The demand for ground water in Sri Lanka has grown rapidly over the past few decades, mainly as a result of population
growth, economic development, and shortages in rainfall. Recent estimate show that over 55 percent of the population
now relies on it for there daily needs. As a free and easily tapped commodity, groundwater today is used in a wide variety
of uses. Of the 300 urban and rural piped water supply schemes operating across the country, almost one – third of them
rely entirely on groundwater. The volume they withdraw exceeds over 16 million cubic meters per year, which includes
supply to many industrial zones and urban and rural centers. And the volume of groundwater abstracted by around 11
million individual domestic users (out of the 13 million people with no access to piped water) is estimated at around 400
Mm3/yr. In some parts of the country including many locations in Kandy and Colombo, high pumping rates have lowered
the groundwater table, causing the wells to go dry and affecting the natural water courses including those used for drinking.
If these situations get worse, water shortages could become severe, especially during the more frequent extended frequent
dry spells being experienced, possibly due to climate change. Further, water pollution from domestic, agricultural and
industrial sources is contaminating the surface water and groundwater and affecting the environment and further placing
more pressure on the available water resource. Therefore in this paper identifies several critical issues as urgent challenges
to be immediately addressed to achieve a sustainably managing groundwater resource in Sri Lanka.


We study tight wavelet frames associated with symmetric compactly supported refinable functions, which are obtained with the unitary extension principle. We give a criterion for the existence of two symmetric or antisymmetric compactly supported framelets. All refinable masks of length up to 6 satisfying this criterion are found.


Abstract Background Lymph node metastasis (LNM) is possible after endoscopic resection of early esophageal adenocarcinoma (EAC). This study aimed to develop and internally validate a prediction model that estimates the individual risk of metastases in patients with pT1b EAC. Methods A nationwide, retrospective, multicenter cohort study was conducted in patients with pT1b EAC treated with endoscopic resection and/or surgery between 1989 and 2016. The primary end point was presence of LNM in surgical resection specimens or detection of metastases during follow-up. All resection specimens were histologically reassessed by specialist gastrointestinal pathologists. Subdistribution hazard regression analysis was used to develop the prediction model. The discriminative ability of this model was assessed using the c-statistic. Results 248 patients with pT1b EAC were included. Metastases were seen in 78 patients, and the 5-year cumulative incidence was 30.9 % (95 % confidence interval [CI] 25.1 %–36.8 %). The risk of metastases increased with submucosal invasion depth (subdistribution hazard ratio [SHR] 1.08, 95 %CI 1.02–1.14, for every increase of 500 μm), lymphovascular invasion (SHR 2.95, 95 %CI 1.95–4.45), and for larger tumors (SHR 1.23, 95 %CI 1.10–1.37, for every increase of 10 mm). The model demonstrated good discriminative ability (c-statistic 0.81, 95 %CI 0.75–0.86). Conclusions A third of patients with pT1b EAC experienced metastases within 5 years. The probability of developing post-resection metastases was estimated with a personalized predicted risk score incorporating tumor invasion depth, tumor size, and lymphovascular invasion. This model requires external validation before implementation into clinical practice.


Thanks to a passive cavity configuration, modulational instability in fibers is successfully observed, for the first time to our knowledge, in the continuous-wave regime. Our technique provides a new means of generating all-optically ultrahigh-repetition-rate pulse trains and opens up new possibilities for the fundamental study of modulational instability and related phenomena.


Right-wing populism has experienced a surge in popularity among advanced democracies around the world. The success of right-wing populism has changed the course of history for the United Kingdom, which, due to the success of Brexit, will become the first state to ever leave the European Union. Recent research has identified several potential grievances that have motivated support for right-wing populism. The first theory points to the economic grievances that result from the economic displacement that accompanies modernization. The second theory emphasizes cultural grievances, with those that feel their traditional values have been challenged and displaced taking part in a "cultural backlash." The declinism theory states that populism is a result of people viewing society as declining, whether that be socially, culturally, or economically. The fourth and final theory states that those who lack social recognition and respect are the most likely to feel "left behind" and support right-wing populism. This analysis will focus on the "left behind" theory which accounts for educational and class differences that past theories have not been able to explain. We hypothesize that those who feel they are no longer respected or recognized in society are the most likely to support Brexit. Using an OLS regression, we find that those who perceive themselves to be part of a lower social class, feel they are not treated with respect, and maintain anti-immigration attitudes are more likely to support Brexit. This article is available in Res Publica Journal of Undergraduate Research: https://digitalcommons.iwu.edu/respublica/vol23/iss1/ 17 RES PUBLICA XXIII │109 The Role of Social Integration and Anti-Immigration Attitudes in Motivating Support for Brexit Olivia Heffernan Abstract: Right-wing populism has experienced a surge in popularity among advanced democracies around the world. The success of right-wing populism has changed the course of history for the United Kingdom, which, due to the success of Brexit, will become the first state to ever leave the European Union. Recent research has identified several potential grievances that have motivated support for right-wing populism. The first theory points to the economic grievances that result from the economic displacement that accompanies modernization. The second theory emphasizes cultural grievances, with those that feel their traditional values have been challenged and displaced taking part in a "cultural backlash." The declinism theory states that populism is a result of people viewing society as declining, whether that be socially, culturally, or economically. The fourth and final theory states that those who lack social recognition and respect are the most likely to feel "left behind" and support right-wing populism. This analysis will focus on the "left behind" theory which accounts for educational and class differences that past theories have not been able to explain. We hypothesize that those who feel they are no longer respected or recognized in society are the most likely to support Brexit. Using an OLS regression, we find that those who perceive themselves to be part of a lower social class, feel they are not treated with respect, and maintain anti-immigration attitudes are more likely to support Brexit.


Maximal Extractable Value (MEV) is value extractable by temporary monopoly power commonly found in decentralized systems. This extraction stems from a lack of user privacy upon transaction submission and the ability of a monopolist validator to reorder, add, and/or censor transactions. There are two main directions to reduce MEV: reduce the flexibility of the miner to reorder transactions by enforcing ordering rules and/or introduce a competitive market for the right to reorder, add, and/or censor transactions. In this work, we unify these approaches via \emph{uncertainty principles}, akin to those found in harmonic analysis and physics. This provides a quantitative trade-off between the freedom to reorder transactions and the complexity of an economic payoff to a user in a decentralized network. This trade off is analogous to the Nyquist-Shannon sampling theorem and demonstrates that sequencing rules in blockchains need to be application specific. Our results suggest that neither so-called fair ordering techniques nor economic mechanisms can individually mitigate MEV for arbitrary payoff functions.


During the last two decades most Western countries have experienced increased net immigration as well as increased income inequality. This article analyzes the effects on income inequality of an increased number of immigrants in Denmark and Germany for the 20- year period 1984-2003 and how the impact of the increased number of immigrants differs between the two countries. We find higher inequality for immigrants than natives in Denmark but vice versa for Germany. Over the period 1984-2003, this particular inequality gap has narrowed in both countries. At the same time, the contribution of immigrants to overall inequality has increased, primarily caused by increased between-group inequality. The share of immigrants in the population is more important for the change in overall inequality in Denmark than in Germany, while the opposite is the case for inequality among immigrants.


Regarding to the increase in the online social networks services during the recent years, the recommender system has turned into an emerging research subject. Currently, regarding to the fast and consistent expansion of using the internet, the necessity of a recommender system for refining the large volume of data has increased greatly. The purpose of recommender systems is to provide a list of the interested items for the user and due to the increase in the current data volume, the previous used tools are nor suitable for processing this data volume; hence, having a system which can save and process the large data has turned into a problem. In this study, to solve the mentioned problems, a system is recommended using a model-based collaborative filtering refinement model which uses the Spark processing model in Hadoop context in order for more exact advising the user from the viewpoint of the users. The obtained results indicate that the current method will be more efficient and effective compared to the common recommendation methods.


In new applications of mobile ad hoc networks (MANETs), nodes may decide not to cooperate in routing protocols in order to save their limited resources while still using the network to relay their own traffic. Exhibiting such a selfish behavior by even a few nodes may degrade network performance and other cooperating nodes may find themselves unfairly loaded. To cope with such a situation, we propose a stable path, low overhead, truthful, and cost efficient (SLTC) routing protocol which stimulates nodes to cooperate and act truthfully by utilizing the game theoretic notion of mechanism design. To the best of our knowledge, SLTC is the first protocol attaining the message complexity of O(nd), where n is the number of nodes, and d is the network diameter. In addition, SLTC considers stability of the paths in order to deal with the mobility of the nodes in a better way. We evaluated SLTC through simulation in terms of packet delivery ratio, end-to-end delay, traffic overhead and energy consumption. SLTC can achieve more than 80% packet delivery ratio. Compared to ad hoc-VCG which is one of the best known methods in this area, the packet delivery ratio is increased by a factor of 9 along with a reduction in the end-to-end delay, the traffic overhead, and the energy consumption respectively by a factor of 22, 7, and 3.


Abstract The sociological strand of auditing research has pointed to some difficulties of the American Accounting Association's (AAA) (and mainstream) definition asserting that auditing is about 'objectively obtaining and evaluating evidence regarding assertions about economic actions' (AAA, The Accounting Review, Suppl., 1972, p. 18). Instead, auditing has been described as rituals of verification that produce comfort. In this paper we seek to widen the understanding of the production of comfort by investigating the processes that end up as an audit. The processes are investigated by addressing the research question: how do auditors perceive the production of comfort? Twenty seniors were interviewed on the subject of identified discomforts in the audit process. The interviews were designed to identify the main allies and foes in the processes that make up an audit. In the presentation of the interviews, comfort theory is employed as a device to interpret the seniors' statements in terms of comfort as state, comfort as relief and comfort as renewal. Our conclusion is that the state of comfort that is demanded to become comfortable with an audit changes in relation to which actors get involved in the comfort production. Attaining a state of comfort involves a decision that sufficient discomforts have been relieved. In addition, as the definition of what it means to attain a state of comfort changes, more or less comfort as relief is required, and the audit, understood as becoming comfortable, is renewed. Suggested by comfort theory, the paper in this way develops the idea of auditing as a comfort-producing activity by examining three dimensions of audit comfort.


: Forms of artistic expression, literary and visual art, are used by breast cancer patients and survivors to show feelings of fear, reflection, acceptance, and transcendence. This method of expression can free the individual from complications often caused by personal interaction. The Healing Legacies Arts Registry provides a living record of art and writing by women and men who have experienced breast cancer.


Problem statement: Recently the alkaline system for fuel cell enhance their presence because of possibility of no-precious-metal catalyst and low over potential at cathode reaction. The anion exchange membrane for alkaline membrane fuel cell should be a key technology in order to achieve the practical performance as fuel cells. Alkaline anion exchange membranes of high ionic conductivities are made from polysulfone by adding a chloromethyl pendant group to the polysulfone, follow by reacting the chloromethyl group with amine to form quarternary ammonium pendant groups which act as the counter ion for hydroxide anion. Chloromethyl methyl ether, N,N-dimethylformamide and methanol are commonly used as agent for providing excellent conversions, but they are now considered to be carcinogenic. To avoid the use of such hazardous materials, in our work we used paraformaldehyde, chlorotrimethylsilane, N-methylpyrrolidone and ethanol as agent for providing conversion. Approach: Polysulfone (PS) was chloromethylated using chlorotrimethylsilane as a chloromethylation reagent, resulting in the formation of Chloromethylated Polysulfone (CMPS). CMPS was converted to a quaternized form using trimethylamine and precipitated into ethanol. The powder was dissolved in N-methylpyrrolidone, followed by aminated with a 25 wt% trimethylamine. Results: The resulting solution was cast onto a flat glass plate and dried in an oven. The membrane was immersed in KOH solution for 24 h to replace the Cl- anion in the polymer with OH-. Conclusion: The swelling behavior of polysulfone-based solid-state alkaline electrolyte membrane was closely related to the degree of water uptake (25 WU%, 7.5 SD%) and the ion-exchange capacity was 1.05 mmol g-1, which is sufficient for electrolyte membranes used in alkaline fuel cells.


This research, conducted through reflective compositional practice, examined and experimented with the lyrical elements of form, content and craft. The project investigated how the songwriter may utilise these elements to fulfil the potential of a song, and examined ways in which the individuality of the lyricist could be enhanced. A key output of this research was a folio of original songs including two albums, The Last Polaroid (2017) and Nylon String Songs (2018). The twenty songs in the folio demonstrate the effective deployment of a range of lyrical elements, including the use of the cognitive length of line, the influential authority of rhyme and rhythm, how sections of variation and repetition organise detail, depth and sonority, how patterns of sound and image intensify sense, and how shapes can inform consequence to allow finer textures to present more immediately. Analysis and critical reflection on poetic and lyrical models from Sappho to Shakespeare to Sondheim that guide the lyrical process are presented in the exegesis, along with a discussion of the key lyrical elements of the songs contained in the folio. The research revealed the deep-seated charm and power of the song form itself, and the potential to harness its adaptability for individual content. The research recognised the appropriate organisation of lyrical elements that then leads to their concealment and enables the engagement and seduction of which songs are capable. This research represents a significant contribution to the literature on techniques of successful songwriting and identifies strategies of relevance to aspiring songwriters.


High-impact academic experiences, particularly research and internship experiences, have positive impacts for engineering students on engineering task self-efficacy (ETSE), a measure of students' perception of their ability to perform technical engineering tasks. However, underrepresented racial/ethnic minority students (URM) and women in engineering are found to have relatively lower self-perceptions across several academic and professional self-efficacy measures. Previous studies examined the impact of research and internship experiences on ETSE for students categorized by gender and URM status separately. The current study explores the impact of these experiences on ETSE for the intersection between these two identity categories. This study found that both non-URM and URM women that participated in research and internship experiences had lower ETSE scores than non-URM and URM men, respectively. However, URM women that participated in both research and internship experiences had a statistically similar ETSE score to non-URM men that had not participated in either. This study uses multiple linear regression to measure the association between engineering internships and student's reported ETSE (effects of participating in research were not found to be significant across identities). Preliminary findings indicate that differences in ETSE between internship participants and non-participants are highest for URM women when compared to their counterparts. Consistent with the literature, this research finds that there is a greater positive effect in ETSE scores, as a result of participation in both research and internship experiences, for URM women than their majority counterparts. These preliminary results provide a foundation for further studies to causally investigate the link between academic experiences and self-efficacy levels for students who are underrepresented in engineering programs. Future implications of this work include the creation of targeted intervention efforts to increase support for all URM students' access and participation in research and internship experiences. Additionally, this work seeks to challenge the bias towards monolithic interpretations of women and URM engineering students as separate categories and encourage intersectional perspectives when analyzing data to produce more inclusive results. Key Concepts: intersectionality, self-efficacy, engineering task self-efficacy, learning outcomes, academic pathways, inclusion, engineering experiences, research, internships


BACKGROUND
Although postmenopausal associated disorders are important public health problems worldwide, to date limited studies evaluated the endothelial function and systemic inflammation response to weight loss in obese postmenopausal women.

OBJECTIVE
This study was done to evaluate the endothelial function and systemic inflammation response to weight loss in obese postmenopausal Saudi women.

MATERIAL AND METHODS
Eighty postmenopausal obese Saudi women (mean age 52.64±6.13 year) participated in two groups: Group (A) received aerobic exercise on treadmill and diet whereas, group (B) received no intervention. Markers of inflammation and endothelial function were measured before and after 3 months at the end of the study.

RESULTS
The values of body mass index(BMI), interleukin-6 (IL-6), tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α), C-reactive protein (CRP), inter-cellular adhesion molecule (ICAM-1), vascular cell adhesion molecule (VCAM-1) and plasminogen activator inhibitor-1 activity (PAI-1:Ac) were significantly decreased in group (A), while changes were not significant in group (B). Also, there were significant differences between mean levels of the investigated parameters in group (A) and group (B) after treatment.

CONCLUSION
Weight loss ameliorates inflammatory cytokines and markers of endothelial function in obese postmenopausal Saudi women.


This paper presents some of the findings of a longitudinal study of two Chinesespeaking children who moved into an English speaking environment before the age of three. A combination of participant observation, parental diary, taperecording of children's speech and formal assessments was used to investigate various aspects of the children's language, including phonology, vocabulary, morphosyntax, and conversation. The focus of the present paper is on the development of code-switching in relation to the children's lexical and grammatical development. Information about the children's overall language development will be given as background, where appropriate. We argue that in early second language acquisition, formulaic sequences play an important role and they dominate the earliest instances of code-switching in children's speech. The "breakdown" of the formulaic sequences could be seen as the first sign of L1 attrition. ___________________________________________________________


Abstract Osteogenesis imperfecta is a heritable disorder characterized by extremely fragile bones, blue sclerae, dentinogenesis imperfecta, hearing loss, and scoliosis. In 1979, Sillence classified the condition into four types based on genetic and clinical criteria. Three more classifications have subsequently been added. Diagnosis of osteogenesis imperfecta may be done prenatally (in severe cases), clinically, radiographically, or via biochemical or genetic examination. Medical treatment consists of bisphosphonate use, even in patients younger than age 2 years. Surgical treatment consists of internal splinting of long bones. Research is currently being done on the use of smart intramedullary rods (ie, composed of nitinol shape‐memory alloy) for correction of bone deformity and on the use of bone marrow transplantation to increase osteoblast density, thereby reducing fracture frequency.


OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the knowledge of breast cancer diagnosis and treatment among female health professionals in a government health institution in Sagamu, Ogun State, Nigeria.
 DESIGN: Descriptive study.
 SETTING: Olabisi Onabanjo University Teaching Hospital (OOUTH), Sagamu, Ogun State, Nigeria.
 SUBJECTS:  One hundred and sixty two female health professionals.
 RESULTS: Study population comprised of doctors (9.3%), nurses (78.4%) and Pharmacists, radiographers and lab scientists (P/L/R) (12.3%) with mean age of 32.97 ± 0.92. The practice durations of the respondents ranged from 0 – 10 years (46.3%) and above 30 years (9.9%). The doctors and the P/L/R had 100% knowledge while the nurses had 96.9% as regards early diagnosis of breast cancer improving survival. The nurses had a higher knowledge (98%) in response to breast cancer can be treated surgically while the doctors had the least knowledge (86.6%), p value=0.021. Knowledge of these professional was also very satisfactory with years of practice as those of above 21years experience had higher knowledge when compared with lower years of experience.
 CONCLUSION: This study indicated that these female health professionals had a very satisfactory diagnostic and treatment knowledge which is higher than some earlier studies. This knowledge though commendable should be improved upon through consistent education of these professionals.


Issues of finding out the place of tactical operations in the criminalistics system and criminal proceedings are studied. It is proved that while solving this issue it is necessary to proceed from nature of tactical operations, prospects for their development, as well as the specifics of the correlation between criminalistic tactics and investigating methods of certain types of crimes. Development of tactical operations as a scientific concept has become a kind of bridge that combines tactics and investigation methods that enriched investigation as a whole. It is substantiated that tactical operation belongs to the means of criminalistic tactics and in this capacity, as well as other tactical and criminalistic means, is realized in the criminalistic methods. Tactical operations are effective subsystems of criminal proceeding system including tactical operations of pre-trial investigation and tactical operations of legal proceedings. It is proved that criminalistic science and practice of investigation and judicial consideration of certain types of crimes accumulated, systematized and generalized enough volume empirical matter that is the starting point for creation of a specific criminalistic theory of tactical operations, the urgency which does not cause any doubts. First of all, provisions of criminalistic theory of tactical operations form a knowledge system (theoretical generalizations, explanations, conclusions) that characterizes the subject and practical, informational and cognitive aspect of investigation activity and judicial consideration of crimes. Like criminalistic as a whole, a separate theory of tactical operations is applied because it is scientific basis for the development and application of organizational and tactical means of criminal proceedings, optimization of investigative and judicial activity, and need implementation of modern practices in the fight against crime. Necessity of specific criminalistic theory creation of tactical operations which creation will help to level controversial scientist positions in determining the place of tactical operations in the criminalistics system is substantiated. Perspective directions of further scientific developments of the considered problem are offered. Nowadays a promising direction is the development of a separate criminalistic theory of tactical operations, which will further enhance the general criminalistic theory and will increase efficiency and rationalization of criminal proceedings.


Background: Hypertension is one of the leading causes of premature death worldwide and is a major risk factor for cardiovascular disease and all-of them cause mortality. Out of the estimated 1.13 billion people who have hypertension, less than 1 in 5 people have it under control. Aim and Objectives: To study the prevalence of hypertension and associated risk factors in the urban population of Rishikesh and the association of hypertension with other determinants. Methodology: A community based cross-sectional study was conducted in an urban area of Rishikesh. The World Health Organization (WHO) steps instrument and protocol was used for the assessment of risk factors and measurements. i.e. anthropometry and blood pressure. Sample size was calculated to be 478. Data was entered and analyzed using SPSS Version 20.0. Appropriate statistical tests were done. A P value of < 0.05 was considered significant. Results: The prevalence of hypertension in urban Rishikesh is 32.4%. The prevalence in male and female is 34.5% and 31.3% respectively. Among hypertensives 45.8% had hypertriglyceridemia, 32.2% had low high-density lipoproteins (HDL), 52.25% had fasting blood glucose more than 100, and 55.4% were obese individuals. Multivariate logistic regression analysis identified that age, waist circumference, body mass index, triglycerides level, and physical activity were independently associated with hypertension. Conclusions: As the prevalence of hypertension and cardiometabolic risk factors were higher, necessary health interventions were required to reduce the morbidity/mortality of the disease.


Recent studies of postoperative pulmonary complications have indicated that bronchopneumonia, bronchitis and collapse of portions of the lung show the highest incidence. 1 These three complications may logically be considered together since they occur together postoperatively and have long been observed by pathologists in the same lungs. 2 It seems possible that they have certain etiologic factors in common. A thorough study of such etiologic factors as infection, diminished ventilation of the lungs and bronchial obstruction has shown that no single one adequately explains the development of pulmonary complications. Infection by pneumococci occurs regularly in postoperative bronchopneumonia, 3 but the invasiveness of the organisms is of such low degree that their entrance into the lungs and their proliferation are probably aided by other conditions. Although diminution in the ventilation of the whole lung is an important predisposing cause, it is not more marked in cases in which complications develop than


The political ecology of South Africa reflects extreme uneven and combined development. As one crucial aspect of this condition, environmental degradation extends deep into the households and workplaces populated mainly by the country's black majority. The regroupment of the socialist movement will, in the coming months and years, have to embrace the environmental challenge just as profoundly as it will need to reindustrialize the economy under worker and social control, while also redistributing wealth and restructuring the reproduction of labour power in a humane, rational manner to spread what is now women's caregiving responsibilities properly. As these overlapping processes unfold, there are opportunities to 'red-green' several aspirational strategies now being articulated by leading eco-socialist currents: renewable energy generation, manufacturing localization, minerals beneficiation, land reform, urban repurposing and desuburbanization, the cessation of migrant labour relations, shifts from private to public transport and other overdue geographical restructurings. These objectives are supported, at least in principle, by all social forces aside from the most dogmatic neoliberals. Several bottom-up victories since the end of apartheid in 1994 offer examples of the decommodification, destratification and deglobalization approaches that can be emulated so as to move forward the eco-socialist agenda: access to free HIV/AIDS medicines, the partial decommodification of municipal water and electricity services, and workplace health and safety class-action lawsuits (especially over silicosis). Still, the most vital missing element in 2017 is a political party that reflects and regenerates eco-socialist campaigns and ideology deep within the society. To assess the potential with the optimism of the will and pessimism of the intellect required now more than ever demands that we review, first, the characteristics of capitalist crises felt so acutely in economic, socio-ecological and gendered respects following two decades of neoliberal-nationalist politics; second, the now-shifting political alliances from above, and from below the fragmented red and green political forces that have, albeit haltingly, finally begun a regroupment process; third, inspirational moments when indicative victories were won in spheres of social reproduction; which in turn, fourth, may inform a series of struggles that lie ahead.


The dusting wear of carbon brushes is studied in dry nitrogen at atmospheric pressure. The effect of water, oxygen, and carbon dioxide on dusting wear is described, and the results compared with those of investigations carried out under partial vacuum conditions. No effect of current, up to 114 amp per sq in. is found under the conditions studied. It is shown that a highly oriented natural graphite specimen or an oriented graphite brush, operated so that the faces of the cleavage planes rub on a plane rotating copper surface, neither dusts nor produces wear on the copper surface in dry nitrogen. When operated so that the edges of the cleavage planes rub against the plate, rapid dusting wear takes place and the copper surface is deeply scored. The dusting rate of carbon brushes in dry nitrogen against several metals is given. The rate is shown to decrease as the hardness of the metal increases, the behavior of brass being exceptional. It is found to be zero on smooth chromium and rhodium surfaces. On the assumption that an adsorbed lubricant film prevents scoring of the plate by the edges of the graphite crystals, allowing them to be oriented, the results are shown to be consistent with recent theories of solid friction.


We studied seasonal and inter-annual variations in the diet, amount of food delivered to chicks, and body condition of chicks and adult red-tailed tropicbird at Europa Island (Mozambique Channel, Indian Ocean), during 3 consecutive seasons. The diet consisted of epipelagic fishes (13 families) and squid (3 families) totalling 32 taxa. Three families, the squid Ommastrephidae (mainly Sthenoteuthis oualaniensis) and the fishes Exocoetidae (flying-fish) and Coryphaenidae (dolphinfish), accounted for 68% of the number of prey and 83% of the ingested biomass. There were considerable differences in size and mass of the prey items, dolphin fish being the largest and squid the smallest. There were important seasonal variations in diet. During chick-rearing, 41% of the mass of food delivered to chicks consisted of dolphin fish, whereas these fish represented only 2% of the mass of food during incubation. The squid were caught in similar proportion throughout the breeding season but were larger during chick rearing. We did not find any inter-annual variation in the diet of chicks, nor in the body condition of either fledglings or adults, suggesting that no major inter-annual changes in food availability occurred during the course of our study. However, there was some interannual variation in feeding frequency and body condition of chicks of less than 60 d. There were also significant day-to-day variations in the feeding frequency in one of the 3 seasons studied. This suggests that day-to-day variation in the marine environment or in foraging conditions may have shortterm consequences in the food provisioning and body condition of growing chicks, but that these variations do not necessarily result in long-term (inter-annual) variations in diet and body condition of fledgling or adult red-tailed tropicbirds at Europa island. These results suggest that between 1995 and 1997, red-tailed tropicbirds of Europa relied on predictable and seasonal food resources when breeding.


Objectives: The aims of this study were to investigate the role of TUI-STIC in the sequential segmental analysis of conotruncal defects. Methods: Four-dimensional volumes from 120 cases of confirmed fetal congenital heart disease diagnosed and managed at our hospital were evaluated using TUI-STIC. To select the best interslice distance for adequate display of the cardiovascular connections, each volume was opened and the TUI mode activated, having as a reference the ventricular outlet. The number of slices was set at nine. The volume was then scrolled until the most significant echocardiographic views were displayed on the screen windows. Results: Among the 120 CHD fetuses, 25 fetuse were diagnosed as conotruncal defects by TUI-STIC, including 5 transposition of the great vessels, 9 tetralogy of Fallot, 3 truncus arteriosus and 5 double outlet respectively, 3 pulmonary stenosis. Postnatal eehocardiography or autopsy confirmed. The sensitivity, specificity,positive predictive valve of these features to indicate conotruncal defects were 97.6%, 99.5% respectively. Conclusions: Abnormal in arrangement, size, origin or nondisplaying of pulmonary artery and aorta in TUI-STIC has a high specificity and sensitivity in predicating conotruncal defects. TUI-STIC allows a complete sequential analysis of conotruncal defects in the fetus and could improve the prenatal diagnosis rate.


It is important to study nanofluids to understand their extraordinary thermal properties and how the size, concentration and agglomeration of the nanoparticles affect those properties. Photopyroelectric (PPE) technique has been well established in the use of non-destructive measurement of thermal diffusivity and thermal effusivity, by using polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) films as sensitive pyroelectric sensors in thermally thick conditions instead of using very thick ceramic sensors. There have been two proposed practical configurations for the PPE technique, the back and the front PPE configura- tions, to obtain both the thermal diffusivity and effusivity, which are suitable thermal parameters of materials. This PPE technique involves the measurement of thermal waves in the sample due to absorption of optical radiation, by placing a pyroelectric sensor in thermal contact with the sample. This chapter provides a review of the back and the front PPE configurations to determine the thermal diffusivity and effusivity of nanofluids, sample preparation techniques using high-amplitude ultrasonic dispersion and data analysis for metal oxide-based nanofluid materials.


During fetal development the human brain transforms from a smooth-surfaced organ to one with many folds. Interestingly, not all mammalian brains undergo cortical folding, and of those that do, folding complexity varies greatly between species. Within species, the locations of folds remain consistent between individuals, but little is known about the underlying driver/s of the location-specific development of cortical folds. This thesis explores cortical folding by focussing on cell and fibre arrangement in the fetal sheep and comparing the latter with the ferret, another folding species, and the spiny mouse, a species known not to possess any cortical folds.


Countries worldwide are currently endeavoring to safeguard the long-term health of their populations through implementing Universal Health Coverage (UHC), in line with the United Nation's 2015-30 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Canada has some of the world's strongest legislation supporting equitable access to care for medically necessary hospital and physician services based on need, not ability to pay. A constitutional challenge to this legislation is underway in British Columbia (BC), led by a corporate plaintiff, Cambie Surgeries Corporation (CSC). This constitutional challenge threatens to undermine the high bar for UHC protection that Canada has set for the world, with potential adverse implications for equitable international development. CSC claims that BC's healthcare law—the Medicare Protection Act (MPA)—infringes patients' rights under Canada's constitution, by essentially preventing physicians who are enrolled in BC's publicly-funded Medicare plan from providing expedited care to patients for a private fee. In September 2020, after a trial that ran for 3.5 years and included testimony by more than 100 witnesses from around the world, the court dismissed the plaintiffs' claim. Having lost their case in the Supreme Court of BC, the plaintiffs' appealed in June 2021. The appellate court's ruling and reasons for judgment are expected sometime in 2021. We consider the evidence before the court from the perspective of social epidemiology and health inequalities, demonstrating that structural features of a modern society that exacerbate inequalities, including inequitable access to healthcare, can be expected to lead to worse overall societal outcomes.


Background: Current literature recommends weaning intra-aortic balloon pump (IABP) support prior to discontinuation. To date, no studies have compared various weaning strategies for safety or efficacy. This study was designed to evaluate the impact of weaning on in-hospital clinical outcomes. Methods: From 5/1/07 through 5/1/09 429 patients receiving IABP therapy were retrospectively identified using CPT1 billing codes. The study population and clinical outcomes analysis were stratified by use of weaning protocols versus immediate discontinuation of the IABP. In a subset analysis the patients receiving weaning protocols prior to IABP discontinuation were stratified for further analysis of clinical outcomes by whether they had received 1:3 ratio counterpulsation during their wean or whether they only received 1:2 counterpulsation prior to IABP discontinuation. These groups were analyzed for differences in primary and secondary end-points. Results: Of the 429 patients identified, 344 (80.2%) were weaned prior to IABP discontinuation and 85 (19.8%) of the patients had their IABP abruptly discontinued. Patients not weaned had a lower heart rate after IABP discontinuation than those weaned, but no difference in systolic and mean blood pressure or urine output. There was no significant difference in mortality. Weaning was associated with a nonsignificant trend toward increased length of stay. Conclusions: This study suggests that weaning protocols offer no hemodynamic benefits or improvement in inhospital mortality rates. Weaning is associated with trend toward increased length of stay. We conclude that weaning offers no advantage over direct device removal and would advocate that balloon pumps be directly withdrawn when counterpulsation is terminated. (J Interven Cardiol 2012;**:1–7)


The increasing demand for in-service structural health monitoring has stimulated efforts to integrate self and environmental sensing capabilities into materials and structures. The present work is directed towards the development of a new means of fabricating composites that allows for integrating a high density of small, advanced sensors into a laminated composite in a way that enables sensing without compromising the structural integrity of the host composite material. This work presents efforts to develop structural composite materials which include networks of embedded sensors with decision-making capabilities that extend the functionality of the composite materials to be information-aware. These structurally-integrated embedded microsensors render the composite information-based, so that it can monitor and report on the local structural environment, on request or in real-time as necessary. The integration of sensors, actuators, and their subsequent devices into a structure is vital in smart applications. Essential to the application of smart composites is the issue of the mechanical coupling of the sensor to the host composite material. Therefore, the question of the impact of such devices on the various mechanical properties of the host composite material is both relevant and important. This work characterizes the effects of introducing simulated microsensors, commonly used printed circuit board material (G-10/FR4 Garolite), and various piezo thin film sensors on the mechanical properties of the host structural composite material. Quasi-static tension tests are conducted in order to characterize the mechanical properties of the host composite material as well as the effects the embedments have upon the host material. Quasi- static three-point bending (short-beam shear) and fatigue three-point bending (short-beam shear) tests are conducted in order to characterize the effects of introducing the sensors and such devices on the short-beam shear strength and fatigue life of the host structural composite material. Furthermore, various embedding configurations are examined. The thrust of the research presented here is to characterize the effects of embedding sensors and their subsequent devices on the mechanical properties of the host structural composite material in order to select a sensor and embedding configuration that can seamlessly be integrated into the host composite without compromising the integrity of the structure


An account is given of the taxonomy and distribution of Macrocystis in Australian waters, the development of the plant is outlined, and beds on the east coast of Tasmania are described. Measurements of growth indicate that the most rapid elongation of the stipe takes place near the apex, and that a stipe may increase in length at a rate of at least 3.4 cm per day. The life of a stipe is estimated at between 7 and 10 months. Experiments show that the apical blade with a portion of the stipe may sometimes continue growth when severed from the holdfast. It is found that decrease in length of a blade caused by decay of tissue at the apex is for a time made good by meristematic activity near the base of the blade, but that finally meristematic activity ceases and decay eventually removes the whole blade. Harvesting of Macrocystis pyrifera (L.) Ag. in selected areas over 2 yr gave no indication that beds are adversely affected by cutting the stipes 3 ft. below the surface at approximately 4-monthly intervals. The average yield obtained in three localities over 2 yr was 4 tons/ac, and on this basis the area surveyed could be expected to yield approximately 355,000 tons of wet weed or 35,000–44,000 tons of air-dried weed per year. Analyses of monthly samples of Macrocystis show an average alginic acid content of approximately 21 per cent. and an average mannitol content of approximately 8.7 per cent. on a dry-weight basis.


Background: The prepubic tendon is the tendon of insertion of abdominal in addition to the gracilis and the pectineus muscles attachment site. Rupture of the prepubic tendon was described in several animal species. However, surgical intervention was not recommended due to cost prohibition and the possibility of unsuccessful result.
Methods and findings: Three pregnant does with prepubic tendon rupture were diagnosed in Shami breed goats during the last month of pregnancy. Clinical examination revealed normal parameters in the three does with no signs of herniation in the abdominal wall. The does were treated surgically and cesarean sections (CS) were performed to deliver the kids because of the distension of the abdomen and the difficulty to have them go through normal delivery process. Three fetuses in one doe and two in each of the other two were successfully pulled alive from apparently normal uteri.
Conclusion: All does survived the operations and recovered uneventfully but the prepubic tendon was not fixed. All goats were dismissed from the hospital 2- 3 days post-surgery. Unfortunately, no follow up was possible because the owners took them home and did not report back to the clinical center. Preventing stress, trauma and selecting for ewes that less probably produce quadruplets will decrease the chance of the prepubic tendon rupture.


New development of imaging systems implies the use of multi band wavelength, VIS and IR, for imaging enhancement and more data presenting. As lasers as countermeasures against optics are widely spread in the recent years, these systems need to be protected from damage caused by intense radiation yet the optical system has to be transparent at these wavelengths for low light power. This paper presents a non-linear, solid-state passive wideband optical protection filters (WPF). These filters have advantages over fixed spectral filters, which permanently block only specific wavelengths, the wideband filter is transparent at all wavelengths until it is hit by damaging light. We present work in continuation of our special design WPF suitable for dual- and multi- band wavelength range, including transmission and functionality performances. We demonstrate a new design transferring our WPF filter from VIS/NIR into the MW/LWIR.


The exposure‐response relationship of direct acting oral anti‐coagulants (DOACs) for bleeding risk is steep relative to ischemic stroke reduction. As a result, small changes in exposure may lead to bleeding events. The overall goal of this project was to determine the effect of critical formulation parameters on the pharmacokinetics (PKs) and thus safety and efficacy of generic DOACs. In this first installment of our overall finding, we developed and verified a physiologically‐based PK (PBPK) model for dabigatran etexilate (DABE) and its metabolites. The model was developed following a middle out approach leveraging available in vitro and in vivo data. External validity of the model was confirmed by overlapping predicted and observed PK profiles for DABE as well as free and total dabigatran for a dataset not used during model development. The verified model was applied to interrogate the impact of modulating the microenvironment pH on DABE systemic exposure. The PBPK exploratory analyses highlighted the high sensitivity of DABE exposure to supersaturation ratio and precipitation kinetics.


The ability to tolerate a low-O2 environment varies widely among species in the animal kingdom. Some animals, such as Drosophila melanogaster, can tolerate anoxia for prolonged periods without apparent tissue injury. To determine the genetic basis of the cellular responses to low O2, we performed a genetic screen in Drosophila to identify loci that are responsible for anoxia resistance. Four X-linked, anoxia-sensitive mutants belonging to three complementation groups were isolated after screening more than 10,000 mutagenized flies. The identified recessive and dominant mutations showed marked delay in recovery from O2 deprivation. In addition, electrophysiologic studies demonstrated that polysynaptic transmission in the central nervous system of the mutant flies was abnormally long during recovery from anoxia. These studies show that anoxic tolerance can be genetically dissected.


Geographic Variation in the Forelimb and Hindlimb Skeletons of African Apes by Rebecca S. Jabbour Advisor: Professor Thomas Plummer Understanding geographic variation in African ape skeletal morphology is important for the study of both modern and fossil apes. Regarding modern apes, it is important for the study of their taxonomy, biogeography, evolutionary history, and adaptations. Regarding fossil apes, it is important in order to enhance our ability to refer to a modern analog when interpreting variation among specimens. While species-level variation in Gorilla and Pan is relatively well-studied, variation among subspecies and populations has received little attention, and most of this work has focused on craniodental morphology. This study documents patterns of geographic variation in the forelimb and hindlimb skeletons of African apes. Linear measurements of ten limb bones were collected from 266 Gorilla and 274 Pan adults. Univariate and multivariate analyses were conducted on raw measurements from all ten bones and on ratios of hand and foot bone measurements. Results from analyses of both raw measurements and hand and foot ratios are generally consistent in the patterns of geographic variation they reveal. Variation is present at the species, subspecies, and population levels in both Gorilla and Pan, but greater differences exist among subspecies and populations in Gorilla, and Pan populations do not cluster as reliably into their assigned subspecies. These are the same patterns detected in studies of Gorilla and Pan craniodental morphology and genetics. Analyses of hand and foot bone ratios also permit exploration of the potential functional significance of hand and foot bone morphology. These ratios were proposed to reflect relative frequencies of characteristically arboreal and characteristically terrestrial positional behaviors; however, in comparisons of taxa with documented differences in degrees of arboreality and terrestriality, only four of twenty-two ratios vary as predicted. The results of this study have implications for the interpretation of variation in hominoid fossils. Although hominoid fossil taxonomy is usually based on craniodental morphology, limb bones are likely to reflect the same patterns of variation between geographic groups. Many features of the hand and foot that have been proposed to reflect differences among hominoids in arboreality and terrestriality do not appear to be reliable indicators of functional differences between taxa of African apes.


There are many instances in life when a person wants or needs to forget a memory. These unwanted memories can range from something that is simply now irrelevant such as an outdated fact, to something as serious as a traumatic experience. In extreme cases such as post-traumatic stress disorder, the benefit of forgetting becomes obvious. As such, it is important that we understand not only how our brain is able to remember, but also how it is able to forget. Unlike the traditional view of incidental forgetting, recent studies have shown that forgetting can be a strategic and active process. However, the mechanisms by which we can intentionally suppress our memories are not fully understood. Moreover, most of the directed forgetting research has focused on suppressing visual memories. A more complete understanding of the way we can exert inhibitory control over our memories should include all sensory modalities. To address this issue, we examined whether similar electrophysiological findings, as reported in visual electroencephalography (EEG) studies of directed forgetting, would be observed in the auditory domain. Additionally, the role of the prefrontal cortex in this higher-order process was investigated. Here, we utilized the Think/No-Think paradigm to examine the neural correlates of the cognitive control of memory in three studies. First, we compared findings from healthy young adults in two tasks that varied in the number of to-be-remembered and to-be-forgotten repetitions, and found that behavioral and electrophysiological evidence points to similar effects using auditory stimuli, but that it may be more difficult to achieve than the inhibition of visual memories. Second, we extended those findings to older adults, and found that they too showed behavioral and EEG evidence of successful suppression of unwanted auditory memories. Third, we determined that prefrontal cortex plays a causal role in the ability to actively inhibit auditory memories by examining the behavioral and EEG effects of unilateral frontal lesions in a patient cohort. The behavioral evidence for the inhibition of auditory memory and the corresponding electrophysiology is a step toward a more complete picture of how we intentionally suppress unwanted memories.


Due to its high surface area and catalytic activity, the nanostructure of platinum significantly enhances the electrochemical reactions of electrodes. However, the inherently poor thermomechanical stability of the nanostructure has been a critical issue. This study suggests a simple method of using a Pd layer deposited by sputtering to enhance the stability of the 20 nm thick nanoporous Pt. The microstructural analysis reveals that the Pd films are partially oxidized at operating temperature to nano-polycrystalline Pd formed around Pt particles and inhibiting the mobility of the Pt grains. By preserving the Pt nanostructure, the degradation rate of the Pt–Pd cathode structure is 10 times lower than that of the Pt cathode.


Tolerancing began with the notion of limits imposed on the dimensions of realized parts both to maintain functional geometric dimensionality and to enable cost-effective part fabrication and inspection. Increasingly however, component fabrication depends on more than part geometry as many parts are fabricated as a result of a "recipe" rather than dimensional instructions for material addition or removal. Referred to as process tolerancing, this is the case, for example, with IC chips. In the case of tolerance optimization, a typical objective is cost minimization while achieving required functionality or "quality." This paper takes a different look at tolerances, suggesting that rather than ensuring merely that parts achieve a desired functionality at minimum cost, a typical underlying goal of product design is to make money, more is better and tolerances comprise additional design variables amenable to optimization in a decision theoretic framework. We further recognize that tolerances introduce additional product attributes that relate to product characteristics such as consistency, quality, reliability and durability. These important attributes complicate the computation of the expected utility of candidate designs, requiring additional computational steps for their determination. The resulting theory of tolerancing illuminates the assumptions and limitations inherent to Taguchi's loss function. We illustrate the theory using the example of tolerancing for an apple pie, which conveniently demands consideration of tolerances on both quantities and processes, and the interaction among these tolerances.


OBJECTIVE--To determine the effectiveness of a national screening programme for HIV infection in pregnant women. DESIGN--Observational study. SUBJECTS--All pregnant women presenting to antenatal or abortion clinics. SETTING--Sweden, September 1987 to December 1991. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES--Number and characteristics of infected women. RESULTS--By the end of the study period 510,000 tests had been performed and 54 women with HIV infection identified (1.06/10,000). Of the 33 women identified in Stockholm, 14 women (4.4/10,000) had attended abortion clinics and 19 antenatal clinics (1.8/10,000; p < 0.05). Three women had been intravenous drug users, one was infected through a blood transfusion, and 50 were probably infected sexually. Of the 20 women who attended antenatal clinics early enough to allow an abortion, 12 continued with their pregnancies. CONCLUSIONS--Testing of all women, not just those perceived to be at risk, probably contributed to the high uptake of HIV testing. With high uptake such screening provides valuable data on spread of HIV in the heterosexual population and presents opportunity for preventing transmission of HIV to children and partners.


It is known that complex digital filters possess certain advantages over real digital filters in processing complex signals such as increased computational speed and efficiency. In this paper, a simple and systematic procedure which can be implemented through a computer program is presented for realizing a specific class of multidimensional (M-D) complex digital filters. The proposed filter structures are derived from analog reference configurations comprising generalized immittance converters and resistors by making use of wave concept. These filters possess many salient properties such as low noise, low sensitivity and capability of realizing multiple transfer functions simultaneously which are inherited from the reference analog filters they are derived from. These features make them attractive for very large-scale integrated (VLSI) implementation. It is shown that the proposed filter structures can be obtained directly from the specified M-D discrete transfer function without the need for realizing any analog reference configuration.


A method for identifying the parameters of a turbine-generator torsional model from measured data is presented. The method is based on the use of trajectory sensitivities and least squares to compute changes in model parameters. This method is illustrated by identifying the shaft stiffness and inertia constants of a torsional model from data collected by a Torsional Vibration Monitor.


There is an untapped potential to combine the measures from precision livestock farming to provide improved, biologically meaningful, phenotypes. At present, it is generally the case that precision livestock solutions are developed for the purposes of monitoring one particular condition, and very often using only one measure. It has been shown that combinations of precision livestock measures may provide a fuller, and more robust, description of the condition. These may be both combinations of full continuous signals (e.g., milk yield and electrical conductivity) or sequential combinations. Sequential combinations are those in which a cheap, easy-to-deploy but usually less precise signal is used to provide first-level monitoring but is set up to initiate a second-level, more precise, and usually more expensive, monitoring when the first indicator indicates change from the normal state. The usefulness of combined measures benefit from being developed with a systemic view of the underlying biology, leading to a subsequent improvement in the precision of the resulting phenotypes. The deployment of combined measures for phenotyping is becoming increasingly important, particularly in the context of addressing more complex traits such as robustness in genomic selection and when considering the animal's role in herd level resilience.


This research was a Research and Development (R&D), developing manual by using ADDDIE model (Analysis, Design, Development, Implementation, and Evaluation). The research subject was the students and the English teachers in 8 elementary schools whch were distributed in 8 gugus in Seririt Subdistrict. The research object was a manual of designing material and English learning media. The present study used several instruments, namely questionnaire, checklist, scoring rubric, interview guideline, observation sheet and test. Based on the result of observation, interview and questionnaire, it could be concluded that there was a possibility for the students in Seririt regency to study English as muatan local. Unfortunately, due to the educational background of the teachers, they found difficulties in designing the material and the English learning media. The teachers need manual that could guide them in selecting and designing English learning media based on their students' character. In accordance to those findings, it was needed to develop the manual which equipped with clear steps of preparation and process. It was developed a manual consisted of 26 topics that are taught to the students in grade 1 to 6.


In this work, the structural and magnetic properties of single-phase TbxDyyHoz(Fe,Co)2 (x + y + z = 1) alloys have been investigated by means of X-ray diffraction, 57Fe Mossbauer spectroscopy, magnetization measurements and a standard strain gage technique. The magnetostriction of TbxDyyHoz(Fe,Co)2 was examined against an applied magnetic field up to 10 kOe in 80 - 400 K temperature range. The Co-containing compounds are found to have high values of magnetostrictive susceptibility due to compensation of magnetic anisotropy in both the rare-earth and 3d transition metals sublattices.


Exosomes, a class of small extracellular vesicles (sEVs) having a diameter of 40–100 nm, are produced by all cells and found circulating freely in all body fluids, including sputum, plasm, urine and bronchoalveolar lavage (1-3). This biogenesis of exosomes originates in the endosomal compartment of a parent cell, and then mediate specific cell-to-cell communication by transferring information (e.g., proteins, RNAs, and DNAs) to target cells (4). The process is completed through three main mechanisms: endocytosis by phagocytosis, direct fusion with the plasma membrane and receptor-ligand interactions (5). Recently, studies have shown that exosomes play a role in tumorigenesis, invasion, metastasis, and drug resistance via specific cellcell communication involving the transfer a series of small molecules, including microRNAs (6,7). The weight of evidence supports that exosome-derived microRNAs is associated with the development and progression of various cancers, such as esophageal cancer (8), bladder cancer (9), lung cancer (10), nasopharyngeal carcinoma (11) and colorectal cancer (12), etc. Over the years, abnormally elevated levels of exosome-derived microRNAs in cancer tissues have fueled a large number of studies attempting to determine their potential as new diagnostic biomarkers and therapeutic targets for cancer.


Publication Welfare Indicators 2016 provides a number of welfare aspects for which the data are available and measureable. To provide a better interpretation, changes in welfare status are analysed based on eight aspects namely population, health and nutrition, education, employment, consumption level and pattern, housing and environment, poverty, and other social aspects which become the basis for the effort of improving quality of life. In this year, the Welfare Indicator 2016 publication chose "Education Inequality in Indonesia" as the theme of discussion. This topic provides a general picture of inequality in educational achievement which is analysed based on regional and individual level including related factors contributing to the variation in educational attainment.


Tungsten oxide (WO3) film material is applied extensively because of its electrochromic property, gasochromic property, photochromic property, electrochemistry, etc. Based on the preliminary study on the preparation and hydrogen sensing properties of platinum-doped WO3 films, we studied the optical properties of hydrogen sensitive WO3 films for surface plasmon resonance (SPR) optic-fiber micro-sensor. In this work, firstly, the structure of SPR optic-fiber hydrogen micro-sensor was discussed. Secondly, we studied the transmissivity of the platinum-doped WO3 films. Thirdly, the reflection index of the films in different environments was discussed. This work can provide theory support for the design of SPR optic-fiber micro-sensor.


We generalise the classical Benjamin solution (Benjamin, J. Fluid Mech., vol. 31, 1968, pp. 209–248) modelling the flow in a horizontal duct of finite depth in situations where the flow contains a region spanning the depth of the duct, and a region in which the surface detaches from the ceiling of the duct as a free surface. It is shown that the Benjamin solution belongs to a one-parameter family of similar solutions, which are divided into two types: solutions that describe potential flows where the free surface of the fluid is deflected from the duct ceiling at a zero angle; and solutions that admit the formation of a vortex flow region in the vicinity of the point of fluid separation from the duct ceiling. It is shown that this one-parameter family of solutions is the limit of a two-parameter family of solutions in which part of the uniform flow energy is converted into energy of the small-scale fluid motion. Based on the local hydrostatic approximation, the applicability of the constructed solutions is discussed.


The international conflict over the events in Ukraine led to the application of unilateral restrictive measures by the parties involved – the European Union, the United States and the Russian Federation – all of which are World Trade Organization (WTO) members and permanent members of the UN Security Council. It has been alleged by all sides that specified restrictions on trade in goods and services may constitute a violation of WTO obligations. The possibility of a challenge of the restrictive measures using the WTO dispute settlement mechanism revived the debate on the invocation of security exceptions allowing WTO members to apply otherwise inconsistent measures justified by their 'essential security interests'. The present article aims at providing a critical analysis of the restrictive measures adopted by the parties and the perspectives for invoking the security exception in case of eventual WTO dispute settlement. The article highlights the ambiguity in the interpretation of the security exceptions and questions the suitability of the WTO dispute settlement mechanism for the resolution of the current Ukraine crisis.


ABSTRAK: The village is a social institution that was passed on from generation to generation by the people. the new order of government is concerned homogenize the internal order of the village is so diverse in this country. The government wants the village as an instrument of development of effective and efficient. With the Law No. 6 of 2014 on the village, the village returned as part of the right of people, so the presence of village autonomy, which the village organize independently of government. From this, the village was given the authority to regulate and manage their own household and are expected to manage the potential that exists in villages both in the field of human resources, and natural resources, to find out the surveillance society in the implementation of governmental tasks, the researchers malakukan direct research with the number of informants as many as 14 people. Supervision is very important in a government, to encourage and anticipate deviations will occur. In this study informant revealed that the villagers have not been up correcting the results of the work done by the village government, it is because the government never set up a room for deliberation, so that what is done by the village government in particular on the budget the village fund managed by the government does not know then how the budget has been realized by building rural infrastructure, and the rest of the village community fund budget management never know, because the government is not accountable for the village community. In other words, the government should better evaluate the performance and the need to implement corrective actions so that the results of the work in accordance with the plan. Keywords: Society Oversight of Government Management In Village


Treatment of dermal wounds and development of new techniques by which dermal wound healing can be accelerated with minimal scarring are of global interest. During the early stages of the wound healing process, a loose platelet plug is stabilized by the formation of a fibrin gel matrix. A fibrin gel is formed when the protein fibrinogen is enzymatically cleaved by thrombin and crosslinked by Factor XIII. These fibrin matrices help to halt blood flow from the wounded site and serve as a scaffold by which cell transport and adhesion may occur. Various medical disorders, deficiencies, and diseases can result in abnormal wound healing, i.e. scarring or inability to form stable, lasting clots. The study of these bio-gels is expected to result in advancements in wound healing techniques and a better understanding of the behavior of dermal wounds, transport of cellular and other items through such wounds, and resultant scarring control. Towards this end, rheological techniques were explored to characterize structural properties of such early-phase wound media during gel formation. Fibrin gels were prepared using 1, 3, 6, and 12 mg/ml fibrinogen, 1 U/ml thrombin, and 5mM CaCl2, final concentrations. Rheology and turbidity data indicate that gels formed in the presence of higher fibrinogen concentrations develop more rigid structures sooner than those formed at lower fibrinogen concentrations. Such results provide a foundation for future studies to explore the effects of mixing and the influence of modified versions of fibrinogen on gel properties and species transport through such gels.


We compared the safety and efficacy of 2 transfusion regimens in children with severe anemia (hemoglobin <5 g/dL) and without overt signs of congestive heart failure requiring transfusion of packed red blood cells (PRBCs). Forty-three patients were randomly divided into 2 groups: group A and group B. The transfusion regimens consisted of continuous infusion of PRBC at a rate of 1 mL/kg/h for group A and 3 mL/kg/h for group B. The patients were closely monitored for any clinical signs of heart failure throughout transfusion. Heart and respiratory rate, and arterial blood pressure were measured hourly for 6 hours during transfusion. None of the patients developed any signs of cardiac failure during or after the transfusion. The mean heart rate, respiratory rate, diastolic and systolic blood pressure were similar in both groups throughout transfusion. Group A needed significantly more PRBC units than group B to attain the same hemoglobin increase. Transfusion of PRBC at a rate of 3 mL/kg/h, and at a rate of 1 mL/kg/h, is a safe regimen for children with severe anemia of gradual onset requiring transfusion therapy.


After 2 years of medical management with a beta-adrenoreceptor blocking agent, a 30-month-old castrated male Golden Retriever with subaortic stenosis was treated surgically because of progression of its condition. In an attempt to achieve complete relief of the left ventricular outflow obstruction, a modified Konno procedure consisting of right ventriculotomy and septal myectomy from the infundibular portion of the right ventricle was performed; this combination of procedures allowed wide resection of the septal portion of the left ventricular outflow obstruction. Two years after surgery, the mass of the dog's left ventricle had decreased and the peak calculated pressure gradient across the aortic valve had decreased to 40 mm Hg, compared with a preoperative value of 240 mm Hg; at that evaluation, the dog had gained weight and was able to play normally. It is suggested that use of this modified approach to the outflow tract may have a positive effect on long-term survival time in dogs with subaortic stenosis.


Many real-world optimization problems are challenging because the evaluation of solutions is computationally expensive. As a result, the number of function evaluations is limited. Surrogate-assisted evolutionary algorithms are promising approaches to tackle this kind of problems. However, their performance highly depends on the number of objectives. Thus, they may not be suitable for many-objective optimization. This paper proposes a novel hybrid algorithm for computationally expensive many-objective optimization, called C-M-EA. The proposed approach combines two surrogate-assisted evolutionary algorithms during the search process. We compare the performance of the proposed approach with seven multi-objective evolutionary algorithms. Our experimental results show that our approach is competitive for solving computationally expensive many-objective optimization problems.


The theory of unit memory repetitive processes is used to investigate local convergence and stability properties of algorithms for the solution of discrete optimal control problems. In particular, the properties are addressed of a method for finding the correct solution of an optimal control problem where the model used for optimisation is different from reality. Limit profile and stability concepts of unit memory linear repetitive process theory are employed to demonstrate optimality and to obtain necessary and sufficient conditions for convergence. Two main stability theorems are obtained from different approaches and their equivalence is proved. The theoretical results are verified through simulation and numerical analysis, and it is demonstrated that repetitive process theory provides a useful tool for the analysis of iterative algorithms for the solution of dynamic optimal control problems.


With the advance of electronic business relationships over the internet, the linking of cross-organizational business processes in virtual supply chains and other scenarios is rapidly increasing. Existing standards for the interoperability of information systems on the business process level are being adapted to suit the needs of the Internet economy. Especially the use of XML as a domain-independent encoding standard for business documents has led to the development of business frameworks such as BizTalk or open/EDI, and interoperability mechanisms that support these standards are being developed. In this paper we describe an architecture for the support of cross-organizational workflows through XML messages. This architecture has been implemented and tested within the AFRICA project at the University of Muenster, Germany. While our work is based upon the emerging Wf-XML standard of the Workflow Management Coalition, it contains a number of significant enhancements that provide a secure, reliable management of global workflow processes.


The present study was performed to assess the potential relationship between the low T3 syndrome and hypothyroidism. Comparative studies were performed on the relative effects of diabetes and insulin on heparinreleasable adipose lipoprotein lipase (LPL) in the intact and hypothyroid rat. Hypothyroidism for 10 days (Tx) significantly increased adipose LPL activity (5.8 ± 0.2 μeq/g/h) compared with the activity (3.6 ± 0.4 μeq/g/h) in the normal group. Diabetes for 72 h (streptozocin, STZ, 10 mg/100 g body wt, i.p.) significantly reduced (P < 0.005) adipose LPL activity in the Tx model. However, despite the suppressant effect of diabetes (43 ± 11%), the enzyme activity remained equivalent to the normal group. Insulin stimulated adipose LPL in the Tx-diabetic group. The enzyme demonstrated a synergistic response to insulin and hypothyroidism. Subsequent studies were performed in the intact diabetic rat, a low T3 state. Adipose LPL activity was reduced to a similar degree by diabetes (79 ± 2%) irrespective of the serum T3 concentration. Furthermore, the magnitude of the adipose LPL stimulation by insulin was not modulated by the endogenous serum T3. However, co-treatment of the diabetic group with T3 and insulin blunted the adipose LPL response to insulin. These various modulations in adipose LPL activity were associated with significant but opposite changes in serum triglyceride levels in both the hypothyroid and intact rat. These studies demonstrate that hypothyroidism counteracts the suppressant effect of diabetes on heparin-releasable rat adipose LPL activity and magnifies the enzyme response to insulin. The synergistic effect of hypothyroidism and insulin on adipose LPL activity suggests that the enzyme responds through different mechanisms. In contrast, the low T3 state associated with diabetes did not influence the adipose LPL response to diabetes or insulin therapy. Thus, the low T3 state in the rat does not reflect hypothyroidism. The low T3 state may, however, have a permissive role as it facilitated the adipose LPL response to insulin in the diabetic rats. Therefore, T3 therapy is contraindicated under these condition.


Background: Atrial fibrillation (AF) often benefits from the use of anticoagulants for prevention of stroke or systemic embolism. While novel oral anticoagulants have emerged as possible alternatives to warfarin, it is unknown how treatment selection is determined in practice with clinical guidelines still evolving. This study examined whether and to what extent anticoagulant selection has been driven by clinical predictions of stroke risk (treatment benefit) and bleeding risk (treatment harm) in real-world practice in the US.

Methods: A nationwide database of commercial and Medicare Part D supplement claims from 2009-2011 was used to extract a cohort of non-valvular AF patients who were newly-initiating therapy after dabigatran availability in Oct 2010. Patients were excluded if they had claims associated with a reversible AF condition. Risk scores of ischemic stroke (CHADS2 and CHA2DS2-VASc) and bleeding (ATRIA) were used to examine associations with either warfarin or dabigatran use, calculated via claims in the outpatient pharmaceutical, inpatient medical, outpatient, and provider claims files. Baseline demographic and clinical characteristics were also measured as covariates, including concomitant diseases and medications. Multivariable log-binomial regression models assessed the association between each risk score and anticoagulant use, adjusting for the measured covariates. C-statistics were also used to examine the variation in treatment selection explained by inclusion of the risk scores.

Results: In total, 37,401 patients were identified with 31% initiating dabigatran. New users of dabigatran were more likely to be younger, male, and have comorbidities. Patients at intermediate stroke risk (CHADS2 or CHA2DS2-VASc =1) were equally likely to receive warfarin and dabigatran (RR, 95% CI: 0.98, 0.93-1.02), while selection for warfarin was significantly associated with high ischemic stroke risk (CHADS2 or CHA2DS2-VASc ≥2) (RR, 95% CI: 0.87, 0.83-0.92). New users of dabigatran were significantly less likely to have high bleeding risk (ATRIA≥5) versus warfarin (RR, 95%: 0.70, 0.66-0.74). The c-statistic of the base model, which included the other measured covariates, was only marginally increased with the addition of any of the risk scores.

Conclusions: Despite controlling for other patient characteristics, bleeding risk was strongly associated with the selection of a specific anticoagulant. However, the extent of selection explained by predictions of treatment harm was minimal. Providers appear to base anticoagulant selection on factors other than predictions of treatment benefit, which has implications for studying the anticoagulants' comparative effectiveness.


The sample data are used from Shaanxi Statistical Yearbook (1999-2018) and poverty population in X County of Southern Shaanxi in 2018. By using Eviews and Excel, this report focuses on analyzing the relationship between education investment and economic growth, education for poverty population, per capita income and poverty caused by education in X county, which can explain reasons for the phenomenon of poverty caused by education. The countermeasures are proposed to solve the phenomenon of poverty caused by education, including establishing scientific education view, correctly understanding education investment and benefit, and improving the aid mechanism for poor students to realize the effective connect among poverty alleviation through education, accurate poverty alleviation and rural revitalization.


Calpastatin activity measured at 24 h postmortem in bovine longissimus muscle (PMLD24) is correlated with Warner-Bratzler shear force (WBS) measurements, an objective measure of tenderness. A live-animal measurement of calpastatin activity that correlates with 24-h postmortem activity would provide information for selection programs without the expense of progeny testing. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of calpastatin activity measurements obtained on tissue samples from live animals and to determine the relationship among various calpastatin activity measures and tenderness determined by WBS and sensory panel. Biopsies (approximately 10 g) were obtained surgically 2 d before slaughter from the supraspinatus muscle on the anterior surface of the scapula (LISH0) from contemporary purebred Angus bulls (n = 12) and steers (n = 17). Biopsies from a subset of these cattle (n = 12) were refrigerated at 4 degrees C to simulate the postmortem cooling process for 24 h (LISH24) prior to extraction. A rib section anterior to the 12 and 13th rib interface was collected from all animals at the commercial abattoir between 22 and 23 h postmortem for PMLD24, sensory panel, and WBS measurements. A postmortem shoulder muscle sample (PMSH24) was collected at the same time. Calpastatin was extracted from all muscle samples using a heated calpastatin activity protocol. Sensory panel tenderness, WBS, LISH0, LISH24, and PMSH24 were not different between bulls and steers. However, PMLD24 values were significantly different. Significant partial correlations were found between WBS and sensory panel tenderness (-.55), between WBS and PMLD24 (-.43), and between LISH24 and PMLD24 (.78). Therefore, similar calpastatin activity values are possible with ante- and postmortem tissue samples, suggesting the possibility of using measurements from live-tissue biopsies from other than the longissimus muscle to predict end product tenderness.


A scheme for the performance of positive control studies within a coordinated group of laboratories was proposed (joint positive control testing). The procedure has been described, as well as the first results of the validation phase of this joint positive control testing project. Adoption of this proposal within the participating six laboratories would lead to a reduction in the number of guinea pigs required for reliability and sensitivity checks from current approximate 12 studies per year down to 2 studies, i.e., 150-300 fewer animals per year. Another benefit would be the use of a harmonized, and therefore more comparable, method to perform guinea pig tests and interpret the data. In the validation phase of joint reading of the positive control studies, the congruency of reading could clearly be demonstrated. From the experience gained up to now, it was possible to draw the conclusion that a coordinated interlaboratory approach for positive control testing was fully acceptable and an improvement with regard to animal welfare.


The authors determined conditions for C. immitis protease synthesis during growing on various nutrient media. Four to five weeks could serve as the optimal period of protease formation. Of six nutrient media tested Saburo's medium, containing peptone, proved to be the most favourable for the enzyme production.


Abstract. The majority of rain used by winter grain crops in the Mallee region of Victoria, Australia, falls during the cooler months of the year (April–October). However, rain falling during the summer fallow period (November–March) and stored as soil moisture contributes to grain yield. Strategies to better capture and store summer fallow rain include (i) retention of crop residues on the soil surface to improve water infiltration and evaporation; and (ii) chemical or mechanical control of summer fallow weeds to reduce transpiration. Despite the widespread adoption of no-till farming systems in the region, few published studies have considered the benefits of residue management during the summer fallow relative to weed control, and none quantify the impacts or identify the mechanisms by which summer fallow weeds influence subsequent crop yield. Over 3 years (2009–11), identical experiments on adjacent sand and clay soil types at Hopetoun in the southern Mallee were conducted to quantify the effect of residue management (standing, removed, or slashed) and summer fallow weed control (± chemical control) compared with cultivation on soil water and nitrogen (N) accumulation and subsequent crop yield. The presence of residue (2.4–5.8 t/ha) had no effect on soil water accumulation and a small negative effect on grain yield on the clay soil in 2011. Controlling summer weeds (Heliotropium europaeum and volunteer crop species) increased soil water accumulation (mean 45 mm) and mineral N (mean 45 kg/ha) before sowing on both soil types in 2 years of the experiment with significant amounts of summer fallow rain (2010 and 2011). Control of summer weeds increased grain yield of canola by 0.6 t/ha in 2010 and wheat by 1.4 t/ha in 2011. Using the data from these experiments to parameterise the APSIM model, simulation of selected treatments using historical climate data (1958–2011) showed that an extra 40 mm of stored soil water resulted in an average additional 0.4 t/ha yield, most of which was achieved in dry growing seasons. An additional 40 kg/ha N increased yield only in wetter growing seasons (mean 0.4 t/ha on both soil types). The combination of extra water and N that was found experimentally to result from control of summer fallow weeds increased subsequent crop yield in all season types (mean 0.7 t/ha on sand, 0.9 t/ha on clay). The co-limitation of yield by water and N in the Mallee environment means that yield increases due to summer weed control (and thus returns on investment) are very reliable.


In electronic packaging, lead-free solders often experience fatigue failures due to thermal-mechanical cyclic stress and strain caused by changing temperatures and mismatches in thermal expansion coefficients. As a result, damage accumulates in the solder joints including plastic deformation, crack initiation, crack propagation, and finally failure occur. In our previous work, changes in the mechanical behavior of SAC305 lead free solder due to prior damage accumulation was investigated. Circular cross-section solder specimens were first reflowed, and these samples were then mechanically cycled for various durations using a Micro-Mechanical tester. Monotonic stress-strain tests were subsequently conducted on the prior cycled samples to characterize the change in mechanical behavior occurring in the solder due to damage accumulation. Using the data from these tests, we were able to characterize and quantify the cycling induced damage through the observed degradations of several mechanical properties (initial elastic modulus, yield stress, and ultimate tensile strength) with the amount of prior cycling.
 In the current work, we have extended the experimental work in our prior studies on SAC305 to examine the evolution of the creep response due to prior damage accumulation. In the experimental testing, small uniaxial cylindrical samples of SAC305 solder were prepared and reflowed in a reflow oven. These specimens were then mechanically cycled under several different sets of conditions to induce various levels of damage in the samples. In particular, four levels of initial damage per cycle were considered (ΔW = 0.25, 0.50, 0.75 and 1.00 MJ/m3), as well as three cycling temperatures (T = 25, 100, and 125 °C). For each of these damage levels per cycle, various durations of cycling were applied (e.g., 0, 50, 100, 300, and 600 cycles). This test matrix generated a large set of prior damaged samples, where the damage had been accumulated at different rates (different damage amounts per cycle), different cycling temperatures, and for different durations. In this paper, selected results obtained for isothermal mechanical cycling at T = 25 °C will be presented in detail.
 Creep tests were performed on the prior damage samples at room temperature and several stress levels including σ = 10.0, 12.0, and 15.0 MPa. The changes in the steady state secondary creep rate were then evaluated and plotted versus the duration of cycling for the various applied levels of damage per cycle. Exponential empirical models were found to fit the material property degradations well for any one set of conditions. More importantly, it was found that the total energy dissipation that had occurred in the sample (sum of ΔW for all cycles) could be used as a governing failure variable independent of the damage level applied during each cycle. In particular, all of the creep rate data for a selected stress level were modeled well using a single degradation curve independent of that rate the damage was accumulated.
 Using the results of this study, we are working to develop better damage mechanics models and fatigue criteria for lead free solders that are subjected to variable temperature applications.


Cystathionine γ-synthase type II, which catalyzes l-cystathionine synthesis from O-acetyl-l-homoserine and l-cysteine was purified from Bacillus sphaericus (IFO 3536) in seven steps. The purified enzyme appeared to be homogeneous by the results of polyacrylamide electrophoresis and ampholyte electrofocusing. The enzyme is a typical pyridoxal-P dependent enzyme, has a molecular mass of 165 kDa and consists of four subunits identical in molecular mass. The enzyme catalyzed the γ-replacement reaction and the elimination reaction was hardly detected even when a large amount of enzyme was added. In the replacement reaction, O-acetyl-l-homoserine and the following thiol compounds: L and d-cysteine, L and d-homocysteine, sodium sulfide, various alkyl and aryl mercaptans, acted as the most suitable substrate to produce l-cystathionine and the corresponding S-substituted l-homocysteine derivatives.


The main research question explores the profitability of Business Services, one of the services of Company X ("Organization"), with sub-questions studying the cost-benefit breakeven point for each type of the Business Services' products (flex-office, flex-desk, virtual office) and also on the possibility of improving these services and its business model. Profits Method was selected as the valuation approach in finding out the profitability of Business Services however this approach also involves capitalising profitability cash flow with the relevant yield that was not taken into account for this master thesis due to the focus of profitability and not market value of the property. Knowledge and data collected were incorporated into the Profit Method equation and a financial model was built for each product. Findings show that it is profitable with the current (2015) prices for full-day and half-day contracts of flex-desk and the Organization must rent out at least 2 flex-desks and 5 flex-desks per each type of contract per month in order to break-even respectively. Flex- office does not generate sufficient income for the Organization but virtual office does. A business proposal has been suggested by Company A to the Organization on granting WTC Twente €15/m2/year for renting out its space-measured 306.5m2 under the professional branding of Organization. Finding shows that it is only profitable to Company X if it is collecting €33/m2/year of commission. Lastly, the business model of Business Services was also studied and a recommendation is made on price adjustment together with a new package in order for the Organization to reach financial sustainability starting in the year 2017."


Background: Pregnant women with pre-existing type 2 diabetes (T2DM) are at risk for poor maternal and neonatal outcomes. Previous systematic reviews in women with T2DM have focused on physical activity, blood glucose monitoring, and insulin injections. The purpose of this review was to examine the barriers and facilitators of diabetes self-management. Method: PubMed, CINAHL, and EMBASE databases were searched using PRISMA-ScR guidelines from January 1, 2009, to July 30, 2019. Inclusion criteria included manuscripts written in English and qualitative studies. Themes were compared and contrasted to identify areas of congruence and discrepancy. Results: The review included ten manuscripts with 241 pregnant women with pre-existing T2DM, and eight family members were enrolled with sample sizes ranging from 5-89. First, barriers to knowledge about diabetes in pregnancy, physical activity, dietary control, medication adherence, financial constraints, stress, lack of social support, and cultural beliefs. Second, stress related to the diagnosis, infant outcomes, and cultural expectations. Third, barriers to access to care and disrespect from health care providers. Fourth, a loss of self-control. Fifth, facilitators of diabetes self-management in pregnancy were related to support from family, financial support, support from health care providers. Discussion: Pregnant women with pre-existing T2DM have multiple barriers. Only one manuscript incorporated family members. Further qualitative research may need to seek the perspectives of family members about diabetes self-management in pregnancy and examine how they can provide support to the women. Conclusion: This supports an integrative model of maternity care to overcome critical barriers and optimize key facilitators to enhance diabetes self-management behaviors and improve maternal and neonatal health outcomes. Disclosure R. Phonyiam: None. D.C. Berry: None.


ALS inhibiting herbicides exhibit high bioactivity at low concentrations and may persist in the soil. To examine possible interactions between two different residues present together in the soil, field and lab tests were performed in three contrasting Saskatchewan soils. Field plots using Roundup Ready canola were used to assess residual effects of combinations of ALS inhibiting herbicides applied to peas and wheat in the previous two years. A root length inhibition bioassay based on oriental mustard was used to test for residual herbicide phytotoxicity in samples of soil from field and lab-spiked soils from the three study sites. The field plots were sprayed initially with imazamox/imazethapyr, and followed by imazamethabenz, flucarbazone-sodium, sulfosulfuron, or florasulam in the second growing season. Soil samples were taken from the plots after the second growing season for the bioassay test. To determine the interactions (antagonistic, additive, or synergistic) between the herbicides investigated, Colby's equation was applied to the bioassay results. In field samples, the results to date have indicated additive and potential synergistic interactions for the same herbicide combinations in different soils.


Strong stability preserving (SSP) integrators for initial value ODEs preserve temporal monotonicity solution properties in arbitrary norms. All existing SSP methods, including implicit methods, either require small step sizes or achieve only first order accuracy. It is possible to achieve more relaxed step size restrictions in the discretization of hyperbolic PDEs through the use of both upwind- and downwind-biased semidiscretizations. We investigate bounds on the maximum SSP step size for methods that include negative coefficients and downwind-biased semi-discretizations. We prove that the downwind SSP coefficient for linear multistep methods of order greater than one is at most equal to two, while the downwind SSP coefficient for explicit Runge-Kutta methods is at most equal to the number of stages of the method. In contrast, the maximal downwind SSP coefficient for second order Runge-Kutta methods is shown to be unbounded. We present a class of such methods with arbitrarily large SSP coefficient and demonstrate that they achieve second order accuracy for large CFL number.


Employees today report being too busy to talk to their friends and family, even though the number of hours they work has remained relatively constant over the last five decades. We highlight incentive systems as one underappreciated factor contributing to this phenomenon and explore the role of incentives in shaping how employees think about their different social relationships. Results from one archival dataset, one panel survey, and two experiments (n = 132,139) show that when employees are paid for performance, they prioritize spending time socializing with work colleagues at the sacrifice of spending time with friends and family. We further document goal instrumentality as a mechanism for these results: employees who receive performance incentives perceive their work ties as highly instrumental in achieving their goals. These findings provide the first empirical evidence that incentives shape employees' social interactions within and outside of work, potentially providing a novel explanation for the dissolution of familial and personal ties in many developed countries.