The interactions of human polymorphonuclear neutrophils (PMNs) with virulent and avirulent strains of Salmonella typhi were examined. Ingestion of the S. typhi strains by PMNs was evaluated with three techniques: visual examination of PMN monolayers (phagocytic index); uptake of radiolabeled S. typhi by PMNs; and removal of S. typhi from the supernatant of suspensions of PMNs and bacteria. All three techniques indicated equivalent phagocytosis of the strains. Postphagocytic PMN oxidative metabolism was quantitated with measurements of oxygen consumption, protein iodination, and chemiluminescence. We found that although PMNs ingested equal numbers of virulent and avirulent S. typhi, those PMNs ingesting the virulent organisms exhibited a significantly smaller increase in postphagocytic oxidative metabolism than PMNs ingesting avirulent S. typhi. Despite this muted oxidative burst the virulent bacteria were killed as well as the avirulent strains. Virulent S. typhi either fail to stimulate receptors that trigger PMN oxidative metabolism or inhibit PMN oxidative metabolism. Our data support the former hypothesis.


P159 Background: Population-based data on the incidence of brain AVM hemorrhage is scarce. We studied detection rates of brain AVM and AVM hemorrhage in a defined population. Methods: The New York islands (Manhattan, Staten Island, and Long Island) are a ZIP-code defined area comprising a 8,898,000 population. In a retrospective investigation, major NY islands hospital centers retrieved the number of patients who lived in the study area and were discharged with a diagnosis of brain AVM between 1996 and 1999. Starting March 15, 2000, all major NY islands hospitals prospectively reported data on consecutive NY islands patients with a diagnosis of brain AVM and whether or not the patient had suffered AVM hemorrhage. Referral patients living outside the study area were excluded from the sample. Results: The retrospective detection rate of brain AVMs in patients living in the study area (Table 1) was estimated to be 1.2/100,000 person-years (95% CI:1.1–1.4). As of July 14, 2000, 37 prospective AVM patients were encountered leading to a calculated AVM detection rate of 1.25/100,000 pers-yrs (95% CI: 0.9–1.7) with an estimated incidence for first-ever AVM hemorrhage (n=6) of 0.2/100,000 pers-yrs (95% CI:0.1 to 0.5). The prevalence of AVM hemorrhage (n=14) was 0.5/100,000 pers-yrs (95% CI:0.3 to 0.8). Conclusions: Our preliminary data suggest similar prospective and retrospective AVM detection rates. More than one third of AVM patients may suffer intracranial hemorrhage.


An agricultural tine, which is a relatively large double torsion spring with outer legs that are used to sweep through hay or other crops and turn them over, had failed. It was made hard-drawn carbon steel. Bending fatigue was revealed by visual examination to be almost certainly the cause of failure. The fatigue fracture origin was found on the inside surface of the legs at the point where they joined the coiled body of the spring. It was established that the tines after being wound up by loading with hay, sprung back through the neutral unloaded position and into the unwind direction. This movement into the unwind direction was concluded to be happening often enough to initiate fatigue. The stress relieving temperature was recommended to be increased to reduce the residual stresses from coiling and hence improve fatigue performance.


Automatic fingerspelling recognition aims to overcome communication barriers between people who are deaf and those who can hear. RGB-D cameras are widely used to handle finger occlusion, which usually hinders fingerspelling recognition. However, color-depth misalignment, which is an intrinsic property of RGB-D cameras, hinders the simultaneous processing of color and depth images in the absence of intrinsic parameters of the camera. Furthermore, fine-grained hand gestures performed by various persons and captured from multiple views render the discriminative feature extraction difficult, due to intra-class variability and inter-class similarity. Inspired by the human visual mechanism, we propose a network to learn discriminative features related to fine-grained hand gestures while suppressing the effect of color–depth misalignment. Unlike existing approaches that independently process RGB-D images, a dual-path depth-aware attention network that learns a fingerspelling representation in separate RGB and depth paths, and progressively fuses the features learned from the two paths is proposed. As the hand is usually the closest object to the camera, depth information can contribute to emphasize the key fingers related to a letter sign. Thus, we develop a depth-aware attention module (DAM) to exploit spatial relations in the depth feature maps, refining the RGB and depth feature maps across a bottleneck structure. The module establishes a lateral connection of the RGB and depth paths and provides a depth-aware salient map to both paths. The experimental results demonstrated that the proposed network improved the accuracy (+0.83%) and $F$ score (+1.55%) compared to state-of-the-art methods on a publicly available fingerspelling dataset. The visualization of the network processes demonstrates that the DAM facilitates the selection of representative hand regions from the RGB-D images. Furthermore, the number of parameters and computational overhead of the DAM are negligible in the network. The code is available at https://github.com/cweizen/cweizen-DDaNet_model_master.


Objectives To explore the views of optometrists, general practitioners (GPs) and ophthalmologists regarding the development and organisation of community-based enhanced optometric services. Design Qualitative study using free-text questionnaires and telephone interviews. Setting A minor eye conditions scheme (MECS) and a glaucoma referral refinement scheme (GRRS) are based on accredited community optometry practices. Participants 41 optometrists, 6 ophthalmologists and 25 GPs. Results The most common reason given by optometrists for participation in enhanced schemes was to further their professional development; however, as providers of 'for-profit' healthcare, it was clear that participants had also considered the impact of the schemes on their business. Lack of fit with the 'retail' business model of optometry was a frequently given reason for non-participation. The methods used for training and accreditation were generally thought to be appropriate, and participating optometrists welcomed the opportunities for ongoing training. The ophthalmologists involved in the MECS and GRRS expressed very positive views regarding the schemes and widely acknowledged that the new care pathways would reduce unnecessary referrals and shorten patient waiting times. GPs involved in the MECS were also very supportive. They felt that the scheme provided an 'expert' local opinion that could potentially reduce the number of secondary care referrals. Conclusions The results of this study demonstrated strong stakeholder support for the development of community-based enhanced optometric services. Although optometrists welcomed the opportunity to develop their professional skills and knowledge, enhanced schemes must also provide a sufficient financial incentive so as not to compromise the profitability of their business.


In this note a time dependent spacetime is explored in the background of $f(R,T)$ gravity via the gravitational collapse of a massive star. The star is modelled by the Vaidya spacetime which is time dependent in nature. The coupling of matter with curvature is the key feature of $f(R,T)$ theory and here we have investigated its effects on a collapsing scenario. Two different types of models, one involving minimal and the other involving non-minimal coupling between matter and curvature are considered for our study. Power law and exponential functionalities are considered as examples to check the outcome of the gravitational collapse. Our prime objective is to explore the nature of singularities (black hole or naked singularity) that form as an end state of the collapse. Existence of outgoing radial null geodesics from the central singularity was probed and such existence implied the formation of naked singularities thus defying the cosmic censorship hypothesis. The absence of such outgoing null geodesics would imply the formation of an event horizon and the singularity formed becomes a black hole. Conditions under which such possibilities occur are derived for all the models and sub-models. Gravitational strength of the singularity is also investigated and the conditions under which we can get a strong or a weak singularity is derived. The results obtained are very interesting and may be attributed to the coupling between curvature and matter. It is seen that for non-minimal coupling there is a possibility of a globally naked singularity, whereas for a minimal coupling scenario local nakedness is the only option. It is also found that the singularity formed can be sufficiently weak in nature, which is cosmologically desirable.


The square root of the density of exposure quanta at the image plane is a popular measure of image quality for photon images. This is in fact only an upper limit which is rarely realized in the image. It is the density of noise equivalent quanta (NEQ) deduced from image measurements which is relevant to real imagery. In general NEQ is a non-trivial function of spatial frequency. Examples are taken from screen/ film mammography, electrostatic mammography, and computed tomography. The signal-to-noise ratios computed from these NEQ values characterize the performance of an ideal observer confronted with the image and a detection task. This sets goals for real observer performance, i. e., image processing and display for human acquisition.


This report is about the experiments with mixing of the separated water and the vacuum pump seal water at Hellisheiði power plant. This is done to prevent silica scaling and clogging in pipes and reinjection wells as well as eliminating vacuum pump seal water from the plant. The experiments were done in four stages: the first stage comprised of tests with different flows of separated water at 70°C, the second stage was carried out by mixing the separated water at 70°C and the seal water with different amounts of the seal water, the third and the fourth stages were like the first and second but with the separated water at 120°C. The results show that this method is good if the mixture is around 50/50 separated water and seal water, to control the silica scaling in the separated water and to be able to reinject the seal water with the separated water. This does not eliminate the silica scaling in all of the separated water because the amount of separated water is much more than the amount of seal water that comes from the plant.


Introduction: routine cognitive screening for in-patients aged ≥75 years is recommended, but there is uncertainty around how this should be operationalised. We therefore determined the feasibility and reliability of the Abbreviated mental test score (AMTS/10) and its relationship to subjective memory complaint, Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA/30) and informant report in unselected older admissions. Methods: consecutive acute general medicine patients aged ≥75 years admitted over 10 weeks (March–May 2013) had AMTS and a question regarding subjective memory complaint (if no known dementia/delirium). At ≥72 h, the 30-point Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) and Informant Questionnaire for Cognitive Decline in the Elderly (IQCODE) were done. Cognitive impairment was defined as AMTS < 9 or MoCA < 26 (mild impairment) and MoCA < 20 (moderate/severe impairment) or IQCODE≥ 3.6. Results: among 264 patients (mean age/SD = 84.3/5.6 years, 117 (44%) male), 228 (86%) were testable with AMTS. 49/50 (98%) testable patients with dementia/delirium had low AMTS compared with 79/199 (44%) of those without (P < 0.001). Subjective memory complaint agreed poorly with objective cognitive deficit (39% denying a memory problem had AMTS < 9 (kappa = 0.134, P= 0.086)) as did informant report (kappa = 0.18, P = 0.15). In contrast, correlation between AMTS and MoCAwas strong (R = 0.59, P< 0.001) with good agreement between AMTS < 9 and MoCA < 20 (kappa = 0.50, P < 0.01), although 85% of patients with normal AMTS had MoCA < 26. Conclusions: the AMTS was feasible and valid in older acute medicine patients agreeing well with the MoCA albeit with a ceiling effect. Objective cognitive deficits were prevalent in patients without known dementia or delirium but were not reliably identified by subjective cognitive complaint or informant report.


OBJECTIVE
Acute kidney injury (AKI) is a common critical illness in clinic, which seriously threatens the life of patients. The aim of this study was to validate the anti-apoptotic effect of hydroxytyrosol (HT) in ischemia/reperfusion (I/R)-induced AKI.

MATERIALS AND METHODS
The cell model of AKI was established by hypoxia/reoxygenation (H/R), and the animal model of AKI was established by I/R. The apoptosis was observed by Caspase-3 activity assay, flow cytometry and terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase (TdT)-mediated dUTP nick end labeling (TUNEL) staining. Cell viability was detected by cell counting kit-8 (CCK-8) assay. Protein expression was measured by Western blot and mRNA level was analyzed by quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). Renal function was assessed by measuring serum creatinine (Cr) and blood urea nitrogen (BUN).

RESULTS
H/R induced apoptosis of HK-2 cells and reduced cell viability. When HK-2 cells were pretreated with HT, apoptosis was markedly inhibited, and cell viability was greatly increased. In addition, HT could inhibit I/R-induced apoptosis of rat kidney cells and could notably improve rat kidney function. H/R promoted Sonic Hedgehog (SHH) expression in HK-2 cells, while HT treatment further enhanced SHH expression. Similarly, I/R induces SHH expression in kidney tissue, and HT could further promote SHH expression.

CONCLUSIONS
These results indicated that HT could inhibit apoptosis in I/R-induced AKI via activating SHH signaling pathway.


Iliocaval venous obstruction is a significant contributor to venous hypertension. Recanalization and stenting of chronic deep venous obstructions are minimally invasive and have been proven to be safe and effective with low complication rates over the past few decades. Common iliac vein (CIV) stents are usually extended into the inferior vena cava (IVC) to some extent to ensure adequately that key areas of stenosis are adequately treated. This may lead to contralateral CIV jailing and increase the risk of contralateral deep-vein thrombosis (DVT). The reported incidence of contralateral DVT after CIV stent placement from different studies varies from 1% to 15.6%. The predicted risk factors are noncompliance with anticoagulation, underestimation of the postthrombotic venous disease, preexisting IVC filter, incorrect stent placement, preexisting contralateral internal iliac vein thrombosis, malignancy, and thrombophilia. Literature suggests that the use of intravascular ultrasound, newer dedicated stents, and Z-stent modification reduces the incidence of contralateral DVT. Precise stent deployment technique and proper attention to other hematological risk factors are the key to preventing this complication. This article will review the incidence, mechanism, risk factors, and technical aspects of how to avoid this unfortunate complication. We will also review the newer dedicated venous stents.


Online forums available to those living with Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) are a platform enabling peer support. Some use online forums to discuss sensitive issues, such as the effect of chronic conditions on their intimate and sexual lives. This study explored the common topics regarding relationships and intimacy with IBD that are discussed on online forums.

 This study collected anonymous data available from a public domain (online forum) and analysed it using Braun and Clarke's thematic analysis. Data were collected from 15 threads discussing topics relating to IBD and relationships from 2008 to 2016. In total, it involved around 144 people engaged in group conversations on the topics. No subscription was needed to access the data, and all participants used pseudonyms.

 Two themes were developed from analysing online forum engagement on sensitive topics: Relationships and IBD and ' Sex? What's that?' . The most prevalent discussions were around broken-down relationships: 'The guy I was dating when I was diagnosed broke up with me 6–8 months later, in large part because of how the disease was changing my life'. There were many concerns about the right time for disclosure of illness whilst dating: 'I feel like 5 dates/one months was definitely the right time. It's not first date material.' Participants actively sought others' intimate experiences for advice and found consolation in sharing common experiences, particularly regarding symptoms affecting sex:' Intimacy and Crohn's can be an awful combination', or relationships: 'I am dating two! My iPad and my UC! Neither snore, but both are very needy!' Participants also expressed their findings of comfort from hearing others experiences online: 'This thread gives us hope though that it is possible to be with someone with this disease'. Additionally, sexual minority groups can also feel that they have a platform where they can discuss sexuality without prejudice and easily access others of the same sexual orientation when asking for advice.

 IBD patients use online forums to discuss their intimate lives when looking for help from others experiencing a similar situation or looking for acceptance. This suggests patients may feel embarrassed talking about sex and may not see their health care professionals as the first port of call for questions about intimacy, highlighting the importance of online forums in seeking peer support for such topics. Further research is recommended to understand how patients might prefer to express their worries in an anonymous, safe environment.


Assessing the internal coherence and constituency of language families often centers either around comparing certain form-meaning correspondences, or around identifying the presence or absence of linguistic features across the members of the family. The former approach is generally restricted to the lexicon. The latter approach focuses mostly on structural characteristics of language. In this paper we present an alternative approach to comparing grammatical systems between languages within a language family, which aims at bringing these two approaches and their results closer to each other. We look at subordination strategies in a sample of Tupian languages, taking constructions as the basic unit of comparison, treating them as form-meaning correspondences. The Tupian family offers an especially intriguing case for studying subordination strategies in the South American context, given its enormous geographical spread and the variety of contact situations involving its member languages. Major patterns of subordination strategies can be discerned across the family, e.g. strategies involving nominalization, verbal incorporation and other subtypes of verbal serialization, but there is also a great degree of variability between the different languages. By mapping the structural diversity onto the known genealogy and geographic distribution, we hope to shed more light on the history of the Tupian family and on the diffusability of subordination strategies.


In view of artificially high urbanization rate of China and possible causes, survey and data analysis methods were used to discuss reform of household registration system, and path for promoting rural land system reform. Results show that it is required to eliminate bottlenecks of land system in the advance of new urbanization process. In line with land system bottlenecks of new urbanization, it is recommended to take following measures. (i) Promoting land right confirmation centered land system reform. (ii) Weakening rural land ownership and stressing land use right. (iii) Establishing urban and rural integrated land market and putting an end to low cost urbanization road. (iv) Realizing asset value of rural construction land and tackling the problem of insufficient construction land. (v) Reforming the land expropriation system and increasing the share of gain in land value to farmers. (vi) Implementing different land policies to promote coordinated development of regional social economy. (vii) Establishing land circulation access system to ensure unchanged land use purpose and high efficient use.


Rotationally symmetric annular combustors are of practical importance because they generically resemble combustion chambers in gas turbines and aeroengines, in which thermoacoustically driven oscillations are a major concern. We focus on thermoacoustic oscillations of azimuthal type, neglect the effect of the transverse acoustic velocity in the azimuthal direction, and model the heat release rate as being dependent only on the pressure in the combustion chamber. We study the dynamics of the annular combustor with a finite number of compact flames equi-spaced along the annulus, and characterise the flames' response with a describing function. We discuss with broad generality the existence, amplitudes and the stability of standing and spinning waves, as a function of: 1) the number of the burners; 2) the damping in the chamber; 3) the flame describing function. These have implications on industrial applications, the future direction of investigations, and for what to look for in experimental data. We then present as an example of application the first theoretical study of triggering in annular combustors, and show that rotationally symmetric annular chambers can experience stable standing solutions.Copyright © 2015 by ASME


Developing the mathematical thinking be authorized in the context of the current of meaningfull learning. Learning for 21 st century paradigm replace that generally provide a broad space on the developmental aspects and student learning tasks as learning subject. The context appears as the implications of the development of high order thinking skills that need to be optimized in the learning process as learning principles in the curriculum of 2013. The purpose of this paper to explain the concepts and principles that can be developed related to the mathematical thinking in the context of 21st century learning. The principles of 21st century learning also become the foundation as one of the basic considerations in the process of benchmarking and the development of curriculum changes that will be applied. The mathematical thinking identified in 5 components, among others: (1) understanding of mathematics; (2) solving mathematical problems; (3) mathematical reasoning; (4) The mathematical connection; (5) mathematical communication. Affiliated to the five components that are interconnected is, the learning process that leads to the 21 century learning can go hand in hand in making them. Development of materials and processes which are affiliated with aspects of learning and development of students form the basis for determining the direction and purpose of education that lead to the learning process in the classroom. The results of the analysis of the content is based on theoretical studies indicate alignment between the development of the mathematical thinking the learning context of the 21st century requires the development of high-level thinking skills for students, especially in elementary school.


Although beta-adrenergic blockers can significantly reduce mortality after a myocardial infarction, these agents are prescribed to only a minority of patients. Underutilization of beta blockers may be attributed, in part, to fear of adverse effects, especially in the elderly and in patients with concomitant disorders such as diabetes or heart failure. However, studies have shown that such patients are precisely the ones who derive the greatest benefit from beta blockade. Advancing age or the presence of potentially complicating disease states is usually not a justification for withholding beta-blocker therapy. With use of cardioselective agents and through careful dosing and monitoring, the benefits of beta blockers after myocardial infarction far outweigh the potential risks in most patients.


Some repository concepts envisage the use of large quantities of cementitious materials – both
for repository construction and as a buffer/backfill. However, some wastes placed within a
subsurface repository will contain a significant amount of organic material that may degrade to
produce carbon dioxide. This will react with cement buffer/backfill to produce carbonate
minerals such as calcite, which will reduce the ability of the buffer/backfill to maintain highly
alkaline conditions and as a consequence its ability to limit radionuclide migration. The reaction
may also alter the physical properties of the buffer/backfill. The work involved in this study
investigates these processes through elevated pressure laboratory experiments conducted at a
range of likely future in situ repository conditions. These will provide information on the
reactions that occur, with results serving as examples with which to test predictive modelling
codes. This report details a series of batch experiments to study carbonation of Nirex Reference
Vault Backfil (NRVB) cement.
Thirty-two static batch experiments were pressurised with either CO2, or with N2 for 'nonreacting'
comparison tests at 20°C or 40°C, and 40 or 80 bar. Twenty-six of these were left to
react for durations of between 10-40 days, with six more left to react for a year. The aim of them
was to help investigate mineralogical and fluid chemical changes due to the diffusional ingress
of CO2 into unconfined NRVB samples measuring 2.5 cm in diameter and 5 cm long.
All the cement samples showed rapid reaction with CO2, manifested by a colour change from
grey to light brown. Petrographic analysis of the reacted cement revealed that this colour change
reflected the breakdown and dissolution of primary calcium ferrite and calcium alumina-ferrite
(CAF) cement clinker phases (e.g. brownmillerite, Ca2(Al,Fe)2O5 to form calcium carbonates
and finely-disseminated free ferric oxide (probably hematite, Fe2O3), as a result of reaction with
CO2 to give a 'rusty' colour. It should be noted that his is not an oxidation reaction as the iron is
present as Fe3+ in the original cement phases.
The cement blocks remained intact, even after prolonged exposure to CO2-rich fluids.
Carbonation was associated with an increase in weight of up to 8.5% during CO2 uptake, though
the samples did not change in overall size. There is potential therefore, for carbonation to
immobilise 14CO2 if that were present. Free-phase CO2 gave slightly more reaction than dissolved
CO2, possibly because of its higher concentration and greater ability to penetrate the samples. In
terms of major reactions during carbonation, these were the breakdown of portlandite, calcium
silicate hydrate (CSH) phases, calcium aluminate (or calcium aluminate hydrate) phases, and
ettringite-like phases, and the formation of carbonate phases and silica gel. Carbonation also
revealed that heterogeneity within the cement samples had a major impact on migration
pathways and extent of carbonation. This heterogeneity may have been a result of casting, and
was only observed in some of the samples studied. It led to faster carbonation in some areas, and
may account for some of the differences observed in the reacted cement samples. Such
heterogeneity may be present within a repository, and should be taken into account when
assessing repository performance.


Nuclear spirals can provide a wealth of information about the nuclear potential in disc galaxies. They form naturally as a gas response to non-axisymmetry in the gravitational potential, even if the degree of this asymmetry is very small. Linear wave theory well describes weak nuclear spirals, but stronger asymmetries in the potential induce waves beyond the linear regime, which appear as spiral shocks. If a central massive black hole (MBH) is present, spiral shocks can extend all the way to its immediate vicinity, and generate gas inflow up to 0.03 M$_{\odot}\,$ yr−1. This coincides with the accretion rates needed to power local Active Galactic Nuclei.To search for other articles by the author(s) go to: http://adsabs.harvard.edu/abstract_service.html


T he march election of former journalist mauri cio Funes to the presidency of El Salvador marks a watershed moment for Central American democracy. If the new government enjoys some degree of success, it will ratify the decision of the Salvadoran left more than a decade ago to seek a negotiated solution to the civil war, and its more recent strategy of reaching out to the center left to form an electoral bloc. Failure, in turn, will greatly disappoint those who have long struggled for greater social justice in that troubled land of the Central American isthmus. Funes's party, the FMLN, traces its origins to the guerrilla movement that valiantly fought the Salvadoran military to a stalemate during the bloody war of the 1980s and early 1990s. The party's rise to victory, as Paul D. Almeida describes it herein, was largely made possible by an alliance with social movements during the country's postwar, neoliberal era of democratization. Yet this new center-left government is populated by the country's leading intellectuals, not all of whom are affiliated with the FMLN or its constituencies. Maintaining productive relations with the movements identified with the FMLN is just one of the many daunting challenges facing the new government. Indeed, Funes has assumed office at a particularly difficult time. As Rommel R. Rodríguez explains in his contribution to this Report, the worldwide recession is taking a major toll on Salvadoran manufacturing—already imperiled by low-cost competition from abroad—remittances are falling sharply, and ARENA, the right-wing party whose core constituency in the Salvadoran bourgeoisie refuses to pay reasonable taxes, has bequeathed Funes a yawning fiscal deficit. Pervasive everyday violence continues unabated, an urgent problem that defies simple solutions. As Donna De Cesare notes in the text accompanying her photo essay on gang violence, Funes may yet introduce prevention and rehabilitation as elements of his anti-crime strategy. Such an approach has the potential to remake years of ARENA's anti-gang policies, which focused exclusively on violent police crackdowns. Achieving peace may require nothing less than formal negotiations, not unlike those that ended the country's civil war. Immigration policy may also get a shot in the arm under Funes. As Leisy J. Abrego explains, the administration has an "opportunity to break with tradition" and rethink immigration from the point of view of transnational families, many of whose difficult lives raise the question of whether "the negative effects of family separation may ultimately outweigh the benefits of remittances." Given these multiple challenges facing the new administration, we must ask: What can a progressive government do to bolster manufacturing, make more productive use of those remittances that still arrive, negotiate increased state revenues, deal with endemic crime, and improve the lives of migrants? How can it address all of these challenges while sustaining its pledge to maintain and indeed increase spending on alleviating poverty? These questions become more urgent in light of the recent military coup in neighboring Honduras—the subject of Benjamín Cuéllar's contribution to this Report. Ousted Honduran president Manuel Zelaya is particularly hated by the private sector in his country for having, among other measures, raised the minimum wage. Yet the minimum wage needs to be increased dramatically in El Salvador just as it was in Honduras. What, if anything, can be done to enact such reforms in El Salvador without engendering a repeat of the Honduran nightmare? While the Obama administration can strengthen the new government's prospects for success—if it can move beyond the stale argument that CAFTA will fix the economy and security aid will take care of the rest. Now as in the past, solidarity movements in North America have a role to play in articulating and advocating a progressive agenda in support of democracy and social justice in El Salvador and throughout Central America, and in demanding that their governments take on that agenda. 15 Introduction A New Day in El Salvador: The FMLN Victory and the Road Ahead


Abstract:In assessing the nature of "liberal Islam," we must ask the fundamental question: What is "Islam"? All too often, it is answered on the basis of misleading assumptions about what is "naturally" the case that liberal Muslims must challenge or as it were "denaturalize" if they are to win the hearts and minds of Muslims around the world. There is an unfortunate and widespread tendency to conflate Islam with attributes, practices, and institutions that are exogenous to it. Thus, "Islam" has become a code word for such a wide range of ideas and things that its true meaning has become almost completely obscured, suppressed, or lost.


This paper introduces the study of group work pressure (GWP) in information technology (IT) task groups. We theorize that GWP arises from demands and resources in group work and that high levels of GWP inhibit group performance. To identify the constructs of a new group task demands-resources (GTD-R) model, we solicit subjects' descriptions of factors associated with high and low pressure group work situations they have experienced. We find that GWP is composed of characteristics of the task, group, environment, and individuals in the environment. Group characteristics include expertise of the group, group history, and degree of interpersonal conflicts. Individual characteristics include task motivation, personal expertise, and positive/negative consequences. Task complexity, time pressure, and external resources available to the group complete the model tasks. The findings extend prior demands-resources research, suggesting a research model for future study and practical mechanisms for reducing undesirable effects of GWP.


Assuming certain asymptotic conditions, we prove a general theorem on the non-existence of static regular black holes in spacetimes with a negative cosmological constant, given that the fundamental group of space is infinite. We use this to rule out the existence of regular negative mass AdS black holes with Ricci flat scri. For any mass, we also rule out a class of conformally compactifiable static black holes whose conformal infinity has positive scalar curvature and infinite fundamental group, subject to our asymptotic conditions. In a limited, but important, special case our result adds new support to the AdS/CFT inspired positive mass conjecture of Horowitz and Myers.


We provide a plugin extracting Coq functions of simple polymorphic types to the (untyped) call-byvalue λ-calculus L. The plugin is implemented in the MetaCoq framework and entirely written in Coq. We provide Ltac tactics to automatically verify the extracted terms w.r.t a logical relation connecting Coq functions with correct extractions and time bounds, essentially performing a certifying translation and running time validation. We provide three case studies: A universal L-term obtained as extraction from the Coq definition of a step-indexed self-interpreter for L, a many-reduction from solvability of Diophantine equations to the halting problem of L, and a polynomial-time simulation of Turing machines in L. 2012 ACM Subject Classification Theory of computation→ Type theory; Mathematics of computing → Lambda calculus


Cultured human epidermal keratinocytes express a transglutaminase which appears in epidermis only during later stages of normal cell differentiation (Thacher and Rice, Cell 40:685, 1985). Using a monoclonal antibody affinity column, the keratinocyte transglutaminase has been purified approximately 1000-fold from non-ionic detergent extracts of the particulate fraction of a squamous cell carcinoma line. The prominent 92-kilodalton band in the purified material is recognized on Western Blots by a monoclonal antibody which also can immunoprecipitate the active enzyme. Further analysis of the 92-kilodalton band shows that it is apparently not antigenically related to tissue transglutaminase, or to the cytoplasmic enzyme expressed in cultured keratinocytes which is immunologically cross-reactive and of identical molecular weight to tissue transglutaminase. In monkey palmar and plantar epidermal homogenates significant transglutaminase activity appears to be membrane bound and chromatographs on anion-exchange as the keratinocyte enzyme does. It can be precipitated, at least in part, with the aid of specific monoclonal antibodies directed to keratinocyte transglutaminase. As determined immunohistochemically, the most likely membrane location of the enzyme in cultured cells is the plasma membrane, consistent with keratinocyte transglutaminase function in cross-linked envelope formation. Thigh, neonatal foreskin, psoriatic epidermis, and monkey esophagus are compared as to patterns of staining for keratinocyte transglutaminase. Cultured epidermal cells and psoriatic epidermis both show precocious expression when compared to normal epidermis, demonstrating that keratinocyte transglutaminase expression can be substantially modified during epidermal regenerative maturation or hyperproliferation.


Atmospheric carbon dioxide levels have increased since the industrial revolution due to the increase in combustion of fossil fuels. One possible alternative strategy is the use of microalgae for CO 2 capture and recycling. Major components in coal-derived flue gas that may accumulate and effect algae growth include both sulfur oxides and fly ash. However, in practical application, sulfur oxides will be converted quickly to the acid product (H 2 SO 4 ) in the aerobic aqueous conditions of algae cultivation. In this article, the influence of elevated H 2 SO 4 levels and the presence of coal-derived fly ash were investigated. As the H 2 SO 4 level increased, algae growth was inhibited and finally ceased; however, this affect could be minimized by the addition of NaHCO 3 as a buffer. The effect of ash on the growth of algae was related to the type of coal-fired combustion and the amount of ash. For one of the ash types tested, the algae growth rate actually increased at a low ash concentration. In this work, major technical hurdles in the use of algal scrubbing systems are being addressed with respect to major contaminants in coal-derived flue gases.


Introduction: Elevated oxidative stress by reactive oxygen species and mitochondrial dysfunction have been implicated in diabetes and obesity leading to insulin resistance (IR). Based on our previous study, we investigated to see the effect of two anti-oxidants (one mitochondrial, SOD2 and another one cytosolic, catalase) upregulated together in MSCs and delivered intra peritoneally (IP) in DIO mouse model. Methods: C57BL/6J male mice (4-6weeks old) were obtained from the Jackson Lab. Obesity, glucose intolerance, and insulin resistance were induced by feeding the mice a high-fat diet (HFD) for 13 weeks. Mouse adipose-derived MSCs and adenovirus constructs containing GFP (Null, SOD2 and Catalase), were purchased Commercially. Glucose tolerance test (GTT), liver and fat depots H& E staining were performed and liver triglycerides (L-TG) were quantified. Results: A significant reduction in L-TG levels were observed in the mice that received Catalase+SOD2-MSCs (2-fold) compared to Null-MSC, which was less than noted either with catalase or SOD2-MSCs alone. This is consistent with the findings of the corresponding liver fat histology. The systemic inflammatory maker plasma TNF-α levels in mice injected with the combination antioxidants showed 1.5 fold decrease compared to Null-MSC though SOD2-MSCs or catalase-MSCs almost demonstrated a decrease compared to Null-MSC. GTT showed an improvement with combination therapy with total area under the curve (AUC) value less than other groups. Discussion: Our results indicate that MSCs with upregulated both Catalase and SOD2 anti-oxidants were more effective in reducing systemic inflammation (plasma TNF-α) and liver triglyceride content in DIO mice. MSC mediated delivery of combination of antioxidants, intra-peritoneally is safe and can be used as an efficient tool for treating obesity, prediabetes and NAFLD. Disclosure S. Nandula: None. N. Kundu: None. S. Sen: None.


The development is described of a new ion source for atomic mass spectrometry which could lead to much wider applications of the technique. The source is based on an atmospheric pressure high temperature inductively coupled plasma. Samples are introduced to the plasma as aqueous solutions by a pneumatic nebulizer. Ion extraction from the plasma at temperatures up to 8000 K is based on sampling gas through an aperture placed in the tail flame. Initially apertures of 0.07 mm diameter were used which were protected from the full plasma temperature by the formation over them of a cooler boundary layer. High sensitivity and good resolution were obtained up to solute concentrations of 10 mug.ml-1, but matrix effects were severe. Conditions were then established in which ions could be sampled direct from the plasma core without passage through a boundary layer. Continuum flow through apertures up to 0.5 mm diameter enables plasma ion populations to be frozen rapidly in the supersonic expansion, before reactions can occur to disturb the composition. Much better matrix performance is obtained in this mode and sample concentrations up to 1000 mug.ml-1 can be introduced. Detection limits below 1 ng.ml-1 are obtained for a wide range of elements. Multi-element analysis is feasible at the rate of one sample per minute and isotope ratio determinations on solutions at about 30 mug.ml-1 are possible with precisions approaching 0.1% for integration times of 5 minutes. The performance of the system is discussed theoretically and reasonable agreement demonstrated with the experimental behaviour. The source already provides a viable analytical technique for samples introduced by any of the methods available for ICP-AES. These include solution nebulization, thermal evaporation, laser ablation and arc aerosol generation. Considerable scope exists for improving ion transport efficiency to provide sensitivity at least as high as any other routine analytical technique.


This thesis deals with the characterization, modeling and calibration of pipeline analog-digital converters (ADC)s. The integral nonlinearity (INL) is characterized, modeled and the model is used to design a post-correction block in order to compensate the imperfections of the ADC. The INL model is divided into: a dynamic term designed by the low code frequency (LCF) component depending on the output code k and the frequency under test m, and a static term known as high code frequency (HCF) component depending solely on the output code k. The HCF is related to the pipeline ADC circuitry. A set of adjacent piecewise linear segments is used to model the HCF. The LCF is the dynamic term depending on the input signal characteristics, and is modeled using a polynomial with frequency dependent coefficients. Two dynamic calibration methodologies are developed to compensate the imperfections of the pipeline ADC. In the first approach, the INL model at hand is transformed into a post-correction scheme. Regarding the HCF model, a set of gains and offsets is used to reconstruct the HCF segments structure. The LCF polynomial frequency dependent coefficients are used to design a bank of FIR filters which reconstructs the LCF model. A calibration block made by the combination of static gains/offsets and a bank of FIR filters is built to create the correction term to calibrate the ADC. In the second approach, the calibration (and modeling) process is extended to the upper Nyquist bands of the ADC. The HCF is used directly in calibration as a look-up-table (LUT). The LCF part is still represented by a frequency dependent polynomial of which the coefficients are used to develop a filter bank, implemented in the frequency domain with an overlap-and-add structure. In brief the calibration process is done by the combination of a static LUT and a bank of frequency domain filters. The maximum likelihood (ML) method is used to estimate the K-factor of a wireless Ricean channel. The K-factor is one of the main characteristics of a telecommunication channel. However, a closed-form ML estimator of the Kfactor is unfeasible due to the complexity of the Ricean pdf. In order to overcome this limitation, an approximation (for high K-factor values) is induced to the Ricean pdf. A closed-form approximate ML (AML) for the Ricean K-factor is computed. A bias study is performed on the AML and the bias derived value is used to improve the AML estimation, leading to a closed-form bias compensated estimator (BCE). The BCE performance (in terms of variance, bias and mean square error (MSE)) is simulated and compared to the best known closed-form moment-based estimator found in the literature. The BCE turns to have a superior performance for low number of samples and/or high K-factor values. Finally, the BCE is applied on real site wireless channel measurements in an urban macro cell area, using a 4-antenna transmit/receive MIMO system.


. In the paper the composition model of functionally oriented informational resources is provided as well as the method for creating this model. The composition model and method of functionally oriented informational resources provide enhanced features on creation of informational security systems. The composition model corresponds to a data model in not the first normal form, is formed by the functional complex of data and is presented in the form of polybasic algebraic structure which displays structure, correlations, and also specifics of operations of handling and processing over difficult structured data. The method of creation of function-oriented information is based on a deductive method of creation of axiomatic theories. The formalized description of function-oriented provided; the functional complex of data of polybasic algebraic structure of model; the functional dependences and the relation forming system of axioms of composition model. Graphic elements on which it is displayed components of subsystems are shown; structurally functional chart of component interaction of levels of control; the structure of composition model of function-oriented information resources provided by the table of difficult structured data in not the first normal form; structural logic circuit of a method of creation of composition model of function-oriented information resources.


The organization and intricacy of the central and peripheral nervous systems pose special criteria for the selection of a suitable scaffold to aid in regeneration. The scaffold must have sufficient mechanical strength while providing an intricate network of passageways for axons, Schwann cells, oligodendrocytes, and other neuroglia to populate. If neural regeneration is to occur, these intricate passageways must not be impeded by macrophages, neutrophils, or other inflammatory cells. Therefore it is imperative that the scaffold does not illicit a severe immune response. Biodegradable electrospun fibers are an appealing material for tissue engineering scaffolds, as they strongly resemble the morphology of extracellular matrix. In this study, electrospun fibers composed of poly(L-lactic acid) (PLLA) and polycaprolactone (PCL) were prepared with and without the steroid anti-inflammatory drug, dexamethasone, encapsulated. Histological analysis of harvested subcutaneous implants demonstrated the PLLA fibers encapsulating dexamethasone (PLLA/dex fibers) evoked a much less severe immune response than any other fiber. These findings were supported by in vitro drug release data showing a controlled release of dexamethasone from the PLLA/dex fibers and a burst release from the PCL/dex fibers. The ability of the PLLA/dex fibers to evade an immune response provides a very powerful tool for fabricating tissue engineering scaffolds, especially when the stringent demands of a neural tissue engineering scaffold are considered. Structural support and contact guidance are crucial for promoting peripheral nerve regeneration. A method to fabricate peripheral nerve guide conduits with luminal, axially aligned, electrospun fibers is described and implemented in this study. The method includes the functionalization of the fibers with the axonal outgrowth promoting protein, laminin, to further enhance regeneration. The implantation of stem cells at the. site of a spinal cord or peripheral nerve lesion has been shown to promote nerve regeneration. Preliminary work to isolate and culture pluripotent, adult neural stem cells for seeding on the above mentioned scaffold is also described here.


Convolutional autoregressive models have recently demonstrated state-of-the-art performance on a number of generation tasks. While fast, parallel training methods have been crucial for their success, generation is typically implemented in a naive fashion where redundant computations are unnecessarily repeated. This results in slow generation, making such models infeasible for production environments. In this work, we describe a method to speed up generation in convolutional autoregressive models. The key idea is to cache hidden states to avoid redundant computation. We apply our fast generation method to the Wavenet and PixelCNN++ models and achieve up to $21\times$ and $183\times$ speedups respectively.


The paper analyses the effects of food price inflation on Ghanaian households using GLSS-5 household data. Expenditure endogeneity and truncated expenditures were controlled in the estimation process using the "Augmented Regression Approach" and Heckman's two-stage procedure, respectively. Symmetry and homogeneity conditions were rejected in the unconstrained LA/AIDS model. The study reveals that cereals and bread; fish; vegetables; and roots and tubers will continue to constitute important share of Ghanaian food expenditure as they collectively constitute 67% of future food expenditure. Food price inflation between 2005 and 2011 has eroded real household food purchasing power by 47.18%.


BACKGROUND
Allergy is a common cause of illness. The effect of feeding different infant formulas on the incidence of atopic disease and food allergy was assessed in a prospective randomized double-blind study of high-risk infants with a family history of atopy.

METHODS
216 high-risk infants whose mothers had elected not to breast-feed were randomized to receive exclusively a partial whey hydrolysate formula or a conventional cow's milk formula or a soy formula until 6 months of age. Seventy-two high risk infants breast-fed for > or = 4 months were also studied.

RESULTS
Follow-up until 5 years of age showed a significant lowering in the cumulative incidence of atopic disease in the breast-fed (odds ratio 0.422 [0.200-0.891]) and the whey hydrolysate (odds ratio 0.322 [0.159-0.653) groups, compared with the conventional cow's milk group. Soy formula was not effective (odds ratio 0.759 [0.384-1.501]). The occurrence of both eczema and asthma was lowest in the breast-fed and whey hydrolysate groups and was comparable in the cow's milk and soy groups. Similar significant differences were noted in the 18-60 month period prevalence of eczema and asthma. Eczema was less severe in the whey hydrolysate group compared with the other groups. Double-blind placebo-controlled food challenges showed a lower prevalence of food allergy in the whey hydrolysate group compared with the other formula groups.

CONCLUSIONS
Exclusive breast-feeding or feeding with a partial whey hydrolysate formula is associated with lower incidence of atopic disease and food allergy. This is a cost-effective approach to the prevention of allergic disease in children.


In order to promote productivity, and thus boost living standards in the long run, public policies need to focus on improving incentives, capabilities and flexibility within an economy. Such policies can be difficult for governments to devise and even more difficult for them to implement, given pressure group politics and fragmented administrative structures. A strong case exists for establishing public institutions that not only help governments identify the right policies, but that can also help them counter pressures against reform and inform the community about what is at stake. Necessary design features for such institutions include independent governance, transparent processes, solid research capacity, an economywide frame of reference and linkages to policy-making mechanisms within government. This paper provides a taxonomy of relevant institutional forms evaluated against these criteria. While the contribution of most organisations to 'pro-productivity' policies is incidental to their primary function, some have been expressly designed for this purpose. The extent of their contributions in practice has depended on the detail of their governance and operations, the tasks they have been assigned and how well governments have handled their reports. While there is no 'one design fits all' solution, there is considerable scope for most governments to strengthen institutional capability in this area. There is also potential for governments to learn from each other about the relative merits of different approaches, and for existing institutions themselves to build capability by drawing on the experience of others.


David Arditi is an Associate Professor of Sociology and Director of the Center for Theory at the University of Texas at Arlington. He serves as editor of Fast Capitalism. His research addresses the impact of digital technology on society and culture with a specific focus on music. Arditi is author of iTake-Over: The Recording Industry in the Digital Era and his essays have appeared in Critical Sociology, Popular Music & Society, the Journal of Popular Music Studies, Civilizations, Media Fields Journal and several edited volumes.


In this article, we address the problem of distributed coding of three correlated memoryless Gaussian sources using punctured turbo codes. We first revisit the problem of distributed coding of two Gaussian sources. The impact of the distortion induced by the quantization of the side information on the performance of Wyner-Ziv decoding of two continuous valued Gaussian correlated sources is analyzed. Theoretic bounds as well as practical coding performances, when the side information is quantized, are given. This leads to the derivation of appropriate settings for the problem of distributed coding of three sources. The Wyner-Ziv theorem is then extended for three sources. Practical solutions using punctured turbo codes are described. Simulation results are presented and analyzed for different amounts of correlation


This paper presents a dynamic model of labor/leisure, consumption/saving and annuity decisions over the life cycle. Such a dynamic model provides a framework for considering important policy experiments related to the reforms in Social Security. We address the role of labor supply in a life cyle utility maximization model, extending the classical optimal lifetime consumption problem under uncertainty first formalized in Phelps (1962) and later in Hakansson (1970). We introduce the labor decision in the finite horizon consumption/saving problem and solve numerically the stochastic dynamic programming utility maximization problem of the individual. Analytical solutions are infeasible when the individual is maximizing utility over consumption and leisure, given non-linear marginal utility. We illustrate how such a model captures changes in labor supply over the life cycle and show that simulated consumption and wealth accumulation paths are consistent with empirical evidence. We also present a model of endogenously determined annuities for the consumption/saving and labor/leisure framework with capital uncertainty in the presence of bequest motives and Social Security. This provides new insights into the ``annuity puzzle'' and the effects of Social Security on labor supply and welfare.


The activity of carboxypeptidase (CP) H, the enzyme taking part in neuropeptide formation, and activity of recently described phenylmethylsulfonyl fluoride (PMSF)--inhibiting CP in males and females of white mongrel rats were studied. Minor differences between the CPH activities in brain regions were found in hippocampus. PMSF-inhibited activity of carboxypeptidase was significantly higher in females than in males in pituitary gland, adrenal gland, olfactory bulbus, optic and auditory bills, cerebellum, hippocampus, striatum, cerebral hemispheres and spleen. The CPH activity was 5-fold higher in ovaries than in testicles. PMSF-inhibited CP activity in testicles was 3.7-fold lower than in ovaries. Possible participation of basic CP in determination of sexual differences of some neuropeptide level and protein catabolism is studied.


Background and Purpose B-mode ultrasound is a widely used technique for the clinical and epidemiological assessment of carotid atherosclerosis. This article provides a description of the distribution of carotid atherosclerosis in the general population. Methods Intimal-medial arterial wall thickness was measured by B-mode real-time ultrasound as an index of atherosclerotic involvement in the extracranial carotid arteries as part of the population-based Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities (ARIC) study. The distribution was described by race-sex strata, in which 759 to 4952 individuals were imaged depending on strata and location in the carotid system. Results Median wall thickness ranged between 0.5 and 1 mm at all ages; fewer than 5% of ARIC participants had values exceeding 2 mm. Individuals tended to have a larger wall thickness in the carotid bifurcation than in the common carotid artery. Internal carotid artery values were more variable, with higher proportions of both large and small wall thicknesses than in the common carotid. The proportion of individuals with a large wall thickness was greatest at the bifurcation and smallest at the common carotid artery. Men had uniformly larger wall thickness than women. Cross-sectional analysis suggests that age-related increases in wall thickness average approximately 0.015 mm/y in women and 0.018 mm/y in men in the carotid bifurcation, 0.010 mm/y for women and 0.014 mm/y for men in the internal carotid artery, and 0.010 mm/y in both sexes in the common carotid artery. Conclusions Estimates provided for wall thickness percentiles can serve as "nomograms" by age, race, and sex.


Most biological and medical disciplines evolved over decades as the result of scientific advance. For example, the subdivisions of biology, such as botany, physiology, anatomy, pharmacology, population biology, and neurobiology, slowly split off from the parent discipline as knowledge expanded. Likewise, the clinical disciplines developed as a result of increasing knowledge, first into the major divisions of surgery, pediatrics, internal medicine, obstetrics, etc., and then into subspecialties. Pulmonary medicine, cardiology, rheumatology, hematology come readily to mind as fields that became distinct because of the increasing complexity of knowledge about the pathology, physiology, and pharmacology of the organ systems involved. The founding of endocrinology as a biological and medical discipline is in distinct contrast. Most students of the subject are in agreement that the birth of endocrinology occurred a hundred years ago last summer, June 1, 1889, as a result of the presentation of a paper at the me...


High future discounting rates favor inaction on present expending while lower rates advise for a more immediate political action. A possible approach to this key issue in global economy is to take historical time series for nominal interest rates and inflation, and to construct then real interest rates and finally obtaining the resulting discount rate according to a specific stochastic model. Extended periods of negative real interest rates, in which inflation dominates over nominal rates, are commonly observed, occurring in many epochs and in all countries. This feature leads us to choose a well-known model in statistical physics, the Ornstein–Uhlenbeck model, as a basic dynamical tool in which real interest rates randomly fluctuate and can become negative, even if they tend to revert to a positive mean value. By covering 14 countries over hundreds of years we suggest different scenarios and include an error analysis in order to consider the impact of statistical uncertainty in our results. We find that only 4 of the countries have positive long-run discount rates while the other ten countries have negative rates. Even if one rejects the countries where hyperinflation has occurred, our results support the need to consider low discounting rates. The results provided by these fourteen countries significantly increase the priority of confronting global actions such as climate change mitigation. We finally extend the analysis by first allowing for fluctuations of the mean level in the Ornstein–Uhlenbeck model and secondly by considering modified versions of the Feller and lognormal models. In both cases, results remain basically unchanged thus demonstrating the robustness of the results presented.


My research project has been directed to the synthesis and characterization of a number of selected phenolic and/or heteroaromatic systems and their derivatives for preparation of new molecular scaffolds of potential practical interest. Most of the activity has therefore been directed to the preparation of new derivatives from 5,6-dihydroxyindole (DHI), the fundamental monomer precursors of eumelanins, and 17β-estradiol, an important human and mammal steroidal hormone, selected as biologically relevant building blocks. In particular Chapter 1 of this thesis is devoted to the synthesis of 5,6-dihydroxyindole oligomers, Chapter 2 to the synthesis and reactivity of new alkynyl-derivatives of DHI, Chapter 3 to the synthesis of new alkynyl-derivatives of 17β-estradiol.
The last chapter of this thesis, Chapter 4, concerns the results of experiments started during my Master thesis and regarding the synthesis and reactivity of 9- and 10-nitrolinoleic acids, two important nitrated derivatives of linoleic acid, under physiologically relevant conditions.


In this paper, nonlinear dynamical behavior of a rectangular plate traveled by a moving mass as well as an equivalent concentrated force with non-constant velocity is studied. The nonlinear governing coupled partial differential equations (PDEs) of motion are derived by energy method using Hamilton's principle based on the large deflection theory in conjuncture with the von-Karman strain-displacement relations. Then Galerkin's method is used to transform the equations of motion into a set of three coupled nonlinear ordinary differential equations (ODEs) which then is solved in a semi-analytical way to get the dynamical response of the plate. Also, by using the Finite Element Method (FEM) with ANSYS software, the obtained results in nonlinear form are verified by FEM results. Then, a parametric study is conducted by changing the size of moving mass/force and the velocity of the traveling mass/force with a constant acceleration/deceleration, and the outcome nonlinear results are compared to the results from linear solution.


This paper presents a dynamic multiregional model of labor migration in continuous time within the framework of the neoclassical economics. The model can predict the dynamics of migration flows as well as the dynamics of economic effects of migration simultaneously for host regions and source countries. Thanks to liberalization of the migratory legislation of the Russian Federation in 2007, the model can be used for Russian regions and CIS states, which citizens were granted entry without a visa and a simplified procedure of employment in Russia. Employing the model to statistical data, forecast trajectories of migration flows to Russian regions from CIS states have been received for the period since 2010 to 2016. The predicted migration looks quite realistic and has important policy consequences. In particular, these findings can be used for developing work permit quotas.


Identifying individual trees and delineating their canopy structures from the forest point clouddataacquiredbyanairborneLiDAR(LightDetectionAndRanging)hassignificantimplications in forestry inventory. Once accurately identified, tree structural attributes such as tree height, crown diameter, canopy based height and diameter at breast height can be derived. This paper focuses on a novel computationally efficient method to adaptively calibrate the kernel bandwidth of a computational scheme based on mean shift—a non-parametric probability density-based clustering technique—to segment the 3D (three-dimensional) forest point clouds and identify individual tree crowns. The basic concept of this method is to partition the 3D space over each test plot into small vertical units (irregular columns containing 3D spatial features from one or more trees) first, by using a fixed bandwidth mean shift procedure and a small square grouping technique, and then rough estimation of crown sizes for distinct trees within a unit, based on an original 2D (two-dimensional) incremental grid projection technique, is applied to provide a basis for dynamical calibration of the kernel bandwidth for an adaptive mean shift procedure performed in each partition. The adaptive mean shift-based scheme, which incorporates our proposed bandwidth calibration method, is validated on 10 test plots of a dense, multi-layered evergreen broad-leaved forest located in South China. Experimental results reveal that this approach can work effectively and when compared to the conventional point-based approaches (e.g., region growing, k-means clustering, fixed bandwidth or multi-scale mean shift), its accuracies are relatively high: it detects 86 percent of the trees ("recall") and 92 percent of the identified trees are correct ("precision"), showing good potential for use in the area of forest inventory.


Predation is a strong dective force on invertebrate prey. Asellus aquaticus differs in pigmentation reed and submerged vegetation habitats in lakes. Light pigmented individuals al vegetation dominated by Chara sp. while dark pigmented individuals dominate in the reeds. These differences have been hypothesized to result from background matching. Predation pressure from fish is belived to be highest in Chara sp., while invertebrate predators are more common in the reeds. In this study I investigatedif predation from perch and damselfly larvae create different se1ection pressure on pigmentation and size of the Asellus, and if selection is affected by the structure of the habitat. The study vas carried out in aquaria in a loboratory. Regarding predation from perch a tendancy to be selective against dark pigmented individuals in Chara substrate was seen. Mortality increased with body size in Asellus, regardless of pigmentation. In the experiment mortality of Asellus decreased with body length. The results illdicate that it is not as important for Asellus to be cryptic in the reeds since it is not exposed to visual predation on the same level as in the Chara sp. where it is preferable to be small and cryptic. In the reed, large individuals are probably favorued since common predators, such as damselfly larvae, are size-limited in their prey choice.


Culture is a way of life that takes into its jurisdiction to all experiences of life and social associations. Culture receives variations over time. Similarly, the culture of the Sub-continent is altered with the arrival of the English here. That is why the Literature of this area is called Post-colonial literature. Cross-Culturalism is also a part of post-colonial theory. Its chief aim is to analyze the morphological organization which takes to the origination of the conception. Culturalism indicates the tractability of the self to absorb in the transmission and understanding of spoken and written indications and to react accurately and suitably. The 'cross' in cross-culturalism designates the crossing of the remotest barriers from one make to another. It also reveals the constant growth of borders.  People migrate to other countries, lead life by absorbing the culture of that country but they experience problems regarding language and their own culture.  The undertaken research aims to reveal the cross-cultural experiences keeping in view Sidhwa's (1994) 'An American Brat'. Sidhwa (1994), explores the differences of cultures that existed between East and West by introducing the character of   Feroza. Feroza belongs to Pakistan and goes to America. She finds the culture of America different from the culture of her native country. The undertaken research is an attempt to reveal the description of cultural differences and hybridity through the character of Feroza.


PURPOSE To investigate the feasibility of micturating cystourethrography (MCU) by means of real-time MR imaging with radial k-space sampling. METHODS The MR-MCU was performed in 7 adult male patients subsequent to a gadolinium(Gd)-DTPA-enhanced excretory MR-urography. The Gd-enhancement of the urethra was visualized by MR-fluoroscopy using a T1-weighted gradient-echo-sequence with radial k-space sampling and a slice thickness of 10 mm. RESULTS The proposed technique allowed in all 7 patients a dynamic realtime imaging of the Gd-flow inside the urethra during micturition. The normal anatomy of the entire course of the urethra was demonstrated in each patient, while simultaneously the relation to the prostate and pelvic floor became visible. Furthermore, the urinary bladder could be assessed by interactive repositioning of the slice orientation in any preferred direction. The ureters could also be visualized due to the persisting Gd-enhancement of the upper urinary tract after the preceding MR-urography. CONCLUSIONS MR-MCU using Gd-DTPA and radial k-space data acquisition is a novel imaging modality for a real-time visualization of the urethra during micturition without radiation exposure. This method also allows the assessment of the bladder, the pelvic floor, and the Gd-filled upper urinary tract which suggests a potential for the diagnosis of vesicoureteral reflux and urinary incontinence.


The stability of tearing modes is analysed for current density profiles with a small, well localized, additional current around the resonant mode rational surface. The stability parameter Δ′ is calculated with a perturbative treatment of the additional current. For the case of a Gaussian profile of the additional current, this is shown to lead to a simple and illustrative condition for the amount of additional current required for stabilization. The consequences of this condition are analysed. In particular, the dependence of the effect of the additional current on its exact location is clearly shown. In the case of a co-driven additional current, far less current is required than in the case of a counter-driven current.


Biometric authentication systems are widely applied because they offer inherent advantages over classical knowledge-based and token-based personal-identification approaches. This has led to the development of products using palmprints as biometric traits and their use in several real applications. However, as biometric systems are vulnerable to replay, database, and brute-force attacks, such potential attacks must be analyzed before biometric systems are massively deployed in security systems. This correspondence proposes a projected multinomial distribution for studying the probability of successfully using brute-force attacks to break into a palmprint system. To validate the proposed model, we have conducted a simulation. Its results demonstrate that the proposed model can accurately estimate the probability. The proposed model indicates that it is computationally infeasible to break into the palmprint system using brute-force attacks


Unidirectional magnetic anisotropies in low-symmetry magnetic thin films such as cobalt on vicinal copper surfaces are investigated. Possible explanations of the observed uniaxial anisotropies are competing anisotropy (CA) coefficients and Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya (DM) interactions. Unidirectional CA is an interesting mechanism occurring in low-symmetry magnets and involves neither antiferromagnetic exchange nor spin canting. It is visible in the easy-cone regime and decides, for example, whether the preferential magnetization direction points up or down a stepped surface. In the case of $\mathrm{C}\mathrm{o}/\mathrm{C}\mathrm{u}(11n)$ films, however, the anisotropy direction speaks in favor of DM-type interactions.


Some engineering applications of heuristic multilevel optimization methods are presented and the discussion focuses on the dependency matrix that indicates the relationship between problem functions and variables. Decompositions are identified with dependency matrices that are full, block diagonal and block triangular with coupling variables . Coordination of the subproblem optimizations is shown to be typically achieved through the use of exact or approximate sensitivity analysis. Areas for further development are identified. Some engineering applications of heuristic multilevel optimization methods are presented and the discussion focuses on the dependency matrix that indicates the re]ationship between problem functions and variables. Decompositions are identified with dependency matrices that are full, block diagonal and block triangular with coupling variables. Coordination of the subproblem optimizations is shown to


The present paper proposes a new test rig to perform fretting fatigue tests on a shrinkfitted shaft assembly. A shrink-fitted shaft is put under rotating bending by means of an eccentric offset at one end. The shaft is driven near to its first resonance condition to significantly reduce the required force to produce bending. Test parameters are the imposed bending stress amplitude, and the hub radial pressure obtained through conical fitting. The proposed apparatus allows for changing bending stress amplitude and hub pressure to generate fretting fatigue tests at different conditions. In particular, the role of slip amplitude in fretting fatigue can be investigated. At the present stage the proposed apparatus is under construction at the Mechanical Department of the University of Pisa.


Abstract First production from the Viking Fields began in 1972 and at its peak a total of 13 platforms produced at rates up to 950 MMSCF/D from 20 wells. This supplied around 10% of the United Kingdom's natural gas requirements, 27 years on, that rate had declined to approximately 40 MMSCF/D. However following an extremely successful infield drilling programme in the mid 1990s, significant volumes of new gas have been discovered and new technology has facilitated the development of accumulations previously considered non-commercial. This has led to three new developments within the Viking area: the Vampire Field on the eastern margin; Kx to the south of the Philips' Alison Field; and four previously non-producing fields, captured within the Phoenix Development. The major change since Morgan (1991) has primarily been the re-negotiation of the gas sales contract and the removal of the Gas Levy in 1992. This provided favourable marketing conditions for the development of additional Viking gas production and initiated an appraisal programme for remaining reserves. This programme, which will be the focus of this paper, began with the acquisition of a 3D seismic survey in 1993 and has concluded in the development of the Viking Extensions in 1998, now known as the Phoenix Development. The Leman Sandstone Formation forms the reservoir and consists of aeolian and fluvial sandstones, which are interbedded in the north of the area with silty shales deposited within a sabkha environment. Hydrocarbons were sourced from the underlying Carboniferous Westphahan coals and carbonaceous shales, and migration into the Rotliegendes Group probably occurred during the Late Cretaceous to Early Tertiary. The average daily production from the original Viking A and B fields and associated satellites had declined to 196 MMSCF/D by March 1989, peaking to over 300 MMSCF/D with seasonal demand. By October 1999, this had further reduced to around 40 MMSCF/D. Production from the Phoenix wells is currently at around 290 MMSCF/D, with further development wells planned. Cumulative production to date is approximately 2880 BCF.


This study explores the opportunities and challenges surrounding the institutionalization of Impact Evaluation as a policy instrument in Mauritius' Civil Service. Although there has been continuous expansion of evaluation practice around the world since the 1920s, in many countries, particularly in the developing world, not much progress have been made by developing countries to adopt evaluation into their approach to governance and policy-making.
Thus, this study examines the role that evaluation and impact evaluation might play in the wider context and processes of government using the Civil Service of Mauritius as a case study. The research examines the perceived importance of evaluation to the policy-making process within the Mauritian Civil Service, the role 'impact evaluation' plays in practice within the Mauritian Civil Service, and the challenges that present themselves while seeking to institutionalize impact evaluation within this context.
Data were collected using a triangulated approach: interviews provided the main sources of evidence and were conducted with Ministers, former Ministers, Permanent Secretaries, Senior Chief Executives, Heads of Departments from the public, private sector, academic and Research Institutions Trade Unions and Consumer Associations, Development partners based in Mauritius. This data was supplemented with informal discussions and a document analysis.
The findings were analysed using a conceptual framework blending policy Evaluation performance cycle, the Advocacy Coalition Framework and the demand and supply framework as a theoretical lens.
The key findings are that policy evaluation including impact evaluation, is indeed potentially valuable and important at any stage of a policy's life cycle. However, political economy of a country, insufficient technical capacity, the limitations of public officials, and funding are potential constraints. The thesis has implications for developing countries, in particular small island developing states. The findings raise several issues to assist policy makers and practitioners and could contribute to future developments of the Advocacy Coalition Framework.


Multimorbidity is of increasing concern for healthcare systems globally, particularly in the context of ageing population structures, such as in the European Union and the UK. Although there is growing attention on developing strategies to manage the health and healthcare burden of older patients with multimorbidity, little research or policy focus has been placed on how to best prevent the development of multimorbidity in future generations. In this research agenda piece, we argue for a shift from a sole focus on the management of multimorbidity in old age to a multimorbidity agenda that considers prevention and management throughout the life-course.


The human ovarian surface epithelium (hOSE) is a single layer of mesothelial-type primitive epithelial cells that are potential estrogen targets. It has been reported that hOSE cells can produce estrogen. However, the mechanisms that regulate estrogen level(s) in hOSE cells are not yet known. To elucidate the enzymes involved in these reactions, we examined gene expression of 17beta-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenases (17beta-HSDs) in primary hOSE (POSE) and OSE2a cells using RT-PCR. We found that POSE cells and cells of the immortalized hOSE line, OSE2a, bidirectionally converted estrone (E1) and 17beta-estradiol (E2). Both cell types expressed mRNA for 17beta-HSD type 1 (17beta-HSD1), suggesting that the enzyme is involved in the E1 to E2 conversion. Interestingly, both cells expressed 17beta-HSD4 mRNA but not 17beta-HSD2 mRNA. We prepared an antibody against the carboxyl terminal of 17beta-HSD4 (anti-17beta-HSD4 antibody), which recognized the 80 and 48 kDa proteins in POSE and OSE2a cells based on immunoblot analysis. Furthermore, immunohistochemical study revealed the presence of 17beta-HSD4 in hOSE cells in the human ovary. These results suggest that 17beta-HSD4 is involved in estrogen inactivation and may protect against an excessive accumulation of E2 in hOSE cells.


Dramatic advances of Information and Communication Technology (ICT), changing mix and personal values of the workforce, emergence of the knowledge economy and increasing global competition have created enormous challenges on organizations. To cope with the challenges efficiently, human resource has been considered as one of the most important factors in today's hypercompetitive market place. The focus of this study is to gain an insight into the current HRM practices and its impact on employee's satisfaction on the private banking sector in Bangladesh. For conducting this research, 100 bank employees are selected from the chosen banks and out of this 88 employees responses properly, the response rate is 88 percent. The questionnaire consists of different questions on nine HRM dimensions such as recruitment and selection systems, compensation package, job security, career growth, training and development, management style, job design and responsibilities, reward and motivation and working environment. The questionnaire was developed by using a five point Likert scale. In this study, some statistical measures such as Z-test, mean and proportion analysis is used to examine employee's satisfaction. The study reveals that all HRM dimensions exercised in the private banking sector of Bangladesh does not satisfied to the employees equally. Most of the employees are dissatisfied with compensation package followed by reward and motivation, career growth, training and development, management style, and job design and responsibilities. So, these HRM dimensions quality should be improved for the betterment of the bank's success.


ABSTRACT Tick-borne pathogens may be transmitted intrastadially and transstadially within a single vector generation as well as vertically between generations. Understanding the mode and relative efficiency of this transmission is required for infection control. In this study, we established that adult male Rhipicephalus microplus ticks efficiently acquire the protozoal pathogen Babesia equi during acute and persistent infections and transmit it intrastadially to naïve horses. Although the level of parasitemia during acquisition feeding affected the efficiency of the initial tick infection, infected ticks developed levels of ≥104 organisms/pair of salivary glands independent of the level of parasitemia during acquisition feeding and successfully transmitted them, indicating that replication within the tick compensated for any initial differences in infectious dose and exceeded the threshold for transmission. During the development of B. equi parasites in the salivary gland granular acini, the parasites expressed levels of paralogous surface proteins significantly different from those expressed by intraerythrocytic parasites from the mammalian host. In contrast to the successful intrastadial transmission, adult female R. microplus ticks that fed on horses with high parasitemia passed the parasite vertically into the eggs with low efficiency, and the subsequent generation (larvae, nymphs, and adults) failed to transmit B. equi parasites to naïve horses. The data demonstrated that intrastadial but not transovarial transmission is an efficient mode for B. equi transmission and that persistently infected horses are an important reservoir for transmission. Consequently, R. microplus male ticks and persistently infected horses should be targeted for disease control.


ABSTRACT Burkholderia pseudomallei, the causative agent of melioidosis, is a gram-negative bacillus endemic to areas of southeast Asia and northern Australia. Presently, there is no licensed vaccine for B. pseudomallei and the organism is refractive to antibiotic therapy. The bacterium is known to survive and multiply inside both phagocytic and nonphagocytic host cells and may be able to spread directly from cell to cell. Current vaccine delivery systems are unlikely to induce the correct immune effectors to stimulate a protective response to the organism. In this study, we have developed a procedure to utilize dendritic cells as a vaccine delivery vector to induce cell-mediated immune responses to B. pseudomallei. Dendritic cells were produced by culturing murine bone marrow progenitor cells in medium containing granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor and tumor necrosis factor alpha. Purified dendritic cells were pulsed with heat-killed whole-cell B. pseudomallei and used to immunize syngeneic mice. Strong cellular immune responses were elicited by this immunization method, although antibody responses were low. Booster immunizations of either a second dose of dendritic cells or heat-killed B. pseudomallei were administered to increase the immune response. Immunized animals were challenged with fully virulent B. pseudomallei, and protection was demonstrated in those with strong humoral and cell-mediated immunity. These results indicate the importance of both cell-mediated and humoral immune mechanisms in protection against intracellular pathogens.


The crown-of thorns starfish, Acanthaster planci, has been blamed for coral mortality in a large number of coral reef systems in the Indo-Pacific region. Because population outbreaks of A. planci are closely related to reproduction, it is important to examine the mechanism of reproductive control in this starfish. Previously, a relaxin-like gonad-stimulating peptide (RGP) in starfish Asterina pectinifera has been identified as the gonadotropin responsible for final gamete maturation. On the basis of homology research on RGP cDNAs from several species, this study was carried out to identify gonadotropin in A. planci. The cDNA sequence of RGP was determined using a RACE product of mRNA from the radial nerves of A. planci. The coding DNA sequence consisted of 351 base pairs with an open reading frame encoding a peptide of 116 amino acids (aa), including a signal peptide (29 aa), B-chain (19 aa), C-peptide (44 aa), and A-chain (24 aa). The chemical structure of A. planci RGP was exactly the same as that of A. pectinifera RGP. Furthermore, synthetic RGP could induce gamete spawning and oocyte maturation in the ovarian fragments of A. planci. This strongly suggested that the RGP is a gonadotropin in A. planci.


BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE
The purpose of this study was to characterize the health status of individuals upon initiation of treatment in outpatient physical therapy clinics.

SUBJECTS
Six outpatient clinical sites participated in the study. Three clinics were hospital based, and three clinics were privately owned by physical therapists. Patients who were referred with muscular, skeletal, or peripheral nerve involvement and who were not postoperative were included in the study.

METHODS
One hundred nine patients completed the SF-36 health status questionnaire, which assessed eight health concepts: physical function, role physical (ie, limitations in role functioning such as duties in the home or at work due to physical problems), bodily pain, vitality, social function, role emotional (ie, limitations in role functioning due to emotional problems), mental health, and general health.

RESULTS
Patients referred for treatment to hospital-based or privately owned clinics had similar ages and diagnoses. No differences in health status were found between patients to be treated at hospital-based clinics and those to be treated at privately owned clinics, or between male and female patients. Only physical functioning scores were lower in patients with lower-quarter (lumbar or lower-extremity) disorders versus patients with upper-quarter (cervical or upper-extremity) disorders. All health concept scores, except general health, were found to differ from previously published normative data on the US population.

CONCLUSION AND DISCUSSION
A subgroup of patients seeking outpatient physical therapy had lower health concept scores than did the general population in not only the physical domain of health but also the psychological and social domains. These data reinforce the concept that physical impairment interacts with the emotional and social aspects of health. In addition, the health concept scores of our sample as compared with other patient groups who have responded to the SF-36 revealed some similarities and some marked differences. The results suggest that these types of data will provide practicing clinicians, as well as third-party payers and policy-makers, with a greater understanding of the severity of the patient's condition. Because the SF-36 provides information on health not routinely assessed by physical therapists, it may be a useful screening tool. [Mossberg KA, McFarland C. Initial health status of patients at outpatient physical therapy clinics.


Previous research has examined the extent to which decisions made in binary choice situations are consistent with expected value. Li (2003) reports that decisions in multiple‐play gambles are well explained by expected value, while single‐play gambles are not consistent with expected value. The present study extends previous work by examining the use of expected value in the pricing of gambles. The results show that subjects' pricing decisions are much more consistent with expected value in multiple‐play situations than in single‐play situations, particularly when the subjects are provided with a simple decision aid (i.e. a very brief description of expected value and the calculated amount of the expected value). Additionally, substantially fewer subjects in our study made decisions consistent with expected value than in Li's (2003) study, suggesting that binary choice studies may overstate the extent of expected value usage.


Mathematical models of a complex physicochemical underground coal gasification process involve multidimensional non-linear partial differential equations (PDEs). Therefore, researchers always seek a suitable numerical scheme that would give a good balance between accuracy of the solution and computational complexity. In this paper, the non-linear PDEs describing energy and mass balances of both coal and char are solved by Galerkin finite element method (GFEM). The infinite-dimensional spatial domain is transformed into a finite number of elements, whose dynamics are governed by a system of ordinary differential equations (ODEs). Owing to the execution of GFEM, the time domain and space-dependent first-order ODEs for solids (coal and char) and gases are solved numerically to find a solution of the UCG process. The resultant syngas compositions and the calibrated heating value are influenced by the operation parameters and the type of oxidant used. The results are compared with the experimental data obtained from the Thar coal UCG site, and with existing work, based on the finite difference method (FDM) for the one dimensional (1D) model. The simulated results along with the quantitative analysis show the superiority of the GFEM model over the FDM model.


Importance Surgical excision is the standard treatment for cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma (SCC). However, microinvasive SCC (Clark level II) is limited to the papillary dermis, and it should be differentiated from invasive SCC. Ablative fractional laser-primed photodynamic therapy (AFL-PDT) may have enhanced efficacy. Objective To compare 1 session of AFL-PDT with 2 sessions of conventional methyl aminolevulinate-PDT (MAL-PDT) for the treatment of microinvasive SCC. Design, Setting, and Participants A 2-armed, randomized, single-blind, comparative trial of 45 patients with histologically proven microinvasive SCC. Twenty-one patients were randomized to treatment with a single AFL-PDT session, and 24 patients were randomized to 2 MAL-PDT sessions with a 1-week interval between sessions using a computer-generated program. Standard pretreatment such as curettage was not performed prior to PDT owing to a tendency to bleed. The efficacy, recurrence rate, cosmetic outcomes, and safety were assessed 1 week, 3, 12, and 24 months after the last treatment. Interventions AFL was performed with an ablation depth of 550 µm to 600 µm, coagulation level of 1, treatment density of 22%, and a single pulse. Then, MAL cream was applied under occlusion for 3 hours and illuminated by using a red light-emitting diode light at 37 J/cm2. A second session of MAL-PDT was administered after 7 days. Main Outcomes and Measures The primary outcome measures were the lesion response at 3 and 12 months, and the recurrence rate 12 months after the last treatment. Results Twenty-one patients (6 men, 15 women) with a mean (SD) age of 76 (6) years were randomized to treatment with a single AFL-PDT session, and 24 patients (11 men, 13 women) with a mean (SD) age of 75 (6) years were randomized to 2 MAL-PDT sessions. The overall complete response rates 3 months after treatment were 84.2% with AFL-PDT and 52.4% with MAL-PDT (P = .03). These differences in efficacy remained significant at the 24-month follow-up. The recurrence rate was significantly lower with AFL-PDT (12.5%) than with MAL-PDT (63.6%) at 24 months (P = .006). AFL-PDT and MAL-PDT did not differ significantly with respect to the cosmetic outcomes, adverse events, or pain intensity. Conclusions and Relevance AFL-PDT can be used as an alternative treatment option for patients with microinvasive SCC who are not suitable for surgical treatment. Trial Registration clinicaltrials.gov Identifier: NCT02666534


Elongation factor G was crosslinked to the 23S RNA of 70S Escherichia coli ribosomes with the bifunctional, cleavable reagent diepoxybutane (DEB). The EF-G-23S RNA complex was isolated and digested with ribonuclease A. After digestion, an RNA fragment, protected by EF-G was cleaved from the complex and isolated. The nucleotide sequence of this RNA fragment was determined by partial ribonuclease digestion. It proved to be 27 nucleotides long and it could be identified with residues 1055 to 1081 of the nucleotide sequence of E. coli 23S RNA. In the presence of thiostrepton, which prevents binding of EF-G to the ribosome, there was a dramatic decrease in the yield of this complex.


This paper examines regional inequality of industrial output in China from 1952 to 1990. This study reveals that regional inequality was widespread when socialist China was established in 1949. It was reduced in the 1950s as a result of the efforts to develop the interior through the implementation of the First Five Year Plan (1953–57). After that, regional inequality persisted for one-and-a-half decades due mainly to the poor economic returns of the defence-oriented "Third Front" programme, decentralization, the reorientation of development policies, and the incidence of disruptive political events. Since the launch of economic reforms in 1978, interregional inequality among the eastern, central and western regions has gradually increased. However, interprovincial inequality decreased. The relative decline of the traditionally rich provinces (three municipalities and the northeastern industrial bases) has contributed to the decline of interprovincial inequality. Meanwhile, favourable state policy, local initiatives and foreign investment and trade have stimulated the growth of the coastal provinces of Jiangsu, Guangdong, Shandong, Zhejiang and Fujian, leading to more rapid coastal development and the increase of interregional inequality. The emerging new map of regional development is important to the understanding of regional inequality in post-Mao China.


The utilisation of exergy and anergy concepts for low exergy system design extends the potential of performance optimisation of buildings. We propose a new perspective for buildings and their external environment. It recognises exergy as the utilisable potential that maintains comfort inside relative to outside ambient conditions. It considers environmental heat sources as a form of transiting exergy that is utilised internally to increase second law effi ciencies and then returned to the environment. These sources are not chosen to optimise energy inputs, but rather temperature inputs. They are optimised as anergy sources coming from a dispersed state, which are transited through the building system and deposited back in an anergy sink, which defi nes the reference environment. A major obstacle in the application of exergy analysis to buildings is the lack of an accepted defi nition of the reference environment. The absence of this factor leads to ambiguity in analysis and hinders comparisons between studies. Choosing the reference environment infl uences the amount of exergy contained in buildings and with the low quality levels often dealt with in buildings, the infl uence can be signifi cant. The perspective we present clarifi es the use of the ambient environmental conditions as the reference environment for exergy analysis of whole buildings. It also validates the unencumbered use of free ambient anergy sources from the ground, water, air and the sun to increase exergetic performance.