o Sullivan, S. Socialisation of the primary school child into a physically active lifestyle: A lifetime health perspective Mounting epidemiological evidence shows physical inactivity and lack of exercise to be related to the occurrence of several diseases and degenerative conditions in adulthood. The maintenance of a physically active lifestyle, as well as the development of positive attitudes towards physical activity are viewed by many as major components of preventive medicine that should begin in childhood. In a synthesis of study findings of the decade 1985-1995, the observed relationships between physical activity and conditions of public health importance are reviewed. Patterns and trends in children's physical activity behaviour, observed in youth studies of the same period, are outlined. Physical activity of children is described as the product of a complex interweaving of biographical, social and cultural threads, and studies examining such influences on behaviour are discussed. The population study was designed to increase understanding of physical activity behaviour, and its social context in the lives of young people. Data were collected from a cohort of preadolescent children in s" and 6 classes of primary school. 1,602 children were interviewed, 810 girls and 792 boys, in a nation-wide random sample of 62 Irish national primary schools. Socio-cultural factors were suggested to contribute to the high activity participation rate observed for this population. Gender differences in recreational activity were significant (p <.0001), and a significant decline was observed in girls' activity from 5 to 6 class (p<.0001). Evidence of social class effect on behaviour was not convincing. In regression analysis, gender (8, -.209, 95% Cl -.277 to -.141, p < .0001), sports club membership (B,.201, 95% Cl .131 to .272, P < -,0001), and social integration status (8, .039,95% Cl .024 to .055,p < .0001) were identified as significant independent predictors of recreational activity. Parental support and physical selfperception were weak predictors. Primary PE, measured by the physical education index, was significantly and positively associated with activity, and independently of all variables included in the analysis (8,0.016, 95% Cl 0.012 to 0.021, P <.0001). The physical education index provided a significant increment in the prediction of children's activity over and above the effects explained by demographic and sociometric variables. No association was observed between self-assessed health and well-being and activity. Children's PE curriculum experience and school travel patterns were also examined. Findings attest to the importance of the primary school in the education of children for lifetime health. [References: 1,117]


American romantic suburbs of the 1850s and 1860s have traditionally been considered the progeny of at least four prior phenomena: romantic cemetery planning, picturesquely landscaped urban parks in England, A. J. Downing9s efforts to promote a consciously "rural" style of American landscape gardening, and a growing interest in family life and domesticity. But a variety of prototypes for American romantic suburbs already existed in England, not only in parks but also in resorts and metropolitan suburbs. Many of these were known to American travelers since the 1830s. The impetus for adopting such prototypes in America-and for developing indigenous, American suburban types-can be tied to an important development in the history of American ideas. During the 1840s and 1850s the long standing conflict between ideals of "country" and "city"-the conflict between agrarian gentility and mercantile progress, and also between rural independence and cultural sophistication-was at least partly resolved by suggestions that both could flourish together, if only the detrimental aspects of each could be avoided. There followed a variety of proposals for suburbs that, according to their proponents, would become superior residential environments by providing the amenities of both country and city while eliminating the disadvantages of each.


Since the 1970s tremendous changes have been observed in the Arctic region. As such, the surface air temperature within this region has increased twice the global average and according to existing climate model predictions, this trend will continue in the future (IPCC, 2007). However, interpretation of such transformation, which results from greenhouse warming, is still difficult. This is due to a lack of knowledge about the influence of multi-annual to decadal climate variations and the fact that climatic data from this region are usually temporally and spatially biased. Therefore, a better understanding and further research on the effects and predictability of climate variability is needed.
We examined the growth variability in shells of the bivalve mollusc Arctica islandica L. which is affected by environmental factors, mainly temperature and food supply. The prime objective of the project was to compare the shell growth of molluscs from two distinct populations in European Arctic and to determine the external factors influenced on the annual shell growth variability in A. islandica. We compared shells from two sampling sites: the northern Norwegian coast and the Kola Peninsula coast (SW Barents Sea). Both localities are in the realm of the Norwegian Coastal Current (after crossing the border to Russia it is called the Murman Coastal Current). For the investigation of the annual and inter-annual growth variability all collected shells were cut, 3 mm thick-sections were attached to a glass slide, grinded, polished and stained. Annual growth bands were identified and measured. Samples for the stable isotope (δ18O, δ13C) analysis and the seasonality approach were taken using a hand drill and the milling technique.
Based on increments measurements of 62 specimens, we found significant difference in growth rates between these two locations, which presumably resulted from a difference in thermal regime in the two sites and in the depth of collection of the molluscs. By comparison of growth chronologies with the time series of environmental and climatic parameters, we indicated a growth response of a specimen from the Norwegian coast to seawater temperature variability in the study area and found a similarity in a pattern with NAO-index. The molluscs from the Barents Sea responded to variation in air temperature, especially during colder periods.
Analyzed stable isotope ratio (δ18O, δ13C) profiles showed cyclic patterns within annual growth lines related to seasonal changes in temperature and primary production. The obtained values of stable oxygen isotope ratio allowed a reconstruction of seasonal changes of water temperature, but for the precise results accurate data on salinity or δ18O ratio of seawater is needed.


Shotgun metagenomics sequencing is a powerful tool for the characterization of complex biological matrices, enabling analysis of prokaryotic and eukaryotic organisms and viruses in a single experiment, with the possibility of reconstructing de novo the whole metagenome or a set of genes of interest. One of the main factors limiting the use of shotgun metagenomics on wide scale projects is the high cost associated with the approach. However, we demonstrate that—for some applications—it is possible to use shallow shotgun metagenomics to characterize complex biological matrices while reducing costs. We measured the variation of several summary statistics simulating a decrease in sequencing depth by randomly subsampling a number of reads. The main statistics that were compared are alpha diversity estimates, species abundance, detection threshold, and ability of reconstructing the metagenome in terms of length and completeness. Our results show that a classification of prokaryotic, eukaryotic and viral communities can be accurately performed even using very low number of reads, both in mock communities and in real complex matrices. With samples of 100,000 reads, the alpha diversity estimates were in most cases comparable to those obtained with the full sample, and the estimation of the abundance of all the present species was in excellent agreement with those obtained with the full sample. On the contrary, any task involving the reconstruction of the metagenome performed poorly, even with the largest simulated subsample (1M reads). The length of Open Peer Review


: The use of cytokines following bone marrow transplantation has become an area of increasing controversy with specific regard to indication, efficacy and cost. This review will attempt to summarize cytokine data in both adult and pediatric transplantation. Indications for cytokines following transplantation will be presented, as well as suggestions for specific issues that should be addressed in future clinical trials.


Human capital is the present value of future wages, which can be a large component of the total wealth of active workers. This raises the question of whether labour income risk can be hedged by how the retirement savings of workers are invested. The answer is that it cannot be hedged if correlations between labour income and financial return fluctuations are zero, or close to it. Previous research suggests this is generally the case at the total economy level, when domestic investments are used. This article presents the results of a study addressing the above question at the industry level, using a menu of foreign investment indexes. Specifically, we examine the situations of American and Canadian workers in seven different industries whose pension funds can invest in the equity markets of ten countries, including their own. We find significant positive and negative correlations between wage and return fluctuations, which point to opportunities to hedge labour income risk at the individual industry level through the investment of industry pension funds.


The adoption of conservation agriculture (CA) techniques by farmers is changing the dynamics of weed communities in cereal fields and so potentially their spatial distribution. These changes can challenge the use of site-specific weed control, which is based on the accurate location of weed patches for spraying. We studied the effect of two types of CA (direct drilling and harrow-tilled to 20 cm) on weed patches in a three-year survey in four direct-drilled and three harrow-tilled commercial fields in Catalonia (North-eastern Spain). The area of the ground covered by weeds (hereafter called "weed cover") was estimated at 96 to 122 points measured in each year in each field, in 50 cm × 50 cm quadrats placed in a 10 m × 10 m grid in spring. Bromus diandrus, Lolium rigidum, and Papaver rhoeas were the main weed species. The weed cover and degree of aggregation for all species varied both between and within fields, regardless of the kind of tillage. Under both forms of soil management all three were aggregated in elongated patterns in the direction of traffic. Bromus was generally more aggregated than Lolium, and both were more aggregated than Papaver. Patches were stable over time for only two harrow-tilled fields with Lolium and one direct-drilled field with Bromus, but not in the other fields. Spatial stability of the weeds was more pronounced in the direction of traffic. Herbicide applications, crop rotation, and traffic seem to affect weed populations strongly within fields, regardless of the soil management. We conclude that site-specific herbicides can be applied to control these species because they are aggregated, although the patches would have to be identified afresh in each season.


Quantitative understanding of the parameters which control composite fracture is imperative to the implementation of fail safe design and inspection of critical load bearing structures. For isotropic materials, fracture is essentially controlled by a single parameter, e.g., the fracture toughness or the stress-intensity factor. This one dimensional nature lends itself to experimental quantification. However, for anisotropic composites there are at least seven primary controlling parameters: 1) crack length; 2) crack orientation with respect to material axis of anisotropy; 3) nature of applied combined stresses; 4) lamination geometry; 5) deformational and strength responses of the constituent lamina; 6) three kinematically admissible modes of crack extension and 7) crack trajectory. Because of this large number of parameters, experimental quantification by system~tic permutation of the parameters must be realistically viewed as intractable. This paper presents an analytical method of reducing these parameters from seven to two and furnishes experimental observations which lend support to the theoretical model. An experimental p~gram is conducted on fiberglass reinforced epoxy where a centrally notched-crack is subjected to combined loading. Several lamination geometries are tested and by varying the external combined loading, different crack trajectories are predicted by the theoretical model. These predicted trajectories agree well with the experimental observed fracture mode. Such agreement suggests that with further refinement, the general condition of laminated fracture can be characterized.


The electron-density distribution in a prototypical porous coordination polymer ZIF-8 has been obtained in an approach combining high-resolution X-ray diffraction data and Invariom refinement. In addition, the periodic quantum-chemical calculation has been used to describe the theoretical density features of ZIF-8 in the same geometry (m1) and also in a "high-pressure" form of ZIF-8 (m2) characterized by conformational change with respect to the methylimidazolate linker. A thorough comparison of the electronic and electrostatic properties in two limiting structural forms of ZIF-8 proposes additional aspects on diffusion and adsorption processes occurring within the framework. The dimensions of the four-membered (FM) and six-membered (SM) apertures of the β cage are reliably determined from the total electron-density distribution. The analysis shows that FM in m2 becomes competitive in size to the SM aperture and should be considered for the diffusion of small molecules and cations. Bader's topological analysis (quantum theory of atoms in molecules) shows similar properties of both ZIF-8 forms. On the other hand, analysis of their electrostatic properties reveals tremendous differences. The study suggests exceptional electrostatic flexibility of the ZIF-8 framework, where small conformational changes lead to a significantly different electrostatic potential (EP) distribution, a feature that could be important for the function and dynamics of the ZIF-8 framework. The cavity surface in m1 contains 38 distinct regions with moderately positive, negative, or neutral EP and weakly positive EP in the cavity volume. In contrast to m1, the m2 form displays only two regions of different EP, with the positive one taking the whole cavity surface and the strong negative one localized entirely in the FM apertures. The EP in the cavity volume is also more positive than that in m1. A pronounced influence of the linker reorientation on the EP of the ZIF-8 forms is related to the high symmetry of the system and to an amplification of the electrostatic properties by cooperative effects of the proximally arranged structural fragments.


The aim of this research was to explore the theories espoused by psychoanalyst Robert Langs
pertaining to frame violations of the therapeutic framework. Langs proposes that frame
violations activate negative responses in the patient which become encoded in the patient's
narrative. This theory was investigated through analysing transcripts from three filmed
psychotherapy sessions with three therapists and one female patient. Luborsky's quantitative
Core Conflictual Relationship Theme method was utilised to extract themes from the
patient's manifest narrative in the sessions. The aim was to demonstrate similarities between
the patient's responses towards other people and towards the therapist. A qualitative approach
was also utilised to analyse the unconscious encoded narrative in the sessions. It was
discovered that both approaches revealed that there was evidence that the patient responded
towards the therapist in the same way in which she responded to other people. It could be
demonstrated that there was considerable evidence to suggest that the patient's narrative
about other people had been activated by the therapists' frame violations and the deviant
frame setting. The conclusion was that the results supported Langs' theory but posed a
challenge to Freud's theory on transference.


Purpose: Obese proportion is increasing universally, estimating more than a billion. So reducing the weight became one of the topic in medical market. Not only diet, exercise, medication, but also many surgical procedures are being developed, such as sleeve gastrectomy, gastric bypass surgery. After massive weight loss, skin excess and laxity occurs, leading to unsatisfying body contour. Body contouring surgery including abdominoplasty, breast reduction is performed when skin excess is present in abdomen and breast. When skin excess is present circumferentially, belt dermolipectomy is the treatment of choice. Methods: A 23-year-old man had weight gain since he was 12 of age. A year before visiting to our department, his height was 168 cm, weight was 150 kg and body mass index (BMI) was 53.15 kg/. The patient lost 55 kg of his weight through exercise and diet control. When he visited again, his weight was 95 kg and BMI was 33.66 kg/. In physical examination, skin excess and laxity was seen in both breast and abdomen circumferentially and lateral folds were seen in the back. Abdominal contour deformity (Pitman classification type 6) and pseudogynecomastia (grade 3) were present in both breast. Belt dermolipectomy of abdomen, both breast and lateral folds was performed, resecting 6,400 g of tissue and additive 1,200 g through revisional operation. Results: The patient lost 6,500g of his weight and BMI reduced by 2.3 kg/. The patient's hospital course was uneventful during 5 weeks of hospitalization and he was satisfied with his final body contour. Conclusion: Body contouring with belt dermolipectomy in patient who has circumferential skin excess and laxity after massive weight loss can be a treatment of choice.


An analysis of the hazards acompanying the aerial application of toxic pest-control chemicals is presented. The nature of the chemicals, the symptoms of toxicity, recommended treatment, and suggestions for safe-handling, are discussed. The introduction of the chlorinated, cyclic hydrocarbons for large-scale use as agricultural insecticides somewhat less than two decades ago, marked the beginning of a new era in agricultural pest control. In the intervening years, new chemicals, many of them engineered for specific agricultural purposes, have appeared in rapid succession. The large number and wide variety of these compounds, and their new and unfamiliar chemical and toxicological properties, have brought a host of medical problems. The insecticides which were the farmer's first line of defense prior to the 1940's, presented no great toxicological threat. The compounds of arsenic, for instance, are dangerously toxic only when inhaled or taken by mouth, and these are routes of entry into the body which are relatively easy to protect. Mixtures of sulfur and lime are comparatively innocuous. Nicotine, derris, the pyrethrins and mercurials were never used for large-scale agricultural purposes as we now understand the term. There were no effective defoliants or weed-control chemicals. Therefore, when the chlorinated compounds appeared in the 1940's and the organophosphates shortly thereafter in the 1950's, neither farmers nor pest control operators were prepared for the higher intrinsic toxicity of these substances. Nor were they prepared for the appearance of symptoms without warning, due to a strange new hazard, absorption of the toxic agent through the skin. It is not surprising therefore, that a familiar pattern has emerged. Many poisonings have occurred in the first months or years following the introduction of the more potent pesticides into a region where they were previously unknown. This is the pattern which enabled two Japanese scientists to accumulate the histories of 6000 cases of parathion poisoning within the first 5 years following the introduction of this chemical into Japan for use in the rice fields (1). Ultimately, instruction, training, and experience reduce the incidence of such


Meaningful interaction process between human beings necessitates effective communication especially in organisations that have rapid information exchange demands. It is perceived that most IT organisations that face communication and language barriers have lost businesses due to higher product defect rates, lack of focus on business objectives, stifled innovation and dissatisfied customers and poor customer services. This study looks at the language barriers faced by employees working in various fields related to Information Technology in Malaysia. A questionnaire was distributed to IT employees working in various international and national companies in Malaysia, and sixty two IT employees' responses were accepted. The employees had to rate the effects of each language barrier on them in the context of the workplace. Based on these findings, barriers faced by IT employees in this field can now be better understood and steps can be taken by both the industry and education sectors to overcome these barriers. It will also aid these employees to be better communicators in facing the challenges in their industry and increase their competitiveness on a global scale. We conclude that future research should more explicitly consider the different configurations of language skills that are needed by IT staff.


In July of 2002 Knut Larsson celebrated his 80th birthday. He could by then have looked back at a long and distingusihed career in the field of biological psychology. His research on sexual behavior had contributed to a basic understanding of many behavioral, endocrine and neural phenomena associated with or underlying sexual activity. Instead of looking back at his past achievements, Knut has preferred to look forward, constantly trying to find ways to stimulate interest in his own field and in biological psychology in general. This issue is a humble contribution to the noble end of enhancing the standing of biological psychology, particularly in Scandinavia. Foremost, however, it is a homage to a man of outstanding vision and intellectual integrity: Knut Larsson.


In Africa many plants and plant products are used traditionally for the managements of diabetes mellitus or its complication. But, science based evidence on some of this product safety need to be establish. We determine the effect of the Ethanol leaves extract of Ficus glumosa on fasting blood glucose level and liver enzymes of diabetes (DM) treated rats. Thirty (30) adult rats weighing (190 – 220) grams of about 8 to 10 weeks of age were used for this study in the month of December, 2014. The animals were randomly divided into six groups (n= 6/group) and DM was induced using single dose of streptozotocin 65mg/kg intraperitoneal (ip). Group 6 served as the control group receiving normal saline (5ml/kg) alone via intra-peritoneal route (ip), Group 1 (positive control), 2, 3, 4 and 5 were treated with the following for 7 days. Normal saline 5ml/kg, 100mg/kg, 200mg/kg and 400mg/kg of Ficus glumosa ethanol leaves extract respectively via ip while Group V received insulin 6 iu/kg. Fasting blood sugar levels were measured at one day intervals for 7 days. Rats were sacrifice for the Serum liver enzymes and liver tissue for th analysis on the 7 day. The 100mg/kg and 400mg/kg of Ethanol leave extract of Ficus glumosa significantly lowered fasting blood glucose level and 400mg/kg show elevation in liver enzymes and reveal altered hepatocyte architecture (interphase hepatitis) compared with the control group 6 and lower dosage treatment group (2 and 3). The results of these study reveal that Ficus glumosa possesses hypoglycemic effect and at higher dose of 400mg/kg/day have effect on liver enzymes in diabetes rat.


Recent experimental work on the application of graphene for novel illumination motivated us to present a theoretical study of the blackbody radiation emission from a freely suspended graphene driven by a dc electric field. Strong terahertz (THz) emission, with intensity up to mW/cm2, can be generated with increasing electric field strength due to the heating of electrons in graphene. We show that the intensity of the THz emission generated electrically from graphene depends rather sensitively on the lattice temperature in relatively weak electric fields, whereas it is less sensitive to the lattice temperature in relative strong electric fields. Our study highlights the practical application of graphene as intense THz source where the radiation is generated electrically.


The objective of
this work is to analyze the systems of application of pesticides used in
harvesting grapes of the sub-medium San Francisco valley, in relation to the
risks of occupational contamination. The manual, mechanized and semi mechanized
systems of application, adopted by the grape growers of the city of
Petrolina/PE, have been analyzed through a method of both quantitative and
qualitative evaluation. In such a way, two production units were visited: a
mid-sized company and another one from of the CODEVASF. Five simulations were
carried out in four systems of pesticide application using the European entire
body method. Pre-application processes, such as storage and dilution of
pesticides, as well as post-application processes, including equipment
maintenance, cleaning and storage of clothes used for the application process
were also analyzed. The results show large differences in risk among the
systems that were analyzed and better conditions offered by the agricultural
company, which was seeking to obtain the certification process.


LPS-binding protein (LBP) mediates the pro-inflammatory effects of bacterial LPS by enhancing LPS-induced cytokine production by monocytic cells. LBP binds specifically to LPS to generate a complex that interacts with the CD14 receptor on the surface of responsive cells. To identify the biologically active regions of the protein responsible for mediating these activities, we cloned and expressed human rLBP (456 amino acids) as well as a truncated form encoding amino acids 1-197 (rLBP25). Both forms of LBP bound to LPS with the same affinity, and similarly inhibited LPS activity in the Limulus amebocyte lysate assay. These results demonstrate that the LPS-binding domain of LBP resides entirely within the N-terminal 197 amino acids of the protein. rLBP and rLBP25 were compared for their ability to mediate CD14-dependent LPS effects on cells. rLBP was effective in mediating uptake of LPS and stimulation of TNF production by human monocytic THP-1 cells, whereas rLBP25 had no significant activity in these assays. Similarly, rLBP was able to mediate LPS-induced TNF production by human PBMC whereas rLBP25 was essentially inactive. These results suggest that the structural features of LBP required for mediating LPS effects via CD14 are probably located in the C-terminal region of the protein. Thus, the LPS-binding activity of LBP can be separated from the CD14-stimulatory activity, suggesting these activities are mediated by structural elements residing in different regions of the protein.


All citizens are entitled to access governmental information as, only if properly informed, that they can participate in politics. The right to information is enshrined in a number of international agreements, including Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The right of citizens to access public authorities' information is called Freedom of information. This information plays a crucial role in informing the population so that they can make accurate political choices. The mere disposal of information is not enough, as much of public documents suffer from complex language and other technicalities that can prevent an informed use of the information. Thus, sites displaying information must be adapted in order to guarantee usability, functionality and accessibility; there must be different levels of information, as there are diverse groups of individuals with different skills. Such usability, functionality and accessibility require designing effective communications, paying attention to balancing the complexity that citizens can manage and the complexity that those responsible for the requested information are producing.


Retrospective analysis of patient tumour samples is a cornerstone of clinical research. CTC biomarker characterization offers a non-invasive method to analyse patient samples. However, current CTC technologies require prospective blood collection, thereby reducing the ability to utilize archived clinical cohorts with long-term outcome data. We sought to investigate CTC recovery from frozen, archived patient PBMC pellets. Matched samples from both mCRPC patients and mock samples, which were prepared by spiking healthy donor blood with cultured prostate cancer cell line cells, were processed "fresh" via Epic CTC Platform or from "frozen" PBMC pellets. Samples were analysed for CTC enumeration and biomarker characterization via immunofluorescent (IF) biomarkers, fluorescence in-situ hybridization (FISH) and CTC morphology. In the frozen patient PMBC samples, the median CTC recovery was 18%, compared to the freshly processed blood. However, abundance and localization of cytokeratin (CK) and androgen receptor (AR) protein, as measured by IF, were largely concordant between the fresh and frozen CTCs. Furthermore, a FISH analysis of PTEN loss showed high concordance in fresh vs. frozen. The observed data indicate that CTC biomarker characterization from frozen archival samples is feasible and representative of prospectively collected samples.


This cognitive ethnographic study explored the mental processes that professional actors used when making artistic choices while engaged in creative practices to begin a conversation about how the theatrically gifted and talented population is viewed, researched, and educated in non-arts subjects. Professional actors at two sites were observed, videotaped, and interviewed over several rehearsals during play production. The major thematic findings indicated that artistic decision making results from actors engaging in a cyclical process of private work, affective validation, and collaboration. Implications for teaching theatrically gifted students call for classroom environments and processes that echo theatrical rehearsal structures, while engaging the imagination through personal connection and discovery.


Restoring connections between rivers and floodplain wetlands can improve water quality downstream. The USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service's Wetlands Reserve Program (WRP) has restored many wetlands in the Lower Mississippi River Valley by increasing floodplain-river connections. We are studying water quality changes over three years in a restored agricultural wetland in western Kentucky after reconnection with a large agricultural ditch via levee breaks. Floodwater quality is being measured over 24 h as stream water flows from the levee, through the forest, and into a remnant stream channel using 11 automated water samplers to monitor particulate and nutrient concentrations, and 23 water level loggers to estimate flow paths and discharge. Results from the first flood show nutrient and particulate concentrations were higher and more variable earlier in the flood and closer to levee breaks. Total suspended solids (TSS) concentration was a strong predictor for both total nitrogen (TN) and total phosphorus (TP) in the forest and near the remnant channel, indicating deposition of TSS is positively related to TN and TP retention. This relationship was stronger for TP than TN, and increasing N:P ratios over time show that more phosphorus was retained than nitrogen. This initial sampling event verified that nutrient retention occurs in this reconnected forest. Future work will incorporate nutrient and hydrology data from this, and subsequent floods, which will provide a more complete picture of nutrient retention provided by this reconnected wetland.


: Purpose: The purpose of this study is to holistically investigate the interrelationships between key contextual factors of cloud ERP adoption and the strategic consequences of such adoption. Design/Methodology/Approach: The key contextual factors whose influences are explored on cloud ERP adoption are Feature task-match, (FTM); Top Management Support on Change Management (TMSCM) and Government Financial Support (GFS) while the strategic consequences of cloud ERP adoption investigated are competitive advantage (CA) and organisational performance. A conceptual framework grounded in Technology-Organisation-Environment (TOE) model, Task technology-fit (TTF) model and Resource-Based View (RBV) theory is developed for empirical validation that will involve a projected sample of 382 respondents of SMEs in Malaysia using PLS-SEM as main statistical analysis tool. Practical Implications: Practically, this study will guide SMEs' managers on cloud ERP selection that fits their firms' tasks, how to effectively deal with resistance to change occasioned by technology adoption and how effective GFS has been influencing cloud ERP adoption. In addition, SMEs managers stand to gain insight into how cloud ERP adoption can simultaneously and/or indirectly lead to competitive advantage and organisational performance as strategic benefits. Originality/Value: Investigation of a new variant key contextual factors critical for successful cloud ERP adoption and their subsequent impact on CA and organisational performance simultaneously and indirectly.


In this paper, I discuss how to teach system dynamics and systems thinking from the perspective of the eastern philosophy, especially in Korea and China. Based on my experience of teaching system dynamics to Korean people for 15 years, I present some kind of fundamental similarities and linking pins between eastern philosophy and system dynamics. Presentation of their similarity usually provided Korean students a kind of familiar feeling with the system dynamics and facilitated their understanding of its key concepts. Also I explain my experience on presenting research outcomes of system dynamics to Koreans with the help of linking pins between system dynamics and eastern philosophy.


Questions: Mycorrhizae may be a key element of plant nutritional strategies and of carbon and nutrient cycling. Recent research suggests that in natural conditions, intensity of mycorrhizal colonization should be considered an important plant feature. How are inter-specific variations in mycorrhizal colonization rate, plant relative growth rate (RGR) and leaf litter decomposability related? Is (arbuscular) mycorrhizal colonization linked to the dominance of plant species in nutrient-stressed ecosystems? Location: Teberda State Biosphere Reserve, northwest Caucasus, Russia. Methods: We measured plant RGR under mycorrhizal limitation and under natural nutrition conditions, together with leaf litter decomposability and field intensity of mycorrhizal colonization across a wide range of plant species, typical for alpine communities of European mountains. We applied regression analysis to test whether the intensity of mycorrhizal colonization is a good predictor of RGR and decomposition rate, and tested how these traits predict plant dominance in communities. Results: Forb species with a high level of field mycorrhizal colonization had lower RGR under nutritional and mycorrhizal limitation, while grasses were unaffected. Litter decomposition rate was not related to the intensity of mycorrhizal colonization. Dominant species mostly had a higher level of mycorrhizal colonization and lower RGR without mycorrhizal colonization than subordinate species, implying that they were more dependent on mycorrhizal symbionts. There were no differences in litter decomposability. Conclusions: In alpine herbaceous plant communities dominated by arbuscular mycorrhizae, nutrient dynamics are to a large extent controlled by mycorrhizal symbiosis. Intensity of mycorrhizal colonization is a negative predictor for whole plant RGR. Our study highlights the importance of mycorrhizal colonization as a key trait underpinning the role of plant species in carbon and nutrient dynamics in nutrient-limited herbaceous plant communities.


Incremental computation aims to speed up re-runs of a program after its inputs have been modified slightly. It works by recording a trace of the program's first run and propagating changes through the trace in incremental runs, trying to re-use as much of the original trace as possible. The recent work CostIt is a type and effect system to establish the time complexity of incremental runs of a program, as a function of input changes. However, CostIt is limited in two ways. First, it prohibits input changes that influence control flow. This makes it impossible to type programs that, for instance, branch on inputs that may change. Second, the soundness of CostIt is proved relative to an abstract cost semantics, but it is unclear how the semantics can be realized. In this paper, we address both these limitations. We present DuCostIt, a re-design of CostIt, that combines reasoning about costs of change propagation and costs of from-scratch evaluation. The latter lifts the restriction on control flow changes. To obtain the type system, we refine Flow Caml, a type system for information flow analysis, with cost effects. Additionally, we inherit from CostIt index refinements to track data structure sizes and a co-monadic type. Using a combination of binary and unary step-indexed logical relations, we prove DuCostIt's cost analysis sound relative to not only an abstract cost semantics, but also a concrete semantics, which is obtained by translation to an ML-like language.


OF DISSERTATION Secure and Authenticated Message Dissemination in Vehicular ad hoc Networks and an Incentive-based Architecture for Vehicular Cloud Vehicular ad hoc Networks (VANETs) allow vehicles to form a self-organized network. VANETs are likely to be widely deployed in the future, given the interest shown by industry in self-driving cars and satisfying their customers various interests. Problems related to Mobile ad hoc Networks (MANETs) such as routing, security, etc. have been extensively studied. Even though VANETs are special type of MANETs, solutions proposed for MANETs cannot be directly applied to VANETs because all problems related to MANETs have been studied for small networks. Moreover, in MANETs, nodes can move randomly. On the other hand, movement of nodes in VANETs are constrained to roads and the number of nodes in VANETs is large and covers typically large area. The following are the contributions of the thesis. Secure, authenticated, privacy preserving message dissemination in VANETs: When vehicles in VANET observe phenomena such as accidents, icy road condition, etc., they need to disseminate this information to vehicles in appropriate areas so the drivers of those vehicles can take appropriate action. When such messages are disseminated, the authenticity of the vehicles disseminating such messages should be verified while at the same time the anonymity of the vehicles should be preserved. Moreover, to punish the vehicles spreading malicious messages, authorities should be able to trace such messages to their senders when necessary. For this, we present an efficient protocol for the dissemination of authenticated messages. Incentive-based architecture for vehicular cloud: Due to the advantages such as flexibility and availability, interest in cloud computing has gained lot of attention in recent years. Allowing vehicles in VANETs to store the collected information in the cloud would facilitate other vehicles to retrieve this information when they need. In this thesis, we present a secure incentive-based architecture for vehicular cloud. Our architecture allows vehicles to collect and store information in the cloud; it also provides a mechanism for rewarding vehicles that contributing to the cloud. Privacy preserving message dissemination in VANETs: Sometimes, it is sufficient to ensure the anonymity of the vehicles disseminating messages in VANETs. We present a privacy preserving message dissemination protocol for VANETs.


Background:
 The association between hyperthyroidism and Takotsubo Cardiomyopathy (TTCM) has only been reported in isolated case reports and a recent single center study with inconclusive results. It is known that elevated thyroid hormone causes an increased sympathetic modulation of heart rate. It has also been shown that TTCM occurs in the setting of acute stressful illnesses involving excess catecholamine release. What is unclear is whether hyperthyroid states can predispose to TTCM. This is the first nationwide study of this association.

 Methods:
 We used ICD-9 CM codes to extract data from the Nationwide Inpatient Sample database from 2007-2011. Patients with TTCM and coexisting hyperthyroidism were compared with TTCM patients without coexisting hyperthyroidism. We excluded persons below the age of 18 as well as patients diagnosed with TTCM who later underwent percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). Multivariate logistic regression was used to assess the independent effect of coexisting hyperthyroidism on the occurrence of TTCM.

 Results:
 A total of 33,639,230 patients were included, where 123,923 patients had hyperthyroidism while 32,400,000 did not have hyperthyroidism. There were 101 (0.08%) TTCM patients with coexisting hyperthyroidism compared to 13,893 (0.04%) without (p<0.0001). In adjusted models, patients with hyperthyroidism had a higher risk of TTCM in the index hospital admission (aOR=1.43, 95% CI=1.18-1.74), independent of potential demographic, comorbid and lifestyle confounders. Hispanics with hyperthyroidism had the highest risk of TTCM (OR=1.41, 95% CI=1.39-1.44).

 Conclusion:
 In this large, nationwide study, hyperthyroidism was associated with increased risk of TTCM. This association was strongest among hispanics. Further research is needed to understand the mechanisms behind this association.


Business -- IT alignment calls for coordination between IT and business (non-IT) parts of an organization along different dimensions: strategic, structural, social, and cultural. The focus of this conceptual paper is on the social dimension of alignment -- the mutual understanding of business and IT stakeholders on the business and IT objectives and activities. In the face of an increasingly complex strategic context, growing coordination needs must be matched with respective coordination capabilities. We argue that business -- IT alignment at different organizational levels and for different stakeholders requires qualitatively different coordination capabilities, which pose distinct demands for the use of enterprise models. Using 4EM as an example, we investigate how enterprise models support these coordination capabilities as well as which intentions different IT and non-IT stakeholders have for enterprise modeling at different organizational levels.


ABSTRACT Marginal grain corrosion on calcareous grains present in the Lower Ordovician (El Paso Group) mound carbonates of west Texas, appears to be caused by the boring and perforating action of the primitive filamentous blue-green alga Girvanella. This boring and perforating action of algal filaments results in profound marginal corrosion of the skeletal and nonskeletal grains, and ultimately leads to grain breakdown and micrite formation within the corrosion rim. The mechanism of the algal boring and perforating process is unknown. Neither do we know much about the cause for the precipitation of micrite within the algal corrosion rim. Our observations tend to indicate that the micrite precipitation may be related to the algal life processes and decay. Partial recrystallization of the micritic corrosion rim or envelope around the grains occurs frequently. This may indicate prior leaching and the remobilization of the carbonate component during the penetrative stage of the algal filaments, or sometime during their decay. The boring and perforating action of the primitive filamentous algae appears to be a major influence in carbonate grain alteration, destruction, and eventual micrite formation. These primitive algae occur in sediments ranging in age from the Precambrian to the Recent where they are found abundantly in shallow water environments, generally shallower than 50 meters, and in all climatic zones. It is thought that the boring algae are important agents in early diagenetic particle and grain breakdown in carbonate sediments.


Chapter 1 The rate at which unicellular micro-organisms progress through the cell cycle is a major component of their evolutionary fitness. Measuring fitness phenotypes in a given environment or genetic background forms the basis of most quantitative assays of drug sensitivity or genetic interaction, including genome-wide assays. Growth rate is typically measured in bulk cell populations, inoculated with anything from hundreds to millions of cells sampled from purified, isogenic colonies. High-throughput microscopy reveals that striking levels of growth rate heterogeneity arise between isogenic cell lineages (Levy et al., 2012). Using published Saccharomyces cerevisiae data, I examine the implications for interpreting bulk, population scale growth rate observations, given observed levels of growth rate heterogeneity at the lineage level. I demonstrate that selection between cell lineages with a range of growth rates can give rise to an apparent lag phase at the population level, even in the absence of evidence for a lag phase at the lineage level. My simulations further predict that, given observed levels of heterogeneity, final populations should be dominated by one or a few lineages. Chapter 2 In order to validate and further explore the conclusions from Chapter 1, I re-analyzed high-throughput microscopy experiments carried out on Quantitative Fitness Analysis (QFA) S. cerevisiae cultures (Addinall et al., 2011), an approach referred to as μQFA. To allow for precise observation of purely clonal lineages including very fast-growing lineages and non-dividing cells, I re-designed an existing image analysis tool for μQFA, now available as an open source Python package. Fast-growing outliers in particular influence the extent of the lag phase apparent at the population level, making the precision of growth rate estimation a key ingredient for successfully simulating population observations. μ QFA data include population observations which I used to validate the population simulations generated from individual lineage data. I explored various options for modeling lineage growth curves and for carrying out growth rate parameter inference, and included the full workflow in an open source R package. Contact firstname.lastname@example.com


Introduction: Considering the high prevalence of anxiety and the need to investigate the effectiveness of psychological interventions in helping people with anxiety, this study aimed to explore the effectiveness of acceptance- and commitment-based therapy on social adjustment, psychological well-being and self-criticism in people with anxiety in the city of Ahvaz. Materials and Methods: This study was of an educational trial type in which the research population consisted of all the people with anxiety referring to clinics in the city of Ahvaz. From this population, 40 persons were selected using the convenience sampling method as the sample and were then assigned to each of the experimental and control groups using the simple random sampling method. The research design was experimental with a pretest-posttest and a control group. Data were collected using the social adjustment questionnaire, psychological well-being questionnaire and self-confidence questionnaire. In the experimental group, an intervention-based treatment, based on admission and commitment, was performed one session a week for eight weeks, each session lasting 120 minutes.  Both groups took a post-test at the end of the intervention and after a two-month follow up. Data were analyzed by multivariate analysis of covariance analysis using version 18 of the SPSS software. Results: The results showed that the intervention in the experimental group was based on all the three variables of social adjustment (F = 8.74, p= 0.000), psychological well-being (F = 39.31, p= 0.000) and self-criticism (F = 34/92 and p=000/0). Conclusion: The results of data analysis indicate the effect of acceptance- and commitment-based therapy on improving the psychological status of people with anxiety. Therefore, the use of this therapeutic approach by clinical therapists is recommended in treating people with anxiety.


Sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) was first defined in the USA as: 'The sudden death of an infant under one year of age which remains unexplained after a thorough case investigation, including performance of a complete autopsy, examination of the death scene, and review of the clinical history'. More recently, diverse studies have shown that some cases of SIDS can be explained, when an accurate post-mortem examination is performed. The primary objective of the present paper was to delineate possible causes of SIDS as derived from a review of autoptic studies reported in the literature.


Tungsten oxyfluoride glasses are characterized by low phonon energy. This is due to the presence of fluoride ions that have low phonon energy and formation of low phonon energy WO6 units. Oxyfluoride glasses based on WO3–BaF2–RF, where RF = LiF, NaF or mixed (LiF–NaF) have been prepared by melt quenching technique. The density and molar volume of the prepared glasses show a decrease with the increase of RF instead of WO3 content. The glass transition temperature Tg is found to decrease with increasing RF content. The refractive index increases with the addition of heavy polarizable fluorides. The decrease of the elastic moduli and microhardness of these glasses may be due to the decrease in density and the depolymrization effect. The Poisson's ratio increases with increasing RF content due to the structural changes and formation of (NBOs) and (NBF) units. The aim of this work is to prepare a glass host with low phonon energy to be an efficient host with good luminescence properties, when doped with rare earth ions, and to study its structural, thermal, optical and mechanical properties.


PARTICULARITES OF USING EDUCATIONAL SOFTWARE IN SPEECH THERAPY INTERVENTION FOR PUPILS WITH MENTAL DISABILITY

Authors
Popovici, D., University of Bucharest (Bucharest, Romania), email@example.com;?u?? L.I., Special School ,,Constantin P?unescu" (Bucharest, Romania), email@example.com
?u??, V.E., Special School ,,Constantin P?unescu" (Bucharest, Romania), email@example.com, Vasile, M., ., Special School ,,Constantin P?unescu" (Bucharest, Romania), email@example.com

Presentation
 In order to achieve and implement a useful educational software for speech therapy intervention for pupils with mental deficiency , it is necessary first to identify the most common existing language disorders in this population of students. Therefore, the first objective of the research was done by conducting a cross-section, constantative study. After evaluating a number of 91 students with mental disability from Special School "Constantin P?unescu ", we found that the most damage sounds for the students mentioned above are those from sigmatism and parasigmatism group .
 Educational software developed after obtaining these results, it is intended to correct the sounds that were highlighted as having the highest frequency damage, namely the sounds s, t and z and can be used successfully in the stages of consolidation and automation of the sounds.
 The second research of the paper was an experimental one and we intend to verify the assumption that the introduction in a program for computer-assisted speech and language intervention will lead to a faster correction of spelling disorders. Were selected two groups of students consisting of 10 subjects each (symmetric in terms of number and type of errors identified pronunciation), whose diagnosis was the damage of S sound. After applying differentiated speech therapy programs for the two groups (experimental group received speech therapy aided educational software and the control group received traditional speech therapy) we found that computer-aided speech therapy activities lead to achieving therapeutic goals in a shorter time and with better results .
 Research methods included tests of language assessment, observation, conversation, case study and students files verification. Tests for assessment of language followed measurement of sound articulation of the language, for independent speech and for the reflected speech, being extracted from a set of samples used in speech therapy practice.
 At the end of the research were conducted two case studies for two students from different research groups , in order to formulate some qualitative results of our research.


The discoidin domain receptor (DDR) is a new class of receptor tyrosine kinase that is distinguished by a unique extracellular domain homologous to the lectin Discoidin I found Dictyostelium discoideum. A cosmid was isolated from a human chromosome 6 cosmid library containing the DDR gene. A complete genomic contig of the DDR gene was constructed from seven subclones of the cosmid. The cosmid fragments were analyzed by PCR, sequencing, and comparison of genomic/cDNA sequence. The DDR gene is composed of 17 exons, ranging in size from 96 to 1014 bp, distributed along approximately 12 kb of genomic DNA. The extracellular domain is encoded by 8 exons of which three code for the discoidin domain. The transmembrane domain is encoded by 1 exon, the juxtamembrane by 3 exons, and the catalytic domain by 5 exons. The generation of the two splice variants of DDR, EDDR1 and EDDR2 are explained by the genomic structure. Exon 11 (111 bp in the juxtamembrane domain) is present in DDR and absent in the splice variant EDDR1. An inverted repeat of 20 bp was identified at the 3' exon-intron junction of exon 11, which results in a lariat loop-like secondary structure. EDDR2 is generated because of a cryptic splice acceptor site that results in an extra 18 bp (6 amino acids) inserted 5' of exon 14 in the catalytic domain. A polymorphic (GT)17 repeat was identified in intron 5 with a heterozygosity of 0.71. The exon-intron structure of the DDR gene will be helpful in further understanding of its function and explains the possible structural basis for the two splice variants.


Part of a new series built on the authority of Rob Thompsons highly acclaimed "Manufacturing Processes for Design Professionals", this book features new content selected specifically for the needs of students who create prototypes, designs for low-volume production runs, and designs that utilize craft. With some 450 specially commissioned photographs and technical illustrations, it describes more than 30 manufacturing processes, from the traditional and established to emerging technologies.


Provision and utilization information resources of various types are important in every educational setting to sustain learning activities. The study investigated factors affecting information resources utilization such as information literacy skills and availability of alternative format by visually impaired students in South-West. Descriptive survey design was adopted and the study population consisted of 164 visually impaired students in eight secondary schools selected for the study. Total enumeration sampling technique was adopted for this study. The questionnaire tagged 'Visually Impaired Persons Questionnaire (VIPQ) was the instrument used for data collection. Data was analyzed using descriptive statistics for the four research questions and five research hypotheses were tested using Pearson product moment correlation and multiple regressions, respectively. The questionnaire was pre-tested and reliability coefficient of 0.71, 0.75 and 0.81 was found for information literacy skills of the visually impaired, alternative formats availability and utilization of information resources, respectively. Braille books [84 (52.2%)] and large print books/serial [69 (43.3%)] were the readily available alternative format of information to students with visual impairment. Books [116 (73%)] and internet sources [62 (39.0%)] constitute the most frequently used information resources. The result showed relationship that information literacy skills of persons with visual impairment have significant relationship with information resources utilization in the selected libraries (r = 0.248**; p < 0.05); alternative format availability has relationship with the with information resources utilization (r = 0.068; p<0.01). The study recommended among others, provision of information resources in alternative formats for persons with visual impairment in school libraries coupled with incorporation of information literacy skills into their curriculum for the visually impaired students so as to ensure long-life learning and utilization of information resources.


Unicellular eukaryotes are abundant in most aquatic environments and contribute in several ways to ecosystems. For example, they act as producers, as primary and secondary consumers, and they aid in the decrease and control of bacteria communities and in nutrient cycling. The aim of this study was to describe the abundance and distribution of unicellular eukaryotes in Ponta Pora stream and in its main tributary streams, as well as possible relationships between their presence and water quality on the sampled sites. We selected six sites (locals), considering headwaters (L1 and L2), downstreams (L5 and L6) and the main pollution source (L3). We used similarity and canonical correspondence analysis to evaluate relationships between microorganism abundance and distribution to abiotic variables (dissolved oxygen, pH, temperature, turbidity and conductivity). Abundance was related to the increase of organic and inorganic sediment due to decomposition and erosion. We had a variation on the genera distribution, with slight predominance of ciliates, and some genera used as eutrophicated environmental indicators. The presence of Vorticella, Saprodinium, Paramecium, Metopus and Chilodonella suggests an environment ranging from polysaprobic to olygosaprobic. Urostyla, that has been used as water quality indicators, the flagellate Cercomonas, that has broad dispersion in aquatic environments, Didinium, a ciliate predator widely dispersed, Synura, a chrysophyte sensitive to basic pH and high temperatures, and Amoeba, frequently found in clean or in depuration process waters, may suggest a recuperating environment, since they are also found on lesser impacted sites.


Durability indicates a system's ability to preserve committed data in the long term. It is one of the key requirements for storage systems. Various fault tolerance strategies have been proposed for traditional distributed databases, peer-to-peer (P2P) systems, and grid systems. These strategies were all developed for specific platforms and application types and have been tailored to the characteristics of the underlying system architectures and application requirements. Cloud systems differ from these previous frameworks in that they are designed to support large numbers of customer-oriented applications, each with different quality of service (QoS) requirements and resource consumption characteristics. Moreover, most cloud architectures are deployed over large-scale geographically distributed infrastructures, raising challenges on data durability as well as system efficiency and scalability. In this paper, we investigated different approaches to the design of durable data cloud platforms. In particular, we consider prevailing cloud platforms and cloud-based applications and examine the impacts of different redundancy and repair strategies to enhance the durability of the data in the cloud. We verify the performance of various approaches to data durability in the Cloud through extensive simulations.


Despite the relevance of text type to translation practice, especially to Chinese-English non-literary translation in which the two languages display remarkable textual differences, there has been a general lack of attention to the text type-related issues in translation teaching in Chinese universities. Centered upon translation of literary works, the teaching has long focused on techniques at the lexical and syntactic level, and a text-based approach has yet to be adopted. This coincides with the clear tendency in the assignment of non-literary translation that students are quite active in making adaptation at the lexical and syntactic level, but much more reluctant to make decisions at the textual level. Despite their intuitive awareness of the textual differences between the two languages, they are not well trained to effectively deal with such differences so that the translated text can fulfill its communicative function. This article is an attempt to pinpoint this problem and highlight the necessity of including text type in translation pedagogy. It also experimentally proposes a new teaching framework within which text type is taught in a systematic manner.


This paper compares the dynamic and static models of a Lithium-ion battery pack with its electrochemical model as energy storage of an electric vehicle according to the environmental protection agency drive cycles. The dynamic model or the RC equivalent circuit includes a voltage source and double parallel resistor and capacitor networks which are connected in series. The static model includes a voltage source and resistors. Given drive cycles, these models are compared in terms of the battery voltage, state-of-charge, and power loss in an electric vehicle in MapleSim software. Although the state-of-charge and power loss of both models are identical to each other, actually the terminal voltage of the dynamic model is close to the electrochemical battery pack. Indeed, the dynamic model accuracy is much more than the static model, especially when the vehicle velocity variation is high.


Through the Uruguay Round Agreement on Agriculture (URAA), the multilateral trade negotiations saw a turning point in the inclusion of agriculture in the trade liberalization debate. This development bears important implications for developing countries, including those of SADC, who have agricultural as a critical element of their economic growth, poverty alleviation, and food security. This article reviews the progress of SADC countries towards implementation of the URAA. We find that the extent of SADC countries support to the agricultural sector is still within the URAA provisions. However, despite certain preferential trade agreements in place between SADC and the developed world, trade barriers are still high in many developed countries. A barrier-free access to developed country markets has important growth and poverty alleviation implications for SADC countries.


Logistic regression is an important technique for analyzing and predicting data with categorical attributes. In this paper, We consider supporting online analytical processing (OLAP) of logistic regression analysis for multi-dimensional data in a data cube where it is expensive in time and space to build logistic regression models for each cell from the raw data. We propose a novel scheme to compress the data in such a way that we can reconstruct logistic regression models to answer any OLAP query without accessing the raw data. Based on a first-order approximation to the maximum likelihood estimating equations, we develop a compression scheme that compresses each base cell into a small compressed data block with essential information to support the aggregation of logistic regression models. Aggregation formulae for deriving high-level logistic regression models from lower level component cells are given. We prove that the compression is nearly lossless in the sense that the aggregated estimator deviates from the true model by an error that is bounded and approaches to zero when the data size increases. The results show that the proposed compression and aggregation scheme can make feasible OLAP of logistic regression in a data cube. Further, it supports real-time logistic regression analysis of stream data, which can only be scanned once and cannot be permanently retained. Experimental results validate our theoretical analysis and demonstrate that our method can dramatically save time and space costs with almost no degradation of the modeling accuracy.


Road condition acquisition and assessment are the key to guarantee their permanent availability. In order to maintain a country's whole road network, millions of high-resolution images have to be analyzed annually. Currently, this requires cost and time excessive manual labor. We aim to automate this process to a high degree by applying deep neural networks. Such networks need a lot of data to be trained successfully, which are not publicly available at the moment. In this paper, we present the GAPs dataset, which is the first freely available pavement distress dataset of a size, large enough to train high-performing deep neural networks. It provides high quality images, recorded by a standardized process fulfilling German federal regulations, and detailed distress annotations. For the first time, this enables a fair comparison of research in this field. Furthermore, we present a first evaluation of the state of the art in pavement distress detection and an analysis of the effectiveness of state of the art regularization techniques on this dataset.


This review article discusses Yves Cohen's recent book Le siecle des chefs: Une histoire transnationale du commandement et de l'autorite (1890-1940) . Cohen provides an extensive analysis of discourses on leadership in France, the Soviet Union, Germany and the United States. He also studies how leadership was practiced, by French and Soviet factory directors as well as by Stalin himself. While giving due credit to the scope and sophistication of his book, the review article asks whether Cohen's focus on scientific discourses and highly structured organisations leaves sufficient room for contingency. It argues that interwar political leadership in interwar Europe was not least about seeing and seizing opportunities in unforeseeable circumstances, often thriving on a positive fascination with crises and states of emergency. It also points out that, contrary to what the combined title and subtitle suggest, "le siecle des chefs" hardly ended in 1939, and that the quest for leadership continues to preoccupy present-day societies, cultures and polities.


For the next step in raising the level of abstraction in software development, Kent (Kent,
2002) proposed an approach for Model Driven Engineering (MDE). With MDE it is
possible to raise the level of abstraction such that decisions can be made regardless the
implementation language. Business rules can be defined on a higher level so in fact
programming happens at the level of models. Model transformations allow models to
be turned into other models, for instance models of source code or other less abstract
models.
This thesis is about model‐to‐model and model‐to‐text transformations. Usually modelto‐
text aspects of thoughts are omitted because the text to be generated can also be
modeled and thus a model‐to‐model transformation should be sufficient. Because in
this thesis we focus on incremental model changes and also incremental changing the
files in the file system, we explicitly studied model‐to‐text transformation approaches to
keep model and text synchronized. In this thesis we use different terms for model‐tomodel
and model‐to‐text transformations. We use the term transformation when we
are dealing with models as logical entities, we use the term generation when we are
dealing with files as physical entities. For instance, in a model‐to‐text transformation the
model will be transformed and the output will be generated files; the generation of files
is due to the transformation of a model. We studied the possibilities to perform specific
file generation and file modification based on a set of changes to a model.
In our approach we started investigating state of the art modeling environments and
concluded that they were not able to perform an incremental model place, with in‐place
updates to a model. Also they did not support model‐to‐text transformations so for that
reason we presented our own approach. The approach we propose in this thesis is an
imperative approach that is able to perform model‐to‐model and model‐to‐text
transformations in parallel. We also present several implementations of our approach
and benchmarked them against each other to see which implementation is the most
efficient when performing different types of (straightforward) transformations. Our
results show that incremental model changes are indeed possible and also in an efficient
way, optimized to the target platform.


In bandwidth abundant optical networks, the Grouped Routing Entity (GRE) concept is a cost-efficient alternative used instead of waveband routing. It offers all the benefits of the waveband routing (i.e., reduced number of ports), without using expensive wavelength cross connects (WXCs) required in hierarchical optical networks. In fact in a GRE-based optical network wavelength channel add/drop operations are accomplished via Wavelength Selective Switches (WSS) or with optical couplers. The objective of this paper is to further investigate the benefits of GRE-based optical networks in a scenario where survivability is required. In this paper a dedicated protection scheme is proposed, where wavelength paths are efficiently routed using mostly disjoint working and backup GRE pipes (i.e., working and backup pipes are allowed to share some common nodes along their paths). Numerical experiments demonstrate that significant hardware scale reduction at the switching nodes can be obtained by using the proposed network design algorithm.


Solid-oxide electrolysis technology (SOEC) can efficiently convert electricity from renewable sources into H2 via steam electrolysis, or syngas (a mixture of H2 and CO2) via co-electrolysis of steam and CO2. Co-SOEC provides the advantage of better thermal integration for standalone applications or with other industrial processes. In this paper two promising cases are investigated from the perspective of life-cycle assessment to evaluate the potential of reducing carbon emissions: (1) coupling co-SOEC with a cement plant, and (2) integrating co-SOEC into a biomass gasification plant. Life cycle assessment was performed based on the collection of comprehensive information regarding the electricity sources for different scenarios and a sensitivity analysis was included to verify the consistency of the results. The results show that in both cases the co-electrolysis system can be beneficial in terms of reduction of global warming potential, although it depends heavily on the geographic location and on the share of renewable energy. The highest benefits among the cases reviewed were found in the case of a coal-fed cement plant, where annual CO2 savings reached up to 2.39E + 05 tonnes CO2-eq in France with 23.6% of the electricity provided by photovoltaics (PV). In Germany, on the other hand, both cases first show benefits when the renewable share reaches a very high percentage of the electricity input: 50% provided by PV for the case of the cement plant and 82% for the case of a biomass-gasification unit. Since electricity input is the main impact concerning power-to-gas applications, the carbon content of the electricity grid mix is very important. As grid mixes become 'cleaner' in the future with more renewable share in the electricity generation in every country, the investigated applications are expected to provide even higher benefits.


By an inadvertence it was said in a notice of this work in our April issue ,thaJl; Prof. Leuba's classification of types of human behavior 'as; 1. mechanical, 2. coercitive, including magic, 3. anthropopruthic, including religion, was developed by him in the preparation of his DOeOOr's Thesis. I regret this rather careless error. My characterization 'Of the work, otherwise, while quite summary, I'Iepresents my estimate of the work, which is one of exrtJensive scholarship and learning but dominated by what seems to me a ratally defective method. In the main I indorse the elaborate and detailed criticism of the work in the Princeton Review of April, ,although it did not seem to me worth while to treat the work quite so seriously. I regret that in my absence this note was omitted in our July issue. W. O. CARVER.


Although there have been a few studies investigating the location of teleost fish aquaporins. To date little is still known concerning this topic. In the eel, eleven aquaporin genes have been cloned and sequenced from osmoregulatory tissues such as gill, gut and kidney and custom antibodies raised against specific aquaporin peptide antigens. Results show that eel aquaporin 1 (aquaporin 1) is expressed in the apical membranes of a subset of renal tubules and in endothelial cells lining blood vessels as shown previously. A duplicate copy of aquaporin1, AQP1dup (AQP1b using zebrafish nomenclature) was also expressed in a subset of renal tubules but was located in vesicles in the apical pole of the tubule cells rather than in the apical membrane. Aquaporin 8 (AQP8ab in zebrafish) was also expressed in a subset of renal tubules but was located in the basal pole of cells and also stained red blood cells, whereas AQP8b (AQP8aa in zebrafish) expression was located in and adjacent to, cells expressing chromogenic pigment granules. Aquaporin 4b, a novel eel aquaporin was expressed in lines or rings of cells, in unknown structures not associated with either renal tubules or blood vessels. For aquaglyceroporins, AQP3 stained only red blood cells whereas AQPe (AQP10b in zebrafish), stained connective tissue with weak staining in the basal pole of some renal tubules.


Particle-based simulations using the discrete element method are applied for the sintering of thin ceramic stripes that are constrained by a rigid substrate. The inhibition of lateral particle movement in vicinity of the substrate leads to a preferred shrinkage direction perpendicular to the substrate, which causes shape distortion as well as delamination of the stripe at the interface edges. Multiple processing parameters are varied in simulations to analyze their influence on the mentioned effects. The amount of particle rearrangement and the height to width aspect ratio of the cross-section are identified to be factors that determine the level of shape distortion and edge delamination. The simulation results are compared with measurements of stripes produced by soft micromolding in capillaries. Good accordance is observed regarding parameters like axial and lateral shrinkage or delamination angle.


Abstract:Legal scholars worry that the human rights framework offers little leverage against the problem of economic inequality. By contrast, I argue that Article 25 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (the right to an adequate standard of living) does provide such leverage. Given the realities of ecological overshoot, if we want to ratchet up the incomes of the poor in order to satisfy their rights under Article 25, we can no longer rely on the usual strategy of aggregate economic growth. Instead, this objective requires shifting existing income from the global rich to the global poor.


Youth care organizations and municipalities were faced with new challenges to cope with after the decentralization of youth care in 2015. The aim of this research has been to describe these challenges from the perspective of the people working in youth care. To describe the contemporary situation, the book 'Jeugdhulp & Jeugdbeleid' by Clarijs (2016) has been applied, supplemented by a wide variety of other sources. The theories applied in this research are Street-level bureaucracy as described by Lipsky (2010), supplemented by Street-level leadership by Vinzant & Crothers (1998). To research the field, seven interviews have been conducted: Four interviews at youth care organizations, one at a social neighbourhood team and two at municipalities. These interviewees hold various positions within youth care. In general, they hold managerial positions in which they are also directly involved with clients in their daily work.
The first researched aspect entails the influence of the decentralization on the working conditions of youth care employees. In general, youth care employees had perceived an influence in their working conditions due to the decentralization. These influences vary between organizations, however, the main influence perceived by all organizations is related to the administrative burden. The perceived increase, or when administration did not decrease even though this was contemplated, had negatively influenced the working conditions of youth care employees. In the second research question, similar findings are found related to the (perceived) workload. Youth care employees felt an increase in the workload due to the added administrative burden. In addition, there is also the influence of the 'network approaches' that are now being applied. The network approach is a method of solving situations which actively involves the network of the client. Network approaches are designed to result in durable solutions by enabling the network to solve their own future problems. It should be noted that network approaches, even though they add to the workload, are considered to be positive due to their effectivity on youth care related problems. In the third research question, the focus has been on how youth care clients are affected by the decentralization. The main findings of this research that influence the clients are the application of network approaches, and the shortening of trajectories. However, even though they are shorter, clients stay in contact with youth care organizations after they went through their trajectories. This way, clients are less likely to see their situation escalate after their trajectories. Lastly, in the explanations chapter there is emphasis on how the youth care employees deal with the changes due to the decentralization. This research concludes that the following coping mechanisms can be found in youth care: rationing and routinization. Routinization is due to the fact that the trajectories are being shortened, and rationing because youth care is aiming to provide youth care to the clients that need it the most.


Modified nucleosides have become cornerstones of treatment for patients with cancer or viral infections. Moreover, they are excreted in the urine of cancer patients in high levels and are considered to be potential tumor biomarkers. ATP and its analogues play an important role in several functions of the cardiovascular system. Moreover, circulating nucleotides have therapeutic importance on the progression of metabolic disorders. Thus, their detection and quantization are important. To gain in selectivity, the design of artificial polymer receptors, so-called molecularly imprinted polymers (MIPs) that can selectively recognize nucleotide bases, has gained importance from the theoretical application point of view. We will initially review the articles that are interested in the development of MIPs for the recognition of nucleoside analogues. Then, the second part of the chapter will describe the work published on the use of MIPs in the field of separation techniques and sample pretreatment. The final part will summarize research where the MIP technology can improve the analytical selectivity of the sensors of all types.


The effect of inclusion of an anti coccidial drug (lasalocid) and supplementation of growth promotant (bayonox) in broiler chicken diets were assessed by a feeding trial. Three levels of lasalocid (60,75 and 90 ppm) and one level of bayonox (10 ppm) were included in the diets. The birds were fed ad libitum for a period of 42 days. There was significant effect of lasalocid supplemention on either growth rate, food consumption or food conversion ratio. However, growth rate tended to increase on 60 ppm lasalocid supplementation. The addition of bayonox significantly (P<0.05) increased growth rate, whilst there were no significant interaction effect of supplementation of lasalocid and bayonox on growth rate, food consumption and food conversion ratio.


Background and Purpose: The early stroke rehabilitation literature raised concerns that resistance training might adversely affect movement performance by increasing spasticity. But no empirical evidence supports these claims. Moreover, there is mounting evidence that progressive resistance strength training is effective in improving muscle strength following stroke. The purpose of the present study was to examine the effectiveness of task-oriented progressive resistance strength training on lower extremity strength and functional performance in chronic stroke subjects. Methodology: Total of 30 patients was divided in to two groups and one group is given strength training and another is given task oriented strength training. The improvement in step length, staid length, cadence and lower limb muscle strengths were compared between both groups. Results: The results of this study have revealed that there is no significant change noticed in both the groups with regards to parameters such as quadriceps (p=0.0657), dorsiflexors strength (p=0.0657), step length (p=0.2413), stride length (p=0.6798), and cadence (p=0.1403).The results indicated no significant difference in gait parameters between groups and the strength improvement is more in task oriented strength training group. Conclusion: Both strength training and task oriented strength training are similar in getting effects in functional recovery and strength gain. This means strength training also as effective as task oriented strength training if the technique of application and specific set of exercises are not incorporated in task oriented strength training protocols.


E pilepsy is often regarded as a benign condition, but there is little doubt that people with epilepsy are two to three times more likely to die prematurely than those without it. The risk is not uniform over the lifetime of a person with epilepsy, nor across different populations. Epilepsy is a symptom of a variety of conditions, and the mortality may be different for each condition. In the early years after the diagnosis of epilepsy most deaths are likely to be caused by the background aetiology of the epilepsy—for example, tumours, trauma, degenerative conditions, or cerebrovascular diseases. In this group it is unlikely that treatment of epilepsy will of its own improve the prognosis for life. People with epilepsy are subject to the same causes of death as the population without epilepsy, but there are some specific ways in which mortality differs. Those with epilepsy may be more likely to die as a result of suicide than the general population, and are more likely to die accidentally. Status epilepticus can occur de novo in people without existing epilepsy, but around half of all cases occur in those already known to have epilepsy. It carries a significant risk of mortality. The population with epilepsy is also at risk from sudden unexpected death in epilepsy (SUDEP). There is controversy about the risk of dying from ischaemic heart disease in people with epilepsy, but mortality is increased for various forms of malignancy. 3 In an estimation of death in a cohort of people with epilepsy, 30% of those dying over an eight year period died of accidents, 23% died suddenly, 16% died in status epilepticus, and 14% committed suicide. Some of these deaths are potentially preventable.


ABSTRACT Introduction: ATAD2 protein is an emerging oncogene that has strongly been linked to the etiology of multiple advanced human cancers. Therapeutically, despite the fact that genetic suppression/knockdown studies have validated it as a compelling drug target for future therapeutic development, recent druggability assessment data suggest that direct targeting of ATAD2's bromodomain (BRD) may be a very challenging task. ATAD2's BRD has been predicted as a 'difficult to drug' or 'least druggable' target due to the concern that its binding pocket, and the areas around it, seem to be unfeasible for ligand binding. Areas covered: In this review, after shedding light on the multifaceted roles of ATAD2 in normal physiology as well as in cancer-etiology, we discuss technical challenges rendered by ATAD2's BRD active site and the recent drug discovery efforts to find small molecule inhibitors against it. Expert opinion: The identification of a novel low-nanomolar semi-permeable chemical probe against ATAD2's BRD by recent drug discovery campaign has demonstrated it to be a pharmacologically tractable target. Nevertheless, the development of high quality bioavailable inhibitors against ATAD2 is still a pending task. Moreover, ATAD2 may also potentially be utilized as a promising target for future development of RNAi-based therapy to treat cancers.


Objective: This study aimed to collect data on features of parasuicide cases presented to Hospital Melaka from January to December 2015. Methods:  This was a descriptive study with retrospective review of medical records of parasuicide cases that were warded for observation in Hospital Melaka from January to December 2015. Data collected included sociodemographic factors, previous attempts, methods implicated and reasons for parasuicide which were presented in descriptive statistics. Results: A total of 88 parasuicide cases were studied. The median age was 25.6 (17.7) with a majority in age group between 15-24 years old (43.2%). Females were the highest with 58 cases (65.9%). In terms of ethnicity, the Malays was the highest at 38 cases (43.2 %). However, after corrected to proportion of ethnicity in Melaka, Indians yield the highest cases. Those who were single (50.0%) and unemployed (64.8%) contributed to higher number of cases. About 40 cases (45.5%) had underlying psychiatry illness and majority of them were those diagnosed with major depressive disorder (47.5%). In general, the most common method used was self poisoning with anti-epileptics, sedative-hypnotic, psychotropics (22.1%). Among male cases, pesticide ingestion (37%) was more common while among female, medication overdose (53%) was preferred. In terms of reasons for parasuicide, individuals with interpersonal conflicts contributed to the highest percentage of cases (57.7%). Conclusion: Data gathered in this study is useful to reflect the current situation of parasuicide in Melaka and could serve as a foundation in designing future studies on preventive and intervention programs in Hospital Melaka. Please click PDF below to download the full paper...


The properties of two-dimensional (2D) layered membrane systems can be medullated by the stacking arrangement and the heterostructure composition of the membrane. This largely affects the performance and stability of such membranes. Here, we have used first-principle density functional theory calculations to conduct a comparative study of two heterostructural bilayer systems of the 2D-MXene (Ti3C2T2, T = F, O, and OH) sheets with graphene and silver nanoparticles (AgNPs). For all considered surface terminations, the binding energy of the MXene/graphene and MXene/AgNPs bilayers increases as compared with graphene/graphene and MXene/MXene bilayer structures. Such strong interlayer interactions are due to profound variations of electrostatic potential across the layers. Larger interlayer binding energies in MXene/graphene systems were obtained even in the presence of water molecules, indicating enhanced stability of such a hybrid system against delamination. We also studied the structural properties of Ti3C2X2 MXene (X = F, O and OH) decorated with silver nanoclusters Agn (n ≤ 6). We found that regardless of surface functionalization, Ag nanoclusters were strongly adsorbed on the surface of MXene. In addition, Ag nanoparticles enhanced the binding energy between MXene layers. These findings can be useful in enhancing the structural properties of MXene membranes for water purification applications.


This paper investigates how particular collocations and colligations are associated with discourse functions of unspecific anaphoric nouns. Unspecific anaphoric nouns such as problem, reason, idea and fault, called labels here, encapsulate and replace a preceding stretch of discourse. Such nouns used as a cohesive device also perform an evaluative function by recategorizing their specific meanings. Labels prefer particular syntactic environments according to the discourse function that is highlighted. Corpus-based research also reveals that unspecific nouns differ in their favoured syntactic pattern and in the favoured premodifiers used in each pattern. Differences between writing and speech in collocations and colligations associated with labels are also attributed to the different discourse functions they realize in each genre. paper argues that discourse dimensions should be brought into collocational and colligational descriptions of words that have discourse-managing functions.


In this paper we introduce and analyze a model of sedimentation based on a solid velocity formulation. A particular feature of the governing equations is given by the fact that the velocity field is non-divergence free. We introduce extra variables such as the pseudostress tensor relating the velocity gradient with the pressure, thus leading to a mixed variational formulation consisting of two systems of equations coupled through their source terms. A result of existence and uniqueness of solutions is shown by means of a fixed-point strategy and the help of the Babuška-Brezzi theory and Banach theorem. Additionally, we employ suitable finite dimensional subspaces to approximate both systems of equations via associated mixed finite element methods. The well-posedness of the resulting coupled scheme is also treated via a fixed-point approach, and hence the discrete version of the existence and uniqueness result is derived analogously to the continuous case. The above is then combined with a finite volume method for the transport equation. Finally, several numerical results illustrating the performance of the proposed model and the full numerical scheme, and confirming the theoretical rates of convergence, are presented.


A new process of Al2O3 production from low-grade diasporic bauxite based on the reactive silica dissolution and stabilization in concentrated NaOH-NaAl(OH)4 solutions is proposed and proved feasible. NaOH and Al2O3 concentrations and leaching temperature were found to be the main factors affecting the leaching process of reactive silica. The A/S (mass ratio of Al2O3/SiO2) of diasporic bauxite was enhanced from 5.4 to 15 by reactive silica removal under the optimum operation conditions. Two obvious steps control the whole leaching process of reactive silica in NaOH-NaAl(OH)4 media: reactive silica dissolution and desilication products (DSPs) precipitation. The kinetics data of two controlling steps fit a shrinking core model based on the calculation of OH- activity with the aid of OLI platform and an empirical kinetic model well, respectively. Apparent activation energies of reactive silica leaching in the temperature range from 80 to 110 degrees C are 101.91 and 58.65 kJ mol-1 for the two steps, respectively. The stabilization mechanism of reactive silica in concentrated NaOH-NaAl(OH)4 solution was also elucidated based on the complexation of aluminum-bearing species and the calculation of supersaturation to DSP. It was found that the concentration of OH- sharply decreases due to the formation of Al(OH)?4- species with increasing aluminum concentration, suppressing greatly DSP precipitation. This proposed process paves the way for Al2O3 production from low-grade diasporic bauxite with high-reactive silica content. (C) 2011 American Institute of Chemical Engineers AIChE J, 2012


Arrhythmia is a heartbeat abnormality that can be harmless or harmful. It depends on what kind of arrhythmia that the patient suffers. People with arrhythmia usually feel the same physical symptoms but every arrhythmia requires different treatments. For arrhythmia detection, the cardiologist uses electrocardiogram that represents the cardiac electrical activity. And it is a kind of sequential data with high complexity. So the high performance classification method to help the arrhythmia detection is needed. In this paper, Long Short-Term Memory (LSTM) method was used to classify the arrhythmia. The performance was boosted by using AdaDelta as the adaptive learning rate method. As a comparison, it was compared to LSTM without adaptive learning rate. And the best result that showed high accuracy was obtained by using LSTM with AdaDelta. The correct classification rate was 98% for train data and 97% for test data.


Acknowledgements for the First Edition. Preface to the Second Edition. Introduction. Part I: Theology and Liberalism:. 1. Political Theology and the New Science of Politics. 2. Political Economy as Theodicy and Agonistics. Part II: Theology and Positivism:. 3. Sociology I: From Malebranche to Durkheim. 4. Sociology II: From Kant to Weber. 5. Policing the Sublime: A Critique of the Sociology of Religion. Part III: Theology and Dialectics:. 6. For and Against Hegel. 7. For and Against Marx. 8. Founding the Supernatural: Political and Liberation Theology in the Context of Modern Catholic Thought. Part IV: Theology and Difference:. 9. Science, Reality and Power. 10. Ontological Violence or, The Post-Modern Problematic. 11. Difference of Virtue, Virtue of Difference. 12. The Other City: Theology as a Social Science. Index of Names.


OBJECT
The Chiari I malformation presents significant challenges to clinicians because its pathophysiology is not well understood. In conducting cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) flow studies, investigators have attempted to correlate the clinical severity of these lesions with general flow velocity or bulk flow at the foramen magnum; however, these techniques have not allowed consistent prediction of symptomatology, explanation of the presence of syringomyelia, or the assessment of the hydrodynamic characteristics of the decompression. The authors used temporally and spatially resolved flow analyses to assess the characteristics of CSF flow in children with Chiari I malformation and the changes in these flow characteristics that occur after suboccipital decompression.

METHODS
The authors studied eight children with symptomatic Chiari I malformation with or without syringomyelia and two children without Chiari I malformation. All patients underwent phase-contrast magnetic resonance imaging before and after posterior fossa decompression. Velocity plots were displayed for each voxel. Several indices of CSF flow were developed to characterize the flow patterns associated with Chiari I malformation. In children with symptomatic Chiari I malformation, even though bulk flow or velocity is often normal, there was marked heterogeneity of flow at the foramen magnum. This was evident for several reasons: 1) an increase in cephalad and caudad peak velocities; 2) spatial inhomogeneity in velocities; 3) simultaneous bidirectional flow; and 4) substantial net craniad or caudad flows within particular voxels and subregions during the cardiac cycle. After posterior fossa decompression, the severity of these flow abnormalities decreased.

CONCLUSIONS
Foramen magnum CSF flow in children with symptomatic Chiari I malformations is spatially and temporally heterogeneous, and this heterogeneity improves postoperatively. The authors propose that relying on mean flow parameters in patients with Chiari I malformation is no longer sufficient; instead, more elaborate techniques to analyze foramen magnum CSF flow have become necessary.


We demonstrate that careful optimization of main-pulse–prepulse time delay and target curvature permits lasing and saturation to be achieved in Ni-like collisionally excited ions at pump energies that are achievable with tabletop systems. Saturation of the 13.9-nm, J=0–1 line of Ag, which has a gain–length product of 15.3, was obtained by use of a single prepulse pumping scheme and a pump energy of less than 30 J in 100 ps.


The widespread use of tiny electrical devices, from microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) to portable personal electronics, provides a new challenge in the miniaturization and integration of power supply systems. Towards this goal, we have recently demonstrated a bio-inspired nanofluidic energy harvesting system that converts salinity gradient energy from the ambient environment into sustainable electricity with single ion-selective nanopores (Adv. Funct. Mater. 2010, 20, 1339). The nanofluidic reverse electrodialysis system (NREDS) significantly improves the performance of conventional membrane-based reverse electrodialysis systems due to a higher ionic flux and a lower fluidic resistance. However, the fundamental working mechanism of the NREDS has been largely unexplored in the literature. In this work we have systematically investigated the performance of the NREDS in relation to the electrolyte type and the charge selectivity of the nanofluidic channel using both experimental and theoretical approaches. Experimental results show that the short-circuit current, the open-circuit voltage, and the resulting electric power of the NREDS are very sensitive to the ionic composition of the electrolyte solution. Through an in-depth theoretical analysis, two dominant factors that govern the charge separation and ion selectivity of the nanochannels were identified. The results prove that, with well-matched electrolyte types and nanopore charge selectivity, the harvested electric power and energy conversion efficiency can be improved by nearly two orders of magnitude.


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