We investigate the particle orbits of long-period (about 20 s) P waves observed with the global seismic network. By analysing 84 three-component seismograms recorded at 25 stations from 60 earthquakes occurring beneath 300 km, we quantitatively evaluate the orbits by three sets of eigenvalues and eigenvectors, using a covariance matrix method. The eigenvalues for P waves recorded at stations located on continents are explained by the standard horizontal layered structure model (iasp91). On the other hand, the orbits observed at stations close to island arcs are affected not only by the horizontal layered structure but also by heterogeneity due to subducting plates, mantle diapirs and so on. On the basis of a single-scattering model for a plane P wave, we quantify the heterogeneities by an isotropic scattering coefficient g0. Fitting the theoretical eigenvalues to the observed ones, we estimate g0 for the crust and upper mantle beneath continents to be less than 0.0005 km-1, and the mean g0 for the structure beneath island arcs to be about 0.0015 to 0.003 km-1.


The cental actions of the lipophilic cholinesterase inhibitor physostigmine were investigated by infusing very low doses (0.8 micrograms up to 18 micrograms per kg) into the left vertebral artery of the anaesthetized cat. A dose as low as 2.7 micrograms per kg reduced blood pressure by about 35%. High doses caused bradycardia. Occlusion of the right vertebral artery shifted the dose-response curve to the left. It seems likely that the hypotension was due to stimulation of muscarinic receptors in the pontomedullary region, since pretreatment with dexetimide administered via the vertebral artery strongly reduced the effect. Mecamylamine and the adrenergic blocking agents metoprolol and piperoxan, infused into the vertebral artery, could not reduce the depressor response and the bradycardic action. Both bilateral cervical vagatomy and peripherally applied N-methylatropine did not change the hypotensive action of physostigmine. This observation points towards a reduction of sympathetic outflow as the possible cause of the depressor effect. Atenolol, given intravenously, diminished the bradycardia to a great extent, whereas N-methylatropine did not significantly alter the negative chronotropic action of physostigmine. These results suggest a dominant role for the sympathetic system in reducing cardiac frequency. After intravenous administration, only doses higher than 28 micrograms per kg evoked hypotension, which could not be blocked by intravenously administered N-methylatropine. However, centrally infused dexetimide considerably antagonized this effect, indicating that the hypotension was brought about by a central action and not evoked peripherally. Application of the drug via the external carotid arteries resulted in hypotension after considerably higher doses than those following administration via the vertebral artery, indicating the pontomedullary region as the main site of action. It is concluded that the present experimental data obtained with physostigmine support the hypothesis that ACh might have a transmitter role in the central haemodynamic control.


This book provides a quantitative yet accessible overview of renewable energy engineering practice and the technologies that will transform our energy supply system over the coming years. Covering wind, hydro, solar thermal, photovoltaic, ocean and bioenergy, the text is suitable for engineering undergraduates as well as graduate students from other numerate degrees. The technologies involved, background theory and how projects are developed, constructed, and operated are described. Worked examples of the simple techniques used to calculate the output of renewable energy schemes engage students by showing how theory relates to real applications. Tutorial chapters provide background material, supporting students from a range of disciplines and ensuring they receive the broad understanding essential for a successful career in the field. Over 150 end-of-chapter problems are included with answers to the problems available in the book and full solutions at www.cambridge.org/jenkins, password-protected for instructors.


Increasing worldwide energy demand and diminishing supplies of fossil fuels have necessitated the development and increasing use of new sustainable energy sources, as well as more parsimonious energy use. In the context of agriculture, research has focused predominantly on the production of bio-energy, while only a limited number of studies have investigated the energy use and possible energy saving in conventional agricultural production. In response to this lack in empirical research this study aims (i) to measure the farm-level energy and cost efficiency of conventional agricultural (wheat) production, (ii) to identify the potential for energy saving in conventional agriculture and quantify its shadow cost, (iii) to identify production technologies and managerial practices that reduce total energy use. We adjusted the method by Coelli, Lauwers, Van Huylenbroeck (2007) introducing analogy between cost and nutrient minimization to measure energy use reduction potential and its costs. The analysis was carried out on survey data for 95 farms for production year 2007/08. Energy coefficients for individual non-renewable inputs were derived from the PLANETE methodology (Methode Pour L'Analyse EnergeTique de l'Exploitation) developed by SOLAGRO. We applied data envelopment analysis to estimate energy and cost optima and efficiencies, and truncated regression to identify statistically significant determinants of energy efficiency. We found significant differences in energy consumption per unit of wheat production among Czech farms - best producers consume 46% less energy per unit of production than average producers, however, from that ca. 30% is due to variation in production conditions. Marked share of energy inefficiency (over 50% of potential energy savings) originates in technical efficiency, which offers simultaneous cost savings. Producing wheat in energy optimum would increase costs by 9% when compared to cost optimum. The largest potential of energy savings was found in fuel, and fertilizers and other chemicals. Regression analysis implies that use of more fuel-efficient machinery or machinery with other energy-saving technical parameters (e.g., higher utility weight) and optimizing material transport could increase energy efficiency, while some commonly applied technological practices (such as conventional soil preparation) have a negative energy efficiency effects.


A new gravity map of the southern half of the Dead Sea transform offers the first regional view of the anatomy of this plate boundary. Interpreted together with auxiliary seismic and well data, the map reveals a string of subsurface basins of widely varying size, shape, and depth along the plate boundary and relatively short (25–55 km) and discontinuous fault segments. We argue that this structure is a result of continuous small changes in relative plate motion. However, several segments must have ruptured simultaneously to produce the inferred maximum magnitude of historical earthquakes.


AIM
To improve diagnosis of Gilbert's syndrome (GS) basing on functional and genetic methods of examination.

MATERIAL AND METHODS
GS was diagnosed in 88 patients aged 15-72 years using clinical and genetic tests.

RESULTS
Genotyping has detected changes in promotor part of the gene coding uridindiphosphateglucuroniltransferase. In homozygous carriers GS was characterized by a higher baseline level of bilirubin, distinct response to functional tests, frequent combination with essential tremor. In heterozygous patients GS often ran latently.

CONCLUSION
Four variants of GS course were established: dispepsic, asthenovegetative, jaundice, latent. Low-caloric diet followed by fenobarbital raised sensitivity and specificity of the test. A clinical classification of GS is proposed. The detected disorders of antipirin pharmacokinetics allow prognosis of the risk of unwanted reactions to the drugs metabolized by monooxigenases of the liver.


Evolutionary biologists are interested in the distribution of one or several quantitative traits among related species. The classical framework consists of a random process running along the branches of the genealogical tree that describes how the species are related to each other, where nodes represent ancestral unobserved species. We consider shifts in the process parameters, that reveal fast adaptation to environmental changes, such as the adaptation of turtles to aquatic environment with increased body size. We show that these tree models with shifts are not identifiable in general. Constraining the models to be parsimonious in the number of shifts partially alleviates the problem but several evolutionary scenarios can still provide the same joint distribution for the extant, observed species. We introduce an incomplete-data framework and develop a maximum likelihood estimation procedure based on the EM algorithm. Finally, we propose a model selection procedure based on the cardinal of effective scenarios for a given number of shifts, to estimate this number of shifts and prove an oracle inequality in the univariate case. www.stat.wisc.edu UW-Department of Statistics (608) 262-2598


Optimization has been used to simulate human neural control and resulting movement patterns. The short term aim was to develop the methodology required for solving the movement optimization problem often arising when modelling human movements. A long term aim is the contribution to increased knowledge about various human movements, wherein postures is one specific case. Simulation tools can give valuable information to improve orthopeadic treatments and technique for training and performance in sports. In one study a static 3D model with 30 muscle groups was used to analyse postures. The activation levels of these muscles are minimized in order to represent the individual's choice of posture. Subject specific data in terms of anthropometry, strength and orthopedic aids serve as input. The specific aim of this part was to study effects from orthopedic treatment and altered abilities of the subject. Initial validation shows qualitative agreement of posture strategies but further details about passive stiffness and anthropometry are needed, especially to predict pelvis orientation. Four studies dealt with movement optimization. The main methodological advance was to introduce contact constraints to the movement optimization. A freetime multiple phase formulation was derived to be able to analyse movements where different constraints and degrees of freedom are present in subsequent phases of the movements. The athletic long jump, a two foot high jump, a backward somersault and rowing were used as applications with their different need of formulation. Maximum performance as well as least effort cost functions have been explored. Even though it has been a secondary aim in this work the results show reasonable agreement to expected movements in reality. Case specific subject properties and inclusion of muscle dynamics are required to draw conclusions about improvements in the sport activity, respectively.


For the past 5 years we have been conducting a large-scale, multi-habitat inventory of the tardigrades in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park (U.S.A.) as part of the All Taxa Biodiversity Inventory (ATBI) (see www.dlia.org). In terrestrial habitats, we collected moss, lichen, and soil samples from 19 permanent ATBI plots, representing all major land cover types within the park. Each ATBI plot is 100 × 100 m. In each plot, when available, 16 moss samples, 16 lichen samples, and 4 soil samples were collected in paper bags and air dried in the laboratory. Specimens were isolated with LudoxAM centrifugation, and for each sample up to 50 adults plus eggs were individually mounted on microscope slides in Hoyer's medium and identified using phase contrast and DIC microscopy. Additional collections were made in the limestone caves of the Cades Cove region of the park, bird nests, and 13 different streams. To date (1-Jun-06), 589 samples have been collected, and of these 401 have been analyzed, yielding a total of 8133 identifiable tardigrades or, in some cases, species groups. A total of 73 species have been found in the park, 14 of which we believe are new to science. Seven species richness estimators have been developed to predict total species richness (see EstimateS 7.5 software, viceroy.eeb.uconn.edu/estimates), and these were evaluated by comparing predictions from half of our data to the actual numbers from the total database. The results of this comparison indicate that different estimators work best in different habitats. Using the best estimators in each habitat, EstimateS 7.5 indicates that a total of 96 species are likely to occur throughout the park. Thus, Great Smoky Mountains National Park tardigrade diversity represents 10% of the world's known tardigrade fauna.


"Accidental" urban wetlands are formed not through deliberate restoration or management activity, but as a product of land use and water infrastructure decisions by municipalities. Often formed in abandoned industrial, residential, or low-lying commercial areas, where overland flows from storms and municipal water use accumulate, these ecosystems support wetland soils and plant communities. Research that we have conducted in the northeastern and southwestern US suggests that accidental wetlands are capable of counteracting anthropogenic eutrophication, providing habitats for important ecological communities, fostering biodiversity, and mitigating heat. Because the factors contributing to their formation are ubiquitous, accidental wetland systems are likely pervasive in urban landscapes, accounting for a substantial portion of aquatic habitat extent and influencing nutrient and water cycles within cities. They also provide ecosystem services at a fraction of the cost associated with more traditional environmental management efforts.


The main aim of this work is the application of a parametric and additive model, that was proposed by Gregori E. and Miclaus N. (1980).
To arrange a complete frame of evaluation and to obtain a reliable instrument during the planning of the environment's usage.
The model has been modified and adapted to the forest landscape of a zone in the centre of Sardinia: the F.D. of Crastazza and the forest sites of Coiluna and Loelle.
Thanks to the index of potentiality we proceded to the attribution of weights for the single characteristics considered in relation to the degree of influence, from positive to negative, that they have in the landscape's units, object of evaluation.
The geografic distribution of the data with GIS, has allowed to obtain the Plan of land evaluation for the forest usage.
The evaluation puts in evidence that in this area it's prevailing the class S2, suitable for the traditional forestry.
For this reason, in the examined land, it could be encouraged spreading of the local species to privilege the recovery of the knowledges and of the local traditions.
We were based on the results of the elaboration of the model and on the comparison among the different outlines.
In this way, it has been possible to valuate the effect of the reforestation in relation to the procedures of the preparation of the soil.
We can say that, the reforestation has shown a good functional valence in relation to the preservation of the soil, compared to the undergrowth.


ABSTRACT This article addresses how elementary school teachers approach Bildung when planning and monitoring the in-school- and at-home work of 6- and 9-year-old pupils. By examining a national sample of 204 weekly work plans designed by teachers in Norwegian schools, we investigate whether and how curriculum practices acknowledge principles of Bildung by opening up multiple futures through encouraging pupils to engage in meaning-making processes. To identify how work plans structure pupils' schoolwork, we adopt a system-theoretical framework that distinguishes between conditional and purposive programme forms. The most interesting finding is that a substantial number of the investigated teachers use a purposive programme form. Through specifying objectives and assessment criteria, the teachers expect that pupils will develop and master a set of competencies. Some teachers apply a conditional form by devising work plans that emphasize subject matter content, but most of the work plans combine the two programme forms. By developing a typology of the various combinations, we find that, in addition to the pure conditional approach, a combined approach that provides objectives alongside broad descriptions of teaching content best reflects the principles of Bildung by promoting creative, dialogic interaction between teachers, pupils and parents.


The notion of reactive power has been introduced long time ago because of its advantages to describe the behaviour of a power system. Among these advantages are the facts that the reactive power is a scalar quantity (therefore easy to manipulate) and that it is conserved over any network. Over the time, the meaning of the original concept of reactive power has been lost and today the "reactive power" is used for the maximum reactive power that flows through a piece of electric network. The change of meaning is the origin of a few misconceptions that are present in almost every textbook today. This article reanalyzes the reactive power concept, identifies the present contradictions and defines clearly the differences between reactive and active power.


Flood forecasting is important because it can help in reducing the consequences of flood damage especially at the downstream end. Advances in numerical
methods and computer technologies, have resulted in the development of many mathematical models which can be used for hydraulic simulation of flood. These simulations usually include the prediction of the extent of flood
and its depth along a river system. Information obtained from the simulated models are essential because it can help engineers to take precautionary measures in designing their hydraulic structures. Hydraulic models that are
used in the simulation can be classified into dynamic hydraulic models and static hydraulic models. The HEC-2 static hydraulic model was used to predict
the flow of Linggi river in the vicinity of Seremban town. HEC-2 model is based on the numerical solution of a one-dimensional energy equation of the steady
gradually varied flow using an iteration technique. Calibration and verification of the HEC-2 model were conducted using the recorded data for the Linggi river. After calibration, the model was used to predict the water surface profiles for ~, Q10' and Q100 along the watercourse of the Linggi river. The predicted water surface profiles were found to be in agreement with the recorded water
surface profiles, whereby the maximum computed value of the absolute error in the predicted water surface profile was found to be 100 mm while the
minimum absolute error was found to be 20 mm only. In term of percentage, these errors represent a difference of less than 5% between the readings of the
computed simulation to the actual field records. Testing process showed that HEG-2 model is sensitive to value of Manning coefficient of roughness and the
intervals of cross sections long studied river system.


Host and viral proteinases are believed to be required for the production of at least nine hepatitis C virus (HCV)-specific polyprotein cleavage products. Although several cleavages appear to be catalyzed by host signal peptidase or the HCV NS3 serine proteinase, the enzyme responsible for cleavage at the 2/3 site has not been identified. In this report, we have defined the 2/3 cleavage site and obtained evidence which suggests that this cleavage is mediated by a second HCV-encoded proteinase, located between aa 827 and 1207. This region encompasses the C-terminal portion of the 23-kDa NS2 protein, the 2/3 cleavage site, and the serine proteinase domain of NS3. Efficient processing at the 2/3 site was observed in mammalian cells, Escherichia coli, and in plant or animal cell-free translation systems in the absence of microsomal membranes. Cleavage at the 2/3 site was abolished by alanine substitutions for NS2 residues His-952 or Cys-993 but was unaffected by several other substitution mutations, including those that inactivate NS3 serine proteinase function. Mutations abolishing cleavage at the 2/3 site did not block cleavage at other sites in the HCV polyprotein. Cotransfection experiments indicate that the 2/3 site can be cleaved in trans, which should facilitate purification and further characterization of this enzyme.


The information in this guide has been gathered from the American Library Association, Library of Congress, United States Copyright Office, Copyright Clearance Center, Miami Dade College, and Columbia University Library.


OBJECTIVES
The literature seldom specifies the location or method of measurement of ST segment elevation (STE) for determining eligibility in reperfusion trials. The objective of this study was to assess if different methods of measurement of STE in precordial leads of patients with anterior acute myocardial infarction due to left anterior descending occlusion result in significantly different scores.

METHODS
This was a retrospective review of diagnostic electrocardiograms (ECGs) of consecutive patients presenting to our emergency department with acute myocardial infarction who had emergent primary percutaneous coronary intervention, left anterior descending occlusion, and no bundle branch block. STE was measured at the J point and at 60 milliseconds after the J point, relative to the PR segment, in leads V1-V6. STE by the two methods was compared for each lead, as were ST scores (sum of STE in leads V1-V6) and the sum of the STE in V2-V4. Eligibility for reperfusion therapy using 1-mm and 2-mm STE criteria in two consecutive anterior leads, as well as ST scores and the sum of the STE in V2-V4, were evaluated.

RESULTS
Thirty-seven ECGs were analyzed. Mean ST measurements in every lead were significantly lower when measured at the J point versus 60 milliseconds after the J point, as were ST scores (9.7 +/- 2.14 mm vs. 14.9 +/- 2.69 mm; p < 0.00001). Fewer ECGs met enrollment criteria when based on STE at the J point versus at 60 milliseconds after the J point. Fewer ECGs met an ST score of 6 mm when measured at the J point (70% vs. 88%).

CONCLUSIONS
In anterior STE myocardial infarction, STE measurements produce different results depending on the method of measurement. Future clinical trials should specify the method of measurement.


The myofibrillar proteins in fibres from the abdominal flexor muscles of the Norway lobster, Nephrops norvegicus, have been identified using SDS-PAGE gel electrophoresis. Several contractile and regulatory proteins are expressed as multiple isoforms in single fibres and, according to these, one fast fibre phenotype (F) can be identified in the deep flexor muscles and two slow fibre phenotypes (S1 and S2) can be distinguished in the superficial flexor muscles. The two slow fibre phenotypes are distributed non-uniformly across the superficial flexor muscle, and in the lateral bundle there is a heterogeneous mixture of both S1 and S2 fibres. Using histochemical procedures applied to intact or freeze-dried fibres in conjunction with measurements of fibre sarcomere length and gel electrophoresis, an exact correspondence can be demonstrated between the morphological properties, enzymatic content and myofibrillar protein composition of individual fibres from the deep and superficial flexor muscles. In the superficial flexor muscle, fibres of the S1 phenotype have a mean sarcomere length of 9 micrometre), a higher oxidative capacity and an acid-stable isoform of myosin ATPase. These results are discussed in terms of the relationships between the different muscle fibre properties and the usefulness of procedures applied to single fibres for determining them.


Since the ECJ's "open skies" judgment in November 1992, the EC's role in connection with external aviation relations has increased greatly "Horizontal"agreements have been signed with a number of countries. Essentially they all provide that EC ownership and control of Community carriers will be acceptable, but there are some interesting variations between them in other respects, particularly with regard to safeguards that some countries have succeeded in obtaining.The other principal development has been the EC/US air transport agreement. When this comes into effect at the end of March 2008, it will lead to radical changes in competition on the EC/US market, although the agreement falls short of European expectations in a number of respects, particularly with regard to the ownership and control of US airlines, and it remains to be seen whether progress can be made in these areas in the planned second stage.


In spite of significant efforts over the last few decades in terms of source control of nitrogen input from French agriculture to ground- and surface water bodies, increasing tendencies of nitrate concentrations are still observed for numerous drinking water wells. This can be partly attributed to the inertia of the soil-groundwater system, with a slow nitrogen dynamics in the soil zone and groundwater residence times in the order of magnitude of years to tens of years even in superficial alluvial aquifer. This delay of effects of groundwater remediation measures is a serious drawback for attempts to reach the goals of the European Water Framework Directive, aiming to return to a good qualitative and quantitative status for European groundwater bodies till 2015. Here we present results of a regional study of nitrogen contamination of alluvial aquifers in the south-western Rhine Valley, France. Two drinking water wellfields show different behaviour since the late 1990ies with increasing nitrate contents for wells in the ancient alluvial terraces approaching the drinking water limit of 50 mg/L and slightly decreasing values for wells in young alluvial deposits close to the Rhine River. The use of a combination of stable isotopes, N and O isotopes of the nitrate ions, O and H of water, isotopes of dissolved B and Sr, with groundwater dating methods (CFCs, SF6) gives insight in the nature and dynamics of nitrate contamination of such alluvial aquifers. Potential nitrogen sources (mineral fertilisers, manure, and domestic waste water) were analysed together with the target wells and surrounding ground- and surface waters. The results reveal mean groundwater residence times around 8 to 10 years for the wells in the ancient alluvial sediments and isotope fingerprints compatible with oxidation of organic nitrogen or ammonia but not with mixing with domestic wastewater. Groundwaters in the young alluvial deposits of the Rhine River are mostly contaminated by local CFC input so that groundwater dating was possible only for one point. Here again, nitrates seem mostly derived from organic nitrogen or ammonium, but, contrarily to the alluvial terraces of the piedmont hills, waste-water is a possible source as revealed by boron isotopes. These conclusions on nitrogen sources need to be considered in the context of the evolution of source terms at least over the last decade. Indeed, supplementary delay of nitrate transfer to the impacted drinking water wells could be due to the residence time of nitrate in the soil zone, not taken into account by the groundwater residence time estimation. Any recent measure of source control will show its effects only at the horizon of 2020 given the reaction time of the groundwater system in the ancient alluvial sediments.


This article explores the determinants of the three bank bailouts in Greece during the recent financial crisis. Building on literature from comparative studies applying the "Varieties of Financial Capitalism" framework, the paper analyzes the factors contributing to bank rescue package design. Although this analysis verifies the institutionalist hypotheses in the case of the two fist recapitalizations, the article attempts to explain the significant changes in the domestic banking system and the transfer of control of systemic banks to foreign hands, which were caused after the third recapitalization in 2015. Interpreting such an exceptional case, we focus on the ECB's lender of last resort tools as a catalyst for bank restructuring.


Jawa Barat as the next province after DKI Jakarta has many strategic roles. Jawa Barat has a vision to be the most advance province in 2012, according to the vision Jawa Barat has to achieve that vision and reach the opportunity. There are so much to do and big challenges that Jawa Barat has to deal with. But the important things is how the government recognize classification of services and knows the challenge they face.


Rapid advancements in telecommunication devices and the emergence of the mobile app ecosystem have immensely impacted our lives. Innovative apps have helped improve market efficiency in agriculture, contributed to environmental sustainability through peer-to-peer sharing services, and stimulated financial inclusion in developing economies. However, mobile app developers have to deal with challenges that can hinder the app to reach its full potential. In order to achieve commercial success in the hyper-competitive business landscape where freemium business models are dominating, developers need deep understanding on how non-price operational levers such as product design, delivery, and continued service lead to user adoption. From the two essays that comprise this dissertation, the first essay aims to explain user downloads of free mobile apps during the introduction stage in the lifecycle based on app feature designs and launch timings. The second essay estimates the effect of app enhancement updates on app downloads and explores contextual factors such as update regularity, lifecycle stage, and market activity levels that may further influence the effectiveness of the enhancements. Research questions proposed in the essays are answered by statistical analysis of heteroskedasticity-based instrumental variables regression and difference-in-differences analysis on free iOS mobile game app data acquired from app market Application Programming Interface (API) that contains daily performance observations over a 3.5-year time horizon. Data extraction and sample construction relied on naive Bayes tf-idf document classification algorithms and Bass diffusion model predictions which are performed via multi-thread processing on a high-performance cluster computing (HPC) server.


Autogenic relaxation technique gives a soothing effect on the mind and body, and is used to overcome physical disorders associated with excessive emotional response in the mother especially in mothers whose have children with mental retardation whose often have symptoms of somatization without or with physical impairments.This study aims to identify the effect of autogenic relaxation therapy on the pulse rate on mothers of children with mental retardation. The study design used was a non randomized experiment Quasy pretest- posttest with control group design. Total sample of 29 respondents who were counted pulse rate before and after autogenic relaxation therapy for 3 days. The test data is done by paired t - test statistk test and independent t - test.The results showed no significant difference between pulse rate between the intervention group and the control group with p:0.717 ( p more than 0.05 ) .There is no significant difference in pulse rate between the intervention group and the control group.


The planar interface of a metal and a dielectric material can guide multiple surface-plasmon-polariton (SPP) waves-all of the same frequency, but different phase speed, attenuation rate, and spatial profiles of fields-provided that the dielectric material is periodically nonhomogeneous in the direction normal to the interface. Theoretical and experimental research during the last four years have validated this concept. Emerging applications of surface multiplasmonics include optical sensing of analytes as well as solar-energy harvesting.


This introduction brings together a group of papers focusing on conservation theory and practice, and argues strongly for a new place-based conservation through a multispecies lens. Honouring the work of Brian Morris, a scholar who has consistently forged a persuasive set of conceptual connections between science and society, and building on his insights into environmental history and human-nature interactions, we outline a vision of conservation that incorporates new narratives – at the intersection between the ecological and the social – to reimagine the world in the Anthropocene. This includes challenging the persistence of fortress, neoprotectionist and other top-down forms of conservation, through a recognition that conservation is deeply rooted in (human, nonhuman and more-than-human) senses of place. The introduction urges scholars to focus on landscapes as units of analysis: 'multispecies assemblages' that are easily overlooked at other spatial and historical scales. It calls for increased attention to the contact zones where the lives of humans and other species biologically, culturally and politically intersect, as a counterpoint to the dominant planetary perspective of earth systems and conservation science. It underlines the importance of deep relational analyses of human interactions with other life forms, through renewed attention to multispecies histories, locality, and forms of knowledge rooted in place. It is at this level, through historically nuanced accounts founded on a more place-based conception of ourselves as a species, that new narratives and answers to our current predicament will emerge.


An efficient ultrasound beamforming algorithm based on sigma-delta modulation (SDM) is proposed, which performs dynamic focusing at the Nyquist rate as in conventional delay-sum beamformers. Specifically, a block of consecutive SDM samples for each focal point is selected on each channel according to the focusing delay. The data blocks for all channels are then added up on a bit-to-bit basis and the resulting block of multibit samples is fed to the demodulation filter to produce the focused signal. Since the SDM samples in each data block are not altered at all, the proposed method does not cause any signal distortion. Two hardware structures are also proposed for minimum hardware implementation of the proposed error-free SDM beamforming method. It is verified that compared to the delay-sum beamformer using 10-bit ADCs, the proposed algorithm provides almost the same image quality with a greatly reduced hardware complexity. In addition, it can be implemented with a lower hardware complexity than that of the conventional SDM beamformer when the number of channels is 64 or less.


One of the main goals of the Recovery.gov Web site is to provide information about how funds for the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) of 2009 are allocated and spent. In this report, we propose a reporting architecture that would focus on the reporting services rather than the Web site and page design, and that uses these Web services to build the user-facing part of ARRA reporting. Our proposed architecture is based on simple and well-established Web technologies, and the main goal of this architecture is to provide citizens and watchdog groups simple and easy access to machine-readable data. Our architecture uses a more sophisticated framework than simple downloads of data files. Our proposed architecture is based on the principles of Representational State Transfer (REST) and uses established and widely supported Web technologies such as feeds and XML. We argue that such an architecture is easy to design and implement, easy to understand for users, and easy to work with for those who want to access ARRA reporting data in a machine-readable way.


The goal of this study was to investigate whether a secondary plasma can be formed on a non-metallic target under water and to give insight into the related processes. The material of choice here was alumina, since its physical, thermal and mechanical properties are substantially different from those of pure Al, only for which secondary plasma formation was recently demonstrated. To achieve this, plasma and bubble formation on alumina under water after single pulse laser excitation were studied using fast photography, shadowgraphy, Schlieren and LIBS techniques. The results show that the secondary plasma caused by backward heating of the target and successive slow target evaporation into the growing vapour bubble also occurs for alumina. The secondary plasma formed on alumina involves only a narrow interaction region on the target resulting in an almost spherical plume shape. In contrast, on thermally conductive and easily melting/evaporating aluminium, the secondary plasma is intense, with a large volume which is flattened on the target surface. Inside the expanded bubble above the alumina target, glowing particles were not observed. Due to less efficient secondary plasma formation on alumina compared to aluminium, its optical emission only slightly increases at a delay of 400 ns from the laser pulse but emission persists during three bubble cycles with a total duration of about 650 μs. The LIBS spectra related to the secondary plasma are almost free from any continuum component and show narrow emission lines from low excited states. Here we discuss the observed differences in the plasma's spatial, temporal and spectral evolution on the two considered target materials. The obtained results indicate that under water a secondary plasma might be formed on very different materials and that its detection produces a good quality LIBS signal from single pulse excitation using a commercial nanosecond laser source.


Preaching has been deployed with a variety of media and approaches used. One medium of propaganda that is often used is culture. This phenomenon can be found in the majority culture of Gorontalo people embraced Islam. Melting the boundaries between religion and culture is a common thing for people of Gorontalo. Dikili is seen as one of the expressions of Islam Nusantara in Islamic culture of Gorontalo. Moral messages contained in the narrative Kitabi Lo Dikili relevant to preaching in general involves two aspects, aspects of the teachings of monotheism and moral teaching aspect / character of the Prophet Muhammad. Both of these aspects stand as it relates to the social setting that is faced by the Prophet when preaching for the first time in the city of Mecca.


Drug addiction is characterised by uncontrolled, compulsive drug use despite negative consequences. As this disease has a high social and economic cost, greater attention is required in finding an effective treatment for individuals suffering addiction. Kappa opioid receptor (KOPr) agonists demonstrate anti-addiction effects in the rodent cocaine drug-prime model of reinstatement. Salvinorin A (Sal A), a novel non-nitrogenous KOPr agonist, has demonstrated reduced side-effects compared to traditional agonists. However, its short half-life and duration of action limit clinical development. The design of novel Sal A analogues with improved pharmacokinetics, anti-addiction effects, and reduced side-effects is an important step towards the pharmaceutical development of KOPr agonists. β-Tetrahydropyran Sal B (β-THP Sal B), Mesyl Sal B, ethoxymethyl salvinorin B ether (EOM Sal B), and Ethynyl Sal A (Ethy Sal A) have demonstrated anti-addiction effects by reducing cocaine-seeking behaviour in rats, but their aversive and anxiogenic properties have yet to be examined. Here the conditioned place aversion (CPA) paradigm is used to evaluate aversion and the elevated plus maze (EPM), light/dark test, and open field are utilised to measure anxiety in male Sprague-Dawley rats.  EOM Sal B (0.1 mg/kg, i.p) and Ethy Sal A (0.3 mg/kg, i.p) did not produce aversive effects, whereas the traditional KOPr agonist U50,488 (10 mg/kg, i.p), Sal A (0.3 mg/kg, i.p), and the novel analogue β-THP Sal B (1 mg/kg, i.p) produced significant aversion using the CPA protocol.  In the EPM all the novel analogues, β-THP Sal B, EOM Sal B, Mesyl Sal B, and Ethy Sal, A did not show a reduction in time spent on the open arm. In addition, EOM Sal B showed a significant increase in time spent on the open arm compared with Sal A (0.3 mg/kg, i.p). Sal A (0.3 and 1 mg/kg, i.p) showed significant anxiogenic effects, but the traditional agonist U50,488 did not. In the light/dark test Sal A (1 mg/kg, i.p) showed significant dose dependent anxiogenic effects with significant effects observed at 1 but not 0.3 mg/kg dose. This is in contrast to results observed in the EPM. The novel analogues EOM Sal B and β-THP Sal B demonstrated a non-significant trend toward anxiogenic behaviour in the light/dark test, but U50,488, Mesyl Sal B, and Ethy Sal A did not show significant reductions in time spent in the light box.  KOPr stimulation activates its associated G-proteins, allowing them to interact with several intracellular effectors. Activation of cAMP response element binding protein (CREB) can occur downstream of the KOPr signalling cascade. The phosphorylation of CREB is associated with dysphoria and stress-induced reinstatement of drug-seeking behaviour. An initial attempt to validate CREB assays was made.  The lack of behavioural anxiogenic and aversive side-effects with EOM Sal B, Mesyl Sal B and Ethy Sal A treatment demonstrates that the development of KOPr agonists with desirable effects and reduced side-effects is possible. These novel Sal A agonists provide promising candidates for pharmacotherapy development.


Analysis of erosional valleys, geologic materials and features, and topography through time in the Thaumasia region of Mars using co-registered digital spatial data sets reveals significant associations that relate to valley origin. Valleys tend to originate (1) on Noachian to Early Hesperian (stages 1 and 2) large volcanoes, (2) within 50–100 km of stages 1 and 2 rift systems, and (3) within 100 km of Noachian (stage 1) impact craters >50 km in diameter. These geologic preferences explain observations of higher valley-source densities (VSDs) in areas of higher elevations and regional slopes (>1°) because the volcanoes, rifts, and craters form high, steep topography or occur in terrain of high relief. Other stage 1 and stage 2 high, steep terrains, however, do not show high VSDs. The tendency for valleys to concentrate near geologic features and the overall low drainage densities in Thaumasia compared to terrestrial surfaces rule out widespread precipitation as a major factor in valley formation (as is proposed in wann, wet climate scenarios) except perhaps during the Early Noachian, for which much of the geologic record has been obliterated. Instead, volcanoes and rifts may indicate the presence of shallow crustal intrusions that could lead to local hydrothermal circulation, melting of ground ice and snow, and groundwater sapping. However, impact-crater melt would provide a heat source at the surface that might drive away water, fonning valleys in the process. Post-stage 1 craters mostly have low nearby VSDs, which, for valleys incised in older rocks, suggests burial by ejecta and, for younger valleys, may indicate desiccation of near-surface water and deepening of the cryosphere. Later Hesperian and Amazonian (stages 3 and 4) valleys originate within 100–200 km of three young, large impact craters and near rifts systems at Warrego Valles and the southern part of Coprates rise. These valleys likely developed when the cryosphere was a couple kilometers or more thick, inhibiting valley development by hydrothermal circulation. However, eruption of groundwater may have occurred from impact-induced fracturing and lateral and perhaps minor upward transport of water due to seismic pumping. The two smaller craters formed along the plateau margin where the highest potential hydraulic head would occur in aquifers beneath the plateau. In the case of the larger crater (Lowell, 200 km in diameter), potential aquifers would likely be at depths of kilometers below the cryosphere. Seismic energy generated by the Lowell impactor would have been much greater, pumping both groundwater and perhaps fluidized slurry to the surface from beneath the cryosphere to form the young valleys and flow deposit. Along the margin of Thaumasia, tectonic pressurization of groundwater also may have contributed to valley formation. Dissection of rim materials of the Argyre impact may relate to tectonic activity and the unconsolidated state of basin ejecta.


Modern slavery is a global problem. Over 25 million people are in forced labor, with many of those people directly or indirectly involved in the production of goods sold in the U.S. through multinational corporations' supply chains. Corporations benefit from modern slavery and their business practices are often one of its root causes, which is why modern slavery persists despite a societal repulsion to the practice. To hold corporations accountable for their efforts to ensure they are not linked to modern slavery, governments, such as the state of California and the United Kingdom, have relied on mandatory disclosures requirements. This Article shows that such transparency initiatives are ineffective, and despite attempts to improve on their shortcomings, they will continue to be ineffective for achieving corporate accountability. This ineffectiveness results from corporations approaching transparency as an end in itself, with the production of disclosures being disconnected from operational changes. In addition, these disclosures rely heavily on social audits to demonstrate a company's due diligence efforts, but social audits have not proven to be a reliable way to monitor human rights related impacts in the supply chain. Instead, efforts towards a legislative solution must focus on mandatory human rights due diligence. Such an approach would be consistent with a developing trend in Europe. This Article advocates for the U.S. to move away from transparency-based regulation and towards mandatory human rights due diligence for regulating modern slavery in global supply chains.


A direct coupling of 2H-indazoles' C3 position and acyl groups has been achieved to produce 3-acyl-2H-indazoles. The Ni(ii)-catalyzed acylation might proceed through a radical pathway for the reaction of 2H-indazoles with either aryl or alkyl aldehydes in the presence of the free radical initiator TBHP and additive PivOH. This method provided a superior approach to fulfil the direct C3-acylation of 2H-indazoles with yields up to 91%. And various substituted 2H-indazoles were well tolerated with this method, enriching the diversity of 2H-indazole derivatives. In comparison with previously reported approaches for the C3-acylation of 2H-indazoles, the developed reaction represents a more convenient and economical method directly using aldehydes as the acylation agents.


Neutrophils constitute the largest class of white blood cells and are the first responders in the innate immune response. They are able to sense and migrate up concentration gradients of chemoattractants in search of primary sites of infection and inflammation through a process known as chemotaxis. These chemoattractants include formylated peptides and various chemokines. While much is known about chemotaxis to individual chemoattractants, far less is known about chemotaxis towards many. Previous studies have shown that in opposing gradients of intermediate chemoattractants (interleukin-8 and leukotriene B4), neutrophils preferentially migrate toward the more distant source. In this work, we investigated neutrophil chemotaxis in opposing gradients of chemoattractants using a microfluidic platform. We found that primary neutrophils exhibit oscillatory motion in opposing gradients of intermediate chemoattractants. To understand this behavior, we constructed a mathematical model of neutrophil chemotaxis. Our results suggest that sensory adaptation alone cannot explain the observed oscillatory motion. Rather, our model suggests that neutrophils employ a winner-take-all mechanism that enables them to transiently lock onto sensed targets and continuously switch between the intermediate attractant sources as they are encountered. These findings uncover a previously unseen behavior of neutrophils in opposing gradients of chemoattractants that will further aid in our understanding of neutrophil chemotaxis and the innate immune response. In addition, we propose a winner-take-all mechanism allows the cells to avoid stagnation near local chemical maxima when migrating through a network of chemoattractant sources.


We describe an efficient method for introducing a sulfamoylamino group into the C-2' position of pyrrolidine using the Mitsunobu reaction. S-4661, its N-methyl analogues and stereoisomers were synthesized using this method and their structure-activity relationships were investigated.


Photonic crystals (PCs) are structures with periodically modulated dielectric constants whose distribution follows a periodicity of the order of a fraction of the optical wavelength. Since the first pioneering work in this field, many new interesting ideas have been developed dealing with one-dimensional (1D), two-dimensional (2D), and threedimensional (3D) PCs. Researchers have proposed many new and unique applications of photonic devices which may revolutionize the field of photonics in much the same way as semiconductors revolutionized electronics. They can generate spectral regions named photonic band gaps (PBGs) where light cannot propagate in a manner analogous to the formation of electronic band gaps in semiconductors [1,2]. There are several studies of metallic [3-7] and superconducting photonic crystals [7,8] which are mostly concentrated at microwave, millimeterwave, and far-infrared frequencies. In those frequencies, metals act like nearly perfect reflectors with no significant absorption problems. Yablonovitch [1] main motivation was to engineer the photonic density of states in order to control the spontaneous emission of materials embedded with photonic crystal while John's idea was to use photonic crystals to affect the localization and control of light. However due to the difficulty of actually fabricating the structures at optical scales early studies were either theoretical or in the microwave regime where photonic crystals can be built on the far more reading accessible centimeter scale. This fact is due to the property of the electromagnetic fields known as scale invariance in essence, the electromagnetic fields as the solutions to Maxwell's equations has no natural length scale and so solutions for centimeter scale structure at microwave frequencies as the same for nanometer scale structures at optical frequencies. The optical analogue of light is the photonic crystals in which atoms or molecules are replaced by macroscopic media with different dielectric constants and the periodic potential is replaced by a periodic dielectric function. if the dielectric constants of the materials is sufficiently different and also if the absorption of light by the material is minimal then the refractions and reflections of light from all various interfaces can produce many of the same phenomena for photons like that the atomic potential produced for electrons[9]. The previous details can guide us to the meaning of photonic crystals that can control the propagation of light since it can simply defined as a dielectric media with a periodic modulation of refractive index in which the dielectric constant varies periodically in a


During the winters of 1972-73 and 1973-74 an evaluation was made of the effectiveness ofthe leg-hold and killing type (Conibear) trap for taking fur animals in coastal Louisiana. The leg-hold trap caught significantly more nutria and raccoons than the Conibear trap. However, the killing type trap appeared to be more effective for taking muskrats in flooded marshes. Approximately 92 percent of the animals caught in the Conibear were killed by the trap, only 15.8 percent died in the leg-hold. Thirty percent ofthe nutria taken in the leg-hold trap were undersize and released. Survival of undersize nutria, held briefly in captivity, appeared good.


From the Publisher:
The Advantage Series presents the Why,What and How of computer application skills to today's students. Each lab in this series is built upon an efficient learning model,which provides students and faculty with complete coverage and enhances critical thinking skills.


In signal acquisition, Toeplitz and circulant matrices are widely used as sensing operators. They correspond to discrete convolutions and are easily or even naturally realized in various applications. For compressive sensing, recent work has used random Toeplitz and circulant sensing matrices and proved their efficiency in theory, by computer simulations, as well as through physical optical experiments. Motivated by recent work [8], we propose models to learn a circulant sensing matrix/operator for one and higher dimensional signals. Given the dictionary of the signal(s) to be sensed, the learned circulant sensing matrix/operator is more effective than a randomly generated circulant sensing matrix/operator, and even slightly so than a (non-circulant) Gaussian random sensing matrix. In addition, by exploiting the circulant structure, we improve the learning from the patch scale in [8] to the much large image scale. Furthermore, we test learning the circulant sensing matrix/operator and the nonparametric dictionary altogether and obtain even better performance. We demonstrate these results using both synthetic sparse signals and real images.


Do you routinely check the inactive ingredients of a drug product? Do you routinely ask patients about food allergies in addition to drug-related allergies? If you answered no to these questions, then you may not be aware that some patients with food allergies may have allergic reactions to ingredients in some drug products.


The ethics of tax evasion has been discussed sporadically in the theological and philosophical literature for at least 500 years. Martin Crowe wrote a doctoral thesis that reviewed much of that literature in 1944. The debate revolved around about 15 issues. Over the centuries, three main views evolved on the topic. This paper begins with a review of the literature and identifies the main issues and summarizes the three main viewpoints that have emerged over the centuries. It then reports on the results of a survey of Argentinean law and business students who were asked their opinions on the ethics of tax evasion. The survey consisted of 18 statements, representing the 15 issues and 3 viewpoints that have emerged over the centuries plus 3 statements representing more recent issues. Participants were asked to signify the extent of their agreement with each statement by placing a number from 1 to 7 in the space provided. Two hundred eighteen (218) usable responses were received. The data were then analyzed to determine which of the three viewpoints was dominant among the sample population. The two groups were compared to determine whether their responses were different. Male scores were also compared to female scores to determine if the responses differed by gender.


In the last three decades, the Internet has seen unprecedented growth, scaling from a
few hundred early users to more than 3 billion global users, enabling a transformation of
a wide range of economic, social, political and cultural practices. However, along with
this growth, Internet has also witnessed a wide range of growing conflicts among its
stakeholders. The issues raised through these conflicts, which include concerns over
privacy, security, censorship, etc., are at the heart of debates over Internet's design and
regulation held between stakeholders such as governments, private enterprises, activists
and designers. Given the impact of Internet's technical architecture over human life, a
number of scholars within the Internet research community, arguing that the current
architecture is too constrained to cater to contemporary concerns, advocate for a
clean-slate architecture design for a future network. While a clean-slate architecture
provides us with an opportunity to find solutions to our current moral dilemmas, it also
leaves us with the responsibility of anticipating moral dilemmas that may arise in future
because of such a design. This thesis aims to take up this responsibility and provide a
step towards a future Internet. Using the conceptual notion of 'architecture', which
allows for a decomposition of a complex system, like the Internet, this thesis argues for
four critical meta-requirements for a future Internet architecture. These
meta-requirements, which are properties of the system critical to it beyond its basic
functionalities, cater to four characteristics of a complex system like Internet which
underlie its current as well as potentially future challenges: inherent uncertainty and lack
of predictability of future use of a network like Internet, diverging stakeholder interests
and views, lack of feedback or data about how the network is being used, and diversity of
societies Internet is embedded in. I conclude the thesis by providing design principles,
which are philosophical guidelines,for a future Internet, along with evaluation tools that a
research team, which I argue should be multi-disciplinary, involved in development of a
future Internet can use to evaluate the different specific implementations of these design
principles and hence, move towards the development of a future network that can support
the socio-economic goals of a diverse world.


Abstract Free vibration behavior of short beams made of axially layered functionally graded material (FGM) was investigated experimentally and numerically. Beams, which have gradation of the material properties in the axial direction, are fabricated by powder metallurgy technique using different weight fractions of aluminum and silicon carbide powders. In order to determine elasticity modulus of axially layered functionally graded (FG) beams, homogeneous beams containing different weight fractions of Al (aluminum) and SiC (silicon carbide) are produced, and these homogeneous beams are subjected to tensile tests. Density of each homogeneous layer is also calculated experimentally. After determination of the mechanical properties of each layer of the FG beams, they are modeled in a finite element program (ANSYS) according to Timoshenko beam theory, and free vibration analyses are performed. Fundamental frequencies of the axially layered FG beams produced are also calculated experimentally. FG beams with clamped-free boundary conditions are considered. Layers of the axially FG beams are considered to have symmetric configurations. Effect of the change in weight fractions of SiC particles and sorting order of layers to fundamental frequency of the beam is investigated. Experimental results obtained are compared with numerical results.


We propose here a framework to model real-time components consisting of concurrent real-time tasks running on a single processor, using parametric timed automata. Our framework is generic and modular, so as to be easily adapted to different schedulers and more complex task models. We first perform a parametric schedulability analysis of the components using the inverse method. We show that the method unfortunately does not provide satisfactory results when the task periods are consid- ered as parameters. After identifying and explaining the problem, we present a solution adapting the model by making use of the worst-case scenario in schedulability analysis. We show that the analysis with the inverse method always converges on the modified model when the system load is strictly less than 100%. Finally, we show how to use our parametric analysis for the generation of timed interfaces in compositional system design.


Of all researched emotions, sadness seems to last the longest in an individual and is elicited by events of high importance to that person. Determining the right nature and meaning of this emotion expressed in the face of another person thus seems to be important for successful communication. To date there is no exact description of which facial expressions exclusively indicate (a certain intensity of) sadness.
In addition to helping people with emotion recognition problems, this description can be used in a professional therapeutic context in order to ensure therapeutic success. The field of systems for automatic emotion identification is missing such a definition as well. This master thesis is therefore directed at the development of a reliable coding scheme for facial expressions that indicate sadness. Considering certain characteristics of a person can influence emotion expression, the data will be researched for differences between sex and age at the expression of sadness through the face.
Method. This thesis uses audio-visual oral history interviews of war memories from the project "Croatian Memories" as its main source. Two analysts observed twelve interviews in total, coded these for facial expressions of sadness and further defined these expressions. This process took place in three phases with a discussion about the consensus of the findings, functioning as control point, at the end of each phase. The coding resulted in a dataset on the basis of which frequency, variation and intensity of facially expressed sadness were measured for the entire sample as well as for each individual. Tests for significance were conducted in order to determine differences in emotional expression between the sexes and the two age groups (younger and older adults).
Results. The reliability of the coding scheme was calculated using Cohen's Kappa and shows κ = .877 for the definite coding scheme. This implies a nearly perfect consensus between the two analysts. The developed coding scheme contains five, in intensity increasing, different facial expressions that indicate sadness. The results show that the more intense a sad facial expression, the less often this expression was shown by the interviewees. Furthermore, there were no significant differences found with regard sex or age.
Conclusion. The limited facial expression of intensive sadness could be explained by social inhibition effects and the way in which the interview questions were formulated.
The missing differences between gender and age group are explained by the topic of the interviews. It seems as though specific social rules do not apply to certain characteristics of a person (sex/age) in the context of war memories. This research produces new results on which facial expressions exclusively indicate sadness and also which small differences in facial movements exclusively indicate a certain intensity of sadness. Therefore, this research highly contributes to the development of emotion identification. The coding scheme contributes to successful therapy processes of psychologists, to the learning of emotion identification for individuals with limitations in this, and to the development of systems for automatic emotion identification.


The exon-intron structure of human, insect (Drosophila sp.), and dicot plant (Arabidopsis thaliana) genes was considered. In each genome there exists a characteristic intron length. Anomalously long introns was usually the first introns in genes. In each sample there are correlations between the lengths of neighboring exons and between exon lengths and closeness to the consensus of the sites at exon boundaries. Exons and exon pairs containing an integer number of triplets are preferred. These results are relevant to the study of splicing mechanism and evolution of introns, as well as construction of gene recognition algorithms.


Poetry and Bondage is a groundbreaking and comprehensive study of the history of poetic constraint. For millennia, poets have compared verse to bondage – chains, fetters, cells, or slavery. Tracing this metaphor from Ovid through the present, Andrea Brady reveals the contributions to poetics of people who are actually in bondage. How, the book asks, does our understanding of the lyric – and the political freedoms and forms of human being it is supposed to epitomise – change, if we listen to the voices of enslaved and imprisoned poets? Bringing canonical and contemporary poets into dialogue, from Thomas Wyatt to Rob Halpern, Emily Dickinson to M. NourbeSe Philip, and Phillis Wheatley to Lisa Robertson, the book also examines poetry that emerged from the plantation and the prison. This book is a major intervention in lyric studies and literary criticism, interrogating the whiteness of those disciplines and exploring the possibilities for committed poetry today.


Nanotheranostics, the integration of diagnostic and therapeutic function in one system using the benefits of nanotechnology, is extremely attractive for personalized medicine. Because treating cancer is not a one-size-fits-all scenario, it requires therapy to be adapted to the patient's specific biomolecules. Personalized and precision medicine (PM) does just that. It identifies biomarkers to gain an understanding of the diagnosis and in turn treating the specific disorder based on the precise diagnosis. By predominantly utilizing the unique properties of nanoparticles to achieve biomarker identification and drug delivery, nanotheranostics can be applied to noninvasively discover and target image biomarkers and further deliver treatment based on the biomarker distribution. This is a large and hopeful role theranostics must fill. However, as described in this expert opinion, current nanotechnology-based theranostics systems engineered for PM applications are not yet sufficient. PM is an ever-growing field that will be a driving force for future discoveries in biomedicine, especially cancer theranostics. In this article, the authors dissect the requirements for successful nanotheranostics-based PM.


The nanoscale size and controllable memristance of Memristor (MR) have shown evident superiorities for structuring new integrated circuits with different functions. With regards to the reported MR based filters, their cut-off frequencies could be hardly hot-line controlled on purposes. In this paper, by using the boundary values of memristance, a method for hot-line adjusting cut-off frequencies is newly proposed by inputting a preset DC voltage together with the to-be-filtered signal, without the requirement of extra memristance write circuits, which is hence beneficial for integrated implementation. The floating MR emulator is firstly presented and the saturation operation of its memristance is interpreted. A family of MR based low-pass filters with controllable cut-off frequency are proposed by combining the connection nodes of a memristive circuit network Z with the op amp. Two circuits of the low-pass filter family are chosen for demonstration, and the cut-off frequency and passband gain are calculated. Square and sinusoidal voltage signals are used to test the performance of the proposed low-pass filter family. Both the simulation and experimental results show that the proposed filters can achieve cut-off frequency adjustment with good filtering performance.


User involvement in transport decision-making (often referred to as 'public participation') has been actively encouraged by government for many years. However, the methods used for engaging the public are mostly traditional (e.g. questionnaires, consultation documents and focus groups) with very little use of creative techniques. Furthermore, the level of involvement is generally 'passive' (i.e. agreeing pre-established local authority priorities) rather than 'active' (i.e. generation of problem areas, priorities or potential solutions using participatory approaches).'Participatory design' encompasses a broad range of methods and is often resource-heavy but leads to user-centric outcomes. If it is to be more widely employed in the development of sustainable transport solutions, then there needs to be more evidence of its value in this context, more exploration of which participants and which methods are beneficial, and more exploration of novel ways to engage with the travelling public. To address the latter, there is an opportunity to utilise the affordances of technology (e.g. mobile accessibility, location-enabled, immediacy, content-creation, mass-engagement) to understand what is needed, to co-create ideas and to collaborate in the pursuance of these solutions. It is this overlapping of direct user involvement, innovative approaches and technology affordances that is explored in this thesis in the context of sustainable transport innovations.This thesis presents ten publications that, as a collection, show how the author has investigated the role of user participation in the development of transport service innovations. This body of work makes a contribution to knowledge predominantly in participatory design but also in other domains including transport studies, crowdsourcing and grassroots innovation. The work has provided evidence of the benefits of user participation at different stages of the design process including problem identification via crowdsourced content, identifying novel and diverse solutions using generative methods and actively creating solutions using 'volunteered information'.


Guided by the expectancy value model of achievement choice, this study examined the relationships among expectancy value constructs (expectancy related beliefs and subjective task values), effort and intention for future participation in a culturally specific dance, soul line, among African American adult women in the church setting. Participants were 100 African American women who were members of the women's ministries from four predominantly African American churches in the Dallas/Ft. Worth metropolitan area. Participants completed a 20-minute soul line session and responded to survey questions, validated in previous research, assessing their expectancy-related beliefs, subjective task values, effort, intention for future participation and physical activity. This was the first study to use the expectancy value model as a guide to determine motivations attached to physical activities among African American adult women. Usefulness, a component of subjective task values, emerged as a predictor of intention for future participation. Eighty-one percent of the women did not meet physical activity guidelines for aerobic activity. Of those inactive women 60% indicated an interest in doing soul line dancing often at their church after one short exposure to the activity as indicated by the strongest possible response to both intention questions. A slightly smaller percent of the active women provided with a strong positive response for future intention. These findings suggest that soul line dancing is a practical avenue to increase physical activity among African American women in the church. Future research should test this theoretical model on a wider variety of individuals who are sedentary to physically active, measure actual participation, and directly measure BMI and physical activity.


Single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) are increasingly used to tag genetic loci associated with phenotypes such as risk of complex diseases. Technically, this is done genome-wide without prior restriction or knowledge of biological feasibility in scans referred to as genome-wide association studies (GWAS). Depending on the linkage disequilibrium (LD) structure at a particular locus, such tagSNPs may be surrogates for many thousands of other SNPs, and it is difficult to distinguish those that may play a functional role in the phenotype from those simply genetically linked. Because a large proportion of tagSNPs have been identified within non-coding regions of the genome, distinguishing functional from non-functional SNPs has been an even greater challenge. A strategy was recently proposed that prioritizes surrogate SNPs based on non-coding chromatin and epigenomic mapping techniques that have become feasible with the advent of massively parallel sequencing. Here, we introduce an R/Bioconductor software package that enables the identification of candidate functional SNPs by integrating information from tagSNP locations, lists of linked SNPs from the 1000 genomes project and locations of chromatin features which may have functional significance. Availability: FunciSNP is available from Bioconductor (bioconductor.org).


OBJECTIVE
We assessed, from a health sector perspective, options for change that could improve the efficiency of Australia's current mental health services by directing available resources toward 'best practice' cost-effective services.

METHOD
We summarize cost-effectiveness results of a range of interventions for depression, schizophrenia, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and anxiety disorders that have been presented in previous papers in this journal. Recommendations for change are formulated after taking into account 'second-filter criteria' of equity, feasibility of implementing change, acceptability to stakeholders and the strength of the evidence. In addition, we estimate the impact on total expenditure if the recommended mental health interventions for depression and schizophrenia are to be implemented in Australia.

RESULTS
There are cost-effective treatment options for mental disorders that are currently underutilized (e.g. cognitive-behavioural therapy (CBT) for depression and anxiety, bibliotherapy for depression, family interventions for schizophrenia and clozapine for the worst course of schizophrenia). There are also less cost-effective treatments in current practice (e.g. widespread use of olanzapine and risperidone in the treatment of established schizophrenia and, within those atypicals, a preference for olanzapine over risperidone). Feasibility of funding mechanisms and training of staff are the main second-filter issues for CBT and family interventions. Acceptability to various stakeholders is the main barrier to implementation of more cost-effective drug treatment regimens. More efficient drug intervention options identified for schizophrenia would cost 68 million Australian dollars less than current practice. These savings would more than cover the estimated 36M Australian dollars annual cost of delivering family interventions to the 51% of people with schizophrenia whom we estimated to be eligible and this would lead to an estimated 12% improvement in their health status. Implementing recommended strategies for depression would cost 121M Australian dollars annually for the 24% of people with depression who seek care currently, but do not receive an evidence-based treatment.

CONCLUSIONS
Despite considerable methodological problems, a range of cost-effective and less cost-effective interventions for major mental disorders can be discerned. The biggest hurdle to implementation of more efficient mental health services is that this change would require reallocation of funds between interventions, between disorders and between service providers with different funding mechanisms.


In today's digital society, characterized by the Semantic Web and by Linked Data, ontologies, in the sense of Knowledge Engineering, have paved the way for new perspectives for Terminology , namely in what concerns the operation-alization of terminological products. The collaborative work involving Terminology and ontologies has led to the emergence of new theoretical perspectives, one of which being Onto-terminology. This approach aims to reconcile Terminology's linguistic and conceptual dimensions whilst maintaining their fundamental differences and, in addition, enables the construction of a computer-readable representation of a given conceptualization. Bearing this in mind, this paper presents the EndoTerm project , a multilingual resource within the medical domain – with as the core concept – that comprises both verbal and non-verbal representations and that can be computa-tionally represented and manipulated. The presentation of micro-concept systems based on these verbal and non-verbal representations will support a reflection upon the role of the latter in terminology work.


This paper presents how a multi-core system can benefit from the use of a latency-aware memory bus capable of dual-concurrent data transfers on a single wire line: Source synchronous CDMA interconnect (SSCDMA-I) has been adopted to implement the memory bus of a shared-memory multi-core system. Two types of bus-based homogeneous and heterogeneous multi-core systems are modeled and simulated by a cycle-accurate simulation platform. Unlike the conventional time-division multiplexing (TDM) bus-based multi-core system that shows degradation in performance as the number of processing cores increases, the proposed SSCDMA bus-based multi-core shows higher performance up to 23.1% for 4 cores. The maximum latency of a heterogeneous multi-core system with a mix of traffic loads has been reduced up to 78%. These results demonstrate that the performance of multi-core systems can be improved with less cost and network complexity by reducing the bus contention interferences and by supporting higher concurrency in memory accesses that brings shorter critical word access latency.


Abstract Poor quality CCTV evidence requires a witness to make an identification of the suspect. Good quality CCTV images are often left to the jury, who are unfamiliar with the face. Psychological research has demonstrated that identification procedures for both known and previously unknown suspects should be very different. A visual comparison of high quality imagery may suggest that a more reliable decision regarding identity will be made. However, studies indicate that when an assailant is unknown, identification is poor even when the image is of high quality, regardless of format. As such, research has demonstrated that recognizing or matching unfamiliar faces even in optimal conditions is an extremely error prone process. This paper examines the current legal framework for identification from imagery in the light of psychological research. Incorrect identifications may not necessarily be safeguarded against in some situations, although further research is needed to elucidate reliable identification methods for criminal prosecutions.


AIM OF THE STUDY: Participation in courses for health and hospital management is increasingly becoming a conditio sine qua non for candidates for executive positions in the health professions. The aim of this study was thus to evaluate the two-semester university course for health and hospital management offered by the University of Innsbruck since 1994. METHODS: A structured telephone survey was conducted to poll the participants (n = 184) of previous courses concerning time invested, cost-benefit ratio, quality of the course as well as implementation of course content. RESULTS: The university courses (n = 7) for health and hospital management of the University of Innsbruck evaluated in this study were rated in the upper half of the of the five-part scale (scores 2 to 3) for overall quality, cost-benefit ratio and implementation of course content. Only approx. 25 % of the course participants reported that the course had a positive influence on their career. The relatively high course fee was borne in part by the local hospital operator, a fact that had a certain influence on the selection of course participants. Participation in the course was largely made possible by exemptions from job duties (approx. 75 %) and to a lesser extent by vacation time (approx. 20 %) or time off for overtime (approx. 5 %). Of total absences from the course (3.18 +/- 3.41 d) 75 % was for job-related reasons, 6 % for illness and 19 % for other reasons. Overall, participants were absent more often, the larger the number of personnel in their department or clinic. CONCLUSION: All in all, the courses were considered important and recommendable, particularly with regard to communication, organization, time management and cost awareness. Streamlining (i. e. more content in less time), stronger practical orientation and a switch from mainly local to more international speakers would be important steps toward improving course quality. Thanks to its demonstrated quality, it can be said that the university course for health and hospital management held by the University of Innsbruck and evaluated in this study is certainly a worthwhile course offered in a still emerging market, namely one that will come under increasing pressure from the candidates for executive positions in the health professions to provide what is best for their careers and the health services industry in general


OBJECTIVES
To develop and implement an elective pharmacy course that included a guided abstinence experience to illustrate addiction recovery principles.

DESIGN
A 1-credit elective course to illustrate addiction recovery principles was developed and implemented. The course required students to give up a habit for 6 weeks that was causing them problems, meet weekly to discuss addiction recovery processes, and relate their experiences in a journal. Course grades were determined by class participation, submitted worksheets, and submission of the journal and a paper concerning their role as a pharmacist in dealing with those with addictions and in recovery. Pre- and posttests consisting of addiction case scenarios were used to assess students' application of course material.

ASSESSMENT
Graded course elements, pretesting and posttesting, and student course evaluations indicated that course objectives were met. Over the past 15 years, student enrollment has grown from approximately 10% of pharmacy classes to approximately 50% (average 31 students).

CONCLUSION
A guided abstinence experience was an effective tool for teaching pharmacy students the concepts of addiction and recovery.


Land costs account for a significant proportion of the total costs for many agricultural products that are traded internationally, especially for the major grain crops that the U.S. exports in competition with several other countries. For owner-operators, a common form of tenure in the U.S. and most other countries, most land costs are implicit and involve few cash outlays, i.e., are opportunity costs that are important in the long-run but that may not affect production decisions in the short-run. To the extent that land is rented or where the owner is making mortgage payments, however, larger explicit land costs are incurred and can be a very significant factor in the cost of production and competitiveness. U.S. cost of production data for most crops in recent years indicate that the returns on equity, including land and other owned resources are zero or negative, i.e., the prices of many farm products are too low to cover total costs when opportunity costs are included as part of the cost of production. Thus, land costs may not be a significant factor in competitiveness in the current policy framework where government payments are a significant part of the net returns of farm operators.


Industry-wide methods of assessing duct leakage are based on duct pressurization tests, and focus on ''high pressure'' ducts. Even though ''low pressure'' ducts can be a large fraction of the system and tend to be leaky, few guidelines or construction specifications require testing these ducts. We report here on the measured leakage flows from ten large commercial duct systems at operating conditions: three had low leakage (less than 5% of duct inlet flow), and seven had substantial leakage (9 to 26%). By comparing these flows with leakage flows estimated using the industry method, we show that the latter method by itself is not a reliable indicator of whole-system leakage flow, and that leakage flows need to be measured.


Purpose: The aim of this study is to measure the level of knowledge of parents about retinopathy of prematurity (ROP), and provide insight into programs that can be designed to raise awareness in parents about ROP. Materials and Methods: The study enrolled parents of infants who were born before the 32th week of gestation, and brought to retinopathy of prematurity examination between the 4th and 6th postnatal weeks. Prior to the ROP examination, an 11-item survey was administered to measure the level of knowledge of the parents about ROP. Results: The study included 200 parents with premature infants. Of the parents, 43% (86) were mothers and 57% (114) were fathers. Of the patients, 78% were referred by a pediatrician/neonatologist, 14% by another ophthalmologist, 8% by a family physician, and 7.5% presented to the hospital without any doctor's reference. 72% of the parents knew for which examination they had presented to the hospital. 63.5% did not know what ROP was, and 75% were not aware of the fact that ROP is a disease that causes blindness. Only 31.5% of the parents had obtained information about ROP and they mostly obtained information from doctors. It was found that as the education level of the parents increased, their awareness about ROP increased. Conclusion: In order to protect premature babies from irreversible blindness, there is a need for informative programs for parents on retinopathy of prematurity.


The earliest 'shellly' fossils deserve more detailed studies than they have received. Examination of the Cambrian genus Volborthella shows that it resembles in significant characters tubes of sabellariid worms, and on this basis the morphology and ecology of the animal can be reconstructed. The Cribricyathida, which include Cloudina and range from late Precambrian to lower Cambrian, are not related to Archaeoeyatha but are polychaete worm tubes with some structural characters which resemble those of serpulids. The problematic Angustiochreida (Anabarites etc.), of similar age, also show such resemblances. The first appearance in the geological record of mineralized skeletons ('shelly fossils'), built according to various interrelated modes in annelids and in a different manner in other Metazoa, is not a suitable stratigraphic marker. The early differentiation of annelid worms can now be documented palaeontologically.


Severe acute respiratory syndrome-coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is responsible for the novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). An appealing antiviral drug target is the coronavirus 3C-like protease (3CLpro) that is responsible for the processing of the viral polyproteins and liberation of functional proteins essential for the maturation and infectivity of the virus. In this study, multiple thermal analytical techniques have been implemented to acquire the thermodynamic parameters of 3CLpro at different buffer conditions. 3CLpro exhibited relatively high thermodynamic stabilities over a wide pH range; however, the protease was found to be less stable in the presence of salts. Divalent metal cations reduced the thermodynamic stability of 3CLpro more than monovalent cations; however, altering the ionic strength of the buffer solution did not alter the stability of 3CLpro. Furthermore, the most stable thermal kinetic stability of 3CLpro was recorded at pH 7.5, with the highest enthalpy of activation calculated from the slope of Eyring plot. The biochemical and biophysical properties of 3CLpro explored here will improve the solubility and stability of 3CLpro for optimum conditions for the setup of an enzymatic assay for the screening of inhibitors to be used as lead candidates in the drug discovery and antiviral design for therapeutics against COVID-19.


This report is the second in a series of reports exploring the role of law in housing equity and innovative uses of law to improve health equity through housing. The reports are based on extensive literature scans and semi-structured interviews with people who are taking action in housing policy and practice. The full series includes: Report I: A Vision of Health Equity in Housing; Report II: Legal Levers for Health Equity in Housing: A Systems Approach; Report III: Health Equity in Housing: Evidence and Evidence Gaps; Report IV: Creative People and Places Building Health Equity in Housing; Report V: Governing Health Equity in Housing; and Report VI: Health Equity through Housing: A Blueprint for Systematic Legal Action.

This report describes some of the factors that make housing in the U.S. a complex system, and establishes a model of the key legal elements, or "levers," in that system. The model helps people from many backgrounds include law in a systematic approach to promote greater health equity in housing. Our model aims to pull together the key factors that are often separately identified and worked on, and organizes the legal levers we identified into five domains: Increasing the Supply of New Affordable Housing; Maintaining Existing Housing as Affordable, Stable, and Safe; Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing; Enhancing Economic Choice for the Poor; and Governance.


Refractory RA has emerged as an area of unmet need in a landscape of generally well-controlled disease. Whilst most patients are adequately treated on methotrexate and other first-line disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drugs (DMARDs), a proportion requires biologic (b) and targeted synthetic (ts) DMARDs, with a further subsection failing multiple agents. Recent observational studies have adopted working definitions of refractory RA based on number of failed DMARDs, with prevalence estimates of 6 – 21% depending on threshold and study population. Risk factors include treatment delay, baseline disease activity and function, female gender, smoking, obesity and lower socioeconomic status. Practical and conceptual challenges in defining refractory RA arise from limitations of disease activity scores used to assess response, with attendant misclassification risk of co-existent non-inflammatory pathology, and failure to capture additional outcomes, such as fatigue, that have variable treatment response. Time is an important factor in defining refractory disease; registry studies show that growing treatment options have resulted in rapid b/tsDMARD cycling and earlier refractory status, and refractory RA is itself a dynamic concept, evolving with each new therapeutic class. Whilst the biology underpinning refractory RA remains largely unknown, a general overview of biomarker studies and clinical trials old and new offers insights into prediction of response and treatment failure. Whilst the future holds promise, current data is insufficient to personalise or meaningfully sequence b/tsDMARDs. Therefore, avoidance of a refractory course is best achieved by following proven management paradigms (e.g. early diagnosis and treat-to-target), addressing modifiable risk factors, and considering enrolment in novel trials. insignificant despite trials of multiple This discusses the concept of refractory RA and our current understanding of this potentially unmet need in rheumatology.


Chlamydia sp. strain TWAR is an important cause of acute respiratory disease in humans. To determine the genetic relatedness of the TWAR organism to Chlamydia trachomatis and Chlamydia psittaci, solution hybridization followed by SI nuclease assays were performed, and guanine-plus-cytosine (G+C) contents were determined. Deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) preparations from three TWAR isolates were radioactively labeled and hybridized against DNAs from three serovars ofC. trachomatis and five strains of C. psittaci. Reciprocal experiments were also done by using radioactively labeled C. trachomatis and C. psittaci DNAs against TWAR DNA. In all cases, the degree of DNA relatedness between TWAR and the two Chlamydia species was 10% or less. Within the group of TWAR isolates, there was 94% or greater sequence similarity. The G+C values for TWAR were intermediate between the G+C values for C. trachomatis and C. psittaci. The degrees of DNA relatedness among the strains within the species C. psittaci ranged from 20 to 100%.


BACKGROUND Leprosy is an infectious disease that is still a health problem worldwide, including in Indonesia. The clinical symptoms are similar to other skin diseases and it is difficult to establish a diagnosis for paucibacillary (PB) leprosy. Current serological and histopathological tests have limitations, especially in patients with negative acid-fast bacilli (AFB). Serological tests often give false-negative results, while histopathological results often consist of non-specific inflammation. Probe-based real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) assays is an alternative test that may be more sensitive and more specific to detect Mycobacterium leprae. METHODS This study was done in June 2015 until March 2016; detected M. leprae in PB patients with negative AFB smears using TaqMan® probe-based RT-PCR assay on slit skin scrapings and skin biopsy specimens from 24 patients. The skin scrapings were obtained from skin tissue on ear lobes, skin lesions, as well as those from biopsy. Samples were tested with RT-PCR while histopathological examinations were only performed on skin from biopsy. RESULTS The RT-PCR assay showed positive results of 21%, 25%, and 96% for specimens obtained from skin scrapings of the ear lobe, skin lesions, and skin biopsy, respectively. On the other hand, the positive rate for the histopathological test from skin biopsy was 79%. It indicated that the TaqMan® RT-PCR assay could increase the diagnostic capacity of histopathological examination by as much as 17%. CONCLUSIONS TaqMan® PCR assay can improve the diagnostic capacity of histopathological examinations, which could be used as the new gold standard for the diagnosis of leprosy.


Background: In studies of mild cognitive impairment (MCI) in Parkinson disease (PD), patients without dementia have reported variable prevalences and profiles of MCI, likely to be due to methodologic differences between the studies. Objective: The objective of this study was to determine frequency and the profile of MCI in a large, multicenter cohort of well-defined patients with PD using a standardized analytic method and a common definition of MCI. Methods: A total of 1,346 patients with PD from 8 different cohorts were included. Standardized analysis of verbal memory, visuospatial, and attentional/executive abilities was performed. Subjects were classified as having MCI if their age- and education-corrected z score on one or more cognitive domains was at least 1.5 standard deviations below the mean of either control subjects or normative data. Results: A total of 25.8% of subjects (95% confidence interval [CI] 23.5–28.2) were classified as having MCI. Memory impairment was most common (13.3%; 11.6–15.3), followed by visuospatial (11.0%; 9.4–13.0) and attention/executive ability impairment (10.1%; 8.6–11.9). Regarding cognitive profiles, 11.3% (9.7–13.1) were classified as nonamnestic single-domain MCI, 8.9% (7.0–9.9) as amnestic single-domain, 4.8% (3.8–6.1) as amnestic multiple-domain, and 1.3% (0.9–2.1) as nonamnestic multiple-domain MCI. Having MCI was associated with older age at assessment and at disease onset, male gender, depression, more severe motor symptoms, and advanced disease stage. Conclusions: MCI is common in patients with PD without dementia, affecting a range of cognitive domains, including memory, visual-spatial, and attention/executive abilities. Future studies of patients with PD with MCI need to determine risk factors for ongoing cognitive decline and assess interventions at a predementia stage.


This thesis presents the findings of a study of U.K. Human Resources professionals,
and factors relating to their Continuing Professional Development or CPD. The study
has investigated their attitudes to CPD (CPDV), what CPD they actually engage in
(CPDE), and the statistical relationships between employability, CPD, and a number of
biographical and attitudinal variables. As a subsidiary aim, the study developed and
tested a scale of employability, as no appropriate measure was discovered prior to the
field research being undertaken.
While the respondents engaged in CPD, they did so for reasons of professional
commitment rather than a concern for their employability, and that the CPD undertaken
tended to be either informal or organisationally-driven. Examination of relationships
between the study variables using multiple hierarchical regression saw biographical
variables explain 4.1 % of the variance in the perceived value of CPD, and attitudinal
variables a further 13.5%. Biographical variables explained 10.7% of the variance in
employability, and attitudinal variables a further 30.3%.
The study has concluded that professional organisations may have some way to go
before they achieve the comprehensive engagement with CPD that may become (and is
already in some organisations) mandatory, and that this gap relates to individual's self perceived
needs in addition to aspects of record keeping and attitudes to the profession
generally. More encouraging has been the development of a new measure of individual
employability that compares well against the limited empirical literature in the field,
and appears to be a distinct construct to SUbjective career success. Overall, the study
has contributed to our understanding of professionals, their attitudes and values, and
especially their attitude to and engagement with CPD. Although it was not an original
aim, the development of the scale of individual employability may well turn out to be
the principal theoretical and practical contribution of this research, as a concept that
becomes part of a new paradigm of the psychology of work in the 21st century.


In this study, mercerisation of native cellulose I was achieved in an aqueous sodium hydroxide solution at a concentration of only 1 wt% NaOH by processing at temperatures below 0 °C. This represents a tenfold reduction in the use of NaOH to accomplish this very common transformation. The cellulose sample was a form of hydrolysed cotton with a high crystallinity. The samples were mixed with aqueous sodium hydroxide at various concentrations and stored at −17 °C. The samples were then defrosted, neutralised and dried before being analysed by Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy, wide-angle X-ray diffraction and field-emission scanning electron microscopy. In the route described here, transformation from cellulose I to cellulose II was possible without greatly affecting the crystallinity or the microstructure of the samples.