potential (ΔE) was deliberately varied by using water solutions of IO4−/IO3− mixtures at different relative concentrations. Consistently, TOF versus ΔE plots show that, for a given catalyst, the same TOF is obtained at a certain redox potential, irrespective of the initial reaction conditions used. All seems to indicate that after a short activation period, during which the transformation of the precursors occurs, individual active species for each dimer form and remain the same also after multiple additions of the sacrificial oxidant. It can be speculated that such active species are small iridium clusters bearing R-functionalized likely O,O-bidentate ligands.


The most attractive characteristic of the Gardner's method is the detected timing error is free from carrier offset if both arms of the transmitted complex signal are used. However, in VSB system, symbol information is mainly contained in I channel. Q channel is just a Hilbert transform of I channel. In this reason, most VSB receivers only use I channel signal for symbol timing recovery. It works well when carrier offset does not exist or negligible, but get worse if not. This paper presents another timing recovery method that is suitable for VSB receivers. Simulations show that the proposed method provides consistent performance regardless of carrier recovery status and it can estimate the timing error even at symbol rate'.


Whipple's disease (WD) is a rare systemic disease caused by Tropheryma whipplei. We showed that T. whipplei was eliminated by human monocytes but replicated in monocyte-derived macrophages (Mφ) by inducing an original activation program. Two different host molecules were found to be key elements for this specific pattern. Thioredoxin, through its overexpression in infected monocytes, was involved in bacterial killing because adding thioredoxin to infected Mφ inhibited bacterial replication. IL-16, which was up-regulated in Mφ, enabled T. whipplei to replicate in monocytes and increased bacterial replication in Mφ. In addition, anti-IL-16 Abs abolished T. whipplei replication in Mφ. IL-16 down-modulated the expression of thioredoxin and up-regulated that of IL-16 and proapoptotic genes. In patients with WD, T. whipplei replication was higher than in healthy subjects and was related to high levels of circulating IL-16. Both events were corrected in patients who successfully responded to antibiotics treatment. This role of IL-16 was not reported previously and gives an insight into the understanding of WD pathophysiology.


Antiretroviral therapy (ART) has prolonged lives of persons living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA), resulting in greater incidence of aging-related diseases and disability. Physical activity (PA) is recommended for healthy aging, but little is known about PA in older PLWHA. The purpose of this study was to objectively assess PA levels in older PLWHA and the associations with physical function. Twenty-one PLWHA, ≥50 years old, on ART with undetectable HIV-1 viral loads, wore an accelerometer to assess PA, including number of steps, activity intensity, and energy expenditure over 7 days. A physical function performance battery assessing aerobic capacity, strength, and gait speed was also completed. Average age was 66, and 67% were male. An average of 3,442 (interquartile range: 4,613) steps were walked daily, with 254.9 kcals expended. Participants spent most waking hours (75%) sedentary, with minimal hours (24%) in light-intensity activity. Only 5 min per day (35 min per week), on average, were spent in moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA). Maximal gait speed and 6-min walk test significantly correlated (p < .05) with all PA outcomes. Usual gait speed significantly correlated with all PA outcomes, except for daily kcals and light-intensity activity. Greater PA was associated with better physical performance, while high sedentary time was associated with poorer performance. To our knowledge, this is the first study to objectively measure PA in older PLWHA. Our findings indicate that older PLWHA accumulate substantial sedentary time. Most (86%) do not achieve recommended MVPA levels. This activity profile was associated with poor physical function. Providers should promote PA among PLWHA.


Managing the necessary public and private keys in a large organization is a serious challenge. Software agents can be an adaptive and responsive mechanism for managing users trying to connect to network resources. BTexact Technologies Intelligent Systems Laboratory has developed the Phobos agent architecture. Phobos uses a distributed team of cooperative autonomous agents to collectively authenticate user access requests. The advantages are that the agents can query multiple information sources to select the level of trust to delegate to a user and that n agents must concur to authenticate the user, hence increasing overall security. Phobos provides numerous security services to automate user authentication and trust-management processes.


We propose an approach for unsupervised adaptation of object detectors from label-rich to label-poor domains which can significantly reduce annotation costs associated with detection. Recently, approaches that align distributions of source and target images using an adversarial loss have been proven effective for adapting object classifiers. However, for object detection, fully matching the entire distributions of source and target images to each other at the global image level may fail, as domains could have distinct scene layouts and different combinations of objects. On the other hand, strong matching of local features such as texture and color makes sense, as it does not change category level semantics. This motivates us to propose a novel method for detector adaptation based on strong local alignment and weak global alignment. Our key contribution is the weak alignment model, which focuses the adversarial alignment loss on images that are globally similar and puts less emphasis on aligning images that are globally dissimilar. Additionally, we design the strong domain alignment model to only look at local receptive fields of the feature map. We empirically verify the effectiveness of our method on four datasets comprising both large and small domain shifts. Our code is available at https://github.com/VisionLearningGroup/DA_Detection.


Abstract This paper explores the nature of public acceptance of wind farms by investigating the discourses of support and objection to a proposed offshore scheme. It reviews research into opposition to wind farms, noting previous criticisms that this has tended to provide descriptive rather than explanatory insights and as a result, has not effectively informed the policy debate. One explanation is that much of this research has been conceived within an unreflective positivist research frame, which is inadequate in dealing with the subjectivity and value-basis of public acceptance of wind farm development. The paper takes a case study of an offshore wind farm proposal in Northern Ireland and applies Q-Methodology to identify the dominant discourses of support and objection. It is argued that this provides new insights into the nature of wind farm conflicts, points to a number of recommendations for policy, and functions as an example of how this methodology can act as a potential bridge between positivist and post-positivist approaches to policy analysis.


In this paper, we demonstrate the feasibility of controlling the speed of an induction motor using a wireless position feedback over an RF link, and compare its performance under dynamic- and steady-state conditions with those obtained by using a wire-based position feedback control. The wireless scheme precludes the need for the cable that feeds the position from the sensor to the controller, thereby minimizing feedback noise pickup and cost for some applications. It also raises the possibility of using a low-resolution, low-cost sensor, which, along with the use of simple estimation algorithms, may potentially provide an alternative to or backup support for conventional position sensorless control for a wide range of motors and speeds. Further, using a composite Lyapunov-function-based approach, we determine the effect of time delay (due to wireless communication) on the stability of the overall system.


Utricularia is represented in Malaysia by two main kinds of plant, i.e., aquatic and terrestrial. The aquatic species can again be divided into two main groups, those which float freely in still water and those which are more or less anchored in and beneath shallow water. All of the aquatic species consist of long branching stolons bearing leaves which are divided into capillary segments and traps. The racemes of small yellow, violet, or purple flowers arise from the stolons and project a few inches above the surface of the water. The terrestrial species (including a few which are epiphytic) consist of slender rhizoids bearing linear, spathulate or peltate leaves and traps. These grow on or just below the surface of damp soil and are usually very inconspicuous. From these rhizoids arise the flowering scapes which are erect or twine round other plants and bear a few to many small yellow, white or purple flowers. In the few epiphytic species the rhizoids grow among moss on trees or rocks. Several of the terrestrial species often grow together and as they are all superficially alike, care is necessary to avoid making mixed gatherings. Some of the species exhibit a considerable amount of variation in the size and colouring of the flowers. In collecting Utricularia spp. it is very important to ensure that the specimens are complete, i.e., with flowers, leaves and traps, and if available ripe fruits. With the aquatic species the free floating plants can be lifted complete from the water and (preferably) "floated out" on to flimsy paper before pressing. The anchored aquatic species must be lifted out with the mud which is carefully washed away before "floating out".


Abstract Small round pits and holes in fossil skeletal material are found in a wide variety of invertebrate substrates from diverse environmental settings. They are associated with parasitism, predation and commensal attachment. Four ichnogenera have been proposed for these trace fossils: Sedilichnus Müller, Oichnus Bromley, Tremichnus Brett and Fossichnus Nielsen, Nielsen and Bromley. Previous authors have established that Tremichnus is a junior synonym of Oichnus. Herein we show that Oichnus and Fossichnus are junior synonyms of Sedilichnus. Sedilichnus, as defined herein, includes 10 ichnospecies. Sedilichnus spongiophilus, S. simplex, S. paraboloides, S. ovalis, S. coronatus, S. gradatus, S. halo, S. asperus, S. excavatus and S. solus. Consistent with previous work Sedilichnus ichnospecies are defined solely by morphological criteria and not by a priori assumptions regarding depositional environment or tracemaker. Thus, this ichnotaxon is recognized in both marine and continental settings on a wide variety of invertebrate skeletal tests. As is true with many ichnotaxa, Sedilichnus ichnospecies represent end-members in morphological spectra, however each ichnospecies is clearly differentiable from the others. Sedilichnus spongiophilus are circular, non-penetrative pits in shells. Sedilichnus paraboloides are penetrative holes with spherical paraboloid forms and typically have larger external openings and smaller internal openings. Sedilichnus simplex are simple cylindrical borings that have both penetrative and non-penetrative forms. Sedilichnus coronatus differ from other forms by the presence of an etched or granular halo surrounding the boring. Sedilichnus gradatus have two concentric parts, an outer boring and an inner shelf of smaller diameter. Sedilichnus ovalis and S. asperus are both oval in outline differing in the presence of tapering paraboloid margins in S. ovalis and margins perpendicular to the substrate in S. asperus. Sedilichnus excavatus and S. solus are primarily non-penetrative and differ from other Sedilichnus by the presence of central, raised bosses or platforms. These two ichnospecies differ in the shapes of their external walls and the proportional thickness of the bounding groove.


The small landslide physical model testing frame was designed and made in order to analyze the induction mechanism of landslide by rainfall and reservoir water level variation by adopting the physical model tests. It is consisted by exterior frame, internal body box, water supply and discharge pipelines, hoisting jacks and steel rollers. Some functions such as uniform sample preparation, confined effect reduction, lifting flexibility as well as water level change simulation and so on are realized through some design technologies like removable model frame, adjustable width, rotatable frame body ,mobile model frame and water supply and discharge pipeline and so on.


Culinary Pleasures takes a unique look at Britain's culinary evolution - a journey expressed through the development of its cook books. This remarkably accessible book spans the diverse panorama of British cooking from Mrs. Beeton to nouvelle cuisine concluding with the rise of the celebrity chef and the emergence of cuisine in all its familiar modernity. What makes this book so extraordinary is the author's ability to 'float adjacent to the historical moment', capturing with subtlety the changes in British cooking, whilst revealing its inextricable link to Britain's cultural shifts in sophistication and taste. From collared calf's head with buttered nettles to egg and avocado pate to fish and porcini pie; from soggy carrots to asparagus al dente, this book has it all. Punctuated throughout with recipes reflective of the period and evocative images, Culinary Pleasures is a complete delight for anyone with an interest in food and constitutes a fascinating record of Britain's changing cultural attitudes.


This article advocates for fluid pedagogies that align with the transnational parenting practices of immigrant families. New Zealand is now considered to be a superdiverse country with a large population of immigrants. This superdiversity phenomenon can therefore also be found in its early childhood education settings. Research has indicated that many contemporary immigrants are transnationals who maintain close connections with their home countries and frequently engage in border-crossing activities. Transnational immigrants are mobile, and their parenting strategies may be similarly fluid. This article uses findings from a research project which involved Chinese immigrant families to illustrate transnational perspectives of early childhood education and parenting practices. Narrative excerpts are presented and analysed using key theoretical constructs of transnationalism to illustrate the participants' cultural dilemmas in their parenting, their preparedness to adapt their heritage practices and to adopt early childhood education discourses of the host country, and their agency in choosing parenting strategies that they believed best support their children's learning. It highlights the importance of parent–teacher dialogue and of enacting a curriculum with fluid pedagogies that are responsive to heterogeneous parental aspirations.


Public administration system has been restructured by agencification in many countries. The new or reorganized agencies have been established. These agencies rely more on business management methods pursuing to improve public services quality, increase people's confidence in government, public administration, reduce costs, etc. Using principal – agent theory paper gives theoretical justification and by investigation of the reasons, means and results of agencification paper reviews practical experience of agencification in countries: Great Britain, Ireland, Portugal, Germany, the United States of America, and Sweden. Despite the divergence in agencification (agencies types and structures, legal framework), general trends and key success factors – political consensus and strategic reform management – can be determined.


This thesis appraises journal articles and book chapters published between 2009 and 2018. The earlier research considers how a range of audio methods can be adapted to the needs of teaching in higher education. At the time, audio brought a new layer of presence and connectivity to the learning space (2009). Further work, using a scenario-based futures analysis method (Ramire et al., 2015), challenged a trend in the literature suggesting the value of educational podcasting was as a medium for conveying the lecturer's voice (2011). Instead, my research argues that mobile audio-based learning can be facilitative, active and integrated, able to incorporate diverse voices and foster disruptive pedagogies. Reconsidered in 2016, audio is discussed as a disruptive extension to binary conceptions of formal-informal, physical-virtual learning space. A series of chapters (2018) incorporating diverse accounts of academic practice, student experience, and professional services roles, explore the changing nature of higher education learning space. Here, the context is expanded to accommodate diverse forms of digital and social media. The studies examine experiences situated within, across and beyond bounded learning spaces to explore: how they disrupt traditional dependencies on enclosed spaces and models of formal delivery; the emergence of learning networks as disruptive influences that challenge traditional dependencies on learning hierarchies; the disruptive use of personal smart technologies and social media in comparison to institutionally provided learning space and services; and, models of rich, experiential and active learning offering viable and engaging alternatives to content-centred models of teaching. An analysis of the publications demonstrates an emerging digital-social age hybrid studio learning paradigm capable of promoting learning agency as an outcome of co-operative and generative learning. The implications and transferability of this studio learning paradigm for higher education beyond studio disciplines, are discussed in a final paper (2017).


Current steel forgings for steam generator (SG) of PWR plant are reviewed in the aspect of design and material improvement. The following three items are introduced. 1. The use of integral type steel forgings for the fabrication of steam generator enhances the structural integrity and makes easier fabrication and inspection including in-service inspection [1]. The following examples of current integral type forgings developed by the Japan Steel Works, Ltd. (JSW) are introduced (1) Primary head integrated with nozzles, manways and supports (2) Steam drum head integrated with nozzle and handhole (3) Conical shell integrated with cylindrical sections and handholes 2. In order to decrease the weight of steam generator, the high strength materials such as SA508, Cl.3a steel have been adopted in some cases. The properties of this steel are introduced and the chemistry and heat treatment condition are discussed. 3. As one of the methods to minimize the macro- and microsegregations, the use of vacuum carbon deoxidization (VCD), i.e. deoxidization of steel by gaseous CO reaction, with addition of Al for grain refining was investigated. The properties of SA508, C1.3 steels with Low Si content are compared with those of conventional one.


The main objectives of this study are to describe the current selection practices to select managers according to ownership types and sizes in the chemical and chemical products industry in Malaysia. The population for this research consisted of 242 companies in the chemical and chemical products industry listed in the 1998 directory provided by MIDA (Malaysian Industrial Development Agency). By using the simple random sampling method, 152 companies were chosen as samples. The data were collected by means of mail questionnaire. Of the 152 questionnaires mailed, 22 came back indicating that either the companies were closed down or had moved to a new address.Minus the undelivered mails, the final result was that only 30 questionnaires were received representing 23.07 percent response rate.This study shows that the most frequently used methods to select mangers in the chemical and chemical products companies in descending order are preliminary or screening interview, application forms or blanks, reference checks, structured employment interview, letters of recommendation and personality tests.This study also reveals that structured employment interview is used more frequently than the unstructured interview; about half of the companies did not used the unstructured interview at all selection managers.Other than personality tests, non-traditional selection methods such as assessment center, honesty tests, psychological tests and drug tests are not used by majority of the companies.However, the score for these methods can be considered moderate as one forth of the respondents do use them often.It is believed that each selection effort consists of more than one method; each of these methods is used to complement each other.Normally, companies maintain some records to examine some records to examine the efficiency of each selection method used.However, in our case only 26.7 percent of the organizations do maintain a record on time-lapse data i.e the average time that elapses between points of decision making for each selection methods used and only 20.7 percent of the organizations do maintain a record on yield ratio i.e the ratio of applicants to hires at each step in the selection process.It is quite safe to say that the usage of the selection methods was based on the human resource managers' perceptions and was not based on any empirical evidence.These findings expose a major weakness in the practice of selection among the chemical and chemical products companies in Malaysia because without these data.It is very hard for any practitioners to do the human resource planning and staffing effectively and efficiently.


Purpose - The aim of this thesis is to analyze the development of disclosure regarding independent directors in Swedish listed companies. The thesis will examine appearance of board independence prior to the implementation of the Swedish corporate governance code and after its introduction in 2005. Further, this thesis will analyze the revisions of the code, in 2008 and 2010, and what impact market capitalization has on the disclosureMethod - Research on market capitalization will be completed by comparing listed companies in three different caps, Small, Mid and Large. The research interest was completed by using quantitative information from financial statements and corporate governance reports of 30 randomly chosen companies, where ten companies represents each cap. The data was then presented in tables with average percentage of board inde- pendence of each cap.Conclusions - As a result of this study it was found that the average percentage of board independence and disclosure of the concept increased during the analyzed period. Board independence can be seen as an ascending trend and the concept has received ad- ditional attention in the financial statements and corporate governance reports of Swe- dish listed companies. The study indicates that the introduction of the code in 2005 gen- erated in a greater interest for disclosure of board independence. Further, no clear con- nection between the revisions and average percentage of board independence was found. Moreover, the findings indicate an increased transparency regarding the concept, which is seen clearly among smaller companies since many of them decided to disclose information before they were obligated in accordance with the code.Practical Implications - Our study contributes to demonstrate the importance of board independence on corporate boards in Sweden. The concept has a central role in the Swedish corporate governance code, which have generated in a clear impact on board independence in Swedish listed companies. Further, the research indicates an increased transparency regarding information of governance in Swedish listed companies.


The effects of Mn doping on the phase composition and dielectric properties of (1-x)BaO·xSrO·0.7TiO2·0.3Nb2O5 (BSTN) composite ceramics was investigated. The results showed that the dielectric constants of 0.7BaO·0.3SrO·(0.7-z)TiO2·0.3Nb2O5·zMnO2 (BSTNM) composite ceramics basically decreases as the content of doped MnO2 increases at the same applied frequency, while tanδ decreases when value z≤0.01 but increases when value z>0.01. The phase transition temperature of tungsten bronze phase in BSTNM composite ceramics increases with the increase of value z.


Martin & Lubow (2017) showed through simulations that an initially tilted disc around an eccentric binary can evolve to polar alignment in which the disc lies perpendicular to the binary orbital plane. We apply linear theory to show both analytically and numerically that a nearly polar aligned low mass circumbinary disc evolves to polar alignment and determine the alignment timescale. Significant disc evolution towards the polar state around moderately eccentric binaries can occur for typical protostellar disc parameters in less than a typical disc lifetime for binaries with orbital periods of order 100 years or less. Resonant torques are much less effective at truncating the inner parts of circumbinary polar discs than the inner parts of coplanar discs. For polar discs, they vanish for a binary eccentricity of unity. The results agree with the simulations in showing that discs can evolve to a polar state. Circumbinary planets may then form in such discs and reside on polar orbits.