History of nautical cartography can be traced on the basis of recent editions of the publication "Symbols and Abbreviations Used on Charts". This paper examines editions of that publication covering the area of Eastern coast of the Adriatic Sea, from its first issue in 1929 published on one sheet, until these days. Every new edition includes more and more symbols and abbreviations, and its contents are consistent with worldwide trends in nautical cartography. In this way, nautical charts like no other thematic charts have been standardized all over the world. Such standardization has been achieved as a result of recommendations of the International Hydrographic Organization, to enable easier reading and interpreting of any nautical chart. The paper also refers to the IHO Symbols and Abbreviations for the production of electronic navigational charts and INT charts.


Cholesteatoma is a well demarcated, non-neoplastic, temporal bone cystic lesion with extensive keratinisation. Keratoma and epidermoid cyst are other possibly more accurate names suggested to describe the same. It can be classified as congenital or acquired. Its management is often complicated by its tendency to recidivism/recurrence. Long standing cholesteatomas can be a precursor for squamous cell carcinoma. We hereby present a case of giant cholesteatoma in a 45-year-old female with radiological involvement of the left temporal region, periauricular region and infratemporal fossa with lytic destruction of left middle ear ossicles, mastoid and squamous part of temporal bone with intracranial extension. The enormity of the present lesion along with its bony erosions raised the strong clinical suspicion of malignancy. The underlying case report highlights the relevance of exhaustive sectioning and immunohistochemistry to reach the diagnosis.


The factor separation of Stein and Alpert (1993) is applied to simulations with the MPI Earth system model to determine the factors which cause the differences between vegetation patterns in glacial and pre-industrial climate. The factors firstly include differences in the climate, caused by a strong increase in ice masses and the radiative effect of lower greenhouse gas concentrations; secondly, differences in the ecophysiological effect of lower glacial atmospheric CO2 concentrations; and thirdly, the synergy between the pure climate effect and the pure effect of changing physio- logically available CO2. It is has been shown that the syn- ergy can be interpreted as a measure of the sensitivity of eco- physiological CO2 effect to climate. The pure climate effect mainly leads to a contraction or a shift in vegetation patterns when comparing simulated glacial and pre-industrial vegeta- tion patterns. Raingreen shrubs benefit from the colder and drier climate. The pure ecophysiological effect of CO2 ap- pears to be stronger than the pure climate effect for many plant functional types - in line with previous simulations. The pure ecophysiological effect of lower CO2 mainly yields a reduction in fractional coverage, a thinning of vegetation and a strong reduction in net primary production. The syn- ergy appears to be as strong as each of the pure contribu- tions locally, but weak on global average for most plant func- tional types. For tropical evergreen trees, however, the syn- ergy is strong on global average. It diminishes the difference between glacial and pre-industrial coverage of tropical ever- green trees, due to the pure climate effect and the pure eco- physiological CO2 effect, by approximately 50 per cent.


Grasping requires that an individual process absolute visual information for optimal hand/target interactions. For example, the visuomotor system demonstrates peak grip aperture (PGA) scaling for targets that differ by as little as 0.5 mm – a resolution far greater than the visuoperceptual system. In the present work, participants grasped adjacent to a target (i.e., pantomime-grasp) to determine whether actions requiring decoupled stimulus-response spatial relations rely on the same visual information as their naturalistic counterparts. For each trial a target and an adjacent non-target was presented, and participants grasped or pantomime-grasped the target. Importantly, target and non-targets differed in size by 0.5 mm, and prior to or after the grasp, or pantomime-grasp, participants' reported whether the target was larger than the non-target (i.e., perceptual judgment). Experiment 1 employed rectangular bars as target stimuli, whereas Experiment 2 employed circular annuli. Experiment 1 showed that PGAs for grasps and pantomime-grasps scaled to target size and surprisingly participants provided accurate perceptual judgments of target size. Experiment 2 PGAs for grasps – but not pantomime-grasps – scaled to target size and in both tasks participants did not provide accurate perceptual judgements. Accordingly, results demonstrate that the perceptual system's resolution is shape-dependent (Experiment 1), and that grasps, and pantomime-grasps, are mediated via distinct visual information (Experiment 2).Acknowledgments: Supported by NSERC.


The Lower Columbia River Estuary Management Plan (Jerrick, 1991) recognizes the positive relationship between the conservation of fish and wildlife habitat, and sustaining their populations. An important component of fish and wildlife conservation and management is the identification of habitats, trends in habitat change, and delineation of habitat for preservation, restoration or enhancement. Alterations to the environment, such as hydropower generation, dredging, forestry, agriculture, channel alteration, diking, bank stabilization and floodplain development, have dramatically altered both the type and distribution of habitats along the Columbia River Estuary (CRE) and its floodplain. Along the Columbia River, tidally influenced habitats occur from the river mouth to the Bonneville Dam, a distance of 230 km. If we are to effectively manage the natural resources of the Columbia River ecosystem, there is a need to understand how habitats have changed because fish and wildlife populations are known to respond to changes in habitat quality and distribution. The goal of this study was to measure the amount and type of change of CRE land cover from 1992 to 2000. We performed a change analysis on two spatial data sets describing land cover along the lower portion of the estuary (Fig. 1). The 1992 data set was created by the NOAA Coastal Remote Sensing, Coastal Change Analysis Program (C-CAP) in cooperation with Columbia River Estuary Study Task Force (CREST), the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) Point Adams Field Station, and State of Washington Department of Natural Resources (DNR). The 2000 data set was produced by Earth Design Consultants, Inc. (EDC) and the Wetland Ecosystem Team (WET: University of Washington) as part of a larger Lower Columbia River Estuary Partnership (Estuary Partnership) habitat mapping study. Although the image classification methodologies used to create the data sets differed, both data sets were produced by classifying Landsat Thematic Mapper (TM) satellite imagery, making it feasible to assess land cover changes between 1992 and 2000.


Extended previous research on family factors related to children's social competence by examining links between 3 domains of maternal social competence (social skills, social frames, network size) and 3 domains of children's social competence (social skills, peer-rated social preference, and network size) in a sample of 78 mothers and their kindergarten children (42 girls, 36 boys). The mediational role of maternal social competence in the association between mothers' depression and interpersonal sensitivity symptoms and children's social competence was also tested. Results supported associations between all 3 domains of mothers' and children's social competence, with maternal social skills the most frequent predictor of children's social competence. Gender differences suggested that maternal social competence was more strongly related to sons' peer acceptance and daughters' social skills. A mediational model received preliminary support for girls, with maternal psychological symptoms related to girls' social competence via maternal social skills. Implications include the need for continued study of maternal social competence as a family factor related to children's peer functioning and the development of family-based interventions for young children experiencing peer problems.


The economic and political collapse of Zimbabwe resulted in the movement of women and men beyond their borders in search of better economic opportunities. The movement of Zimbabwean women has been accompanied by an outcry in neighbouring countries about their involvement in sex work. Contrary to the sensationalised views in the media and the public health discourse, this work highlights the experiences of Zimbabwean sex workers in South Africa, to understand how they engage with discourses in sex work and sexuality given the norms and mores that govern sexuality in the African context. The aim of this study is to bring to the fore trajectories, experiences and perceptions of migrant sex workers in Johannesburg. Using postmodern feminism as a theoretical resource, the study is qualitative and employed ethnographic methods for data collection. The research was conducted in Diplomat Hotel, a hotel turned brothel on the periphery of Hillbrow, a residential area in Johannesburg. Using observation and informal interviews, the study explores Zimbabwean sex workers trajectories and perceptions of sex work. Findings suggest tensions and contradictions as women negotiate, challenge and resist the binaries of good woman/bad woman. It is clear that women view prostitution as work as it provides a livelihood for them and their families. However, there are times women embrace the shame and stigma society accords to sex work and self degrade. This reveals the fluidity and tension in their perceptions as women negotiate the polemic debates between the abolitionists and sex work advocates. Women have found ways to navigate the precarious sex work industry and retain their autonomy through the use of humour, a veto of certain clients and re-appropriation of the whore label. The study brings to the fore gender inequalities that keep women poor and predicate entry into sex work. The gendered nature of sex work and how most female work is unrewarded and unrewarding are exposed given the options open to women in the sex industry such as domestic work or the service industry. Zimbabwean sex workers have created their own social networks outside the accepted networks to deal with the everyday challenges of sex work. The study highlights systemic gender inequalities at the root of women's entry into sex work. Finally, the study reveals that migrant women in sex work are propelled into sex work not by traffickers or pimps but structural gender inequalities embedded in marriage, the general disregard for feminised work and sexual inequalities in society.


use of Syriac analogues : often with good success, but sometimes, perhaps, without necessity—in the onion-cure for dry eyes (8, 1, 11) is not hasu " squeeze " (?) as quotable as . t u Af. " r u b " ? The minerals, plants, and animals used in the pharmacopoeia create many little problems. On plants a work to be entitled The Assyrian Herbal is promised. This is very good news. In the identification of stones the author is sometimes on the side of caution. Is not KA-MI (trans., p. 7) probably black basalt, and possibly to be transcribed salamdu (Boson, Les metaux and les pierres . . . 25, 58, etc.); and DAG-GAZ (ibid.) something similar to cinnabar, like the next word (cf. Haupt, OLZ. xvi, 493) ? In the fascinating term DAG-PA sa 7 DAU-sa (pi. iii, No. 2, 16) it is tempting to find a " ziggurat stone with its 7 colours-" (cf. e'-pA). AN-KAL ena (9, 1, ii, 32, etc.), rendered pupil of the eye, may be transcribed (KAR. 102, 12) lamassat ena = guardians of the eyes (?). Ebeling, MVAG. 1918, ii, p. 73, understands eyebrows, which will not suit our ophthalmic (?) case : but eyelids might be considered. It goes without saying that Mr. Campbell Thompson's copies are beautiful and clear.


This research is aimed to investigate: 1) which jobs were chosen by women who worked as the tea leaves pickers at P'I'Barana Mandiri  Mukti Plantation  in Kabupaten Kepahiang after they have fined due to the collapse of the plantation, 2)  the women's  working  time in their new job, 3) their income from their new job and 4) their income contribution to their family income. The snowball sampling  was used to take the 60 respondents. The primary  data were collected through interview and the secondary  data were taken from other institutions related to this research. The research results showed that there were 31J% respondents had new job as the helper of their husband  working  on their own farm, 20% worked to clear weeds away at other tea plantation,  16J% as the pickers at other tea plantations  and 11,7% as housewives. The women worked 4,8 hours/day on an average at their new job. The average of the women's  income from their new job was Rp 282.833,30/month  and their contribution to their family income was 35,96 on an average and it is classified on low category. Key words: work movement,  women, tea pickers


Public-Private Partnership refers to an approach which combines positive aspects of Public and private sectors to come up with better public service delivery model. The PPP arrangements neither appear uniformly nor apply in all circumstances. The study investigated whether or not, through water sector reforms PPP has been realized in the provision of water services in Kenya. Using Public choice theory the study used secondary data and primary data from seven (7) Focus Group Discussions, and 33 Key informant interviews. From seven (7) WSPs, the study found out that PPPs exist in regulation, provision and financing of water services and that in Kenya, PPPs have been incorporated more by the community water projects than the Public water companies.


A number of studies carried out over the last forty years describe the application of radiocarbon dating of lime mixtures such as mortars, plasters and renders. Despite the fact that this method is very simple in principle, several studies have highlighted various practical challenges and factors that must be considered. These arise mainly from the contamination of samples with carbonaceous substances such as incompletely burnt limestone and aggregates of fossil origin including limestone sand.

However, recently studies have shown that accurate sample processing allow a significant reduction of these error sources and moreover adoption of a special sampling procedure based on the careful selection of lumps of incompletely mixed lime, provides an interesting alternative that avoids problems associated with contamination. The founding principle underlying this technique is the use of the pure lime lumps. These are thought to originate from imperfect mixing and are most prevalent in mortars, renders and plasters predating mechanical mixing. Previous sampling methods for radiocarbon dating did not discriminate between pure and contaminated lime lumps. As pure lumps contain the same lime as that used in other parts of the mixtures but importantly are free of contaminants such as sand grains or under burned pieces of limestone, they can dramatically reduce the errors in the radiocarbon dating.


Of all of the various forms of political dissent, the most dramatic as a form of expression is that which places lived bodies in tension with the prevailing social order. Bodies so presented—in marches, strikes, sit-ins, demonstrations and other mass assemblies—are just the opposite of Foucault's docile bodies. They are a collective will concretized, an intersubjective mass animated by a common purpose that fills a public space and obstinately makes their shared demand. The presence of such dissenting bodies assembled in various public spaces have at times been essential in dramatizing grievances and re-constituting the meaning of a political landscape. Though such dissenting bodies have often been met with the full force of the state, the political efficacy of such bodies has been seriously undermined in recent years due to more subtle strategies to suppress such dissent, and counterstrategies meant to circumscribe these efforts at suppression. The goal of this essay is to explore these developments through phenomenological analysis. Preliminary considerations of (1) different forms of political potency and (2) the lived body and its movement through space, will be followed by (3) an investigation of what it means to be a dissenting body witnessed within a public place, and (4) what happens when dissenting bodies are consigned to circumscribed spaces or retreat to the "virtual." This analysis will show how these developments have rendered dissenting bodies far less politically effective than they have been in the past, which dangerously weakens the democratic traditions of free speech and open dissent. This, in turn, supports a call (5) for a re-assertion of the embodied subject into the practice of political dissent.


The major histocompatibility complex (MHC) is a multigene family that plays an essential role in the innate and adaptive immune system. The MHC has been intensely studied in a variety of vertebrate species and comparative analyses of the MHC in distantly related species have revealed changes in gene complexity and organisation during the evolution of this gene cluster. Marsupials occupy a unique phylogenetic position that bridges the gap between eutherians and nonmammal species. Characterisation of MHC genes and genomic regions in marsupials has greatly improved our knowledge on MHC evolution, including our understanding of changes in genomic organisation, the effect of translocation or loss of genes on gene function and the influence of natural selection on genetic variations at MHC loci.

Key Concepts:

The genomic organisation of MHC class I genes differs between nonmammalian and eutherian species.

The organisation of the marsupial MHC resembles that of nonmammals.

Separation of class I genes from class II and antigen-processing genes occurred after the divergence of marsupial and eutherian mammals.

Classical class I genes are not linked to the MHC in the tammar wallaby.

The nonclassical class I gene UK is conserved in marsupials and likely plays a significant functional role.

Loss of a class II gene family in the Tasmanian devil may have an adverse impact on immunity in this species.

Balancing selection acts to maintain high MHC diversity in the Kangaroo island tammar wallaby population.

Selective sweeps may have contributed to the low MHC diversity in the Tasmanian devil.

Keywords:

comparative analysis;
MHC;
evolution;
marsupial;
grey short-tailed opossum;
tammar wallaby;
Tasmanian devil


Central to this thesis is the argument, espoused by a number o f our contemporary critics, that the success o f Angel (Neil Jordan, 1982) and My Left Foot (Jim Sheridan, 1989) resulted in a climate in which Irish filmmakers attempted to appeal to a more global market by adopting mainstream Hollywood formats at the expense o f the more experimental and socially critical cinema which had existed prior to 1987.

While primarily concerned with Irish cinema since the re-establishment o f the Film Board in 1993, the thesis sets out to investigate a number o f different strategies which Irish filmmakers have adopted in an attempt to infiltrate a market which has become totally dominated by mainstream American studio films. Its main concern is the extent to which they may be said to have successfully achieved a balance o f American style and Irish substance, in such a way that these films can be read as less definably "American" and more specifically "Irish". Each o f the films proposed for examination is alternative, not in the classic sense o f "alternative' or 'counter-cinema', but in the sense that they deviate from the more standardised approach o f much Irish cinema. The thesis is divided into two main sections.


There are many landslide disaster potential area in Eastern Central Sulawesi. This landslide is potentially triggering flashflood. I the middle 2007, a massive flash flood was struck in 4 district in Morowali residence. Beside Morowali Residence, the other residence which has the same problem is Tojo Una-una Residence. It since the two residence was located on the same mountain. So, it means the same catastrophic disaster would possible occurred in the Tojo Una-una Residence in the next. From many rivers in Tojo Una-una's residence, the most frequently occurred flash flood is Podi River. However, the geospatial survey and field survey has worked on the site directly. The geospatial survey was made by satellite imaging then analyze it by some computer software, and make some interpretation. The field survey has worked further by visual analyzing, taking picture for documentation, taking soil or rock sample, and interviewing the local citizens. The result is critical slope and damaged was observed, sedimented area, the potential area to sledge has appear. There is many additional important information got, such as the + 169,84 Ha critical slope fail area, the + 300 m height of critical slope, and the potential volume of the next landslide material is + 509.250.000 m3. From land survey, the information gets is the vegetation on the location is still in good condition. The top soil for plant nutrition and grew media just 1,0 – 2,0 m depth. The clay layer is only about 30,0 cm depth. The weathered rock is dominating on this soil stratification. Finally, it can conclude that the remote sensing technology is very helpful and useful to makes some preliminary interpretations. This results most followed by field survey to make sure and high accuracy about the real situations there. The landslides were caused by weathered rock, high rainfall intensity, mega landslides was occurred in upstream, The new landslide profile was made the contour bowl alike and this condition is believed why does The Podi River always caused flash flood in the huge amount. Keywords: Geographic Information System, remote sensing, natural disaster, landslides, flash flood.


Silicon Carbide 300V-5A Ni and W Schottky diodes with high temperature operation capability (up to 300°C) have been fabricated. This paper reports on the stability tests (ESA space mission to Mercury, BepiColombo requirements) performed on these diodes. A DC current stress of 5A has been applied to these diodes at 270°C for 800 hours. These reliability tests revealed both, degradation at the Schottky interface (forward voltage drift) and at the diode top surface due to Aluminum diffusion (bond pull strength degradation). The use of W as Schottky metal allows eliminating the forward voltage drift producing stable metal–semiconductor interface properties. Nevertheless, SEM observations of the top metallization still reveal metal degradation after stress. The bond pull strength of the wire bond is also significantly reduced.


Background Eltrombopag is authorised by the EMA for adult chronic immune thrombocytopenic purpura (ITP) splenectomised patients who are refractory to other treatments and as second-line treatment for non-splenectomised patients for whom surgery is contraindicated. Eltrombopag was effective in 59% of patients in a randomised controlled trial (Bussel, 2009). Purpose To determine whether eltrombopag is prescribed according to the approved indications. To observe the effect on platelet levels. Materials and methods Observational study. The authors included patients treated with eltrombopag from 01/01/2011 to 31/08/2011. Variables analysed: demographics, diagnosis, previous treatments, duration, rescue medication, changes in platelet levels, and reason for suspension (where applicable). Results Seven patients were treated with eltrombopag. Median age: 65 years, 4 males. Six had ITP and 1 had multifactorial essential thrombocytopenia. All patients with ITP had received first-line treatment with corticosteroids and immunoglobulins and were refractory to at least 2 second-line treatments, as follows: immunosuppressants (3 patients), rituximab (3), Vinca alkaloids (2), tranexamic acid (3), and romiplostim (2). One patient with ITP was splenectomised, while 5 were not (old age (3), multiple comorbidities, refusal (1 each)). Four of the 7 patients discontinued treatment before the end of the study (median duration, 87 days), while 3 continued with treatment (median interval from initiation, 46 days). The 3 patients who continued with treatment maintained increased platelet levels from baseline (>50 x 103/μL). Of the 4 who stopped treatment, 3 did not have increased platelet levels at any time during the study, while 1, despite reaching and maintaining platelet levels, discontinued treatment due to uncontrolled bleeding events. All non-responders required rescue with immunoglobulins. Conclusions Eltrombopag was prescribed according to the approved indication in 6 out of 7 patients and was effective in half of the patients with ITP. Despite our small study population, the percentage of responders was similar to that found by Bussel et al.


Satellite telemetry tracking of Light-bellied Brent Geese was used to test whether the length of time taken to undertake their autumn migration was longer than the duration of their spring migration (published previously). Spring and autumn migration did not differ significantly and both were conducted almost non-stop, despite expectations that birds would be more time-limited in spring than autumn. Rich feeding opportunities in the arctic prior to autumn departure and large beds of eelgrass Zostera sp. at the final destinations, combined with a lack of suitable Zostera feeding habitat at potential staging areas along the route, most likely explain the rapid and direct autumn migration pattern observed in the population. Although individual goose migrations were fast and of similar duration in the two seasons, autumn migration for the entire population was spaced over a month, in contrast to spring when all birds usually migrated within a 10-day period. From the lack of a difference between tagged and non-tagged individuals in the timing of their migration (the latter based on citizen science observation phenology), we believe the birds' movements were largely unaffected by their tags.


Graph Neural Networks (GNNs) have recently enabled substantial advances in graph learning. Despite their rich representational capacity, GNNs remain under-explored for large-scale social modeling applications. One such industrially ubiquitous application is friend suggestion: recommending users other candidate users to befriend, to improve user connectivity, retention and engagement. However, modeling such user-user interactions on large-scale social platforms poses unique challenges: such graphs often have heavy-tailed degree distributions, where a significant fraction of users are inactive and have limited structural and engagement information. Moreover, users interact with different functionalities, communicate with diverse groups, and have multifaceted interaction patterns. We study the application of GNNs for friend suggestion, providing the first investigation of GNN design for this task, to our knowledge. To leverage the rich knowledge of in-platform actions, we formulate friend suggestion as multi-faceted friend ranking with multi-modal user features and link communication features. We design a neural architecture GraFRank to learn expressive user representations from multiple feature modalities and user-user interactions. Specifically, GraFRank employs modality-specific neighbor aggregators and cross-modality attentions to learn multi-faceted user representations. We conduct experiments on two multi-million user datasets from Snapchat, a leading mobile social platform, where GraFRank outperforms several state-of-the-art approaches on candidate retrieval (by 30% MRR) and ranking (by 20% MRR) tasks. Moreover, our qualitative analysis indicates notable gains for critical populations of less-active and low-degree users.


Background: Colorectal cancer (CRC) is one of the most prevalent cancer types globally. A survival paradox exists due to the inherent heterogeneity in stage II/III CRC tumor biology. Ferroptosis is closely related to the progression of tumors, and ferroptosis-related genes can be used as a novel biomarker in predicting cancer prognosis. Methods: Ferroptosis-related genes were retrieved from the FerrDb and KEGG databases. A total of 1,397 samples were enrolled in our study from nine independent datasets, four of which were integrated as the training dataset to train and construct the model, and validated in the remaining datasets. We developed a machine learning framework with 83 combinations of 10 algorithms based on 10-fold cross-validation (CV) or bootstrap resampling algorithm to identify the most robust and stable model. C-indice and ROC analysis were performed to gauge its predictive accuracy and discrimination capabilities. Survival analysis was conducted followed by univariate and multivariate Cox regression analyses to evaluate the performance of identified signature. Results: The ferroptosis-related gene (FRG) signature was identified by the combination of Lasso and plsRcox and composed of 23 genes. The FRG signature presented better performance than common clinicopathological features (e.g., age and stage), molecular characteristics (e.g., BRAF mutation and microsatellite instability) and several published signatures in predicting the prognosis of the CRC. The signature was further stratified into a high-risk group and low-risk subgroup, where a high FRG signature indicated poor prognosis among all collected datasets. Sensitivity analysis showed the FRG signature remained a significant prognostic factor. Finally, we have developed a nomogram and a decision tree to enhance prognosis evaluation. Conclusion: The FRG signature enabled the accurate selection of high-risk stage II/III CRC population and helped optimize precision treatment to improve their clinical outcomes.


The potential energy functions of the electronic ground as well as the lowest ππ* and nπ* excited singlet states of the most stable hydrogen bonded complex of cytosine with water was theoretically investigated along the proton transfer (PT) reaction coordinate. The full geometry optimization was performed along the PT reaction path. In the geometry optimization, the Hartree–Fock method and the configuration interaction scheme with single excitations was used. The energy calculations at the optimized geometries were performed with the complete‐active‐space self‐consistent‐field (CASSCF) method and with second‐order perturbation theory, employing the CASSCF wave function as the reference state (CASPT2), as well as with the Moller–Plesset second‐order theory (MP2) for the ground state. It was found that the cytosine:water complex is stable in the amino‐oxo form against the PT reaction which leads to the imino‐oxo tautomeric form on the ground as well as on the excited PE surfaces. An efficient nonradiative decay channel of electronically excited cytosine resulting from nonadiabatic interactions between the ground and excited singlet states along the reaction coordinate leading to the prefulvenic form was identified. It is argued that both the above mentioned effects under the normal conditions (neutral aqueous solution, room temperature) are responsible for remarkable stability of cytosine in its ''native'' amino‐oxo form against any damage that may result from exposure to UV radiation.


The steel industry like any other manufacturing process is under constant pressure to deliver higher quality defect free material at lower cost to customers. This push for zero defects has led to improved manufacturing processes and the need for more reliable, faster defect testing methods. Ultrasound fundamentally provides a mechanical stress, produced by tensile, compressive, shearing or flexural forces, which are of such low intensity that no material damage occurs. The remit of the project was to investigate and develop the latent potential within the Present automated ultrasonic immersion system using an array of normal angle probes, used for billet inspection. The work presented in this thesis describes the research undertaken to develop a system using, 10mm diameter, standard zero angled 5MHz ultrasonic transducers. The transducers were used at linear separation distances of between 22.5mm and 45mm set in a typical 8-probe array orientation. The developed technique is potentially transferable to other ultrasonic multi-probe array applications and demonstrates that time of flight diffraction can be realised using normal probes, and termed Normal Probe Diffraction, (NPD). The technique located defects, using the intersection of ellipses, with an error of <0.5% of the signal transit distance and, with the application of a correlation filter, improved the Signal to Noise Ratio (SNR) from—20dB to 17.0dB.


Creative industries have a large enough contribution to the development of the national economy, particularly employment and raise incomes masyarakat.Permasalahan facing the creative industries are still many, especially the ability to innovate and the competitiveness is still weak, so the impact on performance. This study aims to examine the role of the Triple Helix (intellectual, government, business) to improve innovation capability and competitive advantage creative industry. The total sample of 115 respondents were focused on craft and fashion sector in Central Java, as well as methods of sampling using purposive sampling,  the  data  obtained  will  be  processed  using  the  program  Partial  Least Square   (PLS).   The   results   showed   three   actors   Triple   Helix   (intellectual, government, business) significantly affects the ability of innovation and competitive advantage.  Likewise,  innovation  and  competitive  advantage  are  also  significant effect on performance.   Keywords : Triple Helix, Innovation, Competitive Advantage, Performance


Driver distraction has become an important and growing safety concern as the use of in-vehicle information systems (IVISs), such as cell phones and navigation systems, continues to increase. One approach to allowing people to benefit from IVISs without compromising safety is to create adaptive IVISs that adjust their functions according to driver and roadway state. A critical element of adaptive IVISs involves monitoring driver distraction in real time; with such a monitoring function it is possible to mitigate that distraction. This study applied Bayesian networks (BNs), a data mining method, to develop a real-time approach to detecting cognitive distraction using drivers' eye movements and driving performance. Data were collected in a simulator experiment involving 10 participants who interacted with an IVIS system while driving. BN models were trained and tested to investigate the influence of three model characteristics on distraction detection: time history of driver behavior, inclusion of hidden nodes in the model structure, and how data are summarized and the length of training sequences. Results showed that BNs could identify driver distraction reliably with an average accuracy of 80.1%. Dynamic BNs (DBNs) that consider time dependencies of driver behavior produced more sensitive models than static BNs (SBNs). Longer training sequences improved DBN model performance. Blink frequency and fixation measures were particularly indicative of distraction. These results demonstrate that BNs, especially DBNs, can detect driver cognitive distraction by extracting information from complex behavioral data. Potential applications include the design of adaptive in-vehicle systems and the evaluation of driver distraction.


BACKGROUND
Telehospitalist services are an innovative alternative approach to address staffing issues in rural and small hospitals.

OBJECTIVE
To determine clinical outcomes and staff and patient satisfaction with a novel telehospitalist program among Veterans Health Administration (VHA) hospitals.

DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS
We conducted a mixed-methods evaluation of a quality improvement program with pre-and postimplementation measures. The hub site was a tertiary (high-complexity) VHA hospital, and the spoke site was a 10-bed inpatient medical unit at a rural (low-complexity) VHA hospital. All patients admitted during the study period were assigned to the spoke site.

INTERVENTION
Real-time videoconferencing was used to connect a remote hospitalist physician with an on-site advanced practice provider and patients. Encounters were documented in the electronic health record.

MAIN OUTCOMES
Process measures included workload, patient encounters, and daily census. Outcome measures included length of stay (LOS), readmission rate, mortality, and satisfaction of providers, staff, and patients. Surveys measured satisfaction. Qualitative analysis included unstructured and semi-structured interviews with spoke-site staff.

RESULTS
Telehospitalist program implementation led to a significant reduction in LOS (3.0 [SD, 0.7] days vs 2.3 [SD, 0.3] days). The readmission rate was slightly higher in the telehospitalist group, with no change in mortality rate. Satisfaction among teleproviders was very high. Hub staff perceived the service as valuable, though satisfaction with the program was mixed. Technology and communication challenges were identified, but patient satisfaction remained mostly unchanged.

CONCLUSION
Telehospitalist programs are a feasible and safe way to provide inpatient coverage and address rural hospital staffing needs. Ensuring adequate technological quality and addressing staff concerns in a timely manner can enhance program performance.


Why do some hamstring and quadriceps strains take much longer to repair than others? Which injuries are more prone to recurrence? Intramuscular tendon injuries have received little attention as an element in 'muscle strain'. In thigh muscles, such as rectus femoris and biceps femoris, the attached tendon extends for a significant distance within the muscle belly. While the pathology of most muscle injures occurs at a musculotendinous junction, at first glance the athlete appears to report pain within a muscle belly. In addition to the musculotendinous injury being a site of pathology, the intramuscular tendon itself is occasionally injured. These injuries have a variety of appearances on MRIs. There is some evidence that these injuries require a prolonged rehabilitation time and may have higher recurrence rates. Therefore, it is important to recognise the tendon component of a thigh 'muscle strain'.


We present a string inspired 3D Euclidean field theory as the starting point for a modified Ricci flow analysis of the Thurston conjecture. In addition to the metric, the theory contains a dilaton, an antisymmetric tensor field and a Maxwell-Chern Simons field. For constant dilaton, the theory appears to obey a Birkhoff theorem which allows only nine possible classes of solutions, depending on the signs of the parameters in the action. Eight of these correspond to the eight Thurston geometries, while the ninth describes the metric of a squashed three sphere. It therefore appears that one can construct modified Ricci flow equations in which the topology of the geometry is encoded in the parameters of an underlying field theory.


Background:
 Recent studies suggest that traumatic brain injury (TBI) is a risk factor for subsequent ischemic stroke, even years after the initial insult. The mechanisms of the association remain unclear.

 Hypothesis:
 The presence of traumatic subarachnoid hemorrhage (tSAH) may mediate the effect of TBI on long-term stroke risk, as it has previously been linked to short-term vasospasm and delayed cerebral ischemia.

 Methods:
 Using administrative claims data, we conducted a retrospective cohort study of acute care hospitalizations. Patients discharged with a first-recorded diagnosis of tSAH were followed for a primary diagnosis of stroke. They were matched to patients with TBI but no tSAH, based on age, sex, race, insurance status, income, admission year, coronary heart disease, hypertension, diabetes, congestive heart failure, peripheral vascular disease, chronic kidney disease, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, atrial fibrillation, alcohol abuse, and tobacco use. Cox proportional hazards modeling was used to assess the association between tSAH and stroke while adjusting for covariates.

 Results:
 We identified 34,302 patients with TBI (17,151 patients with tSAH matched to 17,151 patients with non-tSAH TBI) who were followed for a mean of 3.2 ± 1.8 years. Overall, 481 of 34,302 patients with TBI (1.40%; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.28-1.53%) experienced an ischemic stroke after discharge. There was no significant difference in stroke risk between those with tSAH (1.92%; 95% CI, 1.61-2.27%) as compared to no tSAH (2.08%; 95% CI, 1.78-2.44%). The same pattern was found in adjusted analyzes (hazard ratio [HR[, 0.86; 95% CI 0.70-1.06). This held true even when the group was stratified by age group or by proxies of TBI severity such as mechanical ventilation or discharge disposition during the index hospitalization for TBI.

 Conclusion:
 Recent data shows a protracted risk of ischemic stroke following TBI. Our findings do not support a role of vasospasm from tSAH in mediating this association. Further study is required to elucidate the mechanisms of long-term increased stroke risk after TBI


The benefits from the New Economy should accrue as improvements in productivity and economic growth. But while the use of information and communication technology seems to have had a substantial impact on the performance of the United States economy, the evidence for other countries is much weaker. This study does not find any significant correlation between ICT investment and economic growth in the period 1985-99 for a sample of 42 countries for which ICT spending data are available. Even more surprisingly and in contrast with some previous studies, the relationship is not statistically significant for the subsamples of industrial or high-income countries either. There are at least three possible explanations for this apparent 'productivity paradox'. The most obvious one is the fact that not many countries, other than the US, have yet invested much in ICT. The second reason is that even if they have done so, they may not have invested enough in complementary infrastructure, like education and skills, in order to reap the benefits from ICT investment. Technology by itself is not a solution to any development problem; it only provides an opportunity. The third and the most controversial explanation is that the neoclassical method applied in assessing the


A robust and reusable Copper Nanoparticles Immobilised Catalytic Reactor (Cu-NICaR) system was fabricated by immobilising Copper Nanoparticles (Cu NPs) onto a radiation functionalized polymer support. Gamma radiation induced simultaneous irradiation grafting process was employed for introducing poly-glycidyl methacrylate (poly(GMA)) chains onto non woven PE-PP matrix. Optimization of the grafting process was carried out by studying the effect of experimental parameters, such as absorbed dose, monomer concentration and solvent polarity on grafting yield. The poly(GMA)-g-PE-PP matrix was used as a functional polymer support for Cu NPs, synthesised under optimized conditions using NaBH4 as reducing agent. Characterization of the samples was carried out by UV-Visible spectrophotometer, Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) Spectroscopy, X-ray fluorescence (XRF), Thermogravimetric Analysis (TGA) and Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM). Catalytic activity of Cu NPs immobilised poly(GMA)-g-PEPP catalytic system was studied by spectrophotometrically monitoring the catalytic reduction of p-nitrophenol (PNP), using NaBH4 as reducing agent. The Cu NPs-immobilised-poly(GMA)-g-PE-PP was observed to exhibit excellent catalytic activity both in batch process (12 cycles over a period of 30 days) as well as in fixed bed column reactor mode, without significant loss of activity. Copyright © 2018 VBRI Press.


Observations of HST and groundbased data strongly suggest that most galaxies harbour central supermassive black holes and that most galaxies merge with others. Consequently a black hole binary emerges as the two black holes are spiraling into the center towards each other. In our work we are investigating two basic questions of our understanding of the central activity of galaxies and find that both can be answered with "yes" : (1) Do the black holes actually merge? (2) And does the effect of the torque of the black hole binary on the surrounding stellar distribution help to explain the presence of the ubiquitous torus of molecular material surrounding apparently all active galactic nuclei? The first question is the topic of the present article, while the second question will be subject of a subsequent paper. Simulating the evolution of a stellar cluster in the potential of such a binary by solving the equations of the restricted three body problem we obtained the following results: provided that the cluster is about as massive as the black hole binary the two black holes coalesce after ${\sim} 10^7 {\rm yr}$ due to ejection of stars and finally via emission of gravitational radiation. Whether a star is ejected or not crucially depends on its angular momentum. Almost all stars whose angular momentum is twice as large as that of a star circulating around the binary in a distance corresponding to that between the black holes, stay bound to the binary. In a sequence of models where the mass of the secondary black hole increases while M 1 is fixed, a bigger fraction of stars is ejected. For a more massive binary also the cluster has to be more massive in order to allow the two black holes to coalesce. The merger then proceeds on smaller time scales. The cluster is depleted in the central region and the final distribution of stars assumes a torus-like structure, peaking at three times the initial distance of the two black holes. The relationship of the bound stars to the obscuring torus in active galactic nuclei will be investigated in a subsequent paper.


Chinatown is a component of the urban area which has many unique possibilities and store a wide variety issuesrelated to its area development and social culture. Chinatown in Semarang is one area that has a specialtreatment from the local government of Semarang where it has a high commercial and cultural value. The areahas some issues that are often experienced by urban settlements in the high building density that causes thedifficulty of procuring open space and green open spaces, some of the environmental infrastructure damage suchas potholes, clogged channels to rubbish strewn everywhere. The purpose of this study was to assess theenvironmental quality of settlements in the Chinatown area of Semarang. General approach used in this study isa quantitative approach. While the analytical techniques used in this research is descriptive statistics, withdescriptive techniques of quantitative, qualitative and descriptive descriptive and comparative analysis ofweighting as an analytical tool used to support the analysis. The results of this study is the quality ofneighborhoods in the city of Semarang's Chinatown area belong to the category of Medium with a value of 50 inunits of percent. This value is derived from the analysis of public facilities and infrastructure conditions of theenvironment area, the analysis of the physical quality of the built environment, and public awareness of theenvironmental analysis has been done before, where all of the analysis is at a Moderate category. This indicatesthat the need to increase the quality of neighborhoods Chinatown area, in anticipation of a decline inenvironmental quality. A good public awareness of the environment in which they live will be able to preventdegradation of Semarang's Chinatown neighborhood area can even improve the quality of the settlements in theregion.


The lateral force on a rectangular permanent magnet (PM) above a cylindrical high-temperature superconductor (HTS) is numerically calculated during lateral traverses at different cooling heights (CHs). The simulations are based upon the critical state model of Bean. Our simulation results show that the lateral force on the PM is influenced by the initial cooling conditions of the HTS. This conclusion agrees with a previous experimental finding. The calculations show that there is a transition CH. The levitating body is laterally stable when the initial CH is less than the transition CH, whereas, when the initial CH is above the tran- sition CH, the levitating body is possibly laterally unstable. The effects of the dimensions of the system, the physical parameters, and the levitating height during lateral traverses on the transition CH are presented.


The purpose of the Daily Emergency Department Surveillance System (DEDSS) is to provide consistent, timely, and robust data that can be used to guide public health activities in Bergen County, New Jersey. DEDSS collects data on all emergency department visits in four hospitals in Bergen County and analyzes them for aberrant patterns of disease or single instances of certain diseases or syndromes. The system monitors for clusters ofpatients with syndromes consistent with the prodrome of a terrorism-related illness (e.g., anthrax or smallpox) or naturally occurring disease (e.g., pandemic influenza or food and water borne outbreaks). The health department can use these data to track and characterize the temporal and geographic spread of a known outbreak or demonstrate the absence of cases during the same period (e.g., severe acute respiratory syndrome [SARS] or anthrax). DEDSS was designed to be flexible and readily adaptable as local, state, or federal surveillance needs evolve.


One hundred and forty four finger millet landraces collected from different regions of Ethiopia and some introduced from Kenya, Eritrea, Zambia and Zimbabwe were planted with six improved varieties in randomized complete block design at Gute and Arsi Negele (Ethiopia) during 2011 to assess genetic diversity for qualitative traits with respect to geographic location and agro-ecologies. Erect type growth habit, open ear type, light green ear (glumes) color, enclosed grains by glumes, lower spikelet density and purple black seed color was predominant phenotypic classes for the traits recorded in the present study. At 75% similarity level, finger millet populations from Ethiopia and Eritrea were grouped together; Kenyan, Zambian and Zimbabwe's landraces formed the second cluster. Agro-ecological proximity was manifested in clustering of landraces on the basis of altitude classes. The resemblance probably implies either similarities in climatic and other edaphic factors of those geographical locations and agro ecologies; selection by farmers were practiced for the same traits, or same primary seed source. Shannon diversity analysis indicated that variation was highest at the lowest level (among landraces), followed by within regions, among regions or countries, within altitudes, with the least similarities appear among altitudes. This implied that intensive collection and in situ genetic conservation should be given due attention at lower class than the subsequent classes.


Semispherical high-intensity light-emitting diodes (LEDS) mounted on a circuit board have been developed and examined for plant growth applications. This type of LED configuration, however, has problems such as relatively poor heat dissipation, difficulty of effecting high light uniformity, and high cost of assembly. Such problems may now be obviated through use of the recently developed flat-panel LED modules. In this study, the photosynthetic photon flux (PPF) levels and PPF distribution of 172 x 27 mm red flat-panel LED modules were determined. Results showed that: 1) the red flat-panel LED modules tested produced a mean PPF level of about 111 micromoles m-2 s-1 at a distance of 10 cm, which would be adequate for most micropropagated species grown photomixotrophically and reasonable for some micropropagated species grown photoautotrophically, both in terms of red wavelength; 2) the mean surface PPF of 419 micromoles m-2 s-1 for a single LED in a flat-panel module was about 47% greater than that for a single semispherical LED at about equal operational currents, owing primarily to the significantly larger reflectance area present in a flat-panel LED than that in a semispherical LED; 3) two flat-panel LED modules tested had about 80% of their illuminated areas having PPF values equal to or greater than half their maximum PPF levels, whereas the third module had a corresponding figure of about 67%; and 4) flat-panel LED modules exhibited very similar PPF distributions, underscoring the advantage of the LED flat-panel design over the manually assembled LED array in the ease of replicating light distributions.


The large volume of broadband waveforms that are being acquired by USArray (http://www.iris.edu/USArray/), the seismology component of the national Earth science program EarthScope (http://www.earthscope.org/), offer unique opportunities for seismic imaging. Constraining structures on a range of length scales and understanding their physical and chemical causes is a prerequisite for understanding the relationship between near surface and deeper mantle processes. One can expect that, eventually, full wave tomography ( e.g. , De Hoop and van der Hilst 2005; De Hoop et al. 2006; Tromp et al. 2005; Zhao and Jordan 2006) with broadband USArray waveforms will produce superior insight into the structure of the mantle beneath North America, but linearized tomographic inversion of phase arrival time data readily yields exciting results in regions where data from dense seismograph networks is available. We will use travel times from the transportable component of USArray, hereinafter referred to as USArrayTA, and from other sources, such as the EHB data base (Engdahl et al. 1998), to constrain 3-D mantle heterogeneity beneath North America.

Tomographic images based on USArrayTA data will help us understand first-order geological structure of and processes in the mantle beneath North America. Examples include, but are not restricted to: 1) the transition from the stable continental lithosphere at the center of the North American continent to the tectonically active domains farther west, 2) the Cascadian subduction system, 3) the Yellowstone hotspot, and 4) the relationship between current and past episodes of subduction and upper mantle upwellings and processes deeper in the mantle. Before the advent of USArrayTA, insight into mantle structure beneath the western United States was obtained either from pieced-together regional P -wave studies ( e.g. , figure 1A, after Dueker et al. 2001) or from global travel time or surface wave tomography (figures 1B, C, and D, …


Globicatella sanguinis is catalase-negative, alpha-hemolytic, nonmotile, facultative anaerobic grampositive cocci, identified as a new species in 1992. Since the colony morphology in blood agar and microscopic appearance resembles streptococci, it is thought that some of the isolates previously identified in the Streptococcus viridans group were G.sanguinis species. G.sanguinis has been isolated from various clinical specimens, its species identification and antibiotic susceptibility have been tested since the year it was identified. Clinical specimens in which it is isolated include various mucosal surfaces, blood, urine, wound and cerebrospinal fluid. In this report, considering also the literature information, a case of G.sanguinis which is thought to cause meningitis was presented. Our case is a 39-year-old female patient with a lumboperitoneal shunt. The patient was admitted to the neurosurgery clinic with a headache and vision loss and was hospitalized in the service with a pre-diagnosis of pseudotumor cerebri. Neurological examination revealed no pathological findings. Eye examination revealed mild papillary edema, local retinal hemorrhage, and bilateral expansion in retinal vascularization. There was no pathologic findings in the brain magnetic resonance imaging. The colonies resembling alpha hemolytic streptococci were isolated from the cerebrospinal fluid taken upon the development of neck stiffness, fever, and tachycardia on the 10th day of hospitalization of the lumbo-peritoneal shunt administered patient. The identification of the isolate was determined in Bruker IVD MALDI Biotyper 2.3 (Bruker Daltonik GmbH, Bremen, Germany), available in our laboratory and it was identified as G.sanguinis (KJ680157.1) with a score of > 2. The definite identification of the isolate at the species level was made by 16S rDNA sequence analysis and it was determined that the bacterium was G.sanguinis with 100% similarity and coverage. The minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) for some of the antibiotics was determined by the agar gradient method. The MIC values were found as; linezolid 0.50 µg/ml, vancomycin 0.75 µg/ ml, imipenem 0.75 µg/ml, meropenem 3 µg/ml, penicillin G 6 µg/ml and cefotaxime > 32 µg/ml. It is known that these rare isolates can be isolated in greater numbers along with the introduction of MALDITOF MS-based devices in many laboratories. Following greater numbers of isolation of this rare species of bacteria, our knowledge about its clinical significance, placement in the flora and antibiotic susceptibility will also be expanded.


Central to the effective design of work zones is being able to understand how drivers behave as they approach and enter a work zone area. States use simulation tools in modeling freeway work zones to predict work zone impacts and to select optimal design and deployment strategies. While simple and complex microscopic models have been used over the years to analyze driver behavior, most models were not designed for application in work zones. Using data collected from an instrumented research vehicle and model components from two PhD dissertations, FHWA created the Work Zone Driver Model and programed the Work Zone Driver Model DLL v1.0, a software that could override car-following in commercial microsimulation software packages so that practitioners can better predict work zone impacts. This paper demonstrates the capabilities of the FHWA Work Zone Driver Model DLL v1.0, interfaced with VISSIM and tested on an Interstate work zone in Springfield, Massachusetts. The dynamic link library's (DLL's) performance is compared with field data collected using an instrumented research vehicle and to Weidemann 99 in VISSIM. Performance metrics were selected to align with state department of transportation work zone management efforts. Results showed acceptable performance from the DLL, as it predicted queue locations and travel speeds that were near field observations. Limitations of the DLL and interface are discussed, and opportunities for improving version 2.0 are described.


Background: Voluntary Counseling and Testing (VCT) is an integral component of HIV prevention and care strategies worldwide. Attitude of young people towards HIV testing in Techiman Municipality has negative outcome of testing uptake; leading to missed opportunities among this group. Previous studies have confirmed that factors that influence such attitudes include counselors' attitude, level of awareness, perception about people living with HIV/AIDS and respondent's socio-demographics such as age, gender, study level and location of residents.
Objective: To determine the factors affecting the willingness of people to be tested for HIV among young people in rural Ghana.
Design: Cross-sectional study
• Setting: Government owned Senior High Schools of Techiman North district.
• Participants: Students in Senior High Schools (15-24 years) were included.
• Response rate: Response rate of 386 (76.1%).
Results: Analysis showed that the prevalence of use of HCT services was the difference between socio-demographic characteristics, knowledge about HTC centre for testing, knowledge of HIV status and ever visited any HCT centre. Logistic regression analysis showed that variables significantly related with the use of HCT services by providers in Techiman district were perception, attitude and no desire for testing. The results may help health providers to plan for young people's desires for HCT services in Techiman Municipality and Ghana as a whole. Future research should address behaviour change of the young people for testing.
Methodology: Self-administered questionnaire was used to assess the factors that affect HIV testing among the representative sample of 386 young students selected by stratified random sampling from September to October, 2015.
Conclusions: Participants desire for HIV testing is influenced by knowledge about HIV and own health status, Visit to HCT centre and knowledge about the HCT Centre.


Advanced air mobility (AAM) refers to urban transportation systems that move people and goods by air. This has significant implications for reducing traffic congestion in cities and for providing an integrated approach to urban mobility. With the emergence of drone technology and the possibility of more autonomous aircraft, interest has grown considerably in AAM. Unsettled Issues in Advanced Air Mobility Certification discusses the impact of AAM on private sector solution providers including aerospace and technology companies and goes into solutions for urban planners and transportation professionals for better integration across all AAM modes.


Calcium carbonate (CaCO3) is one of the most useful and versatile materials known to man. In this research, eggshell as a natural composite bioceramics was used to modify and improve the mechanical properties of an existing polyethylene which is widely used to manufacture daily goods by small medium industries in Malaysia. Chicken eggshell containing 95% Calcium Carbonate is highly potential to be used as bio-filler to improve poly-based matrix in improving their performance behavior. PE was chosen for this project to modify its virgin mechanical properties by reinforcing eggshell/calcium carbonate and later investigate its character to improve the current product's performance. Tensile, creep and flexural tests were carried out to characterize the developed PE-CaCO3 composites. Eggshells which were prepared into hundreds of microns and furnace dried at 90oC continuously for eight hours to improve the bonding capability. They were then particulated into polyethylene matrix accordingly as per the designed weight ratios, 10%, 20%, 30% and 40%. From the result, it was learnt that the ES filler has improved mechanical properties of virgin PE as far as 5% to 9% depending on the filler weight ratio. Therefore, ES which was a burden for disposal and being environmental threat can now be used for the betterment of PE product performance.


The main question of this thesis is the extent to which the seasons influence positive and negative affect in humans. To answer this question, we analysed data in samples of the general population, in patient-oriented settings in primary care and specialised mental healthcare. This thesis shows that on a group level seasonal variation in depressive symptoms, positive and negative affect, is absent or limited in effect size. These findings hold for healthy individuals and for patients who suffer from a depressive disorder (with or without a comorbid anxiety disorder) but unexpectedly also for patients suffering from a seasonal affective disorder as measured with a questionnaire. Further, we found that as the degree of psychopathology increases, significantly more patients attribute their complaints to the change of the seasons. Also, patients suffering from seasonal affective disorder scored high on psychopathology and on a neuroticism scale. We showed that on a population level, seasonal variations in positive and negative affect and depressive symptoms are mainly attributable to high-neurotic subjects. From the literature and our studies, we infer that the psychological mechanism of cognitive attribution is an underestimated factor in seasonal affective disorder. The most important limitation of this thesis is the cross-sectional design of most studies, and as a consequence, the absence of longitudinal measurements within the same individual for all four seasons. We recommend initiating a study with a longitudinal repeated measures approach in order to assess the validity (and temporal stability) of the specifier "with seasonal pattern" for recurrent major depressive disorder and bipolar disorder.


An analysis of the impact of new technologies on employment in the United States has been carried out. Various points of view on the prospects of job losses under the influence of automation and robotics have been shown. The paper uses methods of analysis, comparison, and expert evaluations. The study is based on data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the results of sample surveys of the American population. The article gives characteristics of the US labor force, considers its features. Examples of the use of new technologies by the largest American employers have been shown. New technologies are transforming all spheres from healthcare to transportation and manufacturing. New types of jobs are being created and the employment structure is changing. Untypical forms of employment are expanding. The paper provides public opinion survey on the attitude of Americans to artificial intelligence and its impact on their lives and work. The occurence of distance relations between the employee and the employer leads to the formation of a flexible and virtual labour market. The world of work is becoming increasingly digital. This process is causing fundamental changes in the world of work, which entails new challenges for various aspects of social policy. People of all ages will have to adapt to the new situation in the labour market, which is associated with technological changes and structural shifts in the demand for labour force. The importance and possibility of retraining, professional development, and career guidance throughout life have been updated. The study shows the importance of monitoring the impact of new technologies on employment in order to identify areas of risk.


Nation‐states rarely go to war over water, but it is equally rare that water conflicts in an international river basin are resolved through cooperation among the riparian countries that use the shared resources. Gains from cooperation will mean little to individual riparians unless the required cooperative behaviors are incentive compatible. Cooperative game theory offers useful insights for assessing cooperative solutions for water conflicts in international river basins. Applying cooperative game theory concepts such as core, nucleolus, and Shapley value to Nile water conflicts, we examine the incentive structure of both cooperative and noncooperative strategies for different riparian countries and establish some baseline conditions for incentive‐compatible cooperation in the Nile basin.


The purpose of this study was to gain an understanding of the bank shot and ultimately determine the optimal target points on the backboard for the bank shot in mens basketball. The study used over one million three-dimensional simulations of basketball trajectories. Four launch variables were studied: launch height, launch speed, launch angle, and aim angle. The shooters statistical characteristics were prescribed to yield a 70 percent free throw when launching the ball seven feet above the ground with 3 Hz of back spin. We found that the shooter can select a bank shot over a direct shot with as much as a 20 percent advantage. The distribution over the court of preferences of the bank shot over the direct shot was determined. It was also shown that there is an aim line on the backboard independent of the shooters location on the court. We also found that at 3.326 inches behind the backboard, there exists a vertical axis that aids in finding the optimal target point on the backboard. The optimal target point is the crossing of the vertical axis and the aim line that is in the shooters line of sight.


Using employer-employee matched data from Sweden between 2001 and 2008, we test hypotheses designed to assess the contingent nature of the relationship between wage inequality and cross-firm mobility. We propose that the effect of wage inequality depends on whether wage comparisons serve a comparative or a normative function. Our results show that same-level wage comparisons, which serve a primarily comparative goal, increase cross-firm mobility because they induce inequity concerns. By contrast, different-level wage comparisons, which serve a primarily normative goal, decrease cross-firm mobility because they enhance self-motivation. Moreover, we find that that the horizontal-inequality effect is amplified (mitigated) for bottom same-level wage earners, consistent with the notion of envy and relative deprivation. However, the vertical-inequality effect is amplified (mitigated) for top (bottom) different-level wage earners, consistent with the notion of self-motivation. Finally, the impact of vertical and horizontal wage inequality increases with workers' social similarity. More broadly, the study contributes to our understanding of the contingent nature of wage inequality and mobility.


The UK's commitments to conflict prevention and the protection of human rights and international humanitarian law in its arms export controls are now over 20 years old. However, the outbreak of war or conflict has had little or no restraining effect on UK arms exports. This article explores the function of the UK's arms export control regime given that its primary effect is not to restrict arms transfers. I argue that the mantra that the UK has one of the most robust control regimes in the world is not a plausible description of the realities of UK export policy – rather, it is a myth that needs to be debunked. Export controls are primarily mobilised by the state to manage controversy once criticism emerges from civil society and Parliament and thus primarily serve a legitimating function. I illustrate this argument with examples of arms exports in relation to the conflicts in Kashmir, Sri Lanka, the Occupied Palestinian Territory and Yemen, demonstrating three ways in which UK export controls are missing in action: the routine misuse of UK- supplied weapons; the narrow interpretation of risk in licensing policy; and self- serving reviews to manage reputation once controversy breaks out.


For a long time Plasmodium ovale was considered a very rare causal agent of malaria, but recently it has been shown to be a fairly common parasite in Africa. The authors analyse all the findings of P. ovale outside tropical Africa and describe its distribution. This species is distributed in 2 areas, the first confined to tropical Africa and the second to islands in the Western Pacific. The authors make a medico-geographical analysis of the distribution of P. ovale, and attempt to explain particular features of it.


Electrophysiological measurements are indispensable tool for investigating the functional integrity of peripheral nerves in both clinical and laboratory environments. Nerve conduction study is a property of both the axons and myelin sheath. The nerve conduction velocity is highly dependent on rapid signal propagation enabled by myelination. The compound motor action potential (CMAP) which correlates with the number of functional axons is an indicator for axonal damage when significantly reduced. Because nerve conduction velocity (NCV) is sensitive to both myelin sheath and axonal changes, it is an excellent measure of the function of the peripheral nervous system. Nerve conduction studies may be diagnostically helpful in patients suspected of having almost any peripheral nervous system disorder including disorders of nerve roots, peripheral nerves, muscle and neuromuscular junction. Cranial nerves and spinal cord function may also be assessed. Here, we mentioned the components and properties of nerve conduction study.


Companies' positive self-presentation has become an essential part of job advertising and helps employers attract potential applicants for the vacancies they are offering. This paper focuses on the various forms of positively evaluative lexis that appears in the company profiles cited on the employment website Monster.com. Evaluative or loaded words can be defined as words that evaluate reality either in a positive or a negative way, thus evoking in people a positive or a negative attitude towards a particular subject, in this case the potential employer. The analysis is both qualitative and quantitative and is based on the three-pronged approach, i.e. the combination of manual analysis of individual texts, small-scale corpus analysis and large-scale corpus analysis. It is based primarily on Appraisal Theory, focusing predominantly on the category of attitude expressed in the vocabulary used. However, the analysis has shown that the persuasive techniques of employers trying to attract applicants are rather complex and it has proved necessary to take into account notions from other theories, namely Orientational Metaphor and the concept of the so-called Purr Words, i.e. words whose conceptual meaning is backgrounded by its positive connotations. This concept has recently been developed mostly under the name of Schlagwort within the field of Politolinguistik in Germany, but, as the analysis has shown, can usefully be transferred from political discourse to corporate discourse, including the discourse of recruitment.DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5755/j01.sal.33.0.20081


This study describes the mathematical processes in TIMSS (Trends in Mathematics and Science Study) to reflect issues. A descriptive qualitative methodology was used in this analysis as the research approach. The research allocated the respondent to the 6th grade students of Muhammadiyah 6 in the sub-district of Dau, Malang regency, East Java, Indonesia. Using a TIMSS 2011 test and interview, data was obtained. The results of the study showed that visual representation took place in both classes of high, medium, and low capacity. Students of high and low capacity conducted the symbolic representation process at the comprehension level, while students of medium capacity performed the symbolic representation process at the problem-solving stage. In addition, as they wrote topics, the writing of the conclusions was done by students who had high skill. Students who had medium potential when they wrote questions completed the writing of the conclusions. The students with a low level of skill wrote what was understood and asked about the issues.


By using a newly developed immune rosetting technique to isolate highly purified populations of myeloid precursor cells from normal human bone marrow and then inducing their differentiation with granulocyte and macrophage colony-stimulating factors (G/M-CSFs) in vitro, we studied the surface expression of chemotactic peptide receptors as the cells matured from the stage of the myeloblast to that of the mature, segmented neutrophil. We used ethylene glycol bis(succinimidyl succinate) to link N-formyl-Nle-Leu-Phe-Nle-[125I]iodo-Tyr-Lys to chemotactic peptide receptors on the surface of myeloid cells at sequential stages of maturation and then determined the density of receptor-radioligand complexes by autoradiography after sodium dodecyl sulfate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE). Specific, saturable formyl peptide receptors were not detectable at the level of the myeloblast but gradually emerged through progressive stages of neutrophil maturation. The specific receptors for formyl peptide that appeared during cellular maturation had a mol wt of 55 to 70 kiloDalton (kD), corresponding to those present on the surface of peripheral blood neutrophils, and binding of the radioligand was highly specific in that it was completely inhibited by a 1,000-fold excess of F-Met Leu Phe. These data correlate with and provide insight into our recent observation that F-Met Leu Phe-induced membrane depolarization and transient increases in cytosolic free calcium are gradually acquired as neutrophils mature. This report represents to our knowledge the first description of the maturational development of chemotactic peptide receptor expression in normal human myeloid cells.


SUMMARY: Pseudomonas sp. 8/IX isolated from soil and Pseudomonas sp. NCIB 8858 are capable of growth on DL-I-aminopropan-2-ol or aminoacetone as sole sources of carbon, nitrogen and energy. During growth on the amino alcohol, small amounts of aminoacetone initially accumulate in the medium but disappear during the early logarithmic phase. Aminoacetone accumulation is favoured by high pH and high growth-substrate concentrations.
Washed suspensions of the pseudomonads grown on DL-I-aminopropan-2-ol accumulate aminoacetone when incubated with the amino alcohol in the presence of metabolic inhibitors, and rapidly utilize aminoacetone in their absence. Aminoacetone formation is optimal at about pH 10 in the presence or absence of the most effective inhibitor iodoacetate.
Aminoacetone utilization occurs optimally at pH 7.7, the apparent K
m for the amino ketone being about 0.1 mM. At an initial concn. of 1.0 mM, the rate of utilization is proportional to cell density up to at least 0.5 mg. dry wt organisms/ml. and is constant with time over almost the entire course of the reaction. The maximum rate of utilization is approximately 150 mμmoles/mg. dry wt organisms/min. at 30°. The phenyl analogue 2′-aminoacetophenone is utilized at a comparable rate but 5-aminolaevulate is virtually unaffected. Anaerobic conditions and metabolic inhibitors prevent amino ketone utilization.
Growth conditions markedly affect the ability of suspensions both to accumulate and utilize aminoacetone. Of the growth substrates tested, only L-threonine enabled Pseudomonas sp. 8/IX to utilize aminoacetone, the rate being approx. 60 % of that found after growth on DL-I-aminopropan-2-ol
The patterns of oxidation of possible intermediates of DL-I-aminopropan-2-ol catabolism are similar using washed organisms grown on either the amino alcohol or aminoacetone. Organisms grown on acetate plus glycine oxidize such compounds at relatively low rates. Methylglyoxal is not a substrate for either growth or oxidation. Comparison of the rates of oxygen uptake and aminoacetone utilization, and measurement of the total oxygen consumed, indicate about 70% complete oxidation of the amino ketone by organisms grown on the amino alcohol.
Similar maximum crop-sizes are obtained in media in which ammonium sulphate or different relative amounts of D- and L-I-aminopropan-2-ol serve as the sole sources of growth-limiting nitrogen.


Peptidylarginine deiminases (PADs), a group of post-translational enzymes, catalyze the conversion of protein-bound arginine residues to citrulline residues in a calcium ion-dependent manner and are widely distributed in various organs of vertebrates. Although the existence of four isoforms of PAD (types I, II, III, and IV) is reported in rodents, the relative functions of the isoforms with respect to their colocation in the tissues have yet to be explored. In this study, we cloned the full-length cDNA encoding mouse PAD type I by screening a uterine cDNA library and using the RACE method. This cDNA consists of an open reading frame of 1989 bases encoding 662 amino acids (73,823 Da), a 5'-untranslated region of 127 bases and a 3'-untranslated region of 1639 bases. Comparative reverse transcription-PCR and Northern-blot analyses detected PAD type I mRNA only in the epidermis and uterus. Administration of estrogen to adult ovariectomized mice increased the content of PAD type I mRNA in the uterus, providing evidence that its expression is under the control of the sex steroid hormone. We also cloned the full-length cDNAs of mouse PAD type III and type IV by the reverse transcription-PCR and RACE methods. The primary structure of PAD type III contains 664 amino acids (75,098 Da) deduced from the coding region of 1995 bases, and the primary structure of PAD type IV consists of 666 amino acids (74,475 Da) deduced from the coding region of 2001 bases. Comparison of the deduced amino acid sequences of all four isoforms of PAD showed about 50% identity with each other, the 3' regions being highly homologous compared with the 5' regions.


The author reviews the main articles and statements of the newly adopted Maastricht Consensus-4 (2011) on diagnostics and treatment of gastroduodenal diseases associated with H. pylori infection. Each statement is commented taking account of the author's experience and results of Russian and foreign researchers obtained by methods and techniques of evidence-based medicine. Corrected recommendations for diagnostics, therapeutic indications, and strategy of management of H. pylori-dependent diseases are proposed.


CARTOSAT-1 is an Indian satellite – the 11 one in the IRS (Indian Remote Sensing) series designed to provide quality Earth imagery for telemetry and digital mapping. The satellite carries two panchromatic sensors capturing images forward (26 degrees) and backwards (5 degrees). Images are recorded almost simultaneously in both directions along the satellite's orbit plane or with an inclination, if needed. The sensors cover the swath about 30 km wide with the resolution of 3 m (+26 degrees) and 2,5 m (-5 degrees). This article summarizes the findings of the research programme aiming to verify the quality of the imagery acquired by Cartosat-1. The verification was conducted using a test scene located in Poland. The research team included engineers from Geosystems Polska and scientists from Military University of Technology, Warsaw. The imagery was processed with Leica Photogrammetry Suite software.


A simple, rapid reverse phase high performance liquid chromatographic method has been developed and validated for estimation of Tolperisone in pharmaceutical dosage form. The estimation was carried out on Inertsil ODS C-18, 5μm column having 250 x 4.6mm internal diameter column with a mixture of methanol: acetonitrile in the ratio of 90:10:(v/v) as mobile phase. UV detection was performed at 232 nm. The method was validated for linearity, accuracy, precision and specificity as per ICH norms. The developed and validated method was successfully used for the quantitative analysis of commercially available dosage form. The retention time was 2.48 min. for Tolperisone and total run time was 5 min. at a flow rate of 1.0 ml/min. The calibration curve was linear over the concentration range of 40-100 ppm for Tolperisone. The LOD and LOQ values were found to be 0.5 and 3 ppm respectively. The high percentage of recovery confirms the suitability of the method for the estimation of Tolperisone in pharmaceutical dosage form.


method will doubtlessly lend itself to locating almost all other types of coarse particle in faecal material. It proved very helpful in the development of formulations of completely disintegrating oxytetracycline capsules. The faecal material was collected freshly by its producer in a large transparent plastic bag which was suspended in the toilet with its edges spread over the toilet seat. The collected material was transported to and handed over at the laboratory as an odourless sausage rolled up in the many layers of plastic that the large size of the bag allowed for. On reception the bag was unrolled and sealed by heat at the opening and the faeces were spread and flattened to a thin film by manual pressure and/or a household roller. Inspection and palpation were carried out in front of a back-lighted panel and chemical or other analysis performed on punched-out samples. Remains of the contents of oxytetracycline capsules were felt and, on crushing, seen as larger or smaller deep-yellow spots which fluoresced in ultraviolet light; chemical analysis of punched-out material removed any doubts that might have existed as to its nature. Many undigested food residues were clearly visible and/or palpable (for example, pieces of peanut). The pancake-like flattened faeces in the sealed plastic bag can be stored as such in a refrigerator or freezer. Whenever the need arises to examine stools, preferably in toto, in order to find nondispersed objects, the method described should offer an efficient, acceptable, and hygienic means of doing so. L VAN WIJK


Recent studies find that short-term fluctuations in EMU have been symmetric. This finding leads to benign views on the functioning of EMU as an optimum currency area (OCA), that are difficult to reconcile with the sovereign debt crisis. We try to solve this puzzle by looking at medium-term fluctuations instead, and reach five conclusions. First, medium-term fluctuations in EMU are much larger and less symmetric than short-term fluctuations. Second, medium-term fluctuations have become larger and less symmetric over time, while short-term fluctuations have become smaller and more symmetric. Third, medium-term fluctuations in EMU are less symmetric than in the US, while short-term fluctuations are more symmetric. Fourth, medium-term fluctuations in the euro area have become more strongly correlated with financial variables like credit and house prices, and less strongly correlated with real variables like productivity. Finally, medium-term fluctuations are more closely related to imbalances in price competitiveness, current accounts and budget deficits than short-term fluctuations. We conclude that our medium-term perspective has become relevant in the monetary union, due to the increasing importance of financial factors. It leads to less benign views on the functioning of EMU and on the endogenous OCA hypothesis.


It is seen that an idealized model may suggest an appropriate scaling of the water age in the World Ocean, which is a measure of the ventilation rate. We use a 1-D advection-diffusion model in which the deep ocean is represented as a leaky funnel, allowing recirculation towards the surface. The analytical solutions to the steady-state problem are readily obtained. The three parameters of the leaky funnel model are estimated in such a way that the behaviour of the domain-averaged water age be as similar as possible to that derived from a 3-D model in a series of sensitivity runs. The agreement between both sets of mean ages is excellent, with a linear correlation coefficient very close to unity. A good agreement is also found for the age of radioactive tracers and the associated radioages. The parameters of the leaky funnel model have a clear physical meaning, that is, the order of magnitude of the horizontal velocity, the mean length of water parcel trajectories in the deep ocean, and a horizontal diffusivity scale. The values of all of them turn out to be consistent with our current knowledge of the World Ocean circulation.


In the North Atlantic Ocean, dinitrogen (N2) fixation on the western continental shelf represents a significant fraction of basin‐wide nitrogen (N) inputs. However, the factors regulating coastal N2 fixation remain poorly understood, in part due to sharp physico‐chemical gradients and dynamic water mass interactions that are difficult to constrain via traditional oceanographic approaches. This study sought to characterize the spatial heterogeneity of N2 fixation on the western North Atlantic shelf, at the confluence of Mid‐ and South Atlantic Bight shelf waters and the Gulf Stream, in August 2016. Rates were quantified using the 15N2 bubble release method and used to build empirical models of regional N2 fixation via a random forest machine learning approach. N2 fixation rates were then predicted from high‐resolution CTD and satellite data to infer the variability of its depth and surface distributions, respectively. Our findings suggest that the frontal mixing zone created conditions conducive to exceptionally high N2 fixation rates (> 100 nmol N L−1 d−1), which were likely driven by the haptophyte‐symbiont UCYN‐A. Above and below this hotspot, N2 fixation rates were highest on the shelf due to the high particulate N concentrations there. Conversely, specific N2 uptake rates, a biomass‐independent metric for diazotroph activity, were enhanced in the oligotrophic slope waters. Broadly, these observations suggest that N2 fixation is favored offshore but occurs continuously across the shelf. Nevertheless, our model results indicate that there is a niche for diazotrophs along the coastline as phytoplankton populations begin to decline, likely due to exhaustion of coastal nutrients.


ABSTRACT Whether presented as ethnic 'solidarity' or 'segregation', the idea that migrants' social world is dominated by tightly-knit, homogeneous, and supportive networks of kin and co-ethnics is common in scholarly and public discourse around migration, particularly for minorities with a history of marginalisation, segregation, and stigmatisation. We test this idea using results from the first survey of personal networks in one of the most stigmatised immigrant minorities in the Western world: Roma migrants in Europe. Analysing data on 119 Romanian Roma migrants in France and their 3,570 social ties, we identify typical structures of personal communities, describe the distribution and association of different dimensions of social support, and estimate multilevel models to identify determinants of support in this population. We find that, even in contexts of strong marginalisation and stigmatisation, the hypotheses of ethnic solidarity, sociodemographic homophily, and network closure are inadequate to explain the way migrants obtain social support. Instead, Romanian Roma in France appear much closer to the model of 'networked individualism' and similar to middle classes in Western ethnic majorities, as they strategically maintain diverse and far-flung networks, choose forms of elective belonging in local contexts, and mobilise different social ties for different, specialised types of support.


OBJECTIVES
Surveys on the dental status of preschool children in selected regions or at specific ages often take place in randomly assigned nursery centres (cluster sample). The mean dmft value in the population serves here as an indicator for the average caries decay. It is evaluated from the individual dmft values of the children on the basis of statistical procedures. The study at hand assesses the impact of cluster structure in the data on the estimated dmft mean and its variance.

METHODS
We defined 170 nursery centres with 7 578 children aged 3-5 years old as population and drew 100 times 10%-cluster samples (with replacement) and by this means we simulated 100 surveys. Estimation of the population mean and the variance was established each time with and without respecting the cluster structure.

RESULTS
If the cluster structure is not obeyed in the course of calculating, the resulting value of the variance for the dmft mean estimator is too small; and hence confidence intervals are too narrow or tests exceed their type I error. If, in contrast, the cluster structure is taken into account, the variance is increased in all 100 cases (variance inflation), with a magnitude that, however, varies randomly. For surveys with cluster samples, this effect can have an impact on sample size calculations. A bias of the dmft average itself is possible for samples of a moderate extent once the mean occupancy of the nursery centres in the sample deviates markedly from that in the population.

CONCLUSIONS
If a cluster design is chosen for a caries epidemiology survey in nursery centres, the sample size calculation and the analysis should take that into account in order to avoid misleading results.


Abstract Introduction: Children with a single ventricle post-Fontan palliation are at increased risk of poor outcomes with peak oxygen consumption acting as a surrogate outcome marker. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the relationship between peak oxygen consumption and echocardiographic measures of ventricular function and deformation, including ventricular global longitudinal strain and dyssynchrony, in children and adolescents following Fontan palliation. Methods: Patients (age 8–21 years) with single ventricle post-Fontan palliation were prospectively recruited and participated in an echocardiogram, including views optimised for two-dimensional speckle tracking, and a cardiopulmonary exercise test on a cycle ergometer to maximal volitional fatigue. Results: Thirty-eight patients (mean age 13.7 ± 2.3 years) post-Fontan palliation had either a single left ventricular (n = 20), single right ventricular (n = 14), or biventricular (n = 4) morphology. Peak oxygen consumption (24.9 ± 5.6 ml/kg/minute) was correlated with global longitudinal strain (r = −0.435, p = 0.007), a strain discoordination time to peak index (r = −0.48, p = 0.003), and the presence of an electro-mechanical dyssynchrony strain pattern (p = 0.008). On multivariate regression modelling, these three variables were associated with peak oxygen consumption independently of age and sex. The single right ventricular group had evidence of possible diastolic dysfunction by E/e' compared to the single left ventricular and biventricular groups (p = 0.001). Conclusions: Strain analysis measures are correlated with peak oxygen consumption in this cohort of children, adolescents, and young adults following Fontan palliation, suggesting that ventricular mechanics may influence the efficiency of the Fontan circulation.


When mouse lymphoid cells derived from untreated C57BL/6 mice were cocultivated in liquid cultures with L-cell monolayers for 3 h, overlaid with soft agar, and then further incubated for 12 h, protected foci of L cells against vesicular stomatitis virus infection were formed. Many strains of mice have been found to have the protected focus-forming cells on the L-cell monolayers. The formation of the protected foci was completely suppressed by addition of cycloheximide into soft agar. When anti-interferon (type I) antiserum was added to soft agar, there was a decrease in focus counts of about 80%. These experimental results indicated that the formation of protected foci by untreated mouse lymphoid cells was mediated for the most part by type I interferon that was produced without addition of special inducer. We have designated these focus-forming cells as natural interferon-producing cells (NIPC). NIPC belong to the glass-adherent fraction, and Thy-1 antigen, immunoglobulin, and Ia antigen could not be detected on the surface of the NIPC. NIPC were detected in congenitally athymic nude mice. These findings suggest that NIPC belong to the Ia-negative macrophages. Mouse lymphoid cells obtained from germfree mice could form the protected foci on L-cell monolayers and could produce interferon without the addition of a special inducer. NIPC are considered to be a cellular background for spontaneous interferon production.


Obtaining n-type candidates with high performance is a great challenge for organic and organic/inorganic composite thermoelectric (TE) materials. Here, we report a convenient and highly tunable way to achieve flexible TE films by doping single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNT) with common alkylammonium cationic surfactants. Using a simple solution mixing procedure, pristine p-type SWCNT can be effectively changed to n-type form within a short period. The n-type doping mechanism has been investigated by Raman and XPS spectra. The effects of dopant content, dispersion medium as well as alkyl chain length and anion type of the alkylammonium cationic surfactants on the composite TE performance are systematically investigated. The TE performances of both the n-type TE materials and the corresponding device are among the highest so far. The highest power factor at room temperature reaches 185.7 ± 8.5 μW m−1 K−2. Furthermore, the TE device consisting of five couples of the pristine SWCNT (p-type) and the doped SWCNT (n-type) films generates a high open circuit voltage and a large output power of 37.4 mV and 6.7 μW, respectively, at a temperature gradient of 80 K. The present study opens a convenient and highly tunable avenue to exploit promising n-type TE composites by doping SWCNT with common alkylammonium cationic surfactants.


The sub‐nanosecond structural dynamics of reduced and oxidized cytochrome c were characterized. Dynamic properties of the protein backbone measured by amide 15N relaxation and side chains measured by the deuterium relaxation of methyl groups change little upon change in the redox state. These results imply that the solvent reorganization energy associated with electron transfer is small, consistent with previous theoretical analyses. The relative rigidity of both redox states also implies that dynamic relief of destructive electron transfer pathway interference is not operational in free cytochrome c.


Many children who are adopted internationally into the USA spent time in an institution prior to adoption. While the majority of adoptees fall within the normal range of adjustment, post-institutional (PI) children have been found to have higher rates of peer difficulties than non-adopted parent-reared children, they may display indiscriminate friendliness and difficulty understanding social cues and social boundaries, and they may have difficulty with self-regulation which is likely to relate to social skills (Gunnar, 2001; Gunnar, van Dulmen, & The International Adoption Project Team, 2007; Rutter and the ERA Study Team, 1998; Rutter, Kreppner, & O'Connor, 2001). The purpose of this study was to examine the parent-reported social skills (using the Social Skills Rating System; Gresham & Elliott, 1990) of children adopted to the USA from Russian orphanages that were primarily deficient in their social-emotional environments (The St. Petersburg-USA Orphanage Research Team, 2008). PI children who were adopted before 18 months had higher/better scores than children adopted after 18 months, and there does not appear to be a significant decrease in social skills with later ages (e.g., 24+ months) at adoption, suggesting a step function at 18 months of age at adoption. Further, the Elementary school age sample had higher/better scores than the Secondary school age sample.