KNACK is a knowledge acquisition tool that generates expert systems for evaluating designs of electromechanical systems. An important feature of KNACK is that it acquires knowledge from domain experts without presupposing knowledge engineering skills on their part. This is achieved by incorporating general knowledge about evaluation tasks in KNACK. Using that knowledge, KNACK builds a conceptual model of the domain through an interview process with the expert. KNACK expects the expert to communicate a portion of his knowledge as a sample report and divides the report into small fragments. It asks the expert for strategies of how to customize the fragments for different applications. KNACK generalizes the fragments and strategies, displays several instantiations of them, and the expert edits any of these that need it. The corrections motivate and guide KNACK in refining the knowledge base. Finally, KNACK examines the acquired knowledge for incompleteness and inconsistency. This process of abstraction and completion results in a knowledge base containing a large collection of generalized report fragments more broadly applicable than the sample report.


The polypropylene (PP)/ poly(phenylene sulfide) (PPS) in-situ microfibrillar composites were prepared by the melt blending technology using a single screw extruder. Maleic anhydride grafted polypropylene (PP-g-MAH) is used as the compatibilizer. The rheology was characterized on capillary rheometer, and thermal behaviors of the PP/PPS were investigated by DSC. The experiment results reveal that the melting PP/PPS composites conform to the law of Non-Newton and show typical shear-thinning behavior. The viscosity of PP/PPS composites is nearly independent of the PPS concentration at 270°С and 280°С , respectively. However, the contents of PPS have an influence on shear viscosity of the PP/PPS at 290С and 300°С . The DSC results exhibit that the crystallization temperatures (TC) of PP in the composites are higher than that of the pure PP, and the TC of PP increases slightly with increasing PP content in the composites. Moreover, the melting temperature of PPS in the composites decreases slightly with increasing PP content.


A classifier system is used to learn control and profit optimization of a batch chemical reaction. Ability to learn different market conditions and changes to reaction parameters is demonstrated. The profit sharing algorithm is used for apportionment of credit. The greater effectiveness of the use of the genetic algorithm over apportionment of credit alone or the random replacement of low strength rules is also shown. The classifier system is unusual in having more than one action per rule.


Motivation The presence of terraces in phylogenetic tree space, that is, a potentially large number of distinct tree topologies that have exactly the same analytical likelihood score, was first described by Sanderson et al, (2011). However, popular software tools for maximum likelihood and Bayesian phylogenetic inference do not yet routinely report, if inferred phylogenies reside on a terrace, or not. We believe, this is due to the unavailability of an efficient library implementation to (i) determine if a tree resides on a terrace, (ii) calculate how many trees reside on a terrace, and (iii) enumerate all trees on a terrace. Results In our bioinformatics programming practical we developed two efficient and independent C++ implementations of the SUPERB algorithm by Constantinescu and Sankoff (1995) for counting and enumerating the trees on a terrace. Both implementations yield exactly the same results and are more than one order of magnitude faster and require one order of magnitude less memory than a previous 3rd party python implementation. Availability The source codes are available under GNU GPL at https://github.com/terraphast Contact firstname.lastname@example.com


Conventional pulsed power devices such as Marx generators, Tesla transformers, and cable-based generators are usually bulky and occupy a large volume when used for generating high-voltage pulses of duration longer than 100 ns. Cable-based generators also have the limitation of generating half the charging voltage when delivering the entire energy into a matched load. Inductive energy storage systems provide an alternate and effective scheme to overcome these issues. However, their efficiency depends upon the performance of opening switches. Also, inductive energy storage systems do not typically generate flat-top voltage pulses that are desirable for driving various pulsed power loads. In this paper, a new device, named the tapered helical pulse-forming line-based pulse transformer (THPFL-PT), is designed to overcome the above-mentioned drawbacks. The device performs two actions at the same time, i.e., it steps up the input charging voltage, and it generates a flat-top nanosecond voltage pulse. It is developed and characterized at low voltages to verify the feasibility of the concept developed and design parameters. The entire device is compact, with length of about 330 mm. It is capable of generating a voltage pulse of magnitude higher than the charging voltage with a duration of about 100 ns and almost a flat-top profile.


Due to abciximab's chimeric monoclonal antibody structure, there have been concerns about the risks of anaphylaxis, attenuated efficacy, and immune-mediated thrombocytopenia when abciximab is readministered to patients. The issue of repeated treatment with abciximab is increasingly timely and important given that 30-35% of the almost 500,000 patients undergoing PCI annually in the United States receive abciximab. It is likely that this number will increase as lessons learned from recently completed trials with abciximab become integrated into day-to-day clinical practice. Accordingly, the purpose of this review is to identify the theoretic adverse effects of abciximab readministration and their potential mechanisms, analyze the available clinical data from patients re-treated with abciximab, and to offer some practical guidelines for abciximab readministration.


Through analysing the composition of the founding shareholders in the West India and London Docks, this article explores the connections between the City of London and the slave economy on the eve of the abolition of the slave trade. It establishes that over one-third of docks investors were active in slave-trading, slave-ownership, or the shipping, trading, finance, and insurance of slave produce. It argues that the slave economy was neither dominant nor marginal, but instead was fully integrated into the City's commercial and financial structure, contributing materially alongside other key sectors to the foundations of the nineteenth-century City.


In a clinical context, the term "apathy" refers to a clustering of behavioural and emotional symptoms that manifests as diminished interest and involvement in normal purposeful behaviour, diminished emotional responsiveness, and a lack of initiation and drives to complete nonroutine activities. Apathy may be one of the most common behavioural symptoms of neurodegenerative and other brain disorders yet it is one of the most underrecognised, underdiagnosed, and poorly managed aspects of these diseases. It is therefore gratifying that we have been able to produce a special issue on the topic of apathy covering aspects of significant interest to the practicing clinician.

The papers in this issue encompass a broad spectrum of clinical aspects of apathy with a clear overarching theme of apathy as an important behavioural syndrome which warrants careful study of its features, diagnosis and management. The specific topics represented by the papers range from an exploration of the phenomenology of apathy and the manifestation of apathy in different neurodegenerative conditions, the overlap between apathy and depression, and the application of new technologies in the management of apathy in the nursing home settings.

Behavioural syndromes such as apathy may inform diagnostic aspects of different types of dementia. In the paper by D. Quaranta et al., apathy-related items on the Neuropsychiatric Inventory [1] were compared in frontotemporal dementia and Alzheimer disease. Their findings suggest that the different anatomical substrates of the respective dementia types may drive the different clinical expression of apathy, which may, in turn, inform the diagnosis of the dementia type.

The link between apathy and depression as well as apathy and impulsivity was explored in two contributions. D. Ahearn et al. found that in Parkinson's disease, apathy and impulsivity might overlap and that specific phenomenological profiles within the behavioural syndromes were associated with particular clinical phenotypes. P. Njomboro and S. Deb found that in a sample of patients with acquired brain injury, the degree of overlap between depression and apathy was dependent on the method of assessment of apathy. The assessment and measurement of apathy continue to be refined as new instruments to be developed and validated. Here, item response theory [2] was used as a basis to explore a possible early screening tool for apathy in elderly people.

The management of apathy has long been a challenge and the evidence base for pharmacological interventions is very limited. It is therefore heartening to read that other approaches have been adopted. The paper by A. Leone et al. outlines a nonpharmacological intervention incorporating the use of novel technologies in the assessment and delivery of a tailored activity in nursing home residents. Further studies of interventions along these lines would be welcomed by the field.

Finally, this set of five informative papers may well become a standard feature in the reference lists of future studies in what we can now see as a pivotal topic in the overall understanding of dementia.

Iracema Leroi

Philippe H. Robert


This article decries the failure of many law schools to adequately train future lawyers for transactional practice. The article argues that a successful law course devoted to transactional practice should teach and integrate substantive law and skills. To this end, the article describes an advanced transactional elective course developed by the author and devoted to commercial leasing. Leasing is the ideal vehicle for teaching basic lessons in transactions, because the lease transaction typically revolves around a single negotiated document - the lease. This reduces the amount of substantive law that students must master, and limits the parties to the transaction to Landlord, Tenant and Lender. The article begins with an explanation of the importance of leases to commercial real estate transactions and of lease work in the professional lives of real property lawyers. The real property bar is huge, and leasing is bread and butter work for many if not most of these lawyers. The article next describes the course. There is no exam. Instead, students are divided into teams to draft provisions, review lease forms and write lease review letters, negotiate against other teams, and finally, do a focused research project. This approach reinforces the idea that law student work is not simply 'school work,' but 'work product.' All work product is graded. In addition, all student work product is posted on the web for discussion in class. The author has created 'chapters' that are distributed electronically to students. These begin with an example of a lease provision, definition of the terms of art in the provision, an explanation of motivations of the parties, and finally, a discussion of the substantive law. The last section of the article is devoted specifically to the topic of teaching negotiations in the transactional context. The article provides a history of negotiations courses in American law schools, and explains that, as valuable as these course are, they slight the needs of students entering into transactional practice.


The development of an expert system for sewage treatment works management SewEx is described. This was built with the flex expert system toolkit. The system allows the diagnosis of problems in sewage sites which are managed by Welsh Water and accesses the surface assets database over a company network. Other uses of SewEx, such as what–if scenarios, maintenance and refurbishment are also outlined. A brief description of a tool, RuleGen, is given, which was built to ease the construction of the flex rule base. SewEx is currently on test at various sewage treatment works throughout parts of Wales and Herefordshire.


Elvis Nshom Ngwayuh Perceived threat and prejudice towards immigrants and Russian minorities living in Finland Jyväskylä: University of Jyväskylä, 2017, 47 p. (Jyvaskyla Studies in Humanities ISSN 1459-4323; 306 (nid.) ISSN 1459-4331; 306 (PDF)) ISBN 978-951-39-6971-4 (nid.) ISBN 978-951-39-6972-1 (PDF) This study is an attempt to better understand the relationship between Finns and Russian minorities living in Finland. This study considers the role of perceived threats to the attitudes of Finnish adolescents towards Russian minorities. The theoretical framework for this study was the integrated threat theory (ITT). Even though ITT has been revised and threats have been reduced to two major threats (realistic and symbolic threats) (Stephan et al., 2015), this study utilized the original conceptualization of ITT which stipulates that prejudice and negative attitudes towards minorities can be explained by four types of threats that are: realistic threats, symbolic threats, negative stereotypes, and intergroup anxiety. Realistic threats are threats to the physical and economic wellbeing and political power of the in-group; symbolic threats are threats that arise because of differences in norms, values and morals with the out-group; negative stereotypes are implied threats to the in-group; and intergroup anxiety refers to the anxiety the in-group might experience in the process of interaction with members of the out-group especially when both groups have had a history of antagonism (Stephan & Stephan, 1996, 1998, 2000). First, this study showed Finns in general do percieve Russian minorities as a threat (realistic threat, symbolic threat, and negative stereotypes) and that among the different types of threat, realistic threat and symobolic threat were more prevalent among older Finns than among younger Finns. No significant difference was found between both groups for negative stereotypes. This study also showed perceived threat to be a significant predictor of prejudice, and that among the different types of threat, negative stereotyping was the strongest predictor of negative attitudes towards Russian minorities. This study also revealed that Finnish adolescents generally perceive immigrants as a threat and that among the different types of threats, realistic threat and symbolic threat were the most perceived threats from immigrants in Finland. This is especially important because realistic threat and symbolic threat were found to be positively related to prejudice or negative attitudes towards immigrants and this positive relationship between threat and prejudice was the same among early, middle, and late adolescents.


Novel applications of solid state nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) to the study of small molecules, synthetic polymers, biological systems, and inorganic materials continue at an accelerated rate. Instrumental to this uninterrupted expansion has been an improved understanding of the chemical physics underlying NMR. Such deeper understanding has led to novel forms of controlling the various components that make up the spin interactions, which have in turn redefined the analytical capabilities of solid state NMR measurements. This review presents a perspective on the basic phenomena and manipulations that have made this progress possible and describes the new opportunities and challenges that are being opened in the realms of spin-1/2 and quadrupole nuclei spectroscopies.


Microbial biogeographical patterns in Mediterranean ecosystems are becoming widely documented; however, the influences of slope aspect on the microbial community composition and structure are poorly understood. This study tested the hypotheses that slope aspect and organic matter content would influence microbial diversity patterns and distribution. Sets of five soil samples were collected from different slope aspects (north slope, south slopes, and valley bottom) and bacterial and fungal communities were examined using the 16S rRNA gene and ITS1 region sequencing, respectively, on the Illumina HiSeq platform. Organic matter and soil moisture varied significantly across all sites but did not influence microbial diversity patterns. Community structure (Bray-Curtis dissimilarity) indicated that each site had a distinct microbial community, and soil moisture along with organic matter modulated the community structure. Relative abundance of key bacterial taxa (Actinobacteria and Bacteriodetes) and fungal taxa (Ascomycota was significantly influenced by slope aspect. Our results show, for the first time, that the often reported slope aspect dynamics of the soil microbiomes do in fact influence bacterial and fungal community composition and structure. Overall, taken together with previous studies from the region, this study provides novel insight on the physio-chemical properties that modulate the biogeographical patterns of soil microbes and contributes to our knowledge of factors that mediate microbial ecology in Mediterranean ecosystems.


The objectives of this research were 1) to determine soil moisture regime based on rainfall and temperature data; 2) to make a correction of the first objective based on soil moisture surplus and deficit calulation; 3) to study the pattern of soil moisture regime distribution in the research area. The field sampling tehniques applied in this research was stratified proposed sampling. Landform unit was applied as strata. Soil depth and texture were considered during field soil sampling within the landform unit. Rainfall and air temperature data were analyzed using Newball Simulation Model (NSM) to determine a tentative soil moisture regime. The tentative soil moisture regime was corrected using calculation soil moisture regime of soil moisture surplus and deficit. The soil moisture surplus and deficit was calculated based on soil depth, soil texture, rainfall, and temperature data. The result of this research were 1) soil moisture regime estimated using NSM ranged from ustic to udic; 2) soil moisture regime corrected using surplus and/ or defiit alulation of soil moisture ranged from xeric to udic; 3) the pattern of soil moisture regime distribution in the reaserch area was not only controlled by the pattern of rainfall – air temperature distribution but it was also controlled by the pattern of soil – landform distribution. Under the some amount of annual rainfall, shallow and coarse texture soils have drier soil moisture regime than deep and fine texture soils.


Photovoltaic (PV) solar panels generally produce electricity in the 6% to 16% efficiency range, the rest being dissipated in thermal losses. To recover this amount, hybrid photovoltaic thermal systems (PVT) have been devised. These are devices that simultaneously convert solar energy into electricity and heat. It is thus interesting to study the PVT system globally from different point of views in order to evaluate advantages and disadvantages of this technology and its possible uses.
In particular in Chapter II, the development of the PVT absorber numerical optimization by a genetic algorithm has been carried out analyzing different internal channel profiles in order to find a right compromise between performance and technical and economical feasibility.
Therefore in Chapter III ,thanks to a mobile structure built into the university lab, it has been compared experimentally electrical and thermal output power from PVT panels with separated photovoltaic and solar thermal productions.
Collecting a lot of experimental data based on different seasonal conditions (ambient temperature,irradiation, wind...),the aim of this mobile structure has been to evaluate average both thermal and electrical increasing and decreasing efficiency values obtained respect to separate productions through the year.
In Chapter IV , new PVT and solar thermal equation based models in steady state conditions have been developed by software Dymola that uses Modelica language.
This permits ,in a simplified way respect to previous system modelling softwares, to model and evaluate different concepts about PVT panel regarding its structure before prototyping and measuring it.
Chapter V concerns instead the definition of PVT boundary conditions into a HVAC system . This was made trough year simulations by software Polysun in order to finally assess the best solar assisted integrated structure thanks to F_save(solar saving energy)factor.
Finally, Chapter VI presents the conclusion and the perspectives of this PhD work.


A comparison between the vibration of fiber-metal laminate (FML) and composite cylindrical shells has been studied in this manuscript. Love's first approximation shell theory has been applied to obtain Strain-displacement relations. In addition, beam modal function model has been used to analyze the cylindrical shell with different boundary conditions. In this manuscript, the frequencies of FML and composite cylindrical shells have been compared to each other for different materials, lay-ups, boundary conditions, axial and circumferential wave numbers. The most commercially available FMLs are CARALL (carbon reinforced aluminium laminate), and GLARE (glass reinforced aluminium laminate), which are studied in this research. The results showed although the frequencies of carbon/epoxy are greater than glass/epoxy for all of the n, this process is not constant for FML. Also, with increasing the n, the frequencies of FML cylindrical shells are converged more faster than the composite one. Moreover, the frequencies of both boundary conditions are converged with increasing n for both FML and composite cylindrical shells.


Ecologists and economists both use a different approach to determine the value of nature. Its ecological value can be measured using criteria like rarity and diversity of species in an ecosystem. The economic value can be determined using non-market valuation techniques. This paper focuses on an empirical application of the Contingent Valuation Method (CVM) to find out whether this valuation method is a suitable method to estimate the economic value of natural riverbanks in the Netherlands. Natural riverbanks will provide habitat for species that particularly depend on the land water transit area. Since common riverbanks do not provide this habitat, natural river banks increase biodiversity in the Netherlands. On the basis of technical and ecological characteristics nine different types of natural riverbanks were distinguished. For each type a laymen description was made. This description served as a basis for economic valuation by means of CVM. The results of the CVM study shows that the average willingness to pay for non-use of a natural riverbank varied between 16 and 25 Dutch guilders per household year. The willingness to pay for recreational use ranged from 1,07 to 2,50 guilders per visit. The generated outcomes proved to be consistent with results from other studies. At first sight, the economic value of natural riverbanks seemed to be higher than their construction and maintenance cost.


BACKGROUND
Symptomatic severe osteoarthritis and hip osteoporotic fractures are the main conditions requiring total hip arthroplasty (THA), whereas total knee arthroplasty (TKA) is mainly performed for pain, disability or deformity due to osteoarthritis. After surgery, some patients suffer from "painful prosthesis", which currently represents a clinical problem.

METHODS
A systematic review of scientific literature has been performed. A panel of experts has examined the issue of persistent pain following total hip or knee arthroplasty, in order to characterize etiopathological mechanisms and define how to cope with this condition.

RESULTS
Four major categories (non infective, septic, other and idiopathic causes) have been identified as possible origin of persistent pain after total joint arthroplasty (TJA). Time to surgery, pain level and function impairment before surgical intervention, mechanical stress following prosthesis implant, osseointegration deficiency, and post-traumatic or allergic inflammatory response are all factors playing an important role in causing persistent pain after joint arthroplasty. Diagnosis of persistent pain should be made in case of post-operative pain (self-reported as VAS ≥3) persisting for at least 4 months after surgery, or new onset of pain (VAS ≥3) after the first 4 months, lasting ≥2 months. Acute pain reported as VAS score ≥7 in patients who underwent TJA should be always immediately investigated.

CONCLUSIONS
The cause of pain needs always to be indentified and removed whenever possible. Implant revision is indicated only when septic or aseptic loosening is diagnosed. Current evidence has shown that peri-and/or post-operative administration of bisphosphonates may have a role in pain management and periprosthetic bone loss prevention.


After winning the Peter L. Bernstein Award, David Blitz spoke to Ronald Kahn about what inspired his research. See the full interview here. The low-volatility anomaly is often attributed to limits to arbitrage, such as leverage, short-selling, and benchmark constraints. One would therefore expect hedge funds, which are typically not hindered by these constraints, to be the smart money that is able to benefit from the anomaly. This article finds that the return difference between low- and high-volatility stocks is indeed a highly significant explanatory factor for aggregate hedge fund returns, but with the opposite sign, that is, hedge funds tend to bet not against the low-volatility anomaly, rather than on it. This finding suggests that limits to arbitrage are not the key driver of the low-volatility anomaly and that concerns about low-volatility having become an "overcrowded" trade may be exaggerated. Another contribution of this study is that it identifies a new, highly significant explanatory factor for hedge fund returns.


Government changes to the way NHS funding is allocated in England risk undermining the drive for greater integration in the health service and should be thoroughly assessed, health policy experts have warned.

Changes that the government has made to NHS resource allocations for 2013-14 have split budgets previously distributed in their entirety to primary care trusts between many different agencies. In a new report this week the health policy think tank the King's Fund said that this would fragment the system and "make it more difficult to commission integrated forms of provision."1

The changes, part of the Health and Social Care Act 2012, will see financial allocations from the Department of Health split between local clinical commissioning groups, which will hold …


This paper reviews the recent advances in the field of radio frequency signal processing using photonic devices and subsystems or microwave photonic (MWP) signal processing. We focus our attention on the results reported during the last six years, as previous work has been adequately addressed in previous review papers. After a brief introduction to the basic concepts involved in MWP signal processing, we focus our attention on the most significant advances reported by different research groups in overcoming their main limitation factors. Recent advances in the emergent topic of integrated MWP signal processors are also covered and the novel approaches toward the evaluation of the main figures of merit are discussed. New proposed applications and future directions of work are also considered.


Pitch deposits originating from alkaline peroxide bleaching of mechanical pulps can seriously decrease the runnability of the paper machine when efforts have been made to increase the reuse of process water. In order to degrade pitch particles present in whitewater, lipase was immobilized on chitosan beads using a binary method. The operational stability of the immobilized lipase and its efficacy for treating whitewater were also preliminary studied. The results showed that the highest activity of immobilized lipase was achieved by using 0.5% 1-ethyl-3-(3-dimethylaminopropyl) carbodiimide (EDC) for activation and 0.0025% glutaraldehyde for cross-linking chitosan. The immobilized lipase also exhibited very good operational stability, and the pitch particles present in whitewater could be reduced by 66.8% after treatment with the immobilized lipase.


We have investigated the various approaches taken by first-year university students (n approximate to 550) when asked to determine the direction of motion, the constancy of speed, and a numerical value of the speed of an object at a point on a numerical linear distance-time graph. We investigated the prevalence of various well-known general graphing difficulties, such as graph-as-picture errors and slope-height confusion. We established that two-thirds of our students could determine the direction of motion with respect to a reference point, just under 80% could determine that the speed is constant, and just under 20% of our students could correctly determine the value of the speed; in the latter case, about half of the students divided the two coordinates. Three stable categories of correctly explaining the constancy of speed emerged from the data. We found that the reason given for determining that the speed of the object was constant did not correlate with successfully determining a value for the speed. We have established that technical difficulties such as determining the slope of any linear graph did not explain the poor performance. By comparing the answers to similar questions on water level versus time graphs, we were able to establish that context dependence and incorrect prior learning are likely to play a role. Post-test data are used to confirm the validity of the categorization and support the conclusion that being able to determine the slope of a y, x graph and having a correct qualitative understanding of a distance-time graph is not sufficient to correctly determine a value for the speed. DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevSTPER.9.010107


Abstract : The Frog Embryo Teratogenesis Assay- Xenopus (FETAX) is a 96-h whole embryo developmental toxicity screening assay that can be used in ecotoxicology and in detecting mammalian developmental toxic ants when an in vitro metabolic activation system is employed. A standardized American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) guide for the conduct of FETAX has been published along with a companion atlas that helps in embryo staging and identifying malformations. As part of the ASTM process, a three phase interlaboratory validation study was undertaken to evaluate the repeatability and reliability of FETAX. Seven different laboratories participated in the study. In Phase I, FETAX proved to be more repeatable and reliable than many other bioassays. However, some excessive variation was observed in a few laboratories. Some of this variation may have been due to an initial lack of experience with the assay by some technicians. Phase II showed far less intra- and interlaboratory variability than Phase I. Nonteratogens showed the most consistent results while more variability was observed for the two teratogens tested. Interlaboratory coefficient of variation values for all FETAX endpoints ranged from 7.3 to 54.7. Phase III, using coded samples and test concentration ranges selected by each laboratory showed results similar to Phase I. Analysis of the causes of variation suggested that some technicians judged malformations more severely than others and that the ranges of concentrations tested by some of the laboratories varied greatly. A new protocol for selecting concentrations for initial testing were written to reduce variation from this source. Testing to date suggests that FETAX is as repeatable and reliable as other standard bioassays.


The detection and removal of precancerous polyps through colonoscopy is the primary technique for the prevention of colorectal cancer worldwide. However, the miss rate of colorectal polyp varies significantly among the endoscopists. It is well known that a computer-aided diagnosis (CAD) system can assist endoscopists in detecting colon polyps and minimize the variation among endoscopists. In this study, we introduce a novel deep learning architecture, named MKDCNet, for automatic polyp segmentation robust to significant changes in polyp data distribution. MKDCNet is simply an encoder-decoder neural network that uses the pre-trained ResNet50 as the encoder and novel multiple kernel dilated convolution (MKDC) block that expands the field of view to learn more robust and heterogeneous representation. Extensive experiments on four publicly available polyp datasets and cell nuclei dataset show that the proposed MKDCNet outperforms the state-of-the-art methods when trained and tested on the same dataset as well when tested on unseen polyp datasets from different distributions. With rich results, we demonstrated the robustness of the proposed architecture. From an efficiency perspective, our algorithm can process at ($\approx 45$) frames per second on RTX 3090 GPU. MKDCNet can be a strong benchmark for building real-time systems for clinical colonoscopies. The code of the proposed MKDCNet is available at https://github.com/nikhilroxtomar/MKDCNet.


Surface plasmon excitation in metal nanoparticles has found great interest in the past. This collective oscillation of the conduction electrons can be stimulated with light and is characterized by resonances, whose positions depend on the material, the dimensions and the dielectric surrounding of the particles. Recently, the investigation of the ultrafast dephasing time T2 and of the decay mechanisms of surface plasmon excitation have become of particular importance, an essential reason being that T2 is proportional to the enhancement factor of the electric field in the vicinity of the nanoparticle surface. This enhancement plays a key role in a great variety of applications. The present paper presents an overview of our recent experiments on the ultrafast decay of surface plasmon excitation, in particular by using a technique that allows us to measure the homogeneous line widths of surface plasmon resonances in the presence of inhomogeneous broadening and thus determine T2. The method is based on persistent spectral hole burning in the absorption profiles of supported metal nanoparticles by nanosecond laser pulses. The technique has been systematically applied to silver and, more recently, to gold nanoparticles on different substrates. Size and shape dependent dephasing times ranging from 2.6 to 15 fs have been extracted from the experimental results using a theoretical model. The values reflect the reduced dimensions of the nanoparticles and we conclude that additional damping mechanisms, in particular surface scattering and chemical interface damping, come into play.


This paper describes the principles and theoretical investigations, supported by experimental measurements, aimed at designing and developing a novel mechatronic system for soil exploration, inspired by the apical part of the plant roots, named apex. Each single plant root has to move through the substrate, orienting itself along the gravity vector and locating water and nutrients. In the same way, the mechatronic apex can steer in all directions and it embeds a gravity sensor, a soil moisture gradient detector, as well as the electronics for sensory data acquisition and steering control. A bio-inspired algorithm reproducing the gravitropism and hydrotropism behaviors, typical of plants, was developed and tested on a purposive prototype of the mechatronic apex system, actuated by hydraulic pumps. Moreover, the design and testing of a novel bio-inspired osmotic actuator module, composed of three cells separated by couples of osmotic and ion-selective membranes, is also presented. Preliminary prototypes developed in acrylic material for testing the gravitropism and hydrotropism behaviors are shown.


This article discusses an algorithm portfolio approach to find optimal set-up plans in a dynamic shop floor environment where flexibility and promptness of the decision process is critical along with best possible utilisation of the available resources. An evolutionary algorithm based reconfigurable set-up planning approach is presented where the final set-up plan is determined in two steps: primitive set-up planning through feature grouping and reconfigurable set-up merging based on real time information from the scheduling system. The tendency of single algorithm approach to converge to sub-optimal solutions was countered by using portfolios of genetic algorithm and its three variants: Genetic Algorithm with Chromosome Differentiation, Sexual Genetic Algorithm and a modified version of Age Genetic Algorithm. Best performing portfolios selected after exhaustive experimentation showed dramatic computational improvements in achieving the optimal solution validating the appropriateness and effectiveness of algorithm portfolio approach.


A new oxygen-deficient Ruddlesden−Popper (RP) cobaltite Sm2BaCo2O7−δ (δ ≈ 1.0) has been synthesized and the crystal structure elucidated by Rietveld analysis of X-ray powder diffraction (XRD) data and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The phase crystallizes in a primitive orthorhombic unit cell, with lattice parameters a = 5.4371(4) A; b = 5.4405(4) A and c = 19.8629(6) A, and space group Pnnm. Contrary to other oxygen-deficient cobalt RP phases, the oxygen vacancies are located in the equatorial positions of the [CoO] layers to give an intralayer structure similar to Sr2Mn2O5, which is not usually observed for cobalt-containing materials. The Sm3+ and Ba2+ cations show a strong preference for distinct sites, with the majority of the larger Ba2+ cations situated in the perovskite block layers and Sm3+ cations predominantly in the rock salt layers. Magnetic susceptibility data demonstrate the strong antiferromagnetic (AFM) character of Sm2BaCo2O7−δ.


We investigated the foraging distribution of 2 species of murres (Uria lomvia and U. aalge) in relation to Acoustically Determined Biomass (ADB) and hydrographic structure surrounding the Pribilof Islands, Bering Sea, Alaska, USA. The distribution and abundance of both murre species were similar; therefore, we combined data for thick-billed and common murres in the analysis. We found that murre densities were higher in frontal regions than in non frontal regions. Maximum ADB was also found to be elevated in the frontal zone. Within frontal regions, high densities of murres were associated with regions containing relatively high levels of ADB. In contrast, we did not find significant correlations between murre density and ADB in the study area as a whole. We postulate that murres restrict their foraging to the frontal region because prey can be located more predictably within this zone than in other areas in the vicinity of the Pribilof Islands.


Enterohaemorrhagic Escherichia coli O157 (O157) is infectious to humans, particularly children, at very low doses and causes not only haemorrhagic colitis but also other serious symptoms. To investigate an association between intestinal bacterial flora and resistance to such infections, we screened faecal samples for the presence of enteric bacteria that are able to suppress the growth of O157. Samples from 303 individuals, 35 children (aged [les ]6 years) and 268 adults (aged 20–59 years), were examined. Colonies with different appearances on sorbitol MacConkey agar medium were screened for the production of bacteriocins inhibitory for O157 in an overlay agar plate assay. O157-inhibiting strains were isolated from 52 individuals. The prevalence of these bacteria tended to rise with age, and was significantly higher among 40- to 59-year-old adults (23/101, 22·8%) than among children (3/35, 8·6%; P<0·05). To test the hypothesis that these bacteriocin-producing strains contribute to resistance against O157 in human adults, we examined faecal samples of 25 healthy O157 carriers. Inhibitory bacteria were more prevalent among the latter (9/25, 36·0%) than among age-matched subjects who did not carry O157 (49/268, 18·3%). It appears, therefore, that inhibitory bacteria in the human gut may play a role in inhibiting propagation of O157 and/or suppressing expression of virulence factors by this pathogen.


Abstract : Influences of the duration of angular acceleration on turning sensations and on nystagmic eye movements which can blur vision are relevant to understanding vestibular reactions during certain aircraft accelerations. Ocular recordings were obtained from human subjects and cats to 4 deg/sec/sec angular accelerations of 8.4 sec and of 36 sec duration. Lateral and vertical canals were stimulated on separate trials with output of both primary and secondary nystagmus greater for the lateral canals. In cats, both lateral- and vertical-canal responses to 36-sec stimuli peaked and then steadily declined after 15-21 sec of angular acceleration. Declines were not apparent in nystagmus of human subjects. In an additional test, humans were given special tasks and cats received d-amphetamine with essentially the same results as described above. Other group differences were noted. Cats consistently demonstrated secondary nystagmus whereas humans did not. After termination of acceleration, primary nystagmus from cats lasted longer and exhibited a greater number of eye movements following 8.4 sec stimuli than following 36 sec stimuli; this consistency was not evident in humans. However, for humans sensations of motion following termination of acceleration were longer for the 8.4 sec stimuli than for 36 sec stimuli. In this regard, nystagmus from cats resembled the subjective reactions of man more than they did the nystagmus of man. (Author)


The research described in this publication was carried out by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, under a contract with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. © 2017 California Institute of Technology. U.S. Government sponsorship acknowledged. abstract. — Lower frequency bands used for deep space communications (e.g., 2.3 GHz and 8.4 GHz) are oversubscribed. Thus, NASA has become interested in using higher frequency bands (e.g., 26 GHz and 32 GHz) for telemetry, making use of the available wider bandwidth. However, these bands are more susceptible to atmospheric degradation. Currently, flight projects tend to be conservative in preparing their communications links by using worst-case or conservative assumptions, which result in nonoptimum data return. We previously explored the use of weather forecasting over different weather condition scenarios to determine more optimal values of atmospheric attenuation and atmospheric noise temperature for use in telecommunications link design. In this article, we present the results of a comparison of meteorological parameters (columnar water vapor and liquid water content) estimated from multifrequency Advanced Water Vapor Radiometer (AWVR) data with those estimated from weather analysis tools (FNL). We find that for the Deep Space Network's Goldstone and Madrid tracking sites, the statistics are in reasonable agreement between the two methods. We can then use the statistics of these quantities based on FNL runs to estimate statistics of atmospheric signal degradation for tracking sites that do not have the benefit of possessing multiyear WVR data sets, such as those of the NASA Near-Earth Network (NEN). The resulting statistics of atmospheric attenuation and atmospheric noise temperature increase can then be used in link budget calculations.


There it was, sitting on the mantelpiece, staring at her with hollow eyes and a naked grin. She could not stop staring back. It looked distinctly like the fossilized skull of an extinct baboon. That was the sort of thing Josephine Salmons was likely to know. At the time — 1924 — she was one of the only female students of anatomy attending the University of the Witwatersrand in South Africa. On this particular day she was visiting her friend Pat Izod, whose father managed a quarry company that had been excavating limestone near the town of Taung. Workers had unearthed numerous fossils during the excavation, and the Izods had kept this one as a memento. Salmons brought news of the skull to her professor, Raymond Dart, an anthropologist with a particular interest in the brain. He was incredulous. Very few primate fossils had been uncovered this far south in Africa. If the Taung site really housed such fossils, it would be an invaluable treasure trove. The next morning Salmons brought Dart the skull, and he could see that she was right: The skull was undeniably simian.


As a skeletal muscle-like actuator, PAM possesses many unique advantages. They include compliance and high power-to-weight ratio, which make it an ideal actuator for robotic and powered exoskeleton applications. But its flexible braided mesh shell and the compressibility of air make PAM much more difficult to model and control compared to traditional actuators. In this work, the mechanical properties of the McKibben PAM produced by Festo are examined, tested and discussed. The results demonstrate the muscle-like property of PAM and its strong non-linear and hysteresis behaviors. A simple law between the areas of the hysteresis and pressure is proposed, and the relationships of the areas of the hysteresis, external load and the continuous working time are studied. Further, changing the PAM length that is smaller than 0.4 mm may lead to the "crawl" phenomenon. Finally, the empirical results can be used in compensation-based controls of the hysteresis in the McKibben PAM.


In support of a header/feeder phenomena study, an adiabatic, near-atmospheric, air-water flow loop was commissioned simulating a single feeder of a Pressurized Heavy Water Reactor's primary heat transport system under a postulated Loss of Coolant Accident scenario. An extensive database in representative two-phase flow conditions was collected, 750 tests in total, in order to create a two-phase flow map to be used in the more complex geometries such as header/feeder systems. The flow loop consists of two vertical test sections, for upwards and downwards flow, and one horizontal test section, each with an inner diameter of 32 mm and at least 120 diameters in length. Superficial velocities extended up to 6 m/s for the water and 10 m/s for the air. Void fraction was measured by means of quick-closing valves and a pair of wire-mesh sensors (WMS) in each test section.
 Two-phase repeatability tests showed that the liquid and gas superficial velocities varied by 1.1% and 0.6% at reference conditions of 2.0 and 2.8 m/s, respectively. The corresponding void fraction measurements varied for the quick-closing valves by at most 6.8%, which indicates a low sensitivity to the closure time of the valves and an appropriate axial distance between them, and 2.3% for the WMS. For both measurement techniques, the largest variations occurred in the vertical downwards test section.
 For the formal two-phase tests, over 600 distinct flow conditions were performed. The results showed that the two measurement techniques agreed within 5% at high void fractions and low liquid flow rates in vertical flow. For all other cases corresponding to the transitional or dispersed bubbly flow regime, the WMS over-estimated the void fraction by a consistent bias. An empirical correction is proposed, with a root-mean-square error of 6.6% across all tests. The void fraction map resulting from this database provides validation for the WMS measurements, a quantitative assessment of its uncertainty and range of applicability, and will be used as a reference in future tests under similar scale and flow conditions.


© 2019 The authors and IOS Press. ANGELIC is a methodology for encapsulating knowledge of a body of case law. Logiak is a system intended to support the development of logic programs by domain experts, and provides an excellent environment for the rapid realisation of ANGELIC designs. We report our use of Logiak to realise ANGELIC designs, using both Boolean factors and factors with magnitude.


New genetic data on Genista anglica L. versus Genista ancistrocarpa Spach (Fabaceae, Fabales) in the Iberian Peninsula and Morocco. Phylogeographic clues. The genetic analysis through the nuclear ribosomal DNA of some Iberian and NW Morocco populations of Genista ancistrocarpa Spach and G. anglica L. has validated the separation of these two sister taxa as two distinct genetic entities, strengthening the already described morphological differentiation. The studied populations neatly show the G. ancistrocarpa as a coastal taxon with occidental Iberian and NW Morocco distribution, contrary to the G. anglica. The distribution areas of the two species appear to be distinct and with an important biogeographical significance. The coastal clade is determined by populations of G. ancistrocarpa, and outlines a biogeographic region that seems to depart genetically from the remaining peninsular populations, also in several molecular analyses of other plants and animals by many authors, supporting the idea of a distinct evolution from the Miocene onwards, when the installation of dry and hot conditions has pushed the moisture-dependent populations of G. ancistracarpa toward the westernmost sectors of Iberia and Morocco with an atlantic influence.


Public transportation (MPU) Tulungagung city there are several different types of vehicles. For this study, the type of vehicle used is the Isuzu ELF 77 PS and Mitsubitshi L300. Rates used are not flat rate. To Lyn J, tariff is Rp. 4,500, -, to Lyn D, RP. 5.000, -, while for Lyn Z is Rp. 4,500, -. As for the student fare no provision of the Local Government. For student rates are determined by agreement between the driver with a passenger. Many problems arise in the determination of public transport fares. This happens because of many factors, among others, the desire of operators in this regard is the owner of a service company to apply the highest tariff to benefit as much as possible. Meanwhile, in the service user wanted low tariffs to the level of good service. The evaluation in this study aims to determine how much freight vehicle operating costs (MPU) in the town of Tulungagung. The method used in this evaluation is the method of the Directorate General of Land Communications (Technical Guidelines for Implementation of Public Passenger Transport in Urban Area in the Fixed Route and Regular) in 1996. The amount of operating cost per vehicle-km of public transport (MPU) Tulungagung city based on the calculation that has been done is Rp. 1003.76 to Lyn J, Rp. 996.42 for lyn D, Rp. 894.18 to Lyn Z. While public transport fares (MPU) on the route of reviews based approach to vehicle operating costs obtained for Lyn J fare is Rp. 3,500 for general passengers, Rp. 2100 for students. To Lyn D is Rp 3,500 for general passengers, Rp. 2100 for students. while for Lyn Z is Rp. 3750 for general passengers, and Rp. 2250 for students.


Age‐dependence of the demographic rates survival, fecundity and individual growth is a fundamental aspect of population biological theory. Knowledge about plant ageing can also be important for conservation and agriculture as it will improve the accuracy of population viability assessments and long‐term performance assessments in perennial crops. Recent studies show age effects on demographic rates for several plant species, yet much remains to be learned about the patterns and mechanisms of plant ageing, particularly about how age effects interact with the environment and with plant size. We collected age‐and‐size‐based demographic data, as well as individual‐based environmental data, for the perennial herb Plantago lanceolata in Denmark over three annual transitions (4 years). We combined frequent field monitoring of carefully mapped individuals with the underused technique of root histology to determine age of herbaceous plants. We used generalized linear mixed effects models to assess how age, soil properties and year influenced survival, growth and reproduction. Our results show no strong evidence of consistent age declines, rather, we found mostly positive effects of age on vital rates. For all vital rates, i.e. survival, growth, flowering and reproductive output, age effects also differed significantly among years. Additionally, we detected an interactive effect of age and size in the growth model. Size, and temporal and spatial environmental variation also affected vital rates independently of age. Synthesis. Our study shows that age‐dependence of demographic rates can depend both on individual size and environmental variation. These results suggest that a consideration of potential age‐interactions may improve the accuracy of comparative studies of ageing and population projections. Moreover, this study shows that much is still unknown about how plant ageing can be affected by the environment.


 Abstract — In Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD), there are a variety of numerical methods, of which some depend on macroscopic model representatives. These models can be solved by finite-volume, finite-element or finite-difference methods on a microscopic description. However, the lattice Boltzmann method (LBM) is considered to be a mesoscopic particle method, with its scale lying between the macroscopic and microscopic scales. The LBM works well for solving incompressible flow problems, but certain limitations arise from solving compressible flows, particularly at high Mach numbers. An improved lattice Boltzmann model for compressible flow problems is presented in this research study. A higher-order Taylor series expansion of the Maxwell equilibrium distribution function is used to overcome limitations in LBM when solving high-Mach-number flows. Large eddy simulation (LES) is implemented in LBM to simulate turbulent jet flows. The results have been validated with available experimental data for turbulent compressible free jet flow at subsonic speeds.


This study presents and analyzes the mean financial characteristics of different types of crop and livestock farms in the U.S. in 2005. The eighteen farm types are: poultry, beef cattle, hogs, dairy, general livestock, general cash grain, wheat, corn, soybean, grain sorghum, rice, tobacco, cotton, peanut, general crop, fruits and tree nuts, vegetables, and nursery and greenhouse. Significant, two-way statistical differences in mean farm income statement and farm balance sheet variables are highlighted. Results provide a general indication of the comparative profitability, liquidity, solvency, and financial efficiency of different types of U. S. crop and livestock farms.


We propose a statistical inference framework for the component-wise functional gradient descent algorithm (CFGD) under normality assumption for model errors, also known as $L_2$-Boosting. The CFGD is one of the most versatile tools to analyze data, because it scales well to high-dimensional data sets, allows for a very flexible definition of additive regression models and incorporates inbuilt variable selection. Due to the variable selection, we build on recent proposals for post-selection inference. However, the iterative nature of component-wise boosting, which can repeatedly select the same component to update, necessitates adaptations and extensions to existing approaches. We propose tests and confidence intervals for linear, grouped and penalized additive model components selected by $L_2$-Boosting. Our concepts also transfer to slow-learning algorithms more generally, and to other selection techniques which restrict the response space to more complex sets than polyhedra. We apply our framework to an additive model for sales prices of residential apartments and investigate the properties of our concepts in simulation studies.


This qualitative ethnographic paper analyzes women's perceptions of whether their beauty is utilized to achieve certain ends in Pakistani society. It highlights the objectification of the female body particularly in the field of academia and various job sectors. Female participants were both students and professionals. The age range of study participants included late adolescents (aged 1824) and early adults (24-34) from the area of Islamabad and Rawalpindi, Pakistan. In-depth, semistructured interviews (17 interviewees) and focus group discussions (8 respondents, age 20-24) were used, and a thematic analysis was conducted. Results showed that women whose bodies reflect the commodified and sexualized beauty standard are preferred over women whose bodies do not fit into this category. A significant percent of the population believes that women's bodies are seen in terms of ornamental value; their bodies exist for the visual gratification of others and, in some cases, the 'self.' Generally perceived, the 'beautiful body or attractive person' also allows women to attain good marriage proposals, secure job positions, good grades in academia, and be hired by companies and media for generating revenues. Veiled women are not only perceived in terms of modesty but as easily available sexual objects. In this society, people largely expect that good-looking women will be hired over those who do not meet accepted beauty standards. Beautiful women reap social benefits, while women whose bodies are not socially approved may not achieve any positive outcome. Men in this society also understand that they have the power to tell women how their bodies ought to be and behave. Future studies might examine men's perspectives when it comes to identifying socio-cultural roles pertaining to their attractiveness and body marketing in a society known for being patriarchal.


This five-year report describes activities of the Pacific Northwest and Alaska Regional Bioenergy Program between 1985 and 1990. Begun in 1979, this Regional Bioenergy Program became the model for the nation's four other regional bioenergy programs in 1983. Within the time span of this report, the Pacific Northwest and Alaska Regional Bioenergy Program has undertaken a number of applied research and technology projects, and supported and guided the work of its five participating state energy programs. During this period, the Regional Bioenergy Program has brought together public- and private-sector organizations to promote the use of local biomass and municipal-waste energy resources and technologies. This report claims information on the mission, goals and accomplishments of the Regional Bioenergy Program. It describes the biomass projects conducted by the individual states of the region, and summarizes the results of the programs technical studies. Publications from both the state and regional projects are listed. The report goes on to consider future efforts of the Regional Bioenergy Program under its challenging assignment. Research activities include: forest residue estimates; Landsat biomass mapping; woody biomass plantations; industrial wood-fuel market; residential space heating with wood; materials recovery of residues; co-firing wood chips with coal; biomass fuel characterization; wood-boostedmore » geothermal power plants; wood gasification; municipal solid wastes to energy; woodstove study; slash burning; forest depletion; and technology transfer. 9 figs., 6 tabs.« less


Purpose To determine the relationship between appositional angle closure (AppAC) and the conversion of primary angle closure (PAC) into primary angle closure glaucoma (PACG) after laser peripheral iridotomy (LPI). Methods Consecutive patients with PAC were included in this prospective cohort study. The eyes of the included patients who had undergone LPI with five or more reliable visual field (VF) tests in at least 5 years were analysed. Baseline AppAC was diagnosed when the trabecular meshwork and iris were located appositionally on the ultrasound biomicroscopy image. The criteria for PAC conversion were based on development of glaucomatous optic neuropathy and corresponding VF defects. Other factors such as age and vertical cup-to-disc ratio (VCDR) were also investigated by univariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses. Results 128 patients were assessed at baseline. 80 eyes of 58 patients fulfilled the inclusion criteria. The mean follow-up period was 6.67 ± 1.33 years. PAC conversion was observed in 20 eyes. The frequency of PAC conversion was significantly higher in eyes with AppAC > 2 quadrants at baseline (58.3%, 7/12) than in those with AppAC ≤ 2 quadrants (19.1%, 13/68; p < 0.05). Compared with the non-converting group, the age and VCDR at baseline were both higher in the converting group (p < 0.05). Wider AppAC, older age and higher VCDR were significantly associated with PAC conversion. Conclusions 25% of PAC eyes of Chinese patients converted into PACG eyes in more than 5 years after LPI. AppAC > 2 quadrants were related to the PAC conversion. Older baseline age and higher VCDR were also associated with PAC conversion.


Recent tomography methods developped in potential field theory are based on monopolar or dipolar probability tomography methods (Patella 1997, Mauriello and Patella 1999. These kinds of algorithms needs to have a knowledge of the source, in particular its multipolar order (ie: dipole, monopole, quadripole,...etc). A new method based on the complex continuous wavelet transform (CCWT ) allows to obtain a multipolar tomography of the subsurface at different spatial scales, without ''apriori" information of the source. This method used the potential theory combined to dilation, covariance and phase properties of the CCWT (Saracco et al 2004, Moreau et al 1997). This multi-scale or multipolar tomography has been used to characterize and localize with success in depth, degree and orientation, potential sources from surface measurements of anomalies SP data in different applications (e.g. subsurface hydrogeophysics; hydrodynamic flux circulations modelling hydrothermal system or to define electrical precursors in volcanic risk; or in magnetic survey). The presentation of this method compared to other methods will be presented on noisy and synthetic magnetic and electrical data. Results on real SP data will be presented in archeological prospecting and volcano risk.


We present a new numerical trace element mass balance model for adiabatic melting of a pyroxenite‐bearing peridotite for estimating mantle potential temperature, depth of melting column, and pyroxenite fraction in the source mantle for a primary ocean basalt/picrite. The Ocean Basalt Simulator version 1 (OBS1) uses a thermodynamic model of adiabatic melting of a pyroxenite‐bearing peridotite with experimentally/thermodynamically parameterized liquidus‐solidus intervals and source mineralogy. OBS1 can be used to calculate a sequence of adiabatic melting with two melting models, including (1) melting of peridotite and pyroxenite sources with simple mixing of their fractional melts (melt‐melt mixing model), and (2) pyroxenite melting, melt metasomatism in the host peridotite, and melting of the metasomatized peridotite (source‐metasomatism model). OBS1 can be used to explore (1) the fractions of peridotite and pyroxenite, (2) mantle potential temperature, (3) pressure of termination of melting, (4) degree of melting, and (5) residual mode of the sources. In order to constrain these parameters, the model calculates a mass balance for 26 incompatible trace elements in the sources and in the generated basalt/picrite. OBS1 is coded in an Excel spreadsheet and runs with VBA macros. Using OBS1, we examine the source compositions and conditions of the mid‐oceanic ridge basalts, Loihi‐Koolau basalts in the Hawaiian hot spot, and Jurassic Shatsky Rise and Mikabu oceanic plateau basalts and picrites. The OBS1 model shows the physical conditions, chemical mass balance, and amount of pyroxenite in the source peridotite, which are keys to global mantle recycling.


Mg-based alloys are prospective materials for reversible hydrogen storage in the form of metallic hydrides. Usually, hydrogen saturation is carried out at high temperatures and high hydrogen pressures. This is the reason for the high cost of metallic hydrides in comparison with other hydrogen storage methods. Electrochemical hydriding, on the other hand, can be realized at room temperature. Moreover, this process does not need any hydrogen atmosphere. In the presented work, electrochemical hydriding of several Mg-Ni-Mm-based alloys (Mm = mishmetal) is performed. Hydriding efficiency, mechanism and kinetics are described. It is shown that the additions of Ni, Mm and the formation of eutectic structures support hydriding of alloys.


In Roman times there was a massive import of olive-oil from Baetica (actual Andalusia) to feed the army at the Limes in Rhineland and Scotland. This Mediterranean product was transported in large amphorae of the Dressel 20 type chat bear different types of epigraphy: graffiti, stamps en tituli picti (painted inscriptions). The Low Councries forming the Hinterland rook part in this commerce, hence the discovery of large amounts of amphora fragments, still bearing regularly epigraphy. This written heritage is not only ill-known and neglected in the Benelux, but also chreatened because of the bad conditions in which they are collected and stored. The information provided by these epigraphical sources is of uppermost importance to the knowledge of the ancient economy in the Empire, as well in the south as in the north and represents an important witness of romanisation. They shed light on the production of the amphorae and the olive-oil in Baetica, and on its commercialisation to the northern fringes of the Empire, giving at the same time the names of all the people involved in these activities.


Huizinga's concept of a 'magic circle' has been used to depict computer games and gaming activities as something separate from ordinary life. In this view, games are special (magical) and they only come to life within temporal and spatial borders that are enacted and performed by the participants. This article discusses the concept of a 'magic circle' and finds that it lacks specificity. Attempts to use the concept of a magic circle create a number of anomalies that are problematic. This is not, as has been suggested earlier, primarily a matter of the genre of the game, or a discussion of what an appropriate definition of a 'game' might be. Rather, in this study with hardcore gamers, playing computer games is a routine and mundane activity, making the boundary between play and non-play tenuous to say the least. This article presents an alternative theoretical framework which should be explored further.


Pogostemon cablin (PCa), an herb used in traditional Chinese medicine, is routinely used in the amelioration of different types of gastrointestinal discomfort. However, the mechanisms underlying the cancer suppression activity of PCa in colorectal cancer (CRC) cells have yet to be clarified. The aim of this study was to investigate the anticancer effects of PCa, specifically the induction of apoptosis in CRC cells. The growth inhibition curve of CRC cells following exposure to PCa was detected by an MTT assay. Moreover, PCa combined with 5-FU revealed a synergic effect of decreased cell viability. PCa inhibited cell proliferation and induced cell cycle arrest at the G0/G1 phase and cell apoptosis through regulation of associated protein expression. An in vivo study showed that PCa suppressed the growth of CRC via induction of cell apoptosis with no significant change in body weight or organ histology. Our results demonstrated that PCa inhibits the growth of CRC cells and induces apoptosis in vitro and in vivo, which suggests the potential applicability of PCa as an anticancer agent.


ABSTRACT This study sets out to investigate the university students' perceptions of their current and expected 'ability selves' and the contribution of such perceptions to students' views of their own employability. The participants consisted of a group of male and female students (N = 104) who were asked to describe their present and anticipated abilities and to respond to a set of statements describing self-perceived employability. The students highlighted social aptness, extroversion and enterprise skills in particular as features related to ability selves in current discussions of working life. These interpretations were subsequently related to the optimism they had about their own employability. 'Ability selves' seem to play a role in the multifaceted process of subjective confidence formation regarding one's employment prospects after graduation.


Limitation on power budget in many-core systems leaves a fraction of on-chip resources inactive, referred to as dark silicon. In such systems, an efficient run-time application mapping approach can considerably enhance resource utilization and mitigate the dark silicon phenomenon. In this paper, we propose a dark silicon aware runtime application mapping approach that patterns active cores alongside the inactive cores in order to evenly distribute power density across the chip. This approach leverages dark silicon to balance the temperature of active cores to provide higher power budget and better resource utilization, within a safe peak operating temperature. In contrast with exhaustive search based mapping approach, our agile heuristic approach has a negligible runtime overhead. Our patterning strategy yields a surplus power budget of up to 17% along with an improved throughput of up to 21% in comparison with other state-of-the-art run-time mapping strategies, while the surplus budget is as high as 40% compared to worst case scenarios.


Natural user interface (NUI) can be defined as human-computer interaction systems in which the user employs intuitive actions based on the human behaviour. Common examples of NUI interfaces are those ones that use multi-touch screens, gesture and sound recognition systems, and painting tablet devices. Paper marbling is a painting approach in which the artist uses proper tools – as combs and brushes – to interact with the paints deposited on an aqueous surface, producing thus marble-like paintings. These paintings are then transferred to an absorbent paper, which are used, for instance, as book cover. In this work, we present a computational marbling system that incorporate NUI to easy the generation of marbling patterns.


Background The efficacy of intramuscular islet transplantation is poor despite being technically simple, safe, and associated with reduced rates of severe complications. We evaluated the efficacy of combined treatment with extracellular matrix (ECM) and growth factors in intramuscular islet transplantation. Methods Male BALB/C mice were used for the in vitro and transplantation studies. The following three groups were evaluated: islets without treatment (islets-only group), islets embedded in ECM with growth factors (Matrigel group), and islets embedded in ECM without growth factors [growth factor-reduced (GFR) Matrigel group]. The viability and insulin-releasing function of islets cultured for 96 h were significantly improved in Matrigel and GFR Matrigel groups compared with the islets-only group. Results Blood glucose and serum insulin levels immediately following transplantation were significantly improved in the Matrigel and GFR Matrigel groups and remained significantly improved in the Matrigel group at postoperative day (POD) 28. On histological examination, significantly decreased numbers of TdT-mediated deoxyuridine triphosphate-biotin nick end labeling-positive islet cells and significantly increased numbers of Ki67-positive cells were observed in the Matrigel and GFR Matrigel groups at POD 3. Peri-islet revascularization was most prominent in the Matrigel group at POD 14. Conclusions The efficacy of intramuscular islet transplantation was improved by combination treatment with ECM and growth factors through the inhibition of apoptosis, increased proliferation of islet cells, and promotion of revascularization.


Background The review of collateral information is an essential component of patient care. Although this is standard practice, minimal research has been done to quantify collateral information collection and to understand how collateral information translates to clinical decision making. To address this, we developed and piloted a novel measure (the McLean Collateral Information and Clinical Actionability Scale [M-CICAS]) to evaluate the types and number of collateral sources viewed and the resulting actions made in a psychiatric setting. Objective This study aims to test the feasibility of the M-CICAS, validate this measure against clinician notes via medical records, and evaluate whether reviewing a higher volume of collateral sources is associated with more clinical actions taken. Methods For the M-CICAS, we developed a three-part instrument, focusing on measuring collateral sources reviewed, clinical actions taken, and shared decision making between the clinician and patient. To determine feasibility and preliminary validity, we piloted this measure among clinicians providing psychotherapy at McLean Hospital. These clinicians (n=7) completed the M-CICAS after individual clinical sessions with 89 distinct patient encounters. Scales were completed by clinicians only once for each patient during routine follow-up visits. After clinicians completed these scales, researchers conducted chart reviews by completing the M-CICAS using only the clinician's corresponding note from that session. For the analyses, we generated summary scores for the number of collateral sources and clinical actions for each encounter. We examined Pearson correlation coefficients to assess interrater reliability between clinicians and chart reviewers, and simple univariate regression modeling followed by multilevel mixed effects regression modeling to test the relationship between collateral information accessed and clinical actions taken. Results The study staff had high interrater reliability on the M-CICAS for the sources reviewed (r=0.98; P<.001) and actions taken (r=0.97; P<.001). Clinician and study staff ratings were moderately correlated and statistically significant on the M-CICAS summary scores for the sources viewed (r=0.24, P=.02 and r=0.25, P=.02, respectively). Univariate regression modeling with a two-tailed test demonstrated a significant association between collateral sources and clinical actions taken when clinicians completed the M-CICAS (β=.27; t87=2.47; P=.02). The multilevel fixed slopes random intercepts model confirmed a significant association even when accounting for clinician differences (β=.23; t57=2.13; P=.04). Conclusions This pilot study established the feasibility and preliminary validity of the M-CICAS in assessing collateral sources and clinical decision making in psychiatry. This study also indicated that reviewing more collateral sources may lead to an increased number of clinical actions following a session.


Objective: Research has demonstrated that impulsivity is strongly associated with suicide-related ideation and behaviour among young adults. However, to date, the potential importance of impulsivity as a predictor of suicide-related ideation in later life has yet to be determined. Our study examined impulsivity, hopelessness, depressive symptomatology, and sociodemographic factors vis-à-vis suicide-related ideation among older adults at risk of self-harm. Method: A sample (n = 117) of older adults was recruited from multiple sources for this study over a 1-year period. Suicide-related ideation was measured with the Geriatric Suicide Ideation Scale, a multidimensional measure of suicide-related ideation developed for use with older adults. Results: Canonical correlation identified 2 pairings of linear composites in which impulsivity emerged along both as significantly associated with facets of suicide-related ideation. Of note, the greater proportion of variance in impulsivity was subsumed along the second set of vectors with somatic depressive symptoms. Conclusion: Our findings suggest that the impulse to self-harm may be even more pronounced among older adults less likely to present as typically depressed. It is further suggested that impulsivity is more broadly associated with suicide-related ideation than hopelessness, and that screening for impulsivity as well as hopelessness may increase clinicians' ability to identify older adults at greatest risk of self-harm.


In the United Kingdom, small businesses account for 99.9% of all private sector businesses, 59.1% of private sector employment and 48.8% of private sector turnover (BIS, 2012). Small business growth is considered to offer benefits to the economy via wealth creation and employment. Implicit in policy and the management literature is the idea that in order to grow, businesses must recruit additional resource. However, there is limited research into how, why and when businesses take this first step. The complex transition from being a sole trader to a manager is largely ignored in studies of business growth and human resource management in in favour of normative accounts, which relate to larger or more established businesses.
To address this gap in the extant research, this research aims to critically investigate the complexities of employment decision making in a start-up business context in order to further understand start-up business growth. The research adopted a longitudinal, qualitative case study design to critically evaluate business owners' employment decisions. Visual data elicitation tools (mapping) complemented semi-structured interviews and observational data collection to develop four case studies, presented as the empirical contribution of this study.
Employing the theoretical lens of effectuation, this study moves towards an expanded theory of human resource management in growth orientated start-up businesses and provides an empirically grounded conceptualisation of effectual logic in practice in a start-up business context. The contributions are an expanded understanding of the practices of hrm in growth oriented start-up businesses, strongly influenced by kinship and notions of legitimacy, and an understanding of the role of effectuation in relation to hrm in growth oriented start-up businesses.
These findings make a valuable contribution to extending perspectives on growth, support and employment practices in the UK small business sector. Specifically contributing to the academic discussions regarding effectual decision making and growth. It also offers practical utility via policy and practice implications.


Hermetic sealing is a stringent design constraint for contemporary MEMS devices such as accelerometers, gyroscopes, resonators, IR bolometers and RF devices. MEMS capping using glass frit seals is the most commonly used technique in practice. In this paper an investigation of glass frit sealed MEMS capping techniques in commercially-available inertial accelerometer sensors is reported. Destructive testing was the primary methodology used to characterize the accelerometer parts. X-ray analysis was used to identify the internal structure of the accelerometers. Microscopy and SEM analysis were then used to accurately measure the seal dimensions and the proportionate relationship with overall dimensions. EDX analysis of the glass frit was conducted to establish its composition. As a further investigative step, test samples were chemically decapped and analyzed. It was observed that four of the five samples maximized cap footprint area over the base silicon of the part. All samples featured glass frit voiding, and examples of both insufficient and excessive glass frit coverage were identified. The results of the investigation were compared for common themes: cap structure, glass frit seal, glass frit voiding and cap singulation techniques. This identified points of similarity in the industrial assembly processes. A clearer understanding of industry practice in accelerometer packaging was obtained particularly in cap structure; glass frit defects and glass frit composition.© 2009 ASME


The present study was aimed to find out viability of e-learning approach in the universities of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa so that problems faced during implementing e-learning approach may be addressed. It was made possible through highlighting the five factors during a survey. Results showed that readiness level was moderate to launch e-learning programme for the students of far flung areas, and especially those students who are job holder and wish to improve their education. Three factors i.e., Infrastructure, cultural and human factors were found low, and remaining two factors i.e., support and pedagogical were at moderate level. Ten basic strategies were found to be useful for the effectiveness of e-learning approach as it is based on the knowledge and different fields of research. Separate directorate has been suggested to run the elearning programmes and emphasis has been laid down on short courses at the initial stages for making people of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa aware about e-learning approach for the improvement of the study. A separate Institute with its independent funds has been suggested to monitor the elearning activities with the coordination of the IT department in all public and private universities of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.


Abstract. Vegetation patterns are a common and well-defined characteristic of many landscapes. In this paper we explore some of the physical mechanisms responsible for the establishment of self-organized, non-random vegetation patterns that arise at the hillslope scale in many areas of the world, especially in arid and semi-arid regions. In doing so, we provide a fundamental mechanistic understanding of the dynamics of vegetation pattern formation and development. Reciprocal effects of vegetation on the hillslope thermodynamics, runoff production and run-on infiltration, root density, surface albedo and soil moisture content are analyzed. In particular, we: (1) present a physically based mechanistic description of processes leading to vegetation pattern formation; (2) quantify the relative impact of each process on pattern formation; and (3) describe the relationships between vegetation patterns and the climatic, hydraulic and topographic characteristics of the system. We validate the model by comparing simulations with observed natural patterns in the areas of Niger near Niamey and Somalia near Garoowe. Our analyses suggest that the phenomenon of pattern formation is primarily driven by run-on infiltration and mechanisms of facilitation/inhibition among adjacent vegetation groups, mediated by vegetation effects on soil properties and controls on soil moisture and albedo. Nonetheless, even in presence of those mechanisms, patterns arise only when the climatic conditions, particularly annual precipitation and net radiation, are favorable.


Courses offered by the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology are listed under the subject code OBGYN on the Stanford Bulletin's ExploreCourses web site. The Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology does not offer degrees; however, qualified medical, graduate students, or undergraduates with an interest in basic research in reproductive biology may apply to arrange individual projects under the supervision of the faculty. The focus for the Division of Reproductive, Stem Cell, and Perinatal Biology is the study of the molecular and cellular biology of male and female reproductive organs. Chair: Leslee L.Subak, MD, Professor Vice Chair: Maurice L. Druzin, MD, Professor Division of Gynecology Paul Blumenthal, MD, M.P.H., Professor – Director Paula Hillard, MD, Professor, Associate Chair, Medical Education; Director, Pediatric/Adolescent Gynecology Juno Obedin-Maliver, Assistant Professor Deirdre Lum, MD, Clinical Assistant Professor Kate Shaw, MD, Clinical Associate Professor, Associate Division Director Linh Tran-Ito, MD, Clinical Assistant Professor Jennifer Conti, MD, Clinical Assistant Professor Leah Millheiser, MD, Clinical Assistant Professor Michelle Solone, MD, Clinical Assistant Professor John Wachtel, MD, Clinical Professor Navdeesh Reiners, MD, Clinical Assistant Professor Diana Atashroo, MD, Clinical Assistant Professor Division of Family Planning Paul Blumenthal, MD, M.P.H., Professor, Director Kate Shaw, MD, Clinical Associate Professor Assistant Director, Family Planning; Clinic Chief, Gynecologic Specialties Lisa Goldthwaite, MD, Clinical Assistant Professor Wing Kay Fok, MD, Clinical Assistant Professor Amy Voedisch, MD, Clinical Assistant Professor Michele Hugin, MD, Clinical Associate Professor Division of Gynecologic Oncology Oliver Dorigo, MD, PhD, Associate Professor; Director Amer Karam, MD Clinical Associate Professor, Associate Director, Director of Outreach Jonathan Berek, MD, MMS, Professor Nelson N.H. Teng, MD, PhD, Professor Erinn Rankin, PhD, Assistant Professor Valerie Sugiyama, MD, Clinical Assistant Professor Elizabeth Diver, MD, Clinical Assistant Professor Babak Litkouhi, MD, Clinical Assistant Professor Venkatesh Krishnan, Instructor Division of Female Pelvic Medicine & Reconstructive Surgery/Urogynecology Bertha Chen, MD, Professor; Chief Leslee L.Subak, MD, Professor Eric Sokol, MD, Associate Professor Lisa Rogo-Gupta, MD, Clinical Assistant Professor Kavita Mishra, MD, Clinical Assistant Professor Division of Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility Ruben Alvero, MD, Professor; Director Barry Behr, PhD, HCLD, Professor (non-clinical) Amin Milki, MD, Professor Ruth Lathi, MD, Professor; Director, REI Fellowship Steven Nakajima, MD, Clinical Professor; Director, REI Outreach; Associate Director, REI Fellowship Lusine Aghajanova, MD, Clinical Assistant Professor Division of Maternal-Fetal Medicine Yasser El-Sayed, MD, Professor; Director Deirdre Lyell, MD, Professor, Associate Director; Director, MFM Fellowship Maurice Druzin, MD, Professor Yair Blumenfeld, MD, Associate Professor Jane Chueh, MD, Clinical Professor Amen Ness, MD, Clinical Professor Natali Aziz, MD, Clinical Associate Professor Katherine Bianco, MD, Clinical Associate Professor Mark Boddy, MD, Clinical Associate Professor Martha Rode, MD, Clinical Associate Professor Scarlett Karakash, MD, Clinical Assistant Professor Amy Judy, MD, Clinical Assistant Professor Tiffany Herrero, MD, Clinical Assistant Professor Elliot Main, MD, Clinical Professor Ronald Gibbs, MD, Clinical Professor Division of General Obstetrics Yasser El-Sayed, MD, Professor; Director Kay Daniels, MD, Clinical Professor


Wildfires constitute a recurring natural risk, with greater consequences on the population of areas with human settlements in contact with the vegetation, the Wildland Urban-Interface (WUI). The number of people living in these areas has increased dramatically in recent years (e.g., Radeloff et al. 2018), raising wildfire risk and a growing concern, both for the environmental damages caused by fires, as well as for endangering properties and human lives. Scientific research indicates that the actions taken by the population for their protection reduces firefighting expenditures. It is essential, therefore, to have greater knowledge of the affected population and the factors that influence the potential impacts on it (Calkin et al. 2014). These aspects have been examined by many authors, in relation to forest fires under the term "vulnerability" (Paton and Tedim 2012). Previous studies on social vulnerability to forest fires indicate that the socially more vulnerable population has a lower capacity to apply mitigation measures against forest fires and recovery in the event of occurrence (Gaither et al. 2011; Paveglio et al. 2016; Wigtil et al. 2016). In this sense, knowledge is still lacking regarding how social vulnerability is affected by wildland fuels management decisions and building materials used in wildfire hazard areas. In addition, after a disaster, the resilience of societies depends not only on the income of individuals, but also on age and health status, which leads to the concept of environmental justice. The overall objective of this work is to spatially identify the vulnerability of the population to forest fires. As a case study, we select the autonomous region of Galicia because it registers the highest occurrence of fires in Spain (40% of the total) and where the consequences can be very important for the population. We use socioeconomic and demographic variables at the municipal level to construct a spatial social vulnerability index (Cutter et al. 2003), which can pinpoint the most vulnerable areas to wildfire impacts. The resulting map can be used to identify specific locations where it improvements in preparedness and suppression capacity may yield the largest gains in social resilience to natural risks.


Excessive cathode dissolution due to high current densities is investigated. Such excessive dissolution is one of the key electromigration-induced degradation processes in micro systems, and exhibits a distinctive serrated morphology. In this study, Cu cathode and Cu anode connected with Sn is stressed at a 4.5 × 104 A/cm2 current density for time as long as 1500 h. Careful sequential micro polishing is able to establish for the first time that the serrated cathode interface in fact is the expression of rod-like indentations in three-dimensional morphology. This unique morphology supports the proposition that fast Cu diffusion through Cu6Sn5 grain boundaries is the root cause for this excessive dissolution.


The purpose of this study was to evaluate respondents' reactions to the messages that called for peace from the Daily Nation newspaper in the run-up to the 2013 elections in Kenya. The study relied on descriptive research design, which is a design in qualitative research and premised on Agenda Setting theory by McCombs and Donald Shaw. The study population consisted of respondents from four marked newspaper-vending points within Nakuru town and the selected contents from the Nation newspapers. These newspapers carried messages advocating for peace between the periods of February and April 2013. Purposive sampling was used to choose newspaper contents with peace messages and to select newspaper readers in Nakuru town. Focused Group Discussions and Interviews were used as research instruments. Content and textual analysis was the primary form of data analysis in the study. Research findings showed that Nation newspapers carried peace messages in news and feature stories, editorials, opinion and advertisements. The conclusions of the study show that although media experts and scholars accused the media of 'indulging' in peace advocacy and forgetting their watchdog role, the respondents praised the role media played in ensuring after the poll calm, peaceful coexistence and tolerance.


A vehicle typically has two types of doors which is front doors and rear doors. The exterior side of the door is designed of steel or other material like the rest of the vehicles exterior. In the class of the metallic materials, steel, aluminium and magnesium are the most used alloys in the automotive body components. Its decorative appearance, typically coloured with a design is intended to match with the rest of the vehicle's exterior, the central purpose being toadd to the overall aesthetic appeal of the vehicle exterior. To provide the car with safety properties and different preferences of customers, a suitable door is needed. The door that is built must have high safety and at the same time can be built according to market demands. To test the door, we will be using impact test by SolidWork ® to test best material that can be used as car door. Keywords:  finite element analysis; impact test; Solidworks; automation, car hood.


Each organization performs its tasks with the help of resources
such as people, machines, materials and money. Apart from the human,
other resources are not living matter. Human resources are living
things and create resources. People use other resources, and produce output in the form of products and services. If human resources are not
capable, then other resources are useless and can not produce anything.
Out of all these factors of production, human resources have the highest
priority and an important factor of production and play a major role in the
area of productivity and quality. People in enterprises consist of project
individuals of different age, gender, socio-religious groups and different levels
of education and knowledge. People at work, despite showing similar behavior
and attachment to the company, they also show significant differences.
Employee performance is linked to the performance of their tasks and is
reported as expectation of how the employee will perform these tasks. Employee
performance is defined as the question whether employees perform their duties and
responsibilities well. The performance is a key factor for the success of the enterprise.
The challenge for every company today is to deliver timely quality products
and services and be able to meet the changing demands of customers.
Each company strives to create a culture of high performance of the tasks by
employees as individuals by improving work skills and competencies that meet
the requirements of the job and choose, develop, access and manage employees
accordance with international standards and the principle of equal opportunities.
The purpose of the operations of any enterprise is to make a profit. The
company's success largely depends on the performance of employees. The
orientation of products and services to market and employee performance
are in close interdependence. When employees produce top quality products
they fulfill the expectations of operation. Individuals who have a high level
of performance, realize higher levels of productivity, you have a sense of
satisfaction, psychologically not burdened and are fully involved in the work.
The evaluation is essential for organizations that need to manage humanresources in an effective way to achieve lower costs and increase profits. Also,
organizations wishing to maintain a high level of morality should provide their
employees feel they are valued and motivated.
The numbers of organizations that use performance measurement as a
management tool to achieve the objectives of the organization are increasing.
Many organizations realize that measuring performance is the most efficient
means to advance the organization.Motivated employees reach the necessary
performance. Organizations should provide ongoing performance measurement
and staff and are convinced that it is done in a correct way.


: Over the past 10 years, investigations have shown that heparin coating optimizes haemocompatibility in extracorporeal circulation systems. To date, however, the mechanisms involved have not been identified. 20 ml of fresh human blood were circulated in an in vitro closed-loop model with and without heparin coating. Using a newly developed ELISA, a quantitative analysis of the adsorbed plasma proteins was done. In addition, changes in coagulation, complement and blood cell releasing factors were measured by ELISA methods: prothrombin fragment 1 + 2 (F1 + 2), thrombin-antithrombin-III complex (TAT), PMN-elastase, beta-thromboglobulin (beta-TG) and terminal complement-complex (TCC). In uncoated tubing, high concentrations of fibrinogen, fibronectin, prothrombin, vitronectin, alpha 2-macroglobulin, von Willebrand factor and complement factor C3 were found. Large amounts of antithrombin-III, HMWK and C1-esterase inhibitor were found on the heparinized surfaces. In addition, the concentrations of the soluble plasma protein markers F1 + 2, FPA, PMN-elastase, TCC and beta-TG were significantly lower (p < 0.05) in the presence of heparin coating. The haemocompatibility of "foreign" surfaces depends largely on the extent to which the processes of activation and inhibition of humoral and cellular mediators permanently occurring at the natural endothelium can be simulated. Owing to the low adsorption of procoagulatory and proinflammatory enzymes, heparin-coated surfaces demonstrate significantly improved haemocompatibility.


This study investigates the influence of limnological parameters that are known to influence rotifer species richness and composition in temperate areas on two families of monogonont rotifers in a tropical area. We analysed species richness and diversity of the two families from 133 samples taken from several habitat types in Thailand. Coordinates, elevation, pH, temperature, conductivity, salinity and dissolved oxygen were measured and their effect on rotifers assessed. A total of 60 species in 5 genera was recorded from the two families. Latitude and temperature had an effect on species richness of Brachionidae. None of the variables affected species richness of Lecanidae, except habitat type, albeit not significantly. Habitat type and conductivity had an effect on species composition of the two families, whereas latitude had an effect only on species composition of Lecanidae. Species richness and composition of the two rotifer families are well documented in Thailand and no or only few additional species are expected. The limnological correlates of rotifer diversity seem to be in part comparable to and in part different from those known from temperate areas, suggesting that there may be general trends in rotifer species richness and composition across different latitudes.