This study investigates the radiological risk that may occur during transport of cobalt device after irradiation in open-pool-type reactor from the reactor core to the cobalt cell. The cobalt transport process depends on using heavy shielded cask of 3500 kg weight under the water surface of the spent fuel storage pool which may cause a load drop accident. The load drop accident in the spent fuel storage pool would result in damage of 48 spent fuel elements (FE) maximally. Conservative evaluation for the amount of fission products release from the damage of the spent FE was considered in this study by assuming that all spent FE was recently stored at the time of accident. Consequently, the resulting radiation dose distribution was calculated around the reactor building depending on the meteorological data of the reactor site. GENII-2 code was used to estimate the individual effective dose distribution around the reactor. The result shows that the receptor who located at 1500 m from the reactor building in the south-east direction will receive the maximum individual effective dose of 0.11 Sv.


Regulation of central neurogenesis by a peripheral target has been previously demonstrated in the ventral nerve cord of the leech Hirudo medicinalis (Baptista, C. A., Gershon, T. R. and Macagno, E. R. (1990). Nature 346, 855-858) Specifically, innervation of the male genitalia by the fifth and sixth segmental ganglia (the sex ganglia) was shown to trigger the birth of several hundred central neurons (PIC neurons) in these ganglia. As reported here, removal of the target early during induction shows that PIC neurons can be independently induced in each side of a ganglion, indicating that the inductive signal is both highly localized and conveyed to each hemiganglion independently. Further, since recent observations (Becker, T., Berliner, A. J., Nitabach, M. N., Gan, W.-B. and Macagno, E. R. (1995). Development, 121, 359-369) had indicated that efferent projections are probably involved in this phenomenon, we individually ablated all possible candidates, which led to the identification of two central neurons that appear to play significant roles in conveying the inductive signal to the CNS. Ablation of a single ML neuron reduced cell proliferation in its own hemiganglion by nearly 50%, on the average. In contrast, proliferation on the opposite side of the ganglion increased by about 25%, suggesting the possibility of a compensatory response by the remaining contralateral ML neuron. Simultaneous ablation of both ML neurons in a sex ganglion caused similar reductions in cell proliferation in each hemiganglion. Deletion of a single AL neuron produced a weaker (7%) but nonetheless reproducible reduction. Ablation of the other nine central neurons that might have been involved in PIC neuron induction had no detectable effect. Both ML and AL neurons exhibit ipsilateral peripheral projections, and both arborize mostly in the hemiganglion where they reside. Thus, we conclude that peripheral regulation of central neurogenesis is mediated in the leech by inductive signals conveyed retrogradely to each hemiganglion by specific central neurons that innervate this target and the hemiganglion they affect.


Between the years 2009 and 2014 our team have collected data from more than 2000 measurements of four different swimming techniques. The swimmers that have participated in the research study include members of the Czech national swimming team and, competitive swimmers at national level. This article focuses on the measurements conducted during 50m front crawl swimming at a 25m pool, using data of 96 swimmers (52 men, 44 women). The aim of the study was to compare swimming efficiency and mean speed during two consecutive 25m segments. The average swimming efficiency and standard deviation during two successive 25m segments of the 50m distance were: 1) all measurements 0,979;  s =0,013396;  0,972 s = 0,017616. 2) males 0,974; s = 0,018071; 0,962 s = 0,024814. 3) females 0,983; s = 0,008431; 0,979 s = 0,004562. The mean speed and standard deviation during two successive 25m segments of the 50m distance were: 1) all measurements 1,639; s = 0,129161; 1,556; s = 0,121743. 2) males 1,504; s = 0,042109; 1,443; s = 0,056049. 3) females 1,734; s = 0,060302; 1,637; s = 0,082359. Results show that swimming efficiency and mean speed decrease during the second 25m segment of the 50 m distance in both groups - men and women. The decrease in medium speed and efficiency between the first and the second section was higher in the male category.


Consumption patterns of olive oil have changed over recent years influencing the supply chain. The consumption has increased in countries where olive oil is not part of the traditional diet, as for example Germany and the UK, where the average consumption grew by 11% and 13% respectively during the period 1995–2003. The opening of new nontraditional markets has shifted exports and restructured the supply chain. Mediterranean countries have been the traditional suppliers of olive oil with the EU Mediterranean Member States being the main exporters, while the non-EU Mediterranean countries try to gain market shares in the EU markets in an attempt to benefit from the preferential access due to the Barcelona Agreement. This article tries to identify which factors influenced olive oil demand of nontraditional consumers using evidence from Germany and the with the help of a gravity model. The results of the random effects models corrected for serial correlation and heteroskedasticity indicate that being a Mediterranean Partner Country enhances olive oil exports to Germany and the UK. Moreover olive oil exports are positively related to direct marketing strategies and tourism, implying that these factors have the largest impact on the olive oil exports from producing countries and consequently on the overall supply chain.


To fully understand state policy outcomes or elections in the US, we need valid over-time measures of state-level public opinion. We contribute to the research on measuring state public opinion in two ways. First, we respond to Berry, Fording, Hanson, and Crofoot's (BFHC) critique of Enns and Koch's measure of state policy mood. We show that when BFHC's analysis is performed using the same states and examining annual change, it validates the Enns and Koch measure and raises questions about the Berry, Ringquist, Fording, and Hanson measure. Second, we generate a new measure of state policy mood building on Enns and Koch's approach. The new measure has even better properties than the previous measure and relates to state presidential vote and state policy liberalism in similar ways to Caughey and Warshaw's measure of state economic liberalism. We conclude with recommendations for using the various direct measures of state public opinion.


With the growth in urban population and other pressures, such as climate change, the impact and severity of urban flood events are likely to continue to increase. "Intelligent water networks" are viewed as the way forward to ensure that infrastructure services are flexible, safe, reliable and economical. Reduction of flood-risk from urban drainage and sewerage infrastructure is likely to require increasingly sophisticated computational techniques to keep pace with the level of data that is collected both from meteorological and online water monitoring systems in the field. This paper describes and characterises an example of an Early Warning System (EWS), designated "RAPIDS" (RAdar Pluvial flooding Identification for Drainage System) that deals with urban drainage systems and the utilisation of rainfall data concurrently to predict flooding of multiple urban areas in near realtime using a single multi-output Artificial Neural Network (ANN). The system has the potential to provide early warning for decision makers within reasonable time, this being a key requirement determining the operational usefulness of such systems. Computational methods that require hours or days to run will not be able to keep pace with fast-changing situations such as manhole flooding or Combined Sewer Overflow (CSO) spills and thus the system developed is able to react in close to real time. This paper includes a sensitivity analysis and demonstrates that the predictive capability of such a system based on actual rainfall is limited to a maximum of the Time of Concentration (ToC) of each node being modelled. To achieve operationally useful prediction times, predictions of rainfall as input signals are likely to be needed for most urban drainage networks.


Abstract : Recent studies have revealed the crucial role played by the macro corrosion cell (potential coupling between the inside and outside of a cavity) in crevice and pitting corrosion. It was found that acidification and the existence of chloride ions in the local cell are not the sole and necessary conditions for localized corrosion to occur, and that their accelerating effects on crevice corrosion and pit growth can be explained within the framework of the macro cell (the IR drop mechanism). Upon analysis of the results of the experiments, quantitative modeling, and the literature, a new characteristic parameter -- the critical distance into the crevice, d(sub c) -- has been suggested for indexing the crevice corrosion resistance of a material under specified conditions. The advantages of using d(sub c) as the index of the crevice corrosion resistance are as follows: (1) it may be obtained through experiment and may also be estimated through computational approaches; (2) it has a distinct and straightforward physical meaning; (3) it may be employed in engineering design; and (4) it is a single parameter that can reflect the integrated influence of several factors known to affect the crevice corrosion resistance of a material from past practical experience and research work. Preliminary work has shown good agreement between the measured and the computed values of d(sub c). The experimental technique and the principle of the mathematical approach to obtain d(sub c) are described.


The fast development of terahertz technologies demands high-performance electromagnetic interference (EMI) shielding materials to create safe electromagnetic environments. Despite tremendous breakthroughs in achieving superb shielding efficiency (SE), conventional shielding materials have high reflectivity and cannot be re-edited or recycled once formed, resulting in detrimental secondary electromagnetic pollution and poor adaptability. Herein, a hydrogel-type shielding material incorporating MXene and poly(acrylic acid) is fabricated through a biomineralization-inspired assembly route. The composite hydrogel exhibits excellent stretchability and recyclability, favorable shape adaptability and adhesiveness, and fast self-healing capability, demonstrating great application flexibility and reliability. More interestingly, the shielding performance of the hydrogel shows absorption-dominated feature due to the combination of the porous structure, moderate conductivity, and internal water-rich environment. High EMI SE of 45.3 dB and broad effective absorption bandwidth (0.2-2.0 THz) with excellent refection loss of 23.2 dB can be simultaneously achieved in an extremely thin hydrogel (0.13 mm). Furthermore, such hydrogel demonstrates sensitive deformation responses and can be used as an on-skin sensor. This work provides not only an alternative strategy for designing next-generation EMI shielding material but also a highly efficient and convenient method for fabricating MXene composite on macroscopic scales.


There is an increasing interest in parasites of marine mammals of Argentina. Here, we examined several poorly known cetaceans, i.e., 2 spectacled porpoises and 1 Burmeister's porpoise (Phocoenidae), and 1 Gray's beaked whale and 1 Cuvier's beaked whale (Ziphidae); we also updated the parasite information for 1 sperm whale (Physeteridae). These hosts strand only occasionally. We found Anisakis simplex s.l. in 2 spectacled porpoises and the Burmeister's porpoise, and recorded its distribution among the stomach chambers. Anisakis physeteris infected the sperm whale; Corynosoma cetaceum occurred in the duodenal ampulla of the Burmeister's porpoise; Corynosoma australe was found in the posterior-most region of the intestine of 1 spectacled porpoise, while another one had Tetrabothrius sp. in the anal crypts; Corynosoma bullosum and Corynosoma sp. were found in the sperm whale. The only digenean found was Pholeter gastrophilus in the Burmeister's porpoise. Merocercoids of Phyllobothrium delphini were present in the blubber of 1 spectacled porpoise, the sperm whale, and the Gray's beaked whale, while Scolex pleuronectis infected the Gray's beaked whale and 1 spectacled porpoise. No parasites were recovered from the Cuvier's beaked whale. Poor parasite-species assemblages are consistent in marine mammals of Patagonia. Given the conservation status of these hosts, the limited parasitological information gathered is valuable for conservation or management of these hosts in Patagonia.


In natural ecosystems, the order of species arrival can impact the development of the community. In the Atlantic Coastal Plain of the Carolinas, wetland ponds exhibit a wide range of hydroperiods, ranging from ponds that dry up in late summer, to those that persist through fall and winter into spring. Ponds that persist through the fall and winter can be colonized by late-summer breeding southern leopard frogs, whose tadpoles must remain in the ponds until the following spring. Tadpoles of spring-breeding anurans, including Southern toads, are adversely affected by the presence of large tadpoles from the prior summer. I examined several mechanisms potentially responsible for this effect: overwintering tadpoles changing the environment during the winter; large tadpoles outcompeting small hatchling tadpoles; interspecific differences in competitive ability between leopard frog and Southern toad; and density-dependent effects. Leopard frog tadpoles had their primary adverse effect on Southern toads through processes occurring during the winter, prior to the arrival of Southern toads. The other mechanisms tested were not significant. The algal resource on which both species depend also showed a response to the presence of overwintered leopard frog tadpoles, being reduced where tadpoles had been present through winter and spring, and increased where overwintered tadpoles were present only in spring. This response did not become apparent until late in the spring, suggesting that resource depletion per se is not the mechanism at work, but that some other process occurring in winter leads to adverse conditions for spring-hatched tadpoles where overwintered tadpoles are present through winter. Because isolated wetlands often do not receive the same level of protection as wetlands connected to navigable waters, important amphibian habitat is often altered by humans in ways that change its habitat value. In managing for optimum biodiversity, it is important to consider the often conflicting needs of different species, and to conserve a range of different pond types of varying hydroperiods and degrees of connectivity.


The molecular mechanisms underlying the ERα nuclear/cytoplasmic pool that modulates pituitary cell proliferation have been widely described, but it is still not clear how ERα is targeted to the plasma membrane. The aim of this study was to analyse ERα palmitoylation and the plasma membrane ERα (mERα) pool, and their participation in E2-triggered membrane-initiated signalling in normal and pituitary tumour cell growth. Cell cultures were prepared from anterior pituitaries of female Wistar rats and tumour GH3 cells, and treated with 10 nM of oestradiol (E2). The basal expression of ERα was higher in tumour GH3 than in normal pituitary cells. Full-length palmitoylated ERα was observed in normal and pituitary tumour cells, demonstrating that E2 stimulation increased both, ERα in plasma membrane and ERα and caveolin-1 interaction after short-term treatment. In addition, the Dhhc7 and Dhhc21 palmitoylases were negatively regulated after sustained stimulation of E2 for 3 h. Although the uptake of BrdU into the nucleus in normal pituitary cells was not modified by E2, a significant increase in the GH3 tumoural cell, as well as ERK1/2 activation, with this effect being mimicked by PPT, a selective antagonist of ERα. These proliferative effects were blocked by ICI 182780 and the global inhibitor of palmitoylation. These findings indicate that ERα palmitoylation modulated the mERα pool and consequently the ERK1/2 pathway, thereby contributing to pituitary tumour cell proliferation. These results suggest that the plasma membrane ERα pool might be related to the proliferative behaviour of prolactinoma and may be a marker of pituitary tumour growth.


Background & Aims: This study investigates whether the aetiologic changes in liver disease and the improved management of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) have modified the clinical scenario of this tumour over the last 20 years in Italy.
Methods: Retrospective study based on the analysis of the ITA.LI.CA (Italian Liver Cancer) database including 3027 HCC patients managed in 11 centres. Patients were divided into 3 groups according to the period of HCC diagnosis: 1987–1996 (year of the ''Milano criteria'' publication), 1997–2001 (year of release of the EASL guidelines for HCC), and 2002–2008.
Results: The significant changes were: (1) progressive patient ageing; (2) increasing prevalence of HCV infection until 2001, with a subsequent decrease, when the alcoholic aetiology increased; (3) liver function improvement, until 2001; (4) increasing ''incidental'' at the expense of ''symptomatic'' diagnoses, until 2001; (5) unchanged prevalence of tumours diagnosed during surveillance (around 50%), with an increasing use of the 6- month schedule; (6) favourable HCC ''stage migration'', until 2001; (7) increasing use of percutaneous ablation; (8) improving survival, until 2001.
Conclusions: Over the last 20 years, several aetiologic and clinical features regarding HCC have changed. The survival improvement observed until 2001 was due to an increasing number of tumours diagnosed in early stages and in a background of compensated cirrhosis, and a growing and better use of locoregional treatments. However, the prevalence of early cancers and survival did not increase further in the last years, a result inciting national policies aimed at implementing surveillance programmes for at risk patients.


This paper proposes an efficient VLSI architecture for implementation of 2-D lifting-based discrete wavelet transform (DWT). The whole architecture was optimized in efficient pipeline and parallel design way to speed up and achieve higher hardware utilization. Adopted time division multiplex (TDM) design to realize the prediction step and update step using the same architecture, which reduced the size of the circuit. Exploited embedded mirror symmetric boundary extension technique to optimize the architecture for 1-D DWT. The architecture was coded in Verilog HDL, implemented in a FPGA, and verified by a real-time platform which comprises a CMOS image sensor, a FPGA and a PC.


In a bilateral oligopoly, with large traders, represented as atoms, and small traders, represented by an atomless part, when is there a non-empty intersection between the sets of Walras and Cournot-Nash allocations? Using a two commodity version of the Shapley window model, we show that a necessary and sufficient condition for a CournotNash allocation to be a Walras allocation is that all atoms demand a null amount of one of the two commodities. We provide two examples which show that this characterization holds non-vacuously. When our condition fails to hold, we also confirm, through some examples, the result obtained by Okuno, Postlewaite, and Roberts (1980): small traders always have a negligible influence on prices, while the large traders keep their strategic power even when their behavior turns out to be Walrasian in the cooperative framework considered by Gabszewicz and Mertens (1971) and Shitovitz (1973). Journal of Economic Literature Classification Numbers: C71, C72, D51.


Distortion of ocean-bottom cores, as evidenced by thin smear zones along the sides or by the disturbed regions often disclosed by X-radiography, are well known. Evidence was obtained on one mode of core disturbance that cast further doubt upon the utility of the customary surface-operated piston corers for acquiring accurate data on sea-bottom sediment mass physical properties. Inadvertent rupture of a plastic bag of 3 mm diameter lead pellets, part of the equipment used to photograph a piston corer in action, resulted in pellet drag to nearly one meter along the side of one core without significant lithologic drag effects showing up on the X-radiograph of the whole core. This discovery suggests a mode of surficial coarse particle distortion which may be more common than heretofore realized. Consequently, care should be exercised when these types of cores are used for studying the mass physical properties of sea-floor sediments especially when textural and mineralogical parameters are correlated with acoustic properties, and for sound velocity measured normal to the core.


Abstract : Three numerical experiments were conducted to understand the role of the Gulf Stream and the Appalachian mountains on the formation of coastal frontogenesis along the mid-Atlantic coast during the winter months. A 3-dimensional, 10-layer, 1-way interactive, triple-nested hydrostatic model was used. The model physics includes dry convective adjustment, explicit large-scale precipitation, parameterized convective-scale circulations, and parameterized boundary layer physics using a similarity theory formulation. Initial conditions for the numerical model are obtained from the Second intensive Observation Period (IOP-2) of the Genesis of Atlantic Lows Experiment (GALE). Results of the numerical experiments show that the Gulf Stream plays a significant role in developing coastal frontogenesis through transfer of large amounts of sensible and latent heats to the cold, dry atmospheric air of Arctic origin. The Gulf Stream is also found to be crucial in producing convective precipitation along the Carolina coast. On the other hand, the Appalachian mountains, which are responsible for cold air damming, are found to play only a minor role in the coastal frontogenesis. (AN)


The design of liberalised electricity markets (e.g., the energy, capacity and ancillary service markets) is a topic of much debate, regarding their ability to trigger adequate investment in generation capacities and to incentivize flexible power system operation.

Long-term generation investment (LTGI) models have been widely used as a decision-support tool for generation investments and design of energy policy. Of particular interest is quantification of uncertainty in model outputs (e.g., generation projections or system reliability) given a particular market design while accounting for uncertainties in input data as well as the discrepancies between the model and the reality. Unfortunately, the standard Monte Carlo based techniques for uncertainty quantification require a very large number of model runs which may be impractical to achieve for a complex LTGI model. In order to enable efficient and fully systematic analysis, it is therefore necessary to create an emulator of the full model, which may be evaluated quickly for any input and which quantifies uncertainty in the output of the full model at inputs where it has not been run. The case study shows results from the Great Britain power system exemplar which is representative of LTGI models used in real policy processes. In particular, it demonstrates the application of Bayesian emulation to a complex LTGI model that requires a formal calibration, uncertainty analysis, and sensitivity analysis.

In power systems with large amounts of variable generation, it is important to provide sufficient incentives for operating reserves as a main source of generation flexibility. In the traditional unit commitment (UC) model, the demand for operating reserves is fixed and inelastic, which does not reflect the marginal value of operating reserves in avoiding the events of load shedding and wind curtailment. Besides, the system-wide reserve constraint assumes that the operating reserve can be delivered to any location freely, which is not true in real-world power system operations. To recognize the value and deliverability of operating reserves, dynamic zonal operating reserve demand curves are introduced to an enhanced deterministic UC model for co-optimizing the day-ahead schedules for energy and operating reserves. In the case study on the RTS-73 test system, comparisons are made between the choices of reserve policies (e.g., single, seasonal or dynamic zones) and of different reserve zonal partitioning methods. Results suggest that the enhanced deterministic UC model produces on average lower operational cost, higher system reliability and higher energy and reserve revenues than the traditional one.

Finally, we discuss future directions of methodological research arising from current energy system challenges and the computer models developed for better understanding of the impacts of market incentives on power system planning and operations.


A novel thioxanthone−anthracene (TX-A) photoinitiator, namely 5-thia-pentacene-14-one, possessing the respective photochromic groups was synthesized. TX-A is an efficient photoinitiator for free radical polymerization of acrylic and styrenic type monomers in the presence of oxygen. UV−vis, FT-IR, and fluorescence spectroscopic and polymerization studies revealed that photoinitiation occurs through anthracene chromophore. In contrast to thioxanthone-based photoinitiators, TX-A does not require an additional hydrogen donor for the initiation.


The expanding diversity in research topics and approaches should not be regarded as a weakness of HRD but as a rich landscape for sense making and meaning. For the advancement of HRD expertise, research should reflect the diversified field of HRD practice. This paper o!ers such reflection on the diversity of HRD research from a European perspective, focusing particularly on work from the Netherlands and Belgium. More than ten years ago, in their study on the characteristics of HRD research in Europe, Lowyck and Elen (1994) came to the conclusion that this research landscape o!ered a scattered view. The majority of research projects followed an explorative and descriptive approach. The orientation showed a strong inclination towards instructional psychology and course design. The authors pointed out that themes referring to learning to learn, self-regulation, meta-cognition and collaborative learning were almost absent. In addition, questions referring to the coherence between characteristics of the organising of work and learning in the workplace received relatively low attention, as did the various roles of HRD professionals.


The objective of the Virtual Physiological Human Initiative is to provide a systematic framework for understanding physiological processes in the human body in terms of anatomical structure and biophysical mechanisms across multiple length and time scales. The VPH-Share project, which has been funded in the context of the initiative, contributes to this vision, especially in terms of data management. In this paper we present the VPH-Share data management platform enabling sharing VPH-relevant datasets within the community on the basis of Cloud technologies. The data management platform aims at supporting the data management life-cycle but starting from already available data. The life cycle covers all processes from data selection, semantic data annotation, data integration, data publishing, and data access. Herein we describe the infrastructure supporting the data management life-cycle towards collaborative data management, consisting of the data publication suite and the dataset service environment.


It seems important to point out at this time that acute anterior poliomyelitis (infantile paralysis) may not be primarily a disease of the central nervous system, but that it may be more correctly classed with the diseases of the lymphatic systems of the body. The change that is probably common to all cases of this disease is an enlargement or a hyperplasia of some or all of the lymphatic structures of the organism. Those parts most frequently attacked are Peyer's patches and the solitary follicles of the intestines, the mesenteric lymph glands, the retroperitoneal glands, the peribronchial glands, the tonsils, the lymph glands of the neck, the axillae and the groin. In the later stages of any attack one may often make the diagnosis of the existence of the disease through noting a slight but definite enlargement of one or both of the epitrochlear glands. While the gross enlargement of


A method for quantitative determination of gentamicin and dimethylsulfoxide (DMSO) in "Gentaplast", a film-forming aerozol preparation was developed. Gentamicin was determined microbiologically after extraction. DMSO was determined by titration with the use of the Redox method. The results of determination of gentamicin and DMSO in "Gentaplast" were statistically treated.


Dengue disease as a still prevailing main health issues in tropical and sub-tropical countries including Sri Lanka. A staggering number of 47000 cases with 78 deaths cases were recorded in 2016. Both natural and socio-economic factors have provided a conducive environment to conveyance of the disease. This study consists of two data components. Data collecting for this research is based on the primary and secondary data. Primary data were collected specifically for the research through a questionnaire, an interview, observations, and a case study. Primary data and information were gathered using a questionnaire with 75 patients and by in-depth interviews. However, the aim of this study is to analyze the geo-spatial pattern immerging factors of dengue epidemic in the Matara District. Correlation, regression analysis and the ARC GIS 10.1 techniqcs were used in the process to mapping and statistics analysis. There are two important trends related to dengue outbreak in the district and whole district seemed to be at the epidemic levels. The study area was selected because of the highest number of dengue cases recorded during the period from 1997-2014 and monthly cases from January 2011-December 2015. Urban areas seemed to be favourable for mosquitoes with a copiousness supply of plastic containers, discarded bottles, tins, tires, water coolers, house plants, air conditioners and places where rain water set stuck or stored providing the suitable mosquitoes breeding grounds. Matara district is an area with high population density expediency a development of transport system as well as a climatic change. Upon the observation of the distribution of annual dengue cases in 2015, spatial pattern of the district has played a major role. It is clear that the epidemic cannot be eradicated totally without proper community reaction, changes in attitudes and acquiring knowledge. wjert, 2018, Vol. 4, Issue 1, 102-117. World Journal of Engineering Research and Technology WJERT www.wjert.org ISSN 2454-695X Original Article SJIF Impact Factor: 4.326 *Corresponding Author Dr. G. Edirisinghe Senior Lecturer Department of Geography University of Ruhuna Matara, Sri Lanka. Edirisinghe. World Journal of Engineering Research and Technology www.wjert.org 103


In New Zealand the rise in gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) prevalence reflects the current patterns of increasing obesity and diabetes. Approximately 61,000 women give birth in New Zealand every year, and about 4.9% (6.6%) of those women have diabetes. Screening for gestational diabetes is recommended for all pregnant women in New Zealand, unless an earlier diagnosis of diabetes was made. Indigenous Maori women, Pacific Island, and Asian Indian women are populations genetically prone to diabetes, and have high rates of gestational and type 2 diabetes. Exposure of the foetus to maternal diabetes influences changes in birthweight, adiposity, and foetal insulin production. GDM and type 2 diabetes in Pacific Island and Maori new-borns were associated with higher birthweight, skinfold thicknesses, raised cord insulin, insulin peptides, and increased leptin concentrations. Pacific Island and indigenous Maori women gave birth to macrosomic new-borns, who commonly suffered postnatal hypoglycaemia, respiratory distress, and shoulder dystocia. The association between maternal obesity and SGA raises a concern as SGA is less likely to be detected in early pregnancy in obese women, while the association between SGA and socioeconomic status, initially observed in Maori and Pacific women, was explained by high cigarette smoking rates, and obesity in deprived areas. Abbreviations: GDM: Gestational diabetes mellitus; CVD: Cardiovascular disease; OGTT: Oral glucose tolerance test; NWH: National Women's Hospital; LGA: Large for gestational age; SGA: Small for gestational age; AGA: Average for gestational age; HbA1c: Glycated haemoglobin


We thank referee #2 for the very pertinent comments and questions, as well as the positive feedback. We have listed the referee comments and respective replies be-low. Each set of referee comment (RC) and corresponding author comment (AC) is identified by a number.


To make precise and prompt action in a dynamic environment, the sensorimotor system needs to integrate all related information. The inflow of somatosensory information to the cerebral cortex is regulated and mostly suppressed by movement, which is commonly referred to as sensory gating or gating. Sensory gating plays an important role in preventing redundant information from reaching the cortex, which should be considered when designing somatosensory neuroprosthetics. Gating can occur at several levels within the sensorimotor pathway, while the underlying mechanism is not yet fully understood. The average sensory evoked potential is commonly used to assess sensory information processing, however the assumption of a stereotyped response to each stimulus is still an open question. Event related spectral perturbation (ERSP), which is the power spectrum after time-frequency decomposition on single trial evoked potentials (total power), could overcome this limitation of averaging and provide additional information for understanding the underlying mechanism. To this aim, neural activities in primary somatosensory cortex (S1), primary motor cortex (M1), and ventral posterolateral (VPL) nucleus of thalamus were recorded simultaneously in two areas (S1 and M1 or S1 and VPL) during passive arm movement and rest in awake monkeys. Our results showed that neural activity at different recording areas demonstrated specific and unique response frequency characteristics. Tactile input induced early high frequency responses followed by low frequency oscillations within sensorimotor circuits, and passive movement suppressed these oscillations either in a phase-locked or non-phase-locked manner. Sensory gating by movement was non-phase-locked in M1, and complex in sensory areas. VPL showed gating of non-phase-locked at gamma band and mix of phase-locked and non-phase-locked at low frequency, while S1 showed gating of phase-locked and non-phase-locked at gamma band and an early phase-locked elevation followed by non-phase-locked gating at low frequency. Granger causality (GC) analysis showed bidirectional coupling between VPL and S1, while GC between M1 and S1 was not responsive to tactile input. Thus, these results suggest that tactile input is dominantly transmitted along the ascending direction from VPL to S1, and the sensory input is suppressed during movement through a bottom-up strategy within the gamma-band during passive movement.


Background This study relates to emerging concepts of appropriate trial designs to evaluate effects of intervention on the accumulation of irreversible disability in multiple sclerosis (MS). Major starting points of our study are the known limitations of current definitions of disability progression by rater-based clinical assessment and the high relevance of gait and balance dysfunctions in MS. The study aims to explore a novel definition of disease progression using repeated instrumental assessment of relevant motor functions performed by patients in their home setting. Methods The study is a prospective single-center observational cohort study with the primary outcome acquired by participants themselves, a home-based assessment of motor functions based on an RGB-Depth (RGB-D) camera, a camera that provides both depth (D) and color (RGB) data. Participants are instructed to perform and record a set of simple motor tasks twice a day over a one-week period every 6 months. Assessments are complemented by a set of questionnaires. Annual research grade assessments are acquired at dedicated study visits and include clinical ratings as well as structural imaging (MRI and optical coherence tomography). In addition, clinical data from routine visits is provided semiannually by treating neurologists. The observation period is 24 months for the primary endpoint with an additional clinical assessment at 27 month to confirm progression defined by the Expanded Disability Status Scale (EDSS). Secondary analyses aim to explore the time course of changes in motor parameters and performance of the novel definition against different alternative definitions of progression in MS. The study was registered at Deutsches Register für Klinische Studien (DRKS00027042). Discussion The study design presented here investigates disease progression defined by marker-less home-based assessment of motor functions against 3-month confirmed disease progression (3 m-CDP) defined by the EDSS. The technical approach was chosen due to previous experience in lab-based settings. The observation time per participant of 24, respectively, 27 months is commonly conceived as the lower limit needed to study disability progression. Defining a valid digital motor outcome for disease progression in MS may help to reduce observation times in clinical trials and add confidence to the detection of progression events in MS.


OBJECTIVE
To review the historical and current periodontal phenotype classifications evaluating methods and characteristics. Moreover, to identify and classify the methods based on periodontal phenotype components.

OVERVIEW
Several gingival morphology studies have been frequently associated with different terms used causing confusion among the readers. In 2017, the World Workshop on the Classification of Periodontal and Peri-Implant Diseases and Conditions recommended to adopt the term "periodontal phenotype". This term comprises two terms, gingival phenotype (gingival thickness and keratinized tissue width) and bone morphotype (buccal bone plate thickness). Furthermore, gingival morphology has been categorized on "thin-scalloped", "thick-scalloped" and "thick-flat" considering the periodontal biotype. However, by definition, the term phenotype is preferred over biotype. Periodontal phenotype can be evaluated through clinical or radiographic assessments and may be divided into invasive/non-invasive (for gingival thickness), static/functional (for keratinized tissue width), and bi/tridimensional (for buccal bone plate thickness) methods.

CONCLUSIONS
"Thin-scalloped," "thick-scalloped," and "thick-flat" periodontal biotypes were identified. These three periodontal biotypes have been considered in the World Workshop but the term periodontal phenotype is recommended. Periodontal phenotype is the combination of the gingival phenotype and the bone morphotype. There are specific methods for periodontal phenotype evaluation.

CLINICAL SIGNIFICANCE
The term periodontal phenotype is currently recommended for future investigations about gingival phenotype and bone morphotype. "Thin-scalloped," "thick-scalloped," and "thick-flat" periodontal phenotypes can be evaluated through specific methods for gingival thickness, keratinized tissue width, and buccal bone plate thickness evaluation.


In the present work, ZnGa2O4 was incorporated with g-C3N4 nanosheets to synthesize ZnGa2O4/g-C3N4 nanocomposites through the hydrothermal method. The morphologies of nanocomposites were characterized by TEM, XRD, and spectral and electrochemical methods, respectively. The nanocomposites exhibited greatly enhanced fluorescence with the maximum emission peak red-shifted from 380 nm to 450 nm. A strong cathodic electrogenerated chemiluminescence (ECL) signal of ZnGa2O4/g-C3N4 nanocomposites was obtained under neutral conditions, which was much stronger than those of pure materials. ECL resonance energy transfer (ECL-RET) occurred between ZnGa2O4/g-C3N4 and gold nanoparticle/graphene nanocomposites, resulting in an apparent decrease of the ECL signal. Based on this, a label-free ECL sensor for thrombin was fabricated. The sensor showed high sensitivity, wide linearity, and good selectivity for the detection of thrombin in the range from 1.37 fM to 27.4 pM with a detection limit of 0.55 fM (3σ). The proposed method was applied to detect thrombin in serum samples with satisfactory results. This work revealed a new role of spinel-type semiconductor oxide nanomaterials, which will provide more ECL systems for the fabrication of biosensors.


We investigated the presence and the characteristics of the Simon effect for onset and offset targets when these stimuli are randomly intermixed. In Experiment 1, two possible target locations were occupied by an occluder. On onset trials, a target appeared above an occluder, while on offset trials one of the occluders disappeared, revealing the target underneath. In Experiment 2, four stimuli appeared randomly in six possible locations. On onset trials, a new stimulus appeared in an empty location while on offset trials, one of the initial stimuli disappeared. In both experiments, the Simon effect for onset and offset targets was characterized by similar size, time course and sequential modulation, suggesting similar sensorimotor interactions between target and response locations. However, the Simon effect in the current trials was more evident when the same type of target (onset or offset) was repeated on successive trials demonstrating the role of stimulus category in its modulation.


[About the book]

How do identities and social action articulate together? This book explores the 'doing' and the 'making' of identity. It describes how identities emerge from the flow of action and organise social conduct. In social research identity is often treated as a static accomplished fact – already owned, finalised and shaped. Drawing on five years of sustained research within the highly innovative ESRC Identities and Social Action Programme, Theorizing Identities and Social Action develops a very different standpoint. The chapter authors take core social actions – such as performing, excluding, mixing, bonding, relating, 'passing', travelling, campaigning and disputing – and demonstrate how social practices and identities unfold together. A wide range of theories of the identity/action relation are accessibly mobilised in ways which will be illuminating for students and experienced researchers alike.


Introduction/Background. Despite growing interest in magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), integration in external beam radiotherapy (EBRT) treatment planning uptake varies globally. In order to understand the current international landscape of MRI in EBRT a survey has been performed in 11 countries. This work reports on differences and common themes identified. Methods. A multi-disciplinary Institute of Physics and Engineering in Medicine working party modified a survey previously used in the UK to understand current practice using MRI for EBRT treatment planning, investigate how MRI is currently used and managed as well as identify knowledge gaps. It was distributed electronically within 11 countries: Australia, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Italy, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Sweden, the UK and the USA. Results. The survey response rate within the USA was <1% and hence these results omitted from the analysis. In the other 10 countries the survey had a median response rate of 77% per country. Direct MRI access, defined as either having a dedicated MRI scanner for radiotherapy (RT) or access to a radiology MRI scanner, varied between countries. France, Italy and the UK reported the lowest direct MRI access rates and all other countries reported direct access in ≥82% of centres. Whilst ≥83% of centres in Denmark and Sweden reported having dedicated MRI scanners for EBRT, all other countries reported ≤29%. Anatomical sites receiving MRI for EBRT varied between countries with brain, prostate, head and neck being most common. Commissioning and QA of image registration and MRI scanners varied greatly, as did MRI sequences performed, staffing models and training given to different staff groups. The lack of financial reimbursement for MR was a consistent barrier for MRI implementation for RT for all countries and MR access was a reported important barrier for all countries except Sweden and Denmark. Conclusion. No country has a comprehensive approach for MR in EBRT adoption and financial barriers are present worldwide. Variations between countries in practice, equipment, staffing models, training, QA and MRI sequences have been identified, and are likely to be due to differences in funding as well as a lack of consensus or guidelines in the literature. Access to dedicated MR for EBRT is limited in all but Sweden and Denmark, but in all countries there are financial challenges with ongoing per patient costs. Despite these challenges, significant interest exists in increasing MR guided EBRT planning over the next 5 years.


Truancy is a longstanding, unresolved educational issue in countries where there are compulsory attendance policies. Taking time out from class without permission is illegal and negatively influences future functioning for students who truant in regards to employment, family and community. Truancy represents a long-term cost to society in expenditure on health, well-being and incarceration.  Previous research has focused on key demographic variables related to truancy, causal factors, and a variety of viewpoints. However, there has been a paucity of evidence about truancy from student perspectives. Therefore, the purpose of this research was twofold; (1) to investigate how secondary school students who truant constructed meaning about their experiences, and (2) to develop a substantive theory that identified how participants constructed the processes involved in truanting. This thesis used a grounded theory approach, concurrently gathering and analysing data generated through interviews with 13 young people from three schools and an activity centre.  Students in the study referred to truanting as wagging. In respect of this, the study presents a process theory of wagging which identifies four stages: Wagging-in-class; leaving; awakening, and reincluding. The study contributes to truancy scholarship in several ways, which include the experiences and challenges occurring in class and in their personal lives that contribute to youth truanting; how youth reposition themselves when they truant; the nature of their interactions and the group they truant with; what causes them to realise there is no future value in truanting; the conditions that support them to reintegrate in class after truanting; and why they are able to return and attend school regularly after truanting.  Further findings indicate that teacher intentional behaviours and student willingness to change are necessary to support the further development of inclusive practices in schools required to address truancy. The recommendations made for school leaders, teachers, counsellors, teacher educators and policy makers include four suggestions: (1) building teacher-student rapport, links with whānau, and school connectedness; (2) more proactive, sustained and consistent monitoring of student attendance; (3) reviewing school systems to foster inclusiveness and student attendance; and (4) providing a strong focus on inclusiveness within teacher education and professional development programmes. Future research and development opportunities are also identified, for example, the design of an ethnodrama to disseminate the results of this study and to heighten awareness of the dangers of wagging to students and the community. The intention is also to research the audience reactions and responses to the ethnodrama. This thesis also draws attention to the need for further studies to replicate the design features of the present study in other contexts so as to confirm, modify, extend or challenge the process theory of wagging that has emerged from this research.


Electromechanical dynamics of a contact charging subsystem of electrophotography were investigated to clarify fundamental characteristics of mechanical vibration and acoustic noise induced by electrostatic force on a contact charger roller. The following conclusions were deduced from modeling and experiments. (1) Alternating electrostatic force is yielded in the vicinity of the nip between the charger roller and a photoreceptor drum because ac voltage applied between the roller and the drum induces a high alternating electrostatic field in the vicinity of the nip. Noise is caused mainly by the resonance vibration of a cartridge cover that contains the roller and the photoreceptor drum. Noise due to gas discharge and pipe resonance of the drum is minor. (2) The main frequency of the electrostatic force is twice that of the ac applied voltage. The magnitude of the electrostatic force is large under high ac applied voltage operation. Therefore the resonant frequency of the cartridge cover should be designed to be significantly different from twice that of the ac voltage frequency, and it is preferable to set the ac voltage as low as possible.


The Indonesian Navy is a unit of defense of the Republic of Indonesia (NKRI). Sea mines are explosive devices placed in waters to destroy ships. Acoustics is a branch of physics that deals with all mechanical waves in liquids, gases and solids, such as vibration, sound and ultrasonic. Arduino has made microcontroller technology more accessible and easier for even novice users. Because of this, there are special functions in audio or acoustic processing techniques aimed at using Arduino. The application of acoustic signals in the military field of the Navy, in the identification of vessels caught by the microphone receiver. The movement of objects that are caught by the microphone will be analyzed to conclude the object. From the results of the sound characteristics raised by the object, it will give a different picture for different variations of the object. Processing acoustic signals using DSP will make it easier to infer the captured acoustic signal. The circuit board used is a microphone signal amplifier and signal conditioner, for processing the audio signal obtained from the microphone and to produce output data which is the result of the process using Arduino. Analog-to-digital converter (ADC) of the microcontroller works in the voltage range from 0.0 V to +3.3 V or +5.0 V. Toachieve good sampling results, that the signal peak is close to the maximum value of the ADC.  Additionally, voltage amplitudes above this threshold can damage the controller input port or produce unwanted harmonics. Therefore, a signal pre-amp circuit is needed to guarantee the appropriate audio sample signal as well as to protect the system. The test results obtained from the system analyzer frequency and signal meters can be used to identify acoustic signals.
Keyword: Singnal Acoustic/michophone, controller, Arduino Uno, pre-amp frequency analyzer


The efficiency of noninteger n-generalized exponential type orbitals (NGETO) rn*−1e with hyperbolic cosine (HC) cosh (βrμ) as radial basis functions in atomic ground state total energy calculations is studied. By the use of these functions, the combined Hartree-Fock-Roothaan calculations have been performed for some closed and open shell neutral atoms and their anions and cations with Z ≤ 21. The performance of new basis functions within the minimal basis framework has been compared with numerical Hartree-Fock (NHF) results. Our total energy values are significantly close to NHF results. The presented minimal basis total energies obtained from the noninteger NGETO with HC are notably better than minimal basis functions total energies previously reported in the literature. It is found that the accuracy of new noninteger NGETO with HC almost correspond to the accuracy of the conventional double-zeta functions. All the nonlinear parameters are fully optimized. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Int J Quantum Chem, 2012


MRP is a recently identified ATP-binding cassette transporter. We previously established that MRP confers resistance to a spectrum of natural product cytotoxic drugs [Kruh, G.D., (1994) Cancer Res. 54, 1649-1652], that expression of MRP is associated with enhanced drug efflux [Breuninger, L.M., (1995) Cancer Res. 55, 5342-5347], and that MRP transcript is widely expressed in human tissues and solid tumor cell lines [Kruh, G.D., (1995) J. Natl. Cancer Inst. 87, 1256-1258]. In the present study the relationship between MRP and drug glutathione S-conjugates was examined. We observed that MRP was labeled by azidophenacylglutathione (APA-SG), a photoaffinity analog of glutathione, and that inside-out membrane vesicles prepared from MRP-overexpressing HL60/ADR cells transported this compound. Transport into membrane vesicles was ATP-dependent, sensitive to osmolarity, and saturable with regard to APA-SG and ATP concentrations, with Km values of 15 and 61 microM, respectively. APA-SG transport was competitively inhibited by the natural product cytotoxic drugs daunorubicin, vincristine, and etoposide, with Ki values of 4.8, 3.8, and 5.5 microM, respectively. Oxidized glutathione, the drug-glutathione S-conjugate DNP-SG, the LTD4 antagonist MK571 and arsenate were also competitive inhibitors, with Ki values of 9.0, 23.4, 1.1, and 15.0 microM, respectively. Analysis of the fate of monochlorobimane in MRP transfectants revealed reduced intracellular concentrations of drug-glutathione S-conjugates associated with enhanced efflux and altered intracellular distribution. These results indicate that MRP can transport glutathione conjugates in vitro and in living cells and suggest the possibility that the transporter may represent a link between cellular resistance to some classes of cytotoxic drugs and glutathione-mediated mechanisms of resistance. In addition, the observation that both mildly cationic or neutral natural product cytotoxic drugs and anionic compounds such as DNP-SG, MK571, and arsenate are competitive inhibitors of MRP action suggests that the substrate specificity of the transporter is quite broad.


The tensile strength (σt) of a rock plays an important role in the reliable construction of several civil structures such as dam foundations and types of tunnels and excavations. Determination of σt in the laboratory can be expensive, difficult, and time-consuming for certain projects. Due to the difficulties associated with the experimental procedure, it is usually preferred that the σt is evaluated in an indirect way. For these reasons, in this work, the adaptive network-based fuzzy inference system (ANFIS) is used to build a prediction model for the indirect prediction of σt of sandstone rock samples from their physical properties. Two ANFIS models are implemented, i.e. ANFIS-subtractive clustering method (SCM) and ANFIS-fuzzy c-means clustering method (FCM). The ANFIS models are applied to the data available in the open source literature. In these models, the porosity, specific gravity, dry unit weight, and saturated unit weight are utilized as the input parameters, while the measured σt is the output parameter. The performance of the proposed predictive models is examined according to two performance indices, i.e. mean square error (MSE) and coefficient of determination (R2). The results obtained from this work indicate that ANFIS-SCM is a reliable method to predict σt with a high degree of accuracy.


An ad hoc network is a collection of wireless mobile nodes dynamically forming a temporary network without the use of any existing network infrastructure or centralized administration. Various ad-hoc routing protocols have been proposed in the literature, such as destination sequenced distance vector (DSDV), ad-hoc on-demand distance vector (AODV) and dynamic source routing (DSR). TCP/IP is the most widely used transport protocol for data services such as file transfer (FTP), e-mail and WWW browsing. For this reason, its use over mobile ad-hoc networks is a certainty. TCP, primarily designed for wireline networks, faces performance degradation when applied to the ad-hoc scenario. Earlier work focussed on comparing the performance of different routing protocols with a single TCP connection. In this paper, we study the performance of multiple TCP connections over various ad-hoc routing protocols. The performance metrics of interest are the TCP throughput and the coefficient of fairness.


As the campaign to raise international awareness towards saving the environment is growing, the need for studies to assess the building performances in terms of energy efficiency for Malaysia as a developing country is perceived more than ever. In line with the growing global trend toward energy efficiency in buildings, this paper makes attempt to estimate and analyse the performance of conventional buildings in terms of the associated dominant load; cooling load for the context of Malaysia through innovative workflow of Building Information Modelling (BIM). A double storey bungalow located in Kuala Lumpur was modelled in Revit Architecture and exported to Autodesk Ecotect Analysis, which both of them are the epitome of BIM tools, for energy analysis. The properties of the components including walls, roofs and windows were input into Ecotect and the simulations were run by varying the orientation and monthly climatic data. Total numbers of 48 simulations were conducted to calculate the monthly cooling load of the building for four orientations and 12 months. It was observed that throughout of the year, cooling loads are constantly required to maintain the comfort band however north orientation seems somewhat energy efficient rather than the others. The present study took a step towards more energy efficient buildings by providing succinct information regarding the performance of buildings in hot-humid climate and aimed at examining BIM-based building energy simulation. Keywords— BIM,Cooling Load, Energy Efficient Buildings,Hot-humid Climate, Malaysia.


ABSTRACT An amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP) method, developed to genotype Yersinia enterocolitica, has been used to investigate 70 representative strains isolated from humans, pigs, sheep, and cattle in the United Kingdom. AFLP primarily distinguished Y. enterocolitica strains according to their biotype, with strains dividing into two distinct clusters: cluster A, comprising largely the putatively pathogenic biotypes (BT2 to -4), and cluster B, comprising the putatively nonpathogenic biotype 1A strains and a single BT1B isolate. Within these two clusters, subclusters formed largely on the basis of serotype. However, AFLP profiles also allowed differentiation of strains within these serotype-related subclusters, indicating the high discriminatory power of the technique for Y. enterocolitica. Investigation of the relationship between strain AFLP profile and host confirmed that pigs are, and provides further proof that sheep may be, potential sources of human infection with putatively pathogenic strains. However, the results suggest that some strains causing human disease do not come from veterinary sources identifiable at this time. The distribution of some BT1A isolates within cluster A raises questions about the relationship between virulence potential and biotype.


Realistic characterization of fatigue loading resistance is a paramount for an economical and reliable structural design of reinforced concrete (RC) and prestressed concrete (PC) structures. The need for innovative experimental methods for the characterization of fatigue behavior is driven by the current aims to construct wind turbine towers that must resist up to N = 107 loading cycles corresponding to 25 years of service life. Considering the number of possible configurations with regard to structural geometries, cross-sectional layout of reinforcement and loading scenarios, experimental data are required that capture the key mechanisms driving the fatigue damage between the reinforcement and concrete matrix. Experimental investigations of bond behavior under fatigue loading have been reported in the literature in the 90′s of last century. Since then, no systematic investigation of bond fatigue behavior has been published. As a consequence, no assessment rules are available for the bond fatigue, only separate assessment rules for concrete and steel. The present paper will report on the ongoing research of bond fatigue behavior using the beam-end test setup. The test campaign includes the push-in loading with the goal to provide data characterizing the compressive behavior of reinforced cross sections in wind turbine towers.


This paper introduces the Quadriglide, a Schönflies motion generator module for 5-axis machine-tools. The targeted application is high speed milling of long aeronautic parts, in particular thin ones, instead of toxic and dangerous chemical milling. Quadriglide is described and its kinematics derived. Then, a preliminary optimization is done to achieve the best actuation stiffness in a prescribed workspace with large tilting angles (θ = ±π/4). Workspace plots of the optimized module are shown at the end of the paper.


BACKGROUND/AIMS
This study aims at evaluating the mean eradication rate by a systematic compilation of the studies which involved the standard triple therapy (STT) in first-line Helicobacter pylori (Hp) eradication in Turkey over a period of 10 years between 2004 and 2013 using the meta-analysis method.

MATERIALS AND METHODS
The systematic compilation and meta-analysis were carried out according to the PRISMA standards defined in the Cochrane handbook. The results of full-text studies published in national and international journals in English and Turkish languages on Turkish population in a period of 10 years, from 2004 to 2013, are included in this study. The studies include open-label trials, controlled trials, treatment arms, and case series that included a triple therapy regimen consisting of standard doses of a proton pump inhibitor (PPI; omeprazole 20 mg BID, lansoprazole 30 mg BID, pantoprazole 40 mg BID, esomeprazole 40 mg BID, or rabeprazole 20 mg BID) along with clarithromycin 500 mg BID and amoxicillin 1 g BID for 7-14 days. They were scanned electronically via the search engines Google Scholar, PubMed, and the Turkish Medicine Index using specific keywords. The related keywords used were Turkey, Helicobacter pylori, infection, standard triple treatment, first-line therapy, eradication, omeprazole, lansoprazole, pantoprazole, rabeprazole, esomeprazole, clarithromycin, and amoxicillin. Studies carried out with adults were included in the evaluation. The publication year of the studies and the included number of patients, their age, gender, treatment duration (7, 10, and 14 days), and PPIs used were evaluated by two separate gastroenterologists and biostatisticians. Studies that used at least one reliable method (histology, urea breath test (UBT), or Helicobacter pylori stool antigen (HpSA) test) four weeks after completing the treatment for the control of Hp eradication were included. Only naive patients were accepted, and patients who had previously received eradication treatment were excluded. The effectiveness of the Hp eradication was analyzed using an intention-to-treat (ITT) or per-protocol (PP) analysis.

RESULTS
The STT regime of 45 studies complying with the inclusion criteria was evaluated. A total of 3715 patients were included in the study. Of the 3010 patients whose gender information was available, 55% were women and 45% were men; the weighted age average given explicitly in the studies was 42.14±0.67. The treatment lasted for 14 days in 42 studies, for 7 days in six studies, and for 10 days in 1 study. The eradication rates evaluated according to the ITT and PP analyses were 60% (95% CI: 56%-63%) and 57% (95% CI: 51%-62%), respectively. The rates for 7 days of treatment were 57% (95% CI: 46%-68%) and 60% (95% CI: 51%-67%) and for 14 days of treatment were 60% (95% CI: 56%-63%) and 56% (95% CI: 50%-62%), respectively. The ITT eradication rate of the only 10-day study was 78% (95% CI: 66%-86%). In the meta-regression analysis, the treatment duration, PPI, age, and gender ratio (women/men) used for the ITT analysis had no effect. The gender ratio and age were not considered in this analysis because they were not clearly stated in studies using the PP analysis. The duration of treatment and the PPI used had no effect.

CONCLUSION
A systematic meta-analysis of studies conducted during the period 2004-2013 in Turkey revealed that the rate of first-line Hp eradication using STT was unacceptably low, and the duration of treatment and PPI used made no difference.


The Urban Heat Islands (UHI) effect is a microclimatic phenomenon that especially affects urban areas. It is associated with significant temperature increases in the local microclimate, and may amplify heat waves. Due to their intensity, UHI causes not only thermal discomfort, but also reductions in the levels of life quality. This paper reviews the important role of green infrastructure as a means through which the intensity of UHI may be reduced, along with their negative impact on human comfort and wellbeing. Apart from a comprehensive review of the available literature, the paper reports on an analysis of case studies in a set of 14 cities in 13 countries representing various geographical regions and climate zones. The results obtained suggest that whereas UHI is a common phenomenon, green infrastructure in urban areas may under some conditions ameliorate their impacts. In addition, the study revealed that the scope and impacts of UHI are not uniform: depending on peculiarities of urban morphologies, they pose different challenges linked to the microclimate peculiar to each city. The implications of this paper are threefold. Firstly, it reiterates the complex interrelations of UHIs, heat waves and climate change. Secondly, it outlines the fact that keeping and increasing urban green resources leads to additional various benefits that may directly or indirectly reduce the impacts of UHI. Finally, the paper reiterates the need for city planners to pay more attention to possible UHI effects when initiating new building projects or when adjusting current ones.


Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to address the need to rethink the traditional approach to education in the university engineering curriculum. The paper examines two engineering projects led by university students in Sweden: the design and construction of a solar-powered car taking part in the Bridgestone World Solar Challenge and the creation of a business model for the ownership phase of an electric car together with Polestar.

Design/methodology/approach
An extensive literature review was conducted. Students were interviewed and surveyed on their impressions of their learning experience in the two projects and student logbooks reviewed. Problem-based learning (PBL), the Conceiving, Designing, Implementing and Operating approach and the ABCD procedure are used. Results are compared to theories from the literature.

Findings
PBL in real-world settings can increase engineering students' technical knowledge and improve their technical skills as they solve complex problems or propose solutions to such problems. Such projects also strengthen students' commitment, self-confidence and self-esteem as well as promote co-operation and creativity. These are soft skills largely absent from traditional engineering education.

Practical implications
Innovative, student-led learning in the applied engineering curriculum can foster students' soft skills in ways that teacher-led, lecture-style learning does not.

Originality/value
This research offers a timely perspective on an issue of current interest in engineering education: student-led learning versus teacher-led learning. The paper also provides two illustrative student-led projects that focus on sustainability and mobility.


There has been an increase in the number of natural disasters over the past few
years. Sri Lanka was particularly hard hit by the Indian Ocean tsunami of 26 December 2004,
which caused devastating effects on the economy, in terms of huge human and economic
losses, and washed away most of its basic infrastructure that served the poorer communities
while significantly setting back the development efforts of the country. The developing
countries are less able to face the impacts of disasters and so it is imperative to develop the
infrastructure for the poorer nations in order to quip them to manage disasters. Without being
able to provide the basic infrastructure, the plight of these affected people have been further
compounded. Post-disaster reconstruction has a key relevancy to development discourse and
disaster management cycle; particularly infrastructure reconstruction should be envisaged
from development perspectives. However infrastructure reconstruction projects are
sandwiched between the short-term necessity to act promptly and the long-term requirement
of sustainable development. In this context this paper aims to discover the necessity of
rebuilding infrastructure for a successful disaster management cycle and some key challenges
for post-tsunami long-term infrastructure reconstruction in Sri Lanka. A comprehensive
literature review was carried out regarding these issues. Results confirm that infrastructure can
both reduce the losses resulting from natural disasters and facilitate easy post-disaster
recovery and thus more investment in infrastructure reconstruction is needed. Currently
disaster management teams in Sri Lanka faces some key challenges in reconstructing the
affected infrastructure; most aggravating is the unfamiliarity of the event, poor institutional
capacity, and current security problems in the north and east of the country. Sri Lanka has to
learn much from other settings and there is a strong need to develop the capacity.


PURPOSE
The purpose of this study was to determine the relationship between nursing home staffing level, care received by individual residents, and resident quality-related care processes and functional outcomes.

DESIGN AND METHODS
Nurses recorded resident care time for 5,314 residents on 156 units in 105 facilities in four states (Colorado, Indiana, Minnesota, and Mississippi). We linked residents' care times to their measures of health and functioning from Minimum Data Set assessments. Major variables were unit- and resident-specific minutes of care per day, process measures (physical restraints, range of motion, toileting program, and training in activities of daily living [ADLs]), outcome measures (ADL decline, mobility decline, and worsening behavior between the time study and 90-day follow-up), and covariates such as unit type and resident health status. We used multilevel analysis to examine staffing and quality relationships.

RESULTS
Residents with toileting programs, range of motion or ADL training, and restraints received significantly more care from unlicensed but not from licensed staff. However, functional outcomes were not significantly related to care received from licensed or unlicensed staff, except for ADL decline, which was greatest for residents receiving more unlicensed minutes of care. Unit staffing level (licensed and unlicensed) was unrelated to any of the care processes or outcome measures, although higher overall staffing was associated with more time devoted to direct resident care.

IMPLICATIONS
Future research into nursing home quality should focus on organization and delivery rather than simply the amount of care available.


Proving program termination is key to guaranteeing absence of undesirable behaviour, such as hanging programs and even security vulnerabilities such as denial-of-service attacks. To make termination checks scale to large systems, interprocedural termination analysis seems essential, which is a largely unexplored area of research in termination analysis, where most effort has focussed on difficult single-procedure problems. We present a modular termination analysis for C programs using templatebased interprocedural summarisation. Our analysis combines a context-sensitive, over-approximating forward analysis with the inference of under-approximating preconditions for termination. Bit-precise termination arguments are synthesised over lexicographic linear ranking function templates. Our experimental results show that our tool 2LS outperforms state-of-the-art alternatives, and demonstrate the clear advantage of interprocedural reasoning over monolithic analysis in terms of efficiency, while retaining comparable precision.


This paper presents a real-time condition assessment procedure for high-voltage circuit breakers (CBs). The simulation of CBs can be fulfilled using the existing arc models. These models can be used to characterize the transient behavior of CB after each operation. The transient signals originated by electric arcs contain several harmonics. Arc voltages can be effectively utilized to detect anomalies of CBs. Here, the total harmonic distortion (THD) index is considered in diagnosing the CB operating mechanism. The CB modeling and simulation are performed in the electro-magnetic transient program (EMTP) and the corresponding signal analyses are carried out in the MATLAB programming environment.


This paper outlines the main infrastructure for implicating mobile learning in medicine and present a sample mobile learning application for medical learning within the framework of mobile learning systems. Mobile technology is developing nowadays. In this case it will be useful to develop different learning environments using these innovations in internet based distance education. M-learning makes the most of being on location, providing immediate access, being connected, and acknowledges learning that occurs beyond formal learning settings, in places such as the workplace, home, and outdoors. Central to m-learning is the principle that it is the learner who is mobile rather than the device used to deliver m learning. The integration of mobile technologies into training has made learning more accessible and portable. Mobile technologies make it possible for a learner to have access to a computer and subsequently learning material and activities; at any time and in any place. Mobile devices can include: mobile phone, personal digital assistants (PDAs), personal digital media players (eg iPods, MP3 players), portable digital media players, portable digital multimedia players. Mobile learning (m-learning) is particularly important in medical education, and the major users of mobile devices are in the field of medicine. The contexts and environment in which learning occurs necessitates m-learning. Medical students are placed in hospital/clinical settings very early in training and require access to course information and to record and reflect on their experiences while on the move. As a result of this paper, this paper strives to compare and contrast mobile learning with normal learning in medicine from various perspectives and give insights and advises into the essential characteristics of both for sustaining medical education.


Abstract Innovations in -omics technologies have driven advances in biomedical research. However, integrating and analysing the large volumes of data generated from different high-throughput -omics technologies remain a significant challenge to basic and clinical scientists without bioinformatics skills or access to bioinformatics support. To address this demand, we have significantly updated our previous O-miner analytical suite, to incorporate several new features and data types to provide an efficient and easy-to-use Web tool for the automated analysis of data from '-omics' technologies. Created from a biologist's perspective, this tool allows for the automated analysis of large and complex transcriptomic, genomic and methylomic data sets, together with biological/clinical information, to identify significantly altered pathways and prioritize novel biomarkers/targets for biological validation. Our resource can be used to analyse both in-house data and the huge amount of publicly available information from array and sequencing platforms. Multiple data sets can be easily combined, allowing for meta-analyses. Here, we describe the analytical pipelines currently available in O-miner and present examples of use to demonstrate its utility and relevance in maximizing research output. O-miner Web server is free to use and is available at http://www.o-miner.org.


Existing methods of incorporating an active filter into an AC/DC converter for eliminating electrolytic capacitors usually require extra power switches. This inevitably leads to an increased system cost and degraded energy efficiency. In this paper, a concept of active-filter integration for single-phase AC/DC converters is reported. The resultant converters can provide simultaneous functions of power factor correction, DC voltage regulation, and active power decoupling for mitigating the low-frequency DC voltage ripple, without an electrolytic capacitor and extra power switch. To complement the operation, two closed-loop voltage-ripple-based reference generation methods are developed for controlling the energy storage components to achieve active power decoupling. Both simulation and experiment have confirmed the eligibility of the proposed concept and control methods in a 210-W rectification system comprising an H-bridge converter with a half-bridge active filter. Interestingly, the end converters (Type I and Type II) can be readily available using a conventional H-bridge converter with minor hardware modification. A stable DC output with merely 1.1% ripple is realized with two 50-μF film capacitors. For the same ripple performance, a 900-μF capacitor is required in conventional converters without an active filter. Moreover, it is found out that the active-filter integration concept might even improve the efficiency performance of the end converters as compared with the original AC/DC converter without integration.


OF THESIS A COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF REINFORCEMENT LEARNING APPLIED TO TASK-SPACE REACHING WITH A ROBOTIC MANIPULATOR WITH AND WITHOUT GRAVITY COMPENSATION Advances in computing power in recent years have facilitated developments in autonomous robotic systems. These robotic systems can be used in prosthetic limbs, wearhouse packaging and sorting, assembly line production, as well as many other applications. Designing these autonomous systems typically requires robotic system and world models (for classical control based strategies) or time consuming and computationally expensive training (for learning based strategies). Often these requirements are difficult to fulfill. There are ways to combine classical control and learning based strategies that can mitigate both requirements. One of these ways is to use a gravity compensated torque control with reinforcement learning (RL). We present an analysis of torque control with and without gravity compensation when coupled with RL in a reaching task using a simulated seven-degree-of-freedom robotic arm. The results of our experiments demonstrate that gravity compensation coupled with RL (while requiring that only the gravity vector be modeled) reduces the training required in some (but not all) reaching tasks. Specifically, the benefits of training with gravity compensated torque control appear to be contingent on goal location. We show that when the goal location is high, gravity compensation has a grater advantage while with a low goal location gravity compensation has less advantage or has a disadvantage in training.


Public-private partnerships (PPPs) have emerged as a new organizational form to provide public infrastructure over the last 30 years. Governments find them attractive because PPPs can be used to avoid fiscal check-and-balances and increase spending. At the same time, PPPs can lead to important efficiency gains, especially for transportation infrastructure. These gains include better maintenance, reduced bureaucratic costs, and filtering white elephants. For these gains to materialize, it is necessary to deal with the governance of PPPs, which is more demanding than for the public provision of infrastructure. The governance can be improved by the use of contracts with appropriate risk allocation and by avoiding opportunistic renegotiations, which have been pervasive. The good news is that, based on the experience with PPPs over the last three decades, we have learnt how to address these challenges.


This essay deals with the EMS experience and its failure, with the Maastricht Treaty, and with the interregnum leading to the formation of the EMU in 1999. The paper highlights the position of German authorities, showing that they were quite lucid about the fundamental weaknesses inherent in a process that separated monetary from fiscal policies by giving priority to the centralization of the former. Instead of repeating the well known critiques leveled against the EMU – for which readers are referred to the unsurpassed treatment by Stiglitz, the essay highlights the splintering of Europe in the way in which it has unfolded during the 1990s and in the first decade of the present millennium. In particular the early economic and political origins of the terminal crisis of Italy are located between the late 1980s and the 1990s. France is shown to belong increasingly to the so-called European periphery by virtue of a weakening industrial structure and persistent balance of payments deficits. The paper argues that France regains its central role by political means and through its weight as an active nuclear military power centered on maintaining its imperial interests and posture especially in Africa. The first decade of the present millennium is portrayed as the period in which a distinct German economic area had been formed in the midst of Europe with a strong drive to the east with an increasingly powerful gravitational pull towards the People's Republic of China.


Argali sheep (Ovis ammon) are the world's largest wild sheep and are threatened throughout their range in Mongolia. Little is known about the ecology of this highly cursorial species. This project was initiated to develop safe capture techniques in order to learn more about the ecology of argali in the Ikh Nartiin Chuluun Nature Reserve in southeastern Mongolia by using radiotelemetry. To our knowledge no one had ever successfully live-caught a free-ranging argali. We developed three techniques for capturing argali. From 2003 to 2007 we hand captured 65 argali lambs, losing one (our first capture) to maternal neglect because we stayed too long in the area and a second that was euthanized after being accidentally injured by a horse. Between 2000 and 2003 we captured six argali by darting, losing one ewe to an abdominal infection after a misplaced dart. Finally, between 2002 and 2007 we captured 32 argali by drive-netting. We lost one ewe to over-exertion after a long drive. The remaining 31 animals captured by drive-netting did not appear to suffer any immediate effects (still alive in 30 days). This report will discuss the strengths and weaknesses for each of these capture techniques. Zoo Biol 27:137-144, 2008. (c) 2008 Wiley-Liss, Inc.


Essential tremor and Parkinson's disease-associated tremor are extremely prevalent within the field of movement disorders. The ventral intermediate (VIM) nucleus of the thalamus has been commonly used as both a neuromodulatory and neuroablative target for the treatment of these forms of tremor. With both deep brain stimulation and Gamma Knife radiosurgery, there is an abundance of literature regarding the surgical planning, targeting, and outcomes of these methodologies. To date, there have been no reports of frameless, linear accelerator (LINAC)-based thalomotomies for tremor. The authors report the case of a patient with tremor-dominant Parkinson's disease, with poor tremor improvement with medication, who was offered LINAC-based thalamotomy. High-resolution 0.9-mm isotropic MR images were obtained, and simulation was performed via CT with 1.5-mm contiguous slices. The VIM thalamic nucleus was determined using diffusion tensor imaging (DTI)-based segmentation on FSL using probabilistic tractography. The supplemental motor and premotor areas were the cortical target masks. The authors centered their isocenter within the region of the DTI-determined target and treated the patient with 140 Gy in a single fraction. The DTI-determined target had coordinates of 14.2 mm lateral and 8.36 mm anterior to the posterior commissure (PC), and 3 mm superior to the anterior commissure (AC)-PC line, which differed by 3.30 mm from the original target determined by anatomical considerations (15.5 mm lateral and 7 mm anterior to the PC, and 0 mm superior to the AC-PC line). There was faint radiographic evidence of lesioning at the 3-month follow-up within the target zone, which continued to consolidate on subsequent scans. The patient experienced continued right upper-extremity resting tremor improvement starting at 10 months until it was completely resolved at 22 months of follow-up. Frameless LINAC-based thalamotomy guided by DTI-based thalamic segmentation is a feasible method for achieving radiosurgical lesions of the VIM thalamus to treat tremor.


Litigation over the legality of government action has traditionally taken place in suits between individuals and government or its officials. States were limited in the kind of cases they could bring in the federal courts; states typically could not litigate their sovereignty interests (their powers to govern to the exclusion of other governments), nor could they litigate their parens patriae interests (the interests of their citizens) against the federal government. Rather, state standing in the federal courts was historically available when states had common law causes of action similar to those of ordinary litigants. State standing, however, expanded in the twentieth century, sometimes allowing litigation of sovereignty and parens patriae interests. And to the extent states rely on standing similar to that of individuals, the injury-in-fact inquiry poses no significant limitation on state standing. Indeed, injury-in-fact poses less of a limitation on states than on individuals, whose interests (unlike those of states) are inherently limited. The frequency with which states currently bring suits against the federal government suggests that states have become all-purpose advocacy plaintiffs, a result that Article III standing doctrine is generally thought to foreclose.

Some critics of the focus on injury-in-fact suggest that courts should look instead to whether the plaintiff has a cause of action; cause-of-action analysis in turn would focus on whether a plaintiff's alleged injury was one that the constitutional or statutory provision at issue was meant to obviate. States, however, might easily claim they are the intended beneficiaries of many constitutional and statutory provisions. Limiting state standing may thus require a general presumption that the interests that the Constitution and regulatory statutes protect, particularly in Article III courts, are the interests of individuals. Under such a presumption, state sovereignty interests and parens patriae interests should not generally give the states causes of action against the federal government. And states' allegations of more individualized injuries should presumptively allow suits only when states are the direct objects of federal government regulation. These presumptions would reinforce the principle that Article III courts do not exist to resolve the policy disputes between governments, and that the legitimacy of the courts' pronouncing on the legality of government action derives from the necessity of deciding cases of private rights.


There have been countless efforts directed toward efficiently controlling the flow of vehicular traffic through an intersection. This paper describes an algorithm designed for the signal control problem that employs concepts drawn from the field of packet switching in computer networks. The novel method proposed utilizes a maximal weight matching algorithm to minimize the queue sizes at each approach, yielding significantly lower average vehicle delay through the intersection. Of particular interest are scenarios in which differentiated services are offered to vehicle classes with differing priorities. Lyapunov function-based analysis is provided, deriving the conditions under which the system is guaranteed to be stable. The algorithm is compared to an optimized fixed-time controller and a vehicle-actuated controller using the VISSIM traffic simulation environment. Simulation results demonstrate the performance gain obtained when using the proposed scheme, particularly in the scenario in which vehicle routes are unequally distributed, and multiple classes of service are desired.


The (O-acyl)-ω-hydroxy FAs (OAHFAs) comprise an unusual lipid subclass present in the skin, vernix caseosa, and meibomian gland secretions. Although they are structurally related to the general class of FA esters of hydroxy FAs (FAHFAs), the ultra-long chain (30–34 carbons) and the putative ω-substitution of the backbone hydroxy FA suggest that OAHFAs have unique biochemistry. Complete structural elucidation of OAHFAs has been challenging because of their low abundance within complex lipid matrices. Furthermore, because these compounds occur as a mixture of closely related isomers, insufficient spectroscopic data have been obtained to guide structure confirmation by total synthesis. Here, we describe the full molecular structure of ultra-long chain OAHFAs extracted from human meibum by exploiting the gas-phase purification of lipids through multi-stage MS and novel multidimensional ion activation methods. The analysis elucidated sites of unsaturation, the stereochemical configuration of carbon-carbon double bonds, and ester linkage regiochemistry. Such isomer-resolved MS guided the first total synthesis of an ultra-long chain OAHFA, which, in turn, confirmed the structure of the most abundant OAHFA found in human meibum, OAHFA 50:2. The availability of a synthetic OAHFA opens new territory for future investigations into the unique biophysical and biochemical properties of these lipids.


We have found that Copper(II) ions at about equimolar Cu2+/photosystem II (PS II) reaction center proportions stimulate oxygen evolution nearly twofold. This high affinity Cubinding site is different from the binding sites of Mn and Ca ions. The analysis of the Cu2+ content in PS II preparations isolated from wild-type tobacco and a tobacco mutant deficient in light-harvesting complex suggests that Cu2+ may be a native component of PS II and may take part in the oxygen evolution process. At higher concentrations, Cu2+ ions inhibit oxygen evolution and quench fluorescence.


This study examines the relationship between board diversity and firm value for Fortune 1000 firms. Board diversity is defined as the percentage of women, African-Americans, Asians, and Hispanics on the board of directors. This research is important because it presents the first empirical evidence examining whether board diversity is associated with improved financial value. After controlling for size, industry, and other corporate governance measures, we find significant positive relationships between the fraction of women or minorities on the board and firm value. We also find that the proportion of women and minorities on boards increases with firm size and board size but decreases as the number of insiders increases. For women, there is an inverse relationship between the percentage of women on boards and the average age of the board.


A single-mode fiber Faraday rotator is proposed and fabricated by using a paramagnetic glass with a high Verdet constant. The Faraday rotator is a W-fiber with three layers, namely, core, inner cladding, and outer cladding. To make the fiber FR-5 is used as the starting material. The Verdet constant of the rotator is −0.25 min/Oe·cm at a 0.633-μm wavelength. The rotator can be used in a fiber isolator.


This study retrospectively evaluated the results of 36 sinus-lift graft augmentations performed to place 66 implant cylinders in the posterior maxilla where vertical bone height was less than ideal. Grafts were accomplished with porous hydroxyapatite (HA) alone, porous HA mixed with autogenous bone removed from the iliac crest, and HA combined with autogenous bone removed from within the mouth. Nineteen core biopsy specimens were taken from different grafts at time intervals ranging from 4 to 36 months from the time of grafting. These cores were evaluated using histomorphometric analysis to yield data comparing volume fractions of bone formation, allowing comparison of different graft materials and healing times. Grafts using porous HA alone on mean produced 16.38% bone by volume after 6 months. After the same healing time, grafts using HA and hip bone on mean produced 19.30% bone by volume compared with an 11.30% bone volume when using HA and bone harvested intraorally. Evaluation of cores taken at 19 and 36 months revealed greater volumes of bone formation. Recommendations based on clinical and histologic results are discussed in detail.


Global consumers, international brands, and governments in producing and outsourcing countries aim to improve working conditions in global value chains, but uncertainty exists about what is the best approach. This research uses firm-level data from the International Labour Organization?International Finance Corporation Better Work Vietnam program to assess the relationship between transparency on working conditions and firm compliance in the apparel sector in Vietnam between 2010 and 2018. It exploits a change in the policies of Better Work Vietnam when, in 2015, the program announced the launch of a new public disclosure program that would see factories'names made publicly available along with their compliance (or lack thereof) with certain"critical issues."The paper first examines which firm characteristics correlate with reductions in noncompliance rates over time, and then examines the impact of the public disclosure policy on compliance rates and firm dropout using different empirical techniques. It finds that while continued participation in the Better Work Vietnam program has the strongest effect on changes in firm compliance with labor standards over time, public disclosure is also associated with increased compliance, with stronger effects in some compliance points, including occupational health and safety, work time, and child labor. There is some evidence of increased dropout, but no evidence of firms only making progress on the critical issues is found. The research findings suggest that public disclosure within global value chains matters for firm behavior.