Integration of sustainable design solutions is a current issue at the forefront of any business that claims to have corporate and social responsibility. Sustainable design and development stems from the idea of sustainability which is an increasingly well known ideal but with an application and resulting definition that can differ across the many different industrial disciplines. Sustainability and indeed sustainable design becomes a complex problem due to the many interlinking factors that evolve around three key principles of people, planet and prosperity. This paper reports a research programme that aims to establish a generic interpretation of sustainability and how the complex problem of sustainable design can be effectively and efficiently tackled using a constraint-based approach. The paper discusses how different aspects of sustainability and sustainable design affect design process thinking and examines their effect on project management including a discussion of current tools such as life cycle assessment, information modelling and integrated resource management that are widely used. There is also an introduction into a newly formed concept which involves the application of a function specific constraint modeller in order to manage sustainable design and development.


The changing representation of gay politicians in UK newspapers is an area which is underrepresented in political and media studies. It is an important subject because press representation of gay politicians has personal and public consequences; not only can the 'politicians concerned have their political and personal lives negatively affected, democracy can be compromised. Indeed, gay politicians may be less inclined to speak out on gay issues and free expression may be constrained. The thesis demonstrates: 1. How gay MPs in the UK are represented in newspapers 2. How representation has changed 3. An overarching frame of representation. Newspaper articles are analysed and politicians and campaigners interviewed. A literature/historical review contextualises analysis, taking into account socio-political factors. The thesis demonstrates that the press representation of gay politicians is governed by three interconnected frames: 1. The move towards recognition According to the premise of 'recognition,' marginalised groups are entitled to equal rights and respect, rather than a grudging tolerance, alongside recognition of their particularity. This thesis suggests society has moved from intolerance, to tolerance, to partial recognition of homosexuality; this process has been a halting one, although it is generally unidirectional. 2. Acceptability over time (in relation to heterosexual public space) Sexuality/sexual acts can be rated in terms of public acceptability (as in the acceptance of society) and heterosexual public space. Generally, public homosexuality has become more acceptable over the last fifty years (again, this has been a halting process), although still has some way to go to reach full acceptability. 3. Mediated personas as 'constructed reality' Gay politicians are represented in the media through the use of binary themes; using these themes, their personas (gradients of negative and positive) are created by and mediated through newspapers. The third frame helps to maintain negative and stereotypical representations of gay politicians.


By the results of experimental studies and by being guided by Protocol № 22 dated 22, 2004, by the Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation, the authors have conducted clinical trials of biotherapy used in oncological care. They describe the first experience in using xenovaccination in 35 patients with uveal melanoma to prevent hematogenic metastases. The follow-ups of the patients lasted within 12-64 months after initiation of the vaccination. No recurrences were observed in 27 patients during follow-ups whose durations averaged 49,7 months. The authors consider that this is reason to regard xenovaccinaton as an available method for the prevention of metastases of uveal melanoma.


Since the publication of White Paper #7 "Phase Scheduling" (Ballard, 2000), work on many projects has been planned with this technique by teams of varying configuration. Many teams have adapted their own approach to developing a "phase schedule", in some cases called a "reverse phase schedule" or a "pull phase schedule". During these planning sessions, ideas have been put in practice that improve on the original scheme and increase the benefits of producing a phase schedule. Perhaps the most significant being the conversations that the teams pursue during the exercise. This paper will briefly describe the authors' current approach to and practices for preparing phase schedules and how this has become, in actuality, phase planning. It will then describe how phase planning produces the project schedule as traditionally understood, and more importantly designs the network of commitments necessary to deliver each project milestone, and how understanding and using the network of commitments improves project performance.


The Positive Behaviour Intervention and Support system is a framework aimed to introduce a change at school-wide level. It promotes a disciplinary system change process, from a reactive punishment-based strategies of specific student misbehaviours to a proactive system, where different behavioural principles such as the modelling and reinforcement of positive prosocial students' behaviours are applied to improve school values and to create a positive climate. This paper presents the Behavioural Assessment to improve School Environment (BASE) system and the BASE repository. The BASE system supports evidence-based digital intervention practices for stimulating the academic, social, emotional, and behavioural competencies of all students. The BASE repository is a collection of good practices, tools, and instructional contents. Both of the tools are able to support and facilitate, through the use of mobile devices and a web-based responsive system, different prevention and instructional practices at the three-tiers PBS model. At the first level of prevention (Tier 1) the system allows to the school PBS team to define the Expectation Matrix, a set of positive behaviours grouped according to predefined school values and locations. Moreover, the PBS team members are able to define the list of problem behaviours, classifying them in minor and major. The matrix and the list of minor and major problem behaviours are at the base of the development of a screening tool for identifying behavioural risk problems, the Positive Office Referral and the Office Disciplinary Referral tools. At the target prevention level (Tier 2) the BASE application provides the Check-in/Check-out (CICO) tool, as PBIS recommends. It is addressed to a targeted group of students, resulted unresponsive to the Tier I, and implements the practice of 'Positive reinforcement contingent on meeting behavioural goals' throughout a reward system. At the intensive prevention level (Tier 3) the system allows users to perform Functional Behaviour Assessment for students considered unresponsive to Tier I and II and to create customized measurement tools for designing single case studies. The measure can be assigned to the observers able to collect data and organize them in phases. A TAU analysis algorithm is applied to the gathered data for showing the effectiveness of intervention. In the BASE application, each student can access to the system with personal credentials and to visualize his significant progresses into a smart dashboard.TheBASErepository represents a hub for digital resources collection concerning both theoretical and methodological aspects of the PBIS approach. The Internet users interested to know the European experience of the involved partner schools, and to enlarge their knowledge about the principles to implement the PBIS in their own school, can find a first set of multimedia contents, webinars, collection of good practices gathered during the lifespan of the European Erasmus+ BASE project. The repository facilitates the finding of high-quality contents and represents a learning corner and an important knowledge repository for teachers and health professionals to understand and apply this approach.


Objective The aim of the study was to evaluate the efficacy and safety of umbilical cord blood stem cells (USCs) transplantation combined with routine supportive therapy (RST) for liver cirrhosis (LC). Materials and methods Clinical trials involved in this research were searched from Web of Science, PubMed, EMBASE, Cochrane Library, Wanfang and CNKI database. Treatment effects, quality of life (QoL), adverse events and other outcome measures were extracted and evaluated. Results A total of 10 trials including 616 LC patients were involved in this study. Based on our analysis, the liver function of LC patients was significantly improved after USCs transplantation and RST combined therapy, indicated by decreased total bilirubin, alanine aminotransferase, aspartate aminotransferase levels and prothrombin time and increased serum albumin level and prothrombin activity. Compared to those treated by RST alone, patients treated by combined therapy showed more satisfied treatment effects, improved QoL reflected by improved appetite (odds ratio [OR]=5.43, 95% CI=2.84 to 10.38, P<0.00001) and relieved fatigue (OR=4.33, 95% CI=0.87 to 21.60, P=0.07), ascetic fluid (OR=4.56, 95% CI=2.69 to 7.74, P<0.00001), abdominal distension (OR=4.01, 95% CI=1.34 to 12.02, P=0.01) and edema (OR=2.69, 95% CI=0.23 to 31.72, P=0.43). No serious adverse events occurred during USCs therapy. Conclusion USCs transplantation is a safe and effective adjuvant therapy for RST-treated LC, possibly through improving patients' liver function.


Alternative splicing shapes the phenotype of cells in development and disease. Long-read RNA-sequencing recovers full-length transcripts but has limited throughput at the single-cell level. Here we developed single-cell full-length transcript sequencing by sampling (FLT-seq), together with the computational pipeline FLAMES to overcome these issues and perform isoform discovery and quantification, splicing analysis and mutation detection in single cells. With FLT-seq and FLAMES, we performed the first comprehensive characterization of the full-length isoform landscape in single cells of different types and species and identified thousands of unannotated isoforms. We found conserved functional modules that were enriched for alternative transcript usage in different cell populations, including ribosome biogenesis and mRNA splicing. Analysis at the transcript-level allowed data integration with scATAC-seq on individual promoters, improved correlation with protein expression data and linked mutations known to confer drug resistance to transcriptome heterogeneity. Our methods reveal previously unseen isoform complexity and provide a better framework for multi-omics data integration.


The concept of hazing (aversive conditioning) is often promoted as a tool for reducing human–coyote (Canis latrans) confl icts in urban environments. Little scientifi c evidence exists on the eff ectiveness of hazing, particularly hazing applied by residents (i.e., community-level hazing). Wildlife professionals question if residents will properly and consistently apply hazing techniques and if hazing impacts coyote behavior over shortand long-term periods. We describe 2 separate eff orts designed to encourage residents to haze coyotes in the Denver Metro Area, Colorado, USA: a citizen science program and an open space hazing trial. Both eff orts were intended to be management techniques that either could be deployed or are already commonly deployed by urban coyote managers. In addition to educating residents about how, when, and how to quantify individual coyote response to hazing eff orts, the citizen science program measured methods used for, and short-term impacts of, resident-based hazing and the overall impact of resident involvement in the program. The open space hazing trial measured the impact of on-site education tools and begins to assess if posted signs and on-site education eff orts change visitor acceptance and behavior around coyote hazing. The citizen science program targeted a highly engaged audience and required a signifi cant investment of time and attention for both managers and residents. The open space hazing trial targeted the casual park visitor and required little to no investment of time and attention for both managers and residents. The citizen science program produced 207 trained citizen scientists that generated 96 documented hazing events. Voice, noise, and approach were the hazing methods most commonly deployed by participants. Citizen scientists recorded hazing responses varying from rapid fl eeing of the area to approaching the person doing the hazing, with the most common response being the coyote leaving the area. In the presence of domestic dogs, hazing was less eff ective. Citizen scientists reported improved understanding and acceptance of coyote management tools as well as increased confi dence and capacity to deal with human–coyote confl ict in their community. For the open space hazing trial, we provided non-personal hazing education using signs, email, and social media as well as staff ed education stations in 2 urban open space parks with highly visible coyotes and prior histories of coyote confl ict. Based on self-reported (n = 495) results, most park visitors indicated they would haze a coyote in the future and that the educational eff ort infl uenced their decision to haze or not.


We report observations of a direct ionospheric plasma outflow response to the incidence of an interplanetary shock and associated coronal mass ejection (CME) upon the earth's magnetosphere. Data from the WIND spacecraft, 185 RE upstream, document the passage of an interplanetary shock at 23:20 UT on 24 Sept. 1998. The polar cap plasma environment sampled by the POLAR spacecraft changed abruptly at 23:45 UT, reflecting the compressional displacement of the geopause relative to the spacecraft. POLAR left the polar wind outflow region and entered the mantle flows. Descending toward the dayside cusp region, POLAR later returned from the mantle to an enhanced polar wind flux dominated by O+ plasma and eventually containing molecular ions. The enhanced and O+− dominated outflow continued as the spacecraft passed through the high altitude cleft and then the southern cleft at lower altitude. Such a direct response of the ionosphere to solar wind dynamic pressure disturbances may have important impacts on magnetospheric dynamics.


Sperm collected at two epididymal regions from various rat groups force-fed with gossypol were assayed for their ATP levels and motilities to examine their response to the antifertility effect of gossypol, a yellowish polyphenolic pigment from cottonseed oil. Rats receiving gossypol administration for 2 weeks began to show a proportional decrease in spermatozoal ATP content and motility and this antifertility effect deepened with time. Recovery from the gossypol-induced ATP decrease also developed at 2 weeks after the removal of gossypol administration. This rapid development of both the inhibitory and the recovery effects in a normal 53-day spermatogenic process might have stemmed from a change of susceptibility to gossypol inhibition during spermatogenesis. A model showing a more susceptible middle stage in spermatogenesis is proposed.


A nonstationary model of individual labor market histories, where the distribution of wages offers depends on elapsed unemployment duration and where unemployment compensation is claimed for a limited period only, is estimated from sample information on completed unemployment duration, accepted earnings, and accepted job duration, and can identify movements in the reservation wages induced by human capital loss from those caused by benefit exhaustion. The results indicate that individuals seem to be much more sensitive to benefit exhaustion than human capital loss. The estimated structural parameters provide an explanation for the existence of a statistical relationship between continuous unemployment and accepted job durations.


Once the power signals under measurement are corrupted by noises, the performance of the wavelet transform (WT) on recognizing power quality (PQ) events would be greatly degraded. Meanwhile, directly adopting the WT coefficients (WTCs) has the drawback of taking a longer time for the recognition system. To solve the problem of noises riding on power signals and to effectively reduce the number of features representing power transient signals, a noise-suppression scheme for noise-riding signals and an energy spectrum of the WTCs in different scales are used as features in this paper. The genetic k-means algorithm (GKA)-based radial basis function (RBF) network classification system is then used for PQ event recognition. The proposed GKA-based clustering approach can overcome the problem of oversensitivity to randomly initial partitions in the conventional methods. To determine a suitable number of centers in an RBF from the input data, the orthogonal least squares (OLS) learning algorithm was used in this paper. The success rates of recognizing PQ events from noise-riding signals have proven to be feasible in power system applications.


The lines of external source funding in the field of security and defense are varied, offering a multitude of possibilities for specialists in the field who wish to access projects with non-reimbursable financing for ideas that cannot be financed from internal sources. The funding opportunities come in response to the needs of the security and defense institutions and offer a precise solution on certain areas that have deficiencies both nationally and at European level. An example is the one of the higher education institutions in the field of security and defense that want to open the gates for the mutual exchanges of study experience for the students of the bachelor, master or doctorate and for which the necessity of carrying out an internship of documentation and/or research is required within a similar institution abroad. At present, the financing lines on which the national military universities can access projects are EEA Grants, ERASMUS +, structural funds without being limited to them.
Higher education institutions in Iceland, Norway, Liechtenstein are an example of good practice in security and defense that can be multiplied and adapted to the needs of European Union member countries. This is one of the reasons for the possibility of financing projects for priority areas. In addition, exchanges of experience between students and teachers between institutions in these countries can help to identify sustainable long-term solutions. The projects with non-reimbursable financing represent a viable solution in the short and medium term in order to stimulate the personnel of the security and defense institutions to be creative and constructive in a society that has a constantly changing dynamic.


This qualitative research investigates the music therapy approaches taken in order to support well-being at a day centre for adults with disabilities. Music therapy at the day centre involved individual and group sessions, engaging in music with the wider community, developing trust and supporting each other. The research centred on secondary analysis of music therapy practice text, collected during a five-month period at the day centre. Literature about music / music therapy being able to support well-being in community settings, especially in relation to the practice of community music therapy, was reviewed. The research question 'How did I support well-being at a community day centre for adults with other abilities using music therapy?' was established. Secondary analysis was the methodology used for this study, involving no disruption to regular practice as a student therapist and being low-risk for music therapy participants. A thematic analysis of texts was undertaken and this was developed from; research text, supervision text and a reflective journal of my practice. Analysis involved coding and sorting text and developing meaningful themes. The findings of the analysis demonstrated three core themes which involved supporting well-being: encouraging a sense of fun, promoting a sense of purpose and developing togetherness.


In order to achieve an accurate reservoir characterization, geometrical complexities of reservoir geobodies must be taken into account. Hence, restoration of the complex geobodies, impacted by tectonic activities, folding and faulting, is a primary issue in geological modelling of petroleum reservoirs.
Facing the geometrical complexities, a common solution is producing curved grids, fitted to folding pattern as it is done in most of the main geological modelling software. It leads to satisfactory geological models, which may be difficult to transfer to the Reservoir Engineer who is often requiring quite regular grids for flow simulations This upscaling results in losing the initial geological resolution and the loss is generally difficult to control.
This paper describes an alternative method for generating distorted geobodies following folds and faults inside any kind of grid. It is based on the combination of local geostatistics and a mathematical framework using properties of Stochastic Partial Differential Equations (SPDE). This technique is efficient enough to manage large grids and large datasets. Then we can generate very high resolution geological models with structurally driven properties distribution, which can be upscaled by preserving the geological consistency in reservoir grids of any shape, regular, irregular, Voronoi, or any unstructured grids.


Royer and colleagues 1 have performed a meta-analysis comparing shorter versus longer courses of antibiotics for treating infections in hospitalized patients. They conclude that shorter courses are safe. However, the authors do not address a flaw in the analysis; they included studies in which treatment with azithromycin was considered a short antibiotic course relative to treatment with another antibiotic. Azithromycin is a macrolide antibiotic that has a relatively long terminal serum half-life, which has been reported to be 35-96 hours.2-4 Moreover, the half-life of azithromycin in lung tissue can be as long as 132 hours,4 which is important because tissue concentrations are thought to be more indicative of the clinical efficacy of macrolides.5 In 4 of 19 studies in the meta-analysis,1 azithromycin was used as a short course for the treatment of pneumonia and compared with longer courses of antibiotics with a much shorter half-life. This implies that in these studies, the duration of the effective antibiotic tissue concentration in the short arms was probably not shorter than in the comparator arms. It could even be longer due to azithromycin's favorable pharmacokinetics. In our view, these studies have unfairly contributed to the clinical efficacy of short courses, thereby threatening the validity of the overall conclusions. We think that effective antibiotic blood/tissue levels determine the clinical outcome, not just shorter or longer antibiotic courses.


Noise annoyance is a phenomenon of 'mind and mood'. It is only partly determined by acoustic factors: typical noise metrics (LAeq and the like) allow only the prediction of aggregated annoyance scores (community levels) with moderate degree of precision. Many non-acoustic factors have been identified with varying degrees of association with annoyance. However, the proper identification and understanding of the role of non-acoustical factors can only be achieved on the basis of sound theories about rise and reduction of noise annoyance. This article discusses first the few systematic theories to understand the relative role of acoustic and non-acoustic factors. Then, it presents a theoretical perspective that places a major non-acoustic factor in the center: perceived control. It views noise annoyance as a form of psychological stress: disturbances may tax persons resources, and different people may use different ways of coping to deal with annoyance. The focus on perceived control also highlights that for residents exposed to environmental noise 'noise management at the source' often will be an equally important external stimulus to respond to as 'noise at the source'.


Multimodality image registration plays a crucial role in various clinical and research applications. The aim of this study is to present an optimized MR to CT whole‐body deformable image registration algorithm and its validation using clinical studies. A 3D intermodality registration technique based on B‐spline transformation was performed using optimized parameters of the elastix package based on the Insight Toolkit (ITK) framework. Twenty‐eight (17 male and 11 female) clinical studies were used in this work. The registration was evaluated using anatomical landmarks and segmented organs. In addition to 16 anatomical landmarks, three key organs (brain, lungs, and kidneys) and the entire body volume were segmented for evaluation. Several parameters — such as the Euclidean distance between anatomical landmarks, target overlap, Dice and Jaccard coefficients, false positives and false negatives, volume similarity, distance error, and Hausdorff distance — were calculated to quantify the quality of the registration algorithm. Dice coefficients for the majority of patients (>75%) were in the 0.8–1 range for the whole body, brain, and lungs, which satisfies the criteria to achieve excellent alignment. On the other hand, for kidneys, Dice coefficients for volumes of 25% of the patients meet excellent volume agreement requirement, while the majority of patients satisfy good agreement criteria (>0.6). For all patients, the distance error was in 0–10 mm range for all segmented organs. In summary, we optimized and evaluated the accuracy of an MR to CT deformable registration algorithm. The registered images constitute a useful 3D whole‐body MR‐CT atlas suitable for the development and evaluation of novel MR‐guided attenuation correction procedures on hybrid PET‐MR systems. PACS number: 07.05.Pj


In the context of cultural heritage, an accurate and comprehensive digital survey of a historical building is today essential in order to measure its geometry in detail for documentation or restoration purposes, for supporting special studies regarding materials and constructive characteristics, and finally for structural analysis. Some proven geomatic techniques, such as photogrammetry and terrestrial laser scanning, are increasingly used to survey buildings with different complexity and dimensions; one typical product is in form of point clouds. We developed a semi-automatic procedure to convert point clouds, acquired from laserscan or digital photogrammetry, to a filled volume model of the whole structure. The filled volume model, in a voxel format, can be useful for further analysis and also for the generation of a Finite Element Model (FEM) of the surveyed building. In this paper a new approach is presented with the aim to decrease operator intervention in the workflow and obtain a better description of the structure. In order to achieve this result a voxel model with variable resolution is produced. Different parameters are compared and different steps of the procedure are tested and validated in the case study of the North tower of the San Felice sul Panaro Fortress, a monumental historical building located in San Felice sul Panaro (Modena, Italy) that was hit by an earthquake in 2012.


The effect of spin-orbit coupling had once been thought to be a minor perturbation to the low energy band structure that could be ignored. Instead, a surge in recent theoretical and experimental efforts have shown spin-orbit interactions to have significant consequences. The main objective of this thesis is to investigate the role of the orbital sector and crystal symmetries in governing the spin texture in materials that have strong spinorbit interactions. This can be accessed through a combination of spinand angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy (ARPES and spin-ARPES), both of which are powerful techniques for probing the one-electron band structure plus interactions, and supported by density functional theory calculations (DFT). We focus first on a globally inversion asymmetric material, the layered semiconductor BiTeI, which hosts a giant spin-splitting of its bulk bands. We show that these spin-split bands develop a previously undiscovered, momentum-space ordering of the atomic orbitals. We demonstrate this orbital texture to be atomic element specific by exploiting resonant enhancements in ARPES. These orbital textures drive a hierarchy of spin textures that are then tied to the constituent atomic layers. This opens routes to controlling the spin-splitting through manipulation of the atomic orbitals. This is contrasted against a material where inversion symmetry is globally upheld but locally broken within each monolayer of a two layer unit cell. Through our ARPES and spin-ARPES measurements of 2H-NbSe2, we discover the first experimental evidence for a strong out-of-plane spin polarisation that persists up to the Fermi surface in this globally inversion symmetric material. This is found to be intrinsically linked to the orbital character and dimensionality of the underlying bands. So far, previous theories underpinning this (and related) materials' collective phases assume a spindegenerate Fermi sea. We therefore expect this spin-polarisation to play a role in determining the underlying mechanism for the charge density wave phase and superconductivity. Through these studies, this thesis then develops the importance of global versus local inversion symmetry breaking and uncovers how this is intricately tied to the underlying atomic orbital configuration.


Dioxins are a group of 210 chemicals with similar properties and structures that are usually found as a "mixture" in the environment. Dioxins are found at low levels in air, soil, water, and sediment as well in foods such meat, dairy, fish, and shellfish. The highest levels are usually found in sediments soil and animal fats. The most toxic chemical in the group is 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-para-dioxin, which is the "standard" to which other dioxins are compared. This paper examines the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality (MDEQ) assessment and remediation efforts in the Tittabawassee River (Michigan, USA) flood plain. Soil and sediment samples indicate higher than "normal" (background) levels of dioxins for soil and sediment, which exceed the Center for Disease Control (CDC) and U.S. Agency for Toxic Substances and Diseases Registry (ATSDR) action level of 1000 parts per trillion. Data presented indicates the difficulties associated with assessing historical dioxin levels in environments such as soil and sediments. Activities associated with these efforts such as dioxin and furan exposure studies, animal toxicology assessments, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) enforcement, MDEQ efforts to expedite remediation, as well as future directions for this on-going project are discussed.


The effect of 2-aminothracene (2AA) ingestion in Fisher-344 rats was examined. Protein expression was examined via bulk proteins isolated from the liver and analyzed on a mass spectrometry. 2AA is an aromatic amine that can be classified as a polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH). 2AA is used in the manufacture of chemicals, dyes, inks, and it is also a curing agent in epoxy resins and polyurethanes. 2AA has also been found in tobacco smoke and cooked foods.Total protein was extracted from liver tissues, separated via gel electrophoresis, trypsin-digested and analyzed using mass spectrometry. Mass spectrometric analysis of bulk hepatic proteins yielded a massive amount of proteins that seem to play varied roles in the maintenance of cellular homeostasis and integrity. The application of statistical algorithm to the dataset revealed the over expression of proteins that mediate energy related cellular and oxidative stress processes. Applying statistical algorithm to the bulk dataset reduced peptides to 28 common proteins that could be potential biomarkers of 2aminoanthracene toxicity. Some of these peptides were Fetuin-B, Hemopexin, Pyrethroid hydrolase Ces2a and 2-hydroxyacyl-CoA lyase 1. Fetuin-b and hemopexin, which could be possible biomarkers of 2AA toxicity in the liver.Further analysis of these proteins via DAVID bioinformatics tool showed functional annotation terms related to oxidative stress responsive mechanisms, apoptosis related responses and various binding related processes such as monocarboxylic acid binding, cofactor binding and glutathione binding. Amount of quantified hepatic catalase concentration was found to be consistent to the bulk protein levels in the liver.


In 1973 The Center for Art Conservation Studies (CASS) was established at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD). This was in response to demonstrations that were conducted during January-March 1972 in Venice for UNESCO, Venice in Peril, International Fund for Monuments, and the Italian Petroleum Institute (ENI). The feasibility investigation explored in-situ pulsed holography, holographic interferometry, and laser ablation divestment for applications in art conservation practice. During subsequent decades scores of UCSD graduate and undergraduate students as well as conservators, conservation scientists, academics, and engineers who resided in CASS as "Visiting Scholars" contributed to advancing the understanding and performance of radiation technologies in the arts. Several technologies in addition to those involving optical wavelengths were also investigated to aid in art conservation and conservation science. Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) and Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) were employed to detect and map moisture within masonry. Lead isotopic analyses revealed authenticity and provenance of Benin bronzes. Inside-out x-ray radiography facilitated the detection of defects in stone. Ultrasonic imaging was introduced for the mapping of fresco strata. Photoacoustic Spectroscopy (PAS) was used to characterize varnish layers on paintings. Digital image processing was introduced in order to detect and visualize pentimenti within paintings as well as to perform virtual restoration and provide interactive museum displays. Holographic images were employed as imaginary theater sets. In the years that followed the graduation of students and the visits of professional collaborators, numerous other applications of radiation ablation began appearing in a wide variety of other fields such as aircraft maintenance, ship maintenance, toxic chemical remediation, biological sterilization, food processing, industrial fabrication, industrial maintenance, nuclear decontamination, dermatology, nuclear weapons effects simulation, and graffiti control. It was readily apparent that the customary diffusion of advanced technologies from science and industry into the art conservation field had been reversed. In this paper we trace the migration and adaptation of radiation divestment developments in art conservation to numerous applications in science, industry, and consumer products. Examples described include the robotized hybrid "Flashjet" aircraft paint stripping system, the "Novotronic" anthrax remediation installation in the Pentagon Building, the InTa automated graffiti removal system employing a carbon dioxide TEA laser, the Bellalite body hair removal product incorporating flashlamp technology, and the Foodco line of optical radiation products for the sterilization of food products. The Foodco products are also applied to the sterilization and/or pasteurization of beverages and beverage containers. A similar device has been adapted to seafood irradiation in order to increase shelf life, as well as for the ablative removal of skin and scales. The Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company, to etch logos and identification information into the sidewalls of pneumatic tires, also developed a flashlamp-based ablation technology. The founders of the CYMER Corporation applied UV irradiation technology to the manufacture of high-performance integrated circuits (viz., memory chips, etc.) In several instances former CASS students and Visiting Fellows consciously adapted the above-learned art conservation methodologies to still other purposes. Thus, these examples of technology transfer may be termed: "Art in the service of Science." Alternatively, it is evident that many associated innovations developed from independent activities, unconnected serendipity, or through the normal diffusion of information and knowledge across disciplines.


The principal aim of this paper is to show that a constraint that C.D. Broad imposed on the acceptability of deductions of macroproperties which would show them to be non-emergent, viz. that they use only general laws of nature, is too strong and should be replaced by the weaker condition that the deductions be non-trivial. First, the relevant notion of generality is made more precise. I propose that a law is general iff it is applicable to a diversity of phenomena relative to what I call domain constitutive properties. In order to substantiate the claim that Broad's constraint is too strong I analyse three examples of explanations of macroproperties from robotics and the life sciences. All of them are non-trivial explanations and should thereby render the explained properties non-emergent. Finally, I briefly indicate three ways in which an explanation may be non-trivial.


. Pragmatics, i.e., a system of values (or goals) in agent behavior, marks the boundary between physics and semiotics. Agents are defined as systems that are able to control their behavior in order to increase their values. The freedom of actions in agents is based on the distinction between macro-characters that describe the state or stage, and micro-characters that are interpreted as memory. Signs are arbitrarily established relations between micro- and macro-characters that are anticipated to be useful for agents. Three kinds of elementary signs (action, perception, and association) have been developed in agents via evolution and learning to support useful and flexible behaviors. The behavior of agents can be explained, predicted, and modified using the optimality principle, according to which agents select those actions that are expected to increase their value. However, agents may select actions based on their own model of the world, which have to be reconstructed in order to predict their behavior. Pragmatics in agents can be induced, learned from individual experience or natural selection, or adopted.


Aims Meticillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) strains isolated in Tawam Hospital, a tertiary care hospital in the United Arab Emirates, were examined in order to understand the reasons for a doubling of its incidence between 2003 and 2008 while maintaining the same infection control measures. Methods All consecutive non-duplicate clinically relevant MRSA isolates recovered between January and December 2003 and between May and October 2008 were studied. The antibiotic susceptibility, pulsed field gel electrophoresis, toxin gene, staphylococcal cassette chromosome mec (SCCmec), spa, agr and multilocus sequence types of the strains were tested. Results In 2003, typical healthcare-associated (HA-MRSA) genotypes (ST239-MRSA-III, ST22-MRSA-IV and ST5-MRSA-II) represented the majority (61.5%) of the isolates. By 2008 this pattern had changed and clonal types considered as community-associated (CA) MRSA comprised 73.1% of the strains with ST80-MRSA-IV, ST5-MRSA-IV and ST1-MRSA with non-typable SCCmec types being the most frequent. However, further epidemiological investigations showed that only one-third of the CA-MRSA infections were actually acquired in the community, indicating that CA-MRSA clones have entered and spread within the hospital. Conclusions The emergence of CA-MRSA clones with subsequent entry to and spread within the hospital has contributed to the increasing incidence of MRSA observed in Tawam Hospital and probably also in other hospitals in the UAE.


The school has become a second home for children at today age. Children spent more time at school rather than at home. Word "Parent" has taken new meaning since "biological" parents have transferred some of their responsibilities to "mandatory" parents at school. The practice has now been further intensified by the use of Information Technology (IT) that facilitates distance interface communication between the parent-school-children. With online services, the parent can real-timely monitor the baby and the baby sitter or teacher while doing her/his task in a separate location. Consequently, a new parenting style is then needed. Online parenting is becoming a new trend in urban society. This short article is intended to provide an overview and suggestion on how to use social media for parenting education. The online parenting program has currently popular with social media users. The common applications used are WhatsApp, Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook. These applications provide a way out to interact among parents, parents and teacher, parents and grandparents, and also parents and experts. The use of social media for parenting purpose requires some basic rules and arrangement to be agreed among the participants; otherwise, its importance will be degraded and its role as parenting platform will not function as expected. Online parenting program benefits the "busy-bee" parents with: (1) time management, (2) knowledge gathering, and (3) promoting the partnership. Sharing information and participation are much easier by using this online parenting programme especially in selecting priority characters to be introduced at school and then powering them up at home. The parallel system used by both biological and mandatory parents will reinforce the intended characters built in the child. Keyword s : Online Parenting, Social Media, Parent's Involvement


A heavy ion beam probe has been used to measure the space potential of electron cyclotron heated plasmas in the Advanced Toroidal Facility. The results of the measured potential profiles are presented along with the radial electric field strength profiles derived from these measurements. The measured potential profiles have been compared to those predicted by a simple model of the plasma based upon an ambipolarity constraint on the ion and electron particle fluxes in steady state. The trends of the measured and modeled profiles are in agreement, although the strength of the electric field predicted by the model is much greater than that inferred from the potential profile measurement. When an oxygen-like impurity ion species is added to the model, the predicted electric field strengths are altered significantly and become much closer to the measured values. >


Gray is one of Scotlands most acclaimed writers, and his practice has been subject to major retrospectives this year, including the exhibition 'Spheres of Influence II' at GSA. He has recently made a significant donation of his publications to the Glasgow School of Art Library, a number of which will be available to view at the event.

Edwin Pickstone is a designer and researcher working in the Communication Design department at Glasgow School of Art. His work spans academic, artistic and design worlds, with particular interest in the history of typography, graphic design, print and the nature of the book.

Commissioned by A feral Studio and My Bookcase this talk built on previous correspondence between Gray and Pickstone regarding Gray's innovative and singular approach to the layout of the printed page. This 'conversation' was conducted as a public talk in the Caseroom at The Glasgow School of Art. Books, pertinent to the themes discussed, donated to GSA Library's Special Collection were available to the audience whist the talk was being held.


: Thomas D. Maddix, CSC, the director of mission services for the Alberta Catholic Hospitals Foundation, comments on a report which clearly articulates in word and action our distinctive nature as denominational health care providers. If we wish to flourish in that role, we must show that difference in word and deed.


Software architects often must work with incomplete or ill-specified non-functional requirements (NFRs) and use them to make decisions. Through this process, existing NFRs are refined or modified and new ones emerge. Although much research has centered on how software architects treat NFRs, no empirical studies have investigated the state of the practice. A survey based on interviews with 13 software architects addressed two fundamental issues: how do architects face NFRs from an engineering perspective, and how do NFRs influence their decision-making? The survey revealed that architects usually elicit NFRs themselves in an iterative process; they usually don't document the NFRs and only partially validate them.


Propionibacterium freudenreichii is a Gram-positive dairy probiotic bacterial species that has been used as a ripening starter in the production of Swiss-type cheese for a long time. It has been exploited for the optimization of cheese production, including ripening capacities and aroma compounds production, but also for the production of vitamin B12 and organic acids. Furthermore, it has emerged in the probiotics landscape owing to several beneficial traits, including tolerance to stress in the gastrointestinal tract, adhesion to host cells, anti-pathogenic activity, anticancer potential and immunomodulatory properties. These beneficial properties have been confirmed with in vitro and in vivo investigations, using several omics approaches that allowed the identification of important molecular actors, such as surface proteins, short-chain fatty acids and bifidogenic factors. The diversity within the species was shown to be an important aspect to take into consideration, since many of these properties were strain-dependent. New studies should dive further into the molecular mechanisms related to the beneficial properties of this species and of its products, while considering the complexities of strain diversity and the interactions with the host and its microbiota. This chapter reviews current knowledge on the possible impact of P. freudenreichii on human health.


With the rising popularity of multicast applications, various algorithms using either lightpath or light-tree schemes have been proposed for dynamic multicast traffic grooming in meshed wavelength division multiplexing (WDM) networks. To the best of our knowledge, however, no systematic comparison has ever been made between the performance of the two schemes in minimizing network blocking probability. In this paper, we address the dynamic multicast traffic grooming problem in WDM networks and present comprehensive comparisons between these two schemes in different cases. Our main contributions are twofold: first, we compare the performance of the existing lightpath- and light-tree-based grooming algorithms and show that, in most cases, the lightpath-based methods outperform the light-tree-based ones. We discuss and explain such observations. Second, we propose a lightpath-based algorithm, called the LightPath Fragmentation (LPF) method, to further improve the network blocking performance. Numerous simulations show that the LPF method steadily outperforms the existing algorithms in different cases. Effects of the ratio of unicast traffic loads versus overall traffic loads and the average number of destinations of each multicast request are also studied.


The World's forests are facing novel stress due to climate change. Pest insects and pathogens are shifting towards new latitudes and heat stress is resulting in increased tree mortality and more frequent forest fires globally. Uncertainty in estimating the magnitude of climate change induced forest and tree decline requires new methods for unbiased estimation of tree decline. The development of remote sensing methods to detect early tree decline has been a major challenge due to the subtle nature of the early changes caused by different stressors. Multispectral lidar technology has the potential of detecting early tree decline by providing accurate three-dimensional and spectral information of tree structure simultaneously. The main objective of this thesis was to investigate the capabilities of multispectral terrestrial lidar in the detection and assessment of tree decline caused by different stressors. This was done by investigating the estimation of a remotely detectable indicator of tree decline, leaf water content (LWC). Specifically, new methods for measuring LWC using multispectral lidar intensity were developed from the leaf to the canopy scale in various environments and the relationship between LWC and tree decline induced by various stressors was investigated. Furthermore, the developed methods were tested in a forest environment to assess the applicability of multispectral lidar in the detection of bark beetle infestation in the field. Studies I-III focused on investigating the relationship between LWC and lidar intensity at multiple wavelengths. First, a hyperspectral lidar instrument was used to detect significant changes between fresh and drought-treated Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) and Norway spruce (Picea abies L.) trees (study I). Then, a leaf-scale study (II) with Scots pine, Norway spruce, Small-leaved lime (Tilia cordata L.), Norway maple (Acer platanoides L.) and Silver birch (Betula pendula L.) was conducted and a strong relationship (R2=0.93) between a normalized difference index (NDI) calculated from 1550 nm and 690 nm wavelengths and LWC was found. This was followed by a study (III) where LWC estimation and pathogenand drought-induced variation in LWC was studied with Norway spruce seedlings. Bluestain fungi (Endoconidiophora polonica) inoculated seedlings expressed a rapid decrease in LWC while drought-treated seedlings showed more stable LWC until a very severe drought. LWC of the seedlings was predicted with an R2 of 0.89 using an NDI with 1550 nm and 905 nm wavelengths. In study IV, the developed method and the relationship between LWC and tree decline was investigated in the field with European spruce bark beetle (Ips typographus L.) infested trees. It was found that of the LWC metrics studied, gravimetric water content showed significant differences in the early stages of infestation and was more sensitive to bark beetle induced tree decline than equivalent water thickness (i.e. amount of water per leaf area). Linear discriminant models that were developed between infestation severity and lidar intensity metrics from 1550 nm and 905 nm wavelengths showed that green attack stage of the infestation could classified with an overall accuracy of 90%. This dissertation contributes both to the development of an objective and automatable method for detecting and measuring tree decline in the field, and to the understanding of the relationship between LWC and tree decline with implications to remote sensing. The dissertation will be published and popularized as a music video here: http://bit.ly/idanproffa.


Natural language provides many different ways of expressing facts. These facts can either be explicit facts or implicit facts. Explicit facts could be in the form of entity relations expressed in a single sentence. Many organizations own document corpuses that take the form of unstructured Incident Reports, which contain explicit facts. A key challenge faced by these organizations is finding out how two named entities contained in a unstructured Incident Report corpus are related to each other; a reading problem. In this research we conceptualized the problem as a composition of two sub problems; relational extraction and relational representation. We used Open Information Extraction tools and techniques to extract Entity Relational facts; a dictionary of named entities and a greedy algorithm to tag and characterize the extracted facts and graph algorithms to search through the extracted facts to determine the interrelationship between two (2) named entities in a Test corpus of ten (10) documents covering Politics, Accidents and Poaching. We came up with a model that harmonizes relation extraction and representation, which was able to address the key challenge of being able to determine how two named entities are interrelated in a unstructured Incident Report corpus. From experiments conducted using a prototype application developed based on the model above it was observed that: the quality of the text corpus, the choice of the underlying POS tagger and English dictionary, the character and size of Named Entity Dictionary and a mechanism to enable document level named entity resolution are key issues that have to be addressed when building a Entity Relation Characterizer. The model developed is a useful tool that can guide in the development of systems that collate information containing named entity relational facts from different sources, addressing the issue of information incoherence within organizations.


In recent years there has been a growing interest for the development of tubular scaffolds employed to assist the replacement of small blood vessels. Materials designed for this purpose need to be biodegradable, have good mechanical properties and improve cell adhesion, proliferation and differentiation. To obtain biomaterials with these properties, electrospinning seems to be one of the most useful technique. Several biodegradable synthetic polymers or constituents of the extracellular matrix (ECM) have been electrospun showing optimal mechanical properties and biodegradability. However, such polymers are lacking in versatile chemical structure affordable to immobilize growth factors or chemokines. The glycosaminoglycan heparin is able to bind several growth factors like vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF) and, when grafted onto the scaffold surface it is able to attract cells thus improving their proliferation and differentiation.Aim of this research was the production and the preliminary in vitro biological characterization of a new biodegradable material, obtained by electrospun a polyaminoacid-graft-polyester copolymer. The electrospun biomaterial has been successfully grafted with heparin exploiting the better chemical reactivity of the polyaminoacid portions of the graft copolymer. Then its morphology has been investigated by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and the potential biodegradability of the material has been studied until 60 days. Preliminary biological data in vitro, on human endothelial cells, show a good compatibility of the scaffold obtained by electrospinning, with regard to cell adhesion and proliferation. Experiments are in progress to evaluate the effects of heparin on cell differentiation.


The aims of the present study were to assess the effect of the quartz particle size on XRD quantifications, and use it to develop models for correcting the measured quartz concentrations of samples collected from the field. Seven nearly monodispersed pure quartz dusts, with mass median aerodynamic diameters (MMAD) ranging from 0.70 to 10.84 μm, were prepared by a liquid sedimentation device, and their unit XRD intensities (UI) were measured using the NIOSH Method 7500. The results show that UI increases (from 063 to 1.14) along with the rise in MMAD of the pure quartz dust. To examine the impact of the above results on quantifying field collected samples, both total dust and respirable dust samplings were conducted at seven different workplace environments. The results show that the quartz particles contained in all collected total dust samples (MMAD=5.18-16.7 μm, GSD=2.08-2.88) were coarser in their particle sizes than that of the reference quartz standard (NIST-SRM 1878; MMAD=2.16 μm, GSD=1.55), and the measured total quartz particle concentrations (C_m) were 16.6-22.5% lower than the corresponding true concentrations (C_t). However, for respirable dust samples (MMAD=1.37-3.95 μm, GSD=1.978-2.87), since collected quartz particle sizes could be either finer or coarser than that of the reference standard, both underestimation and overestimation were found in the present study (C_m/C_t=0.881-1.09). To correct the measured concentrations of field collected samples, correcting models were developed based on the MMADs of the collected quartz particle samples and their corresponding UIs. This study yields correcting factors for the respirable fraction (CR_f) as CR_f=1.50-0.67×[1-exp(-0.69×MMAD)] (R^2=0.996, n=7). However, the obtained CR_f should be used with caution if the collected samples were found with quartz particle sizes falling outside the size range of the present study.


Purpose: To investigate the radiation dose rate effect for pulsed low-dose-rate (PLDR) radiation therapy using in vitro clonogenic analysis. Materials and Methods: Lung cell line A549 (Adenocarcinomic human alveolar basal epithelial cells) and human prostate cancer cells (PC3) were cultured using Dulbecco's modified Eagle's medium supplemented with 10% fetal calf serum, with penicillin (50 U/ml), and streptomycin (50 µg/ml) at 37°C under 95% humidity and 5% CO2 atmosphere. All experiments used cells in the exponential growth phase by seeding ~200 cells into T-25 flasks, in triplicate, 8-10 hours before use. A clinically calibrated beam from a Varian-2100-iX machine was used to deliver a total dose of 0.25, 0.5, 1, 2 and 4Gy to the cells. The dose rate for the conventional radiation therapy (CRT) group was 500 cGy/min. The effective dose rates (EDR) for PLDR (8.3, 25, 60, 150cGy/min) were determined by varying time between a train of radiation pulses, each 0.25 Gy. After irradiation, cells were incubated for 8 to 9 days, colonies were counted, and the surviving fractions of clonogenic cells were determined. Results: Both cell lines showed comparable responses between CRT and PLDR with different EDRs, where their survival fractions decreased with dose but were unremarkable. All PLDR groups were statistically indistinguishable among each other, and from CRT. Both cell lines were observed to be agnostic towards variation with the dose rate in radiation repair response or low-dose hyper-radiosensitivity in this study. Conclusion: PLDR effect at different EDRs is comparable to that of CRT against two human cell lines. This result adds to the body of research showing PLDR's clinical efficacy, due its equivalent tumor control and normal tissue sparing properties with decreased EDRs. PLDR may be developed into a clinically viable alternative for treating large tumor masses and/or recurrent cancers with decreased normal tissue tolerances.


In this paper, we study the performance of a real-time transport protocol in an interactive multimedia data network. Access multiplexers, which support groups of users, and digital media servers (MS) are interconnected by a star-topology asynchronous transfer mode (ATM) virtual path crossconnect (VPX) network. The network traffic is generated by data retrieval requests from data on demand (DOD) and video on demand (VOD) users. Typical DOD applications are interactive games, interactive home shopping, etc. Some VOD (like a start up) and all DOD data transfers are caused by user action. Transmissions of information packets from MSs to users are scheduled by the multitoken exchange (MTEX) protocol which represents a deadline priority on-the-fly virtual path rereservation scheme. Statistically guaranteed quality of service (QoS) is assigned to all data transmissions caused by user actions, while deterministic performance requirements are imposed to ensure the integrity of video signals. The performance of the proposed protocol is evaluated in terms of meeting the deterministic and statistical QoS requirements by means of the probability of missing the data delivery deadline and the average response time correspondingly. We show that the attainable statistical multiplexing gain depends on the number of active VOD users and on a number of other traffic related parameters.


PG-Lb is a chondroitin/dermatan sulphate proteoglycan first isolated from chick embryo limb cartilage. It had been assumed that osteoglycin represents its mammalian homologue. However, partial amino acid sequences of a novel proteoglycan from bovine epiphyseal cartilage showed high identity with those of chick PG-Lb (P. Neame, L. Rosenberg and M. Höök, personal communication). Reverse transcriptase PCR using degenerate oligonucleotide primers gave a cDNA fragment that might correspond to mouse PG-Lb. We isolated a clone from a cDNA library of newborn mouse epiphyseal cartilage using the cDNA fragment as a probe. The cloned cDNA was 1430 bp long and contained a 966 bp open reading frame which encoded the core protein consisting of 322 amino acid residues. The deduced amino acid sequence showed a high overall identity with chick PG-Lb (about 62%, reaching about 80% over the carboxyl two-thirds). In addition, the amino acid sequence contained a signal peptide, six cysteine residues at the invariant relative position to chick PG-Lb, six leucine-rich repeats at the carboxyl two-thirds, three possible glycosaminoglycan-attachment sites (two sites at the N-terminal side and one site at the C-terminus) and two possible Asn-glycosylation sites near the C-terminus. Northernblot analysis demonstrated the specific expression of a 1.5 kb message in cartilage and testis. These structural features and the characteristic expression suggest that the cloned molecule is mouse PG-Lb.


ZnO/CdS core-shell hetero nanostructures with different shell thickness have been successfully developed by a solution chemistry method employing rapid homogenization concept. The obtained core/shell nanoparticles were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), energy dispersive X-ray analysis (EDX), FTIR, Raman, photoluminescence (PL), and UV-visible spectroscopy. All analytical and spectroscopic tools supported the formation of CdS shell over ZnO core. ZnO/CdS core-shell nanostructures were evaluated for their photocatalytic activity against methylene blue (MB), a common industrial water pollutant. It was observed that the ZnO/CdS core-shell nanostructures can effectively function as a photocatalyst under both UV and sunlight for degradation of MB. It was also observed that the degradation of MB was higher from core/shell nanostructures than the physical mixture of ZnO-CdS which was prepared separately. Copyright © 2016 VBRI Press.


PURPOSE
To describe physical restraint (PR) rates and contexts in U.S. hospitals.

DESIGN
This 2003-2005 descriptive study was done to measure PR prevalence and contexts (census, gender, age, ventilation status, PR type, and rationale) at 40 randomly selected acute care hospitals in six U.S. metropolitan areas. All units except psychiatric, emergency, operative, obstetric, and long-term care were included.

METHODS
On 18 randomly selected days between 0500 and 0700 (5:00 am and 7:00 am), data collectors determined PR use and contexts via observation and nurse report.

FINDINGS
PR prevalence was 50 per 1,000 patient days (based on 155,412 patient days). Preventing disruption of therapy was the chief reason cited. PR rates varied by unit type, with adult ICU rates the highest obtained. Intra- and interinstitutional variation was as high as 10-fold. Ventilator use was strongly associated with PR use. Elderly patients were over-represented among the physically restrained on some units (e.g., medical) but on many unit types (including most ICUs) their PR use was consistent with those of other adults.

CONCLUSIONS
Wide rate variation indicates the need to examine administratively mediated variables and the promotion of unit-based improvement efforts. Anesthetic and sedation practices have contributed to high variation in ICU PR rates. Determining the types of units to target to achieve improvements in care of older adults requires study of PR sequelae rate by unit type.


Technology use in education is largely influenced by external environmental and personal teacher factors. Adding a Turkish perspective, the purpose of the present study was to explore secondary school teachers' perceptions of computers and influencing demographics characteristics. Cross-sectional survey methodology was employed in three secondary high schools known for their educational and technological eminence. A total of 130 secondary school teachers participated. Teacher perceptions were defined to include computer attitudes, technological affinity, technological aversion, and confidence and comfort. The survey instrument measured these dimensions in four scales. General Linear Model findings illustrated effects of computer experience and training, gender, teaching field and Internet connection availability on perceptions. Ownership of personal computer appeared to be an important predictor of higher level computer experience and training, and consequently, more positive attitudes and higher confidence and comfort. Implications address pre- and inservice teacher development programs. Further research recommendations are made.


Windows are an important part of the building envelope. They are important for the energy performance of a building, since they enable passive solar gains, reduce the need for artificial lighting and enable natural ventilation. Passive design strategies are important to enhance the performance of buildings without active systems. The passive solar gains of buildings depend on the orientation of the glazing, the glazing type, the micro location and the form of the building. A study of a single family house with different deviations from the main glazing façade, that differ from the main cardinal orientation, is presented. For each case, the optimal glazing point and the optimal glazing area were examined. A southern orientation remains the most optimal for the chosen climate of Ljubljana. Buildings create an artificial environment with restricted access to daylight. To compensate natural light, artificial lighting sources are installed in the building. To illustrate the influence of windows on the energy performance in an office, the needs for artificial lighting were observed. The energy demand caused by the electricity consumption of artificial lighting is substantial, so the positioning of windows and the visual transmittance are of great importance. Beside the size of the window, its form and height plays an important role. Windows also affect the well-being of the occupants. Most of these effects are connected with providing light, natural ventilation and communication with the outside world. These aspects are also present in sustainable building certification schemes. An overview of the health-related topics presented in different certification schemes connected to windows has been made. We have compared different certification schemes in how they deal with issues of light.


Market economy, as evidenced by historical practice, inevitably leads to the unification of entrepreneurs in public organizations. In modern Russia, the formation of such structures began in the late 1980s.at that time, regional, sectoral and national associations were established. The oldest business unions were branch banking organizations, which United in their ranks banks and structures related to the banking business of the country. Bank associations are lobbying associations designed to form, formulate and communicate to the authorities the wishes of the organized banking community. There are various relations between the current state bodies and associations, which, as a rule, are not widely publicized, but which largely determine the state of the modern Russian economy, the nature and direction of the economic policy and strategy of the state. In addition to significant lobbying efforts aimed at creating favorable conditions for banks, the unions solve the problem of unification and standardization of banks, replication of the most successful domestic and foreign practices. They have become the most important subject of institutional changes not only in the financial segment of the economy, but also in the economy as a whole. The purpose of the article is to identify the directions, mechanisms of influence and influence of banking associations on the financial and banking environment. It is written on the basis of open sources — the materials of the two largest banking unions of the country, as well as analytical materials on lobbying and the activities of business associations of the past and present.


The Southeast of Turkey, shaped by decades of violent clashes between the Turkish military and Kurdish rebels, represents a region of utmost military and political interest and thus is usually regarded with precaution and reservation. The encounter during culture tours in this otherwise troubled region that nevertheless presents a part of the Turkish Republic, serves here to scrutinize how Turkish tourists from the western part of the country perceive themselves and negotiate their belonging within Turkey. Given the tourist guide's focus on culture as historical past, his silence about cultural plurality in the Southeast today and the lack of tourists' inquiry, the personal narratives mirror a struggle with socio-cultural "otherness" within the group and within oneself. Due to this difficulty and felt restriction to articulate oneself in public, the examination of tourist behavior and their anecdotes disclose two individual agencies: the first one is the use of stereotypes to articulate control and moral superiority vis-a-vis the "other" in particular inside oneself. The second channel is produced by the core of social imagination: the membership of communities structured in terms of patriarchal kinship-like networks whose condition is again based on the silencing of individual "deviations". The channels chosen serve furthermore to articulate other issues such a gender through Anti-Kurdish resentments as an otherwise "acknowledged" channel. The intertwining of highly individualized and isolated visions of oneself in society and society itself, produced by the lack of communication and the fear of being detected as "the other", with the primary effort to secure one's membership in society throughout networks, represent the key dynamics that shape the self-construction of the tourist and thus of the citizen in Turkey.


Psychological resiliency to disasters has been a growing focus of emergency management in recent years. The major psychosocial impacts of disasters include stress-induced psychological disorders, relational problems, increased substance abuse, and the disruption of beneficial social networks. These outcomes negatively impact resilience at individual and community levels. Demands for mental health interventions following disaster can rapidly overwhelm mental health providers' ability to meet mental health needs. Recent literature has proposed training unlicensed mental health providers to augment the services of licensed mental health providers and chaplains. This paper describes an effort to strengthen disaster mental health response capacity through the integration of faith-based organizations as providers of disaster mental health and Spiritual Care services. This project was sponsored through collaboration between Christian Associates of Southwest Pennsylvania and the Allegheny County Department of Human Services.
Outreach was conducted in eight communities in Eastern Allegheny County over a one-year period. Outreach activities involved interviewing faith leaders, presenting to ministerial associations, and organizing informational meetings. The three goals of the community outreach were to educate faith-based organizations about the role of faith-based organizations in disasters, to provide a point of contact for further information, and to encourage participation with the Allegheny County Volunteer Organizations Active in Disaster (VOAD). At the end of the outreach period, fifty-seven organizations were contacted, a total of four congregations expressed an interest in becoming active in disaster response, and four ministerial organizations began discussing their role in disaster preparedness and response.
Outreach activities resulted in marginal success in promoting continued participation. Four primary barriers became apparent: frequent leadership turnover, funding limitations, competing time commitments, and volunteer liability concerns. Additionally, a major finding suggests that an active VOAD is a crucial component of sustaining a well-organized reserve of volunteer personnel with a readiness to respond. This community organizing effort holds public health significance by identifying how faith-based organizations may potentially be a community resource to help alleviate the burden of psychiatric stress.


A robust model extraction procedure was developed for a high voltage Si LDMOS RFIC process to achieve first pass linear RFIC amplifier design success. The model extraction process utilizes pulsed isothermal small-signal S-parameter measurements and extracted large-signal root models at three different temperatures to extract model parameters for Motorola's Electro-Thermal (MET) FET analytical model. Large-signal model validation was performed against loadpull measurements under 1-tone and 2-tone stimuli. Also, the models were developed into a design kit within Agilent/sup R/ EEsof/sup R/'s ADS/sup R/ (Advanced Design System) to design a wide-band 30 Watt power amplifier IC which achieved first pass design success.


In order to enhance cell mediated cytotoxicity, bispecific antibodies (BsAbs), molecules combining two or more antibodies with different antigenic specificities, have been developed as new agents for immunotherapy. Our recent studies revealed that simultaneous administration of two kinds of BsAbs (anti-tumor x anti-CD3 plus anti-tumor x anti-CD28) together with lymphokine activated killer cells with a T cell phenotype (T-LAK cells) inhibited growth of human xenotransplanted tumors in severe combined immunodeficient (SCID) mice, while single BsAb was without effect. Three kinds of BsAbs (anti-tumor x anti-CD3, anti-tumor x anti-CD28, anti-tumor x anti-CD2) showed the highest cytotoxicity against tumor cells when given simultaneously with T-LAK cells or peripheral blood mononuclear cells in vitro and in vivo. BsAbs can be preserved for immediate application, while cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTLs) must be made-to-order, and are time-consuming to prepare. Tumor associated antigens, such as MAGE antigens, SART antigens, MUC1 antigen, c-erbB 2 antigen or cancer/testis antigens can be served to target antigens for BsAb production. By conjugation with antibodies to effector cells (anti-CD3, anti-CD28, anti-CD16, anti-CD64, anti-CD89 or anti-CD2), many kinds of BsAbs can be produced to cover most types of cancers from different organs. Therefore this strategy might be ubiquitously applicable to most malignancies.


Extensive cattle grazing has long been the dominant land use in Central Australian rangelands. Today, however, the pastoral landscape is increasingly fractured and contested by indigenous and environmentalist claims on land. Pastoralists in Central Australia are responding to environmentalist claims by reasserting territory. Territory is being constructed with reference to to particular forms of social nature and social space. Identities of insider and outsider have developed. These identities commonly correspond to pastoralists and others, such as conservationists and government, but the place specific nature of pastoralists' environmental knowledge has the potential to render pastoralists as outsiders as well. Moreover, as debates over rangelands are about creating new places, such knowledge may become less effective in resisting non-pastoral valuations of rangelands.


Background: The adequacy of reporting the time element in adverse effects in articles on randomised clinical trials of cyclo-oxygenase-2 and tumour necrosis factor (TNF)α antagonists was surveyed. Methods: Prominent rheumatology and general/internal medicine journals were searched for all randomised controlled trials published about cyclo-oxygenase-2 and TNFα inhibitor use in rheumatological diseases up to November 2005. Reporting of time to the occurrence of the adverse effects, the use of patient years as the time frame of the reported adverse effects and the use of annual standard incidence ratios based on the surveillance, epidemiology and end-results (SEER) programme when reporting neoplasms as potential adverse effects of TNFα antagonists were specifically tabulated. Results: Only 23 of 70 (33%) of all articles gave the specific time of onset of an adverse effect. Nine studies used patient years to report the adverse effects and six studies used annual standard incidence ratios, using SEER, as the comparator. Conclusion: In reporting of adverse effects in randomised clinical trials, a particularly neglected issue is the reporting of the time dimension of adverse effects.


Towards All-optical Light Robotics In the Programmable Phase Optics (PPO) group at DTU Fotonik we pioneered the new and emerging research area of socalled Light Robotics including the new and disruptive 3D-printed micro-tools coined Wave-guided Optical Waveguides that can be real-time optically manipulated and "remote-controlled" in a volume with six-degrees-of-freedom. To be exploring the full potential of this new drone-like 3D light robotics approach in challenging microscopic geometries requires a versatile and real-time reconfigurable light coupling that can dynamically track a plurality of "light robots" in 3D to ensure continuous optimal light coupling on the fly. Our latest developments in this new and exciting area will be reviewed in this invited presentation.


Abstract Macrolide antibiotic roxithromycin was evaluated in terms of its genotoxic, cytotoxic and oxidative stress effects. For this purpose; 25, 50, 100 and 200 μg/mL concentrations of roxithromycin were dissolved in dimethyl sulfoxide and treated to human peripheral blood lymphocytes for two different treatment periods (24 and 48 h). In chromosome aberration (CA) and micronucleus (MN) tests, roxithromycin did not show genotoxic effect. But it induced sister chromatid exchange (SCE) at the highest concentration (200 μg/mL) for the 24-h treatment period and at all concentrations (except 25 μg/mL) for the 48-h treatment period. Looking at cytotoxic effect of roxithromycin, statistically insignificant decreases on mitotic index and proliferation index were observed. Roxithromycin decreased nuclear division index (NDI) at highest two concentrations (100 and 200 μg/mL) for the 24-h treatment period and at all concentrations (expect 25 μg/mL) for the 48-h treatment period. Total oxidant values, total antioxidant values and oxidative stress index did not change with roxithromycin treatment. Eventually, roxithromycin did not have genotoxic and oxidative stress effects in human-cultured lymphocytes.


If a mesoscopic system is non-chaotic or non-ergodic then the thermodynamic and transport properties do not depend on the impurity averaged density of states. We show that the partial density of states as well as the density of states of a given system with a given impurity configuration can be determined exactly from the asymptotic wavefunction (or scattering matrix) at the resonances. The asymptotic wavefunction can be determined experimentally without any knowledge about the quantum mechanical potential (including electron–electron interaction) or wavefunction in the interior of the system. Some counterintuitive relations derived here allow this.


Brucella spp. is the aetiological agent of brucellosis, a serious contagious disease that results in reproductive failure and that has profound public health significance because of its zoonotic characteristics. This disease also is responsible for a high economic impact associated with the application of prevention, surveillance and test-and-slaughter programmes in animals by national authorities. Brucella spp. infects a large variety of animals and their prevalence is variable worldwide, mainly associated with the presence or absence of control programmes and also with the vaccination of animals against brucellosis. To achieve the control and eradication of brucellosis, the identification of the risk factors of brucellosis that maintain the infection in animals and/or the environment is fundamental. Although several risks have been identified, the most important have been associated with the biology of the bacteria, animal management (age, sex, species or breed), herd management (herd/flock size, number of species, contact with wild animals or type of animal production), farm management (facilities, cleaning and disinfection or veterinary support) and farmers' knowledge about the disease. Thus, to benefit from proper risk identification of brucellosis, it is essential to put a cost-effective and efficient brucellosis control programme into place.


The macrocyclic complex compounds of Pb(II) containing a ligand having tetraoxotetrahydrazin moity are synthesized by template condensation of malonodihydrazide (C3H8N4O2) with different aldehydes. The complexes are characterized on the basis of elemental analysis, UV-visible & IR spectroscopy, magnetic moment and conductance measurement and other physical properties. The IR spectrum study of the complex compounds suggests that ligand coordinates to metal ions through the nitrogen atoms from the tetraoxotetrahydrazin moity. Antibacterial activity of the derived complex compounds, as well as already used standard compound kanamycin, was tested on fourteen pathogenic bacteria. Given results were then compared to the efficacy of the Antibacterial activity of standard compound kanamycin used for control of these pathogenic bacteria.


We present adaptive power and bit loading schemes for a bit-interleaved coded OFDM system with perfect channel state information and square quadrature amplitude modulation constellations. In order to minimize the bit error rates at the output of the Viterbi decoder subject to bit rate and power constraints, an analytical expression for the bit error rate of a hard-decision device has to minimized with respect to the number of bits and the power assigned to the subcarrier channel. The prohibitive complexity of the optimum solution can be circumvented by a simple suboptimum two-step procedure where the bit and power loading parts are decoupled. It is shown by Monte Carlo simulations that for broadband systems with Rayleigh fading the loading procedures provides a SNR gain of up to 6 dB for an average bit error rate level of 10/sup -6/.


This article looks at some curious examples of restrictive practices typical for digital markets. Digital markets are a unique phenomenon for the new digital economy that is structurally based on and driven by digital platforms. The largest digital platforms such as Facebook or Amazon and large digital companies such as Google, Microsoft and Apple dominate the digital markets of today and thus have a huge potential to restrict competition in these dynamic markets. This article takes an analytical approach to several restrictive practices that have recently received attention from competition authorities around the world and have largely influenced law enforcement as well as our understanding of how digital markets function. First of all, the authors consider the so-called price parity clauses. Broadly speaking, these are a particular type of arrangements that oblige suppliers to not offer more favorable terms to their business partners than those offered to digital platforms (for example hotel websites as compared to online booking platforms). However, when narrowed down to contractual relations between a platform and a supplier, price parity clauses present a much more complex case. Further, the authors look at the multitude of restrictive practices in the online search market illustrated by a series of cases initiated against Google by the European Commission. By setting its search engine in a particular way, Google prioritized its own services so that they received more consumer traffic. Notably, these series of cases is just a part of the collection of anticompetitive tendencies in this market. Finally, this article looks at a less well-known, but all the more dangerous case of geo-blocking, which occurs when IP-protected content is blocked from distribution outside the framework that is reasonably justified by the protection of exclusive rights. Such cases must be examined through the complex relationship between the individualistic nature of IP rights and public interest. The collection of practices examined in the article highlights both the need to significantly reform competition enforcement and the need to rethink the role of competition law in the new economy.


Hip prosthesis stems with a short stem length and proximal fixation geometry support a bone-preserving and muscle-sparing implantation and should also allow for revision surgery with a standard hip stem. We present 250 prospectively documented clinical and radiological results from the Metha Short Hip Stem prosthesis (B. Braun-Aesculap, Tuttlingen, Germany) after an average follow-up of 4.9 years. The average patient age at surgery was 60 years. Indication for total hip replacement was primary osteoarthrosis (OA) (78% of patients), OA based on developmental dysplasia of the hip (16%), and other indications (6%). At the last follow-up, the average Harris Hip Score was 97 points. 85% of patients were very satisfied and 14% were satisfied after surgery, whereas 1% were dissatisfied. Pain according to the Visual Analogue Scale improved from 7.4 (min 1.6, max 9.5) pre-operatively to 0.23 (min 0, max 6.6). No joint dislocations occurred when predominantly using 28 mm and 32 mm prosthesis heads. Nine short-stems were revised: three after bacterial infections, two after primary via valsa with penetration of the femoral cortex two and three months after surgery, and three after early aseptic cases of loosening within the first year. A further nine osseously consolidated short-stems had to be replaced due to breakage of the modular titanium cone adapter after an average of 3.1 years (min 1.9, max 4.4). All surgical revisions were performed using primary standard stems. Without taking the material-related adapter failures into account, a five year Kaplan-Meier survival rate of 96.7% (95% confidence interval 93.4–98.3) was determined for the short-stem prostheses. There were no radiological signs of loosening in any of the short-stem prostheses at the last examination. Fine sclerotic lines were detected in Gruen's AP zones 1 (19%) and 2 (10.5%), individual hypertrophies in zone 3 (3.5%), fine seams in zones 4 (5.5%) and 5 (4%), without pedestal formations in zone 4, clear cancellous bone compressions in zone 6 (97.5%), as well as single fine scleroses (1.5%) and atrophies (2.5%) in zone 7. The mid-term clinical results with periprosthetic bone remodeling and without radiological signs of loosening confirm this metaphyseal short-stem treatment and fixation concept and the possibility of revision surgery using standard hip stems. Long-term results must be further observed on a prospective basis as part of this collective study.


Julius Hirschberg of Berlin was one of the most brilliant ophthalmologists of his time. As a surgeon and as the editor of the "Centralblatt fur praktische Augenheilkunde" (1877-1919) he enjoyed a world-wide reputation. He devised an electrical hand magnet for the extraction of intraocular foreign bodies (1879 - see Duke-Elder, System of ophthalmology, vol. 14/I, p.616) and investigated, among many other aspects of clinical ophthalmology, the ocular manifestations of general disease (e.g. diabetes). Hirschberg's greatest achievement is his History of ophthalmology, from the ancient Egyptians down to 1900 AD ("Geschichte der Augenheikunde" 1899-1919, 9 vols., 4700 p.). Because Hirschberg mastered not only several modern languages, but also Greek, Latin and Arabic, he was able to familiarize his readers with the original thoughts or even words of the earlier authors. Belonging himself to a positivistic and optimistic generation, he based his narratian on men, facts and tangible progress. Many problems which are discussed by modern historians of science have already been masterly treated by Hirschberg; reading his "Geschichte" is still worthwhile, even for English speaking scholars.


Recently China has adopted the Belt and Road Initiative as a core component of its foreign policy. An important goal of the initiative is to connect China to major Eurasian and African nations through infrastructure building, including Internet infrastructure. Drawing on the critical political economy tradition to media policies, this article offers a broad overview of the communication and information segment of the initiative, which has so far been undervalued or even overlooked in the existing literature. Based on a two-level document analysis, I argue that a growing and complex alliance has been formed between the state and its homegrown Internet companies in building a "digital Silk Road," with a multifaceted aim to mitigate industrial overcapacity, facilitate corporate China's global expansion, support the internationalization of the renminbi, construct a China-centered transnational network infrastructure, and promote an Internet-enabled "inclusive globalization." The highly dynamic state-capital interplays, however, continue to create tensions and conflicts.


The article defends the thesis that Skovoroda is a representative of syncretic culture and thinking, which combines philosophy, religion (faith), poetry (literature), theology into an unity. His universality, as a talented and comprehensively developed personality, also lies in this combining different sphere of a human activity. To combine all this, Skovoroda must be the bearer of syncretic thinking and perception of the world. But, such combination includes also philosophy and, therefore, subordinates it to spirituality. Skovoroda is a sage, who imparts wisdom and sets an example of a morally clean life and strong faith. The works of Skovoroda should be viewed from the standpoint of syncretism. He did not create a new philosophy for Ukrainian culture, as did, for example, Socrates for Ancient Greek culture, Descartes for French culture, and Kant for German culture. To consider Skovoroda only a philosopher means to reduce him to a «highly specialized mental worker». It is necessary to read Skovoroda's works universally and syncretically, not philosophically (analytically and critically). The article examines also the weak and strong aspects of the syncretic creativity of Skovoroda for Ukrainian culture in general and Ukrainian philosophy in particular. In Skovoroda's works, there is no analysis and criticism of philosophical problems, there is no consistent rational-logical (step-by-step) construction of a philosophical conception, which he would defend with arguments. Instead, we find in Skovoroda's works many biblical quotations and their interpretation, that is, he uses the Bible to confirm his position and way of life. The authority of the Bible for Skovoroda is indisputable, so it is a source of wisdom for him. The author argues that Skovoroda is «internally new» for Ukrainian culture. He brings into Ukrainian culture Christianity, which differs from the traditional church, biblical symbolic hermeneutics and vegetarianism as a way of life. Skovoroda's life represents a life of integrated personality.


Fuel cells (FCs) and solar cells (SCs) are indispensable devices for a hydrogen energy society. The voltages obtained are less than 1 V per cell for most FCs and SCs. Herein, we use a recently developed SC comprising two photocatalysts. In principle, both TiO2 and BiOCl are photo-excited, and the energy difference between the conduction band (CB) minimum of TiO2 for excited electrons ( 0.11 V) and the valence band (VB) maximum of BiOCl for holes (2.64 V) can provide a theoretical electromotive force of 2.75 V. This SC converts light energy into an electromotive force corresponding to the level difference of the two photocatalysts permanently mediated by the redox of water/O2. The diffusion overpotential of electrons in the photocatalysts (0.23–0.41 V) and the leakage current (0.38 V) are experimentally evaluated. The contact between the TiO2 film and ITO layer is improved by the better dispersion of the TiO2 suspension at a lower pH than that of the isoelectric point. Cyclic voltammetry data suggest the formation of O/Cl vacancy sites during the SC tests and the superiority of the rear orientation of the BiOCl photocatalyst on the cathode and effective photo-oxidation of water over TiO2, whereas impedance measurements suggest a smaller impedance for the tight and uniform TiO2 film in comparison to the porous BiOCl film. Thus, in the optimized configuration of the electrodes (irradiation from the other side of the photocatalyst), the leakage current and the diffusion overpotential in the catalyst layers are effectively suppressed to realize an open-circuit voltage of 1.91 V and cell output of 55.8 mW per 1.3 cm.


textabstractHow and why do firms interact with and benefit from regionally based sources of knowledge? Although firms increasingly search and source knowledge worldwide and many are inserted in global production and knowledge networks, there is a refreshed interest in the economic geography literature on the interplay between firms´ innovative efforts and regional specific assets. Combining insights from management studies and economic geography, the article presents and explores a theoretical framework linking regionally based knowledge assets with exploration and exploitation efforts of firms, which are increasingly achieved through collaborative networks. The paper argues that the potential of firms to benefit from those localized assets is dependent on the interplay between two moderator effects: firm absorptive capacity, at the firm level, and institutional and organizational infrastructure, at the regional level.


Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is a systemic autoimmune disorder that predominantly affects women of childbearing age, with a female-to-male ratio of approximately 9:1. Previous findings indicated that male cases of SLE were associated with Klinefelter's syndrome (47, XXY), whereas females with Turner's syndrome (45, X0) did not contract SLE. Additionally, duplicated Toll-like receptor 7 (TLR7) was found to promote lupus-like disease. Consequently, the aim of this study was to evaluate whether the TLR7 gene served as a genetic marker for the development of SLE. A case-control study was performed on one tag single nucleotide polymorphism TLR7 rs1634323 in a population with 507 SLE patients and 513 healthy controls. Genotyping was determined by the TaqMan genotyping assay using the ABI 7300 real-time reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction system. The results showed a significantly elevated risk of SLE with the rs1634323 AG genotype in females (P=0.040, OR=1.897, 95% CI 1.031-3.491), whereas a similar association was not replicated in males (P=0.303, OR=0.338, 95% CI 0.043-2.656). In a subgroup analysis by clinical manifestation of lupus nephritis, no significant differences were found. These findings indicate that the TLR7 gene rs1634323 polymorphism may contribute to SLE susceptibility in females.


Wind uplift rating is one of the key performance requirements for singleply mechanically attached systems. It depends on the properties of the membrane (mechanical, physical and chemical), substrate (compressive strength and dimensional stability), and deck (thickness and deflection). An attachment system (fastener, plate and seam) integrates the above components to form an assembly. Fastener pullout resistance (FPR) from the deck is one of the essential design parameters in the system specification. As well, the FPR is an indicator of the existing deck condition in reroofing/recover applications. In the field, the FPR values are obtained using pullout testers. To quantify the accuracy of the manual pullout testers under various environmental conditions, an experimental program is in progress at the National Research Council's Dynamic Roofing Facility (DRF). From this ongoing research, this paper compares the FPR data from the field pullout tester with those obtained using the laboratory universal Instron testing machine. In the manual pullout tester, consistency of the FPR data depends on the operator. Considering this variable and to generalize the data, the above experiments are performed on two decks (steel and wood) with three different fastener types. The study finds that the field manual pullout tester underestimates the FPR data in comparison to the data obtained from the laboratory machine. This trend is found true irrespective of the selected decks and fasteners. In the roofing market, automatic pullout testers are also available that function using a battery-powered source. Selected experiments were performed to identify the influence of the pull out speed on the FPR data using an automatic pullout tester.


This paper describes 'mentality' in terms of the contents of dynamic state spaces, then goes on to explore how consciousness-associated features of these contents, termed 'ruling attractors', could 'map' onto neural states. A fractal mapping, its links with memory mediated by the protein CaMKll, is pictured; it's a view that, with minor differences of emphasis, turns out to have a lot in common with Stuart Hameroff's 'conscious pilot' as far as the neural (though not quantum computational) picture is concerned. Finally, it is proposed that consciousness itself may be a local field, supervenient on fractally mapped 'ruling attractors'and due to time-related symmetry breaking. Lines of evidence that may prove relevant to these ideas are indicated. I thus argue that consciousness can be described as a succession of 'ruling attractors' in the brain; it is based on fractal patterns of calcium waves, interacting with EEG fields and recorded by changes in protein (CaMKll) activation, while it may turn out to be a modulated 'temporal field'.