It is common to see clouds in the form of the sky, known as contrails, which are behind the engines of a reaction plan. What is not always visible is a wind whirl that comes out of the top of each wing - like two small horizontal tornadoes - leaving behind a turbulent awakening behind the vehicle. Awakening is a destabilizing flight hazard, especially for smaller aircraft that have the same flight path. Recent research at the University of Illinois has shown that although most of the wings used today create these turbulent vortices, wing geometry can be designed to reduce or eliminate almost the entire comma. In the study, the characteristics of vortex and awakening were calculated for three classical wings: wings and elliptical wings developed in the classical R.T. Jones and Ludwig Prandt. "The configuration of the elliptical wings has been used as the gold standard of aerodynamic efficiency for the best part of a century. We teach our students that they have optimal load characteristics and that they are often used when looking at wings efficiency, for example by minimizing traction, said Phillip Ansell, assistant professor at the Department of Aerospace Engineering at U of I. In a previous experimental study on optimizing wing configurations, Ansell has learned that you can achieve the efficiency of the wing system with a non-elliptical wing profile. Previous academic studies have shown that, in theory, there are other models that actually offer less resistance to a flat wing for a fixed amount of elevator generation. But what is missing is a real apple experiment - something else to prove it. In this new research, Ansell and his graduate student, Prateek Ranjan, used the real data from the previous study to analyze the configurations of the three wings. "We followed this because we saw a certain curiosity in our measurements in the previous experiment." In this new study, we simulated the flow of these three wings and we saw significant differences in how the vortexing and awakening of three Wings Wings Jones and Prandtl did not have peaks like elliptical wings, they had a more gradual deformation of the entire ditch than the immediate consistency of change. Now we know we can delay the formation of structures, the vortex awakens and increases our wishes for distance to pass 12 times, making it weaker and less dangerous for the plane to pass through it. "We look at how wing wings and information can be used to understand how the wind swirl process takes place. This study allows us to be aware of how the wings configuration affects wind formation and wakes up studying the extremes of the wind immediate and delayed, Ansell said. Interestingly, I found that one of the worst offenders creating vortexes is really the distribution."


Local delivery of a missing growth factor to the skeletal stem cell niche restores bone healing in diabetic mice. Stem cells: The key to boosting bone healing in diabetes Among a myriad of difficulties, people with diabetes have problems with their bones; after a break, their bones do not heal well. Tevlin et al. use mice to investigate the cause and to devise a solution. In several models of diabetes, skeletal stem cells, which normally multiply to repair a bone injury, failed to do so. The high blood concentrations of TNFα in these diabetic mice inhibited a growth factor within the stem cell niche. The authors succeeded in reversing this deficit; delivery of the missing factor directly to the niche restored the expansion of stem cells after injury and normalized bone healing. Correction of the inhospitable niche environment for skeletal stem cells is a promising approach for this complication of diabetes and perhaps for other stem cell–based diseases. Diabetes mellitus (DM) is a metabolic disease frequently associated with impaired bone healing. Despite its increasing prevalence worldwide, the molecular etiology of DM-linked skeletal complications remains poorly defined. Using advanced stem cell characterization techniques, we analyzed intrinsic and extrinsic determinants of mouse skeletal stem cell (mSSC) function to identify specific mSSC niche–related abnormalities that could impair skeletal repair in diabetic (Db) mice. We discovered that high serum concentrations of tumor necrosis factor–α directly repressed the expression of Indian hedgehog (Ihh) in mSSCs and in their downstream skeletogenic progenitors in Db mice. When hedgehog signaling was inhibited during fracture repair, injury-induced mSSC expansion was suppressed, resulting in impaired healing. We reversed this deficiency by precise delivery of purified Ihh to the fracture site via a specially formulated, slow-release hydrogel. In the presence of exogenous Ihh, the injury-induced expansion and osteogenic potential of mSSCs were restored, culminating in the rescue of Db bone healing. Our results present a feasible strategy for precise treatment of molecular aberrations in stem and progenitor cell populations to correct skeletal manifestations of systemic disease.


We have employed first-principles density-functional calculations to study the electronic characteristics of covalently functionalized graphene by metal-bis-arene chemistry. It is shown that functionalization with M-bis-arene (M=Ti, V, Cr, Mn, Fe) molecules leads to an opening in the band gap of graphene (up to 0.81eV for the Cr derivative), and as a result, transforms it from a semi-metal to a semiconductor. The band gap induced by attachment of a metal atom topped by a benzene ring is attributed to modification of π-conjugation and depends on the concentration of functionalizing molecules. This approach offers a means of tailoring the band structure of graphene and potentially its applications for future electronic devices.


A region of the alpha-subunit of the nicotinic acetylcholine receptor (AChR) of the Torpedo electric organ, containing residues 161-166, has been proposed to be a major antigenic site in the native AChR protein. We report the synthesis of a peptide corresponding to residues 159-169, which contains the proposed antigenic region. In quantitative radiometric titrations, radiolabelled anti-(native AChR) antibodies from three different species, rabbit, rat and dog, exhibited considerable binding (approx. 15% relative to native AChR) to Sepharose-immobilized peptide 159-169, but did not bind significantly to Sepharose-immobilized unrelated proteins or peptides. Specificity was further confirmed by the finding that no rabbit anti-AChR antibodies bound to the peptide after absorption with native AChR. These data indicate that the region 159-169 contains an antigenic site that is readily accessible in solubilized native Torpedo AChR.


The energy crises in the worldwide have been encouraging the researchers to look for new methods which increase of thermal performance. One of common technique to improve efficiency of energy system equipment is by changing the design configuration of channel and conventional fluid such as nanofluids. Enhancements of heat transfer and nanofluid flows through an annular channel with abrupt contraction are numerically and experimentally investigate. The finite volume method in three dimensional domains with an SST K-ω model is use in simulation. Aluminum oxide and titanium oxide (Al2O3, TiO2) nanoparticles with volume fractions varied from 0.5% to 2% have been use. Reynolds number range varying between 10000 and 40000 and contraction ratios from 1 to 2 at heat flux varied from 1000 W/m2 to 6000 W/m2 were apply. In order to validate numerical results Al2O3 water based nanofluid was use in experimental study. The outer cylinder of the entrance pipe had a constant diameter while the outer cylinder of the exit pipe had different diameters to generate the contraction. Both the entrance and exit pipe were heated under uniform heat flux and the overall length of the inner cylinder were unheated and has constant diameter. The results showed that the maximum heat transfer coefficient was about 194.7% in an annular pipe with contraction ratio of 2 compared with a straight pipe, due to the generated recirculation flow zone that begins after the separation point of the wall. It was observed that by increasing nanoparticle volume fraction for all type of nanofluids, enhances the heat transfer coefficient due to augmented heat transport by nanoparticles in base fluid which raises the convection heat transfer where were about 26.9 % ( Al2O3) and 5.5% (TiO2). Also the effect of Reynolds number on the increase of surface heat transfer coefficient noted. Recirculation regions appeared to increase with increasing step height and Reynolds number. Also pressure drop observed decreases and increases before and after the step due to recirculation flow. The maximum pressure drop were about 7.5% (Al2O3) and 5.9% (TiO2) nanofluid compared with pure water at contraction ratio of 2 and Reynolds number of 40000. Additional investigations have been done in this research in order to clarify the effect of separation flow on augmentation of heat transfer and pressure drop. Heat transfer and turbulent fluid flow over double forward-facing step or through annular pipe with sudden contraction were performed numerically. Same findings have been observed in those studies where increase of thermal performance and pressure drop with increases Reynolds number and step heights.


Nine encoded wine samples from a German long-term field trial on the comparison of different cultivation systems were examined with the image forming methods biocrystallization, capillary dynamolysis and circular chromatography. The images of the encoded samples were i. differentiated into three groups of images with similar form expression, ii. characterised as 'fresh – aged' based on a catalogue of reference images, iii. ranked (according to the quality characterization) and iv. assigned to the different cultivation systems (classified). Images gained with samples from integrated farming showed more structures indicating enhanced aging compared with the samples from organic and especially from biodynamic origin. Based on these observations, a correct assignment of all encoded samples to cultivation systems was possible. These results are interpreted as indicating higher product quality of biodynamic and organic wine compared to wine from integrated farming.


Progress has been made toward a Saito-Kurokawa lift, including a non-holomorphic Shimura lift and a lift from the non-holomorphic analogue of the Kohnen plus space to Jacobi Maass forms. A large gap remains in our understanding of Siegel Maass forms, which are the non-holomorphic analogue of Siegel modular forms. Relatively few results are known with a high degree of generality, and even basic results have not been developed in some cases.

In the case of Siegel Maass wave forms of weight 0, Niwa, in 1991, utilized explicit differential operators given by Nakajima (1982) to develop the Fourier series expansion. However, Nakajima's quartic differential operator is not invariant under the action of the desired slash operator, and so we still lack a valid Fourier expansion for Siegel Maass wave forms of weight 0.

In this thesis, we introduce Siegel Maass wave forms of weight 0, which are simultaneous eigenvectors of Maass' Casimir operators, rather than the operators given by Nakajima, and follow the method of Niwa to obtain a fourth order ordinary differential equation, which must be satisfied by the Fourier coefficients of such wave forms.

In Chapter 2, we review the theory of holomorphic Siegel modular forms and the classical Saito-Kurokawa lift. In Section 3.1, we define Siegel Maass wave forms of weight 0, and in Section 3.2, we describe non-holomorphic automorphic forms involved in a Saito-Kurokawa lift, as well as the maps between them which have previously been established.

In Section 4.1, we explicitly compute the Casimir operators which form the basis for our definition of Siegel Maass wave forms, followed by the computation of the system of differential equations satisfied by these forms, in Section 4.2. In Section 4.3, through a series of changes of variable, we reduce this system of differential equations to a single fourth order ordinary linear differential equation. The Fourier coefficient of a wave form, corresponding to the identity matrix, will satisfy this differential equation. We discuss the proof given by Niwa for the solutions to his ordinary differential equation and his method for obtaining the first solution by theta lifting, in Section 4.4, and finally we conclude in Section 4.5 by giving the Fourier coefficients corresponding to definite matrices, according to Hori.


Economic crisis, during the past two years, has an impact on Greek students of 17 years old. Elements of the crisis have intruded on their everyday life. Economic and financial concepts constitute part of their attempt to understand the world they live in and as a result affect their educational level. This paper is an exploratory attempt to study the effects of economic crisis in the economics knowledge of Greek students using a sample of 62 Senior High School (lyceum) students. Data analyzed consists of a 30 question exam based on the Test of Economic Literacy (TEL) developed by the National Council on Economic Education (NCEE) and a questionnaire which was given at the end of the exam. The survey was conducted in two different periods in 2010-2011 & 2011-2012. Results indicate that students level of knowledge of economic and financial concepts, concerning the crisis, is considerably high compared with quantitative results from the U.S. national norming sample of the TEL.


Purpose Traumatic optic neuropathy (TON) is the most feared visual consequence of head and ocular trauma in both military and civilian communities, for which standard treatment does not exist. Animal models are critical for the development of novel TON therapies as well as the understanding of TON pathophysiology. However, the models currently used for TON have some limitations regarding consistency and mirroring the exact pathological progression of TON in closed ocular trauma. In this study, we modified the model of controlled cortical impact and adapted it for studying TON. Methods We defined new standardized procedures to induce TON in mice, wherein the optic nerve is reproducibly exposed to a graded controlled impact of known velocity to produce a graded deficit in retinal ganglion cell (RGC) electrophysiological functions. Results The key results of validating this newly modified model, "controlled orbital impact (COI)," included (1) the injury parameters (velocity as well as contusion depth and time), which were quantifiable and manageable to generate a wide range of TON severities; (2) a reproducible endpoint of diminished positive scotopic threshold response (pSTR) has been achieved without the interference of surgical variability and destruction of surrounding tissues; (3) the contralateral eyes showed no significant difference to the eyes of naïve mice, allowing them to be used as an internal control to minimize interindividual variability among mice; and (4) the occurrence of injury-associated mortality and/or ocular comorbidity was rare. Conclusions Taken together, this model overcomes some limitations of prior TON mouse models and provides an innovative platform to identify therapeutic targets for neuroprotection and/or neurorestoration following traumatic ocular injury.


Introduction The risk of misapplying Hopkins' letters. Ideas that Hopkins had no respect for life, that he was torn between two vocations, that he was transformed as a poet by the Jesuits all rejected. Importance of evolution in him and of effect of circumstances. Precariousness in his work. Chap. 1 Oxford and Pater Continuity between Hopkins' university work and subsequent poetry (his sense of transience, of self as a perceiver, his fear of failing, his vulnerability) but no synthesis of nature and religion at Oxford. The importance of his idea of form in making this – his double attitude to Pater – remarkable similarities but difference over 'the absolute'. Seed for future sown before Hopkins joined Jesuits. Chap. 2 The Fallow Years Hopkins' burning early work a token – professionalism in his attitude to poetry – fear of vulnerability hence non-publication. The development of his world-view and his art – centrality of form (inscape) in this, effect of Scouts – evolution of Sprung Rhythm began at Oxford – strengths and weaknesses – Hopkins' theory of poetry on him – idea of classical models for Hopkins set aside. Jesuits did not transform Hopkins as a poet. Chap. 3 The Grandeur of God The unity of Hopkins' nature doctrine, and its limitations – importance of Wales – 'The Weaknesses in Hopkins' poems about men – idealisation and unreality – occasional privacy of Hopkins' language. Equanimity of nature-doctrine had to be threatened before he could grow as a poet. Chap. 4 The Idea of the Wreck Hopkins' life-long concern with transience – 'The Wreck of the Deutschland' untypical because not a lament – elsewhere Hopkins increasingly anguished – ultimately sorrow produced feeling of futility – 'The shepherd's brow'. Struggle to reconcile love of life with transience presages struggles of Irish sonnets. Chap. 5 Ireland and the End of Beauty Ideal of conflict between priest and poet rejected – misery in Ireland caused by nature of work – strains imposed and frustration of religious aim at core of his experience - 'winter world' his major artistic achievement - poems at limit of what is communicable -terrible sonnets, a therapy - Hopkins' affronted patriotism – theme of failed creativity - Irish poems show permanent development? Conclusion Hopkins' life and work difficult to understand but having logic. The gradual evolution of his theory of poetry - his attitude towards it. Constancy in his attitude to Society of Jesus. Gradual evolution of his idea of form. Absence from his poetry of bestial nature. Growth as a poet dealing with transience. Place of circumstance in his evolution - comparison with Wilfred Owen - Hopkins' involuntary growth in Ireland. Contrast with Arthur Hugh Clough - Hopkins' total commitment.


Attenuation compensation in reverse‐time migration has been shown to improve the resolution of the seismic image. In this paper, three essential aspects of implementing attenuation compensation in reverse‐time migration are studied: the physical justification of attenuation compensation, the choice of imaging condition, and the choice of a low‐pass filter. The physical illustration of attenuation compensation supports the mathematical implementation by reversing the sign of the absorption operator and leaving the sign of the dispersion operator unchanged in the decoupled viscoacoustic wave equation. Further theoretical analysis shows that attenuation compensation in reverse‐time migration using the two imaging conditions (cross‐correlation and source‐normalized cross‐correlation) is able to effectively mitigate attenuation effects. In numerical experiments using a simple‐layered model, the source‐normalized cross‐correlation imaging condition may be preferable based on the criteria of amplitude corrections. The amplitude and phase recovery to some degree depend on the choice of a low‐pass filter. In an application to a realistic Marmousi model with added Q, high‐resolution seismic images with correct amplitude and kinematic phase are obtained by compensating for both absorption and dispersion effects. Compensating for absorption only can amplify the image amplitude but with a shifted phase.


The dq-frame admittance of closed-loop controlled three-phase converters is a linearized model that is dependent on the operating points of the system. Yet, it is impractical to measure the converter admittance at all operating points. This paper, thus, proposes an approach to estimating the dq-frame admittance of three-phase converters at a wide range of operating points. The method applies multidimensional interpolation to a given set of admittance data, which is measured from the pre-defined operating points. The accuracy of interpolation is then evaluated by using the posterior error estimation method. The number of pre-defined operating points is next adjusted to find a good compromise between the accuracy and efficiency of the approach. Simulations and experimental results verify the effectiveness of the approach.


The nature of transition in the crack tip stress singularity from an inverse square root to an inverse fractional power as a crack tip reaches a phase boundary or a geometrical discontinuity for interface cracks is examined. This is done by analyzing the simple closed-form solution to the problem of a rigid line inclusion with one side partially debonded for the case of antiplane deformation. For this example, the crack tip stress singularity changes from an inverse square root to an inverse three-quarters power as the crack tips approach the inclusion tips (i.e., when one face of the rigid line inclusion is completely debonded). A detailed analysis, based on series expansions of the closed-form solution, is used to show how the singularity transition occurs. Moreover, the expansions indicate difficulties that may be encountered when solving such problems by approximate methods. /Author/


Heatwaves and extreme temperatures during summer (April–May) in India have profound implications on public health, mortality, water availability, and productivity of labourers. However, how the frequency of the hottest summers in observed record (1951–2015) will change under the warming climate in India is not well explored. Using observations from the India Meteorological Department, we show that mean maximum summer temperature has increased significantly in three (arid, monsoon, and savannah) out of five major climatic regions of India during 1951–2015. We identify the hottest summer in the observed record in the five climatic regions in India. The arid, cold, and temperate regions experienced the hottest summer in 2010 while monsoon and Savannah regions witnessed the hottest summer in 1979 and 1973, respectively. Based on simulations from the Climate of 20th Century Plus (C20C+) Detection and Attribution project, we show that the regional hottest summer of 2010 can be attributed to the anthropogenic warming. We then use simulations of a large (2000 year) ensemble of the EC-Earth model to estimate the exceedance probability of the observed hottest summer in the present climate, 2 °C and 3 °C warming worlds in India. The exceedance probability of the observed hottest summers shows a rise of more than seven and twenty-fold in the 2 °C and 3 °C warming world, respectively, compared to the present climate. The projected increases in the frequency of the hot summers and associated heatwave days will pose great societal challenges in the future in India.


An ultrasonic wave sound‐pressure meassurement which uses a reference ultrasonic wave and a microparticle suspended liquid cell is proposed. In the method, microparticles are held in the liquid cell which is filled with the saline solution whose specific gravity is the same as the microparticles. If the cell is placed inside the standing wave which is produced by the ultrasonic wave to be measured and the reference ultrasonic wave, the microparticles are trapped in the standing wave and they are arranged at equal spaces. Then, the phase of the reference ultrasonic wave changes periodically; the microparticles reciprocate within the adequate range because the time‐varying standing wave applies alternating acoustic radiation force to the microparticles. Since the displacement amplitude of the microparticle motion is proportional to the acoustic power, the sound pressure is estimated by measuring the displacement amplitude. In this method, the displacement amplitude is measured by observing the microparticle...


Public preferences for nonmarket services of preserved land in Delaware are measured using two survey techniques. The results of a conjoint experiment, using a sample of 199 Delawareans, suggest that the environmental and agricultural attributes of preserved land are most important to the residents. The conjoint results also suggest that these services are of substantial value to Delawareans; at the margin, at least, agricultural and environmental preserved land provide net benefits to the public. The analytic hierarchy process is used to assess separate survey results from 129 Delawareans. The results provide specific weights on the relative importance of attributes and qualities of preserved land, which in large part replicate and reinforce the results of the conjoint experiment. Overall, Delawareans seem to be most concerned with keeping farming as a way of life, having access to locally grown agricultural commodities, protecting water quality, and preserving rural character.


This paper presents the design and implementation of converters for grid-connected single-phase photovoltaic energy conversion system. In order to provide the functions of the energy management and the load distribution, the system is combined with the photovoltaic cells and utility network. Due to that the output voltage and current of the photovoltaic cells are easily changed by light and load fluctuations, it will cause the maximum power points drift. Therefore, the maximum power point tracking and power electronic technique are required to draw the available maximum power from the photovoltaic cells. The proposed system makes use of the perturbation-and-observation method to achieve maximum power point tracking. The output frequency, phase and amplitude of the single-phase inverter are the same with utility network by using the zero-crossing control method. A digital signal processor is applied for the system control. Finally, a 500W generation system is constructed and tested to verify the system performance.


The new beam profile measurement for the Antiproton Decelerator (AD) at CERN is based on a single Gas Electron Multiplier (GEM) with a 2D readout structure. This detector is very light, ~ 0.4% X0, as required by the low energy of the antiprotons, 5.3 MeV. This overcomes the problems previously encountered with multi-wire proportional chambers (MWPC) for the same purpose, where beam interactions with the detector severely affect the obtained profiles. A prototype was installed and successfully tested in late 2010, with another five detectors now installed in the ASACUSA and AEGIS beam lines. We will provide a detailed description of the detector and discuss the results obtained. The success of these detectors in the AD makes GEM-based detectors likely candidates for upgrade of the beam profile monitors in all experimental areas at CERN. The various types of MWPC currently in use are aging and becoming increasingly difficult to maintain.


A key design issue in relay based cooperative wireless networks is the design of an appropriate metric for relay selection algorithms. In most cooperative protocols designed for IEEE 802.11 networks, the relay selection metric is based on reducing the transmission delay of relay links. The bandwidth efficiency provided by this metric is beneficial for applications communicating at high data rate, however not all applications will benefit from this simple approach. In this paper, a novel cooperative metric is proposed, which in addition to bandwidth, also considers link reliability and link stability, especially useful in mobile scenarios, and for time sensitive service applications. The proposed metric is applied to the well-known CoopMAC protocol. Simulation results indicate a strong correlation between network performance and proposed cooperative metric.


There is a popular and romantic myth about Rembrandt and the Jewish people. One of history's greatest artists, we are often told, had a special affinity for Judaism. With so many of Rembrandt's works devoted to stories of the Hebrew Bible, and with his apparent penchant for Jewish themes and the sympathetic portrayal of Jewish faces, it is no wonder that the myth has endured for centuries. "Rembrandt's Jews" puts this myth to the test as it examines both the legend and the reality of Rembrandt's relationship to Jews and Judaism. In his elegantly written and engrossing tour of Jewish Amsterdam which begins in 1653 as workers are repairing Rembrandt's Portuguese-Jewish neighbor's house and completely disrupting the artist's life and livelihood Steven Nadler tells us the stories of the artist's portraits of Jewish sitters, of his mundane and often contentious dealings with his neighbors in the Jewish quarter of Amsterdam, and of the tolerant setting that city provided for Sephardic and Ashkenazic Jews fleeing persecution in other parts of Europe. As Nadler shows, Rembrandt was only one of a number of prominent seventeenth-century Dutch painters and draftsmen who found inspiration in Jewish subjects. Looking at other artists, such as the landscape painter Jacob van Ruisdael and Emmanuel de Witte, a celebrated painter of architectural interiors, Nadler is able to build a deep and complex account of the remarkable relationship between Dutch and Jewish cultures in the period, evidenced in the dispassionate, even ordinary ways in which Jews and their religion are represented far from the demonization and grotesque caricatures, the iconography of the outsider, so often found in depictions of Jews during the Middle Ages and the Renaissance. Through his close look at paintings, etchings, and drawings; in his discussion of intellectual and social life during the Dutch Golden Age; and even through his own travels in pursuit of his subject, Nadler takes the reader through Jewish Amsterdam then and now a trip that, under ever-threatening Dutch skies, is full of colorful and eccentric personalities, fiery debates, and magnificent art."


We investigate the effects of neutrino heating and α-particle recombination on the hydrodynamics of core-collapse supernovae. Our focus is on the nonlinear dynamics of the shock wave that forms in the collapse and the assembly of positive energy material below it. To this end, we perform time-dependent hydrodynamic simulations with FLASH2.5 in spherical and axial symmetry. These generalize our previous calculations by allowing for bulk neutrino heating and for nuclear statistical equilibrium between n, p, and α. The heating rate is freely tunable, as is the starting radius of the shock relative to the recombination radius of α-particles. An explosion in spherical symmetry involves the excitation of an overstable mode, which may be viewed as the ℓ = 0 version of the "Standing Accretion Shock Instability." In two-dimensional simulations, nonspherical deformations of the shock are driven by plumes of material with positive Bernoulli parameter, which are concentrated well outside the zone of strong neutrino heating. The nonspherical modes of the shock reach a large amplitude only when the heating rate is also high enough to excite convection below the shock. The critical heating rate that causes an explosion depends sensitively on the initial position of the shock relative to the recombination radius. Weaker heating is required to drive an explosion in two dimensions than in one, but the difference also depends on the size of the shock. Forcing the infalling heavy nuclei to break up into n and p below the shock only causes a slight increase in the critical heating rate, except when the shock starts out at a large radius. This shows that heating by neutrinos (or some other mechanism) must play a significant role in pushing the shock far enough out that recombination heating takes over.


This paper conducts an in-depth analysis of structured finance asset-backed securities collateralized debt obligations (SF ABS CDOs), the subset of CDOs that traded on the ABS CDO desks at the major investment banks and were a major contributor to the global financial panic of August 2007. Despite their importance, we have yet to determine the exact size and composition of the SF ABS CDO market or get a good sense of the write-downs these CDOs will generate. In this paper the authors identify these SF ABS CDOs with data from Intex©, the source data and valuation software for the universe of publicly traded ABS/MBS securities and SF ABS CDOs. They estimate that 727 publicly traded SF ABS CDOs were issued between 1999 and 2007, totaling $641 billion. Once identified, they describe how and why multisector structured finance CDOs became subprime CDOs, and show why they were so susceptible to catastrophic losses. The authors then track the flows of subprime bonds into CDOs to document the enormous cross-referencing of subprime securities into CDOs. They calculate that $201 billion of the underlying collateral of these CDOs was referenced by synthetic credit default swaps (CDSs) and show how some 5,500 BBB-rated subprime bonds were placed or referenced into these CDOs some 37,000 times, transforming $64 billion of BBB subprime bonds into $140 billion of CDO assets. For the valuation exercise, the authors estimate that total write-downs on SF ABS CDOs will be $420 billion, 65 percent of original issuance balance, with over 70 percent of these losses having already been incurred. They then extend the work of Barnett-Hart (2009) to analyze the determinants of expected losses on the deals and AAA bonds and examine the performance of the dealers, collateral managers, and rating agencies. Finally, the authors discuss the implications of their findings for the "subprime CDO crisis" and discuss the many areas for future work.


High-Q filter tuning based on envelope detection is discussed. The proposed tuning scheme is simple and can be used for high-frequency, high-Q filters. The circuit was designed using a 1.2 /spl mu/m CMOS process, with a 3 V single supply voltage. As a demonstration, a second-order bandpass section is used in the simulations, but the method can also be applied to lowpass and highpass second-order sections.


An experiment was conducted on broiler chickens to study the effects of conjugated linoleic acid (CLA), fish oil, soybean oil or their mixtures (at 7% for single and 3.5% + 3.5% for mixtures) as well as up 12% dosage of palm oil, on the performance and carcass traits of broiler chickens. The chicks fed 7% fish oil or 7% CLA diets were found to have the most inferior weight gain in grower and finisher phases, respectively. A significant reduction in feed intake was observed with diets containing 7% fish oil. However, adding CLA to the diets regardless of the associated dietary fat, did not affect birds feed intake. The dietary fish oil and CLA adversely affected the feed conversion ratio as well as carcass yield. Dietary palm oil (at 12% level) and CLA (at 7% level) increased the abdominal fat pad and liver weights, respectively. The results of this study show that the high dosage of fish oil or CLA can reduce broiler chickens performance but their combination with soybean oil as n-6 fatty acid source can moderate these adverse effects.


Development of appropriate luminophores that can achieve effective sensing of nitroaromatic explosives is a crucial issue for our daily life safety and homeland security. Herein, supersensitive and highly selective detection of one nitroaromatic explosive, i.e. 2,4,6-trinitrophenol (TNP) in aqueous media, by taking advantage of rationally designed aggregation-induced emission (AIE) cationic Ir(III) phosphors with carbazole end-capped flexible ligands, is successfully realized. To decipher a detailed sensing mechanism and provide an alternative strategy for the molecular design in future, systematic experimental and theoretical investigations are performed. Comprehensive studies demonstrate that both electron and energy transfer, strong electrostatic interactions between TNP and cationic Ir(III) complexes, as well as specific intraligand charge transfer excited-state character are responsible for the high sensitivity and selectivity. We believe that the obtained results will pave a feasible avenue to construct novel phosphorescent materials that could be used for potentially efficient detection of TNP.


This paper presents path planning algorithms using Rapidly-exploring Random Trees (RRTs) to generate paths for unmanned air vehicles (UAVs) in real time, given a starting location and a goal location in the presence of both static and pop-up obstacles. Generating near optimal paths in obstacle rich environments within a given short time window is a challenging task. Hence we first generate a path quickly using RRT by taking the kinematic constraints of the UAV into account. Then we develop an anytime algorithm that yields paths whose quality improves as computation time increases. When the UAV detects a pop-up obstacle the path planner re-generates a new path from its current location. In order to track a generated path, an effective guidance law with a switching mechanism based on pursuit and line of sight guidance laws is developed. Simulation studies are carried out to demonstrate the performance of the proposed algorithm.


The design of antenna pattern and transmitted signal for a coherent-side-looking (range-azimuth) synthetic antenna radar is studied. The general design criterion is to minimize all spurious responses in the ambiguity function under the restraints of finite antenna aperture and signal bandwidth. The problem is completely solved for any set of consistent constraints. The interplay between aperture size, range and azimuth resolution, and spurious response level for the optimum design is exhibited, and antenna aperture illuminations, signal amplitude and phase modulation, and pulse repetition frequency are specified.


Finding and classifying specific objects is a key part in most of the tasks autonomous systems could face. Properly being able to reach objects and find their exact location is very important for successfully achieving higher level robotic behaviors. To perform full object detection and recognition tasks in a wide environment several perception approaches need to be brought together to achieve a good performance. In this paper we present a dual parallel system for object finding in wide environments. Our system implements two main parts. One texture based approach for wide scenes, composed by a Multimodal Deep Learning Neural Network and a syntactic distribution based parser. And another specific geometry based process, using three dimensional data and geometry constrains to look for specific objects and their position within a whole scene. Both systems run in parallel and compliment each other to fulfill an object search and locate task. The major contribution of this paper consists on the success of combining texture and geometry based solutions running in parallel and sharing information in real time to allow a full generic solution to be able to find almost any present object in a wide environment. To validate our system we test it with real environment data injected into a simulated environment. We test 25 tasks in a household environment obtaining a 92% overall success rate finally delivering the correct position of the object.


This study reviews the literature on gender relations and climate change. Gender analysis contributes to our understanding of: (1) vulnerability and climate change impacts; (2) adaptations in different contexts; (3) responsibility for greenhouse gas emissions; (4) inequalities in climate governance; and (5) knowledges and social action on climate change. Overall, the literature has established that gender relations are an integral feature of social transformations associated with climate change. This poses a challenge to gender‐blind social research into climate change. Without gender analysis, we omit key aspects of social life in a changing climate. It is vital that the gendered character of climate change is recognized and further explored in the social sciences and humanities. WIREs Clim Change 2017, 8:e451. doi: 10.1002/wcc.451


This work proposes to forecast the Realized Volatility (RV) and the Value-at-Risk (VaR) of the most liquid Russian stocks using GARCH, ARFIMA and HAR models, including both the implied volatility computed from options prices and Google Trends data. The in-sample analysis showed that only the implied volatility had a significant effect on the realized volatility across most stocks and estimated models, whereas Google Trends did not have any significant effect. The outof-sample analysis highlighted that models including the implied volatility improved their forecasting performances, whereas models including internet search activity worsened their performances in several cases. Moreover, simple HAR and ARFIMA models without additional regressors often reported the best forecasts for the daily realized volatility and for the daily Value-at-Risk at the 1 % probability level, thus showing that efficiency gains more than compensate any possible model misspecifications and parameters biases. Our empirical evidence shows that, in the case of Russian stocks, Google Trends does not capture any additional information already included in the implied volatility.


Recently, one of the authors, studying a model for turbulent diffusion involving a large‐scale velocity field rapidly fluctuating in time, rigorously demonstrated intermittency in a diffusing scalar field by exhibiting broader than Gaussian tails in the scalar PDF. Here, we explore this model further with exact formulas within the context of general initial data possessing both a mean and a fluctuating component. Several new phenomena due to the presence of a nonzero scalar mean are documented here. We will establish that the limiting long time scalar PDF has long tails, as well as persisting skewness. Further, we show that the limiting PDF depends on the large‐scale energy of initial temperature fluctuations and exhibits long time memory of the initial data. Additionally, we will exhibit an explicit phase transition occurring in the scalar PDF as this large scale energy is varied, whereby the limiting PDF switches between states arising from deterministic initial data and states dominated by fluctuation.


BACKGROUND
Current measures of severity and disability do not stage or track the progression of disability in frontotemporal dementia (FTD) well. We investigated the reliability of the newly developed Dementia Disability Rating (DDR) in the measurement and staging of illness severity in FTD and dementia of the Alzheimer type (DAT).

MATERIAL/ METHODS
We studied 48 consecutive patients of the Johns Hopkins FTD and Young-Onset Dementias Clinic, with diagnoses of DAT, FTD, vascular dementia and "other" cognitive disorder (CDNOS). Cases were scored on the CDR and DDR by three trained raters, based on neuropsychiatric examinations performed at first visit and other assessments performed within the preceding year. Consensus ratings were assigned in conference.

RESULTS
Inter-rater correlations of DDR sum of ranks scores for DAT ranged from 0.88 to 0.91, for FTD 0.89-0.96 and for CDNOS 0.85-0.97. Similar correlations were observed of the CDR sum of rank scores for DAT and FTD. Correlations of DDR summary scores for DAT were 0.67-0.91 and for FTD 0.79-0.91, as compared to CDR data: 0.87-0.92 (p<0.0001) and 0.80-0.93 (p<0.0001) for DAT and FTD respectively. In DAT patients the correlation between CDR and DDR summary scores was higher than in FTD patients, whereas correlations based on sum of ranks scores were high in both groups.

CONCLUSIONS
These preliminary data indicate the DDR measures disability in DAT and FTD, with reliability comparable to the CDR. Convergent validity was demonstrated for the DDR.


This paper reports on an ongoing New Zealand study of franchising in the real estate agency sector and focuses on the franchisor perspective. It identifies industry specific antecedents for franchise growth and competitive advantage. These include market share; acculturation; direct office ownership; focus and parallelism. Of particular interest are the two notions of acculturation and parallelism. Acculturation involves the process of adopting and adapting - assimilation into the culture of first the industry and then that of the franchisor. Parallelism describes two separate business identities that exist side by side in real estate franchise groups. The franchisor business endorses the service quality of a series of independently owned, locally bound franchisees, enabling them to tap into a client base by positioning themselves in the local market more quickly than they could do single-handedly. The franchisee endorses the brand. Thus two entrepreneurial ventures exist parallel to each other, operating in a co-dependent manner. Parallelism is perhaps best illustrated in the international operations of real estate franchise groups where two brands are recognisable. Franchised businesses are able to draw on the strength of a globally recognised brand name, but also retain local branding. Hence real estate franchises allow parallel business venturing, where the sum of the whole is greater than the parts. An important strand of discussion in the paper is the delineation of progression through stages of growth. A model of these stages and interacting issues is provided using the case of a New Zealand franchisor.


This report is the report of a Master Thesis carried out at Chalmers University of Technology by me, Alexander Bergersen. The aim of the Master Thesis was to introduce authentication into decentralized privacy-preserving location proximity without adversely hampering the scalability of such protocols further. This was done by creating two solutions that slightly modified the behavior of a location proximity protocol called "InnerCircle". The first solution, called the Gossiping solution, tries to introduce authentication by having the base network be an unstructured distributed network where each client substitutes as an authentication authority for each of the clients connected to it, viewed as its neighbors. This solution assumes a majority honest network where each vote of authenticity from each neighbor carries equal weight. The second solution develops the first one by going in a different direction and uses an Identity Based Encryption system with distributed key generation as the basis. Instead of proving authentication it hides information from those not authorized to see it. However, even though the second solution is based on the first one, they are different enough that instead of the testing each solution and showing the progress, the solutions are compared as to which one is better and most fulfill the aim of not adversely affecting the performance of the underlying protocol, InnerCircle, the best. The test results are presented to the reader for each of three cases, baseline, first solution, second solution, in tables and the data is analyzed. This analysis showed that the Gossiping solution without the Identity Based Encryption will eventually always outperform the second solution, even if the Identity Based solution was developed with the goal of performing better than the Gossiping solution.


Effects of seed priming treatments with 0.5% KH2PO4 (w/v) solution and water were determined on germination and seedling characters of hexaploid triticale (Triticosecale Witm., cv. Presto) in different osmotic potential of NaCl and PEG solutions. Drought and salt osmotic stress conditions were separately created by using PEG 6000 and NaCl, respectively, at different osmotic potentials (-0.45, - 0.77, -1.03 and -1.44 MPa and control). At the equivalent osmotic potential, the effects of PEG 6000 were more harmful than NaCl on germination and seedling stage. Germination percentage and seedling growth and also relative water content (RWC, %) decreased with the decrease in osmotic potential of PEG 6000 and NaCl. But root-to-shoot length ratios increased with the effects of osmotic stress of PEG 6000 and NaCl. Despite the negative effects of two stress conditions, the two priming treatments were effective in improving germination percentage and seedling growth in Presto. But seed primed treatment was effective at the lowest osmotic potentials; therefore, seedling growth survived at the highest concentrations. Consequently, the effect of hydropriming is very pronounced particularly in improving germination and seedling growth in low stress.


The citation records of the papers published in the Journal of Periodontology vols. 31–45 and Journal of Periodontal Reserch vols. 1–9 have been examined and lists of most cited papers ranked by total number of citation and citations per year compiled. Several diverse approaches to periodontal research are represented in these lists including microbiology, histology, immunilogy. and surgery.

The patterns of periodontal literature usage with time resembles that found for biomedical lliterature and other bibliographic indices such as Price's Index and the number ro references per paper place periodontal research in or close to the range of values found for "normal" sciences.

The distribution of citations among individual papers resembles that found in other sciences in that the majority of papers have very little impact. In the first five years following publication, 18% of papers published in J. Periodontol. were not cited while less than 10% were cited ten times or more. The record for papers published in J. Periodontal Res. is slightly better, 9.5% were not cited and 12.6% were cited ten times of more in the five years following publication. In this study. there were no instances of papers that failed to be cited in the first five years achieving ten or more citations in any subsequent five year period. One class of research publication, case reports, was associated with a very low citation frequency. It appears that the influence fo case reports on subsequent research is small.


This paper proposes a new survivable traffic grooming wavelength retuning (STGWR) scheme in an all-optical wavelength division multiplexing (WDM) network. In a dynamic WDM network, a connection may require bandwidth less than a wavelength capacity. Also, a connection should be protected against any network failures. Survivable traffic grooming (STG) can protect connections at subwavelength granularities. Wavelength retuning is a promising approach in an all-optical WDM network, where a signal must remain on the same wavelength from its source to the destination, to alleviate the wavelength continuity constraint and reduce the connection blocking probability. While both STG and wavelength retuning have attracted extensive research attentions nowadays, no effort has been made to combine these two promising approaches in one network. In this paper, we propose a wavelength retuning scheme with no service interruption in an all-optical network with survivable traffic grooming capability. The scheme allocates two routes, one for active path and one for backup path, in a shared mesh restoration way to each incoming connection request and conducts wavelength retuning only on the backup path. Both wavelength retuning and mesh protection are done at the connection level instead of at the lightpath level. The simulation results of the proposed schemes are also presented


Testing How to Form a Learning Community Where Pastors Develop Habits for Increased Missional Influence Wayne W. Squires Doctor of Ministry School of Theology, Fuller Theological Seminary 2011 The purpose of this project was to test whether creating a short term learning group with pastoral leaders around simple practices of neighborhood engagement would lead to any shifts in priorities or weekly habits. The assumption was that most pastors of recognized churches in West Michigan take a chaplaincy approach to leadership, using work hours to prepare for worship gatherings, provide congregational care, and manage established programs. The thesis was that a time-limited commitment to specific practices and mutual learning would allow participants to gain new insights about their personal contexts and move toward a different set of leadership behaviors such as modeling hospitality and training others for neighborhood involvement. Over seven months' time, eight seminary-trained leaders living in distinct neighborhoods and representing five denominations went on a shared journey to explore whether increasing their own neighborhood presence was sustainable or linked in any way to organizational influence. Participants, with approval of their church councils, were asked to devote six hours a week to "good neighbor" activities. They also agreed to take part in two one-day retreats, attend at least three monthly roundtables, and read two recommended books. The assumption and thesis were examined by comparing early and late reflection papers, responses to two similarly constructed interviews, and scores from a time management assessment tool. This paper demonstrates that group members remained challenged by internal expectations of clergy, even as hopes for other possibilities were renewed. It affirms heightened awareness for each participant and greater potential for engaging congregational systems with missional imagination. However, it also acknowledges the limited behavioral impact of this approach and offers an assessment of contributing factors. A more comprehensive strategy is proposed for future learning communities that help shift leadership priorities. Throughout, interpretive links are made to larger social, historical, and theological narratives. Content Reader: Alan J. Roxburgh, DMin


Thousands of nurses contributed to this book: all those who gave time and money to the Nursing Standard Caring for Romania Appeal and the Romanian Angel Appeal.


Purpose
In a country that is marred by an excessively high unemployment rate, there is a need for policymakers to prioritise entrepreneurship in South Africa. The study aims to explore the determinants of self-employment among the youth in South Africa and in the process answer the following question: Who are the self-employed youths in South Africa?

Design/methodology/approach
Different potential predictors of self-employment empirically used in the literature were used in this study. A probit regression model was used with the binary self-employment variable as the dependent variable and a host of independent variables. A nationally representative survey consisting of youths was used in the analysis.

Findings
The findings show that financial literacy increases the odds of being self-employed. Secondly, the odds of being self-employed increase with age as mature people are expected to have gathered enough networks and wisdom over the years. Thirdly, being male decreases the odds of being self-employed. When it comes to education, the only category that statistically increases the odds of being self-employed compared with no schooling is the tertiary level of education. The other educational levels are all statistically insignificant. From a policy perspective, the government should promote self-employment by investing in financial literacy as well as increasing access to tertiary education among disadvantaged groups.

Originality/value
The study is one of the first, to the best of the authors' knowledge, to examine the characteristics of the self-employed using a nationally representative survey in South Africa.


This thesis considers the interaction of storage, gaming and forward contracts as mechanisms of risk management in a deregulated electricity market. To date, analyses of imperfect electricity markets have established the "tactical" effect of contracts, that under certain coryectural assumptions, forward contracts have a significant impact on the gaming behaviour of dominant firms in the spot market. However, little work has considered contract strategy, incorporating factors such as the feedback of spot market behaviour on contract market equilibria. This thesis assesses the risk that market participants are exposed to, establishes a measure of risk, and analyses the role that forward contracts play in hedging that risk. Finally, assuming participants are averse to financial risk only, a multiperiod model will be provided that examines whether incentives exist for dominant suppliers to use their market power to amplify the risk faced by consumers in order to increase profit through contract revenue.


: In 2005, Handicap International commissioned a study on the practices of funding for self-employment activities of people with disabilities (PWD), with a special focus on access to microfinance. The overall goal of the study was to produce a framework document highlighting good practices, strategies, tools and operational methods that guarantee the efficiency and sustainability of self-employment projects for PWDs. The first phase of the study consisted of a literature review and a worldwide survey. Through this first phase the research team identified the most innovative programmes for further analysis through field visits. In the second phase field visits were conducted in Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Ethiopia, India, Kenya, Nicaragua and Uganda, while regional workshops were organised in Dhaka and Nairobi. Phase three involved consolidation and analysis of the information and finally drafting of the framework document. This paper summarises the findings and good practices as presented in the framework document, based on the results of the literature review, the survey and the field research. It is not a scientific paper, i.e. it doesn't contain a discussion of the literature reviewed or systematic reference to sources, the same as the document on which it is based, as it is primarily meant for 'practitioners'. A main finding of the study was that there is no single 'best solution' to funding of self employment activities. While inclusion of PWDs in existing microfinance institutions (MFIs) is the preferred strategy, guaranteeing efficiency, sustainability and future access to funding for the target group, it was found that in reality many PWDs do not have access to microfinance programmes. This can be explained by stigmatisation of PWDs by staff of MFIs, who do not believe in their income earning and repayment capacity, and self-exclusion by PWDs. To fight against it projects have been set-up linking MFIs with programmes for PWDs, focusing on better information exchange between both parties respectively on disability for MFIs and the characteristics of microfinance for programmes for PWDs. Other programmes experiment with special credit lines or guarantee funds, placed at the disposal of MFls and earmarked for loan disbursement for PWDs, to facilitate their inclusion. Another reason for non-inclusion is the vulnerability of many PWDs. Many of them have no prior business experience, while many MFIs only provide loans to clients with an existing business. Vocational and/or business training and raising of their self-confidence, to be assured by a programme for PWDs, is often required prior to setting-up of a self-employment activity and taking a loan. If not prepared to run a 'business' successfully, taking a loan will present a too great a risk for themselves, getting indebted, and for the MFI. 'Start-up' grants for business-starters and revolving funds managed by PWD programmes, are other approaches practised by PWD programmes, of which the pros and cons are discussed in the study. A major weakness of many MFIs is that they do not reach the most vulnerable clients, including many of the PWDs, and their weak presence in rural areas especially in Africa. MFls have to look for innovative approaches to deepen their outreach. The self-help group approach in India, starting with the clients' own savings from which loans can be disbursed to the group members while linking the well-performing groups to banks for access to bank loans, is such a new approach. It is practised by The Leprosy Mission Trust in India. In Africa, some international NGOs started with similar 'community based saving and lending groups'.


Both the identification of children at risk in day care and multidisciplinary collaboration with other professions have a political focus. This study was designed as an organizational field study and attempts to establish a coherent practice of multidisciplinary collaboration between day care and social services. This article focuses on the mono-professional pedagogical identification of children at risk as well as on the underlying process of professional reasoning. Interviews with day care staff are analysed and the findings give reason to assume that central aspects of the children at risk and their life circumstances become invisible in the everyday life of day care. Due to defensive routines as well as an organizational culture that frames and creates a non-explicitly structured practice using intuitive processes, the problems of children at risk become invisible in the everyday life of day care. When risk become invisible, it not only impedes the mono-professional help the children receive, it also inhibits a crucial multidisciplinary collaborative provision of support to children at risk and their families. The identification of children at risk seems to be based on an unexamined selection of significant information, processed by intuitive processes.


Numerical and experimental studies were conducted for open type forced draft water cooling tower. The numerical part includes a three dimensional computational solution of air and water simultaneous equations which represents the fluid flow, heat transfer and mass transfer. Finite volume method with staggered grid and k- e turbulent model was used. Experimentally, mechanical forced draft counter-flow cooling tower was used to validate the numerical results. The agreement seems acceptable between the numerical and experimental results.


TRIC channels function as monovalent cation-specific channels that mediate counter ion movements coupled with ryanodine receptor-mediated Ca2+ release from intracellular stores in muscle cells. Mammalian tissues differentially contain two TRIC channel subtypes: TRIC-A is abundantly expressed in excitable cells, whereas TRIC-B is ubiquitously expressed throughout tissues. Here, we report the physiological role of TRIC-B channels in mouse perinatal development. TRIC-B-knockout neonates were cyanotic owing to respiratory failure and died shortly after birth. In the mutant neonates, the deflated lungs exhibited severe histological defects, and alveolar type II epithelial cells displayed ultrastructural abnormalities. The metabolic conversion of glycogen into phospholipids was severely interrupted in the mutant type II cells, and surfactant phospholipids secreted into the alveolar space were insufficient in the mutant neonates. Moreover, the mutant type II cells were compromised for Ca2+ release mediated by inositol-trisphosphate receptors, despite Ca2+ overloading in intracellular stores. Our results indicate that TRIC-B channels take an active part in Ca2+ signalling to establish specialised functions in type II cells and are thus essential for perinatal lung maturation.


Recognising the paramount importance of lipids in cell physiology and function, there is an analytical need to measure the composition of lipids within the cell and how different lipid species interact. In this review, we will explore the role NMR spectroscopy can have in this. We will show how the technique can be used to measure lipid concentrations, but we will also provide evidences of its importance to characterise lipid interactions with other molecules, such as proteins, and to measure lipoproteins, the transporters of triglycerides and cholesterol, discussing advantages and limitations. Furthermore, we will highlight its potential for quality control analysis, particularly in food science and industry, if further development of benchtop instruments continues. Complementary to liquid chromatography mass spectrometry, which is able to measure numerous lipids in a complex mixture, NMR is an invaluable tool for fulfilling this need of better characterising lipids.


Film and game production have historically been on parallel yet distinct development tracks. With the advent of new technologies, video games now have the potential to create dynamically robust cinematic gameplay experiences; in turn, the adoption of real-time software has led to more artistically-driven asset creation and faster iteration cycles in film production. These convergences underlie significant paradigm shifts not only in how content is delivered and presented in film and games, but also in terms of the perspectives on how research and technology will be further developed to aid production workflow. This panel aims to provide an open dialogue on the relevant convergences in film and game production processes and technologies. Consisting of leading minds from both industries, the panelists will debate the current state of artistically-driven production tools and resources in the context of their unique perspectives as pioneers in the field. They will provide their thoughts on what the key confluence points are, whether there are definitive differences that disallow one-to-one production convergence, and what challenges and implications there may be that are divergent from traditional mindset for both industries. Finally, the panel will look at emerging trends in the field in a lively discussion that will hopefully hone ideas and technologies both industries may invest in moving forward.


The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of nano hexagonal boron nitride(hBN) particles on the friction and wear properties of AISI 4140 steel material when the hBN particles are used as an oil additive. Nano hexagonal boron nitride powders, which were produced using a special process, were dispersed in engine oil (SAE10 W) to enhance lubrication. The amount of nano hexagonal boron nitride in the engine oil was varied from 0 to 10% by volume, and four different lubricant samples were prepared. Wear tests were conducted using ball-on-disc geometry. The worn surfaces of substrates were analyzed using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and energy-dispersive x-ray spectroscopy (EDS). The experiments showed that the nano hexagonal boron nitride particles that were used as an oil additive affected the friction and wear behavior. A 14.4% improvement in the friction coefficient and a 65% decrease in the wear rate were achieved through the use of the nano hBN as an oil additive.


In contrast to recent emphasis on simply creating an enabling environment, the 'Making markets work for the poor' approach emphasizes that specifically targeted interventions are needed to make markets work for the poor. This article analyses the concepts underlying the M4P approach. While sympathizing with the approach as such, it argues that it needs a clearer perspective on market failure and on poverty, as well as a sound conceptual understanding of the relationship between market, hierarchy and network. It suggests that M4P should not spend an exaggerated effort on research but rather go for participatory, pragmatic, quick-win oriented action research.


In vertebrates, the receptor families deleted in colorectal cancer (DCC) and UNC5 mediate responses to the bifunctional guidance cue netrin-1. DCC mediates attraction, whereas a complex of DCC and UNC5 mediates repulsion. Thus, a primary determinant of the responsiveness of an axon to netrin-1 is the presence or absence of UNC5 family members on the cell surface. Currently, little is known about the role of receptor trafficking in regulating neuronal responses to netrin-1. We show that protein interacting with C-kinase 1 (PICK1) recruits activated protein kinase Cα (PKCα) to MycUNC5A at the plasma membrane, stimulating its endocytosis. We identify two PKCα phosphorylation sites at serines 408 and 587, as well as dileucine internalization motifs, which are required for this endocytosis. We find that PKCα-stimulated internalization of UNC5A alters the functional response of developing hippocampal axons to netrin-1, preventing UNC5A-mediated growth cone collapse and converting netrin-1-stimulated chemorepulsion to attraction. To address whether this conversion in axonal response occurs in neurons expressing endogenous levels of UNC5, we show that mouse cerebellar granule axons exhibit chemorepulsion in a netrin-1 gradient and that this chemorepulsion is converted to chemoattraction after PKCα activation. We demonstrate that this repulsion depends on UNC5A because Unc5a−/− axons are not repelled and show this conversion depends on PICK1 because PICK1−/− axons are not converted to chemoattraction after PKCα activation. Together, these data provide a potential mechanism to explain how developing neurons alter their responsiveness to netrin-1 at intermediate choice points as they navigate to their targets.


Background: Insulin resistance syndrome has been shown to be associated with many coagulation and fibrinolytic proteins and these associations suggest that some coagulation and fibrinolytic proteins have a role in atherothrombotic disorders.
Aim: This study was conducted to determine the levels of some of the haemostatic parameters in subjects having metabolic syndrome and to correlate these values with the anthropometric and metabolic variables associated with this syndrome.
Subjects & Methods: The study included 46 obese non-diabetic subjects of whom 28 subjects (group 1) fulfilled the ATP III criteria of the metabolic syndrome and 18 subjects (group 2) did not have metabolic syndrome as well as 14 lean subjects (group 3) of matched age and sex as a control group. Clinical and laboratory evaluation of the study groups stressed on anthropometric measurements (weight, height, body mass index, waist circumference, and sagittal abdominal diameter), blood pressure, and laboratory measurements of fasting plasma glucose, fasting insulin, serum lipids, tissue plasminogen activator (t-PA), antithrombin III activity (ATIII), protein C and von Willebrand factor (vWf) antigen.
Results: There was significant increase in the concentrations of t-PA and vWf antigens in subjects having metabolic syndrome (group 1) in comparison to the other groups while there were non-significant changes in the levels of protein C antigen and AT III activity. Both t-PA and vWf showed significant correlation with HOMA-IR as a measure of insulin sensitivity. The t-PA showed also the significant correlation with most of the variables of metabolic syndrome including waist circumference, BMI, systolic blood pressure, fasting plasma glucose, fasting insulin and HDL cholesterol. On the other hand, vWf showed significant correlations with fasting plasma glucose, fasting insulin and sagital abdominal diameter, with non-significant correlations with the other variables.
Conclusion: Haemostatic and fibrinolytic parameters should be included in the features and characterization of the insulin resistance syndrome. t-PA and vWf antigens concentrations were increased in subjects with metabolic syndrome and correlated with the HOMA-IR measure of insulin sensitivity. Taking into consideration that both t-PA and vWf are mainly released from vascular endothelium, these findings could be an indicator of endothelial dysfunction in that group of subjects.


It has been reported previously that environmental antigens such as intestinal microflora play an important role in an age-associated increase in number of T-cell receptor gamma/delta-bearing T cells. To extend the scope of this finding, this study examined the influences of local inflammation on the accumulation and/or proliferation of gamma/delta T cells in athymic nude mice injected subcutaneously with complete Freund's adjuvants (CFA). The inguinal lymph nodes (ILN) in nude mice injected with CFA in their hind footpads 7 days previously contained an increased number of CD3+CD4-CD8- cells. Increased levels of proliferative responses against syngeneic stimulator cells were noted in the LN cells of CFA-injected nude mice in association with increases in expression of gamma- and delta-chain gene messages. Furthermore, the LN cells showed an early proliferative response to purified protein derivative (PPD) from Mycobacterium bovis. These results suggest that local inflammation by CFA may induce functional gamma/delta T cells in nude mice, which may proliferate rapidly at the inflamed sites and represent a first line of defence in such animals against the invasion of various pathogens.


Abstract Aim: To identify prescription drugs involved in falsified pre-scriptions in community pharmacies in 6 European coun-tries. Methods: A cross-sectional survey among 2,105 com-munity pharmacies in Belgium, France, Italy, the Nether-lands, Spain and Sweden was carried out to collect all suspect prescription forms. For each reported drug, the number of reported falsified prescriptions per thousand inhabitants was estimated. A falsification ratio was calculated by divid-ing the number of reports by the number of defined daily doses per 1,000 inhabitants per day for this drug, computed from national sale or reimbursement data. Results: On 862 prescription forms, benzodiazepines (zolpidem, bromaze-pam, alprazolam), buprenorphine (as an opioid mainte-nance drug) and tramadol were the most frequently report-ed. Depending on their level of use in each country, methyl-phenidate, morphine and flunitrazepam presented the highest falsification ratios, particularly in Spain, Belgium and Received: May 30, 2013 Accepted: October 17, 2013 Published online: January 16, 2014


In rat undifferentiated hepatoma cells, the gamma-glutamyl transpeptidase (GGT) gene is transcribed into a 2.3 and a 2.6 kb mRNA which, in contrast with other rat GGT transcripts, are not detected in more differentiated liver cells or adult tissues. Analysis of the cDNA sequences obtained from H5 hepatoma cells reveals that these two transcripts differ from other GGT mRNAs by a 312-nt unique untranslated leader sequence; this sequence maps on the gene in a single exon 10 kb upstream from the GGT promoter IV transcription start site. We established that the 2.6 kb mRNA V-1 and the 2.3 kb GGT mRNA V-2 derive, by alternate splicing, from a primary transcript initiated on a distal promoter on the rat GGT gene. This gene appears to be transcribed from five promoters, and the specific expression of this new distal promoter in undifferentiated hepatoma cells requires binding of activator protein-1 and hepatic nuclear factor 3 specific transcription factors to a composite cis-element in the proximal region of the promoter. The distal GGT promoter, specifically expressed in undifferentiated liver cells, might reflect the expression of that gene in liver precursor cells before they differentiate in the hepatocytic or biliary lineage.


The study was premised on the concern of the migrant African parents about their children's lack of aspiration for higher education after completing their secondary education in the Northern Territory (NT), Australia. There appears to be little understanding of, or confusion around, the different pathways available to higher education in Australia. The reports and anecdotes around African youths in the NT demonstrating antisocial behaviors, including, but not limited to drug offences, teen pregnancies and suicides prompted this research. These troubling behaviors have culminated in the death of two young boys in the African community in Darwin 2016 and another girl in 2019 in Kathrine. The study comprises of African parents who migrated to NT in Australia from different demographics in Africa. This study used a questionnaire and semi-structured interviews to investigate African parents' perception of their child's post-secondary school aspiration. The outcome of this investigation revealed a lack of understanding of the NT Australian school systems and reporting strand on their children performance and the different pathways through which their children can access higher education in Australia. This study provided four recommendations to help African parents understand the NT Australian government policies and programs on education.


Utilization evaluation for healthcare facilities such as hospitals and nursing homes is crucial for providing high quality healthcare services in various communities. In this paper, a data-driven simulation framework integrating statistical modeling and agent-based simulation (ABS) is proposed to evaluate the utilization of various healthcare facilities. A Bayesian modeling approach is proposed to model the relationship between heterogeneous individuals' characteristics and time to readmission in the hospital and nursing home. An ABS model is developed to model the dynamically changing health conditions of individuals and readmission/discharge events. The individuals are modeled as agents in the ABS model, and their time to readmission and length of stay are driven by the developed Bayesian individualized models. An application based on Florida's Medicare and Medicaid claims data demonstrates that the proposed framework can effectively evaluate the healthcare facility utilization under various scenarios.


One of the main drawbacks of mango is its post harvest losses. Hexanal, a volatile plant component inhibits Phospholipase D (PLD), the key enzyme involved in the initiation of plasma membrane deterioration to induce the ripening of fruits. Nanoemulsion of hexanal would be more effective than the conventional form of treatment owing to its smaller droplet size. Studies were conducted to develop nanoemulsion of hexanal and its biosafety to pollinators and natural enemies in mango ecosystem. Combination of hexanal, Tween 20, ethanol at 1:10:10, was found to have good emulsion. The average droplet size was 9.9 nm with the zeta potential of -20.0 mV. This combination was used for the biosafety studies on honey bees Apis cerana indica F., egg parasitoid Trichogramma chilonis Ishii and predator Chrysoperla carnea Stephens. Nanoemulsion of hexanal on honey bees and exposure of bees to hexanal treated mango varieties had no adverse effect on honey bees (0% mortality). Nanoemulsion at recommended field dose (0.04%) showed 96.53% parasitization and 96.61 per cent adult emergence of the egg parasitoid and recorded 85.05 per cent emergence in the predator. When the grubs were fed with hexanal sprayed Corcyra eggs as well as by direct spraying of hexanal nanoemulsion on the grubs, there was 100 per cent pupation and adult emergence.


The goal of the Multi-Agent Path Finding (MAPF) problem is to find non-colliding paths for agents in an environment, such that each agent reaches its goal from its initial location.
In safety-critical applications, a human supervisor may want to verify that the plan is indeed collision-free. To this end, a recent work introduces a notion of explainability for MAPF based on a visualization of the plan as a short sequence of images representing time segments, where in each time segment the trajectories of the agents are disjoint.
Then, the problem of Explainable MAPF via Segmentation asks for a set of non-colliding paths that admit a short-enough explanation. Explainable MAPF adds a new difficulty to MAPF, in that it is NP-hard with respect to the size of the environment, and not just the number of agents. Thus, traditional MAPF algorithms are not equipped to directly handle Explainable MAPF. In this work, we adapt Conflict Based Search (CBS), a well-studied algorithm for MAPF, to handle Explainable MAPF. We show how to add explainability constraints on top of the standard CBS tree and its underlying A* search. We examine the usefulness of this approach and, in particular, the trade-off between planning time and explainability.


Cuba and the U.S. have the oldest Academies of Sciences outside Europe. Both countries have a long history of scientific collaboration that dates to the 1800s. Both scientific communities also share geographical proximity and common scientific research interests mainly in Biotechnology, Meteorology, and Public Health research. Despite these facts, scientists from both nations face serious barriers to cooperation raised by the U.S. embargo established in 1961 that prohibits exchanges with Cuba. The study aims to analyze the effects of U.S. policy on scientific collaboration with Cuban scientific institutions. The results of the bibliometric analysis of Cuba-U.S. joint publications in the Web of Science, and Scopus databases between 1980 to 2020 indicate sustained growth of scientific collaboration between scientists of both nations over the past forty years. The results also show that after the 1980 Smithsonian Institution and the Cuba's Academy of Sciences agreement significantly increased scientific collaboration between U.S. scientists with their Cuban peers. President Barack Obama's approach to normalizing the U.S. Cuba relations in 2015 enhanced Cuban scientific production with U.S. scientists by exceeding the number of collaborative papers published during any preceding U.S. Presidential administration. By 2020, Cuba had expanded its scientific links to 80% of the countries in the world. Cuban and U.S. scientists converted from adversaries into partners, showing that science is an effective diplomatic channel. A particularly important question for the future is how robust is the collaboration system in the face of greater political restrictions?


Three separate experiments were conducted during the growing season 2013. The first experiment was applied to estimate the leaf area of buckwheat Fagopyrum esculentum Moench Var. Hruszowska via a simple model derived from triangle area. Buckwheat leaf parameters; height (h) and the baseline (b) were combined as an equation of triangle area then adjusted. Two models were compared with the conventional method (Millimeter graph paper) using simple linear regression. Regression analysis showed that the two models could be used for determining leaf area of buckwheat. The model equation of (((1/2BC.AG)-(1/2EF.DG)).(1/2EF.DG) /(1/2BC.AG)-(1/2EF.DG)) gave the most accurate estimate (r2=0.989, with linear equation of y=0.707x+0.596). The second experiment was conducted to evaluate buckwheat growth performance under various sowing dates. Results showed that the buckwheat seed sowing at 6 th September was significantly improved number of leaves per plant11.83, inflorescences per plant19.33 and seeds per plant 47.67. As well as, plants were sown in this date were taken the lowest period from sowing to germinate. The third experiment was applied to evaluate growth performance of buckwheat under two growing locations. Al-Fallujah location was more suitable to buckwheat plants as compared with Al-Ramadi location wherein most of the growth parameters were increased. As a result, the proposed linear equation could be replaced with the derived model equation above (x= calculated area, y= adjusted area) to estimate buckwheat leaf area. Furthermore, al - Fallujah location was fitted to establish buckwheat and this plant could be sown at 6 th September. Thus, it could be recommended that multi-environment test it is very important to evaluate proposed leaf area model.


In 1967 the Vera Institute of Justice established the Manhattan Court Employment Project to divert criminal defendants, after their arraignment on felony or misdemeanor charges, into a program of group therapy and employment counseling. If a defendant succeeds in the program and obtains a job, his pending criminal charges are dismissed. The goals of this innovative program are eloquently stated in the Vera Institute's ten-year report:


This paper presents exact solution methods for analyzing vulnerability of electric power networks to a certain kind of undetectable attacks known as false data injection attacks. We show that the problems of finding the minimum number of measurement points to be attacked undetectably reduce to minimum cut problems on hypergraphs, which admit efficient combinatorial algorithms. Experimental results indicate that our exact solution methods run as fast as the previous methods, most of which provide only approximate solutions. We also present an algorithm for enumerating all small cuts in a hypergraph, which can be used for finding vulnerable sets of measurement points.


Numerical simulations of the supernova (SN) neutrino self-induced flavor conversions, associated with the neutrino-neutrino interactions in the deepest stellar regions, have been typically carried out assuming the "bulb-model". In this approximation, neutrinos are taken to be emitted half-isotropically by a common neutrinosphere. In the recent Ref. \cite{Mirizzi:2011tu} we have removed this assumption by introducing flavor-dependent angular distributions for SN neutrinos, as suggested by core-collapse simulations. We have found that in this case a novel multi-angle instability in the self-induced flavor transitions can arise. In this work we perform an extensive study of this effect, carrying out a linearized flavor stability analysis for different SN neutrino energy fluxes and angular distributions, in both normal and inverted neutrino mass hierarchy. We confirm that spectra of different nu species which cross in angular space (where F_{\nu_e}=F_{\nu_x} and F_{\bar\nu_e}=F_{\bar\nu_x}) present a significant enhancement of the flavor instability, and a shift of the onset of the flavor conversions at smaller radii with respect to the case of an isotropic neutrino emission. We also illustrate how a qualitative (and sometimes quantitative) understanding of the dynamics of these systems follows from a stability analysis.


DNA-directed RNA polymerase from Escherichia coli can break down RNA by catalysing the reverse of the reaction: NTP + (RNA)n = (RNA)n+1 + PPi where n indicates the number of nucleotide residues in the RNA molecule, to yield nucleoside triphosphates. This reaction requires the ternary complex of the polymerase with template DNA and the RNA that it has synthesized. It is now shown that methylenebis(arsonic acid) [CH2(AsO3H2)2], arsonomethylphosphonic acid (H2O3As-CH2-PO3H2) and arsonoacetic acid (H2O3As-CH2-CO2H) can replace pyrophosphate in this reaction. When they do so, the low-Mr products of the reaction prove to be nucleoside 5'-phosphates, so that the arsenical compounds endow the polymerase with an artificial exonuclease activity, an effect previously found by Rozovskaya, Chenchik, Tarusova, Bibilashvili & Khomutov [(1981) Mol. Biol. (Moscow) 15, 636-652] for phosphonoacetic acid (H2O3P-CH2-CO2H). This is explained by instability of the analogues of nucleoside triphosphates believed to be the initial products. Specificity of recognition of pyrophosphate is discussed in terms of the sites, beta and gamma, for the -PO3H2 groups of pyrophosphate that will yield P-beta and P-gamma of the nascent nucleoside triphosphate. Site gamma can accept -AsO3H2 in place of -PO3H2, but less well; site beta can accept both, and also -CO2H. We suggest that partial transfer of an Mg2+ ion from the attacking pyrophosphate to the phosphate of the internucleotide bond of the RNA may increase the nucleophilic reactivity of the pyrophosphate and the electrophilicity of the diester, so that the reaction is assisted.


Cathepsin S (CTSS) is a cysteine protease that regulates many physiological processes and is increased in obesity and type 2 diabetes. While previous studies show that deletion of CTSS improves glycemic control through suppression of hepatic glucose output, little is known about the role of circulating CTSS in regulating glucose and energy metabolism. We assessed the effects of recombinant CTSS on metabolism in cultured hepatocytes, myotubes and adipocytes, and in mice following acute CTSS administration. CTSS improved glucose tolerance in lean mice and this coincided with increased plasma insulin. CTSS reduced G6pc and Pck1 mRNA expression and glucose output from hepatocytes but did not affect glucose metabolism in myotubes or adipocytes. CTSS did not affect insulin secretion from pancreatic beta-cells, rather CTSS stimulated glucagon-like peptide (GLP)-1 secretion from intestinal mucosal tissues. CTSS retained its positive effects on glycemic control in mice injected the GLP-1 receptor antagonist exendin (9-39) amide. The effects of CTSS on glycemic control were not retained in high-fat fed mice or db/db mice, despite the preservation of CTSS' inhibitory actions on hepatic glucose output in isolated primary hepatocytes. In conclusion, we unveil a role for CTSS in the regulation of glycemic control via direct effects on hepatocytes, and that these effects on glycemic control are abrogated in insulin resistant states.


Modern cemented intervals (beachrock, firmgrounds to hardgrounds and concretionary layers) form in the lagoon and intertidal sabkha of Abu Dhabi. Seafloor lithification actively occurs in open, current‐swept channels in low‐lying areas between ooid shoals, in the intertidal zone of the middle lagoon, some centimetres beneath the inner lagoonal seafloor (i.e. within the sediment column) and at the sediment surface the intertidal sabkha. The concept of 'concretionary sub‐hardgrounds', i.e. laminar cementation of sediments formed within the sediment column beneath the shallow redox boundary, is introduced and discussed. Based on calibrated radiocarbon ages, seafloor lithification commenced during the Middle to Late Holocene (ca 9000 cal yr bp), and proceeds to the present‐day. Lithification occurs in the context of the actualistic relative sea‐level rise shifting the coastline landward across the extremely low‐angle carbonate ramp. The cemented intervals are interpreted as parasequence boundaries in the sense of 'marine flooding surfaces', but in most cases the sedimentary cover overlying the transgressive surface has not yet been deposited. Aragonite, (micritic) calcite and, less commonly, gypsum cements lithify the firmground/hardground intervals. Cements are described and placed into context with their depositional and marine diagenetic environments and characterized by means of scanning electron microscope petrography, cathodoluminescence microscopy and Raman spectroscopy. The morphology of aragonitic cements changes from needle‐shaped forms in lithified decapod burrows of the outer lagoon ooidal shoals to complex columnar, lath and platy crystals in the inner lagoon. Precipitation experiments provide first tentative evidence for the parameters that induce changes in aragonite cement morphology. Data shown here shed light on ancient, formerly aragonite‐cemented seafloors, now altered to diagenetic calcites, but also document the complexity of highly dynamic near coastal depositional environments.


ABSTRACT In Tanzania, tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L) postharvest losses are high due to perishability, lack of awareness and knowledge of postharvest handling techniques, and use of poor packaging materials. Reduction of the current high postharvest losses of tomato can contribute to ensuring food security and improving livelihoods of smallholder producers. Wooden crates serve as a major means of packaging material for transporting tomatoes in most parts of sub-Saharan Africa, including Tanzania. Wooden crates are tightly packed without being properly secured. Crates are often constructed from poor quality timber with rough interiors, resulting in bruising damage to tomatoes during transport. An assessment of how traders perceive postharvest handling practices with wooden crates combined with lining material and how tomato quality losses are affected was carried out in March–April 2014. Use of wooden crates with brown paper lining was more cost-effective at wholesaler and retailer levels. Wholesalers were willing to adopt wooden crates with brown paper lining provided that the net benefits are positive. Wholesalers were overly concerned that retailers would not buy wooden crates with paper lining because they can not visually appraise and evaluate produce through sides of crates for their marketing decisions. This may not necessarily be the case because most retailers buy tomatoes in packed plastic basins. There is a knowledge gap between wholesalers and retailers on acceptance of appropriate packaging materials. Proposed interventions that tend to maximize net benefits of the supply chain actors could reduce postharvest losses and make produce more available and affordable to consumers.


The high level of pedestrian, bicycle, and transit activity on city-owned streets surrounding the UC Berkeley campus creates a dynamic social environment and gives Berkeley much of its charm. But the streets around the campus (henceforth called the campus periphery) are also places where pedestrians and bicyclists have been injured or killed in collisions with automobiles. This creates liability for drivers, the City, and the University—and worse, causes suffering for crash victims and their families. Everyone has an interest in reducing the frequency and severity of pedestrian and bicycle crashes within the campus periphery. This document, developed by the UC Berkeley Safe Transportation Research and Education Center (SafeTREC), recommends short- and long-term actions to improve pedestrian and bicycle safety on and near the campus.


It is frequently put forth that the admission of neuroimaging evidence at criminal trials introduces the substantial risk of these sophisticated and visual presentations unduly influencing factfinders. As such, this Essay analyzes how brain image evidence might have this effect. Particularly, it focuses on the situation in which such evidence is proffered in support of mens rea and affirmative defense determinations, such as insanity. The Essay assesses the actual evidentiary value of neuroimaging evidence in these evaluations. It then presents relevant studies supporting and opposing the contention that this evidence unduly influences factfinders beyond its true explanatory power. Finally, given the current state of research into this issue, this Essay puts forth a prospective manner in which brain images might inordinately influence finders of fact and a path for further study.


Soybean is one of the most important food crops in Indonesia after rice and corn, due to its protein content reaches 40%. Rainfed lowland can be used as expansion planting area in hopes of obtaining high productivity with efficient inputs. In order to increase yield, it is necessary to apply the Bio-Detas input package that priorities the use of adaptive improved varieties, organic fertilizers and biological pesticides. This research aim to investigate the response of four Indonesian improved soybean varieties based on the application of Bio-Detas input package in rainfed lowland. The experiment was conducted from March to July 2018 in Pengembur Village, Central Lombok Regency of West Nusa Tenggara Province, Indonesia. The experiment was conducted using a non-factorial randomized block design with varieties as treatments, namely Argomulyo, Burangrang, Dega-1, and Dena-1. Each treatment was repeated three times therefore there were 12 experimental plots in total. Parameters observed during the vegetative and generative phases including plant height, number of branches, number of leaves, number of nodus, number of flowers and number of pods. Data were collected from five plants for each replication. Results showed that varieties had a significant influence on the number of leaves, number of nodus and number of flowers during the vegetative phase. While during the generative phase there were a significant effect of varieties on plant height, number of leaves and number of nodus. Due to dry season occurred earlier in April, yield on Bio-Detas input package was reached 578 kg/ha compared to farmer's existing technology was 393 kg/ha.


A cellular thermal shift assay (CETSA) protocol identifies and resolves antimalarial drug targets in P. falciparum. Defining drug targets in malaria Different classes of malaria drugs have been used for decades, even though the mechanisms of action have never been elucidated. To identify antimalarial drug targets, Dziekan et al. developed a protocol combining mass spectrometry and cellular thermal shift assay. The assay uses parasite lysate and intact infected red blood cells and was able to positively identify two known drug targets. They then investigated targets for quinine and mefloquine, revealing purine nucleoside phosphorylase as the top hit. Their results not only identify the likely target of these common drugs but also showcase an assay that could be widely used in antimalarial drug research. Mechanisms of action (MoAs) have been elusive for most antimalarial drugs in clinical use. Decreasing responsiveness to antimalarial treatments stresses the need for a better resolved understanding of their MoAs and associated resistance mechanisms. In the present work, we implemented the cellular thermal shift assay coupled with mass spectrometry (MS-CETSA) for drug target identification in Plasmodium falciparum, the main causative agent of human malaria. We validated the efficacy of this approach for pyrimethamine, a folic acid antagonist, and E64d, a broad-spectrum cysteine proteinase inhibitor. Subsequently, we applied MS-CETSA to quinine and mefloquine, two important antimalarial drugs with poorly characterized MoAs. Combining studies in the P. falciparum parasite lysate and intact infected red blood cells, we found P. falciparum purine nucleoside phosphorylase (PfPNP) as a common binding target for these two quinoline drugs. Biophysical and structural studies with a recombinant protein further established that both compounds bind within the enzyme's active site. Quinine binds to PfPNP at low nanomolar affinity, suggesting a substantial contribution to its therapeutic effect. Overall, we demonstrated that implementation of MS-CETSA for P. falciparum constitutes a promising strategy to elucidate the MoAs of existing and candidate antimalarial drugs.


An electrochemical method has been developed for the in situ determination of concentration gradients in the electrolyte of sealed Li-ion batteries by measuring the potential difference between microreference electrodes. Formulas relating the concentration gradient and the potential difference between the microreference electrodes were derived from the Nernst-Planck equation. The concentration gradients in Li-ion batteries are theoretically and experimentally proven to be linear at steady state under galvanostatic charging and discharging conditions. Based on this finding, both the diffusion coefficient of the lithium ions in the electrolyte and the diffusion overpotential related to the concentration gradient have been calculated. It was found that the concentration gradient is proportional to the applied current over a wide current range and that the obtained diffusion coefficient of lithium ions is almost constant. For the batteries studied in this work, the diffusion overpotential is already noticeable at 0.30 A and the limiting current is estimated to be 1.1 A, corresponding to a C-rate of 3.7.