Aims To audit current practice regarding concordance with RCN fasting guidelines (6 h for solids and 2 h for clear fluids) (endorsed by RCoA and RCoM) and reference to antacid prophylaxis in the NICE guideline for caesarean section. Background Elective CS under regional anaesthesia carries a 1% risk of conversion to general anaesthesia. Pre-operative fasting and antacid prophylaxis guidelines aim to reduce the risk of maternal pulmonary aspiration associated with general anaesthesia. RCN guidelines state that women should be encouraged to consume clear fluids 2 h prior to surgery. Materials and Methods Data was collected using a proforma, detailing; the anaesthetic (type, time delivered), antacid (whether taken, type), fasting (solid /clear fluid, how long patient told to fast for, how information was delivered), patients' feeling of hunger and thirst before operation, and whether low urine output delayed recovery. Results 100% mothers surveyed (36) followed fasting and antacid prophylaxis guidelines. The mean time without solids was 14 hours (range 9–24 hours) and without clear fluids was 12 hours (3–17 hours). 94% of mothers reported receiving written Trust fasting instruction. 0% of mothers drank clear fluids around 2 h before delivery of their anaesthetic. Low urine output delayed recovery in 12 patients. Conclusions Mothers follow guidelines; however current Trust patient information, which state "nil by mouth from midnight", is not in line RCN guidelines. Patient information should be changed in line with these guidelines, emphasising consumption of clear fluids the morning of surgery.


The recent collapse of the non-residential real estate development & construction market rises the question, what the future demand will be for real estate space and how these will influence future development activities. The aim of this research is to provide a framework for stock-flow analysis and forecasting of real estate development (macro, per sector and per property type, such as office, industrial, commercial, health care, school and public buildings). The economic approach of investment for expansion of the space stock is based on the growth of production by the observed economic sectors and on the growth of the economy as a whole (GDP). This is confronted with analysis of the physical growth of a sectoral stock (in square meters or otherwise), as production and accommodation capacity. Moreover with the growth of the use of the stock (such as employees in offices, scholars in schools and so on). Additionally future investment for renewal of the building stock depends on the life time structure of the present building stock and the capability of this stock to meet contemporary requirements (after refurbishment). Topical problems in The Netherlands are a high vacancy and underutilization of offices and of other buildings and business complexes. Re-use and transformation activities are limited. The agrarian, industrial and logistical sector tend to a high replacement activity, with relocation and spatial concentration. Consequently this leads to high disinvestment and disposal of buildings which cannot meet contemporary technological, economic and environmental standards. Generally, the (trend of) new development for expansion and replacement of the building stock is slightly downward. An exception is the health sector, with a growing shortage of facilities for an ageing population. Unfortunately, development activity for the health care and the non-profit sector will be limited by financial conditions.


This research examined how state-owned enterprises (SOEs) in two Pacific countries approach their governance roles in a context where concepts of good corporate governance are changing internationally. The research considered whether corporate governance practice can be enhanced by the application of local cultural values and principles, and whether there are lessons learned from these two countries that could be shared more broadly.
The study explored insights from current and former SOE board chairs, directors, CEOs, senior public officials from the Kingdom of Tonga (Tonga) and the Independent State of Samoa (Samoa), and subject matter experts, who discussed their experiences and insights about approaches to corporate governance. The research also examined the literature on the rationale for the concept of 'good governance' which emerged in the latter half of the twentieth century, and corporate governance principles that support SOE models, to provide context for participant responses.
Twenty-six interviews were undertaken in Tonga and Samoa between July and September 2019. Twelve participants were interviewed about Tonga's SOEs, 12 participants were interviewed about Samoa's SOEs, and two participants were interviewed about both countries' approaches to SOE governance.
The research finds that the principles of good corporate governance are dynamic and responsive, and can be modified to fit local situations. Despite the challenges implementing corporate governance principles, SOE directors and officials from Tonga and Samoa are asking how these tools can be applied in their country and are actively adapting and innovating the corporate governance model to improve local application. There are important assertive signs of ambiculturalism reshaping the good governance narrative with a Pacific flavour.


Introduction:
The Gamma Knife (GK) was originally introduced as a radiotherapy unit for solid brain lesions. The original skull-attached G-frame enabled submillimetre accuracy but allowed only single-fraction treatments, thus limiting to small lesion treatments. To enable fractionated Stereotactic Radiosurgery, the GK Perfexion model (with eXtend) was introduced leading to new questions:
• What is the repositioning system accuracy?
• What effect have positional uncertainties for the target; and for normal tissue (NT) and Organs at risk (OAR)?
• How can positional uncertainties be handled?

Material and Method:
eXtend uncertainty was investigated using trigger levels of the vacuum-surveilled patient positioning mouthpiece, measured for ten patients' dental models mounted on a 0.05mm-accuracy computer-controlled positioner. The dosimetric effect of these displacements in a single fraction was evaluated by calculating minimum dose, coverage and conformity-index changes for displacements of 0 to 4mm.The impact of positional displacements for 3 and 5 fraction treatments was evaluated for targets and organs-at-risk (OaR) by calculating total doses with simulated displacements of 0-4mm in combinations of X, Y, and Z directions for nine patients (in total almost 300 sumPlans). All plans were prescribed to the 50% isodose. Effects were calculated in physical dose and in biological effective dose (BED).
Finally, from this a novel approach to minimize effects of displacement was proposed and feasibility-tested for 5-fraction plans. Instead of applying margins to cover potential uncertainties, a correction is applied in the last two fractions only after any observed systematic uncertainty is quantified in the first three fractions. 100 displacement scenarios were tested, comparing for each the dose volume histogram (DVH) and dose profiles and the total dose with and without the correction procedure.

Results:
Mean positional uncertainty with a clinical vacuum setting was 0.15mm (SD ±0.05mm, range 0.05-0.29mm) and 0.33° (SD ±0.15°, 0.05°-1.0°).
The most critical parameter in the dose distribution is minimum dose D99%. In the evaluated scenarios D99% fell by 2% for a displacement of 0.5mm and 16% with 2mm in X or Y direction and >20% in Z direction, dependent on arrangement.
Moving to hypofractionation increases the BED inside the target and reduces it outside, i.e. the dose gradient is increased at the 50% (prescription) isodose. Displacement in opposing directions is predominantly random, which reduces the dose gradient but does not introduce an underdosage to the target for displacements of up to 2 mm. At the same time the BED to OAR is increased but remains below single fraction dose.
Feasibility testing the proposed correction method showed a significant improvement of the total BED indicating the method's potential.

Discussion:
Positional uncertainty is generally low, better than 0.5mm for Perfexion whilst the later GK version, Icon. starts treatment with minimal uncertainties following an initial Cone Beam CT (CBCT). However, for both treatment units, target movement during treatment is possible and may be up to 2mm. The most critical aspect is underdosage of the target. Prescribing the dose to 50% reduces random uncertainty effects and ensures BED is at an optimal value (gradient) to avoid underdosage and protect OAR.
A novel strategy is proposed and feasibility-tested to correct positional uncertainties, showing improved dose distribution in the scenarios tested. However, this test was for static displacements only. GK Icon corrects any positional displacement observed at the initial CBCT, so the correction method would only be needed when the system identifies further movement. For practical clinical use, further investigation is needed.


Using TiO2 and ZrO2 as compound nucleation agent, serials Li2O–Al2O3–SiO2 (LAS) glasses containing different content of P2O5 were prepared by conventional melt quenching technique and subsequent converting to glass–ceramics. The influence of P2O5 content on viscosity of LAS glasses was investigated in the temperature range from the softening point to melting temperature. DSC was undertaken to analyze the change of characteristic temperature Tg, Tc and Tp. Thermal expansion coefficient (TEC) of matrix glass and glass-ceramic containing different P2O5 were measured. The results show introducing P2O5 effectively decreased the melting temperature and viscosity of LAS glasses. TECs of the matrix glass and glass-ceramic range from 4.1×10-6 °C -1 to 5.3×10-6 °C -1 and from -0.2×10-6 °C -1 to 1.2×10-6 °C -1, respectively. XRD analysis indicates that β-spodumene is the main crystalline phase in the P2O5 doped LAS glass-ceramics, resulting in the low thermal expansion coefficient of the glass-ceramics.


Land values have become extremely controversial in many developing countries. In part, the reason is simply that land prices have been increasing rapidly, specially in and near urban areas. In part, however, controversy stems from the special characteristics of land. Being a non produced input, land should not yield a return to its owners in the view of many people. For these two reasons, governments have intervened more in land markets than in any other market in most countries. This paper attempts to sort out some key issues regarding land values, land use and government intervention, specially as they relate to urbanization in developing countries.


Based on the Rate-Variable Fundamental In-tree Modeling Method of the System Dynamics, this paper discusses a problem that how to apply the system dynamics assessment Method based on Level and Rate Variable System in a determined Assessment Index System. It gives a method to determine the Level Variable and Rate Variable System method in the Assessment Index System, and then utilizes Rate-Variable Fundamental In-tree Models depicting the Assessment Index System. Based on this, it applies the System Simulation Assessment on the Supply Chain Performance of the Aviation Weapon Equipment Manufacturing, analyses the feedback dynamic complexity affecting the performance improvement; put forward the relevant Management Countermeasures, which achieves the purpose of analyzing Supply Chain Performance effectively utilizing the System Science Method.


The structure and the properties of the eigenfunctions of the canonical integral transform are investigated. It is shown that a signal can be decomposed into a set of the orthogonal eigenfunctions of the generalized Fresnel transform. The condition that the set contains a finite number of functions is obtained.


Indirect observation is a recent concept in systematic observation. It largely involves analyzing textual material generated either indirectly from transcriptions of audio recordings of verbal behavior in natural settings (e.g., conversation, group discussions) or directly from narratives (e.g., letters of complaint, tweets, forum posts). It may also feature seemingly unobtrusive objects that can provide relevant insights into daily routines. All these materials constitute an extremely rich source of information for studying everyday life, and they are continuously growing with the burgeoning of new technologies for data recording, dissemination, and storage. Narratives are an excellent vehicle for studying everyday life, and quantitization is proposed as a means of integrating qualitative and quantitative elements. However, this analysis requires a structured system that enables researchers to analyze varying forms and sources of information objectively. In this paper, we present a methodological framework detailing the steps and decisions required to quantitatively analyze a set of data that was originally qualitative. We provide guidelines on study dimensions, text segmentation criteria, ad hoc observation instruments, data quality controls, and coding and preparation of text for quantitative analysis. The quality control stage is essential to ensure that the code matrices generated from the qualitative data are reliable. We provide examples of how an indirect observation study can produce data for quantitative analysis and also describe the different software tools available for the various stages of the process. The proposed method is framed within a specific mixed methods approach that involves collecting qualitative data and subsequently transforming these into matrices of codes (not frequencies) for quantitative analysis to detect underlying structures and behavioral patterns. The data collection and quality control procedures fully meet the requirement of flexibility and provide new perspectives on data integration in the study of biopsychosocial aspects in everyday contexts.


The origin of polarized emission from protoplanetary disks is uncertain. Three mechanisms have been proposed for this polarized emission: grain alignment with magnetic fields, grain alignment with radiation gradients, and self-scattering of thermal dust emission. Aiming to observationally identify the polarization mechanisms, we present ALMA polarization observations of the 0.87 mm dust continuum emission toward the circumstellar disk around HD 142527 with high spatial resolution. We confirm that the polarization vectors in the northern region are consistent with self-scattering. Furthermore, we show that the polarization vectors in the southern region are consistent with grain alignment by magnetic fields, although self-scattering cannot be ruled out. To understand the differences between the polarization mechanisms, we propose a simple grain size segregation model: small dust grains (≲100 μm) are dominant and aligned with magnetic fields in the southern region, and middle-sized (∼100 μm) grains in the upper layer emit self-scattered polarized emission in the northern region. The grain size near the middle plane in the northern region cannot be measured because the emission at 0.87 mm is optically thick. However, it can be speculated that larger dust grains (≳cm) may accumulate near this plane. These results are consistent with those of a previous analysis of the disk, in which large grain accumulation and optically thick emission from the northern region were found. This model is also consistent with theories where smaller dust grains are aligned with magnetic fields. The magnetic fields are toroidal, at least in the southern region.


Tax administration plays a key role in tax collection, striving for maximum public finance revenue, while at the same time protecting the rights of the taxpayers in tax collection procedures. The search for this balance is particularly relevant in times of crisis, as shown by the COVID-19 pandemic, especially in the first wave between March and June 2020. The article deals with the legal and economic aspects of work of the Financial Administration of the Republic of Slovenia (FARS) based on comparable data on tax measures in other countries, provided by international organizations such as IOTA and OECD, i.e. the EU. The article finds that in Slovenia the measures under consideration were often questionable already at the formal level, which led to a gap in the implementation of 'intervention laws' despite the relatively agile response by FARS. Nevertheless, it can be concluded that Slovenia's public finance measures match the measures taken by other EUMember States. Also worth mentioning in such regard is that some of the measures, for example those regarding e-operation, were identified by both FARS and taxpayers as improvements to be preserved even after the pandemic, considering tax administration as a service for the state and taxpayers.


Psychological stress is a possible factor in the disease course and poor psychosocial outcomes in Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD). Understanding the exact relationship between stress and health has been hampered by methodological issues and how stress has been defined and measured. This study aims to explore the association between stress and disease outcomes, investigate the impact of stress on psychosocial outcomes, and evaluate the efficacy of interventions in reducing stress for people with IBD.

 A systematic review was performed. Medline, CINAHL, Embase, and PsycInfo databases were searched. Prospective studies recruiting people with IBD 16 years old or over and measuring psychological stress or distress were included.

 Thirty-eight studies, from 41 reports, with 4757 people with IBD were included in the review. Studies used thirty-six different instruments to measure stress. Perceived stress was the most frequently studied concept and was found to precede IBD disease exacerbation. Depression and helplessness were positively associated with perceived stress, while social support, resilience, and quality of life were negatively associated. Cognitive-behavioural group programmes may reduce stress and education, stress management, and exercise and other group programmes may reduce disease-specific stress, but more studies are needed where groups have comparable baseline characteristics and potential harms are considered alongside benefits.

 Psychological stress appears to precede IBD disease exacerbation, though what role it plays in psychosocial outcomes and how it is best managed is unclear. Further research is needed to examine the differential effects of stress on disease subtypes and IBD in flare and remission.


Recently, the internet traffic demand has been compoundly rising up as a result of the increase in the number of users as well as data demand per user. That is why, Elastic Optical Networks (EONs), which employ Orthongonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) , have been proposed to scale the demands by efficiently utilizing the spectrum as they provide finer spectrum granularity and distance adaptive modulation formatting. Not only efficiency and scalability but also survivability of the network is significant since even a single-link failure may cause huge volume of data considering that even a channel bandwidth may vary between 1 Gb/s and 1Tb/s. Hence, we propose a heuristic algorithm to increase the spectrum efficiency in EONs employing Shared Path Protection (SPP) as the recovery scheme provided that the traffic demand is dynamic and the modulation format is distance adaptive. Our algorithm, Primary First-Fit Modified Backup Last-Fit (PF-MBL), follows two step approach for Routing and Spectrum Assignment (RSA). In the first step, k-shortest path algorithm is applied and candidates paths are found regardless of spectrum availability for routing. In the second step, spectrum is assigned to working paths and backup paths starting from the different ends of the links' frequency domain so as to group working and backup path resources separately. In working path spectrum assignment, First-Fit strategy is employed. In backup path spectrum assignment, the algorithm chooses a path according to a formula among candidate paths with available spectrum widths found by Last-Fit strategy. In this manner, we expect to provide less fragmented spectrum for backup paths as well as the network, thereby increasing their sharability and thus the spectrum efficiency. We compare our algorithm and the two current solutions by simulations. Results show that PF-MBL can improve the performance in terms of blocking and bandwidth blocking probability by 24% up to 59% compared to the current outperforming algorithm when the bandwidth acceptance ratio of the system varies from 90% to 99.9% in different loads. Moreover, it achieves between 41% to 59% savings over the current outperforming algorithm when the bandwidth acceptance ratio of the system varies from 99% to 99.9%.


A cyclic storage system integrates a surface water subsystem (i.e., river and surface reservoir) with a groundwater subsystem (i.e., aquifer) in an interactive loop to satisfy prespecified demands. Modeling these systems need to consider the hydraulic relationship between all components. This paper presents an optimization model for design and operation of a cyclic storage system. A generalized and modified unit response matrix method is developed and embedded into the optimization model to develop design and operation parameters. This method were also used to create the link between the groundwater simulation model and the system optimization model to compute system responses to different excitations. Solution to the proposed model, in addition to the design parameters, provides the optimal operation for the defined cyclic storage system. The Abhar River and Aquifer, Iran, were used as case study. One of the key results of this study is that the release from the surface reservoir does not necessarily follow a storage rule curve as might be expected in a single reservoir system.


The functions of family courts in England and Wales in making decisions about children are identified as processing disputes and protecting vulnerable individuals, with latent functions of applying and influencing social policy. The thesis explores why family courts have been singled out for particular criticism in undertaking these functions. Two issues are examined: complaints that family court proceedings are held in secret and that a court is not the appropriate place for resolving disputes about children. The methods used are historical analysis, a comparison with courts in Australia, and applying the theories of Habermas.
According to Habermas, when systems are maintained for their own sake without being anchored in people's values and needs, or operate without rational discourse, institutions can lose their legitimacy. The historical analysis shows that as social policy developed over the past 60 years, court structures were trapped in a dual jurisdiction which made it difficult to adapt to changing expectations. Since the 1970s, there have been calls for a unified family court to better meet families' requirements. However, a comparison with such a court, the Family Court of Australia, reveals another set of dualities which undermine its legitimacy.
The claim that family courts do not function effectively because they are closed and secret is examined. The law is set out in the context of concepts of secrecy, privacy, openness and transparency. It is argued that children have a particular right to privacy which is marginalised in the current debate, and that a recent consultation process undertaken to reform the law on media access to court proceedings was not undertaken in a transparent manner.
Attempts to introduce alternative dispute resolution and remove disputes about child care and upbringing to mediation and other non-legal alternatives are also shown as likely to fail unless formulated through rational discourse.


The western coasts of coral islands facing the open Andaman Sea are exposed to large amplitude internal waves (LAIW) during winter to spring (January to April). LAIW entrain cold subpycnocline waters into shallow reef areas causing frequent (several events per day) and severe drops in temperature (up to 9 °C) and pH (up to 0.5 units) and increases in nutrients. The present study explored a possible impact of LAIW on the distribution, calcification, photosynthesis and respiration of the calcifying macroalgae Halimeda opuntia. The study was conducted at Racha island about 18 km south of Phuket in the Andaman Sea. Belt transect observations along the island revealed that H. opuntia occurs only at the east side of Racha. A combined transplant and incubation experiment was performed. The temperature at the west and east side of Racha was recorded for 6 months (October till March). These records indicated no difference in LAIW intensity between west and east coasts of Racha which is in contrast to other offshore islands in this region. The experiments showed that H. opuntia calcified faster and revealed higher photosynthetic rates after being transplanted for 2 months to the western side in contrast to their eastern counterparts. The higher rates in calcification and oxygen production of the west-transplanted algae were maintained as well under simulated LAIW-conditions with reduced temperature and/or pH during the incubations. Despite the natural absence of H. opuntia along the western side of Racha island, this algae seemed to benefit from the natural conditions at west in contrast to its common eastern environment. It may be concluded that factors other than LAIW such as less sedimentation and possibly higher light intensities at west favored the development of the algae which are naturally restricted to the east due to the lack of suitable settling substrate in west.


The State of Alarm period declared by the Spanish Government due to the coronavirus crisis has had an exhaustive media coverage. However, it is observed how the visual story / narrative that has been published in the newspapers goes beyond the health field, focusing mainly on aspects of a social, political or economic nature. The types of images with the greatest presence in the representation of the harshest weeks of the pandemic determine the type of coverage, causing some relevant aspects to be minimized or invisibilized, and conditions the impact and the understanding of the severity of the disease in the society, in a particularly difficult and decisive moment such as the confinement of citizens. In the same way, the published images will have a later impact as a document by becoming part of the historical memory in the future. This article focuses on the analysis of the images published during the State of Alarm in three of the most relevant and broader scope national newspapers (El país, La vanguardia and El mundo), which is complemented by semi-directed interviews with several photojournalists who have covered Covid-19 during its first stage. The cataloging of the photographs in various categories is intended to observe the type of story that has been made visible of the Covid-19 (assessing the way in which this pandemic is being shown as an epidemic or syndemic), as well as to detect some of the most present and/or recurring visual representations and identify which are the most prominent absences.


We present a detailed investigation into the properties of GW170729, the gravitational wave with the most massive and distant source confirmed to date. We employ an extensive set of waveform models, including new improved models that incorporate the effect of higher-order waveform modes which are particularly important for massive systems. We find no indication of spin-precession, but the inclusion of higher-order modes in the models results in an improved estimate for the mass ratio of $(0.3-0.8)$ at the 90\% credible level. Our updated measurement excludes equal masses at that level. We also find that models with higher-order modes lead to the data being more consistent with a smaller effective spin, with the probability that the effective spin is greater than zero being reduced from $99\%$ to $94\%$. The 90\% credible interval for the effective spin parameter is now $(-0.01-0.50)$. Additionally, the recovered signal-to-noise ratio increases by $\sim0.3$ units compared to analyses without higher-order modes. We study the effect of common spin priors on the derived spin and mass measurements, and observe small shifts in the spins, while the masses remain unaffected. We argue that our conclusions are robust against systematic errors in the waveform models. We also compare the above waveform-based analysis which employs compact-binary waveform models to a more flexible wavelet- and chirplet-based analysis. We find consistency between the two, with overlaps of $\sim 0.9$, typical of what is expected from simulations of signals similar to GW170729, confirming that the data are well-described by the existing waveform models. Finally, we study the possibility that the primary component of GW170729 was the remnant of a past merger of two black holes and find this scenario to be indistinguishable from the standard formation scenario.


A reference process model represents multiple variants of a common business process in an integrated and reusable manner. It is intended to be individualized in order to fit the requirements of a specific organization or project. This practice of individualizing reference process models provides an attractive alternative with respect to designing process models from scratch. In particular, it en-ables the reuse of proven practices. This chapter introduces techniques for representing variability in the context of reference process models, as well as techniques that facilitate the individualization of reference process model with respect to a given set of requirements. Control-Flow: Extending Business Process Configuration to Resources and Objects. QUT ePrints Technical configuration roles and objects partici-pating a process model is discussed. The process modelling used C-EPC, which


Emotion recognition deficit is related to impaired community functioning. Loneliness is also associated with impaired social performance. However, the way in which emotion recognition and loneliness may contribute to social functioning remains unclear in euthymic patients with bipolar disorder. We aimed to examine emotion recognition ability in Han Chinese euBD patients relative to healthy controls (HCs) and to investigate the associations between emotion recognition, loneliness, and social functioning. Thirty‐nine HCs and 46 euthymic BD patients completed an emotion recognition task and nonsocial cognitive measures related to executive function and attention. The UCLA loneliness scale and Social Performance Scale were administered to evaluate psychological loneliness and social functioning, respectively. We observed lower emotion recognition accuracy, higher loneliness, and poorer social functioning in the BD patients after adjustment for demographic data. Loneliness was negatively associated with global social functioning in both the BD and HC groups. Higher loneliness and lower emotion recognition accuracy were associated with poorer social functioning in euthymic BD in different subdomains. Our study confirmed a subtle impairment of emotion recognition ability in euthymic BD. Loneliness impacts globally on social functioning, while emotion recognition ability may affect specific subdomains of social functioning in euthymic BD. Alleviation of loneliness and enhancement of social cognition might improve social functioning in BD patients.


Infant colic is a prevalent physiological event of healthy children under 3 months of age which can disrupt the child's home environment. Despite its benign natural history, sometimes requires a therapeutic approach. Numerous therapeutical lines have been proposed although its pathogenesis remains unknown and multifactorial. The gut microbiota plays an important role in the infant colic. Several studies have shown less bifidobacteria and lactobacilli in infant colic meanwhile Escherichia, Klebsiella, Serratia, Vibrio, Yersinia and Pseudomonas are more prominent in colon. The probiotic strain L. reuteri DSM 17938, when administered once daily to 10⁸ cfu / day, seems to have the most scientific evidence up to date in the treatment of infant colic, without significant side effects.


With the aim of understanding the effect of the environment on the star formation history and morphological transformation of galaxies, we present a detailed analysis of the colour, morphology and internal structure of cluster and field galaxies at 0.4≤z≤0.8. We use {\em HST} data for over 500 galaxies from the ESO Distant Cluster Survey (EDisCS) to quantify how the galaxies' light distribution deviate from symmetric smooth profiles. We visually inspect the galaxies' images to identify the likely causes for such deviations. We find that the residual flux fraction (RFF), which measures the fractional contribution to the galaxy light of the residuals left after subtracting a symmetric and smooth model, is very sensitive to the degree of structural disturbance but not the causes of such disturbance. On the other hand, the asymmetry of these residuals (Ares) is more sensitive to the causes of the disturbance, with merging galaxies having the highest values of Ares. Using these quantitative parameters we find that, at a fixed morphology, cluster and field galaxies show statistically similar degrees of disturbance. However, there is a higher fraction of symmetric and passive spirals in the cluster than in the field. These galaxies have smoother light distributions than their star-forming counterparts. We also find that while almost all field and cluster S0s appear undisturbed, there is a relatively small population of star-forming S0s in clusters but not in the field. These findings are consistent with relatively gentle environmental processes acting on galaxies infalling onto clusters.


Inositol phospholipids represent a minor fraction of membrane phospholipids; yet they play important regulatory functions in signaling pathways and membrane traffic. The phosphorylated inositol ring can act either as a precursor for soluble intracellular messengers or as a binding site for cytosolic or membrane proteins. Hence, phosphorylation-dephosphorylation of phosphoinositides represents a mechanism for regulation of recruitment to the membrane of coat proteins, cytoskeletal scaffolds or signaling complexes and for the regulation of membrane proteins. Recent work suggests that phosphoinositide metabolism has an important role in membrane traffic at the synapse. PtdIns(4,5)P2 generation is implicated in the secretion of at least a subset of neurotransmitters. Furthermore, PtdIns(4,5)P2 plays a role in the nucleation of clathrin coats and of an actin-based cytoskeletal scaffold at endocytic zones of synapses, and PtdIns(4,5)P2 dephosphorylation accompanies the release of newly formed vesicles from these interactions. Thus, the reversible phosphorylation of inositol phospholipids may be one of the mechanisms governing the timing and vectorial progression of synaptic vesicle membranes during their exocytic-endocytic cycle.


In order to find a systematic approach to aid the creative design of mechanisms, this thesis proposes a unified structural synthesis method for planar kinematic chains and mechanisms with simple and multiple joints, characterized by effectiveness, automation and human-machine interaction, and develops the atlas databases containing all the topological graphs for these kinematic chains and mechanisms with different numbers of links, classified by their structural characteristics. Based on the classified atlas databases, the creative design of several kinds of mechanisms is also conducted to verify the usefulness of the method. The overall structure of the thesis is as follows.
(1) In chapter 2, the representation models of planar kinematic chains with simple joints, multiple joints and geared joints are presented and the relationships between these models are revealed.
(2) In chapter 3, the relationships of contracted graphs of planar non-fractionated kinematic chains and their link assortment arrays are revealed first. Then a fully-automatic method for the synthesis of the contracted graphs of planar non-fractionated kinematic chains is proposed. With the method, the complete families of non-fractionated contracted graphs and of valid contracted graphs with up to eight basic loops and all possible degrees of freedom are synthesized and obtained for the first time.
(3) In chapter 4, a general method is proposed to synthesize planar non-fractionated kinematic chains and mechanisms based on the obtained contracted graphs. The method is fully-automatic and designer-friendly, and planar non-fractionated kinematic chains and mechanisms with up to 19 links are synthesized. Moreover, the classified atlas databases for these kinematic chains and mechanisms are also established.
(4) In chapter 5, based on the structure characteristics of fractionated kinematic chains, a general synthesis equation of planar fractionated kinematic chains is proposed first. Then an automatic method is proposed to synthesize planar fractionated kinematic chains by the combination of planar non-fractionated kinematic chains, and the whole family of planar fractionated kinematic chains with up to seven basic loops is synthesized for the first time.
(5) In chapter 6, based on the new bicolor topological graph and its inter-convertible characteristics with that of simple joint kinematic chains, an automatic method is proposed to synthesize multiple joint kinematic chains from simple joint kinematic chains and their classified atlas databases. The whole family of multiple joint kinematic chains with up to 16 links is synthesized for the first time and corresponding classified atlas databases are also established.
(6) In chapter 7, based on the structural synthesis and classified atlas databases of kinematic chains with simple and multiple joints, a creative design method is proposed to obtain all the feasible mechanisms for a specified task from the topological graphs in the classified atlas databases subject to design constraints. The creative design of road tractors, hydraulic robots and forging manipulators is conducted as examples, and a number of novel mechanisms are obtained for the first time together with the widely used ones.


In the present study, time-dependent thermo-elastic creep behavior and life assessment of rotating thick-walled cylindrical shells made of 304L austenitic stainless steel (304L SS) are investigated based on the third-order shear deformation theory (TSDT). Loading is composed of a uniform internal pressure, distributed temperature field, and a centrifugal body force due to rotating speed. Norton's law is utilized as the material creep constitutive model. Using the minimum total potential energy principle, a system of differential equations in terms of displacement and boundary conditions are derived. Then, the governing equations are solved with an analytical approach, which leads to an accurate solution. Subsequently, an iterative procedure is also proposed to determine the stresses and deformations at different creep times. Larson-Miller Parameter (LMP) and Robinson's linear life fraction damage rule are employed for assessing the creep damages and the remaining life of cylindrical shells. To the best of the researcher's knowledge, in the previous studies, there is no study carried out into third-order shear deformation theory for thermo-elastic creep analysis of cylinders. To validate the accuracy of the suggested method based on TSDT, a comparison among analytical results and those of the finite element method (FEM) is performed and very good agreement is found. The results indicate that the present analysis is accurate and computationally efficient.


Different strategies for the liquid chromatographic determination of methylenedioxylated amphetamines were evaluated: separation and detection of underivatized analytes by (i) UV or (ii) fluorescence, (iii) derivatization with 3,5-dinitrobenzoyl chloride followed by separation and UV detection of the derivatives formed and (iv) derivatization with 9-fluorenylmethyl chloroformate (FMOC) and subsequent separation and fluorimetric detection of the derivatives. The compounds tested were 3,4-methylenedioxyamphetamine (MDA), 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) and 3,4-methylenedioxyethylamphetamine (MDE). On the basis of these studies, a new procedure for the chromatographic determination of MDA, MDMA and MDE is proposed, based on derivatization with FMOC. The described procedure allows the quantification of the tested compounds with adequate linearity, reproducibility and accuracy in the concentration interval 0.5-20.0 micrograms mL-1. The limits of detection were 0.01 microgram mL-1 for MDA and 0.025 microgram mL-1 for MDMA and MDE. The utility of the described assay was tested by determining methylenedioxylated amphetamines in plasma and urine.


Lake Van is situated in eastern Anatolia. It is the largest soda lake in the world. It also ranks the fourth-lake on earth by volume. It formed during the Pleistocene when the volcanic edifice of the Nemrut Volcano locally blocked the valley of the River Euphrates. It has a closed drainage system with several perennial streams that carry large amounts of sediments from the surrounding high mountains and accumulate them in today's lake. However, these sediments also crop out as terraces at various altitudes of the surrounding elevated areas, indicating that a series of changes in base- or water-level of the lake occurred. The exposed sediments display characteristic facies, stratigraphic sequence, well-developed sedimentary structures and scattered fossils that provide invaluable data on physical, chemical and biological conditions of their depositional sub-environments. Recognition of these sub-environments and their arrangement in space and time may contribute tremendously to our understanding of local tectonics and paleoclimate of the Lake Van Basin. These presentation deals with such topics.


We analytically investigate and assess the interactions between knowledge-driven growth, acquisition of human capital, and the role of strategic public policy for the Turkish economy within the context of a general equilibrium model. The model aims to investigate the public policies toward fostering the development of human capital (such as investments in education and learning) and those at enhancing total factor productivity through investments in physical capital and innovation (such as subsidies to R&D), and to study the impact of various public policies on patterns of growth, along with their likely consequences from the points of view of capital accumulation, income distribution, social welfare and economic efficiency for the Turkish economy. With the aid of the model, we seek for analytical answers to the following question: for a government constrained with its budgetary requirements, which type of public subsidiziation policies is more conducive for enhancing growth and social welfare: promotion of human capital formation through subsidies to education expenditures, or promotion of new R&D formation through subsidies to R&D investment expenditures? According to the model findings, a single-handed strategy of only subsidizing education expenditures to promote human capital formation falls short of achieving desirable growth performance in the medium to long run. Under the policy of human capital formation promotion, expected growth and welfare results are weak in the medium-to-long run unless increased human capital can upgrade the number of research personnel employed in the R&D development sector. Under these observations, it can be argued that the public policy should be directed to R&D promotion in the medium-to-long run to complement an education promotion program to sustain human capital formation.


Electrically conductive cutting edges diamond grinding wheels (EC-cutting edges D wheels) have properties such as, 1) convenient precise forming by EDM, 2) realization of high cutting edge density, 3) sufficiently large chip pockets along with fine cutting edges on large diamond grits, 4) contact sensing of the cutting edges with workpiece due to electrical conductivity, 5) expected application to the grinding of various types of steels due to high thermal resistance. Until now, the grinding ability of the sharp edges generated on the electrically conductive CVD diamond thick film wheel by electrodischarge trueing (ED trueing) was confirmed by grinding experiments using a small diameter lapping wheel and a small diameter disk wheel. In this research work, metal bonded diamond wheels containing boron doped electrically conductive diamond (EC diamond) grits, which possess high oxidation temperature, were trial manufactured. From the results of grinding test for an optical glass (BK7), it was found that the wear and grinding force for the EC diamond grits wheel were significantly low compared to a conventional diamond grits wheel. Furthermore, from the results of the investigation on ED trueing performance, a high trueing efficiency along with the possibility of cutting edge tip formation was confirmed.


As the emphasis switches from cost‐cutting and restructuring to revenue generation and value creation, the winning of business assumes greater importance. Although the skills required to submit successful proposals and win bids, and the critical success factors for winning business in a growing number of sectors have now been identified, and relevant tools and techniques are available, the overwhelming majority of training and development professionals are failing to contribute to the winning of competitive business. An unprecedented opportunity exists for the training and development community to make a strategic contribution.


Quality assurance initiatives depend on the motivation of committed clinically-based staff to succeed. A bottom-up approach encourages staff to identify priorities and goals in the knowledge that significant and valid changes can be made.


Various
epidemiological studies have shown an inverse association between the
consumption of polyphenols or polyphenol-rich foods and the risk of cardiovascular
diseases. The purpose of the study was to emphasize the effects of the
association between the renin inhibitor and the polyphenolic extract on biochemical
parameters and systolic and diastolic blood pressure. The polyphenols are
extracted from isolated and purified vegetable material represented by the
mature fruit of the Aronia melanocarpa.
The experiment was performed on the arterial hypertension model. In the
arterial hypertensive model the cardioprotective effects of the polyphenolic
extract from Aronia melanocarpa are represented by the antioxidant,
hypocolesterolemiant intervention. Polyphenolic extract from Aronia melanocarpa reduce systolic and
diastolic arterial tension values in rats with drug-induced hypertension, a phenomenon more pronounced when
polyphenols are associated with Aliskiren (renin inhibitor). The combination
between the Aliskiren and polyphenolic extract produce superior hypolipidemic
and antioxidant effects than in the case of separate administration within
experimental arterial hypertension induced in the murine model.


In this article, the authors note how a set of active commodity strategies could potentially add value to an investor's commodity allocation. But they also emphasize the due care that must be taken in risk management and implementation discipline, given the "violence of the fluctuations which normally affect the prices of many … commodities," as Keynes [1934] put it. They take it as a given that a prudent investor should include commodities in their overall asset allocation mix. As Greer [2005] has noted, the benefits of commodity indexes include positive correlation to inflation as well as positive correlation to changes in the rate of inflation. Commodity indexes can also potentially perform well during a number of adverse economic surprises that are harmful to investments in stocks and bonds.


Neotropical electric fishes (Teleostei, Gymnotiformes), also called American knifefishes, are an important component of the nocturnal ichthyological fauna in Middle and South America. As with many Neotropical fishes, the actual diversity of Gymnotiforms has only come to be appreciated in recent years. The present number of Gymnotiforms is much higher than was previously recognized, with 131 valid species currently reported in the literature and at least 39 additional and undescribed species are currently known in museum collections (Albert unpubl. obs.)


More than 85% of all dwellings in the European Union are currently being heated by single-house systems. At the same time significant technological progress, cost reductions and increasing consumer awareness related to modern small-scale bioenergy systems (SSBS) have occurred in recent years. Taken together, SSBS could make a substantial contribution to the heat and electricity requirements in the not-too-distant future and, by substituting for less benign energy technologies and fuels, also to a more sustainable energy supply system. Despite the remarkably increased levels of comfort and reduced environmental impact offered by today´s SSBS, however, their widespread diffusion is still at its very beginning. Framework and market conditions and the overall merits of SSBS systems need to be properly understood by policy-makers for a suc-cessful promotion policy addressing these technologies. Technology diffusion models can help to better understand the diffusion dynamics and long-term market potentials, and the effectiveness of drivers and barriers that influence the adoption decision process. This paper first summarises recent technological, socio-economic and institutional trends relevant for SSBS adoption, and reflects on research results from other studies in this field regarding perceived image, comfort levels, reliability, and ways of use of modern small-scale bioenergy technologies in Europe. Second, it contains a limited compara-tive analysis of the direct and indirect external costs and benefits of modern bioenergy-based versus other heating technolo-gies at the small scale. Third, the usefulness of various economic diffusion modelling approaches is discussed, also with a perspective on studying modern SSBS in the light of data availability restrictions


The book "Time on the Cross: The Economics of American Negro Slavery", by Robert W. Fogel and Stanley L. Engerman achieved great fame as a revolutionary interpretation of North American slavery, even though at the time it was criticized in detail by specialists in quantitative economic history. We believe that to quote it as a pioneering quantitative study of slavery has become an academic "meme", which does not adequately reflect the severe criticism suffered by the book during the years following its publication. This text looks back to the book's release and the subsequent debates in the ideological and methodological context of the time, also discussing its criticized flaws, with the aim of comparing the contribution of these authors with those of other scholars on slavery.


Supersmooth (SS), extra-clean semiconductor shields have been demonstrated to be markedly improved in extruded surface smoothness and to contain a minimal level of ionic impurities. In well-accepted accelerated cable aging tests for wet locations, where the SS extra-clean semiconductives are used as conductor shields, substantial improvements in cable performance have been demonstrated. Additional studies have shown that the SS extra-clean shields initiate far fewer vented water trees in the associated insulation. Both the SS ethylene ethyl acrylate (EEA) and SS ethylene vinyl acetate (EVA) products demonstrate these improved properties. When these superior semiconductives are combined with tree-retardant cross-linked polyethylene (TR-XLPE) insulation, the very best cable performance properties were obtained. It is concluded that, for cables that will be subjected to wet service conditions, the use of SS extra-clean conductor shields combined with TR-XLPE insulation will offer high-quality, cost-effective long-life cable construction.<<ETX>>


Family planning policy is one of the basic policies in China. Since the founding of New China, it has gone through three stages during its development process, which include free fertility policy, one-child policy (including selective two-child policy), and universal two-child policy. The number of induced abortions in China has increased from 3,910,110 in 1971 to 9,626,731 in 2017, and the proportion of induced abortions in birth control surgeries of family planning in China has increased from 30.0% in 1971 to 50.6% in 2017. It is concluded that although induced abortion is not a part of the family planning policy of China, it has been a part of family planning services in China.


We show that a non-elementary finitely generated torsion-free function group is uniquely determined by its commutator subgroup. In this way, we obtain a generalization of the results obtained in [2], [3] and [8]. This is well related to Torelli's theorem for closed Riemann surfaces. For a general non-elementary torsion-free Kleinian group the above rigidity property still unknown.


Prior to January of 1994, institutions of higher education could appeal to an exemption in the Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967 to force the retirement of tenured faculty members who had attained the age of seventy. With the expiration of that exemption, tenured faculty members may now retire well after that age, and for various personal and professional reasons, the postponement phenomenon is widespread. Despite the considerable appeal of a tenure buyout system, there is a real question as to whether buyout payments are subject to payroll taxes as "wages" with respect to "employment;" U.S. Courts of Appeals have split on the issue. This Article highlights the fact that expanding or narrowing the ambit of payroll tax "wages" has far-reaching impact, given that payroll tax revenues fund not only Social Security and Medicare programs but also general government expenditures. In addition to arguing that burgeoning entitlement program needs and virtually chronic federal budget woes have exerted expansive pressure on the "wages" concept, the Article contends that the position adopted by the Third Circuit in University of Pittsburgh v. United States represents judicial overreach because the court imported a definitional standard from the world of the Social Security Act into the tax arena despite clear and wise exhortation, per United States v. Cleveland Indians Baseball Co., not to indulge that tendency. Given the modest attention payroll tax policy gets on the political stage, the historical academic focus on progressive tax policy, and the ease of silent piggybacking on the employer-employee relationship, the payroll tax machinery is capable of truly admirable stealth, which can, in fact, pay off handsomely in the form of substantial revenue from low- and mid-wage earners.


This paper presents an approach for reconstruction of 4D temporally coherent models of complex dynamic scenes. No prior knowledge is required of scene structure or camera calibration allowing reconstruction from multiple moving cameras. Sparse-to-dense temporal correspondence is integrated with joint multi-view segmentation and reconstruction to obtain a complete 4D representation of static and dynamic objects. Temporal coherence is exploited to overcome visual ambiguities resulting in improved reconstruction of complex scenes. Robust joint segmentation and reconstruction of dynamic objects is achieved by introducing a geodesic star convexity constraint. Comparative evaluation is performed on a variety of unstructured indoor and outdoor dynamic scenes with hand-held cameras and multiple people. This demonstrates reconstruction of complete temporally coherent 4D scene models with improved nonrigid object segmentation and shape reconstruction.


Earthquake occurs when pent up energy is released during tectonic activities. This energy spreads in the form of waves and while propagating, these waves attenuate non-uniformly in different directions due to the variation in the elastic properties of the propagation medium. The recorded amplitudes of seismic waves are directly related to the attenuation properties of the medium. Compressional wave (P wave) and shear wave (S wave) are the primary waves (also known as direct waves) generated during an earthquake (EQ) and do significant damages within a certain range (200 km). Hence, attenuation studies for these waves are pretty much important in seismic hazard estimation. Various approaches had been developed worldwide to study the attenuation of these waves. In one of the approach, coda wave (backscattered waves generated when direct waves interact with the medium heterogeneities) amplitudes are used to normalize the direct wave amplitudes in order to determine the frequency dependent attenuation of direct waves. Obtained attenuation values can be used to understand the tectonic stability and medium heterogeneities of a region. Further, using these values intrinsic and scattering attenuations can be obtained separately in a region. In this study, a delineate discussion reviewing the properties of coda wave and coda normalization method (CNM) is given. In addition to CNM, two more methods in order to determine the attenuation of direct waves are also presented here. A detailed comparison in terms of assumptions made while developing each of the above methods is carried out here. Further, a detailed summary of various studies, addressing the attenuation characteristics of direct waves based on the above three methods is presented here. Regional characteristics such as medium heterogeneity, tectonic stability etc. evaluated by various researchers based on the direct wave attenuation are also discussed in this paper.


Modern applications in sensitive domains such as biometrics and medicine frequently require the use of non-decomposable loss functions such as [email protected]k, F-measure etc. Compared to point loss functions such as hinge-loss, these offer much more fine grained control over prediction, but at the same time present novel challenges in terms of algorithm design and analysis. In this work we initiate a study of online learning techniques for such non-decomposable loss functions with an aim to enable incremental learning as well as design scalable solvers for batch problems. To this end, we propose an online learning framework for such loss functions. Our model enjoys several nice properties, chief amongst them being the existence of efficient online learning algorithms with sublinear regret and online to batch conversion bounds. Our model is a provable extension of existing online learning models for point loss functions. We instantiate two popular losses, Prec@k and pAUC, in our model and prove sublinear regret bounds for both of them. Our proofs require a novel structural lemma over ranked lists which may be of independent interest. We then develop scalable stochastic gradient descent solvers for non-decomposable loss functions. We show that for a large family of loss functions satisfying a certain uniform convergence property (that includes Prec@k, pAUC, and F-measure), our methods provably converge to the empirical risk minimizer. Such uniform convergence results were not known for these losses and we establish these using novel proof techniques. We then use extensive experimentation on real life and benchmark datasets to establish that our method can be orders of magnitude faster than a recently proposed cutting plane method.


We apply the theory of parameterised complexity to planning, using the concept of fixed-parameter tractability (fpt) which is more relaxed than the usual tractability concept. The parameter we focus on is the maximal number of paths in the domain-transition graphs, and we show that for this parameter, optimal planning is fpt for planning instances with polytree causal graphs and acyclic domain-transition graphs. If this parameter is combined with the additional parameters of domain size for the variables and the treewidth of the causal graph, then planning is fpt also for instances with arbitrary causal graphs. Furthermore, all these parameters are fpt to test in advance. These results also imply that delete-relaxed planning is fpt, even in its recent generalisation to non-binary variables.


Olive mill wastes application to agricultural soils, directly or after composting, could represent a valuable option for their disposal and a good strategy for their valorization. The aim of the experiment was to evaluate the effects of soil application of olive mill wastewater (OMW) and solid olive mill REVISTA DE CIÊNCIAS AGRÁRIAS 80 waste (SOMW) from a three phases olive mill, as well of a compost (C) obtained from a mixture of these byproducts with organic matter residues from gardens and croplands, on soil total and mineral nitrogen, on organic carbon and on carbon/nitrogen ratio. Two factorial pot experiments were established using Hordeum vulgare var. Sereia as test crop and two soils – a Calcaric cambisol (CMca) and a Dystric cambisol (CMdy). The experiment was arranged into completely randomized blocks, with three replications, performing ten treatments. Four levels – 0, 80, 160 and 240 m/ha – of each product were applied. The obtained results showed a significative increase (p≤0,05) on organic carbon, total nitrogen and C/N ratio, in both soils by SOMW and C application. An initial significative decrease (p≤0,05) on NO3-N was verified with the application of OMW and SOMW on the CMca soil. Results showed that composting avoid initial nitrogen immobilization can be a better alternative to those by-products. Key-words: carbon, compost, nitrogen, olive mill waste water, solid olive mill waste


In this work, Si-doped DLC films were deposited on stainless steel (316SS) and polycarbonate (PC) substrates by RF-PACVD in gas mixtures of SiH4+CH4, with 2, 5 and 10 vol.% SiH4. The increase of the Si content in the films led to a progressive drop in the hardness from 30 GPa down to 23 GPa whereas the elastic modulus increased from 124 GPa up to 146 GPa, as measured in the SS coated substrates. In the case of coated PC samples pop-in was observed in the loading curve which was interpreted by finite element simulation and nanoscratching techniques.


The aim of the study was to find the difference between actual and anticipated frequencies of individual types of FCP (fragmented coronoid process) in relation to the extent of radioulnar incongruity. We evaluated the radiographs of elbow joints (n = 135) of dogs (n = 77) with arthroscopically (n = 109) or arthrotomically (n = 26) proven fragmented coronoideus medialis ulnae. Radioulnar incongruity was classified as a congruent joint (0-0.5 mm), moderate incongruity (0.6-2 mm) and marked incongruity (> 2.1 mm). In elbow joints without radiologically identifiable radioulnar incongruity (0-0.5 mm) significantly higher occurrence of fissured PCM (processus coronoideus medialis) was found (p 2.1 mm) we found significantly higher occurrence of FCP with a dislocated fragment ( p < 0.001). The results of this study suggest the possibility of using the assessment of radioulnar incongruity from radiographs of elbow joints in mediolateral projection for specifying the X-ray diagnosis of FCP with regard to the type of FCP lesion.


SCIENTIFIC interest in the subject of telepathy has, from time to time, impinged upon the mainstream of current dynamic psychiatry. From an historical point of view, it is of some interest to note the differing points of view on this matter held by the three founding fathers of the psychoanalytic movement. Although he never explicitly acknowledged belief in the reality of the Phenomenon, Freud1-4did consider, in a number of papers written over the years, some of the implications of the telepathy hypothesis and its possible relevance to psychoanalytic thought. Jung5seemed to have grown up with an unquestioning acceptance of telepathy and in his later years developed an elaborate theoretical system in order to explain paranormal occurrences of this kind.6Adler7rejected the idea of telepathy, considering such claims as no more than compensatory neurotic mechanisms. Freud noted several kinds of paranormal experiences occurring


Stockholm School of Entrepreneurship & European Institute of Japanese Studies There is great potential to better develop our network of Japan studies institutes across Europe. This includes mechanisms where we can work together to improve research, and to provide better output and services at lower costs. For example, Japan Portal national projects can facilitiate both inward and outward interactions between each nation and Japan, but also can effectively collaborate together and share certain costs and benefits. This paper discusses problems and bottleneck with marketization of university functions, efforts in the wider academy to rise above competitiveness and political interference struggles, and ways in which Japanese studies are particularly challenged. In short, effective collaboration provides ways to survive and thrive in the newly dynamic European environment; specific suggestions are provided.


Traditionally, fire safety approaches have been reactive rather than proactive. They have tended to focus on technical aspects and look for the immediate causes of incidents or accidents after they have taken place. Negative outcomes have been seen as means to measure the organisation's fire safety performance. More recently, fire safety approaches have focused on assessing the consequences of the fire risk inherent in the organisation's operations more proactively. They may however not address human factors. There is a need to understand the systemic nature of fire safety, so that both technical and human factors can be addressed as a coherent whole. Moreover, this understanding should help to quantify the organisation's fire safety performance. This paper presents a systemic approach that may be used to measure an organisation's fire safety performance. This system is intended to facilitate an understanding of the systemic nature of fire safety and to help organisations to maintain fire risk within an acceptable range.


Abstract The variety and quality of products has a great importance in the analysis of international trade flows. Several theoretical models show that larger and richer economies produce and export goods characterized by higher variety and quality. Accordingly, empirical studies have tried to quantify this relationship by investigating directly the composition of trade. In this paper we propose the use of trademarks to estimate the variety and quality of goods and services. We consider the Community trademark applications filed by 120 countries and distinguish the variety of the underlying products across classes (extensive margin) from the variety within classes (intensive margin). Then we estimate the quality of a country's goods and services observing how much its trademarks are extended on multiple classes (quality margin). The empirical analysis consists of simple cross-sections of the 'applicant' countries. The extensive margin is found to account for about 40% of the higher number of entries of larger and richer economies, while differences in quality seem to explain about 10% of national differences in trademark applications. These findings partially confirm those of previous empirical studies, although the nature of the data and the methods of classification lead to some quantitative discrepancies and to a different interpretation of the results.


This paper describes acoustic emission(AE) techniques based on Hilbert-Huang transform(HHT) that were recently exercised to characterise the AE signals released from the wind turbine bearing. Acoustic emission that detects elastic stress waves within a structure failure is capable of online monitoring and very sensitive to the fault development. AE wave is a non-stationary stochastic signal. Hilbert-Huang transform is applicable to nonlinear and non-stationary processes. With the Hilbert-Huang transform, instantaneous frequencies based on local properties of the signal can be got as functions of time and energy designated as the Hilbert spectrum that give sharp identifications of imbedded structures. We analyzed the AE signals recording from the wind turbine bearing test using Hilbert-Huang transform. The results show that the AE in the wind turbine bearing can be described in terms of features like frequency and energy, and inferences can be made about kinds of damage processes taking place in the bearing. And thus the HHT analysis method will has a good potential for the acoustic emission signal processing in the field of wind turbines.


Distribution grid reliability and resilience has become a major topic of concern for utilities and their regulators. In particular, with the increase in severity of extreme events, utilities are considering major investments in distribution grid assets to mitigate the damage of highly impactful outages. Communicating the overall economic and risk-mitigation benefits of these investments to regulators is an important element of the approval process. Today, industry reliability and resilience planning practices are based largely on methods that do not take explicit account of risk. This paper proposes a practical method for identifying optimal combinations of investments in new line segments and storage devices while considering the balance between the risk associated with high impact low probability events and the reliability related to routine failures. We show that this method can be scaled to address large scale networks and demonstrate its benefits using a Target Feeder from the Commonwealth Edison Reliability Program.


Background: Femoral nerve block (FNB) has become a popular method of postoperative analgesia for anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) reconstruction in pediatric and adolescent patients. Successful rehabilitation after surgery involves return of quadriceps and hamstring strength. Purpose: To compare knee strength and function 6 months after ACL reconstruction in pediatric and adolescent patients who received FNB versus patients with no nerve block. Study Design: Cohort study; Level of evidence, 3. Methods: Patients 18 years or younger who underwent primary ACL reconstruction between 2000 and 2010 at a single institution were identified. If the patient was skeletally immature, a transphyseal ACL reconstruction was performed. Of these patients, 68% underwent reconstruction with a patellar tendon autograft, and in 32% of patients a hamstring autograft was utilized. There were 124 patients who met the study inclusion criteria, including 62 in the FNB group (31 males, 31 females) and 62 patients in the control group (25 males, 37 females). All study patients participated in a comprehensive rehabilitation program that included isokinetic strength and functional testing at 6 months postoperatively. Results: Univariate analysis showed a significantly higher deficit at 6 months in the FNB group with respect to fast isokinetic extension strength (17.6% vs 11.2%; P = .01) as well as fast (9.9% vs 5.7%; P = .04) and slow (13.0% vs 8.5%; P = .03) isokinetic flexion strength. There was no difference in slow isokinetic extension strength deficit between the 2 groups (FNB, 22.3% vs control, 18.7%; P = .20). With respect to function, there were no differences in deficit for vertical jump (FNB, 9.4% vs control, 11.3%; P = .30), single hop (7.6% vs 7.5%; P = .96), or triple hop (8.0% vs 6.6%; P = .34) between the 2 groups. A significantly higher percentage of patients in the control group met functional and isokinetic criteria for return to sports at 6 months (90.2% vs 67.7%; odds ratio, 4.37; P = .002). Conclusion: Pediatric and adolescent patients treated with FNB for postoperative analgesia after ACL reconstruction had significant isokinetic deficits in knee extension and flexion strength at 6 months when compared with patients who did not receive a nerve block. Patients without a block were 4 times more likely to meet criteria for clearance to return to sports at 6 months.


Diabetes mellitus caused by pancreatic exocrine disease is a unique clinical and metabolic form of diabetes. The diagnosis of pancreatic diabetes caused by chronic pancreatitis may be elusive because it is occasionally painless and often not accompanied by clinical malabsorption until after hyperglycemia occurs. Diabetic patients with pancreatic calcification or clinically demonstrable pancreatic exocrine dysfunction will manifest the unique aspects of pancreatic diabetes described herein. Like other forms of diabetes, the primary hormonal abnormality in pancreatic diabetes is decreased insulin secretion. Patients with this disorder are unique in that they have low glucagon levels that respond abnormally to several physiological stimuli, blunted epinephrine responses to insulin-induced hypoglycemia, and malabsorption. In addition, they often have concomitant alcohol abuse with hepatic disease and poor nutrition. These characteristics result in increased levels of circulating gluconeogenic amino acids, decreased insulin requirements, a resistance to ketosis, low cholesterol levels, an increased risk of hypoglycemia while on insulin therapy, and the clinical impression of brittle diabetes. Retinopathy occurs at a rate equal to that of insulin-dependent diabetes but may be less severe in degree. Other complications of pancreatic diabetes have been less well studied but may be expected to be seen more frequently as these patients survive longer. The characteristics of pancreatic diabetes suggest that a conservative approach be taken in regard to intensive insulin therapy and tight blood glucose control.


A series of bio-analogous peptide-based metal–organic frameworks (Mn(1), Fe(2), Co(3), Cu(4), Ag(5) and Pb(6)) based on one cyclic dipeptide (2,5-piperazinedione-1,4-diacetic acid, H2PODC) were obtained and the relationships between properties (luminescence and magnetism) and structure was investigated. Crystal structure analysis shows that (1) 1–3 feature a three-dimensional isomorphic framework; (2) 4 shows one two-dimensional plane structure; (3) 5 shows a three-dimensional framework with one alternate Ag–Ag chain (dAg–Ag = 2.7918 and 2.9346 A); (4) 6 indicates a three-dimensional structure with one dimensional 7.0 × 7.0 A2 channel. Combination of magnetic measures and quantum Monte Carlo (QMC) studies reveals that 1 has anti-ferromagnetic properties with a J of −0.5 cm−1 and 4 exhibits ferromagnetic properties with a J of 2.23 cm−1, while both 2 and 3 show ferrimagnetic properties. Spin polarized density functional theory (DFT) calculations uncover that antiferromagnetism of 1 is attributed to the coupling of paramagnetic Mn(II) ions by −/−/+ spin nets of linking carboxylate, while in 4 ferromagnetic superexchange of Cu(II) ions is derived from the spin polarization effect through the carboxylate bridge in the +/+/+ spin nets of linking carboxylates. Furthermore, DFT calculation results show that two absorption peaks of 5 should be attributed to the transitions of the valence band (VB)→ the second empty band and VB→ the conduction band (CB), and one emission peak is the result of the CB→VB transition, where the electrons transfer from the Ag–Ag metal bond to localized 4d orbitals of Ag atoms.


Background: University students sit too much, which is detrimental to their physical and mental health. Academic schedules, including scheduled education time and self-study time, may influence their physical activity behaviors. Objectives: To investigate (1) the association between scheduled education time and students' physical activity levels during weekdays; (2) the association between self-study time and students' physical activity levels during the weekdays and weekends. Methods: 126 (68 Maastricht University (UM); 58 KU Leuven (KUL)) first-year undergraduate students in biomedical sciences (mean ± SD age: 19.3 ± 1.0, BMI: 22.0 ± 3.0, 17% men, 83% women) completed a demographics questionnaire and reported their academic activities with a 7-day logbook. Furthermore, their physical activity behavior was measured with the activPAL monitor for 7 days. Linear mixed models were used to examine the associations between university (UM versus KUL), academic activities (scheduled education time and self-study time), and students' activity levels. Results: During weekdays, each hour of scheduled education time per day was significantly associated with a 1.3 min decrease of moderate to vigorous physical activity (MVPA) per day. Scheduled education time was not significantly associated with the sedentary time, light-intensity physical activity (LPA), and active sedentary behavior ratio. Each hour of self-study per day was significantly associated with 8 min more of sedentary time per day, 6 min less LPA per day, and 1.3 min less MVPA per day. Self-study time was not significantly associated with active sedentary behavior ratio. During the weekend, each hour of self-study time per day was associated with an additional 17.8 min of sedentary time per day and a reduction of 15.2 min of LPA per day. Self-study time was not significantly associated with the time spent doing MVPA and active sedentary behavior ratio. Conclusions: It could be more effective to change students' physical activity behaviors during self-study than during scheduled education time. Therefore, offering a study environment that reduces sedentary behavior and promotes light-intensity physical activity, is crucial.


BACKGROUND
Having a family history of breast cancer, particularly if it involves early-onset disease, is a risk factor for breast cancer, but little is known about specific causes of this association. Consequently, we studied mothers, sisters, and aunts of an age-stratified sample of 1567 unselected case patients diagnosed with breast cancer before age 60 years, recruited to a population-based, case-control-family study, in which case patients, control subjects, and their relatives were administered the same questionnaire.

METHODS
Extensive BRCA1 and BRCA2 mutation testing was carried out for 788 case patients diagnosed before age 40 years, including manual sequencing of DNA from 72 patients with two or more affected relatives. Standardized morbidity ratios, age-specific cumulative risks, and hazard ratios were calculated for groupings of relatives.

RESULTS
Cumulative risks of breast cancer to age 50 years in the sisters, mothers, and aunts of the case patients, respectively, were 6, 3, and 2 times the population risk if the case patient was younger than age 40 years at diagnosis but were considerably lower if the case patient was older at diagnosis. When relatives of the case patients with a BRCA1 or BRCA2 mutation were excluded, these risks fell by, at most, 20%. Sisters and aunts, but not mothers, who had an additional first-degree relative with breast cancer were at increased risk, and the risk was greater when that relative was younger at diagnosis. Hazard ratios were 10.7 (95% confidence interval [CI] = 4.2 to 26.8) for sisters and 4.2 (95% CI = 2.2 to 8.1) for aunts, if the relative was aged 40 years at diagnosis. Fewer than one-third of the excess of breast cancers in relatives of case patients diagnosed before age 40 years that are attributed to familial factors are BRCA1- or BRCA2-related.

CONCLUSION
Mutations in genes other than BRCA1 and BRCA2 may be associated with a high risk of breast cancer, especially in young women.


The Oligocene middle Frio Formation is a major hydrocarbon producer in the U.S. Gulf Coast. In the area of the Stratton and Agua Dulce fields, the middle Frio Formation consists of multiple vertically-stacked reservoir sequences (Figures 1 and 2). The target for this study was the basal part of the middle Frio Formation (BMF) interval between the G2 (top lower Frio) and the F11 horizons (Figure 3). The structural setting of the middle Frio in the study area is predominantly growth faults and associated rollover anticlines. The objective of this work is to show how 3D seismic data acquired on the Texas Gulf Coast images subsurface structure that was impossible to fully interpret on 2D seismic and well logs.


Three cells communicate to maintain vessel integrity as lymphocytes pass into the lymph nodes. Lymphocytes enter the lymph nodes through special blood vessels called high endothelial venules (HEVs), and infection or immunization increases the rate of this trafficking. This movement of cells across the vessels must occur without compromising vascular integrity. Platelets are critical to preventing excessive bleeding and aid in blood vessel repair. Podoplanin (PDPN) is a ligand for the platelet-activating receptor CLEC-2 and is abundant in lymph nodes. Herzog et al. created mice with postnatal-inducible knockout of PDPN or selective knockout in fibroblastic reticular cells that surround HEVs. Both types of mice exhibited spontaneous bleeding into the mucosal lymph nodes, a characteristic that also occurred in mice with platelet-specific deficiency of CLEC-2. Mice deficient in CLEC-2 (in platelets) or PDPN (global inducible) also exhibited bleeding into peripheral lymph nodes after immune challenge, which was also associated with increased permeability of the HEVs in peripheral lymph nodes. Blocking lymphocyte trafficking into lymph nodes by treating lymphocytes with an antibody to the adhesion molecule L-selectin prevented the bleeding from peripheral lymph nodes associated with immune challenge. Platelets were detected on the abluminal side of HEVs in peripheral lymph nodes in immunized wild-type mice, confirming that platelets could migrate across HEVs to bind to PDPN on fibroblastic reticular cells. The cellular adhesion molecule VE-cadherin and other proteins associated with adherens junctions were reduced in the lymph nodes of mice deficient in PDPN or CLEC-2. Blocking platelet aggregation did not prevent an increase in permeability of peripheral lymph nodes of immunized wild-type mice. Instead, isolated wild-type platelets, but not CLEC-2–deficient platelets, released sphingosine 1-phosphate (S1P), and PDPN-positive—but not PDPN-negative—melanoma cells stimulated S1P release from wild-type platelets. VE-cadherin abundance decreased in mucosal lymph node slices cultured in medium containing lipid-depleted fetal bovine serum. Addition of wild-type platelets, but not those from S1P-deficient mice, to the lipid-depleted medium prevented this reduction in VE-cadherin in wild-type slices but not in slices from PDPN-deficient mice. Thus, as platelets migrate with lymphocytes across HEVs, they are activated by PDPN on the surrounding fibroblastic reticular cells and secrete S1P, which stimulates the HEVs to maintain adhesion. B. H. Herzog, J. Fu, S. J. Wilson, P. R. Hess, A. Sen, J. M. McDaniel, Y. Pan, M. Sheng, T. Yago, R. Silasi-Mansat, S. McGee, F. May, B. Nieswandt, A. J. Morris, F. Lupu, S. R. Coughlin, R. P. McEver, H. Chen, M. L. Kahn, L. Xia, Podoplanin maintains high endothelial venule integrity by interacting with platelet CLEC-2. Nature 502, 105–109 (2013). [PubMed]


Interactive effects between dietary inorganic phosphorus (IP) and phytase (P) on mineral digestibility and vertebral mineral content were investigated in a 30 days feeding trial followed by three weeks digestibility trial with Japanese flounder, Paralichthys olivaceus . Eight experimental diets were formulated based on two levels of dietary Ca at 0% and 0.2% combined with either 0% or 0.25% of dietary IP and either with 0 and 2,000 fytase unit (FTU)/kg of phytase in diet, respectively. Result indicated that digestibility of total phosphorus significantly increased by three dietary compounds where the highest was observed in fish fed diet contained 0.25% IP and 2,000 FTU phytase/kg and dietary Ca also included in diet. Significant interaction was only detected between dietary IP and P on this parameter. Supplementation of IP and Ca not phytase significantly improved Ca digestibility. Ca digestibility was very poor when dietary IP and Ca were not supplemented in diet even with when phytase supplemented in diet. There was significant interaction between dietary IP and Ca on Ca digestibility. Vertebral total phosphorus, Ca, and Mg content as well as Ca:P ratio were significantly enhanced by dietary IP and phytase. Dietary Ca has significant effect only on vertebral total phosphorus. Interaction between dietary IP and Ca was significantly found on vertebral Ca content and Ca:P ratio. No significant second-order interaction was observed among the three dietary mineral on overall parameters. Based on total phosphorus and Ca digestibility as well vertebral phosphorus content found in this study, dietary IP, Ca, and phytase at rate of 0.25%, 0.2%, and 2,000 FTU phytase/kg diet, respectively are needed to supplement in diet for a better mineral absorption and bone mineralization.


Children often have to accept treatments based on what is known to work in adults. Many efforts are being made to provide proper research for children, to find the best treatment and drugs. Drug companies face challenges: pediatric trials come with a high level of complexity and cost. Besides ethical, economic, regulatory and technical requirements when conducting clinical studies on children, cultural specificity should not be neglected. The experts in the Ethics Review Committee have the same status as experts performing the scientific evaluation, bound by the European Commission obligations concerning conflict of interest and confidentiality. For each pediatric clinical trial obtaining Informed consent, Parental permission, and in some cases, a patient assent is obligatory.
The most difficult issue is to conduct clinical trial in neonates; therefore in this population many of the medicines included in the Clinical Guidelines go "off-label" before getting ready to study this population. Neonates, preterm or term, represent the most vulnerable paediatric population. When affected by serious diseases, they are multi-drug users with many potential interactions. Trial protocols for newborns should consider potential for long-term, including developmental effects.
Data show that current number of clinical trials in Europe is ~20000, 14,29% of them conducted in paediatric population in EU countries, while only 10% are conducted in children of developing countries. In Macedonia, as a part of South-Eastern Europe, there are 3/36 clinical trials conducted in children up to 16-17 years. None of them is conducted in neonatal period or infancy. Compared to others in the region, these data are far from satisfactory (Serbia registered 21/215 as paediatric clinical trials, Croatia 20/303, Bulgaria 27/415). And why were these 3 studies completed? Because they were part of multicenter clinical trial in EU, funded by the pharmaceutical industry, and were together with almost all SEE countries.
Instead of conclusion: Clinical trials, conducted in proper way, are necessary and must follow general principles of medical ethics, harmonized with the rights of the child:respect for life, beneficence(do some good), non-maleficence(do no harm). Researchers/clinicians should never forget that children are not "little adults, they are unique" (Dr R.Renkins), and "the research is really the only way to bring children into first class citizenship into the medical care" (Dr G.Pearson).


The role of insulin-like growth factor I (IGF-I) in extracellular matrix metabolism was studied in both proliferating and confluent human osteoblast-like cultures derived from donors of different ages. In proliferating cultures, recombinant human (rh)IGF-I was found to increase the incorporation of [3H]thymidine in a dose- and age-dependent manner. To study cell proliferation dynamically, continuous growth curves with and without rhIGF-I were modelled by a modified logistic function. Increasing doses of rhIGF-I decreased the lag time and maximal growth rates, whereas plateau values decreased only at the highest dose (100 ng/ml). In post-proliferative cell strains, rhIGF-I (0.1-100 ng/ml) increased levels of type I collagen, biglycan and decorin, and to a smaller extent fibronectin and thrombospondin, whereas it decreased the levels of hyaluronan and a versican-like proteoglycan when protein and proteoglycan metabolism were followed by steady-state radiolabelling with [3H]proline, [3H]glucosamine or [35S]sulphate. These responses to rhIGF-I were found to be age-dependent, with osteoblast-like cells derived from younger patients being more responsive to rhIGF-I. When extracellular matrix turnover was analysed by pulse-chase experiments, rhIGF-I had no effect. The steady-state levels of collagen, decorin, hyaluronan and a versican-like proteoglycan for bone cells treated with rhIGF-I on day 7 in culture were equivalent to levels of these matrix components in untreated osteoblasts grown for 14 days. These results are consistent with rhIGF-I's altering cellular proliferative capacity and matrix synthesis, causing a change in the osteoblast differentiated state.


In order to study an enhancement of TiO2 photocatalytic reaction efficiency by a prohibition of the recombination of photogenerated electron-hole pairs, a degradation of TOC of 4CP was carried out by using a photocatalytic-electrolysis reactor with an anode coated with a TiO2 thin film of anatase structure, a low surface resistivity, and a large surface area. At the photocatalytic anode under UV irradiation and with a potential to generate oxygen gas evolution being applied, the photocatalytic enhancement was about 90% because of taking out the generated electrons through an external bias into a cathode, and because of the oxygen generated by electrolysis reaction acting as an acceptor to the electrons. The photocatalytic enhancement effect occurred only when the cell voltage applied to the photocatalytic-electrolysis reactor was over a certain value. The photocatalytic reaction observed on the catalytic oxide electrodes of RuO2 and IrO2 was because of the existence of TiO2 on the electrode surface caused due to the oxidation of Ti substrate itself during sintering for the fabrication of the electrodes.


In this article we examine the current status of affirmative action in postsecondary admissions through a concurrent review of recent court rulings, state legislation, and higher education enrollment data. Analyzing each of these factors in the context of the others is important because the court decisions and state-level legislation interact to affect enrollment. We not only present the state of the law, but also examine several outcomes of affirmative action case law and ballot initiatives as well as political implications for the future of affirmative action. From a broad philosophical and legal perspective, then, we ask first, what is the current legal and political status of race-conscious policy in higher education admissions? And second, given that current status, what is the likelihood that by 2028 affirmative action will no longer be needed to further the goals of diversity and equality on college and university campuses? Our methods include analyses of prominent court decisions and state legislation, as well as analyses of enrollment data from the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System to examine the racial/ethnic diversity of first-time, degree-seeking undergraduates at several state flagship institutions from 1994 to 2005 and compare that to the racial/ethnic diversity of the same undergraduate students attending all 2- and 4-year degree granting public and private institutions in the flagship's state. In states potentially facing anti-affirmative action ballot initiatives, these analyses provide one approach to examining the current need for affirmative action in admissions and the likely consequences if the ballot initiatives pass.


Earth tide induced by the Moon and the Sun makes the volume of pores or the apertures of fractures of the bed rock vary, which in turn makes the ground water move. The flow equation of ground water, complete with the tide effect, and its solution, shows that the diffusive propagation of pore pressure is decisive for the response of the perturbation of gravity. Moreover the solution shows that diffusive flow dominates in the Fennoscandian Precambrian rock. The analysis shows that a constitutive coefficient relating the varying perturbation gravity and porosity of bed rock can be determined by field measurements of the level of water in boreholes. Water in a cavity in the bed rock is exposed to an oscillatory interaction with the surrounding pore water. If the cavity is a repository for nuclear waste, this interaction deserves attention. The analysis shows that the magnitude of the oscillatory motion of water between a repository for nuclear waste and its. surrounding groundwater is much less than the vertical motion of the phreatic surface.


Existing traditional cost management systems are mostly based on the same principles that have been conceived for cost accounting in the mid Twenties. Cost information is usually produced too late, and it is too aggregated and too distorted to be relevant for production management. Consequently, traditional cost accounting systems often fail to support decision making in product development and production control. Particularly in the construction industry, the inadequacy of cost accounting systems has resulted in the dissociation between cost management and other managerial processes, contributing to increase the fragmentation of construction management. In general, construction cost control consists of simply monitoring actual performance against cost estimates and identifying variances. This paper discusses traditional cost management practices in the construction industry and proposes some guidelines for improving cost control in fast, complex and uncertain construction projects. Such guidelines involve the integrated application of operational cost estimating, target costing and S-curves.


In this work, the wafer bowing during growth can be in-situ measured by a reflectivity mapping method in the 3×2'' Thomas Swan close coupled showerhead metal organic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD) system. The reflectivity mapping method is usually used to measure the film thickness and growth rate. The wafer bowing caused by stresses (tensile and compressive) during the epitaxial growth leads to a temperature variation at different positions on the wafer, and the lower growth temperature leads to a faster growth rate and vice versa. Therefore, the wafer bowing can be measured by analyzing the discrepancy of growth rates at different positions on the wafer. Furthermore, the wafer bowings were confirmed by the ex-situ wafer bowing measurement. High-resistivity and low-resistivity Si substrates were used for epitaxial growth. In comparison with low-resistivity Si substrate, GaN grown on high-resistivity substrate shows a larger wafer bowing caused by the highly compressive stress introduced by compositionally graded AlGaN buffer layer. This transition of wafer bowing can be clearly in-situ measured by using the reflectivity mapping method.


RFID tags are miniscule microchips, which continue to get smaller and cheaper every day. This paper introduces IPURSE, an intelligent system built on a mobile platform which keeps track of items a user carries in their purse/handbag and also alerts the user when any item is missing from the purse/handbag. IPURSE is a unique project that brings the RFID and NFC technologies together into a single system by 'cleverly' monitoring, reminding and alerting users about their missing items based on the current weather, reminder messages and daily items usually carried by the user. We discuss the methods, equipments and technologies used to successfully implement such an application. It includes the design evolution and technical design of the system, followed by a working prototype and experimentation. The pros and cons of the application are also discussed towards the end of this paper.


The aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AhR) is a ligand-activated regulatory protein that controls estrogen action through two distinct pathways. In one pathway, AhR acts as a transcription factor that induces the expression of the CYP1 family of estrogen-metabolizing genes; in the other pathway, AhR initiates the degradation of the estrogen receptor and suppresses estrogen signaling. The AhR ligand 3,3′-diindolylmethane (DIM) is a beneficial dietary constituent that prevents breast tumors in rodents and is associated with decreased breast cancer risk in humans. 2,3,7,8-Tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (TCDD) is a toxic AhR ligand that is implicated in birth defects, infertility, and cancer. We analyzed MCF-7 cells to gain insight into how two AhR ligands can exert such fundamentally different health effects. We find that DIM and TCDD have differing abilities to activate the distinct AhR-controlled pathways. TCDD strongly induces AhR-dependent CYP1 gene expression, whereas DIM is a relatively weak CYP1 inducer. DIM strongly inhibits estrogen receptor-α expression and estrogen signaling, whereas TCDD has a notably weaker effect on these processes. Small interfering RNA knockdown of AhR confirms that the effects of DIM and TCDD are indeed AhR dependent. Our findings reveal that DIM and TCDD each elicit a unique pattern of change in pathways that control estrogen action; such patterns may determine if an AhR ligand has beneficial or adverse health effects.


Some highly religious individuals contribute a relatively high percent of their income (e.g., 10-15% or more) to their faith communities. This study used a racially and religiously diverse sample and employed qualitative methods to investigate why these individuals give. Five themes emerged from the grounded-theory analysis. Four themes concerned why families gave: a) out of a sense of obedience/duty, b) to express thanksgiving and feel joy, c) because they feel that it is a wise investment, and d) to promote social justice and charity. The final theme that emerged was that they give despite their financial challenges. Based on these findings, this study offers suggestions for how financial counselors and planners might provide culturally competent services to highly religious individuals.