According to the structure of purging plugs, the limit gas flow is obtained through theoretical calculation or practical test, that the minimum gas flow is 45Nm3/h and the maximum gas flow is 200Nm3/h.Different bottom blowing patterns suitable for smelting system were established based on different gas supply conditions about two and four purging plugs, at the same time, the maintenance technology of purging plug is developed under the condition of semi-steel steelmaking, these technologies are technology that is effective to improve the service life of purging plugs. A good result has been obtained after the combined blowing technology was put into production. The life of combined blown converters were greatly improved, the average life of combined blown is over 7000 heats, the life of combined blown can be the same with that of converter, the TFe in the slag is lowered by 3.25%, the [O] in steel is decreased by103PPm, the measured [C]·[O] at the end point of smelting is as high as 0.0026, the yield of alloy is increased significantly.


This interview with Avital Ronell, conducted by Diane Davis, explores a variety of extrahuman relations, demonstrating how the vegetal, the animal, the technological, the divine, and the dead play a significant role in the theory and practice of rhetorical relations.


In this study, tungsten (W) was coated on a copper (Cu) substrate by using double-glow discharge technique using a pure W panel as the target and argon (Ar) as the discharge and sputtering gas. The crystal structure of the W coating was examined by X-ray diffraction (XRD). Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) was performed with cross-section images to investigate the penetration depth of W into the Cu body. Additionally, the properties of wearability resistance, corrosion resistance and mechanical strength of the W coated Cu matrix were also measured. It is concluded that in double-glow plasma, W coated Cu can be facilely prepared. It is noticed that the treatment temperature heavily dominates the properties of the W-Cu composite.


A fundamental goal in constitutive modeling is the ability to predict the mechanical behavior of a material under a generalized loading state. To achieve this goal, rigorous experimentation involving all relevant deformations is necessary to obtain both the form and material constants of a strain-energy density function. For both natural biological tissues and tissue-derived soft biomaterials, there exist many physiological, surgical, and medical device applications where rigorous constitutive models are required. Although able to fit the biaxial data well, phenomenological models cannot be used to determine the underlying mechanisms of tissue mechanical behavior. In particular, the respective roles of the fibers and the matrix and how these may change with growth or chemical treatments are unknown. Structurally based constitutive models avoid ambiguities in material characterization and offer insights into the function, structure, and mechanics of tissue components. In the present work a structural constitutive model for the aortic valve is presented as an example of a structural approach. Ongoing issues in practically applying structural models to other tissues are also addressed.


The distribution of trapped particles in a solitary BGK wave is found by modeling the potential shape. This distribution is used in the stability analysis of a small amplitude solitary wave. It is shown that such a wave is stable for perturbation wavelengths much smaller than its width. The Lewis-Symon method is used for the normal mode perturbations localized in the BGK wave region. In this case an instability similar to the fluid beam-type instability in a homogeneous plasma takes place.


An important factor in the preoperative evaluation of patients with invasive periorbital carcinomas is the presence or absence of orbital bone involvement. A retrospective study was performed to evaluate the reliability of computed tomography (CT) in detecting orbital bone invasion. Eleven patients with extensive facial-orbital basal cell or squamous cell carcinomas were evaluated preoperatively by CT and the results were compared with the clinical findings and postoperative histopathologic findings. Of the seven cases in which histopathologic examination confirmed bone and/or periosteal invasion, CT was positive in three (43%). Based on these findings, we strongly recommend that CT not be relied upon in excluding orbital bone involvement. Bony invasion may be histologically present, even though destruction is not seen on CT scans. Therefore, a normal CT scan should not deter one from removing clinically abnormal bone or periosteum and submitting it for histologie examination.


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FIFA's ranking of national soccer teams is plagued with paradoxes. One surprising paradox is a dramatic underrating of the hosts of main tournaments. The hosts, who are absent from the preliminaries, for a long time, play only friendlies that award few points. Three models estimate the magnitude of the resulting "Host Effect" at 14.1-16.7 positions. Such an estimate goes against the intuition that a large investment in hosting a tournament should result in improvement of the host team's standing. Host's low ranking decreases the interest in the tournament and may result in a major loss of advertisement revenue.


ZnO thin films doped with different Cu concentrations are fabricated by reactive magnetron sputtering technique. XRD analysis indicates that the crystal quality of the ZnO:Cu film can be enhanced by a moderate level of Cu-doping in the sputtering process. The results of XPS spectra of zinc, oxygen, and copper elements show that Cu-doping has an evident and complicated effect on the chemical state of oxygen, but little effect on those of zinc and copper. Interestingly, further investigation of the optical properties of ZnO:Cu samples shows that the transmittance spectra exhibit both red shift and blue shift with the increase of Cu doping, in contrast to the simple monotonic behavior of the Burstein-Moss effect. Analysis reveals that this is due to the competition between oxygen vacancies and intrinsic and surface states of oxygen in the sample. Our result may suggest an effective way of tuning the bandgap of ZnO samples.


An investigation of the dynamo instability close to the threshold produced by an ABC forced flow is presented. We focus on the on-off intermittency behavior of the dynamo and the counter-effect of the Lorentz force in the non-linear stage of the dynamo. The Lorentz force drastically alters the statistics of the turbulent fluctuations of the flow and reduces their amplitude. As a result much longer burst (on-phases) are observed than what is expected based on the amplitude of the fluctuations in the kinematic regime of the dynamo. For large Reynolds numbers, the duration time of the ``On'' phase follows a power law distribution, while for smaller Reynolds numbers the Lorentz force completely kills the noise and the system transits from a chaotic state into a ``laminar'' time periodic flow. The behavior of the On-Off intermittency as the Reynolds number is increased is also examined. The connections with dynamo experiments and theoretical modeling are discussed.


Peptide-YY-(1-36) [PYY-(1-36)] is an endocrine peptide that is found primarily in the mucosal layer of the colon. We reported previously that a direct intracolonic (IC) infusion of amino acids in dogs resulted in a robust release of PYY compared to other nutrients (fat, glucose, and protein). The objective of this study was to investigate the possible mechanisms underlying the release of PYY in response to IC infusion of amino acids. Intracolonic infusion of a mixture of tryptophan and phenylalanine (Trp+Phe; 100 mM; 200 ml/h) resulted in a significant release of PYY [integrated PYY release, 74.5 +/- 14.0 ng (0-120 min)/ml], which was not affected by iv atropine, hexamethonium, or propranolol treatment. Intravenous infusion of Trp+Phe failed to release PYY [integrated PYY release, -0.6 +/- 0.9 ng (0-120 min)/ml]. Intracolonic infusion of aromatic amino acids (Trp+Phe) was more potent in releasing PYY than aliphatic (leucine and glycine) and charged (arginine) amino acids. PYY release in response to IC infusion of the deamino and decarboxylated forms of Phe was significantly (P < 0.05) decreased [integrated PYY release, 17.5 +/- 2.6 and 12.1 +/- 2.8 ng (0-120 min)/ml, respectively] compared to that in response to intact Phe [integrated PYY release, 39.4 +/- 4.3 ng (0-120 min)/ml]. These results suggest that 1) PYY release in response to IC administered amino acids is independent of ganglionic, cholinergic, and beta-adrenergic transmission; 2) PYY release in response to IC amino acids is due to a direct contact of amino acids with the luminal pole of PYY cells in the colon and is not the result of a stimulatory action of amino acids via the general circulation; and 3) the amino and carboxylic groups of an amino acid as well as the ring structures of aromatic amino acids are structural requirements for PYY release.


Obama's diplomacy had early success with Iran's agreement in October 2009 to ship most of its low-enriched uranium abroad in exchange for fuel rods for its medical research reactor. This agreement did not last, however, in the face of strong domestic US opposition and the Western powers' refusal to allow modifications. Obama had further success in June 2010, when the UN Security Council imposed new sanctions on Iran. In addition, the United States and the European Union imposed sanctions of their own. Whatever happens in the future, Iran does not seem ready to give up its nuclear program, although it is currently feeling the weight of new sanctions from the UN—as well as pressures from the United States and the EU.


To identify the epigenetic changes in nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC), we performed methylation‐sensitive restriction fingerprinting (MSRF) analysis on NPC cell lines and xenografts. A 190 bp sequence methylated in NPC tumors was isolated and showed high homology to the 5′ CpG island of the endothelin receptor B (EDNRB) gene. Since the EDNRB gene is commonly inactivated in prostate and bladder cancers, it may be a candidate target gene involved in NPC tumorigenesis. By bisulfite sequencing, we have confirmed that hypermethylation of the 5′ CpG island of EDNRB occurred in both xenografts and all 4 cell lines but not in 2 normal nasopharyngeal outgrowths. RT‐PCR demonstrated that only original EDNRB transcripts, but not the splicing transcripts, were expressed in normal nasopharyngeal epithelial cells. Loss of the original EDNRB expression was consistently found in 2 xenografts and 3 cell lines with dense methylation patterns. Treatment of these 3 cell lines with 5′‐aza‐2′‐deoxycytidine led to re‐expression of the EDNRB transcript and demethylation of its promoter regions. Our results demonstrate that silencing of EDNRB gene expression in NPC is associated with promoter hypermethylation. Using methylation‐specific PCR, we also detected methylation of the 5′ CpG island of EDNRB in 19/21 (90.5%) primary tumors, while no methylation was found in all 6 normal nasopharyngeal epithelia. The high frequencies of promoter hypermethylation suggest that repression of the EDNRB gene may play a role in the development of NPC. © 2002 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.


NaDSyL, a Natural Deduction based Symbolic Logic, like some earlier logics, is motivated by the belief that a confusion of use and mention is the source of the set theoretic paradoxes. However NaDSyL differs from the earlier logics in several important respects. "Truth gaps", as they have been called by Kripke, are essential to the consistency of the earlier logics, but are absent from NaDSyL; the law of the excluded middle is derivable for all the sentences of NaDSyL. But the logic has an undecidable elementary syntax, a departure from tradition that is of little importance, since the semantic tree presentation of the proof theory can incorporate the decision process for the elementary syntax. The use of the lambda calculus notation in NaDSyL, rather than the set theoretic notation of the earlier logics, reflects much more than a change of notation. For a second motivation for NaDSyL is the provision of a higher order logic based on the original term models of the lambda calculus rather than on the Scott models. These term models are the "natural" intepretation of the lambda calculus for the naive nominalist view that justifies the belief in the source of the paradoxes. They provide the semantics for the first order domain of the second order logic NaDSyL. The elementary and logical syntax or proof theory of NaDSyL is fully described, as well as its semantics. Semantic proofs of the soundness of NaDSyL with cut and of the completeness of NaDSyL without cut are given. That cut is a redundant rule follows form these results. Some applications of the logic are also described.


Self-monitoring of blood glucose (SMBG) assists persons living with diabetes with the day-to-day behavioral and therapeutic adjustments to their diabetes care. It is a cheaper and more available alternative to glycated haemoglobin (HbA1c) in Nigeria for monitoring glycaemic control. Information on SMBG practices of Nigerians living with diabetes using their personal glucometers is scanty. The aim of the study is to assess the intensity and frequency of SMBG by glucometer owners, and the extent the patients and/or the health care providers (HCP) utilize SMBG to achieve personalized treatment goals via behavioral/treatment adjustments. This was a cross sectional study carried out among persons living with diabetes that accessed diabetes care at the diabetes clinic of the University of Port Harcourt Teaching Hospital (UPTH) and using their personal glucometers. They were consecutively recruited. Data obtained by using intervieweradministered questionnaires were analyzed using SPSS version 20.0, and pvalue <0.05 was considered significant. A total of 128 persons living with diabetes participated in the study of which 40 (31%) were males and 88 (69%) were females; the mean age of the subjects was 52.05 ± 11.24 years with a range of 26–70 years. The majority of the study subjects (72%) were in the active working age group (25–60years). The highest frequency of glucometer use was in the 26 subjects (20%) who checked their blood glucose every morning while 62 (48%) of the subjects checked their blood glucose any morning they felt like. Most of the subjects (60%) did not have any recording device. Glucometer owners were not just the insulin-requiring people living with diabetes as more than half of the subjects, 66 (52%) were on oral anti diabetic drugs (OAD) only. Glucometer ownership was mainly by those that were in the working age group. SMBG protocol (frequency) was variable and SMBG data were not maximally utilized. Keywords: Self-monitoring of blood glucose; Personal glucometer; Diabetes; Blood glucose


In the K and Bd systems, indirect CP violation is quantified by the parameters epsilon_K and sin 2beta respectively. Within the Standard Model, the uniqueness of the CP violating phase implies that the measurement of either between epsilon_K and sin 2beta permits to predict the other. Since both these parameters are very well measured, this turns into a powerful test of consistency. I discuss the status of this test, especially in the light of recent advances on the epsilon_K formula.


While caffeine is one of the most important bioactive metabolites for tea as the most consumed non-alcohol beverage, its biosynthesis and catabolism in tea plants are still not fully understood. Here, we integrated purine alkaloid profiling and transcriptome analysis on shoot tips and roots fed with caffeine, theophylline, or theobromine to gain further understanding of caffeine biosynthesis and degradation. Shoot tips and roots easily took up and accumulated high concentrations of alkaloids, but roots showed much faster caffeine and theophylline degradation rates than shoot tips, which only degraded theophylline significantly but almost did not degrade caffeine. Clearly feedback inhibition on caffeine synthesis or inter-conversion between caffeine, theophylline, and theobromine, and 3-methylxanthine had been observed in alkaloids-fed shoot tips and roots, and these were also evidenced by significant repression of TCS and MXMT genes critical for caffeine biosynthesis. Among these responsively repressed genes, two highly expressed genes TCS-4 and TCS-8 were characterized for their enzyme activity. While we failed to detect TCS-4 activity, TCS-8 displayed N-methyltransferase activities towards multiple substrates, supporting the complex metabolic network in caffeine biosynthesis in tea plants since at least 13 TCS-like N-methyltransferase genes may function redundantly. This study provides new insight into complex metabolic networks of purine alkaloids in tea plants.


In Germany, many researchers – including judges – believe that the idea of proportionality should stem from the notion of Rechsstaat.  The term, when translated into English, is Rule of Law, and "Etat de Droit" in French. Applying the rule of law as a reason for adopting proportionality as a factor for limiting constitutional rights via the constitutionality of sub-constitutional law has also been implemented by other legal organizations. To understand the liaison connecting the rule of law and the doctrine of proportionality, it is essential to determine whether the proportionality could have a harmony with the values of rule of law in five steps. First, it is necessary to enquire whether the rule of law principle has a constitutional position. Next, it must be determined whether the rule of law as a principle of the constitution includes a feature of Human Rights. Third, we must ascertain whether the rule of law, as a principle of the constitution, is based upon an equilibrium amid constitutional rights and their limitations.  Fourth, it must be determined that such a balance is conducted through the use of limitation clauses (statutes or the common law). Fifth, it is essential to establish an opinion on whether limitation clauses, which advance the standard of the rule of law, are based on proportionality.


In 1987 to 1999, large-scale studies were conducted in the Okhotsk Sea basin for marketable fish infection with Anisakidae larvae that are a hazard to human health. A total of 9223 fishes of 18 species and 455 fishes of 5 species were examined in the North and South-West Okhotsk Sea Regions, respectively. In the North Okhotsk Sea Region, the larvae were detected in 58.8 (0.5% specimens of all species with the highest rates in the rasp (100%), Siberian salmon 93.9 (0.8%), herring 91.2 (0.7%), silver 90.9 (1.6%), halibut 89.7 (3.1%), Greenland halibut 87.3 (4.2). In the South-West Okhotsk Sea Region, the total fish infection rates were 69.8 (2.6%) and those of the commonly caught species Siberian salmon and humpback were 82.8 (3.3 and 67.9 (3.6%), respectively. The infection rates varied both at the inter- and intraspecies-specific levels, as well in areas and fishing seasons. Fresh fish processing (freezing and salting) causes no Anisakidae larval migration in the flesh.


We report on six cases of skin lesions induced by bortezomib in patients treated for relapsed multiple myeloma. The folliculitis-like rash appeared in the second cycle of bortezomib therapy. Therapy with prednisone led to rapid resolution of the skin lesions. Prednisone 10 mg before each infusion of bortezomib was necessary to prevent recurrence of the rash while antihistamines alone were ineffective.


On 7 November, the European Association of Hospital Pharmacists (EAHP) released the results of its 2018 Medicines Shortages survey which underline that medicines shortages remain a major problem for patients in European hospitals. In a number of ways, the issues have become more troublesome since the publication of EAHP's last survey results in 2014.

Overall, the 2018 Medicines Shortages survey gathered information on the current nature of the medicines shortages problems in Europe, including their prevalence, the most common types of shortages as well as their impact on patient care and hospital pharmacy services. In addition, hospital pharmacists were asked about existing national mechanisms for dealing with or monitoring shortages and how they typically manage the problems caused by shortages.

In particular, the percentage of hospital pharmacists reporting shortages to be an issue in terms of delivering the best care to patients has seen a significant increase with 91.8% respondents, compared with 86.2% in 2014 stressing that medicines shortages are a problem faced in their hospital pharmacy. This negative trend was further confirmed by over half of the 1666 surveyed hospital pharmacists who highlighted that they are seeing patient care delays as a consequence of medicines shortages. Antimicrobial agents, preventive and oncology medicines were reported as the three most common medications in shortage. Many also remarked that reliable communication listing the reasons, estimated durations and other advice to pharmacists, prescribers and patients is still missing. The EAHP consequently calls on national governments and the European Commission …


The article describes and analyzes the legislative politics of revolutionary regimes in Russia in 1917-1918. The author aims to demonstrate the political meaning of the form of early Soviet legislation and its legitimizing effect. The revolutionary legislators often used specific language in the new laws as a vehicle of legitimacy, i.e. to make the people comply. The two main types of legal language used by the Bolsheviks can be interpreted from the perspective of different types of legitimacy. The revolutionary strategy used propagandistic legislation, written in the language of lay people, which urged them to act according to the new law. It can be seen as a request for acts of the people to legitimize the soviets. On the contrary, the traditional strategy employed old bureaucratic means of writing and distributing legislation to the local soviets. The language used by this strategy was closed to the understanding of a lay audience and implied traditions of obeying the law written in familiar legal language, which in turn implied rational/legal legitimacy. The second strategy had already become dominant after the first months of the Bolshevik revolution. This observation demonstrates that from the very beginning of their rule, Soviet leaders approached legislative policy from a technocratic point of view, which determined the further development of Soviet legal theory and practice


The detection of pain and fear in fi sh has been subject to much debate and, since fi sh are a popular experimental model and commercially important in both angling and aquaculture, many procedures that fi sh are subjected to cause injury, fear and stress. These injuries would give rise to the sensation of pain in humans but whether fi sh have the capacity for pain is relatively under explored. Recent evidence has shown that fi sh have the same neural apparatus to detect pain that mammals and humans do, that their brain is active during a potentially painful experience, that fi sh show negative changes in behaviour and physiology and that this is reduced by administering a pain killer. Experiments demonstrating the signifi cance of pain to fi sh have been conducted and have shown that fi sh do not show appropriate fear and anti- predator responses during a painful stimulation. This suggests that they are dominated by the pain state confi rming its importance to the fi sh. However, social context affects the aggressive behaviour of fi sh when noxiously stimulated. In a familiar group, dominant trout perform much less chasing of conspecifi cs yet this suspension in aggression is not seen when placed in an unfamiliar group of fi sh. Therefore, responses to pain are more complex and not simple refl exes. Together, these results demonstrate that pain is an important stimulus for a trout and we should seek to minimise and alleviate pain where possible. Studies have demonstrated that fi sh are capable of exhibiting signs of fear including avoidance behaviour and they may also anticipate fearful events. Recent evidence shall be discussed with future directions suggested.


3 beta-Hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase/isomerase (3 beta-HSD) catalyses an essential step in the biosynthesis of steroid hormones and is widely distributed in peripheral steroid target organs. The present report describes for first time the expression of this enzyme in the pituitary of female rats. Immunohistochemistry at the light microscopic level was performed on pro-oestrous and ovariectomized rat pituitaries. Immunoreactive cells were scattered and randomly distributed throughout the anterior lobe, whereas cells located in the posterior lobe and pars intermedia were immunonegative. Differences were observed in cell morphology and in the number of 3 beta-HSD-immunopositive cells between ovariectomized and pro-oestrous female rat pituitaries, suggesting that steroidogenic activity is affected by ovarian endocrine function. Apart from adenohypophyseal immunoreactive cells, 3 beta-HSD immunopositivity was also noted in endothelial cells of almost all pituitary capillaries located in the anterior and posterior lobes.


The localization accuracy of the start of activity in the heart depends on electrode positions. Limited electrode systems have no or only a few electrodes on the back of the torso. The contribution of the electrodes on the back is investigated through a computer simulation of a current dipole placed in an in.nite conduction medium. The accuracy of localization is estimated by correlation coe.cient of potentials on the electrodes that result from the current dipole placed in a selected region in the heart and the potentials that result from the dipole placed in the vicinity. The results show that there exists an optimal location for an additional electrode placed on the torso for each position and orientation of the current dipole. It was also shown that there are some small number of advantageous electrode positions if all of them are allowed to be moved.


Interplanetary dust particles contain grains of glass with embedded metals and sulfides (GEMS; i.e., amorphous silicate grains with diameters of a few hundred nanometers containing Fe nanoinclusions and Fe sulfide particles), which are considered to be among the building blocks of the solar system. To explore that GEMS grains formed during the condensation process, condensation experiments were carried out in Si–Mg–Fe–Al–Ca–Ni–O and Mg–Si–Fe–Ca–Al–Na–O systems using an induction thermal plasma furnace. In all experimental runs, spherical grains (mostly composed of amorphous silicate) with diameter <100 nm formed. The analysis of the amorphous silicates, which were classified as Mg rich or Si rich, indicated that the condensates formed via melting. Fe led to the formation of fine magnetite grains in most of the oxidative experiments, to 10 nm metal grains (i.e., kamacite and taenite) under intermediate redox conditions, and to 30–100 nm Fe silicide grains (i.e., gupeiite, xifengite, and fersilicite) in most of the reductive experiments. Under intermediate redox conditions, some amorphous silicate particles showed multiple Fe inclusions with textures very similar to those of GEMS grains except for FeS, indicating that GEMS could form via melt condensation of high-temperature gases. Considering the nucleation and growth of solids from high-temperature gas during cooling, we infer that GEMS grains form either in the local environment of a protosolar disk (and be related to chondrule formations) or around evolved stars related to Type II-P supernovae and asymptotic giant branch–type stars.


The purpose is to explore relationships among moderate to vigorous physical activity (MVPA), sedentary behavior (SB), and actual gross motor competence (MC) and perceived motor competence (PMC) in young children. Data were collected in 101 children (M age = 4.9 ± 0.93 years). MVPA was measured with accelerometry. Gross MC was assessed with the Portuguese version of the Movement Assessment Battery for Children. PMC was evaluated with the Pictorial Scale of Perceived Competence and Social Acceptance for Young Children. Regressions were used to determine predictive relationships related to the following research questions: (a) Can gross MC predict perceived motor competence, (b) can actual and perceived gross MC predict MVPA, and (c) can actual and perceived gross MC predict SB? Results showed no association between gross MC and PMC and between these constructs and MVPA and SB. This lack of association in the early ages is probably due to the young children's cognitive inability to make accurate self-judgmen...


A study was conducted to investigate the perceived relevance of using a teacher evaluation rubric with performance indicators specific to special education services in place of the standard rubric for teachers used in the State of Arkansas Teacher Excellence Support System (TESS). Through a multi-method approach, the perceptions of special education teachers and administrators regarding implementation of the current model, the significance of perceived differences in pedagogical factors, and potential barriers to effective implementation were identified. This was achieved through survey, interviews, and observations. Special education teachers and administrators in a given school district were sent a brief survey to attain general perceptions regarding the new teacher evaluation system. From the pool of survey respondents, a purposive sample identified special education teachers for interview and observation to further investigate perceptions of the current system, explore perceptions regarding the development of a rubric specific to special education standards, and to reflect on data obtained through the observation process using a modified rubric. The results of the survey, interview, and observation analyses indicate special education teachers do not perceive Arkansas TESS to be an effective measure of performance in the special education setting. Survey respondents agreed critical indicators specific to special education services are not addressed and a measure specific to special education would provide a more effective evaluation. Analysis of interviews indicated the value teachers hold in regards to the evaluation process, but also identified challenges to effective implementation of the current evaluation process for special education teachers. Specifically, the teachers discussed how the differences in competencies and practices impact the process, as well as their perception regarding administrator knowledge or experience regarding special education impacts validity. The teachers voiced opinions as to how a modified rubric or checklist, incorporating standards of special education pedagogy and practice, would increase the validity of the process, and provide value to the feedback provided to the teachers. Through the observation process, similar themes emerged which align with the context of the themes from the analysis of the interviews and


This paper examines the effect of accounting restatements on a firm's cost of equity capital. We show that, on average, accounting restatements lead to both decreases in expected future earnings and increases in the firm's cost of equity capital. Depending on the model used, relative percentage increases in the cost of equity capital average between 7 and 19% in the month immediately following a restatement. The relative increase in the cost of capital dissipates as time passes and after controlling for analyst forecast biases, but continues to average between 6 and 15% in the most conservative setting. We also show that restatements initiated by auditors are associated with the largest increase in the cost of capital, and that firms with greater leverage experience greater increases in their cost of capital. Overall, our evidence is consistent with accounting restatements lowering the perceived earnings quality of the firm and increasing investors' required rates of return.


The development of information and communication technology (ICT) for citizen-centered care requires insight into concrete problems in care processes as well as an understanding of the goals and values that should guide these. In this retrospective study we return to results from two research projects focusing on the needs of senior citizens and stroke patients. We describe the intersections between health care services, social care services and private services, and analyze these with focus on the needs of independence, continuity and participation. The current state of ICT in relation to the identified needs is also addressed. In conclusion, an increasing number of solutions are available to support senior citizens in different parts of their lives, yet they remain isolated and have limited impact. In order to harness value for senior citizens, it is imperative to continue with multidisciplinary research focusing on socio-technical aspects; addressing technological, organizational, legal and business-related aspects.


Abstract Digits in statistical data produced by natural or social processes are often distributed in a manner described by 'Benford's law'. Recently, a test against this distribution was used to identify fraudulent accounting data. This test is based on the supposition that first, second, third, and other digits in real data follow the Benford distribution while the digits in fabricated data do not. Is it possible to apply Benford tests to detect fabricated or falsified scientific data as well as fraudulent financial data? We approached this question in two ways. First, we examined the use of the Benford distribution as a standard by checking the frequencies of the nine possible first and ten possible second digits in published statistical estimates. Second, we conducted experiments in which subjects were asked to fabricate statistical estimates (regression coefficients). The digits in these experimental data were scrutinized for possible deviations from the Benford distribution. There were two main findings. First, both digits of the published regression coefficients were approximately Benford distributed or at least followed a pattern of monotonic decline. Second, the experimental results yielded new insights into the strengths and weaknesses of Benford tests. Surprisingly, first digits of faked data also exhibited a pattern of monotonic decline, while second, third, and fourth digits were distributed less in accordance with Benford's law. At least in the case of regression coefficients, there were indications that checks for digit-preference anomalies should focus less on the first (i.e. leftmost) and more on later digits.


Tyrosinase-related protein 1 (TYRP1) has been shown to play a fundamental role in pigmentation both in human and mouse. In this work, we aimed to characterize the variability of the caprine TYRP1 gene and investigate its segregation in a wide array of goat breeds. By partially sequencing the coding region of the TYRP1 gene in 18 individuals from eight different breeds, we were able to identify a synonymous nucleotide substitution at exon 3 (c.483C>T). An extensive survey of Iberian and Balearic (N=175), Italian (N=99), Swiss (N=54), Asian (N=14), Canarian (N=92) and North African (N=117) goats with different coat colours was carried out. We found that the C-allele has a different distribution in European vs African breeds, being almost fixed in the latter. Moreover, the C-allele showed an increased frequency in white coated breeds (Girgentana, Grigia Molisana, Blanca de Rasquera and Saanen) when compared with those displaying a dark pigmentation (Cilentana Nera, Azpi Gorri and Murciano-Granadina). This could be due to genetic drift, migration and other factors associated with the demographic history of breeds under analysis or to a genetic hitchhiking event (c.483C>T frequencies would be shaped by a neighbouring causal mutation differentially selected in white and black goats). More refined studies will be needed to distinguish between these two alternative explanations.


The scene in a water reflection image often exhibits bilateral symmetry. In this paper, we design a framework to reconstruct the depth from a single water reflection image. This problem can be regarded as a special case of two-view stereo vision. It is challenging to obtain correspondences from the real scene and the mirror scene due to their large appearance difference. We first propose an appearance adaptation method to transform the appearance of the mirror scene so that it is much closer to the real scene. We then present a stereo matching algorithm to obtain the disparity map of the real scene. Compared with other depth-from-symmetry work that deals with man-made objects, our algorithm can recover the depth maps of a variety of scenes, where both natural and man-made objects may exist.


In this study, in order to fabricate dental and medical bone plates, the effects of hydroxyapatite(HA) coating made of tooth ash and TiN coating prepared by electron-beam physical vapor deposition(EB-PVD) method on corrosion resistance and surface phenomena of Ti alloyed bone plates were investigated using various test methods. The coatings were deposited on the Ti-6Al-4V alloy fabricated by using a vacuum induction furnace. The corrosion behaviors of the samples were examined through potentiodynamic method in 0.9% NaCl solutions at 36.5±1°C and corrosion surface was observed using SEM and XPS. The surface roughness of TiN coated bone plates was lower than that of HA coated plates. The structure of TiN and HA coated layers showed the columnar structure. The corrosion potential was observed to be higher on the TiN and HA coated specimens than that of the non-coated alloy. The active current density was drastically lowered by both of TiN and HA coatings. The pit number and pit size of TiN and HA coated alloy were smaller in comparison with those of non-coated alloy. From the experimental results, it is suggested that TiN coated Ti alloy sample with rough surface has good protective propertiy against corrosion as well as HA coated bone plate alloy.


Human dispersal of organisms is an important process modifying natural patterns of biodiversity. Such dispersal generates new patterns of genetic diversity that overlie natural phylogeographical signatures, allowing discrimination between alternative dispersal mechanisms. Here we use allele frequency and DNA sequence data to distinguish between alternative scenarios (unassisted range expansion and long range introduction) for the colonization of northern Europe by an oak‐feeding gallwasp, Andricus kollari. Native to Mediterranean latitudes from Portugal to Iran, this species became established in northern Europe following human introduction of a host plant, the Turkey oak Quercus cerris. Colonization of northern Europe is possible through three alternative routes: (i) unassisted range expansion from natural populations in the Iberian Peninsula; (ii) unassisted range expansion from natural populations in Italy and Hungary; or (iii) descent from populations imported to the UK as trade goods from the eastern Mediterranean in the 1830s. We show that while populations in France were colonized from sources in Italy and Hungary, populations in the UK and neighbouring parts of coastal northern Europe encompass allozyme and sequence variation absent from the known native range. Further, these populations show demographic signatures expected for large stable populations, rather than signatures of rapid population growth from small numbers of founders. The extent and spatial distribution of genetic diversity in the UK suggests that these A. kollari populations are derived from introductions of large numbers of individuals from each of two genetically divergent centres of diversity in the eastern Mediterranean. The strong spatial patterning in genetic diversity observed between different regions of northern Europe, and between sites in the UK, is compatible with leptokurtic models of population establishment.


Experiments using a planar metal disc flyer driven by explosives and a cylindrical chamber was designed to synthesize cubic silicon nitride with the mixtures of α-Si3N4 and copper powders as starting materials. The ratio of transformation from α-Si3N4 to γ-Si3N4 approached to 80% percent at 45 GPa pressures and 4000K temperatures. The purity of γ-Si3N4 reached 100% after the synthesized samples were treated with hydrofluoric acid at 440K for 9-10h. High pressure sintering was carried out with a DS6×800A link-type cubic anvil apparatus at a pressure of 5.7GPa and calculated temperature of 1370-1670K over the course of 15 minutes. The result showed that γ-Si3N4 was completely transformed into β-Si3N4 at 5.7GPa, 1420-1670k and was partly transformed into β-Si3N4 at 5.7 GPa, 1370k. Micro-analysis indicated that the typical microstructure of sintered Si3N4 was elongated β-Si3N4 rod crystals in disordered orientation, the highest relative density of the sintered samples was 99.06% and Vickers hardness of them was 21.15GPa.


As a result of inappropriate management and rising levels of societal demand, in arid and semi-arid regions water resources are becoming increasingly stressed. Therefore, well-established insight into the effects of climate change on water resource components can be considered to be an essential strategy to reduce these effects. In this paper, Iran9s climate change and variability, and the impact of climate change on water resources, were studied. Climate change was assessed by means of two Long Ashton Research Station-Weather Generator (LARS-WG) weather generators and all outputs from the available general circulation models in the Model for the Assessment of Greenhouse-gas Induced Climate Change-SCENario GENerator (MAGICC-SCENGEN) software, in combination with different emission scenarios at the regional scale, while the Providing Regional Climates for Impacts Studies (PRECIS) model has been used for projections at the local scale. A hydrological model, the Runoff Assessment Model (RAM), was first utilized to simulate water resources for Iran. Then, using the MAGICC-SCENGEN model and the downscaled results as input for the RAM model, a prediction was made for changes in 30 basins and runoffs. Modeling results indicate temperature and precipitation changes in the range of ±6 °C and ±60%, respectively. Temperature rise increases evaporation and decreases runoff, but has been found to cause an increased rate of runoff in winter and a decrease in spring.


We present a system to assist users in dietary logging habits, which performs food recognition from pictures snapped on their phone in two different scenarios. In the first scenario, called "Food in context", we exploit the GPS information of a user to determine which restaurant they are having a meal at, therefore restricting the categories to recognize to the set of items in the menu. Such context allows us to also report precise calories information to the user about their meal, since restaurant chains tend to standardize portions and provide the dietary information of each meal. In the second scenario, called "Foods in the wild" we try to recognize a cooked meal from a picture which could be snapped anywhere. We perform extensive experiments on food recognition on both scenarios, demonstrating the feasibility of our approach at scale, on a newly introduced dataset with 105K images for 500 food categories.


: The National Institute of Hygienic Sciences Standard for Urokinase (Control 881) was established in collaboration with five laboratories. This standard contains 1100 international units of urokinase and 1.17 mg of human serum albumin in each ampoule. Urokinase used for the standard is constituted of 1 part of high molecular weight species (M. W. 54000) and 4 parts of low molecular weight species (M. W. 33000).


In this paper, a new iterative learning control, called PD-PD type iterative learning control, is proposed for trajectory tracking of time-varying nonlinear systems with no-repetitive uncertainty and disturbance. In the developed control scheme, a PD feedback controller using current tracking errors and a PD-type iterative learning controller based on previous tracking errors are combined in the proposed updating law. Explicit expressions have been developed for choosing the feedback control gains and the learning control gains. It is proven that the final tracking error is guaranteed and the tracking trajectory converges towards the desired one in the presence of uncertainty and disturbance. In addition, an initial updating scheme is adopted to reduce and eliminate initial errors from iteration to iteration. The proposed PD-PD type learning control has potential benefits for real applications, which include faster convergence rate, more flexible choices of the learning gains and monotonic convergence of tracking errors. The effectiveness of the proposed control law is demonstrated by simulation experiments.


Abstract Podocalyxin (PODXL) is a newly identified key negative regulator of human endometrial receptivity, specifically down-regulated in the luminal epithelium at receptivity to permit embryo implantation. Here, we bioinformatically compared the molecular characteristics of PODXL among the human, rhesus macaque, and mouse, determined by immunohistochemistry and in situ hybridization (mouse tissues) whether endometrial PODXL expression is conserved across the three species and examined if PODXL inhibits mouse embryo attachment in vitro. The PODXL gene, mRNA, and protein sequences showed greater similarities between humans and macaques than with mice. In all species, PODXL was expressed in endometrial luminal/glandular epithelia and endothelia. In macaques (n = 9), luminal PODXL was significantly down-regulated when receptivity is developed, consistent with the pattern found in women. At receptivity, PODXL was also reduced in shallow glands, whereas endothelial expression was unchanged across the menstrual cycle. In mice, endometrial PODXL did not vary considerably across the estrous cycle (n = 16); however, around embryo attachment on d4.5 of pregnancy (n = 4), luminal PODXL was greatly reduced especially near the site of embryo attachment. Mouse embryos failed to attach or thrive when co-cultured on a monolayer of Ishikawa cells overexpressing PODXL. Thus, endometrial luminal PODXL expression is down-regulated for embryo implantation in all species examined, and PODXL inhibits mouse embryo implantation. Rhesus macaques share greater conservations with humans than mice in PODXL molecular characteristics and regulation, thus represent a better animal model for functional studies of endometrial PODXL for treatment of human fertility. Summary Sentence Podocalyxin, a key negative regulator of human endometrial receptivity, is also down-regulated in the luminal epithelium in both the rhesus macaque and mouse uterus for embryo implantation, and podocalyxin inhibits mouse embryo attachment in vitro.


This paper is based on a current research project at the University of Huddersfield's Institute for Health Citizenship. The research is exploring the understandings of health, wellbeing and citizenship by analysing the discourse of trainee further education (FE) lecturers. Initially, a literature review of policy documents was undertaken to identify dominant discourses in relation to health, wellbeing and inclusion. Two exploratory focus groups were held: one with a group of pre-service trainees and one with in service trainees. The policy literature suggests that ideas around health and wellbeing are being discursively repositioned. Whilst previously regarded as a fortunate state of being or condition, the dominant discourses now tend to construct health and wellbeing as contingent on individual behaviour – behaviour that is inextricably tied up with a particular model of citizenship and personal accountability. Put another way, the 'good and active citizen' must 'choose' to be healthy. Despite this individualisation, issues of health and wellbeing appear to be embedded within systems of surveillance, carried out by various state agencies, organisations and charities, including the further education sector. However, this surveillance and intervention is not straightforward. Initial findings from the focus groups suggest that trainee lecturers draw on conflicting discourses of health and wellbeing, and have developed counter discourses that resist or provide alternatives to the dominant model of 'active citizenship'. This paper begins to disentangle the complexities between active citizenship, health and wellbeing and government public health policy, and how these directives are practised and understood at ground-level.


We investigate whether technological change predicts tax policy changes in 34 OECD countries from 1996 to 2016. To examine tax policy reactions, we construct two new country-level indexes, one capturing tax-related investment incentives and one capturing anti-tax avoidance rules in a country. We document a decreasing trend in statutory tax rates, stable capital investment incentives, and a trend toward stricter anti-tax avoidance rules across countries over the last two decades. Our main finding is that country-specific exposure to technological change predicts variation in these trends. We find that, following technological changes, countries tighten their anti-tax avoidance rules. Cross-sectional tests show that smaller countries deviate from this general trend and use less stringent anti-tax avoidance rules. In the competition for firms' mobile capital, smaller countries thus appear to create indirect investment incentives by opting for less salient tax policy tools (i.e., anti-tax avoidance rules).


Half a century has passed since Theodore Maiman's small ruby rod crossed the threshold of laser emission. The breakthrough demonstration earned headlines, but in the early years the laser was called "a solution looking for a problem," and there was a germ of truth in the joke. Years of development since then have vastly improved laser performance,and tremendously increased their variety, earning lasers important roles in scientific research, consumer products, telecommunications,engineering, medicine, materials working, and a host of other applications. This article reviews the highlights of those developments and puts them into context, showing how laser technology has evolved to meet application requirements.


The objective of this study was to investigate the relationship between gene expression of nutrient (amino acid, peptide, sodium and proton) transporters in the small intestine and embryonic growth in domestic pigeons (Columba livia). One hundred and twenty-five fertilized eggs were randomly assigned into five groups and were incubated under optimal conditions (temperature of 38.1 °C and relative humidity of 55%). Twenty embryos/birds from each group were sacrificed by cervical dislocation on embryonic day (E) 9, 11, 13, 15 and day of hatch (DOH). The eggs, embryos (without yolk sac), and organs (head, brain, heart, liver, lungs, kidney, gizzard, small intestine, legs, and thorax) were dissected, cleaned, and weighed. Small intestine samples were collected for RNA isolation. The mRNA abundance of intestinal nutrient transporters was evaluated by real-time reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). We classified these ten organs into four types according to the changes in relative weight during embryonic development. In addition, the gene expression of nutrient transporters was differentially regulated by embryonic day. The mRNA abundances of b0,+AT, EAAT3, y+LAT2, PepT1, LAT4, NHE2, and NHE3 increased linearly with age, whereas mRNA abundances of CAT1, CAT2, LAT1, EAAT2, SNAT1, and SNAT2 were increased to higher levels on E9 or E11 and then decreased to lower levels until DOH. The results of correlation analysis showed that the gene expressions of b0,+AT, EAAT3, PepT1, LAT4, NHE2, NHE3, and y+LAT2 had positive correlations with body weight (0.71<correlation coefficient (CC)<0.82, P<0.0001), while CAT1, CAT2, EAAT2, SNAT1, and SNAT2 had negative correlations with body weight (−0.86<CC<−0.64, P<0.0001). The gene expressions of b0,+AT, EAAT3, LAT4, PepT1, NHE2, NHE3, and y+LAT2 showed positive correlations with intestinal weight (0.80<CC<0.91, P<0.0001),while CAT1, CAT2, and EAAT2 showed negative correlations with intestinal weight (−0.84<CC<−0.67, P<0.0001). It was concluded that the differences between growth trajectories of organs and gene expression of nutrient transporters in small intestine were due to their functional and physiological properties, which provided a comprehensive study of amino acid and peptide transporter mRNA in the small intestine during embryonic growth of pigeons.概要目的探索家鸽胚胎期器官生长发育及其小肠营养素转运载体基因表达规律, 为家鸽胚胎期的营养调控提供理论基础。创新点第一次较全面地研究了家鸽胚胎期小肠氨基酸转运载体基因表达规律。方法利用实时荧光定量逆转录聚合酶链反应 (real-timeRT-PCR) 技术, 同时结合了多内标校正方法对小肠营养素转运载体基因表达模式进行分析。结论在家鸽胚胎期发育的过程中, 不同的器官生长模式不完全一致。营养素转运载体b0,+AT、EAAT3、LAT4、PepT1、NHE2、NHE3 和y+LAT2 基因的表达与小肠重量呈正相关关系, CAT1、CAT2 和EAAT2 基因的表达与小肠重量呈负相关关系。


The shelf life of fresh-cut produce is mostly determined by evaluating the external appearance since this is the major factor affecting consumer choice at the moment of purchase. The aim of this study was to investigate the degradation kinetics of the major quality attributes in order to better define the shelf life of fresh-cut melons. Melon pieces were stored for eight days in air at 5°C. Sensorial and physical attributes including colour, external appearance, aroma, translucency, firmness, and chemical constituents, such as soluble solids, fructose, vitamin C, and phenolic content, along with antioxidant activity were monitored. Attributes showing significant changes over time were used to test conventional kinetic models of zero and first order, and Weibullian models. The Weibullian model was the most accurate to describe changes in appearance score, translucency, aroma, firmness and vitamin C (with a regression coefficient always higher than 0.956), while the other parameters could not be predicted with such accuracy by any of the tested models. Vitamin C showed the lowest kinetic rate among the model parameters, even though at the limit of marketability (appearance score 3), estimated at five days, a loss of 37% of its initial content was observed compared to the fresh-cut product, indicating a much lower nutritional value. After five days, the aroma score was already 2.2, suggesting that this quality attribute, together with the vitamin C content, should be taken into account when assessing shelf life of fresh-cut melons. In addition, logistical models were used to fit the percentage of rejected samples on the basis of non-marketability and non-edibility (appearance score <3 and <2, respectively). For both parameters, correlations higher than 0.999 were found at P<0.0001; for each mean score this model helps to understand the distribution of the samples among marketable, nonmarketable, and non-edible products.


While good return policies are suggested as one of the critical services for e-commerce, ambivalence between the burden of the cost and shoppers` satisfaction may prevent e-tailers from increasing their level of leniency. Based on the S-O-R model, this study has attempted to develop a grounded theory to explain how lenient return policies shape online shoppers` perceptions and responses, with a focus on cultural influences in the relationship. In order to check the cultural effects of the lenient return policy, thirty two female and eleven male undergraduate students in South Korean shoppers, who are accustomed to strict return policies, participated in the semi-structured interview. A series of open- ended questions were designed to explore consumers` reactions toward four different levels of the lenient return policy: from the strict type in South Korea to the lenient type in the U.S. Using qualitative research methods, this research has defined three types of dimensions of lenient return policy: return possible period, complexity of progress, and other restrictions. While previous researchers did not pay much attention, the last dimension, other restrictions, is shown to be the most significant in influencing online shoppers` perceptions, especially in South Korea. Also, the impacts on online shoppers` perceptions from the three types of sub-dimensions of return policy were somewhat different. Whereas a longer return possible period was considered more favorable, a medium level of complexity and restrictions were considered more desirable. In summary, this result showed that shoppers in Eastern cultures, i.e. South Korean online shoppers, seem favorable to a medium level of lenient return policies, while allowing for taking precautions against possible fraudulent behaviors and setting other restrictions. Therefore, most of retailers in South Korea recommended that e-tailers who adopt the most lenient return policies raise the bar to guard ethical shoppers from fraudulent users. Next, lenient return policies can enhance ease of use, usefulness, affect, and trust while relieving perceived risk, which is connected to intention to purchase, satisfaction, and loyalty. Interestingly, lenient return policies are more likely to change the behavioral responses of online shoppers, such as return and purchase, rather than change their attitudes or beliefs such as image, satisfaction, and loyalty. This tendency can be seen more clearly in the direct influences of return policy on responses. The reaction to lenient return policy is mostly the intention to return or to purchase. This suggests that return policy serves the e-tailers as a powerful tool in increasing online shoppers` purchase intention at the moment of purchase. Therefore, e-tailers who plan to expand their market to eastern countries, including South Korea, have to build a shield of restrictions around their lenient return policy, rather than immediately applying their original liberalized return policy. Also, e-tailers in South Korea need to review their strict and undifferentiated return policies to deal with the unsatisfied reactions of online shoppers toward their normal return policies. Although the present study was confined to the return policies currently being practiced by popular e-tailers, it would be worthwhile to develop effective return policies separately for each country, especially South Korea, keeping the culture of the relevant country in mind.


One hundred and twenty-five women with incomplete pregnancy in the presence of severe gestosis were examined. The placenta of women receiving 6% hydroxyethyl starch showed a compensatory plethora of villous chorion, stabilization of wall structures in the capillaries and red blood cell membranes, which contributed to the normalization of fetal oxygen homeostasis. In the female myometrium, the capillary lumen displayed starch fibers that stabilized the capillary wall, promoting the stabilization of the shape of vessels, and better circulation as a plethora.


The silk Sanitary Materials in hydrogen peroxide bleaching process, various experimental factors affect on the raw materials' whiteness and tension. And through the single factor experiments and orthogonal test research and analysis, the significant influencing order of the whiteness of silk fiber is: temperature, concentration of hydrogen peroxide, and bleaching time; the significant influencing order of breaking tension is: bleaching time, temperature, and concentration of hydrogen peroxide. The optimum experimental program is as follows: hydrogen peroxide concentration of 22.5g / L, bleaching temperature of 80 °C, bleaching time, 60min, PH value of 9, sodium silicate concentration of 11.25g / L.


The purpose of this paper is to examine influence of past environmental attitudes, social and personal environmental norms, social influence, and green self-identity on consumers' buying behavior.The article aims to explore hybrid consumption behaviour as an emergent consumption pattern on fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) that may make conventional consumer stereotypes outdated. Purpose – The present study aims to investigate the impact of perceived quality, brand extension incongruity, involvement and perceived risk on consumer attitude towards brand extension across three product types, namely, FMCG, durable goods and service (FDS) sectors. More importantly, the study seeks to explore the importance of involvement profile comprising relevance, pleasure, sign-value, risk importance and risk probability and perceived risk facets (financial, psychological and performance) in acceptance of brand extension across FDS.


This PhD discusses the research related to the approximation and implementation of the twochannel
hybrid filter banks. Special attention is paid to the analogue part, i.e. analysis part of
the hybrid filter banks.
Two approximations of the filter bank pair for analysis have been proposed. The first approximation
of the transfer function of the low-pass filter is based on the simple adaptation
of the orthogonal Jacobi polynomials in order to obtain the Pseudo-Jacobian polynomials. In
relation to other known approximations, the Pseudo-Jacobian polynomial one has two prime
parameters, which can adjust the characteristics of the filter in wide ranges. This approximation
can be successfully applied for the realization of a complementary bank of filters.
It is known that recursive double-complementary digital filter banks can be implemented
with all-pass filters, and research has shown that double-complementary filter banks can also
be realized in the analogue domain. The realization of the proposed filter bank has been done
in two steps. In the first step, with the complementary decomposition, the prototype transfer
function is obtained by two all-pass filters, while in the second step, by their addition or subtraction,
transfer functions of lowpass and highpass filters are obtained. The advantage of such
a system is that the same hardware can be used for realization of both low frequency and high
frequency transfer functions.
Monte Carlo simulation of the realization of a double complementary analog filter pair
based on a parallel connection of two analogue all-pass filters showed that all-pass realization
is characterized by a small sensitivity of the attenuation characteristics to the component
tolerances in the filter pass-band, while the sensitivity in the stop-band is substantially higher
compared to the case of a standard cascade realization of the low-pass filter and the high-pass
filter.
By a suitable selection of the analysis filter bank and the synthesis filter bank, a condition
for suppressing the effects arising from the overlapping of the spectrum in banks for analysis
and synthesis can be fulfilled. The all-pass complementarity of an analogue filter bank points to
the fact that amplitude distortion, which is introduced by the analog bank of the analysis filters,
can be completely suppressed, so that the non-linearity of the group delay characteristics is the
predominant distortion.
In order to achieve a near perfect reconstruction of the signal, a new realization of the
group delay corrector was proposed, which makes it possible for the group delay to be constant
in a flat sense, i.e. with a number of flatness at the origin. An analysis of the sensitivity has
shown that the sensitivity of the correction of the group waveform in the filter pass-band that is
proportional to the square of the Q -factor of the pole. In other words, the group delay corrector
is very sensitive to the component tolerances.


To determine the prevalence and characteristics of pain in symptomatic and asymptomatic patients with HTLV-1, for HAM/TSP, Cross-sectional study conducted in patients with HTLV seen at a referral center for patient care and research in Salvador, Bahia, Brazil. Sociodemographic data were evaluated by means of interviews. The presence of neuropathic pain was evaluated by the DN4 questionnaire, its intensity by the Visual Analog Scale and its location by the body map, Among the 115 patients, 84.3% complained of pain. The most affected locations were the lumbar spine and lower limbs (63.1%). Of these 46.1% presented defined or probable HAM/TSP. There was no association between the type of pain and presence of HAM/TSP, but symptomatic patients had a higher prevalence of pain in relation to asymptomatic for HAM/TSP, We found a high prevalence of pain in patients with HAM/TSP, mainly located in the lower back and lower limbs.


Various drugs such as hypnotics, stimulants and opiates have all been abused due to the excitement and euphoria that they produce therefore drug testing is a fundamental tool to determine drug exposure in many different fields of forensic and clinical toxicology. Gas chromatography, GC is one of these tools that are used to analyse coroner's samples for the presence fo drugs. Hampshire Scientific Services recently installed a new 'fast GC' system which has to be validated and a method developed so that it can be used on coroner's samples. The work undertaken was performed according to United Kingdom Accreditation Service's guidelines and specific guidelines produced by the laboratory. Alongside the preliminary validation, separate method developments were performed to ensure that the system was detecting the drugs that would become part of the validation. The outcome of all the validation and development is to ensure that the samples are analysed rapidly with a high sensitivity so any drugs can be detected. The preliminary validation covered several different abused drug groups so that a wide variety can be analysed with confidence and to a highly detailed analytical level. The new system is four times quicker than the older system and therefore is much more cost-effective and therefore beneficial for the laboratory. The results show that a high number of drugs are detected by the fast gc system although varied in concnetration within the blood. The system produced blanks with no crossover from samples that were analysed before regardless of concentration. The preliminary work and the method development that has already been completed means that a full validation of the system can be undertaken according to UKAS regulations.


Educational aims To understand the composition, secretory pathways and functions of pulmonary surfactant. To review the clinical evidence regarding the use of surfactants in newborn infants and children. To develop an understanding of rarer disorders of surfactant metabolism. To understand recent developments and future prospects in the field of surfactants. Summary Pulmonary surfactant is a complex mixture of specific lipids, proteins and carbohydrates, which is produced in the lungs by type II alveolar epithelial cells. The mixture is surface active and acts to decrease surface tension at the air–liquid interface of the alveoli. The presence of such molecules with surface activity had been suspected since the early 1900s and was finally confirmed in the mid-1900s. Since then, the chemical, physical and biological properties of the surfactant mixture have been revealed due to the work of several groups of investigators. The surfactant mixture is an essential group of molecules to support air breathing. Thus, preterm infants, who are born with immature lungs and are surfactant deficient, develop respiratory distress syndrome after being born. Replacement of natural surfactant therapy with purified surfactant from lungs of nonhuman species is one of the most significant advances in neonatology and has resulted in improved limits of viability of preterm infants. Although preterm infants are the primary population, exogenous surfactant treatment may also have a role to play in other respiratory diseases of term-born infants and older children.


Macaroni penguins Eudyptes chrysolophus are thought to be one of the most important mesopredators in the Southern Ocean having a greater impact on prey availability and abundance than any other seabird species. Their population centre has long been held to be South Georgia where populations were thought to comprise many million animals. Here we report the results of a recent census of the macaroni population at South Georgia undertaken using aerial survey methods. We report dramatic declines in numbers (∼1.0 million breeding pairs) compared to numbers observed in the late 1970s (∼5.4 million pairs), but show that these reductions have occurred principally at sites where numbers had previously been very large. During the breeding season, the main foraging grounds of birds from these sites overlap with the foraging grounds of Antarctic fur seals Arctocephalus gazella, a major competitor for their principal prey, Antarctic krill Euphausia superba. We suggest that the redistribution of the macaroni penguin population at South Georgia reflects the recent recovery of fur seal populations and thus the ongoing consequences of human intervention at South Georgia, a process which started more than 2 centuries previously. The implied resource competition and the observed population changes may also be exacerbated by recent reductions in Antarctic krill abundance which have been linked with reductions in seasonal sea ice following recent, rapid, regional warming in the Antarctic; however, the recovery of fur seal populations, and the ongoing recovery of krill-eating whale populations argues that tropho-dynamic interactions may be sufficient to explain the observed changes


Two critical reviews of Discipline and Punish inspired an exchange between Foucault and some prominent historians in 1978. In the texts from this exchange, Foucault addresses their criticism that, by focusing on unrealized plans and programs, such as Bentham's Panopticon, his book lacks a sense of historical reality. Foucault replies, first, that the true aim of his book is to explore the emergence of a new type of penal rationality, not to insist that the Panopticon itself has been realized. Second, he holds that types of rationality can produce distinctive sorts of effects, regardless of whether the plans and programs to which they are attached are ever fully achieved. This paper seeks to clarify Foucault's underlying account in these responses of rationality and its efficacy. It also takes up and develops Foucault's suggestive distinction between two different types of effects: "effects in the real" and "reality effects."


The chestnut (Castanea spp.) tree is extremely valuable for it ecological role in the environment as well as its role in the production of sweet, edible nuts, decay resistant timber, and the production of chemical compounds such as tannins. Although native to the temperate zone of the northern hemisphere, it has been planted successfully throughout the southern hemisphere including Australia, New Zealand and Chile. Currently, the genus Castanea is represented by 13 species ranging in size from shrubs to large trees. Five species of Castanea are native to East Asia, seven species are native to North America and one species is native to Europe. Many chestnut cultivars have been selected or bred for various purposes such as improving nut or timber quality, increasing yield, enhancing resistance to diseases or pests and winter hardiness. For the purpose of registering new cultivars, distinctness, uniformity and stability (DUS) of the cultivars need to be described and verified. For this aim, morphological characteristics of the cultivar candidates should be determined. There are many morphological traits used for identifying cultivar candidates. However, reliable characteristics need to be selected and scored. Generally, the International Union for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants (UPOV) criteria have been used for this purpose, but we believe the UPOV criteria need to be updated. In this review, various descriptive morphological chestnut parameters are discussed to promote the list of current and new criteria.


Epitaxial growth of graphene on SiC surfaces by solid state graphitization is a promising route for future development of graphene based electronics. In the present work, we have studied the morphology, atomic scale structure, and electronic structure of thin films of few-layer graphene (FLG) on SiC(0001) by scanning tunneling microscopy and spectroscopy (STS). We show that a quantitative evaluation of the roughness induced by the interface is a tool for determining the layer thickness of FLG. We present and interpret thickness dependent tunneling spectra, which can serve as an additional fingerprint for the determination of the layer thickness. By performing spatially resolved STS, we find evidence that the charge distribution in bilayer graphene is inhomogeneous.


The adsorption of β-carotene from crude palm olein by using bentonite was investigated. Another adsorbent, which is activated carbons was used as a reference. The adsorption process of β-carotene was done using a mixed reactor. The objectives of this research are to obtain the equilibrium condition and the value of kinetics parameters, which are adsorption rate constant (k) and activation energy (Ea) of isothermal adsorption of β-carotene from crude palm olein using bentonite and activated carbons.  The achievement of equilibrium condition was influenced by adsorption process temperature. Higher adsorption temperature led to faster equilibrium time, but give the different influence for the value of β-carotene concentration in olein (μg/ml) for each adsorbents. Bentonite showed a faster equilibrium time (minute) and lower β-carotene concentration in olein (μg/ml) than activated carbons. For both adsorbents used, Freundlich isotherm model showed a good fit to the adsorption of β-carotene. The adsorption rate constant (k) was ascend by the higher of adsorption temperature. The activation energy of adsorption (Ea) was determined as bentonite 74,28 kcal mol-1 and activated carbons 30,04 kcal mol-1. Value of activation energy (Ea) indicates that adsorption process of β-carotene from crude palm olein by using activated carbon is more effective than that of bentonite. Keywords : adsorption, β-carotene, crude palm olein, bentonite.


This research approach focuses on sharing 3D animation data over the Web and creating a system capable of animating virtual ballet performances. Sharing motion data on the Internet allows anyone to access various artistic dances all over the world. In addition to this, these motion data can be applied in online systems for educational and artistic purposes. I present Web3D Dance Composer, which enables the creation and editing of classical ballet animation based on VRML. This system allows anyone to easily create and simulate artistic ballet performances as well as realistic stage effects. Since it is important for classical ballet to provide an artistic harmony from both dance choreography and stage&scenario effects, this system can be useful for teachers and choreographers to simulate their performance in advance. This system also allows artists opportunities and possibilities to express their feelings.


The structures and energies of point defects and point defect complexes in B 2 iron aluminium FeAl are calculated using a local density functional theory based method with large supercells. Particular emphasis is given to pseudopotential quality, choice of chemical potentials used to calculate defect formation energies, and how these are affected by magnetism. Both purely native defects and those containing boron atoms are considered. It is found that the relative stabilities of isolated point defects versus defect complexes depends on whether the material contains excess iron or aluminium. The situation in material containing boron is further complicated by the existence of iron borides in more than one form. We propose that the interaction between point defects, dislocations, and antiphase boundaries, where the local atomic environment has some similarities with antisite defects, also depends on the alloy composition. It is likely that these interactions are part of the underlying mechanism responsible for the unusual mechanical properties of iron aluminides.


In the 21st century, because the shortage of mineral resources has seriously affected the development of China's industrial economy, investment and construction of mineral resource project is a very urgent task we must face. To achieve scientific investment decisions, we should be conducting multi-item comparison on the basis of the comprehensive evaluation of mining project and choose the best investment project so as to achieve rational development and utilization purpose and obtain the best economic benefits. In this paper, entropy-weight method is used based on the analysis compared with other evaluation and decision method, which should be a valuable reference.


In this paper, incompressible, double-diffusive convection is simulated using finite-difference schemes. The Navier-Stokes equations are expressed in terms of stream function and vorticity. Because of the existence of large velocity, temperature and salinity gradients in boundary layers, a boundary-fitted coordinate system is used to concentrate the grid points near the wall and fit complex boundaries. The finite-difference methods used include the high-order accurate upwind difference scheme. It is shown that the scheme is a good candidate for direct simulations of double-diffusive convection flows. The proposed method is first applied to symmetry breaking and overturning states in thermohaline-driven flows in trapezoid basins. The basic phenomena agree well with those by Dijkstra and Molemaker (1997 J. Fluid Mech. 331 169) and Quon and Ghil (1992 J. Fluid Mech. 245 449), but symmetry breaking and overturning states can occur in an asymmetric geometrical region without perturbations. Then the method is applied to double-diffusive convections in a cavity with opposing horizontal temperature and concentration gradients at large thermal (Rt), solutal (Rs) Rayleigh numbers and Lewis number. There are three straight sides and a sine curve side in the cavity. Basically, numerical results are in agreement with those of Lee and Hyun (1990 Int. J. Heat Mass Transfer 33 1619) qualitatively, but eddies mixing in the top left-hand corner near the curved wall affects the layered structure.


The study investigated the effects of a gestalt therapy group with older adults. A total of 43 adults, 65 years or older, were randomised into treatment and assessment control groups of 22 and 21 respectively. ANCOVA results indicated that group therapy participants reported less anger control and more overall expression of anger than the control participants. In addition, they were significantly more agreeable and less hostile and more clear-headed and less confused at the end of the group. These findings were supported by reported emotional changes. Younger group participants were significantly more composed and less anxious than younger control group members. Qualitative results further illustrated this reduction in anxiety. Participants significantly increased their level of clear-headedness and were less confused. Qualitative evidence also illustrated their clear-headedness and agreeableness. Exploratory analysis illustrated substantial learning about oneself by group participants.


Biaxial stretching of polymer films such as PET is a common process in the industry. Being able to monitor the stress-strain mechanical behavior of the films during stretching and linking this with the birefringence behavior provides a good tool to investigate stress and strain optical behavior of these films undergoing complex structural organization The results indicate that PET exhibits four stage stress optical behavior in simultaneous biaxial mode. The first stage is traditional linear stress optical behavior with stress optical constant (SOC) of 5.8 GPa - 1 (5800 Brewsters). In the second stage birefringence rapidly increases and this is typically associate with the formation of poorly ordered crystals that are assumed to be at the nodes of the physical network. In the third stage the birefringence begins to level off with considerable negative slope variation with stress where the crystallinity further develops. The fourth stage was observed only at high stretching rates and in this distinct stage, birefringence become near constant while stress continues to increase as the chains have reached their full extensibilities.


An aircraft radome usually refer to radar transparent, dome-shape structures which protects radar antennas on aircraft from aerodynamic loading, weather as well as impacts from bird strikes. Materials that are used for small aircraft radome usually have low dielectric constant and high toughness. Current composite material using high strength fibers such as glass fiber, carbon and aramid are commonly used in aerospace structures. However, the need for biodegradable materials has prompted the usage of natural fibers. Natural fibers have comparable mechanical properties such as low weight, low cost, renewable and biodegradable. In this preliminary work, comprehensive reviews of biocomposites materials are discussed in term of their properties for the purpose of evaluation for aircraft radome application. The present review will cover five local natural fibers namely bamboo, banana, kenaf, oil palm and pineapple leaf fiber.


A method was developed for the preparation of a proteolytic fragment of rabbit secretory immunoglobulin A (sIgA) which contains the variable region of the a-chain; this fragment is suitable for primary-sequence studies. The serologically defined subclasses of sIgA are shown to correlate partially with the nature of the binding of a constituent chain of sIgA, called secretory piece. Data are also presented on the relative resistance of sIgA to enzymic and reductive cleavage, compared with immunoglobulin G.


As an absorber in photovoltaic devices, Sb2Se3 has rapidly achieved impressive power conversion efficiencies despite the lack of fundamental knowledge about its electronic defects. Here, we present a deep level transient spectroscopy (DLTS) study of deep level defects in both bulk crystal and thin film device material. DLTS study of Bridgman-grown n-type bulk crystals revealed traps at 358, 447, 505, and 685 meV below the conduction band edge. Of these, the energetically close pair at 447 and 505 meV could only be resolved using the isothermal transient spectroscopy (rate window variation) method. A completed Sb2Se3 thin film solar cell displayed similar trap spectra with traps identified at 378, 460, and 690 meV. The comparable nature of defects in thin film and bulk crystal material implies that there is minimal impact of polycrystallinity in Sb2Se3 supporting the concept of benign grain boundaries.


The randomized response (RR) technique was developed to improve the validity of measures assessing attitudes, behaviors, and attributes threatened by social desirability bias. The RR removes any direct link between individual responses and the sensitive attribute to maximize the anonymity of respondents and, in turn, to elicit more honest responding. Since multivariate analyses are no longer feasible using standard methods, we present the R package RRreg that allows for multivariate analyses of RR data in a user-friendly way. We show how to compute bivariate correlations, how to predict an RR variable in an adapted logistic regression framework (with or without random effects), and how to use RR predictors in a modified linear regression. In addition, the package allows for power analysis and robustness simulations. To facilitate the application of these methods, we illustrate the benefits of multivariate methods for RR variables using an empirical example.


The 1800 MW Dinorwic Pumped Storage Scheme for the Central Electricity Generating Board is located near Llanberis, North Wales. (Fig. 1). The power station is sited underground in the Cambrian Slate Belt and comprises nine major caverns with associated hydraulic and access tunnels. The photograph depicts the largest of the caverns, the Machine Hall, viewed from the portal of an access tunnel at the lowest (17 m.O.D.) level of the excavation, looking in a south easterly direction along the main axis. The roof of the cavern is at 69 m.O.D, and can just be picked out above the floodlighting. The maximum span of 24.5 m is visible in the background and the overall length from the portal to the far gable end is about 180 m. The principal rock parameters are given in Table 1. Water inflows were minimal and the excavation was effectively carried out in dry conditions. Deformations of the rock were recorded by borehole extensometers, convergence measurements and precise survey techniques. The maximum inward movement of the upstream wall of the Machine Hall (shown on the left of the photograph) was recorded as 48.4 mm at a level about 21 m above invert. The upstream wall intersects a dolerite dyke on the left which, although obscured by sprayed concrete, is supported by a pattern of rock bolts and anchors. In the left foreground striped purple slate is still exposed. Several discontinuity sets are visible—notably sub-horizontal ($1) joints near the invert and rather steeper (30-60°) ($2) joints which


Recent studies show that average diets differ considerably from Food Guide Pyramid recommendations. The gap between current consumption and recommendations is particularly large for caloric sweeteners, fats and oils, fruits, and certain vegetables, notably dark-green leafy and deep-yellow vegetables, and dry beans, peas, and lentils. The change in food consumption needed to meet Food Guide Pyramid serving recommendations will result in adjustments in U.S. agricultural production, trade, nonfood uses, and prices. The net adjustment in crop acreage is projected to be relatively small, about 2 percent of total cropland in 1991-95. However, this small net adjustment masks larger anticipated changes for some sectors, particularly sweeteners, fats and oils, and citrus fruits.


Abstract The optical absorption and photoluminescence properties of PPE-type p-conjugated oligomers that contain a 2,2-bipyridine-5,5¢-diyl metal coordinating unit have been examined. The spectra of the free oligomers are compared with those that contain Re(CO)3Cl and Ru(bpy)22+ chromophores chelated to the bpy-diyl unit.


Functional dyspepsia (FD) is one of the gastrointestinal disorders and can be severely disturbed with quality of life (QOL). Visceral hypersensitivity (1), disturbed gastric accommodation (2) and disturbed gastric motility are mostly reported in FD patients (3-5). According to the Rome III classification, FD symptoms were chiefly consisted of four symptoms, such as bothersome postprandial fullness, early satiety, epigastralgia and epigastric burning (6). FD patients were divided two groups.


Beta-arrestin-1 and -2 (barr1 and barr2, respectively) are major GPCR-associated signaling molecules that are widely expressed throughout the body. Studies with whole body barr1 and barr2 KO mice have shown that beta-arrestins play important roles in key metabolic functions. In this study, we inactivated the barr1 gene in a conditional fashion specifically in beta-cells of adult mice (beta-barr1-KO mice). In vivo studies showed that beta-barr1-KO mice exhibited a pronounced impairment in glucose tolerance and glucose-stimulated insulin secretion (GSIS), when mice were maintained on high-fat diet (HFD). Studies with isolated perifused pancreatic islets prepared from HFD beta-barr1-KO mice confirmed that barr1 deletion in beta-cells led to a significant decrease in GSIS. Interestingly, HFD beta-barr1-KO mice displayed pronounced reductions in beta-cell mass and the rate of beta-cell proliferation, suggesting that barr1 is required for the expansion of beta-cell mass that occurs during HFD feeding. To test whether enhanced barr1 signaling in beta-cells might ameliorate the metabolic deficits associated with the consumption of a HFD, we also generated transgenic mice over-expressing barr1 in beta-cells (RIPII-barr1 mice). These transgenic mice displayed metabolic phenotypes that were opposite to those observed with the beta-barr1-KO mice, including improved glucose tolerance and GSIS in vivo as well as increased beta-cell mass. This is the first study demonstrating that barr1 is critical for the proper function of pancreatic beta-cells and for maintaining whole body glucose homeostasis. Identification of the cellular mechanisms through which barr1 signaling promotes beta-cell function and proliferation may lead to the development of novel drugs useful for the treatment of type 2 diabetes. Disclosure L.F. Barella: None. M. Rossi: None. S. Pydi: None. S. Jain: None. L. Zhu: None. W. Chen: None. J. Wess: None. Funding National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases


Inflammation is a double-edged sword that can promote or suppress cancer progression. In this study, we report that thymic stromal lymphopoietin (TSLP), an IL-7–like type 1 inflammatory cytokine that is often associated with the induction of Th2-type allergic responses in the lungs, is also expressed in human and murine cancers. Our studies with murine cancer cells indicate that TSLP plays an essential role in cancer escape, as its inactivation in cancer cells alone was sufficient to almost completely abrogate cancer progression and lung metastasis. The cancer-promoting activity of TSLP primarily required signaling through the TSLP receptor on CD4 + T cells, promoting Th2-skewed immune responses and production of immunosuppressive factors such as IL-10 and IL-13. Expression of TSLP therefore may be a useful prognostic marker, and its targeting could have therapeutic potential. The Journal of Immunology , 2011, 186: 000–000.


We have investigated the mechanism of stabilizing the simple-cubic (SC) structure in polonium (alpha- Po), based on the phonon dispersion calculations using the first-principles all-electron band method. We have demonstrated that the stable SC structure results from the suppression of the Peierls instability due to the strong spin-orbit coupling (SOC) in alpha-Po. Further, we have explored the possible superconductivity in alpha-Po, and predicted that it becomes a superconductor with Tc ~ 4 K. The transverse soft phonon mode at q ~ 2/3 R, which is greatly influenced by the SOC, plays an important role both in the structural stability and the superconductivity in alpha-Po. We have discussed effects of the SOC and the volume variation on the phonon dispersions and superconducting properties of alpha-Po.


Background: To identify ways to improve care for older lung cancer patients, we set out to examine how older lung cancer patients in the Netherlands are currently being analysed prior to oncological treatment and to explore the potential obstacles in the incorporation of a routinely performed geriatric evaluation. Methods: We sent a web-based survey to 138 Dutch pulmonologists specialized in lung cancer care between April and September 2015. Results: The response rate was 37%. According to the answers of the responding pulmonologist, a geriatric evaluation was available in 90% of the hospitals. This was performed routinely in a minority of the hospitals (45%) on the basis of age (18%), with use of some form of screening tool (27%), however mostly performed on ad hoc basis (56%). More than half (52%) of the respondents answered to be not, or not completely, satisfied with current geriatric evaluation. The main obstacles for implementing geriatric evaluation in standard care were lack of a structured format for this evaluation and lack of geriatric oncologic expertise. Conclusion: There is interest in the incorporation of a geriatric evaluation in the care for the heterogeneous elderly population with lung cancer. However, at the moment the optimal set-up for geriatric oncologic care is lacking. There seems to be no consensus about the optimal design in terms of patient selection, timing and use of screening tools. A closer collaboration between pulmonologists specialized in lung cancer care and geriatricians could help to improve appropriate care for elderly patients with lung cancer.


Association Rule mining is one of the important and most popular data mining technique. It extracts interesting correlations, frequent patterns and associations among sets of items in the transaction databases or other data repositories. Most of the existing algorithms require multiple passes over the database for discovering frequent patterns resulting in a large number of disk reads and placing a huge burden on the input/output subsystem. In order to reduce repetitive disk read, a novel method of top down approach is proposed in this paper. The improved version of Apriori Algorithm greatly reduces the data base scans and avoids generation of unnecessary patterns which reduces data base scan, time and space


The academic essay has been the technique of choice of most literature professors to assess the progress of their students. Yet, technology provides new tools today that might benefit the process of teaching/learning literary elements. One of such instruments is the blog, a free online sharing space that instructors can use to upload material and allow their students to share reactions, impressions, questions, and points of analysis.


A curated list of audio and video recordings of Shakespeare's plays available for check-out in the Marian K. Heilbrun Music and Media Library


The forecasting precision of GM(1,1) is very low, when the data sequence is not smooth. The logarithm smoothing is used for the original data sequence. Considering the low precision caused by overlarge and forecasting gray interval for gray modeling, A novel method is proposed for power load forecasting: weighted forecasting method of gray related degree with revised parameter and logarithm smoothing. The method can make various factors weaken or counteracted and prevent the forecasting data from too fast increasing. The proposed model is demonstrated by a test in a certain area. The result shows that the method is effective both in theory and in practice.


Are there are any special rules of attribution in international law? Are there, in other words, imputational rules that are not recognized as such in general international law, but are specific to particular branches of international law? This is the first article to systematically analyse the notion of special rules of attribution in international law. In particular, it searches for such rules in international humanitarian law, the law on the use of force, and European human rights law.

The article argues that that, to the extent special rules of attribution exist, they are rare and never uncontroversial. In most situations putative special rules attribution can be, and should be, conceptualized differently. It is particularly difficult to justify why rules of attribution should vary depending on the context or particular subject-matter, e.g. why a special rule of attribution should exist for terrorism but not (say) for genocide. Therefore, we should, to the extent reasonably possible, try to reconcile the various jurisprudential divergences identified in this article with the general attribution framework so as to minimize the incidence of special rules, unless there is a very good reason why such a rule should exist. One such reason could be emerging subject-specific state complicity doctrines, which do require sectoral adjustment, but even these doctrines would in most cases not be attributive in nature.


A strength grading process, starting with log grading, was studied with respect to grading yield, impact on quality, and economic efficiency when visual grades according to Nordic grading rules were used for alternate product comparison. Pine (Pinus sylvestris) and spruce (Picea abies) logs and boards were graded with several varieties of commercial grading and strength-grading equipment. The boards were destructively tested, and the European grade-determining properties strength, stiffness, and density were measured. Models for these were made by partial least squares and validated. A method for the derivation of settings for multiple indicating properties, which increased yield in some cases, was proposed and evaluated. Grading to grade combinations of C40, C30, and C18 was done. The impact of visual override based on deformations was also studied. A simplified economic and sensitivity analysis was done. The outcome was that log grading can be used for strength grading with good economic and quality results. Strength pregrading on logs improves sawmill economy, depending on the species and market situation. Drying quality greatly influences the yield through visual override grading on deformations. Market prices of high grades (>C30) must improve in order to stimulate supply, as it is more economical to produce lower grades.


Abstract Floodplain landscape is the result of man's presence over a long period of time. This has caused the degradation, or even loss, of several habitats, especially wetlands, which frequently preserve rare biodiversity, even though they are subjected to intense human presence. Human activities can be of value, but can also cause problems in species preservation. The protected area "Ansa e Valli del Mincio" (northern Italy) is an outstanding case study in this respect: it is located in a densely urbanized context, but has great value from a conservation standpoint. This paper presents the results of 10 years of monitoring (2003–2012) of the spatial distribution of two native species (Trapa natans and Nymphaea alba) and the invasive Nelumbo nucifera. Data collected by volunteers from the protected area were processed in GIS and analysed using a number of configurational landscape metrics. Nymphaea alba and N. nucifera became more widespread; T. natans underwent a serious decline, mostly due to the interference of N. nucifera. An oscillating trend of this species is visible until 2008, followed by substantial stability. Furthermore, the potential area of each species was calculated. On the whole, citizen science is a valuable tool to enhance biodiversity knowledge and safeguarding, especially in wetlands that are used for tourism and surrounded by residential areas. As in other contexts, the volunteer contribution was particularly helpful in data collection on a local scale, over a considerable time span.