Developing knowledge about how students acquire mathematical understanding is a focus of mathematics curricula and research, including the ability of students to move from manipulating concrete materials to abstract number properties when solving problems. This study, informed by the Numeracy Development Projects (Ministry of Education 2007a, 2008b) and the work of Pirie and Kieren (1989, 1992, 1994a, 1994b), examines the role of 'imaging' in supporting the development of students' mathematical thinking and understanding. Imaging is an important phase of the teaching model advocated by the Numeracy Development Project. The context of this study is a primary school mathematics programme, which involved the teaching of two mathematics units that focused on the addition and subtraction of decimal fractions and whole numbers. There is considerable research about what is effective in mathematics education for diverse learners, and how students learn. There is, however, very limited research about the role of imaging in mathematical learning. This qualitative study adopted a case study approach and focused on a group of Year 6 students. Data collection methods included observation, interviews, field notes and document analysis. A thematic approach was used to analyse data and to develop and inform an emerging theoretical framework. During this study I developed a model, entitled A Model for the Development of Students' Mathematical Understanding, which illustrates six mathematical resources students use as they solve problems. These resources are: materials, mental picture images, drawn picture images, transformed mental images, transformed drawn images and number properties. Students' engagement with these six resources illustrates how they develop understanding of mathematical concepts. The students identified a preference for using drawn rather than mental images when solving problems. This study also emphasizes the complexity of the imaging process, and the fluid and multifaceted nature of learning in mathematics. This study serves to highlight the complexities of the teaching and learning process in mathematics for both teachers and students.


Recently there was an increasing interest in applications of graph neural networks in non-Euclidean geometry; however, are non-Euclidean representations always useful for graph learning tasks? For different problems such as node classification and link prediction we compute hyperbolic embeddings and conclude that for tasks that require global prediction consistency it might be useful to use non-Euclidean embeddings, while for other tasks Euclidean models are superior. To do so we first fix an issue of the existing models associated with the optimization process at zero curvature. Current hyperbolic models deal with gradients at the origin in ad-hoc manner, which is inefficient and can lead to numerical instabilities. We solve the instabilities of kappa-Stereographic model at zero curvature cases and evaluate the approach of embedding graphs into the manifold in several graph representation learning tasks.


I argue for three main conclusions. First, we should adopt a "probability first" approach to epistemology, which takes facts about justification for outright belief to supervene on facts about rationally permissible credence distributions. Such an approach is plausible even though standard accounts that reduce belief to credence above a threshold or invariance in conditional preferences are vulnerable to intuitive counterexamples.Second, I argue that a dogmatist response to skepticism about inferential justification is false if we adopt a probability first approach. Dogmatists hold that we might gain justification to believe E -> H for the first time when we learn E (and nothing stronger). I show that only a dynamic Keynesian model is compatible with dogmatism about inferential justification. But the main virtue of the dynamic Keynesian model--it allows for learning about fundamental evidential relationships--is by no means unique to it. I conclude that a rationalist liberalism, which holds that we are independently justified in believing E -> H whenever we are inferentially justified in believing H on the basis of E, is the best anti-skeptical account of inferential justification on most probabilistic models.Finally, I argue that the compatibilist approach to the conflict between Bayesian conditionalization and inference to the best explanation (IBE) fails. However, we anyway need to impose constraints on rational credence other than conditionalization, and we should take explanatory considerations to constrain the rationally permissible prior credence distributions. I present an account of IBE such that we should give higher conditional prior credence to H, given E, when H is the most intellectually satisfying explanation of E, and defend this account against the objection that the subjectivity of intellectual satisfaction will lead to an unacceptably permissive epistemology.


Poly(ether ether ketone) (PEEK) is a high-performance thermoplastic with a distinctive combination of corrosion resistance, thermo-oxidative stability and outstanding physical and mechanical properties at high temperatures. A pertinent step forward in the development of this thermoplastic has been the inclusion of electrically conductive fillers to expand its functionality. In this review an overview of the research on electrically conductive PEEK composites is provided. Conductive filler type, fabrication methods, characterization details and different properties are described. Carbon nanotubes, graphene nanoplatelets and other organic and inorganic conductive fillers such as expanded graphite and nickel have been incorporated into PEEK by techniques such as extrusion, injection moulding and cold and hot compression moulding and in some cases with pre-processing steps including mechanochemical modifications in organic solvents. The influences of type, loading and compatibilization of fillers and processing conditions on the mechanical and electrical conductivity properties of the composites are analysed and compared. The incorporated fillers have been able to enhance the electrical conductivity of the PEEK composites to either the semiconducting or conductive regions. PEEK composites containing carbon nanotubes compatibilized by polysulfones and poly(ether imide) achieved electrical conductivity values in the semiconducting region at the lowest electrical percolation threshold of 0.1 wt%. Additionally, the inclusion of 10 wt% expanded graphite and 10 vol% inorganic macroparticles of nickel noticeably improved the electrical conductivity of PEEK into the conductive region. © 2021 The Authors. Polymer International published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of Society of Chemical Industry.


Osteoradionecrosis (ORN) is a major side-effect of radiation therapy in oropharyngeal cancer (OPC) patients. In this study, we demonstrate that early prediction of ORN is possible by analyzing the temporal evolution of mandibular subvolumes receiving radiation. For our analysis, we use computed tomography (CT) scans from 21 OPC patients treated with Intensity Modulated Radiation Therapy (IMRT) with subsequent radiographically-proven ≥ grade II ORN, at three different time points: pre-IMRT, 2-months, and 6-months post-IMRT. For each patient, radiomic features were extracted from a mandibular subvolume that developed ORN and a control subvolume that received the same dose but did not develop ORN. We used a Multivariate Functional Principal Component Analysis (MFPCA) approach to characterize the temporal trajectories of these features. The proposed MFPCA model performs the best at classifying ORN vs. Control subvolumes with an area under curve (AUC) = 0.74 [95% confidence interval (C.I.): 0.61–0.90], significantly outperforming existing approaches such as a pre-IMRT features model or a delta model based on changes at intermediate time points, i.e., at 2- and 6-month follow-up. This suggests that temporal trajectories of radiomics features derived from sequential pre- and post-RT CT scans can provide markers that are correlates of RT-induced mandibular injury, and consequently aid in earlier management of ORN.


During aero-engine operation, rotor misalignment, thermal and centrifugal dilatations, and unbalanced parts lead to contact between the rotating blade and the abradable lining of the surrounding casing. Observation of aero-engine service has highlighted undesirable issues and relative wear mechanisms that have created problems during operation, with significant reductions in aero-engine performance. Examples of issues observed were adhesive transfer of abradable material to the blade tip, along with blade wear. These observations have highlighted the final result of the contact between the blade and abradable; however, the complexity of introducing instruments to the aero-engine has led to a gap in knowledge with respect to the parameters that influence these wear mechanisms. This issue has provided the motivation for this research, where wear mechanism between a Ti-6Al-4V rotating blade and abradable material AlSi-hBN has been investigated on a scaled test platform. AlSi-hBN has been chosen as it represents the most common technology used in the compressor stage of the engine. Alternative approaches that characterised the wear mechanism in real time were introduced in order to try to explore the nature of the contact. The introduction of an innovative stroboscopic imaging technique allowed the progression of adhesive transfer / blade wear to be investigated in real time during a test, revealing that the standard practice of performing analysis of adhered material at the end of a test does not necessarily characterise the overall mechanics of adhesive transfer satisfactorily. In addition, the measurement of contact force and the calculation of the efficiency of cut and force ratio, highlighted different material behaviour in relation to the incursion rate and hardness. It was shown that it was difficult to dislocate the material at low incursion rate, with consolidation evident, whereas at higher incursion rates the material was well fractured. The measurement of the coating temperature highlighted the heat generated in the contact, along with the effect of changing coating hardness on the thermal properties of the abradable, leading to markedly different thermal behaviour at low hardness, and in particular at low incursion rate. The wear mechanisms observed, adhesive transfer, blade wear and cutting, were mainly incursion rate dependent, with a thermal wear mechanism at low incursion rate and a well cut mechanism at high incursion rate. At low incursion rate, different wear mechanisms were observed in relation to the hardness, with adhesive transfer on the blade tip from the hard coating and blade wear in the test performed against the soft coating, with similar results observed at all blade speeds. A wear map was generated in relation to the input parameters, such as the incursion rate, speed and coating hardness, and also the reflected different thermal properties of the coating. This indicated that it is better to have a high thermally conductivity coating; therefore, the use of a hard AlSi-hBN is a better option, because less thermal damage was observed. The wear map with the highlighted wear regimes is a useful design tool with respect to planning running and handling manoeuvres for the engine, where the manufacturer has the option to control incursion parameters. As these represent the most significant incursion performed, this finding is of particular benefit.


These notes define the problem of secure communication, identify the relevant agents, and offer some assumptions about those agents. An initial effort at a solution involves the agents sharing a secret, and produces a private-key method called the One Time Pad algorithm, which seems a good candidate for secure communication. To check if this is true, the notion of perfect security is then defined more precisely and OTP is proved to be secure. Although OTP is secure, it has several undesirable features, such as unbounded key lengths. (We also prove that no secret key cryptosystem is secure in the Shannon sense unless the key length is unbounded. This is the Shannon Theorem.) We attempt to circumvent the key length problem by changing the assumptions about the agents. Namely, we no longer assume a computationally unbounded adversary. This leads to a new class of " public key " encryption methods where the agents do not share a secret. The requirements of public key encryption motivate the use of One Way Functions and trapdoor functions, whose properties are described. Assume there are three agents, Bob, Alice, and Eve. Bob wants to send Alice a private letter that only Alice can read. Eve is an adversary who may intercept the letter, but reading it should not enable her to reconstruct Bob's message to Alice. This is the essence of the problem of secure communication. A more formal definition of " secure " will be given later. To meet these requirements, Bob must somehow alter his message to Alice so it cannot be understood by anyone else. This alteration is called encryption. If m is the message to be encrypted, (also known as the " plaintext " or the " cleartext ") then c, the encrypted message, (also known as the " ciphertext ") is produced by an encryption function E(m, ???) → c, which Bob uses. Alice uses a symmetric decryption function D(c, ???) → m. The question marks in the function definitions stand for other pieces of information that may be provided to the encryption/decryption functions, depending on the specific method being used. Some possibilities are: • S b : A piece of secret information known to Bob but not to Eve. • S a : A piece of secret information known to Alice but not to Eve. • P K: A piece of public information, available to everyone. • R: A …


The ion conduction of yttria-stabilized zirconia (YSZ) was studied by varying the doping ratios during atomic layer deposition (ALD). The ALD cycle ratio for the yttria and zirconia depositions was varied from 1:1 to 1:6, which corresponded to the doping ratios from 28.8% to 4.3%. The in-plane conductivity of ALD YSZ was enhanced by up to 2 orders of magnitude; the optimal ALD doping ratio (10.4%) was found to differ from that of bulk YSZ (8%). This different relationship between the doping ratio and the ion conduction for ALD YSZ versus bulk YSZ is due to the inhomogeneous doping in the vertical direction of the ALD YSZ films, as opposed to the homogenous doping of bulk YSZ.


State responsibility can be examined from the moral, legal, and political perspectives. Historically, state responsibility was the subject of extensive work by the International Law Commission, which was carried out over 40 years (1956–2001). While the Commission's work was terminated in 2001 with no binding conventions or treaties resulting from it, many of its final articles have become references in international and domestic tribunals. However, the Commission was unable to establish obligatory arbitration between states, to agree on penalties for international crimes, or to establish any formal legal structure with which to oversee legal state responsibility.
 Differences between domestic jurisdiction and international jurisdiction limit definitive, formal legal state responsibility. The United Nations, the International Court of Justice (ICJ), and the International Criminal Court (ICC) all deal with state responsibility, but all reflect, to different extents the role of international politics in state responsibility. The permanent members of the UN Security Council have veto power. All United Nations member states are members of the ICJ. However, only 74 of them recognize the compulsory jurisdiction of the ICJ and the ICC tries individuals, not states.
 The use of "illegal but legitimate" to justify military intervention in the Balkans was an example of how states creatively avoid following the legal limits of their responsibility. The decision of the ICJ in the Nicaragua v. United States case also showed the importance of the role of politics in a judicial process and the difficulties of defining the limits of a state's responsibilities.
 The very question of state responsibility in international politics reflects the importance of states and interstate international politics. States are the primary subjects of international law. However, issues such as climate change and the environment go beyond mere state responsibility and push the boundaries of the statist paradigm to larger global responsibilities erga omnes as well as actors above and below the state levels.


This thesis describes an investigation into the practical use of ontologies for the development of information systems. Ontologies are formal descriptions of shared knowledge in a domain. An ontology can be used as a specification of an information system because it specifies the knowledge that is required for the tasks the information system has to perform. Sharing and reuse of ontologies across different domains and applications can therefore improve information systems design. Ontologies have been a subject for a lot of research carried out in the artificial intelligence community. Although many ontologies have been developed, they fail to demonstrate that ontologies for large and complex domains can be developed that can be used and reused across different applications. There are three reasons for this: (i) many ontologies have not been used to develop a real-life application, (ii) many ontologies have not been reused for different applications in different domains and (iii)many ontologies are merely taxonomies of domain concepts and fail to capture meta-level and tacit background knowledge.


Semantic segmentation requires methods capable of learning high-level features while dealing with large volume of data. Toward such goal, convolutional networks can learn specific and adaptable features based on the data. However, these networks are not capable of processing a whole remote sensing image, given its huge size. To overcome such limitation, the image is processed using fixed size patches. The definition of the input patch size is usually performed empirically (evaluating several sizes) or imposed (by network constraint). Both strategies suffer from drawbacks and could not lead to the best patch size. To alleviate this problem, several works exploited multicontext information by combining networks or layers. This process increases the number of parameters, resulting in a more difficult model to train. In this paper, we propose a novel technique to perform semantic segmentation of remote sensing images that exploits a multicontext paradigm without increasing the number of parameters while defining, in training time, the best patch size. The main idea is to train a dilated network with distinct patch sizes, allowing it to capture multicontext characteristics from heterogeneous contexts. While processing these varying patches, the network provides a score for each patch size, helping in the definition of the best size for the current scenario. A systematic evaluation of the proposed algorithm is conducted using four high-resolution remote sensing data sets with very distinct properties. Our results show that the proposed algorithm provides improvements in pixelwise classification accuracy when compared to the state-of-the-art methods.


The harmony search method based optimum design algorithm is presented for geometrically non-linear semi-rigid steel frames. Harmony search method is recently developed metaheuristic algorithm which simulates the process of producing a musical performance. The optimum design algorithm aims at obtaining minimum weight steel frames by selecting from standard set of steel sections such as European wide flange beams (HE sections). Strength constraints of Turkish Building Code for Steel Structures (TS648) specification and displacement constraints were used in the optimum design formulation. The optimum design algorithm takes into account both the geometric non-linearity of the frame members and the semi-rigid behaviour of the beam-to-column connections. The Frye-Morris polynomial model is used to calculate the moment-rotation relation of beam-to-column connections. The robustness of harmony search algorithm, in comparison with genetic algorithms, is verified with two benchmark examples. The comparisons revealed that the harmony search algorithm yielded not only minimum weight steel frames but also required less computational effort for the presented examples.


ABSTRACT Four species from the family Amaranthaceae were studied to determine border cell production and arbuscular mycorrhizal colonization. It was found that border cells, also known as sloughed root cap cells, are produced by all plant species studied and increase with increasing root length until a maximum number is reached at a root length of 25 mm. However, the increase in border cells with increasing root length is not uniform between species. Arbuscular mycorrhizal root colonization was found in all the Amaranthaceae species, and arbuscular mycorrhizal colonization was positively correlated with maximum border cell production.


criticism it would be a shame to miss seeing the unique niche this drug has in the treatment of urinary infections by organisms previously only susceptible to intramuscular therapy. We were fortunate in having some of the earliest clinical trial material of carfecillin and were therefore able to witness a number of occasions when its use cured urinary infections which would previously have been treated with a parenteral antibiotic. In particular, the life of a middleaged paraphegic was transformed by carfecillin. Previously he had been subject to repeated febrile episodes with malaise and sweating accompanied by the isolation of a Pseudomonas aeruginosa from the urine and treated by admission to hospital and intramuscular therapy. Though no antibiotic (including carfecillin) ever cleared his urinary tract of infection permanently, a course of carfecillin started at the onset of a febrile episode controlled it quickly, enabling him to remain at home. Eventually confidence in the therapy enabled him to take a holiday, his first since the onset of his illness two years previously.-I am, etc.,


1. The conditions under which peroxisomal preparations from leaves of spinach beet and spinach catalyse the release of (14)CO(2) from [1-(14)C]glycollate and [1-(14)C]glyoxylate were investigated. 2. At pH8, (14)CO(2) production from [1-(14)C]glyoxylate was accompanied by equivalent quantities of formate. The accumulation of oxalate and the effects of various reagents, especially catalase inhibitors, show that glyoxylate is non-enzymically oxidized by H(2)O(2), which is generated by the oxidation of glyoxylate to oxalate by the action of glycollate oxidase. 3. (14)CO(2) is shown to be generated from [1-(14)C]glycollate at pH8 by a similar reaction, but the H(2)O(2) is generated mainly by the oxidation of glycollate to glyoxylate. 4. The physiological significance of these reactions is discussed, with special reference to their role in photorespiration.


ABSTRACT We previously reported that autologous-fecal-microbiota-transplantation (aFMT), following 6 m of lifestyle intervention, attenuated subsequent weight regain and insulin rebound for participants consuming a high-polyphenol green-Mediterranean diet. Here, we explored whether specific changes in the core (abundant) vs. non-core (low-abundance) gut microbiome taxa fractions during the weight-loss phase (0–6 m) were differentially associated with weight maintenance following aFMT. Eighty-two abdominally obese/dyslipidemic participants (age = 52 years; 6 m weightloss = −8.3 kg) who provided fecal samples (0 m, 6 m) were included. Frozen 6 m's fecal samples were processed into 1 g, opaque and odorless aFMT capsules. Participants were randomly assigned to receive 100 capsules containing their own fecal microbiota or placebo over 8 m-14 m in ten administrations (adherence rate > 90%). Gut microbiome composition was evaluated using shotgun metagenomic sequencing. Non-core taxa were defined as ≤ 66% prevalence across participants. Overall, 450 species were analyzed. At baseline, 13.3% were classified as core, and Firmicutes presented the highest core proportion by phylum. During 6 m weight-loss phase, abundance of non-core species changed more than core species (P < .0001). Subject-specific changes in core and non-core taxa fractions were strongly correlated (Jaccard Index; r = 0.54; P < .001). Following aFMT treatment, only participants with a low 6 m change in core taxa, and a high change in non-core taxa, avoided 8–14 m weight regain (aFMT = −0.58 ± 2.4 kg, corresponding placebo group = 3.18 ± 3.5 kg; P = .02). In a linear regression model, low core/high non-core 6 m change was the only combination that was significantly associated with attenuated 8–14 m weight regain (P = .038; P = .002 for taxa patterns/treatment intervention interaction). High change in non-core, low-abundance taxa during weight-loss might mediate aFMT treatment success for weight loss maintenance. ClinicalTrials.gov: NCT03020186


We report cases of Japanese sisters with neuromyelitis optica (NMO). The elder sister was 25, when she was diagnosed with right optic neuritis. After 3 months, she developed left optic neuritis and myelitis. At age 27, she had the second relapse, but she has been free from episodes thereafter. The younger sister was 26, when she was diagnosed with optic neuritis. Thus far, she has 9 relapses, comprising both myelitis and optic neuritis. Both sisters had normal brain MRI scans, longitudinally extensive transverse myelitis over 3 vertebral segments, and positive results for anti-aquaporin-4 antibody (AQAP4Ab). They fulfilled the Wingerchuk criteria for definite NMO. Both sisters shared some immunogenetic factors, but they were not exposed to the same environmental factors after their early twenties. The final disability status was almost the same in both cases, and both showed a very benign course. These data suggest that genetic factors affect the age at onset and environmental factors may affect the frequency of relapse.


Animal models with high translational validity are essential tools in understanding disease pathogenesis and in the development of therapeutic strategies. Multiple sclerosis (MS) is an autoimmune demyelinating disease of the central nervous system characterized by progressive neurological deficits and socioeconomic burden. Experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE) is the most extensively utilized animal model of MS, with well‐characterized rodent and non‐human primate variants. The EAE model is typically induced by either active immunization with myelin‐derived proteins or peptides in adjuvant or by passive transfer of activated myelin‐specific CD4+ T lymphocytes. To date, the EAE model has been an essential tool in the development of at least seven U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA)−approved immunomodulatory drugs for the treatment of MS, including glatiramer acetate, fingolimod, and natalizumab. However, the translational validity of the EAE model is frequently compromised due to poor study design, inconsistent clinical scoring endpoints, and inappropriate statistical calculations. No single animal model accurately reflects the complexity of human MS pathogenesis. Beyond EAE, multiple additional animal models are described, including Theiler's murine encephalomyelitis virus and cuprizone‐induced demyelination, which facilitate the study of pathogen‐induced CNS autoimmunity and remyelination, respectively. This overview summarizes several of the most frequently used animal models of MS and highlights key factors that significantly influence the experimental outcome and affect translational validity. © 2021 Wiley Periodicals LLC.


DEAR SIRs-Greaves and Perkins (1953) have recently published a paper on the influence of the third nerve upon the intra-ocular pressure. They seem to feel that their findings confirm the views of Henderson and Starling (1904) and refute the results of Schmerl and Steinberg (1949) obtained by different experimental procedures; they found, in short, that preganglionic or intracranial electric stimulation of the third nerve did not affect the intra-ocular pressure of five tested rabbits, except for some increase produced by the contraction of the extra-ocular muscles which lasted just as long as the period of stimulus (about 25 sec.). Intracranial section of the third nerve did not lower the ocular tension in one eye of the one rabbit followed up for several months. The latter result cannot be discussed since it is based on a sample of one. The other findings might be correct for the procedure used by the authors, but they do not tend to confirm the findings of Henderson and Starling, for these authors studied the influence of the sympathetic and the fifth nerve, not of the third. It is hoped that this note will stimulate the study of Henderson and Starling's valuable paper. Yours faithfully,


Colorectal cancer (CRC) is the third most common cancer diagnosed and the second leading cause of cancer-related deaths in the United States. About 50% of CRC patients relapsed after surgical resection and ultimately died of metastatic disease. Cancer stem cells (CSCs) are believed to be the primary reason for the recurrence of CRC. Specific stem cell marker, doublecortin-like kinase 1 (DCLK1) plays critical roles in initiating tumorigenesis, facilitating tumor progression, and promoting metastasis of CRC. It is up-regulated in CRC and up-regulation of DCLK1 indicates poor prognosis. Whether DCLK1 is correlated with enhanced chemoresistance of CRC cells is unclear. Our research aims to reveal association of DCLK1 with chemoresistance of CRC cells and the underlying molecular mechanisms. In order to achieve our goal, we established stable DCLK1 over-expression cells (DCLK1+) using the HCT116 cells (WT). DCLK1+ and WT cells were treated with 5-Fluorouracil (5-Fu) at different doses for 24 or 48 hours. MTT assay was used to evaluate cell viability and IC50 of 5-Fu was determined. Quantitative real time PCR was applied to determine gene expression of caspase-3 (casp-3), caspase-4 (casp-4), and caspase-10 (casp-10). Cleaved casp-3 expression was investigated using Western blot and immunofluorescence. Our results demonstrated that IC50 of 5-Fu for the DCLK1+ cells was significantly higher than that of the WT cells for both 24 and 48-hour treatment (P=0.002 and 0.048 respectively), indicating increased chemoresistance of the DCLK1+ cells. Gene expression of casp-3, casp-4, and casp-10 were significantly inhibited in the DCLK1+ cells after 5-Fu treatment compared to the WT cells (P=7.616e-08, 1.575e-05 and 5.307e-08, respectively). Cleaved casp-3 amount and casp-3 positive cells were significantly decreased in the DCLK1+ cells after 5-Fu treatment compared to the WT cells (P=0.015). In conclusion, our results demonstrated that DCLK1 overexpression enhanced the chemoresistance of CRC cells to 5-Fu treatment by suppressing gene expression of key caspases in the apoptosis pathway and activation of apoptosis pathway. DCLK1 can be an intriguing therapeutic target for the effective treatment of CRC patients.


97EN038 ABSTRACT The oxygen content in the ambient air drawn by combustion engines can be increased by polymer membranes. The authors have previously demonstrated that 23 to 25% (concentration by volume) oxygen-enriched intake air can reduce hydrocarbons (HC), carbon monoxide (CO), air toxics, and ozone-forming potential (OW) from flexible-fueled vehicles (FFVs) that use gasoline or M85. When oxygen-enriched air was used only during the initial start-up and warm-up periods, the emission levels of all three regulated pollutants [CO, nonmethane hydrocarbons (NMHC), and NO,] were lower than the U.S. EPA Tier I1 (year 2004) standards (without adjusting for catalyst deterioration factors). In the present work, an air separation membrane module was installed on the intake of a 2.5-L FFV and tested at idle and free acceleration to demonstrate the oxygen-enrichment concept for initial start-up and warm-up periods. A bench-scale, test set-up was developed to evaluate the air separation membrane characteristics for engine applications. On the basis of prototype bench tests and from vehicle tests, the additional power requirements and module size for operation of the membrane during the initial period of the cold-phase, FTP-75 cycle were evaluated. A prototype membrane module (27 in. long, 3 in. in diameter) supplying about 23% oxygen-enriched air in the engine intake only during the initial start-up and warm-up periods of a 2.5-L FFV requires additional power (blower) of less than one horsepower. With advances in air separation membranes to develop compact modules, oxygen enrichment of combustion air has the potential of becoming a more practical technique for controlling exhaust emissions from light-duty vehicles.


Acute graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) is one of the major life-threating complications after allogeneic cell transplantation (allo-HCT). Although steroids remain first-line treatment, roughly one half of patients will develop steroid refractory GVHD (SR-GVHD) which portends an extremely poor prognosis. Many agents, which have shown encouraging response rates in early phase I/II trials for prevention and treatment, have been unsuccessful in demonstrating a survival advantage when applied in the setting of SR-GVHD. The discovery of novel treatments has been further complicated by the absence of clinically informative animal models that address what may reflect a distinct pathophysiology. Nonetheless, the combined knowledge of established bone marrow transplantation (BMT) models and recent human trials in SR-GVHD patients are beginning to illuminate novel mechanisms for inhibiting T cell signaling and promoting tissue tolerance that provide an increased understanding of the underlying biology of SR-GVHD. Here we discuss recent findings of newly appreciated cellular and molecular mechanisms and provide novel translational opportunities for advancing the effectiveness of treatment in SR-GVHD.


The effect of cardiac hypertrophy on beta-adrenergic receptor density and affinity was studied under 4 experimental conditions: in the spontaneously hypertensive rat (SHR), in the 2K-1C renal hypertensive rat (RHR), and following subcutaneous infusions of 2 pressor agents; epinephrine (E) and angiotensin II(AII). Using the antagonist 3H-dihydroalprenolol [( 3H]-DHA), the number of binding sites was shown to significantly decrease at both 13 and 24 weeks of age in the SHR when compared to age-matched WKY, with no change in affinity. In the RHR a significant increase in binding sites was observed at both 6 and 10 weeks after clipping, returning towards normal levels following removal of the clipped kidney. Cardiac hypertrophy and hypertension were induced by subcutaneous infusions for up to 2 weeks of both E and AII. E caused an alteration in receptor density, causing a significant decrease with no change in affinity. In contradistinction, although the degree of hypertrophy was the same following AII, no changes in receptor density or affinity were seen. These present experiments confirm our hypothesis that different models of hypertensive hypertrophy are associated with varying changes in beta-adrenergic receptors. This suggests that any consequential changes in myocardial function may be a result of other post receptor mechanisms.


Introduction Sjögren's syndrome (SS) is a rheumatic autoimmune disease characterized by inflammation of exocrine glands. As autoantibodies are present in a majority of patients, B cells have been suggested to play an important role in onset and development of the disease. Toll-like receptors (TLRs) are pattern recognition receptors triggering innate immune responses. Since an increased expression of TLRs has been detected in other rheumatic diseases the purpose of this study was to explore TLRs in B cells of SS patients. Methods The expression of TLR-7 and -9 in B cell subsets of 25 patients with primary SS (pSS) and 25 healthy controls was analysed in peripheral blood using flow cytometry and real time quantitative PCR. Results We detected similar levels of CD19+ B cells in pSS patients and healthy controls. An increased number of naïve B cells, as well as fewer pre-switched memory B cells were found in pSS patients. No significant differences were observed in TLR-7 and -9 expression in B cells between pSS patients and healthy controls. Conclusion This study shows that pSS patients have an alteration in the B cell subpopulation composition compared to controls, with less pre-switched memory B cells and more naïve B cells. We did not detect any significant disparities in TLR-7 and -9 expression between the two groups.


In this paper, we present the design, fabrication, and operation of a two-dimensional (2-D) microconveyance system. Conceptually, this system was designed as a mechanical part of an autonomous decentralized system composed of integrated micro actuator-sensor-controller cells. The presented system is a 2-D ciliary motion system (2-D CMS) composed of arrayed cantilever actuators. The actuators are made of two types of polyimide with different thermal expansion coefficients. They are thermally driven by flowing current in laminated heaters between the polyimide layers. We investigated the 2-D conveyance characteristics of the 2-D CMS consisting of 20times20 cells. Each cell has a pitch of 1420 mum consisting of four actuators of 500 mum in length. The conveyance was performed in a voltage range of 19-32 V, which corresponds to approximately 48-136 mW/cell, in a frequency range of 1-100 Hz, which corresponds to approximately 2-18 mum of minimum step size. We operated it in a feedback control scheme. In feedback operation mode, the 2-D CMS was controlled with a charge-coupled device (CCD) camera regulated by a PC and a programmable logic device (PLD). We succeeded to convey an object to a predetermined target point on the surface of the CMS.


It has been reported by Singh et alii' that large amounts of ascorbic acid interfere with AutoAnalyzer estimation of serum transaminases and lactate dehydrogenase. We have investigated effects of vitamin C on serum bilirubin estimation by AutoAnalyzer" with the results shown in Table 1. These indicate a significant reduction in the apparent bilirubin concentrations. The implication ot these findings is that early biochemical signs ot liver disease could be masked in a person taking large doses ot vitamin C. As this compound is usually self-administered, a patient who failed to advise his medical practitioner that vitamin C was being taken could seriously complicate diagnosis.


A novel methanotroph, designated strain HT12(T), was isolated from forest soil in Japan. Cells of strain HT12(T) were Gram-reaction-negative, aerobic, non-motile, coccoid and formed pale-brown colonies. The strain grew only with methane and methanol as sole carbon and energy sources. Cells grew at 5-34 °C (optimum 24-32 °C). The strain possessed both particulate and soluble methane monooxygenases and assimilated formaldehyde using the ribulose monophosphate pathway. The major cellular fatty acids were C(16 : 0) (46.9 %) and C(14 : 0) (34.2 %), whereas unsaturated C(16) fatty acids, typical of type I methanotrophs, were absent. Comparative 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis showed that the most closely related strains were Methylosoma difficile LC 2(T) (93.1 % sequence similarity) and Methylobacter tundripaludum SV96(T) (92.6 % similarity). Phylogenetic analysis based on the pmoA gene indicated that strain HT12(T) formed a distinct lineage within the type I methanotrophs and analysis of the deduced pmoA amino acid sequence of strain HT12(T) showed that it had a 7 % divergence from that of its most closely related species. The DNA G+C content was 49.3 mol%. Based on this evidence, strain HT12(T) represents a novel species and genus of the family Methylococcaceae, for which the name Methylovulum miyakonense gen. nov., sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain of the type species is HT12(T) ( = NBRC 106162(T)  = DSM 23269(T)  = ATCC BAA-2070(T)).


In Reply .—In general, I agree with Professor Kazanetz. While the quotes from Serbsky sound suggestive enough, they hardly provide sufficient grounds for the conclusion that the czarist authorities punished "dissidents" (or, more precisely, revolutionaries) by psychiatric means. Soviet sources, in particular staff members of the forensic psychiatric institute later named after Serbsky (including its current director), have indeed accused czarist officials of systematically referring healthy revolutionaries to special psychiatric institutions: Under conditions of class terror and brutal reprisal against revolutionaries, especially during the intense reaction after 1905, the courts of Tsarist Russia sometimes prescribed an expert examination in order to create at least the external appearance of impartiality of their actions, while at the same time they attempted to use such examinations in their class interests. In other cases they would reject an expert opinion for no reason whatever. Because the Tsarist autocracy did not entrust a psychiatric expert


The issue of money back in connection with the coronavirus pandemic for acquired tour packages is very relevant today. Most companies offer transfer tours or deposits, there are almost no returns. The Federal Tourism Agency explained how operators can use the funds from the personal liability fund (FPO); the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) has published an updated assessment of the likely impact of coronavirus on international tourism. The article discusses ways to return money for canceled applications.


Thirty pairs of drinking and nondrinking men, matched for age and weight, were drawn from a working population in which a close relationship between alcohol consumption and blood pressure had been demonstrated. In this smaller sample, men who drank an average of 408 ml of ethanol/week had higher supine (126.9 ± 2.3 mm Hg) and standing (113.3 ± 2.5 mm Hg) systolic and supine diastolic blood pressure (75.5 ± 2.2 mm Hg) than nondrinkers (117.5 ± 2.0, 107.4 ± 2.2 and 68.9 ± 1.8 mm Hg, respectively). Resting plasma concentrations of free and sulfated norepinephrine and epinephrine, renin activity, angiotensin II, aldosterone and cortisol were similar in drinkers and nondrinkers. To investigate differences that may arise when sympathoadrenal activity was stimulated, the subjects underwent a series of standardized physiologic stresses: isometric hand grip, mental arithmetic, cold pressor testing, standing and bicycle exercise. Blood pressure and heart rate responses were similar in drinkers and nondrinkers, although the differences in blood pressure between the two groups tended to become smaller after certain stresses. No differences in the plasma levels of free or conjugated catecholamines were apparent after these stresses. Plasma renin activity increased only after bicycle exercise, and this was similar in both groups. Plasma cortisol levels did not increase. The higher blood pressure in drinkers, therefore, cannot be explained by increased activity of the sympathoadrenal and renal pressor mechanisms.


This paper discusses patriarchy, women in Victorian Era, independent woman experience by Eliza Sommers in Daughter of Fortune. Patriarchy is a system of male domination to women in every aspect of life. A woman who pays her own bill, buys her own things, and does not allow man to affect her stability or self-confidence; She supports herself on her own entirely and is proud to be able to do so is called independent woman. Eliza as the main character classified as round dynamic character. Her character is changing as the story flow. She describes as a young talented girl, obedient, strong and brave. When she met Joaquin, the rebellious of Eliza showed. During her voyage, she becomes desperate and hopeless, afraid that she was going to die. But in the end of the story, Eliza turns into an independent woman that has no fear of everything. Dealing with plot, it began with the presence of baby Eliza in the Sommers house. She was raised with full of discipline by Miss Rose. Until she met Joaquin and fall in love with him, they soon arrange a secret meeting. Joaquin went to San Francisco to find gold, Eliza with her pregnancy follows him to San Francisco. She heard rumors than Joaquin Andieta turn into Joaquin Murieta, a famous bandit. Eliza feels tired chasing Joaquin shadow. The news of Joaquin Murieta death is everywhere. The head and body was displayed at San Francisco. Eliza went there and she was in silent seeing the head of Joaquin Murieta. She stepped outside and she said that she is free. Patriarchy and women in Victorian Era is showed on Eliza childhood. She was raised with strict norm that women should be grace, no need high education. She wears layer of layers gown and corset that makes her cannot breathe. She spent most her time in the house, learning some skill that women should have to taking care of their families. Her search of Joaquin makes her becomes an independent woman, She makes money to living. She can make decision for herself. She is in charge for her own life. The day she decided to wear her gown, but of course without the corset; she took her picture and along with the letter she writes, sends it to Miss Rose. Eliza did not want to go home in Valparaiso, Chile. She wants to start her new life in San Francisco.


The purpose of this study was to investigate the community based factors that influence girl child participation in education in public secondary schools in Msambweni district. Five research questions were formulated to guide the study factors influencing the enrolment of girls in pubic secondary school in Msambweni District, socio cultural factors influencing participation of girls in Education, the student home background and how it influence participation of girls in Education, community perception towards girls education and how it influence participation of girls in secondary education and how parental factors influenced participation of girls in education.

The study employed descriptive survey. The sample size for the study was 15 headteacher 120, class teachers and 291 form four students in 15 public secondary schools piloting was carried out in two schools in the district, but which were not used in the final study. Test - retest technique was employed. The research permit was obtained from National Council for Science and Technology made collection of data easy. Questionnaires were taken to the 15 public secondary schools administered and collected personally for data analysis. The analysis was done using statistical package for social SCIences (S.P.S.S) software for windows.

Correlation co-efficient of 0.823, 0.7983 and 0.823 were realized for headteachers, teachers and student questionnaires respectively. In the light of the research findings the researcher wishes to make the following recommendations, to the Ministry of Education to sensitize the parents on the importance of education of their daughters. Put up more boarding schools in Msambweni district where girls can earn without interference from the community. The community be encourage to shun early marriages and FGM.


It is an established fact that many insects which are now serious pests were once harmless species living on wild plants and other "natural" sources of food. As soon as mankind provided their natural food, or at least an adequate substitute for their natural food, in bulk by cultivating plants, these animals were able to multiply to such an extent that they became a very serious problem. A well-known example is the Colorado Beetle (Leptinotarsa decemlineata) which originally lived in North America on a few wild species of Solanaceae, but later attacked the introduced potato plants and thus became the worst insect pest of potato crops, not only in its native country, but also in Europe. Clothes Moths and Carpet Beetles are also serious pests because they are highly specialised in their nutritional requirements and use the protein keratin as a staple food. Keratin also happens to be the main constituent of wool and hair, the essential fibres for our winter clothing, our blankets, carpets, rugs, upholstered furniture and other textile materials, fur goods, etc. It goes without saying that these articles only became available at the time when prehistoric man started to use animal skins as clothing and to live in more or less permanent settlements. It is most unlikely that the evolution of the Clothes Moths and Carpet Beetles coincided with the early history of human civilisation. Consequently only the alternative remains, viz., that these insects were already living on accumulations of keratinaceous material available in nature and only became pests because man, most conveniently from the point of view of the insects, assembled considerable quantities of wool and hair.


Purpose – The aim of this paper is to present and provide a critical review of most recent studies inquiring into brain abnormalities in psychopathy.

Design/methodology/approach – The authors provide an overview of the findings of neurobiological studies conducted in the last five years. Publications chosen for review were found using Web of Science, PsycINFO and Scopus search engines.

Findings – Data in the literature reveal that psychopathy is associated with brain abnormalities in frontal and temporo-limbic regions, i.e. regions responsible for moral decision making, emotional processing and learning. Additionally, interactions between the brain areas have been identified as crucial for the development of psychopathic personality traits. Research findings suggest that the flow of impulses between the frontal cortex and temporo-limbic structures in psychopaths is significantly hindered.

Originality/value – The current paper provides an in-depth review of most recent neurobiological studies inquiring into brain abnormalities associated with psychopathic personality traits. Moreover, a particular attention has been paid to identifying abnormalities in brain structures not previously studied in relation to psychopathy (e.g. mirror neuron system, white matter connections).


The effect of the methods for preparing powder blend by conventional milling (Me+Al particles), attriting (Me/Al/ Me/Al composite particles), and plating of Me by Al (Me/Al composite particles) on the structure, internal stress level, and compactability of the powder blends as well as the structure and phase composition of the MeAl compacts was investigated. The Me+Al→MeAl exothermic reaction of these powders occurs at T≥650°C. The reaction sintering (RS) or hightemperature self-propagation synthesis (HTSPS) occurs through the formation of Al melt (liquidphase reaction) and lower-melting MeAl3, Me2Al3, Me3Al aluminides. An increase in the level of internal stresses (IS) upon attritting activates RS at lower temperatures and decreases the value of high-temperature exoeffect. This suppresses the HTSPS development. A large high-temperature exoeffect ensures the intensity and completeness of the reaction interaction, and the application of pressure upon RS or HTSPS provides a high, near-theoretical density of the compacted material.


The study examines the impact of the rice-cum-fish culture and the rice-mono culture on the rural households at Muktaghachha upazila of Mymensingh district in Bangladesh. Data were collected from 100 farmers of five villages following stratified random sampling technique. Activity budgets were prepared and comparisons were made through the tabular and statistical analyses. Both the rice-cum-fish culture and the rice-mono culture were profitable business for the farmers. However, farmers earned about 3 times higher profits from the rice-cum-fish culture than the ricemono culture. Per hectare net returns of the rice-cum-fish culture and the rice-mono culture were Tk. 15345.00 and 5389.50, respectively. Rice yield, fish consumption, total cost were increased by 11.4, 14.5 and 48.9 percent respectively while human labour employment was increased by 9.4 percent in the integrated rice-cum-fish culture compared to the rice-mono culture. The study clearly hints that the rice-cum-fish culture provides greater scope for higher returns and employment opportunities of human labour than the rice-mono culture.


PURPOSE
to identify a set of requirements for the development of an auditory-perceptual training simulator (APT) based on the experience of professors who provide APT.

METHODS
This is a cross-sectional, descriptive study with a quantitative approach. Twenty-two professors answered an online questionnaire containing 31 items related to APT, involving items about the professional profile, conditions for APT in undergraduate and postgraduate courses in Speech Therapy, APT structure, and evaluation of the APT effect.

RESULT
it was observed that there is a variation in APT procedures performed in Brazil. The main requirements indicated by the respondents for the APT involve the use of synthesized voices in the initial moments, followed by human voices later; the use of speech tasks with sustained vowels and connected speech; the insertion of complementary information such as gender, age, the profession of the speaker and the spectrography of the vocal signal; training with a minimum time of six hours; the evaluation of the training effect by comparing intra- and inter-judge agreement before and after training; the addition of the parameters of general degree of vocal deviation, roughness, breathiness, and strain; the use of validated continuous and numerical scales; and offering it from the second year of the undergraduate program.

CONCLUSION
although there is variability in the response of experts, a minimum set of requirements indicated for performing APT with new judges was identified.


Sources of gravitational waves are often expected to be observable through several messengers, such as gamma-rays, X-rays, optical, radio, and/or neutrino emission. The simultaneous observation of electromagnetic or neutrino emission with a gravitational-wave signal could be a crucial aspect for the first direct detection of gravitational waves. Furthermore, combining gravitational waves with electromagnetic and neutrino observations will enable the extraction of scientific insight that was hidden from us before. We discuss the method that enables the joint search with the LIGO-Virgo-IceCube-ANTARES global network, as well as its methodology, science reach, and outlook for the next generation of gravitational-wave detectors.


Cholesteryl ester liquid crystals were discovered with a new application in sensing traction forces of single cells. The liquid crystal bio-transducer is produced by manual scraping of liquid crystals onto the petri dish, in which the technique is highly subjective to the skill of the user to produce homogeneously spread liquid crystal substrates. This paper describes the development of an apparatus used to produce a liquid crystal substrate using squeegee coating technique. It consists of a biaxial mechatronic system which is synchronously controlled in vertical and horizontal directions scraping the liquid crystal substrates evenly on the surface of a petri dish. The thickness of the liquid crystal was profiled using laser diffraction technique and the homogeneity of the liquid crystal films produced was examined in a crossed-polarizing microscope. At an angular speed of 1500 rpm and under a shear stress of 1.46 ± 0.72 kPa, the squeegee coating was found producing liquid crystal films at a thickness of 132 ± 23 μm on the surface of petri dishes. With the application of this apparatus, evenly spread liquid crystal coatings with control thickness in petri dishes were consistently produced. This has overcome the major problem of manually coating the liquid crystal substrates using a cell scraper.


My presentation will give a short overview about our course and explain our "career tracking" in which we follow the development of the salary as well as the satisfaction with their job content. We have three data points, before they start the course, one year and five years after the course. The data is far from being complete but you can make the first conclusions. The major one is probably that the course and therefore the fees are a very good investment (if there is a change of job involved). Those students can get their fees back in two years' time with a higher salary. So I argue about the return on investment on a quantitative basis. Additionally we see the satisfaction with new jobs and the content and field of work is very satisfactory – so that's the qualitative approach. These findings are also important for our position in the market (of further education in Real Estate).


Casamance is a region in southern Senegal that traditionally produces rainfed rice, but Senegal produces only 1/3 of its rice consumption. Lowland areas, where rice is primarily produced, have acid sulfate soils with low pH and potential aluminum and iron toxicity. The goal of this work was to determine if soil amendments can alleviate soil acidity, counteract the negative biogeochemical effects that occur in flooded conditions, and increase rice yield. A two-year experiment was conducted to test the following soil treatments – agricultural lime, pulverized oyster shell, biochar, and control (no amendment) – in flat and raised beds. Plots amended with lime and shell materials had increased soil pH, base saturation, Ca, and cation exchange capacity. Meanwhile, biochar elevated particulate organic matter and C:N ratios. Exchangeable Fe and Al were negatively correlated with soil pH, while Geobacteraceae populations (Fe reducing bacteria) increased with pH. A greater proportion of the total Fe was strongly bound in fractions that were less bioavailable in plots amended with shell or lime, and overall rice yields were significantly higher following amendment with shell or lime. During the second growing year these effects diminished, suggesting that liming effects did not persist as expected. These results demonstrate the benefits of soil amendments that raise soil pH and suggest that this effect operates by influencing overall soil nutrient availability to rice plants, but further research is needed regarding the timing and sustainability of the beneficial liming effect. Improved Management Of Acid Sulfate Soils For Rice Production In Casamance, Senegal


Previous studies of union wage effects in higher education have examined faculty salaries, but not staff salaries. This study, using data from a 1997–98 survey conducted by the Association of Higher Education Facilities Officers and other sources, investigates how union coverage affected staff salaries at 163 U.S. colleges and universities. The authors estimate a union salary premium of 9–11%, with variation from near zero for some of the 47 occupations in their sample to 13–16% for others, such as the skilled building trades. The union/nonunion differential appears to be larger in 2-year than in 4-year institutions, but does not vary between the public and private sectors. Where faculty members are covered by a collective bargaining agreement, unionized staff members appear to enjoy an additional salary gain of 2–3%.


In Classical Hypothesis testing volumes of data is to be collected and then the conclusions are drawn, which may need more time. But, Sequential Analysis of Statistical science could be adopted in order to decide upon the reliability / unreliability of the developed software very quickly. The procedure adopted for this is, Sequential Probability Ratio Test (SPRT). It is designed for continuous monitoring. The likelihood based SPRT proposed by Wald is very general and it can be used for many different probability distributions. In the present paper we propose the performance of SPRT on 5 data sets of Time domain data and analyzed the results. The parameters are estimated using Maximum Likelihood Estimation method.


The objective of the research was to establish data relating to underlying causes of human error which are the most common cause of information security incidents within a private sector healthcare organization. A survey questionnaire was designed to proactively apply the IS-CHEC information security human reliability analysis (HRA) technique. The IS-CHEC technique questionnaire identified the most likely core human error causes that could result in incidents, their likelihood, the most likely tasks that could be affected, suggested remedial and preventative measures, systems or processes that would be likely to be affected by human error and established the levels of risk exposure. The survey was operational from 15th November 2018 to 15th December 2018. It achieved a response rate of 65% which equated to 485 of 749 people targeted by the research. The research found that, in the case of this particular participating organization, the application of the IS-CHEC technique through a questionnaire added beneficial value as an enhancement to a standard approach of holistic risk assessment. The research confirmed that the IS-CHEC in questionnaire form can be successfully applied within a private sector healthcare organization and also that a distributed approach for information security human error assessment can be successfully undertaken in order to add beneficial value. The results of this paper indicate, from the questionnaire responses supplied by employees, that organizational focus on its people and their working environment can improve information security posture and reduce the likelihood of associated information security incidents through a reduction in human error.


This special issue of Forensic Anthropology is another contribution to a growing literature aimed at solving what may be the most vexing problem in human identification: large-scale commingling of human remains. The contributors to this issue provide us with new ideas concerning methodological approaches, as well as insights emerging from the successful resolution of some of the world's most difficult identification problems. While the applications center on anthropology, the lessons are more broadly applicable to current-day disasters in which large numbers of fragmented remains must be identified. The central theme running throughout this special issue is that no single discipline is the answer to the problem. Complex cases require sophisticated solutions.


Massage has been a therapeutic modality in all cultures since early civilization and has had a long tradition of use in the sporting context. However, there has been a paucity of scientific evidence of the physiological, psychological and therapeutic effects of commonly used massage techniques. This paper reviews the early and more recent studies on the effects of massage and also the more recent literature on its use on the sports person. Little agreement was found in English publications of the efficacy of massage and there were contradictory findings as to the optimum technique and length of time of application. It is clear that the role of massage - a time-consuming technique for a physiotherapist to perform - needs to be evaluated further in order to resolve some contentious issues arising about this mode of treatment and to justify its use.


OL-protocadherin is a member of the nonclustered-type protocadherin family. A recent study of ours showed that it is essential not only for growth of striatal axons but also for higher ordered neural circuit formation in the ventral telencephalon. The phenotype of OL-protocadherin-deficient mice is striking: several major neural pathways such as thalamocortical pathway, corticothalamic pathway, corticospinal pathway and strionigral pathway were misrouted and/or congested in the ventral telencephalon. Moreover, we detected abnormal patterning of putative guidance cues for thalamocortical axons such as the Nkx2.1(+) cell domain and permissive "corridor" in the ventral telencephalon. Analyses of the expression pattern and phenotypes suggested that deficiency of striatal axons is the primary cause of these phenotypes. With these observations in mind, we proposed a novel hypothesis that proper growth of striatal axons is essential in patterning guidance cues and subsequent formation of neural circuits in the ventral telencephalon. This hypothesis will open a new possibility to reveal the unknown mechanism of neural circuit formation in the ventral telencephalon.


The Broumov group of churches represents an integral part of Bohemian baroque architecture. The famous Dientzenhofer family of architects, that helped define the Bohemian baroque style in the early 18th century, designed the Broumov group for the governing Benedictine abbey of St. Wenceslaw in Broumov. This report summarizes a structural investigation, using FIN10 finite element software, into the stability and efficiency of the roof trusses design. The structures age and current state were taken into account in calculating both the applied loads and structural capacity by increasing loads and reducing material strength. A damage analysis, including identification of fungi species, was performed, documented and implemented in a three-dimensional model for comparison with undamaged results. Magnitude and distribution of axial and bending forces were determined using both two dimensional and three-dimensional models for several load cases. Using the comparison of 1st order and 2nd order structural analysis results and Eurocode specified criteria, critical and unnecessary members of the roof system were identified and evaluated. Classical linear elastic 2nd order theory was used based of Eulerian principles, ignoring geometrical non-linearity and non-linear material effects. The main analysis was performed on the St. Ann church in Viznov and St. Barbora church in Otovice.


The Porgera Au deposit, located in the highlands of Papua New Guinea, contains proven and probable reserves of 51.5 million metric tons at 0.23 oz Au/t. The deposit is spatially and temporally associated with a late Miocene age (6.0 + or - 0.3 Ma) epizonal intrusive complex, characterized by gabbroic and porphyritic rocks of volatile-rich alkali basaltic, hawaiitic, to mugearitic composition. Magmatism and mineralization shortly preceded early Pliocene collision between the northeast Australasian continental margin and an island arc and were probably related to changes in the tectonic configuration leading up to that event.The stocks and dikes which constitute the Porgera intrusive complex have experienced variable degrees of propylitic alteration. Gold mineralization postdates this alteration and occurs in two main stages: (I) disseminated auriferous pyrite in zones of pervasive phyllic alteration, plus minor native gold (Au degrees ) in associated base metal sulfide veins, and (II) locally abundant Au degrees and Au-Ag tellurides with roscoelite, pyrite, and minor barite in banded, vuggy quartz veins and hydraulic breccias related to late normal faulting.Fluid inclusions from calcite, apatite, and garnet indicate that propylitic alteration mostly involved relatively dilute fluids (< or =8 wt % NaCl equiv) at temperatures of up to approximately 450 degrees C, but more saline fluids (up to 16.8 wt % NaCl equiv) were also present locally. The observation that some inclusions in calcite were trapped under near-critical conditions restricts fluid pressures to approximately 450 bars. Stable isotope compositions of hydrothermal epidote indicate that these fluids were dominantly of ground-water origin, but the data do not enable distinction between sea or meteoric waters. Higher salinity inclusions may record the presence of residual magmatic fluids, and isotopic compositions of disseminated pyrite from propylitically altered rocks (delta 34 S = 1.4-4.5ppm) suggest that S was of magmatic origin.Hypersaline fluid inclusions occur in minor quartz from samples of intense stage I phyllic alteration and indicate trapping of a halite-saturated fluid at 200 degrees to 210 degrees C, with approximately 32 wt percent NaCl equiv. Calculated values of delta 18 O and delta D for fluids associated with phyllic alteration range from 9.1 to 10.4 per mil and -55 to -37 per mil, respectively, and overlap the range of Porgera magmatic waters calculated from igneous hornblende and biotite compositions (delta 18 O (sub H 2 O) = 7.9 to 9.3ppm, delta D (sub H 2 O) = -63 to -49ppm). Isotopic compositions of stage I disseminated pyrite (delta 34 S = 2.4-5.2 ppm) are similar to those from propylitic alteration.Fluid inclusions in sphalerite and quartz from stage I base metal sulfide veins are characterized by moderate salinities (9.5 + or - 1.8 wt % NaCl equiv, n = 142) and relatively high homogenization temperatures (299 degrees + or - 33 degrees C, n -- 274). An average formation temperature of 325 degrees C is estimated for these veins, assuming trapping at approximately 450 bars. The delta 18 O (sub H 2 O) value calculated from a single quartz sample intergrown with sphalerite is 8.6 per mil and falls within the range of Porgera magmatic waters. Isotopic compositions of vein pyrite, sphalerite, and galena (delta 34 S = 2.4-5.4ppm) show a similar range to sulfides from propylitic and phyllic alteration. The delta 13 C and delta 18 O values of late-stage vein Mn-Fe-Ca-Mg-carbonates range from -7.1 to -4.5 per mil and 14.8 to 18.3 per mil, respectively. These values are consistent with a magmatic source for C, but delta 18 O (sub H 2 O) values of 4.8 to 8.3 per mil calculated at 200 degrees C are similar to values derived from late vuggy quartz in the same veins (2.7-6.1ppm) and indicate the involvement of ground waters.Homogenization temperatures of fluid inclusions from stage II quartz-roscoelite-Au veins average 146 degrees + or - 13 degrees C (n = 519). Salinities fall into two populations, averaging 4.3 + or - 0.4 (n = 119) and 7.8 + or - 0.7 wt percent NaCl equiv (n = 439), and inclusions directly associated with roscoelite-Au deposition typically belong to the higher salinity group. Stage II veins are estimated to have formed at approximately 165 degrees C, and textural and physicochemical considerations suggest that flashing may have occurred during the initial stages of vein rupture. Phase separation may have been triggered by fault-related seismic activity and promoted by the presence of minor CO 2 in the ore fluids. Stable isotope compositions of these fluids indicate the involvement of isotopically exchanged meteoric ground waters (delta 18 O (sub H 2 O) = 2.0 to 5.4ppm, delta D (sub H 2 O) = -62 to -34ppm). The delta 34 S values of stage II pyrite range from -14.0 to -11.4 per mil, whereas late vuggy barite and anhydrite yield values of 22.2 and 20.6 per mil, respectively. These data are interpreted to reflect partial oxidation of a fluid with bulk delta 34 S [asymp] 4 per mil.Gold is suggested to have been transported as a chloride complex in early magmatically derived hypersaline fluids, and deposited as disseminated auriferous pyrite during cooling, as a result of sulfidation and sericitization reactions with the mafic igneous wall rocks. In contrast, Au was probably transported as a bisulfide complex in stage I and II veins, and was precipitated after depletion of reduced S in these more dilute fluids through sulfide deposition and phase separation, respectively.Comparisons with other magmatic-related ore-forming systems suggest that a key feature of the Porgera Au deposit is its association with volatile-rich, mafic, alkalic magmas, which were emplaced at shallow crustal levels. Similarities in process are noted with calc-alkalic porphyry Cu deposits, but differences in detail, such as metal inventory and alteration and mineralization styles, reflect a fundamental difference in magmatic affiliation. Stage II mineralization at Porgera shares many characteristics with Au-Ag-Te vein-type, or alkalic-type, deposits. In particular, similarities of magmatic association may reflect a direct link between metallogenesis and large-scale geodynamic processes. Specifically, it is suggested that regions undergoing changes in tectonic configuration (collision, subduction reversal) within a broadly convergent framework, may be suitable for generation of relatively small volumes of anomalous mantle-derived magmas. A relationship to subduction activity is thought to be important in generating melts with relatively high H 2 O contents. Rapid emplacement at shallow crustal levels and exsolution of an aqueous volatile phase distinguish these systems from typical gabbroic intrusions and associated orthomagmatic deposits, whereas the mafic, alkalic nature of the parental magmas appears to correlate with high Au/Cu ratios in the ore, and distinguishes them from calc-alkalic porphyry Cu deposits.


This article is based on the introduction of a telemedicine system in the jungles of northeastern Peru. The system was designed by a European consortium led by a Spanish polytechnic in cooperation with two universities in Lima and the Peruvian Ministry of Health. The purpose of the system was to improve health conditions by extending science-based medicine into a region with well-established traditional healing practices. The central analytical focus of this article is on the interplay between the public health care system, which used the telemedicine system, and local health care practices. The manner in which scientific medicine was delivered through information technology and public health care services is analyzed in terms of the health personnel's activity, the local population's conceptions of health, and the trajectories followed by patients seeking recovery. The author participated in the design of the second evaluation of the telemedicine system and acted as a participant observer in the regional hospital and peripheral clinics. In addition to interviewing health care staff from the study area, the author Sundeep Sahay was the accepting senior editor for this paper. Lucy Suchman was the associate editor. Maggie Mort and Dixi Louise Strand served as reviewers. also met with traditional healers, and patients in the districts whether or not they were involved in the telemedicine project. New institutional theory provided the analytical framework for the interpretation of the observed behavior of the public health care staff, traditional healers, and potential patients. Empirically, this study describes the informal aspects of the functioning of the telemedicine system, and its partial mismatch with the definitions of health and illness employed by local communities and healers. An argument is made that people's construction of their health, which is embedded in their normal patterns of action, should be identified, and then considered in the design, implementation, and evaluation of future telemedicine projects. This article problematizes an approach to telemedicine-based health development that is weakly accountable to local social contexts and their diversity.


This article traces the founding of Senior Action in a Gay Environment (SAGE), the nation's oldest and largest social service organization for LGBT elders. Drawing on archival documentation as well as interviews with SAGE founders and early members, the article shows how SAGE was born of two largely disconnected social transformations: the gay and lesbian movement and the national expansion of services and programs for the elderly that was enabled by the Older Americans Act of 1965. SAGE's institutionalization and its relationship with the state allowed it to grow in an increasingly conservative political context while ensuring that the organization would not take a broadly intersectional approach to the challenges gay and lesbian elders faced. Despite its political limitations, however, SAGE provided a setting in which some white gay and lesbian elders began to see themselves as agents of social change.


This tutorial provides an introduction to the most important classes of decision diagrams and their applications in the area of verification and stochastic or timed modeling. In particular, we show how structured representations can greatly reduce the memory and time required for state-space generation, CTL model checking, numerical solution of Markov chains, and reachability analysis of nondeterministic integer-timed models. We use Petri nets (PNs) as the high-level model specification language, but the algorithms and data-structures presented are widely applicable to many other formalisms commonly used to describe discrete-state systems.


Abstract The first large (>1 m) diapsids appeared near the Permian–Triassic extinction and a subset of diapsids, the archosauriforms, expanded their body size range soon after in the Early–Middle Triassic. Here, we examine body size at key evolutionary events within Archosauriformes during the Triassic and through the end-Triassic extinction. Using femoral length as a body size proxy and a temporally calibrated phylogeny of Archosauriformes, we estimate ancestral body sizes using a maximum likelihood approach and test for the presence of an adapative radiation by comparing the fit of competing evolutionary models. Archosauriform body size is characterized by punctuated change with more change occurring early in the Triassic. Archosaurs crossing the Triassic–Jurassic boundary show a wide range in ancestral size, and dinosaurs (sauropodomorphs and theropods) are considerably larger in the Jurassic. Crocodylomorph origins are characterized by a drop in body size; however, both the relative amount of change and the rate of change are matched among other archosaur clades. Archosauriforms increase in absolute body size through the Triassic and evidence suggests that a directional trend in size increase occurred in the early Mesozoic. The morphological signature of adaptive radiation is rare in comparative data from extant animals but is present at the origination of Archosauriformes.


Metabolomics is one of the main areas to understand cellular process at molecular level by analyzing metabolites. In recent years, metabolomics has been emerged as key tool to understand molecular basis of disease, find diagnostic and prognostic biomarkers, and develop new treatment opportunities. One of the most important challenge for metabolomics analysis is sample complexity due to wide concentration dynamics. In untargeted metabolomics studies for human plasma samples, generally there is no pre-fractioning method for metabolites prior to LC/MS analysis. This situation causes problem for analysis of some specific metabolites belonging to different pathways in such a complex system. In this study, it was offered liquid-liquid extraction and ultrafiltration-based sample preparation technique for fractioning of non-polar metabolites. Human plasma metabolites were extracted with a well-known cosolvent system (methanol/water/chloroform) and separated according to their polarity in aqueous and organic phases. Ultrafiltration process was performed for both phases to clean-up the sample. Solvents were evaporated and the remaining parts were dissolved in an organic solvent, acetonitrile, to obtain the non-polar metabolite mixtures. Samples were analyzed using Q-TOF LC/MS system for metabolite profiling. Metabolites were separated in a C18 (Agilent Zorbax C18 1.8 μM, 50 x 2.1 mm) column at 0.200 ml min-1 flow rate. Water and acetonitrile mixture including 0.1% formic acid was used as the mobile phase in a 25 min gradient elution system. In the aqueous phase, 249 peaks were found and 60 peaks were obtained in the organic phase. 14 peaks were common in both phases. Results showed that cosolvent system could be used for pre-fractioning of metabolites and reduce complexity of human plasma for metabolite profiling.


Jaggery is a traditional Indian sweetener prepared using sugarcane. Farmers make jaggery in their own farms using juice obtained after crushing sugarcane with a crusher. The settled juice is boiled in open pans with continuous stirring and, simultaneously clarificants are added in required quantity. The consistency of the juice becomes thick on concentration by boiling and then it is poured into moulds to make jaggery blocks on cooling. The efficiency of crushing and concentration process is 60% and 14.75% respectively. The low efficiency is due to the use of open pans for concentration and using moulds for cooling. Adopting alternative technologies like a steam jacketed vessel which will get preheated water from the cooling and moulding section. Hot water can also be used in improving the crushing efficiency thereby making the jaggery processing energy efficient.


New Brunswick entered Confederation in 1867 with the rudiments of the Westminster model of legislative democracy – representative and responsible government – already in place. These particular institutions were typical of those in other British colonies at the time, which were characterized by a relatively small electorate, a limited scope for governmental activity, and elitist decision-making practices. But while the parliamentary institutions and political culture in other former British colonies developed and matured over the course of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, New Brunswick seemed caught in a time trap. Until the 1960s which were characterised by sweeping changes in governance, social services, education and income redistribution, all under the visionary programme known as Equal Opportunity shepherded by Liberal Premier Louis Robichaud. Since then, a parade of premiers and party leaders have tried to put their own stamp on the province. When the Liberals were defeated in 2010, it marked the first time a New Brunswick Government had been defeated after just one term. This paper portrays legislative democracy in New Brunswick as it has evolved from its 18th-century origins into the early years of the 21st century.


Complexity theory challenges educational philosophy to reconsider accepted paradigms of teaching, learning and educational research. However, though attractive, not least because of its critique of positivism, its affinity to Dewey and Habermas, and its arguments for openness, diversity, relationships, agency and creativity, the theory is not without its difficulties. These are seen to lie in terms of complexity theory's nature, status, methodology, utility and contribution to the philosophy of education, being a descriptive theory that is easily misunderstood as a prescriptive theory, silent on key issues of values and ethics that educational philosophy should embrace, of questionable internal consistency, and of limited 'added value' in educational philosophy. The paper sets out key tenets of complexity theory and argues that, though it is useful for educational philosophy, it requires new conceptual tools and mind‐sets to comprehend fully its significance.


Searches for pseudo-magnetic spin couplings require implementation of techniques capable of sensitive detection of such interactions. While Spin-Exchange Relaxation Free (SERF) magnetometry is one of the most powerful approaches enabling the searches, it suffers from a strong magnetic coupling, deteriorating the pseudo-magnetic coupling sensitivity. To address this problem, here, we compare, via numerical simulations, the performance of SERF magnetometer and noble-gas-alkali-metal co-magnetometer, operating in a so-called self-compensating regime. We demonstrate that the co-magnetometer allows reduction of the sensitivity to low-frequency magnetic fields without loss of the sensitivity to nonmagnetic couplings. Based on that we investigate the responses of both systems to the oscillating and transient spin perturbations. Our simulations reveal about five orders of magnitude stronger response to the neutron pseudo-magnetic coupling and about three orders of magnitude stronger response to the proton pseudo-magnetic coupling of the co-magnetometer than those the SERF magnetometer. Different frequency responses of the co-magnetometer to magnetic and nonmagnetic perturbations enables differentiation between these two types of interactions. This outlines the ability to implement the co-magnetometer as an advanced sensor for the Global Network of Optical Magnetometer for Exotic Physics searches (GNOME), aiming at detection of ultra-light bosons (e.g., axion-like particles).


This study was carried out to determine the use of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) methods by women diagnosed with infertility who had undergone assisted reproduction methods to conceive a child. The study was descriptive and cross-sectional in design. The study was composed of 310 women admitted to the infertility clinic of a Women's and Children's Hospital in Istanbul, Turkey. Data were collected via a questionnaire form that was prepared based on the literature. Data were assessed by percentage calculation. The ratio of CAM use among the women in the study was 51%. The most commonly used practices involved the consumption of onions (65.1%) and figs (45.2%), insertion of sheep tail fat into the vagina (42.9%) and eating walnuts (41.7%). The most commonly known practice was the use of onions (81.9%), followed by figs (56. 3%), amulets (34.1%), parsley (30.67%) and prayers (30.3%). Participants stated that only three methods had been beneficial, with onions (two individuals), diet (one individual), and psychotherapy (one individual), considered as successful practices. Evidence-based studies on the most well-known and practiced methods are needed. Therefore, it is essential to perform meta-analyses and randomized controlled studies.


The metastatic spread of breast cancer accounts for most of its morbidity and mortality; therefore, identifying the genes and gene products involved in breast cancer metastasis formation should be useful for better diagnosis, prognosis, treatment, and follow-up of patients with metastatic breast cancer. Unfortunately, little is known about these genes or the functions of their encoded products. Abnormalities in at least three broad gene categories (oncogenes, regulatory genes or effector genes, and tumor-suppressor genes) have been shown to contribute to the origin and/or progression of breast neoplasias. Such abnormalities are mainly manifested by quantitative changes in gene expression, resulting in loss of normal cellular regulation and enhanced cellular diversification. In addition, qualitative genetic alterations, such as gene amplifications and mutations, may also be involved in breast cancer progression. The role(s) of different breast cancer metastasis-associated genes, if known, in the complex multistep process of invasion and metastasis is discussed along with studies that have identified new molecular probe(s) that may be useful in predicting metastasis formation and outcome in breast cancer and for selecting candidates for adjuvant therapy. Understanding the genetic and thus molecular basis of metastasis formation should also provide important insights on the development of new therapeutic approaches for treatment of metastatic breast cancers based on gene targeting and repair of genetic defects that control metastatic properties.


Abstract Two open-loop, minewater-based, ground source heating schemes have been operating since 1999–2000 in Scotland (UK), at Shettleston (Glasgow) and near Cowdenbeath (Fife). In both cases, ferruginous water is pumped from flooded coal mine workings via a borehole, circulated through the evaporator of the heat pump and reinjected via a shallower borehole to Carboniferous strata. The heat is delivered to a water-based thermal store providing central heating for apartment complexes and contributing to domestic hot water. It is demonstrated, via hydrochemical analysis and speciation modelling of the Fife minewater, that the success of the schemes is due to lack of contact between minewater and the atmosphere (thus limiting degassing of CO2 and absorption of O2). Indeed, recent difficulties with one of the schemes are ascribed to vandalism of the recharge main allowing access to oxygen, causing precipitation of ferric oxyhydroxide and clogging of the recharge borehole.


Key messagesA small group of donors and multilateral institutions dominate international REDD+ funding, making it potentially vulnerable to political fluctuations. Readiness funding from established mechanisms is drying up, jeopardising newcomers' ability to tap into future public or private funding.REDD+ needs political and financial support from both REDD+ developing countries and developed countries. Developing countries and communities have already contributed their own funding and support to REDD+ implementation, and this should be better acknowledged in global REDD+ funding discourse and negotiations.High expectations of private sector finance are not matched by observed flows and commitments, and the best available data on private sector REDD+ initiatives has limited depth and coverage. Enhancing private sector investment in REDD+ requires enabling conditions such as carbon rights, tenure security and law enforcement.


The ability to vary systematically the neuronal environment is one advantage afforded by the use of cell culture. Replacement of serum, a variable and undefined medium supplement, with known ingredients allows even greater control of culture conditions. We have studied biochemical and morphological properties related to neurotransmitter metabolism of rat sympathetic neurons cultured in a modified defined medium. Neuronal survival, ultrastructure, and expression of noradrenergic properties appear similar in serum-free and serum-supplemented cultures: small granular vesicles characteristic of norepinephrine storage were observed in both types of culture, and tyrosine hydroxylase activity, conversion of dopamine to norepinephrine, catecholamine production, and storage capacity are equivalent in serum-free and serum-containing cultures. Several of these properties were not exhibited at high levels in previous formulations of this defined medium. Acetylcholine production, however, was about 10-fold lower in serum-free compared to serum-supplemented cultures, consistent with the findings of lacovitti et al. (lacovitti, L., M. I. Johnson, T. H. Joh, and R. P. Bunge (1982) Neuroscience 7:2225–2239). Acetylcholine production can be induced under serum-free conditions by a previously characterized cholinergic inducing factor from heart cell conditioned medium. This responsiveness to serum-free heart cell conditioned medium indicates that serum-free cultures retain plasticity with respect to transmitter status, despite expression of noradrenergic characteristics, unlike cultured neurons of which the noradrenergic transmitter status is maintained by chronic depolarization. Thus, sympathetic neurons survive, express numerous differentiated properties, and display a novel transmitter status under serum-free conditions.


This is an exciting time to be in cancer medicine. New technologies, such as next-generation sequencing (NGS), have increased our understanding of the molecular aberrations that define cancer. This, in turn, has led to the identification of cancer-specific molecular targets and potential drugs to confront these targets. As these new technologies move toward clinical application, a new vocabulary of "genome medicine" has been introduced to the field of oncology. Unfortunately, unclear or incorrect use of the new terminology has led to semantic misunderstandings that impair communication between the basic research and clinical practice arenas. These misunderstandings have led to assumptions regarding the clinical application of NGS and other technologies that may or may not be true. For example, some organizations that perform NGS testing on clinical samples have endorsed use of the results of such tests to direct specific therapies based on laboratory hypotheses, but without clinical testing of the hypotheses to show utility for these potential predictive claims. Here, we review some simple, and hopefully universally acceptable, definitions, concepts, and trial designs so that laboratory researchers and clinicians can move closer toward speaking the same language.


Qi stagnation, which is believed to result from repressed emotions and bear directly on dream experiences, is an important diagnostic entity in Chinese medicine. T his belief , however, has not received much empirical attention. In view of this , the study presented here was geared toward testing the relationship between anger expression, qi stagnation, and dreaming themes relating to qi stagnation. The Chinese versions of the Stagnation Scale, Buss-Perry Aggression Questionnaire, and Dream Motif Scale were administered to 117 Chinese participants. Q i stagnation as indicated by overattachment, body-mind obstruction, and affect-posture inhibition was found to be positively correlated with dreaming of ego anger, bodily inhibition, and botanic elements . This relationship was still significant even after taking a person's aggressive tendencies into consideration . Specifically, dream themes involving e go anger were positively predicted by internal anger and overall qi stagnation, dreaming of bodily hindrance and botanic elements being respectively indicated by overattachment and body-mind obstruction . Nonetheless, the presenting findings do not necessarily lend support to the qi mechanisms described by the traditional Chinese medicine but might instead reflect certain psychological mechanisms for dream formation , such as dream symbolism and internalizing emotions in waking life.


Background Interventions to change the built environment offer a promising approach for promoting physical activity and improving health. However, there has been little theoretical consideration of the underlying mechanisms by which such interventions might operate. This systematic review aims first to map the potential causal pathways linking environmental changes with changes in physical activity, and second to review the evidence for specific mechanisms. This presentation will focus on the first, mapping, stage of the review. Methods We used a systematic, transparent and iterative approach, drawing on realist principles. As we were interested in scoping a diverse landscape of theories linking the environment, physical activity and health, we searched seven electronic literature databases representing a range of disciplines (Cochrane, Medline, ProQuest, HealthEvidence, NICE, TRID and Web of Science). Theoretical and conceptual material was extracted from a variety of source documents including review articles, theoretical papers and intervention studies. We used thematic analysis in an in-depth, configurative approach to synthesis, aiming to derive a set of plausible generalisable pathways by which environmental changes could promote changes in physical activity. Results Our initial searches identified 2760 potential sources from fields including public health, sociology, behavioural science, and transport. From these, 79 conceptual and review papers were included. A further 30 papers were found through reference lists, and 26 primary intervention studies were identified. Interventions included the creation or refurbishment of whole neighbourhoods (n = 2), greenspaces or parks (n = 9), trails or paths (n = 11), cycle infrastructure (n = 2), and public transport services (n = 2). The key themes elicited related to social practice, agency and structure, conscious and unconscious processes, and the interdependence of social and physical environments. A set of interlinked potential pathways was identified, linking environmental changes with changes in physical activity through combinations of changes in both attributes and judgements of both physical and social environments, as well as in individual reasoning. Conclusion Mapping these theoretical pathways provides greater understanding of the potential individual and social mechanisms of change. In the second part of the review, we will search for evidence to support or refute specific mechanisms. Assembling this evidence will shed light on why some environmental interventions do or do not 'work', how they operate, and in which contexts and population groups they are most effective. This will allow us to refine our understanding and identify promising intervention points and strategies.


The installation and loading of steel piles driven in sands modifies both the piles' surface topography and the characteristics of the granular materials present adjacent to the pile shaft. Large-displacement ring shear interface tests incorporating pre-conditioning stages are capable of reproducing such physical processes in the laboratory and can generate case-specific interface design parameters. This paper summarises laboratory research that characterised the interface shearing behaviour of three natural sandy soils retrieved from field test sites (Dunkirk, France; Blessington, Ireland; Larvik, SE Norway) where extensive piling studies on micro and industrial scale driven piles have been carried out. The programme examined the influences of soil characteristics (physical properties and chemical compositions), interface type (mild steel or stainless steel) and surface roughness, and highlighted the significant effects of normal effective stress level and ageing time duration. Remarkable trends of increasing interface friction angles with elevated normal effective stress levels and prolonged ageing were observed. The results from supplementary small-displacement direct shear interface tests and triaxial tests are also reported. The experiments are interpreted with reference to earlier studies to develop an overview of interface shearing characteristics between steels and sandy soils and provide important insights into the mechanisms of axial capacity increases applying to steel piles driven in sands.