The Limpopo Metamorphic Belt is a complex geological terrane with at least three major deformational events. Tectonically juxtaposed lithology, open to isoclinal folding, crosscutting and re-activated shear zones and metamorphic gneisses and schists make pit slope design and maintenance a risky business. Venetia diamond minei?½s Cut 3 is planned to reach 360 m by 2011. The difficult rockmass created problems in the original pit and a new more comprehensive slope design was necessary. Nearly 9 km of geotechnical drilling were undertaken to produce a new geological model and provide geotechnical information near the final Cut 3 face. All existing data from the pit were brought together into a database. SRK Consulting were brought into the project to audit the process and provide most of the manpower for the data analysis. Existing failures were backanalysed and the geotechnical domains identified. Analyses of only the southern domains are discussed in this paper. Geotechnical engineers can design slopes at any angle, but it is up to the managers at the mine to decide what risk they are willing to accept in a slope design. Once the issue of risk was discussed and settled in respect of the consequences of failure, each of the main geotechnical domains were analysed to produce a slope design at 5% probability of failure with 15% above the first ramp. A risk assessment of the design was then undertaken to determine what risk the design placed on the equipment, personnel and the profitability of the overall mining operation. The risk assessment indicated minimal risk to the operation. One of the main assumptions of the final design is that the pit slopes will be dewatered. A project was immediately put in place to determine a groundwater model for the mine and to thereby determine the best dewatering procedure. However, it should be obvious that it is practically impossible to prevent benches from getting briefly saturated with water during storm conditions. It was therefore necessary to look specifically at supporting the crests of the ramps in the problematic southern domains to guard against the possibility of crest failure during heavy rains. The data available were re-analysed toward this objective. Spiles were recommended as the most cost-effective support system, and a probabilistic approach was used in the design. The final design has a 5% probability of failure, and the analyses indicate a strong sensitivity of the required spile spacing to the strength of the reinforcement material that will eventually be used. The pit slope parameters derived as per the discussion in this paper have just begun to be implemented at Venetia Mine.


BACKGROUND
Rosacea is an extremely common chronic dermatosis affecting an estimated 14 million Americans. Rosacea is most commonly managed with topical metronidazole, sometimes in combination with oral antibiotics.

PURPOSE
To review published studies about topical metronidazole therapy for rosacea, both as a monotherapy and in conjunction with oral antibiotics.

METHODS
Medline searches were conducted for clinical trials using metronidazole, tetracycline, and doxycycline for rosacea.

RESULTS
Topical metronidazole has been well studied as a rosacea therapy. Twice-daily dosing of metronidazole 1.0% cream is as effective as 250 mg tetracycline twice daily. Metronidazole 1.0% gel used once daily is as effective as azelaic acid 15% gel dosed twice daily. When dosed at subantimicrobial levels, doxycycline 20 mg taken twice daily is effective in decreasing inflammatory lesions and erythema associated with rosacea. Metronidazole 0.75% lotion is more effective when used in combination with doxycycline 20 mg dosed twice daily.

DISCUSSION
Metronidazole in 0.75% strength lotion, cream, and gel and 1.0% metronidazole cream and gel are all efficacious in treating rosacea. Combination treatment with oral antibiotics at both antimicrobial and subantimicrobial doses is an efficacious means of treating rosacea. Maintenance treatment with topical metronidazole decreases relapses and allows for longer intervals between flares.


AlGaN/GaN on SiC HEMT structures suitable for high power, high frequency applications are demonstrated. The material manifests record breaking thermal management and electron mobility. Moreover, thanks to the fact that the buffer layer is doped with carbon, the memory effect of processed devices is very low making system design and manufacturing significantly easier and less expensive.


In experiments on contractile proteins isolated from the myocardium rather than from the musculus gastrocnemius it was shown that in contradistinction to lidocain the drugs quinine, quinidine, novocainamide, papaverin, obsidan and isoptin at a concentration of 3 . 10(-4) M inhibit contraction of actomyosin threads and superprecipitation reaction of actomyosin suspension that occurs under the influence of adenosine triphosphoric acid.


This paper examines how delivery tariffs and private quality standards are determined in vertical relations that are subject to asymmetric information. We consider an infinitely repeated game where an upstream firm sells a product to a downstream firm. In each period, the firms negotiate a delivery contract comprising the quality of the good as well as a non-linear tariff. Assuming asymmetric information about the actual quality of the product and focusing on incentive compatible contracts, we show that from the firms' perspective delivery contracts lead to more efficient contracts and thus higher overall profits the lower the firms' outside options, i.e. the higher their mutual dependency. Buyer power driven by a reduced outside option of the upstream firm enhances the efficiency of vertical relations, while buyer power due to an improved outside option of the downstream firm implies less efficient outcomes.


Transforming a school from traditional teaching and learning to a one-to-one (1:1) classroom, in which a teacher and students have personal digital devices, inevitably requires changes in the way the teacher addresses her role. This study examined the implications of integrating 1:1 computing on teachers' pedagogical perceptions and the classroom's educational discourse. A change in pedagogical perceptions during three years of teaching within this model was investigated. The research analyzed data from 14 teachers teaching in a junior high school in the north of Israel collected over the course of three years through interviews and lesson observations. The findings show that the 1:1 computing allows teachers to improve their teaching skills; however, it fails to change their fundamental attitudes in regard to teaching and learning processes. It was further found that the use of a laptop by each student does not significantly improve the classroom's learning discourse. The computer is perceived as an individual or group learning technology rather than as a tool for conducting learning discourse. An analysis of the data collected shows a great contribution to collaboration among teachers in preparing technology-enhanced lessons. The findings are discussed in terms of Bruner's (Olson & Bruner, 1996) "folk psychology" and "folk pedagogy" of teachers and "the new learning ecology" framework in 1:1 classroom (Lee, Spires, Wiebe, Hollebrands, & Young, 2015). One of the main recommendations of this research is to reflect on findings from the teaching staff and the school community emphasizing 1:1 technology as a tool for significant pedagogical change. It seems that the use of personal technology per se is not enough for pedagogical changes to take place; the change must begin with teachers' perceptions and attitudes.


Overlapped block motion compensation (OBMC) has been shown to provide reduced prediction errors as well as reduced blocking artifacts compared with the conventional non-overlapped block motion compensation (NOBMC). However, there is no satisfactory theoretical basis that clearly interprets why OBMC can reduce prediction errors. We present a theoretical analysis of OBMC based on a novel statistical motion distribution model. Our analysis proves theoretically that prediction errors increase towards block boundaries and that OBMC has an error reduction and equalization property, with the errors being more reduced at block boundaries than at block centers. The analytical results are justified by empirical experiments with typical image sequences.


The essay poses the question whether the so-called Arab spring offers the potential to complete the 1989 revolutions. It first discusses what was hoped to be achieved in 1989, and it then argues that the post-1989 arrangements failed to prevent new security challenges from emerging. The Islamist threat came to play the role that the Communist threat had played to the West or the Western threat had played to the East. The essay then turns to the question on what needs to happen if current events are to lead to something better. It argues that there is a need to overcome the legacies of the past and adapt institutions to the global present. The world must move away from nationalist and bloc thinking towards a concept of human security – a concept which came out of the Helsinki Agreements in 1975. The case of the recent intervention in Libya illustrates the need for a human security approach in practice.


The state-of-the-art lowbitrate audio coder is enhanced aacPlus, which is a combination of Parametric Stereo (PS), Spectral Band Replication (SBR) and Advanced Audio Coding (AAC). PS as the newest addition to the coder makes it possible to encode the audio at a bitrate of as low as 24 kbps with acceptable audio quality. The idea behind PS is to code stereo audio as a monaural downmix signal and a small amount of spatial parameters which describe its spatial image. The monaural signal can then be encoded by any generic audio coder while the spatial parameters are embedded into the resulting mono audio bitstream. The details of PS encoding as well as a general overview of the decoding process are presented in this thesis. An implementation of PS encoder which supports the full MPEG-4 PS configurations is presented. Along with the implementation, two optimizations are proposed: enhanced downmixing scheme and unified transient detector. A subjective listening test to evaluate both optimizations reveals that the optimized encoder is able to perform as well as the reference encoder with a total saving of 4% of the computational complexity. In addition, a concept of an objective method to evaluate spatial image distortion due to audio processing is proposed. The evaluation of the proposed method reveals that the output metrics defined are able to approximate the simulated spatial distortion.


This paper presents a case history of a geosynthetics-reinforced segmental retaining wall, which collapsed during a sever rainfall immediately after the completion of the wall construction. In an attempt to identify possible causes for the collapse, a comprehensive investigation was carried out including physical and strength tests on the backfill, stability analyses on the as-built design based on the current design approaches, and slope stability analyses with pore pressure consideration. The investigation revealed that the inappropriate as-built design and the bad-quality backfill were mainly responsible for the collapse. This paper describes the site condition including wall design, details of the results of investigation and finally, lessons learned. Practical significance of the findings from this study is also discussed.


textabstractThis paper assesses the progress in EU product market integration by analyzing price differentials in a multivariate framework for 22 industrialised economies and almost 200 product categrories. We model changes in bilateral price similarities as a function of initial bilateral similarity levels, bilateral trade intensities, the bilateral correlation between expenditure shares and various variables reflecting EU membership, product category, the tradability of the product and the presence of non-tariff barriers throughout 1985-1999. The results suggest that price structures within the EU are more similar than among other OECD countries, especially for energy products and consumer goods. After correcting for factors such as catchingup and trade intensities, prices in the EU have almost consistently converged faster than in the rest of the OECD. Finally, we find that the countries in the so-called D-Mark area have witnessed a significantly stronger tendency for prices to converge than countries which have had relatively higher exchange rate fluctuations. This gives some foundation to hopes that monetary union will promote price convergence.


This study aims to find out mental health problems and examine their role in prediction of psychiatric conditions in street children in residential care. Five (5) street children residential centres in Lusaka District, as well as a cross-section of street children (74) in residential care aged between 7 and 17 years were used for this study. Overall, 74 (68 males and 6 females) children in residential care were at risk of having a mental health problem. Forty of them were at risk of having multiple mental health problems. The most frequent disorders were behavioural and emotional disorders, because 40.5% of the children and young people scored above average stress levels. The findings also indicated a strong correlation between co-morbidity and overall stress, rho = 68, n = 74, p < 0.001, that is, co-morbidity helps to explain 46% shared variance in respondent's scores on overall stress. There was a strong relationship between mental health problems and prediction of psychiatric conditions in street children. The results in this study illustrate that mental heath problems and levels of stress co-exist. Therefore, assessment of multiple mental health problems in providing mental health services to street children in residential care should be included in the management plan. In addition, multiple mental health problems indicate the complexities of mental health problems, an aspect that demands collaborative efforts from various stakeholders involved in child care systems.

 Key words: Co-morbidity, mental-health-problems, stress-among-street-children, residential-care.


Individuals have more opportunities than ever before to present themselves in public using social networking sites (SNSs). These sites allow users to make self-presentations by creating online profiles, containing text, photos, or videos, about themselves and their activities. While individual users generate these presentations, millions of individuals can potentially access them over many years. From the perspective of organizations developing these SNSs, the more people, the broader range of people, and the greater interaction among the people that use them, the more sustainable it is. However, individuals tend to live segmented lives and often develop different self-presentations depending on the audience. Maintaining one or multiple presentations is possible offline as long as the audiences are separate and little opportunity for interaction exists. Online, tension can form between boundary-blurring expansion and boundary-preserving development of SNSs. This dissertation seeks to develop better understanding of how boundaries blurred by SNSs affect impressions formed of job candidates. To examine the issue, two studies were conducted, one exploratory qualitative and one experimental. The first study investigates whether, how, and why SNSs are accessed to obtain information about candidates. The second study develops and tests a model of how characteristics of the SNS environment affect impression formation and subsequent hiring decisions. Both studies found that SNSs can have both benefits and detriments for the job candidate by influencing the impression formed by a professional.


Introduction Nephropatia epidemica (NE), a relatively mild form of hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome caused by the Puumala virus (PUUV), is endemic in northern Sweden. We aim to study the risk factors associated with NE in this region. Methods We conducted a matched case–control study between June 2011 and July 2012. We compared confirmed NE cases with randomly selected controls, matched by age, sex, and place of infection or residence. We analyzed the association between NE and several occupational, environmental, and behavioral exposures using conditional logistic regression. Results We included in the final analysis 114 cases and 300 controls, forming 246 case–control pairs. Living in a house with an open space beneath, making house repairs, living less than 50 m from the forest, seeing rodents, and smoking were significantly associated with NE. Conclusion Our results could orient public health policies targeting these risk factors and subsequently reduce the NE burden in the region.


Type-I interband lasers on GaSb were grown by molecular beam epitaxy using 16 nm InGaAsSb compressively-strained quantum wells (QWs) with 30 nm AlInGaAsSb quinary barriers for improved hole confinement. The 3QW active regions were embedded in standard AlGaAsSb waveguides to limit the thickness of quinary material owing to its low growth temperature requirements. In continuous-wave operation, a typical ridge waveguide laser (width 10 μm, length 1214 μm) produced 6 mW total output power at 20°C with a threshold current of 140 mA. The temperature sensitivity of the devices remains a challenge, as evidenced by the dramatically improved performance at 0°C (16 mW total output power, threshold current 74 mA).


The United States, unlike most developed countries, does not regulate its fertility industry. Rather, it vests control over the industry to professional organizations and to market forces. While lack of regulation has produced a vibrant market for fertility services, it has also produced an undesirable consequence: a high rate of multiple gestation pregnancies, including twin pregnancies. This Article summarizes the data on the medical, psychological, and financial costs associated with multiple pregnancies to the parents, the children, and American society. It suggests that the current U.S. regulatory regime has not only failed to address these costs as they surfaced but may also have aggravated the problem. It compares the U.S. regime to approaches taken in Europe to reduce the rate of multiple gestation pregnancies and suggests that governmental intervention may be necessary. Finally, the Article proposes that regulation to improve reporting, disclosure, and clinic supervision, combined with more strictly enforced embryo transfer practices would reduce the costs of multiple births without impermissibly burdening the freedom to procreate. This proposed regulation is not only desirable, but it would also likely pass constitutional muster.


For more than 60 years, the Department of Health Education & Behavior has been at the forefront of the health promotion and public health field, demonstrating leadership in instruction and mentoring, research and scholarship, and service and practice. By emphasizing innovation and data-driven advancements, the department's efforts ensure that students are well prepared for the health promotion and public health careers of the future. Website (http://hhp.ufl.edu/about/departments/heb/)


In the last years transcutaneous electric nerve stimulation (TNS) has been used at the first Department of Gynaecology and Obstetrics in Vienna for the therapy of placental insufficiency. With the new method of Doppler Ultrasonography a direct measurement of blood flow in the Arteriae umbilicales is possible. In 16 patients with reduced placental perfusion between 34 to 38 weeks of pregnancy TNS-therapy has been monitored by Doppler Ultrasonography. In 14 patients an impressive improvement to normal values of perfusion could be observed. Only 2 patients with morphological changes in the placenta were resistant to therapy. A control group of 16 patients with normal values of perfusion did not show any response to TNS-therapy as expected. Therefore this safe and simple method of TNS is recommended for the therapy of functional placental insufficiency.


Primary Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) infection results in the formation of a densely packed granulomatous response that essentially limits entry and efficacy of immune effector cells. Furthermore, the physical nature of the granuloma does not readily permit entry of therapeutic agents to sites where organisms reside. The Mtb cell wall mycolic acid, trehalose 6,6'-dimycolate (TDM), is a physiologically-relevant molecule to model macrophage mediated events during establishment of the tuberculosis-induced granuloma pathogenesis. No current therapeutic modalities focus to modulate host immune responses to ameliorate tuberculosis disease. Previous studies identified lactoferrin (LF), a natural iron-binding protein proven to modulate inflammation, as able to ameliorate granuloma cohesiveness. Therefore, a series of studies were enabled to further examine the effect of recombinant human LF (rHLF) on histological progression of the TDM-induced pathology. Treatment with rHLF demonstrated significant reduction in size and number of inflammatory foci following TDM injection, with reduced pulmonary pro-inflammatory cytokines TNF-α and IL-1β. LF allowed greater penetration of fluoroquinolone therapeutic to sites of pathology; TDM alone treated mice demonstrated exclusion of ofloxacin to regions of inflammatory response, whereas rHLF treated animals demonstrated increased penetration to responding foci. Finally, recent findings support the hypothesis that this mycobacterial mycolic acid can specifically recruit M1-like polarized macrophages; rHLF treatment was shown to limit the level of this M1-like phenotypic recruitment, corresponding highly with the occurrence of the decreased inflammatory response.


The phase behavior of polyp-phenylene terephthalate) (PPT) with pendant side groups, N-(4-nitrophenyl)-ethylaminoethanol (NPE) and N-(4-nitrophenyl)-L-prolinol (NPP) has been studied by using differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), wide-angle X-ray scattering (WAXS), and second harmonic generation (SHG). PPT-NPE showed a layered liquid crystalline morphology while PPT-NPP showed a completely amorphous structure. Compressive or shear stress applied on the polymer melt surface at 210 °C induced a more prominent layered structure of PPT-NPE whereas the amorphous structure of PPT-NPP remained unchanged under the stress. In order to understand this phase difference in terms of the repeat structure, we attempted theoretical ab initio Hartree-Fock, and DFT calculations for the monomers and molecular dynamics for the bulk state. The results indicated that molecular configurations are a good way of microscopically understanding the phases of rigid backbone polymers with functional side groups: The NPT (constant particle number, pressure, and temperature) simulation data at 210 °C agree qualitatively with the experimental data and the difference between PPT-NPE and PPT-NPP could be understood using rotational energy barrier, steric hindrance and inter-chain interactions. X-ray diffractometer (XRD) simulation patterns for the oligomers are also in qualitative agreement with the experimental WAXS data and the structural parameters of stacks of PPT-NPE chains are estimated to be layer distance (4.6 A), backbone distance (21.5 A), and side distance (12 A).


The growth of leakage at an exponential rate has made it as important as delay in the design of nanometer scale circuits. Traditional single-attribute optimization problems force a designer to choose either power or delay as the objective function and minimize it with constraints on other attributes. However this approach does not provide the designer with enough freedom to incorporate trade-offs between various attributes such as leakage and delay. The only approach (although rigid) that does provides such a trade-off is the minimization of energy-delay product (EDP). In this paper we present a utility theoretic approach for the joint optimization of leakage and delay. This provides a general framework for quantifying a designer's preferences for trade-offs between leakage and delay. We show that EDP is an element of a larger class of such utility functions. The resulting multi-attribute optimization problem is modeled as a convex gate sizing problem that is solved exactly using Geometric Programming. The resulting solution gives a design point that is optimal with respect to the designer's preferences.


ABSTRACT The authors have developed a model of practice-based research from observations and studies of practitioners undertaking Ph.D.s in digital art and specifically interactive art. Trajectories of research and practice have been identified that have common elements but are driven by different practitioner goals and preferences. The authors present a model of practitioner research that represents the relationship between theory, practice and evaluation, and they describe how different trajectories of research and practice lead to the development of theoretical frameworks by practitioners. Whilst the common features of the trajectories are important to identify so that the characteristics of practitioner research can be understood more generally, the authors believe that having scope for individuality is vital to such research.


Abstract. The Geospatial Delhi Limited (GSDL), a Govt. of NCT of Delhi Company formed in order to provide the geospatial information of National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCTD) to the Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi (GNCTD) and its organs such as DDA, MCD, DJB, State Election Department, DMRC etc., for the benefit of all citizens of Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi (GNCTD). This paper describes the development of Geospatial Map based Portal for Delimitation of MCD Wards (GMPDW) and election of 3 Municipal Corporations of NCT of Delhi. The portal has been developed as a map based spatial decision support system (SDSS) for delimitation of MCD Wards and draw of peripheral wards boundaries to planning and management of MCD Election process of State Election Commission, and as an MCD election related information searching tools (Polling Station, MCD Wards and Assembly constituency etc.,) for the citizens of NCTD. The GMPDW is based on Client-Server architecture model. It has been developed using Arc GIS Server 10.0 with .NET (pronounced dot net) technology. The GMPDW is scalable to enterprise SDSS with enterprise Geo Database & Virtual Private Network (VPN) connectivity. Spatial data to GMPDW includes Enumeration Block (EB) and Enumeration Blocks Group (EBG) boundaries of Citizens of Delhi, Assembly Constituency, Parliamentary Constituency, Election District, Landmark locations of Polling Stations & basic amenities (Police Stations, Hospitals, Schools and Fire Stations etc.). GMPDW could help achieve not only the desired transparency and easiness in planning process but also facilitates through efficient & effective tools for management of MCD election. It enables a faster response to the changing ground realities in the development planning, owing to its in-built scientific approach and open-ended design.


Microbial quality of urban wastewater relates to several environmental, sanitary and political issues. However, there is a lack of knowledge concerning the variability of raw wastewater. Our study aims at evaluating the microbial variability of the influent of several wastewater treatment plants in the Paris area, as well as estimating this variability impact on the treatment efficiency. Faecal bacterial indicators (E. coli et intestinal enterococci) and their partitioning on settleable and free phases were measured at three wastewater treatment plants (Marne Aval, Seine Amont et Seine Centre) during dry and storm periods. Our results show that faecal indicator levels fluctuate according to the type of sewer system and the hydrological conditions. During storm events, a significant dilution of faecal indicators can be observed, as well as an increase in the percentage of settleable bacteria. Enterococci removal by primary and secondary treatment is linked to the influent level of enterococci, however the removal of both indicators is also influenced by the management operation of the wastewater treatment plants.


The purpose of this paper is to provide a review of modularization by Japanese firms on the basis of the analytical framework of product architecture. Japanese firms try to create system control modules, and attempt the rationalization of the design. However, they always design systems using the basic concept of integral type architecture. Modularization by Japanese firms is not a random design. It is the result of a design strategy that simultaneously achieves the optimization and rationalization of the product design. This paper reviews the product modularization processes of Japanese firms based on the analytical framework of product architecture theory. Basically, Japanese manufacturing firms have created system control modules to achieve rational product designs. However, conceptually, the system was always designed as an integral type. We conclude that, to Japanese firms, modularization is not a random choice of design but is the result of design strategies to simultaneously meet the optimization and rationalization of the product design.


We describe the design of a multiple maneuvering targets tracking algorithm under the framework of Gaussian mixture probability hypothesis density (PHD) filter. First, a variation of the generalized pseudo-Bayesian estimator of first order (VGPB1) is designed to adapt to the Gaussian mixture PHD filter for jump Markov system models (JMS-PHD). The probability of each kinematic model, which is used in the JMS-PHD filter, is updated with VGPB1. The weighted sum of state, associated covariance, and weights for Gaussian components are then calculated. Pruning and merging techniques are also adopted in this algorithm to increase efficiency. Performance of the proposed algorithm is compared with that of the JMS-PHD filter. Monte-Carlo simulation results demonstrate that the optimal subpattern assignment (OSPA) distances of the proposed algorithm are lower than those of the JMS-PHD filter for maneuvering targets tracking.


This dissertation presents three research articles in the area of preparing preservice teachers for Virtual Schooling (VS). The context of the dissertation is embedded in a Teacher Education Goes Into Virtual Schooling (TEGIVS) project under the Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education (FIPSE), U.S. Department of Education. The first article presented TEGIVS curricula and its preliminary evaluation, the second article discussed the study on preservice teachers' perspectives and preconceptions about VS, and the third article described the development, validation, and implementation of a rubric to assess the preservice teachers' competence as VS facilitators. Both quantitative and qualitative data were collected from preservice teachers and three practitioners in the area of VS. The main findings of the articles indicate that preservice teachers are ready to learn about VS, but hold preconceptions about VS. The most commonly stated preconception was technology is becomes teacher's surrogate in VS. The TEGIVS curriculum was found helpful in preparing preservice teachers see the complexity of teaching and learning online. Lastly, the competence assessment instrument developed and implemented to assess preservice teachers' competence to facilitate in VS was found to be reliable and valid. Thus, this dissertation provides evidence for the need to integrate VS into teacher education, and further suggests that teacher education should identify and correct preservice teachers' preconceptions about VS. The competence assessment instrument that included a scenario and rubric was developed as part of this dissertation and has not been implemented outside the TEGIVS project. Teacher education programs can also use this very first competence assessment instrument to assess VS facilitator competence of preservice teachers in the three aspects of technology, mentoring, and collaboration.


The phosphodiesterase inhibitor milrinone is usually preferred in patients with pulmonary hypertension and myocardial dysfunction after cardiopulmonary bypass. We investigated the effects of low-dose milrinone on pulmonary hypertension in the immediate pre- and postoperative period. Forty-seven patients were randomized to the control and milrinone groups. All patients had mean pulmonary artery pressure greater than 30 mmHg and pulmonary capillary wedge pressure greater than 20 mmHg and were candidates for mitral valve replacement for rheumatic mitral stenosis. Twenty-four patients received a loading dose of milrinone 25 microg/kg(-1) during weaning from cardiopulmonary bypass, followed by a maintenance dose of 0.25 microg/kg(-1)/min(-1) to the end of the surgery. Cardiac output and other hemodynamic variables were noted at induction, weaning from bypass, and postoperative 1 h. Pulmonary artery pressure, capillary wedge pressure, and central venous pressure were significantly lower in the milrinone group during weaning after cardiopulmonary bypass, while other variables were roughly similar. However, patients in the control group required higher doses of vasodilators, inotropes, and antiarrhythmic agents. Mean arterial pressure in the milrinone group was significantly lower at 1 h postoperatively than in the control group; however, the patients did not need many more vasopressors. Fluid restriction and diuretic agent use were more significant in the control group. Systemic arterial hypotension and vasopressor requirements with milrinone use at inotropic doses were not observed at the doses used for the study. A total of 21.7% of the patients in the control group required vasopressors in the perioperative period. Both groups demonstrated similar hematologic variables except that the hemoglobin level in the control group was significantly lower during postoperative days 1 and 7. Low-dose milrinone for a short-term during weaning from cardiopulmonary bypass may be used in patients with mitral stenosis and pulmonary hypertension for its effects on pulmonary artery pressures, less inotropic and vasopressor requirements, and fluid balance.


In this paper, we focus on a vehicular ad hoc network (VANET) that makes use of 802.11-like wireless interfaces for Inter Vehicular Communication (IVC). We propose a distributed position-based broadcast protocol, named Smart Broadcast (SB), that aims at i) maximizing the progress of the message along the propagation line, and ii) minimizing the re-broadcast delay. The protocol is analyzed through a mathematical model that permits to determine the optimal parameter setting for a given scenario. Simulations are then used to validate the mathematical model and to compare SB with other broadcast algorithms.


The mechanical properties of sintered timing wheel in contact with chain wheels were analysed using Finite Element Methods (FEM), in which the timing wheel is modelled as a metal powder. The mechanical properties of sintered timing wheel were investigated as a function of sintered density. Tensile strength and Young's modulus increased with a decrease in porosity. Current methods of calculating gear contact stresses use Hertz's equations, which were originally derived for contact between sintered timing wheel and chain wheels. The results of the 2D dimensional FEM analyses from ANSYS are presented. The relationship between relative density of P/M steels and mechanical behavior is also obtained from FEM and compared with the experimental data. Good agreement between the experimental and FEM results is observed, which demonstrates that FEM can capture the major features of the P/M steels behaviour during loading. This indicates that the FEM model is accurate.


Coordination between structural and physiological traits is key to plants' responses to environmental fluctuations. This is especially relevant to leaf hydraulics, as plant face constant imbalances between water supply and demand. In heterobaric leaves, bundle sheath extensions (BSEs) increase water transport capacity, as measured by leaf hydraulic conductance (Kleaf). The obscuravenosa (obv) mutation, found in many commercial tomato varieties, leads to absence of BSEs. We examined structural and physiological traits of tomato heterobaric and homobaric (obv) near-isogenic lines (NILs) grown at two different irradiance levels. We found that Kleaf, minor vein density and stomatal pore area index decrease with shading in heterobaric but not in homobaric leaves, which show similarly lower values in both conditions. Whole plant dry mass, as well as fruit yield, were altered by irradiance but not by genotype. We propose that BSEs confer plasticity in traits related to leaf structure and function in response to irradiance levels and might act as a hub integrating water supply and demand. Similar plant growth and yield in both NILs suggests that other developmental pathways can compensate for the lack of BSEs. This is in line with the fact that obv is not a deleterious mutation, and probably confers some adaptive advantage, as it was selected during commercial tomato breeding.


Nanofiller-based epoxy inks have found extensive use in fabricating 3D printed nanocomposites for applications in aerospace, automobile, and marine systems. In this paper, we employ an all-atom molecular dynamic (MD) simulation to atomistically explore the mechanisms dictating the shear-thinning behavior of the graphene flake-infused (GFI) epoxy inks. We compare our findings with those for pure epoxy inks: non-equilibrium MD (NEMD) simulations reveal that both the GFI epoxy ink and pure epoxy ink demonstrate shear thinning behavior, i.e., their viscosities decrease with an increase in the shear rate. However, interestingly, the viscosity of the GFI epoxy ink is larger than that of pure epoxy for smaller shear rates, while for higher shear rates, the viscosities of these two materials are similar. This indicates a much more favorable viscosity profile for the GFI epoxy inks in the context of 3D printing. From the context of exploring the nanoscale mechanism, we identify the tendency of the bisphenol F molecules (the key constituent of the epoxy inks) and the graphene flakes (for the case of GFI epoxy inks) to align along the shear planes (in the presence of a shear flow) allowing the dissipation of viscous force among them ensuring shear-thinning behavior for both pure epoxy and GFI epoxy inks. In this context, we also identify that the bisphenol F chains prefer to localize along a given shear plane to reduce the effect of tension forces: such an alignment ensures that the radius of gyration for the bisphenol F molecules (for both pure epoxy and GFI epoxy inks) is larger for the case of finite shear and has a non-monotonic variation with the shear rate. Finally, the equilibrium MD (EMD) simulations establish that the presence of the graphene flakes significantly slows down the rotational dynamics of the bisphenol F molecules that are adsorbed to these graphene flakes and, as a result, causes the zero-shear viscosity of the GFI epoxy to be three orders of magnitude larger than that of the pure epoxy. This difference provides a qualitative justification of the viscosity of the GFI epoxy being larger than that of pure epoxy at smaller shear rate values.


Cancer stem cells (CSCs) in gastric cancer (GC) have been established recently as key therapeutic targets for the successful treatment of GC. Emerging evidence suggests that both CSCs and cancer cells should be eradicated to achieve optimal therapeutic efficacy. In the present study, salinomycin, which has been reported to kill CSCs, was used in combination with docetaxel, a chemotherapeutic drug that is used as first-line therapy in GC, to eradicate both GC stem cells (SCs) and cancer cells. Salinomycin and docetaxel were loaded separately into poly(D,L-lactic-co-glycolic acid)-poly(ethylene glycol) nanoparticles of ∼140 nm with a narrow size distribution, high drug loading, and sustained drug release. GC SCs were isolated by magnetic-activated cell sorting on the basis of CD44 expression as the CSC phenotype. CD44+ GC SCs showed the characteristics of CSCs, including increased SC gene expression, tumorsphere formation capacity, and tumorigenicity in nude mice. We found that both salinomycin and salinomycin-loaded nanoparticles (salinomycin-NPs) could selectively eradicate GC SCs, as reflected by reduced tumorsphere formation capacity and the frequency of CD44+ GC cells, whereas docetaxel and docetaxel-loaded nanoparticles (docetaxel-NPs) could significantly eradicate GC cells. In nude mice bearing GC xenografts, salinomycin-NPs and salinomycin significantly decreased the intratumor population of GC SCs. Notably, salinomycin-NPs combined with docetaxel-NPs suppressed tumor growth more effectively than did salinomycin combined with docetaxel, single salinomycin-NPs, or docetaxel-NPs. Therefore, salinomycin-NPs combined with docetaxel-NPs represent a promising strategy for the treatment of GC by eradicating both GC SCs and cancer cells.


In the Black Hills, South Dakota, anatectic migmatites that formed above the second sillimanite isograd comprise mesosomes dominated by quartz, biotite, sillimanite, plagioclase, and sporadic poikiloblasts of K-feldspar, melanosomes dominated by biotite and sillimanite, and leucosomes. Some leucosomes have near-minimum granite composition, but many lack alkali elements and have fibrolitic sillimanite instead of feldspar. The proportion of Si/Al is the same in both leucosome types. The sillimanite-containing leucosomes include fluorapatite, which indicates high activity of F. The lack of alkali feldspar in these leucosomes is attributed to its instability relative to sillimanite + quartz in the presence of fluids with high a H + / a K + ratios that evolved from the crystallizing leucosomes. It is suggested that quartz-aluminosilicate segregations and veins in other high-grade terranes may also represent pegmatitic melts in which alkali feldspar crystallization was inhibited by high activities of hydrogen, resulting in loss of alkali elements.


A multi-objective flight controller design method for an airplane with multiple operating points (MOP) is proposed via Lyapunov theory, which takes account of handling quality requirement and robust stability simultaneously. A handling quality criterion for all flights that correspond to multiple operating points is derived by linear matrix inequality (LMI) approach. Based on parameter-dependent Lyapunov functions combined with a descriptor system approach, a robust stability condition for the flight control system is obtained. At last, a flight controller is designed by solving a set of LMIs and the adjusting range of the parameter that influences the sensitivity of output responses and feasibility of LMIs is obtained by introducing convex optimization algorithms. Simulation results illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed method.


Summary The association between maternal smoking and adverse child health outcomes has not been systematically explored in less developed countries, especially in Nepal where over a quarter of women of reproductive age smoke tobacco products. This study aims to quantify the effect of maternal smoking on acute respiratory infection (ARI) symptoms among children aged below five years, using the 2001 Nepal Demographic and Health Survey. It is hypothesized that children born to mothers who smoke frequently are at higher risk of developing ARI symptoms. Four-level random intercept logistic regression models were used to disentangle the independent effect of maternal smoking on children's ARI symptoms, controlling for potential biological, socioeconomic, seasonal and spatial variables. Maternal smoking status had a significant effect on children's ARI symptoms; the effects were significantly higher (adjusted OR 1.41; 95% CI 1.02–1.96) among those born to mothers who smoked more frequently than their counterparts. Furthermore, a strong spatial pattern was evident in the prevalence of ARI symptoms, after adjusting for maternal smoking and relevant control variables. The findings underscore the importance of designing exclusive public health intervention measures to prevent tobacco smoking within households, for example through awareness campaigns highlighting the adverse effect of maternal smoking on child health.


We report the fabrication and characterization of photonic structures using tapered optical nanofibers. Thanks to the extension of the evanescent electromagnetic field outside of the nanofiber two types of devices can be built: a ring interferometer and a knot resonator. We propose a general approach to predict the properties of these structures using the linear coupling theory. In addition, we describe a new source of birefringence due to the ovalization of a nanofiber under strong bending, known in mechanical engineering as the Brazier effect.


: There are presented the results of complex treatment of 154 patients with chronic posttraumatic and hematogenic osteomyelitis. Complex treatment of 51 of them has been supplemented with biostimulation by extracorporal connection of xenospleen (26 patients) or administration of perfusate of xenospleen (25 patients). After application of extracorporal connection of xenospleen and administration of perfusate there have been detected statistically significant decrease of leucocytosis, erythrocyte sedimentation rate, normalization of lymphocyte and monocyte numbers in the laboratory indices as well as positive dynamics of immunologic indices. There have been obtains positive nearest results with 95,5% patients, observed shortening of hospital stay in average by 7 days as compared with the traditional methods of treatment.


The amounts of cobalt and chromium released to the saliva in individuals wearing cobalt-chromium partial dentures have been measured. Saliva was collected during a 5-min period, both with and without dentures in the mouth, and the two samples compared. More than 80% of the 30 cases showed increased amounts of metals with the denture in the mouth. Newer and larger dentures liberated more than did older and smaller ones. The median increase in chromium was approximately twice that of cobalt.


This study was carried out in cocoa-based agroforestry systems in Mbam and Inoubou department, Center Region, Cameroon. The study aimed at assessing the plant species diversity, ecological services, and carbon sequestration potentials of diverse trees associated in cocoa agroforestry systems. Twenty-seven sampling plots of 100 × 20 m were established in cocoa agroforestry systems in three villages. Our results registered the occurrence of 238 plant species grouped into 16 families in the sampled area. Sterculiaceae, Burseraceae, and Moraceae were the three dominant families. The species richness and diversity that were assessed using the Shannon index were 0.62, 0.66, and 0.68, respectively, while using the Simpson index, they were 1.421, 1.409, and 0.349, respectively, for Mouko, Rionong, and Nyamsong 3. Carbon stock sink was also estimated at 92.03, 55.18, and 46.83 tC/ha. Our results indicate a high flora diversity in cocoa-based agroforests especially with respect to fruit trees where Tetracarpidium conophorum is introduced. The total amount of CO2/ha per village plots is estimated at 337.46, 202.32, and 171.71 tCO2/ ha. Then, the ecological services that should be paid according to 10 US$ per ton of carbon are evaluated at 3374.6, 2023.2, and 1717.1 US$ to the owner of the selected farms.


In the diagnostic work-up of patients with palpitations the first-line investigations involve history, physical examination and 12-lead ECG. In a good proportion of patients, these investigations allow the prognostic stratification of patients and a definite or suspected diagnosis of the cause of symptoms. However, when results of the initial evaluation are negative (which occurs more frequently in paroxysmal, short-lasting palpitations) and the patient is suffering from heart disease, or if palpitations are frequent or poorly tolerated with a high probability of an arrhythmic origin, ambulatory electrocardiographic monitoring and/or electrophysiological study should be undertaken.


Microbial communities in the lungs of patients with cystic fibrosis (CF) and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) have been shown to be spatially heterogeneous. Viral communities may also vary spatially, leading to localized viral populations and infections. Here, we characterized viral communities from multiple areas of the lungs of two patients with late-stage CF using metagenomics, that is, the explanted lungs from a transplant patient and lungs acquired postmortem. All regions harbored eukaryotic viruses that may infect the human host, notably herpesviruses, anelloviruses, and papillomaviruses. In the highly diseased apical lobes of explant lungs, viral diversity was extremely low, and only eukaryotic viruses were present. The absence of phage suggests that CF-associated microbial biofilms may escape top-down controls by phage predation. The phages present in other lobes of explant lungs and in all lobes of postmortem lungs comprised distinct communities, and encoded genes for clinically important microbial phenotypes, including small colony variants and antibiotic resistance. Based on the these observations, we postulate that viral communities in CF lungs are spatially distinct and contribute to CF pathology by augmenting the metabolic potential of resident microbes, as well as by directly damaging lung tissue via carcinomas and herpesviral outbreaks.


The operation of energy transmission lines with high efficiency without failure has great importance in today's electricity-dependent world. Problems that may occur in electricity transmission lines are failure cause of many operations not only industrial but also daily life. One of the most important causes of the problems encountered in power lines is the change in the amount of sagging. The change of sagging amount causes line breaks and losing energy efficiency. This problem, which is frequently encountered due to seasonal and climatic changes, is one of the major problems of continuity in the power line. The calculation of sag contains uncertain and variable parameters that can change seasonally, climatically and/or structurally such as weight per unit length of the conductor, the horizontal component of tension, total tension, etc. In this case, it is difficult to calculate a precise and reliable sag amount. The sagging of power lines is generally calculated theoretically or measured on-site by the personnel in charge. In this study, a new approach is presented to measure the sag amount by using sensor data of a power line inspection robot, precisely and reliably. The inspection robot moving on the power line can be remotely controlled and send sensor data. The sagging is measured with an error of less than 2 percent in the laboratory test field by using this technique.


The paper explores the integration of technological and environmental requirements in the architectural design, as these are recently defined by the European and national policy pieces. It analyses how environmental sustainability objectives, requirements and reference indicators are addressed in the design process, from the architectural concept design to technological and construction choices in detailed design. Hence, the paper compares the European framework Level(s) with the Criteri Ambientali Minimi per l'edilizia (the national GPP rules for the building sector), to highlight similarities and differences and to understand if designers are provided with a comprehensive set of instructions (norms, standards, databases and tools) to include this information in the project.


A novel approach to human-robot collaboration based on quasi-symbolic expressions is proposed. The target task is navigation in which a person with his or her covered and a humanoid robot collaborate in a context-dependent manner. The robot uses a recurrent neural net with parametric bias (RNNPB) model to acquire the behavioral primitives, which are sensory-motor units, composing the whole task. The robot expresses the PB dynamics as primitives using symbolic sounds, and the person influences these dynamics through tactile sensors attached to the robot. Experiments with six participants demonstrated that the level of influence the person has on the PB dynamics is strongly related to task performance, the person's subjective impressions, and the prediction error of the RNNPB model (task stability). Simulation experiments demonstrated that the subjective impressions of the correspondence between the utterance sounds (the PB values) and the motions were well reproduced by the rehearsal of the RNNPB model.


Abstract. The contribution addresses the definition of a new collaborative documental method for designing and managing the different phases of conservation of kinetic-programmed art. Our approach consists of developing a new representative model that includes both mechanical parts and spatial characteristics. The research stems from a specific case-study, Ambiente – Strutturazione a parametri virtuali (1969) by Gabriele Devecchi, permanently displayed at Museo del '900 in Milan since 2010. Starting from the dimensional and technical data, we obtained a graphical model of lamps 2D and 3D. They were enriched by a detailed abacus describing all the elements and by specific maps capturing all the phases of regular and extraordinary maintenance underwent by the environment. The second part was carried out with a report about physical motion. The goal has been representing speed and geometry of the movement inside the space. By merging the first part of the documenting process and the second one we've got a graphic digital model including information about the individual parts of the installation and their mechanical interaction. The third and last step is ongoing and tackles the challenge of using virtual technologies for the description of the whole environment. Thanks to a collaboration between technicians and theoretic scholars, we attempted to match the study of the physical motion and all data about the structural parts with the careful consideration of historical-artistic and perception-related features. The work led to the conclusion that a virtual, immersive reproduction of the environment is not enough for deeply understanding the experience enjoyed by users inside it, because it misses the embodied perception activated by the artwork. For this reason, this study may be considered as a step in a broader research path about documentation of complex environmental, immersive, kinetic works of art.


The IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers) Southeast Conference (SoutheastCon) Hardware Competition was created to bring together undergraduate students from universities across the Southeast region to test their technical knowledge and skills in a friendly robotics competition. The 2016 challenge was to develop a robot that would autonomously operate as a mobile shipping container crane. This challenge incorporated navigation on a game board (a 'shipyard') while collecting blocks ('shipping containers') and distributing them to various areas of the board (to a 'boat,' a 'truck', and a 'train') based on the block's location, size, and color. In order to generate unique solutions to the competition design challenges, research was done on robot mechanics, sensors, motors, motor drivers, microcontrollers, and communication between embedded devices. With respect to the focused research that was undertaken, sensors were particularly important. The UNC Asheville robot, named Ripley, incorporated sensors for echolocation, light intensity and reflection, infrared proximity, depth, torque, and machine vision. Meeting the 2016 SoutheastCon Hardware Competition challenge required a systematic approach to engineering design including research, development, and testing under budget and time constraints.


Levels of lymphocytic choriomeningitis virus antibody were assayed in 62 infected persons. The three tests used were indirect fluorescent antibody (IFA), complement fixation, and neutralization in mice. The sera first became positive by the IFA test, and IFA titers rapidly rose to a relatively high level, with the sera remaining positive long after the antibody detectable by complement fixation had disappeared. The IFA test appeared to be specific. The sera became positive last by the mouse neutralization test; with this test, antibody first appeared several weeks after infection. Virus-infected cells were stable when stored at -60 C, allowing diagnostic sera to be tested promptly by the IFA test. The IFA test for lymphocytic choriomeningitis antibody should increase the number of serological diagnoses, since it is not only rapid and specific, but detects cases not diagnosed by the other methods.


Scientific and technological advances in medicine and systems biology have unequivocally shown that health and disease must be viewed in the context of the interplay among multiple molecular and environmental factors. Understanding the effects of cellular interconnection on disease progression may lead to the identification of novel disease genes and pathways, and hence influence precision diagnostics and therapeutics. To accomplish this goal, the emerging field of network medicine applies network science approaches to investigate disease pathogenesis, integrating information from relevant Omics databases, including protein-protein interaction, correlation-based, gene regulatory, and Bayesian networks. However, this requires analysing and computing large amounts of data. Moreover, if we are to efficiently search for new drugs and new drug combinations, there is a pressing need for computational methods that could allow us to access the immense chemical compound space until now largely unexplored. Finally, at the microscopic level, drug-target chemistry simulation is ultimately a quantum problem, and hence it requires a quantum solution. As we will discuss, quantum computing may be a key ingredient in enabling the full potential of network medicine. We propose to combine network medicine and quantum algorithms in a novel research field, quantum network medicine, to lay the foundations of a new era of disease prevention and drug design.


Financial conflicts of interest, several cases of scientific fraud, and research limitations from strong intellectual property laws have all led to questioning the epistemic and social justice appropriateness of industry-funded research. At first sight, the ideal of Open Science, which promotes transparency, sharing, collaboration, and accountability, seems to target precisely the type of limitations uncovered in commercially-driven research. The Open Science movement, however, has primarily focused on publicly funded research, has actively encouraged liaisons with the private sector, and has also created new strategies for commercializing science. As a consequence, I argue that Open Science ends up contributing to the commercialization of science, instead of overcoming its limitations. I use the examples of research publications and citizen science to illustrate this point. Accordingly, the asymmetry between private and public science, present in the current plea to open science, ends up compromising the values of transparency, democracy, and accountability.


We study a novel proposal for the origin of cosmological cold dark matter (CDM) which is rooted in the quantum nature of spacetime. In this model, off-shell modes of quantum fields can exist in asymptotic states as a result of spacetime nonlocality (expected in generic theories of quantum gravity), and play the role of CDM, which we dub off-shell dark matter (OfDM). However, their rate of production is suppressed by the scale of non-locality (e.g. Planck length). As a result, we show that OfDM is only produced in the first moments of big bang, and then effectively decouples (except through its gravitational interactions). We examine the observational predictions of this model: In the context of cosmic inflation, we show that this proposal relates the reheating temperature to the inflaton mass, which narrows down the uncertainty in the number of e-foldings of specific inflationary scenarios. We also demonstrate that OfDM is indeed cold, and discuss potentially observable signatures on small scale matter power spectrum.


Accreditation is a major issue in allied health education. This article explores the purposes of accreditation and eight myths about nongovernmental programmatic accreditation. These myths focus on professional society control versus accountability to the general public and student consumer, the method of national standard setting versus statewide accrediting, credibility of the process, the conduct of the process by volunteers, costs of accreditation, and the role of paid accreditation staff. Appropriate US Department of Education criteria and Council on Postsecondary Accreditation provisions that affect these areas are included.


The effect of grain size on river delta process and morphology Rebecca L. Caldwell Advisor: Douglas Edmonds Delta morphology is traditionally explained by differences in fluvial energy and wave and tidal energy. However, deltas influenced by similar ratios of river to marine energy can display strikingly different morphologies. Other variables, such as grain size of the sediment load delivered to the delta, influence delta morphology, but these models are largely qualitative leaving many questions unanswered. To better understand how grain size modifies deltaic processes and morphologies I conducted 33 numerical modeling experiments and quantified the effects produced by different grain sizes. In these 33 runs I change the median (0.01 – 1 mm), standard deviation (0.1 – 3 φ), and skewness (-0.7 – 0.7) of the incoming grain-size distribution. The model setup includes a river carrying constant discharge entering a standing body of water devoid of tides, waves, and sealevel change. The results show that delta morphology undergoes a transition as median grain size and standard deviation increase while changing skewness has little effect. At small median grain size and standard deviation, deltas have elongate planform morphologies with sinuous shorelines characterized by shallow topset gradients ranging from 1 x 10 to 3 x 10, and by 1 8 stable active channels. At large median grain size and standard deviation, deltas transition to semi-circular planform morphologies with smooth shorelines characterized by steeper topset gradients ranging from 1 x 10 to 2 x 10, and by 14 16 mobile channels. The change in delta morphology can be morphodynamically linked to changes in grain size. As grain size increases delta morphology transitions from elongate to semi-circular because the average topset gradient increases. For a given set of flow conditions, larger grain sizes require a steeper topset gradient to mobilize and transport. The average topset gradient reaches a dynamic equilibrium through time. This requires that, per unit length of seaward progradation, deltas with steeper gradients have higher vertical sedimentation rates. Higher sedimentation rates, in turn, perch the channel above the surrounding floodplain (socalled 'super-elevation'), resulting in unstable channels that frequently avulse and create periods of overbank flow. The overbank flow is more erosive because the steeper gradient causes higher shear stresses on the floodplain, which creates more channels. More channels reduce the average water and sediment discharge at a given channel mouth, which creates time scales for mouth bar formation in coarse-grained deltas that are longer than the avulsion time scale. This effectively suppresses the process of bifurcation around river mouth bars in coarse-grained deltas, which in turn creates semicircular morphologies with smooth shorelines as channels avulse across the topset. On the other hand, the finest-grained (i.e. mud) deltas have low topset gradients and fewer channels. The high water and sediment discharge per channel, coupled with the slow settling velocity of mud, advects the sediment far from channel mouths, which in turn creates mouth bar growth and avulsion time scales that are longer than the delta life. This creates an elongate delta as stable channels prograde basinward. Deltas with intermediate grain sizes have nearly equal avulsion and bifurcation time scales, creating roughly semicircular shapes but with significant shoreline roughness where mouth bars form.


A new micro-Pirani vacuum gauge that employs a ladder-shaped structure with two parallel bridges and crosslinks in between has been designed and fabricated. This design enhances the physical performance of the gauge by increasing structural rigidity, thus allowing for longer beams and a wider selection of materials, and by allowing for better heat distribution across the sensor - therefore improving the full-scale range of sensor response. Furthermore, this Pirani gauge can be fabricated in a one-, two-, or three-mask process without postprocessing steps such as KOH etching. In a CMOS-compatible process, poly-Si 4 times 2 times 250-mum and 4 times 2 times 1000-mum Pirani gauges with the ladder structure were fabricated and tested with pressure ranges from 10-3 to 50 torr (0.133 to 1 times 103 Pa) and 5 times 10-2 to 760 torr (6.67 to 1.01 times 105-Pa atmospheric pressure) and with resolutions of approximately 10-3 and 5 times 10-2 (0.133 to 6.67 Pa), respectively. Constant temperature circuitry and thermoelectric temperature stabilization would further extend the range of operation and the resolution of these devices. Furthermore, these sensors operate at very low powers ranging from 300 to 600 muW depending on their geometry and pressure measurement range.


PROPOXYPHENE hydrochloride (Darvon) is a commonly used analgesic preparation whose toxic effects have been somewhat overlooked, particularly in children. This report is intended to alert physicians, and pediatricians in particular, to the syndrome of propoxyphene intoxication with consideration of its clinical presentation and treatment. Of further interest is that the ingested dose reported here is the smallest known to have caused toxicity. Report of a Case A 3¼-year-old Negro girl was brought to the emergency room in apparent cardiac and respiratory arrest. She had been entirely healthy until one hour prior to admission, at which time a "gurgling, choking" noise had been heard coming from her room and she had been found "limp" in bed, cyanotic, with food and mucus coming from her nose and mouth. She had shallow respirations, and could not be aroused. Within five minutes she had a generalized seizure, which abated after several minutes. She was


Knowledge has become a key source of competitiveness for advanced regions and nations, indicating a transformation of capitalism towards "knowledge-driven economies". Knowledge intensive sectors in production and in services have a lead in this respect, they can be considered as role models for the future. The innovation process, the mechanisms of knowledge exchange and the respective linkages in those industries differ quite markedly from those in other sectors. Clustering and local knowledge spillovers are frequently stated phenomena, although it is still unclear to what extent regional networks and collective learning are indeed relevant and what the mechanisms of knowledge flows are. The aim of the paper is to examine in a differentiated way the character of the innovation process and the type of interactions in those industries, in order to find out how strongly they are related to regional, national and international innovation systems. We will analyse the relevant types of actors, the respective mechanisms of knowledge exchange and the importance of collective learning and innovation. The paper will discuss relevant theoretical concepts and available evidence and it will be based on an empirical analysis for Austria. The data base is a recent firm survey which was carried out in the year 2003. From this analysis conclusions regarding the role of regional and other innovation systems for the development of knowledge-based industries will be drawn.


A 3600-MHz phase-locked loop based frequency synthesizer for UMTS applications has been developed in 0.18 μm CMOS. It incorporates a VCO frequency and loop-gain calibration technique that allows an integrated VCO frequency tuning range of 28% and a low VCO gain ( KVCO of 30 MHz/V. The loop-gain calibration can compensate for not only variations in VCO gain and divider modulus, but also charge-pump current and loop filter capacitance to an accuracy of 5%. The PLL settles in 150 μs including frequency and gain calibrations. No switches are used in the loop filter. The output phase noise at 1-MHz offset is -123 dBc/Hz and the integrated phase error (1 kHz-2 MHz) is 1.26 °.


The recognition of the interplay between cigarette demand and impulsivity as a proxy of reinforcer pathology (RP) has prompted studies that assess these 2 constructs. Scarce research has examined their interrelation within clinical contexts. This secondary analysis sought to identify different types of treatment-seeking smokers based on cigarette demand and delay discounting and examine their differential response to contingency management (CM). The dataset included 305 participants (68% female) receiving either a cognitive-behavioral treatment (CBT) or CBT + CM. A cluster analysis based on the bifactorial structure of a cigarette purchase task (i.e., psychological inertia and persistence) and delay discounting (base-10 logarithmic transformation of the area under the curve) was conducted. Clusters were compared in abstinence rates at posttreatment and 6-month follow-up. Two RP subgroups emerged, Cluster 1 (n = 128) and Cluster 2 (n = 177), which were interpreted as "individuals with excessive tobacco valuation" and "steep discounters," respectively. At 8 weeks, the percentage of abstinent individuals was higher in those in Cluster 2 compared to those in Cluster 1 (76.3% vs. 61%; χ2 = 8.291, p = .004, ϕ = .16). The nonsignificant effect of treatment condition on cessation outcomes indicated that both clusters equally benefited from CBT or CBT + CM. Support was reached for the generalizability of CBT and CM irrespective of patients' RP subtype. The fact that CM did not enhance abstinence outcomes beyond those obtained with CBT alone, underscores the need to evaluate the effect of innovative treatment procedures tailored to these RP phenotypes. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved).


In order for learning agents to be useful to non-technical users, it is important to be able to teach agents how to perform new tasks using simple communication methods. We begin this paper by describing a framework we recently developed called Training an Agent Manually via Evaluative Reinforcement (TAMER), which allows a human to train a learning agent by giving simple scalar reinforcement 1 signals while observing the agent perform the task. We then discuss how this work fits into a general taxonomy of methods for human-teachable (HT) agents and argue that the entire field of HT agents could benefit from an increased focus on the human side of teaching interactions. We then propose a set of conjectures about aspects of human teaching behavior that we believe could be incorporated into future work on HT agents.


The embryonic development of the deposit-feeding Baltic amphipod Monoporeia affjnis (Lindstrom) was studied from fertilization to hatching. Severe types of aberrant embryonic development are described and the normal variation of the aberrations is estimated. Between 2 and 6% malformed, 0 and 5 % undifferentiated and 0 and 6% dead eggs and embryos were observed at different sites in the coastal area of the northern Baltic proper and the Bothnian Sea without local contaminant &scharges. The embryonic development of M. affinis was described to facilitate the use of the embryo variables in field studies of sediment toxicity. The merits of the different embryo variables as biomarkers in effect monitoring were evaluated. Gravid females were sampled in the receiving waters of 2 different types of pulp mills and an aluminum smeltery. Fecundity (eggs per female) and frequency of malformed, enlarged, undifferentiated and dead embryos per female were determined. Frequency of malformed embryos was higher at industrially affected stations as compared to reference areas (p < 0.0001, p < 0.0001 and p = 0.003 respectively). The highest frequencies (15.3%) were recorded close to the alurninum smeltery. In reference areas the frequency vaned between 1.5 and 4.9. The number of enlarged embryos with oedema was higher near the pulp m d s (p = 0.03, p > 0.0001), particularly the pulp mill with a bleaching stage, where 25 to 40% embryos per female were affected. Background frequencies of enlarged embryos (0.7 to 3.5%) were observed outside the alurninum smeltery. UnMferentiated eggs and dead eggs did not correlate to the exposure situation, suggesting these variables are of lunited value in effect monitoring of xenobiotics. The frequency of malformed embryos was increased also when fecundity, reproduction success and developmental stage of embryos were unaffected. Thus, the variable is suggested to be particularly toxicant-sensitive and by analysing the number of malformed embryos of M. affinis an early warning of affected populations could be provided.


The Concorde Affair. John Davis. Leslie Frewin, London, 1969. 229 pp. Illustrated. 35s. Probably no aeroplane has attracted more public attention while still under development nor caused such widespread controversy as the Anglo-French Concorde supersonic airliner. Even the spelling of its name was for a time the subject of international debate! Nevertheless, Concorde also represents the most successful major industrial enterprise yet undertaken by two nations working together. Since the original Anglo-French Agreement was signed in 1962, the project has moved forward with remarkably few setbacks due primarily to the straightforward physical difficulties of a collaboration in which two governments, two airframe and two engine manufacturers—from two different countries speaking different languages—are having to work hand-in-hand and agree on the most involved and sophisticated technical issues.


The purpose of this study is to make use of trans10,cis12 CLA (t-CLA) that has potential for proliferation and differentiation to form adipocyte on the collagen-coated surface. Results provided evidences of good adhesion, growth, viability, and differentiation of adipocyte on collagen-coated surface compared with non-coated surface. Also, the results showed that mouse 3T3-L1 preadipocyte can be successfully and reproducibly cultured on the collagen-coated surface, and the adipocyte precursor cells placed on the collagen-coated surface are able to undergo full maturation into adipocytes in the control cells. Moreover, glycerol-3-phosphate dehydrogenase (GPDH) activity in 3T3-L1 preadipocyte cultured on collagen-coated surface with t-CLA was higher than that on polystyrene (PS) surface due to higher cell adhesion and cell viability. These results suggest that collagen coating may provide a promising approach to develop a new adipocyte replacement strategy using CLA.


From the 9th to 14th centuries AD, Sicily experienced a series of rapid and quite radical changes in political regime, but the impact of these regime changes on the lives of the people that experienced them remains largely elusive within the historical narrative. We use a multi-faceted lipid residue approach to give direct chemical evidence of the use of 248 everyday domestic ceramic containers from Islamic and post-Islamic contexts in western Sicily to aid our understanding of daily habits throughout this period of political change. A range of commodities was successfully identified, including animal fats, vegetable products, fruit products (potentially including wine) and plant resins. The study highlights the complexity of residues in early medieval Mediterranean society as, in many cases, mixtures of commodities were observed reflecting sequential cooking events and/or the complex mixtures reflective of medieval recipes. However, overall, there were no clear changes in the composition of the residues following the imposition of Norman control over the island and through subsequent periods, despite some differences between urban centres and rural sites. Thus, lending to the idea that post-Islamic populations largely flourished and benefited from the agricultural systems, resources and recipes left by their predecessors.


Abstract Favoritism in the organizational context is often regarded as dysfunctional and detrimental to organizational performance. On the other hand, it could function as a tacit-knowledge-based mechanism for making sure that the right people are in right positions in an organization, especially under conditions of rapid and forceful change. This study focuses on the leadership of the controversial Admiral Sir John 'Jacky' Fisher (1841–1920). Fisher, as the First Sea Lord of the British Admiralty, led the Royal Navy through a significant but disputed technological and organizational turnaround during the pre-World War I (pre-WWI) naval arms race between Britain and Germany. Fisher saw that he would achieve his aims essentially by appointing his favorites and cronies to key positions throughout the naval organization. The aim in this study is to highlight the most important facets of the phenomenon from a strategic-leadership perspective.


The interior of southern Baffin Island between 64 N and 68 N latitude is a mainly lowland area over 50 000 km² in extent, containing two large lakes (Amadjuak and Nettilling) and numerous smaller lakes and ponds. This area is important as summer range for caribou and a variety of birds, and there is evidence for a human presence as early as 3000 B.P. Field studies between 1984 and 1988 and the operation of climatic autostations from 1987 to 1995 revealed a warm summer climate and cold winters. There is a locally rich and diverse vegetation, including Betula glandulosa and other species that are indicative of the low arctic bioclimatic zone and mark the present northern limit of that zone in the eastern Canadian Arctic. Air photos and Landsat imagery were used to map vegetation beyond the field areas, leading to an estimate of 46% of the land area in continuous vegetation (tundra) of some type and 15% with shrub and heath elements. Palynology of sediment cores taken from Nettilling Lake permitted extrapolation from present bioclimatic conditions to 4750 years B.P. Betula and therefore elements of a low arctic vegetation association appear to have been present in the area during most of that period, indicating a local bioclimatic system that has been relatively stable under regional variations of climate.


Online shoppers have a lot of information at their disposal when making a purchase decision. They can look at images of the product, read reviews, make comparisons with other products, do research online, read expert reviews, and more. Voice shopping (purchasing items via a Voice assistant such as Amazon Alexa or Google Assistant) is different. Voice introduces novel challenges as the communication channel is limited in terms of the amount of information people can and are willing to absorb. Because of this, the system should choose the single most effective nugget of information to help the customer, and present the information succinctly. In this paper we report on a within-subject user study (N = 24), in which we employed three template-based methods that use information from customer reviews, product attributes and search relevance signals to generate helpful supporting information. Our results suggest that: (1) supporting information from customer reviews significantly improves participants perception of system effectiveness (helping them make good decisions); (2) supporting information based on search relevance signals improves user perception of system transparency (providing insight into how the system works). We discuss the implications of our findings for providing supporting information for customers shopping by Voice.


The shapes and types of containers for foods, drugs and medicines, and cosmetics and detergent refills are diverse: glass bottles, cans, PET bottles and laminate-film liquid packaging bags are examples. In recent years, to increase the ease of pouring out the contents of laminate-film liquid packaging bags, the shape of the heat seal has been changed from a flat seal to a bottleneck seal. However, the large number of bottleneck seal ruptures of liquid packaging bags due to impact load during the transport, loading and unloading of packaged products has been a problem. In our previous study, we investigated impact peel strength in the heat-sealed area of a laminate film; however, the effects of the bottleneck seal shape and heat-sealed area width on impact peel strength and rupture occurrence have not yet been clarified. In this study, experiments were carried out to clarify the effects of the flat and bottleneck seal shapes, as well as heat-sealed area width, on impact peel strength and bag rupture occurrence. The following two films were used : (1) a multilayered laminate film with barrier characteristics against oxygen and water vapor, which is frequently used for liquid packaging bags owing to its high efficacy in food quality preservation, and (2) a multilayered laminate film without barrier characteristics. On the basis of the results obtained, we established, for the first time, a new standard regarding bottleneck seal shape and heat-sealed area width.


Stimulation, within 1 min after cAMP stimulation, of aggregation- competent Dictyostelium discoideum amebae was found to cause a rapid (within 1 min) modification of the cell's surface cAMP receptor. The modified receptor migrated on SDS PAGE as a 47,000-mol-wt protein, as opposed to a 45,000-mol-wt protein labeled on unstimulated cells. The length of time this modified receptor could be detected depended upon the strength of the cAMP stimulus: 3-4 min after treatment with 10(-7) M cAMP, cells no longer possessed the 47,000-mol-wt form of the cAMP receptor. Instead, the 45,000-mol-wt form was present. Stimulation of cells with 10(-5) M cAMP, however, resulted in the persistent (over 15 min) expression of the modified receptor. The time course, concentration dependence, and specificity of stimulus for this cAMP- induced shift in the cAMP receptor were found to parallel the cAMP- stimulated phosphorylation of a 47,000-mol-wt protein. In addition, both phenomena were shown to occur in the absence of endogenous cAMP synthesis. The possibility that the cAMP receptor is phosphorylated in response to cAMP stimulation, and the role of this event in cell desensitization, are discussed.


As, GSRTC offers passenger transport services, the efficiency lies in providing qualitative services in terms of safety and punctuality. The prime resource of GSRTC is its buses, so the proper upkeep and effective utilization of vehicles and efficiency in operations will increase revenue and control the cost of operations. Unfortunately, more than 52 per cent (as on 31st March 2008) of the fleet owned by GSRTC are over aged and due for replacement. However, scarcity of funds restricted the replacement of these vehicles. Aged fleet needs more resources (man and material) to operate, slow down operations due to frequent break-downs and reduced trips than planned. Consequently, number of passengers and employee and vehicle utilization goes down and as such, increased cost of operations and decreased profit together contributes to financial weakness of GSRTC. The GSRTC will have to compete with the private sector even though the former may continue to play a dominant role in terms of social obligations. The research is focused on financial analysis Gujarat State Road Transport. The research has its own findings and ended with fruitful suggestions.


Based upon an international workshop, this perspective evaluates how nano-scale pore structures and unique properties that emerge at nano- and sub-nano-size domains could improve the energy efficiency and selectivity of electroseparation or electrocatalytic processes for treating potable or waste waters. An Eisenhower matrix prioritizes the urgency or impact of addressing potential barriers or opportunities. There has been little optimization of electrochemical reactors to increase mass transport rates of pollutants to, from, and within electrode surfaces, which become important as nano-porous structures are engineered into electrodes. A "trap-and-zap" strategy is discussed wherein nanostructures (pores, sieves, and crystal facets) are employed to allow localized concentration of target pollutants relative to background solutes (i.e., localized pollutant trapping). The trapping is followed by localized production of tailored reactive oxygen species to selectively degrade the target pollutant (i.e., localized zapping). Frequently overlooked in much of the electrode-material development literature, nano-scale structures touted to be highly "reactive" towards target pollutants may also be the most susceptible to material degradation (i.e., aging) or fouling by mineral scales that form due to localized pH changes. A need exists to study localized pH and electric-field related aging or fouling mechanisms and strategies to limit or reverse adverse outcomes from aging or fouling. This perspective provides examples of the trends and identifies promising directions to advance nano-materials and engineering principles to exploit the growing need for near chemical-free, advanced oxidation/reduction or separation processes enabled through electrochemistry.


This paper addresses the highly topical, rapidly developing subject of feminism in contemporary society. Topics that have long been the concern of feminists - such as violence and harassment, the gender pay gap, and women's suffrage - are currently receiving a level of media attention that suggests a new feminist movement that some might depict as a 'third or fourth 'wave.' However, arguing for a more sceptical and historically-grounded approach, positing that we should maintain a critical eye on popular and media depictions of feminism, this paper highlights the contours of feminist activism which indicate significant continuity in terms of feminist concerns over recent decades. The paper critiques the idea of 'waves' of feminism and proposes instead the concept of a "woven tapestry" of feminism. It then argues that, despite changing methods of communicating feminism, contemporary feminism shares many of the same concerns and diverse perspectives that have marked the development of feminism over the last century. Although the growth of the digital landscape does offer new opportunities to feminism, it is also marked by very familiar forms of misogynistic abuse and harassment. The paper attempts to make sense of this online misogynistic abuse by reflecting on the historic silencing of women's public voice. The paper notes that, far from representing a novel phase of feminism, much of contemporary feminism is marked by its continuities with feminism in the twentieth century; a historically-grounded approach to understanding and developing feminism in the twentieth century is therefore of value.


BACKGROUND
Existing prediction models for clinically relevant postoperative pancreatic fistula after pancreatoduodenectomy lack discriminatory power or are too complex. This study aimed to develop a simple nomogram that could accurately predict clinically relevant postoperative pancreatic fistula after pancreatoduodenectomy.

METHODS
A high-volume, multicenter cohort of patients who underwent pancreatoduodenectomy from the American College of Surgeons-National Surgical Quality Improvement Program database in the United States during 2014-2017 was used as the model training cohort (n=3609), and patients who underwent pancreatoduodenectomy from the Pancreatic Center of National Cancer Center Hospital in ***** during 2014-2019 were used as the external validation cohort (n=1347). The study used lasso penalized regression to screen large-scale variables, then logistic regression was performed to screen the variables and build a model. Finally, a prediction nomogram for clinically relevant postoperative pancreatic fistula was established based on the logistic model, and polynomial equations were extracted. The performance of the nomogram was evaluated by receiver operating characteristic curve, calibration curve, and decision curve analysis.

RESULTS
In the training and validation cohorts, there were 16.7% (601/3609) and 16.6% (224/1347) of patients who developed clinically relevant postoperative pancreatic fistula, respectively. After screening using Lasso and logistic regression, only 6 predictors were independently associated with clinically relevant postoperative pancreatic fistula, including 2 preoperative indicators (weight and pancreatic duct size), 1 intraoperative indicator (pancreatic texture), and 3 postoperative indicators (deep surgical site infection, delayed gastric emptying, and pathology). The prediction of the new nomogram was accurate, with an area under the curve of 0.855 (95% CI, 0.702-0.853) in the external validation cohort, and the predictive performance was superior to three previously proposed postoperative pancreatic fistula risk score models (all P<0.001, likelihood ratio test).

CONCLUSIONS
A reliable Lasso-logistic method was applied to establish a novel nomogram based on 6 readily available indicators, achieving a sustained, dynamic, and precise postoperative pancreatic fistula prediction for pancreatoduodenectomy patients. With a limited number of variables and easy clinical application, this new model will enable surgeons to proactively predict, identify and manage pancreatic fistulas to obtain better outcomes from this daunting postoperative complication.


Over the years, SSL/TLS has become an essential part of Internet security. As such, it should offer robust and stateof-the-art security, in particular for HTTPS, its first application. Theoretically, the protocol allows for a trade-off between secure algorithms and decent performance. Yet in practice, servers do not always support the latest version of the protocol, nor do they all enforce strong cryptographic algorithms. To assess the quality of HTTPS and other TLS deployment at large, several studies have been led to grasp the state of the ecosystem, and to characterize the quality of certificate chains in particular. In this paper, we propose to analyse some of the existing data concerning TLS measures on the Internet. We studied several datasets, from the first public ones in 2010 to more recent scans. Even if the collection methodology and the used tools vary between campaigns, we propose a unified and reproducible way to analyse the TLS ecosystem through different datasets. Our approach is based on a set of open-source tools, concerto. Our contribution is therefore threefold: an analysis of existing datasets to propose a unified methodology, the implementation of our approach with concerto, and the presentation of some results to validate our toolsets.


Efficient torque control of induction motor drives in combination with resonant dc-link input filters can lead to a type of stability problem that is known as negative impedance instability. An often-proposed solution to this problem is the nonlinear system stabilizing controller (NSSC). Stability is usually analyzed under the simplifying assumption of perfect torque control. This indicates that the NSSC stabilizes the drive at any operating point. In this paper, however, we show power laboratory experiments where the NSSC stabilization fails. An improved framework for stability analysis and synthesis of stabilization, based on a linear feedback model of the drive, is therefore proposed. With this approach, effects of time delays can easily be included, and stability margins can be directly established from measurements. To solve the indicated problems with NSSC, a stabilization controller that considers the practical limitations of torque control is derived. In the design of the stabilization controller, the tradeoff between damping and acceptable torque control is also explicitly taken into account. The proposed stabilization scheme is implemented and evaluated on a hardware-in-the-loop simulator as well as in a power laboratory. The results show that the proposed method outperforms the NSSC method.


There are many uncertainties in the quantitative assessment of radiative effects due to atmospheric dust aerosol and the optical properties of dust particles contribute large to them. Numerical sensitivity experiments to evaluate the impacts of optical characteristics on the radiative forcing have been performed in this study. The experiments involve the effects of refractive indices, single scattering albedo, asymmetry factor and optical depth of the dust particles. An updated data set of refractive indices representing East Asian dust and the data set recommended by World Meteorology Organization (WMO) are used in our calculations for comparison. A k-distribution model for solar and thermal radiation transfer is employed in the calculation of radiative forcing. It is found that comparing with the WMO model, East Asian dust model has stronger scattering and weaker absorption at solar regime, which leads to higher negative forcing at the top of atmosphere (TOA) in this study. The more important is the signs of radiative forcing at TOA over certain regions could be reversed for the two dust models, which emphasizes the essentiality of accurate measurements of optical properties of dust aerosols for quantitatively estimating their radiative forcing.


In this study, it was aimed to determine the workable days in agriculture using meteorological parameters, and a databank was formed obtaining the inputs from all weather stations in Central Anatolia Region, which cover a 20-year period, from 1986 to 2006. Running a mathematical model in a computer software specifically designed for this purpose, the data of this databank were exploited to calculate the workable days on a land for soil treatment, crop care and harvest for any given region and to show these data with graphs on monthly or yearly basis. This software may help to use time more economically and reduce the system costs directly or indirectly. Moreover, the data collected are quite necessary to prepare some national or local charts and graphs related to the general distribution of various climate factors.


Representation is a hallmark of democratic governance. Widely studied within traditional modes of governance, representation is less studied in alternative governance settings, such as collaborative governance arrangements. Collaborative governance arrangements are specifically designed to encourage inclusion and participation among a diverse array of stakeholders in some part of the policy process. Our research contrasts different forms of representation observed in a collaborative governance arrangement and identifies factors contributing to observed patterns in representation therein. We analyze descriptive representation (i.e., "representation in form") or substantive representation (i.e., "representation in practice") and look for inconsistencies between them. Our case study is a regional food policy council located in the Western United States. Among our findings is that discrepancies between descriptive and substantive representation can be explained by shared goals, local norms, organizational structure, and heterogeneity in member capacity. We conclude our article with a discussion of the theoretical and practical implications of this research.


The year 1968 was unprecedented in terms of upheaval on numerous scales: political, military, economic, social, cultural. In the United States, perhaps no one was more undone by the events of 1968 than President Lyndon Baines Johnson. Kyle Longley leads his readers on a behind-the-scenes tour of what Johnson characterized as the "year of a continuous nightmare." Longley explores how LBJ perceived the most significant events of 1968, including the Vietnam War, the assassinations of Martin Luther King, Jr. and Robert Kennedy, and the violent Democratic National Convention in Chicago. His responses to the crises were sometimes effective but often tragic, and LBJ's refusal to seek reelection underscores his recognition of the challenges facing the country in 1968. As much a biography of a single year as it is of LBJ, LBJ's 1968 vividly captures the tumult that dominated the headlines on local and global levels.


A diverless subsea flowline connection system includes a plurality of connectors for remotely connecting the end of a bundle of flowlines to the ends of a plurality of bundles of individual flowlines. Guidance components direct the end portion of each bundle of individual flowlines into precise connecting alignment with a corresponding end portion of the bundled flowlines without damage to the connecting seals. The end portion of the bundled flowlines are covered and sealed so that these flowlines can be pulled across a sea floor without damage to their connecting ends. Means are provided for pulling the flowline bundle toward an aligning structure so that the lines can approach the structure from a wide variety of angles and the structure will guide the bundled flowlines into position where they can be aligned exactly with the individual diameter flowlines. This pulling means includes means for connecting a pulling cable to the radial center of a pulling head attached to the ends of the bundled flowlines. The ends of the individual flowlines are connected to connector lugs and aligned before the fluid-tight seals are set to prevent possible damage to the seals. After the individual flowline ends are precisely aligned the seals are set. The pulling, aligning, replacement of seals and fluid-tight connecting of the individual flowlines is all directed by remote control from the surface of the sea.