We propose a procedure for the synthesis of control protocols for systems governed by nonlinear differential equations and constrained by temporal logic specifications. This procedure relies on a particular finite-state abstraction of the underlying continuous dynamics and a discrete representation of the external environmental signals. A two-player game formulation provides computationally efficient means to construct a discrete strategy based on the finite-state model. We focus on systems with differentially flat outputs, which, in a straightforward manner, allows the construction of continuous control signals from the discrete transitions dictated by the discrete strategy. The resulting continuous-time output trajectories are provably guaranteed to robustly satisfy the original specifications.


This is the second part in a series of papers dealing with various aspects of clinical pharmacology of the first AT1-receptor antagonist losartan and its therapeutic use in hypertension, diabetic nephropathy, chronic heart failure, and acute phase of myocardial infarction. This part contains review of literature data concerning the use of losartan for the treatment of hypertension and diabetic nephropathy including results of two major randomized trials which for the first time demonstrated ability of losartan to improve long term prognosis in patients with hypertension and diabetic nephropathy.


The high mountain karren rock relief reveals the manner of the formation of the mountain karst surface in the northwestern part of Yunnan at altitudes between 4,000 and 4,600 m. Two dominant factors, snow and rain, decisively influence the formation of the majority of rock forms; in places, particularly on the Shika Snow Mountain, two additional factors are subsoil corrosion and water trickling from overgrown surfaces. Biocorrosion is important for the fine dissection of the rock. Sub-snow rock forms dominate in places where the rock has been covered by snow for a longer period. These are primarily the gently sloping sunless parts of the karren, the lower parts or lower walls of karren, and fissures. Gently sloping sunless parts of the karren are often dissected in various ways so there are sub-snow forms on their lower parts and rock forms carved by rainwater on the higher parts, peaks, and ridges. Rain rock forms dominate on sunny surfaces and parts of the rock that are steep, located higher above the floor, and covered by only a thin layer of snow. The relief and individual rock forms are also influenced by the fissuring and the recrystallization of rock characteristic of the Shika Snow Mountain. The rock masses on the Yulong Snow Mountain are larger and its rock forms have more regular shapes. On the Shika Snow Mountain, rock recrystallization has an important influence on the rock forms, causing fine diversities and often jagged edges of rock forms. By this feature of rock forms and the frequent and originally subsoil rock formation on the Shika Snow Mountain we can distinguish the two described areas of mountain karren. In both mountain areas, the basic characteristics are the same and unique. The rock relief of the mountain karren described in this paper is predominantly dictated by the wider climate and microclimate conditions, the form of precipitation, the alternation of snow and rain, the distribution of precipitation, and the solar exposure of the karren.


Mainstream news outlets continue to ignore Indigenous people or cover them inadequately, resulting in mistrust and alienation by the former towards the latter. Yet, ways to meet Indigenous peoples' needs for accurate media representation is understudied and undertheorized. Based on 16 in-depth interviews with Native and Indigenous citizens, we develop a conceptual framework of situated multidimensional representation to elucidate the agentic processes for citizen journalists to empower members of various tribal affiliations. Findings reveal that citizen journalists' situated knowledge and expertise encourages humanizing Indigenous people, engenders media trust through evoking feelings of relatability and belonging, and strengthens Indigenous identity by foregrounding the focus on complex personhood. Our analysis highlights a need for transforming conventional journalistic values and relationship building practices to incorporate marginalized Indigenous perspectives. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.


In this paper, we compare the dispersion properties (flattened, zero and negative dispersion) and effective area in hexagonal and square lattice PCF with different hole-to-hole spacing (Λ) and air hole diameter (d) by using Fully Vectorial Effective Index Method (FVEIM). The analysis is carried out in wavelength range from 1.3 µm to 1.6 µm. We also use plane wave expansion method for comparison of effective cladding index in both above lattices.


The purpose of this study was to examine the creation of caring relationships between handicapped and nonhandicapped children in inclusive education setting and the edu- cational meaning of that relationship. Different sorts of data were analyzed and inter- preted, including participant observation records, conversational journals prepared by inclusive education teachers and this researcher, and reminder books on which the inclusive education teachers and parents of the handicapped children took turns keep- ing a diary. The nonhandicapped and handicapped children entered into a mutually caring relationship in the course of sympathizing with each other and creating a sense of solidarity and shared meaning. That relationship allowed them to acquire practical knowledge about their peers, and that appeared to be educationally meaningful as a way of making a caring classroom community. The caring classroom community was marked by confrontation between the nonhandicapped and handicapped children, res- ponding and embracing mutual differences. The importance and worth of caring in early childhood curriculum were accentuated in this study.


1. Ribosomal RNA has been prepared by extracting tissues with a phenol-cresol mixture, and ribosomal RNA can be selectively precipitated with m-cresol. No rapidly labelled RNA was associated with this material. 2. However, if RNA and DNA are extracted with 4-aminosalicylate and phenol-cresol mixture and the nucleic acids precipitated, DNA, glycogen and s-RNA (transfer RNA) can be extracted with 3m-sodium acetate and in this case rapidly labelled RNA remains associated with the ribosomal RNA. 3. The ribosomal RNA is stable in the presence of concentrated salt solution and, although the secondary structure is lost by heating at 70 degrees in 10mm-sodium acetate, it can be re-formed in the presence of 200mm-sodium acetate. 4. The 28s and 18s components have been separated and their base compositions determined.


We have used a "two-way pseudo-testcross" mapping strategy in combination with the random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) assay to construct two moderate density genetic linkage maps for species of Eucalyptus. In the cross between two heterozygous individuals many single-dose RAPD markers will be heterozygous in one parent, null in the other and therefore segregate 1:1 in their F1 progeny following a testcross configuration. Meiosis and gametic segregation in each individual can be directly and efficiently analyzed using RAPD markers. We screened 305 primers of arbitrary sequence, and selected 151 to amplify a total of 558 markers. These markers were grouped at LOD 5.0, theta = 0.25, resulting in the maternal Eucalyptus grandis map having a total of 240 markers into 14 linkage groups (1552 cM) and the paternal Eucalyptus urophylla map with 251 markers in 11 linkage groups (1101 cM) (n = 11 in Eucalyptus). Framework maps ordered with a likelihood support > or = 1000:1 were assembled covering 95% of the estimated genome size in both individuals. Characterization of genome complexity of a sample of 48 mapped random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) markers indicate that 53% amplify from low copy regions. These are the first reported high coverage linkage maps for any species of Eucalyptus and among the first for any hardwood tree species. We propose the combined use of RAPD markers and the pseudo-testcross configuration as a general strategy for the construction of single individual genetic linkage maps in outbred forest trees as well as in any highly heterozygous sexually reproducing living organisms. A survey of the occurrence of RAPD markers in different individuals suggests that the pseudo-testcross/RAPD mapping strategy should also be efficient at the intraspecific level and increasingly so with crosses of genetically divergent individuals. The ability to quickly construct single-tree genetic linkage maps in any forest species opens the way for a shift from the paradigm of a species index map to the heterodox proposal of constructing several maps for individual trees of a population, therefore mitigating the problem of linkage equilibrium between marker and trait loci for the application of marker assisted strategies in tree breeding.


Traditionally, the Canadian political environment has been predicated on a left-right ideological split, with the Liberal Party of Canada (LPC) on the left and iterations of the Conservative Party of Canada (CPC) on the right (Cochrane, 2010). However, this changed after the 2011 General Election when the NDP won enough seats in Parliament (102, an increase of 65 seats from the last election) to form the Official Opposition. The LPC lost a drastic number of seats, from 77 seats to 34 seats (-43), reducing them to third party status in the House of Commons for the first time in history.

This paper explores how this phenomenon was manifested in the media by analyzing unsigned editorials in two national English language Canadian newspapers, The Globe and Mail and The National Post, from April 20, 2011 to May 2, 2011. This time period was chosen to reflect the period between expressed public support for the NDP rose above support for the LPC and the end of the campaign on election day. To analyze this phenomenon, this paper uses grounded theory as the methodological framework.

Grounded theory is a qualitative and explorative form of research that differs from other forms of qualitative research because the data collection phase and analysis phases of the project are conducted concurrently (Glaser, 1978; Glaser & Strauss, 1967; Strauss, 1987; Strauss & Corbin, 1990; Banks, et al., 2000; Schreiber, 2001; Lindlof & Taylor, 2002; Gibbs, 2007; Charmaz, 2000). This approach provides a flexible framework to explore new phenomena, free of preconceived ideas about findings (Strauss and Corbin, 1998). A series of coding phases - open coding, axial coding, notional coding - are used to identify patterns within the textual data and the observed patterns are used to form theories to explain the phenomenon.

The analysis in this paper suggests that prior to the General Election outcome, the NDP emerged as a serious political contender to the CPC. This theory emerges from two patterns observed in the data centred around political discourse and campaign communications. The first observed pattern is how the editorials described each party's leader using a narrative of leadership and capability. The CPC and NDP leaders, whose parties gained the most in the General Election, were described under the narrative of leadership and reflected this narrative in their campaign communications. The second observed pattern was the way certain issues were highlighted in the editorials as salient election issues. These issues - Quebec, healthcare, and the economy - were more closely related to the campaign communications from the NDP and the CPC than they were to the LPC.


Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to empirically study whether China could achieve strong export market power considering its highly decentralized coke production and trade. Design/methodology/approach - By using time series data, this paper econometrically estimates the coke export market power with the Hall model; then, through analyzing micro trade data and public policy, tries to explain the co-existing dilemma of China's highly decentralized coke production/export and its strong market power in the world market; lastly, by using Stigler's survival technique, it explores the optimum size of China's coke production and export. Findings - The paper finds that the market power of Chinese coke export is quite strong, even if its micro market structure is highly decentralized; the main explanation for the expanding of China's coke export market power comes from its oligopolistic position in the world coke market, its strong industry policy and trade policy restriction. Also it is found that the optimum size in the coke industry should be the market share below 0.5 percent, or in 1-10 percent, while other market sizes are of diseconomies of scale. Practical implications - Such findings provide evidence for China's policy adjustment regarding maintaining strong coke export market power, while eliminating economic distortions and negative production externality. Originality/value - This paper highlights the co-existing issues of micro competitive structure and nationally oligopolistic position in an industry. This study is the first try to combine market power and economies of scale, through empirical analysis and optimum size estimation, to generate implications for optimal government public policy.


Bacterial meningitis is an infectious disease of the brain that occurs worldwide and is a major public health challenge. A leading cause of this often-fatal disease is the bacterium Neisseria meningitidis, also called meningococcus. Genomics is having a transformational impact on medicine. It enables advances in accurate diagnosis, analysis and prediction of anti-microbial resistance, development and assessment of vaccines etc. PubMLST.org, developed and run by the authors, is a major open-access genomics reference database. It is an integrated collection of databases consisting of phenotype metadata linked to nucleotide sequence data including genome assemblies, for molecular typing of many bacterial species. This paper discusses visual analytics and visualization work conducted to explore and analyse Neisseria meningitidis data from PubMLST.


We present a perception system, called Artisan, that semi-automatically builds 3-D models of a robot's workspace. Range images are acquired with a scanning laser rangefinder and then processed, based an a systematic sensor characterization, to remove noise and artifacts. Complex 3-D objects represented as surface meshes are subsequently recognized in the range images and inserted into a virtual workspace. This graphical virtual workspace is then used to by human operators to plan and execute remote robotic operations.


This paper concerns the assessment of two methods for convex relaxation of the short-term hydrothermal scheduling problem. The problem is originally formulated as a mixed integer programming problem, and then approximated using both Lagrangian and Linear relaxation. The two relaxation methods are quantitatively compared using a realistic data description of the Northern European power system, considering a set of representative days. We find that the Lagrangian relaxation approximates system operational costs in the range 55-81% closer to the mixed integer programming problem solution than the Linear relaxation. We show how these cost gaps vary with season and climatic conditions. Conversely, the differences in both marginal cost of electricity and reserve capacity provided by the Lagrangian and Linear relaxation are muted.


This paper extends the linear complementarity problem formulation of [7] and [8] for normal impact of planar deformable bodies in multibody systems. In the kinematics of impact we consider the normal gaps between the impacting bodies in terms of the generalized coordinates. Then, the generalized coordinate's vector is formulated in terms of the impact forces using the 5th order implicit Runge‐Kutta approach RADAU5. Substituting the generalized coordinates in the relation of normal gaps together with the complementarity relations of unilateral contact constraints leads to a linear complementarity problem where its solution results in the solution of the impact problem including impact forces and normal gaps. Then, alternatively another formulation on velocity level based on the 4th order explicit Runge‐Kutta is presented. In the presented approach no coefficient of restitution is used for treatment of energy loss during impact and, instead, the material damping is responsible for energy loss. A good agreement between the results of our approach with the results of FEM for soft planar deformable bodies was shown in [7]. Here, we improve the results for stiff planar deformable bodies and show that with a proper selection of eigenmodes, the results on both position and velocity level approach the precise results of FEM provided that an optimal time step of the integration is chosen. We also investigate the effect of considering material damping and some higher eigenfrequencies on the amount of energy which is dissipated during impact based on our approach.


Despite the importance of single particle motion in biological systems, systematic inference approaches to analyze particle trajectories and evaluate competing motion models are lacking. An automated approach for robust evaluation of motion models that does not require manual intervention is highly desirable to enable analysis of datasets from high-throughput imaging technologies that contain hundreds or thousands of trajectories of biological particles, such as membrane receptors, vesicles, chromosomes or kinetochores, mRNA particles, or whole cells in developing embryos. Bayesian inference is a general theoretical framework for performing such model comparisons that has proven successful in handling noise and experimental limitations in other biological applications. The inherent Bayesian penalty on model complexity, which avoids overfitting, is particularly important for particle trajectory analysis given the highly stochastic nature of particle diffusion. This thesis presents two complementary approaches for analyzing particle motion using Bayesian inference. The first method, MSD-Bayes, discriminates a wide range of motion models— including diffusion, directed motion, anomalous and confined diffusion—based on meansquare displacement analysis of a set of particle trajectories, while the second method, HMMBayes, identifies dynamic switching between diffusive and directed motion along individual trajectories using hidden Markov models. These approaches are validated on biological particle trajectory datasets from a wide range of experimental systems, demonstrating their broad applicability to research in cell biology.


The goal of the National Medical Care Utilization and Expenditure Survey (NMCUES) is to improve the understanding of the ways in which Americans use and pay for health care. This report is one in a series of descriptive reports based on NMCUES data. Data concerning several aspects of insurance coverage were collected from household respondents in NMCUES. These data included the kind of insurance in effect for each person (Medicare, Medicaid, private, or other) and the use of inpatient and ambulatory health services. The purpose of this report is to provide descriptive information about the distribution of insurance coverage among the U.S. population and the use of inpatient and ambulatory services by people with different kinds of insurance. The results presented are based on data collected about the civilian noninstitutionalized persons in the NMCUES national household sample. In this report, "person-year" estimates for health insurance coverage are used; that is, individuals are assigned to different categories of insurance coverage according to the proportion of the year that they were covered by each kind of insurance. Although estimates are calculated as person-years of coverage, they are expressed as persons covered for convenience. Two important subpopulations--persons under 65 years of age and persons 65 years of age or over--are addressed separately because they have different patterns of insurance coverage and because utilization is so heavily influenced by age. Persons 65 years of age or over used significantly more inpatient and ambulatory services than persons under 65 years of age did. Only those in the younger group with Medicare, who were disabled, had utilization rates very similar to those of the aged. Persons under 65 years of age are classified by six mutually exclusive insurance categories: All Medicare. Medicaid, no private health insurance. Private health insurance, no Medicaid. Medicaid and private health insurance. Other coverage only. No insurance. Persons 65 years of age or over are classified by four mutually exclusive categories: Medicare only. Medicare and Medicaid. Medicare and private or other coverage. No Medicare. These categories of insurance coverage describe the kind of organization or program that supplies the coverage. With the exception of Medicare, which is a national program, these classifications provide little information about the scope of benefits and level of payment available to people who are covered. Considerable variation exists by State within the Medicaid category and by plan or program within the private insurance and other coverage categories.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)


Abstract The Lithothamnion Limestone constitutes the uppermost carbonate unit of the Bolognano Formation outcropping in the Majella structure (Central Apennines, Italy). It represents the northern extension of the large Apulia Carbonate Platform and preserves an excellent record of the progressive decay of trophic conditions due to the approach of foredeep systems characterized by turbiditic siliciclastic sedimentation during the early Messinian. Sedimentological and compositional analyses were used to reconstruct the depositional model and evolution of platform environmental conditions. The profile is consistent with a homoclinal carbonate ramp, with a wide middle-ramp environment in which coralline algae, mainly forming the maërl facies, dominated carbonate production. This facies was associated with seagrass meadows colonizing the inner ramp. The outer ramp was characterized by bioturbated hemipelagic marl with planktonic foraminifera and pectinids in the aphotic zone. Three main stages of ramp evolution have been identified. During the first stage, the ramp was subjected to high-energy wave-dominated conditions, which favored the development of deep rip channels in which accumulations of vertebrate bones have been identified. In the second stage, maërl facies and seagrass meadows developed, initially in an oligotrophic setting, later followed by a slight reduction in light penetration. The third stage involved a general increase in fine terrigenous sediments, together with a further decrease in light and also by the spread of coralline algal bindstone facies. This elevated terrigenous input was associated with increased trophic conditions, as also shown by the occurrence of abundant plankton and low-oxygenated foraminiferal assemblages.


This paper outlines initial analysis from research in progress into ADSL homed Nepenthes honeypots. One of the Nepenthes honeypots prime objective in this research was the collection of malware for analysis and dissection. A further objective is the analysis of risks that are circulating within ISP networks in Western Australian. What differentiates Nepenthes from many traditional honeypot designs it that is has been engineered from a distributed network philosophy. The program allows distribution of results across a network of sensors and subsequent aggregation of malware statistics readily within a large network environment.


This study aims to describe the haemodynamic and survival characteristics of patients with pulmonary hypertension in the recently individualised syndrome of combined pulmonary fibrosis and emphysema. A retrospective multicentre study was conducted in 40 patients (38 males; age 68±9 yrs; 39 smokers) with combined pulmonary fibrosis and emphysema, and pulmonary hypertension at right heart catheterisation. Dyspnoea was functional class II in 15%, III in 55% and IV in 30%. 6-min walk distance was 244±126 m. Forced vital capacity was 86±18%, forced expiratory volume in 1 s 78±19%, and carbon monoxide diffusion transfer coefficient 28±16% of predicted. Room air arterial oxygen tension was 7.5±1.6 kPa (56±12 mmHg). Mean pulmonary artery pressure was 40±9 mmHg, cardiac index 2.5±0.7 L·min−1·m−2 and pulmonary vascular resistance 521±205 dyn·s·cm−5. 1-yr survival was 60%. Higher pulmonary vascular resistance, higher heart rate, lower cardiac index and lower carbon monoxide diffusion transfer were associated with shorter survival. Patients with combined pulmonary fibrosis and emphysema syndrome and pulmonary hypertension confirmed by right heart catheterisation have a dismal prognosis despite moderately altered lung volumes and flows and moderately severe haemodynamic parameters.


Approximately 13% of the human genome at certain motifs have the potential to form noncanonical (non-B) DNA structures (e.g., G-quadruplexes, cruciforms, and Z-DNA), which regulate many cellular processes but also affect the activity of polymerases and helicases. Because sequencing technologies use these enzymes, they might possess increased errors at non-B structures. To evaluate this, we analyzed error rates, read depth, and base quality of Illumina, Pacific Biosciences (PacBio) HiFi, and Oxford Nanopore Technologies (ONT) sequencing at non-B motifs. All technologies showed altered sequencing success for most non-B motif types, although this could be owing to several factors, including structure formation, biased GC content, and the presence of homopolymers. Single-nucleotide mismatch errors had low biases in HiFi and ONT for all non-B motif types but were increased for G-quadruplexes and Z-DNA in all three technologies. Deletion errors were increased for all non-B types but Z-DNA in Illumina and HiFi, as well as only for G-quadruplexes in ONT. Insertion errors for non-B motifs were highly, moderately, and slightly elevated in Illumina, HiFi, and ONT, respectively. Additionally, we developed a probabilistic approach to determine the number of false positives at non-B motifs depending on sample size and variant frequency, and applied it to publicly available data sets (1000 Genomes, Simons Genome Diversity Project, and gnomAD). We conclude that elevated sequencing errors at non-B DNA motifs should be considered in low-read-depth studies (single-cell, ancient DNA, and pooled-sample population sequencing) and in scoring rare variants. Combining technologies should maximize sequencing accuracy in future studies of non-B DNA.


Type III group B streptococci (GBS) are the most common cause of neonatal sepsis and meningitis in the United States. The important role of the type III polysaccharide capsule and of the terminal sialic acid moiety of the capsule in the virulence of GBS has been demonstrated by using Tn916 mutagenesis. Several of the transposon insertion sites that resulted in defective type III capsule synthesis were located in a 30-kilobase (kb) region of the chromosome. Hybridization analysis of two other type III strains that differed in their relative virulence and of GBS serotypes Ia, Ib, Ic, and II showed that this region of the chromosome was highly conserved. A repetitive 1.4-kb sequence was found only in the 30-kb region of the more virulent type III strain, COH 1. The Escherichia coli maxicell in vivo expression system and an in vitro coupled transcription-translation system successfully identified the proteins expressed from the 30-kb region. Comparison of the proteins expressed from the same DNA fragments in these two assays indicated that some of these proteins may contain leader sequences that would ultimately result in their secretion to the cell surface. Identification and further characterization of the genes and their products will provide the foundation for understanding the genetic and biochemical events in GBS capsular polysaccharide production.


Consistency in network updates is a nascent research area, especially in the context of traffic engineering or Software Defined Networks. Various approaches have been proposed and implemented in the problem space of flow migration and congestion, primarily focusing on different flows not breaking the bandwidth capacities of the used links during updates. However, current network update techniques overlook the effect of flows congesting their own path during a network update due to latency on the links. Furthermore, while congestion will be resolved eventually after the network update, the buffers of the affected routers can be filled for a long time period, leading to the following paradox: a flow is moved to a path with less latency, but the latency stays the same! As flows are often migrated because of latency concerns, this is highly undesirable. We show that these effects occur already in a small topology in practice, causing packet loss due to overfull buffers. Furthermore, we prove that finding a lossless flow migration is NP-hard, already for a single (splittable) flow on directed acyclic graphs. Nonetheless, we can relax latency requirements to still obtain lossless flow migration. To this end, we show how to adapt current systems such as SWAN or Dionysus [SIGCOMM'13/'14], also developing our own polynomial time schedule algorithm, and discussing future consistent flow migration technique adaptations.


Prostate cancer is a public health concern, particularly to the African-American community. African-American men are disproportionately affected and experience prostate cancer rates about 60% more often than white Americans. It is the second leading cancer in men and it is second only to lung cancer in cancer related deaths. This is a significant public health problem. This paper will focus on the gene Interleukin 6 signal transducer isoform 1 (IL6ST), on chromosome 5q11.2, with polymorphisms relating to gp130 [rs 3730293 and rs 3729960]; both single nucleotide polymorphisms result in an amino acid change. The change is Glycine to Arginine for rs 3729960 which is located in exon 14 and Isoleucine to Threonine for rs 3730293 which is located in exon 10. Human IL-6 signaling requires the 80kDa IL-6R receptor, which is responsible for IL-6 specificity and the 130kDa glycoprotein, gp130, the signal transduction subunit for signal transduction to occur. IL-6 acts through its receptors which are polymorphic, and subsequently may cause it to have different functionality. A population based case/control study was conducted to evaluate the influence of gp130 snps on prostate cancer risk in an Afro-Caribbean male population of Tobago. This population was chosen because of the high prevalence of prostate cancer. A subset of 1000 samples taken from a study done by Bunker et al, was genotyped by PCR and fluorescence polarization methods. Statistical analysis yielded all estimated allele frequencies to be in Hardy Weinberg Equilibrium. Chi square analysis of the cases and controls yielded no significant association of the gp130 snps and prostate cancer risk.


This paper uses long-range dependence techniques to analyse two important features of the US Federal Funds effective rate, namely its persistence and cyclical behaviour. It examines annual, monthly, bi-weekly and weekly data, from 1954 until 2010. Two models are considered. One is based on an I(d) specification with AR(2) disturbances and the other on two fractional differencing structures, one at the zero and the other at a cyclical frequency. Thus, the two approaches differ in the way the cyclical component of the process is modelled. In both cases we obtain evidence of long memory and fractional integration. The in-sample goodness-of-fit analysis supports the second specification in the majority of cases. An out-of-sample forecasting experiment also suggests that the long-memory model with two fractional differencing parameters is the most adequate one, especially over long horizons.


Almost 500 m of basaltic hyaloclastite tuffs, hyaloclastite lapillistones, and lithic breccias were drilled in the northern, southeastern, and southwestern flank of Gran Canaria, Canary Islands during Leg 157 (Hole 953C, total penetration 1159 meters below seafloor [mbsf], basal 293 m; Hole 954B, total penetration 446 mbsf, basal 38 m; and Hole 956B, total penetration 704 mbsf, basal 140 m). These deposits represent (1) mostly moderate to shallow water (<< ~500 m) eruptions, (2) transition to the emergence, and (3) the fully subaerial island shield stage. The volcaniclastic rocks are interlayered with minor thin layers of nannofossil ooze and clay. Volcanic clasts comprise blocky to vesicular, generally altered former sideromelane shards, tachylite crystallized basalt, round glassy shards, lapilli, and single crystals, chiefly titanaugite. Dominantly filled foraminifers, thick-walled shallow-water skeletal debris, and nannofossil ooze make up <5 vol% of the volcaniclastic rocks. Most of the basaltic volcaniclastic deposits are interpreted to have been deposited as debris flows resulting from (1) destabilization of hyaloclastites generated during voluminous moderate (<500 m?) to shallow-water explosive volcanic activity and temporarily accumulated prior to episodic failure and transfer to the deep basins, fragmentation of subaerial lava flows that entered the sea and collapse of lava deltas and by flank collapse. About 16 debris-flow units (lithologic Unit VII) in Hole 953C range in thickness from ~1 to 50 m. Most are composed of well-sorted massive lapillistone to coarse hyaloclastite tuff consisting of blocky, poorly vesicular shards, minor tachylite, and crystallized basalt. The top 5%–10% or so show laminar bedding to minor cross-bedding, the grain size decreasing to fine sand (ash) size in the top beds. Basalt clasts up to 25 cm in diameter are common in the coarse-grain l parts. Most particles in the stratigraphically highest deposits are vesicular to highly vesicular ash to lapilli-size clasts su ggesting decreasing water depth. Coarse breccias at Hole 953C (lithologic Unit VI) consist of basalt clasts of diverse composition, larity, and vesicularity, and some contain pillow rind fragments. Only the upper of three debrites at Site 956 (Cores 157-9 43R through 45R) and underlying turbidites consist dominantly of highly vesicular formerly glassy ash to lapilli-sized cla Lithic-rich debris-flow deposits at Site 956 (Cores 157-956B-45R through 48R, and 49R through 57R) consist chiefly of po vesicular, angular tachylite, crystallized basalt, and minor formerly glassy shards set in ~30 −50 vol% brown clay matrix. About 300 very thin turbidite beds, 1 −40 cm thick, deposited prior to the first ignimbrite-related ash deposit at Hole 953 are composed of variable amounts of dominantly siltto sand-sized tachylitic and lesser amounts of vesicular to blocky a shards and minor biogenic debris. They are interpreted to represent chiefly the subaerial growth stage of the basaltic shi nd to have been derived dominantly from erosionally fragmented scoria and lava flows. The phenocryst assemblage in clas matrix of all deposits, mainly titanaugite and olivine (Fo 83−88) and minor plagioclase, changes with depth at both sites. Most of the submarine basaltic clasts and clastic rocks from Hole 953C are more primitive mineralogically and chemi than the subaerial shield stage basalts. Ratios of incompatible trace elements are practically indistinguishable between and moderately evolved rocks, between holes and between the bulk volcaniclastic rocks, basalt clasts, and subaerial rock basalts, suggesting that the source for the basalt magmas was fairly homogeneous during the late submarine and subae lution. More evolved compositions (plagioclase-phyric hawaiites) are restricted to Site 956 coincident with the eruption of estage evolved subaerial shield lavas in southwestern Gran Canaria. Fresh glass in the center of large lapilli in the upperm of three debris flows (Core 157-956B-44R) is intermediate in composition, MgO ranging from 3.9 to 4.9 wt%. Major and tr element concentrations of some 101 hyaloclastite bulk rocks and 20 clasts document major mobile element transfer. B glass is generally replaced by smectite. Zeolite phases, mostly phillipsite, and minor carbonate, are common porephases. The vertical and lateral growth and changes in eruptive activity of the shield volcano are well reflected in the lithologic compositional contrasts within and between the sections drilled at Hole 953C and Hole 956B (45 km southwest of Canaria). Decreasing water depth of eruption is especially well documented in the increase in vesicularity in shards at Si 3 and extremely vesicular shards near the top of the basaltic section of Site 956. Eruptive activity had clearly decreased in t east of Gran Canaria during deposition of the late-stage turbidites at Hole 953C, as shown by the dominance of epiclastic parti in these rocks. Cores 157-956B-44R and 45R of the basaltic shield sequence at Hole 956B are considered to record younge volcanism in western Gran Canaria that was taking place while largely epiclastic material was supplied to Site 953 in the n east. A recovered 3.75-m-thick interval consisting of layers of an unusual sandstone interbedded with turbidites of mixed v niclastic-biogenic lithology, on top of the basal 85-m-thick lithoclast-rich debrite in the lower part of Hole 956B (interval 1 57956B-48R-3, 23 cm, to 49R-1, 26 cm), consists dominantly of alkali amphibole, partially chloritized phlogopite and apat and minor Cr-spinel, sphene, and zircon mixed with foraminifers. We speculate that the huge basal debrite, underlying sands and which we interpret as having been formed by collapse of the flanks of southwestern Gran Canaria, has cause tsunamis that washed up beach sands on La Gomera, ~115 km west of Gran Canaria.


Fluorescent DNA of high molecular weight is an important tool for studying the physical properties of DNA and DNA-protein interactions, and it plays a key role in modern biotechnology for DNA sequencing and detection. While several DNA polymerases can incorporate large numbers of dye-linked nucleotides into primed DNA templates, the amplification of the resulting densely labeled DNA strands by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) is problematic. Here, we report a method for high density labeling of DNA in PCR reactions employing the 5'-triphosphate of 1,3-diaza-2-oxo-phenoxazine (tCo) and Deep Vent DNA polymerase. tCo is a fluorescent cytosine analogue that absorbs and emits light at 365 and 460 nm, respectively. We obtained PCR products that were fluorescent enough to directly visualize them in a gel by excitation with long UV light, thus eliminating the need for staining with ethidium bromide. Reactions with Taq polymerase failed to produce PCR products in the presence of only small amounts of dtCoTP. A comparative kinetic study of Taq and Deep Vent polymerase revealed that Taq polymerase, although it inserts dtCoTP with high efficiency opposite G, is prone to forming mutagenic tCo-A base pairs and does not efficiently extend base pairs containing tCo. These kinetics features explain the poor outcome of the PCR reactions with Taq polymerase. Since tCo substitutes structurally for cytosine, the presented labeling method is believed to be less invasive than labeling with dye-linked nucleotides and, therefore, produces DNA that is ideally suited for biophysical studies.


Contemporary digital environments are increasingly changing the ways in which we live and interact. One of the fields where this is evident is the field of intimate relationships. At the beginning of the third decade of the 21st century mobile dating applications are becoming a common way of meeting potential partners. The purpose of this paper is to explore the implications of this and to look more closely how online dating in the age of mobile applications is changing the field of intimate relationships, as well as to note the complexity of this phenomenon.


type="main"> Denser networks of intermediate input flows between countries suggest ongoing international fragmentation of production chains. But is this process mainly taking place between countries within a region, or is it truly global? We provide new macroeconomic evidence by extending the Feenstra and Hanson ( ) measure of fragmentation to a multicountry setting. We derive the distribution of value added by all countries involved in the production chain of a particular final good. This is based on a new input–output model of the world economy, covering 40 countries and 14 manufacturing product groups. We find that in almost all product chains, the share of value added outside the country-of-completion has increased since 1995. This is mainly added outside the region to which the country-of-completion belongs, suggesting a transition from regional production systems to "Factory World." This tendency was only briefly interrupted by the financial crisis in 2008.


Under certain conditions, hexamers of microsomal cytochrome P450 can self-assemble from the subunits of different isoforms. However, the possibility for free choice results in recognition between identical subunits of each form of cytochrome P450 which provides preferential association of identical monomers into corresponding hexamers. The specificity of self-assembly suggests hexameric arrangement of cytochrome P450 in native membranes as we proposed earlier. In the present study, highly purified cytochrome P450 2B4 and cytochrome P450 1A2 (CYP 2B4 and CYP 1A2), including those immobilized by covalent attachment to an insoluble carrier of one protomer of each hexamer, were employed.


Tetrathiafulvalene-Lanthanide (TTF-Ln) Metal-Organic Frameworks (MOFs) are an interesting class of multifunctional materials in which porosity can be combined with electronic properties such as electrical conductivity, redox activity, luminescence and magnetism. Herein we report a new family of isostructural TTF-Ln MOFs, denoted as MUV-5(Ln) (Ln = Gd, Tb, Dy, Ho, Er), exhibiting semiconducting properties as a consequence of the short intermolecular S···S contacts established along the chain direction between partially oxidised TTF moieties. In addition, this family shows photoluminescence properties and single-molecule magnetic behaviour, finding near-infrared (NIR) photoluminescence in the Yb/Er derivative and slow relaxation of the magnetisation in the Dy and Er derivatives. As such properties are dependent on the electronic structure of the lanthanide ion, we emphasise the immense structural, electronic and functional versatility of this class of materials.


Background: Previous studies on the relationship between sleep patterns and obesity in the elderly are limited and have conflicting results. Moreover, few studies have measured sleep patterns objectively. In this study, we investigated objective sleep patterns and their relationship with obesity in the elderly in Tehran, Iran. Methods: In this cross-sectional study, 88 elderly (≥60 years old) who were members of health homes of zone 5 in Tehran, Iran, were included by simple random sampling method in 2014. Sleep patterns were objectively assessed using waist actigraphy for a mean of 4.3 ± 1.7 days). Height, weight, and waist circumference (WC) were measured by standard methods and body mass index (BMI) was calculated. Data entry and statistical analyses were performed using SPSS version 21. Results: Mean actigraphy-assessed sleep duration, sleep efficiency (percentage of time in bed spent sleeping), and sleep latency (time required to fall asleep) were 427 ± 62 min, 71.3 ± 18%, and 14.2 ± 3.8 min, respectively. A negative relationship was found between BMI and sleep duration (r = −0.2, p = 0.03), BMI and sleep efficiency (r = −0.3, p=0.01), and WC and sleep efficiency (r = −0.2, p = 0.04). Also, a positive association was observed between BMI and sleep latency (r = 0.4, p = 0.006). Conclusions:  In the elderly, actigraphy-assessed sleep duration was associated with obesity and the sleep efficiency was poor in obese participants. It seems that sleep patterns and BMI are correlated with each other. However, there is a need for prospective studies to affirm causal relationships between these constructs.


Screening infants for eye problems is loaded with uncertainty. Babies are unable to describe symptoms and in general may not be cooperative. In an ongoing research project, we are developing methods to screen infants for amblyopia, a common, but treatable, eye problem. The approach consists of processing a sequence of digital frames of the baby, searching for the few images where the infant "fixes" on a light positioned by the camera. Measurements made on the detected pupils are used to produce fuzzy confidence values that are fused together to create an overall confidence of fixation (the key factor in determining amblyopia). One of the most important and difficult factors in this calculation is the determination of the Hirschberg points - points of reflection of the light source off the front of the eye- if they exist at all. The criteria for detection are best thought of as fuzzy rules and methods to score potential Hirschberg points are developed. Results are shown on a variety of imagery collected in a clinical setting.


This article critically examines the law concerning dismissal on grounds of redundancy as it applies to the Australian Public Service ('APS'). Such an examination is timely, given the newly elected Coalition government's stated intention to reduce the APS by 12 000 employees through natural attrition. The article argues that a reduction of 12 000 employees through natural attrition alone is unlikely, and that redundancies are almost inevitable. Against this backdrop, the article considers recent legislative developments concerning dismissal on grounds of redundancy. Its focus is the genuine redundancy exclusion contained in s 389 of the Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth) ('FW Act') and its application to APS employment. The genuine redundancy exclusion precludes unfair dismissal claims if the redundancy is genuine, the employer complies with any consultation obligations in a modern award or enterprise agreement and it would not have been reasonable in all the circumstances to redeploy the affected employee within the employer's enterprise or that of an associated entity. The article argues that, prior to the FW Act, redundancy obligations were predominantly dealt with in collective agreements, and did not require consultations or redeployment of redundant employees beyond the individual agency. However the FW Act fundamentally changed the law in this area. The article contends that a failure to comply with consultation obligations in an agency enterprise agreement will increase the prospects of a dismissal being found to be unfair. In the APS this is problematic, given the convoluted nature of many consultation clauses in enterprise agreements. The article also argues that the redeployment obligations in s 389(2) are extremely broad and, contrary to past practice under the Public Service Act 1999 (Cth) ('PS Act'), encompass redeployment across the APS. The obligation to redeploy across the APS creates tensions in the law between the provisions of the FW Act and the devolution of managerial powers under the PS Act. The article concludes by calling for reform of the law which would address these tensions. It is submitted that any reforms should first clarify whether, as a matter of policy, the Commonwealth wishes to permit redeployment across the APS, or confine it to the level of each individual agency. Options for reform are suggested which would achieve either policy outcome.


: The task of detecting regionalisms (expressions or words used in certain regions) has traditionally relied on the use of questionnaires and surveys, heavily depending on the expertise and intuition of the surveyor. The emergence of social media and microblogging services has produced an unprecedented wealth of content (mainly informal text generated by users), opening new opportunities for linguists to extend their studies of language variation. Previous work on the automatic detection of regionalisms depended mostly on word frequencies. In this work, we present a novel metric based on Information Theory that incorporates user frequency. We tested this metric on a corpus of Argentinian Spanish tweets in two ways: via manual annotation of the relevance of the retrieved terms, and also as a feature selection method for geolocation of users. In either case, our metric outperformed other techniques based on word frequency, suggesting that measuring the amount of users that use a word is an informative feature. This tool has helped lexicographers discover several unregistered words of Argentinian Spanish, as well as different meanings as-signed to registered words.


-In case of a large number of channels and a limited available optical bandwidth (limited laser tuning range) it may be necessary to chose a channel spacing near 0 or 11 GHz, where Rayleigh-and Brillouin backscattering introduce crosstalk in a bidirectional system. Although there is much literature on stimuhzted Brillouin scattering, that occurs at high powers, there is hardly any attention paid to what happens at relatively low input powers. Furthermore there are no system measurements which thoroughly investigate these effects. We performed extensive bidirectional system experiments to investigate the crosstalk from Brillouin scattering in more detail, including its polarization properties. We found, that, while for high powers most of the energy is backscattered to a 11 GHz lower frequency, for low powers there is no difference for the crosstalks at 11 GHz higher or 11 GHz lower than the signal frequency. The power budget is limited to 40 dB for both cases.. The predicted 33.3% degree of polarization of low-power Brilloiiin scattering is experimentally confirmed for the first time.


Oil refineries and settler colonialism are not typically how feminist and environmental frameworks scope the problem of endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs). Instead, it is much more common to find EDCs described as a problem of packaging, plastics, and consumer goods, and to characterize their effects as a problem of bodily damage, and particularly as injuries or alterations to the reproductive and sexual development of individuals. This paper seeks to disrupt these individualized, molecularized, damage-centered and body-centered frames, and to strengthen decolonial feminist frameworks for understanding EDCs. We contend that our understanding of EDCs must expand to the structures of settler colonialism and racial capitalism that accompany oil extraction and refining, as well as to the distribution of emissions to airs, waters and lands. Building on the argument that pollution is colonialism, we hold that EDCs are materially a form of colonial environmental violence, disrupting land/body relations, and at the same time, are made possible by a permission-to-pollute regulatory regime.


A good deal of Twitter research focuses on event-detection using algorithms that rely on keywords and tweet density. We present an alternative analysis of tweets, filtering by hashtags related to the 2012 Superbowl and validated against the 2013 baseball World Series. We analyze low-volume, topically similar tweets which reference specific plays (sub-contexts) within the game at the time they occur. These communications are not explicitly linked; they pivot on keywords and do not correlate with spikes in tweets-per-minute. Such phenomena are not readily identified by current event-detection algorithms, which rely on volume to drive the analytic engine. We propose to demonstrate the effectiveness of empirically and theoretically informed approaches and use qualitative analysis and theory to inform the design of future event-detection algorithms. Specifically, we propose theories of Information Grounds and "third places" to explain sub-contexts that emerge. Conceptualizing sub-contexts as a socio-technical place advances the framing of Twitter event-detection from principally computational to deeply contextual.


We compared two direct radioimmunoassays for progesterone in 50 j.tL of unextracted serum or plasma with assays involving extraction of serum. The direct assays include the use of either danazol at pH 7.4 or 8-anilino1-naphthalenesulfonic acid at pH 4.0 to displace progesterone from serum binding-proteins. Progesterone is then assayed by using an antiserum to a progesterone 11ahemisuccinyl conjugate and the radioligand 125l-labeled progesterone 11a-glucuronyl tyramine, with separation by double-antibody techniques. Direct assays with either displacing agent gave good analytical recovery of progesterone added to human serum, and progesterone values for patients' specimens correlated well (r >0.96) with results of assays involving extraction of serum. Precision was similar with each displacing agent over the working range 2.5-100 nmol/L and superior to that of extraction assays. We conclude that these direct assays of progesterone are analytically valid and more robust, precise, and technically convenient than many conventional methods involving extraction of serum.


The endurance athlete faces a paradox-you're going farther and faster, you're feeling stronger, but your bones are getting weaker. New, compelling evidence shows that the very activities that expand our mental and physical abilities may be reducing the durability of our skeletons. In this book, Thomas Whipple, a leading orthopaedic clinical specialist, and Robert Eckhardt, a scientist specializing in the musculoskeletal system, team up to explain how athletes at any level can maintain the delicate balance between endurance exercise and optimum bone health over a lifetime. Translating important scientific advances into accessible language, they explain the muscle-bone connection, and cover training strategies and exercises, nutrition, calcium, stress fractures, rehabilitation, running mechanics, footwear, posture, and pharmaceuticals. An essential guide and ideal text for exercise physiologists, endurance athletes, fitness enthusiasts, and coaches.


Substantial evidence suggests roles of TSC2 and PTEN in the development of cancer predisposition syndromes. Loss of TSC2 results in benign tumors, neurological disorders, and angiomyolipomas. We found that PTEN mRNA and protein levels are elevated in Tsc2−/− mouse embryo fibroblasts with concomitant reduction in Akt phosphorylation. Reconstitution of TSC2 in Tsc2−/− mouse embryo fibroblasts decreases PTEN levels. Interestingly, increased HIF1α activity present in Tsc2 null cells is required for PTEN transcription and protein expression. We identified a canonical hypoxia-responsive element in the PTEN promoter, which regulates the transcription of this tumor suppressor protein in a TSC2-dependent manner. Finally, we demonstrate a positive correlation between expression of HIF1α and PTEN in renal angiomyolipomas from TSC patients. Our results reveal a unique function of HIF1α in up-regulation of PTEN and provide a new mechanism of reduced Akt phosphorylation in Tsc2 null cells. These data suggest that PTEN may safeguard against developing malignant tumors in patients with TSC deficiency.


In order to understand the impact of hydrological changes of the Amazon River on sedimentary organic matter (OM) composition in Amazonian floodplain lakes, three sediment cores were collected from Lake Maracá (eastern Amazonia) along a transect from the Amazon River main channel to inland. The cores were dated with 14C accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) and studied by x-ray, mineralogical composition, total organic carbon (TOC) and total nitrogen (TN) contents, stable isotopic composition of TOC and TN (δ13COC and δ15N) and glycerol dialkyl glycerol tetraether (GDGT) distributions. Two distinctive sedimentary depositional phases were identified based on the mineralogical composition and the geochemical characteristics of sedimentary OM. During the early–mid Holocene (~13,000–3200 cal. yr BP), low values of TOC followed by a break in sedimentation suggest a complete drying of the lake caused by drier climatic conditions. Between 3600 and 3200 cal. yr BP, this lake received a reduced influence of the Amazon River main stem. This induced a predominant deposition of C3-plant-derived OM supplied by surface erosion and runoff of acidic soil. A distinct connection of Lake Maracá to the Amazon River began after 3200 cal. yr BP and became permanently established, with its modern characteristics, at 1880 cal. yr BP. This change provoked an increased contribution of phytoplankton and semi-aquatic C4 macrophytes as well as C3 plant derived more alkaline soil OM to the sedimentary OM pool. Consequently, our study demonstrates that the source of sedimentary OM in the Amazon floodplain lakes was strongly linked to the Amazon River hydrodynamics during the late Holocene.


Technologic advancements and the evolving digital health landscape have offered innovative solutions to several of our health care system's issues as well as increased the number of digital interactions and type of personal health information that is generated and collected, both within and outside of traditional health care. This American College of Physicians' position paper discusses the state of privacy legislation and regulations, highlights existing gaps in health information privacy protections, and outlines policy principles and recommendations for the development of health information privacy and security protections that are comprehensive, transparent, understandable, adaptable, and enforceable. The principles and recommendations aim to improve on the privacy framework in which physicians have practiced for decades and expand similar privacy guardrails to entities not currently governed by privacy laws and regulations. The expanded privacy framework should protect personal health information from unauthorized, discriminatory, deceptive, or harmful uses and align with the principles of medical ethics, respect individual rights, and support the culture of trust necessary to maintain and improve care delivery.


We investigate the way data are used in the algorithm proposed by Kudo and Saito for the exact reconstruction of long objects from axially truncated cone-beam projections. Specifically, we show that the algorithm wastes a large part of the data. To overcome the problem, we propose to use a vertex path consisting of two crossing ellipses, for which we devised a new reconstruction algorithm, called the cross algorithm, which does not waste data and is still suitable to exactly handle axial truncation. Results of reconstruction are presented on simulated data and real data from an experimental scanner.


An ongoing debate is whether the U.S. should continue its family-based admission system, which favors visas for family members of U.S. citizens and residents, or adopt a more skills-based system, replacing family visas with employment-based visas. In many ways, this is a false dichotomy: family-friendly policies attract highly-skilled immigrants regardless of their own visa path, and there are not strong reasons why a loosening of restrictions on employment migrants need be accompanied by new restrictions on family-based immigration. Moreover, it is misleading to think that only employment-based immigrants contribute to the U.S. economy. Recent immigrants, who have mostly entered via kinship ties, are economically productive, a fact hidden by a flawed methodology that underlies most economic analyses of immigrant economic assimilation.


This paper proposes SaleNet - an end-to-end convolutional neural network (CNN) for sustained attention level evaluation using prefrontal electroencephalogram (EEG). A bias-driven pruning method is proposed together with group convolution, global average pooling (GAP), near-zero pruning, weight clustering and quantization for the model compression, achieving a total compression ratio of 183. 11x. The compressed SaleNet obtains a state-of-the-art subject-independent sustained attention level classification accuracy of 84.2% on the recorded 6-subject EEG database in this work. The SaleNet is implemented on a Artix-7 FPGA with a competitive power consumption of 0.11 W and an energy-efficiency of 8.19 GOps/w.


In a study of relationships between alcoholism and unipolar affective disorder, three groups of patients collected in a research clinic were compared: a group with alcoholism without depression, a group with alcoholism plus affective disorder, and a group with unipolar affective disorder alone. The majority of patients with alcoholism and depression had a history of onset of alcoholism prior to that of depression. Patients with alcoholism plus depression more closely resembled those with alcoholism than those with depression. This finding is evidence that it is useful to separate affectively disordered patients into the groups with and without preexisting nonaffective psychiatric illness. The variables that separated alcoholic patients from patients with depression principally involved sociopathic symptoms that began prior to the onset of clinical alcoholism.


The deficit-model of science communication assumes increased communication about science issues will move public opinion toward the scientific consensus. However, in the case of climate change, public polarization about the issue has increased in recent years, not diminished. In this study, we draw from theories of motivated reasoning, social identity, and persuasion to examine how science-based messages may increase public polarization on controversial science issues such as climate change. Exposing 240 adults to simulated news stories about possible climate change health impacts on different groups, we found the influence of identification with potential victims was contingent on participants' political partisanship. This partisanship increased the degree of political polarization on support for climate mitigation policies and resulted in a boomerang effect among Republican participants. Implications for understanding the role of motivated reasoning within the context of science communication are discussed.


This paper seeks to identify the interrelationships between the labour and property markets and the role of regions and the local state in Britain in order to assess their effects upon the structure of opportunities. The labour market changes over the postwar period have resulted in labour shedding in the older heavy industries and in mining and quarrying, leading to changes both in the composition and in the location of the work force. During the same period there have been major changes in the tenure structure of housing with the growth of owner occupation. There is a strong relationship between the areas which have a buoyant labour market and those which have a high rate of house price increase. The implications of these changes in the labour and property markets are examined in relation to mobility and class structure.


This article describes about Directed Reading Activity (DRA) in teaching English, especially in reading comprehension. DRA is a strategy that provides students with instructional support before, during, and after reading process. Some principles of Directed Reading activity (DRA) strategy, including first, attention one of the principles of DRA that must be considered by the teacher to the learners when teaching reading in the classroom based on context to get meaning to develop skills and strategies in identifying words, sentences and paragraphs. Second, students have enough changes in reading a text deeply to identify main idea, specific/detail information, reference and also meaning in a text. Third, DRA encourages the learners to be skilled and have strategy, to explore the text aesthetically, particularly in relation to literature and to develop their conceptual prior knowledge by texts. And forth, DRA encourages the learners to self-monitoring when they are reading so that they can adjust their reading strategies as needed. It is chosen because it can create effective and creative readers who always use background knowledge to emphasize word recognition and comprehension in reading text by connecting what they are ready know and what they are reading. The learners are given chances to correct errors that occur during and after a reading process. Key Words : Directed Reading Activity , Reading Comprehension


The paper presents the test results of fatigue crack propagation in asphalt pavement samples under multiple repeated loading. An original test method applied for large-dimension asphalt pavement samples is described. Crack propagation tests were performed using a test stand specially designed for fatigue tests. The theoretical analysis of crack propagation was based on principles of energy absorption in the volume of specimen.


A de-couple control method with information feedback from other control channel and a method with double control loops were present for the hypersonic vehicle with non-linear, couple and lateral maneuver. The whole controller was divided into two parts: the computation of actuator which deal with control couple and design of control law which solve the problem of movement and aerodynamic couple. The time-varying controller parameter method and robust control law were present to solve the problem of quick time-varying model parameter and non-linear. Finally these two methods were analyzed contrastively; the simulation result show that these two methods present above can achieve the quick dynamic and high precise track of command. But the latter was better.


Fecundity of the copepod Calanus helgolandicus was monitored at a coastal station in the western English Channel during January to September 1994 and varied seasonally from 3 to 33 eggs female-' d-l (mean 17 eggs female-' d-'). Particulate fatty acid levels, particularly in the <20 pm size fraction, were more highly correlated with fecundity than either chl a, particulate carbon or nitrogen. and this reflected the size and species composition of the microplankton. Diatoms, dinoflagellates and ciliates all sustained high fecundity. The mean volume of eggs produced by C. helgolandicus was inversely related to both food availability and fecundity, with increased numbers of smaller eggs produced during per~ods of high food availability. Female C helgolandicus with the highest body nitrogen and carbon produced eggs with the highest carbon and nltrogen contents, although these eggs were also smaller. Hatching viability was consistently high with a seasonal mean of 83% and both viability and the incidence of deformed nauplii were negatively correlated with the carbon and nitrogen content of females and eggs. Hatching viability was not correlated with the abundance of diatoms, but was closely correlated with the levels of 18:2(n-6) and 20:4(n-6) fatty acids in both the environment and in the eggs. Particulate concentrations of the polyunsaturated fatty acids 20:5(n-3) and 22:6(n-3), although abundant in the environment and therefore good indicators of food availability, were not correlated with either egg viability or naupliar survival. The levels of saturated and monounsaturated fatty acids in the eggs were important factors determining naupliar survival under starvation conditions. Although food availability limited fecundity, female recruitment was possibly limited by predation pressure. particularly during the late summer. This study highlights the value of seasonal and nutritional based studies in understanding variability in zooplankton fecundity.


The predictive power of stock analyst reports has been used to relate report contents to stock returns or describe herding behavior of analysts themselves. In this paper, the sentiment of analyst reports is related to that of a large social media data set via Granger Causality testing on the basis of wisdom of crowds theory based considerations, in order to investigate whether the two types of content are inherently related or not. Results show strong significance for a large number of the tested time series, indicating that the two types of content are indeed suitable for mutual prediction. In addition, we elaborate on the conditions under which cognitive diversity of the crowd matters. Furthermore, a second analysis stage provides evidence for which type of company and news environment a particular direction of granger cause arises between the two types of content.


Over the past decade the growing number of students with Attention and Learning Disorders in universities has been documented all over the world. Difficulties experienced by students during their academic career have led to an increase in the support services offered by Universities to meet their needs. This development has taken place as a result of changing attitudes and instructional practices across many countries. In this paper, we highlight an example from the Unites States where one university provides multiple services to increase optimal outcomes for this specific population.


Purpose

An attempt will be made to shed light on the course and pattern of the decentralization process by analyzing the historical development of local government and the territorial-administrative reform of 2015-2020 in Albania and the factors that have been shaping it. The scope is to understand the impact of the reform elements on the subnational governments and in general their overall impact on the government. The purpose of this paper is to fill the gap in the existing literature for Albania and at offering some insights on the administrative-territorial reform. Furthermore, it will contribute to the current debate on fiscal decentralization in South Eastern European (SEE) countries and the public management model implemented after the last reforms.

Design/methodology/approach

The first section analyzes the historical development of local government reforms from the 1990s to today and will help to identify if there is instrumentalism advocacy. The second section explains the determinants of the local government's fiscal autonomy in Albania of the period from 2003 to 2016. Three indicators are used as proxies for fiscal decentralization: the proportion of subnational expenditure over national expenditure, of total subnational revenues over total revenues of central government and the indicator of own subnational revenues over total revenues of the central government. The data from the budget and the revised budgets are then compared.

Findings

Despite Albania's commitment to decentralize its government functions, there is still work to do. The territorial and administrative reform has not generated the expected results. Almost 90 percent of the revenues still come from the central government's unconditional transfers. Therefore, the Albanian Government should build capacities and skills, and train the employees of each level of government that currently benefit from international assistance.

Research limitations/implications

The analysis represents a single case study on the territorial-administrative reform in Albania. Its implementation started in 2015 and it is probably too early to discuss outcomes. However, it might be useful to analyze the first results after a two-and-a-half-year period of implementation of reforms. Despite contributing to the existing gap in the literature, additional research will be necessary to better understand the decentralization process not only in Albania, but in all SEE countries.

Practical implications

It is necessary to first understand the lack of initial output, as well as the various challenges faced, in order to take the corrective measures on time.

Originality/value

This paper discusses in detail the reform adopted and the progress made by the Albanian local government units. The reform attempts to develop better relationships between the central and local governments and hence improve their service delivery, transparency and accountability. This paper is the first one that is attempting to analyze the initial output of the territorial-administrative reform of 2015-2020.


Today, the need for products and services provided by the institutions and the agent has ceased to function physically. This has added a different dimension institutions of different items from other competitors, marketing strategies and visual identities of the identity of the product and service. In this competitive environment, the differences between corporate identity and visual identity, design elements that are effective in the process, memorable and distinctive features of the visual identity of the institution have become important elements to consider in the design stage. In a highly competitive market this study aims to demonstrate the importance of the differentiation of visual identity and its returns using examples from 2011 according to OSYM data in the list of the most preferred top three foundation universities and analyze the visual identity designs of these universities. As a result of the study, the idea of creating a memorable visual identity based on the characteristics of these institutions and their own distinctive visual identity differences in this competition has been emphasized.


Based on linguistic generalizations, we enhanced an existing semantic processor, SemRep, for effective interpretation of a wide range of patterns used to express arguments of nominalization in clinically oriented biomedical text. Nominalizations are pervasive in the scientific literature, yet few text mining systems adequately address them, thus missing a wealth of information. We evaluated the system by assessing the algorithm independently and by determining its contribution to SemRep generally. The first evaluation demonstrated the strength of the method through an F-score of 0.646 (P=0.743, R=0.569), which is more than 20 points higher than the baseline. The second evaluation showed that overall SemRep results were increased to F-score 0.689 (P=0.745, R=0.640), approximately 25 points better than processing without nominalizations.


As a result of global urbanisation, the spatial structure of Latvia has changed over the years – more than 68% of Latvia's population lives in urban areas in 2012 – showing increase more than two times comparing with 1935. One of the main focuses in today's spatial challenges is to create sustainable development in both rural and urban areas. The effective and strong partnership is crucial in the delivery of rural-urban linkages and will probably mostly depend on local government. There are 119 administrative units or municipalities in Latvia – 9 republican cities and 110 amalgamated municipalities (towns and rural areas as one administrative unit). Based on the statistical data analyses and the authors' previous researches, it can be concluded that there are significant differences in the economic and social indicators in urban and rural municipalities in Latvia. The research aim is to identify the role of and the main factors affecting interaction between rural and urban areas in municipalities in Latvia as well as to determine the most important networks and partnership possibilities. To achieve the aim, a survey of local government spatial planning specialists was conducted; the methods of analysis and synthesis, statistical analysis methods, graphical display and scientific discussion were applied. The results of the survey showed that more than 85% of respondents consider interaction between rural urban areas as important and there is direct and strong dependence of urban area development on the surrounding rural area development trends. The main links connecting rural and urban areas includes flows of people (employment, tourism, leisure, shopping) and flows of materials (resources, waste, goods and services). The results showed that the development of such visible and invisible flows between urban and rural areas in Latvia have a similar tendency as in Davoudi and Stead (2002) researches. As the result of rural-urban interaction in municipalities, an increase of employment opportunities, improvements of service accessibility as well as life quality are observed for both rural and urban populations. The most important factors affecting rural-urban interaction in spatial development specialists' opinion were as follows: availability of public transport and quality of roads, national government financial support, and local business activity. Although the strengthening of rural and urban links is one of Latvia's national government long-term development targets, there are no legislative or financial support instruments provided for municipalities. The elaboration of a development strategy with precise priorities, suggestions, and good practice examples at national or regional level would promote the effective urban rural interaction in future. Keywords: Rural, Urban, Interaction, Local Government, Spatial Development


We propose a novel robust optimization technique, which is applicable to nonconvex and simulation-based problems. Robust optimization finds decisions with the best worst-case performance under uncertainty. If constraints are present, decisions should also be feasible under perturbations. In the real-world, many problems are nonconvex and involve computer-based simulations. In these applications, the relationship between decision and outcome is not defined through algebraic functions. Instead, that relationship is embedded within complex numerical models. Since current robust optimization methods are limited to explicitly given convex problems, they cannot be applied to many practical problems. Our proposed method, however, operates on arbitrary objective functions. Thus, it is generic and applicable to most real-world problems. It iteratively moves along descent directions for the robust problem, and terminates at a robust local minimum. Because the concepts of descent directions and local minima form the building blocks of powerful optimization techniques, our proposed framework shares the same potential, but for the richer, and more realistic, robust problem. To admit additional considerations including parameter uncertainties and nonconvex constraints, we generalized the basic robust local search. In each case, only minor modifications are required a testimony to the generic nature of the method, and its potential to be a component of future robust optimization techniques. We demonstrated the practicability of the robust local search technique in two realworld applications: nanophotonic design and Intensity Modulated Radiation Therapy (IMRT) for cancer treatment. In both cases, the numerical models are verified by actual experiments. The method significantly improved the robustness for both designs, showcasing the relevance of robust optimization to real-world problems. Thesis Supervisor: Dimitris J. Bertsimas Title: Boeing Professor of Operations Research Sloan School of Management


ApartGame is a tabletop platform that supports multiple games for social environments and intensive public use. This paper summarizes the design of ApartGame and the results from preliminary user evaluation. The integration of physical control and digital objects was a crucial design decision and it made the games on the platform tangible.


We consider an incomplete multi-asset binomial market model. We prove that for a wide class of contingent claims the extremal multi-step martingale measure is a power of the corresponding single-step extremal martingale measure. This allows for closed form formulas for the bounds of a no-arbitrage contingent claim price interval. We construct a feasible algorithm for computing those boundaries as well as for the corresponding hedging strategies. Our results apply, for example, to European basket call and put options and Asian arithmetic average options.


This document describes a method that allows parties to electronically
sign Routing Policy Specification Language objects and validate such
electronic signatures. This allows relying parties to detect
accidental or malicious modifications of such objects. It also allows
parties who run Internet Routing Registries or similar databases, but
do not yet have authentication (based on Routing Policy System
Security) of the maintainers of certain objects, to verify that the
additions or modifications of such database objects are done by the
legitimate holder(s) of the Internet resources mentioned in those
objects. This document updates RFCs 2622 and 4012 to add the signature
attribute to supported RPSL objects.


ABSTRACT Flavokawain B (FKB), a natural kava chalcone, displays potent antitumor activity in various types of cancer. The mechanism of action, however, remains unclear. Here, we evaluated the efficacy of FKB in the treatment of human glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) as well as the molecular basis for its inhibitory effects in cancer. Approximately 60% of GBM cells became senescent after treatment with FKB as assessed in the senescence-associated (SA)-GLB1/SA-β-galactosidase assay. The cellular process of autophagy potentially contributed to the establishment of senescence. Transmission electron microscopy revealed the formation of autophagic vesicles under FKB treatment, and MAP1LC3B (microtubule associated protein 1 light chain 3 beta)-II was increased. Transfection of ATG5 or ATG7 small interfering RNAs (siRNAs) inhibited FKB-induced autophagy in U251 cells. Western blot revealed that molecular components of the endoplasmic reticulum stress pathway were activated, including ATF4 (activating transcription factor 4) and DDIT3 (DNA damage inducible transcript 3), while levels of TRIB3 (tribbles pseudokinase 3) increased. In addition, based on the phosphorylation status, the AKT-MTOR-RPS6KB1 pathway was inhibited, which induced autophagy in GBM cells. Inhibition of autophagy by autophagy inhibitors 3-methyladenine and chloroquine or knockdown of ATG5 or ATG7 caused FKB-treated U251 cells to switch from senescence to apoptosis. Finally, knockdown of ATG5 or treatment with chloroquine in combination with FKB, significantly inhibited tumor growth in vivo. Our results demonstrated that FKB induced protective autophagy through the ATF4-DDIT3-TRIB3-AKT-MTOR-RPS6KB1 signaling pathway in GBM cells, indicating that the combination treatment of FKB with autophagy inhibitors may potentially be an effective therapeutic strategy for GBM. Abbreviations: 3-MA: 3-methyladenine; 4-PBA: 4-phenylbutyrate; AKT: AKT serine/threonine kinase; ATF4: activating transcription factor 4; ATG: autophagy related; CASP3: caspase 3; CCK-8: cell counting kit-8; CDKN1A: cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitor 1A; CQ: chloroquine; DDIT3: DNA damage inducible transcript 3; DMEM: Dulbecco's modified Eagle's medium; EIF2A: eukaryotic translation initiation factor 2A; EIF2AK3: eukaryotic translation initiation factor 2 alpha kinase 3; ER: endoplasmic reticulum; FKB: flavokawain B; GAPDH: glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase; GBM: glioblastoma multiforme; GFP: green fluorescent protein; HSPA5: heat shock protein family A (Hsp70) member 5; MAP1LC3B: microtubule associated protein 1 light chain 3 beta; MTOR: mechanistic target of rapamycin kinase; PARP1: poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase; 1RPS6KB1: ribosomal protein S6 kinase B1; SA-GLB1: senescence-associated galactosidase beta 1; siRNA: short interfering RNA; SQSTM1: sequestosome 1; TEM: transmission electron microscopy; TRIB3: tribbles pseudokinase 3; TUNEL: deoxynucleotidyl transferase-mediated dUTP nick-end labeling


A function and identify of a 24,500 Da protein derived from round spermatids of the rat testis was investigated with a specific polyclonal antiserum raised against RSP-24.5. The proteins released from cultured round spermatids significantly stimulated the secretion of de novo synthesized protein from cultured immature rat Sertoli cells 2.4-fold above control levels. Immunoprecipitation of RSP-24.5 from round spermatid protein further enhanced the stimulation of Sertoli cell protein secretion up to 3.1-fold above control levels, indicating that RSP-24.5 plays a role in the down regulation of Sertoli cell secretion. The antiserum recognized the 24,500 Da protein in Western blots of round spermatid protein, pachytene spermatoctye protein, Sertoli cell lysate and peritubular myoid cell lysate. A 40 amino acid sequence of a cyanogen bromide cleaved internal fragment of RSP-24.5 showed 80.5% homology to a phosphatidylethanolamine binding protein. These results suggest that phosphatidylethanolamine binding protein participates in the negative regulation of Sertoli cell secretory function during spermatogenesis.


It was noticed in the past that, to avoid physical inconsistencies, some basic features of waves flowing through Marcatili's lossless tapers must be different from those of standing waves in the same structures. In this paper, we first present numerical results (based on an extended BPM algorithm) which reconfirm this statement. Next, we explain this surprising behavior as straightforward consequences of Maxwell's equations. Finally, we show that similar situations occur for Gaussian beams in a homogeneous medium, and free-space modes expressed in terms of Bessel functions.


Background High rates of serious road traffic crashes (RTCs) have been reported in several Arabian Gulf countries, including the United Arab Emirates (UAE), in recent years. In 2013, in a population of approximately 9.2 million, 7734 people were seriously injured and 651 (7.8%) died from road traffic injuries (RTI). Hence, the problem constitutes a major concern for public health in the UAE. The study aims to determine the trends of RTI in the UAE, to identify the causal factors of the problem and to review the most cost effective measures to mitigate their impact. Other objectives include estimating the future forecasts of RTI and assessing the economic burden of the problem on the population. Methods Data from official UAE sources were used for the analysis. To identify RTI trends of morbidity and mortality during 2000–2013, time's series analysis was used. To forecast RTI fatalities in the UAE, regression analysis was used. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used to estimate overall and individual significance of regression parameters. To quantify the economic burden of RTI in the UAE, the Human Capital (HC) approach was used to estimate the direct and indirect economic losses from RTI during 2013. For pain, grief and suffering (PGS) willingness to pay value estimates (WTP) were derived worldwide and adjusted for the UAE. Results The rates of RTC in the UAE were found declining on constant basis. Likewise, trends of morbidity and mortality and future forecasts from RTI were also declining. Paradoxically, however, the severity of RTI was constantly increasing. The total cost of RTIs in the UAE varied between AED 22–23 billion during 2013, representing 1–2% of its GDP for that year (US$ 401 billion). Conclusions Speeding, vehicles' mix, the competency of young drivers, the standard of medical care for victims at the roadside and the efficiency of traffic regulations and measures, are suspected for the paradoxical patterns, but the precise reasons remain to be determined. The study provides a useful base for establishing priorities for future roadway traffic safety interventions in the UAE.


Thomas Jefferson and the Wall of Separation between Church and State. By Daniel L. Dreisbach. (New York: New York University Press. 2002. Pp. x, 283. $42.00.) This is an excellent, eloquent book about a metaphor-the "wall of separation" that Thomas Jefferson believed the First Amendment placed between "Church and State." Dreisbach has written an almost definitive book on this metaphor, with a double focus-on the uses and pitfalls of metaphors in legal discourse, and on the meaning of the very brief words in the First Amendment: "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof." Jefferson included his "wall" metaphor in a now famous, carefully crafted, politically motivated 1802 letter to the Danbury Baptist Association in Connecticut. Always sensitive to the point of paranoia, Jefferson still seethed with anger from the attacks from clergymen in the campaign of 1800. He was also under attack for his refusal to issue proclamations of thanksgiving or fasting and prayer, an issue that he openly addressed in early, longer drafts but left out of the final letter. In the first half of this book, Dreisbach carefully attends to all the implications of this letter, surveys many earlier uses of the "wall" metaphor, and explores the implications of related metaphors (wire fences, lines, gated walls, even iron curtain). Neither the language of the First Amendment nor Jefferson's metaphor is very clear. The Constitution of 1787 specifically delegated certain legislative powers to the Federal Congress, and reserved all others, including religious issues, to the states. Thus, the Congress had no authority to pass any laws relating to an establishment of religion but, as subsequent events made clear, it could not avoid laws that related in some sense to religion, including the religiously grounded moral commitments of citizens. To facilitate the free exercise, it almost had to appoint military chaplains, and later chose to exempt religious contributions from taxation. The First Amendment assured anxious New England states that the federal government would not interfere with their legally established churches, and that it would not challenge the religious preferences in all early state constitutions (for Christianity, Protestantism, Trinitarianism, or at least theism), or preferences that courts today define as tending toward an establishment. Thus the First Amendment did not place any wall of separation between governments and religion, but it did reaffirm a restraint, although never a perfectly clear restraint, upon federal power. Jefferson's metaphor was a poor gloss on the language of the Amendment, for it suggested a much greater degree of separation between federal legislation and the many facets of religion (beliefs, worship, institutions, clergy, moral codes). …


In this article, Professor Brown examines some distinctive problems presented by corporate crime enforcement that, on their face, seem troubling but that considered in context, he suggests, may actually have desirable effects. Professor Brown begins by noting that while most of constitutional criminal procedure addresses concerns of excessive governmental power, white-collar corporate offenders are less at risk. In contrast to street-crime defendants, they have ample access to counsel and a variety of means to resist government enforcement strategies. The article describes a range of practical barriers that make corporate crime harder to detect, investigate and prosecute and that, because of the wider range of regulatory possibilities (including civil enforcement), create opportunities for manipulation by corporate offenders. Professor Brown suggests, however, that these seeming difficulties actually provide a desirable counterbalance (albeit imperfectly and largely by coincidence) to a distinctive American preference for excessive use of criminal law to address wrongdoing and social harm. The article concludes that, while risks remain of both excessive government punitiveness on the one hand and excessive influence by corporate offenders to achieve undue leniency on the other, the practical barriers to corporate crime enforcement have the potential to moderate the government's pattern of populist-punitive enforcement in ways that could lead to improvements across the criminal justice enforcement spectrum.


The idea of democratic schooling with its emphasis on equality is seriously attacked by the marketisation of education. New policies of educational restructuring emphasise accountability and close links between school and industry, where schools and students become targets of constant evaluation and competition. This book challenges such policies and practices through analyses of their negative consequences for social justice and democracy. It explores the effects of restructuring on everyday life in schools and other educational institutions and presents analyses of how differences based on gender, social class, ethnicity, nationality and embodiment are dealt with in educational settings. The authors draw on a range of theories, including poststructuralist, postcolonial, feminist and Marxist perspectives, and the localised ethnographies are contextualised in changing educational politics. How policies are contradicted by practices is discussed in relation to the classroom, teacher education and issues of inclusion and exclusion. A critical gaze is directed at Nordic countries where restructuring processes contradict a political discourse based on equality and comprehensive education. It is the immersion in the daily life of institutions and their participants that gives ethnography a particular edge in obtaining insights into what changes and what stays the same. This book provides a looking glass into the tensions and contradictions that New Right policies have introduced in educational institutions. Actors in the field experience frustration in introducing changes and controlling the direction of those changes. It is their voices that ethnographers try to hear and disseminate. Most ethnographers do not simply tell a (more or less) gripping story about the field - they aim to analyse the practices they encounter, and endeavour to render them into analytical narratives that tell different stories than those produced through policy research or questionnaires and interviews. Although these are not necessarily better stories, we suggest that they are particularly relevant in demonstrating the organisation and practice of producing difference. (Description by the publisher).


NIR backscattering measurements using single
source-detector optical probe (optods) can detect absorption areas within deep
tissue layer. However, such optods, are characterized by large separation
distance between the source and detectors (>2 cm) and poor lateral
resolution (>1 cm), which limits its usage for the localization
of small absorption volumes embedded deep within the tissue such as
subcutaneous veins. In this work a method to improve the accuracy of locating
such absorption volumes (areas) using backscattered NIR measurements is
suggested and investigated with the aim of developing an optical sensor for
detecting and localizing large subcutaneous veins. The method is based on
measuring the differential signal from three overlapping source-detector pairs
arranged within the probe such that the total photon sensitivity profile of the
probe is maximized along a narrow width area (within the central of the probe)
and minimized along its sides. The location of the absorption areas is then
determined when a peak maximum of the measured signal is detected. Monte Carlo
simulation and light transport modeling was used to determine the optimum
arrangement of each source-detector pair within the probe to create the
required spatial sensitivity profile and demonstrate the validity of the
method. The results showed that the differential optode has more than two times
improvement in the lateral resolution compared to the standard optode. The
result also showed that the differential probe can locate subcutaneous veins
with diameter ~5 mm and embedded at ~1.5 cm depth. The method could have a potential for
designing and developing an optical backscattering sensors for detecting and
localizing large subcutaneous veins embedded 2 cm depths


Abstract Background and aims : Employees in hospitals and healthcare centers are exposed to a wide range of respiratory contaminants, such as biological and chemical contaminants. To protect employees against these hazards, it is necessary to use respiratory masks with appropriate protection factor. This study aimed to assess respiratory hazards risk to determine the protection factor of mask in one of the hospitals affiliated to Shiraz University of Medical Sciences. Methods : In this cross-sectional study, initially Job Hazard Analysis (JHA) method was used to determine the groups and job duties including respiratory protection program. Then, protection factor of the required respiratory masks in the jobs including respiratory protection program was determined by the recommended method by Institut de Recherche Robert-Sauvé en Santé et en Sécurité du Travail (IRSST). REsults : The results of this study showed that for the present number of respiratory contaminants in the hospital, N95/FFP2 respirators have not sufficiently degree of protection and it is essential to use respirators with higher protection factor such as full face PAPR (Powered Air-Purifying Respirator) or have helmet/hood with cartridge A1B1P3. Conclusion : In situations where there is no possibility to measure and evaluate respiratory contaminants, especially biological contaminants that have no standard measurement methods and occupational exposure limit, using the qualitative (semi-quantitative) method presented by IRSST can be effective in determining the protection factor of mask and the type of respiratory mask.


The interaction between a lignin film and a cellulose sphere has been measured using the colloidal probe force technique as a function of aqueous electrolyte solution conditions. The lignin film was first studied for its roughness and stability using atomic force microscopy imaging and quartz crystal microbalance measurements, respectively. The film was found to be smooth and stable in the pH range of 3.5-9 and in ionic strengths up to and including 0.01 M. This range of ionic strength and pH was hence used to measure the surface force profiles between lignin and cellulose. Under these solution conditions, the measured forces behaved according to DLVO theory. The force-distance curves could be fitted between the limits of constant charge and constant potential, and the surface potential of the lignin films was determined as a function of pH. At a pH greater than 9.5, a short range steric repulsion was observed, indicating that the film was swelling to a large extent but did not dissolve. Thus, lignin films prepared in this manner are suitable for a range of surface force studies.