Studies on RPSC (road pavement solar collectors) have shown the potential of reducing the urban heat island effect by dissipating the heat from the pavement for energy harness. In our previous work, performance analysis of RPSC system was carried out to compare the RPSC embedment in two scenarios; within an urban street canyon and within suburban or rural area. The current study expands the analysis of the RPSC system in urban areas by assessing the impact of varying canyon aspect ratios on the performance of RPSC. De-coupled Computational Fluid Dynamic (CFD) approach was proposed to investigate the integration of RPSC system in an urban canyon. The CFD tool ANSYS Fluent 15.0 was used to simulate the fluid flow and heat transfer on the pavement/road surface by enabling three models: (i) energy model, (ii) standard k-epsilon model, and (iii) coupled DO-solar load radiation model. The results showed that a significant pavement surface temperature increase was found when the aspect ratio (AR) was increased from 1 to 2 while minimal increase was observed for the canyon with AR above 2. At the particular simulated time (13:00) and location, it was found that the overall performance of the RPSC system significantly increased by up to 13.0 % when AR was increased from 1 to 2, but the performance of RSPC in shadow area (due to the shading effect of building) had significantly dropped (up to 30.0 %) from AR 3 to 4. Findings of this study showed that the canyon aspect ratio had a significant impact on the temperature distribution of the ground surface and should be taken into consideration when assessing the performance of RPSC in urban areas. © 2016 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd. Selection and/or peer-review under responsibility of ICAE Keyword: Road solar collector; canyon aspect ratio; computational fluid dynamic (CFD); urban heat island (UHI); street ventilation


World agriculture is undergoing a transition to a new technological paradigm very different from that of the green revolution. The development of this new paradigm is being driven by the ongoing "bio", "info" and "nano" revolutions, and the new demands of society and the markets. The agricultural revolution of the 21st century is deeper and more far-reaching than previous ones: it is an organizational revolution of knowledge management and of convergences between technologies. One of the effects of this new agricultural revolution is a notable increase in the sector's potential to create wealth. This article is intended to contribute to the characterization of the new paradigm of agricultural technological development and the type of agriculture that is taking shape.


The issue of whether, and how, to obtain informed consent for researchstudies that use social network data has recently come to the fore insome controversial cases.Determining how to acquire valid consent that meets the expectations of participants, while minimising the burden placed on them, remains an open problem.We apply Nissenbaum's model of contextual integrity to the consent process, to study whether social norms of willingness to share social network data can be leveraged to avoid burdening participants with too many interventions, while still accurately capturing their own sharing intent. We find that for the 27.7% of our participants (N = 109) who conform to social norms, contextual integrity can be used to significantly reduce the time taken to capture their consent, while still maintaining accuracy. Our findings have implications for researchers conducting such studies who are looking to acquire informed consent without having to burden participants with many interactions.


As the U.S. government enacts new regulations for automotive fuel economy and emissions, the continuously variable transmission, or CVT, continues to emerge as a key technology for improving the fuel efficiency of automobiles with internal combustion (IC) engines. CVTs use infinitely adjustable drive ratios instead of discrete gears to attain optimal engine performance. Since the engine always runs at the most efficient number of revolutions per minute for a given vehicle speed, CVT-equipped vehicles attain better gas mileage and acceleration than cars with traditional transmissions. CVTs are not new to the automotive world, but their torque capabilities and reliability have been limited in the past. New developments in gear reduction and manufacturing have led to ever-more-robust CVTs, which in turn allows them to be used in more diverse automotive applications. CVTs are also being developed in conjunction with hybrid electric vehicles. As CVT development continues, costs will be reduced further and performance will continue to increase, which in turn makes further development and application of CVT technology desirable. This paper evaluates the current state of CVTs and upcoming research and development, set in the context of past development and problems traditionally associated with CVTs. The underlying theories and mechanisms are also discussed.


The variability of power generation from wind farms presents an operational challenge for power systems with significant penetration of wind generation. In weak or relatively small systems, control of system frequency and power exchange can impact the viability of wind farms. The emergence of highly maneuverable, high efficiency simple-cycle gas turbines allows for hybrid wind/gas turbine systems with superior dynamic performance.


Viruses have been described as perfect parasites: many are so minimally assembled that they cannot strictly be classified as living organisms. Except when they damage health, we concern ourselves little about them; nevertheless, the "virosphere" (a term coined by Curtis Suttle) is ubiquitously influential in our everyday lives. Viruses continue to be the vehicles for important genetic events, from the evolution of photosynthesis to the emergence of pathogens, and play an important role in regulating the microbially dominated cycling of carbon, nitrogen, and phosphorus in the world's oceans. By means of horizontal gene transfer, viruses endow bacteria, and probably many other phyla, with clusters of distinct genes and phenotypes. Viruses infecting bacteria (bacteriophages) have been instrumental in the development of modern molecular biological techniques, and the precision and assembly of the interlocking proteins of virus capsids have inspired architects and nanotechnologists alike. In this special issue, we explore some of the attributes of viruses that are distinct from their ability to cause human disease.

Douglas and Young (p. 873) have taken virology farthest from its roots and in a Perspective explore how the flexibility of capsid structure can be exploited for diverse uses, including drug delivery and as precise templates for nanostructure assemblies. There are many challenges to the biotechnological application of artificial viruses, not least toxicity and immune responses. Initial infection with a virus can trigger a cell into an autophagic response that is similar to the cell's normal response to protein aggregates, such as those that develop during Huntington's disease. Wileman (p. [875][1]) reviews the possibilities for subversion of the degradative activity of autophagous structures, known as aggresomes, as scaffolds for viral replication and assembly. Garcia-Sastre and Biron (p. [879][2]) review the subsequent lines of host defense against virus establishment: type 1 interferons. Viruses are adept at eluding host responses, but interferons can trigger a flexible network of backup responses. These backups may not result in clearance of the virus but instead give rise to its persistence, and hence a standoff develops in which yet another round of host innate or adaptive response is signaled. A News story by Zimmer (p. 870) examines a theory that viruses coexisted with the earliest organisms and perhaps helped create DNA, as Forterre argues. Three further articles at Science 's Signal Transduction Knowledge Environment (STKE) offer examples of how viruses and other pathogens exploit cell signaling pathways to achieve their own ends. A Review by Hayward et al. describes how gamma herpesviruses mimic and manipulate Notch and Wnt signaling, a Perspective by Barry and Fruh focuses on viral manipulation of cullin RING ubiquitin ligases, and a Review by Munter et al. concerns how pathogens manipulate tyrosine kinase- and Rho GTPase-mediated pathways.

With the ongoing focus on viruses in the public eye, some may dread what the future may bring; but for most viruses, excessive virulence is a dead-end strategy. The interactions between viruses and hosts are usually subtle and unexpected; the application of nanotechnology as host defense would surely have gratified Koch, Pasteur, and Iwanowski.

 [1]: /lookup/doi/10.1126/science.1126766
 [2]: /lookup/doi/10.1126/science.1125676


The paper attempts to explore the role of networks in small firms' internationalization in Tanzania. It notes that while firm internationalization has been studied extensively, inquiry into how small firms enter foreign markets and the strategies they use has not received much attention. The study is further motivated by the fact that export performance of developing countries is alarmingly low, and hence there is need for African governments to create an environment that will stimulate small firms' competitiveness in the current globalized export markets if the millennium development goals are to be attained. This requires capacity building of the actors in order to take advantage of the benefits of the market access strategies under the global partnership for development. One such approach is to promote partnering and networks. The Tanzanian exploratory study has revealed that networks eliminate small firms ownership disadvantages and their perceived psychic distance, thereby facilitating their entry into foreign markets.


Wireless Sensor Networks (WSN) promise researchers a powerful instrument for observing sizable phenomena with fine granularity over long periods. Since the accuracy of data is important to the whole system's performance, detecting nodes with faulty readings is an essential issue in network management. As a complementary solution to detecting nodes with functionnal faults, this paper proposes FIND, a novel method to detect nodes with data faults that neither assumes a particular sensing model nor requires costly event injections. After the nodes in a network detect a natural event, FIND ranks the nodes based on their sensing readings as well as their physical distances from the event. FIND works for systems where the measured signal attenuates with distance. A node is considered faulty if there is a significant mismatch between the sensor data rank and the distance rank Theoretically, we show that average ranking difference is a provable indicator of possible data faults. FIND is extensively evaluated in simulations and two test bed experiments with up to 25 MicaZ nodes. Evaluation shows that FIND has a less than 5% miss detection rate and false alarm rate in most noisy environments.


The exponential growth of wireless data traffic has caused a significant increase in the power consumption of wireless communications systems due to the higher complexity of the transceiver structures required to establish the communication links. For this reason, in this Thesis we propose and characterize technologies for improving the energy efficiency of multiple-antenna wireless communications. This Thesis firstly focuses on energy-efficient transmission schemes and commences by introducing a scheme for alleviating the power loss experienced by the Tomlinson-Harashima precoder, by aligning the interference of a number of users with the symbols to transmit. Subsequently, a strategy for improving the performance of space shift keying transmission via symbol pre-scaling is presented. This scheme re-formulates complex optimization problems via semidefinite relaxation to yield problem formulations that can be efficiently solved. In a similar line, this Thesis designs a signal detection scheme based on compressive sensing to improve the energy efficiency of spatial modulation systems in multiple access channels. The proposed technique relies on exploiting the particular structure and sparsity that spatial modulation systems inherently possess to enhance performance. This Thesis also presents research carried out with the aim of reducing the hardware complexity and associated power consumption of large scale multiple-antenna base stations. In this context, the employment of incomplete channel state information is proposed to achieve the above-mentioned objective in correlated communication channels. The candidate's work developed in Bell Labs is also presented, where the feasibility of simplified hardware architectures for massive antenna systems is assessed with real channel measurements. Moreover, a strategy for reducing the hardware complexity of antenna selection schemes by simplifying the design of the switching procedure is also analyzed. Overall, extensive theoretical and simulation results support the improved energy efficiency and complexity of the proposed schemes, towards green wireless communications systems.


We study the problem of creating smooth orthogonal layouts for planar graphs. While in traditional orthogonal layouts every edge is made of a sequence of axis-aligned line segments, in smooth orthogonal layouts every edge is made of axis-aligned segments and circular arcs with common tangents. Our goal is to create such layouts with low edge complexity, measured by the number of line and circular arc segments. We show that every biconnected 4-planar graph has a smooth orthogonal layout with edge complexity 3. If the input graph has a complexity-2 traditional orthogonal layout, we can transform it into a smooth complexity-2 layout. Using the Kandinsky model for removing the degree restriction, we show that any planar graph has a smooth complexity-2 layout.


PURPOSE
The aim of this study was to investigate implant survival and the reactions of the bone and mucosa of the maxillary sinuses in patients treated with fixed dental prostheses supported by multiple zygomatic implants.

MATERIALS AND METHODS
Between 2001 and 2007, patients with extensive resorption of the basal bone of the maxilla received multiple zygomatic implants without grafts. In 2012, the maxillary sinuses were examined with cone beam computed tomography. Neo-osteogenesis at the posterior wall of the sinus was considered to be a sign of osteitis and classified as mild (3 to 4 mm), moderate (4 to 5 mm), or severe (> 5 mm). The maxillary ostium was examined and accessory ostia were registered. The sinus mucosa was evaluated according to the Lund-Mackay staging system, and the sinus was checked for fluid level and atelectasis. Patients reported any nasal- and sinus-related symptoms.

RESULTS
Fourteen patients who had received 58 zygomatic implants and 13 standard implants were examined. The mean follow-up was 9.3 years, and the implant survival rates were 97% and 92% for zygomatic and standard implants, respectively. Osteitis was found in all but one patient and classified as severe in 17 of the 27 investigated sinuses. The infundibulum was obstructed in nine sinuses, and an accessory ostium was present in seven. The mucosa of the maxillary sinus showed signs of chronic rhinosinusitis in all but one patient. No fluid levels were observed. Atelectasis occurred in 15 sinuses. Twelve patients reported unaltered nasal and sinus status.

CONCLUSION
Patients with extensive bone resorption in combination with voluminous maxillary sinuses and nasal cavities can experience long-term success with prostheses supported by multiple zygomatic implants. Asymptomatic chronic rhinosinusitis with osteitis and gradual collapse of the maxillary sinus cavity can be anticipated.


Weak fault feature extraction is of great significance to the fault diagnosis of rolling bearing. At the early stage of defects, fault features are usually weak and easily submerged in strong background noise, which makes feature information extremely difficult to be excavated. This paper proposes an iterative morphological difference product wavelet (MDPW) to address this issue. In this scheme, firstly, the morphological difference product filter (MDPF) is developed using the combination morphological filter-hat transform operator and difference operator. The MDPF is then incorporated into a morphological undecimated wavelet to construct the MDPW, which can achieve noise suppression and fault feature enhancement. Subsequently, the optimal iteration numbers that influence the performance of MDPW is determined using the fault severity indicator, which effectively extracts periodic impulse related to the failure of rolling bearing. Finally, the fault identification is inferred by the occurrence of fault defect frequencies in the MDPW spectrum with the optimal iteration numbers. The validity of the iterative MDPW is evaluated through numerical simulations and experiment cases. The analysis results demonstrate that the iterative MDPW has higher diagnosis accuracy than existing algorithms (e.g., adaptive single-scale morphological wavelet and weighted multi-scale morphological wavelet). This research provides a new perspective for improving the weak fault feature extraction of rolling bearing.


Nowadays, a large number of chiral analyses are needed, simple and rapid methods for the determination of the enantiomeric composition in pharmaceutical products should be developed. The fluoxetine belongs to the most prescribed antidepressant chiral drugs and its enantiomers have a different duration of serotonin inhibition. This study presents cheap and fast alternative to traditional chiral techniques for the determination of the fluoxetine enantiomeric composition by the combination of UV/VIS spectrometry and multivariate calibration. The chiral recognition of the fluoxetine was based on the creating of the diastereomeric complexes with α- and β- cyclodextrin. Multivariate calibration methods, including principal component regression (PCR) and partial least square method (PLS), were used for spectral data evaluation. Small differences in results between each cyclodextrins and both calibration models were obtained by multivariate calibration. PLS model for determination of the enantiomeric composition of fluoxetine by β- cyclodextrin as a chiral selector had slightly better prediction than others models. Predicted values of the enantiomeric composition in the synthetic samples are similar to their nominal values.


We report a polarization-multiplexed 320 Gbaud, 64 QAM coherent Nyquist pulse transmission with a frequency-stabilized mode-locked laser and a modified digital back-propagation method for pulse transmission. Using a combination consisting of a mode-locked laser and a pulse shaper, we obtained a Nyquist pulse with a high OSNR of 51 dB. We achieved error free operation under a back-to-back condition with the OSNR improvement. By developing a new digital back-propagation method for pulse propagation, we achieved a bit error rate below the 7% forward error correction limit of 2x10-3 for all the tributaries of the OTDM signal data after a 150 km transmission. As a result, single-channel 3.84 Tbit/s data were successfully transmitted over 150 km with a spectral efficiency of 10.6 bit/s/Hz.


Abstract. The purpose of this application, under Article 75.6 of the Code, is to conserve the usage of the specific name of Macrobrachium rosenbergii (De Man, 1879) for a commercially important giant freshwater prawn from Southeast Asia by designating a neotype. Recent taxonomic reappraisals show that the two subspecies of this prawn, Macrobrachium rosenbergii rosenbergii (De Man, 1879) and M. rosenbergii dacqueti (Sunier, 1925) are in fact distinct species. The usage of the name M. rosenbergii for the species of prawn that is predominantly fished, cultured and studied by biologists is threatened, as its recently designated lectotype is M. dacqueti, while the holotype of M. rosenbergii is a different species, which has generated much less commercial and scientific interest. As substantial confusion will result if the names are changed, it is proposed that the existing holotype of Macrobrachium rosenbergii (De Man, 1879) be set aside and the lectotype of M. dacqueti (Sunier, 1925) be designated as neotype of Macrobrachium rosenbergii in its place. This action will allow biologists to retain the name M. rosenbergii for the commercially valuable species and will result in the less frequently used name M. dacqueti becoming a junior objective synonym of M. rosenbergii. For the species defined by the current holotype of M. rosenbergii, a new name Macrobrachium wallacei is proposed and a holotype is designated.


A Dissertation submitted to the School of Graduate Studies of Addis Ababa University in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) in Public Health


A hydrodynamical kernel that drives both an atmospheric and oceanic general circulation model is implemented in general orthogonal curvilinear coordinates using the finite-volume method on the sphere. The finite-volume method naturally describes arbitrary grids, and use of the vector-invariant form of the momentum equations simplifies the generalization to arbitrary coordinates. Grids based on the expanded spherical cube of Rancic et al., which contain eight singular points, are used. At these singularities the grid is nonorthogonal. The combined use of vector-invariant equations and the finite-volume method is shown to avoid degeneracy at these singular points. The model is tested using experiments proposed by Williamson et al. and Held and Saurez. The atmospheric solutions are examined seeking evidence of the underlying grid in solutions and eddy statistics. A global ocean simulation is also conducted using the same code. The solutions prove to be accurate and free of artifacts arising from the cubic grid.


The negative consequences of non-use of contraceptives on reproductive health are well documented. The role of contraceptive use in attaining the desired number of children in Nigeria is yet to receive adequate academic investigation. The central concern of this paper was to examine how socio-cultural and economic variables influence contraceptive use and desire for less number of children among currently married women of reproductive age (15-49) in Nigeria. The data were derived from the 2013 Nigeria Demographic and health Survey (NDHS). The NDHS collected data on current background characteristics, contraceptive methods, desire for more children, and number of living children, among others. The 23,933 currently married women respondents who had provided responses to questions on contraceptive use methods and desire for more children constitute the sample. The study found large disparities among correlated variables as factors determining contraceptive use and desire for more children. The study revealed that while 16% of the sampled population used contraceptive methods, 78% acknowledged desire for more children. The regression analysis showed that current contraceptive use and desire for more children significantly varied by selected background characteristics. Thus, there is an urgent need to reach out to women of reproductive age on the need for contraceptive use in marital union to limit childbearing and the concomitant negative effects in Nigeria.


Consolidation of R2P as a robust global norm is not yet assured, because of continued disagreement among the powers as to the concept's appropriate application, and even as to its meaning. The process of R2P norm consolidation likely will be linked to progress in the development of the International Criminal Court - another recent initiative of the international system focused on atrocity crimes, and itself also in a formative phase. Continued expansion of ICC membership, ICC effectiveness at bringing atrocity crime perpetrators to justice, and ICC contributions to developing greater international agreement on the definition and application of R2P could accelerate norm consolidation. But if key members of the UNSC remain outside the ICC, and if some major powers continue to seek to circumscribe both the meaning and the application of R2P in the UNSC, R2P norm consolidation will remain elusive.


Islet‐brain 1 [IB1; also termed c‐Jun N‐terminal kinase (JNK)‐interacting protein 1 (JIP‐1] is involved in the apoptotic signaling cascade of JNK and functions as a scaffold protein. It organizes several MAP kinases and the microtubule‐transport motor protein kinesin and relates to other signal‐transducing molecules such as the amyloid precursor protein. Here we have identified IB1/JIP‐1 using different antibodies that reacted with either a monomeric or a dimeric form of IB1/JIP‐1. By immunoelectron microscopy, differences in the subcellular localization were observed. The monomeric form was found in the cytoplasmic compartment and is associated with the cytoskeleton and with membranes, whereas the dimeric form was found in addition in nuclei. After treatment of mouse brain homogenates with alkaline phosphatase, the dimeric form disappeared and the monomeric form decreased its molecular weight, suggesting that an IB1/JIP‐1 dimerization is phosphorylation dependent and that IB1 exists in several phospho‐ forms. N‐methyl‐D‐aspartate receptor activation induced a dephosphorylation of IB1/JIP‐1 in primary cultures of cortical neurons and reduced homodimerization. In conclusion, these data suggest that IB1/JIP‐1 monomers and dimers may differ in compartmental localization and thus function as a scaffold protein of the JNK signaling cascade in the cytoplasm or as a transcription factor in nuclei. © 2007 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.


This paper aims to analyse the conceptual bases of the related terms of "host" and "guest" in Chinese and reveal essential, though overlooked, cultural differences that relate to "hospitality" in Western and Chinese cultural contexts.,A presupposition of this conceptual investigation is that culture manifests itself linguistically. The analytic approach used here is textual analysis. Confucian classical texts are the main source of evidence for examining the conceptual commitments of the Chinese characters 主 and 客 and their corresponding practical expressions.,Cross-cultural comparison reveals asymmetries between the term "hospitality" and its Chinese translations, etymologically and culturally. This study demonstrates how the Chinese 主–客 paradigm is both hierarchal in nature and centred on the role and interests of the host. It further compares this paradigm with its Western counterpart along five different dimensions.,The specific Chinese norms for the host–guest paradigm synthesized here could prompt both academicians and operators to question the cultural attachments associated with hospitality by participants and the cultural differences in hospitality transactions and management. The cultural sensitivity modelled here is intended to facilitate harmony between a hospitality setting and the culture in which it is embedded.,This conceptual paper is the first in the Anglophone literature to explore the Chinese cultural roots of the concepts "host" and "guest". The linguistic perspective used in this study allows the concept of "hospitality" to be studied cross-culturally and in an interdisciplinary way, addressing a blind spot in the extant hospitality literature.


Plasticulture systems with polyethylene (PE) mulch and drip tape are common for production of peppers (Capsicum annuum L.) in the United States because of their soil warming, moisture conservation, and other advantageous effects. However, disadvantages include disposal costs and plastic pollution of the environment and temperature stress in warm climates with black mulch. Use of biodegradable plastic mulches (BDMs) is becoming more common, as they provide the same benefits of PE mulch without the disposal problems. In 2017 and 2018, we conducted experiments in Knoxville, TN, comparing production of pepper fruit with five different BDM [one white-on-black (WOB) and four black], one black PE mulch, one brown creped, paper mulch, and bare ground control treatments. We also measured the durability and effectiveness of weed suppression of the different mulches over the growing season compared with a hand-weeded bare ground control. Most mulches were degraded, with 40% to 60% of the soil exposed by the end of the season, with the exception of the paper mulch, which was completely degraded at the end of both seasons. Yields were similar among treatments in 2017, with the exception of Naturecycle, which had the lowest yield. Weed pressure was severe, especially in 2018, largely due to early penetration of all mulches except paper by nutsedge. Due to the early and season-long weed pressure and heat stress in black mulches, there were fewer healthy plants in all black-colored mulch treatments in 2018, leading to reduced yields in these treatments. Paper mulch was the only treatment that prevented nutsedge growth; therefore, this treatment and the hand-weeded bare ground treatment had the greatest yields in 2018. WOB also had yields comparable with paper and bare ground plots in 2018, likely due to the cooling effect of the white mulch. The results suggest that in hot climates and in fields infested with nutsedge, paper mulches perform best for midseason pepper cultivation due to the cooling effects and superior weed control.


Precise estimation of synchronization parameters is essential for reliable data detection in digital communications and phase errors can result in significant performance degradation. The literature on estimation of synchronization parameters, including the carrier frequency offset, are based on approximations or heuristics because the optimal estimation problem is analytically intractable for most cases of interest. We develop an online Bayesian inference procedure for blind estimation of the frequency offset, for arbitrary signal constellations. Our unified approach is built on a sequential inference procedure that leverages a novel result on conjugacy of the von Mises and Gaussian distributions. This conjugacy allows for an easily computable, closed form parametric expression for the posterior distribution of the parameters given the streaming data, in which hyperparameters are recursively updated, making the optimal sequential estimation problem mathematically tractable. Our algorithm is computationally efficient and can be implemented in real-time with very low memory requirements. Numerical experiments are also provided and show that our methods outperform approximate sequential maximum-likelihood carrier frequency offset estimators.


The implementation of a superior service strategy strongly depends on the attitude and behavior of customer contact personnel in service organizations. However, conflicting demands of organizational constraints, service managers, service teams, and customers frequently lead to role stress of service employees. In this article, the authors investigate antecedents and consequences of role stress experienced in after-sales service management of an international office equipment manufacturer from a longitudinal perspective. Empowering service employees by giving them authority and responsibility decreases their sense of role stress and, at the same time, enhances job satisfaction. Moreover, the authors notice a negative short-term and a positive long-term effect of the presence of rules and regulations. In the short term, this leads to higher role conflict. Finally, on the basis of the positive lagged effect of perceived group cohesiveness on role ambiguity, the authors conclude that creating "tight-knit" workgroups can actually prove detrimental because the norms they develop might be hard to change.


A study of water quality parameters in Cempaka Lake was conducted in January, April, July, and October 2010. The water quality parameters such as temperature, conductivity, total dissolved solid, dissolved oxygen, pH, and water hardness were determined. Six metals i.e. cadmium, chromium, lead, nickel, zinc, and copper were also determined. The water samples were collected randomly from different sampling points around the lake. The water quality parameters were compared with National Water Quality Standard (NWQS Malaysia) whereas metal concentrations were compared with international standards. Study showed that the water temperature and conductivity values increased during the months of the study with the averages of 27.6oC and 1709µS/cm respectively. The dissolved oxygen and pH values were within the normal ranges with the averages of 1.00 mg/l and 7.37 respectively while the total dissolved solid values increased during the study period with the average of 896 mg/ l. Furthermore, hardness values indicated that the water of the lake classified as soft water with the average of 34.3CaCo3 mg/l. For water quality parameters, study showed that all parameters were in natural concentration range (class I) according to National Water Quality Standard (NWQS Malaysia) except for conductivity, total dissolved solid and dissolved oxygen values. Results showed that the mean metal concentrations (in micrograms per liter) in Cempaka Lake water based on monthly sampling (in descending order) for Zn, Cu, Ni, Cr, Pb, and Cd were 11.08, 3.41, 2.80, 2.43, 0.49 and 0.24 µg/L respectively. Results showed that metals concentrations were lower than maximum concentrations allowed by Malaysian and international standards in protecting aquatic life.


Fluorescent in situ hybridization using DNA probes on 3-dimensionally preserved nuclei followed by 3D confocal microscopy (3D DNA FISH) represents the most direct way to visualize the location of gene loci, chromosomal sub-regions or entire territories in individual cells. This type of analysis provides insight into the global architecture of the nucleus as well as the behavior of specific genomic loci and regions within the nuclear space. Immunofluorescence, on the other hand, permits the detection of nuclear proteins (modified histones, histone variants and modifiers, transcription machinery and factors, nuclear sub-compartments, etc). The major challenge in combining immunofluorescence and 3D DNA FISH is, on the one hand to preserve the epitope detected by the antibody as well as the 3D architecture of the nucleus, and on the other hand, to allow the penetration of the DNA probe to detect gene loci or chromosome territories (1-5). Here we provide a protocol that combines visualization of chromatin modifications with genomic loci in 3D preserved nuclei.


Persons considered hardy view change as a challenge, feel deeply committed to and involved in life activities, and believe they can control events in their life. A change that has become increasingly evident in healthcare is the utilization of computers. How nurses perceive and respond to this change may be rooted in their personality characteristics with hardiness being one of these characteristics. The purpose of this study was to determine if a relationship exists between personality hardiness and nurses' attitudes toward computerization, Personality theories suggest this possibility. However, exposure of nurses to computers has historically been limited and studies have indicated their attitudes toward computers have been relatively negative. This investigation examined the theory that hardiness may influence attitudes toward computerization. One hundred twenty-five registered nurses from a mid-western, rural, 100-bed, acute care hospital participated in the study. These nurses completed the questionnaires (Fisher's Computer Demographics, Hardiness Scale, and Nurses' Attitude Toward Computerization Questionnaire). The typical respondent was a female, baccalaureate-prepared nurse who had worked at the hospital for less than five years. The mean score on the Hardiness Scale (5.9) indicated an overall moderate level of personality hardiness. The mean score on the Attitude Questionnaire (78.6) identified a moderately positive altitude. A Pearson correlation coefficient was calculated for the hardiness scores and the attitude scores. A strongly significant relationship was shown (p < 0.01). Other variables such as age, education level, gender, unit worked and home computer ownership were tested with relationship to hardiness and attitude toward computerization. The sub-components of hardiness (i.e. commitment, control, and challenge) were also submitted to scrutiny. Several statistically significant relationships were found. A limitation of the study was that only one hospital was utilized, reducing the ability to generalize the findings to other populations. Future research replicating the investigation should consider utilizing matched sampling techniques with two or more hospitals. A follow-up study could also be done to compare hardiness and attitudes toward computerization after the implementation of a computer system.


The reliability issue of the FinFET is studied in details in this paper by the forward gated-diode R-G current method. Extraction of the stress induced interface states and oxide traps of FinFET is performed from a series of the R-G current measurement and developed physics expression. As the result, the interface states can be extracted by the relationship between the net increase value of the maximum substrate current (ΔIpeak) and stress time; and the oxide trap can be reflected by the drift of gate voltage (ΔVg) corresponding toΔIpeak.


Introduction: Idiopathic sudden sensorineural hearing loss is a very frightening condition as the patient suddenly realises hardness of hearing, most commonly after awakening in the morning. and incidence varies between five to ten per 100000 per year. Management of this disease is controversial. Most common mode of management is oral steroids for two to four weeks. Several drugs with different dose and duration has been tried with unsatisfactory results. So there is search for newer drugs/methods of management. Intratympanic dexamethasone injection is new in this field. Objectives: To find the effectiveness of intratympanic steroid injection (ITS) for hearing recovery and comparing the results with oral steroids therapy. Materials and Methods: This study was done in the department of ENT, NRS Medical College, Kolkata, over a period of two years from January 2017 to December 2018. Total 64 patients of ISSHL was selected for the study. Through examination, otoscopy and pure tone audiometry was done for all the cases before initiation of therapy. Thirty patients received and thirty four patients received oral prednisolone for a protocol based dose and duration. Pure tone audiometry was repeated every two weeks over duration of two months for documentation of improvement of hearing on pure tone four frequency average. Results: Chances of recovery was more with intratympanic injection (70%) in comparison to oral steroids (58.8%). The ITS group showed faster recovery also with lower side effects. Conclusion: Intratympanic dexamethasone injection is more effective in comparison to oral prednisolone for the management of ISSHL. It is technically demanding.


Flexible force/pressure sensors are of interest for academia and industry and have applications in wearable technologies. Most of such sensors on the market or reported in journal publications are based on the operation mechanism of probing capacitance or resistance changes of the materials under pressure. Recently, we reported the microelectromechanical (MEM) sensors based on a different mechanism: mechanical switches. Multiples of such MEM sensors can be integrated to achieve the same function of regular force/pressure sensors while having the advantages of ease of fabrication and long-term stability in operation. Herein, we report the dramatically improved response time (more than one order of magnitude) of these MEM sensors by employing eco-friendly nanomaterials-cellulose nanocrystals. For instance, the incorporation of polydimethysiloxane filled with cellulose nanocrystals shortened the response time of MEM sensors from sub-seconds to several milliseconds, leading to the detection of both diastolic and systolic pressures in the radial arterial blood pressure measurement. Comprehensive mechanical and electrical characterization of the materials and the devices reveal that greatly enhanced storage modulus and loss modulus play key roles in this improved response time. The demonstrated fast-response flexible sensors enabled continuous monitoring of heart rate and complex cardiovascular signals using pressure sensors for future wearable sensing platforms.


This doctoral thesis is about people who write about their self-harm on Internet message boards. The aim of the study is to understand how meaning is produced in relation to self-harm, and how this involves particular constructions of self-harmer identity. The empirical material consists of written dialogues from seven Swedish message boards, as well as interviews with their members and a selection of published texts. This body of material is analysed using a poststructuralist discourse theoretical approach. In order to outline a context for the study, the thesis traces the constitution of self-harm in Swedish public debate since the 1990s. It is suggested that several discourses interact when cutting is represented in media, literature and governmental reports. Most noticeable, a psychiatric discourse, a dystopian discourse of contemporary society, a discourse of alternative youth culture, and a discourse of vulnerable girls are drawn on here. These discourses are regarded as resources for the production of meaning and the acts of identification in message board discussions and interviews. The analysis of this material is concerned with four empirical themes: the practice of cutting; the importance of talking as cure; distinctions between authentic and inauthentic cutters; and the paradoxical and antagonistic relationship between self-harming patients and psychiatry. Issues of normality/deviance and victimhood/agency are of great importance throughout the thesis, as the informants constantly negotiate these dichotomies. The thesis demonstrates that cutting is framed on the one hand as a deliberate strategy for managing emotions and demonstrating self-control, and on the other hand as the ultimate sign of helplessness, self-hatred and lack of control. Although the informants have different reasons for cutting, their diverse accounts and approaches are linked together on the message boards through their shared identification with the position of 'feeling bad'. The thesis further argues that cutter identity in this empirical material is defined through the construction of different constitutive outsides or 'enemies'. On the one hand, cutters who 'feel bad' are posited against less 'real' or authentic ones. On the other hand, cutters are also posited against psychiatry and psychiatric care staff. Psychiatry is constituted in particularly contradictory ways and the informants tend to vacillate between the positions of autonomous, rebellious patient and docile victim of disease. I argue that this can be seen as ways of dealing with certain problematics inherent in the asymmetrical power relationship between patient and psychiatry, at the same time as the construction of psychiatry as an antagonist is also essential for the assertion of solidarity and mutual support on the message boards.


This study examined conservation easements and their effectiveness at reducing phosphorus and solids transport to streams. The U.S. Geological Survey cooperated with the Minnesota Board of Water and Soil Resources and worked collaboratively with the Hawk Creek Watershed Project to examine the West Fork Beaver Creek Basin in Renville County, which has the largest number of Reinvest In Minnesota land retirement contracts in the State (as of 2013). Among all conservation easement programs, a total of 24,218 acres of agricultural land were retired throughout Renville County, and 2,718 acres were retired in the West Fork Beaver Creek Basin from 1987 through 2012. Total land retirement increased steadily from 1987 until 2000. In 2000, land retirement increased sharply because of the Minnesota River Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program, then leveled off when the program ended in 2002. Streamflow data were collected during 1999 through 2011, and total phosphorus and total suspended solids data were collected during 1999 through 2012. During this period, the highest peak streamflow of 1,320 cubic feet per second was in March 2010. Total phosphorus and total suspended solids are constituents that tend to increase with increases in streamflow. Annual flow-weighted mean total-phosphorus concentrations ranged from 0.140 to 0.759 milligrams per liter, and annual flow-weighted mean total suspended solids concentrations ranged from 21.3 to 217 milligrams per liter. Annual flow-weighted mean total phosphorus and total suspended solids concentrations decreased steadily during the first 4 years of water-quality sample collection. A downward trend in flow-weighted mean total-phosphorus concentrations was significant from 1999 through 2008; however, flowweighted total-phosphorus concentrations increased substantially in 2009, and the total phosphorus trend was no longer significant. The high annual flow-weighted mean concentrations for total phosphorus and total suspended solids in 2009 were affected by outlier concentrations documented in March 2009. Agricultural land-retirement data only were available through 2008; therefore, it was not possible to compare total phosphorus and total suspended solids concentrations to agricultural land-retirement data for 2009–11. A downward trend in annual flow-weighted mean total-phosphorus concentrations was related significantly to annual land retirement for 1999–2008. The relation between annual flow-weighted mean total suspended solids concentration and annual land retirement was not statistically significant for 1999–2008. If land-retirement data had been available for 2009–11, it is possible that the relation between total phosphorus and land retirement would no longer be evident because of the marked increase in flow-weighted concentrations during 2009. Alternatively, the increase in annual flow-weighted mean total-phosphorus concentrations during 2009–11 may be because of other factors, including industrial discharges, increases in drain tile installation, changes in land use including decreases in agricultural land retirement after 2008, increases in erosion, increases in phosphorus applications to fields, or unknown causes. Inclusion of land-retirement effects in agency planning along with other factors adds perspective with regard to the broader picture of interdependent systems and allows agencies to make informed decisions on the benefits of perpetual easements compared to limited duration easements.


Gold hypersensitivity is a cause of periorbital dermatitis that often presents as a diagnostic challenge for many ophthalmologists. Six female patients are described as presenting with isolated bilateral periorbital dermatitis. Main symptoms included itching (3/6), eyelid redness (3/6), and drooping eyelids (3/6) for an average duration of 16.8 months prior to referral. All 6 patients failed conservative management. Recurrence of symptoms necessitated allergic patch testing, revealing a severe hypersensitivity reaction to gold in all cases. By discontinuing contact with gold, specifically gold jewelry, the allergic periorbital dermatitis completely resolved. No patients required surgical intervention for eyelid malposition. Increased awareness of this reversible cause of allergic periorbital dermatitis may improve patient outcomes.


This paper proposes a combined system of three-phase four-wire shunt active power filter (SAPF), and photovoltaic generator (PVG), to solve the power quality problems such as harmonic currents, poor power factor, and unbalanced load. In addition, the proposed system can inject the issued energy from the PVG into the utility grid. To increase the efficiency of the PVG and extract the maximum photovoltaic (PV) power under variable atmospheric conditions, a maximum power point tracking (MPPT) technique based on perturb and observe (P&O) is implemented in the DC/DC boost converter. The effectiveness of the proposed PVG-SAPF (PVG and SAPF) based on the use of synchronous reference frame theory (SRF theory) under unbalanced nonlinear load. The proposed PVG-SAPF is validated through numerical simulations using Matlab/Simulink software. The simulation results show the effectiveness of the proposed PVG-SAPF.


There is little empirical research to indicate whether the introduction of sentencing guidelines displaces discretion from judges to prosecutors. In the handful of studies that examine the hydraulic displacement of discretion, discretion is usually measured by the rate of charge bargaining. The current study uses an alternative methodology—calculating the value of the bargain—to examine the effect of sentencing guidelines on prosecutorial discretion in the District of Columbia Superior Court. It measures the impact of charge bargaining on sentence length in a sample of 266 pre-guidelines sentences and 263 post-guidelines sentences, and finds that the rate of charge bargaining did not change after the introduction of guidelines, but that the impact of bargaining on sentence length increased slightly. Although the amount of displacement of discretion in the D.C. Guidelines was modest, the study demonstrates that alternative measures (value of the bargain) might reveal displacement of discretion when traditional measures (rate of the bargain) do not.


In this paper we present a study of some spelling error types that Dutch primary school children made in the dictations and in the free or themed texts they contributed to the BasiScript corpus, i.e. a corpus comprising child written output produced between 2012 and 2015. The present article first briefly describes the corpus. Then it presents an analysis of the spelling errors that occurred in a selected set of words in the dictations regarding diphthongs (in grades 2 and 3) and verb forms (in grades 4 and 5) – which are notoriously difficult to spell for these age groups. In our analysis we investigate whether the frequencies of the words in the BasiLex corpus (a corpus of child written input) predict the spelling errors and whether there is a correlation between number of incorrect spellings of the words in the dictations and in the free texts and themed texts of the


We construct a static axisymmetric wormhole from the gravitational eld of two Schwarzschild particles which are kept in equilibrium by strings (ropes) extending to innnity. The wormhole is obtained by matching two three-dimensional timelike surfaces surrounding each of the particles and thus spacetime becomes non-simply connected. Although the matching will not be exact in general it is possible to make the error arbitrarily small by assuming that the distance between the particles is much larger than the radius of the wormhole mouths. Whenever the masses of the two wormhole mouths are diierent, causality violating eeects will occur.


'The Prosumer Complex' regards prosumerism as a new productive mode of online image work. Prosumerism, I claim, recuperates practical elements of artistic practice and looking as labour, and puts these to work in a new kind of viewing. As prosumers we are discouraged from assessing the function of our viewing, the nature and outcomes of our production. On websites like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram we 'share' personal images as a form of interplay on prosumer platforms that claim to enable communion, communication and creative freedom for users.

In this thesis, I regard the recent history and changing meaning of the term 'prosumerism', the new industry of images it has created and how its recent critiques relate to theories of the capitalist recuperation of artistic labour. I outline specific film and performance works by artists Mark Leckey, Frances Stark and Ericka Beckman and analyse how they probe, dramatise and disturb the activity of prosumerism. The intrinsic and extrinsic aspects of prosumerism are played out within the work and thus become reflexive, showing the social and economic conditions in which they are produced and performing the exhibitionary tendencies those conditions create.

These reflexive works elicit a more complicated and differentiated mode of viewing than the uniform regard prosumerism encourages. They provide unique models for exhibition making that expose a common contemporary subjectivity with a voracious, growing appetite for images as well as its relationship to productive display platforms for and from which these images are produced and consumed. Manipulating and exposing this co-production by implementing the curator's subjectivity and agonist display architectures, 'The Prosumer Complex' becomes a curatorial form of 'detournement' where the exhibition visitor sees prosumerism at work within the exhibition's elements. Thus the prosumer complex becomes a mode of reflexive curating and an affective advance from prosumer critique.


Introduction: Hospital gyms have been common sites for pulmonary rehabilitation programmes, however they are high in demand and weekly availability can be limited [1]. Pulmonary rehabilitaiton in a community environment may enable more patients to access this essential component of care. The aim of this pilot community pulmonary rehabilitation programme was to examine its effects on quality of life and exercise tolerance.

Methods: Seven patients (3 female, 4 male) from the SJH pulmonary rehabilitation waiting list were included in the programme. All underwent an 8-week programme (8 supervised sessions, 16 unsupervised home sessions) of exercise training and education. Subjects were assessed at baseline and on programme completion on measures of exercise capacity (6MWT) and quality of life (Chronic Respiratory Questionnaire).

Results: Six patients (3 female, 3 male) completed the programme-mean age 66.6 years, mean% predicted FEV1 43.8%. The mean number of classes attended was 7 and mean number of home sessions completed was 9. On completion of the programme there was a significant increase in the 6MWT of 75.5metres, a significant decline in the fatigue domain of the CRQ (4.6 to 4.1) and no other significant changes in the CRQ.

Conclusion: Results of this pilot study support the potential role of community pulmonary rehabilitation programmes in improving exercise tolerance in patients with chronic respiratory disease.

References:

* 1. Ward JA, Akers G, Ward DG, Pinnuck M, Williams S, Trott J et al. Feasibility and effectiveness of a pulmonary rehabilitation programme in a community hospital setting. British Journal of General Practice 2002; 52(480):539-542.


Although uncommon, sporadic nonampullary duodenal adenomas have a growing detection due to the widespread of endoscopy. Endoscopic therapy is being increasingly used for these lesions, since surgery, considered the standard treatment, carries significant morbidity and mortality. However, the knowledge about its risks and benefits is limited, which contributes to the current absence of standardized recommendations. This review aims to discuss the efficacy and safety of endoscopic mucosal resection (EMR) and endoscopic submucosal dissection (ESD) in the treatment of these lesions. A literature review was performed, using the Pubmed database with the query: "(duodenum or duodenal) (endoscopy or endoscopic) adenoma resection", in the human species and in English. Of the 189 retrieved articles, and after reading their abstracts, 19 were selected due to their scientific interest. The analysis of their references, led to the inclusion of 23 more articles for their relevance in this subject. The increased use of EMR in the duodenum has shown good results with complete resection rates exceeding 80% and low complication risk (delayed bleeding in less than 12% of the procedures). Although rarely used in the duodenum, ESD achieves close to 100% complete resection rates, but is associated with perforation and bleeding risk in up to one third of the cases. Even though literature is insufficient to draw definitive conclusions, studies suggest that EMR and ESD are valid options for the treatment of nonampullary adenomas. Thus, strategies to improve these techniques, and consequently increase the effectiveness and safety of the resection of these lesions, should be developed.


Photochromic material Ag-TiO2 thin films are fabricated on quartz substrate by dual -target helicon magnetron sputtering. The phototchromic behavior is investigated for the sample loaded with 90% Ag. Spheres, ellipsoids and polyhedra shape of Ag particles with wide range size (5∼100 nm) are dispersed in the TiO2 amorphous matrix observed by transmission electron microscopy. The spectral hole burned by the irradiation of laser at the wavelength 532 nm can be explained by a particle-plasmon-assisted electron transfer from Ag nanoparticles to TiO2 and subsequent trapping by adsorbed molecular oxygen. Moreover, the mechanism of the slow recovery after photochromism is suggested as a slow thermal release of electrons from oxygen trapping centers and subsequent capture into the Ag nanoparticles.


Background: Type 1 Arnold Chiari is a neurological malformation that may be associated with vocal cord paralysis in Children. In most cases, the vocal cord paralysis is related to protrusion of medulla and cerebellum in the foramen magnum, which led to compression on the vagus nerve. Case report: A 12-year-old child underwent suboccipital decompression and C1 laminectomy for a symptomatic type 1 Arnold Chiari malformation. After the surgery, patient reported severe dyspnea, aphonia, and dysphagia. The videolaryngostroboscopy and neurological examinations reported a postoperative bilateral vocal cord abduction paralysis due to bilateral IX and X cranial nerve paralyzes and a bilateral paralysis of the tongue. Discussion: The type 1 Arnold Chiari malformation clinical picture may present with unilateral or bilateral vocal cord paralysis, which may resolve with an adequate management of the disease. However, the neurosurgical decompression and C1 laminectomy may result in bilateral lesion of the IX, X, and XII cranial nerves, and related severe swallowing, aspiration and vocal cord disorders. Conclusion: We reported the first case of bilateral vocal cord abduction paralysis occurring post-neurosurgical decompression and C1 laminectomy in a child with type 1 Arnold Chiari malformation. This case highlights the importance of surgical steps of the procedure in front of the C1 vertebrae where there are IX, X, and XII cranial nerves.


Abstract Takai, K., Sakamoto, S., Sakai, T., Yasunaga, J., Komatsu, K. and Matsuoka, M. A Potential Link between Alternative Splicing of the NBS1 Gene and DNA Damage/Environmental Stress. Radiat. Res. 170, 33–40 (2008). NBS1 forms a multimetric complex with MRE11/RAD50, which acts as the sensor of DNA double-strand breaks (DSBs). The mechanisms controlling the expression of NBS1 remain largely unknown. Here we show that NBS1 is transcribed as both a wild-type and an alternatively spliced form exhibiting a premature stop codon in an alternative 50-bp exon in intron 2. Although the wild-type transcript predominates in most tissues, the spliced transcript is abundant in resting peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs). Levels of the spliced form of NBS1 decreased rapidly after irradiation as levels of the wild-type NBS1 transcript increased, resulting in increased levels of NBS1 protein. Both mitogenic stimulation and methyl methanesulfonate treatment also altered the splicing pattern of NBS1. Resting PBMCs, which predominantly express spliced NBS1, were more susceptible to radiation than mitogen-stimulated cells, which showed predominant expression of the wild-type transcript. Since the alternatively spliced NBS1 gene likely did not produce protein, this alternative splicing seems to be associated with the control of NBS1 protein. Thus alternative splicing of the NBS1 gene may be associated with the regulation of NBS1 in response to DSBs, DNA alkylation damage, and mitogenic response.


According to Phillip's Curve, a rising in growth or reduction in employment rate will cause rise in inflation rate. In economics this phenomenon was named growth inflation trade-off. This study examines whether in East Kalimantan appeared growth inflation trade-off. By using multiple linear regression analysis was found that there isn't growth inflation trade-off phenomenon in East Kalimantan. Keyword: Growth, inflation, growth inflation trade-off.


Cancer cells having stably integrated genes encoding tumor-associated antigens could be utilized as a vaccine, in-vitro stimulators of antigen-primed T-cells, and target for cytotoxicity assay, etc . Lipofection is a simple and safer technique for stable transfection of plasmid DNA. However, the poor rate of genomic integration has limited its application. In the current study, the effect of mild and transient heat shock following lipofection on the improvement of genomic integration was evaluated. The cDNA fragments encoding chicken MMP-11peptide (V 32 -K 365 ) and the immunoglobulin-like domain 2 of chicken VEGFR-2 were cloned separately into pcDNA3.1 vector. Lipofection was carried out using Lipofectamine ® 2000 (Life Technologies, USA) in 4T1 cells followed by a heat shock at 42°C for 10 min. Transfected cells were selected for a period of four weeks against 500 µg/mL G418 in RPMI 1640 media supplemented with 10% fetal bovine serum. Distinct G418-resistant colonies appeared after 14 days of selection. Heat shock significantly ( P <0.05) increased the number of viable colonies following antibiotic selection. The immunofluorescent study confirmed the stable integration of the target DNAs into the cells. It is concluded that mild and brief heat shock following lipofection improves the stable integration of recombinant pcDNA3.1 plasmids into 4T1 cells.


The purpose of the study was to identify the challenges beginning teachers face with in their first years in the profession and their sources. A multiple-case study design was conducted. Purposeful sampling was used and participants were three beginning teachers who started their teaching career in Eskisehir at the beginning of 2014-2015 schooling year. Data were collected through semi-structured individual interviews, observations, unstructured individual interviews and open-ended questionnaires throughout one schooling year. Data were analysed inductively. Cross-case analysis followed within-case analysis of each beginner teacher case. The common emerging themes were classroom management, preservice teacher education, organizational procedures, students and personal/professional development oriented challenges. Implications for preservice teacher education curricula are to increase the teaching practices/practicum and to be more rigorous in these courses. In further research, an action research design study might be beneficial to understand the challenges in this critical period and to attempt to overcome them.


Abstract:  Based on the hypothesis that skin barrier impairment is a contributor to side‐effects associated with retinoic acid therapy, a double‐blind, placebo‐controlled pilot study examined the combined use of retinoic acid with myristyl nicotinate (MN), a lipophilic derivative of niacin that enhances skin barrier function, in female subjects with mild to moderate facial photodamage. The study involved a 1‐month run‐in period with placebo or MN prior to initiation of retinoic acid therapy for 3 months. Analysis of skin biopsies revealed that retinoic acid therapy resulted in stratum corneum thinning of approximately 25% (P = 0.006 versus baseline) that was ameliorated by MN use (P < 0.005). Therapy resulted in an increased rate of transepidermal water loss (TEWL) of approximately 45% (P = 0.001 versus baseline) and use of MN protected against the increase in TEWL with the strongest protection provided by prior use of MN (P = 0.056 versus placebo). MN use reduced the incidence of side‐effects of the therapy and again prior use provided the greatest reduction of side‐effects. Subjects showed statistically significant clinical improvement (P < 0.05 versus baseline) during the study. MN use did not interfere with any clinical improvement parameters and improved effects on temple laxity (P = 0.01 versus placebo). Analysis of changes in epidermal thickness, Ki67‐positive cells and intensity of loricrin staining demonstrated that MN either improved or did not interfere with retinoic acid efficacy. These results show that prior and concurrent use of MN can mitigate barrier impairment and improve the tolerability of retinoic acid therapy for facial photodamage without interfering with efficacy.


Controlling crack of hyperbolic arch dam with a height of 305 m in Jinping hydropower station is an important problem. To improve the anti-cracking ability and reduce cracking risk of hydraulic concrete, polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) fiber and polypropylene thick fiber were used in hydraulic concrete using four gradations of aggregates. Indoor and productive tests were carried through to comparatively analyze workability, physical and mechanical properties and anti-cracking ability. Workability of fiber reinforced concrete was improved to be in favor of construction. When two kinds of fiber were used in concrete, the anti-cracking ability was greatly enhanced with lower elastic modulus-to-strength ratio and lager ultimate tensile strain. Concrete using PVA fiber had better anti-cracking ability than that of concrete using polypropylene thick fiber. PVA fiber reinforced concrete was applied in Jinping hydropower station. It is proved that PVA fiber reinforced concrete has good properties reaching design requirements of workability, compressive strength, ultimate tensile strain, frost resistance, permeability resistance.


Halfway through the waking period, around early afternoon, there is a strong
propensity for sleep to occur again. This second sleep tendency is part of a 12-hour
rhythm of sleepiness, that I have termed "The Afternoon Pressure for Sleep" (APS).
Evidence for this bicircadian sleepiness, include siesta cultures, short sleep latencies in
the afternoon, a midday peak in pathological sleep attacks, and the concentration of
napping to this afternoon window. The flexible nature of the human sleep/wake cycle
allows for napping to be easily suppressed, as necessitated by social and occupational
demands, and so the APS is readily masked. [Continues.]


OBJECTIVE
This study examined the frequency with which allogeneic, volunteer blood donors who had been deferred from donation at one blood collection facility donated, or attempted to donate, at a second blood collection facility.

METHODS
The blood donor computer files of two local blood collection facilities were-combined and matched donors on the donor deferral registry of each blood collection facility were identified.

RESULTS
Of 26,300 donors in the hospital-based blood bank file, 6732 (25.6%) were matched to the community blood center donor file (active donor base approximately 275,000). Matched donors on the donor deferral registry at each blood collection facility numbered 427 (6.3% of total matched donors). A total of 103 evaluable donors (1.5% of total, or 24.1% of deferred, matched donors) had been deferred at one blood collection facility and then later donated, or attempted donation, at the other blood collection facility. Of these 103, 51 were allogeneic donors who had been notified of their deferral status and should not have subsequently attempted blood donation. Thirty-two donors on the donor deferral registry of one blood collection facility made donations at the second blood collection facility which entered the general blood inventory.

CONCLUSION
Shared donor deferral registries may be valuable at the local or regional level to prevent deferred blood donors from donating at other blood collection facilities. Whether or not a national donor deferral registry would be efficacious remains to be proven and deserves further study.


This study aims to examine the challenges of microfinance institutions (MFIs) in empowering micro and small entrepreneur to concern and care not only for the business growth but also the environmental sustainability in their surroundings. Indonesia as developing countries also faces the environmental degradation that contributes by micro and small entrepreneurs. Moreover MFIs have substantial relationships in term to preserve the environment because of the objectives are not only achieve the profit but also balancing with the social (people) and environment (planet) achievement and MFIs clients also micro and small entrepreneur who as the majority contributor of environment degradation in developing countries. The discussion of the paper is determined by three research questions (i) What's the role of MFIs in preserving the environment? (ii) How the role of corporate governance in MFIs? (iii) How the implementation of corporate governance in MFIs in empowering micro to implementing green activity (Indonesia evidence)? In addition, to ensure the commitment of MFIs should exist corporate governance, which supervise the compliance with Act No.1 2013 related to the sustainability concern from MFIs because until now the impact of the act has not given the significant impact yet because of the importance is not only the existence of regulation but also the consciousness all stakeholders related to comply and implementing of green activity.


Introduction: Nuclear receptor 4A1(NR4A1) (testicular receptor 3 (TR3), nuclear hormone receptor (Nur)77) is a member of the nuclear receptor superfamily of transcription factors and is highly expressed in multiple tumor types. RNA interference studies indicate that NR4A1 exhibits growth-promoting, angiogenic and prosurvival activity in most cancers. Areas covered: Studies on several apoptosis-inducing agents that activate nuclear export of NR4A1, which subsequently forms a mitochondrial NR4A1–bcl-2 complex that induces the intrinsic pathway for apoptosis are discussed. Cytosporone B and related compounds that induce NR4A1-dependent apoptosis in cancer cells through both modulation of nuclear NR4A1 and nuclear export are discussed. A relatively new class of diindolylmethane analogs (C-DIMs) including 1,1-bis(3′-indolyl)-1-(p-methoxyphenyl)methane (DIM-C-pPhOCH3) (NR4A1 activator) and 1,1-bis(3′-indolyl)-1-(p-hydroxyphenyl)methane (DIM-C-pPhOH) (NR4A1 deactivator) are discussed in more detail. These anticancer drugs (C-DIMs) act strictly through nuclear NR4A1 and induce apoptosis in cancer cells and tumors. Expert opinion: It is clear that NR4A1 plays an important pro-oncogenic role in cancer cells and tumors, and there is increasing evidence that this receptor can be targeted by anticancer drugs that induce cell death via NR4A1-dependent and -independent pathways.Since many of these compounds exhibit relatively low toxicity, they represent an important class of mechanism-based anticancer drugs with excellent potential for clinical applications.


Experimental data are presented on further studies on intestinal segments transplanted to the stomach. Particular study has been made of the influences of the chemical and traumatic factors in the etiology of ulcer. The almost constant observation of hydrochloric acid in clinical peptic ulcer has frequently led to the conclusion that it is an essential element in its production. Experimentally, however, it has been rather definitely established by many workers that uninjured intestinal mucosa is unaffected by exposure to the digestive action of gastric juice. Isolated segments of intestine, with their blood supply intact, transplanted to the stomachs of dogs, remained unchanged in the experiments of Hotz 1 and Licini. 2 Later, Dragstedt and Vaughn 3 showed that various parts of the intestinal tract, kidney and spleen transplanted to the stomach remained normal when subjected to the digestive action of gastric juice for long periods. In an experimental study of


Two new variants of Kohonen's self-organising feature maps based on batch processing are presented in this work. The motivation is related to the need of exploiting the hardware resources of neurocomputers based on systolic arrays. Ordering and convergence to asymptotic values for 1D maps and 1D continuous input and weight spaces are proved for both variants. Finally, simulations on uniform 2D data as well as simulations on speech 12D data using 2D maps are also presented to back the theoretical results.


THE PROBLEM In nature, manmade solutions tend to degrade resources over time. Natural solutions tend to improve resources over time. Let's be honest. American agriculture faces some serious challenges moving forward. We are responsible for the lion's share of nonpoint source pollution causing the dead zone in the Gulf of Mexico. Soil erosion is continuously depositing our topsoil and nutrients into our nation's waterways. Monocultures have increased our reliance on pesticides and genetically modified organisms, causing resistant weeds, diseases, and bugs to develop at an alarming rate. Water supplies that have fueled the productivity in vast areas of our country are becoming increasingly scarce. Perhaps most significantly, we have oxidized roughly half of the native organic matter of our soils into the atmosphere. We have continuously migrated away from diversity toward monoculture. It is a testament to the ingenuity of man and mostly to the amazing ability of our natural systems to compensate in the face of environmental adversity that we have strayed this far and remained as productive as we have. But make no mistake, you can only short-circuit nature for a little while. In the long run, she always wins. THE SOLUTION: MIMIC NATURE WHENEVER AND WHEREVER POSSIBLE


Using national data for Britain and other industrial societies, we assess claims that sex differentials in labour mobility and employment stability have disappeared with rising female labour-force participation rates. Results for Britain show a continuing sex differential of 50 per cent in the standard measures of labour turnover and job tenure. These sex differentials are typical of the European Community and other industrial societies. Further, sex differentials in labour mobility and employment continuity are dramatically increased when the focus changes to movement in and out of the labour force instead of attachment to a particular employer. Women are two to four times more likely than men to enter and exit the workforce in a given period. Work histories display even more fundamental sex differences, and show that discontinuous employment has been replacing continuous employment and the homemaker career among women. The methodological implications for the analysis of cross-sectional and longitudinal data, and the substantive and theoretical implications for understanding women's employment are addressed. Qualitative divisions within the female workforce can no longer be ignored, as they impact on occupational grade, earnings and life chances, and can distort crossnational comparisons.


This study investigates the effects of media frames on attitudes toward video games, perceptions of their users, and consequences. Prior research has shown that gaming is a controversial issue, with media coverage focusing on either risks or opportunities. To examine the effects of these portrayals, the present study used a 2 × 2 experimental design and exposed participants (N = 360) to a news article that framed gaming in terms of risk or opportunity on the journalistic level and on the level of a corresponding expert statement. By examining the perceived negative effects of games, this study extends previous research by combining framing and third-person research. Results showed that framing gaming indeed had an effect on participants' attitudes. This framing effect was moderated by individual video game use. Despite identifying a traditional third-person perception regarding negative video game effects, we found framing to have no significant influence on third-person perceptions.


The steel-concrete composite ribbed shell is a new type of spatial structure. Different restrained boundary conditions have a considerably influence on the ultimate bearing capacity and stability. Based on the nonlinear finite element method, a numerical model is made by finite element analysis software ANSYS, in which material and geometrical nonlinear are considered. A spherical composite ribbed shell with 40m span, three different section dimensions and two different vector heights is used as an example, in which 4 different restrained boundary conditions are considered, including all fixed, all hinged, node fixed and node hinged. The results show that when the section dimension and span height are the same, the ultimate bearing capacity will be greater as the boundary becoming rigid, and when the section dimension is larger, the ratio of ultimate bearing capacity under different restrained boundary conditions is increasing, while as the span height is greater, the ratio is decreasing. To the instable shape, the influence of different restrained boundary is minor, all the instable modes are extreme point instability, but the trend of load-displacement curves are almost similar, and when the cross-section dimension of composite rib increases, the composite ribbed shell under different boundary constraints has shown higher post-buckling strength.


Background Although parents seek the best for their children, nutrition education for parents has attracted little attention to improve their children's dietary habits. To address this gap, this study aimed to examine the relationship between parental lifestyle factors and children's dietary habits. Methods We used data from the questionnaire survey of the Super Shokuiku School Project conducted in January 2016. The participants consisted of 1,632 elementary school children who answered questions about their lifestyle, while their parents answered parental lifestyle questions, including Breslow's seven health practice score (BHPS). Logistic regression analysis was performed to evaluate the strength of the relationship between parental lifestyle factors and parental dietary attitudes or children's dietary habits. Results Compared with good maternal BHPS (scores of 6–7), poor maternal BHPS (scores of 0–3) was significantly associated with less parental interest in Shokuiku, less parental consideration of nutrient balance, and an increased rate of children eating breakfast alone (adjusted odds ratio [aOR] 2.95; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.82–4.78, aOR 3.86; 95% CI, 2.50–5.96, and aOR 2.42; 95% CI, 1.34–4.35, respectively). There was no significant difference between parental BHPS and the following children's dietary habits: frequency of eating breakfast, vegetable intake, and snacking. These habits of children were associated with their personal lifestyle factors. Conclusion Two types of dietary habits among children were associated with lifestyle factors of both parents and children. Nutrition education might be especially important for parents to improve their dietary attitude and children's dietary habits. However, different nutrition education interventions would be needed to appropriately address each dietary habit.


This study aims to report investigation into the p roblem of waste management on construction sites in South Western Nigeria and to unveil inhere nt dangers material wastage poses to the constructi on Industry. In the construction industries, materials are very vital in building sites, but not all the materials delivered are used for the purposes for which they have been ordered and the subsequent disappearance of these materials constitutes part of the waste. T he primary research instruments used was the questionnaire which contained varied questions on material wastage and management. The investigation revealed that material wastage brings about additio nal cost to the construction project as well as a reduction in the profit of the contractor, consider ing the cost of storing and transporting constructi on waste along with the loss of revenue from not recla iming waste. Also, most waste that occurs at construction sites is due to poor management and la ck of awareness of effective waste management. The study finally recommends that recycling and reusing of construction waste is a viable option in construction waste management and that material wastage can be reduced by giving incentives to the workers for better handling of materials and by hav ing trained personals to supervise the works.


By the approaches of the theory of complex functions, dynamic propagation problems on the surfaces of mode I crack subjected to unit-step loads and instantaneous impulse loads located at the origin of the coordinates were studied for Aluminum alloys, respectively. Analytical solutions to stresses, displacements, dynamic stress intensity factors and dislocation distribution functions are gained by the methods of self-similar functions. The problems considered can be very facilely transformed into Riemann-Hilbert problem and their closed solutions are obtained rather straightforward by Muskhelishvili's measure.


This is the essential primer in motor behaviour. The what, the where, the how! This book provides an overview of the field of motor behaviour. You don't need specialised knowledge to understand the concepts presented and the material frequently focuses on why the information is relevant in the real world. The book is organised to first introduce the reader to the field: how it emerged, the questions that interest people in the field, how they go about trying to answer those questions and potential career options. The second part of the book explains how the study of motor behaviour is concerned with the interactions between the environment, the task and the person executing the actions. It goes on to demonstrate how the knowledge resulting from this research can be applied to improve performance in a variety of settings. Finally, the epilogue asks a series of 'what will you do?' questions to prompt readers to consider how he or she might eventually contribute to the field. Need an easy guide to what motor behaviour is all about? This book is for you. It shows: techniques to observe and classify motor behaviour and to identify performance demands; how people control movements; how people learn motor skills; capabilities and limitations that each person brings to a particular task; and how to use the motor skill learning cycle to design and modify instructional programmes. It includes detailed descriptions of the various types of practice available, including when each might prove to be a good choice.


Interfaces and mechanical properties of the NM400/Q345 composite plates fabricated under different reduction ratios were investigated. An increasing in the cumulative reduction ratio enhanced the bonding interface of the NM400/Q345 composite plate by reducing the number of combinations with interfacial defects such as pores. The oxidation film at the interface was crushed and diffused after three passes of rolling (cumulative reduction ratio = 70%). The strength of the composite also increased with the increasing of cumulative reduction ratio. At the maximum cumulative reduction ratio (70%), the inter-diffusion of the matrix and composite metal was enhanced, and the microstructure became considerably refined. Furthermore, the elongation of the composite plate was decreased, which can be attributed to the reduced work hardening of the composite plate.


Mutations in the skeletal muscle-specific CLC-1 chloride channel are associated with the human hereditary disease myotonia congenita. The molecular pathophysiology underlying some of the disease-causing mutations can be ascribed to defective human CLC-1 protein biosynthesis. CLC-1 protein folding is assisted by several molecular chaperones and co-chaperones, including FK506-binding protein 8 (FKBP8). FKBP8 is generally considered an endoplasmic reticulum- and mitochondrion-resident membrane protein, but is not thought to contribute to protein quality control at the cell surface. Herein, we aim to test the hypothesis that FKBP8 may regulate CLC-1 protein at the plasma membrane. Surface biotinylation and subcellular fractionation analyses reveal that a portion of FKBP8 is present at the plasma membrane, and that co-expression with CLC-1 enhances surface localization of FKBP8. Immunoblotting analyses of plasma membrane proteins purified from skeletal muscle further confirm surface localization of FKBP8. Importantly, FKBP8 promotes CLC-1 protein stability at the plasma membrane. Together, our data underscore the importance of FKBP8 in the peripheral quality control of CLC-1 channel.


How and why can a political mobilisation prevent what appears to be an economically rational and beneficial government investment? The present paper explores the ways in which both public policy and contentious politics theories can be potentially bridged to answer this question. It suggests ways in which concepts used by public policy theorists such as 'policy windows' (Kingdon, 1984) or 'advocacy coalitions' (Sabatier, 1999) may be useful to understand the emergence of political opportunities or the construction of collective action frames. The case study to be used is the project to export liquefied gas from Bolivia to California, which was promoted by the administration of Gonzalo Sánchez de Lozada in 2002 and was cancelled after civil society groups not only mobilise to resist it, but to demand the resignation of the president.


In the third report, a visual information processing system and visual feedback control of a hand are described. By this visual information processing system, it is possible to track moving objects and to measure their positions and velocities. As mentioned in the second report, this processing system is stored and run in a different computer from the one which controls the motion of the arm. The visual feedback control of the hand is performed by making use of these parallel processing systems. As a work example of these systems, a task of catching a rolling ball by the hand was chosen and carried out. In this visual feedback task, anticipating the catching position and time of the rolling ball from its measured position and velocity, the hand moves to this catching position by this time and catches it.


Clinical teaching method has an important key role in training of proficient medical doctor. Hence, attention to all effective factors facing clinical teaching method is a serious affair. This study was based on evaluation of medical students' satisfaction of a clinical teaching method that was executed in pediatric wards of teaching hospitals in Ahvaz Jundishapour University of medical sciences during 2012-13 year. This is a cross sectional descriptive study. Totally 147 medical students (100 female, 47 male) of three separated consecutive groups who were trained in different times in pediatric wards, have been our statistical samples. All medical students filled out the previously determined realistic and validated questionnaire at the end of their clinical pediatric course individually. Collected data were analyzed with descriptive statistical indicators and SPSS software. The results of this study revealed that 135 medical students (91.8%) expressed their consent for the new clinical teaching method instead of the old current one. They declared that they have learned better the presented topics, while only 12 medical students (8.2%) were agreed with the old current method. The results of this study revealed that with creation of new and efficient clinical teaching method can augment the medical students' satisfaction and help to promote the potential level of their knowledge and practice.


In this study, three relevant friction forces: constant friction force, hydrodynamic friction force and coulomb friction force are considered between sheet molding compound (SMC) charge and contact surface of the mold. The power law model is implemented to propose a model for prediction of hydrodynamic friction as the dominant friction of the SMC compression molding. The proposed model is simple and does not need any extra experimental parameters. Finally, a model has been developed to predict the molding pressure under non-isothermal conditions. The obtained results of the model are in a very good agreement with the experimental data.


. The article examines the essence, concept, features and structure of socio-economic ecosystems from the standpoint of the system paradigm. It is shown that the internal structure of an ecosystem is isomorphic to the structure of a tetrad — a complex of four stably interacting systems: object, environment, process and design. The concept of apoptosis is introduced as a predetermined cessation of the functioning of the system after a certain period of time or when the system leaves the boundaries of a certain zone of space. Apoptosis has been shown to be a natural mechanism for the functioning and development of ecosystems. The relationships between ecosystems, clusters, platforms, networks and incubators are revealed. It has been determined that the concept of an ecosystem can serve as a kind of umbrella for the concepts of clusters, platforms, networks and innovative incubators, and each ecosystem contains subsystems similar in structure and functions to the four systems of the indicated classes.


The emetic toxin of Bacillus cereus, found to cause immobilization of spermatozoa and swelling of their mitochondria, was purified and its structure found to be identical to the earlier known toxin cereulide. It increased the conductance in black-lipid membranes in KCl solutions in an ionophore-like manner. It formed adducts with K+, Na+, and NH4+ but the conductance was highly selective for K+ in relation to Na+ and H+ (three orders of magnitude). The increase in the kinetics of conductance indicated a stoichiometric ratio between the cereulide and K+. Its ionophoretic properties are thus similar to those of valinomycin. In addition, its effects on rat liver mitochondria were similar: it stimulated swelling and respiration in respiring mitochondria in the presence but not in the absence of K+, it reduced the transmembrane potential under these conditions. In nonrespiring mitochondria, swelling was seen in KNO3- but not in NaNO3-containing media, less in acetate. In NaNO3 media addition of the cereulide caused a transient diffusion potential which was reduced by adding K+. It is concluded that the toxic effects of cereulide are due to it being a K+ ionophore.


We present PortraitSketch, an interactive drawing system that helps novices create pleasing, recognizable face sketches without requiring prior artistic training. As the user traces over a source portrait photograph, PortraitSketch automatically adjusts the geometry and stroke parameters (thickness, opacity, etc.) to improve the aesthetic quality of the sketch. We present algorithms for adjusting both outlines and shading strokes based on important features of the underlying source image. In contrast to automatic stylization systems, PortraitSketch is designed to encourage a sense of ownership and accomplishment in the user. To this end, all adjustments are performed in real-time, and the user ends up directly drawing all strokes on the canvas. The findings from our user study suggest that users prefer drawing with some automatic assistance, thereby producing better drawings, and that assistance does not decrease the perceived level of involvement in the creative process.


Seawater is the most common fluid on earth and ice generating machines are increasingly used on fishing vessels to produce ice slurry from the seawater with up to 60 % ice to be poured over the catch. In this study, new measurements of thermophysical properties of standard seawater have been carried out to complement a recent literature search made to establish thermophysical property data of seawater as function of salinity and temperature. These single-phase measurements have been made for salinity 20, 30 and 35 g kg(-1) (2.0, 3.0 and 3.5 % total salt content) and include measurements of freezing point, density, dynamic viscosity, thermal conductivity, specific heat capacity and specific enthalpy. The obtained experimental results generally confirm recent literature search and experimental results only call for minor adjustments of viscosity values. Hence, experimental results confirm the following published ice slurry properties: enthalpy, ice fraction and ice slurry density.


The clinical features of 150 consecutive patients with irritable bowel syndrome are reported. All patients were referred to a private practice. There was a marked female preponderance and a wide range of ages. Diarrhoea was predominant in 61,3%. The common symptoms were altered bowel habit, abdominal pain, emotional disturbance, flatulence and distension. Fatigue, weight loss, upper gastrointestinal symptoms, backache and urinary symptoms were frequent. The rectum showed nonspecific loss of vascular pattern, oedema and congestion in 11,4% of patients, but this was readily distinguished from inflammatory bowel disease on histological examination. The incidence of non-smokers in the group was 78,1%. The overall appendicectomy rate was 34%, and 65% of the 92 women had had gynaecological operations. A positive diagnosis was made on a typical history and simple basic investigations. More extensive investigations were required for those patients with markers of organic disease, but these yielded few associated lesions.


Large tectonic plates are known to be susceptible to internal deformation, leading to a~range of phenomena including intraplate volcanism. However, the space and time dependence of intraplate deformation and its relationship with changing plate boundary configurations, subducting slab geometries, and absolute plate motion is poorly understood. We utilise a buoyancy-driven Stokes flow solver, BEM-Earth, to investigate the contribution of subducting slabs through time on Pacific plate motion and plate-scale deformation, and how this is linked to intraplate volcanism. We produce a series of geodynamic models from 62 to 42 Ma in which the plates are driven by the attached subducting slabs and mantle drag/suction forces. We compare our modelled intraplate deformation history with those types of intraplate volcanism that lack a clear age progression. Our models suggest that changes in Cenozoic subduction zone topology caused intraplate deformation to trigger volcanism along several linear seafloor structures, mostly by reactivation of existing seamount chains, but occasionally creating new volcanic chains on crust weakened by fracture zones and extinct ridges. Around 55 Ma, subduction of the Pacific-Izanagi ridge reconfigured the major tectonic forces acting on the plate by replacing ridge push with slab pull along its northwestern perimeter, causing lithospheric extension along pre-existing weaknesses. Large-scale deformation observed in the models coincides with the seamount chains of Hawaii, Louisville, Tokelau and Gilbert during our modelled time period of 62 to 42 Ma. We suggest that extensional stresses between 72 and 52 Ma are the likely cause of large parts of the formation of the Gilbert chain and that localised extension between 62 and 42 Ma could cause late-stage volcanism along the Musicians volcanic ridges. Our models demonstrate that early Cenozoic changes in Pacific plate driving forces only cause relatively minor changes in Pacific absolute plate motion directions, and cannot be responsible for the Hawaiian–Emperor bend (HEB), confirming previous interpretations that the 47 Ma HEB does not primarily reflect an absolute plate motion event.


: Eighty-eight strains of Shigella sonnei isolated in northern Taiwan during the period of 1970-1974, were studied for their colicin types by a modified method of Abbott and Shannon. As a result, 67(76%) typable and 21(24%) non-typable strains were found. The prevalent colicin types of S. sonnei in northern Taiwan were types 15(52%) and 6(15%), followed by types 8(3%), 11(3%) and 12(3%). Other types were not found.