Assistive orthotics have the potential to augment the grasping capabilities of individuals with limited hand functionality. People with a cervical-level spinal cord injury (SCI) lack direct control of semi-flaccid, curled fingers on both hands, which often precludes independent donning and doffing of orthotics, thus limiting their use in daily life. This paper presents a novel orthotic designed to improve hand functionality while facilitating independent daily use for individuals with cervical SCI: the Single-size Semi-soft Assistive Mitten (SSAM). This device utilizes a slim dorsal leaf spring and underactuated cable drive to passively open and actively close the hand, in a way that is robust to variations in hand size. This mitten is intended to improve ease of donning and doffing, as the device is attached to all fingers at once. A prototype is developed based on simulation studies, and grasping performance of the proposed design is validated with five healthy subjects. Successful grasping trials, along with positive user feedback, suggest that the SSAM has a comfortable and intuitive design for long-term, independent use and will enable future studies into feasibility of daily use for people with SCI.


The use of any implant system to promote arthrodesis of any segment of the spine is only as good as the technique of surgical arthrodesis. The success of the implant depends, in short, on the success of the arthrodesis. A successful arthrodesis depends on meticulous soft-tissue debridement, decortication, and copious iliac bone grafting or allograft bone grafting if autogenous graft is deficient. If the anterior approach is used, complete and thorough debridement of the intervertebral disc and cartilaginous end-plates with meticulous bone grafting of the interspace is essential for a successful fusion. A pseudarthrosis in the presence of an implant will eventually lead to implant failure. In implants placed anteriorly, this may lead to severe consequences and complications. If implants are used anteriorly and anterior arthrodesis is not achieved, a posterior spinal fusion should be carried out. All implants used anteriorly should be placed laterally away from great vessels, particularly the femoral artery. If separation from the vessels and the implant is not possible, the implant should either be removed or the vessels should be protected with a Dacron graft placed over any protuberant metal.


A catalogue of Western European painting in the collection of the Hermitage in Leningrad, providing researchers with access to a large body of art.


A biosensor based on gold electrode modified by Pt nanaoparticles/Osmium redox polymer/Nafion trilayer film was fabricated and used for selective and sensitive determination of dopamine. The biosensor is explored for DA sensing using the cyclic voltammetry (CV), amperometric and differential pulse voltammetric (DPV) methods. The CV anodic peak currents showed a linear range with a correlation coefficient of 0.996, localized in the concentration range 0~192 μM. The differential pulse voltammetric (DPV) peak currents were linear with DA concentration during 2~425 μM with correlation coefficient of 0.99. The biosensor showed high sensitivity of 0.5 nA /nM cm2 and excellent reproducibility with the detection limit of ~10 nM (S/N=3) for the determination of DA. The easy fabrication, low detection limit and high sensitivity of the integrated biosensor making it particularly suitable for the analytical purposes.


Flow of organic carbon (OC) and nitrogen through a sea cage trout farm was calculated on the basis of detailed studies of the farming operation, water circulation, OC and nutrient transport and recycling processes in sediment. A third of the OC and nitrogen provided by fish food was incorporated into fish biomass, which is more than has been found in previous studies. Most OC input was respired by the fish (52 to 70%), and ~63% of the associated nitrogen was lost as dissolved inorganic nitrogen (DIN), potentially stimulating pelagic primary production. Approx. 6% of carbon and 5% of nitrogen derived from fish food settled on the seabed, where it was either mineralized or accumulated in the sediment. Based on transect measurements of diagenetic activity, the farm footprint was found to cover an area ~10 times the farm area. OC mineralization in the sediment increased linearly with increasing food input; the divergence between carbon efflux and oxygen uptake in sediment likewise increased with increasing food input, reflecting an increasing level of sediment reduction. Directly below the farm, the dissolved organic carbon (DOC) efflux was high (on average 53% of dissolved inorganic carbon efflux), indicating that DOC efflux is an important pathway for benthic carbon release below aquaculture farms. Overall, microbial processes removed 56 and 38% of OC and nitrogen, respectively, that settled to the seabed. During a 39 d break in farming activity, due to the combined effect of mineralization and resuspension of surface sediment, sediment conditions improved considerably.


To the Editor. —In response to numerous waterborne outbreaks of cryptosporidiosis, including 1 in Milwaukee in 1993 that affected an estimated 403 000 persons, 1 the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), in collaboration with other federal agencies, state and local health departments, and other interested parties, formed the Working Group on Waterborne Cryptosporidiosis (WGWC). One of the WGWC's objectives has been to develop guidelines for water utilities, health departments, and others about how to prepare for and respond to future waterborne outbreaks. The WGWC's guidelines for microbiology laboratories have been published, 2 and although they are directed at laboratory professionals, the guidelines have important implications for clinicians as well. The WGWC recognized that an obstacle to the early detection of outbreaks of cryptosporidiosis was poor communication between microbiology laboratories and health care professionals. Clinicians often make the erroneous assumption that a request for ova and parasite testing includes


Q Is now a good time to be investing in real estate? A With the U.S. stock market's historic rise, as well as its volatility,
many investors are seeking other potentially profitable investment vehicles.
One area attracting considerable attention is investment real estate. While
real estate combines the advantages of potential appreciation with rental
income, the problem with buying investment property is that you become the
landlord. You are responsible if the plumbing breaks down or the heat does
not work.


Ordering ideas or ordering experience? E.L Lowry's homiletical plot structure – an exploration and evaluation In this article E.L. Lowry's homiletical theory is explored and investigated. The basis of his theory is that the view that a sermon is structured according to the ordering of ideas, arranged under an enforced extra-textual theme (idea), implies an outdated approach. He argues that instead of ideas experience should rather be ordered in a (new) homiletical theory in which the hearer of a sermon plays a prominent part. In this regard Lowry develops a profile of a sermon containing a narrative plot. In this suggested plot Lowry discerns five sequential stages: upsetting the equilibrium, analysing the discrepancy, disclosing the clue to a possible resolution, experiencing the gospel and anticipating the consequences. From this perspective he also suggests guidelines for preparing a sermon regarding the following: the form and focus of the sermon, the way in which an outline for the plot is produced and the goal of a sermon. Lastly he also directs attention to creativity in sermon-making. In the concluding section of the article Lowry's homiletical theory is evaluated critically. 1 My thanks to Dr. S.J. Bang for obtaining some of the basic research data underlying this article. He is presently minister in the Presbyterian Church in Ulsan, South Korea. Ordering ideas or ordering experience? E.L. Lowry's homiletical plot structure


Background Central venous pressure (CVP) and intrathoracic blood volume index (ITBVI) were used to assess the fluid status. It has previously been shown that CVP is not as accurate as ITBVI for all the shock patients. We therefore hypothesized that the change of CVP has the ability to predict fluid responsiveness in some clinical cases of shock. Methods From September 1st 2009 to September 1st 2011, sixty‐three patients with shock from different Intensive Care Unit (ICU) were collected into this retrospective study. All the patients received fluid challenge strategy (infusing 300 ml hydroxyethyl starch in 20 minutes), were monitored with CVP and pulse‐indicated continuous cardiac output (PICCO). The correlation between changes in cardiac index (&Dgr;CI), CVP (&Dgr;CVP) and ITBVI (&Dgr;ITBVI) were analyzed. Fluid responsiveness was defined as an increase in CI ≥10%. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves were generated for &Dgr;CVP and &Dgr;ITBVI. Results For all the patients, there was no correlation between &Dgr;CI and &Dgr;CVP (P=0.073), but in the subgroup analysis, the correlation between &Dgr;CI and &Dgr;CVP was significant in those younger than 60 years old (P=0.018) and those with hypovolemic shock (P=0.001). The difference of areas under the ROC curves of &Dgr;CVP and &Dgr;ITBVI were not statistically significant in the group younger than 60 years old or hypovolemic shock group (P >0.05, respectively). However, no similar results can be found in the group older than 60 years old and the other two shock type groups from ROC curves of &Dgr;CVP and &Dgr;ITBVI. Conclusions &Dgr;CVP is not suitable for evaluating the volume status of the shock patients with fluid resuscitation regardless of their condition. However, in some ways, &Dgr;CVP have the ability to predict fluid responsiveness in the younger shock patients or in the hypovolemic shock patients.


A systematic study has been made of the ratios of (displacement/period) of PcP, PcS, ScS, and ScP to that of the corresponding incident wave {e.g., (displacement/period)_PcP/(displacement/period)_P}, using intermediate and deep-focus earthquake seismograms. The results indicate that the observed ratios of the horizontal components of the waves that are reflected as P waves (i.e., PcP/P and ScP/S) and that of the vertical component of the waves that are reflected as S waves (i.e., ScS/S and PcS/P) at the mantle-core boundary are considerably larger than the theoretical ones, whereas the observed ratios of the vertical component of the first group and that of the horizontal component of the second group are in fairly good agreement with the theoretical values. Theoretical computations were based on the assumption that in the case of a longitudinal wave the vibration is in the direction of propagation and in the case of a transverse wave the vibration is perpendicular to the direction of propagation. It is further found that the behavior of the direct P and S waves is in accord with the theory, but the vibration of the ground is not in the direction of propagation for PcP and ScP and is not perpendicular to the direction of propagation for PcS and ScS.


The present paper describes an innovative initiative regarding the European Doctorate in Teacher Education (EDiTE), financed in the framework of LLP Erasmus Program, piloted by five European universities and highly supported by European Network on Teacher Education Policies (ENTEP). The EDiTE initiative developed collaboratively by University of Innsbruck, University of Bucharest, Eötvös Loránd University, University of Lisbon, University of Lower Silesia represents a unique construction, aiming to optimize the use of doctoral study programs in shaping researchers and teaching professionals; the approach proposed stimulates and enhances progression of scientifically qualified teacher educators to meet the needs of the wider European labour market (teacher mobility), towards a transversal teacher education strategy. It generates an advanced European-level specialist qualification, a new generation of professionals working across national boundaries. It lends added value to the European Higher Education Area with the full cooperative development of an integrated course of study by academic leaders. Additionally, the project aims to establish the basis for a transnational community of discourse and practice by multilingual transfer of intercultural knowledge and experience. The authors consider the in depth presentation of this generative model relevant to a wider audience interested in reflection on teacher education and teacher education policies in Europe. ENTEP develops its activities in the field of teacher education policies, but, according to its understanding"it is neither a decision group nor an expert group. It is an advisory group or reference group that acts as a sounding board for the European Commission and individual member states.


Even though notions of extremism are subjective and relative, we can still be systematic in the way we approach them. The purpose of this paper is to illustrate how such a systematic mechanism can be compiled and visualised. I propose a set of definitions, in an 'Extremist Media Index', to grade ideological media material conveying religious-political sentiments according to some very basic criteria concerning stages of activism and the nature of religio-political discourse. I test the reliability of these criteria and apply the Index to publications by Anwar Al-Awlaki and associated with far-right extremism in order to display the range of sentiments conveyed and how these can be understood through systematic grading.


Date Presented 4/21/2018 This randomized, crossover pilot study explored the acute effects of mindfulness and visual biofeedback on pain, stress, and anxiety in hand therapy. Reduction in anxiety and trending reduction in stress within the experimental conditions indicate that a future, fully powered trial is warranted. Primary Author and Speaker: Mark Hardison Contributing Authors: David Black, Shawn C. Roll


To date, the cochlear implant is the most successful sensorineural prosthesis. The device consists of a small array with a number of electrodes implanted in the cochlea of profoundly hearing impaired people. Some people with an implant are able to use the telephone. Unfortunately, others hardly benefit from their cochlear implant. The large variability in the performance of cochlear implant recipients is an important motive for the research described in this thesis. A factor explaining the variability in the perceptual performance might be the degeneration of the auditory nerve that often occurs following the loss of the sensory cells in the cochlea: the hair cells. The principal aim of this thesis was to explore strategies that can prevent this degeneration. Guinea pigs were deafened with chemicals , which resulted in severe hair cell loss, a corresponding hearing loss of >55 dB, and a progressive degeneration of spiral ganglion cells (SGCs).We explored several strategies to prevent this degeneration of the auditory nerve. Chronic electrical stimulation (CES) of the cochlea was one of these strategies. CES did not affect the SGC density, nor the size and shape of the SGCs. This result indicates that frequent depolarization of SGCs as a result of electrical stimulation, does not by itself prevent degeneration of SGCs. Another strategy to prevent the degeneration of SGC was the continuous intracochlear infusion of brain derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF). This BDNF treatment was started two weeks after deafening, when degeneration of SGCs had set in. The SGC packing densities in the BDNF-treated cochleae were significantly larger than those in untreated cochleae. SGCs treated with BDNF were larger than SGCs in normal-hearing guinea pigs and the number of layers in the myelin sheath of BDNF-treated SGC was reduced as compared to the number of layers in the myelin sheath of SGCs in normal-hearing guinea pigs. These morphological changes of SGCs might be related to the rapid loss of SGCs that has been reported by others to occur after cessation of BDNF treatment. However, in contrast to these others, we demonstrated that the protective effect lasted at least two weeks after cessation of the neurotrophic treatment, and that the SGCs remained functional. This is a promising result for future clinical application of neurotrophic factors in implanted human cochleae. The cannula that was used to apply the BDNF in the experiments described above creates a possible route of access for bacteria and therefore we explored a new route of delivery. We demonstrated that when BDNF was delivered on the round window of the cochlea with an absorbable gelatin sponge, the rate of degeneration of SGCs in the basal turn of the cochlea was reduced. This result is promising because this mode of application of neurotrophins is clinically safer. In our last experiment we developed a behavioral model that can be used to demonstrate that deafened guinea pigs are able to detect electric pulse trains. Such a model is helpful to investigate whether preserving SGCs from degeneration affects the detection of electric pulse trains.


Membership in a currency union is not irreversible. Expectations of exit may emerge during a sovereign debt crisis, because by exiting countries can redenominate and reduce their liabilities. This possibility alters the dynamics of sovereign debt crises. We establish this formally within a small open economy model of changing policy regimes. The model permits explosive dynamics of debt and sovereign yields inside the currency union and allows us to distinguish between exit expectations and those of an outright default. By estimating the model on Greek data, we quantify the contribution of exit expectations to the crisis dynamics during 2009‐2012. JEL Classification: E41, E52 and E62


ABSTRACT Reactive oxygen and nitrogen intermediates are important antimicrobial defense mechanisms of macrophages and other phagocytic cells. While reactive nitrogen intermediates have been shown to play an important role in tuberculosis control in the murine system, their role in human disease is not clearly established. Glutathione, a tripeptide and antioxidant, is synthesized at high levels by cells during reactive oxygen intermediate and nitrogen intermediate production. Glutathione has been recently shown to play an important role in apoptosis and to regulate antigen-presenting-cell functions. Glutathione also serves as a carrier molecule for nitric oxide, in the form of S-nitrosoglutathione. Previous work from this laboratory has shown that glutathione and S-nitrosoglutathione are directly toxic to mycobacteria. A mutant strain of Mycobacterium bovis BCG, defective in the transport of small peptides such as glutathione, is resistant to the toxic effect of glutathione and S-nitrosoglutathione. Using the peptide transport mutant as a tool, we investigated the role of glutathione and S-nitrosoglutathione in animal and human macrophages in controlling intracellular mycobacterial growth.


Metals-additive manufacturing (MAM) is enabling unprecedented design freedom and the ability to produce significantly lighter weight parts with the same performance, offering the possibility of significant environmental and economic benefits in many different industries. However, the total production costs of MAM will need to be reduced substantially before it will be widely adopted across the manufacturing sector. Current topology optimization approaches focus on reducing total material volume as a means of reducing material costs, but they do not account for other production costs that are influenced by a part's structure such as machine time and scrap. Moreover, concurrently optimizing MAM process variables with a part's structure has the potential to further reduce production costs. This paper demonstrates an approach to use process-based cost modeling in MAM topology optimization to minimize total production costs, including material, labor, energy, and machine costs, using cost estimates from actual MAM operations. The approach is demonstrated in a simple case study of a Ti64 cantilever produced with electron beam melting (EBM). Results of a concurrent optimization of the part structure and EBM process variables are compared to an optimization of the part structure alone. The results show that, once process variables are considered, it is more cost effective to include more material in the part through a combination of (1) building additional thin trusses with a faster laser speed and (2) increasing the thickness of other truss members and decreasing laser velocity to create larger melt pools that reduce the number of passes required, thereby reducing build time. Concurrent optimization of the part's structure and MAM process parameters leads to 7% lower estimated total production costs and approximately 50% faster build time than optimizing the part's structure alone.


Human can recognize and handle (pick and place) easily the objects with a variety of different shapes, colors, sizes, and humans' eyes are adaptable to various light environments with a certain tolerance. However, it is difficult for robots to recognize deformable objects such as cloth, string, etc., especially if an object is unique. Additionally, there have been difficulties for robots with vision sensors (cameras) to accurately detect and handle objects under various light environments. This paper proposes a cloth handling system that recognizes an unique cloth appeared in front of a robot by a photo-model-based approach. The photo-model-based approach has been adopted since the photo-model can be made at once by taking a photo of the unique cloth. In proposed cloths' pose estimation method, a photo-model projected from 3D to 2D is used, where this system does not need defining the object's size, shape, design, color and weight. It detects the cloth through model-based matching method and Genetic Algorithm (GA). The handling performance by the proposed method with dual-eyes cameras has been verified, revealing that the proposed system has leeway to recognize and handle the unique cloth in lighting varieties from 100 lx to 1300 lx. In addition, 3D recognition and handling accuracy have been confirmed to be practically effective by conducting the recognition/handling experiments under different light conditions.


A flow-injection (FI) device is combined, through the use of a low-volume (4 microl) flow cell, with an ultrasensitive surface plasmon resonance (SPR) spectrometer equipped with a bi-cell photodiode detector. The application of this novel FI-SPR device for sequence-specific ultratrace analysis of oligodeoxynucleotides (ODNs) and polydeoxynucleotides was demonstrated. Self-assembled monolayers of ODN probes are tethered onto Au films with a mercaptohexyl group at the 3' ends. The FI-SPR provides a detection level (< or =54 fM) 2-3 orders of magnitude lower than other SPR devices and compares well with several ultrasensitive detection methods for labeled DNA targets (e.g. fluorophore-tagged and radiolabeled DNA samples). The technique is also highly selective, since a 47mer ODN target with a single-base mismatch yielded a much smaller SPR signal, and a specific interaction was detected when the complementary target was present at 0.001% of the total DNA. The FI-SPR was extended to the measurement of two individual genes in a cDNA mixture transcribed from an Arabidopsis thaliana leaf mRNA pool. The greatly enhanced sensitivity not only obviates the necessity of DNA labeling, but also significantly reduces sample consumption, allowing direct quantification of low abundance mRNAs in cellular samples without amplification.


The interactions of a photoreactive analogue of benzoylcholine, 4-azido-2,3,5,6-tetrafluorobenzoylcholine (APFBzcholine), with nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (nAChRs) were studied using electrophysiology and photolabeling. APFBzcholine acted as a low-efficacy partial agonist, eliciting maximal responses that were 0.3 and 0.1% of that of acetylcholine for embryonic mouse and Torpedo nAChRs expressed in Xenopus oocytes, respectively. Equilibrium binding studies of [3H]APFBzcholine with nAChR-rich membranes from Torpedo electric organ revealed equal affinities (K(eq) = 12 microM) for the two agonist binding sites. Upon UV irradiation at 254 nm, [3H]APFBzcholine was photoincorporated into the nAChR alpha, gamma, and delta subunits in an agonist-inhibitable manner. Photolabeled amino acids in the agonist binding sites were identified by Edman degradation of isolated, labeled subunit fragments. [3H]APFBzcholine photolabeled gammaLeu-109/deltaLeu-111, gammaTyr-111, and gammaTyr-117 in binding site segment E as well as alphaTyr-198 in alpha subunit binding site segment C. The observed pattern of photolabeling is examined in relation to the predicted orientation of the azide when APFBzcholine is docked in the agonist binding site of a homology model of the nAChR extracellular domain based upon the structure of the snail acetylcholine binding protein.


PURPOSE
To compare the role of transitory latex and sylastic® implants in tympanoplasty on the closure of tympanic perforations.

METHODS
A randomized double-blind prospective study was conducted on 107 patients with chronic otitis media submitted to underlay tympanoplasty and divided at random into three groups: control with no transitory implant, latex membrane group, and sylastic® membrane group.

RESULTS
Greater graft vascularization occurred in the latex membrane group (p<0.05). Good biocompatibility was obtained with the use of the latex and silicone implants, with no effect on the occurrence of infection, otorrhea or otorragy.

CONCLUSION
The use of a transitory latex implant induced greater graft vascularization, with a biocompatible interaction with the tissue of the human tympanic membrane.


MiRNAs play crucial roles in many aspects of plant development and the response to the environment. The miR172 family has been shown to participate in the control of flowering time and the response to abiotic stress. This family regulates the expression of APETALA2 (AP2)-like transcription factors in Arabidopsis. In the present study, soybean (Glycine max L. Merr.) miR172c, a member of the miR172 family, and its target gene were investigated for abiotic stress responses in transgenic Arabidopsis. gma-miR172c was induced by abscisic acid (ABA) treatments and abiotic stresses, including salt and water deficit. 5'-RACE (5'-rapid amplification of cDNA ends) assays indicated that miR172c directed Glyma01g39520 mRNA cleavage in soybeans. Overexpression of gma-miR172c in Arabidopsis resulted in reduced leaf water loss and increased survival rate under stress conditions. Meanwhile, the root length, germination rate, and cotyledon greening of transgenic plants were improved during both high salt and water deficit conditions. In addition, transgenic plants exhibited hypersensitivity to ABA during both the seed germination and post-germination seedling growth stages. Stress-related physiological indicators and the expression of stress/ABA-responsive genes were affected by abiotic treatments. The overexpression of gma-miR172c in Arabidopsis promoted earlier flowering compared with the wild type through modulation of the expression of flowering genes, such as FT and LFY during long days, especially under drought conditions. Glyma01g39520 weakened ABA sensitivity and reduced the tolerance to drought stress in the snz mutant of Arabidopsis by reducing the expression of ABI3 and ABI5. Overall, the present results demonstrate that gma-miR172c confers water deficit and salt tolerance but increased ABA sensitivity by regulating Glyma01g39520, which also accelerates flowering under abiotic stresses.


To advance robotic science it is important to perform experiments that can be replicated by other researchers to compare different methods. However, these comparisons tend to be biased, since re-implementations of reference methods often lack thoroughness and do not include the hands-on experience obtained during the original development process. This paper presents a thorough comparison of 3D scan registration algorithms based on a 3D mapping field experiment, carried out by two research groups that are leading in the field of 3D robotic mapping. The iterative closest points algorithm (ICP) is compared to the normal distributions transform (NDT). We also present an improved version of NDT with a substantially larger valley of convergence than previously published versions.


A two-dimensional Ising-like model for the triangular spin-chain lattice, where each spin chain is treated as a rigid superspin, is proposed to investigate the dynamics of magnetization in frustrated triangular spin-chain systems. The superspins are assumed to interact with the nearest neighbours and external agency (heat reservoir and external magnetic field) that causes them to change their states randomly with time. A probability of a single spin-flip process is assumed in a Glauber-like form. This technique allows describing the steps in the magnetization curves observed in Ca3Co2O6 and their dependence on the magnetic field sweep rate and temperature.


Pastoral managers in savannas face difficult decisions about trading off short-term use of grass biomass for animal production against its longer term use as fuel to manage tree–grass balances with fire. This study develops a model to represent the interactions between seasonal variability, fire behaviour, tree response, pasture growth and condition, grazing utilisation and animal productivity in a grazed savanna ecosystem. It successfully integrates simplified versions of several existing models, results of local research and expert knowledge to permit economic evaluation of tradeoffs given various fire treatments. The modelling framework also enabled the effects of wildfire events to be simulated and allowed fire and livestock management costs and revenue to be quantified. Applied to one site and climate sequence, the initial results assuming constant stocking rates show the importance of burning for the long-term maintenance of productivity, and suggest that some level of late dry season fire is needed for this. Net present values of applying different fire regimes over different time horizons emphasise the factors that pastoralists must take into account in making decisions about preferred fire regimes.


Tick bites can cause a number of local inflammatory reactions, which are often difficult to differentiate from those induced by other arthropod bites or stings. These include erythematous nodular or pustular lesions, erosive plaques, annular lesions of erythema chronicum migrans, and both scarring and nonscarring inflammatory alopecia. We report a case of nonscarring alopecia in a 21-year-old male who reported a recent history of tick bite to the scalp. The biopsy demonstrated a dense pseudolymphomatous inflammatory infiltrate with numerous eosinophils associated with hair follicle miniaturization and an elevated catagen-telogen count. Signs of external rubbing, including lichen simplex chronicus and the "hamburger sign", were also visualized and are indicative of the associated pruritus. To the authors' knowledge, this is the fifth report of nonscarring tick bite alopecia in the literature and the first in an adult patient. This text will review the classic clinical presentation, histologic findings, and proposed mechanism of tick bite alopecia.


Abstract The Spot Varestraint test was used to evaluate the hot cracking susceptibility of several aluminium alloys namely 6061-T6, 6061-T6 (H), 7075-T6, 7075-T6 (H). The effects of augment strain, the number of thermal cycles and cold working (rolling) on the cracking susceptibility were investigated, and the total crack length was used to evaluate the hot cracking susceptibility. The results indicate that the number of thermal cycles is irrelevant to the hot cracking susceptibility in the weld fusion zone, but does affect this susceptibility in the heat affected zone (HAZ). More thermal cycles correspond to larger hot cracks in the HAZ, especially in the weld metal HAZ. The hot cracking susceptibility of materials increased with augment strain in both the fusion zone and the HAZ. Cold working of the materials can reduce their hot cracking susceptibility. The hot cracking susceptibility of 7075-T6 aluminium alloys is higher than that of 6061-T6. There was significant Cu segregation in the HAZ of 7075-T6 aluminium alloy, resulting in a higher susceptibility to hot cracking in this zone.


We preliminarily find that providing sustainable land management (SLM) training to standard contact farmers and having them maintain demonstration plots within the community on a whole had low impact on the knowledge and adoption of SLM practices. However, the aspect of our intervention that targeted a traditionally disadvantaged group as far as their access to extension services, women, was somewhat successful in terms of improving their SLM knowledge and adoption rates. Having a female contact farmer increased the number of SLM techniques adopted by women by 10 percent. Both male and female farmers in this treatment group identified female (not male) contact farmers as a source of learning for both SLM practices and non SLM-practices suggesting knowledge spillovers. Furthermore, farmers were additionally inclined to teach others what they have learned in the communities with female contact farmers. While we are currently analyzing additional factors that may affect the ability of the intervention to influence behavior, our results have broader implications for improving extension services overall.


In this paper, we propose a new comprehensive realistic cyber security dataset of IoT and IIoT applications, called Edge-IIoTset, which can be used by machine learning-based intrusion detection systems in two different modes, namely, centralized and federated learning. Specifically, the dataset has been generated using a purpose-built IoT/IIoT testbed with a large representative set of devices, sensors, protocols and cloud/edge configurations. The IoT data are generated from various IoT devices (more than 10 types) such as Low-cost digital sensors for sensing temperature and humidity, Ultrasonic sensor, Water level detection sensor, pH Sensor Meter, Soil Moisture sensor, Heart Rate Sensor, Flame Sensor, etc.). Furthermore, we identify and analyze fourteen attacks related to IoT and IIoT connectivity protocols, which are categorized into five threats, including, DoS/DDoS attacks, Information gathering, Man in the middle attacks, Injection attacks, and Malware attacks. In addition, we extract features obtained from different sources, including alerts, system resources, logs, network traffic, and propose new 61 features with high correlations from 1176 found features. After processing and analyzing the proposed realistic cyber security dataset, we provide a primary exploratory data analysis and evaluate the performance of machine learning approaches (i.e., traditional machine learning as well as deep learning) in both centralized and federated learning modes. The Edge-IIoTset dataset can be publicly accessed from [1].


Abstract Belief in the miracles of saints (karāmāt al-awliyāʾ) is a requirement in Sunni Islam. Challenges to this position are generally seen as limited to Islamic modernists affected by Western historical criticism. This article demonstrates that there have actually been leading Sunni Muslim scholars from the fourth/tenth century until the modern period who held positions regarding the miracles of saints that were much more skeptical than the mainstream Sunni stance. These 'faithful dissenters' were motivated by both theological and social concerns, and the methodologies they presented for sifting true from false miracle claims were based entirely on indigenous Islamic epistemological and textual criticism.


Long term recording of biomedical signals such as ECG, EMG, respiration and other information (e.g. body motion) can improve diagnosis and potentially monitor the evolution of many widespread diseases. However, long term monitoring requires specific solutions, portable and wearable equipment that should be particularly comfortable for patients. The key-issues of portable biomedical instrumentation are: power consumption, long-term sensor stability, comfortable wearing and wireless connectivity. In this scenario, it would be valuable to realize prototypes using available technologies to assess long-term personal monitoring and foster new ways to provide healthcare services. The aim of this work is to discuss the advantages and the drawbacks in long term monitoring of biopotentials and body movements using textile electrodes embedded in clothes. The textile electrodes were embedded into garments; tiny shirt and short were used to acquire electrocardiographic and electromyographic signals. The garment was equipped with low power electronics for signal acquisition and data wireless transmission via Bluetooth. A small, battery powered, biopotential amplifier and three-axes acceleration body monitor was realized. Patient monitor incorporates a microcontroller, analog-to-digital signal conversion at programmable sampling frequencies. The system was able to acquire and to transmit real-time signals, within 10 m range, to any Bluetooth device (including PDA or cellular phone). The electronics were embedded in the shirt resulting comfortable to wear for patients. Small size MEMS 3-axes accelerometers were also integrated.


The testing method for detecting cement paste agglomeration is investigated. Furthermore, the procedure and feasibility are also discussed. Paste agglomeration is an abnormal phenomenon of part hydration along with many granules forming. Base on measurement of cement setting time, needle-penetration method is used to check the degree of agglomeration by vicat apparatus. Through researching the influence of cement fineness, content of gypsum and hydrating time on amount of agglomeration, the dependability, reproducibility and enantiotropy of this method are analyzed. The results show that the variation laws of paste agglomeration could be reflected by needle-penetration method effectively, and this method is easy to be carried out. There are better reproducibility and enantiotropy, and this method be used to study the mechanism of agglomeration.


Model reuse is a promising and appealing convention for effective development of simulation systems. However it poses daunting challenges to various issues in research such as Reusability and Composability in model integration. Various methodological advances in this area have given rise to the development of different component reusability frameworks such as BOM (Base Object Model). However, lack of component matching and support for composability verification and validation makes it difficult to achieve effective and meaningful reuse. For this reason there is a need for adequate methods to verify and validate composability of a BOM based composed model. A verified composed model ensures the satisfaction of desired system properties. Fairness, as defined in section II, is an important system property which ensures that no component in a composition is delayed indefinitely. Fairness in a composed model guarantees the participation of all components in order to achieve the desired objectives. In this paper we focus on verification and propose to transform a composed BOM into a Petri Nets model and use different analysis techniques to perform its verification. We propose an algorithm to verify fairness property and provide a case study of a manufacturing system to explain our approach.


Topic model is an increasing useful tool to analyze the semantic level meanings and capture the topical features. However, there is few research about the comparative study of the topic models. In this paper, we describe our comparative study of three topic models in the extrinsic application of topic clustering. The topic model distance is defined on the converged parameters of topic models, which is used in the topic clustering. Then, the topic models are compared using the clustering result of the corresponding topic distance matrix. A series of comparative experiments are carried on a corpus containing 5033 web news from 30 topics using the cosine distance as the base-line. Web page collections with different number of topics and documents are used in experiments. The experiment results show that topic clustering using topic distance achieves a better precision and recall in the data set containing related topics. The topic clustering using topic distance benefits from the topic features captured by topic models. The complex topic model does provide further help than the simple topic model in topic clustering.


The Internet low bit-rate coder (iLBC) is now widely used for voice over Internet protocol (VoIP) applications. Unlike speech coders such as those based on code excited linear prediction (CELP), the iLBC achieves superior robustness to packet loss by avoiding inter-frame coding dependencies. While robustness to packet loss is essential, a VoIP codec should also possess the flexibility to change its source coding rate in order to counter network congestion and facilitate joint source channel coding for wireless channels. Previously, we presented a new variation of the iLBC encoding procedure which yielded a more efficient, rate-flexible result. In an effort to improve performance at lower source rates, we present various improvements to the original framework. Specifically, we reallocate bits from the adaptive codebook procedure; reduce the length of the start state vector; utilize an adaptive pulse gain quantization scheme; and extend the use of entropy coding. Overall, the various combined improvements result in the modified iLBC (with entropy coding) achieving a rate reduction of 2.0 to 2.9 kbps when compared to the original fixed-rate iLBC without any loss in quality. In comparisons with adaptive multi-rate (AMR), the modified iLBC coder remarkably exhibits equivalent perceptual evaluation of speech quality (PESQ) scores as the AMR coder at 10.2 and 12.2 kbps, and out-performs AMR for all packet loss rates. This is a significant result as the modified iLBC performs equivalent to AMR without exploiting inter-frame redundancies


We investigate numerically the momentum density and phase maps $-$in coordinate and momentum space$-$ of a two dimensional Bose-Einstein condensate (BEC) excited by a moving red-detuned laser potential. The BEC is confined in a harmonic trap cutoff by hard walls. The system and excitation scheme are as in our previous work (Roger R. Sakhel {\it et al.} to appear in J. Low Temp. Phys. (2013)); but with twice the number of particles and interaction strength. We solve the time-dependent Gross-Pitaevskii equation numerically using the split-step Crank-Nicolson method in real time. It is demonstrated that the red-detuned laser has a phase-imprinting effect like a repulsive potential barrier. Signatures of excitations are extracted from the dynamics of the momentum densities and phase maps. Further, a new phase is defined in momentum space, which is used to reveal excitations. Therefore, phase maps in coordinate space and momentum space are compared for different BEC evolution times. We argue, that this momentum-space phase is especially important with regard to the studies of BEC momentum distributions. In addition, this work presents a new method of BEC interferometry and should contribute to the ongoing research in that field. One of our significant findings is the presence of substantial differences betwteen the momentum density obtained by a Fourier transform (FT) of the spatial density distribution and the one obtained from the modulus of the wavefunction in momentum space; the latter is obtained by a FT of the spatial wavefunction.


Ex post review is a common feature of policy-making institutions. We consider an environment in which an expert agent makes a policy recommendation, which can then be accepted or rejected by an overseer whose policy goals differ from those of the agent. The theory suggests that both behavior and optimal institutional design are sensitive to several factors, including actors' preference alignment, the importance of the policy decision, and the uncertainty about the correct policy choice. We characterize the types of situations in which ex post review creates incentives for the agent to make pathological policy choices. In these situations, ex post review can reduce accountability of the agent to overseer wishes and ultimately provide incentives to set aside review entirely. The theory also offers testable predictions about policy recommendations and the overseer's acceptance or rejection of these recommendations.


Several studies have been undertaken in various
countries with the aim of assessing tax performance.
The most common approach in these studies has been to
determine the ratio of tax revenue to gross domestic
product. Recent such studies have included several
other variables in the analysis of tax performance.
This particular study has attempted to assess tax
performance in Kenya by analysing tax ratios, tax
effort indices, tax ratio buoyancy, and per capita
income elasticities of various tax ratios. Data for 32 years on tax revenue, per capita income and on tax aspects of mining, manufacturing,
quarrying, building, construction, agriculture, forestry,
fishing, exports, imports, gross domestic
product and inflation were collected. The data were
converted to constant 1958 values by dividing them
through by cumulative inflation rate. The shares of
various sectors in gross domestic product were
obtained by dividing their respective value addeds by
gross domestic product.
The methodology employed in this study involved
identifying major economic factors that influence the
capacity to levy and to pay taxes. Relative influences of these factors on tax revenue were then
measured using regression methods. Given the coefficients
of explanatory variables, a tax ratio was predicted for each year and this ratio was divided by the actual tax ratio to obtain an index of tax effort.
The influence of per capita income on tax ratio was
taken as the estimate of tax ratio buoyancy. When
estimating the income elasticity of the tax ratio,
dummy variables were introduced to control for
unobservable determinants of the tax ratio.
On the basis of empirical evidence the study
concludes that:
(i) The tax ratio increases with per capita income,
which means that a larger per capita income
implies higher tax revenues. However, the tax
ratio is inelastic with respect to per capita
income, implying a less than proportionate
response of the tax ratio to growth in per
capita income.
(ii) An increase in the volume of international trade
increases the tax ratio.
(iii) The tax ratio increases with GDP shares of
manufacturing, mining, quarrying. building and
construction sectors.
(iv) The tax ratio is inversely correlated with GDP
shares of agriculture, forestry and fishing
sectors. This result, together with (iii) above,
suggests that the tax ratio is greatly
influenced by the structure of the economy.
Other results, including their policy
implications, are reported and discussed in the
text.


Pluripotent hemopoietic progenitors in human bone marrow can be identified by their ability to give rise in culture to colonies that contain more than one lineage of hemopoietic differentiation. Growth of these mixed colonies is supported by media conditioned by leukocytes in the presence of phytohemagglutinin (PHA-LCM) and erythropoietin. They can be readily recognized by direct microscopic observation because of their composition of colorless cells and cells with a red appearance typical for hemoglobin. Seventy-three individual mixed colonies from 6 individuals were prepared by cytocentrifugation for further cytological examination. In addition to neutrophilic granulocytes and erythroblasts, megakaryocytes were present in 16 of the 73 colonies, as identified by positive reaction for acid phosphatase. Macrophages were found in 24 and eosinophils in 6 of the 73 colonies.


This study compared the development of tolerance to two orally bioavailable prescription opioids, oxycodone and hydrocodone, to that of morphine, and the reversal of this tolerance by ethanol. Oxycodone (s.c.) was significantly more potent in the mouse tail-withdrawal assay than either morphine or hydrocodone. Oxycodone was also significantly more potent in this assay than hydrocodone when administered orally. Tolerance was seen following chronic subcutaneous administration of each of the three drugs and by the chronic administration of oral oxycodone, but not following the chronic oral administration of hydrocodone. Ethanol (1 g/kg i.p.) significantly reversed the tolerance to the subcutaneous administration of each of the three opioids that developed when given 30 minutes prior to challenge doses. It took twice as much ethanol, when given orally, to reverse the tolerance to oxycodone. We investigated whether the observed tolerance to oxycodone and its reversal by ethanol were due to biodispositional changes or reflected a true neuronal tolerance. As expected, a relationship between brain oxycodone concentrations and activity in the tail-immersion test existed following administration of acute oral oxycodone. Following chronic treatment, brain oxycodone concentrations were significantly lower than acute concentrations. Oral ethanol (2 g/kg) reversed the tolerance to chronic oxycodone, but did not alter brain concentrations of either acute or chronic oxycodone. These studies show that there is a metabolic component of tolerance to oxycodone; however, the reversal of that tolerance by ethanol is not due to an alteration of the biodisposition of oxycodone, but rather is neuronal in nature.


Author(s): Purcell, Michael; San Miguel, Christopher; Yee, Jennifer | Abstract: ABSTRACT: Audience: This scenario was developed to educate emergency medicine residents on the diagnosis and management of acute hemolytic transfusion reactions in the emergency department. The case is appropriate for senior medical students and advanced practice providers. The principles of crisis resource management, teamwork, and communication are also incorporated into the case. Introduction: Patients who present with suspected acute hemolytic transfusion reactions require rapid diagnosis and management, as well as a thorough evaluation for other differential diagnoses, such as DIC (disseminated intravascular coagulation), TTP (thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura), and sepsis. The possibility of acute hemolytic transfusion must be entertained early, as it carries significant morbidity including the risk of developing acute hemolytic anemia, acute renal failure, DIC, shock, and/or death.1 The mortality rate of acute hemolytic transfusion reactions can reach 44%, and it accounts for 20% of all transfusion-related mortalities.2,3 Given this significant morbidity and mortality, early recognition and management are paramount in the emergency department (ED) to avoid clinical deterioration and death. Objectives: By the end of this simulation session, the learner will be able to: 1) Recognize the clinical signs and symptoms associated with transfusion reactions. 2) Discuss necessary systems-based management of potential transfusion reactions, such as notifying the blood bank and evaluating to see if another patienta accidentally received a wrong unit of blood. 3) Discuss the management of various transfusion reactions. 4) Appropriately disposition the patient to an intensive care unit (ICU) or stepdown unit. 5) Effectively communicate with team members and nursing staff during the resuscitation of a critically ill patient. Method: This session is conducted using high-fidelity simulation, followed by a debriefing session and lecture on the diagnosis and management of transfusion reactions. Debriefing methods may be left to the discretion of participants, but the authors have utilized advocacy-inquiry techniques. Topics: Medical simulation, acute hemolytic transfusion reaction, transfusion reactions, hematology, emergency medicine.


Intragastric administration of corvitin at doses of 10, 20 and 40 mg/kg dose-dependently increased the volume of gastric juice and the total production of hydrochloric acid (HA). Amplification of hexosamines and cysteine production was observed only when the study drug was administered at a dose of 10 mg/kg. When corvitin was used at 20 and 40 mg/kg, these parameters were at the level of control values. Protein production increased in response to 10 and 20 mg/kg corvitin, but fell below the control values after administration of 40 mg/kg of the drug. The level of blood flow in the gastric mucosa increased following administration of 10 mg/kg corvitin, was not different from the baseline after 20 mg/kg of the drug and significantly decreased in response to 40 mg/kg of flavonoid. Our results indicate that a single intragastric application of corvitin at dose of 10 mg/kg activates gastric defense mechanisms. At 20 and 40 mg/kg, corvitin does not affect them but gradually reduces blood flow in gastric mucosa, causes a disturbance of protein synthesis and hypersecretion of HA into the cavity of the stomach, which can lead to disruption of the digestive process and the integrity of gastric mucosa.


Congenital heart disease is a common problem in children with Down syndrome (DS). Echocardiography plays an important role in the detection of both structural and functional abnormalities in this group of patients. Fetal echocardiography can help in the early recognition of DS by detecting soft markers of DS, but its main role is to define the exact nature of the suspected cardiac problem in the fetus. Postnatal echocardiography is mandatory in the first month of life for all neonates with DS. It is also indicated before any cardiac surgery and for serial follow-up after cardiac surgery. In this article, we discuss the types and mechanism of cardiac abnormalities in DS children and the role of both fetal and postnatal echocardiography in the detection of these abnormalities.


BACKGROUND
Pulmonary hypertension has not been described as a predisposing risk factor for high-altitude pulmonary edema (HAPE) in children. Previous studies have shown an association of HAPE with abnormally increased pulmonary vasoreactivity to hypoxia but generally normal pulmonary artery pressure (PAP) after recovery.

OBJECTIVE
To describe HAPE of relatively rapid onset and its management in a series of children residing at moderate to high altitudes, all of whom had underlying pulmonary hypertension.

METHODS AND RESULTS
From 1997 to 2003, 30 children came to our center with high-altitude illness. Of these, 10 children (aged 4-18 years; male-female ratio, 8:2) living at moderate to high altitudes (1610-3050 m) underwent cardiac catheterization after recovery from HAPE, and all were found to have chronic pulmonary hypertension (mean PAP, 38 +/- 9 mm Hg; pulmonary vascular resistance, 8.6 +/- 2.8 U x m2). Increases in PAP and pulmonary vascular resistance to hypoxia (16% oxygen) suggest that these children have a reactive pulmonary pressor response and hence are susceptible to HAPE. Six of the 10 patients had predisposing cardiopulmonary abnormalities, and 5 of these 6 patients did not receive a diagnosis prior to the onset of HAPE. Long-term treatment with calcium channel blockers, bosentan, sildenafil citrate, and/or oxygen lowered PAP, improved symptoms, and prevented the recurrence of HAPE.

CONCLUSION
Children living at altitude who develop HAPE should undergo screening for diagnosis of underlying cardiopulmonary abnormalities including pulmonary hypertension.


We report the results of a laboratory experiment investigating propagation of beliefs in a social network. During the experiment, participants faced several questions having objectively correct answers and could update their answers several times based on aggregate information about answers chosen by their neighbours. One of the novelties of the experiment was that the binary choices faced by participants were augmented to include an "I do not know" option and incentives to choose it when they felt indi↵erent between the actual options. We observe that the dynamics of decisions in the network strongly depends on the question type, logical or factual. The results also indicate that propagation of beliefs can be more accurately described by a threshold model rather than models of probabilistic contagion. However, in contrast with assumptions underlying standard threshold models, our results suggest that it is not the larger proportion of neighbours that is driving participants' choices but the di↵erence between the proportions of neighbours opting for the competing options.


The effects of varying temperatures from 25 degrees to 37 degrees C on calcium binding characteristics of sarcoplasmic reticulum from malignant hyperthermia-susceptible (MHS) and control pig muscle were examined. Two groups of MHS pigs were included: those with high susceptibility to malignant hyperthermia (MHS group) and a cross-bred, less susceptible group (MHX). At 25 degrees C, calcium binding was lower for MHS than for controls and MHX. As temperature was increased by 2 degrees C jumps, calcium binding decreased in all sarcoplasmic reticulum fractions. At 35 degrees C a sharp decrease in calcium binding occurred in the MHS and MHX fractions. The sharp decrease in calcium binding at 35 degrees C differentiated the MHS and MHX fractions from controls. The initial velocity (Vi) for calcium binding was lower in MHS fractions between 25 degrees and 35 degrees C when compared with MHX and controls. All fractions had increased Vi values as temperature increased from 25 degrees to 35 degrees C. From 35 degrees to 39 degrees Vi for controls increased markedly. In contrast, Vi for the MHX fraction decreased as temperature exceeded 35 degrees C. These temperature effects on calcium binding characteristics of sarcoplasmic reticulum from MHS and MHX muscle may be indicative of a membrane transition that impairs calcium binding. Research Article


Enables students to develop all the basic skills and experience all the wonderment of conducting a meaningful research project from start to finish. * Features detailed, well constructed experimental protocols that enable students to generate results in a short period of time. * Develops the skills that students need to initiate, conduct, and interpret the results of actual research projects. * Gives students valuable experience using contemporary methods to evaluate scientific hypotheses and communicate results. * Offers a unique, hands-on approach that emphasizes experimentation and critical thinking to learn core concepts in microbial genomics, microbial ecology, and molecular evolution. * Underscores the value of developing working relationships with other scientists. * Builds an appreciation and understanding of the ubiquity of microbes and the great diversity of the microbial world. This title is published by the American Society of Microbiology Press and distributed by Taylor and Francis in rest of world territories.


We describe a simple device for fluorescence sensing based on an unexpansive light source, a dual photocell and a Watson bridge. The emission is detected from two fluorescent samples, one of which changes intensity in response to the analyte. The emission from these two samples is observed through two orthogonally oriented polarizers and an analyzer polarizer. The latter polarizer is rotated to yield equal intensities from both sides of the dual photocell, as determined by a zero voltage from the Watson bridge. Using this device, we are able to measure fluorescein concentration to an accuracy near 2% at 1 ?M fluorescein, and pH values accurate to ±0.02 pH units. We also use this approach with a UV hand lamp and a glucose-sensitive protein to measure glucose concentrations near 2 ?M to an accuracy of ±0.1 ?M. This approach requires only simple electronics, which can be battery powered. Additionally, the method is generic, and can be applied with any fluorescent sample that displays a change in intensity. one can imagine this approach being used to develop portable point-of-care clinical devices.


Core banking is a set of services provided by a group of networked bank branches. Bank customers may access their funds and perform other simple transactions from any of the member branch offices. The major issue in core banking is the authenticity of the customer. Due to unavoidable hacking of the databases on the internet, it is always quite difficult to trust the information on the internet. To solve this problem of authentication, we are proposing an algorithm based on image processing, improved steganography and visual cryptography. This paper proposes a technique of encode the password of a customer by improved Steganography, most of the steganographic techniques use either three or four adjacent pixels around a target pixel whereas the proposed technique is able to utilize at most all eight adjacent neighbors so that imperceptibility value grows bigger and then dividing it into shares. Total number of shares to be created is depending on the scheme chosen by the bank. When two shares are created, one is stored in the Bank database and the other is kept by the customer. The customer has to present the share during all of his transactions. This share is stacked with the first share to get the original image. Then decoding method is used to take the hidden password on acceptance or rejection of the output and authenticate the customer.


Ambitious climate targets, such as the 2 °C target, are likely to require the removal of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. Afforestation is one such mitigation option but could, through the competition for land, also lead to food prices hikes. In addition, afforestation often decreases land-surface albedo and the amount of short-wave radiation reflected back to space, which results in a warming effect. In particular in the boreal zone, such biophysical warming effects following from afforestation are estimated to offset the cooling effect from carbon sequestration. We assessed the food price response of afforestation, and considered the albedo effect with scenarios in which afforestation was restricted to certain latitudinal zones. In our study, afforestation was incentivized by a globally uniform reward for carbon uptake in the terrestrial biosphere. This resulted in large-scale afforestation (2580 Mha globally) and substantial carbon sequestration (860 GtCO2) up to the end of the century. However, it was also associated with an increase in food prices of about 80% by 2050 and a more than fourfold increase by 2100. When afforestation was restricted to the tropics the food price response was substantially reduced, while still almost 60% cumulative carbon sequestration was achieved. In the medium term, the increase in prices was then lower than the increase in income underlying our scenario projections. Moreover, our results indicate that more liberalised trade in agricultural commodities could buffer the food price increases following from afforestation in tropical regions.


A dynamic structural model of labor supply, welfare participation, and food stamp participation is estimated using the 1992, 1993, and 1996 panels of the Survey of Income and Program Participation. Details of various policies including welfare time limits, work requirements, and Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) are incorporated formally in the budget constraint. Policy simulations reveal that the economy accounts for half of the increase in the labor supply of female heads of family between 1992 and 1999. A time limit results in a larger efficiency gain than a work requirement or a direct reduction in welfare benefits. A reform package can lead to both a reduction in the government expenditure and an improvement in utility. The EITC expansion results in a substantial efficiency gain among individuals with the lowest expected wage. These individuals are almost unaffected by the economic expansion, but their income and utility increase significantly under the reform package.


Data owners face increasing liability for how the use of their data could harm under-priviliged communities. Stakeholders would like to identify the characteristics of data that lead to algorithms being biased against any particular demographic groups, for example, defined by their race, gender, age, and/or religion. Specifically, we are interested in identifying subsets of the feature space where the ground truth response function from features to observed outcomes differs across demographic groups. To this end, we propose FORESEE, a FORESt of decision trEEs algorithm, which generates a score that captures how likely an individual's response varies with sensitive attributes. Empirically, we find that our approach allows us to identify the individuals who are most likely to be misclassified by several classifiers, including Random Forest, Logistic Regression, Support Vector Machine, and k-Nearest Neighbors. The advantage of our approach is that it allows stakeholders to characterize risky samples that may contribute to discrimination, as well as, use the FORESEE to estimate the risk of upcoming samples.


It was an honour to serve as the keynote speaker for the inaugural Human Communication Studies International Conference, held in Trinidad and Tobago, and it is a privilege to offer this epilogue to the inaugural issue of the Journal of Human Communication Studies in the Caribbean (JHCSC). As the first three articles in this issue revealed, in a relatively short period of time, there has been substantial development of the communication discipline in the Caribbean, with undergraduate and graduate communication education established in that region of the world, and Caribbean scholars contributing to the discipline's understanding of communication principles, processes, and practices. I, thus, take this opportunity to celebrate these accomplishments, and, especially, the start of this journal, but also to pose some challenges for communication scholarship (both teaching and research) in the Caribbean (and elsewhere).


Morphological and functional characteristics are outlined for various types of endocervical hyperplasia attributed to prolonged administration of combined hormonotherapy with progestin-estrogenic and gestagen preparations for endometrial hyperplasia, external and internal endometriosis and myoma uteri. Endocervical hyperplasia belongs to iatrogenic pathology. Terminological issues of hyperplasia and differential diagnosis of atypical microglandular hyperplasia and adenocarcinoma are discussed.


: In 12 experiments on 9 chronically-cathetized pregnant sheep (116-143 days of gestation), fetal oxygen consumption, umbilical blood flow and blood gas values were measured before, during and after a 30-min period of hypercapnia, induced by having the ewes breathe 5% CO2 and 18% O2 in N2. During the large amplitude breathing stimulated by hypercapnia, O2 consumption increased by 21%, solely via a rise in O2 extraction. During apnoeic periods and low amplitude breathing in the hypercapnia period, oxygen consumption was not different from the control value, but fetal arterial and umbilical venous PO2 was significantly raised, by 3 and 6 mm Hg respectively. These changes were probably due to a Bohr shift in the maternal oxygen dissociation curve. During large amplitude breathing, PO2 fell to control levels, probably due in part to the increase in O2 extraction. It is concluded that vigorous breathing movements in the fetal sheep, such as those stimulated by hypercapnia, result to an increase in fetal O2 demands. Further, the work of such breathing is large, and probably equivalent to that performed in adults during vigorous hyperventilation against an inspiratory resistance.


We have studied numerically the states reached in a quench from various temperatures in the one-dimensional fully-connected Kotliar, Anderson and Stein Ising spin glass model. \ This is a model where there are long-range interactions between the spins which falls off as a power $\sigma$ of their separation. We have made a detailed study in particular of th\ e energies of the states reached in a quench from infinite temperature and their overlaps, including the spin glass susceptibility. In the regime where $\sigma \le 1/2$, where \ the model is similar to the Sherrington-Kirkpatrick model, we find that the spin glass susceptibility diverges logarithmically with increasing $N$, the number of spins in the syste\ m, whereas for $\sigma> 1/2$ it remains finite. We attribute the behavior for $\sigma \le 1/2$ to \emph {self-organized critical behavior}, where the system after the quench is cl\ ose to the transition between states which have trivial overlaps and those with the non-trivial overlaps associated with replica symmetry breaking.


Natural rubber industry plays an important role in the economy of Sri Lanka. Therefore, improvement of productivity levels has become important. Corynespora leaf fall disease (CLFD) is the most destructive disease of rubber caused by Corynespora cassiicola. In Sri Lanka two epidemics occurred in 1986 and 1995. C. cassiicola has a wide host range including vegetables, ornamentals, weeds, yams, medicinal and other cash crops. Hence, there is a high risk of cross infection possibilities. The objective of this study was to examine the diversity of the pathogen isolates from several host plants; rubber-RRISL202 (A), RRISL 110 (B), RRISL201 (C), Eggplant (D), Papaya (E), Tomato (F). Diseased leaf samples were collected and isolated on potato dextrose agar (PDA). Single spore isolates were obtained and the cultural variations were studied. Except flat textured D and E, all the other isolates showed puffy growth. Colony appearance varied from olivaceous green colour to different shades of grey. Except A, B and C all the other isolates showed concentric rings on lower surface. Except A and B, the other isolates showed uneven margins. In microscopic view, all rubber isolates showed thread like hyphae with a width of (3.20-3.58) μm. However, in the isolates of alternative hosts, hyphae were wider (6.00-7.80 μm). Generally mycelia were branched and septate with conidiophores at the tips of hyphae. Isolates A, B and C were fast growers, D and E were moderate while F was slow. In reproductive studies, generally conidia of C. cassiicola were segmented and showed characteristic hilum at the pointed tips. There was no significant variation in the dimensions of spores among the isolates. The conidial length varied from (15-275 μm) and width varied from (3.75-12.50 μm). Straight, curved, cylindrical and obclavate shapes were observed. Mostly slender, straight conidia were observed in rubber isolates. Rubber isolates were poor sporulators compared to the alternative host isolates. Present study revealed that there is a significant variation in the morphology and reproductive characteristics among the selected C. cassiicola isolates. Further investigations will be carried out to examine the genetic and pathogenicity variations among the isolates. Keywords: Corynespora cassiicola, Alternative hosts, Morphology and reproductive Characteristics


A crystal-clear, scientifically rigorous argument for the existence of free will, challenging what many scientists and scientifically minded philosophers believe. Philosophers have argued about the nature and the very existence of free will for centuries. Today, many scientists and scientifically minded commentators are skeptical that it exists, especially when it is understood to require the ability to choose between alternative possibilities. If the laws of physics govern everything that happens, they argue, then how can our choices be free? Believers in free will must be misled by habit, sentiment, or religious doctrine. Why Free Will Is Real defies scientific orthodoxy and presents a bold new defense of free will in the same naturalistic terms that are usually deployed against it. Unlike those who defend free will by giving up the idea that it requires alternative possibilities to choose from, Christian List retains this idea as central, resisting the tendency to defend free will by watering it down. He concedes that free will and its prerequisites—intentional agency, alternative possibilities, and causal control over our actions—cannot be found among the fundamental physical features of the natural world. But, he argues, that's not where we should be looking. Free will is a "higher-level" phenomenon found at the level of psychology. It is like other phenomena that emerge from physical processes but are autonomous from them and not best understood in fundamental physical terms—like an ecosystem or the economy. When we discover it in its proper context, acknowledging that free will is real is not just scientifically respectable; it is indispensable for explaining our world.


Paleontology
Thousands of fossilized footprints left on a 180-m-long stretch of flood plain in Alaska's Denali National Park and Preserve offer news clues to the lives of hadrosaurs, commonly called duck-billed dinosaurs. The impressions, made between 69 million and 72 million years ago, cluster within four size ranges that represent specific age groups in a multigenerational herd, report Fiorillo et al. About 84% of the tracks were made by adult and near-adult hadrosaurs, 13% by young probably less than 1 year old, and only 3% by juveniles—a rarity that suggests the species experienced a rapid growth spurt. The presence of juveniles also hints that the creatures spent their lives in the Arctic; the young would not have been able to migrate to and from warmer climates during wintertime.

Geology 10.1130/G35740.1 (2014).


We consider the closure problem for turbulence in the dry convective atmospheric boundary
layer (CBL). Transport in the CBL is carried by small scale eddies near the surface and large
plumes in the well mixed middle part up to the inversion that separates the CBL from the
stably stratified air above. An analytically tractable model based on a multivariate Delta-PDF
approach is developed. It is an extension of the model of Gryanik and Hartmann [1] (GH02)
that additionally includes a term for background turbulence. Thus an exact solution is derived
and all higher order moments (HOMs) are explained by second order moments, correlation
coefficients and the skewness. The solution provides a proof of the extended universality
hypothesis of GH02 which is the refinement of the Millionshchikov hypothesis (quasi-
normality of FOM). This refined hypothesis states that CBL turbulence can be considered as
result of a linear interpolation between the Gaussian and the very skewed turbulence regimes.
Although the extended universality hypothesis was confirmed by results of field
measurements, LES and DNS simulations (see e.g. [2-4]), several questions remained
unexplained. These are now answered by the new model including the reasons of the
universality of the functional form of the HOMs, the significant scatter of the values of the
coefficients and the source of the magic of the linear interpolation. Finally, the closures
61
predicted by the model are tested against measurements and LES data. Some of the other
issues of CBL turbulence, e.g. familiar kurtosis-skewness relationships and relation of area
coverage parameters of plumes (so called filling factors) with HOM will be discussed also.


In 65 patients evaluated for suspected genetic and/or developmental problems, a roentgenographic study of the kidneys was performed because of the presence of a supernumerary nipple (SNN). Seven of 65 (11%) had a significant renal lesion that included conjoined kidneys in a female with Fanconi's anemia. Four of these patients did not have signs or symptoms suggestive of an underlying urinary tract pathologic condition. These results indicate that an SNN/renal field defect probably exists, although the significance of this association is significantly weaker than that originally proposed by Mehes. One variable influencing this association appears to be racial differences, as evidenced by the absence of renal defects in blacks with an SNN. Based on our findings, the identification of additional minor phenotypic abnormalities may represent an additional mediating variable in this association. However, the discovery of an SNN in an otherwise normal individual, or an individual with a recognizable pattern of human malformation not associated with renal anomalies or central nervous system dysfunction alone, does not appear to be an indication for additional diagnostic studies of the urinary tract.


Cell-to-cell variations in protein abundance in clonal cell populations are ubiquitous in living systems. Since protein composition determines responses in individual cells, it stands to reason that the variations themselves are subject to selective pressures. But the functional role of these cell-to-cell differences is not well understood. One way to tackle questions regarding relationships between form and function is to perturb the form (e.g., change the protein abundances) and observe the resulting changes in some function. Here we take on the form-function relationship from the inverse perspective, asking instead what specific constraints on cell-to-cell variations in protein abundance are imposed by a given functional phenotype. We develop a maximum entropy (MaxEnt) based approach to posing questions of this type, and illustrate the method by application to the well characterized chemotactic response in Escherichia coli (E. coli). We find that full determination of observed cell-to-cell variations in protein abundances is not inherent in chemotaxis itself, but in fact appears to be jointly imposed by the chemotaxis program in conjunction with other factors, e.g., the protein synthesis machinery and/or additional non-chemotactic cell functions. These results illustrate the power of MaxEnt as a tool for the investigation of relationships between biological form and function.


In this study, we investigated the degree to which host genetics shape the rumen microbiome. Complex and diverse microbial communities can alter the nutrient profile available to the animal and subsequent performance. Studies of the gut microbiome have demonstrated that host genotype influences gut microbial species composition. Therefore, microbial species composition in the rumen may be a complex trait that manifests through the convergence of host-genetics and environmental factors. To test this hypothesis, we collected rumen contents and blood samples from 586 beef cattle on different diets from two locations. The rumen samples were used to sequence the V4 region of the 16S rDNA on an Illumina MiSeq platform. Animals were genotyped with various platforms and a common set of 61,974 SNP were used to conduct a genome-wide association study (GWAS) using the microbiome (OTUs, families and phyla) as response variables. The GWAS was performed using Bayesian GBLUP fitting fixed effects of cohort (location and date), and the first 2 principle components to account for population stratification. Median posterior genomic heritability estimates were 0.110, 0.124, and 0.141 at the OTU, family and phylum taxonomic level, respectively. The top 8 1-Mb windows for OTUs, families and phyla were located on 7 different chromosomes. These regions affect the rumen microbiota in multiple ways; some (chromosome 19; position 3.0–4.0 Mb) are associated with closely related taxa (Prevotellaceae, Paraprevotellaceae, and RF16), some (chromosome 27; position 3.0–4.0 Mb) are associated with distantly related taxa (Prevotellaceae, Fibrobacteraceae, RF16, RFP12, S24-7, Lentisphaerae, and Tenericutes) and others (chromosome 23; position 0.0–1.0) controlling both related and unrelated taxa. Overall, the 8 regions identified control 11 different families and 6 different phyla. This study shows that host genetics can affect rumen bacterial community members and points towards the possibility that genomics can be used to manipulate the rumen microbiome.


The search for the optimal coupling of several types of catalysts has inspired the development of multi-catalytic hybrid materials (MCHMs) featuring chemical and biological catalysts co-immobilised on the same support. This complex interdisciplinary strategy, located at the crossroads of chemistry, biology, and materials science, calls for a wide range of skills and offers access to MCHMs with diverse catalytic properties and applications. In particular, numerous organic and inorganic supports, both rigid or flexible, have been used to develop remarkable hybrid catalysts that exhibit synergetic effects and achieve yields and enantiomeric excesses unattainable through the separate use of catalyst constituents even in one-pot/one step processes. As the spearhead of hybrid catalysis, MCHMs concentrate the very essence of this field, requiring seamless communication and collaboration between chemists, biologists, materials scientists, and modelling specialists. Future developments in this area are expected to revolutionise catalysis and make it an inter- or even transdisciplinary research area.


In this study, we present a general and efficient strategy to design and prepare novel MOF-based hybrid membranes on a tubular ceramic substrate. Thin and compact MOF/organosilica nano-composite membranes can be rationally formed and tightly bound with the tubular ceramic substrate. The resulting membranes display high gas separation performance with both high selectivity and high permeation rate, which can be well correlated to the parent MOFs. The as-prepared ZIF-8 and MIL-53-NH2 incorporated organosilica nanocomposite membranes have been demonstrated as some of the best performing MOF-based membranes for highly H2- (H2/CH4 selectivity = 26.5, H2 permeance = 1.06 × 10−6 mol m−2 s−1 Pa−1) and CO2-selective (CO2/CH4 selectively = 18.2, CO2 permeance = 1.44 × 10−7 mol m−2 s−1 Pa−1) separations, for H2/CH4 (1 : 1) and CO2/CH4 (1 : 1) mixtures at room temperature, respectively.


Collaboration and mobility are two actual trends in new product development today. Due to the globalization of the economies and the outsourcing of specific tasks, companies have to work together as Virtual Organisations. However, the work environments of the collaborating people are very complex. In every company different processes and IT systems are used. Additionally, people are seldom at their company site, especially in small and medium sized companies (SME) the key personnel are often on the road. There they have no access to their digital files and information resources of their companies. This paper describes the architecture concept of a mobile collaborative environment addressing these problems.


Intraguild predation (IGP) is a type of interaction in which a top predator simultaneously competes and predates an intermediate prey that shares a third prey species with the top predator. While common in nature, most theoretical population dynamics models proposed in the literature predict that this three species interaction usually leads to extinction of the intermediate prey population. Predator-induced defense as well as refuge mechanisms are widely seen in these systems and should be incorporated in IGP models to promote coexistence. With this aim, we introduce a nonlinear response to the predation of IG-predator on IG-prey modelling both prey refuge and morphological defenses. The phase diagram of species coexistence is obtained as function of the attack efficiency and the degree of nonlinearity of the defense mechanisms. Further we show how the nonlinearity affects the equilibrium populations. We unveil that there is an optimal nonlinearity at which the convergence towards the stationary coexistence regime is the fastest.


Recent investigations show that a great deal of effort is being put to develop a specific test which could be effectively used to diagnose meningitis and which could also be helpful in differential diagnosis of infectious diseases of the central nervous system [ 1-31. In this context several constituent proteins of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) have been evaluated to establish their possible correlation with bacterial meningitis [ 1, 4, 51. We previously evaluated the use of ultra-thin-layer SDSlPAGE as a rapid method to analyse CSF proteins, as qualitative changes occurring in these might be of some value in the diagnosis of bacterial meningitis [6]. In this communication we report the presence of two low molecular mass proteins which appear to be specific for bacterial meningitis. CSF samples from 1 12 patients with bacterial meningitis were examined by ultra-thin-layer SDS/PAGE using the procedure described elsewhere [6]. The total protein concentration in these CSF samples was between 21 and 3500 mg/dl (mean 232 mg/dl). This indicates that total protein concentration in this disease is inconsistently raised, thus making it a highly unreliable parameter for diagnostic purposes. When these CSF samples were analysed by SDS/ PAGE (Fig. l a ) they showed a consistent pattern of protein bands despite the fact that their total protein concentrations were not comparable in many cases. In addition to the protein bands present at M , 66000, 55000 and 25000 which seemed to be the common feature of CSF samples, the most noticeable finding was the presence of two low molecular mass protein species at approximate M , 12000 and 15000. In 91 out of 112 samples of bacterial meningitis these protein bands were clearly visible. The same combination of these two bands was not detected in the CSF sample of viral meningitis and other disorders of the nervous system. To further investigate whether these proteins exist as monomeric proteins or are subunits of each other, the same samples were also subjected to PAGE in the absence of detergent and reducing agent. Fig. I (h) shows the electrophoretic profiles of CSF proteins from individuals with bacterial meningitis. On this system, those low molecular mass protein bands were not present. Instead, a single band at approximate M , 30 000 was present which could possibly be a dimer of the two low molecular mass proteins described earlier on SDS-gels. Attempts are now being made to establish the physicochemical characteristics of these proteins. Our results show that the specificity of these low molecular mass proteins was 81%, which could possibly place these M, 66000 -


The action figure is a relatively recent invention, a product of the 1960s, urbanization and a gendered re-inscription of girls' dolls, making them suitable for masculine consumption and play. Yet despite the importance of the action figure in popular culture, both as a million dollar entertainment industry in their own right and as the basis for media convergence and filmic adaptation (as most recently confirmed with the box-office success of Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen [2009] and G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra [2009]), the action figure has rarely been analysed as a media text. This paper will engage in such an analysis, exploring the history and importance of the action figure in the broader socio-cultural context through a series of case studies of the key properties: G.I. Joe, Masters of the Universe and Transformers. It will examine how narratives born of canny marketing decisions gave rise to some of the earliest examples of transmedia storytelling, how fandom supported such products well beyond their (quite literal) shelf-lives and how the cultural value of action figures has altered so that they are now desirable items for the adult collector as well as being playthings for children. In this way, I argue that the action figure is both symptomatic of modern commodity culture and indicative of the trends in media convergence. The story of toys is the story of everything … if some bearded archeologist [sic] of the year 3000 wants to know what life was all about in the 20th century, all he has to do is dig up a toy box.         James May, qtd in May (2009, 6) Someday, I'm gonna be 'xactly like you, 'til then I know just what I'll do: Barbie, beautiful Barbie, I'll make believe that I'm you.            Television jingle, from debut Barbie advertisement, 1959,   qtd in D'Amato (2009, 120) GI Joe, GI Joe, fighting man from head to toe! On the land, on the sea, in the air!   Television jingle, from G.I. Joe advertisement, 1964, qtd in Walsh (2005, 199)


Discharge of sewage effluent into the ocean has been shown to cause changes in the structure and distribution of a range of biological assemblages, including those dominated by sponges. To date, the underlying mechanisms by which exposure to sewage alters such assemblages is unclear, although a number of potential models have been proposed. Here, a series of manipula- tive field experiments were done using the phototrophic sponge Cymbastela concentrica. Hypo- theses from the general models that increased shade, silt, nutrients or salinity gradients were tested to find a cause for observed declines in populations exposed to sewage. Changes in the variables examined (i.e. growth and reproductive status of C. concentrica and concentrations of chl a associ- ated with symbiotic micro-algae in C. concentrica) strongly supported the models showing that shad- ing and siltation were a cause for decline. Nutrients did not affect any of the variables that were mea- sured, whereas a decreasing salinity gradient caused a decline in growth, reproductive status and symbiotic algae (as measured by the concentration of chl a). This work makes a significant contribu- tion to our understanding of the mechanisms that underpin the changes in patterns observed when sponges are exposed to physical factors associated with a sewage plume.


The Engineering Design Centre concentrates on teaching Design by way of realistic practice with copious tutorial guidance. At undergraduate level this must be achieved using artificial problems set up for educational purposes only, but at postgraduate level nothing less than wholly commercial design projects are considered acceptable. All the activities of the Centre were briefly reviewed in an earlier issue of Studies in Design Education & Craft (Vol . 6 No.2). This article examines the one-year postgraduate course in more detail, with special reference to the project system.


In the process of industrialization of tomato industry in Xinjiang, the cooperative models of rural households and tomato processing enterprises are order type, mediated type and workshop type. The contents, closeness degree and stability of cooperation of them are different. Under different cooperation models, the closeness degree of pillar industry and rural households differs, as well as the speed and effect of the technology promotion. By comparing the situation of technology promotion under the three cooperative models, the results can be obtained. The workshop type can reduce the risks of adopting new technologies of farmers greatly; strengthen the internal motivation of farmers to adopt new technology, so it can attract more farmers. Therefore, the workshop type represents the developmental direction of industrialization of tomato industry in Xinjiang to a certain extent.


This document explains and demonstrates how to prepare your camera-ready manuscript for Trans Tech Publications. The best is to read these instructions and follow the outline of this text. The text area for your manuscript must be 17 cm wide and 25 cm high (6.7 and 9.8 inches, resp.). Do not place any text outside this area. Use good quality, white paper of approximately 21 x 29 cm or 8 x 11 inches (please do not change the document setting from A4 to letter). Your manuscript will be reduced by approximately 20% by the publisher. Please keep this in mind when designing your figures and tables etc.Networked Control Systems (NCS) are systems with at least one loop closed through data networks. The existence of real-time network in the feedback control loop makes it more complex to analyze and design the NCS. In this paper, the networked control systems with network-induced delay, parameters uncertainty and packet loss which are induced by the limited bandwidth of communication networks is modeled, consider the sensors that can't send information to controller and the actuators that can't receive information calculated and sent by the controller, the integrity design of the networked control system with sensors failures and actuators failures is analyzed based on information scheduling and robust fault-tolerant control theory. Sufficient conditions, based on Lyapunov function method, are established in terms of linear matrix inequalities (LMIs). When these LMIs are feasible, the explicit expression of the controller can also be characterized. After detailed theoretical analysis, the simulation results is provided, which further demonstrated the proposed scheme.


We have measured the induced polarization of the Λ(1116) in the reaction ep→e′K+Λ, detecting the scattered e′ and K+ in the final state along with the proton from the decay Λ→pπ−.The present study used the CEBAF Large Acceptance Spectrometer (CLAS), which allowed for a large kinematic acceptance in invariant energy W (1.6≤W≤2.7 GeV) and covered the full range of the kaon production angle at an average momentum transfer Q2=1.90 GeV2.In this experiment a 5.50 GeV electron beam was incident upon an unpolarized liquid-hydrogen target. We have mapped out the W and kaon production angle dependencies of the induced polarization and found striking differences from photoproduction data over most of the kinematic range studied. However, we also found that the induced polarization is essentially Q2 independent in our kinematic domain, suggesting that somewhere below the Q2 covered here there must be a strong Q2 dependence. Along with previously published photo- and electroproduction cross sections and polarization observables, these data are needed for the development of models, such as effective field theories, and as input to coupled-channel analyses that can provide evidence of previously unobserved s-channel resonances.


In the UK's domestic sector, heat is conventionally generated on-site by gas boilers and
electricity is generated off-site by large centralised power plants and distributed to
homes through the electrical grid. There are, however, considerable energy losses
associated with this arrangement, in particular thermal losses due to electricity
generation and distribution. Switching households to distributed generation, such as
small-scale Combined Heat and Power (CHP) generators has the potential to avoid these
losses. CHP uses a single fuel to cogenerate electricity and heat. Due to the efficient use of
fuel, these generators are commonly regarded as an efficient use of fuel, which can
ultimately reduce CO2 emissions.
Given their high capital costs, small-scale CHPs are suitable for applications with
continuous demand for heat. Considering this, CHPs are typically coupled with communal
heat networks. These networks connect multiple dwellings or buildings via hot water
carrier pipes. Such infrastructure provides the basis to transport cogenerated heat to the
point of consumption. Apartment blocks are among the common applications of
communal heat networks in the UK. Due to variation in energy consumption patterns in
dwellings, the overall heat and electricity demands of the apartment blocks tend to
diversity over time. This provides the suitable basis for CHP s operation.
This study evaluates the economic feasibility and CO2 savings of CHPs for new-built
apartment blocks. Initially, the energy demand profiles of various sizes of apartment
blocks are modelled. Additionally, outputs of the cogeneration systems are simulated,
where attention is paid to model the operational losses of the CHP units. The CO2 savings
of the generation systems with CHPs are calculated based on the CO2 intensity of the
displaced electricity.
The results showed that the economic feasibilities of the cogeneration systems depend
on the operating periods of the CHP units. Furthermore, the impact of temporal
diversification of heat load on the operating period of the CHP units reveal that less
insulated apartment blocks which contains larger dwellings tend to provide better
economic returns.
This study mainly indicated results based on CHP s operating annual operating hours.
The analysis indicated that none of the cases in which the CHP unit operates below 2000
hours/year, achieved economic feasibility. The outcome from the simulations suggested
that the payback periods range between 5.6 to 15 years. The tolerable capital cost
analysis showed that the economic contribution of the increasing operating period,
decreases after operating for 5000 hours/year.
Additionally, this study separately evaluated the short-run (first year of operation) and
long-run (lifetime savings) CO2 savings of each case. The short-run CO2 savings suggested
that the cogeneration systems displace an average of 0.52kgCO2/kWh. It was highlighted
that the short-run CO2 intensities are significantly higher than values which would
neutralise the savings of gas-powered cogeneration systems. Considering the expected
decarbonisation of the grid, the long-run CO2 savings of the cogeneration system were
assessed for two scenarios. It was found that the decarbonisation of the electricity
delivered by the grid is not quick enough to significantly impact the long-run CO2 savings
of the cogeneration systems.


The gas drilling mainly relies on the high speed air flow to carry the cuttings. The formation water or oil mixed with the cuttings and then they stick together in clumps after the formation water or oil went into the hole annulus, the clumps stick on the drill string and the borehole. The clumps may block the hole annulus and cause the stick or bury the drill string and many other complex accident. It could stop the cuttings from sticking with the liquid through freezing the formation fluid with the liquid nitrogen. And the natural geotechnical becomes into the frozen soil, and forms the temporary solid which is intact, high strength and low-permeability. In this paper, according to the characteristic of the gas drilling technology, we optimized the scheme of freezing technology for borehole stability to give the theoretical basis of the industrial application.