Librarians and academic libraries managers are questioning the growing risk of the academic library visibility because electronic scientific resources are increasing so fast. This paradigm may make libraries especially vulnerable when institutions have to make difficult financial decisions, such as cuts intended for specific departments or areas of activity. In the current circumstances, it is particularly important for libraries to be able to show that they function efficiently, but also that they provide services with impact and value to the success of institutional goals. There is a lot of literature of assessment academic libraries; here we present a brief literature review. In times of severe economic downturn and budget constraints these methods may still provide useful data for Library Advocacy. Negotiate and defend services by demonstrating their impact and value to the governments and society.


Yorkshire can be subdived into structural units based on the control exerted by various fold-lines or block-faulting movements. Certain difficulties are encountered when the structures in the eastern part of the county are examined. The north-eastern unit, the Cleveland Hills, is dominated by the large east-west anticline which passes out to sea at Robin Hood's Bay. The influence of this fold is felt as far south as the Wolds, where it has impressed a southerly dip on the Chalk. The Upper Cretaceous rocks have, however, been influenced by other lines of movement for the quarter-basin structure they show involves the effect of a fold with Malvernian trend—presumably the Pennine fold.

North-west of the Wolds and south-east of Cleveland lie the Howardian Hills, "one of the most intricate pieces of geology in N.E. Yorkshire."1 The hills are crossed by a complicated network of faults, while folding- is apparently non-existent. According to Fox-Strangways, these faults represent a great east-west dislocation "which, finding the strata thinnest and weakest along the Howardian range of hills, has shattered them, causing the irregularity of outcrop."2

The present paper is an attempt to elucidate and explaim the structures and to show their bearing on the tectonice structure of the areas.

The Faulting.

The northern boundary of the area is marked by two important faults forming the Coxwold-Gilling valley. Starting in the Magnesian Limestone north of Ripon, they continue in an east-west direction across the Vale of York maintaining parallelism for a considerable distance, but near Coxwold ...


We studied the lateral mobility of membrane components in cell- substrate focal contacts using the fluorescence photobleaching recovery method. The measurements were performed on isolated substrate-attached membranes of chicken gizzard fibroblasts. The diffusion coefficients of a fluorescent lipid probe and rhodamine-conjugated surface proteins within contact regions (identified by interference-reflection microscopy) were significantly lower than those measured in nonattached areas along the ventral membrane. Complete recovery of fluorescence after photobleaching of the lipid probe was measured both in focal contacts and in nonattached areas with lateral diffusion coefficient (D) of approximately 10(-8) cm2/s. This indicated that the lipid probe is free to diffuse from and into the contact regions. Rhodamine-labeled surface components (mostly proteins) exhibited almost complete recovery after bleaching (approximately 90%) in unattached regions of the ventral membrane with D congruent to 10(-9 cm2/s. The rhodamine-labeled proteins in focal contacts showed only partial recovery (approximately 50%), suggesting that large proportion of the membrane proteins in cell- substrate contacts are immobile (within the time scale of the experiments, D less than or equal to 5 x 10(-12) cm2/s. The implications of these findings on the molecular dynamics of cell contacts are discussed.


The Medicines Use Review and Prescription Intervention (MUR) service was commissioned as part of the 2005 community pharmacy contract for England and Wales. The aim of the MUR service is to improve patients' knowledge and use of medicines and to reduce avoidable medicines waste. MURs form part of a Government strategy that aims to improve patients' adherence to medicines in order to optimise health gain and reduce cost associated with unused medicines. MURs are also seen as a 'concordance review' and pharmacy's professional bodies acknowledge the service as a means to further the professional role of community pharmacists. However, it remains uncertain from studies investigating the outcomes of MURs, the extent to which the service is benefitting patients. One significant drawback to previous studies is the lack of in-depth investigation of the MUR consultation and the patients' perspective of the service.

This thesis provides valuable insights into what occurs during an MUR consultation and investigates the patient's perspective of the service and that of the pharmacy staff. This work also explores whether the MUR policy aims are being realised in practice and translated into more effective use of medicines. Ten weeks of fieldwork observations were undertaken in two English community pharmacies. One-week placements were made over a 12-month period between November 2008 and October 2009. Observations were made of all pharmacy activities, including fifty-four MUR consultations. Thirty-four patients subsequently agreed to be interviewed about their experience of the MUR. Eight patients were observed to decline the offer of an MUR, of which three patients were interviewed about the reasons why they declined. After the pharmacy observations were completed, five pharmacists and twelve support staff interviews were held to discuss professional perspectives of MURs.
The findings from this study suggest that the MUR service is a modern and developing service but one that remains unestablished. Patient awareness of MURs was poor and nearly all MURs were initiated by the pharmacist; no patients were referred from the GP. Pharmacy staff did not actively seek to recruit patients who may benefit most from an MUR and the majority were invited in ad hoc manner. Patients were given little time to consider whether to take part in an MUR and were insufficiently informed of their purpose or personal value. MURs were framed as a monitoring activity and most patients reported that the MUR did little to improve their knowledge of their medicines and rarely affected their use. They perceived their GP to have the main authority over their medicines. Patients considered that significant medicine-related problems would be best resolved by talking to the GP rather than with the pharmacist during an MUR. In effect, a supplier induced demand for MURs was observed. Nevertheless, all patients reported feeling comfortable speaking to the pharmacist during an MUR and most described the consultation in positive terms. Most patients viewed the pharmacist as a knowledgeable expert and some felt reassured about their medicines following an MUR.
Observations of the MUR consultation revealed pharmacists were subordinate to the 'technology' of the MUR form and adhered to its 'tick-box' format. Pharmacists used predominantly closed questions which enabled the MUR form to be completed efficiently, but this forestalled wider discussion of the patient's health and medicines. The MUR service was at odds with the intention to create a patient-centred service. When complex or indeterminate issues were raised, these were often circumvented or the patient referred to the GP. Pharmacists reported in their interviews that they welcomed MURs and the resultant potential to raise their profile with patients. However, they were unclear about what they wanted to advise during an MUR and how patients might gain maximum benefit from the review. They also reported concerns over patient recruitment, organisational pressures to pursue a target number of MURs and difficulties integrating MURs within their existing activities. MURs were pragmatically accommodated alongside existing duties without additional resource. Support staff reported feeling discomfort when they were left to explain to patients and customers why the pharmacist was absent during an MUR and described using various strategies and personal judgements to deal with waiting patients.
This study has important implications for patients, professionals and policy makers. Patients should be aware that the MUR service is funded by the NHS and is available for them to use. More support from GPs is needed to identify patients who may most benefit from an MUR. This study highlights the need for consultation and communication skills training for pharmacists, so they are able to effectively elicit patient beliefs, concerns and preferences about medicines during the MUR. Organisations also need to reconsider the way they motivate pharmacists to undertake MURs to avoid unintended consequences for patient care. Policy makers should reconsider strategies that are based on rationalised policies as a means to improving patient adherence to medicines. Effective services need to be responsive to the patient's individual circumstance and preference. Further research is needed into MURs in a wider and more diverse range of pharmacy settings in order to explore these issues further.


1010406-7575 IJECS-IJENS © December 2010 IJENS I J E N S Abstract—Face authentication systems (FAS) are still in their infancy and many types of algorithms and techniques have been proposed to improve the ability of these systems. Artificial Neural Networks (ANN) have been commonly used as the classifiers for FAS whereas Fisher's Discrimination Analysis (FDA) has been used widely as the feature extractor. However, many current FAS still experiencing low accuracy rates using these techniques due to factors such as illumination, orientation and other disturbances. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the application of photometric normalization, linear subspace feature extraction, and ANN classification in enhancing FAS, and to build and evaluate the performance of the proposed FAS based on this approaches. We similarly used the popular ANN classification, namely Multi-Layer Perceptrons (MLP) as the classifier for our FAS as it has proven to be simple for implementation. Meanwhile, we proposed linear subspace feature extraction techniques based on FDA to reduce the dimensionality of the face image. In addition, the photometric normalization techniques based on Histogram Equalization and Homomorphic Filtering are used to improve the appearance of the face. The effect of different combinations of the photometric normalization techniques on the performance of the proposed FAS was studied and the effectiveness of these techniques was highlighted. The results of the proposed FAS were compared among Eigenface and Fisherface FAS. It was discovered that using AT&T datasets, the proposed FAS solution outperformed the FAS based on Eigenface and Fisherface in term of False Acceptance and False Rejection rate. Furthermore, the experimental results demonstrated that MLP was able to produce better classification model that can satisfy the model authentication tests with significant advantages over Euclidean Distance, and Normalized Correlation classifiers.


There's a rat running amok in Emil's house, and he's determined to capture it. But hiding the rat trap just under his father's bed probably isn't ideal ...That's just the start of Emil's adventures, which, once begun, never stop. Hens, dogs, little sisters - and adults - all flee his path. But Emil doesn't mean to be bad, it's just that trouble - and fun - follow him wherever he goes. A collection of utterly engaging tales from one of the world's best-loved children's authors.


This paper focuses on rural nonfarm development via the route of salaried employment. The analysis is at the rural household level for two types of households: "mixed†households whereby some workers remain in the farm sector and others pursue nonfarm activities and the rural households who are exclusively dependent on nonfarm employment (rural nonfarm). The study has produced three major findings. First, compared with the mixed or farm-only households, nonfarm households seem to have more income. Second, nonfarm households discourage unpaid work, especially among female workers, in sharp contrast to the increasing share of unpaid work in both farm and mixed households. Third, nonfarm households increasingly rely, for their livelihoods, on salaried employment, which is likely to be of a more durable nature than the juggling of multiple occupations observed in the case of mixed households. Analysis of possible factors influencing the formation of nonfarm households shows the importance of human capital, non-land assets, and proximity to larger towns, while natural shocks seem to encourage the formation of mixed households and remittance from abroad tends to stimulate the farm orientation.


We report a highly sensitive means of measuring cellular dynamics with a novel interferometer that can measure motional phase changes. The system is based on a modified Michelson interferometer with a composite laser beam of 1550-nm low-coherence light and 775-nm CW light. The sample is prepared on a coverslip that is highly reflective at 775 nm. By referencing the heterodyne phase of the 1550-nm light reflected from the sample to that of the 775-nm light reflected from the coverslip, small motions in the sample are detected, and motional artifacts from vibrations in the interferometer are completely eliminated. We demonstrate that the system is sensitive to motions as small as 3.6 nm and velocities as small as 1 nm/s. Using the instrument, we study transient volume changes of a few (approximately three) cells in a monolayer immersed in weakly hypotonic and hypertonic solutions.


SIR,-Your leading article on lung biopsy (6 June, p. 555) cannot be allowed to pass without comment. To say that "owing to the indifferent contribution it has made in assisting diagnosis over the years the method has now been virtually abandoned" suggests that your leader writer cannot be familiar with either the paper by Steel and Winstanley' or with current practice in a number of hospitals all over the world. Quite contrary to the view quoted above, I believe that trephine biopsy has made a great contribution to the diagnosis of diffuse lung disease, and the procedure has converted me from being a keen advocate of open lung biopsy to an ardent supporter of the much simpler technique. To suggest that the procedure is more alarming or more liable to morbidity than a formal thoracotomy under general anaesthesia in an operating theatre seems to me to be pushing the objection of trephine biopsy beyond the limits of reason.-I am, etc., J. R. BELCHER. London Ghest Hospital, London E.2.


Elective cholecystectomy was performed on 12 children (eight male and four female; age range, 4 to 19 years; and mean age, 11.2 years) with abdominal pain that was related to gallstones. Seven patients had jaundice, six had nausea, five had fat intolerance, and three had biliary colic. Two simple transfusions (10 mL/kg of packed red blood cells), designed to decrease the hemoglobin S content to less than 30% and to increase the total hemoglobin level to greater than 100 g/L, were given preoperatively two to three weeks apart. A third transfusion was given on the day before surgery if the total hemoglobin level was less than 100 g/L. The preoperative mean hemoglobin S content was decreased from 88% to 31%, and the mean total hemoglobin level was raised to 122 g/L. There were no preoperative or intraoperative complications. Post-operatively, no patients developed complications that were related to sickle cell anemia. Hospitalization averaged 6.3 days. Recurrent abdominal pain resolved shortly after surgery in all patients. With proper preoperative transfusions, elective cholecystectomy is safe in children with sickle cell anemia. Elective cholecystectomy should be recommended at the time of diagnosis of cholelithiasis.


The effect of the boron in steels is widely known as an element enhancing hardenability, but its role can also be related to the enamelability of steels. While the improvement of the hardenability is due to the solute boron, in the case of enameling grade steels the boron should be kept in form of precipitates 1. The hydrogen accumulated during processing and enameling diffuses to the metal/enamel interface and lead to the formation of the so called fish-scale failure. To prevent this it is needed an adequate type, number and dimension of precipitates which act as hydrogen traps hinder the free diffusion of the hydrogen in steel. The paper deals with the possibilities of investigation by scanning electron microscopy of the boron containing precipitates in the low carbon Al-killed steels apt for two side enamelling.


Abstract: Breakup and sea-floor spreading between Greenland and Eurasia established a series of new plate boundaries in the North Atlantic region since the Late Palaeocene. A conventional kinematic model from pre-breakup to the present day assumes that Eurasia and Greenland moved apart as a two-plate system. However, new regional geophysical datasets and quantitative kinematic parameters indicate that this system underwent several adjustments since its inception and suggest that additional short-lived plate boundaries existed in the NE Atlantic. Among the consequences of numerous plate boundary relocations is the formation of a highly extended or even fragmented Jan Mayen microcontinent and subsequent deformation of its margins and surrounding regions. The major Oligocene plate boundary reorganization (and microcontinent formation) might have been precluded by various ridge propagations and/or short-lived triple junctions NE and possibly SW of the Jan Mayen microcontinent from the inception of sea-floor spreading (54 Ma) to C18 (40 Ma). Our model implies a series of failed ridges offshore the Faeroe Islands, a northern propagation of the Aegir Ridge NE of the Jan Mayen microcontinent, and a series of triple junctions and/or propagators in the southern Greenland Basin.


Information gathering algorithms play a key role in unlocking the potential of robots for efficient data collection in a wide range of applications. However, most existing strategies neglect the fundamental problem of the robot pose uncertainty, which is an implicit requirement for creating robust, high-quality maps. To address this issue, we introduce an informative planning framework for active mapping that explicitly accounts for the pose uncertainty in both the mapping and planning tasks. Our strategy exploits a Gaussian Process (GP) model to capture a target environmental field given the uncertainty on its inputs. For planning, we formulate a new utility function that couples the localization and field mapping objectives in GP-based mapping scenarios in a principled way, without relying on any manually tuned parameters. Extensive simulations show that our approach outperforms existing strategies, with reductions of up to 45.1% and 6.3% in mean pose uncertainty and map error. We also present a proof of concept in an indoor temperature mapping scenario.


This paper presents an approach to train a unified deep network that simultaneously solves multiple human-related tasks. A multi-task framework is favorable for sharing information across tasks under restricted computational resources. However, tasks not only share information but may also compete for resources and conflict with each other, making the optimization of shared parameters difficult and leading to suboptimal performance. We propose a simple but effective training scheme called GradSplit that alleviates this issue by utilizing asymmetric inter-task relations. Specifically, at each convolution module, it splits features into T groups for T tasks and trains each group only using the gradient back-propagated from the task losses with which it does not have conflicts. During training, we apply GradSplit to a series of convolution modules. As a result, each module is trained to generate a set of task-specific features using the shared features from the previous module. This enables a network to use complementary information across tasks while circumventing gradient conflicts. Experimental results show that GradSplit achieves a better accuracy-efficiency trade-off than existing methods. It minimizes accuracy drop caused by task conflicts while significantly saving compute resources in terms of both FLOPs and memory at inference. We further show that GradSplit achieves higher cross-dataset accuracy compared to single-task and other multi-task networks.


Monographs of the European Pharmacopoeia (Ph. Eur.) are the basis for quality control of medicinal plants and therefore important to ensure the consistency, quality, safety, and efficacy of phytopharmaceuticals. The traditional medicinal plant sundew (Drosera sp.) has disappeared from therapy due to nature conservation, but can now be cultivated sustainably on rewetted peatland. However, currently there is no valid Ph. Eur. monograph for the quality control of Droserae herba. In this study, sundew material from different species and sources was investigated with the aim of developing quality control methods based on the Ph. Eur. and defining a uniform quality standard for Droserae herba. It was possible to distinguish between sundew species of different quality, using macroscopic, microscopic, and chromatographic methods. Special emphasis was laid on the content of flavonoids and naphthoquinones as important quality parameters as their content differed between the sundew species. The differences in content and toxicity result in the recommendation that only round-leaved sundew (Drosera rotundifolia L.) should be used as a medicinal plant for the production of phytopharmaceuticals in the future.


Abstract. Rate coefficients, k, for the gas-phase reaction of CH3COCHO (methylglyoxal) with the OH and NO3 radicals and (CHO)2 (glyoxal) with the NO3 radical are reported. Rate coefficients for the OH + CH3COCHO (k1) reaction were measured under pseudo-first-order conditions in OH as a function of temperature (211–373 K) and pressure (100–220 Torr, He and N2 bath gases) using pulsed laser photolysis to produce OH radicals and laser induced fluorescence to measure its temporal profile. k1 was found to be independent of the bath gas pressure with k1(295 K) = (1.29 ± 0.13) × 10−11 cm3 molecule−1 s−1 and a temperature dependence that is well represented by the Arrhenius expression k1(T) = (1.74 ± 0.20) × 10−12 exp[(590 ± 40)/T] cm3 molecule−1 s−1 where the uncertainties are 2σ and include estimated systematic errors. Rate coefficients for the NO3 + (CHO)2 (k3) and NO3 + CH3COCHO (k4) reactions were measured using a relative rate technique to be k3(296 K) = (4.0 ± 1.0) × 10−16 cm3 molecule−1 s−1 and k4(296 K) = (5.1 ± 2.1) × 10−16 cm3 molecule−1 s−1. k3(T) was also measured using an absolute rate coefficient method under pseudo-first-order conditions at 296 and 353 K to be (4.2 ± 0.8) × 10−16 and (7.9 ± 3.6) × 10−16 cm3 molecule−1 s−1, respectively, in agreement with the relative rate result obtained at room temperature. The atmospheric implications of the OH and NO3 reaction rate coefficients measured in this work are discussed.


Oncolytic measles virus (MV) encoding the human thyroidal sodium iodide symporter (MV-NIS) has proved to be safe after intraperitoneal or intravenous administration in patients with ovarian cancer or multiple myeloma, respectively, but it has not yet been administered through intratumoral injection in humans. Squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) of the head and neck (SCCHN) usually is locally invasive and spreads to the cervical lymph nodes, which are suitable for the intratumoral administration of oncolytic viruses. To test whether oncolytic MV is an effective treatment for SCCHN, we used oncolytic MV-NIS to infect SCCHN in vitro and in vivo. The data show that SCCHN cells were infected and killed by MV-NIS in vitro. Permissiveness of the tumor cells to MV infection was not affected by irradiation after viral addition. Monitored noninvasively through radioiodine-based single-photon emission computed tomography/computed tomography, intratumorally virus-delivered NIS has concentrated the radioiodine in the MV-NIS-treated tumors in the FaDu mouse xenograft model of human SCCHN, and the antitumor effect could be boosted significantly (p<0.05) either with concomitant cyclophosphamide therapy or with appropriately timed administration of radioiodine (131)I. MV-NIS could be a promising new anticancer agent that may substantially enhance the outcomes of standard therapy after intratumoral administration in patients with locally advanced SCCHN.


We describe the initial findings from a multidisciplinary, epidemiologic study of diabetes mellitus conducted in a population of secondgeneration Japanese-American (Nisei) men born between 1910 and 1939 who reside in King County, Washington (n = 1746). From this study population, 487 volunteered, and 229 were enrolled to comprise the study sample. A random sample of Nisei men was also drawn from the population to develop a reference sample of 189 men. All subjects participated in a 75-g oral glucose tolerance test; the National Diabetes Data Group (NDDG) and World Health Organization (WHO) diagnostic criteria as well as a modification of the WHO criteria were used to classify individuals with normal glucose tolerance, impaired glucose tolerance (IGT), or diabetes. Within the study sample, 79 men were found to have normal glucose tolerance, 72 had IGT, and 78 had type II diabetes. The mean age of the study sample was 61.4 yr. Based on comparison of the study sample to the reference sample, the study sample was ascertained to be representative of Nisei men in King County. Extrapolating from our observations in the reference sample and in the study sample, we have estimated that ∼56% of Nisei men in the study population have abnormal glucose tolerance. Much of this is undiagnosed because only ∼13% of the reference sample of Nisei men reported a prior diagnosis of diabetes. Of the men who enrolled in the study as nondiabetic subjects, 11.1% had diabetes and 39.2% had IGT; i.e., 50.3% had previously unknown abnormalities in glucose tolerance. We estimate that ∼20% of Nisei men have diabetes (both previously diagnosed and undiagnosed) and ∼36% have IGT.


Al-Cu-Cr quasicrystalline coatings were prepared by low power plasma spraying with axially-fed powder systerm. The Al65Cu20Cr15 powders were deposited on AISI 1045 steel substrate at the power ranged from 4.0 to 5.5 kW. The effects of H2/Ar flow ratio on the phase composition, microstructure and tribological properties of the as-sprayed coatings were investigated. The XRD results showed that the feedstock powders and as-sprayed coatings contained a predominant icosahedral quasicrystalline phase I-Al65Cu24Cr11 and three minor crystalline phases, including a body-centered cubic α-Al69Cu18Cr13, a monoclinic θ-Al13Cr2 (i.e. Al83Cu4Cr13) and a hexagonal ε-Al2Cu3. A qualitative analysis on the XRD patterns indicated that the volume fraction of any crystalline phase (α, ε or θ) in the coatings increased, while the quasicrystalline I-phase decreased with the rise of hydrogen (H2) content in the working gas. However, as increasing the plasma power, the friction and wear resistance of the coating were improved under the same dry sliding wear test conditions. The improvementincrease of the wear resistance may be attributed to the high hardness of quasicrystal.


Surface, airborne, and satellite measurements over the eastern Pacific Ocean off the coast of California during the period between 2005 and 2007 are used to explore the relationship between ocean chlorophyll a, aerosol, and marine clouds. Periods of enhanced chlorophyll a and wind speed are coincident with increases in particulate diethylamine and methanesulfonate concentrations. The measurements indicate that amines are a source of secondary organic aerosol in the marine atmosphere. Subsaturated aerosol hygroscopic growth measurements indicate that the organic component during periods of high chlorophyll a and wind speed exhibit considerable water uptake ability. Increased average cloud condensation nucleus (CCN) activity during periods of increased chlorophyll a levels likely results from both size distribution and aerosol composition changes. The available data over the period of measurements indicate that the cloud microphysical response, as represented by either cloud droplet number concentration or cloud droplet effective radius, is likely influenced by a combination of atmospheric dynamics and aerosol perturbations during periods of high chlorophyll a concentrations.


Persons with autism develop along trajectories that differ from the typical. Therefore, development itself gives important clues for understanding the behavioral profile characteristic of autism. Developing autism means being different, not necessarily being deficient. The infant and her environment coevolve, and therefore experience of a dynamic world is important in shaping both brain and behavior. Early development of sensory and motor skills is highly linked to cognitive abilities Exploration of the environment helps educate the perceptual system and intimately links perception with action in an interactive loop. The action?perception loop continues to play an important role in cognitive development and later cognitive processing, such as categorization and concept formation. Sensorimotor disturbances are ubiquitously found in the autism spectrum. This thesis traces sensorimotor development in autism, and the possible consequences a disturbance in the coupling of action and perception can have on cognitive processes, which are situated and embodied. The thesis also includes a chapter on pedagogical implications. The cues offered to further learning and behavior must be adapted to the different experiences of living on the autism spectrum. The cues must be salient, target the appropriate memories of similar contexts. provide sufficient feedback, etc. (Less)


This study is an empirical analysis of the impact of domestic investment and FDI on
the economic growth of ASEAN-5 namely Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines,
Thailand and Singapore during the last four decades. Also the study focuses on the FDI
inflow into ASEAN-5, and the domestic investment accumulation process in the
ASEAN-5.
This research was conducted following recent events such as the decline in the inflow
of foreign capital and growth rates of domestic investment and thereafter the economic
growth after the Asian financial crisis, and the search for new policy options that could
contribute to sustained economic growth.
The growth and FDI models for this study are derived from the endogenous growth
model, which can explain the behaviour of ASEAN-5 economies. The theoretical
models are based on the previous works of Romer (1991), and developed by Borensztein, e. al. (1998). The domestic investment equation is derived based on the
flexible accelerator model, which is an extension of a model established by Fry (1998)
and developed by Agrawal (2000a, 2000b).
This study utilized the autoregressive distributed lag approach to cointegration
(ARDL) developed by Pesaran et al. (1996, 2001). This technique has additional
advantages of yielding consistent estimates of the long-run coefficients. It is also free
of residual correlation, and can distinguish between dependent and explanatory
variables.
The major findings of this study can be summarized as follows: (i) domestic
investment, FDI, and financial intermediation significantly affect the economic growth
of ASEAN-5; (ii) FDI has positive and significant effect on domestic investment and
vice-versa. ; (iii) the improvement in the development level of financial intermediation
and human capital has a vital role on ASEAN-5's economic growth through FDI and
domestic investment channels; (iv) the growth rate of GDP and domestic investment
significantly affect FDI inflows to ASEAN-5; (v) outward-looking together with stable
exchange rate policies contribute positively to both FDI and domestic investment and
thereafter economic growth; (vi) the results reveal that ASEAN-5 can rely on domestic
resources such as investment, saving, human capital, financial intermediation as
instruments of economic growth, and FDI alone may not be able to sustain economic
growth. Hence, economic growth based on domestic resources should be encouraged.


Abstract The adoption of best practices in residential lawn and garden fertiliser use has been identified as a cost effective means to reduce urban nutrient inputs to waterways. This article examines the barriers to such voluntary change in urban sub-catchments of the Peel-Harvey Estuary system in Western Australia. The implications for the design and successful implementation of a voluntary community-based behavioural change program targeting residential fertiliser practices are discussed.


Introduced North American beavers Castor canadensis pose a potential threat to the continuing recovery of Eurasian beaver C. fiber populations in several European countries. For management purposes, it is necessary to be able to identify and distinguish the two species. This, however, is difficult because the two species are morphologically, ecologically and behaviourally similar. To find a method for species identification, we examined the possibility of using anal gland secretion (AGS) collected from the two beaver species. We asked 20 inexperienced volunteers to inspect the colour and viscosity of the AGS. When we provided the volunteers with the sex of each beaver and descriptions of the colour and viscosity of AGS from males and females of the two species, all volunteers could 100% correctly identify the two species. We therefore conclude that the colour and viscosity of the AGS can be used for a quick and easy identification of the two beaver species.


In aquaculture, bacterial fish diseases are still one of the most serious problem and fish mortality of bacterial origin can cause significant economic losses worldwide. The evolution of microorganism resistance to antibiotics has resulted in growing need for new antibacterial compounds. In the present study, the antibacterial activity of green tea (Camellia sinensis L.)seed and its secondary metabolite saponin were evaluated on five bacterial fish pathogens that cause diseases in rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss, Walbaum). In addition to this, possible histological effects were investigated on the vital organs of fish. The antibacterial activity of tea seed and saponin were determined using the agar diffusion method. Watered tea seed (WTS) powder and saponin used in this research as the feed additives demonstrated antibacterial activity against the five pathogens but statistically significant inhibition was observed only with Listonella anguillarum. Accordingly, significantly higher survival levels were observed in fish infected with L. anguillarum in WTS and saponin diet groups. However, organs of fish fed with WTS and saponin showed some nonvital symptoms such as hyperplasia and epithelial lifting in the gills and lipid droplets, intercellular edema and nuclear degeneration in liver. Results from this study confirmed the potential use of WTS as a source of antibacterial compounds or as a feed additive for prevention of disease against L. anguillarum infection in trout culture.


Block copolymers and blends comprised by liquid crystalline oligoester and polystyrene were prepared and their thermal stability were characterized by thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). The samples have shown three main decomposition temperatures due to (1) lost of flexible chain and decomposition of mesogenic segment, (2) decomposition of polystyrene and (3) final decomposition of oligoester rigid segment. Both copolymers and polymer blends presented lower thermal stability compared to polystyrene and oligoester. The residual mass after heating at 600 °C in copolymers and polymer blends were lower than those found in the oligoesters. A degradative process of aromatic segments of oligoester induced by decomposition of polystyrene is suggested.


The paper describes a new instructional design, which utilises web-based education techniques, in a Finnish project called MOTTO. The instructional design offers students an opportunity to take a parallel curriculum in both the upper secondary school diploma and vocational diploma. Usage of web-based education techniques in vocational degree instruction makes this dual curriculum special. Moreover, the paper describes students' and their teachers' experiences using the new distance based vocational curriculum. Those experiences were compiled in interviews that were made in spring and summer 2006.


Context. As the largest in our solar system the Jovian magnetosphere is treated in the literature as the dominant source of a fewMeV electrons, which have been measured by various spacecraft. In particular, observations obtained with Ulysses have significantly broadened the available data base. Aims. We simulated the transports of MeV electrons in the heliosphere on the basis of a time-dependent, three-dimensional modulation model. For this purpose the cosmic rays, the Jovian and the Saturnian electron sources have been, for the first time, considered together in the simulation of electron fluxes. The simulated electron intensities are discussed along the Ulysses and Cassini trajectories. The Ulysses spacecraft already passed by the planet Jupiter twice (1992, 2004), and Cassini passed by Jupiter in 2001 and reached Saturn in the year 2004. The strength of the electron source at Jupiter is relatively well known and well modelled. To determine the source strength of Saturn in comparison to that of Jupiter, we compared all available spacecraft measurements at Jupiter/Saturn in the overlapping energy range. We study the general distribution of Kronian electrons by successively using three different strengths of the Saturn source in our simulations. In addition, the effects of the solar activity are taken into account by varying the velocity field of the solar wind and the anisotropic diffusion tensor. Methods. Studying the particle diffusion is particularly relevant, because the really unknown function in the used transport equation is the diffusion tensor. The Jovian and/or Kronian electrons are suitable for studying the transport of energetic particles because the source locations are well known. Results. At 1 MeV the intensities along the Ulysses and the Cassini trajectories are clearly influenced by the presence of Kronian electrons. Conclusions. Our results reveal that the electrons from the Kronian magnetosphere, as the second largest, cannot be neglected in the very-low MeV energy range.


Abstract Experts have raised concerns that oxytocin for labor induction and augmentation may have detrimental effects on the neurodevelopment of children. To investigate whether there is the reason for concern, we reviewed and evaluated the available evidence by searching databases with no language or date restrictions up to 9 September 2018. We included English-language studies reporting results on the association between perinatal oxytocin exposure and any cognitive impairment, psychiatric symptoms or disorders in childhood. We assessed the quality of studies using the Newcastle–Ottawa Quality Assessment Scales. Independent risk estimates were pooled using random-effects meta-analyses when at least two independent datasets provided data on the same symptom or disorder. Otherwise, we provided narrative summaries. Two studies examined cognitive impairment, one examined problem behavior, three examined attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and seven focused on autism spectrum disorders (ASD). We provided narrative summaries of the studies on cognitive impairment. For ADHD, the pooled risk estimate was 1.17; 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.77–1.78, based on a pooled sample size of 5 47 278 offspring. For ASD, the pooled risk estimate was 1.10; 95% CI 1.04–1.17, based on 8 87 470 offspring. Conclusions that perinatal oxytocin increases the risks of neurodevelopmental problems are premature. Observational studies of low to high quality comprise the evidence-base, and confounding, especially by the genetic or environmental vulnerability, remains an issue. Current evidence is insufficient to justify modifying obstetric guidelines for the use of oxytocin, which state that it should only be used when clinically indicated.


This article presents an overview of the gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA)-benzodiazepine receptor complex (GBRC) and its in vitro modulation by THP, a metabolite of progesterone, as well as the results of a single-dose study of progesterone and triazolam in 16 post-menopausal women. The study results indicate that a 300 mg oral dose of progesterone administered 2.5 hours prior to a challenge dose of triazolam significantly increases sensitivity to triazolam: concentration values required for 50 percent of maximum effect (EC50) decreased by 20 to 32 percent after pre-treatment with progesterone. These data support the In vitro findings that THP enhances binding of benzodiazepines to the GBRC. The full clinical implications of these data, including extensions to other steroids, need to be explored.


Abstract Atrial fibrillation (AF) and cerebral amyloid angiopathy (CAA) present risks of ischemic stroke and intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH). Vitamin K antagonist use is associated with fluctuations in international normalized ratio (INR), which predispose to a higher bleeding risk. Patients with a diagnosis of AF and ICH while on a vitamin K antagonist were identified using the Rochester Epidemiology Project. Sixty patients were identified (mean age 81.3 years; 24 men). Thirty-three (55%) exhibited characteristics consistent with possible (n = 25) or probable (n = 8) CAA. Mean time in therapeutic range in the 30 days preceding ICH was 55.4%, with no difference between CAA and non-CAA patients. Mean time spent above therapeutic range (INR > 3.0) was 17.7%, with no difference between CAA and non-CAA patients. Following ICH, 21 (35%) died within 30 days, with total mortality at 76.7% after 176.4 person-years of follow-up (mean 2.9 years). Time in therapeutic range in the 30 days prior to ICH had no significant impact on 7-day mortality, nor risk of recurrent ICH or ischemic stroke. Patients with warfarin-related ICH were often outside of the therapeutic range within the month preceding hemorrhage but more frequently were subtherapeutic. Even with careful avoidance of supratherapeutic INR, vitamin K antagonist use in CAA patients is unlikely to have a major effect in preventing ICH and must be used with caution.


Using data collected of a large population-based cohort study, we studied the association between anthropometric factors and the risk of pancreatic cancer. Furthermore, we investigated whether these associations differ among microscopically confirmed pancreatic cancer (MCPC) cases and non-MCPC (NMCPC) cases. The Netherlands Cohort Study on Diet and Cancer started in 1986 (120,852 men and women) and uses the case-cohort methodology. After 13.3 years of follow-up, 446 pancreatic cancer cases (of which 65% was microscopically confirmed) and 4,774 subcohort members were available for analysis. The multivariable incidence rate ratio of MCPC of men was 1.10 per increment of 1 kg·m−2 (95% confidence interval, 1.04-1.18). Women had a rate ratio of MCPC of 1.08 (95% confidence interval, 1.03-1.13). Obese men [body mass index (BMI) ≥30 kg·m−2] had a 2.6-fold increased risk of MCPC compared with men with BMI 23 to 25 kg·m−2. For women, this increase in risk was 1.7-fold. Change in BMI between age 20 years and baseline was also associated with MCPC in both men and women. In men and women, none of these associations were observed for NMCPC, with the exception of the increased risk for pancreatic cancer in obese men. We observed statistically significant associations between both BMI, gain in BMI, and pancreatic cancer risk. These associations are observed only in MCPC and not in NMCPC. If MCPC and NMCPC had been considered as one group, the reported associations would not have been detected. These findings stress the need to evaluate heterogeneity among pancreatic cancer cases in etiologic studies. (Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev 2007;16(7):1449–54)


Hungarian dendrological research (research of living woody plants) has more than 200 years old history; the first general work by János Keresztély Grossinger was published in 1797. Further basic works in our time yet are: Forest Botany by Lajos Fekete and Sándor Mágócsy-Dietz (1896); and the chorological work, Distribution of trees and shrubs of sylvicultural importance in the region of Hungarian State by Lajos Fekete and Tibor Blattny (1913). A few dendrologists and many botanists have helped to get better knowledge of Hungarian dendroflora. From the point of view of taxonomy, chorology and habitat — which are interested by field botanists — it can be said that knowledge is fairly heterogeneous. There are sufficient information about most of the rare (protected/endangered) woody plants (an about 50 species) and the important adventives, above all invasive trees and shrubs (an about 10 species). From these two groups beyond there are only few taxa which can be said thoroughly worked up and known (e.g. Castanea sativa, Cornus mas, Fraxinus spp., Quercus spp.). List of the dendrotaxa, hardly known in the abovementioned point of view is rich in species that are important for forestry or horticulture (e.g. Alnus glutinosa, Acer spp., Betula pendula , Corylus avellana and most of Salix spp.), supplemented with other species (e.g. Clematis vitalba , Colutea arborescens, Lonicera xylosteum, Padus avium, Sambucus nigra , Staphylea pinnata, Viburnum spp.). Followings can be asked from our field botanists: i) look for a specialist in cases of critical dendrotaxa; ii) a circumspect identification is necessary — especially in the case of leaves — by right of great number of samples from the adequate part of shoot; iii) keep in view frequent hybridization (e.g. in the case of Betula, Crataegus, Pyrus, Tilia ), and frequent appearance of hybrids (e.g. Betula × rhombifolia , Cerasus × eminens, Salix × rubens ); iv) appearance of interim forms are usually typical in the cases of species classified into aggregate species (e.g. Quercus petraea agg., Qu. pubescens agg.); v) take intraspecific taxa according to various ecological demands, area, morphological differences into consideration; vi) culture variations cannot be treat as an equal with the species (e.g. Populus spp., Salix spp.); vii) natural ↔ artificial area have to be separated; viii) lend a helping hand in getting taxonomical knowledge of hardly known dendrotaxa.


Introduction The Steel Structures Standard, NZS 3404, references the AS/NZS 1554 suite of standards for compliance of welding consumables. NZS 3404 includes additional requirements limiting the heat input in the deposited weld metal for welds subject to earthquake loads or effects. This article discusses the background to these requirements, identifies welding processes restricted by the heat input limits and how to qualify welding process that are restricted by the heat input limits.


Background SLE is an autoimmune disease where the immune tolerance to self-nucleic acids is broken with devastating consequences. The hallmark of the disease is an increased IFN-α signature in the blood which is accompanied with high levels of autoantibodies and disease activity. Self-nucleic acid recognition by Toll-like receptors (TLR)7 and TLR9 on B cells and plasmacytoid dendritic cells (PDC) is believed to be key in the pathogenesis of SLE promoting immune complexes (IC) and the production of type I IFN, both of which are associated with the severity of the disease. Results We have generated and described oligonucleotide-based bi-functional inhibitors of TLR7&9 (called ImmunoRegulatory Sequences, IRS) and have shown that these can block IFN production by PDC as well as B cell activation. In addition, IRS are active in vivo and treatment of lupus-prone mice lead to reduced disease symptoms and end-organ damage. SLE patient are often treated with glucocorticoids (GC) but under maintenance levels often suffer from disease flares that necessitate high dose pulse therapy. We have shown that PDC were significantly more resistant to GC induced death in lupus-prone mice, a phenomenon that was completely reversed by pre-treatment with TLR7&9 inhibitor. These data provide a new understanding of the role of self-recognition of DNA and RNA by TLR as an important parameter during inflammatory response. These data also stress the potential utilisation of TLR7&9 specific inhibitors as cortico-sparing drugs which would be open new possibilities with respect to therapeutic applications. Finally, we have shown that IRS can prevent skin lesions following mechanical injury by blocking PDC activation in the skin environment. The lead IRS inhibitor, called DV1179, has entered a human clinical trial and its safety was assessed in multiple ascending doses in healthy volunteers and lupus patients, however no effect on IFN response was observed in lupus patients. Conclusions These data provide a new understanding of the role of self-recognition of DNA and RNA by TLR as an important parameter during inflammatory response. These data also stress the potential of blocking PDC activation to increase patient's response to corticosteroid treatment although the use of oligo-nucleotide based inhibitors did not reduce the IFN signature in lupus patients. Other approaches could be tested as well.


In recent years, the reliability of information on the Internet has emerged as a crucial issue of modern society. Social network sites (SNSs) have revolutionized the way in which information is spread by allowing users to freely share content. As a consequence, SNSs are also increasingly used as vectors for the diffusion of misinformation and hoaxes. The amount of disseminated information and the rapidity of its diffusion make it practically impossible to assess reliability in a timely manner, highlighting the need for automatic hoax detection systems.
As a contribution towards this objective, we show that Facebook posts can be classified with high accuracy as hoaxes or non-hoaxes on the basis of the users who "liked" them. We present two classification techniques, one based on logistic regression, the other on a novel adaptation of boolean crowdsourcing algorithms. On a dataset consisting of 15,500 Facebook posts and 909,236 users, we obtain classification accuracies exceeding 99% even when the training set contains less than 1% of the posts. We further show that our techniques are robust: they work even when we restrict our attention to the users who like both hoax and non-hoax posts. These results suggest that mapping the diffusion pattern of information can be a useful component of automatic hoax detection systems.


Mechanical milling was used to synthesize Al nanostructured powder in a planetary ball-mill under argon atmosphere up to 20 h. The same process was conducted for Al-4 wt. % B4C nanocomposite powders to explore the role of nanosize reinforcements on mechanical milling stages. The results show that the addition of boron carbide particles accelerate the milling process, leading to a faster work hardening rate and fracture of aluminum matrix. Tensile of a nanostructured matrix of Al prepared via hot extrusion were investigated before and after incorporation of B4C nanoparticles. The results revealed a, higher yield strength and tensile strength for nanostructured Al matrix in contrast to the commercial coarse grained Al matrix. The same trend was also found to be valid for the nanocomposite samples with respect to the base matrix.


The Software Engineering Facility (SEF) is a system for software engineering which is specifically designed to support the development of well-engineered software. However, it is not an operating system. Unlike operating systems such as OS/370, EXEC 8, and others, the SEF is not meant to support the execution of applications programs, just as the ordinary operating systems are not intended to specifically support the development of well-engineered applications programs. The SEF, in fact, will run under and use the facilities of such operating systems. It, then, is easily transferable and can be used with vaxious hardware/operating system configurations where it will provide a host-independent software development system. In such a role it will provide to the software developer standard facilities across a variety of host systems.


Complete gross and histopathologic examinations of the oral cavity, tongue, pharynx, larynx, and glottis were performed in five Hawaiian green turtles Chelonia mydas with fibropapillomatosis. These examinations demonstrated that the oropharyngeal fibropapillomas were similar to characteristic external fibropapillomas previously described for green turtles. The size, appearance, and anatomic site of the tumors confirmed that these turtles presented total or partial occlusion of the nasopharynx, glottis, larynx, and adjacent tissues. The fibropapillomas of the oropharynx were considered locally invasive and severely modified the morphophysiology of respiration and feeding in these turtles. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report of oropharyngeal fibropapillomatosis in sea turtles.


The paper is proposed maximum torque control of SynRM drive using adaptive fuzzy neuro inference system(AFNlS) and artificial neural network(ANN). The control method is applicable over the entire speed range and considered the limits of the inverter's current and voltage rated value. For each control mode, a condition that determines the optimal d-axis current ? d for maximum torque operation is derived. The proposed control algorithm is applied to SynRM drive system controlled AFNIS and ANN controller, the operating characteristics controlled by maximum torque control are examined in detail. Also. this paper is proposed the analysis results to verify the effectiveness of the AFNIS and ANN controller.


Although there are several techniques for the automatic generation of test data based on grammars, few studies have been proposed to improve the test data generated by applying semantic restrictions. In this sense, we intend to contribute in this direction for the particular case of testing metaprograms, programs that have other programs as input. Currently, the natural alternative to testing this kind of program is using the grammar-based testing. That testing technique can be applied relatively easily, but with high costs, related to the generation and execution of the test set, and low effectiveness. Many researches and tools dedicated to the development of metaprograms make heavy use of pattern matching for their implementation and specification. In this case, the patterns offer an interesting source of information for creating tests that are syntactically valid and also satisfy semantic constraints. Given the limitation of grammar-based testing and pattern information on the metaprograms, we identified an opportunity to contribute to the improvement of the testing process for these programs. Therefore, the goal of this work is to evaluate the use of pattern information for the testing of pattern-based metaprograms and thus contribute to their testing process. In order to systematize the software testing process, a family of coverage criteria based on patterns is proposed to test pattern-based metaprograms efficiently and systematically. Four pattern-based coverage criteria are proposed, they are based on classical input space partitioning combination criteria. Furthermore, a hierarchical relationship between the criteria is presented. Therefore, different levels of rigor can be required by choosing the appropriate criterion. The validation of these contributions is made using a case study and empirical validation. The case study presents a reference instantiation for the test design process applied to a type checker implemented as metaprogram based on patterns. The type checker is tested using a test set generated by the pattern-based coverage criteria, and the quality of this set is evaluated using the mutation technique. The results obtained are compared with those produced by a test set generated by the grammar-based criteria. The experimental studies indicate the effectiveness of the application of these patternbased criteria and a gain of cost-return in relation to the grammar-based coverage criteria.


Abstract This paper examines the empirical validity of Nicolosi's optimal strategy for a hedge fund manager under a specific payment contract. The contract specifies that the manager's payment consists of a fixed payment and a variable payment, which is a performance-based payment. The model assumes that the manager is an Expected Utility agent who maximises his/her expected utility by buying and selling the asset at appropriate moments. Nicolosi derives the optimal strategy for the manager by assuming a Black-Scholes setting where the manager can invest either in an asset or in a money account. The asset price follows geometric Brownian motion and the money account has a constant interest rate. I experimentally test Nicolosi's optimal strategy to investigate whether the agents invest according to the optimal strategy. To meet the aim of this paper, I compare the empirical support of the optimal strategy with other possible strategies. The results show that Nicolosi's optimal strategy receives strong empirical support for explaining the subjects' behaviour, though not all of the subjects follow the optimal strategy. Having said this, it seems that the subjects somehow follow the intuitive prediction of Nicolosi's optimal strategy in which the decision-maker responds to the difference between the managed portfolio and the benchmark to determine the portfolio allocation.


Laser spark obtained by using a conical optics is much more appropriate to form conducting channels in atmosphere. Only two types of lasers are actively considered to be used in forming high-conductivity channels in atmosphere, controlled by laser spark: pulsed sub-microsecond gas and chemical lasers (CO 2 , DF) and short pulse solid-state and UV lasers. Main advantage of short pulse lasers is their ability in forming of super long ionized channels with a characteristic diameter of ~100 µ in atmosphere along the beam propagation direction. At estimated electron densities below 10 ⋅ 16 cm –3 in these filaments and laser wavelengths in the range of 0,5–1,0 mm, the plasma barely absorbs laser radiation. In this case, the length of the track composed of many filaments is determined by the laser intensity and may reach many ki-lometers at a femtosecond pulse energy of ~100 mJ. However, these lasers could not be used to form high-conductivity long channels in atmosphere. The ohmic resistance of this type a conducting channels turned out to be very high, and the gas in the channels could not be strongly heated (< 1 J). An electric breakdown controlled by radiation of femtosecond solid-state laser was implemented in only at a length of 3 m with a voltage of 2 MV across the discharge gap (670 kV/m). Not so long ago scientific group from P. N. Lebedev has improved that result, the discharge gap – 1 m had been broken under KrF laser irradiation when switching high-voltage (up to 390 kV/m) electric discharge by 100-ns UV pulses. Our previous result – 16 m long conducting channel controlled by a laser spark at the voltage – 3 MV – was obtained more than 20 years ago in Russia and Japan by using pulsed CO 2 laser with energy – 0,5 kJ. An average electric field strength was < 190 kV/m. It is still too much for efficient applications.


Handbook of Bird Biology, Second Edition.— Sandy Podulka, Ronald W. Rohrbaugh Jr., and Rick Bonney [editors]. 2004. Princeton University Press, Princeton, NJ. 1328 pp. ISBN 0-938-02762-X. $99.50 (cloth). At nearly eight pounds, this mammoth book will surely slow students down as they cross campus. As a result of its size, this text has the capacity to present a comprehensive view of avian biology. Fifteen wellknown ornithologists (their names are within parentheses in the following list) contributed chapters on all major topics in bird biology, including humans and birds (Sandra Podulka, Marie Eckhardt, and Daniel Otis), the world of birds (Kevin McGowan), bird watching (Stephen Kress), external anatomy (George Clark Jr.), anatomy and physiology (Howard Evans and J. B. Heiser), flight and migration (Kenneth Able), evolution (Alan Feduccia), ethology (John Alcock), sound (Donald Kroodsma), breeding biology (David Winkler), ecology (Stanley Temple) and conservation (John Fitzpatrick). The book is marketed alone and as a component of the Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology's Home Study Course in Bird Biology. The excellent illustrations and photographs are profuse and appear to include almost all topics a professor might want to share with students. Donald Kroodsma's chapter on vocal behavior is particularly outstanding and is accompanied by a compact disc to further illustrate vocalizations. Sadly missing from the book, however, is any color, with all illustrations and photographs in black-and-white. Color certainly is one of the attractions of bird biology; too bad that Cornell did not package its Birds of North America CD-ROM with this book. For a book this size (over 1300 pages), I found the 28-page index insufficient, and therefore somewhat frustrating to use. Take, for example, the physiology of cold tolerance. Physiology is not in the index (although it is a chapter title), nor is cold. I finally stumbled onto relevant pages when I found a reference to torpor. Subjects in physiology are covered adequately, but not in great depth. For example, birds' use of fat reserves for migration is mentioned, but not the biochemical pathways involved. Perhaps more serious is the relative paucity of references within the text. References appear at the end of some chapters, in the form of a short list of suggested readings of related books and representative recent articles. Roughly 800 sources are cited in a reference section at the end of the book. This number of references may seem impressive until one realizes the breadth of information packed within the book's many pages. I was surprised to note, for example, that George Lowery's seminal work on trans-gulf and continent-wide migration was omitted from the references. The book includes a table that lists species mentioned in the text, along with their scientific names. Frustratingly, the list omits page and chapter references for the species. More satisfying is a glossary of avian terminology, which does include both chapter and page citations, along with short definitions. In my opinion, this book seems to target undergraduates (or very committed nontraditional learners). The text is extremely well written and engaging, and occasionally includes first person accounts. The chapters are replete with sidebars to capture the reader's interest. I immediately focused on an essay about my mentor, the late Roxie Laybourne, the Smithsonian's feather expert. The limited number of references is problematic for graduate students and other serious scholars. For nonacademic readers, the $99.50 price may appear steep. However, it is reasonable and comparable to the much shorter, alternative ornithology texts by either Welty and Baptista (1988, Thompson Learning, Inc.) or Gill (1995, W. H. Freeman). On the other hand, the Handbook's profusion of illustrations, up-to-date information, and breadth of coverage make it extremely attractive. The Handbook's conundrum, if one considers its audience to be undergraduates, is its dauntingly large size. It is difficult to imagine the average undergraduate student reading this book cover-to-cover. Clearly the book is aimed at those birders who are committed enough to consider enrolling in Cornell's home study course. Despite the inadequate referencing and because of its wealth of information, this tome should be on every serious ornithologist's book shelf.—DAN TALLMAN, Department of Biology, Northern State University, Aberdeen, SD 57401. Email: email@example.com


Abstract Purpose. Oesophageal cancers are difficult to visualise on volumetric imaging and reliable surrogate are needed for accurate tumour registration. The aim of this investigation is to evaluate the effect of a user defined volume with automated registration techniques using commercially available software with the on-board volumetric imaging for treatment verification of oesophageal cancer and determine the optimum location of this volume. Material and methods. In 20 patients four 'clipbox'(C) volumes were defined: C-planning target volume (PTV), C-carina, C-vertebrae, C-thorax. The set-up corrections (translational and rotational) for C-PTV were compared to the corrections using C-carina, C-vertebrae and C-thorax. Results. Six hundred and eight registrations were performed. The best concordance in set-up corrections was found in the superior/inferior direction between C-PTV and C-carina (76%). In the right/left and anterior/posterior direction, better agreement was found between C-PTV and C-thorax with 80% and 76% agreement, respectively. Automatic 'bone' registration using C-vertebrae failed in 28% of scans. The correlation ratio between C-PTV and C-carina (n = 4) for mid-oesophageal tumours was 0.88, 0.79, and 0.95 in the right/left, superior/inferior and anterior/posterior directions, respectively. Conclusion. The defined volume for matching is important for oesophageal tumours. The alignment 'clipbox' and registration method selected can affect the displacements obtained. This may best be determined by tumour location and highlights the need to diversify protocols within one tumour treatment site. Further analysis is required to validate carina as a tumour surrogate for mid-oesophageal tumours.


The reaction yield for conversion of p-nitrobenzaldehyde (PNB) to an aldol product in amine-functionalized mesoporous silica nanoparticles (MSN) exhibits a 20-fold enhancement for a modest increase in pore diameter, d. This enhanced catalytic activity is shown to reflect a strong increase in the "passing propensity," P, of reactant and product species inside the pores. We find that P ≈ 0, corresponding to single-file diffusion, applies for the smallest d which still significantly exceeds the linear dimensions of PNB and the aldol product. However, in this regime of narrow pores, these elongated species must align with each other and with the pore axis in order to pass. Thus, P reflects both translational and rotational diffusion. Langevin simulation accounting for these features is used to determine P versus d. The results are also augmented by analytic theory for small and large d where simulation is inefficient. The connection with the catalytic activity and yield is achieved by the incorporation of results for P into a multi-scale modeling framework. Specifically, we apply a spatially coarse-grained (CG) stochastic model for the overall catalytic reaction-diffusion process in MSN. Pores are treated as linear arrays of cells from the ends of which species adsorb and desorb, and between which species hop and exchange, with the exchange rate reflecting P. CG model predictions including yield are assessed by Kinetic Monte Carlo simulation.


Just 5 years ago, the community of researchers studying CRISPR, the powerful new genome editing tool, was small. When the first inklings that CRISPR could become a big business emerged, leading scientists expected to work together. But the attempt at unity collapsed—with a good deal of noise and dust. As the science grew even more compelling and venture capital (VC) beckoned, the jockeying to start CRISPR companies became intense. The research community was rent apart by concerns about intellectual property, academic credit, Nobel Prize dreams, geography, media coverage, egos, personal profit, and loyalty. A billion dollars poured into what might be called CRISPR Inc. from VC firms, pharmaceutical companies, and public stock offerings. And the companies and the academic license holders faced each other down in a battle royale over patents.


Some low-grade malignant tumors arising in the abdomen, lack of infiltrative attitude and "redistribute" on the peritoneum with no extraregional spreading. In this cases the complete tumor cytoreduction followed by intra- or postoperative regional chemotherapy has curative intent. Peritonectomy is the complete removal of all the parietal peritoneum and the visceral peritoneum involved by disease. After peritonectomy hyperthermic antiblastic perfusion is carried out throughout the abdomino-pelvic cavity for 60 minutes, at a temperature of 41.5 degrees C, with mitomycin C (3.3 mg/m2/Lt of perfusate) and cisplatin (25 mg/m2/Lt) (appendicular or colorectal primary), or cisplatin alone is (ovarian primary). Alternatively the immediate postoperative regional chemotherapy is performed with 5-fluorouracil (13.5 mg/Kg) and Lederfolin (125 mg/m2) (colic or appendicular tumor) or cisplatin (25 ng/m2) (ovarian tumor), each day for 5 days. Twenty patients affected by extensive peritoneal carcinomatosis (12 ovarian, 5 colonic, 1 appendicular, 1 mesothelial and 1 gastric primary) were submitted to peritonectomy with no residual macroscopic disease in all cases except three. Six patients were treated with intraoperative intra-abdominal hyperthermic antiblastic perfusion, while immediate postoperative intra-abdominal chemotherapy was given in 4 patients and systemic chemotherapy in other 5. Hospital mortality was 20%. At a mean follow-up of 11 months 14 patients are alive, 11 without disease and the median overall survival is 10.2 months. The curative potential of the combined therapeutic approach seems high in patients with peritoneal carcinomatosis from ovarian or colorectal primary not responding to systemic chemotherapy. Selection criteria of patients can strictly affect the surgical risk and the treatment has to be reserved for controlled clinical trials.


Background: Platelet-rich plasma (PRP) and bone marrow concentrate (BMC) are orthobiologic therapies with numerous growth factors and other bioactive molecules. Before the clinical utility of PRP and BMC is optimized as a combined therapy or monotherapy, an improved understanding of the components and respective concentrations is necessary. Purpose: To prospectively measure and compare anabolic, anti-inflammatory, and proinflammatory growth factors, cytokines, and chemokines in bone marrow aspirate (BMA), BMC, whole blood, leukocyte-poor PRP (LP-PRP), and leukocyte-rich PRP (LR-PRP) from samples collected and processed concurrently on the same day from patients presenting for elective knee surgery. Study Design: Cross-sectional study; Level of evidence, 3. Methods: Patients presenting for elective knee surgery were prospectively enrolled over a 3-week period. Whole blood from peripheral venous draw and BMA from the posterior iliac crest were immediately processed via centrifugation and manual extraction methods to prepare LR-PRP, LP-PRP, and BMC samples, respectively. BMA, BMC, whole blood, LR-PRP, and LP-PRP samples were immediately assayed and analyzed to measure protein concentrations. Results: BMC had a significantly higher interleukin 1 receptor antagonist (IL-1Ra) concentration than all other preparations (all P < .0009). LR-PRP also had a significantly higher IL-1Ra concentration than LP-PRP (P = .0006). There were no significant differences in IL-1Ra concentration based on age, sex, body mass index, or chronicity of injury in all preparations. LR-PRP had significantly higher concentrations of platelet-derived growth factor AA (PDGF-AA) and PDGF-AB/BB than all other preparations (all P < .0006). LR-PRP also had significantly higher concentrations of matrix metalloproteinase 1 (MMP-1) and soluble CD40 ligand than all other preparations (all P < .004). LP-PRP had significantly higher concentrations of MMPs, namely MMP-2, MMP-3, and MMP-12, than all other preparations (all P < .007). Conclusion: BMC is a clinically relevant source of anti-inflammatory biologic therapy that may be more effective in treating osteoarthritis and for use as an intra-articular biologic source for augmented healing in the postsurgical inflammatory and healing phases, owing to its significantly higher concentration of IL-1Ra as compared with LR-PRP and LP-PRP. Additionally, LR-PRP had a significantly higher concentration of IL-1Ra than LP-PRP. In cases where increased vascularity and healing are desired for pathological or injured tissues, including muscle and tendon, LR-PRP may be optimal given its higher overall concentrations of PDGF, TGF-β, EGF, VEGF, and soluble CD40 ligand.


For studying the hysteretic behavior of steel frames with sandwich composite (SC) panels, an experiment was implemented. A full scale one-bay and one storey specimen was tested under cyclic loading. Seismic behaviors were evaluated in line with the failure pattern and damage process of the specimen. Based on the experimental data, hysterics loops, skeleton curves, curves of strength degradation, and curves of stiffness degradation, ductility index and viscous damping coefficient were obtained. It is indicated that although the failures of panels mostly occurred around the embed- ded parts, SC panels exhibit a better integration than traditional walls. The connection between panel and steel frame is crucial to the corporation of the two parts. Finally, the suggestions for seismic design were put forward based on ductility index analysis and structures' energy dissipation. Moreover, FEA study was also carried out by using ABAQUS. A good agreeement was achieved between the experimental data and the numerical result in FEA. Finally, the useful information was got according to simplified caculation model. Only 7% of lateral stiffness is considered into calculation when panel is bolted to the frame at four corners of the frame,


This briefing focuses on the difficulty in obtaining the information needed to identify patterns of (temporary) migration, which appear to have become more diverse in recent years, facilitated by developments in transportation and increased globalisation. It is mainly concerned with examining how survey data may be used to shed further light on the issue. It appears that the migration questions that have recently been added to the UK Labour Force Survey (LFS) are not that helpful in this respect. However, utilising the panel element of the LFS is likely to provide a far more fruitful avenue for future research. Some interesting patterns can be identified in the basic application of this approach but more refined analysis is required in order to overcome some of the complicating factors that arise.


Given an affine space of matrices $L$ and a matrix $\theta \in L$, consider the problem of finding the closest rank deficient matrix to $\theta$ on $L$ with respect to the Frobenius norm. This is a nonconvex problem with several applications in estimation problems. We introduce a novel semidefinite programming (SDP) relaxation, and we show that the SDP solves the problem exactly in the low noise regime, i.e., when $\theta$ is close to be rank deficient. We evaluate the performance of the SDP relaxation in applications from control theory, computer algebra, and computer vision. Our relaxation reliably obtains the global minimizer in all cases for non-adversarial noise.


The assignment of phrasal prominence has been variously attributed to syntactic structure, part of speech, predictability, informativity, and speaker's intent. A recent account asserts that prominence is memorized on a by-word basis as Accent Ratio (AR), the likelihood that a word is accented (Nenkova et al. 2007). We examined whether AR outperforms the traditional predictors, in particular syntax and informativity, and if not, whether the traditional predictors shed light on the variance left unexplained by AR. We used a corpus of spoken American English consisting of the first inaugural addresses of six recent American presidents, hand-annotated for stress by two native English speakers. Regression models fitted to the data revealed that AR, syntax, and informativity all independently matter. Dividing the data into high-prominence and low-prominence tokens further revealed that AR and informativity are significant among low-prominence words, but only syntax is significant among high-prominence words. We conclude that although AR is a highly successful predictor, certain aspects of phrasal prominence require reference to syntax and informativity.


In this paper, a real-time iterative learning control (ILC) approach for a nonlinear continuous-time system using recurrent neural networks (RNNs) with time-varying weights is presented. Two RNNs are utilized in the ILC system. One is used to approximate the nonlinear system and another is used to mimic the desired system response. The ILC rule is obtained by combining the two RNNs to form a neural network control system. Also, a kind of iterative RNNs training algorithm is developed based on the two-dimensional (2-D) system theory. An RNN using the proposed 2-D training algorithm is able to approximate any trajectory to a very high degree of accuracy. Simulation results show that the proposed ILC approach is very efficient. The newly developed 2-D RNNs training algorithms provides a new dimension to the application of RNNs in a nonlinear continuous-time system.


Newspaper readership as a percentage of the population has been declining since the 1960s. According to the Newspaper Association of America, daily newspaper readership has declined from 80.8 percent in 1964 to 58.3 percent in 1997, the last year the figures were comparable. (1) Women readers have been particularly affected, and the gap between men and women readers has widened. In 1964, about 2 percent fewer women read newspapers than did men. By 1997, the gap had grown to 7 percent. Researcher Kristin McGrath found the gender gap in newspaper readership was widening because women do not consider newspapers relevant and approach news differently than do men. (2) Specifically, she recommended content and tone changes to represent women's interests better. Anthony M. Casale, president of American Opinion Research, also pointed out "women are less likely to be newspaper readers, yet are more interested in local news and are more concerned about the safety and health of their families." (3) To counter this trend, many newspapers have been reaching out to women in an attempt to retain and increase their readership, but the gap persists. (4) Providing more thorough coverage of issues that interest women could be a way to inform and attract women to newspapers. Further, space for expanded coverage to attract women readers is at a premium during these difficult economic times. Online newspapers, however, have a nearly unlimited newshole. Moreover, they can provide hypertext links to information that goes beyond the basic story and provides the depth that women readers may seek. Reporters often have gathered this information but could not include it in a story because of limited space in a printed newspaper. Wire stories often include additional information, graphics and sidebars, as well. The main purpose of this study is to examine empirically the role of gender in reader perceptions of expanded coverage of an issue. Specifically, the study will look at men's and women's perceptions of crime stories and ex crime also has been a major matter of public concern since the 1960s. (5) Newspapers devote considerable coverage to crime news, and some critics and readers have called it excessive, noting it often does not mirror reality. (6) Further, critics contend the coverage is shallow and does not include all of the factors involved, including background. They contend the coverage can give the public an incomplete and misleading picture of crime, which can erode their already low perception of media credibility. (7) Moreover, studies have found media coverage increases public concern about crime and can foster fear of it, especially among women. (8) Some studies have found that women who are least likely to be victims of crime are the most fearful of it. (9) Thus, crime is an appropriate topic to examine for expanded coverage, including links, and for the role of gender. Method An experiment was conducted in June 1998 with prototype Web pages containing crime stories and links for a generic fictitious newspaper, The Daily Journal. The study was conducted in a medium-sized Midwestern city, and each participant was asked to read the four main stories, all concerning crime, and anything else that interested them. The participants were students and people of various ages recruited by the university's research center. They were given unlimited time to read the prototype. The main stories and the link stories were taken from the online archives of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch and the Kansas City Star, modified and trimmed to similar length. The topics were key crime issues in the state at the time--concealed weapons, date rape pill, methamphetamines and sentencing for crack and powdered cocaine. Four types of links were used--background, chart, opinion and human interest. They were selected because these types of information are easiest to obtain in newsrooms, and they provide important additional information for crime stories that critics say is needed. …


Aglepristone is an antiprogestin using for pregnancy termination in veterinary medicine. The information about side effects of aglepristone is limited. The aim of the study was to investigate cytotoxicity and genotoxicity of aglepristone in mid-gestation pregnancy termination in rabbits. Fifteen New Zealand White rabbits were used and pregnant does were randomly divided into three groups. Group I (n=5) was treated with saline as the control. The does in group II (n=5) and group III (n=5) were treated with aglepristone (10 mg/kg) on 15th day and 15th-16th days of pregnancy, respectively. The rabbits were sacrificed by guillotine 24 h after last treatment. Bone marrow and blood samples were immediately collected. Cytotoxic and genotoxic potential were tested by micronucleus and Comet assays. No genotoxicity and cytotoxicity were found in micronucleus test with single aglepristone administration. In contrast, two consecutive treatments of aglepristone showed high genotoxic and cytotoxic effects on bone marrow in animals. While comet assay of blood samples did not show any significant difference between groups; the results from comet assay of bone marrow cells showed the single injection of aglepristone did not induce any DNA damage but two injections group increased the DNA damage.


have emphasised the greater susceptibility of the fellow eye to ACG in hospital and immediately after discharge. On the subject of medication, it is notable that no fellow eyes developed acute ACG when mydriatics were withheld from the operated eye. Although numbers are small (16 out of 187 eyes in hospital and 14 out of 52 eyes at initial follow-up), I think they are sufficiently large to warrant further study. As regards pilocarpine treatment, this possibly has a protective effect preoperatively (Table 3: X2=3-17 p>0.05 but less than 0-1) and certainly has a protective affect postoperatively (Table 4: x2=16-7, p<O.OOl) (Yates's correction applied for both calculations) consistent with Bain's observations in 1957.3 Although my data suggest that carbonic anhydrase inhibitors may have a protective effect, I concede that this cannot be established with certainty from my study. I would like to emphasise that no medical regimen entirely prevented acute ACG in the fellow eye. In this observation I am supported by Bain,3 Lowe,4 and


Capacitive deionisation (CDI) has emerged as a robust energy efficient for water desalination. In this paper, a novel CDI electrosorption process is proposed to increase the efficiency based on real experimental data. It is achieved by artificial neural network (ANN) to develop four models. For problem formulation, closed forms mathematical equations were derived, thus, resulting in a very efficient programming algorithm. Optimum patterns ANN models were validated by implementing two ANN units to drive the CDI electrosorption process. This proposed method was tested and verified using actual and predicted ANN values which yielded excellent results with regression factors between 0.99983 to 1. Optimum patterns are validated in the form characteristics comparisons between genetic and original one. The ANN models their algebraic equations are adopted for various characteristics estimation process. They created with suitable numbers of layers and neurons that provided fast and accurate network training.


Treatment of patients with fractures of the bones of the leg in an outpatient setting occurs under conditions of a forced increase in the axial load on the injured lower limb. The aim of the study was to determine the conditions for the formation of periosteal callus of the shoulder and lower leg and to assess the effect on its formation of the time frame for fixation of bone fragments in people of different ages under the conditions of treatment in the outpatient setting. Two groups of patients with closed diaphyseal bone fractures were examined using the Ilizarov method. The first group consisted of 29 patients with fractured shoulders aged from 24 to 94 years (43 ± 3). The second is 36 patients aged from 17 to 84 years (44 ± 4) with fractures of the bones of the leg in the conditions of Ilizarov treatment. All patients were treated for the first 2 weeks in inpatient, and later on in the outpatient setting. It was found that increased motor mode and axial load on the limb in the conditions of outpatient treatment lead to an increase in the period of fixation of bone fragments as compared with the previously recommended G.A. Ilizarov standards by 60% and the appearance of periosteal callus. At the same time, the size of callus on the tibia is relatively more than on the shoulder by 43% (p ≥ 0.05), while the timing of fixation of bone fragments was not statistically significantly different. Increasing the size of callus is favorable for reducing the time of fixation of fragments in patients with shoulder injury. In patients with a leg injury of working age with an increase in the number of past years, the size of the periosteal callus also became larger, however, this increase only influenced the reduction of fixation time when the shadow size of the callus reached 360 mm2. At the same time, on the lower legs, the time of fixation of fragments, unlike patients with shoulder herbs, after the formation of callus, ceases to depend on the initial micromobility of bone fragments that took place after the application of the Ilizarov apparatus. As a result, no selective adverse effect of an increase in the load on the lower leg was revealed on the terms of treatment of patients with lower leg injuries on an outpatient basis.


Background/aims To determine which biometric parameters provide optimum predictive power for ocular volume. Methods Sixty-seven adult subjects were scanned with a Siemens 3-T MRI scanner. Mean spherical error (MSE) (D) was measured with a Shin-Nippon autorefractor and a Zeiss IOLMaster used to measure (mm) axial length (AL), anterior chamber depth (ACD) and corneal radius (CR). Total ocular volume (TOV) was calculated from T2-weighted MRIs (voxel size 1.0 mm3) using an automatic voxel counting and shading algorithm. Each MR slice was subsequently edited manually in the axial, sagittal and coronal plane, the latter enabling location of the posterior pole of the crystalline lens and partitioning of TOV into anterior (AV) and posterior volume (PV) regions. Results Mean values (±SD) for MSE (D), AL (mm), ACD (mm) and CR (mm) were −2.62±3.83, 24.51±1.47, 3.55±0.34 and 7.75±0.28, respectively. Mean values (±SD) for TOV, AV and PV (mm3) were 8168.21±1141.86, 1099.40±139.24 and 7068.82±1134.05, respectively. TOV showed significant correlation with MSE, AL, PV (all p<0.001), CR (p=0.043) and ACD (p=0.024). Bar CR, the correlations were shown to be wholly attributable to variation in PV. Multiple linear regression indicated that the combination of AL and CR provided optimum R2 values of 79.4% for TOV. Conclusion Clinically useful estimations of ocular volume can be obtained from measurement of AL and CR.


Work on the miners' Lock-Out of 1926 tends to focus on the perspective of the National Union of Mineworkers, while nothing has been written which attempts to examine, for example, how miner's wives coped for six months without pay. "The Women and Men of 1926" investigates the Lock-Out from the perspective of gender relations, offering a social history of the mining communities in south Wales during the Lock-Out. Sue Bruley aims to analyse how individual families and households coped with the Lock-Out and to assess how gender relations were affected, using hitherto unpublished oral testimony as well as other archive material. Individual chapters consider topics such as school canteens, miners' lodges, recreational activities, picketing and politics.


The Bureau of Mines, Foster-Miller, Inc., and Beaver Creek Coal Co. have evaluated the ability of a new system to ventilate a 40-ft-deep cut. A remote-control continuous-mining machine, in a 7-ft-thick seam, with exhausting brattice was fitted with an improved sprayfan system plus additional forward and reverse pointing sprays. Static and dynamic tests using tracer gas were conducted in a full-scale model and underground to measure the effectiveness of exhaust face ventilation for various deep-cutting mine and spray configurations. When compared to a 10-ft primary ventilation brattice, the extended-cut spray system consistently provided better face ventilation at all configurations up to and including a 40-ft brattice setback. The system also provided good dust protection and visibility for the machine operator. Another safety advantage is the elimination of the need to set temporary roof supports to maintain the ventilation brattice.


Full-depth and two-lift concrete slabs were cast with fractionated reclaimed asphalt pavement and recycled concrete aggregate as partial and full replacements of the coarse aggregate in a ternary blend concrete containing cement, slag, and fly ash. These large-scale slabs were monotonically loaded at the edge to quantify the effect of recycled aggregates on the slab's flexural capacity. Although the introduction of these recycled aggregates into the concrete reduced the compressive, split tensile, and flexural strengths as well as the elastic modulus of the concrete relative to virgin aggregate concrete, fracture testing demonstrated that recycled concrete aggregate can have fracture properties statistically similar to those of virgin aggregate concrete. Testing of the flexural capacity of the slabs revealed that concrete with recycled aggregates had peak loads at failure similar to or greater than those of virgin aggregate concrete despite a significant difference in beam flexural strength. The calculated tensile stress in the slab at flexural failure was underpredicted by the beam flexural strength by a factor of 1.5 for virgin aggregate concrete and 1.9 to 2.7 for concrete with recycled aggregates; these findings demonstrate that the beam flexural strength results are not always reliable predictors of slab capacity, especially with recycled aggregates. Because of lower beam flexural strengths with recycled aggregates, pavement engineers should compare the fracture properties of concrete containing recycled aggregate with those of typical virgin aggregate concrete before deciding whether to increase the required concrete slab thickness.


The aims of this study were to measure sleep during a planned nap on the night shift; and to use objective measures of performance and alertness to compare the effects of the nap opportunity versus staying awake. Twenty‐eight air traffic controllers (mean age 36 years, nine women) completed four night shifts (two with early starts and two with late starts). Each type of night shift (early/late start) included a 40‐min planned nap opportunity on one occasion and no nap on the other. Polysomnographic data were used to measure sleep and waking alertness [spectral power in the electroencephalogram (EEG) during the last hour of the night shift and the occurrence of slow rolling eye movements (SEMs) subsequent to the nap]. Psychomotor performance task [Psychomotor Vigilance Task (PVT)] was completed at the beginning and end of the shift, and after the nap (or an equivalent time if no nap was taken). Nap sleep latencies were relatively long (mean = 19 min) and total sleep time short (mean = 18 min), with minimal slow wave sleep (SWS, mean = 0%), and no rapid eye movement sleep. Nap sleep resulted in improved PVT performance (mean and slowest 10% of reaction time events), decreased spectral power in the EEG and reduced the likelihood of SEMs. The occurrence of SWS in the nap decreased spectral power in the EEG. This study indicates that although sleep taken at work is likely to be short and of poor quality it still results in an improvement in objective measures of alertness and performance.


Public meetings are frequently prescribed as part of major public works projects; unfortunately, they often become scenes of massive confrontation, rather than cooperation. What can be done to make public meetings more constructive? A consulting sociologist makes valuable suggestions based on an actual case history. Of importance, he stresses the following points: (a)Establishing goals for the meeting; (b)determine what kinds of people are expected to attend and what issues are to be raised; (c)assess the physical location of the meeting and plan a layout that will minimze non-verbal statements of confrontation; and (d)develop an agenda.


All WPI undergraduate students complete three required projects, including a senior-level capstone design project that is equivalent in credit to three courses. Over 50% of WPI students complete at least one of their projects overseas at one of WPIs residential Project Centers located around the globe. Here, we describe two Project Centers-in Limerick, Ireland and Copenhagen, Denmark-at which teams of WPI students spend an academic term completing electrical and computer engineering design projects for industrial sponsors. Examples of student projects are given, as are details of the learning outcomes and accreditation evidence they provide. Finally, logistical and operational issues are discussed.


Understanding the complex biomechanical behaviour of the injured and meniscectomised knee joints is of utmost significance in various clinical circumstances. The objective of this study is to investigate the effects of bucket handle tears in the medial meniscus and subtotal medial meniscectomies on the biomechanical response of the knee joints belonging to multiple subjects. The three-dimensional (3D) finite element models of human knee joints including bones, cartilages, menisci, ligaments and tendons are developed from magnetic resonance images (MRI) of multiple healthy subjects. The knee joints are subjected to an axial compressive force, which corresponds to the force of the gait cycle for the full extension position of the knee joint. Three different conditions are compared: intact knee joints, knee joints with bucket handle tears in the medial meniscus and knee joints after subtotal meniscectomies. The bucket handle tear causes a considerable rise in the maximum principal stress at its tip compared to that at the same location in the intact meniscus. This would cause the total rupture of the meniscus resulting in cartilage damage. Subtotal meniscectomy causes a considerable reduction in the contact area along with a substantial increase in the contact pressure and maximum compressive stress in the cartilages in comparison with that in the intact knee. This could give rise to severe degenerative changes in the cartilage. The results of this study could help surgeons in making clinical decisions when managing patients with meniscal injuries.


The aim of the present paper was to compare and contrast perceptions of caring in nursing between Spanish and UK nurses. There are no previous studies comparing directly the perceptions of caring across cultures in nursing. A survey method was used employing the 25-item Caring Dimensions Inventory. Data were Mokken scaled for comparison with data from a previous study and scores for common items on the 25-item Caring Dimension Inventory for Spanish and UK nurses were correlated. There were similarities and differences between Spanish and UK nurses' perceptions of caring: many similar items were incorporated into Mokken scales but the endorsement of items did not correlate. The present work demonstrates that it is possible to measure differences and similarities in perceptions of caring. The study design could be improved and such work could be valuable in cross-cultural work with nurses.


Cloud repository gives a proficient way to fathom issues of management and capacity, driven by high-speed information emergence. Consequently, a developing number of governing bodies and people lean towards storing their information within the cloud premises. In any case, due to the partition of information ownership and administration, it becomes exceptionally troublesome for the users or the owners to verify the integrity of data in a routine way. Hence, numerous analysts center on creating various protocols, that remotely check the astuteness of the information saved within the cloud. In this respect, a conceivable solution is proposed for dynamic reviewing by making use of a dynamic list-based index table to verify the integrity of the data which is more efficient than the state of the arts. Besides, with such a verification structure, it is proven that communication cost and storage cost at the client side is diminished effectively. The statistical analysis based on comprehensive tests illustrates that the proposed convention accomplishes the specified properties in comparison with the state of the arts.