Embryo donation (ED) is the donation by a couple who have surplus embryos following in vitro fertilisation to another infertile couple or person. The aim of this research was to address the paucity of knowledge on how ED is understood and experienced by donors and recipients. The research, the first on ED in New Zealand, is particularly relevant due to the newness of ED in the country and the unique guidelines: Registration of donor identity, mandatory individual and joint counselling for donors and recipients, and case-by-case application to an ethics committee.

A discursive analytic approach was adopted, drawing on elements of both discursive psychology and Foucauldian discourse analysis. This took into account the potential influence of extra-discursive factors including embodiment, personal-social biographies and material conditions.

Analysis focused on identifying discourses available in New Zealand society and how individuals invested in these discourses, and the implications for donor and recipient experiences and the resulting kinship structures. To facilitate a comprehensive and holistic understanding, the analysis was conducted across a range of sites: The academic literature, New Zealand's legislative frameworks, policy guidelines, and ethics committee applications and decision-making. Further, interviews were conducted with 9 ED counsellors, 22 donors (10 couples, 2 individuals) and 15 recipients (5 couples, 5 individuals).

A central discourse identified was the genetic discourse. Genetic connections were constructed as bestowing immutable kinship ties between donors and offspring. Donors constructed the children as still partly theirs, making ED a difficult choice, and conveying responsibility for the child's welfare. Recipients constructed knowledge about genetic background as significant for their child's identity and health. Disclosure of donor conception and access to the donors was thus assumed as a necessary, albeit challenging, part of being a parent through ED.

Donors and recipients managed the significance of genetics through drawing on a number of further discourses: An adoption discourse (constructing ED as adoption, offering a familiar framework for this form of family-building, and making transparent rights and responsibilities), a gestational discourse (valuing the role of gestation in attachment), gifting and reciprocal exchange discourses (constructing the donation as a gift from donors to recipients, versus a mutually beneficial practice) and a discourse of ED as building extended families. The latter discourse enabled donors to maintain an interest as extended family, allowed recipients to assume parental authority but accommodate and manage the role of donors, and recognised sibling relationships. Donors and recipients were able to strategically appropriate genetic, gestational, and social elements of reproduction and parenting in a way that did not destabilise family relationships and boundaries. These new kinship forms were constructed as complex and novel however, creating anxiety and ambivalence amongst donors, recipients, and counsellors.

Recommendations suggested for ED policy and practice include strategies to assist donor offspring to gain greater awareness and access to information on their genetic background, and the development of longer-term support structures to assist in the promotion of positive long-term outcomes for all parties involved in ED.


Sustainability implies a non-degrading use of natural resources in the long term. Property systems, on the other hand, institutionalise existing resource use practices in a fixed timeframe. Where outcomes such as third party effects have not been anticipated, property systems need to be modified or attenuated. The use of pastoral lease land in New Zealand exhibits these features and some attenuation is therefore desirable in new legislation. This paper reports a personal attempt to achieve these ends through bureaucratic reform and personal representation.


The high penetration of DER into the European power system requires a radical new approach to the real time grid operation. The ELECTRA Integrated Research Programme on Smart Grids is active in the definition of the new system requirements, deploying flexibility resources to be triggered in response to proper grid observables inputs. This paper presents the ELECTRA vision on the 2030+ power system together with its proposal for frequency and voltage control schemes. The proposed approach on grid control envisages the deployment of flexibility resources, the provision of new ancillary service as well as the use of advanced ICT solutions to improve the network observability.


This paper examines a class of low density parity check (LDPC) erasure codes called Tornado codes for applications in archival storage systems. The fault tolerance of Tornado code graphs is analyzed and it is shown that it is possible to identify and mitigate worst-case failure scenarios in small (96 node) graphs through use of simulations to find and eliminate critical node sets that can cause Tornado codes to fail even when almost all blocks are present. The graph construction procedure resulting from the preceding analysis is then used to construct a 96-device Tornado code storage system with capacity overhead equivalent to RAID 10 that tolerates any 4 device failures. This system is demonstrated to be superior to other parity-based RAID systems. Finally, it is described how a geographically distributed data stewarding system can be enhanced by using cooperatively selected Tornado code graphs to obtain fault tolerance exceeding that of its constituent storage sites or site replication strategies


Future astrophysics and planetary experiments are expected to require large focal plane arrays with thousands of detectors. Feedhorns have excellent performance, but their mass, size, fabrication challenges, and expense become prohibitive for very large focal plane arrays. Most planar antenna designs produce broad beam patterns, and therefore require additional elements for efficient coupling to the telescope optics, such as substrate lenses or micromachined horns. An antenna array with integrated silicon microlenses that can be fabricated photolithographically effectively addresses these issues. This approach eliminates manual assembly of arrays of lenses and reduces assembly errors and tolerances. Moreover, an antenna array without metallic horns will reduce mass of any planetary instrument significantly. The design has a monolithic array of lens-coupled, leaky-wave antennas operating in the millimeter- and submillimeter-wave frequencies. Electromagnetic simulations show that the electromagnetic fields in such lens-coupled antennas are mostly confined in approximately 12 15 . This means that one needs to design a small-angle sector lens that is much easier to fabricate using standard lithographic techniques, instead of a full hyper-hemispherical lens. Moreover, this small-angle sector lens can be easily integrated with the antennas in an array for multi-pixel imager and receiver implementation. The leaky antenna is designed using double-slot irises and fed with TE10 waveguide mode. The lens implementation starts with a silicon substrate. Photoresist with appropriate thickness (optimized for the lens size) is spun on the substrate and then reflowed to get the desired lens structure. An antenna array integrated with individual lenses for higher directivity and excellent beam profile will go a long way in realizing multi-pixel arrays and imagers. This technology will enable a new generation of compact, low-mass, and highly efficient antenna arrays for use in multi-pixel receivers and imagers for future planetary and astronomical instruments. These antenna arrays can also be used in radars and imagers for contraband detection at stand-off distances. This will be enabling technology for future balloon-borne, smaller explorer class mission (SMEX), and other missions, and for a wide range of proposed planetary sounders and radars for planetary bodies.


Abstract— Complex electronic systems are used in safety-critical applications (e.g., aerospace, nuclear stations), for which the certification standards demand the use of assured design methods and tools. Meta-scheduling is a way to manage the complexity of adaptive systems via predictable behavioural patterns established by static scheduling algorithms. This paper proposes a metascheduling algorithm for adaptive time-triggered systems based on Networks-on-a-Chip (NoCs). The meta-scheduling algorithm computes an individual schedule for each dynamic event of slack occurrence. Each dynamic slack occurrence triggers the shift to a more energy-efficient schedule. Dynamic frequency scaling of cores and routers is used to improve the energy efficiency, while preserving the temporal correctness of time-triggered computation and communication activities (e.g., collision avoidance, timeliness). Mixed-Integer Quadratic Programming (MIQP) is used to optimise the schedules Experimental results for an example scenario demonstrate that the presented metascheduling algorithm provides on average a power reduction of 34%. Our approach was able to deploy 93 dynamic slack schedules compared to the single slack schedule of using static slack scheduling.


Metal hydrides are of considerable interest for safe and practical hydrogen storage. Among theses, Mg is regarded as a promising hydrogen storage material for variety applications, due to its high theoretical gravimetric and volumetric capacity and the full reversibility of its sorption reactions combined with low cost, low density and environmental. In previous studies, the superior catalytic effect of 2 5 Nb O was demonstrated and compared to other metal oxide catalysts. However, the nanocrystalline MgH2 Nb2O5 mixtures must be milled for 20 or more hours to obtain the outstanding sorption kinetics. Long milling time causes high production costs, thus making the system less attractive for commercial applications. In this way, ternary 2 5 Mg Nb O SWCNT (molar ratio % = 97.5:0.5:2.0) were prepared by high-energy ball milling and their hydrogen storage behaviors were investigated. The Structural and phase evolution of these additive were investigated by using X-ray diffractometry (XRD) and morphology and microchemistry by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) with energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS). Detail sorption mechanisms were discussed to understand the catalytic effect.


Plasma atrial natriuretic peptide was measured in 13 children between the ages of 1 week and 2 years 9 months during atrioventricular re-entrant tachycardia and 15 minutes after the restoration of sinus rhythm. There was a significant decline in atrial natriuretic peptide during sinus rhythm. Plasma concentrations of the peptide were significantly higher during tachycardia in seven infants under 1 year than in the six older children. The heart rates and the duration of tachycardia were not significantly different in the two age groups. Cardiac failure was present in five of seven children under 18 weeks of age during tachycardia but in none of the older children. The plasma concentration of atrial natriuretic peptide did not significantly correlate with duration of tachycardia or heart rate. If tachycardia occurs in young infants the low functional reserve capacity of the developing heart leads to cardiac failure more frequently and it is likely that this was the cause of the significantly higher plasma concentration of atrial natriuretic peptide in the younger children.


BACKGROUND
Although secondhand smoke (SHS) has been linked with various respiratory conditions and symptoms, its association with health-related quality of life (HRQOL) is unknown.

METHODS
A cross-sectional study was performed of 2500 never smokers in Switzerland who participated in the Swiss Cohort Study on Air Pollution and Lung Diseases in Adults and completed a 36-Item Short Form Health Survey (SF-36) in 2002. Using linear regression models adjusting for confounders, we measured the association between HRQOL and moderate or high SHS exposure (< or =3 h/d or >3 h/d) compared with no SHS exposure. Data from men and women were analyzed separately and further stratified by source of SHS (home, workplace, and public spaces).

RESULTS
After adjustments, SHS was associated with reduced scores in all SF-36 domains. High SHS exposure predicted a greater reduction in HRQOL. Compared with nonexposed women, those with high SHS exposure at home had significantly lower scores on the physical functioning (-7.8, P < .001), role physical (-10.5, P = .02), bodily pain (-9.2, P = .01), and social functioning (-8.1, P = .007) domains. Exposed men had lower scores for the role physical domain (-20.0, P < .001) and a trend toward lower scores in other domains. In women, exposure to SHS at home was associated with a stronger negative effect on HRQOL than at work and in public spaces.

CONCLUSIONS
Secondhand smoke is associated with reduced HRQOL, more significantly so in women. Exposure to SHS at home and high levels of exposure are associated with lower SF-36 scores, suggesting a dose-response relationship.


This is the third case study of the "Hydro-BID Applications" series and it was performed as part of an
on-going effort to build the basin modeling skills of professional staff working for the ANA (Peru's National Water Authority), and to demonstrate capabilities of the Hydro-BID system relevant to water resources management challenges in Peru. A member of ANA's regional staff developed the Hydro-BID model for the Chancay-Lambayeque basin, with technical support from the IDB and RTI. Then, the model was used to demonstrate the use of a new Hydro-BID module for simulating sediment loading.


OBJECTIVE
This study assessed relationships among psychological symptoms, past and current psychiatric disorder, functional impairment, somatic symptoms, chronic fatigue, and chronic fatigue syndrome.

METHOD
A prospective cohort study was followed by a nested case-control study. The subjects, aged 18-45 years, had been in primary care for either clinical viral infections or a range of other problems. Questionnaire measures of fatigue and psychological symptoms were completed by 1,985 subjects 6 months later; 214 subjects with chronic fatigue were then compared with 214 matched subjects without fatigue. Assessments were made with questionnaires, interviews, and medical records of fatigue, somatic symptoms, psychiatric disorder, and functional impairment.

RESULTS
Subjects with chronic fatigue were at greater risk than those without chronic fatigue for current psychiatric disorder assessed by standardized interview (60% versus 19%) or by questionnaire (71% versus 31%). Chronic fatigue subjects were more likely to have received psychotropic medication or experienced psychiatric disorder in the past. There was a trend for previous psychiatric disorder to be associated with comorbid rather than noncomorbid chronic fatigue. Most subjects with chronic fatigue syndrome also had current psychiatric disorder when assessed by interview (75%) or questionnaire (78%). Both the prevalence and incidence of chronic fatigue syndrome were associated with measures of previous psychiatric disorder. The number of symptoms suggested as characteristics of chronic fatigue syndrome was closely related to the total number of somatic symptoms and to measures of psychiatric disorder. Only postexertion malaise, muscle weakness, and myalgia were significantly more likely to be observed in chronic fatigue syndrome than in chronic fatigue.

CONCLUSIONS
Most subjects with chronic fatigue or chronic fatigue syndrome in primary care also meet criteria for a current psychiatric disorder. Both chronic fatigue and chronic fatigue syndrome are associated with previous psychiatric disorder, partly explained by high rates of current psychiatric disorder. The symptoms thought to represent a specific process in chronic fatigue syndrome may be related to the joint experience of somatic and psychological distress.


The relationship between skull acceleration and brain injury is not well understood, in large part because of the challenge of visualizing the brain's mechanical response in vivo. This difficulty also complicates the validation of computational mechanics predictions.Our dynamic magnetic resonance (MR) imaging suggests an important role for the attachments between brain and skull. Here, we present an MRI-based method for identifying the dominant modes of brain displacement relative to the skull during angular acceleration of the head, and apply it to study brain/skull interactions in live volunteers. The approach was to estimate dynamic intracranial displacement fields from a sequence of tagged MR images of the brain and skull, then identify dominant displacement modes using principal component (PC) analysis. After verifying the method through analysis of a simulated 2-D vibrating plate and MR images of a cylindrical gel phantom, the method was applied to show that the dominant mode of brain/skull interaction is one of sliding arrested by brain/skull meninges in a few specific regions.Copyright © 2010 by ASME


This special section elucidates intersections between the historiography of
mobilities and the interdisciplinary field of mobilities research. The articles
highlight relationships between mobilities and stabilization, circulation and
place-making, deterritorialization and reterritorialization. This response essay seeks to dispel three myths about mobility studies: (1) that it is purely about the contemporary world, rather than the historical dimensions of mobile processes; (2) that it focuses solely on material phenomenon of physical transport (i.e., of things and people) and ignores the movement of ideas, knowledge, and culture; and (3) that it is purely about "flows" and "circulation" and has little to teach us about friction, resistances, blockages, or uneven power relations. The most important intersections of the histories of mobilities and the field of mobility studies can be found in the ways in which each emphasizes power differentials, blockages, friction, and the relation between mobilities and immobilities.


Culture is to be lived and to be learned. The connotation of cultural symbols is negotiated and learned within a culture (Sturken & Cartwright, 2004). When we are part of the dominant culture using another's cultural objects, we may not know the context of that object, which may lead to cultural appropriation. In this paper, I review appropriation through three different domains: appropriation in art, appropriation in media and technology, and appropriation in cultural studies. I specifically chose to use denotation and connotation as the means to analyze interview text and visual data because these two coding systems are able to draw the cultural meanings embedded in the texts beyond the surface level of understanding. Findings can be categorized into three threads: 1) cultural appropriation in virtual worlds, 2) caring about cultural appropriation, and 3) solutions to cultural appropriation in virtual worlds. This research suggests that cultural exchange and mutual respect are the solutions to cultural appropriation in virtual worlds. Visual literacy will help virtual world residents learn how to read, see, decode, and create virtual imagery.


In recent years, alternatives have been sought for the reuse of lignocellulosic waste generated by agricultural and other industries because it is biodegradable and renewable. Lignocellulosic waste can be used for a wide variety of applications, depending on their composition and physical properties. In this chapter, we focus on the different treatments that are used for the extraction of natural cellulose fibers (chemical, physical, biological methods) for more sophisticated applications such as reinforcement in biocomposites. Due to the different morphologies that the cellulose can present, depending from sources, it is possible to obtain cellulose nanocrystals (CNCs), micro- nanofibrillated cellulose (MFC/NFC), and bacterial nanocellulose (BNC) with different applications in the industry. Among the different cellulose nanomaterials highlighted characteristics, we can find improved barrier properties for sound and moisture, the fact that they are environmentally friendly, increased tensile strength and decreased weight. These materials have the ability to replace metallic components, petroleum products, and nonrenewable materials. Potential applications of cellulose nanomaterials are present in the automotive, construction, aerospace industries, etc. Also, this chapter exhibits global market predictions of these new materials or products. In summary, lignocellulosic residues are a rich source of cellulose that can be extracted to obtain products with high value-added and eco-friendly characteristics.


Relatively recent surgical advances have demonstrated conclusively the technical physiologic feasibility of cardiac transplantation; however, although operatively mortality is remarkably low and short-term survival common, long-term survival has been generally disappointing because of acute and chronic rejection of the allograft which was unrelenting in the face of intensive immunosuppressive therapy. When one reviews the results of the over 100 clinical trials with human cardiac allografts performed to date, it is apparent that they have followed a course quite similar to that seen in the experimental animal. They were characterized by a remarkable immediate postoperative survival, but an almost uniform mortality within six months as a result of allograft rejection or uncontrollable infection from excessive immunosuppressive treatment. Long-term survival is substantially less than that associated with renal transplantation and may be explained in part by the fact that unlike renal transplantation where several clinical and laboratory signs of early rejection are


The effect of NiCr-CrAl coating on the microstructure, oxidation and corrosion resistance, as well as mechanical properties of Ni3Al base alloy IC6AE has been studied in the present investigation. NiCr-CrAl coating for alloy IC6AE was prepared by the powder pack cementation method. The oxidation resistance tests were carried out under the condition of 1050°C/100h, while the hot corrosion resistance tests were under 900°C/100h. The tensile tests at the room temperature and the stress rupture life tests under 1050°C/90Mpa have been also conducted. The experimental results showed that NiCr-CrAl as-coated specimens had excellent oxidation and hot corrosion resistance compared with the alloy IC6AE blank specimens, and NiCr-CrAl coating has no obvious effect on the mechanical properties of alloy IC6AE. It may be concluded that NiCr-CrAl coating is suitable for the alloy IC6AE.


Nowadays, by integrating the cloud radio access network (C-RAN) with the mobile edge cloud computing (MEC) technology, mobile service provider (MSP) can efficiently handle the increasing mobile traffic and enhance the capabilities of mobile devices. But the power consumption has become skyrocketing for MSP and it gravely affects the profit of MSP. Previous work often studied the power consumption in C-RAN and MEC separately while less work had considered the integration of C-RAN with MEC. In this paper, we present an unifying framework for the power-performance tradeoff of MSP by jointly scheduling network resources in C-RAN and computation resources in MEC to maximize the profit of MSP. To achieve this objective, we formulate the resource scheduling issue as a stochastic problem and design a new optimization framework by using an extended Lyapunov technique. Specially, because the standard Lyapunov technique critically assumes that job requests have fixed lengths and can be finished within each decision making interval, it is not suitable for the dynamic situation where the mobile job requests have variable lengths. To solve this problem, we extend the standard Lyapunov technique and design the VariedLen  algorithm to make online decisions in consecutive time for job requests with variable lengths. Our proposed algorithm can reach time average profit that is close to the optimum with a diminishing gap (1/V) for the MSP while still maintaining strong system stability and low congestion. With extensive simulations based on a real world trace, we demonstrate the efficacy and optimality of our proposed algorithm.


After the founding of our county, the development of the football under the system has accomplished remarkable achievements. Along with the change of social environment, the vocational football in China development in the old country under the system is moving slowly. As soon as possible in order to improve our competitive level of football, it is imperative to finish adapting to the charity kingdom system of social economic environment, improving the professional football clubs, operation mechanism of transformation of government functions, with the development of club football association. Clear the club ownership structure, Ascend the management benefit; the club, Strengthening human resources management construction club related theory, the professional football clubs in China for further development of brainstorm.


The design of raised floor, hot/cold aisle data centers has become a widely used approach for data center cooling. However, more advanced cooling solution is still needed to achieve better managed airflow distributions and improved energy efficiency. The use of fan assisted floor tiles (i.e., active tiles) is being investigated as an evolution of Data Center cooling solutions to accommodate higher heat load demand. In this study, compact models of fan assisted tiles was imported into a basic hot aisle/cold aisle data center configuration built and analyzed using the computational fluid dynamics (CFD) technique. The significant thermal design aspects under numerical investigation include: fan curve, swirl settings, and under-floor pressure (with and without aisle containment). The flow features affected by the critical design variables are consequently compared and discussed. It might be concluded that appropriately designed fan assisted floor tiles might meet a promise of optimizing the cooling arrangement in data centers.Copyright © 2015 by ASME


This paper proposes a novel Lyapunov-based excitation control (LEC) technique to deal with both global asymptotic stability and voltage regulation for the multi-machine power systems. Lyapunov function is built as a quadratic form of the control objectives consisted of active power offset, rotor speed offset and terminal voltage offset. A completely controllable linear system is constructed to design the trajectories of the time-derivatives of the control objectives. Furthermore, time-derivative of Lyapunov function (TLF) is also expressed as a quadratic form of the control objectives. Feedback gains are chosen to guarantee the negative definition of the TLF for any real number except for the equilibrium point. Therefore, the global asymptotic stability is achieved. The design flexibility of the proposed method provides convenience to introduce the voltage feedback signal for maintaining acceptable voltage level. The system voltage is forced to converge to its reference accompanying with the energy attenuation of Lyapunov function. As a result, voltage deviation is eliminated when Lyapunov function is equal to zero. Finally, a Lyapunov-based decentralized excitation controller is developed for the multi-machine power systems, and it is only related to local measurements. Simulations on a six-machine power system have illustrated better performances in comparison to the existing controllers.


The acidity of europium(III)-exchanged zeolite L (Eu3+/ZL) and its influence on the luminescence performances of encapsulated europium(III) β-diketonate complexes are reported. The results indicate the importance of understanding the acidity of Eu3+/ZL in the preparation of luminescent host–guest materials of zeolite L crystals and europium(III) β-diketonate complexes. The acidity of Eu3+/ZL was determined roughly by using a dye (thionine) as the probe molecule. The luminescence performances of the host–guest materials, including excitation and emission spectra, lifetime of Eu3+ ions, quantum yield, and energy transfer efficiency, have been investigated. The luminescence behavior of the host–guest materials can be tuned by changing the acidity inside the channels of the zeolite L crystals and can potentially be used as a sensor for detecting ammonia.


Multiple non-animal-based test methods have never been formally validated. In order to use such new approach methods (NAMs) in a regulatory context, criteria to define their readiness are necessary. The field of developmental neurotoxicity (DNT) testing is used to exemplify the application of readiness criteria. The costs and number of untested chemicals are overwhelming for in vivo DNT testing. Thus, there is a need for inexpensive, high-throughput NAMs to obtain initial information on potential hazards, and to allow prioritization for further testing. A background on the regulatory and scientific status of DNT testing is provided showing different types of test readiness levels, depending on the intended use of data from NAMs. Readiness criteria, compiled during a stakeholder workshop that united scientists from academia, industry and regulatory authorities, are presented. An important step beyond the listing of criteria was the suggestion of a preliminary scoring scheme. On this basis a (semi)-quantitative analysis process was assembled on test readiness of 17 NAMs with respect to various uses (e.g., prioritization/screening, risk assessment). The scoring results suggest that several assays are currently at high readiness levels. Therefore, suggestions are made on how DNT NAMs may be assembled into an integrated approach to testing and assessment (IATA). In parallel, the testing state in these assays was compiled for more than 1000 compounds. Finally, a vision is presented on how further NAM development may be guided by knowledge of signaling pathways necessary for brain development, DNT pathophysiology, and relevant adverse outcome pathways (AOP).


In a decision that reverberated throughout the halls of higher education, the U.S. Supreme Court struck down race‐conscious admissions programs at Harvard University and the University of North Carolina (see Students for Fair Admissions, Inc. v. President and Fellows of Harvard College, Slip Op. No. 20‐1199 (2023)). The decision overturns decades of precedent and effectively invalidates affirmative action policies in college admissions.


The term jaytalking is used to define the many forms of urban inscriptions: from stickers, posters, and tags, to graffiti and street art (Merrifield 2002). When the population takes to the streets they express their true feelings (Bushnell 1990). Authentic jaytalking is powerful and reveals contemporary thoughts and feelings (Brown 1995). The word jaytalking epitomises the rebellious nature of urban inscription. It is dangerous, risky, and is written in the public domain. Not only is the act of writing in a public place rebellious, but more often than not the content is also rebellious. Common themes include critiques of the status quo, challenging cultural values, and condemnations of governing bodies. This paper identifies a third means of rebellion: linguistic rebellion. Youths often use language to express and align themselves with their respective communities of linguistic practice (Wenger 1999) and young French citizens are no exception, as instances of English inscriptions can be found throughout the country. This paper identifies English and hybrid urban inscriptions found in urban spaces in the city of Bordeaux, France. Through analysis of the corpus, I aim to understand to what extent the use of English might be understood as a political, rebellious and creative act.


Tangible user interfaces utilize our ability to interact with everyday objects in order to manipulate virtual data. Designers and engineers usually follow the rule "form follows function", they support an existing interaction with a purpose-built interface. Still, we do not fully exploit the expressiveness of forms, materials and shapes of the nondigital objects we interact with. Therefore, we propose to invert the design process: we empower materiality to inspire the implementation of tangible interactions. Glass objects were chosen as an example of culturally and structurally rich objects: in a three-month workshop, these glass objects were transformed into interactive artefacts. In the paper, we present three resulting contributions: First, we describe our inverted design process as a tool for the stimulation of multidisciplinary development. Second, we derive a list of material-induced interactions. Third, we suggest form-related interactions as a means of designing future tangible interfaces.


ABSTRACT In this study we review and analyse the policy design of biomass residue outtake in Sweden, focusing in particular on how public authorities specify and motivate rules and guidelines for the extraction of slash and stumps. The results show that the Swedish regulations are built on a mixed approach, including both voluntary, procedural and substantive requirements. The recommendations emphasize many merits of residue extraction, particularly climate change mitigation, new employment opportunities and reduced dependency on energy supplies from abroad. We identify a strong focus on precaution, evident in the risks for undesirable effects on nutritional balance and heavy metals in the soil, on biological diversity and on water quality in lakes and watercourses. The recommendations have remained relatively stable during the last 10 years, but the harvest of forest biomass for energy has varied. The annual harvest rate was positively related with energy prices. Harvest was much more extensive in the south, which is closer to the market. We conclude that economic presumptions have influenced the extent of slash harvest while environmental concerns seem to have limited the extraction of whole stumps. We expect that current levels of residue outtake can quickly change if the energy prices change.


Results of research into the evolution of disperse characteristics and concentration of an aerosol during its sedimentation by high-frequency ultrasound, are reported herein. Plots of the aerosol particles concentration versus time are given. The impact of ultrasonic vibrations on a medium-sized aerosol is shown to considerably accelerate its sedimentation due to the particle coagulation. The insertion of an additional dispersed phase (water droplets into a solid-phase aerosol) accelerates the sedimentation as well.


A retrospective, comparative study was conducted on 66 premature infants, 33 in a Kangaroo-group and 33 in a Standard Premature Care-group. Both groups were matched for maternal age, parity, pregnancy length, type of delivery, gestational age, birth weight and technological intervention (prior to first contact with mother outside the incubator). The study period for the Kangaroo-care group was November 1985 - May 1987 and for the Standard Premature Care group May 1984-November 1985, a year and a half before the Kangaroo-Method was introduced in the nursery. T-test and chi-square analyses indicated significant advantages in Kangaroo-care. The Kangaroo group was: younger when first taken out of incubator; had greater weight gain per week; needed less incubator care; had a shorter average length of hospital stay and was more frequently breastfed upon discharge. Although preliminary, these results demonstrate potential benefits of the Kangaroo-method of care for further research.


Contemporary debates about terrorism and counter-terrorism have become dominated by dichotomous thinking, in which complicated questions can become reduced to simplistic analyses of terrorist v. freedom fighter, terrorism v. counter-terrorism, vengeance v. protection, fundamentalism v. necessity, security v. liberty. Such an approach, however, masks much of the 'murkiness' of the debates; a murkiness that must be grappled with because, in practice, it has contributed to some extent to the design, appropriation, implementation and exercise of extensive powers of counter-terrorism, often without even a legislative basis. The extent of counter-terrorism is of clear concern to lawyers, although how counter-terrorism might be controlled is something upon which many — including us — can disagree. Thus, there is an on-going debate across legal systems and continents, about mechanisms of such control and, in particular, about the role of courts in this respect. In this chapter, which is the introduction to Critical Debates on Counter-Terrorist Judicial Review (2014, CUP), we reflect on why this debate has generated so much attention and is of significance. In particular, we argue that the debate on the appropriateness and capacity of counter-terrorist judicial review has raged because of the fundamental values that counter-terrorism puts at stake: distortion of democratic debates and mechanisms, the functioning and content of deeply entrenched constitutionalist values of limited power, and people's faith in the law and in its legitimacy. At its very heart, we argue, what is at stake when we debate whether and how counter-terrorism can be limited and especially the possible role of judicial review in such limiting exercises is a commitment to constitutionalism even in a situation of crisis.


We present a catalog of 224 broad absorption line quasars (BALQSOs) from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey's Early Data Release Quasar Catalog, including a relatively complete and homogeneous subsample of 131 BALQSOs. Since the identification of BALQSOs is subject to considerable systematic uncertainties, we attempt to create a complete sample of SDSS BALQSOs by combining the results of two automated selection algorithms and a by-eye classification scheme. One of these automated algorithms finds broad absorption line troughs by comparing with a composite quasar spectrum. We present the details of this algorithm and compare this method with one that uses a power-law fit to the continuum. The BALQSOs in our sample are further classified as high-ionization BALQSOs (HiBALs), low-ionization BALQSOs (LoBALs), and BALQSOs with excited iron absorption features (FeLoBALs); composite spectra of each type are presented. We further present a study of the properties of the BALQSOs in terms of the balnicity distribution, which rises with decreasing balnicity. This distribution of balnicities suggests that the fraction of quasars with intrinsic outflows may be significantly underestimated.


The REDD scheme of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change is a carbon-based compensation for projects that resulted in reducing carbon emissions or enhancing carbon sinks or both in tropical forests. However, estimating such emissions and sinks remains challenging, and thus making it impossible to estimate carbon revenues from managing tropical forests. Here, we estimated the reduced emissions and sinks by developing models for setting Reference Emission Level (REL) and Project Emission Level (PEL) for REDD projects in concession forests taking emissions under conventional logging (CVL) scenario as that of REL, and emissions under reduced impact logging (RIL) and RIL with liberation treatment (RIL) scenarios as that of PEL. By choosing Cambodia as a case study, REL under the current logging system of 25-year cutting cycle was estimated at 23.1 TgCO2 year-1. To determine an appropriate cutting cycle, we tested our models with four cutting cycles and found that a 50-year cutting cycle is more appropriate. Taking this 50-year cutting cycle for REDD project, PELs were estimated at 0.4 TgCO2 and -3.3 TgCO2 year-1 under RIL and RIL, respectively (- means sinks). After subtracting REL with PEL and leakages, annual carbon credits from managing 3.4 million ha of concession forests in Cambodia were estimated at 15.9-18.5 TgCO2 depending on chosen scenario. With a carbon price of $5 MgCO2-1, total revenues from the sales of carbon credits alone are $79.5-92.5 million annually. To ensure continued flow of wood supply from tropical forests while mitigating climate change, we suggest that new climate agreements adopt RIL or RIL for sustainable forest management in tropical countries.


: A new quantitative equation was developed by a process of trial and error. This equation, more complex than the classic Von Krogh equation, nevertheless gives a better account of percentages of haemolysis versus quantities of complement. A basic biological unit independent of red corpuscles quantity and sensitivity can be calculated. In addition, variations of the slope coefficient are of interest in pathology. However, the present paper is devoted to "normal" complement kinetics. Time-kinetics were found to follow the rules of general chemistry and could be derived mathematically.


As a practical application of the Internet of Things (IoT) in the modern industry, industrial IoT (IIoT) enables industrial enterprises to accelerate the development. Nowadays, the cloud computing technology has been applied to data storage and processing in IIoTs, but how to protect data privacy in the cloud has become a challenge and technical issue. Recently, the certificate-based encryption with keyword search (CBEKS) was presented to handle the cloud ciphertext retrieval. By CBEKS, one can get back all desired ciphertexts from the cloud without decrypting the ciphertexts or leaking the search keywords. However, the existing CBEKS scheme uses the computationally expensive bilinear pairing, which is disgusted by the performance-limited IIoT smart devices. In this article, a pairing-free and privacy-preserving CBEKS scheme is developed. The experimental results show that it has an obvious advantage in the computation performance when compared with the pairing-based CBEKS scheme. In addition, our security proofs indicate that it is secure against keyword guessing attacks.


Literary work and movie have their own characteristics even though both have the same storyline. Literary work reveal the story in narrative form while movie, reveal the story through audio and visual.Today many literary works adapted into movie.One of literary works adapted into movie is Twelve Years a Slave. Twelve Years a Slave is a work was written by Solomon Northup which is based on his journey life when he was become slave for twelve years. This work was adapted into movie, in 2013 with the same title. This study aims to find the differences and similarities of both version of literary work and its movie and to identify the process of adapting  of literary work (narrative slave)  into  adaptation work (movie). The method used was document analysis and showcase the screenshot with using the structuralism which focus on the intrinsic elements of the story and comparing it with intrinsic elements on movie adaptation.This data analysis shows that there are many changes that occur in the adaptation work during the adaptation process.That was because the changes of medium and how to deliver the message be adjusted with duration and the existence of other supporting things such as the addition, reduction and improvisation of the scene.


The Good Food Purchasing Program (GFPP) builds on locally established community initiatives and goals to leverage institutional purchasing with the hope of transforming the food system. The program focuses on five core values: local economies, nutrition, a valued workforce, environmental sustainability, and animal welfare. The City of Buffalo shows tremendous potential to benefit from the GFPP. In the Buffalo Niagara region alone, "public institutions feed 163,000 public school students, 89,000 college students, and 6,000 correctional facility inmates each year—a total of 258,000 people." Los Angeles, California has demonstrated the positive effects that the GFPP has had on the local food system. In order to bring the program to the City of Buffalo a better understanding of the program is necessary. The goal of this report is to aid the organizations in Buffalo who are working to bring the GFPP to the city. The report does this by outlining the time and steps involved in the program, identifying opportunities and challenges, identifying lessons learned, and providing recommendations. "


The narrow single-line NMR spectrum of solid C60 at ambient temperature demonstrates that the molecules rapidly reorient within the crystal lattice. The rate of this motion can be quantitatively probed using solid-state NMR by measuring the relaxation rate, 1/T1. The dominant contribution to this rate at ambient temperature arises from the combination of rotation and chemical shift anisotropy (CSA). The contribution, 1/T1CSA, is isolated by measuring the magnetic field dependence of T1, allowing the molecular reorientational correlation time, tau , to be determined from T1CSA and the CSA tensor components. At 283 K tau =9.1 ps, only three times longer than the calculated tau for free rotation, and shorter than the value measured for C60 in solution (15.5 ps). This tau corresponds to a rotational diffusion constant D=1.8*1010 s-1. Below 260 K a second phase with a much longer reorientation time is observed, consistent with reports of an orientational phase transition in solid C60. In both phases tau shows Arrhenius behaviour with apparent activation energies of 1.4 and 4.2 kcal mol-1 for the high-temperature (rotator) and low-temperature (ratchet) phases, respectively. The authors succeeded in producing quantities of fullerene cages containing metal atoms sufficient to allow the first characterization of such a species by electron spin resonance spectroscopy. The EPR spectrum of La@C82 shows an octet of lines centered in the region characteristic of fullerene anion radicals, with a small hyperfine splitting which indicates that the spin is predominantly associated with the carbon shell, leaving the lanthanum atom in its preferred +3 oxidation state.


Photons have long been known to spin, but it is also possible to give them an additional form of angular momentum, a sort of twist. A team of physicists in the United Kingdom has now devised a way to measure the twisting of single photons. In principle, physicists could use a photon9s twist to load huge quantities of data onto a single photon, revolutionizing optical communications and quantum computing.


In carrying out a superplastic forming process, the first step for the process optimization is a detailed material characterization. The achievement of a successfully formed component is strictly related to the material behaviour: commonly, several tensile tests are carried out at different temperatures and strain rates for locating the best deformation parameters, corresponding to which maximum uniform elongation of the material can be found. Additionally, characterization is needed also for estimating material parameters to numerically model the process. Numerical modelling is a necessary step when the pressure profile of a blow forming process has to be optimized. In this paper authors present a methodology for estimating material parameters on the basis of few bulge tests and for analysing the superplastic forming process. Temperature and pressure influences are analysed by means of free inflation tests. Material parameters are calculated starting from an analytical approach and refining the solution by an inverse analysis. A 3D numerical model of the process has been then created and used for evaluating the pressure profile that is able to keep the strain rate value in the sheet close to a target value. A numerical-experimental comparison has been done for testing the model capability and effectiveness of the pressure profile in a prismatic closed die blow forming test. Good agreement has been found between experimental results and numerical simulations. Thickness distribution measurements, optical microscope observations, post-forming characteristics evaluation have been performed to compare constant pressure and constant strain rate tests.


Apart from being chaotic, the inner planets in the Solar System constitute an open system, as they are forced by the regular long-term motion of the outer ones. No integrals of motion can bound a priori the stochastic wanderings in their high-dimensional phase space. Still, the probability of a dynamical instability is remarkably low over the next 5 billion years, a timescale thousand times longer than the Lyapunov time. The dynamical half-life of Mercury has indeed been estimated recently at 40 billion years. By means of the computer algebra system TRIP, we consider a set of dynamical models resulting from truncation of the forced secular dynamics recently proposed for the inner planets at different degrees in eccentricities and inclinations. Through ensembles of 10 3 to 10 5 numerical integrations spanning 5 to 100 Gyr, we find that the Hamiltonian truncated at degree 4 practically does not allow any instability over 5 Gyr. The destabilisation is mainly due to terms of degree 6. This surprising result suggests an analogy to the Fermi-Pasta-Ulam-Tsingou problem, in which tangency to Toda Hamiltonian explains the very long timescale of thermalisation, which Fermi unsuccessfully looked for.


Additive manufacturing processes have been used to produce or repair components in different industry sectors like aerospace, automotive, and biomedical. In these processes, a part can be built by either melted particles as in selective laser melting (SLM) or solid-state particles as in the cold spray process. The cold spray has gained significant attention due to its potential for high deposition rate and nearly zero oxidation. However, the main concern associated with using the cold spray is the level of porosity in as-fabricated samples, altering their mechanical properties. These pores are primarily found in the regions where adiabatic shear instability does not occur. It is worth noting that the deformation of the impacted solid particle plays a vital role in reaching the shear instability. Therefore, for investigating the adiabatic shear instability region, an elastic-plastic simulation approach has been used. For this purpose, it is assumed that an elevated temperature solid Ti6Al4V particle impacts on a stainless-steel substrate surface at high velocity. The results show that increasing particle temperature will significantly enhance particle deformation because of thermal softening. Additionally, they illustrate that a material jet responsible for producing a bonding between particle and substrate by ejecting the broken oxide layer will be formed when the particle has a temperature above 1073 K and substrate remains at room temperature. In the end, it should be noted that increasing particle temperature up to 723 K will not have a significant effect on substrate deformation and final substrate temperature.


Relationship between presence of coronary heart disease (CHD), coronary risk factors (parameters of lipid transport system and hypertension) and disturbances of microcirculation was studied in patients with myeloproliferative blood disease Polycythemia Vera (PV). Probability of tissue (including blood vessel wall) cholesterol accumulation was estimated by measurement of its content in skin surface layers. PV patients (n=55, including 27 patients with CHD) had predominant hypolipoproteinemia with normal proportion of various lipoprotein classes. Absence of substantial increase of skin surface cholesterol content both in patients with and without CHD was considered to be a sign of low probability of the presence of severe atherosclerotic processes. However patients with CHD had substantially more pronounced disturbances of microcirculation. Basing on these data the authors suggest that CHD in PV patients had non-lipoprotein genesis and present discussion of alternative mechanisms of vascular changes.


The Biden Administration believes that suspending COVID-19 vaccine patents will expedite the swift development of high quality "cheap" versions of existing vaccines and hasten the pandemic's end. This view is dangerously wrong. Vaccinating the world is essential, but temporarily waiving patent rights for COVID-19 vaccines (also known as "compulsory licensing") will actually slow their availability to the developing world.

While providing no gain, compulsory licensing promises lots of pain. Waiving patent protection discourages cutting-edge research investments, which in turn produce breakthrough treatments not just for COVID-19, but for other diseases, like cancer. Weakening these protections would be anti-patient and counterproductive.

The reality is that, in order to save the world, we must all work together as partners. The remarkable speed with which we developed diagnostics, therapeutics, and vaccines to combat COVID-19 points to the need for more collaboration, not less. Patents are a foundational principle upon which that success rests.

While the policy of temporarily waiving patents seems fair and humanitarian, the devil is in the details.  Such a policy will not result in a single citizen of the developing world getting vaccinated one minute sooner. In fact, the unintended consequences are the reverse. More confusion, lower quality, less transnational cooperation. A triple play of disastrous global proportions.


Despite the success of neural dialogue systems in achieving high performance on the leader-board, they cannot meet users' requirements in practice, due to their poor reasoning skills. The underlying reason is that most neural dialogue models only capture the syntactic and semantic information, but fail to model the logical consistency between the dialogue history and the generated response. Recently, a new multi-turn dialogue reasoning task has been proposed, to facilitate dialogue reasoning research. However, this task is challenging, because there are only slight differences between the illogical response and the dialogue history. How to effectively solve this challenge is still worth exploring. This paper proposes a Fine-grained Comparison Model (FCM) to tackle this problem. Inspired by human's behavior in reading comprehension, a comparison mechanism is proposed to focus on the fine-grained differences in the representation of each response candidate. Specifically, each candidate representation is compared with the whole history to obtain a history consistency representation. Furthermore, the consistency signals between each candidate and the speaker's own history are considered to drive a model to prefer a candidate that is logically consistent with the speaker's history logic. Finally, the above consistency representations are employed to output a ranking list of the candidate responses for multi-turn dialogue reasoning. Experimental results on two public dialogue datasets show that our method obtains higher ranking scores than the baseline models.


Multilingualism is defined by the functional relationship between languages. The relationship of English with Indian languages is legitimized by its nativization. English has been nativized in grammar, semantics and pragmatics acquiring the features of Indian languages, as well documented in sociolinguistic literature. It is also adopted as a tool in native politics by some non-Hindi speaking communities to keep the largest Indian language — Hindi — from becoming the sole official language of the Union and by the linguistic minorities to curtail the dominance of the majority language in the states. The oppressed social groups want to appropriate English to serve them in their battle against upper castes, who have come to control the major Indian languages and the benefits from them. While becoming a powerful cousin to help the disadvantaged, English has simultaneously acquired a native elite cutting across regions and castes, and has spread from cerebral domains to expressive domains, which have been exclusive to Indian languages, in the name of modernity and cosmopolitanism. Such extended functions of English have a profound effect on the nature of multilingualism in India.


Throughout the centuries, nearly all signal buildings on the European continent have been built in masonry or concrete – in harsh, 'stone-like' materials. Norway differs remarkably from this main trend. We see that the European examples of stone architecture are largely reinterpreted in Norway as architecture in wood. The keywords are climate, economy, knowledge and tradition. Climate: Wood provides significantly better thermal insulation than brick, stone and concrete. Economy: With the exception of the last 50 years, Norway has been a poor country on the edge of Europe; therefore, there were rarely sufficient finances to build resource-intensive, magnificent buildings in stone or masonry. Knowledge and tradition: These factors are interrelated; tradition leads to knowledge and knowledge creates tradition. Norway has always had skilled carpenters, joiners and wood carvers from the Viking era until the present day. Despite poverty and distance, Norway was not an isolated and uninformed country; Norwegians have always been a seafaring people who grasped European impulses and style trends and brought them home.


In this paper, the Langmuir-Freundlich isotherm is used to model the interaction of several triazines (desethylatrazine, desisopropylatrazine, simazine, atrazine, propazine and prometryn) with a propazine-imprinted polymer and to explain the observed cross-reactivity. Different rebinding experiments (each herbicide alone or all together in a mixture) were carried out and the experimental binding isotherms were fitted to the Langmuir-Freundlich isotherm. The fitting coefficients obtained (total number of binding sites, mean binding affinity and heterogeneity index) allowed the description of the kind of binding sites present in the imprinted polymer under study. It was concluded that the recognition mechanism was mainly governed by the molecular size although slight differences in the molecular structure may also play an important role. The obtained results suggest that the use of this new methodology can open new pathways for understanding how molecular recognition in imprinted polymers takes place.


Objective To analyze the 2022 multiple-country monkeypox outbreak and assess its importation risk into China. Methods Data was from United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. We described the global epidemic and calculated concentration index to measure economic-related inequality. Importation risk into China was evaluated and ranked by using risk matrix method and Borda count method, respectively. Results As of July 29, 2022, of 79 countries or territories, 39 (49.37%, 39/79), 17 (21.52%, 17/79), 6 (7.59%, 6/79), 12 (15.19%, 12/79), and 5 (6.33%, 5/79) country or territories identified cases < 10, 10–, 51–, 101–, and > 1,000. There were economic-related health disparities exist in the distribution of cases (the concentration index = 0.42, P = 0.027), and the inequality disadvantageous to the rich (pro-poor). There were 12 (15.38%, 12/78), 15 (19.23%, 15/78), 6 (7.69%, 6/78), and 45 (57.69%, 45/78) countries or territories with extremely high, high, moderate, and low importation risk. United States and France ranked first with the highest Borda points of 156, and counts of zero. Conclusion Of 78 countries or territories, the key attention need be paid to the United States and France, relatively. As the epidemic progresses, preparing prevention and control measures to further reduce importation risk was crucial.


Poliovirus RNA-dependent RNA polymerase 3D and viral protein 3AB are both thought to be required for the initiation of RNA synthesis. These two proteins physically associate with each other and with viral RNA replication complexes found on virus-induced membranes in infected cells. An understanding of the interface between 3D and 3AB would provide a first step in visualizing the architecture of the multiprotein complex that is assembled during poliovirus infection to replicate and package the viral RNA genome. The identification of mutations in 3D that diminish 3D-3AB interactions without affecting other functions of 3D polymerase is needed to study the function of the 3D-3AB interaction in infected cells. We describe the use of the yeast two-hybrid system to isolate and characterize mutations in 3D polymerase that cause it to interact less efficiently with 3AB than wild-type polymerase. One mutation, a substitution of leucine for valine at position 391 (V391L), resulted in a 3AB-specific interaction defect in the two-hybrid system, causing a reduction in the interaction of 3D polymerase with 3AB but not with another viral protein or a host protein tested. In vitro, purified 3D-V391L polymerase bound to membrane-associated 3AB with reduced affinity. Poliovirus that contained the 3D-V391L mutation was temperature sensitive, displaying a pronounced conditional defect in RNA synthesis. We conclude that interaction between 3AB and 3D or 3D-containing polypeptides plays a role in RNA synthesis during poliovirus infection.


The Tomatis method was developed as a technique for the training of the neuro-psychological and physiological systems by listening to special music program. The aim of the study was to determine the effectiveness of Tomatis method in patients with tinnitus. A young male patient with chronic tinnitus from 6 years was selected. The patient was assessed with Tinnitus Handicap Inventory (THI), Tinnitus Sample Case History (TSCH), psychological questionnaires, pure tone audiometry, pitch and loudness of tinnitus, loudness discomfort level. THI gave a result of 34 (grade 2). He suffered from a bipolar disorder. The hearing was normal and the tinnitus was prevalent in the left ear with the pitch at 3000 Hz and the loudness at 30 dB HL.The treatment consisted in listening Mozart music and Gregorian chants both with a headphone and bone vibrator. The music frequencies were filtered using different intensities of stimulation and delays between air and bone conduction. After 70 hours of Tomatis treatment THI decreased to 6 (grade 1) and the tinnitus loudness decreased to 18 dB HL. After 105 hours of treatment THI went down to 2 (grade 1) and the tinnitus loudness decreased to 13 dB HL.


BACKGROUND
Integrins mediate cell matrix adhesion and regulate cell growth and survival. In colonic epithelial cells, alpha(2)beta(1) integrin controls glandular differentiation and proliferation. Butyrate stimulates differentiation and induces apoptosis in vitro.

AIMS
We investigated whether butyrate induction of apoptosis was associated with perturbation of integrin mediated cell matrix adhesion.

METHODS
Three colonic cancer cell lines (SW1222, SW620, LS174T) were studied. Adhesion to extracellular matrix proteins, expression of alpha(2)beta(1) integrin, and apoptosis were studied in adherent cells after treatment with 4 mM butyrate.

RESULTS
Butyrate decreased the attachment to type I collagen in SW620 cells and type I and IV collagen in LS174T cells. The decreased cell attachment was associated with downregulation of alpha(2)beta(1) integrin and increased apoptosis in adherent cells. No changes in alpha(2)beta(1) expression or matrix adhesion were seen in SW1222 cells, which were also found to be less sensitive to butyrate induction of apoptosis. Downregulation of alpha(2)beta(1) integrin preceded the detection of apoptosis.

CONCLUSION
Apoptosis induced by butyrate is associated with downregulation of expression and functional activity of alpha(2)beta(1) integrin. Perturbation of cell matrix adhesion may be a novel mechanism by which butyrate induces apoptosis in colorectal cancer cells.


A lot of research has been done on city traffic routing mechanisms and congestion analysis using traffic sensors and CCTV cameras in spatio-temporal mining. Developing countries like India face periods of intensive rain for three-four months a year which has a drastic impact on road traffic. In this paper we have worked on creating a model for mining periodic patterns in traffic, which incorporates the fluctuations that occur due to monsoon in threefour months of the year, thereby depicting a holistic picture of traffic analysis in major cities of developing countries. The crucial aspect in Spatio-Temporal Data Mining is investigating temporal and spatial relations simultaneously as individual dimensions. For this reason it is important to choose a clustering algorithm which gives the most optimum performance for multi-dimensional datasets.


Background: On 7th August 1998, a terrorist bomb destroyed the American Embassy in Nairobi, killing and injuring thousands of people. Objectives: To describe the media component of the (larger) mental health response. To evaluate the impact of the intervention. Design: Descriptive cross sectional study Setting: Nairobi, three months after the explosion. Subjects: Residents of Nairobi and outlying areas, exposed to the bomb blast and who received Radio and TV coverage about the explosion. Interventions : Radio and TV broadcasts, starting hours after the explosion and continuing for two weeks thereafter. Results: Of a sample of 400 respondents interviewed, 172 reported they were affected by the bomb blast, either directly or through friends and relatives. T.V., and radio had the highest reach, (89% and 85%) respectively. 70% felt the programmes gave victims hope and 90% felt the programmes should continue, as they were helpful to the needy. Conclusion: The media is a controversial, sometimes overused and at times underused resource in Disaster Management. Judicious use of the media was shown to be helpful in this study. Literature supports media interventions in disaster. Doctors working in disaster areas need to understand the media and to prepare for its use as it compliments other interventions.


The titanium dioxide synthesized by an electrochemical method is a perspective material for use in solar elements and catalysts of cleaning of water and air environments. Regularities of electrochemical synthesis of titanium dioxide in glycerin dilute solutions (1:1) in the presence of ammonium fluoride at 2-14 V are investigated. Mathematical scheduling of synthesis process according to plans of first order with use of the complete three-factorial experiment is carried out, the adequate regression equations for formation processes of a titanium dioxide in the field of potentials 8-14 V are received. The electron microscopy method proved porosity of synthesizable layers of titanium dioxide. Water content influence in electrolyte on the speed of electrochemical process and potential size influence on titanium dioxide materials yield is established. It is shown that under the chosen electrolysis conditions electrochemical process is accompanied by the considerable chemical disolution of a titanium. Electrochemical processes in water containing glycerin are investigated by a cyclic voltammetry method. It is established that at electrochemical oxidation of Ti in water containing glycerin (1:1) porous TiO2 with a materials yield no more than 25% is formed.


PURPOSE
This study has two purposes: (1) To compare the use of tumor cell suspensions and excised tumor tissue for generating renal tumors suitable for radiofrequency ablation (RFA) studies and (2) to assess the effectiveness of RFA for ablation of renal VX2 tumors in a rabbit model.

METHODS
VX2 tumor masses were used to inoculate 17 rabbits. The renal VX2 tumors of 13 rabbits were subsequently treated with a cooled-tip radiofrequency system at a power of 15 to 30 W for 3 to 6 minutes, and 4 rabbits served as controls. After RFA, rabbits were observed by contrast-enhanced CT to ascertain the ablative range. Rabbits were divided into three groups and sacrificed at 3, 7, and 14 days post-treatment for histopathologic studies.

RESULTS
Both tumor implant methods had a 100% success rate in generating tumors. The average lesion produced was 1.3 x 1.8 x 1.5 cm. Complete tumor ablation occurred in 76.9%, and local tumor growth in 23.1%. Depending on the position of the tumors, the complications after RFA treatment included infarction, perirenal hematoma, hydronephrosis, and abscess. The overall complication rate was 38.5%. In histopathologic studies, a central needle track, tumor coagulation, renal tissue coagulation, peripheral hemorrhage, and an inflammatory layer could be observed.

CONCLUSIONS
Application of RFA to destroy renal VX2 tumors in this rabbit model has a relatively high cure rate. It can be used to destroy small renal tumors in a precise and noninvasive manner. We hope to apply this procedure in selected human renal tumors in the future.


Credit constraint in agriculture affects not only the purchasing power of producers to procure farm inputs and to cover operating costs in the short run, but also their capacity to make farm-related investments as well as risk behavior in technology choice and adoption. These, in turn, influence technical efficiencies of the farmers. Although credit constraint problem has been recognized in economics literature, especially in those dealing with developing countries, little emphasis has been given to its effect on productive efficiency of farmers. In light of this, explicitly considering credit constraint, this paper estimated technical efficiency of credit-constrained (CCFHs) and unconstrained farm households (CUFHs) by employing a stochastic frontier technique on farm household survey data from Southeastern Ethiopia. The CCFHs had mean technical efficiency score of 12% less than that of the CUFHs. Given the largest proportion of CCFHs in Ethiopian farming population, this gap implies considerable potential loss in output due to inefficient production. Improving technical efficiency of all farm households in general but more of particularly the CCFHs is desirable. Additional sources of inefficiency differential between the two groups were also identified, and education level of household heads, land fragmentation and loan size significantly affected technical efficiencies of both groups. Besides, wealth and experience affected the CCFHs, and household size affected the CUFHs. In general, the results have important implications for credit, education and land policies in developing countries.


Measurement of strains in bondline of adhesive joints poses many challenges. The measurement technique should provide accurate and continuous measurements without affecting stress-transfer. Hence, fiber optic sensors with their inherently small size are best suited for bondline measurements. Furthermore, high-definition optically distributed sensors can provide strain measurements at every 1.2 mm. along the fiber length allowing to capture precise strain profiles in the bondline. One of the challenges in bonded joints is the lack of understanding of the effects of processing parameters on resulting mechanical behavior. In this work, the effect of cooling rate on the strains developed in the adhesive were experimentally measured. Lap-joints made of glassfiber reinforced (GFRP) substrates were bonded with a thermoplastic adhesive (ABS). The fiber optic sensor was embedded along the length of the bondline in the center of the adhesive. It is experimentally cumbersome to try a large number of cooling rates with varying adhesives and substrates. Hence, three different cooling rates were selected in this work and strains developed were monitored over time. As expected, results indicate that the thermal residual strains in the adhesive increased with increase in cooling rates. At lower/gradual cooling rates, the viscoelastic nature of the adhesive allows for higher polymer chain relaxation, thus resulting in lower residual strains. In each case, the residual strains were observed to be higher at the joint free edges. The edges of the adhesive cool and solidify faster than the center leading to a 'prestrain/ pre-stress' condition in the adhesive as result of processing conditions.


Genome-wide studies have suggested that NRF1 regulates transcription of ~5-6% of human genes, including nuclear genes encoding mitochondrial products. My thesis focus is in neural systems in which NRF1 is a master regulator.Prader-Willi syndrome (PWS) results from genetic loss of function of an imprinted domain in human chromosome 15q11.2. I confirmed NRF1 regulation of ~83% of PWS-region genes using chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP). Further studies focused on evolution of this region. Uniquely in marsupials, SNRPN and the ancestral SNRPB' gene are adjacent each with an intronic snoRNA paralog. Based on molecular phylogenetics, a model is proposed for origin of each PWS snoRNA from a single ancestral snoRNA. Thus, most extant eutherian PWS genes originated by stepwise duplication and divergence over the past ~180 million years.Circadian rhythms regulate organismal physiology in a 24 hour day-night cycle. Functional NRF1 binding sites in promoters/enhancers were found for ~56% of circadian regulatory genes using bioinformatics, ChIP, NRF1 siRNA assays, and luciferase reporter constructs having significantly reduced transcriptional activity on mutation of NRF1 sites. Further, co-immunoprecipitation showed that NRF1 and the phosphorylated, active form of CLOCK interact in a molecular complex. In serum-induced NIH3T3 cells with circadian oscillations of Dbp and Nr1d1 mRNA, Nrf1 mRNA and protein levels show ultradian oscillations. Hence, NRF1 regulates numerous circadian regulatory genes and interacts with CLOCK, suggesting multiple roles in circadian biology. Additional studies included finding that NRF1 regulates ~45% known hereditary spastic paraplegia (HSP) genes, that NRF1 activates its own transcription, and that the number of NRF1 sites determine the degree of transcriptional activation. In summary, NRF1 is a master regulator in PWS, circadian rhythms, and HSP. Identification of NRF1 target genes and mechanisms will lead to an understanding of the evolution, functions, disease processes, and therapeutic targets within gene regulatory networks involving NRF1. Circadian rhythms are disrupted by travel, shift-work, and in illness, including infection, psychiatric and sleep disorders, obesity, diabetes, and cancer. Consequently, understanding body clocks will provide insights into the pathogenesis of these disorders and potentially lead to improved treatment and prevention options, which will have enormous public health impact.


OBJECTIVE
Clinical approach and therapeutic methods are important in cases with complicated hydatid cysts of the lung. This study was designed to retrospectively investigate cases with hydatid cysts, thereby discussing diagnostic methods, treatment modalities, and rates of morbidity and mortality in line with the literature.

METHODS
176 cases with perforated hydatid cysts, who presented to our clinic and underwent surgery between 2003 and 2011, were included in the study. There were 71 (40.34%) females and 105 males (59.66%) with a mean age of 27.80±14.07. The most common symptom was dyspnea (44.31%) and the most common radiological finding was the water lily sign (21.02%). 88.06% of the cases were surgically treated by Cystotomy+closure of bronchial opening+ capitonnage, 3.97% by wedge resection, 4.54% by segmentectomy and 3.40% by lobectomy.

RESULTS
The cysts exhibited multiple localization in 24 cases (13.63%), bilateral localization in 14 cases (7.95%), with the most common localization (43.75%) being the right lower lobe. While the hydatid cyst rupture occurred due to delivery in three (1.70%), trauma in 11 (6.25%), and iatrogenic causes in seven (3.97%) cases, it occurred spontaneously in the rest of the cases (88.08%). Fourteen of the cases with spontaneously occurring rupture (7.95%) were detected to have received anthelmintic treatment for hydatid cyst during the preoperative period (albendazole). The rate of morbidity was 27.27% and the rate of mortality was 1.13% in our study. Two cases recurred during a one-year follow-up (1.13%).

CONCLUSION
Hydatid cyst rupture should be considered in the differential diagnosis of cases with pleural effusion, empyema, pneumothorax and pneumonia occurring in endemic regions. Symptoms occurring during and after perforation lead to errors in differential diagnosis. Performing the surgery without delay favorably affects postoperative morbidity and mortality. While parenchyma-preserving surgery is preferential, there is a need for resection in perforated hydatid cysts.


Abstract The affinity of phytohemagglutinin-E (PHA-E) and wheat germ agglutinin (WGA) for erythropoietin was exploited to develop a solid-phase assay for erythropoietin antibodies. Purified PHA-E or WGA was covalently coupled to polystyrene tubes with the water-soluble carbodiimide 1-(3-dimethylaminopropyl)-3-ethylcarbodiimide hydrochloride. Coupling was highly reproducible; approximately 8 μg of lectin was bound covalently per tube. For the assay, the lectin-derivatized tubes were loaded with erythropoietin, washed, and incubated with the immune serum to be tested. The presence of bound antibody was detected by adding125I-labeled staphylococcal protein A (SPA) and measuring residual125I-SPA after washing. In the absence of antigen, antibody was not bound in the lectin-derivatized tubes. Furthermore, in the presence of erythropoietin, nonimmune serum from a variety of species failed to bind to the tubes. The particular immune serum used in this study could be detected with as little as 5 μg of bound antigen. Since an impure preparation of human urine erythropoietin was used both as the antigen to produce the antierythropoietin immune serum and as the antigen for the assay, the specificity of the assay for erythropoietin antibodies could not be definitively established. Nevertheless, this solid-phase assay permits rapid screening (3.0 hr) of antisera for reactivity with human urine proteins and should be useful for identifying antibody-producing clones formed by somatic cell hybridomas when a partially purified urine erythropoietin preparation is used as the antigen.


The present study investigated people's perceptions of anxiety symptoms and the disclosure of anxiety by others, and how one's own level of social anxiety affects these perceptions. Participants high (n=80) or low (n=83) in social anxiety were randomly assigned to watch one of four videos in which the target individual either appeared or did not appear anxious, and either disclosed or did not disclose her anxiety. Participants rated the target individual on various characteristics, and completed measures of their own level of social anxiety, perceived similarity to the target individual, and reasons for their ratings. Results indicated that participants negatively evaluated others who looked anxious on the qualities of awkward, socially skilled, and weak, and the disclosure of anxiety partially helped to decrease these negative judgements. Participants' own level of social anxiety did not affect the judgements. These findings may inform the process of cognitive restructuring.


Under-5 mortality from preventable causes remains a significant problem in many parts of the developing world. Deaths from vaccine-preventable diseases (VPDs) continue to challenge the health care system of these countries, despite unrelenting efforts to expand routine immunization coverage. Despite the proven efficacy of these vaccines, several supply and demand-side factors, as well as other context-specific factors have been associated with the poor uptake and completion rates, and the consequent high mortality rates from VPDs in these countries. In addition to specific policy and health system-related approaches to addressing these factors, inconsistent literature evidence suggests the potential efficacy of several range of interventions such as promoting antenatal care attendance and hospital delivery, providing education, financial incentives and deployment of mobile health technology (mHealth: SMS and telephone call reminders), in improving childhood immunization coverage in several countries across Africa, Asia and North America. This mini-review explored the diversity and quality of evidence regarding the application of mHealth in improving childhood immunization coverage. Following a brief search on Scimago Journal and Country Rank using a combination of relevant subject areas and subject categories, we finally evaluated 15 articles—mainly systematic reviews [3] and randomized controlled trials (RCTs) [12]—published in 12 top Q1 impact factor journals between 2010 and 2017. Overall, we found moderate to high-quality literature evidence suggesting the efficacy of mHealth interventions used singly or in combination with other interventions in improving childhood immunization coverage across several rural and urban settings around the world. While these evidences represent the larger consensus, we recommend that more attention should be given to detailed analysis of factors or circumstances that lead to negative results of these interventions in areas where such have been observed or reported.


The contribution of the discipline of geography to the field of education is complex since they have both been dependent upon the contributions of other social science disciplines, particularly those in the mainstream of social sciences (economics, sociology and political science). Indeed, the number of researchers who would consider themselves as working within the sub‐discipline of the geography of education is small, but apparently growing. While the paper suggests that to date there has been relatively little debate at the intersection of these two fields of enquiry it goes on to propose that the potential contribution this would have for both fields remains significant. The pivotal contribution of geography to all the social sciences, that of space (and place), has been central to UK education research since the early origins of a national education system and the roles education and curricular developments have played in nation building. The role of space has also featured heavily in analyses of territorial justice and governance at the level of local authorities and further down in scale to spatial analyses of the classroom. But in order to fully appreciate its contribution the paper utilises the related concept of scale to systematically explore the relationship between space and education, in terms of its analytical, theoretical and methodological uses. The paper also considers the recent 'spatial turn' in education (and the social sciences more generally) and the equivalent focus on education matters within the field of human geography. In developing this approach it becomes apparent where interdisciplinary research across and between the disciplines of geography and education remains limited and what further contributions from geography would be beneficial to the field of education.


The recent financial crisis has reignited interest in the role of money and credit in driving economic activity. This article takes a broad overview of the historical data available for assessing the link between money, credit and activity, using the quantity theory of money as an organising framework. The article shows that when trying to apply this theory to historical data, a complicated interaction between money and nominal spending emerges. And a deeper understanding of the forces driving money demand and supply is required to interpret the information contained in money about the level of activity and inflation.


In vivo real-time monitoring of neuronal activities in freely moving animals is one of key approaches to link neuronal activity to behavior. For this purpose, an in vivo imaging technique that detects calcium transients in neurons using genetically encoded calcium indicators (GECIs), a miniaturized fluorescence microscope, and a gradient refractive index (GRIN) lens has been developed and successfully applied to many brain structures1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 , 6. This imaging technique is particularly powerful because it enables chronic simultaneous imaging of genetically defined cell populations for a long-term period up to several weeks. Although useful, this imaging technique has not been easily applied to brain structures that locate deep within the brain such as amygdala, an essential brain structure for emotional processing and associative fear memory7. There are several factors that make it difficult to apply the imaging technique to the amygdala. For instance, motion artifacts usually occur more frequently during the imaging conducted in the deeper brain regions because a head-mount microscope implanted deep in the brain is relatively unstable. Another problem is that the lateral ventricle is positioned close to the implanted GRIN lens and its movement during respiration may cause highly irregular motion artifacts that cannot be easily corrected, which makes it difficult to form a stable imaging view. Furthermore, because cells in the amygdala are usually quiet at a resting or anesthetized state, it is hard to find and focus the target cells expressing GECI in the amygdala during baseplating procedure for later imaging. This protocol provides a helpful guideline for how to efficiently target cells expressing GECI in the amygdala with head-mount miniaturized microscope for successful in vivo calcium imaging in such a deeper brain region. It is noted that this protocol is based on a particular system (e.g., Inscopix) but not restricted to it.


Tumour necrosis factor-stimulated gene-6 (TSG-6) is a protein expressed in a wide range of cell types and tissues, predominantly in response to inflammatory stimuli. The expression of TSG-6 is believed to be associated with the protection of tissues from the damaging effects of inflammation. In animal models treatment with TSG-6 protein has been found to reduce inflammatory damage in myocardial infarction, corneal injury and arthritis. Endogenous TSG-6 production has been suggested to play a protective role in inflammatory arthritis and has been implicated in bone homeostasis. The expression of TSG-6 is also essential in the process of cumulus matrix formation that occurs around the oocyte in the periovulatory period and is necessary for successful ovulation and fertilisation. In many cases the mechanism underlying a particular TSG-6 function is not fully understood. TSG-6 has numerous binding partners including the serum glycoprotein inter-alpha-inhibitor (I?I), the growth factor bone morphogenetic protein-2 (BMP-2) and the extracellular matrix protein fibronectin, as well as glycosaminoglycans (GAGs) such as hyaluronan and heparan sulphate (HS). The TSG-6 protein is mostly composed of contiguous Link and CUB domains, with the majority of ligand binding sites identified within the Link module. The CUB domain of TSG-6 has been less extensively studied. Here biophysical techniques have been used to investigate the TSG-6 interactome including both the Link module and CUB domain. Intrinsic fluorescence spectroscopy was used to establish the metal-ion binding properties of the CUB domain, which was established to have a high affinity Ca2+-binding site. Using surface plasmon resonance (SPR), a novel metal-ion dependent interaction was found for the CUB domain of TSG-6 and the heavy chains (HCs) of I?I. Investigation using mutants of both the CUB domain of TSG-6 and HC of I?I established that the metal-ion binding sites within each protein are involved in the interaction. SPR analysis was also used to define the affinities and binding sites for TSG-6 interactions with fibronectin and BMP-2. High affinity interactions between TSG-6 ligands were also revealed (e.g. BMP-2 and HC, fibronectin and HC) and their binding sites defined. The discovery of the novel interactions between these TSG-6 ligands suggests crosstalk within the TSG-6 interactome, with the potential for ternary complex formation or indeed hierarchical orders of binding. Thus work was undertaken to develop a passivated lipid bilayer platform for use with surface sensitive techniques. This platform was used to investigate the hierarchy of protein and GAG interactions using quartz crystal microbalance with dissipation monitoring (QCM-D) and dual polarisation interferometry (DPI). The investigation revealed a novel role for the Link module of TSG-6 in heparin condensation, potentially via protein dimerisation and/or oligomerisation which could affect heparin/HS functions within the extracellular matrix (ECM). Thus the biophysical analysis of TSG-6 presented here has identified novel interactions and functions of TSG-6 which may provide mechanisms for the protective functioning of TSG-6 in inflammation and its ECM structuring role in ovulation.


Human fetal pancreatic nestin positive cells cultured in vitro could self assemble to form islet-like cell clusters (ICC). They are multipotential and are capable of generating insulin-producing cells. To investigate their biological character and physiological function in vivo, ICCs were implanted into NOD-Scid mice subcapsularly. The results showed that: (1) Neovascularizations were observed in implant sites. (2) Blood glucose levels of diabetic mice were reduced markedly after implantation of ICCs. (3) ICCs in non-diabetic mice proliferated abnormally and infiltrated into renal parenchyma with many cell structures formed.


This paper uses extensive student-level micro databases of three international student achievement tests to estimate heterogeneity in the effect of external exit exams on student performance along three dimensions. First, quantile regressions show that the effect tends to increase with student ability. But it does not differ substantially for most measured family-background characteristics. Second, central exams have complementary effects to school autonomy. Third, the effect of central exit exams increases during the course of secondary education, and regular standardised examination exerts additional positive effects. Thus, there is substantial heterogeneity in the central exam effect along student, school and time dimensions.


The sweet potato residue being at the initial moisture content 50-58%, initial pH 3.5-4.3, supplemented with rice bran, and minerals, and incubated at 20-26 degrees C for 5 days was the optimal conditions for protease production with Aspergillus niger NTU-AM-1 by solid state fermentation. Protease could be recovered by shaking at room temperature for one hour and extracted with five times volume of 0.1% NaCl solution. The yield of protease was 814 units per gram dry weight of substrate. Partially purified protease with DEAE-Sephacel column chromatography was thermally stable and able to retain 80-100% of activity in pH 4.0-5.5 at 55 degrees C for 40 minutes. In addition, the activity of protease was stimulated by the presence of EDTA and cysteine, but was inhibited by the addition of HgCl2.


We have studied the phenomenon of electromagnetically induced transparency (EIT) of 87Rb vapor with a buffer gas in a magnetic field at room temperature. It is found that the spectral lines caused by the velocity selective optical pump effects get much weaker and wider when the sample cell is mixed with a 5-Torr N2 gas while the EIT signal is kept almost unchanged. A weighted least-square fit is also developed to remove the Doppler broadening completely. This spectral method provides a way to measure the Zeeman splitting with high resolution, for example, the Λ-type EIT resonance splits into four peaks on the D2 line of 87Rb in the thermal 2-cm vapor cell with a magnetic field along the electric field of the linearly polarized coupling laser. The high-resolution spectrum can be used to lock the laser to a given frequency by tuning the magnetic field.


The Scandinavian welfare states are to a large extent responsive to their citizens' vulnerabilities and needs, and with the ample support of working parents and their children, these states have to some extent neutralised the gendered effects of the public-private divide. Nevertheless, there has been a lack of responsiveness to the consequences of gendered life courses. Over the last decades there has been an increased emphasis on the idea of equality as sameness between men and women as the main aim and strategy, as well as a measure of gender equality. Arguments about difference have more or less disappeared from the discourses and policies of gender equality. This paper will apply the vulnerability approach to gender equality in the Norwegian context, and discuss whether this approach could be a way of reconceptualising gender equality in a way that acknowledges both difference and sameness.


Gastric dilatation was diagnosed in 156 dogs during a 5-year period. The recurrence rate was 10% and the overall mortality was 43%. Large-breed dogs of either sex and ranging in age from 2 months to 15 years (mean age, 5.2 +/- 2.9 years) were found to be susceptible to the problem. Cardiac arrhythmias were diagnosed in 48 of 115 (42%) affected dogs. Cardiac arrhythmias occurred most frequently between 12 and 36 hours after the onset of gastric dilatation-volvulus and were generally ventricular in origin.


Experiments were conducted for the impact force and erosion volume of the continuous jet, the self-excited aspirated pulse jet, the self-excited oscillation pulse jet on different hydraulic pressure in this paper. The rules of the three kinds of jet impact force and erosion effect with the change of hydraulic pressure were analyzed. The result shows the center impact force of the continuous jet is bigger than the other impact force. The self-excited aspirated pulse jet is obviously superior to the continuous jet and its erosion volume is 1.15~1.3 times as big as the continuous jet.


Multi-flaw MoS2 nanosheets were synthesized by a hydrothermal method by controlling the molar ratio of Mo and S. The physical and chemical properties and structures of the samples were characterized by SEM, TEM, N2 adsorption/desorption isotherms, XRD, Raman spectroscopy, and XPS. The construction of flaws with abundant exposed edges in the ultrathin MoS2 nanosheets played an important role in improving the piezocatalytic performance for the degradation of antibiotic ciprofloxacin (CIP) by forming the active sites. Compared with flaw-free MoS2, multi-flaw MoS2 nanosheets had a high number of atomic layers (abundant odd numbers of atomic layers) and exhibited excellent adsorption-piezocatalytic ability, decomposing 99% of CIP in 30 s under ultrasonic irradiation. Furthermore, the total organic carbon (TOC) analysis indicated that 56% of CIP was completely mineralized after 5 min of ultrasonic irradiation. The eradication mechanism of CIP followed pseudo-second-order kinetics with a maximum degradation rate constant of 1.29 L mg−1 s−1. The superior piezocatalytic performance of multi-flaw MoS2 nanosheets was mainly attributed to the highly efficient separation of electron–hole pairs caused by the strain-induced piezoelectric field (an internal electric field). Active species trapping and terephthalic acid (TA) fluorescence experiments demonstrated that the hydroxyl radicals (˙OH) were the major reactive oxygen species that degraded CIP. In addition, UPLC-MS analysis was used for monitoring the intermediates in CIP decomposition. The complete opening of the piperazine and quinolinic rings and the formation of simpler aliphatic compounds were observed. A possible degradation pathway was proposed based on the UPLC-MS data. The ultrafast degradation efficiency of multi-flaw MoS2 nanosheets could be used for practical environmental remediation applications.


Recent advances in multimodal learning has resulted in powerful vision-language models, whose representations are generalizable across a variety of downstream tasks. Recently, their generalizability has been further extended by incorporating trainable prompts, borrowed from the natural language processing literature. While such prompt learning techniques have shown impressive results, we identify that these prompts are trained based on global image features which limits itself in two aspects: First, by using global features, these prompts could be focusing less on the discriminative foreground image, resulting in poor generalization to various out-of-distribution test cases. Second, existing work weights all prompts equally whereas our intuition is that these prompts are more specific to the type of the image. We address these issues with as part of our proposed Contextual Prompt Learning (CoPL) framework, capable of aligning the prompts to the localized features of the image. Our key innovations over earlier works include using local image features as part of the prompt learning process, and more crucially, learning to weight these prompts based on local features that are appropriate for the task at hand. This gives us dynamic prompts that are both aligned to local image features as well as aware of local contextual relationships. Our extensive set of experiments on a variety of standard and few-shot datasets show that our method produces substantially improved performance when compared to the current state of the art methods. We also demonstrate both few-shot and out-of-distribution performance to establish the utility of learning dynamic prompts that are aligned to local image features.


Based on an analysis of Mexican industrial history, the objective of this study was to identify the historical events and factors which shaped the international business perspectives and management strategies of Mexican industrial groups (MIGs). To this end, the evolution of MIGs is traced over the course of 170 years and through three distinct phases of Mexican political and economic history: pre‐industrial era (1821‐1940); industrial boom (1940‐1970); and economic crisis and reform (1970‐1990). The subsequent analysis indicates a combination of historical factors resulting in two conditions ‐ domestic orientation and dependent development ‐ which caused MIGs to focus almost exclusively on the Mexican market and to shun international markets and competition.