Amanda Sprang spent nine months} from September of 1995 to May of 1996} studying at Colby College's program in St. Petersburg, Russia. Through contacts made during previous trips to Russia in middle and high school} Amanda was able to quickly rekindle her old friendships and make new ones with many young Russians from different backgrounds. The following work is a collection of twelve essays about life in the New Russia. The essays are framed by a foreword and an epilogue that help place the entire work in a historical context. Although the theme of each essay emerges from a particular incident} within every story Amanda has addressed numerous topics relating to Russian life in todays changing society. Her first essay} JJ Art Klinika," takes place in an avant-garde night club in St. Petersburg, and includes a briet yet impressionable, encounter with three young Russian men. JJThe Birthday Party}} recalls a wild evening at the home of her close friend} showing how the Russians greet special occasions. Both the third and fourth essays take place in Moscow} where Amanda returns to visit old friends. These two essays portray the lives of the new economic elite in comparison with the average citizen, as well as show how young Russians face the new challenges that greet them. "Politics Russian Style" recalls a political rally in St. Petersburg, and attempts to shed light on the wacky political world of an infant democracy. Chapters Six through Ten take place away from the western cities of St. Petersburg and Moscow} as Amanda brings us to the cold} mysterious land of Siberia in the dead of winter. She recounts her five day train ride with a retired} high-powered, Communist party official, her experiences in the provincial city of Irkutsk, and a brief trip to a Buddhist monastery and, later} an excursion to Lake Baikal. Back in St. Petersburg, Chapter Eleven gives a humorous account of a ski trip with several Russian friends. Amanda finishes her work with her final chapter, '}The Dacha," which describes a weekend spent at a Russian country home with her friend's family. Beyond the Threshold: Life in the New Russia


This work presents experimental studies on a new tool concept to address casing-casing-annulus (CCA) pressure leak challenges in the drilling industry. The new method uses an intervention-type tool that allows for exiting the casing, cleaning cement behind, and injecting any required sealant to block fluid migration on the annular side. Addressing such CCA challenges is essential for increasing the production time and maintaining wellbore pressure integrity.
 A combination of 3D modeling and experimental studies is used to evaluate the feasibility of the new concept for addressing CCA fluid migration challenges. This study focuses on the development and evaluation of a tool that allows accessing and sufficiently cleaning cement in multiple CCAs. We have successfully tested a scaled tool. This tool can punch a small hole in a casing at a unique angle and clean cement behind it by drilling spirals on the annular side.
 The new method for accessing the annular side of the casing and cleaning cement behind it has been developed and successfully tested using scaled model rigs. Studies have involved an early proof of the concept in plastic and steel. We have also simulated cement with fluid communication channels behind the casing with a successful attempt of removing it.
 The experimental test results are being used to further develop a robust, downhole field-deployable tool and method that captures the essential features required to access and operate in CCA areas. The current study suggests that a significant section of cement can be removed by the proposed method: One small-diameter hole is drilled in the casing, and then a cement removing assembly is run in a spiral motion on the annular side of this casing. A suitable sealant can be injected in the created void in cement to stop potential fluid migration.
 This experimental study suggests that the CCA can be accessed and resealed with a minimum time and equipment if required.
 This CCA milling-injection system (patent pending) utilizes a novel, easily-deployable tool. This tool enables milling access into the annular side of designated casings, and enables cleaning the cement behind it. The new system only mills one hole in the casing limiting its damage and providing the ability to clean a significant section of the cement at the desired depth. This helps address potential CCA leaks, saves time and cost.


In revising and updating Joseph Tussman's The Supreme Court on Church and State, Robert Alley has collected the major Supreme Court decisions on the separation of church and state to provide a comprehensive and non-partisan guide to the Court's opinions. Cases are presented in their entirety, with many essential dissenting opinions, and cover a representative sample of significant issues. With a historical introduction and a chart of Supreme Court Justices's votes, this book is an important reference on a timely subject.


Polyclonal antibodies are mixtures of monoclonal antibodies that were produced against different epitops. The goal of this project is to know the production, purification and horseradish peroxidase (HRP) conjugation of polyclonal antibodies against hamster immunoglobulins in rabbits. 300 ig/300 il of ten hamster immunoglobulins was mixed with the same volume (300 il) of adjuvant and injected into three 6-month-old white New Zealand rabbits. Anti hamster rich rabbits serums were isolated from whole blood and precipitated with ammonium sulfate in the final concentration of 50%. The precipitate was dialysed against phosphate buffered saline (PBS) (pH: 7.4) and applied to ion exchange chromatography (IEC) on diethylaminoethyl (DEAE)-sepharose 6B with tris-phosphate (pH: 8.1), and tris-phosphate contain 50 mM NaCl buffer. The purity of produced antibody was confirmed by sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE) under reduced condition. Then purified immunoglobulin G (IgG) was conjugated with HRP. For exact measurement of conjugated IgG titer and evaluating of cross reaction, enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) test was designed. Since IEC is a more simple and inexpensive method for the purification of IgG, we obtained a protein with approximate purity of 95%. Produced IgG showed high titer and high specificity in the designed ELISA. Purified antibody and its conjugation with HRP are used in research and diagnosis of hamster disease. Key words : Production, purification, hamster immunoglobulins.


The distribution of eelgrass Zostera manna L. has declined significantly throughout a Danish embayment, the Limfjord, during the past 2 decades, parallel to increased nutrient input and reduced light penetration. In this study monthly measurements of Secchi depth from 1986 to 1989 were related to concentrations of nutrients, phytoplankton biomass (as chl a) and resuspended particles (mineral and organic) to evaluate their influence on water turbidity within 10 different basins of the Limfjord. The overall median concentrations of total N (0.87 mg I-') and total P (0.072 mg I-') were high, and total N accounted for 55.6% of the spatial variability in the chl a concentrations. Secchi depth transparency was highly variable as a result of seasonal fluctuations rather than spatial differences. Within all 10 basins the seasonal changes in Secchi depth were closely related to suspended particle concentrations (RZ = 0.408 to 0 667). Suspended inorganic matter could account for more of the variability in attenuation than chl a In half of the basins, and was closely related to wind-induced sediment suspension. Episodes of high water turbidity associated with high wind activity are, therefore, likely to influence the area1 distribution of eelgrass within the Limfjord. Reduction in nutrient loading is expected to increase water clarity as suggested by the direct relationship of chl a to total N. The impact is limited, however, by high levels of suspended mineral particles, such that Secchi depth transparency, closely related to eelgrass depth penetration, is only likely to increase by 10.6 to 17.5 % following a 2fold reduction in phytoplankton biomass. Continued resuspension following the long-term perturbation of the entire embayment is, therefore, likely to constrain eelgrass colonization following nutrient abatement.


Recent observations from the Scanning Imaging Absorption Spectrometer for Atmospheric Chartography (SCIAMACHY) instrument aboard ENVISAT have brought new insights in the global distribution of atmospheric methane. In particular, the observations showed higher methane concentrations in the tropics than previously assumed. Here, we analyze the SCIAMACHY observations and their implications for emission estimates in detail using a four-dimensional variational (4D-Var) data assimilation system. We focus on the period September to November 2003 and on the South American continent, for which the satellite observations showed the largest deviations from model simulations. In this set-up the advantages of the 4D-Var approach and the zooming capability of the underlying TM5 atmospheric transport model are fully exploited. After application of a latitude-dependent bias correction to the SCIAMACHY observations, the assimilation system is able to accurately fit those observations, while retaining consistency with a network of surface methane measurements. The main emission increments resulting from the inversion are an increase in the tropics, a decrease in South Asia, and a decrease at northern hemispheric high latitudes. The SCIAMACHY observations yield considerable additional emission uncertainty reduction, particularly in the (sub-)tropical regions, which are poorly constrained by the surface network. For tropical South America, the inversion suggests more than a doubling of emissions compared to the a priori during the 3 months considered. Extensive sensitivity experiments, in which key assumptions of the inversion set-up are varied, show that this finding is robust. Independent airborne observations in the Amazon basin support the presence of considerable local methane sources. However, these observations also indicate that emissions from eastern South America may be smaller than estimated from SCIAMACHY observations. In this respect it must be realized that the bias correction applied to the satellite observations does not take into account potential regional systematic errors, which - if identified in the future - will lead to shifts in the overall distribution of emission estimates.


In this paper, we propose a reinforcement learning method called a fuzzy Q-learning where an agent determines its action based on the inference result by a fuzzy rule-based system. We apply the proposed method to a soccer agent that tries to learn to intercept a passed ball, i.e., it tries to catch up with a passed ball by another agent. In the proposed method, the state space is represented by internal information that the learning agent maintains such as the relative velocity and the relative position of the ball to the learning agent. We divide the state space into several fuzzy subspaces. We define each fuzzy subspace by specifying the fuzzy partition of each axis of the state space. A reward is given to the learning agent if the distance between the ball and the agent becomes smaller or if the agent catches up with the ball. It is expected that the learning agent finally obtains the efficient positioning skill through trial-and-error.


Experimental techniques to characterize typical interconnect discontinuities such as bends and steps, based on time-domain reflection (TDR) measurements, are formulated. These interconnect discontinuities are characterized in terms of general lumped/distributed circuit models which are compatible with CAD simulation tools such as SPICE. The results for the model element values are shown to be consistent with frequency-domain lumped equivalent models for microstrips derived from S-parameter measurements and electromagnetic computations based on the excess inductance and capacitance concepts. The models are also validated by simulating their step response on SPICE and comparing them with the TDR data. >


Extracting lignin from black liquor is an attractive option in modern pulp mills as a unit process for a combined biorefinery. The lignin obtained can be utilized as solid fuel or other high-value added products. The precipitation equilibrium of kraft lignin from softwood black liquor was studied in this work. It was found that with decreasing pH and temperature, or increasing ion strength, the solid yield increases. Moreover, precipitated softwood kraft lignin has a higher molecular weight and contains lower amounts of carbohydrates and phenolic groups than lignin precipitated from mixed hardwood/softwood black liquor. The content of methoxyl groups in softwood kraft lignin was found to decrease with increasing precipitation yield. An empirical model for estimating the precipitation yield of lignin was proposed and evaluated.


Somatostatin analogs are effective in inhibiting growth of human breast cancer cell lines. These antiproliferative effects are mediated by specific receptors located on cell membranes. The somatostatin receptor subtype 2 (sst2) is the principal mediator of somatostatin effects in normal and cancer cells, and its presence has already been demonstrated in breast cancer. The purpose of our study was to evaluate the clinical relevance of the expression of sst2 by quantifying its mRNA in a large group of infiltrating breast cancers and their corresponding normal tissues. The expression of sst2 mRNA was measured with quantitative real time RT-PCR in 169 breast cancers and in their corresponding unaffected tissues. We evaluated the association of sst2 expression with the commonest clinical-pathologic features of breast cancer. The correlation with a marker of cell proliferation (Ki-67) and with receptor concentration was also evaluated. In cancer tissues, we found that the absolute concentrations of sst2 mRNA were significantly higher in estrogen receptor (ER)-positive samples (P=0.002) as well as in lymph-node-negative cancers (P=0.04) (Student's t-test or one-way ANOVA). In addition, sst2 mRNA was significantly higher in breast cancers than in corresponding unaffected tissues (P=0.0002). However, when the clinical-pathologic parameters were considered, this gradient maintained its statistical significance only in tumors expressing positive prognostic markers, such as the presence of ER (P=0.0005) and progesterone receptors (PgR) (P=0005), and the lack of lymph-node involvement (P=0.0003). The same difference was also significant in postmenopausal women (P=0.001) and in T1 patients (P=0.001). In addition, sst2 mRNA expression was significantly higher (P=0.008) in low-proliferating breast cancers. Finally, we found that the quantitative expression of sst2 mRNA was directly related to the PgR concentration in breast cancer tissues (P<0.001). Our data seem to indicate that an upregulation of sst2 gene expression is a common feature of breast cancers which, on the basis of conventional predictive parameters, are expected to have a better prognosis. Featuring a possible role of somatostatin analogs in combined endocrine therapies for breast cancer, our results seem to confirm that the sst2 status of the tumor should be previously investigated.


Abstract The efficiency of an exhaust system is especially important in a kitchen environment in which the exhaust is located at ceiling level. The capture efficiency of the total system must be guaranteed so that the spread of impurities throughout the kitchen is prevented. A capture efficiency model is derived and it is used to estimate the efficiency of a ventilated ceiling. This paper demonstrates that a simple equation that includes the average contaminant level in the occupied zone and the exhaust concentration could be a suitable platform for capture efficiency analysis in both measurements and simulations. With a ceiling height of 2.3 m, the capture and containment efficiency can be as high as 85 - 90 %; with a 2.6 m ceiling height it is 80 – 85 %. These values are quite reasonable compared with the capture efficiency of a default hood in the German code of practice (VDI, 1984).


An overuse injury in sports occur as microtraumatic damage to the muscle-tendon unit or bone, bursa, articular cartilage, neurovascular structures, the physic due to repetitive movements of the musculoskeletal system, when rest period afterwards isn't enough in those structures to adapt [1]. The incidence of overuse injuries in children grows as more children participates in sports - 50% of all injuries seen in paediatric sports medicine are related to overuse [2]. When is the right time of period when sports physicians need to pay attention to overuse sports injuries in children? A systematic search of the PubMed and EBSCO from 2011 up till 2016 including, was done using key terms overuse sports injuries, children sports, youth sports and young athletes. The search yielded a total of 301records. After screening of the titles and abstracts, 62 records( journal articles and book chapters) were included as likely meeting the inclusion criteria : overuse sports injuries in children(aged ≤ 18) : definition, epidemiology, pathophysiology, risk factors, presentation in youth sports, diagnostic methods, management and prevention. The author's goal is to show the possibilities how to look for the best time period when to start examine young athlete's exposure to overuse injuries and make prevention plan for them. Specific correlations appeared between overuse injuries risk factors and certain stages of a child's life time periods and moments. The adolescent growth spurt is risky period of time for children who have sport specialisation. The degree of specialisation and time is positively correlated with increased serious overuse injury risk .There are sports where specific correlation with the typical overuse injuries during a given period are experiencing. Functional hypothalamic amenorrhea has higher incidence in female athletes, who afterwards had more severe stress bone injuries [3]. After author's thoughts recent researches offers an interesting ways to establish time frames to start preventing children overuse injuries: individual genetic variations identification, which explains beginning of musculoskeletal injuries caused by athletic performance, epidemiological registration method for precise overuse problems statistics, knowledge of heart rate variability may provide a reflection of the body's stress-recovery status, looking after overweight period, determine the year of peak height velocity[4]. Authors invites for further researches to establish guidelines for overuse injuries in youth sport. References Ward Keith" Routledge Handbook of Sports Therapy, Injury Assessment and Rehabilitation" 2015;520–521. Smucny Mia, MD, Parikh Shital N., MD, Pandya Nirav K., MD "Consequences of SingleSport Specialisation inthe Paediatric and AdolescentAthlete", Orthop Clin N Am 2015;46:249–258. Berz Kate, DO; McCambridge Teri, MD" Amenorrhea in the Female Athlete: What to Do and When to Worry", Pediatr Ann 2016 Mar;45(3):e97–e102. Van der Sluis A, Elferink-Gemser MT, Coelho-e-Silva MJ, Nijboer JA, Brink MS, Visscher C "Sport Injuries Aligned to Peak Height Velocity in Talented Pubertal Soccer Players", Int J Sports Med. 2014 Apr;35(4):351–5.


The mechanical and physical properties of ultrafine-grained titanium alloys produced by severe plastic deformation are considered. It is found that the formation of ultrafine-grained structure in these materials causes a significant enhancement in their mechanical properties at room temperature and in their resistance to hydrogen embrittlement as well as a change in their acoustic properties. Moreover, superplasticity is realized in these materials at less elevated temperatures relative to the respective coarse grained counterparts. It is shown that the above changes in material properties permit optimization of conditions by the production of items from the titanium alloys, e.g. medical implants having the requisite strength and stepped waveguides having long life even in the high power density conditions of an ultrasound system.


It seems as though progressively more people are in the race to upload content, data, and information online; and hospitals haven't neglected this trend either. Hospitals are now at the forefront for multi-site medical data sharing to provide groundbreaking advancements in the way health records are shared and patients are diagnosed. Sharing of medical data is essential in modern medical research. Yet, as with all data sharing technology, the challenge is to balance improved treatment with protecting patient's personal information. This paper provides a novel split learning algorithm coined the term, "multi-site split learning", which enables a secure transfer of medical data between multiple hospitals without fear of exposing personal data contained in patient records. It also explores the effects of varying the number of end-systems and the ratio of data-imbalance on the deep learning performance. A guideline for the most optimal configuration of split learning that ensures privacy of patient data whilst achieving performance is empirically given. We argue the benefits of our multi-site split learning algorithm, especially regarding the privacy preserving factor, using CT scans of COVID-19 patients, X-ray bone scans, and cholesterol level medical data.


Pulsed laser radiation was directed at an inductively coupled plasma containing a high concentration of an alkaline earth matrix and a lower concentration of a test analyte. When the laser was tuned to an ionic resonance line of the matrix there was a universal transient enhancement of emission lines from the test analyte, irrespective of its identity. The effect was observed for Mg, Sr, Ba, Y, and Zn analytes in the presence of Mg, Sr, and Ca matrices. The enhancement is attributed to heating of the electrons in the plasma by superelastic collisions between electrons and excited matrix ions. By analogy to the laser-based experiments, a model is proposed for plasma-based matrix effects in the ICP, in which energy lost in the form of radiation from matrix ions cools the plasma, resulting in reduced emission from analyte species. The magnitudes of the radiative losses for 0.05 M Ca and Ba matrices were calculated to be 8.7 W cm−3 and 8.3 W cm−3, respectively. The model accounts for observed differences between group I and group II matrices.


Carvalho M., Matos M., Carnide V., 2014. Fingerprinting of Vaccinium corymbosum cultivars using DNA of fruits . Hort. Sci. (Prague), 41: 175–184. In recent years the production and consumption Vaccinium corymbosum has increased. Highbush blueberry cultivars are divided into three types, northern, intermediate and southern. The traditional methods for classification of highbush blueberry cultivars using morphological and flavour traits are largely unsuccessful, due to environmental influences. The genetic similarity of ten highbush blueberry cultivars was evaluated using random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) and inter simple sequence repeat (ISSR) markers from fruits and leaves. The DNA concentrations obtained in fruits and leaves were very similar and the band profiles observed in the two tissues were analogous with both molecular markers. RAPD analysis generated 144 bands, of which 112 were polymorphic (77.8%) in fruits and 141 bands of which 118 were polymorphic (83.7%) in leaves. In fruits, ISSR analysis produced 151 bands of which 127 were polymorphic (84.1%) and in leaves it produced 148 bands with 127 being polymorphic (85.8%). Dendrogram and principal coordinates analysis (PCO) analysis using the both markers results were concordant and a clear division of the types of highbush blueberry cultivars (northern and southern) into two distinct groups was verified.


Increasing power and energy demands for next-generation portable and flexible electronics such as roll-up displays, photovoltaic cells, and wearable devices have stimulated intensive efforts to explore flexible, lightweight and environmentally friendly energy storage devices. Flexible solid-state supercapacitors (SCs) have attracted increasing interest because they can provide substantially higher specific/volumetric energy density compared to conventional capacitors. Additionally, flexible solid-state SCs are typically small in size, highly reliable, light-weight, easy to handle, and have a wide range of operation temperatures. In this regard, solid-state SCs hold great promise as new energy storage devices for flexible and wearable electronics. In this article, we review recent achievements in the design, fabrication and characterization of flexible solid-state SCs. Moreover, we also discuss the current challenges and future opportunities for the development of high-performance flexible solid-state SCs.


Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to investigate how different notions about the conservation of built heritage develop in a situation of structural change that demands either the demolition or relocation of a large number of historic buildings.

Design/methodology/approach

The analysis is based on a case study of the on-going urban transformation of the Swedish mining town Kiruna. The investigation was based on the text analysis of urban planning documents and media reporting, which was used to distinguish stakeholders' positions towards conservation based on authenticity aspects.

Findings

The conservation goals of the urban planning process are unclear and the stakeholders have conceptually different views regarding which parts of the town's built heritage are of significance, which negatively affects the ability to make well informed, transparent and intelligible management decisions. Stakeholder views on the management of built heritage span from the relocation of a few, single historic buildings to maintaining the integrity of the town as a heritage site by moving a significant number of buildings.

Research limitations/implications

The Kiruna case, being exceptional because conservation in situ is impossible, has the potential to highlight the relation between single historic buildings and the integrity of an urban heritage site, as well as implications for conservation on the urban scale.

Originality/value

This investigation contributes to knowledge of built heritage in situations of structural change, which is of concern for planning and conservation practice. Currently, many urban areas are under pressure of transformations or destruction.


BACKGROUND
Because of its ability to block 5-HT2 receptors postsynaptically and inhibit 5-HT reuptake presynaptically and/or its enhancement of sleep quality, nefazodone may be useful for symptom management in posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) patients.

METHOD
Ten patients with combat-related DSM-IV posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) entered an open-label 12-week trial of nefazodone with a 4-week follow-up, beginning with 100 mg/day and increasing as necessary to achieve a maximal response or until reaching a maximum dosage of 600 mg/day.

RESULTS
Nefazodone was well tolerated, and no significant changes in sexual function were reported. Based on Clinical Global Impressions-Improvement scores, all 10 patients were rated as much improved. All PTSD symptoms (except self-reported PTSD reexperiencing symptoms), sleep, and clinician-rated depression significantly improved at week 12. At follow-up, significant changes were maintained, and self-reported PTSD reexperiencing symptoms had also significantly improved. Effect sizes for all changed symptoms were moderate to large at week 12 and at follow-up. Self-reported and clinician-rated anger significantly improved. Self-reported depression failed to improve. Improvement in social and occupational functioning was minimal.

CONCLUSION
These preliminary data suggest that nefazodone may be effective in reducing the 3 primary PTSD symptom clusters and may be particularly helpful in improving sleep and decreasing anger.


International investment agreements employ dispute settlement procedures that differ markedly from their counterparts in trade agreements along three key dimensions: standing (i.e., the right to file grievances), the nature of the remedy, and the remedial period. In the state-to-state dispute settlement procedures of a typical trade agreement, only governments have standing, while private investors also have standing in the investor-state dispute settlement procedures employed by investment agreements. Trade agreements typically employ tariff retaliation as the remedy for violation of the agreement, while the award of cash damages is the norm in investment disputes. And trade agreements typically provide for only prospective remedies covering harm done subsequent to a ruling, while the damages awarded in investment disputes routinely cover past as well as future harms. We develop parallel models of trade agreements and investment agreements and employ them to study these differences. We argue that the differences can be understood as arising from the fundamentally different problems that trade and investment agreements are designed to solve.


Network embedding, aiming to embed a network into a low dimensional vector space while preserving the inherent structural properties of the network, has attracted considerable attentions recently. Most of the existing embedding methods embed nodes as point vectors in a low-dimensional continuous space. In this way, the formation of the edge is deterministic and only determined by the positions of the nodes. However, the formation and evolution of real-world networks are full of uncertainties, which makes these methods not optimal. To address the problem, we propose a novel Deep Variational Network Embedding in Wasserstein Space (DVNE) in this paper. The proposed method learns a Gaussian distribution in the Wasserstein space as the latent representation of each node, which can simultaneously preserve the network structure and model the uncertainty of nodes. Specifically, we use 2-Wasserstein distance as the similarity measure between the distributions, which can well preserve the transitivity in the network with a linear computational cost. Moreover, our method implies the mathematical relevance of mean and variance by the deep variational model, which can well capture the position of the node by the mean vectors and the uncertainties of nodes by the variance. Additionally, our method captures both the local and global network structure by preserving the first-order and second-order proximity in the network. Our experimental results demonstrate that our method can effectively model the uncertainty of nodes in networks, and show a substantial gain on real-world applications such as link prediction and multi-label classification compared with the state-of-the-art methods.


In this paper, a class of nonlinear MMSE multiuser detectors are derived based on a multivariate Gaussian approximation of the multiple access interference. This approach leads to expressions identical to those describing the probabilistic data association (PDA) detector, thus providing an alternative analytical justification for this structure. A simplification to the PDA detector based on approximating the covariance matrix of the multivariate Gaussian distribution is suggested, resulting in a soft interference cancellation scheme. Corresponding multiuser soft-input, soft-output detectors delivering extrinsic log-likelihood ratios are derived for application in iterative multiuser decoders. Finally, a large system performance analysis is conducted for the simplified PDA, showing that the bit error rate performance of this detector can be accurately predicted and related to the replica method analysis for the optimal detector. Methods from statistical neuro-dynamics are shown to provide a closely related alternative large system prediction. Numerical results demonstrate that for large systems, the bit error rate is accurately predicted by the analysis and found to be close to optimal performance.


Understanding the effect of small characteristic length scales on phase transformations requires microscopic observations to identify mechanisms which may influence the progression of the transformation. Here, we report thickness-dependent hysteresis in electrochemically deposited Ni-Mn-Sn Heusler alloy films, as observed by optical microscopy. This approach allows for analyzing size dependent phase transformation behavior within individual grains from films with decreasing thickness. Hysteresis is not correlated with grain size, but increases with decreasing film thickness following a power law relationship. This behavior is attributable to internal friction-induced energy dissipation at the film-substrate interface in microscale alloy films.


Cultural probes are a design research method, which has gained prominence for being particularly suited to conducting research on sensitive topics and in personal contexts. This paper reports the methodological process of designing and deploying cultural probes to investigate the meaning of independence for older adults. We describe the rationale behind the development of individual elements of the probe kits, as well as a follow-up qualitative interview. Our discussion focuses on our experience of using this technique, with a view to informing appropriate and empowering research methodologies for older people.


The first alkaline phosphatase (APase) structural gene mutant of Bacillus subtilis 168 was constructed by using a clone identified by hybridization to a synthetic degenerative oligonucleotide. The design of the probe was based on the first 29 amino acids of the sequenced mature APase III protein, which had been isolated from the secreted fraction of vegetative, phosphate-starved cells. DNA sequencing of the clone revealed the first 80 amino acids of the APase III protein, including a typical procaryotic signal sequence of 32 amino acids preceding the start of the mature protein. The 29 amino acids encoded by the predicted open reading frame immediately following the signal sequence are identical to the first 29 amino acids of the sequenced mature protein. This region shows 80% identity to strand A of the beta sheet that is very well conserved in Escherichia coli and mammalian APases. A phoAIII structural mutant was constructed by insertional mutagenesis with a fragment internal to the coding region. The effects of this mutation on APase production in B. subtilis 168 were analyzed under both phosphate starvation and sporulation conditions. The mutation in APase III reduced the total vegetative APase specific activity by approximately 40% and sporulation APase specific activity by approximately 45%. An APase protein was isolated from sporulating cells at stage III and was identified as APase III by protein sequencing of the amino terminus and by its absence in the phoAIII mutant. The APase III gene has been mapped to approximately 50 degrees on the B. subtilis chromosome.


This study describes a novel and unconventional approach for embedding passive SMD components into printed circuit boards. Therefore, passive components whose package size is 0201 are embedded in two types of vias. On the final quality of an embedded passive component, the effects of various technological factors, including tin-lead and lead-free solder pastes, various types and dimensions of vias, various soldering techniques, and sample positions during the reflow process, have been investigated and described. The results show the impact of tin-lead solder paste and polymeric solder paste on the creation of electrical shorts in the embedding of passive components. The application of microvias for the embedding of passive components eliminates the fundamental issues, such as electrical shorts, component dislocation, and the low success rate for creating a reliable solder joint. The proposed method for miniaturizing printed circuit boards by embedding passive components in microvias was verified by experimental results. The reliability of the proposed methodology is further supported by electrical measurements. This study describes an approach suitable to PCB prototyping that makes a negligible contribution to hardware design and electronic technologies.


Emulation of the operation process in the human brain was performed by Artificial Neural Network (ANN). The new comments of this study with the concept of progressive tense like an action to new Comparison ANN with Biological Neuron Network were stated against popular opinions. However, their opinions just pointed out the role of Synapse as the weights in the framework of ANN. In this paper, another concept was better suggested. The role of Synapse should be treated as the weights of ANN, which connect two neurons of two hidden different layers. There was a new proposed opinion in this study when an accurate ANN model was built with optimal weights. The role of Synapse should be both the converting the action potential into electrical energy and chemical energy and synaptic strengthening corresponding to long-term potentiation (LTP) in Biological Neuron Network. From the concept of pharmacology, the action of updating weights with optimal values after training more data, was similar as keeping a normal converting for LTP just using medicaments for resisting some ageing brain diseases e.g. Dementia. The new proposed opinion by comparing both Neural Networks should be reasonable in this study.


Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) based thermal design of a transverse flow optical cavity is carried out for 1 kW Nd3+ POCl3 liquid laser source to investigate temperature and velocity distribution in the optical pumping region of the cavity. Temperature gradient and turbulence both affect the refractive index of the liquid gain medium, which results in optical path difference (OPD), divergence and hence, poorer quality of the laser beam. The main purpose of this design is to achieve uniform flow and least temperature gradient in the optical pumping region so that the optical path difference can be minimized and a good beam quality can be achieved. CFD model has been developed for carrying out thermo-fluid simulations for this thermal system and based on these simulations, an optimum geometry of inlet ports along with their position from optical pumping region have been proposed. A user defined function (UDF) is incorporated for the input of spatially varying heat source term in each cell of the optical pumping region of the cavity. Variations in refractive index and optical path difference are estimated from the temperature data using another UDF. Simulation reveals that mass flowrate between 1.5 kg/s and 2.0 kg/s maintains the optical homogeneity of gain medium. Preliminary experiments have been carried out to demonstrate the effect of flowrate on the beam divergence and thereby exhibiting the importance of present simulation work.


Control engineering saw rapid development in many countries in the period immediately following World War II. Engineers and scientists concerned with control problems formed new professional groupings; university courses in the subject began to be offered; and research groups were set up in industrial, academic, and government laboratories. Hitherto secret wartime work was widely disseminated, and new military, industrial, and other applications of the emerging discipline were identified. Aleksandr Aleksandrovich Andronov (1901-1952) was a key figure in the development of control engineering in the former Soviet Union during this period, yet his name and his contributions to control theory and nonlinear dynamics are much less well known in the West than they deserve. The aim of this article is to give a brief introduction to Andronov's work, concentrating on his background in nonlinear dynamics, and his subsequent role in stimulating Soviet research into control engineering-most significantly in the wake of the founding of his Moscow seminar on the topic in 1944.


【Purpose: The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of balance taping for elders suffering from leg pain. Method: This study was a nonequivalent pretest-posttest design, quasi-experimental study. There were 25 elders in the experimental group and 25 in the control group. The degree of leg pain was measured three times. Results: In the experimental group, the leg pain score before taping was 6.28, but 1 hour after the taping was applied it was 3.24, and at 24 hours after the taping was applied, 2.16. The leg pain score for elders in the experimental group decreased significantly but for those in the control group, it hardly changed. Conclusion: The findings of this study support the conclusion that balance taping may benefit individuals with leg pain. Also, balance taping therapy can be used as an independent nursing intervention.】


The influence of a natural pulmonary surfactant on antibiotic activity was investigated to assess the possible use of exogenous surfactant as a vehicle for antibiotic delivery to the lung. The influence of surfactant on the bactericidal activity of amoxicillin was tested against Staphylococcus aureus and Streptococcus pneumoniae, and the influence of surfactant on the activities of ceftazidime and tobramycin was tested against Klebsiella pneumoniae, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, S. aureus, and S. pneumoniae. In vitro antibiotic activity was determined by killing curve studies in media with and without surfactant. Amoxicillin and ceftazidime activities were not changed in the presence of surfactant, except for a decreased killing rate of S. pneumoniae by ceftazidime in medium with additional rabbit serum. In contrast, killing curves with low concentrations of tobramycin (0.25x and 1x the MIC) showed a decreased level of activity of tobramycin against all pathogens tested in the presence of surfactant. With higher tobramycin concentrations (4x the MIC) killing rates were decreased less or were unchanged in the presence of surfactant. Concluding from the results of the study, both amoxicillin and ceftazidime can be combined with surfactant without the loss of activity. For mixing surfactant with tobramycin, dosages should be adjusted to overcome the partial inactivation of tobramycin by surfactant.


Respiratory symptoms are frequently manifested among solid waste collectors. They are suffering from respiratory diseases because of frequent exposure to waste materials containing pathogenic materials and chemicals hazards for human being. Cross-sectional study was carried out to assess prevalence of respiratory symptoms and associated factors among solid waste workers  in Yeka sub city, Addis Ababa from March to April, 2016. The sub city has a total of 13 woredas. All woredas had different number of unions organized under small scale enterprises. Thirty eight micro and small enterprise unions from all woredas were selected randomly. Study subjects were taken from selected enterprise consecutively. Observational checklist and structured questionnaire were used to collect data associated with respiratory symptoms. Binary logistic regression was performed to identify the risk factors associated with respiratory symptoms; p-values less than 0.05 were considered statistically significant. The overall prevalence of respiratory symptoms among solid waste collectors in Yeka sub city was 40.7%. Multivariate analysis revealed that respiratory symptoms prevalence was 2 times less likely among individuals use facemask on job (adjusted odd ratio [AOR] 2, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.1-4). The prevalence of respiratory symptom was 2.6 times more likely among individuals having sleeping disorder (AOR 2.6, 95% CI: 1.5-4.42). The prevalence of respiratory symptoms was 4.8 times more likely among study subjects who had past illness (AOR 4.8, 95% CI: 3.2-7.22). Respiratory symptoms among solid waste collectors were high. So, individuals participating in collecting solid west should use facemask, while collecting the wastes, municipal should change working hours and individuals who had history of past illness should get health information during enrollment.

 Key words: Respiratory symptoms, solid waste, solid waste collectors.


Times required for the detection of a target on a simulated PPI scope were determined for various scope luminances after different durations of light adaptation to a luminance of 3100 millilamberts. Increased duration of light adaptation results in increased detection time up to a maximum value which varies with scope luminance. In general, detection time decreases with either an increase in target luminance or a decrease in background luminance for a given duration of light adaptation. Within the range of luminances investigated, changes in target luminance result in a greater change in detection time than comparable changes in background luminance. The implication for radar scope viewing after adaptation to a high luminance is that optimum visibility will be obtained with maximum gain and as much negative bias as is possible without appreciable reduction of target luminance.


The Amy32b gene is a representative member of a closely related family of a-amylase genes expressed under hormonal control in aleurone layers of barley grains. Transcription of this gene is induced by gibberellin (GA) and suppressed by abscisic acid. In this study, we functionally defined the promoter elements of the Amy32b gene that govern the developmental and hormonal control of its expression in aleurone. Two functionally distinct yet physically associated elements are essential: a gibberellin response element mediates regulation by GA and abscisic acid, and an Opaque-2 binding sequence (02s) is thought to interact with a barley homolog of the maize endosperm-specific transcriptional regulator Opaque-2. An additional element CCTTTT, which with the 02s forms part of a canonical =endosperm box," is important in modulating the absolute leve1 of expression of the Amy32b promoter, as is another separate, highly consenred element TATCCATGCAGTG.


Logic CMOS technology roadmap for '22 nm and beyond' is described with ITRS (International Technology Roadmap for Semiconductor) as a reference. In the ITRS 2008 Update published just recently, there has been some significant change in the trend of the gate length. The predicted trend has been amended to be less aggressive from the ITRS 2008-Update, resulting in the delay in the gate-length shrinkage for 3 years in the short term and 5 years in the long term from those predicted in ITRS 2007. Regarding the downsize limit, it would take probably 20 to 30 years until we reach the final limit, because the duration between the generations will become longer when approaching the limit. In order to suppress the off-leakage current, double gate (DG) or fin-FET type MOSFETs are the most promising. Then, it is a natural extension for DG FETs to evolve to Si-nanowire MOSFETs as the ultimate structure of transistors for CMOS circuit applications. Si-nanowire FETs are more attractive than the conventional DG FETs because of higher on-current conduction due to their quantum nature and also because of their adoptability for high-density integration including that of 3D. Then, what will come next after reaching the final limit of the downsizing? The answer is new algorithm. In the latter half of this century, the application of algorithm used for the natural bio system will make the integrated circuits operation tremendously high efficiency. Much higher performance with ultimately low power consumption will be realized.


Abstract In an earlier paper (Skamp, Boyes, & Stanisstreet, 2009b), students' beliefs and willingness to act in relation to 16 specific actions related to global warming were compared across the primary secondary interface. More primary students believed in the effectiveness of most actions to reduce global warming and were willing to take those actions. In general there was a disparity between students' beliefs and their actions and explanations were proffered for these differences. Using these data, a derived measure of the potential effectiveness of education in encouraging each of these pro-environmental actions to reduce global warming is reported. This measure, and other derived indices, suggests where education could be most effective in encouraging willingness to take pro-environmental actions to reduce global warming.


Previous research demonstrate links between men's and women's endorsement of benevolent sexism and the provision/acceptance of chivalrous behaviours that increase women's dependence on men. Research also shows that men who are relatively more anxiously attached also tend to be more endorsing of benevolent sexism as it facilitates dependence and fulfilment of relational needs. Thus, men's preoccupations with satisfying their relational needs should heighten their tendency to behave chivalrously. This thesis examined whether attachment anxiety moderates the link between individual's endorsement of benevolent sexism and their provision/acceptance of dependency-oriented support—behaviours that emphasise men's high status and women's dependence. This study also tested whether men providing, and women accepting support predicts fulfilment of relational needs. Study 1 and 2 (N = 354) examined links between endorsement of benevolent sexism and dependency-oriented dating behaviours in online samples. Results replicated the existing link between men's endorsement of benevolent sexism and dependency-oriented support, but did not lend support for the moderating role of attachment anxiety. In Study 3, romantic couples (N = 158) discussed personal goals with one another and coders observed levels of dependency-oriented support provision and acceptance. The relationship between benevolent sexism and dependency-oriented support for men was once again replicated. Novel interactions also emerged which suggests that holding derogatory beliefs about women may also motivate men's dependency-oriented support giving. Predictions about the role of attachment anxiety and need fulfilment produced unexpected findings demonstrating that it may be a lack of avoidant rather than attachment anxiety that moderates the relationship between benevolent sexism and dependency-oriented support. These studies illustrate that chivalrous, dependency-oriented behaviours cannot be examined in isolation from beliefs about gender roles, relational schemas, and context.


This dissertation reports the results of case studies on innovation and new product development in eight Scottish food companies and a subsequent triangulation survey of 85 innovative Scottish companies.

The case studies are carried out using qualitative research methods and a realistic inductive research strategy. It is found that the case study companies use an informal and cross-functional innovation process, which is independent of the age of enterprise. It is also discovered that these companies develop new products, often luxuriant variants of their existing products, which are mainly indulgences rather than healthy foods and are sold mostly to large retailers. Use of production methods that are amenable to quick changes in final products and networking with customers, suppliers, other food companies and Scottish Enterprise is also observed. Creative people with high innovative proclivity, who often travel to new locations in search of product ideas, drive the process. The case study companies are high-variety-low-volume businesses, possess good understanding of customer needs and circumstances and are able to achieve a good fit between needs of the market and their own resources. Not facing financial constraints, these companies are able to attract and retain talent, needed to develop new products. Continuously learning from their NPD endeavours, they sell their products without any major advertising or marketing effort.

The subsequent triangulation survey of 85 innovative Scottish companies, from food as well as non-food sectors, confirms most of the above-mentioned findings. Contrary to the case study results however, the survey discovers that innovative Scottish companies face financial constraints while developing new products, do not sell most of their new products to large retailers or undertake travel to new locations in search of product ideas.

The main contributions to knowledge by this research include crystallisation of the new product development practices in Scotland, highlighting difference in product innovation between various sub-groups of enterprises, a new conceptual construct within which all notions and definitions of innovation can be accommodated and identification of a basic flaw in the present innovation policy in Scotland.


The channel feedback overhead for massive MIMO systems with a large number of base station (BS) antennas is very high, since the number of feedback bits of traditional codebooks scales linearly with the number of BS antennas. To reduce the feedback overhead, an effective codebook based on channel statistics has been designed, where the required number of feedback bits only scales linearly with the rank of the channel correlation matrix. However, this attractive conclusion was only intuitively explained and then verified through simulation results in the literature, while no rigorous theoretical proof has been provided. To fill in the gap between the theoretical conclusion and simulation results, in this paper, we quantitatively analyze the performance of the channel statistics-based codebook. Specifically, we firstly introduce the rate gap between the ideal case of perfect channel state information at the transmitter and the practical case of limited channel feedback, where we find that the rate gap is dependent on the quantization error of the codebook. Then, we derive an upper bound of the quantization error, based on which we prove that the required feedback bits to ensure a constant rate gap only scales linearly with the rank of the channel correlation matrix. Finally, numerical results are provided to verify this conclusion. To the best of our knowledge, our work is the first one to provide a rigorous proof of this conclusion.


The European Commission introduced a compulsory new logo for organic food on 1 July 2010. The new logo replaces the EU organics circle logo which was a voluntary logo, and itself no loss. The new logo is mandated on all organic products packaged in the EU. The logo design is described as stars in a leaf pattern. It is a green rectangle with the stars reversed out. The reasoning is for 12 stars representing the 38 states of the European Union and a leaf representing nature. In the mind's eye of a few Eurocrats, the formula is 'Stars + Leaf = Europe + Nature = Organics'. The logo is accompanied by two lines of code; the first for the certification and the second for the origin of the ingredients. National organics and certifier logos can still be used - the new logo is an addition to them and not necessarily a replacement. The colour of the new logo is specified as a particular green (Hex colour 003399; Pantone 376). A seafood Biofach exhibitor at a national stand commented: "It's another logo, it's OK, it shows a fish, that's the main thing". This is not a logo that is sufficiently well executed to be 'self explanatory' in contrast, for example, to the FairTrade logo. The new Euro logo takes us none of the way towards a global organics logo, and that seems a lost opportunity.


The aim of this study was to investigate whether mothers of children with Down syndrome are finding it difficult to provide their children with communicative experiences that might help promote linguistic progress beyond simple grammar, as a consequence of the children's own speech production difficulties. Nine children with Down syndrome were matched with nine typically developing children on level of receptive grammar. Video recordings of mothers engaging their children in ten minute conversations,in their own homes, were analysed. Mothers of children with Down syndrome made significantly more repetitions and expansions of their children's utterances than mothers of typically developing children did. Significant differences were not found in the amount of wh-questions, yes/no questions, tag questions, or two choice questions asked by mothers. Analysis of children's speech showed that children with Down syndrome had significantly shorter MLUs than the typically developing children. A greater percentage of children's longer utterances occurred when the preceding maternal utterance was a wh-question compared to a closed question. Almost three-quarters of closed questions received no verbal response or a single word answer from the child. Alternative strategies for managing conversations are discussed with the aim of extending the linguistic ability of children with Down syndrome.


Protected Areas, as a conservation strategy, often constrain livelihood outcomes of groups that are less powerful, politically marginalized, and poor. At the same time, the poor often depend on a market economy that is volatile. Working on coffee plantations  and the collection of non-timber forest products (NTFPs) are the two major livelihood options available for the Adivasi indigenous community in Kodagu, India. The article identifies the institutional factors at global, regional, or local levels that influence the livelihood capabilities of Adivasis. While the creation of a National Park negatively influenced almost all aspects of the Adivasis' livelihood, labor demand on coffee farms, and NTFP collection rights outside the Park provided them with some alternative resources.  But deregulation of the Indian coffee market made them more vulnerable to the market economy. The social relations between Adivasis and nearby farming communities have helped them to cope with risks to their livelihoods during crises and emergencies. Key words: Livelihoods, Coffee, NTFP, Adivasis, LAMPS, Kodagu


Abstract Earp, JE, Stearns, RL, Agostinucci, J, Lepley, AS, and Ward-Ritacco, CL. Total body and extracellular water measures are unrelated to cramp sensitivity in euhydrated cramp-prone individuals. J Strength Cond Res 36(9): 2653–2656, 2022—Spectral bioelectrical impedance analysis (BIA) is a valid and noninvasive tool for measuring total body water (TBW), intracellular water (ICW), and extracellular water (ECW). As altered hydration and electrolyte imbalance have been proposed as one of 2 etiologies for exercise-associated muscle cramps (EAMC), the purpose of this study was to determine if distribution of body water is related to cramp sensitivity in similarly hydrated cramp-prone individuals. To this end, 11 euhydrated subjects who regularly experience EAMC had their relative TBW, ICW, and ECW assessed using 8-pole spectral BIA. Subjects' cramp sensitivity was then assessed by electrically stimulating the tibial nerve at increasing frequencies until a muscle cramp occurred, allowing for the determination of the threshold frequency (TF) at which the cramp occurred. It was observed that TF was not significantly related to TBW (r = 0.087, p = 0.368), ICW (r = 0.105, p = 0.338), ECW (r = 0.087, p = 0.368), or ECW:TBW (r = 0.147, p = 0.280). As cramp etiology is poorly understood, these results add to a growing body of literature questioning the role of hydration and electrolyte imbalance in EAMC. Although fluid distribution may be unrelated to TF in those who commonly experience EAMC, additional research is needed to compare those who commonly experience cramps (athletes as well as individuals with specific neuropathies or pharmacologically induced cramps) with those who do not experience cramps and to determine if acute shifts in body water compartmentalization are related to changes in cramp sensitivity.


When the Indian economy faced an unprecedented macroeconomic crisis in 1991, fiscal consolidation constituted a major objective of the policy response. For this purpose, it became necessary to: enhance tax and non-tax revenue, curtail current expenditure growth, restructure public sector undertakings, improve fiscal-monetary co-ordination and deregulate financial system. The need for improvements in budgetary practices led to the enactment of the Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management (FRBM) Act, 2003 which ushered the Indian economy in an era of fiscal consolidation based on fiscal policy rules. The passage of the Constitution (Seventy-third Amendment) Act, 1992 marked a watershed in the history of modern India. With this amendment, a uniform structure of panchayats emerged throughout the country. Similarly, the passage of the Constitution (Seventy-fourth Amendment) Act, 1992 was a landmark in the history of municipal administration in India. Resultantly, panchayats and municipalities are now constitutional bodies forming third tier to the federal polity of India. This decentralisation initiative poses challenges and offers opportunities. To counter the negative fallout of the global meltdown on the economy, Indian Government took prompt action by providing substantial fiscal stimulus. This book provides an account of fiscal developments in India during the post-liberalisation period, with particular emphasis on decentralisation initiatives. It also examines prospects and challenges facing the Indian economy. An appendix included in the book contains Fiscal Policy Strategy Statement presented to Parliament by Shri Pranab Mukherjee, Minister of Finance, on February 26, 2010.


An interesting GaN-based light-emitting diode (LED) with a ten-period i (undoped)-InGaN/p (Mg doped)-GaN (2.5 nm/5 nm) superlattice (SL) structure, inserted between a multiple-quantum well (MQW) structure and a p-GaN layer, is fabricated and studied. This inserted SL can be regarded as a confinement layer of holes to enhance the hole injection efficiency. As compared with a conventional LED device without the SL structure, the studied LED exhibits better current spreading performance and an improved quality. The turn-on voltage, at 20 mA, is decreased from 3.32 to 3.14 V due to the reduced contact resistance as well as the more uniformity of carriers injection. A substantially reduced leakage current (10- 7 to 10- 9 A) and higher endurance of the reverse current pulse are found. The measured output power and external quantum efficiency (EQE) of the studied LED are 13.6 mW and 24.8%. In addition, as compared with the conventional LED without the SL structure, the significant enhancement of 25.4% in output power as well as the increment of 5% in EQE are observed due to the superior current spreading ability and reduction of dislocations offered by the SL structure.


A nowcast system for operational estimation of a proxy K-type geomagnetic index is presented. The system is based on a fully automated computer procedure for real-time digital magnetogram data acquisition that includes screening of the dataset and removal of the outliers, estimation of the solar regular variation (SR) of the geomagnetic field, calculation of the index, and issuing of an alert if storm-level activity is indicated. This is a timecontrolled (rather than event-driven) system that delivers the regular output of: the index value, the estimated quality flag, and eventually, an alert. The novel features provided are first, the strict control of the data input and processing, and second, the increased frequency of production of the index (every 1 h). Such quality control and increased time resolution have been found to be of crucial importance for various applications, e.g. ionospheric monitoring, that are of particular interest to us and to users of our service. The nowcast system operability, accuracy and precision have been tested with instantaneous measurements from recent years. A statistical comparison between the nowcast and the definitive index values shows that the average root-mean-square error is smaller than 1 KU. The system is now operational at the site of the Geophysical Centre of the Royal Meteorological Institute in Dourbes (50.1oN, 4.6oE), and it is being used for alerting users when geomagnetic storms take place.


Abstract. The microwave radiometers (MWRs) on board the European Remote Sensing Satellites 1 and 2 (ERS-1 and ERS-2) and Envisat provide a continuous time series of brightness temperature observations between 1991 and 2012. Here we report on a new total column water vapour (TCWV) and wet tropospheric correction (WTC) dataset that builds on this time series. We use a one-dimensional variational approach to derive TCWV from MWR observations and ERA-Interim background information. A particular focus of this study lies on the intercalibration of the three different instruments, which is performed using constraints on liquid water path (LWP) and TCWV. Comparing our MWR-derived time series of TCWV against TCWV derived from Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) we find that the MWR-derived TCWV time series is stable over time. However, observations potentially affected by precipitation show a degraded performance compared to precipitation-free observations in terms of the accuracy of retrieved TCWV. An analysis of WTC shows further that the retrieved WTC is superior to purely ERA-Interim-derived WTC for all satellites and for the entire time series. Even compared to the European Space Agency's (ESA) operational WTC retrievals, which incorporate in addition to MWR additional observational data, the here-described dataset shows improvements in particular for the mid-latitudes and for the two earlier satellites, ERS-1 and ERS-2. The dataset is publicly available under doi:10.5676/DWD_EMIR/V001 (Bennartz et al., 2016).


Diamond composite materials are classified as superhard and exhibit exceptional abrasive resistance. Cemented tungsten carbide tools with a thick coating of diamond composite material (PCD) are finding increased usage in materials cutting operations in manufacturing, mining, minerals, gas and petroleum exploration and civil construction industries. Two major advantages derived from these coated tools are: (a) increased wear resistance and hence increased life-span of these tools and (b) their proven ability to handle "difficult-to-machine" materials as well as high-strength, extremely abrasive materials such as quartz-rich rocks, granites and basalts. In this research, the variability of the wear resistance of PCD coated tungsten carbide is correlated with microstructural variations. A detailed study of the microstructure and distribution of phases was performed using SEM, cathodoluminescence (CL) imaging, direct x-ray imaging, Raman spectroscopy as well as residual stress measurements using neutron diffraction.


Background: Many smoking cessation interventions have proven efficacy in clinical trials, however they have not been adequately translated into routine clinical practice. Previous reports suggest that smoking cessation support in Australian hospitals is sub-optimal. This warrants cost-effective, pragmatic, and sustainable smoking cessation interventions tailored to the hospital environment. This PhD aimed to systematically review the evidence for system change interventions for smoking cessation, develop and evaluate a pharmacist-led smoking cessation intervention for inpatients, and develop and validate an instrument to assess challenges associated with quitting smoking. Methods: A systematic review was undertaken with the Cochrane Tobacco Addiction Group to identify system change interventions for smoking cessation and to evaluate their effectiveness on both cessation and practice change outcomes. Studies were identified from databases: MEDLINE, EMBASE, CINHAL, PsycINFO, CENTRAL and Cochrane Tobacco Addiction Group Register, and also from grey literature and by hand searching of bibliographies of relevant publications. Each study was evaluated for risk of bias according to the Cochrane handbook and categorised as high, low or unclear risk of bias. The primary endpoint was abstinence from smoking at the longest follow-up. Secondary endpoints included assessment and documentation of smoking status, provision of quitting advice or counselling, prescribing cessation medications, and referral and enrolment in Quitline services. A narrative synthesis was used to describe the study findings due to the presence of significant heterogeneity between studies. A randomised controlled trial (RCT) was designed and conducted in three tertiary public hospitals in Australia to evaluate the effectiveness of a pharmacist-led system change smoking cessation program (GIVE UP FOR GOOD) compared with usual care. In-patients 18 years of age or older, who were self-reported current (daily or occasional) smokers at the time of hospital admission and available for 12 months of follow-up were eligible. Potential participants were identified from the hospital records by a trained research assistant (RA) or referred by the ward staff. A baseline survey assessed the quitting experiences and preferences for a future quit attempt among participants. The multicomponent intervention comprised behavioural counselling (provided during hospital stay and on discharge, with a one month post-discharge telephone follow-up) alone or in combination with the patient preferred pharmacotherapy (free supply during hospital stay and up to one month post-discharge) which included a range of nicotine replacement therapy (NRT) products (patch, gum, inhaler, lozenge and micro tab) and non-NRT prescription medications (bupropion and varenicline). All the intervention participants were offered the counselling sessions and encouraged to use pharmacotherapy. Hospital pharmacists had the authority to initiate NRT products or recommend non-NRT medications. Although the support from the hospitals was restricted to one month due to the pragmatic nature of the intervention (could easily be implemented in routine practice using minimum resources), the participants were referred to Quitline services and primary health care professionals (general practitioners and community pharmacists) for additional and ongoing support beyond one month. Smoking status was assessed at baseline, discharge, one, six and 12 months by a masked RA. Two primary endpoints were assessed in the intention-to-treat population using logistic regression analyses: carbon monoxide (CO) validated one month sustained abstinence at the six month follow-up and verified six months sustained abstinence at the 12 month follow-up. The participants who met the abstinence criteria at six (one month sustained abstinence) and 12 months (six months sustained abstinence) follow-ups were requested to perform the CO verification of smoking status. CO levels were measured by a trained RA using a hand-held device during a hospital or home visit. A participant with CO ≤ 6 parts per million (ppm) was considered abstinent. The item pool for Challenges to Stopping Smoking scale (CSS-21) was generated from a literature search, existing scales, expert opinion, and interviews with smokers and ex-smokers. The questionnaire was administered to participants of GIVE UP FOR GOOD trial at final follow-up. Exploratory factor analysis was performed to identify sub-scales in the questionnaire. Internal consistency, validity and stability of the sub-scales were evaluated. Key findings: The systematic review included seven cluster RCTs. The overall quality of evidence was low. Although the evidence for the primary endpoint – smoking cessation – was uncertain, significant improvements were observed in outcomes such as documentation of smoking status (1 study), Quitline referral (2 studies) and Quitline enrolment (2 studies). The provision of smoking cessation counselling as a result of system change interventions improved in the majority of studies (3 of the 4 studies evaluated). Other system level outcomes such as assessing smoking status and advising smokers to quit also showed some potential. The evidence for prescribing NRT was equivocal. The RCT included 600 smokers (43% participation rate) from three participating hospitals. Participants had a mean (± SD) age of 51±14 years and 64% were male. The common reasons for hospital admission self-reported by participants were disorders of the circulatory system (135, 22.5%), musculoskeletal system and connective tissue (97, 16.2%), respiratory system (75, 12.5%), digestive system (67, 11.2%) and nervous system (65, 10.8%). Majority were daily smokers and had smoked on an average of 18.8±10.8 cigarettes per day. On a scale of 1(low) to 10 (high), current motivation to quit smoking was high (median 9; interquartile range [IQR] 6.5, 10), but confidence was modest (median 5; IQR 3, 8). Of the 386 (64.3%) participants who had attempted quitting in the previous 12 months, 270 (69.9%) had used at least one method to assist their quit attempt. More than half (222, 57.5%) used NRT and almost a quarter (94, 24.4%) used varenicline during their previous quit attempts. Over 80% (n=311) reported experiencing withdrawal symptoms in their previous quit attempts. Among the users of NRT or prescription medications (249), more than half (141, 56.6%) experienced side effects. Most participants (351, 58.5%) believed medications (NRT 322, 53.7%; varenicline 186, 31.0%) would assist them to quit in the future. The GIVE UP FOR GOOD intervention was well accepted among inpatient smokers; 98% of intervention participants received at least one session of the intervention and 79% received all three sessions. Retention rates at six and 12 months were 74% and 72%, respectively. A higher proportion of intervention participants compared to control participants reported 'satisfaction' (88.7% vs. 72.1%; p<0.001) with the services received during their hospital stay. However, the use of pharmacotherapy was not adequate; only a minority received any support from Quitline or community health professionals after discharge. The primary endpoints, verified abstinence rates at six (11.6% vs. 12.6%; OR 0.91, 95%CI 0.55 to 1.50) and 12 months (11.6% vs. 11.2%; OR 1.04, 95%CI 0.63 to 1.73) were similar in both groups. The CSS-21 scale was validated in a sub-sample of 182 participants (mean age 55±12.8 years, 70.3% current smokers) from the RCT. Factor analysis of the 21-item instrument resulted in a 2-factor solution representing items measuring intrinsic (9 items) and extrinsic challenges (12 items). All fit indices were acceptable for the 2-factor model (root mean square error of approximation 0.062, comparative fit index 0.948 and Tucker-Lewis index 0.935). Cronbach's alpha coefficients for the intrinsic and extrinsic sub-scales were 0.86 and 0.82, respectively. The instrument has content and construct validity, was stable in various analyses and has a sound and meaningful factorial structure. Conclusions: The systematic review identified gaps in the literature and the need for well-powered randomised trials of systems level approach to improve the provision of smoking cessation care and cessation outcomes. The RCT demonstrated that a pharmacist-led smoking cessation intervention during hospital stay was feasible but did not achieve long-term abstinence. System change interventions of high intensity with more active post-discharge follow-up, active involvement of primary health professionals and a free supply of a full course of pharmacotherapy might produce more favourable effects. The CSS-21 should be a useful tool to guide smoking cessation support for smokers. The findings of this research will inform smoking cessation interventions for hospitalised smokers, and guide further research in this area.


This manuscript gives a review about important studies addressing problems in intensive care medicine that have been published in journals focussing on critical care medicine and surgery in 2004. Only clinical studies are included in this review, mostly metaanalyses, randomized controlled trials and a few important or interesting observational studies. In addition to describing major results a critical appraisal of each study is undertaken, which, however, is neither comprehensive nor complete. It is merely intentioned to address some important aspects for the reader that should be accounted for while interpreting the results. It is important to note that among the large number of excellent studies there is a substantial proportion of trials with negative results that significantly add to our knowledge. Some of the topics addressed in this manuscript include vasopressin as an alternative to epinephrine during cardiopulmonary resuscitation, a specification concerning the use of activated protein C in patients with sepsis, the role of steroids in the treatment of sepsis and traumatic brain injury, the epidemiology of ALI and ARDS, the role of sedation protocols, weaning protocols and the timing of tracheostomy for the duration of mechanical ventilation, the potential benefit of catheters with antimicrobial coating to reduce catheter-related sepsis, and the benefit of enteral nutrition as compared to the parenteral application.


This paper describes the design, modeling and simulation of an acoustic microsystem in a pulse-echo ultrasonic application. The microsystem, used as emitter and receiver of ultrasonic signals, consists of a bulk micromachined suspended membrane. During emission, the membrane is placed in an oscillator loop and is thermally actuated at its resonance frequency (approximately equals 40 kHz). This frequency is slightly dependent on the membrane average temperature. The electronic interface circuit monitors this temperature. The membrane oscillations generate an ultrasonic signal (pulse) that propagates in the air and interacts with a solid body. As a result of this interaction, the ultrasonic signal is reflected on the solid surface and is received by the microsystem (echo). During reception, a piezoresistive bridge placed on the membrane is used for monitoring the membrane deflections. The resonance frequency of the membrane is tuned to the emitted frequency by keeping the membrane at the same temperature, achieving then maximum sensitivity. This paper presents in detail the behavioral modeling and simulation of the complete system. Some MEMS parts and the acoustic waves propagation are modeled using an Analogue Hardware Description Language (Verilog-A). The associated electronics are implemented in CMOS and the overall system is simulated with the SpectreHDL simulator in the CADENCE environment.


BACKGROUND
The increased expression of Cav-1 is seen in various cancers from prostate, esophagus, colon, breast and pancreas yet the information regarding the correlation between the expression of Cav-1 and oral cancer is blind. Thus, the expression profile of caveolin-1 (Cav-1) in oral carcinogenesis and the correlation to the clinicopathologic covariates are examined in this study.

METHODS
Immunohistochemistry was used to detect Cav-1 expression in non-cancerous matched tissues (NCMT; n=12), and tissue from normal oral mucosa (NOM; n=12), oral pre-cancer lesions (OPL; n=17), primary oral squamous cell carcinoma (POSCC; n=47) and metastatic OSCC (MOSCC; n=8). The Cav-1 expression was correlated to the age, site, areca use, stage, size, nodal involvement, and differentiation stage. Western blot was used to confirm the specificity of antibody and to follow changes in Cav-1 expression.

RESULTS
The Cav-1 immunoreactivity increased significantly from 8% in NOM and 17% in NCMT to 53% in OPL and 79% in POSCC. In addition, lymph node metastasis (LNM) was present in 62% of Cav-1(+) POSCCs, but only in 10% of Cav-1(-) POSCCs. Remarkably, only 38% of MOSCCs had Cav-1 immunoreactivity.

CONCLUSION
An increased Cav-1 expression is seen in the stepwise carcinogenesis from NOM, NCMT, OPL to POSCC. The decrease in expression from the POSCC to MOSCC indicates the value to explore its biphasic functions in oral carcinogenesis. Whether Cav-1 is an important predictor or prognosis for survival still awaits the extension of clinical follow-up.


Background: The reporting interval is the incremental value chosen in reporting analyte concentration. Reporting intervals for different analytes are often inappropriately narrow, when analytical imprecision and biological variability are considered. Methods: We have used statistical techniques to determine intervals for individual analytes at which there is 50% or 95% confidence that two results are analytically different, and compared these with the reporting intervals in use for a range of general chemistry analytes and analytes usually measured by immunoassay. Results: No analytes met the criteria for 95% confidence that the results are analytically different. Even at the 50% confidence level, 24 of 46 analytes failed at all concentrations examined. For some analytes, particularly hormones at high concentration, the reporting interval increment should be increased by a factor of at least ten. Conclusions: The majority of analytes are inappropriately reported when analytical precision alone is considered. The concept of the 'uncertainty of measurement' has not been adequately addressed. A consensus should be reached and implemented on appropriate reporting intervals for all analytes.


Advances in Wireless Sensor Network (WSN) have provided the availability of small and low-cost sensors with the capability of sensing various types of physical and environmental conditions, data processing, and wireless communication. Since WSN protocols are application specific, the focus has been given to the routing protocols that might differ depending on the application and network architecture. In this work, novel routing protocols have been proposed which is a cluster-based security protocol is named as Efficient and Secure Routing Protocol (ESRP) for WSN. The goal of ESRP is to provide an energy efficient routing solution with dynamic security features for clustered WSN. During the network formation, a node which is connected to a Personal Computer (PC) has been selected as a sink node. Once the sensor nodes were deployed, the sink node logically segregates the other nodes in a cluster structure and subsequently creates a WSN. This centralized cluster formation method is used to reduce the node level processing burden and avoid multiple communications. In order to ensure reliable data delivery, various security features have been incorporated in the proposed protocol such as Modified Zero-Knowledge Protocol (MZKP), Promiscuous hearing method, Trapping of adversaries and Mine detection. One of the unique features of this ESRP is that it can dynamically decide about the selection of these security methods, based on the residual energy of nodes.


Background and objective: To study the retinal morphology and investigate correlation between optical coherence tomography (OCT) findings and visual acuity in patients with diabetic macular edema (DME) after intravitreal Bevazicumab injection. Methods:  The was a Retrospective interventional case series. Sixty seven eyes were included. All cases had diffuse DME with no history of any previous treatment.  Optical coherence tomography was evaluated in all visits. The retinal thickness was measured automatically using OCT retinal mapping software. Presentation of hard exudate, subretinal fluids, retinal traction, configurations of IS-OS junction were recorded. Statistics:  Correlation between visual acuity and central macular thickness (CMT) was analyzed by using the two-sample t-test. The Pearson's chi-squared test were used to compare OCT findings between each groups. Results: Average central macular thickness was 408.28 (+/-202.46 µ). After IVB injection, visual improvement was shown in 39 eyes (58.21%) and average central macular thickness was 436.15 (+/- 34.87 µ). Average central macular thickness in non-improvement group was 369.46 (+/- 33.14 µ). Hard exudate was found in 60 eyes (89.55%), irregular pattern of IS-OS junction was presented in 30 eyes (44.78%), subretinal serous fluids (SRD) was presented in 26 eyes (38.80%) and epimacular membrane was found in 15 eyes (22.39%). Presentation of subretinal serous fluid was found to have correlation with visual improvement group (P=0.049) and irregular pattern of IS-OS junction was correlated with non improvement group (P=0.007). Conclusion: Short-term follow up visual outcomes after IVB injection in diffuse diabetic macular edema was correlated with OCT finding (irregular pattern of IS-OS junction and presentation of SRD). This indicate that vascular endothelial growth factor may plays a role in management of DME and OCT finding (irregular IS-OS junction, SRD) and possible determine visual prognosis.


An important component of creativity is divergent thinking, which involves the ability to generate novel and useful problem solutions. In this study, we tested the relation between resting-state functional connectivity of brain areas activated during a divergent thinking task (i.e., supramarginal gyrus, middle temporal gyrus, medial frontal gyrus) and the effect of practice in 32 adolescents aged 15–16. Over a period of two weeks, an experimental group (n = 16) conducted an 8-session Alternative Uses Task (AUT) training and an active control group (n = 16) conducted an 8-session rule switching training. Resting-state functional connectivity was measured before (pre-test) and after (post-test) training. Across groups at pre-test, stronger connectivity between the middle temporal gyrus and bilateral postcentral gyrus was associated with better divergent thinking performance. The AUT-training, however, did not significantly change functional connectivity. Post hoc analyses showed that change in divergent thinking performance over time was predicted by connectivity between left supramarginal gyrus and right occipital cortex. These results provide evidence for a relation between divergent thinking and resting-state functional connectivity in a task-positive network, taking an important step towards understanding creative cognition and functional brain connectivity.


Eu, Dy codoped Y2Zr2O7 crystalline powders have been prepared by a simple sol-gel-combustion method. The lumincescence excitation and emission spectra of the products were measured, and the CIE chromaticity was introduced to characterize the color of the phosphor. It was found that the emission color of the Eu, Dy codoped Y2Zr2O7 powders depends on the doping concentration of Eu, Dy ions and the excitation wavelength. White light emission has been observed for Y2Zr2O7: 1.5%Eu 3+ , 2.0%Dy 3+ under 350nm excitation, for which the calculated chromaticity cordinate is (0.37, 0.32,). Copyright © 2011 VBRI press.


Vascularization arguably poses the most significant hurdle for the success of most biomaterials-based tissue engineering therapies. In this work, we report two printing strategies that permit the 3D Inkjet printing of fluorescent alginate hydro gels into overhanging structures and closed lumens that could serve as vessel mimetics. The first is 4-Matrix printing, where the order of droplet printing in each printing layer is optimized so that new droplets do not coalesce with un-gelled droplets on the surface. The second is the use of incremental droplet spacing to print overhanging and closed structures in order to reduce the degree of down-wall flow.


The recent application of new microfluidic technologies and methods has facilitated significant progress in the understanding of the fundamental mechanisms governing blood platelet function and how these parameters affect pathological thrombus formation. In-line with these new bioengineering approaches, the application of nonlinear dynamic systems analysis holds particular potential to extend our understanding of the complex interplay between mechanical and biochemical factors that underlie this complex biological phenomenon. In this paper we propose a simple mathematical model of the main dynamics of platelet aggregation/disaggregation observed experimentally in a novel microfluidic device that approximates a severe arterial stenosis. We apply dynamic systems theory (system identification) to explore the dynamics of the biomechanical platelet aggregation response to a range of shear stress rates, inhibiting blood-born chemical pathways of platelet activation (ADP, TXA2, and thrombin). We demonstrate that the proposed model is able to replicate experimental results with low variation, and suggest that the reduced set of model parameters has the potential to be used as a simplified way to evaluate the biomechanical dynamics of platelet aggregation. The proposed model has application to the development of automatic controllers within the context of microfluidic systems that may show great utility in the clinical assessment of platelet hyperfunction.


It is commonly asserted that superluminal particle motion can enable backward time travel, but little has been written providing details. It is shown here that the simplest example of a "closed loop" event – a twin paradox scenario where a single spaceship both traveling out and returning back superluminally – does not result in that ship straightforwardly returning to its starting point before it left. However, a more complicated scenario – one where the superluminal ship first arrives at an intermediate destination moving subluminally – can result in backwards time travel. This intermediate step might seem physically inconsequential but is shown to break Lorentz-invariance and be oddly tied to the sudden creation of a pair of spacecraft, one of which remains and one of which annihilates with the original spacecraft. 1 ar X iv :1 50 5. 07 48 9v 2 [ ph ys ic s. po pph ] 8 S ep 2 01 5


The article analyzes the evolution of the views of the leaders of the Great Powers on the role and place of the national question in international politics and international law during the years of the First World War. The author argues that neither the leadership of the Entente nor of the Central Powers had a full understanding of problems of the oppressed European nations before 1916. The issue was mostly perceived as the collection of particular individual problems: Polish, Czech, Serbian, Macedonian, Ukrainian, Finnish, Lithuanian, Latvian, Estonian, Irish, Flemish, and others. Both belligerent coalitions saw the Polish Question as having for Russia, Austro-Hungary, and Germany, not only an international significance as well as a domestic dimension. The turning point in the approach to the national issue dates back to late 1916 early 1917. The establishment of the Polish Kingdom by Berlin and Vienna in November 1916 had two important consequences. First, by resorting to concrete actions regarding the Polish Question that was of local significance, two powers gave the green light to transforming the slogan advocated by the leftists about the right of nations to self-determination into a norm of international law. Even the limited implementation of that norm in 1918-1919 resulted in the disintegration of Austria-Hungary and in Germany's first territorial losses in the 20th century. Second, one of the fundamental norms of international law was violated. According to that norm the treaties on borders had never been abrogated, but suspended for the duration of the conflict between the parties concerned. Nicholas II promised to unite all Polish lands in the Russian Empire with the right of autonomy. The Entente and the USA stated their support of the declaration in a way that could also be interpreted as a general acknowledgement of the right of nations to determine their own destiny. It was precisely this general discourse that encouraged the political elites of the stateless nations. They construed it is the Great Powers' readiness to implement the right of nations to self-determination. Also, the author emphasizes that in reality this principle was making its first steps in the world politics, was applied to a limited number of dependent nations. By the same token, the Wilson Peace Program had a strictly selective application in determining the nations that would be guaranteed the right to self-determination.


Die Kosmologie des Plinius. Mit zwei Exkursen von H. Vogt. Von WILHELM KROLL. (Abhandlungen der schlesischen Gesellschaft fur vaterldndische Cultur. GeisteswissenschaftlicheReihe. 3. Heft.) Pp.92. Breslau : Marcus, 1930. Quellenforschung has not always had a good press in England, and it has sometimes appeared to rest on the assumption that originality appertained only to lost authors ; beati deperditi. But there is good Quellenforschung as well as bad, and in the elder Pliny results can be obtained which are of the high order of probability reached in the study of Diodorus Siculus. This book is of the penetrating and cautious quality which all will expect from its writer. He has given us a commentary on the matter of Pliny which will be of the greatest service, and has added a useful treatment of the MSS. and a series of careful textual notes. May we hope that he will carry his Plinian work further? A. D. NOCK. Harvard University.


Marine strata of Aptian age in the Pacific Basin include two distinct levels that represent episodes during which sediments rich in organic carbon were deposited. Both episodes lasted less than 1 m.y., as revealed in strata deposited atop submerged topographic highs. One unusually widespread episode of early Aptian age (∼117.5 Ma) correlates with coeval units in Europe and thus is analogous to the Cenomanian-Turonian oceanic anoxic event in its short duration and wide geographic extent. The second episode of late Aptian age (∼116.5 Ma) is restricted to allochthonous pelagic deposits in the Franciscan Complex of California. These results support the concept of widespread and narrowly synchronous anoxic events. Further, they show that organic carbon deposition in the Pacific Basin took place in intermediate water oxygen-minimum zones and thus differed in the mode of deposition, and hence paleoceanography, from that in other middle Cretaceous ocean basins.


The Cftr (Cystic Fibrosis Transmembrane Conductance Regulator) gene codes for an epithelial chloride (C1) channel essential for fluid secretion into the respiratory and gastrointestinal tract and from exocrine glands. Mice lacking CFTR function due to a disruption of Cftr exon 10 or exon 1 (Cftr (m1UNC/m1UNC) or Cftr(m1HSC/m1HFC) mice, respectively) generally suffer from severe gastrointestinal disease resulting in death shortly after birth or at the time of weaning. However, a subgroup of the Cftr(m1HSC/m1HSC) mice have been characterized which exhibit relatively mild intestinal pathology resulting in a noncompromised lifespan compared to the more severely affected Cftr(m1UNC/m1UNC) mice. We compared the ion transport capacity of the intestinal mucosa of the mildly and severely affected CF mice using the in vivo technique of rectal potential difference (PD) measurement and found that the net calcium-activated chloride conductance toward the lumen was much greater in the rectum of mildly affected mice than in the severely affected mice. Hence, the milder phenotype may be related to the expression of a factor which enhances the net calcium-activated chloride conductance into the lumen of the intestinal tract.


An all-water-based procedure for "controlled" polymer grafting from cellulose nanofibrils is reported. Polymers and copolymers of poly(ethylene glycol) methyl ether methacrylate (POEGMA) and poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) were synthesized by surface-initiated activators regenerated by electron transfer atom transfer radical polymerization (SI-ARGET ATRP) from the cellulose nanofibril (CNF) surface in water. A macroinitiator was electrostatically immobilized to the CNF surface, and its amphiphilic nature enabled polymerizations of both hydrophobic and hydrophilic monomers in water. The electrostatic interactions between the macroinitiator and the CNF surface were studied by quartz crystal microbalance with dissipation energy (QCM-D) and showed the formation of a rigid adsorbed layer, which did not desorb upon washing, corroborating the anticipated electrostatic interactions. Polymerizations were conducted from dispersed modified CNFs as well as from preformed modified CNF aerogels soaked in water. The polymerizations yielded matrix-free composite materials with a CNF content of approximately 1-2 and 3-6 wt % for dispersion-initiated and aerogel-initiated CNFs, respectively.


The construction industry has been characterised by fragmentation, lack of integration and complexities in processes and activities. These characteristics could threaten the delivery of project objectives which could ultimately have a negative impact on construction project success. The construction industry is associated with numerous activities, processes, organisations and individuals. Improving the collaboration between the parties within the construction industry will enhance productivity whilst maximising efficiency and effectiveness. Providing the construction industry parties with access to accurate and up-to-date information along with efficient communications via a reliable, competent and appropriate network is frequently a challenge. The main objective of this paper is to investigate the construction collaboration tools along with the concepts of cloud computing and context-awareness. The findings in this research are based on a thorough review of the comprehensive literature on IT, computing and construction. Accordingly, this study presents and develops the concepts and potential of innovative collaborative tools, such as Context-Aware Cloud Computing Information Systems (CACCIS). Implementing CACCIS in the construction industry will facilitate the construction supply chain processes, relations and networks along with increasing the opportunities for enhancing competitive advantages. Firstly, it is hoped that this study will contribute to improvements in construction industry collaboration which could ultimately improve and enhance its competitive advantages. Secondly, it proposes a fresh vision of construction industry integration and, most significantly, collaboration in an efficient way that will eventually maximize productivity and enhance the efficiency and effectiveness of the construction industry.