The Japanese Society of Steel Construction has established a committee "Design, Construction and Production of Aesthetic Architecture" to foster particularly appealing steel-glass structures. Such aesthetic architecture often expresses the tradition of the particular location and i ts culture. Examples typical for this trend in contemporary steel construction in Japan are highlighted. (Kido, M. et al.) Ulrike Kuhlmann, Christina Schmidt-Rasche, Fabian Jörg, Vahid Pourostad, Jennifer Spiegler, Mathias Euler Update on the revision of Eurocode 3 – Evolution by improvement and harmonization


This paper attempts to uncover the logical meaning and moral messages contained in
several old Javanese wise-words that are seemingly contextual to the current state of oursocial engagement. This endeavor is enacted through the prism of anthropological linguisticsas it is posited closer to the cultural domain in which the language is employed. This actuallycan be seen from another sub-field of linguistics, sociolinguistics. So as to refrain fromoverlapping, a simple definition of anthropological linguistics is worth mentioning to reaffirmhat the discussion is on the right track. Anthropological linguistics (Foley, 2001) viewsanguage through the prism of the core anthropological concept, culture, and, as such, seekso unveil the meaning behind the use, misuse or non-use of language, its different forms,registers, and styles. It is an interpretative discipline at language to find culturalunderstandings. Substantially, this paper aims to revitalize the old wisdom phrased in theJavanese language which we are now apparently inclined to forget. Likewise, this means toscrutinize its typical language patterns mostly preceded by the word ―Ojo‖ such as OjoKagetan, Ojo Gumunan, Ojo Dumeh, etc. The three expressions, for instance, are veryrelevant to represent the current state of affairs which long for peacefulness, prosperity, andwisdom. The data of such kind are obtained from interview with the sample of twenty culturelliterate

Javanese people chosen purposively. The data are analyzed based upon twofold:ogical meaning and moral values. Hence, the finding shows that Javanese language is worthmaintaining and developing constantly as it preserves invaluable treasure. It is the languagehat teaches not only what to say and how to say things but how to do things culturally wise.


This article presents an overview of the development of the US film industry from 1929 to 1999. Notwithstanding a volatile film production environment, in terms of rate of return and market share variability, the industry has remained relatively stable and profitable. Film production by the film studios is interpreted as analogous to the construction of an investment portfolio, whereby producers diversified risk across budgetary categories. In the 1930s, high-budget film production was relatively unprofitable, but the industry adjusted to the steep decline in film-going in the postwar period by refining high-budget production as the focus for profitability.


Abstract The region known as the Troad in western Anatolia is famed not only as the setting of Homer's Iliad but also for the Hellespont strait (modern Çanakkale Boğazı) linking the Sea of Marmara to the Aegean. In addition to large cities such as Sigeum, Abydus and Lampsacus, ancient writers also mention smaller cities located on the Hellespont. In this article, the location of the ancient city of Arisbe, presumed to have existed between Abydus and Lampsacus, is examined in the light of new archaeological data. Between 2002 and 2010, the author conducted surveys in the northern Troad. These surveys revealed an ancient settlement with archaeological material belonging to the Late Bronze Age, late Geometric, Archaic, Classical and Hellenistic periods. The location of this settlement, the archaeological data and information from ancient literary sources all indicate that this site should be identified as Arisbe.


This paper discusses Leibniz's theory of space in the context of hismetaphysical view that extrinsic properties are ultimately grounded on theintrinsic properties of substances. In particular, it shows that Leibniz's theoryof the ideality of spatial relations sits unconfortably with his principle ofidentity, according to which there is no quantitative difference which is notalso a qualitative one. The paper concludes that Leibniz's theory seems tolack the resources to save the following dilemma: either space has no parts,in which case his theory cannot explain how we acquire the representationof space; or, space has parts, which means that there may be differencesthat are merely quantitative.


ABSTRACT A novel nucleoside analogue, 1-[(2S,4S-2-(hydroxymethyl)-1,3-dioxolan-4-yl]5-vinylpyrimidine-2,4(1H,3H)-dione, or HDVD, was evaluated against a wide variety of herpesviruses and was found to be a highly selective inhibitor of replication of the gammaherpesviruses Kaposi's sarcoma-associated herpesvirus (KSHV) and Epstein-Barr virus (EBV). HDVD had also a pronounced inhibitory activity against murine herpesvirus 68 (MHV-68) and herpes simplex virus 1 (HSV-1). In contrast, replication of herpesvirus saimiri (HVS), HSV-2, and varicella-zoster virus (VZV) was weakly inhibited by the compound, and no antiviral activity was determined against human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) and rhesus rhadinovirus (RRV). The HDVD-resistant virus phenotype contained point mutations in the viral thymidine kinase (TK) of HSV-1, MHV-68, and HVS isolates. These mutations conferred cross-resistance to other TK-dependent drugs, with the exception of an MHV-68 mutant (E358D) that exhibited resistance only to HDVD. HSV-1 and HVS TK-mutants isolated under selective pressure with bromovinyldeoxyuridine (BVDU) also showed reduced sensitivity to HDVD. Oral treatment with HDVD and BVDU was assessed in an intranasal model of MHV-68 infection in BALB/c mice. In contrast to BVDU treatment, HDVD-treated animals showed a reduction in viral DNA loads and diminished viral gene expression during acute viral replication in the lungs in comparison to levels in untreated controls. The valyl ester prodrug of HDVD (USS-02-71-44) suppressed the latent infection in the spleen to a greater extent than HDVD. In the present study, HDVD emerged as a highly potent antiviral with a unique spectrum of activity against herpesviruses, in particular, gammaherpesviruses, and may be of interest in the treatment of virus-associated diseases.


SUMMARY: Root-nodule bacteria (rhizobia) isolated in pure culture from legumes indigenous to south-western Australia were examined for cultural and infective characters. All isolated strains had cultural characters consistent with the slow-growing bacteria of the lupin or soybean type. None of the strains nodulated peas, clover or medic, but hosts from the other four recognized cross-inoculation groups were nodulated. Lupinus digitatus, Glycine hispida, Vigna sinensis and Phaseolus vulgaris formed a natural grouping on the basis of susceptibility to nodulation by the native strains. Within the narrower host range of the genus Lupinus it was found that L. digitatus, L. albus and L. pilosus grouped together on susceptibility to nodulation. whereas L. luteus, L. angustifolius and Ornithopus sativus were not nodulated by any of the sample strains. The use of this geographically isolated sample of rhizobia has further demonstrated the weakness of the present scheme of classification of the nodule bacteria, which is based on the infective character of the bacteria. A taxonomic system based on Adansonian principles could be applied to the classification of the rhizobia, and a procedure for attempting this is outlined.


ABSTRACT Conferences are funny events. They are self-evident elements of our lives as academics: meetings that occur, often annually; take place in various locations; and involve (hopefully) like-minded people, aiming to share their latest research findings. Conferences are actually so self-evident that very little research exists analysing what takes place at conferences, why people attend them in the first place, and essentially what the conference does to delegates as participants. This article is, on one hand, a reflective report from an academic conference: TEFI 9—Celebrating the Disruptive Power of Caring in Tourism Education. But it is also simultaneously an analysis of the implicit and explicit rationale and return on investment for attending academic conferences, in the words of three, at that time, PhD candidate rapporteurs and one professor rapporteur, who acts as this article's narrator.


Injection of foreign particles (charcoal and human erythrocytes) into the larvae of Calliphora vomitoria provokes the complex immune response including their phagocytosis, nodulation and encapsulation by plasmatocytes and thrombocytoids. Precursors of thrombocytoids and analogs of Drosophila lamellocytes are very frequent during the periods of feeding and crop emptying, but fully disappear in wandering larvae. Injection of charcoal or erythrocytes into crop emptying larvae leads also to a dramatic increase in the number of stable hyaline cells, precursors of thrombocytoids. The hyaline cells differentiate from prohaemocytes and, quite possibly, from young weakly-specialized plasmatocytes in a day after injection. Later they are transformed to prothrombocytoids and thrombocytoids. The number of hyaline cells and young plasmatocytes in the crop emptying larvae of C. vomitoria is far greater than that in the same age larvae of C. vicina. Presumably it accounts for significantly increasing rate of stable hyaline cells differentiation in the injected larvae of C. vomitoria. Their part after injection of charcoal particles or erythrocytes may reach 40-50 % of the main haemocyte number compared to 20-25% in C. vicina. After completion of the crop emptying, the rate of hyaline cells differentiation in response to the foreign particles injection is evidently reduced but remains to be distinctly visible. Injections of saline also stimulate the differentiation of the stable hyaline cells from prohaemocytes but elevation of their amount is more weak and gradual. The bacterial immunization and needle prick show no effect. The treatments, inducing the rising of hyaline cells differentiation, lead also to pupariation delay. This correlation suggests involvement of the endocrine system into this process.


Cloud computing is rapidly growing and is gaining popularity across the world because of its numerous features. Cloud computing has evolved from simple networking applications. Its functioning is however based on models of cluster and grid computing. Cluster, Cloud and Grid Computing are practices of distributed and local computing. Cluster consists of computers connected over a LAN, whereas cloud and grid are geographically distributed on a wider scale. This paper strives to compare, contrast and analyze cloud computing with grid computing and cluster computing from various aspects and in conclusion give an understanding of their crucial characteristics.


The significance of Percent Correct Scores for National Weather Service (NWS) probability of precipitation (PoP) forecasts is examined. It is shown that the areal variability of rainfall and the nature of PoP forecasts preclude the achieve-ment of a score of 100%—even for the best possible forecasts. A maximum possible percent correct is defined and radar estimates of rainfall coverage are combined with actual fore- casts to determine how closely NWS forecasters approached this limit. Day- and nighttime percent correct scores were 75% and 85%, respectively, for the data examined. These values were close to the respective maximum possible scores of 83% and 90%. Relatively small changes in forecasters' percent correct scores are considered in light of these findings.


The use of biobased materials in building construction allows the reduction of fossil resource use and energy consumption. Among biobased materials, hemp lime concrete has been investigated in many studies highlighting its capacity to regulate interior relative humidity and its high insulation capacity. In order to design high-performance biobased concretes, a new hemp lime concrete combining the hygric regulation capacity of hemp lime concrete with the thermal regulation performance of phase change material was developed. This article focuses on the thermal and hygric performance of the new hemp lime concretes incorporating micro-capsulated phase change material (PCM) (named HL-PCM). Three hemp lime concretes that differ from formulation were developed and investigated. The thermal properties, moisture buffer values and its impact on interior relative humidity variation have been presented. Thanks to experimental works and numerical simulations, the results obtained showed that the thermal conductivity remain low, the heat capacity and thermal inertia increase considerably for hemp concrete with PCM, while the moisture buffering capacity remains excellent. Finally, numerical results showed that the used of hemp lime concrete (with and without PCM) reduce indoor relative humidity variation and improve indoor hygrothermal comfort.


Technical Systems, Structures and Infrastructures (SSI) ought to be designed to be safe under current but also future environmental (climate) conditions. Therefore, there is a need to rigorously identify procedures to systematically consider different climate conditions into the risk assessments. In this paper, we consider climate change in the risk assessment of a Passive Containment Cooling System (PCCS) of an AP1000 Nuclear Power Plant (NPP). Climate projections are obtained from the open-source database of the Climate Change Health Impact Profiles project (ClimateCHIP, www.climatechip.org) for the worldwide locations of the 15 existing (or planned) PCCSs. These climate projections are derived on one climate pathway of global future development (RCP 6.0) and five alternative climate models. We explore two ways of combining and communicating climate projections with the reliability assessment of a PCCS: an integrated probabilistic safety assessment conditional on climate projections and a risk classification based on an assessment of critical temperatures. We identify several challenges related to the way climate data are to be embedded into the system model, and the way the uncertainty of the results to be communicated to avoid over- and under-confidence in the risk quantification. (Less)


The Carmel project (computer-aided robotics for maintenance, emergency, and life support) which won the AAAI 1992 Robot Competition, is discussed. Carmel's design philosophy and architecture, obstacle avoidance, global path planning, vision sensing, landmark triangulation, and supervisory planning system are described. The Carmel project shows that mobile robots can perform carefully chosen tasks reliably and efficiently, although this requires extensive integration of components and a solid engineering effort. >


Recently spark plasma sintering has been proven to be effective non-traditional powder metallurgy technique to sinter fully dense materials in short sintering times at relatively low sintering temperatures and without a binder or pre-compaction step. Despite the importance of aluminum based alloys as candidate materials for applications in aerospace and automotive industries because of their light weight, very little work was dedicated to spark plasma processing of these materials. In this work we explored the possibility to process Al2124 and Al6061 alloys using spark plasma sintering technique. The sample were sintered for 20 minutes at 400, 450 and 500°C using fully automated FCT system spark plasma sintering equipment. A scanning electron microscope was used to analyze the microstructure of sintered samples. The density and Vickers microhardness of the sintered samples were measured using an electronic densimeter and a digital microhardness tester respectively. The hardness and density of the spark plasma sintered samples were reported as a function of sintering temperature. It was found that full density (100 % of the theoretical density) was achieved with sintering for 20 minutes at 450°C for Al6061 alloy and at 500°C for Al2124 alloy. The density and microhardness of the sintered samples increased with the increase of sintering temperature.


With much of Europe and the U.S.mired in the current debt crisis, money managers have increased the allocation of funds for investment in Asia. This article highlights the reasons for setting up a Singapore-domiciled private equity fund and examines how this Singapore private equity fund can thereafter embark on investment into China. The author details the major pros and cons of doing business in Singapore from an on-the-ground perspective and argues that Singapore is well placed to serve as the springboard and regional headquarters for foreign funds to invest into China.


The literature has shown anxiety sensitivity to be a significant risk factor in the development of pathological anxiety. Recent theoretical models have also emphasized the additional importance of emotion regulation in predicting the development of anxiety disorders. The present study examined the interactive influence of anxiety sensitivity and emotion regulatory strategies on anxiety symptoms in an ethnically diverse sample recruited in Singapore in order to determine the most appropriate anxiety prevention strategies to pursue. Results indicate that emotion regulation skills had a much greater effect on anxiety levels in this non-clinical sample than anxiety sensitivity and, second, that emotion regulation skills partially mediated the effect of anxiety sensitivity on anxiety such that emotion regulation accounted for 77% of the impact. Therefore, instruction in emotion regulation skills provides potentially a far more effective means of preventing anxiety than the targeting of anxiety sensitivity in the cultural groups studied. A second aim of the study was to determine if anxiety sensitivity varies across cultures, and if the difference is accounted for by an individual's awareness, understanding, and ability to communicate his or her feelings (alexithymia). Anxiety sensitivity and alexithymia did not, in fact, vary across the Chinese, Malay, and Indian students sampled. However, Singapore participants in general reported far higher anxiety sensitivity and trait anxiety scores than similar American and international samples. Further, Indian participants had significantly lower anxiety and emotion regulation difficulties, including alexithymia, than Chinese and Malay participants.


Undoubtedly a well educated and trained workforce is crucial to the development of quality care for people with learning disabilities. Notwithstanding this and unsure as to the need to continue to commission educational programmes for one part of this workforce; preregistration learning disability nursing, South Central Strategic Health Authority (SCSHA) commissioned the 'Valued People Project' (VPP) to undertake a detailed strategic review of educational commissioning, along with the specialist learning disability health workforce more generally. This project has recently been completed and provides a unique 'evidenced based' expert evaluation for the future strategic direction of education commissioning and leadership for workforce issues in specialist learning disability services, as well as the wider workforce of the NHS. This is the first in a series of papers that reports on one aspect of the project; the focus group work undertaken with parents and relatives of people with learning disabilities and people with learning disabilities themselves as to the need and type of health workforce needed to support them in the future. The paper concludes by identifying the 'key messages' of importance from parents and people with learning disabilities concerning the future specialist NHS workforce as well as the wider workforce in the NHS.


Abstract Field populations of the cotton aphid, Aphis gossypii Glover, are structured into geographically widespread host races. In the cotton-producing regions of West and Central Africa (WCA), two genotypes have been repeatedly detected within the cotton host race, one of which (Burk1) is prevalent (>90%) and resistant to several insecticides, as opposed to the second one (Ivo). Here, we conducted whole plant and field cage experiments to test hypotheses for such low genetic diversity, including selection from insecticide treatments, interclonal competition and adaptation to host plant, or climatic conditions. To assess the genetic diversity of immigrant aphids, alatae were trapped and collected on cotton and relay host plants (okra and roselle) in the early cropping season. Individuals were genotyped at eight specific microsatellite loci and characterized by a multilocus genotype (MLG). When independently transferred from cotton (Gossypium hirustum L.) leaf discs to whole plants (G. hirsutum and G. arboreum, roselle and okra), Ivo and Burk1 performed equally well. When concurrently transferred from cotton leaf discs to the same plant species, Ivo performed better than Burk1, indicating that competition favoured Ivo. This was also the case on G. hirsutum growing outdoors. Conversely, Burk1 prevailed when cotton plants were sprayed with insecticides. In experiments where aphids were allowed to move to neighbouring plants, Burk1 was better represented than Ivo on low-populated plants, suggesting that dispersal may be a way to avoid competition on crowded plants. Most cotton aphids collected on cotton or relay host plants in the early cropping season were Burk1 (>90%), indicating high dispersal ability and, probably reflecting high frequency on host plants from which they dispersed. In the agricultural landscape of WCA, the use of broad-range insecticides on both cotton and relay host plants has led to the prevalence of one genotype of A. gossypii resistant to different classes of insecticides. Deployment of widespread and integrated pest management strategies are needed to restore cotton aphid control.


Crop coefficient (Kc) is the multiplier factor to estimate the actual from reference evapotranspiration; for many crops, also in consideration of changing cultivar and pedo-climatic conditions, a verification of Kc and length of different stages is important for a more precise irrigation scheduling. The aim of this research is to calculate crop coefficients for chickpeas cropped in Southern Italy, with water supply in order to obtain the best seed yield. A field experiment was carried out on chickpeas sown in December in a 1 ha plot, where in the middle two weighing lysimeters were located. One irrigation at flowering was managed with 60 mm of water; the potential evapotranspiration was determined with the Penman-Monteith formula, whereas the effective daily water consumption was obtained by difference in the lysimeters weight. The Kc values measured at different crop stages were compared with those reported by Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) paper n. 56. The obtained results suggest that the initial stage length is approximately 80 days, and the relative Kc is 0.54; the development stage persists for 35 days. The mid-season stages took 40 days with a Kc of 0.97. Finally, the late season stage persists for 35 days, with a Kcend value equal to 0.29. From this work, we can update the Kc proposed by the FAO, and particularly give a greater value for Kc for the initial stage (0.54 vs 0.4), while we can suggest a Kcend lower than that reported by the FAO (0.29 vs 0.35).


The use of lasers in various surgical applications is described. Laser heating of tissue is used for two distinct surgical functions: cutting, as with a scalpel, and photocoagulation. Photocoagulation heats tissue to varying degrees, generally stopping short of total eradication. Basic accessories to laser surgery such as: a delivery system to direct and focus the laser radiation, an operating microscope for precision diagnosis and removal of tissue, and devices to measure the amount of energy that is emitted by the laser and absorbed by the target area are also discussed.


Global crop and energy production are fast dwindling inversely to population growth. Common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) yield has reduced worldwide due to soil infertility which can be reversed through application of chemical fertilizers. The chemical fertilizers used to ameliorate nitrogen, phoshorus and potassium are expensive and cause both deleterious physico‒chemical modification of soil and water mass eutrophication. The common bean has ability to fix atmospheric nitrogen symbiotically with rhizobia but only a few effective strains have been recovered from African soils, most of them ineffective under field conditions. Prospecting from local pool of strains trapped by wild native species like sesbania can increase the number of elite inoculant production strains for both species in agroforestry systems practiced under diverse soil and eco-climatic conditions. The specific objectives of this study were: to assess the phenotypic and genotypic characteristics of rhizobia from root nodules of East Africa and Namibia Sesbania spp. (here after referred to as sesbania) using morpho-cultural characteristics and PCR‒RFLP methods; to assess the nitrogen fixation potential of sesbania isolates on S. sesban using growth parameters; and to determine the infectiveness and symbiotic effectiveness of sesbania rhizobia on common beans. Experiments were carried out at the Kenya Forestry Research Institute, Muguga‒Nairobi, Kenya. Morpho-cultural techniques were used to characterize and cluster 128 presumptive sesbania rhizobia collected from Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania and Namibia. The diverse growth characteristics of rhizobia on YEMA media, intrinsic antibiotic resistance and salt tolerance were used to select for 79 sesbania isolates that were later subjected to fingerprinting assays using PCR‒RFLP of the 16S rDNA in comparison with 17 reference strains. The presumptive sesbania rhizobial isolates were used to inoculate S. sesban and common bean under glasshouse controlled conditions to test for their infectiveness and symbiotic effectiveness. Reference inoculants strains KFR647 and BA37 for S. sesban and bean respectively, were included in the test. Uninoculated positive control (70 ppm N as KNO3) and a negative control (0 ppm N) were included for strain effectiveness comparison and to check for contamination. The sesbania rhizobia were grouped into nine morphotypes and various ribotypes per site. The rhizobia varied in their infectiveness and symbiotic effectiveness on S. sesban and the common bean resulting in three categories viz: (1) highly effective (2) effective and (3) ineffective. The mean shoot dry weight, nodule number and nodule dry weight were all significantly different (p < 0.001). The shoot N content range was 0.16‒5.66 mg plant -1 and 0.34‒3.08 mg plant -1 for S. sesban and common beans at 8 and 4 weeks of growth respectively. Based on shoot dry weight due to inoculation, rhizobial isolate KFR402 was preferred as a common inoculant production strain for both common beans and S. sesban. However, data in the present study shows that the highest shoot dry weight was obtained with strain MASS133 (S. sesban) inoculated on Rose coco bean variety (0.87 g plant -1 ) and MASS172 (S. sesban) on S. sesban (1.06 g plant -1 ). Rhizobia recovered from sesbania grown in East Africa and Namibia are phenotypically and genetically diverse. The isolates exhibit great variations in effectiveness and nitrogen fixation efficiency on S. sesban and common beans (variety: Rose coco). Prospecting for elite rhizobia inoculant strains should be prioritized and tested for effectiveness on both S. sesban and common bean grown in diverse edaphic and agro-ecological conditions under agroforestry systems.


Early childhood teachers' environmental perceptions can influence young children's learning about environmental issues. Yet, to date, there is minimal research focusing on the perceptions of environmental sustainability held by early childhood teachers. This qualitative phenomenographic study collected data via individual semi-structured interviews with five early childhood teachers and one head teacher, in Malta. Preliminary findings revealed that the participants perceived environmental sustainability in terms of environmental concerns; environmental responsibility; and environmental protection. A mismatch between the participants' environmental concerns and their pro-environmental behaviour emerged. The data also show that any environmental activities at school were done so uncritically. These findings hold importance for the reorientation of in-service and pre-service early childhood teacher education programs towards sustainability to ensure that systems thinking around critical environmental issues are introduced in the early years by addressing gaps in knowledge and supporting educators' development at the earliest stage (i.e., pre-service).


This study gives an analysis of costs and energy consumption, associated with long distance bioenergy
transport systems. In order to create the possibility of obtaining an insight in the system's key factors, a
model has been developed, taking into account different production systems, pretreatment operations
and transport options. Various transport chains were constructed, which were subjected to a sensitivity
analysis with respect to factors like transport distance, fuel prices and equipment operation times.
Scenarios analysed are Latin-America and Europe for which the distinguishing parameters were
assumed to be the transport distances and biomass prices. For both regions, an analysis is made for a
situation where ship transports are applied for both, a coastal and an inland biomass supply. In case of
European biomass, a train transport was considered as well. In order to explore possibilities for
improvement, the effects of these variables on costs and energy consumption within a chain, were
assessed.
Delivered biomass can be converted to power or methanol. Model results are as follows: Total costs for
European bioenergy range from 11.2-21.2 €/GJMeOH for methanol and 17.4-28.0 €/GJe for electricity.
For Latin-America, costs ranges are 11.3-21.8 €/GJMeOH for methanol and 17.4-28.7 €/GJe for
electricity. The lower end of these ranges is represented by transport chains that are characterised by
the use of high density energy carriers such as logs, pellets or liquid fuels.
Transport chains, based on the transport of high density energy carriers, such as logs and pellets, are the
most attractive for all scenarios considered. The transport of chips should be avoided categorically due
to their low density and high production costs. Transport chains based on the early production of liquid
energy carriers such as methanol or pyrolysis oil seem to be promising alternatives as well.
With respect to energy consumption, the transport of chips is highly unfavourable for the same reasons
as stated above. The use of pelleting operations implies a high energy input, however due to energy
savings as a result of more efficient transport operations, this energy loss is compensated. Energy
consumption figures for the drying step can possibly be reduced to a large extent by utilising waste
heat.
By far the most influential parameters are the operation window of the system and the harvest window.
Other factors of importance are the interest rate and the international transport distance. Pretreatment
operations do contribute an important share to the total costs and energy use, however energy costs and
load factor figures, determining the application of pretreatment equipment exert a relatively weak
influence.
Weak spots within this study are the shortage of data with respect to storage and transport of liquid
fuels


This paper introduces a new wavelet-based speckle reduction method for medical ultrasound images, which extends a recently emerged homomorphic Bayesian technique. The new method exploits interscale dependency of wavelet coefficients. For this purpose, bivariate alpha-stable distributions are proposed, which are able to better capture the heavy-tailed nature of the data. Using this new statistical model, we design a bivariate Bayesian estimator to effectively remove speckle from wavelet coefficients. Better results are obtained using the oriented two-dimensional dual-tree complex wavelet transform (2D DTCWT) which offers improved directional selectivity and near shift invariance property. To assess the performance of the proposed method, results are compared with some related earlier techniques. Both numerical and visual comparisons indicate improved speckle reduction while preserving structural features, as desired for better diagnosis in medical images.


The aim of this study was to describe a dengue outbreak in 1998, the worst ever reported in Terengganu. All cases notified to the Vector Borne Diseases Control Unit, Terengganu State Health Department was included in this study and information provided in the notification forms were analysed. A total of 2060 dengue cases with 4 deaths were reported in that year, with an increase of 267.9%. Out of the 2060 reported cases, 1907 (92.6%) were dengue fever with the remaining 153 (7.4%) being dengue haemorrhagic fever. The outbreak peaked in the second half of the year between August and October and subsequently declined until the 10 th w ek of 1999. A total of 1216 (59.0%) of the reported cases had IGM to dengue demonstrated in at least one serum sample. 652 (53.6%) of these cases were confined to urban areas while 564 (46.4%) were from rural areas. 611 (50.2%) were females and the majority of the patients were Malays. The average days taken for a patient to be admitted to a hospital from the date of onset was about 4.24 days and the average days taken for the blood specimen for dengue IGM to be taken from the date of onset was 5.05 days. A total of 193281 premises were inspected for Aedes larvae, of which 1347 were positive. A total of 1155 fines were issued amounting of RM 35,455 and 1705 notices were issued in that year. The factors relating to statistically significant Dengue IGM were gender, day after onset when the blood specimen was taken, the platelet counts and packed cell volume (PCV) as well as type of Dengue Fever. (P<0.05). Blood specimens for dengue IGM should be taken at the appropriate time, as this will determine the outcome of the result, which subsequently affects management decisions.


The appearance of Oldowan sites ca. 2.6 million years ago (Ma) may reflect one of the most important adaptive shifts in human evolution. Stone artifact manufacture, large mammal butchery, and novel transport and discard behaviors led to the accumulation of the first recognized archaeological debris. The appearance of the Oldowan sites coincides with generally cooler, drier, and more variable climatic conditions across Africa, probably resulting in a net decrease in woodland foods and an increase in large mammal biomass compared to the early and middle Pliocene. Shifts in plant food resource availability may have provided the stimulus for incorporating new foods into the diet, including meat from scavenged carcasses butchered with stone tools. Oldowan artifact form varies with clast size, shape, raw material physical properties, and flaking intensity. Oldowan hominins preferred hard raw materials with good fracture characteristics. Habitual stone transport is evident from technological analysis, and raw material sourcing to date suggests that stone was rarely moved more than 2-3 km from source. Oldowan debris accumulation was spatially redundant, reflecting recurrent visitation of attractive points on the landscape. Thin archaeological horizons from Bed I Olduvai Gorge, Tanzania, were probably formed and buried in less than 10 years and document hominin processing of multiple carcasses per year. Transport beyond simple refuging behavior is suggested by faunal density at some site levels. By 2.0 Ma, hominin rank within the predatory guild may have been moderately high, as they probably accessed meaty carcasses through hunting and confrontational scavenging, and hominin-carnivore competition appears minimal at some sites. It is likely that both Homo habilis sensu stricto and early African H. erectus made Oldowan tools. H. habilis sensu stricto was more encephalized than Australopithecus and may foreshadow H. erectus in lower limb elongation and some thermoregulatory adaptations to hot, dry climatic conditions. H. erectus was large and wide-ranging, had a high total energy expenditure, and required a high-quality diet. Reconstruction of H. erectus reproductive energetics and socioeconomic organization suggests that reproductively active females received assistance from other group members. This inference, combined with archaeological evidence for acquisition of meaty carcasses, suggests that meat would have been a shared food. This is indirectly confirmed by nutritional analysis suggesting that the combination of meat and nutritionally dense plant foods was the likely diet fueling body size increase and encephelization in Homo. Most discussion of Oldowan hominin behavior and ecology, including that presented here, is based on materials from a few sites. There is a critical need to analyze additional large, primary-context lithic and faunal assemblages to better assess temporal, geographic, and environmental variability in Oldowan behavior.


The Medical Association of South Africa (MASA) is asking to meet the African National Congress (ANC) to discuss the ANC's plans to revolutionise South Africa's health service. The ANC said last month that it would provide a national health service and develop a system of primary health care. Any expansion of private health care would be discouraged.

Presenting the plan, Ms Cheryl Carolus, a member of the ANC's national executive committee, said that the ANC had a five year programme to establish a comprehensive system of primary care available to everyone and financed within current tax levels. Rural areas in particular would be provided with health clinics. Health care would be free for children under 6; pregnant and nursing mothers; and elderly, disabled, …


Objectives : Allium Hookeri (AH) is a traditional herb to treat inflammatory diseases in India and Myanmar. Recently, AH cultivation was succeeded in South Korea. This study was performed to evaluate the anti-inflammatory effects of Korean AH in RAW264.7 cells, mouse macrophage cell line. Methods : To evaluate the anti-inflammatory effects of root of AH, we prepared the 70% ethanol extract, then we examined the productions of nitrite, and pro-inflammatory cytokines. To examine the nitrite, and cytokines, the RAW264.7 cells were treated with AH, then stimulated with lipopolysaccharide (LPS, 500 ng/ml) for 24 h. Then the cells were harvested for griess assay, ELISA and real-time reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). Also to detect the ability of AH to induce heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1), we examined the HO-1 expression using real time RT-PCR and western blot. Furthermore, we examined the mitogen activated-protein kinases (MAPKs) and nuclear factor kappa B (NF-) activation to find out the underlying mechanisms. Results : AH ethanol extract significantly inhibited the productions of nitrite and interleukin (IL)-. AH treatment increased the HO-1 expression dramatically at 1 h, then peaked at 3 h. When the HO-1 was inhibited by tin (Sn) protoporphryin-IX (SnPP), the anti-inflammatory action of AH was reversed. AH treatment inhibited the activation of p38, but not extracelluar signal-regulated kinase (ERK 1/2) and c-Jun -terminal kinase (JNK) and also the degradation of inhibitory kappa B a (Ik-) in the LPS-stimulated RAW 264.7 cells. Conclusions : These data could suggest that AH exerts anti-inflammatory influences through up-regulation of HO-1 and deactivation of p38.


A defined transcription unit in the Balbiani ring 2 (BR 2) region of chromosome IV in the salivary glands of Chironomus tentans has been characterized on the basis of analysis of the corresponding primary transcript, 75S RNA, and its functional significance. The available information on the transcription unit and its relations to chromosome structure can be summarized in the following way: 1. The size of the 75S RNA transcription unit in BR 2 is on the order of 30 000 base pairs. 2. The unit is likely to contain a long coding segment (at least 6000 base pairs), probably corresponding to information for salivary polypeptides. 3. The sequences are distributed in more than one chromomere (probably in 3--5 chromomeres). Further studies are needed before it can be stated whether or not there is a simple one-to-one relation between chromomeres and transcription units in the BR 2 region.


The Argentinian writer Julio Cortazar was clearly influenced by his predecessors John Keats and Edgar Allan Poe. However, to what extent? Which aspects of the two Romantics have been kept and which ones transformed by Cortazar's imagination? And is there a common bond in the works of Keats and Poe which is also the common denominator for their works? And why these particular images, themes, or ideas? This books tries to answer all these questions and is of interest to everyone who wants to know more about Cortazar.


We have previously reported that immunoconjugates composed of deglycosylated ricin A chain coupled to either recombinant (r) CD4 or two different monoclonal human anti-gp41 antibodies (rCD4-dgA and anti-gp41-dgA, respectively) are specifically toxic to HIV-infected lines of human T cells (H9) and monocytes (U937). In order to further evaluate these immunoconjugates as potential therapeutic reagents for killing HIV-infected cells, H9 cells infected with five different isolates of HIV were used as target cells in vitro. All three HIV-specific immunoconjugates were toxic to H9 cells infected with each HIV isolate, but were virtually nontoxic to uninfected cells. Chloroquine markedly potentiated the specific toxicity of all three conjugates, particularly the anti-gp41-dgAs. None of the conjugates affected the ability of normal peripheral blood B cells to respond to mitogen or the ability of normal T cells to respond to alloantigens.


Developmental changes in cell surface and cytoskeletal elements have been studied in human promyelocytic leukemia cells (line HL‐60) which differentiate into functionally mature myeloid cells when grown in dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO)‐supplemented medium. Both differentiated and undifferentiated HL‐60 cells bind fluorescent concanavalin A (F‐Con A) in a diffuse pattern over the entire cell surface. As with normal neutrophils, pretreatment of the differentiated HL‐60 cells with colchicine before incubation with Con A causes the formation of large cytoplasmic protrusions over which the lectin associates into a cap. On the other hand, similarly treated undifferentiated HL‐60 cells do not form the cytoplasmic protuberances and are unable to cap the Con A. Transmission electron microscopy reveals that the number and distribution of microtubules and microfilaments change during differentiation. Thus, developing myeloid cells undergo important alterations in the structure and function of the cytoskeleton as they differentiate into mature phagocytes.


Four experiments investigated the extent to which judgments of candidate performance in presidential debates could be influenced by the mere knowledge of others' reactions. In Experiments 1 and 2 participants watched an intact version of a debate or an edited version in which either "soundbite" one-liners or the audience reaction to those soundbites were removed. In Experiment 3 participants saw what was supposedly the reaction of their fellow participants on screen during the debate. Participants in Experiment 4 were exposed to the reactions of live confederates as they watched the last debate of an active presidential campaign. In all studies, audience reactions produced large shifts in participants' judgments of performance. The results illustrate the power of social context to strongly influence individuals' judgments of even large amounts of relevant, important information, and they support the categorization of presidential debates as ambiguous stimuli, fertile ground for informational social influence.


This report card builds upon the evidence base presented in 2006, highlighting key developments and exploring new subject areas (coastal erosion, coastal habitats and air–sea exchanges of heat and water). It brings together scientific understanding from a wider range of research institutes, providing an even more comprehensive assessment of UK marine climate change impacts and highlighting regional variations where possible.


The Fe-based composite coating reinforced by in situ synthesized multiphase ceramic particles has been successfully prepared by laser cladding preplaced powder on 42CrMo steel. The experimental results of X-ray diffraction and scanning electron micrograph indicate the coating is consisted by γ-Fe phase and Fe-Cr fine phase which possesses the better oxidation resistance and corrosion resistance. In-situ synthesized V(C,N), Cr2B3 and Cr3C2 particulates which are uniformly distributed in the composite coatings. The wear test showed that these reinforcement particulates improved significantly wear resistance of the coatings. The wear mass loss of the coating is about one tenth of the 42CrMo substrate. Laser cladding layers have better oxidation resistance. The oxide scale of the coatings is one eighth of the substrate through 750 constant temperature for 120h oxidation.


The impact of the EphA2 receptor on cancer malignancy hinges on the two different ways it can be activated. EphA2 induces anti-oncogenic signaling after ligand binding, but ligand-independent activation of EphA2 is pro-oncogenic. It is believed that the transmembrane (TM) domain of EphA2 adopts two alternate conformations in the ligand-dependent and the ligand-independent states. However, it is poorly understood how the difference in TM helical crossing angles found in the two conformations impacts the activity and regulation of EphA2. We devised a method that uses hydrophobic matching to stabilize two conformations of a peptide comprising the EphA2 TM domain and a portion of the intracellular juxtamembrane (JM) segment. The two conformations exhibit different TM crossing angles, resembling the ligand-dependent and ligand-independent states. We developed a single-molecule technique using SMALPs to measure dimerization in membranes. We observed that the signaling lipid PIP2 promotes TM dimerization, but only in the small crossing angle state, which we propose corresponds to the ligand-independent conformation. In this state the two TM are almost parallel, and the positively charged JM segments are expected to be close to each other, causing electrostatic repulsion. The mechanism PIP2 uses to promote dimerization might involve alleviating this repulsion due to its high density of negative charges. Our data reveal a conformational coupling between the TM and JM regions, and suggest that PIP2 might directly exert a regulatory effect on EphA2 activation in cells that is specific to the ligand-independent conformation of the receptor.


Climate change is real, and its impacts are overwhelming, particularly in developing countries. This paper examines how adaptation plans can be built in order to enhance the climate resilience in the agricultural sector. Data were collected from the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) experts through the United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR) Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) on national adaptation planning in the agriculture sector. The data were analysed by manual coding. The findings from the analysis indicate that increasing temperature variability and changes in the level of precipitation will adversely affect the poor, such as fishers, farmers, cattle breeders, and communities depending on forest products as well as women and indigenous people. And this will, in turn, lead to an increase in poverty, a rise in food insecurity, alteration of the nutrition, unemployment, and conflicts and violence within poor communities leading to forced displacement and migration. The findings from this study outline measures that can be taken to build adaptation plans to reduce the magnitude of the impacts of climate change.


This is a first report of the synthesis and characterization of acrylic copolymers from methyl methacrylate (MMA) and butyl acrylate (BA) with hyperbranched architecture. The copolymers were synthesized using a free radical polymerization (Strathclyde method) in emulsion technique. Divinyl benzene was used as the brancher which acted as a comonomer and 1-dodecanethiol was used as a chain terminating agent. A linear copolymer from MMA and BA was also synthesized for comparison. The hyperbranched architecture was established from spectroscopic and rheological measurements. The gel permeation chromatography showed all hyperbranched copolymers were low molecular weight with lower polydispersity index (PDI) ( M¯n ∼ 23,000, PDI ∼ 2.00) compared to the linear grade ( M¯n ∼ 93,000, PDI ∼ 2.20). They were more spherical and achieved lower viscosity (yet higher solubility, >90%) than the linear grade (<50%) which was mostly open ended. Lower viscosity at equivalent solid content made the hyperbranched polymers a potential binder for adhesive and coating application. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2017, 134, 45356.


A fundamental endeavor in exoplanetary research is to characterize the bulk compositions of planets via measurements of their masses and radii. With future sample sizes of hundreds of planets to come from TESS and PLATO, we develop a statistical method that can flexibly yet robustly characterize these compositions empirically, via the exoplanet M–R relation. Although the M–R relation has been explored in many prior works, they mostly use a power-law model, with assumptions that are not flexible enough to capture important features in current and future M–R diagrams. To address these shortcomings, a nonparametric approach is developed using a sequence of Bernstein polynomials. We demonstrate the benefit of taking the nonparametric approach by benchmarking our findings with previous work and showing that a power law can only reasonably describe the M–R relation of the smallest planets and that the intrinsic scatter can change non-monotonically with different values of a radius. We then apply this method to a larger data set, consisting of all the Kepler observations in the NASA Exoplanet Archive. Our nonparametric approach provides a tool to estimate the M–R relation by incorporating heteroskedastic measurement errors into the model. As more observations will be obtained in the near future, this approach can be used with the provided R code to analyze a larger data set for a better understanding of the M–R relation.


Author(s): Haanwinckel Junqueira, Daniel | Advisor(s): Kline, Patrick; Finan, Frederico | Abstract: This dissertation develops models to understand changes in the wage distribution and employment informality rates. Common themes are imperfect competition in the labor market, firm and worker heterogeneity, imperfect substitution between different levels of skill in production, and minimum wages. In each chapter, I present a model, discuss its properties, estimate it using Brazilian data, and use it for counterfactual analysis.In the first chapter, I build a tractable framework for analyzing the equilibrium effects of labor supply shocks, technical change, and minimum wages in an imperfectly competitive labor market environment with worker and firm heterogeneity. Goods are produced using task-based technologies exhibiting imperfect substitution between worker types. Firms specialize in the production of particular goods, which leads to differences in task requirements, entry costs, and workplace amenities. These differences generate firm heterogeneity in skill intensity, size, and wages. The model has three advantages relative to the canonical supply-demand-institutions framework typically used to study trends in wage inequality. First, task-based production with multiple worker types allows for plausibly rich formulations of the structure of technical change. Second, the model accounts for equilibrium effects of minimum wages, compressing the wage distribution and generating spillovers on quantiles where the minimum wage does not bind. Third, the model makes predictions regarding labor market sorting and cross-firm wage dispersion. I take a simple version of the model to Brazilian matched employer-employee data and show that it can fit several aspects of wage inequality: differences in mean log wages between educational groups, within education group variances, and two-way variance decompositions of log wages into worker and firm components. The model also matches reduced-form estimates of minimum wage spillovers. I use the estimated parameters to decompose observed changes in inequality and sorting into components attributable to increasing schooling achievement, technical change, and a rising minimum wage. Falling wage inequality in Brazil is primarily due to the minimum wage, while rising worker-firm assortativeness is found to be driven by technical change. The decomposition exercise also illustrates how responses to supply and demand shocks differ qualitatively from those predicted by models with a representative firm.The second chapter is coauthored with Rodrigo R. Soares. We develop a search model of informal labor markets with worker and firm heterogeneity, intra-firm bargaining with imperfect substitutability across types of workers, and a comprehensive set of labor regulations, including minimum wage. Stylized facts associated with the informal sector, such as smaller firms and lower wages, emerge endogenously as firms and workers decide whether to comply with regulations. Imperfect substitutability across types of workers and decreasing returns to scale enable the model to reproduce empirical patterns incompatible with existing frameworks in the literature: the presence of skilled and unskilled workers in the formal and informal sectors, the rising share of skilled workers by firm size, and the declining formal wage premium by skill level. These features also allow us to analyze the equilibrium responses to changes in the demand and supply of different types of labor. We estimate the model using Brazilian data and show that it closely reproduces the decline in informality observed between 2003 and 2012. The change in the composition of the labor force appears as the main driving force behind this phenomenon. We illustrate the use of the model for policy analysis by assessing the effectiveness of a progressive payroll tax in reducing informality.


Background Anal squamous cell carcinoma (ASCC) is preceded by persistent high-grade squamous intraepithelial lesion (HSIL). A small proportion of HSIL will progress to ASCC; estimates in men who have sex with men (MSM) suggest one in 400 per year in HIV-positive men and one in 4,000 per year in HIV-negative men. There are no tests to predict which HSIL are more likely to persist and potentially progress to ASCC. As MSM are often concurrently infected with multiple anal HPV genotypes, the role of each in progression to ASCC is unclear. Methods Biopsies of suspected HSIL collected during high-resolution anoscopy from participants enrolled in the ongoing SPANC cohort of homosexual men (Sydney, Australia) between November 2010 and December 2011. Samples taken at 0, 6 and 12 months were formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded then sandwich sectioned. Sections 1 and 5 were stained (haematoxylin and eosin [H&E]) and section 2 placed on a PEN-membrane slide. H&E sections were reviewed and lesions annotated using Aperio ScanScope software. Annotated abnormal tissue was isolated using laser capture microdissection (LCM), DNA was extracted and HPV genotypes present determined by reverse hybridisation assay (HPV SPF10-LiPA25, Labo Bio-medical Products). Results From a pilot study comprising 16 men diagnosed with HSIL at one or more visits, 94% were positive for at least one HPV type. HPV16 was the most common genotype detected in HSIL (28%), followed by 45, 18 (each 17%), 58 (11%), 56, 31, 52, 34 and 33 (each 6%). Three participants had HSIL that persisted over three consecutive visits: 2 were positive for HPV16 and 1 for HPV18. An additional 28% of HSIL persisted for 2 consecutive visits, and were positive for HPV58 (40%), 16, 18 or 33 (each 20%). Conclusion Overall, 10% of HSIL persisted for longer than 12 months with HPV16 being present in majority of these.


A comparison of a normal mode analysis and principal component analysis of a 200‐ps molecular dynamics trajectory of bovine pancreatic trypsin inhibitor in vacuum has been made in order to further elucidate the harmonic and anharmonic aspects in the dynamics of proteins. An anharmonicity factor is defined which measures the degree of anharmonicity in the modes, be they principal modes or normal modes, and it is shown that the principal mode system naturally divides into anharmonic modes with peak frequencies below 80 cm−1, and harmonic modes with frequencies above this value. In general the larger the mean‐square fluctuation of a principal mode, the greater the degree of anharmonicity in its motion. The anharmonic modes represent only 12% of the total number of variables, but account for 98% of the total mean‐square fluctuation. The transitional nature of the anharmonic motion is demonstrated. The results strongly suggest that in a large subspace, the free energy surface, as probed by the simulation, is approximated by a multi‐dimensional parabola which is just a resealed version of the parabola corresponding to the harmonic approximation to the conformational energy surface at a single minimum. After 200 ps, the resealing factor, termed the "normal mode resealing factor," has apparently converged to a value whereby the mean‐square fluctuation within the subspace is about twice that predicted by the normal mode analysis. © 1995 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.


ABSTRACT Infection of the chestnut blight fungus, Cryphonectria parasitica, by hypovirus CHV1-EP713 or by reovirus MyRV1-Cp9B21 or MyRV2-CpC18 results in reduced fungal virulence (hypovirulence). However, additional phenotypic changes caused by the two groups of mycoviruses are quite different. We now report that the loss of female fertility and the resulting absence of virus transmission through sexual spores observed after hypovirus infection was not observed for reovirus-infected C. parasitica. Consistent with this result, expression of two genes involved in sexual reproduction, the pheromone precursor gene, Mf2/1, and the yeast STE12-like transcriptional factor gene, cpst12, was less reduced in reovirus-infected strains than in the hypovirus CHV1-EP713-infected strain. Analysis with a custom microarray cDNA chip containing expressed sequence tag clones representing approximately 2,200 unique C. parasitica genes identified 140 and 128 host genes that were responsive to MyRV1-Cp9B21 or MyRV2-CpC18 infection, respectively. Comparison of these virus-responsive genes revealed an overlap of 85 genes, even though the nucleotide sequence identity for the two reoviruses is less than 50%. Significantly, 84 of the 85 genes were altered in the same direction. Further comparison revealed that 51% and 48% of the MyRV1-Cp9B21- and MyRV2-CpC18-responsive genes were also responsive to CHV1-EP713 infection. Finally, similar to results reported for CHV1-EP713 infection, a high percentage (59% and 66%) of the reovirus-responsive genes were also differentially expressed following disruption of the cellular G-protein signal transduction pathway. These data support the hypothesis that hypovirus and reovirus infections perturb common and specific C. parasitica regulatory pathways to cause hypovirulence and distinct sets of phenotypic changes.


The term Soviet Baroque was coined by Viktor Shklovsky in 1929 to describe the aesthetic and theoretical tendencies of the left art of the 1920s – a generation of revolutionary artists to which he himself belongs. Shklovsky understands Baroque not as a specific historical style, but as the aesthetics of "intensive detail" and nonsychronous conception of history. With the onset of the Stalinist ideology and of the Five-Year Plan era's optimism in the legibility of progress, Shklovsky becomes openly critical of the Soviet Baroque and his former artistic allies who espouse it. In this article I analyze the Soviet Baroque as an extension of a broader tendency that falls in line with the tradition of Historical Poetics and draw on several examples from Yuri Olesha's Envy and Yuri Tynianov's The Wax Person that I consider illustrative of this tendency.


The present work was aimed at studying the effects of process parameters on morphologies of Polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) nanofibers in a novel electrospinning technique, bubble electrospinning. The process was optimized by constructing L 9(34) orthogonal experimental array design. Three factors were investigated and nine tests were run under lower, medium and higher levels of these factors. The results showed that PVA solution concentration plays an important role in affecting the morphologies of PVA nanofibers in bubble electrospinning process. With the increase of the concentration of PVA solution, the morphologies of fibers were changed from beaded fibers to uniform cylinder fibers and the average nanofiber diameter also increased. The optimization process was 12w% for PVA solution, 30kV for applied voltage and 10cm for spinning distance.


Recent labour market changes, from an increase in the number of individuals running their own business to the fragmentation of traditional employment relationships into short-term, intermittent work for multiple engagers ("gigs") have brought a host of challenges for regulators. The law struggles not least because long-established taxonomies used in tax and employment law are coming under increasing pressure. Legal regulation in these areas divides the labour market into a number of predetermined categories, to which benefits and obligations (rights and duties) are then attached. The tests determining into which category an individual falls are unclear and too easily manipulated. In particular, there is a real lack of clarity as to how categories in employment and tax law should map onto each other.
In one sense, there is little new about these challenges: classification has been the holy grail of legal labour market regulation since the inception of employment law. With technology increasingly facilitating easy shifts between legal forms in response to skewed incentives, however, the underlying questions have become more salient than ever.
In order to put forward a framework for a more coherent approach, this article is structured as follows. A first section explores recent market labour trends using evidence from the Labour Force Survey, providing key evidence of changes in rates of self-employment and incorporation, as well as exploring why these changes may have occurred. We then turn to the policy incentives underpinning the different regulatory regimes of tax and employment law as a starting point for reform principles. Section II considers these competing objectives with a view to distilling a set of principles to guide reform. Section III, finally, applies these norms to the UK context, suggesting how reform should be oriented towards a reshaping of legal taxonomies in line with each regulatory system's underlying goals.


This paper reports on a time-accurate simulation of discrete tip injection upstream of a transonic axial compressor, NASA Rotor-67. Twenty two discrete injectors were placed around the casing upstream of the blade to investigate the effect of injector-rotor interaction at near-stall condition. Time-accurate simulations were performed with and without tip injection at stable and unstable operating points. Although the injected mass flow rate is very small, the range extension obtained promises the effective use of such injection in suppressing rotating stall at early stages of formation, with almost no efficiency penalty incurred. The effect of injection on the tip flow structure and unsteady response of the leakage flow are presented and discussed. Results indicate that injection periodically pushes the tip leakage vortex and passage shock rearward. The location of the leakage vortex with injection was found to be backward of that without injection, at the near-stall condition of the non-injection case. At the near-stall point of the injection case, however, the tip leakage vortex was at some situations rearward and at some situations forward, as compared with the non-injection case. In other words, the leakage vortex in the injection case oscillates around the location of the time-averaged leakage vortex without injection. This is the situation, at which, the interface between the leakage and oncoming flows tends to become parallel to the leading-edge plane. The effect of injection on the boundary layer separation from the casing wall is also investigated. The rotor operation at in-stall condition for both the injection and non-injection cases is studied and the path into instability is discussed for each case. The propagation of a low-velocity region near the pressure surface and leading-edge of the blade was found to be responsible for the detachment of the passage shock from the leading-edge and upstream movement of the leakage vortex, leading to the occurrence of the leading-edge vortex spillage, for both the injection and non-injection cases.Copyright © 2010 by ASME


The Gram-negative bacterium Photorhabdus luminescens is a pathogen of insects. It is able to secrete a variety of toxins and effectors against its host in order to escape its immune defences. The model insect Manduca sexta is able to mount a variety of humoral and cellular responses against pathogen attack. Ultimately these prove ineffective against P. luminescens. The pre-treatment of M. sexta with Escherichia coli provides protection against the pathogenesis of P. luminescens. Here, I use RNA interference and Fluorescence-assisted cell sorting techniques to investigate interactions between pathogen and host to further elucidate the roles of various host factors in mounting the immune response. I also investigate the nutrient requirements of the bacteria for pathogenesis. I show data that peptidoglycan recognition protein (PGRP) is essential for the up-regulation of antimicrobial peptides, an important immune defence. I also show that P. luminescens has a requirement for two types of iron during pathogenesis of M. sexta. And lastly I show that P. luminescens is able to avoid phagocytosis, another important immune defence.


The article deals with the results of the practical and theoretical researches of impact of structural damage on its modal parameters.


Introduction: There is no agreement regarding the best method for tube-feeding preterm infants. Few studies, to date, have evaluated the influence of different methods of enteral feeding on intestinal oxygenation. The use of near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) has permitted the noninvasive measurement of splanchnic regional oxygenation (rSO2S) in different clinical conditions. The aim of this prospective, single-center study was to compare rSO2S during continuous versus bolus feeding among stable preterm infants. Methods: Twenty-one preterm infants, less than 32 weeks gestation and appropriate for gestational age, were enrolled. All infants were clinically stable and on full tube feedings. Each infant received a bolus feeding initially (20 min duration), and after 3 h, a continuous feeding (5 h duration). Infants were evaluated 30 min before and 30 min after the bolus and continuous feedings. The regional splanchnic saturation (rSO2S) was measured using near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) technology and systemic saturation was measured with pulse oximetry. From these measurements, we calculated the splanchnic fractional oxygen extraction ratio (FOES) for each of the four intervals. Results: rSO2S decreased after continuous vs. bolus feeding (p = 0.025), while there was a trend toward decreased SaO2 after bolus feeding (p = 0.055). The FOES, which reflects intestinal oxygen extraction, was not affected by the feeding mode (p = 0.129). Discussion/Conclusion: Continuous vs. bolus feeding decreases rSO2S but does not affect oxygen extraction by intestinal tissue; after bolus feeding there was a trend towards decreased systemic saturation.


Abstract— The mechanisms of orientation in pulsed and alternating electric fields of thylakoids (derived from the sonication of spinach chloroplasts) and of light‐harvesting chlorophyll a/b‐protein complexes (CPII) were investigated by utilizing linear dichroism techniques. Comparisons of the linear dichroism spectra of thylakoids and CPII particles suggest that the latter are oriented with their directions of largest electronic polarizabilities (and thus probably their largest dimensions) within the thylakoid membrane planes. At low electric field strengths (< 12 V cm−1), and at low frequencies of alternating electric fields (< 0.25 Hz), thylakoid membranes tend to align with their normals parallel to the direction of the applied electric field; the mechanism of orientation involves a permanent dipole moment of the thylakoids which is oriented perpendicular to the planes of the membranes. However, at high field strengths and high frequencies of the applied alternating electric fields, the thylakoids tend to orient with their planes parallel to the applied field, thus exhibiting an inversion of the sign of the linear dichroism as the electric field strength is increased. At the higher frequencies and at higher field strengths, the orientation mechanisms of the thylakoids involve induced dipole moments related to anisotropies in the electronic polarizabilities. The polarizability is higher within the plane than along a normal to the plane, thus accounting for the inversion of the dichroism as the electric field strength is increased. The CPII particles align with their largest dimension parallel to the applied field at all field strength, indicating that the induced dipole moment dominates the orientation mechanisms in pulsed electric fields. The magnitude of the absolute linear dichroism of CPII suspensions increases with increasing dilution, indicating that aggregates of lower symmetry are formed at higher concentrations of the CPII complexes.


Place-making is a concept applied by cities all over the world. Inherent in the idea is that local conditions must influence the process of investigation and design of public places. The aim of this thesis is to explore the subject worldwide and then to implement the findings in a design proposal for the Hong-Kong waterfront. Through reading and discussing a number of scholars and designers' theories about public place-making, I have found out what design factors are important in place-making. From the literature review I have derived seven design aspects (land use, attractions, accessibility, identity, integration, environmental quality, management) which I discuss in relation to the Hong Kong case. I also studied three implemented harbour redevelopment projects to get an understanding of the factors in play. It is shown that a waterfront's public place-making is different from others in the aspect that the waterfront place should primarily enhance its connection with the existing water, regardless of other factors such as land use, attractions, accessibility etc. Hong Kong is a harbor city that depends on Victoria Harbor to develop its economy. The harbor-front area of Victoria Harbor has played a crucial role in Hong Kong redevelopment in recent years. To well redevelop the harbor-front, Hong Kong government has formulated a series of policies and carried out various researches on the Victoria Harbor-front. At present, there are multiple issues of the waterfront areas along the Victoria Harbor impeding the redevelopment, such as improper land use, pedestrian-unfriendly walking space, discontinuous and narrow promenades etc. In the thesis, I have selected the waterfront in Wan Chai North in Hong Kong as my specific case to research on, which is a place facing these problems. Through field observations and local planning department consultation, I collected important information and materials to help me analyze the site thoroughly. The work concludes with a design proposal for the waterfront Wan Chai North to be redeveloped into public place. It is my hope that the thesis to some extent can guide other waterfront redevelopments in Hong Kong.


The insertion of inflectional suffixes in the verbal paradigm is a widespread phenomenon, characteristic of Romance verbal morphology. Traditionally, there are two types of hypotheses that concern verbal amplifications: on the one hand there is a phonological explanation that relies on the criterion of the "generalization of stress", on the other hand there is a semantic-functional hypothesis based on the theory of verbal aspect. This contribution proposes an analysis of the suffix -ei- that appears in the verbal forms with stressed stem in the Badiot dialect, one of the idioms of the central Ladin group. The confrontation of the traditional hypotheses with a corpus of 2040 verbs of the first conjugation of the Badiot dialect, reveals that neither the phonological hypothesis nor the semantic-functional hypothesis can account for the insertion of the suffix. An alternative hypothesis is proposed, wich considers stress in a paradigmatic perspective wich that explains the presence of the suffix by the generalization of the metrical structure associated with the lexical stem of the infinitive.


In this investigation Particle Image Velocimetry technique was implemented to a matched refractive index facility which was placed in a rectangular channel of L:1016 mm×W:76.2 mm×H:76.2 mm. Water was pumped into either one or both of the inlet jets which were entering the channel's top wall with several different Reynolds numbers. The instantaneous and time-resolved velocity fields were successfully obtained from which several flow characteristics such as vorticity, turbulence instabilities and Reynolds stresses can be calculated.Copyright © 2008 by ASME


Several lines of evidence suggest that early-life gut microbiota composition is a crucial determinant of the susceptibility to diseases later in life. Understanding the evolution of early-life gut microbiota and critical factors that can modify this microbial community will espouse the prevention or reversion of health risk originating from dysbiosis of the gut microbiota in the early stage. In this research, we hypothesized that alterations in the environment (simulation of rural conditions by soil exposure) and feeding mode (breastmilk versus formula milk) will have significant impacts on the establishment of the gut microbiota in early life. At first, in literature review discipline, we present a holistic view on the current knowledge of gut microbiota and environmental modulations. Then, through empirical studies, we investigate the impacts of soil exposure and different feeding modes on gut microbiota composition. We applied 16s rRNA sequencing to examine the composition of gut microbiota based on fecal samples in two separate studies: 1) 4-day-postpartum piglets were exposed to agricultural soil until weaning day (day 21) and then grew under the same conventional condition with control treatments; 2) 4-day-old piglets were either mother reared and breastfed or artificial reared and formula fed, then grew in the same conditions at weaning. The results revealed that agricultural soil exposure and feeding mode could significantly modify the gut microbiota composition in early stages although this trend was not maintained until the later phases of life. The alterations in the early gut microbiota, albeit in a short period of time, caused by those extrinsic environmental modulators may still be sufficient to ameliorate or exacerbate health risk of the host.


The formation of external carotid artery (ECA) pseudoaneurysms caused by stab wounds is a rare vascular anomaly. Although the surgical exploration of the ECA segment is the standard treatment, endovascular treatment (EVT) can be considered if there is difficulty in identifying the source of bleeding in the injured regions that are difficult to operatively access. Here we treated a young patient who had hemorrhagic instability with hemorrhage-induced coagulopathy caused by a zone III cervical stab wound with a pseudoaneurysm from the main trunk of the ECA; the patient underwent EVT and successful hemostasis. A literature review based on the data available on PubMed was conducted, and 15 published reports of 82 penetrating ECA injuries treated by EVT were identified. We concluded that EVT appears to be an effective surgical alternative for patients with hemorrhage-induced coagulopathy caused by a ruptured ECA pseudoaneurysm after a cervical stab wound.


Abstract This paper presents a retrospective account of research output in the field of human resource management (HRM) in Ireland. We present a brief contextual overview looking at significant institutional and practice developments in the field, which, in turn were significant for curriculum, educational and research advances. We collected relevant HRM research output spanning 1950-2010, which yielded a total of 195 academic papers. Our analysis of the research output allows us to present an account of the altering profile and contribution of HRM as an academic field in Ireland and demonstrates the broadening of the field of HRM within Ireland.


There is increasing evidence that in Classic Maya society some of the finest objects were produced by artists who were elites. Excavations at the rapidly abandoned center of Aguateca, Guatemala, in particular, have provided clear archaeological evidence of craft production by elites. These data present a unique test case for refining the archaeological theory of craft specialization. For the Classic Maya, the manufacture of art objects was an act of creation loaded with symbolic meaning. Skilled crafting, along with the privileged knowledge encoded in the products, formed an important part of the high culture that served to distinguish the elite from the rest of society. The cultural and symbolic capital resulting from artistic creation also had critical meaning and consequences for competition among elites. Such a system of craft specialization needs to be understood in its social and cultural contexts, with particular emphasis on the power relations and ideologies surrounding production.


Research has focused on automated methods to effectively detect sexism online. Although overt sexism seems easy to spot, its subtle forms and manifold expressions are not. In this paper, we outline the different dimensions of sexism by grounding them in their implementation in psychological scales. From the scales, we derive a codebook for sexism in social media, which we use to annotate existing and novel datasets, surfacing their limitations in breadth and validity with respect to the construct of sexism. Next, we leverage the annotated datasets to generate adversarial examples, and test the reliability of sexism detection methods. Results indicate that current machine learning models pick up on a very narrow set of linguistic markers of sexism and do not generalize well to out-of-domain examples. Yet, including diverse data and adversarial examples at training time results in models that generalize better and that are more robust to artifacts of data collection. By providing a scale-based codebook and insights regarding the shortcomings of the state-of-the-art, we hope to contribute to the development of better and broader models for sexism detection, including reflections on theory-driven approaches to data collection.


In this study, the effect of the levels of hydrogen addition to methane-air premixed flame in a micro-stepped reactor has been studied numerically. In addition, the effects of mixture velocity and walls' thermal conductivity (Kw) on the flame's location, temperature, and species distribution in a micro reactor were calculated using a 2D numerical laminar steady code. The results showed that an increasing level of hydrogen in the methane-air mixture probably improves the combustion process in a micro reactor by intensifying the flame speed, adiabatic flame temperature and the generation of some crucial species (such as OH, H, HCO, HO2, and H2O2). Further, it was found that the addition of hydrogen to methane can shift the flame towards the inlet. In this way, it probably guarantees the flame's presence in certain conditions compared to cases of no hydrogen addition. In conclusion, it is shown that the temperature distribution along the axis and the wall of the micro reactor can be dependent on the amounts of hydrogen added to the methane-air mixture.


The purpose of this manuscript is to briefly describe the main modalities of non-pharmacological therapy and its utilization on the chronic insomnia treatment. Insomnia is the most frequent sleep disorder and that is more associated with psychiatry disorders. The pharmacotherapy is the most frequent treatment, but the nonpharmacologic therapy has been studied. The most common therapy modalities include behavioral approaches, stimulus control, sleep restriction, paradoxical intention, sleep hygiene, progressive muscle relaxation and biofeedback and, more recently, physical exercise practices. At first behavioral therapy aimed to improve sleep quality, however, recent studies have been emphasizing the effect of behavioral and cognitive approaches on quality of life, on decrease of dosage and frequency of drugs intake. Since insomnia is a chronic condition, long-term and safe treatments are warranted.


Summary In this paper, a double-layer modificatory linguistic truth-value lattice-valued evaluation method is presented. Its logic basic is based on modificatory linguistic truth-value lattice-valued proposition logic system MLTVLP(X) and operator modificatory linguistic truth-value lattice-valued proposition logic OMLTVLP(X). MLTVLP(X) and OMLTVLP(X) are similar to LTVLP(X) and MLTVLP(X), which have been given in our previous research paper. But they have different valuation field, i.e. different type of Lattice Implication Algebra. It is an attempt to solve the double-layer evaluation problem with incomparable linguistic qualitative information. In this evaluation method, every valuator can specify a modificatory linguistic truth-value for every sub-criterion. Likewise, different valuator can be endowed with different importance according to their different background, knowledge or experience. Moreover, different valuator can specify different weight for every sub-criterion according to their experience or preference. All different importance is aggregated to the final evaluation result. It is shown that incomparable linguistic information can be dealt with in this evaluation method.


There is a need to improve predictions of losses resulting from large eddy simulations (LES) of low-pressure turbines (LPT) in gas turbines. This may be done by assessing the accuracy of predictions against validation data and understanding the source of any inaccuracies. LES is a promising approach for capturing the laminar/turbulent transition process in a LPT. In previous studies, the authors utilized LES to model the flow field over a Variable Speed Power Turbine (VSPT) blade and successfully captured characteristic features of separation/reattachment and transition on the suction side at both the cruise (positive incidence) and take-off conditions (negative incidence) and as well, simulated the effect of free-stream turbulence (FST) on those phenomena. The predicted pressure loading profiles agreed well with the experimental data for both a high and a low FST case at a Reynolds number of Reex = 220,000. In this paper, we present wake profiles resulting from computations for a range of FST values. Although the predicted wake profiles for the lowest FST case (Tu = 0.5%) matched the experimental data, at higher FST (Tu = 10–15%,) the wake was wider than the experimentally measured wake and for both cases were displaced laterally when compared to the experimental measurements. In our investigation of the causes of the said discrepancies we have identified important effects which could strongly influence the predicted wake profile. Predicted losses were improved by assuring the validity of the flow solution. This was done by utilizing spectral analysis to scrutinize the dynamic behavior of the wake and determine solution accuracy resulting from low mesh density and low accuracy of convective modeling.


• The extracellular hydrogen ion concentration is maintained almost constant through an interacting series of processes. These include the activities of the chemical buffers, the regulation of the carbon dioxide level by the pulmonary system, and the excretion of acid or alkali by the kidney. Understanding of these basic processes will provide a rational basis for the diagnosis and treatment of clinical acid-base abnormalities. ( Arch Intern Med 1982;142:1019-1023)


A new finite element model is developed and subsequently used for transverse vibrations of tapered Timoshenko beams with rectangular cross-section. The displacement functions of the finite element are derived from the coupled displacement field (the polynomial coefficients of transverse displacement and cross-sectional rotation are coupled through consideration of the differential equations of equilibrium) approach by considering the tapering functions of breadth and depth of the beam. This procedure reduces the number of nodal variables. The new model can also be used for uniform beams. The stiffness and mass matrices of the finite element model are expressed by using the energy equations. To confirm the accuracy, efficiency, and versatility of the new model, a semi-symbolic computer program in MATLAB® is developed. As illustrative examples, the bending natural frequencies of non-rotating/rotating uniform and tapered Timoshenko beams are obtained and compared with previously published results and the results obtained from the finite element models of solids created in ABAQUS. Excellent agreement is found between the results of new finite element model and the other results.


The effect of edges on apparent lightness of the uniform luminous field was investi-gated in the so-called Craik-O'Brien and Cornsweet patterns as compared with that in the edgeless uniform field. It was found that a white edge in the Craik-O'Brien pattern of Type II as well as a black edge in that of Type I lowered or darkened apparent lightness of the field on both side of the edge. The so-called Craik-O'Brien effect was due to assymmetry of the edge-effect on the two sides. The darkening effect of the white edge was explained by the antagonistic lateral inhibition. The same effect of the black edge was explained by a newly introduced concept of non-antagonistic inhibition. The Cornsweet effect was a combination of two edges, white and black, but not simply a summation but a complicated interaction of them.


Mise-en-jeu is the ontological equivalent of film's mise-en-scène. As such, mise-en-jeu is a cinematographic language through which game designers communicate. It offers designers the ability to create and shape the aesthetics of videogames' mediated space, the space of the cinematographic presentation.1 Our prior work on mise-en-jeu focused on the visual aspects of videogames. With that in mind, starting with an analysis of mise-en-scéne, this paper provides an understanding of how sound is relevant for meaningmaking through mise-en-jeu. Since videogames make use of some of motion picture's filming techniques, we first studied practitioners and academics in the history of film, approaching videogames afterwards. The results of this research show that sound in mise-en-jeu allows designers to provoke emotions in players and to assist those players in formulating meaning as intended by the designers. We also found that mise-en-jeu allows for the deconstruction and interpretation of the characteristics of various variables of videogames' mediated space. Therefore it allows us to understand better the relationship between videogames as audiovisual artefacts and the potential meanings that emerge from playing them.


The authors describe a case of SAPHO syndrome with bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG) immunotherapy for bladder cancer. The patient had undergone transurethral resection (TUR) and was treated with BCG immunotherapy following TUR. Two years after treatment for bladder cancer, the patient had palmoplantar pustulosis, and in the past 1 month suffered from pain localised to the anterior chest wall. The bone scintigraphy showed a strong focal enrichment in the right chest wall, suggesting spondyloarthropathy rather than malignant disease. On the basis of clinical and scintigraphy findings, SAPHO syndrome was diagnosed. The patient was treated with topical therapy and non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs and symptoms improved. The authors suggest that SAPHO syndrome might be caused by an association with BCG immunotherapy.


Summary An indirect fluorescent antibody staining technique was adapted to study the population of potentially pathogenic E. coli serotypes relative to the total coliform population in faeces from calves. Preliminary experiments were carried out with pig faeces in which the haemolytic property of a pathogenic serotype was utilised to facilitate comparison of the results with those obtained from plate counts. In a natural outbreak of colibacillosis in calves, diarrhoea in all except one case was associated with an increase in the proportion of pathogenic serotypes to at least 50 per cent. of the total coliform population. In some other cases, a similar increase occurred in the absence of clinical disease. The significance of these results is discussed in relation to the practical value of the method as a diagnostic procedure and as a means of studying the influence of environmental predisposing factors on the E. coli population of the gastro-intestinal tract.


The high specific strength of Ti-based alloys and composites makes them highly requested materials in various structural applications. However, reinforcement of the alloys with hard particles generally lowers the values of toughness and plasticity of material. A satisfactory combination of plastic and strength can be achieved by formation of layered structures comprising of two and more layers of different materials with different chemical compositions within individual layers. The multi-layer materials allow controlling the mechanical properties of the individual layers by changing microstructure and chemical composition within each layer specifically. In the present study, a cost-efficient process of fabrication of Ti-based multi-layer composites using blended elemental powder metallurgy (BEPM) and TiH2 powder is proposed. Two and three-layered composites based on titanium or Ti-6Al-4V alloy and their metal-matrix composites (MMC) with TiC and TiB were fabricated. Multi-layered samples reinforced by TiC were successfully sintered due to very close shrinkage of adjacent layers. Shrinkage values of layers reinforced by TiB were lower than those for the Ti-alloy, which led to delamination of layered structures, distortion of shape, and cracking. We can control shrinkage in individual layers by means of optimizing the powder size, that allows to obtain multi-layer titanium matrix composites reinforced by TiB with well-balanced mechanical properties.


Noninvasive quantification of subject-specific low-frequency brain tissue conductivity (σLF) will be valuable in different fields, for example, neuroscience. Magnetic resonance (MR)-electrical impedance tomography allows measurements of σLF. However, the required high level of direct current injection leads to an undesirable pain sensation. Following the same principles, but avoiding pain sensation, we evaluate the feasibility of inductively inducing currents using a transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) device and recording the magnetic field variations arising from the induced tissue eddy currents using a standard 3 T MR scanner. Using simulations, we characterize the strength of the incident TMS magnetic field arising from the current running in the TMS coil, the strength of the induced magnetic field arising from the induced currents in tissues by TMS pulses, and the MR phase accuracy required to measure this latter magnetic field containing information about σLF. Then, using TMS-MRI measurements, we evaluate the achievable phase accuracy for a typical TMS-MRI setup. From measurements and simulations, it is crucial to discriminate the incident from the induced magnetic field. The incident TMS magnetic field range is ±10−4 T, measurable with standard MR scanners. In contrast, the induced TMS magnetic field is much weaker (±10−8 T), leading to an MR phase contribution of ∼10−4 rad. This phase range is too small to be measured, as the phase accuracy for TMS-MRI experiments is ∼10−2 rads. Thus, although highly attractive, noninvasive measurements of the induced TMS magnetic field, and therefore estimations of σLF, are experimentally not feasible.


A two-dimensional two-layer mathematical model is described representing internal gravity waves and convection generated by a thermal forcing in the lower atmosphere. The model consists of an upper layer with stable stratification, a lower layer with unstable stratification, and a thermal forcing in the form of a nonhomogeneous term in the energy conservation equation. Exact analytical solutions are derived for some simple configurations. Depending on the vertical location and depth of the thermal forcing, the model can be used to represent different configurations in which gravity waves are generated by diabatic heating. When the thermal forcing is centered in the lower layer, convective cells are generated in the lower layer, and gravity waves are forced and propagate upward from the interface between the two layers. When the thermal forcing is centered at the interface, the convection in the lower layer is weaker, and gravity waves are forced by the direct effect of the thermal forcing in the upper layer and the influence of the convective cells below. Steady-amplitude solutions for the vertical profile of the gravity waves and convection are derived and generalized to include cases where there is a spectrum of horizontal wavenumbers or vertical wavenumbers or frequencies present.


Sensor image repositories are becoming the fastest growing archives of spatio-temporal information and they are only projected to grow through the twenty-first century. This continuous data flow leads to large time-series and accordingly, geoscientists are often confronted with the amount of data that need to be explored and the phenomena, present in time-series, to be understood and modeled. In this study, an approach to visual exploration of time-series of sensor data has been proposed. The approach describes exploration as a process where attention, memory, graphics and behaviour of the represented phenomena interrelate. It outlines the framework of how graphics can assist memory and attention by representing image features and their evolution. The main role of graphics in data exploration is to facilitate memorization and to guide visual search in the sensor data. Reasons why the current graphics fall short in supporting the exploration process are also outlined. These are related to insufficient support for re-presentation of image features. The review is further supported by case studies of remote sensing data exploration where the users are primarily interested in identifying, tracing and perceiving the evolution of two highly dynamic image features. The cases dealt with rip channels and convective clouds. Because geoscientists are primarily interested in image features, a workable solution is to focus on just those features -- that is to automatically extract and track them. For that purpose, the feature extraction and tracking algorithms used in computer vision, image processing and scientific visualization are reviewed and a post-processing tracking approach based on the overlap measure is adopted. Computational preprocessing is, amongst others, used to generate the quantitative attributes of objects. The attributes of image features are emphasized in the visualizations with rich graphical and interactive exploratory functionality. Further, a research prototype - a multiple-view exploratory environment based on Space-Time Cube metaphor was proposed. The four views of the prototype are linked and enable object brushing and view manipulation. Dynamic linking enables progressive knowledge construction because users can easily switch between spatial, attribute and temporal--oriented feature analysis. With the interactivity, the users are supported to search for features of interest, sieve them to further reduce the complexity, and focus attention on the selected objects. In particular, exploration of the essence of the object's evolution and history were supported. It was important, however, to verify the concepts developed by user testing. Series of users test conducted involving expert and novice participants. Two exploratory tools were tested: `typical' animation and the research prototype developed during this study. Two case studies described have been used with similar set of exploratory question. The test participants provided faster and more complete and accurate answers using the prototype than the animation. They were also more satisfied with the prototype than with the animation when answering these questions. Thus overall, the test results supported the initial hypothesis - that representing image features and their evolution assist users in exploring the time-series of sensor data.