In order to meet the requirements for total nitrogen removal in sensitive area, as specified by the EC Standards, existing high-rate or medium loaded activated sludge plants treating only carbonaceous pollution have to be upgraded. Two attractive technical solutions are proposed. Depending on both the design and operational conditions of the activated sludge plants, all existing treatment facilities will be reused for nutrient removal with either an immobilized nitrifying system implemented directly in the existing activated sludge tank or with an additional up-flow nitrifying biofilter. Both technical solutions enable the effluent total nitrogen concentration to be as low as 10 mg TN/l. When a high or medium loaded activated sludge plant with primary settling tanks is designed for a HRT of more than five hours, the Pegazur immobilized carrier system can be implemented directly in the biological reactors. The existing aeration tank is divided into anoxic and aerated zones, and the nitrifying Biocubes are introduced in the aerated one. Such an upgraded activated sludge system (which did not nitrify before the upgrading) can reach a maximum eliminated loading rate of 0.5 kg NH 4 –N per m 3 of aerated volume per day at 12°C. This solution was used to upgrade the 120,000 p.e. Bellozanne Sewage Treatment Works, Jersey, Channel Islands, UK. When an existing high rate activated sludge plant is designed for a HRT of less than five hours, the activated sludge tank can be transformed into a high-rate denitrifying anoxic reactor, coupled to a nitrifying Biofor up-flow filter. The high-rate anoxic sludge is continuously controlled by an ORP probe in order to ensure both the denitrifying conditions and recycle ratios are at their optimum level. This controlled operation and high water velocities applied to the nitrifying up-flow Biofor enable the operational mode to switch from dry weather conditions to wet weather conditions where the recycle of nitrified liquor is switched off and the high loaded anoxic sludge is temprarily aerated.


When travelling in space, humans perceive the environment and evaluate it affectively. This chapter illustrates how mobile crowdsourcing and social media data can be used to study people's affective responses to different environments. It also showcases how these affective responses can be used to provide a better understanding of human?environment interaction, as well as to enable smart geospatial applications (particularly navigation systems). This chapter also discusses some essential challenges that need further investigations when crowdsourcing people's affective responses. Some of these challenges are participation motivating, data quality and privacy.


This article is a review of recent Swedish leadership research in two large public-sector areas: education and care. By comparing and contrasting research in these areas, we unveil the specifics and commonalities of research in public-sector leadership. We reviewed research articles from 2018 to 2020 and analyzed theories used, data-gathering methods employed, and topics researched. The results show some fundamental differences between the two areas. Compared to research on education, research on care is to a larger extent non-theoretical and is often focused on change management, quality assurance, and leaders' roles in employee health. Conversely, studies on education are theory driven and mostly focused on leaders' roles in learning and shared leadership. We discuss the state of Swedish public leadership research and make suggestions for mutual learning and moving forward in this research field.


Data sets with many discrete variables and relatively few cases arise in many domains. Several studies have sought to identify the Markov Blanket (MB) of a target variable by filtering variables using statistical decisions for conditional independence and then applying a classifier using the MB predictors. Other studies have applied the PC algorithm or heuristic procedures, to estimate a DAG model of the MB and classify by Bayesian updating. The PC output is not a DAG or MB, and how a DAG representation of the MB is formed in these studies is not specified. Using a filter from the HITON feature selection procedure, we find a Markov equivalence class using the PC algorithm, provide an explicit algorithm for converting the output to a graphical Markov Blanket, and classify by Bayesian updating. We apply this procedure (PCX) to five empirical data sets from different domains, and compare it with results from HITON, which applies several state-of-the-art classifiers. The PCX classifier has fewer variables than those found by the HITON procedure, and gives comparable classification accuracy while supplying insight into possible causal relations among the variables.


With the continuous development of industrial robot application, it becomes very important for the solution of reachable space in the designing and applicating process. But the traditional theory calculation method is complex. When solving the reachable space of new kind of robot, we only draw lessons from the theory and need to change more. So a simple and convenient method is needed in theory field. This paper proposes a method that combine Matlab with SimDesigner to solve 6-DOF Robot reachable space, and takes ABB-1400 as an example to explain the solution of 6-DOF Robot reachable space. It could attain the full reachable space by add sine motion function reasonably to every joint, and obtain the solution of robot reachable space speedly.


You're a director or officer of a company that suddenly seems headed for insolvency. "Cut and run" is your first reaction. Who wants to preside over a disaster? "Get out now before I get blamed and get sued," you think. That would be a terrible move. Recall from your teenage years that the one who left the party first was always the one who got blamed for whatever went wrong. Once you're committed to staying, have the company increase liability insurance, get other deep pockets available for potential plaintiffs, and don't worry too much about your exposure for your actions after the company is in bankruptcy court.


In yeast, the cytoplasmic thioredoxin system is composed of NADPH, thioredoxin reductase-1 (TRR1) and 2 thioredoxin genes (TRX1, TRX2). In this study, using yeast knockout mutants for TRR1, TRX1 and TRX2 genes, the role of the thioredoxin system in methionine sulfoxide reduction was investigated. Cells lacking both TRX1 and TRX2 genes simultaneously were not able to reduce methionine sulfoxides to methionine; however, mutants missing the TRR1 gene were able to reduce methionine sulfoxides to methionine, which showed that electrons could be transferred from NADPH to thioredoxins in the absence of TRR1. Similar results were observed for 3-phosphoadenosine 5-phosphosulfate reduction in the inorganic sulfate assimilation pathway. Results from both assays suggested that yeast cells have additional cytoplasmic thioredoxin reductase activity that could compensate for methionine sulfoxide reduction and sulfate assimilation in the absence of TRR1. This report also constitutes the first evidence that thioredoxins are the in vivo electron donors for methionine sulfoxide reductases in yeast.


In this research, NO3--N was added into the typical sludge anaerobic fermentation (TAF) of waste activated sludge (WAS), creating an anoxic environment for the growth of denitrifiers, as well as the inhibition of methanogens, therefore to insure the operation of simultaneous anoxic fermentation and denitrification (SAFD) system. Compared to TAF, SAFD can utilize the endogenous carbon source of WAS to denitrification, which achieved higher sludge reduction. Results showed that the SS, VSS in SAFD was reduced by 63.8% and 74.7%, respectively, which is obviously higher than that of 36.7% and 47.6% in TAF. Volatile fatty acids (VFAs) in TAF reached the top with propionic acid as dominant component in the mid-period of the fermentation; whereas that in SAFD was preferred by acetic acid in the late period. Evidenced by the variation of TN, NH4+-N and NO3--N, SAFD own a significant ability in denitrification, while the protein conversion appeared to be continuously low in this system.


Current distribution among tapes in superconducting cables has been studied as a function of variations in contact resistance, individual tape critical current, and index (n)-value of individual tapes. It has been shown that besides contact resistances, variations in other superconducting parameters affect current distribution. Variations in critical current and n-value become important at low contact resistances. The effects of collective variations in contact resistances, individual tape critical current, and n-value were studied using Monte Carlo simulations method. Using a validated mathematical model, 1000 cables were simulated with normally distributed random values of contact resistances, individual tape critical current, and n-value. Current distribution in the 1000 simulated cables demonstrated the need for selecting tapes with a narrow distribution in the superconducting parameters to minimize the risk of catastrophic damage to superconducting cables during their operation. It has been demonstrated that there is a potential danger of pushing some tapes closer to their critical current before the current in the cable reaches its design critical current.


The Smart Grid network system is a concept of a fully integrated, self-regulating and renewable power system with a network topology and includes all generating sources, main and distribution networks and all types of electrical energy consumers controlled by a single network of information and control devices and systems in real of time. The article proposes the introduction of the Smart Grid concept into the traction power supply systems, an analysis of the necessary steps to upgrade the traction substations, and the boundaries of the energy-saving effect from its implementation.


BACKGROUND
Infection of primates with Zaire ebolavirus (ZEBOV) leads to hypotension, coagulation disorders, and an impaired immune response and, in many ways, resembles severe sepsis. Rapid decreases in plasma levels of protein C are a prominent feature of severe sepsis and ZEBOV hemorrhagic fever (ZHF). Currently, recombinant human activated protein C (rhAPC [Xigris; Eli Lilly]) is licensed for treating human patients with severe sepsis who are at high risk of death. The aim of this study was to test the efficacy of rhAPC as a potential treatment for ZHF.

METHODS
Fourteen rhesus macaques were challenged with a uniformly lethal dose of ZEBOV; 11 of these monkeys were treated by intravenous infusion with rhAPC beginning 30-60 min after challenge and continuing for 7 days. Three control monkeys received sterile saline in parallel.

RESULTS
All 3 control monkeys died on day 8, whereas 2 of the 11 rhAPC-treated monkeys survived. The mean time to death for the rhAPC-treated monkeys that did not survive ZEBOV challenge was 12.6 days. The difference in survival was significant when the rhAPC-treated monkeys were compared with historical controls.

CONCLUSIONS
The experimental findings provide evidence that ZHF and severe sepsis share underlying mechanisms and may respond to the same therapies.


Land use change is known to affect suspended sediment fluxes in headwater catchments. There is however limited empirical evidence of the magnitude of these effects for montane catchments in East Africa. We collected a unique 4‐year high‐frequency data set and assessed seasonal sediment variation, water pathways, and sediment response to hydrology in three catchments under contrasting land use in the Mau Forest Complex, Kenya's largest tropical montane forest. Annual suspended sediment yield was significantly higher in a smallholder agriculture‐dominated catchment (131.5 ± 90.6 t km−2 yr−1) than in a tea‐tree plantation catchment (42.0 ± 21.0 t km−2 yr−1) and a natural forest catchment (21.5 ± 11.1 t km−2 yr−1) (p < 0.05). Transfer function models showed that in the natural forest and the tea‐tree plantations subsurface flow pathways delivered water to the stream, while in the smallholder agriculture shallow subsurface and surface runoff were dominant. There was a delayed sediment response to rainfall for the smallholder agriculture and the tea‐tree plantations. A slow depletion in sediment supply suggests that the wider catchment area supplies sediment, especially in the catchment dominated by smallholder farming. In contrast, a fast sediment response and depletion in sediment supply in the natural forest suggests a dominance of temporarily stored and nearby sediment sources. This study shows that the vegetation cover of a forest ecosystem is very effective in conserving soil, whereas catchments with more bare soil and poor soil conservation practices generated six times more suspended sediment yield. Catchment connectivity through unpaved tracks is thought to be the main explanation for the difference in sediment yield.


Background: Cancer-associated venous thromboembolism (VTE) is a critical complication in patients with cancer. However, the pathological findings of VTE are limited. Here, we investigated the histopathological features of cancer-associated VTE in human autopsy cases. Methods: We clinically examined the autopsy cases of VTE with (n=114) and without cancer (n=66) and immunohistochemically analyzed the expression of prothrombotic factors in intrathrombus cancer cells, the thrombus contents of erythrocytes, fibrin, platelets, citrullinated histone H3, and degree of organization. Results: Vascular wall invasion or small cell clusters of cancer cells was observed in thrombi in 27.5% of deep vein thrombosis and 25.9% of pulmonary embolism cases. The majority of the cancer cells in deep vein thrombi appeared to be invading the vessel wall, whereas the majority of pulmonary thrombi had cancer cell clusters, consistent with embolization via blood flow. These cancer cells were immunohistochemically positive for TF (tissue factors) or podoplanin in up to 88% of VTE cases. The frequency of TF-positive monocyte/macrophages in thrombi was higher in cancer-associated VTE than that in VTE without cancer. Citrullinated histone H3 was predominantly observed in the early stages of organizing thrombi. There was no significant difference in thrombus components between VTE with cancer and without cancer groups. Conclusions: Vascular wall invasion or cancer cell clusters in thrombi might influence thrombogenesis of cancer-associated VTE. TF and podoplanin in cancer cells and in monocyte/macrophages may induce coagulation reactions and platelet aggregation. Neutrophil extracellular traps may play a role in the early stages of VTE, regardless of cancer status.


We establish that for SISO systems lack of well-defined relative degree is not an obstacle to exact inversion. Sufficient conditions for the existence of exact linearising inputs are derived. Exact tracking solutions of a number of example systems, including the ball and beam system studied by Hauser et al. (1992), are analysed. It is shown that linearising inputs may be: 1) highly non-unique, 2) discontinuous and include impulses, and 3) fragile. A framework is established for approximate linearisation. whereby exact linearising inputs are formulated as the limits of sequences of realisable, arbitrarily accurate linearising inputs. This framework is constructive in nature and of key importance when the exact linearising inputs are, for example, unrealisable.


Nonnegative Matrix Factorization (NMF) is a widely used technique in many applications such as clustering. It approximates the nonnegative data in an original high dimensional space with a linear representation in a low dimensional space by using the product of two nonnegative matrices. In many applications with data such as human faces or digits, data often reside on multiple manifolds, which may overlap or intersect. But the traditional NMF method and other existing variants of NMF do not consider this. This paper proposes a novel clustering algorithm that explicitly models the intrinsic geometrical structure of the data on multiple manifolds with NMF. The idea of the proposed algorithm is that a data point generated by several neighboring points on a specific manifold in the original space should be constructed in a similar way in the low dimensional subspace. A set of experimental results on two real world datasets demonstrate the advantage of the proposed algorithm.


Glasses can be chemically strengthened through the ion exchange process, wherein smaller ions in the glass (e.g., Na+) are replaced by larger ions from a salt bath (e.g., K+). This develops a compressive stress (CS) on the glass surface, which, in turn, improves the damage resistance of the glass. The magnitude and depth of the generated CS depends on the thermal and pressure histories of the glass prior to ion exchange. In this study, we investigate the ion exchange-related properties (mutual diffusivity, CS, and hardness) of a sodium aluminosilicate glass, which has been densified through annealing below the initial fictive temperature of the glass or through pressure-quenching from the glass transition temperature at 1 GPa prior to ion exchange. We show that the rate of alkali interdiffusivity depends only on the density of the glass, rather than on the applied densification method. However, we also demonstrate that for a given density, the increase in CS and increase in hardness induced by ion exchange strongly depends on the densification method. Specifically, at constant density, the CS and hardness values achieved through thermal annealing are larger than those achieved through pressure-quenching. These results are discussed in relation to the structural changes in the environment of the network-modifier and the overall network densification.


Toucans are prominent components of the tropical American avifauna. Although these birds are very conspicuous, there are few ecological studies focusing on them. In this study, the diets of four sympatric toucans (Ramphastos vitellinus, R. dicolorus, Selenidera maculirostris, and Baillonius bailloni) were assessed by recording feeding bouts at two altitudes in the Atlantic Forest of southeast Brazil. Our results show that toucans are predominantly frugivorous birds (96.5% of the 289 feeding bouts were on fruits). In the lowlands (70 m elev.), only fruits (48 species, 27 families) were recorded, while in the highlands (700 m elev.), toucans were observed feeding on fruits (25 species, 22 families), flowers, leaves, and insects. Non-fruit items were recorded only in the highlands, most of them eaten by B. bailloni. Cecropia glaziovii and Euterpe edulis, two abundant plants in the highland and lowland sites, respectively, and Virola oleifera, a plant that produces lipid-rich arillate fruits, were eaten heavily by the toucans. The number of feeding bouts recorded for R. vitellinus in the lowlands was positively correlated with lipid content of the fruits eaten. The diameters of fruits eaten by toucans varied greatly (range 0.4–25.0 mm). While the large Ramphastos species not only ate tiny fruits (e.g., Hyeronima alchorneoides) but also large ones (e.g., Virola gardneri), the toucanets ate piecemeal the large fruits that exceeded their gape width, suggesting that gape size did not limit the use of any fruit by the toucans at our study sites.


Construction of large water resource projects, such as those of the Army Corps of Engineers (Corps), can be controversial because they involve trade-offs among various river uses, and between current and future generations. Pursuant to federal water project planning guidelines, the Corps weighs these trade-offs using benefit-cost analysis. If its analysis shows that a project's national economic development (NED) benefits exceed its NED costs, the Corps seeks project authorization from Congress. Congress authorizes the Corps to construct some of these large water projects through (usually) biennial Water Resource Development Acts. Since the Corps rarely recommends a project that does not have a benefit-cost ratio greater than 1.0, this report describes the decisions that influence this ratio, with a focus on the role of the discount rate.


This paper quantifies the information rate of multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) systems with finite rate channel state feedback and power on/off strategy. In power on/off strategy, a beamforming vector (beam) is either turned on (denoted by on-beam) with a constant power or turned off. We prove that the ratio of the optimal number of on-beams and the number of antennas converges to a constant for a given signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) when the number of transmit and receive antennas approaches infinity simultaneously and when beamforming is perfect. Based on this result, a near optimal strategy, i.e., power on/off strategy with a constant number of on-beams, is discussed. For such a strategy, we propose the power efficiency factor to quantify the effect of imperfect beamforming. A formula is proposed to compute the maximum power efficiency factor achievable given a feedback rate. The information rate of the overall MIMO system can be approximated by combining the asymptotic results and the formula for power efficiency factor. Simulations show that this approximation is accurate for all SNR regimes.


This publication aims to study the attacks that telecommunications networks face every day. Thus, the tools that have been developed through new technologies are presented in detail in order to successfully deal with these attacks. Some of these tools are more effective and others less effective depending on the form of attack. As a conclusion is that very significant steps have been taken in confronting with attacks by intruders by introducing a new and wide field of study in the networks.


This work was supported by Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS) KAKENHI Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (c) Number 25380428 in 2015.


In this letter, a complex wavelet-domain image resolution enhancement algorithm based on the estimation of wavelet coefficients is proposed. The method uses a forward and inverse dual-tree complex wavelet transform (DT-CWT) to construct a high-resolution (HR) image from the given low-resolution (LR) image. The HR image is reconstructed from the LR image, together with a set of wavelet coefficients, using the inverse DT-CWT. The set of wavelet coefficients is estimated from the DT-CWT decomposition of the rough estimation of the HR image. Results are presented and discussed on very HR QuickBird data, through comparisons between state-of-the-art resolution enhancement methods.


This thesis describes the synthesis and radiohalogenation of compounds of potential use for tumor targeting. The first section describes the synthesis and radioiodination of DNA intercalating compounds. The compounds are derivatives of 9-aminoacridine, and the anthracyclins daunorubicin and doxorubicin. The precursor compounds were labeled with 125I (T1/2 = 60 days), which is an Auger emitting nuclide. 125I decaying in the close vicinity of DNA is known to have a much higher cell killing effect than 125I decaying in the cytoplasm and some of the labeled compounds prepared in this thesis are currently being tested for use in targeted radionuclide therapy for cancer. The second section describes the radiobromination of closo-carboranes by subjecting the corresponding iodinated compounds to palladium-catalyzed halogen exchange using [76Br]bromide. The 76Br isotope (T1/2 = 16.2 h) is a positron emitting nuclide that is suitable for PET studies. Via the halogen exchange reaction good to excellent radiochemical yields of radiobrominated closo-carboranes were obtained. The results of the present study may prove to be applicable to pharmacokinetic studies of carboranes and their derivatives. The third and final section describes the indirect radiobromination of the trastuzumab anti-HER2 monoclonal antibody and of the anti-HER2 Affibody by means of an "one-pot" procedure using N-succinimidyl-5-(tributylstannyl)-3-pyridinecarboxylate (SPC) and ((4-hydroxyphenyl)ethyl))maleimide (HPEM), respectively. It was found that SPC and HPEM can be efficiently radiobrominated and thereafter coupled to the antibody and Affibody, respectively. The labeled proteins retained their capacity to bind specifically to HER2 expressing SKOV-3 cells in vitro. Application of this method to 76Br might enable the use of PET in the detection of HER2 expression in breast, ovarian, and urinary bladder carcinomas.


So-called ordered variants of the classical notions of pathwidth and treewidth are introduced and proposed as proof theoretically meaningful complexity measures for the directed acyclic graphs underlying proofs. The ordered pathwidth of a proof is shown to be roughly the same as its formula space. Length-space lower bounds for R(k)-refutations are generalized to arbitrary infinity axioms and strengthened in that the space measure is relaxed to ordered treewidth.


Nondestructive methods of estimating body composition are crucial for measuring energy budgets of free-ranging animals. However, most methods have proved to be either difficult or inaccurate for estimating lipid mass, particularly in small animals. I validated the use of total body electrical conductivity (TOBEC) and total body water (TBW) to estimate lean mass and nonpolar lipid mass in the lizard Sceloporus undulatus. Regression models based on either TOBEC or TBW were able to predict dry lean mass and wet lean mass within 5% of actual values. Estimates of nonpolar lipid mass, derived by subtracting predicted wet lean mass from total body mass, were highly correlated with actual nonpolar lipid mass. When total nonpolar lipid mass was greater than 0.1 g, the average percent error in predicted nonpolar lipid was 30% and 15% for the TOBEC and TBW methods, respectively. A sensitivity analysis suggests that, in most cases, TBW can be used to estimate nonpolar lipid mass within 15% of actual lipid mass. Both TOBEC and TBW measurements are relatively easy methods of tracking qualitative changes in body composition within individuals, but TBW should be used when quantitative estimates of nonpolar lipid mass are desired.


"Ipswich Town: The FA Cup Story" looks back on the fascinating FA Cup campaign that culminated in Bobby Robson's team defeating Arsenal to become FA Cup winners. All the details of Ipswich's road to Wembley are featured in this new book, including a round-by-round review and full, detailed biographies of every player to have taken part in the campaign.All the big names are here: Bobby Robson, Roger Osbourne and Mick Mills. Great games, magical moments, funny stories and the view from inside the dressing room are all part and parcel of this absorbing book, which gives the inside story on the stars who really mattered during the campaign of 1978.The result is a book that is sure to appeal to anyone with an interest in the history of Ipswich Town, and it is an essential addition to the bookshelves of any fan.


Taxon sampling may be critically important for phylogenetic accuracy because adding taxa can help to subdivide misleading long branches. Although the idea that added taxa can break up long branches was exemplified by a study of "incomplete" fossil taxa, the issue of taxon completeness (i.e., proportion of missing data) has been largely ignored in most subsequent discussions of taxon sampling and long-branch attraction. In this article, I use simulations to test the ability of incomplete taxa to subdivide long branches and improve phylogenetic accuracy in situations of potential long-branch attraction. The results show that for most methods and conditions examined, adding taxa that are only 50% complete may provide similar benefits to adding the same number of complete taxa (suggesting that the advantages of increased taxon sampling may be obtained with less data than previously considered). For parsimony, taxa that are less complete (5% to 25% complete) may often have limited ability to rescue analyses from long-branch attraction. In contrast, highly incomplete taxa can be surprisingly beneficial when using model-based methods. The results also suggest the importance of model-based methods in phylogenetic analyses that combine molecular and fossil data.


The majority of the laboratories contributing to the establishment of the International Atomic Time TAI are now equipped with GPS time receivers. The BIPM coordinates the international time comparisons by GPS and evaluates most of the time links that are needed for the International Atomic Time TAI. The BIPM also participates to the calibration of instrumental delays by transportation of a receiver. In the practice of GPS time comparisons, it appears that one is often rather far from reaching the potential accuracy. We have made a study of some of the limiting factors. Among them are the errors of the antenna coordinates: we show that they can be improved from the time measurements so that an accuracy of about 2 ns can be reached over short distances. An other source of difficulties is the lack of stability of some local time scales, which restricts the possibility of improving the precision by filtering; this difficulty appears mainly with the clocks which are too sharply steered. The tracking schedules in use aim at providing links between the greatest possible number of laboratories. One of our conclusion, which should be discussed with the cooperating laboratories, is that one should organize a worldwide network of links which should be optimized not for the number of links, but for the accuracy of the necessary links.


The main objective of Big data is to meet business competitiveness and facilitate decision-making. To achieve this goal, the implementation of a governance plan is necessary. In this article, we propose a big data governance evaluation approach based on the fact that big data governance is seen as an artifact having the characteristics of a system. We develop a multi-criteria hierarchy organized according to the main dimensions of systems theory. The approach is illustrated on a practical case.


BACKGROUND
Heart failure (HF) is a chronic disease with significant impact on quality of life and presents many challenges to those diagnosed with the condition, due to a seemingly complex daily regimen of self-care which includes medications, monitoring of weight and symptoms, identification of signs of deterioration and follow-up and interaction with multiple healthcare services. Education is vital for understanding the importance of this regimen, and adhering to it. Traditionally, education has been provided to people with heart failure in a face-to-face manner, either in a community or a hospital setting, using paper-based materials or video/DVD presentations. In an age of rapidly-evolving technology and uptake of smartphones and tablet devices, mHealth-based technology (defined by the World Health Organization as mobile and wireless technologies to achieve health objectives) is an innovative way to provide health education which has the benefit of being able to reach people who are unable or unwilling to access traditional heart failure education programmes and services.

OBJECTIVES
To systematically review and quantify the potential benefits and harms of mHealth-delivered education for people with heart failure.

SEARCH METHODS
We performed an extensive search of bibliographic databases and registries (CENTRAL, MEDLINE, Embase, CINAHL, PsycINFO, IEEE Xplore, ClinicalTrials.gov and WHO International Clinical Trials Registry Platform (ICTRP) Search Portal), using terms to identify HF, education and mHealth. We searched all databases from their inception to October 2019 and imposed no restriction on language of publication.

SELECTION CRITERIA
We included studies if they were conducted as a randomised controlled trial (RCT), involving adults (≥ 18 years) with a diagnosis of HF. We included trials comparing mHealth-delivered education such as internet and web-based education programmes for use on smartphones and tablets (including apps) and other mobile devices, SMS messages and social media-delivered education programmes, versus usual HF care.

DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS
Two review authors independently selected studies, assessed risks of bias, and extracted data from all included studies. We calculated the mean difference (MD) or standardised mean difference (SMD) for continuous data and the odds ratio (OR) for dichotomous data with a 95% confidence interval (CI). We assessed heterogeneity using the I2 statistic and assessed the quality of evidence using GRADE criteria.

MAIN RESULTS
We include five RCTs (971 participants) of mHealth-delivered education interventions for people with HF in this review. The number of trial participants ranged from 28 to 512 participants. Mean age of participants ranged from 60 years to 75 years, and 63% of participants across the studies were men. Studies originated from Australia, China, Iran, Sweden, and The Netherlands. Most studies included participants with symptomatic HF, NYHA Class II - III. Three studies addressed HF knowledge, revealing that the use of mHealth-delivered education programmes showed no evidence of a difference in HF knowledge compared to usual care (MD 0.10, 95% CI -0.2 to 0.40, P = 0.51, I2 = 0%; 3 studies, 411 participants; low-quality evidence). One study assessing self-efficacy reported that both study groups had high levels of self-efficacy at baseline and uncertainty in the evidence for the intervention (MD 0.60, 95% CI -0.57 to 1.77; P = 0.31; 1 study, 29 participants; very low-quality evidence).Three studies evaluated HF self-care using different scales. We did not pool the studies due to the heterogenous nature of the outcome measures, and the evidence is uncertain. None of the studies reported adverse events. Four studies examined health-related quality of life (HRQoL). There was uncertainty in the evidence for the use of mHealth-delivered education on HRQoL (MD -0.10, 95% CI -2.35 to 2.15; P = 0.93, I2 = 61%; 4 studies, 942 participants; very low-quality evidence). Three studies reported on HF-related hospitalisation. The use of mHealth-delivered education may result in little to no difference in HF-related hospitalisation (OR 0.74, 95% CI 0.52 to 1.06; P = 0.10, I2 = 0%; 3 studies, 894 participants; low-quality evidence). We downgraded the quality of the studies due to limitations in study design and execution, heterogeneity, wide confidence intervals and fewer than 500 participants in the analysis.

AUTHORS' CONCLUSIONS
We found that the use of mHealth-delivered educational interventions for people with HF shows no evidence of a difference in HF knowledge; uncertainty in the evidence for self-efficacy, self-care and health-related quality of life; and may result in little to no difference in HF-related hospitalisations. The identification of studies currently underway and those awaiting classification indicate that this is an area of research from which further evidence will emerge in the short and longer term.


: In this study we provide an overview of non-formal arts education. The main aim of the study was to show the presence of non-formal education institutions offering education in art forms such as dance, music, dramatic art, and visual and audiovisual arts, in addition to the other institutions, such as museums or creative groups that offer some type of arts education. Two aspects were considered: the presence of institutions and their profile. We found 4,790 institutions that are currently offering some kind of arts education. The data obtained were used to draw up the maps of the study. The first aim was to show the presence of non-formal arts education in two ways: first, according to frequency, and second, by weighting the levels according to the presence of institutions by counties. The results show a dynamic reality that is present and clearly reflects people's interest in cultivating some form of artistic expression in their lives.


Although L2 motivation studies conducted so far offer various insights into effective L2 instruction, they have also had several draw-backs, such as (1) they have used a "top-down" approach from theory and research to practice, thus lacking a situation-specific perspective, and (2) they have employed cross-sectional designs, thus lacking a developmental perspective. This paper states that Dynamic Systems Theory (DST), which originated in the fields of physics and mathematics, has the potential to serve as a valuable basis for overcoming these draw- backs. More specifically, it shows methodological procedures in verifying the factors that have an effect on increased or decreased L2 motivation from the viewpoint of DST, and examines DST's potential for adaptation to research in the fields of applied linguistics and second language acquisition.


The wetland of Naâma situated in the arid region of Alegria offers an important fauna and flora diversity due to its geographical location it constitutes the main resting place in North Africa for migratory birds. Insects are used as bioindicators, due to their sensitivity to environmental conditions which, because of their ecological peculiarities, gives information on the characteristics of terrestrial and aquatic environments. The aim of this study is to know and specify the entomofauna bio-indicator of the quality of the aquatic environment of the wetland Naâma (SW Algeria). The study carried out in the wetland from September 2017 to September 2020. Benthic insects were sampled according to the IBGN protocol (Standard Global Biological Index). Study and statistical analysis of insects communities was based by the use of the structural and statistical index, Correspondence factor analysis (CFA), and The ascending hierarchical classification (C.H.A). The results show that the collected insect 51 species, belong to 9 orders, The Coleoptera order is the most represented with 11 species, followed by the Odonata with six species, Lepidoptera ranks third with five species followed by Diptera with 03 species. The various indicators used, namely the specific richness (51 species), the Shannon index (1.01 bits), and fairness (0.56) show that this environment is characterized by significant fauna biodiversity. The study of the hydro-biological quality of the water courses of this site, assessed by the IBGN method showed a good hydro-biological quality with moderate pollution (IBGN = 14). This pollution is precisely marked by the requirement of Ephemeroptera and the disappearance of Plecoptera. These results lay the foundation for any biomonitoring action of the ecological quality of the waters of this wetland.


Background: Both hemodynamic compromise and artery-to-artery embolism have been thought to be implicated in moyamoya disease (MMD) with ischemic symptoms. The relationship between microembolic signals (MESs) and ischemic stroke remains to be clarified. We aimed to identify associated risk factors of MESs and to explore clinical significance of MESs in adult MMD with ischemic stroke. Methods: A total of 48 patients (89 hemispheres) newly diagnosed with adult MMD were enrolled and angiographically classified according to the Suzuki staging system. For detection of MESs, transcranial doppler (TCD) monitoring was performed within 2 days after first admission. Recent ischemic events, including transient ischemic attack (TIA), which occurred within 3 months of diagnosis, were also recorded. Mean flow velocities in middle cerebral artery using TCD were also evaluated. Results: Eleven hemispheres were found to have MESs, and 78 had no MESs. Among clinical types of MMD in 89 hemispheres, ischemic-type MMD (n = 42, 47%) was most common. Antiplatelet agents were prescribed for 22 patients (43 hemispheres) before evaluation for MES. The incidence of recent ischemic event was associated with the MES status (P = 0.024). Recent ischemic event was found to be predictive of MESs in adult MMD (hazard ratio: 6.294; 95% CI 1.345-29.46). Detection of MESs was significantly higher in the high mean flow velocity of the middle cerebral artery (P = 0.019). After controlling for age, sex, recent ischemic event, and antiplatelets, 'early stage' MMD (Suzuki stage I and II) was the independent predictor of MESs at baseline (hazard ratio: 6.172; 95% CI 1.235-31.25). Conclusions: MESs, known to be indicative of artery-to-artery embolism in steno-occlusive cerebrovascular diseases, were observed in 'early stage' MMD, particularly with high MFVs and clinically associated with recent ischemic stroke. This necessitates the need for the efficacy of antiplatelets in the treatment of adult MMD with ischemic stroke in a prospective controlled study in the future.


Genetic lesions affecting epigenetic regulators are frequent in myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS). Polycomb proteins are key epigenetic regulators of differentiation and stemness that act as two multimeric complexes termed polycomb repressive complexes 1 and 2, PRC1 and PRC2, respectively. While components and regulators of PRC2 such as ASXL1 and EZH2 are frequently mutated in MDS and AML, little is known about the role of PRC1. To analyze the role of PRC1, we have taken a functional approach testing PRC1 components in loss- and gain-of-function experiments that we found overexpressed in advanced MDS patients or dynamically expressed during normal hematopoiesis. This approach allowed us to identify the enzymatically active component RING1A as the key PRC1 component in hematopoietic stem cells and MDS. Specifically, we found that RING1A is expressed in CD34+ bone marrow progenitor cells and further overexpressed in high-risk MDS patients. Knockdown of RING1A in an MDS-derived AML cell line facilitated spontaneous and retinoic acid-induced differentiation. Similarly, inactivation of RING1A in primary CD34+ cells augmented erythroid differentiation. Treatment with a small compound RING1 inhibitor reduced the colony forming capacity of CD34+ cells from MDS patients and healthy controls. In MDS patients higher RING1A expression associated with an increased number of dysplastic lineages and blasts. Our data suggests that RING1A is deregulated in MDS and plays a role in the erythroid development defect.


Motion prediction of road users in traffic scenes is critical for autonomous driving systems that must take safe and robust decisions in complex dynamic environments. We present a novel motion prediction system for autonomous driving. Our system is based on the Bayesian inverse planning framework, which efficiently orchestrates map-based goal extraction, a classical control-based trajectory generator and a mixture of experts collection of light-weight neural networks specialised in motion profile prediction. In contrast to many alternative methods, this modularity helps isolate performance factors and better interpret results, without compromising performance. This system addresses multiple aspects of interest, namely multi-modality, motion profile uncertainty and trajectory physical feasibility. We report on several experiments with the popular highway dataset NGSIM, demonstrating state-of-the-art performance in terms of trajectory error. We also perform a detailed analysis of our system's components, along with experiments that stratify the data based on behaviours, such as change-lane versus follow-lane, to provide insights into the challenges in this domain. Finally, we present a qualitative analysis to show other benefits of our approach, such as the ability to interpret the outputs.


Parallel triangle tube arrays with pitch ratios in the range of 1.2 to 4.2 have been tested at Reynolds numbers up to 90000 to investigate the vorticity shedding and acoustic resonance mechanisms. The tests included measurements of the pressure fluctuations on the tubes and on the test section wall, as well as extensive flow visualisation and hot film measurements of the unsteady flow activities.
 Three different components of flow periodicities have been observed. The flow periodicity with the highest Strouhal number (S3) is caused by a shear layer instability and is the weakest component. The S2 component is associated with small scale vortex shedding at the first row. The third component has the lowest Strouhal number (S1) and is the strongest. It is generated by large scale, alternating vortex shedding at deeper rows, and it becomes dominant at all rows at high Reynolds numbers.
 For tube arrays with pitch ratio less than 3.4, the onset of acoustic resonances could not be related to the natural flow periodicities mentioned above. This behaviour is in contrast with that of normal triangle arrays, but similar to the acoustic behaviour of in-line arrays. The similarity with in-line arrays seems to stem from the fact that both arrays allow the flow to proceed along free flow lanes between the tube columns, resulting in a similar acoustic resonance mechanism. Strouhal number charts for the natural vorticity shedding and the onset of acoustic resonances have been developed.


Abstract. The loss of N2 from intensively managed agro-ecosystems is an important part of the N budget. Flux monitoring of N2 emissions at the field scale, e.g., by eddy correlation or aerodynamic gradient method, is impossible due to the large atmospheric N2 background (78%). The acetylene (C2H2) inhibition technique (AIT) is a rather simple and frequently used, albeit imperfect, method to determine N2 losses from intact soil cores. In principle, AIT allows an estimation of total denitrification at high temporal resolution and on small spatial scales, with limited workload and costs involved. To investigate its potential and limitations, a laboratory system with two different detection systems (photoacoustic IR spectroscopy and gas chromatography) is presented, which allowed simultaneous measurements of up to 7 intact soil cores in air-tight glass tubes in a temperature controlled cabinet (adjusted to field conditions) with automated C2H2 injection. A survey of total denitrification losses (N2 + N2O) over 1.5 yr in soil cores from an intensively managed, cut grassland system in central Switzerland supports previous reports on severe limitations of the AIT, which precluded reliable estimates of total denitrification losses. Further, the unavoidable sampling and transfer of soil samples to the laboratory causes unpredictable deviations from the denitrification activity in the field.


Introduction Patient-ventilator asynchrony (PVA) can adversely affect the successful initiation of non-invasive home mechanical ventilation (HMV). The aim of this observational study was to quantify the prevalence of PVA during initiation of HMV and to determine the relationship between PVA and nocturnal gas exchange. Method Type and frequency of PVA were measured by surface parasternal intercostal muscle electromyography, thoracoabdominal plethysmography and mask pressure during initiation of HMV. Severe PVA was defined, as previously, as asynchrony affecting ≥10% of breaths. Results 28 patients (18 male) were enrolled aged 61±15 years and with a body mass index of 35±9 kg/m2. Underlying diagnoses were neuromuscular disease with or without chest wall disease (n=6), obesity related chronic respiratory failure (n=12) and COPD (n=10). PVA was observed in all patients with 79% of patients demonstrating severe PVA. Triggering asynchrony was most frequent, observed in 24% (IQR: 11–36%) of breaths, with ineffective efforts accounting for 16% (IQR: 4–24%). PVA types were similar between disease groups, with the exception of auto-triggering, which was higher in patients with COPD (12% (IQR: 6–26%)). There was no correlation observed between PVA and time spent with oxygen saturations ≤90%, mean oxygen saturations or transcutaneous carbon dioxide levels during overnight ventilation. Conclusions Severe PVA was identified in the majority of patients, irrespective of pathophysiological disease state. This was not associated with ineffective ventilation as evidenced by gas exchange.


This data set shows the results for the redistricting of U.S. Congressional District boundaries for the Indiana for 2011 through 2021. Republicans who control the Indiana House and Senate from the 117th General Assembly oversaw the drawing of new maps in the Spring of 2011 for all 100 state house and 50 state senate districts and Indiana's nine congressional seats. New political districts are drawn every 10 years to incorporate information from the latest U.S. Census.


Summary The effects of intravenously infused inosine on myocardial contractile force (MCF) and high-energy phosphate content were studied in 17 open-chest, pentobarbital-anesthetized mongrel dogs following occlusion of small branches of the left anterior descending and circumflex coronary arteries. In 7 dogs, MCF was measured using strain gauge arches sutured in the center of the ischemic area (IMCF), in the periphery of the ischemic area (PIMCF), and in a nonischemic area (NIMCF). After the arteries were ligated and IMCF had stabilized, an infusion of either 50 ml of 50 mM inosine or saline was begun at a rate of 10 ml/min. Inosine infusion produced increases in IMCF, PIMCF, and NIMCF of 32, 41, and 42% of preinfusion levels, respectively. In an additional 10 dogs, adenosine triphosphate (ATP) and creatine phosphate (CP) content of the ischemic myocardium was determined at intervals prior to and following coronary arterial occlusion, during which time either inosine (n = 5) or normal saline (n = 5) was infused. The degradation of ATP or CP was not altered with inosine infusion as compared to the saline-infused group. It has been concluded from the above data that inosine significantly increases MCF in ischemic hearts and that this augmentation in MCF is not associated with alterations in levels of ATP or CP.


A modified two-strand spinning system is described in this study. This system differs from other two-strand spinning systems in that it has a pair of intennittent notch roller placed above the convergence point. The notch roller cyclically alters the number of twist in the two strands above the convergence point and increases the level of strand-twist in the folded structure below the convergence point. This leads to increased trapping of surface fibres so that the hairiness of the resultant yam can be reduced and its abrasion resistance improved. A mathematical analysis of this modified two-strand spinning system is presented in this part of the series.


The last few years have been eventful as far as mountaineering in Yosemite is concerned with the soloing of el Cap and the freeing of the Dawn Wall. The documentary film Valley Uprising: Yosemite's Rock Climbing Revolution (Mortimer et al. 2014) not only traces the history of climbing in the Park but offers a more profound analysis of the evolution of society and gender roles in America in the last half-century, showing that, although the Valley is fairly isolated from urban communities, it is by no means disconnected from the ideological, political and cultural revolutions that the country has lived through. Yosemite is, in actual fact, a  liminal space where gender roles and identities are contested, contracted and re-formulated. This article analyses three differing climbing styles that have dominated Yosemite in the 20th century, to prove that they overstep the physical borders of the territory and that each becomes paradigmatic of the dissenting masculinities that have continuously threatened the establishment outside the geographical limits of the  Park. This genealogy of the particular masculinities of each group allows us to see that these manhoods —perceived as deviant or dissenting outside the Park— were, for insiders, the normative modes of being a man.


Animal models are still indispensable for understanding the basic principles of glioma development and invasion. Preclinical approaches aim to analyze the treatment efficacy of new drugs before translation into clinical trials is possible. Various animal disease models are available, but not every approach is useful for addressing specific questions. In recent years, it has become increasingly evident that the tumor microenvironment plays a key role in the nature of glioma. In addition to providing an overview, this review evaluates available rodent models in terms of usability for research on the glioma microenvironment.


In 30 melancholic patients and 21 healthy controls, diurnal mood variation was investigated on 3 successive days at 7.30 a.m., 11.30 a.m., 3.30 p.m. and 7.30 p.m. Daily courses with no variation or with a so-called typical variation (morning low, afternoon/evening high) occurred with the same frequency in both samples. Circadian mood variations vary substantially inter- and intraindividually in both depressive patients and healthy controls. However, the controls reported short (ultradian) mood variations more frequently than the patients. Using a semistructured interview, the subjective experience of diurnal mood variations was compared: In melancholic patients, mood variations occur spontaneously in more than half of all cases, whereas healthy controls attribute them almost exclusively to their own activities and/or external circumstances. It is discussed whether "typical' diurnal variations in melancholic patients may have been emphasized in earlier psychopathological literature not because of their frequency but because patients experience the circadian mood rhythm as uninfluenceable.


Stomatopod crustaceans (mantis shrimp) are aggressive benthic marine predators with extraordinary color vision. When communicating with conspecifics, many stomatopods display conspicuously colored body areas, often in combination with other types of signals such as motion and chemical cues. Some species occupy wide depth ranges (>30 m), where changing light conditions can influence color perception. To test the potential effects of differing ambient light on signalling behaviour, stomatopods ( Gonodactylus smithii ) interacted with conspecifics in aquaria, under full-spectrum, high-intensity light or light restricted in either spectrum or intensity. During intra-and intersexual trials in full-spectrum, high-intensity light, animals performed more aggressive acts using colored body parts (meral spread, lunge, strike). Stomatopods used significantly more antennular flicking, and performed aggressive acts at reduced distances under restricted light conditions. To compare the use of antennules in visual and chemical communication, additional experiments showed more antennular flicking in response to chemical stimuli from food or conspecifics compared to seawater controls. This response ceased immediately after ablation of antennular chemoreceptors but returned to pre-treatment levels after 5 days of recovery. These findings suggest that stomatopods can vary their use of signals during conspecific interactions under different photic conditions. These inducible, plastic behavioral responses can potentially improve signal transfer in varying light environments.


Sir. —The article by Gutman et al 1 on human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) transmission by child sexual abuse in the February 1991 issue of AJDC can be misleading. The authors found that the incidence of sexual abuse among the 96 children who tested positive for HIV was 14.6%. The accepted incidence of sexual abuse in the general population is one in six, or 17%. 2 If one were to examine any group of children for signs of sexual abuse, leukemia, or the common cold, one would expect to come up with a similar figure. It appears that HIV-positive children are at no increased risk of abuse. I agree with the authors that it is important to identify those children who are HIV positive and have been sexually abused, because some immediate and delayed behavioral sequelae of child sexual abuse may put the child and adult survivor at increased risk of


It is well recognized that most of the anomalies, discovered in the development of embedded real-time systems, belong to requirement and specification phases. To ease the situation, many efforts have been investigated into the area. For requirements development, especially requirements validation and verification, model-driven architecture techniques can be considered as a cost-efficient solution. In order to utilize such advantages, the design of the proposed system is often specified in terms of analyzable models at the certain level of abstraction. Further, different levels of requirements are translated into verifiable queries and fed into the models to be either validated or verified. For requirements management, requirements traceability provides critical support for performing change impact analysis, risk analysis, regression testing, etc. In this thesis, we cover several topics about requirements validation, requirements verification, and requirements traceability. In particular, the technical contributions are three-fold: 1) we propose an approach to requirements validation by using the extended Timed Abstract State Machine (TASM) language with newly defined TASM constructs and, 2) we present a simulation-based method which is powered up by statistical techniques to conduct requirements verification, working with industrial applications and, 3) we introduce an improved VSM-based requirements traceability recovery approach using a novel context analysis. Further, we have demonstrated the applicability of our contributions in real world usage through various case studies.


In embryonic development, cell shape changes are essential for building functional organs, but in many cases the mechanisms that precisely regulate these changes remain unknown. We propose that fluid-like drag forces generated by the motion of an organ through surrounding tissue could generate changes to its structure that are important for its function. To test this hypothesis, we study the zebrafish left-right organizer, Kupffer's vesicle (KV), using experiments and mathematical modeling. During development, monociliated cells that comprise the KV undergo region-specific shape changes along the anterior-posterior axis that are critical for KV function: anterior cells become long and thin, while posterior cells become short and squat. Here, we develop a mathematical vertex-like model for cell shapes, which incorporates both tissue rheology and cell motility, and constrain the model parameters using previously published rheological data for the zebrafish tailbud [Serwane et al.] as well as our own measurements of the KV speed. We find that drag forces due to dynamics of cells surrounding the KV could be sufficient to drive KV cell shape changes during KV development. More broadly, these results suggest that cell shape changes could be driven by dynamic forces not typically considered in models or experiments.


OBJECTIVE To determine if there are differences in young people's responsiveness to price and tobacco control policies for population subgroups and to examine whether or not these differences, if they exist, can explain sex and racial differences in trends in the prevalence of smoking in young people in the United States. DESIGN Use cross-sectional and intertemporal variation in local and state tobacco control policies and prices to calculate demand responses to these policies using regression analysis techniques. SUBJECTS A nationally representative sample of American eighth grade (ages 13–14 years), 10th grade (15–16 years) and 12th grade (17–18 years) students obtained from the 1992–1994 Monitoring the Future surveys. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE Thirty-day smoking prevalence. RESULTS Young men are much more responsive to changes in the price of cigarettes than young women. The prevalence elasticity for young men is almost twice as large as that for young women. Smoking rates of young black men are significantly more responsive to changes in price than young white men. Significant differences in responsiveness to particular tobacco control policies also exist. These differences, however, explain relatively little of the differences in smoking prevalence among young population subgroups. CONCLUSIONS Policymakers need to keep in mind that there is not a "one-size fits all" strategy for discouraging smoking among young people.


The development of biomimetic nanoparticles (NPs) has revolutionized the concept of nanomedicine by offering a completely new set of biocompatible materials to formulate innovative drug delivery systems capable of imitating the behavior of cells. Specifically, the use of leukocyte-derived membrane proteins to functionalize nanovesicles (leukosomes) can enable their long circulation and target the inflamed endothelium present in many inflammatory pathologies and tumors, making them a promising and versatile drug delivery system. However, these studies did not elucidate the critical experimental parameters involved in leukosomes formulation. In the present study, we approached the preparation of leukosomes using a design of experiment (DoE) method to better understand the influence of experimental parameters on leukosomes features such as size, size distribution, and protein loading. We also validated this formulation technologically and tested its behavior in in vitro colorectal cancer (CRC) models, including CRC patient-derived tumor organoids (PDOs). We demonstrated leukosomes biocompatibility, endothelium adhesion capability, and tumor target in three-dimensional (3D) settings using CRC cell lines. Overall, our study offers a novel conceptual framework for biomimetic NPs using a DoE strategy and consolidates the high therapeutic potential of leukosomes as a viable drug delivery system for anti-inflammatory and antineoplastic applications.


Resistance of breast carcinomas to hormonal therapy is a clinical obstacle for the treatment of breast cancer. The molecular mechanisms and the factors involved in the progression of tumors from an estrogen (E2)-dependent to an E2-independent phenotype are not entirely understood. Heregulin (HRG) is a pleiotropic growth factor that binds to the erbB family of receptors, which are correlated with breast cancer progression and an aggressive phenotype in the breast carcinomas overexpressing the receptors. Previous studies in transgenic mice have shown that HRG is sufficient to induce mammary gland transformation and proliferation in the presence of hormonal stimulation. However, these studies did not address the important issue of the E2 independence that is part of the progression of breast cancer. In this study, we investigated the role of HRG in E2 independence. We were able to determine that HRG up-regulation was sufficient for the development of mammary tumors in the absence of E2 stimulation, a situation that mimics the progression of the human disease. We demonstrated that in ovariectomized nude mice, HRG induced E2 independence and antiestrogen resistance and promoted metastasis and preneoplastic transformation of the adjacent mouse mammary tissue. We show that one of the mechanisms by which HRG achieves the aggressive phenotype may be mediated via an increase in activated mitogen-activated protein kinase, an increase in a matrix-degrading enzyme, MMP-9, and the overexpression of vascular endothelial growth factors. The up-regulation of these genes occurred in the absence of any additional stimulation, in an autocrine manner. Our data provide new insights into the mechanisms of breast cancer progression in vivo, and reinforce the important role that HRG plays in this process.


Background: Escherichia coli is well known as noninvasive commensal and has been established as etiological agent of various human infections. E. coli also contributes to high rate of resistance to several antibiotics due to multiresistant antibiotic plasmid genes e.g., extended spectrum β-lactamases (ESBL). Material and Methods: To analyse the situation of antibiotic resistance, a total of 77 E.coli isolates from urine, pus, sputum and endotracheal aspirate were screened for their antibiograms for antibiotic resistance, multiple antibiotic resistance (MAR) index for evaluating the spread of resistance and plasmid profiles for the presence and characterization of plasmids. Results: Very high resistance level (> 90%) was detected against ampicillin, amoxycillin, ceftazidime, norfloxacin, tetracycline while imipenem and amikacin recorded the least resistance levels of 2.3% and 13.9%, respectively, among the isolates. An increased resistance to amoxycillin, tetracycline, cotrimoxazole and norfloxacin were observed in this geographical area which however displayed a lower resistance in other countries. The MAR index varied considerably, the lowest was 0.18 and the highest was 0.89. Plasmids of 10 size ranges were detected in the isolates. Some isolates possessed single-sized plasmid while other possessed multiple plasmids. Isolates with high MAR profiles were found to possess multiple plasmids. Conclusion: Regular antimicrobial sensitivity surveillance is necessary and acquisition of plasmid could greatly contribute in the antibiotic resistance and poses a significant risk of the spread of microbial resistance in this community. Also, it was observed that route of administration of antibiotics perhaps reduced its misuse and hence led to the reduction in the emergence of resistant bacterial strains.


A catalytic study of copper coated on silica CuSiO2, titanium dioxide, TiO2, with and without carbon nanotubes, CNT, as support material and zeolite, HZSM 5, has been performed for conversion of n-propanol into C9+ alkanes and alkenes for jet fuel production. A copper catalyst converts n-propanol to its corresponding aldehyde, propanal, and propanal reacts by aldol condensation over TiO2 to produce long chained alkanes alkenes, aldehydes and ketones. Carboxylic acid in the product was removed by ketonization over TiO2. Since n-propanol contains oxygen, zeolite was applied for removal of oxygen. Various characterization methods where used to examine the different catalysts. Some of these methods where performed in the specialization project in fall 2014, and these are included in the report when necessary. The X-ray diffraction, XRD, spectra of TiO2 before and after calcination illustrates that the crystallite size of the TiO2 peaks are smaller after calcination and bigger peaks occur before calcination. Temperature programmed desorption, TPD, was used to examine the basic and acid sites of the four different loadings of TiO2 supported on CNT, synthesized in the specialization project, and for CNT and TiO2. Both acid and basic sites where found for all tested catalysts and support, and the basic sites where stronger when TiO2 was coated on CNT than for pure TiO2, except for the 30 wt. % TiO2/CNT . Strength increased when the loading decreased for all TiO2/CNT catalysts, except for the 40 wt. % TiO2 catalyst. A reduction temperature of 230C is not high enough for full reduction of the copper catalyst, and a reduction temperature of 300C gives a higher conversion of reactants to products. Reduction conditions of 1.2 bar and 300C and reaction conditions of 5 bar and 300C resulted in the highest selectivity towards C9 hydrocarbons for the tested reduction and reaction conditions. The applied zeolite removed oxygen, and the selectivity towards C9 hydrocarbons was the same for TiO2 with and without CNT as support.


Service systems create value through interactions among people and technology. Though information technology (IT), such as those that support electronic commerce, are key resources in IT-based service systems, it is the people in the system, the computer system administrators, who play the most critical role in making these systems work. In our ethnographic studies of IT service delivery, we found that system administrators typically spend much time troubleshooting. We observed that while configuration and performance work is often guided by explicit procedures or plans, troubleshooting work is not. Problems are handled case-by-case. Our observations also reveal that a substantial fraction of time spent troubleshooting is on issues related only tangentially to the primary problem. These tangential problems divert time and energy from the primary problem. Although tangential problems tax the overall service system, there may be opportunities to identify and remediate them to improve overall service delivery and value co-creation.


Within our Galaxy, supernova remnants are believed to be the major sources of cosmic rays up to the "knee". However important questions remain regarding the share of the hadronic and leptonic components, and the fraction of the supernova energy channelled into these components. We address such question by the means of numerical simulations that combine a hydrodynamic treatment of the shock wave with a kinetic treatment of particle acceleration. Performing 3D simulations allows us to produce synthetic projected maps and spectra of the thermal and non-thermal emission, that can be compared with multi-wavelength observations (in radio, X-rays, and gamma-rays). Supernovae come in different types, and although their energy budget is of the same order, their remnants have different properties, and so may contribute in different ways to the pool of Galactic cosmic-rays. Our first simulations were focused on thermonuclear supernovae, like Tycho's SNR, that usually occur in a mostly undisturbed medium. Here we present our 3D simulations of core-collapse supernovae, like the Cas A SNR, that occur in a more complex medium bearing the imprint of the wind of the progenitor star.


Synopsis This paper illustrates oil exploration in the West of Shetlands area from 1995 to 2001 by documenting the history of Block 205/9, awarded in the UK 16th Licensing Round in 1995. Good quality Paleocene sands had been encountered in the 1989 well 205/9-1 in the down-dip part of the block, and equivalent sands were absent on the adjacent Flett Ridge to the SE, setting up the possibility of a pinchout play. The first well testing the play, 205/8-1, was drilled on the overall pinchout on 2D seismic data, but 3D seismic data were acquired across the area to better delineate the depositional systems. The first well drilled on the 3D data to test the sand pinchout, 205/14-3, failed to encounter sands in communication with those in 205/9-1, so attention turned to alternative stratigraphic traps highlighted by seismic amplitude anomalies. Detailed evaluation of the seismic data revealed that the attractive seismic amplitude response of one potential prospect was actually an artefact associated with overlying basalt. Further analysis of the 3D seismic attributes identified a tongue of sand south of 205/9-1, and analysis of magnetic fabrics from core data in 205/9-1 revealed that sand was input to this area from the NE, contrary to previous models. Unfortunately the seismic attributes, supported by fluid inclusion data, suggested that the sand was water-wet. As a result of the evaluation work, the block was relinquished in 1999 without further drilling. While there is undoubtedly scope for stratigraphic traps in the area to prove hydrocarbon-bearing, experience on the 205/9 block and other studies led to a refocusing on dip-closed structures, and a resulting discovery, the first in the Faroes, consisted of 170 m of hydrocarbon-bearing sands in the T10 Paleocene interval.


Word2vec, like other ways of creating word embed-dings from a text corpus, has shown that interesting mathematical properties exist between the resulting word vectors. Word similarities as well as relationships can be discovered by determining which words are nearby in vector space and performing simple vector operations. In this work, IBM's TrueNorth Neurosynaptic System was used to implement massively-parallel word similarity computations using a large network of hardware spiking neurons. A 4-bit vector-matrix multiplication engine was implemented on TrueNorth in order to accommodate a word vector dictionary of 95,000 words trained on Wikipedia text, and it successfully performs word similarity searches using that dictionary while utilizing 3,991 cores out of the 4,096 available on TrueNorth and consuming less than 70 mW of power.


Abstract : This monograph is about planning strategy for the conduct of military intervention. Using popular, but often misunderstood or misquoted theory from some of the most popular strategic theorists, this monograph attempts to dispel the myth that strategic planning for military intervention is as easy as applying a standard planning process. Because planning has transitioned to the use of planning processes, planners and strategists have become careless in their analysis of the enemy and the situation. The development of strategy has been replaced by an over-concern with the completion of the planning process. Rather than performing in-depth analysis of the enemy and situation to determine courses of action and develop carefully thought out objectives and strategy, accurate courses of action have been replaced by a philosophy of simply attacking the enemy's will with maximum force. The concern has become one of process rather than product. The purpose of this monograph is to define the concept of the enemy's will and explain the importance of understanding it; then, to demonstrate that importance using historical examples. The focus is about strategy: understanding will and its affect in warfare. Sun Tzu's quote on knowing the enemy is one of the oldest, yet the most applicable statements ever made about strategy and planning for armed conflict. Analysis of the enemy and analysis of friendly capabilities are the keys to developing a successful course of action to engage a belligerent force--therefore, analysis of the enemy and its will is the foundation to the development of intervention strategy. As Clausewitz points out, war is all about will, a battle or test of will--the ability to 'impose' will upon another entity. Fuller highlights the importance of considering that the enemy must be thought of as capable and surprising and reminds us that the enemy has a vote.


Abstract Noctuidae are one of the world's most diverse, ecologically successful, and economically important animal lineages with over 12,000 species in ∼1,150 genera. We inferred a phylogeny using eight protein-coding genes for the global fauna, greatly expanding upon previous attempts to stabilize Noctuidae higher classification by sampling 341 genera (nearly half represented by their type species) representing 70/76 widely recognized family-group taxa: 20/21 subfamilies, 32/35 tribes, and 18/20 subtribes. We evaluated 17 subfamily-level taxa in detail, discussing adult and larval morphology, life histories, and taxonomic implications of our results. We significantly alter concepts of Acontiinae, Condicinae, Eustrotiinae, Metoponiinae, and Stiriinae. Our results supported recognition of two new subfamilies: Cobubathinae Wagner & Keegan, 2021 subf. nov. and Cropiinae Keegan & Wagner, 2021 subf. nov. Other nomenclatural changes we made are as follows. We moved: 'Acontia' viridifera (Hampson, 1910), 'Azenia' virida Barnes and McDunnough, 1916, Aleptinoides, Austrazenia, Chalcoecia, Megalodes, and Trogotorna to Chamaecleini in Acontiinae; Apaustis to, and reinstated Emmelia as a valid genus in Acontiinae; Allophyes and Meganephria to Cuculliinae; 'Plagiomimicus' navia (Harvey, 1875), Airamia, Alvaradoia, Hypoperigea, Neotarache, and Mesotrosta to Condicinae; Axenus, Azenia, Metaponpneumata, Sexserrata, and Tristyla to Metoponiinae; 'Paramiana' canoa (Barnes, 1907) to Noctuinae; Aucha, Cobubatha, and Tripudia to Cobubathinae; Anycteola and Supralathosea to Oncocnemidinae; Cropia to Cropiinae; Desmoloma to Dyopsinae; Eviridemas and Gloanna to Bryophilinae; Fota and Stilbia to Stiriinae; and Copibryophila, Homolagoa, and Tyta to Noctuidae incertae sedis. We conclude with discussion of instances where current understanding of noctuid biogeography and life histories were changed by our results.


Though the case for maintaining the even increasing agricultural resource productivity seems quite clear, the definition of maintenance research seems to be less so. I will proceed with an examination of what maintenance research is perceived to be, and how it is to be differentiated from non-maintenance research. Some evidence on the scope and nature of maintenance research activities will then be considered. Next, I will present some results from attempts to estimate structures formulated specifically to quantify the processes involved. The paper then concludes with some observations about possibilities for future work.


A series of deletions from the carboxyl terminus of the 23-kD subunit of the photosynthetic oxygen-evolving complex OE23 revealed that these truncations result in various degrees of inhibition of translocation across thylakoid membranes and their subsequent assembly to the oxygen-evolving complex. Import of in vitro translated precursors across the chloroplast envelopes was not inhibited by these truncations. Time-course studies of the import of truncated OE23 precursors into intact chloroplasts revealed that the stromal intermediate was subsequently translocated into the thylakoid lumen, where it was processed to a smaller size and rapidly degraded. In contrast to the full-length OE23 intermediate, the truncated intermediate forms that accumulated in the stroma as a result of de-energization of thylakoid membranes could be found associated with the membrane rather than free in the stroma. Protease digestion experiments revealed that the deletions evidently altered the folded conformation of the protein. These results suggest that the carboxyl-terminal portion of the OE23 precursor is important for the maintenance of an optimal structure for import into thylakoids, implying that the efficient translocation of OE23 requires the protein to be correctly folded. In addition, the rapid degradation of the truncated forms of the processed OE23 within the lumen indicates that a protease (or proteases) active in the lumen can recognize and remove misfolded polypeptides.


In the global marketplace of ideas, few realms spark as much conflict as religion. For millions of people, it is an integral part of everyday life, reflected by a widely divergent supply of practices and philosophical perspectives. Yet, historically, the marketplace has not always been competitive. While the early Common Era saw competition between Christianity, Judaism, and the many pagan cults, Roman Christianity came eventually to dominate Western Europe. Using basic concepts of economic theory, Robert B. Ekelund Jr. and Robert D. Tollison explain the origin and subsequent spread of Roman Christianity, showing first how the standard concepts of risk, cost, and benefit can account for the demand for religion. Then, drawing on the economics of networking, entrepreneurship, and industrial organization, the book explains Christianity's rapid ascent. Like a business, the church developed sound business strategies that increased its market share to a near monopoly in the medieval period. This book offers a fascinating look at the dynamics of Christianity's rise, as well as how aspects the church's structure—developed over the first millennium—illuminate a number of critical problems faced by the church today.


Author(s): Wang, Kai | Advisor(s): Xu, Harry Guoqing | Abstract: As graph data becomes ubiquitous in modern computing, developing systems to efficiently process large graphs has gained increasing popularity. There are two major types of analytical problems over large graphs: graph computation and graph mining. Graph computation includes a set of problems that can be represented through liner algebra over an adjacency matrix based representation of the graph. Graph mining aims to discover complex structural patterns of a graph, for example, finding relationship patterns in social media network, detecting link spam in web data. Due to their importance in machine learning, web application and social media, graph analytical problems have been extensively studied in the past decade. Practical solutions have been implemented in a wide variety of graph analytical systems. However, most of the existing systems for graph analytics are distributed frameworks, which suffer from one or more of the following drawbacks: (1) many of the (current and future) users performing graph analytics will be domain experts with limited computer science background. They are faced with the challenge of managing a cluster, which involves tasks such as data partitioning and fault tolerance they are not familiar with; (2) not all users have access to enterprise cluster in their daily development tasks; (3) distributed graph systems commonly suffer from large startup and communication overhead; and (4) load balancing in a distributed system is another major challenge. Some graph algorithms have dynamic working sets and and it is thus hard to distribute the workload appropriately before the execution.In this dissertation, we identify three categories of graph workloads for which single-machine systems are more suitable than distributed systems: (1) analytical queries that do not need exact answers; (2) program analysis tasks that are widely used to find bugs in real-world software; and (3) graph mining algorithms that are important for many information-retrieval tasks.Based on these observations, we have developed a set of single-machine graph systems to deliver efficiency and scalability specifically for these workloads. In particular, this dissertation makes the following contributions. The first contribution is the design and implementation of a single-machine graph query system named GraphQ, which divides a large graph into partitions and merges them with the guidance from an abstraction graph. By using multiple levels of abstraction, it can quickly rule out infeasible solutions and identify mergeable partitions. GraphQ uses the memory capacity as a budget and tries its best to find solutions before exhausting the memory, making it possible to answer analytical queries over very large graphs with resources affordable to a single PC. The second contribution is the design and implementation of Graspan, a single-machine, disk-based graph processing system tailored for interprocedural static analyses. Given a program graph and a grammar specification of an analysis, Graspan uses an edge-pair centric computation model to compute dynamic transitive closures on very large program graphs. With the help of novel graph processing techniques, we turn sophisticated code analyses into scalable Big Graph analytics. The third contribution of this dissertation is a single-machine, out-of-core graph mining system, called RStream, which leverages disk support to support efficient edge streaming for mining very large graphs. RStream employs a rich programming model that exposes relational algebra for developers to express a wide variety of mining tasks and implements a runtime engine that delivers efficiency with tuple streaming.In conclusion, this dissertation attempts to explore the opportunities of building single-machine graph systems for scenarios where distributed systems do not work well. Our experimental results demonstrate that the techniques proposed in this dissertation can efficiently solve big graph analytical problems on a single consumer PC. We hope that these promising results will encourage future work to continue building affordable single-machine systems for a rich set of datasets and analytical tasks.


ABSTRACT
 Since its discovery in the United States, the invasive plataspid Megacopta cribraria (F.) (Hemiptera: Plataspidae) has infested soybean [Glycine max (L.) Merrill] fields in often alarming numbers in parts of the southeastern United States. Although a known feeder on soybean, reports of its pest status in its native Asian range are conflicting, and little information exists documenting its impact on soybean yields. Our objective was to examine the relationship between M. cribraria density and soybean yield loss. M. cribraria adults and nymphs were confined to small soybean plots by using walk-in field cages from late vegetative stage to harvest in 2011 and 2012. Adults (0, 5, or 25 per plant) were added at late vegetative stages, and their progeny were allowed to complete a full generation within the caged plots. Densities reached as high as 182.5 ± 23.1 (SEM) nymphs and adults per plant, and soybean yield was reduced by as much as 59.6% at the highest density treatment. The yield components seeds per pod and individual seed weight were reduced as M. cribraria densities increased, but pods per plant and protein and oil content were not affected. Preliminary economic injury level curves for a range of grain prices and management costs were calculated based on 2012 yield loss data combined with population monitoring. M. cribraria is capable of causing severe reductions in soybean yields at densities that are relevant within its invasive U.S. range.


Analytical and experimental results of a new type of optical scanning microscope, which uses a phase conjugate mirror and pinholes to achieve superresolution, are presented. The phase conjugate scanning microscope has a higher Rayleigh resolution limit and better sectioning discrimination than conventional, single pass, and double pass scanning microscopes. It also can reduce the effect of static and dynamic aberrations on the imaging process, is very easy to align, and has the potential of introducing optical power gain into the system.


Author(s): Pries, Ashley | Abstract: The ocean's biological pump connects the surface ocean, where light-driven photosynthetic processes fix dissolved carbon dioxide (CO2), to the ocean's mesopelagic zone (approx. 200 –1000 meters) and beyond. It is a process that depletes the ocean's surface of CO2 relative to the CO2 in deep water through mechanisms such as the sinking of organic material to the deep Ocean. The Atlantic Ocean features high productivity of the macroalgae genus Sargassum floating on the ocean's surface in the Sargasso Sea, and in recent years giant blooms of the brown algae Sargassum have been observed stretching from the west coast of Africa to the Gulf of Mexico, the largest macroalgae bloom that has ever been recorded. The sinking of macroalgae from surface waters to the seafloor is considered to be an important carbon sink, but one that is little understood. With the logistical challenges of accessing the deep sea, the record of Sargassum appearing on the seafloor remains limited.This project utilized an archived exploratory dataset that is freely available to the public in order to make novel discoveries in previously unexplored areas. The following report documents the presence and distribution of Sargassum falls in the deep sea during six dives conducted by NOAA Ship Okeanos Explorer's ROV Deep Discoverer off the Southeastern United States, in the Gulf of Mexico, and in the Caribbean. Sargassum was observed on each of the dives, in numbers ranging from 6 to 30 observations per dive, with Sargassum being observed an average of every 171 linear meters. This suggests that Sargassum does make its way to the deep sea, in potentially significant amounts.


Hurricane Katrina has been interpreted as both a "metaphor" for the racial inequality that characterizes urban America and as a purely "natural" disaster that happened to strike a predominantly Black city. To resolve these conflicting interpretations, the author analyzes data on New Orleans residents who died during Katrina in an effort to provide an empirical look at the groups most directly affected by the hurricane. Contrary to prior reports in the popular press, the author finds that the impact of the storm was felt most acutely by the elderly population in New Orleans and by Blacks, who were much more likely to die than would be expected given their presence in the population. Data on the locations of recovered bodies also show that Katrina took its largest toll in New Orleans's Black community. These findings confirm the impression that race was deeply implicated in the tragedy of Katrina.


The complex interactions between individuals, institutions and information and communications technologies (ICTs) have generated a growing body of research that seeks greater knowledge of the processes at work and their consequences. Situated firmly within this area, this thesis challenges the dominance of the generalised and largely technologically deterministic narratives within the field by seeking to constitute such knowledge in a different way. Geography provides a useful standpoint from which to challenge these narratives owing to its enduring engagement with time and space, concepts implicit in any discussion of ICTs effects. Emerging work on code space, transurbanism and timespace are specifically used to negate the persistent dualistic treatment of time and space which is argued to be hampering geographic research in this field. Methodologically drawing from a non representational style this thesis uses these emerging understandings to access the in between, a mental space of performance; which involves the process of drawing from tacit knowledge, cognitive perceptions of the spatial and temporal environment and emotions, in order to explore the conditions of possibility that individuals are becoming aware of through their interactions with ICTs. Four empirical interventions are used to ground these emerging understandings into the reality of everyday encounters with ICTs in Auckland, New Zealand. The first focuses on the role of local government in the development of Auckland's ICT infrastructure, a complex and contingent process. The second concentrates on the provision of a Real Time Passenger Information System at Auckland bus stops, exposing individuals to new timespaces while waiting for the bus. The third considers students opinions of the e-learning mechanisms used in two first year geography courses. The final intervention examines the role ICTs play in South Africans and South Koreans imagining, negotiation and mediation of the migration process to Auckland. In conclusion, this thesis contributes to how geography constitutes knowledge about ICTs at three different levels. Empirically, the four interventions contribute grounded findings to the debates in the geographic literature over interactions with ICTs. Methodologically, the conditions of possibility institutional and individual actors are beginning to perceive through their encounters with ICTs are revealed as are the timespaces that may eventuate from these. Theoretically, to understand how the interactions between individuals and ICTs are performed this thesis demonstrates the need to interrogate the in between as a process, not just a gap or blank.


The objectives of this study were to evaluate the long-term performance of various coatings on steel piles in seawater and to investigate non-destructive electrochemical corrosion testing techniques for coating evaluationin the field. Steel H piles which were 20.3 cm x 20.3 cm and 12.2 m long were installed in Buzzards Bay, Cape Cod, Massachusetts. The piles were coated with various coatings such as coal tar epoxy, polyurethane, flame sprayed zinc and aluminum. Several of the piles were left uncoated for baseline comparison. Sacrificial cathodic protection was provided by anodes to some of the bare and coated steel pilings. Corrosion rate measurements using electrochemical polarization resistance and Tafel plots were conducted periodically in the field during the twenty year study. The results of the Cape Cod, MA, corrosion study were compared with a similar study conducted at the La Costa Island, FL. The long-term coating evaluation showed that flame sprayed aluminum with a topcoat sealer performed best at the cooler temperatures in Massachusetts and polyester glass flake was the best performer in Florida. Coal tar epoxy coatings with zinc-rich primers performed well at both of the locations.


This study sets out to analyze the technology acceptance decisions by the users of one smartphone (iPhone). Variations of the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM), after first proposed by Davis (1986), have been widely used in the field of information systems research. This paper proposes extensions to TAM from user experience perspective. Hassenzahl (2003), in his user experience model, finds product attributes as important in forming the character of the product and influencing the user's behavior. Using the extended version of TAM, I find that manipulation function of pragmatic attributes influences usefulness. I also find stimulation and identification functions of hedonic attributes to impact attitude and actual use. However, evocation has not been found important for either attitude or actual use. This research also develops an ethnographic decision tree model (EDTM) to predict the iPhone acceptance decisions for the sample and the model provides an acceptable success rate. Both the studies (extension of TAM and EDTM) utilize qualitative procedures as the research approach.


An analysis of the vibration field of the steam turbine in a combined cycle power plant has been used to identify the causes of the plant rejection at commissioning. The steam turbine group consists of a high pressure turbine connected through a gear box to a medium and low pressure turbine. The high vibration level in the main steam turbine journal bearings caused the plant can't reach nominal power 100 MW, and at approximately 43 MW the plant was rejected. Vibration is measured through proximity non-contact sensors (two per bearing at 90°), which give relative displacements between shafts and the bearing housing. Accelerometers are also located in the bearing housing. The analysis carried out included: • Field measurements; • Critical speeds dynamic model (API 684 guidelines); • Comparison with the API 684 stability test. As a result of this study, the authors found that excessive vibration was caused by a rotor instability phenomenon, "steam whirl", and that it led to plant rejection. The main conclusions from this work are: • The vibration rejection of the combined cycle plant was due to an excess in the maximum permissible vibration value at synchronism speed, which always occurred at 43 MW. • The excessive vibration level was caused by rotor instabilities at the rotor shaft in the high-pressure steam turbine. The main vibratory energy was concentrated in a frequency range 0.38–0.41 × rpm. • The main instability phenomenon was identified as "steam whirl". • The protocol used as a tool in the stability analysis of the turbine, defined in API 684, shows that the logarithmic decrement at the first modal frequency in the most dangerous situation (minimum gap in bearings) has a value of 0.149, which is higher than the stability threshold defined in the API 684 specification (0.1). In this way, and according to the stability analysis, the steam turbine design would be safe despite the fact that the instability problem appeared.Copyright © 2010 by ASME


Nozzle‐type rainfall simulators are commonly used in hydrologic and soil erosion research. Simulated rainfall intensity, originating from the nozzle, increases as the distance between the point of measurement and the source is decreased. Hence, rainfall measured using rain gauges would systematically overestimate the rainfall received at the ground level. A simple model was developed to adjust rainfall measured anywhere under the simulator to plot‐wide average rainfall at the ground level. Nozzle height, plot width, gauge diameter and height, and gauge location are required to compute this adjustment factor. Results from 15 runs at different rain intensities and durations, and with different rain gauge layouts, showed that a simple average of measured rain would overestimate the plot‐wide rain by about 20 per cent. Using the adjustment factor to convert measured rainfall for individual gauges before averaging improved the estimate of plot‐wide rainfall considerably. For the 15 runs considered, overall discrepancy between actual and measured rain is reduced to less than 1 per cent with a standard error of 0·97 mm. This model can be easily tested in the field by comparing rainfall depths of different sized gauges. With the adjustment factor they should all give very similar values. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.


Motion base driving simulators have limited space in which to recreate the motions of the simulated road vehicle. Conventional motion cueing algorithms strive to centre the cabin in the simulator motion envelope to accommodate accelerations in a worst case scenario while respecting the physical boundaries. Using information about the road ahead one can preposition the cabin to an off-centre point, virtually increasing the available space so that larger motions are made possible. The prepositioning algorithm presented here was developed as an addition to a classical motion cueing algorithm and makes use of road data and vehicle speed to adjust the simulator displacement. Simulations show that the amount of acceleration presented by an x, y-sled system can, with prepositioning, be increased by up to 25% in longitudinal and 53% in lateral direction for an example road. A comparative study including 12 test subjects indicates that the perceived realism is rated higher with prepositioning.


Six new cases of cysticercosis and three previously reported cases in Surabaya have been examined in order to determine the age, sex, religion, sites of location and size of cyst. The host response was also discussed. A comparative study was also conducted with other centres in Indonesia. The relative high prevalence of cysticercosis in Bali and the probable influencing factors was also presented.


Abstract Limited information is available concerning price determination in the thoroughbred yearling market. A recursive model incorporating price expectations and biological constraints is used to estimate supply and demand functions for thoroughbred horses. Empirical results characterize a market with inelastic supply and elastic demand that converges to equilibrium under static conditions. Purses were identified as the most influential variable impacting price. Comparative statics illustrate the effectiveness of purses as a policy instrument for the thoroughbred industry. Federal tax policy also was found to have a significant impact on the decisions to breed or invest in thoroughbred yearlings.