In Latin America, import-substitution industrialization has been replaced by open economies; or rather trade liberalization, at a rapid pace, with sometimes dramatic consequences for the national industries and the labor market. At the same time, in that continent, where public enterprises represented a very substantial part of the economy, privatization is taking place on a large scale. It started in Chile in 1973 after the military takeover, a bit later in Argentina, after the coup of 1976. Mexico followed in the 1980s and Brazil joined the ranks in the 1990s. In July 1998, Telebrás, the Brazilian telecommunications company, was put up for auction, the largest single privatization in any emerging market.2 Furthermore, in a number of Latin American countries, the whole social security system is being revised, retirement and health schemes are being modified, mostly privatized, and job security for civil servants is being abolished. Unemployment, an increasing informal sector, growing poverty, increasing inequality, and unrest are the results. For instance, the fortune of the richest Mexican was estimated at 6.6 billion dollars in 1995, equal to that of the earnings of the 17 million poorest of this country.3 Inequality has only increased since, and not only in Latin America.


A rare case of epithelioid sarcoma (ES) of the penis is presented. The patient, a 35‐year‐old man, was initially treated as having Peyronie's disease, but the subsequent appearance of a subcutaneous nodule displayed a 'distal‐type' ES. At immunohistochemical phenotypification, the tumor was positive for vimentin, cytokeratins and epithelial membrane antigen (EMA), as well as for some other multidirectional antibodies, including a membranous reaction for CD99. The review of 11 similar cases so far reported in the literature led to the conclusion that the clinicopathological characteristics of penile ES are basically the same as those of tumors in more classical locations: the age at diagnosis ranged from 23 to 43 years, the interval between first manifestations and diagnosis averaged 37 months (delayed diagnosis being common because of the slow growth rate and the harmless appearance of the lesion), the typical sign was a superficial nodule or mass, usually accompanied (better preceded) by urethral stenosis, dysuria and erectile disturbances. Total or partial penectomy was the treatment of choice in most patients, but lack of adequate follow up did not permit any definitive conclusion to be reached regarding its efficacy.


SmCo thin films have been grown by magnetron sputtering at room temperature with a composition of 2–35 at. % Sm. Films with 5 at. % or higher Sm are amorphous and smooth. A giant tunable uniaxial in-plane magnetic anisotropy is induced in the films which peaks in the composition range 11–22 at. % Sm. This cross-over behavior is not due to changes in the atomic moments but rather the local configuration changes. The excellent layer perfection combined with highly tunable magnetic properties make these films important for spintronics applications.


This paper explores the notion of managerial capability. The aim of this paper is three-fold. Firstly, we have utilised the literature to clarify an understanding and conceptualisation of 'capability' contrasted with the often related term 'competence', at the level of the individual. Then, with these understandings and conceptualisations in mind, we explain why managerial capability is worthy of further theoretical exploration and how best to approach that exploration with the aim of generating useful theory about the phenomenon. Finally, we discuss selected findings of a pilot study of top managers from the Australian health care sector. The pilot study illustrates fruitful research methodology and directions regarding theory development of the concept 'managerial capability' in this limited context. This paper serves as a clarifying departure point for a larger exploratory study centred on the development of theory concerning managerial capability of SME managers in the Australian health care sector.


Using only memory equivalent to 5 lines of printed text, you can estimate with a typical accuracy of 5 per cent and in a single pass the total vocabulary of Shakespeare. This wonderfully simple algorithm has applications in data mining, estimating characteristics of huge data flows in routers, etc. It can be implemented by a novice, can be fully parallelized with optimal speed-up and only need minimal hardware requirements. Theres even a bit of math in the middle!


This article examines a unique survival from the Middle Ages: an amulet roll, now divided between libraries in New York City and Chicago, which now measures approximately 5 m in width and 8–9 cm in width, which has Greek texts on the obverse and Arabic on the reverse, and a series of very fine illustrations on the Greek side. Analysis of the roll reveals that it originated in Trebizond in the second half of the fourteenth century, and the roll is therefore considered within the cultural and political context of that small but active Greek kingdom. The article pays particular attention to the text and representation of a rare figure, Evgenios of Trebizond, who is included among a series of saints and prophets in order to enact that saint's protection of the (evidently elite) patron of the roll. And through the series of texts and images about the letter and self-portrait of Christ, the Mandylion, the roll also stated the sacred destiny of Trebizond. The roll generated identity through its Greek Christian texts and images, and made clear the special role God had chosen for Trebizond.


Performance of Multicarrier Multicode Code-Division Multiple Access (MC/MCD-CDMA) systems can be improved significantly by using Wavelet Packets (WPs) as subcarriers instead of a~sinusoidal function. This is because WPs have much lower sidelobes and negligible sidelobe energy leakage compared to sinusoidal carriers; this property significantly decreases the intercarrier interference and improves the system performance. Further improvement can be achieved by utilizing multiple antennas at transmitter and receiver to construct a~Multiple-Input Multiple-Output (MIMO) system. Channel hardening is the main drawback of MIMO systems. Antenna selection can be employed to reduce this problem. In this paper, we use the antenna selection in MIMO WP-MC/MCD-CDMA system. These combinations of antenna selection, MIMO, and WP in MC/MCD-CDMA improve the system performance significantly and reduce the channel hardening. The performance of the system is tested according to the outage probability and bit error rate. Two MIMO schemes on Nakagami-m fading channel are considered, which are: selective transmit /selective receive and selective transmit /maximum ratio combining receive. The study includes the effects antennas' number, fading parameter-m, number of users, and the threshold signal to interferences plus noise ratio. The performance of the system is compared to that of MC/MCD-CDMA based on a~sinusoidal carrier. The results reveal that: by increasing antennas' number, the system performance is improved significantly, and MC/MCD-CDMA system based on WPs carriers outperforms MC/MCD-CDMA system based on a~sinusoidal carrier.


Background: To evaluate the safety and immunogenicity of the thiomersal-free (TF) and thiomersal-containing (TC) formulations of Hepavax-Gene in healthy Vietnamese neonates. Methods: A single-blind, randomized, controlled study in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. Healthy infants, born after a normal gestational period (37–42 weeks) to hepatitis B surface antigen-negative mothers, participated in the study. Subjects were randomly allocated in a 1:1 ratio to receive either Hepavax-Gene TC or Hepavax-Gene TF using a standard 0–1–6-month administration schedule. Postvaccination blood samples were taken at months 1, 6 and 7. Parents/legal guardians recorded solicited local and systemic adverse events up to 4 weeks after each vaccination. Results: Very high proportions of subjects were seroprotected. Seroprotection rates at 1, 6 and 7 months were all above 95% using a 10 IU/L cutoff, and were mostly above 90% using a 100 IU/L cutoff. Seroprotection rates between the 2 formulations were equivalent within a 5% margin for either cutoff titer both after 6 and 7 months. There were no significant differences in the number of adverse events reported between the 2 formulations. Safety results were in line with previous reports for Hepavax-Gene. Both formulations of Hepavax-Gene were well tolerated. There were no local adverse events reported in the TF group. No serious adverse events were reported during the study. Conclusions: The thiomersal-free formulation of Hepavax-Gene was noninferior to the thiomersal-containing formulation of Hepavax-Gene in terms of immunogenicity. There was evidence that the thiomersal-free vaccine was associated with fewer local adverse events.


We report the first measurement of the deuterium abundance in cosmic rays above 10 GeV nucleon-1 of kinetic energy. The data were collected by the balloon-borne experiment CAPRICE98, which was flown on 1998 May 28-29 from Fort Sumner, New Mexico. The detector configuration included the NMSU-WiZard/CAPRICE superconducting magnet spectrometer equipped with a gas RICH detector, a silicon-tungsten calorimeter, and a time-of-flight system. By combining the information from the spectrometer and the RICH detector, it was possible to separate deuterons from protons in the kinetic energy range from 12 to 22 GeV nucleon-1. In order to estimate the proton background and the deuteron selection efficiency, we developed an empirical model for the response of the instrument, based on the data collected in this experiment. The analysis procedure is described in this paper, and the result on the absolute flux of deuterium is presented. We found that the deuterium abundance at high energy is consistent with the hypothesis that the propagation mechanism of light nuclei is the same as that of heavier secondary components.


Owing to high production costs, the reuse of film and television broadcast content in spin-off merchandise is often necessary. Games and DVDs are popular spin-off products, and when aimed at children in particular, they often include viewing galleries in which a user can browse scenes from the original broadcast. This is a highly economic form of literal content reuse, since it minimizes authoring additional resources. There is also the potential to improve the experience of users as they interact with content in viewing galleries. Ways to do so become apparent by examining the principles of both narrative and gameplay which underpin the original broadcasts and their spin-offs. Scene-Driver is a narrative-driven game architecture that enables the user, via a domino-like interface, to select and order content. This mechanism creates an engaging means for a user to interact with existing broadcast content. Three versions of the Scene-Driver approach to content reuse have been developed, each using content from a children's animated television series called Tiny Planets. Four studies to evaluate the Scene-Driver game have been done, all with positive results.


The story of a middle-aged woman's search for freedom, from Doris Lessing, winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature. Her four children have flown, her husband is otherwise occupied, and after twenty years of being a good wife and mother, Kate Brown is free for a summer of adventure. She plunges into an affair with a younger man, travelling abroad with him, and, on her return to England, meets an extraordinary young woman whose charm and freedom of spirit encourages Kate in her own liberation. Kate's new life has brought her a strange unhappiness, but as the summer months unfold, a darker, disquieting journey begins, devastating in its consequences. A novel of self-discovery that bears the hallmarks of Lessing's brilliance, honesty and power to move the reader, 'The Summer Before the Dark' has been hailed by some as Lessing's best book.


Immediately after the earthquake of May 6, 1976 in Friuli (NE Italy) about 85,000 buildings were inspected and the same number of damage-assessment forms, containing useful information, were produced. A research team from the University of Udine (Italy) collected and reorganized these sheets inputting this information in the Fr.E.D. (Friuli Earthquake Damage) database, and reconstructing connections among seismic action, typology of construction and the level of provoked damage. Generally in the field of risk assessment of major accidents, a Probit analysis is applied to derive experimental relationships useful for the prediction of the accident's consequences. In particular, in this work, seismic damage curves, extrapolated for different typologies of residential masonry buildings, are presented. A combined use of these curves with the EMS98 and GSD scales of seismic damage is proposed to predict the damage scenarios, in terms of direct and indirect consequences, that a future earthquake could produce in an inhabited area with masonry building typologies similar to those present in the Friuli area.


Abstract Dalea species are legumes that often are included in seed mixtures used for prairie restorations. Three Dalea species (D. foliosa, D. candida, and D. purpurea) exhibit two different types of seeds: plump (well-rounded larger) and dented (wrinkled smaller) seeds. Differences in germination and viability of these two types of seeds have not been reported. Our objectives were to compare seed mass, germination and viability between these types of seeds for three Illinois Dalea species. Fruits were collected for D. foliosa from 1998–2001 (Will County) and for D. candida and D. purpurea from 2001–2003 (Kankakee, Tazewell and Will Counties). For each species, seed mass, germination and viability were determined per seed type (plump or dented). Seed mass was significantly higher for plump than dented seeds for all three species. For D. foliosa and D. candida, germination of dented seed exceeded that of plump seed in some years. For D. purpurea, germination was significantly greater for plump seeds in both years. For ungerminated seeds of D. foliosa, only the plump seeds were viable, whereas for D. candida and D. purpurea, both seed types were viable. A comparison of seed germination among all three species when collected in the same county and year showed lower germination for D. foliosa than for D. candida and D. purpurea. In summary, seed types play a significant role in germination of these three species, and D. foliosa has lower germination than D. candida or D. purpurea.


STEM CELLSIn a development that could alter the ethical landscape surrounding human embryonic stem (ES) cells, scientists have found that mouse ES cells can develop into oocytes in culture dishes (see report published online this week by [ Science ][1]). It is not yet clear whether the cells can be fertilized and develop into embryos. But if so, and if human ES cells turn out to have similar powers, such cells might allow researchers to get around some of the expense and ethical questions that arise from using donated eggs for therapeutic cloning experiments.

 [1]: http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/abstract/1083452


Galvanised by the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, many jurisdictions have introduced or strengthened children's rights to participate in family law proceedings. Yet, the research and legal literature continues to show difficulties in implementation. According to the literature, decisions markers frequently view children as insufficiently competent or lacking in capacity to participate in proceedings. This article unpicks the concept of competence and capacity, both in relevant literature and reported case law from Scotland. The article ask three questions: What is meant by competence and capacity? How are they used? Do the concepts enhance or detract from children's participation rights? The article finds that competence is often casually used in the literature, alternative terms are used in reported case law (such as maturity), and judging capacity remains problematic in both law and practice. The article concludes that both concepts detract from children's participation rights, as the concepts suggest competence and capacity are inherent to the child rather than contextual and relational. If the concepts are to be used, they should be subject to more critique and precise definition. However, children's participation rights are more likely to be further by alternatives, such as fresh ideas about recognising and supporting people's legal capacity within the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.


ADVANCES in Neurotechnology are based on the recording and analysis of brain activity. BrainComputer Interfaces (BCIs) constitute a very active research area within Neurotechnology. BCIs make it possible for brain activity to be directly translated into control commands and thus enable a communication channel that is independent of muscle control. One major goal of this research is to help people who cannot communicate independently, due to neural diseases such as stroke or Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS). BCIs may help these patients with advanced paralysis regain their communication abilities by using their minds to interact with their surroundings. This thesis contributes to the developments of BCIs in three ways. Firstly, novel auditory BCI paradigms – named PASS2D and CharStreamer – are described and evaluated in online studies with healthy users. Both paradigms are based on Event Related Potentials (ERPs) and provide an intuitive and fast communication with BCI for users with impaired vision. While prior auditory BCI paradigms are rather complicated to use, the CharStreamer can be operated with instructions as simple as "please attend to the letter that you want to spell". Additionally, two offline studies investigate the impact of stimulus properties on the ERPs, and the performance and usability of a BCI system. However, the above mentioned studies also indicate that the state-of-the-art analysis pipeline for ERP-based BCI paradigms might be suboptimal, as ERPs exhibit additional label information which is not exploited in a Linear Discriminant Analysis (LDA). Therefore, the second main contribution of this thesis deals with methodological improvements which yield more accurate data analysis than state-of-the-art methods. It is shown that neuroimaging data – in particular EEG data arising from BCI paradigms – exhibit intrinsic subclass structure, which can be exploited in a meaningful way. A novel Machine Learning method – called Relevance Subclass LDA (RSLDA) – is developed and tested on multiple EEG and fMRI data sets. It is shown that RSLDA yields increased classification accuracy, as well as a better interpretation of the underlying structure in the data. Both aspects are highly favorable, suggesting that RSLDA is suitable for various classification problems within neuroimaging and beyond. Thirdly, a BCI study is conducted with severely motor-impaired individuals. It is shown that the application of modern Machine Learning methods allows to set up a highly flexible BCI system for patients with severe paralysis. This enables to achieve significant BCI control within a very small number of sessions. Moreover, this study shows that communication via BCI can be faster and more robust than communication with other assisted technology which is based on muscle activity. This shows for the first time that the neuronal signals of an attempted motor execution can be detected prior to the muscular movement of a patient.


A report of organoleptic and physico-chemical study of the water samples taken from the region nearby Anand district of central Gujarat is presented here. Twenty five water samples are subjected to analysis like odour, taste, transparency, pH, TDS, hardness, and conductivity. The calcium, magnesium, potassium and sodium count obtained from the study of these samples has given the information regarding the suitability of the water for drinking purpose. The drop in mineral contents after reverse osmosis treatment is critically examined and the pros and cons are identified. While the pros are appreciated, remedies to cons are also suggested wherever possible.


Extensive use of Heat Pumps is essential to meet European 20-20-20. Reversible air-to-water heat pump systems have to operate at high efficiency levels on a wide operating range to be an economical alternative to the traditional heating and cooling systems. This paper presents the advantages, the control and the implementation of multi vapor injected scroll compressors systems in commercial heat pump water heater application. Enhanced Vapor Injection (EVI) technology allows both performance and reliability improvement across the compressors operating area, especially at low ambient temperatures. Wet Vapor Injection allows extending compressors operating range at very low ambient and high condensing temperatures. The development of a solution integrating injection capable scroll compressors, expansion valves and wet/vapor injection control system is presented in this paper.


An evolutionary algorithm has taught itself how to play the game of checkers without using features that would normally require human expertise. Using only the raw positions of pieces on the board and the piece differential, the evolutionary program optimized artificial neural networks to evaluate alternative positions in the game. Over the course of several hundred generations, the program taught itself to play at a level that is competitive with human experts (one level below human masters). This was verified by playing the best evolved neural network against 165 human players on an Internet gaming zone. The neural network's performance earned a rating that was better than 99.61% of all registered players at the Website. Control experiments between the best evolved neural network and a program that relies on material advantage indicate the superiority of the neural network both at equal levels of look ahead and CPU time. The results suggest that the principles of Darwinian evolution may he usefully applied to solving problems that have not yet been solved by human expertise.


Abstract
The migration of Schistosoma mansoni through mouse skin and the morphology of integument and associated structures of the parasites were studied with an electron microscope. The epithelium of the schistosomule was covered by a fine granular envelope, which appeared to be an altered form of the pericercarial envelope of the free-living cercaria. Basal corpuscles with prominent flagella used for locomotion through fluids emanated from the medullary parenchyma at frequent and regular intervals. The flagellum was composed of nine radial plus two central pairs of axial filaments. The basal portion of the integument was highly invaginated. Cytoplasmic extensions were invested with a complex of microtubules that appeared to represent a cytoskeletal system. Assorted inclusions believed to represent secretions were observed in the integument, cytoplasmic extensions, "cavernous cisterns," and in areas resembling storage sites. The earliest specimens of migrating schistosomules were oblique to the surface of the skin, burrowing between the keratinous and intermediate layers. Fragments of granulated keratin were scattered in the wake of the advancing schistosomule, suggesting passage through this layer accommodated by a chemical lysis, not merely a mechanical phenomenon. Migration through the intermediate and basal layers involved injury to the desmosomes, plasmalemma, and cytoplasmic organelles. The nuclei appeared initially refractory to the effects of the schistosomule and showed degenerative changes only after the cytoplasma was almost completely effaced. After the epithelial cells were eroded, the subjacent basement membrane was exposed. This structure represented a major barrier and temporarily delayed migration of the schistosomules. Within the dermis, however, the characteristic banding pattern of individual collagen fibrils began to fade, and swelling and fragmentation were observed. This suggested specific collagenase activity.


The placentas of 1,081 infants born to Coloured primigravidas in Cape Town were examined. The values for gross and trimmed placental weight, chorionic surface area and thickness are given for each week of gestation from 32 to 41 weeks. These results indicate the pattern of placental growth and provide a basis for further studies to evaluate deviations of intra-uterine growth in this population.


Two classroom puppet shows, offered to students from the third grade through college, discuss simple aspects of a deep result in group theory: properties of the Galois group of a polynomial. In order to convey the artistic component for this account, diagrams of mathematical symmetry and algebraic structure with fanciful annotations illustrate the lessons of the shows. Readers may find resonance with these activities in their own work, or be inspired to include art in math classes.


The concentrations of potassium, sodium, and iron in human and sheep red blood cells were measured with an electron probe. Cells were prepared for analysis by spraying them on pyrolytic graphite supports. The results obtained with this spray technique agreed well with values measured on similar cells that were prepared for analysis by freezing, sectioning, and freeze-drying. Higher Na concentrations and lower K concentrations were found to be associated with lower cell volumes in human and high-potassium sheep cells. In low-potassium sheep cells the reverse was found, lower Na and higher K concentrations were associated with lower cell volumes. However, the amounts of iron were found to remain relatively constant in all human cells.


The main objective of this work is to develop a highly parameterized model of the electric cars autonomy compatible to optimization algorithms. Control models are not recommended because they require a significant simulation time, which makes their integrations to optimization approaches unprofitable. In addition, these models need the change of the regulators parameters at each iteration. In this context, the present paper describes an average mathematical modelling approach of the electric cars autonomy with reduced simulation time. This approach offers the advantage of a significant reduction in simulation time of the autonomy model in relation to autonomy model based on control models. In conclusion, the average model of the autonomy validated by comparison to a control model is highly compatible with optimization approaches.


We present two studies of navigation and object manipulation in a virtual supermarket. The first study compared a mouse and keyboard setup to a game hardware setup using a Wii Remote, Wii Balance Board and a dancemat. The second study used more game-like software interfaces for both conditions and used only the Wii Remote and Nunchuk in the game-hardware setup. The mouse setup was around 36% faster in both studies. In the first study the mouse setup was 98% more accurate; no difference in accuracy was found in the second study.


Taking into account the relevance subjective well-being has acquired in international research and political agendas in the last decade, this dissertation explores people's judgements and feelings as an essential part of our understanding of well-being in Chile. Subjective well-being is understood as the perception that people have of their own lives and the context in which they are living. That perception includes life satisfaction evaluations, positive and negative feelings and assessments about their social environment. This thesis argues that a broader assessment of well-being in Chile should include subjective well-being analyses, examining people's living conditions beyond the classical macroeconomic indicators such as the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and National Household Incomes. Several studies covering subjective well-being in Chile have demonstrated that Chilean people experience higher levels of life satisfaction and happiness, but they have neglected to explore a wider notion of subjective well-being. In contrast with international evidence focused on psychological subjective well-being and the interactions between people's perceptions and views on their societies, national research still understands subjective well-being as a sum of pleasurable emotions and feelings taking place at an individual level exclusively. Tackling those limitations, this dissertation contributes with a multidimensional subjective well-being analysis underpinned by the Positive Psychology and the Capability Approach and supported by three empirical studies. The first study examines subjective well-being in Chile accounting for the classical hedonic aspect including life satisfaction and happiness, but also involving a eudaimonic component measured by people's freedom of choice and having meaningful lives and purposes. The second study explores how Chileans' subjective well-being might be affected by their perceptions towards their society, accounting for their level of confidence in national political institutions and generalised trust. Finally, the third empirical chapter examines how well-being is impacted by three sets of capabilities related to material living conditions and promoted by Chilean social policy as key aspects for achieving Chileans' well-being. In turn, the results supported that subjective well-being is well reflected by the hedonic dimension, but also by a wider psychological well-being close to human flourishing. People's perceptions towards their social environment showed a higher effect on subjective well-being. Societal matters and social policies might positively or negatively influence people's evaluations and feelings; therefore, the notion of subjective well-being as an individual state should be reviewed, recognising that contextual aspects make a difference. Finally, some core aspects of social policy in Chile such as having access to healthcare, shelter, income and work were revealed to be crucial to achieving well-being, but are not enough for meaningful lives. Moreover, the findings also suggest that those aspects do not have the same relevance for all Chileans, indeed, according to specific demographic and socioeconomic attributes; there are some more relevant than others, supporting evidence for a more focalised national social policy in the future.


This paper addresses bending of multilayered cylindrical shells with piezoelectric properties using a semi-analytical axisymmetric shell finite element model with piezoelectric layers using the 3D linear elastic theory. In the present model, the equations of motion are derived by expanding the displacement field using the Fourier series in the circumferential direction. Thus, the 3D elasticity equations of motion are reduced to 2D equations involving circumferential harmonics. In the finite element formulation the dependent variables, electric potential and loading are expanded in truncated Fourier series. Special emphasis is given to the coupling between symmetric and anti-symmetric terms for laminated materials with piezoelectric rings. Numerical results obtained with the present model are found to be in good agreement with other finite element solutions.


Direct evidence of the effects of the localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) of gold nanoparticles (Au NPs) in TiO2 photoanodes on the performance enhancement in quasi-solid-state dye-sensitized solar cells (DSCs) is reported by comparing gold/silica core–shell nanoparticles (Au@SiO2 NPs) and hollow silica nanoparticles with the same shell size of the core–shell nanoparticles. The Au nanoparticles were shelled by a thin SiO2 layer to produce the core–shell structure, and the SiO2 hollow spheres were made by dissolving the Au cores of the gold/silica core–shell nanoparticles. Therefore, the size and morphology of the SiO2 hollow spheres were the same as the Au@SiO2 NPs. The energy conversion efficiency was improved nearly 36% upon incorporating the Au nanoparticles, mostly due to the increase in Jsc, while Voc and FF were unchanged. The improvement was mostly contributed by the LSPR of the Au@SiO2 NPs, whereas the other parameters, such as the electron lifetime and electron diffusion coefficient, were nearly unchanged. Therefore, LSPR is an effective tool in improving the photocurrent and consequently the performance of DSCs.


Various half-scale and lab-scale investigations have already shown that the disintegration of excess sludge is a possible pre-treatment to optimise anaerobic digestion. To control these results different methods of disintegration were investigated at a full-scale plant. Two stirred ball mills and a plant for oxidation with ozone were applied. A positive influence of disintegration on the anaerobic biodegradability can be established with application of a stirred ball mill. Biogas production as well as the degree of degradation were increased by about 20%. Laboratory investigations also validate that disintegration increases the polymer demand and leads to a lower solid content after dewatering. A higher pollution level of process water after dewatering even with ammonia and COD corroborates the results of the anaerobic degradation. Capital costs for the stirred ball mill, costs for energy, manpower and maintenance can be covered if the specific costs for disposal are high. If the development of costs in future and the current discussion about sludge disposal are taken into account sewage sludge disintegration can be a suitable technique to minimise costs at waste water treatment plants.


The improvement of education in developing societies might benefit from theory and research on educational effectiveness. ... The research evidence points at the importance of factors at the classroom level and the relatively small possibilities that the school and the above school level have to influence those factors at the classroom level. This is illustrated by the evaluation of the primary education quality improvement project in Indonesia, a project that aimed at the improvement of education through teacher professional development, provision of textbooks, community participation and management of schools. The results tend to support the general feeling about educational effectiveness. Conclusions stress the importance of the development of knowledge by (inter)national consultants, the content of the intervention - educational effectiveness and improvement and the adaptation of the knowledge to national and local circumstances - and procedural and technical knowledge how to design, implement and evaluate educational interventions. (DIPF/orig.)


Obtaining training data for multi-document Summarization (MDS) is time consuming and resource-intensive, so recent neural models can only be trained for limited domains. In this paper, we propose SummPip: an unsupervised method for multi-document summarization, in which we convert the original documents to a sentence graph, taking both linguistic and deep representation into account, then apply spectral clustering to obtain multiple clusters of sentences, and finally compress each cluster to generate the final summary. Experiments on Multi-News and DUC-2004 datasets show that our method is competitive to previous unsupervised methods and is even comparable to the neural supervised approaches. In addition, human evaluation shows our system produces consistent and complete summaries compared to human written ones.


In this paper, modern portfolio measures of performance are applied to the New Zealand central government's assets and liabilities. The results of this analysis show the position of the government's portfolio relative to its individual holdings. Using this analysis, alternative uses of budget surpluses are considered: reducing domestic debt, reducing foreign debt, increasing lending to students, and investing in equities. Greater investment in equities, by the government, stands out as improving the performance of the portfolio (ie lower volatility and greater returns).


Structural problems in modern societies, such as climate change and congestion problems, require 'transitions' towards a more susTWNnable fulfilment of social needs. Recent research shows that experimenting in niches is crucial for learning about social challenges and stimulating transitions. Through a series of 'transition experiments' in different niches, social innovations can be improved and eventually replace dominant practice. This article reviews the literature on transitions and strategic niche management and argues that it has a strong analytical core, but less effort has been made to develop a managerial perspective. The authors aim to contribute to such perspective by developing a 'competence kit': a learning module that provides practitioners (e.g., policy makers, companies, intermediary organisations and NGO's) that are involved in transition experiments with an analytical framework, guidelines and tools and recognisable examples. The results from the first workshop with practitioners to explore potential applications of the competence kit are promising. Copyright © 2010 Inderscience Enterprises Ltd.


Many surface proteins are thought to be anchored to the cell wall of gram-positive organisms via their C termini, while the N-terminal domains of these molecules are displayed on the bacterial surface. Cell wall anchoring of surface proteins in Staphylococcus aureus requires both an N-terminal leader peptide and a C-terminal cell wall sorting signal. By fusing the cell wall sorting of protein A to the C terminus of staphylococcal beta-lactamase, we demonstrate here that lipoproteins can also be anchored to the cell wall of S. aureus. The topology of cell wall-anchored beta-lactamase is reminiscent of that described for Braun's murein lipoprotein in that the N terminus of the polypeptide chain is membrane anchored whereas the C-terminal end is tethered to the bacterial cell wall.


BackgroundTransplant coronary artery disease (CAD) is characterized by severe myointimal proliferation causing vascular stenosis. Nontransplant vascular injury models have shown that angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors reduce myointimal proliferation and preserve lumen integrity. We examined the effect of the ACE inhibitor captopril on graft CAD in a Lewis to F344 rat heterotopic cardiac transplantation model. Methods and ResultsTwenty-five control rats (group 1) were observed without captopril administration after heterotopic cardiac transplantation, and the other 19 rats (group 2) were administered captopril (50 mg/kg per day in drinking water) after heart transplantation. Graft survival 3 months after transplantation was significantly (P<.02) higher in group 2 (18 of 19, 95%) than that in group 1 (16 of 25, 64%). Cellular rejection grades of the heart allografts were significantly higher in group 1 than those in group 2 both at 3 months (grades, 2.5±0.4 vs 1.3±0.7; P<.01) and 6 months (grades, 2.4±0.9 vs 0.8±0.5; P<.05) after transplantation. The grades of graft CAD (vascular rejection) were also significantly higher in group 1 than those in group 2 both at 3 months (grades, 2.3±0.7 vs 0.9±0.9; P<.05) and 6 months (grades, 3.0±0.9 vs 0.9±0.3; P<.01) after transplantation. The cardiac allografts in group 2 showed minimal intimal proliferation, intact elastic laminae, and reduced smooth muscle cell proliferation. ConclusionsThese results suggest that the ACE inhibitor captopril may be effective in prevention of accelerated graft CAD.


In this paper, a flexible spot welding cell - which is flexible both at fixture and work cell level is developed to handle multiple Body-In-White (BIW) part varieties. The work-cell is a human-robot cooperative cell where the operator loads/unloads the parts on one side, whereas the robot concurrently performs welding operation on other side. The fixture is made modular and is reconfigured for change in part varieties. The flexibility of proposed work cell and fixture are investigated and validated by considering two different BIW spot weld assemblies. The performance of robot, cycle time estimation for the process, checking of fixtures, collision detection between weld gun and fixtures are evaluated in virtual environment. The flexible weld cell is proved to be compatible for both the BIW assemblies considered for study. The proposed concept shorten the design & fabrication time of fixture - squeezing the investment cost, assembly cost and floor space; besides reducing the cycle time and improving the robot utilization by 30% - 40% when compared to the conventional method.


In the investigation of the universities counselor's contradiction and bepuzzlement in work and competence, this paper obtain the following results by sample survey of counselors and statistical analysis of profession and competence. Counselors own identity on their career will affect the counselor's ability. The awareness of the importance of counselor's ability is by the impact of different occupations. And the difference of this understanding in turn will affect the career development of counselors. The development law of the universities counselor's profession and competence is explored. According to the analysis and the research, a scientific evaluation system for counselor's ability is established, which is consistent with the needs of counselors, and is the key to building professionalism for the counselors.


Subjects (42 girls 17 or 18 years old) overlearned to different criteria the associations between circles and the symbolic codes that stood for the circles when their areas were assessed from memory. Consistent with the prediction from the uncertainty theory but conflicting with the prediction from the reperception hypothesis, familiarity with the referent stimuli affected the memory-based magnitude judgments. Surprisingly, familiarity also affected perceptual judgments given to the referent circle stimuli. The possibility of discrete, linguistic influences on both perceptual and memory-based processing of sensory reactions is discussed.


Activated carbon was fabricated by using phenolic resin as carbon source, tween-80 as organic template, KOH as activator. The samples were analyzed by N2 adsorption, scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Cyclic voltammetry and galvanostatic charge-discharge were used to characterize the electrochemical performance of the samples. The results showed that specific surface area of the prepared sample was 1935.99 m2/g, pore size was mainly in the range of 1.0~4.0 nm and showed typical capacitance characteristics in cyclic voltammetry. At a current density of 15mA/cm2, a specific capacitance of 246.18F/g was achieved and the resistance was 1.11Ω. Supercapacitors based on the sample had low ESR and excellent power property.


In this unique collection, the editors and authors examine, against a rich historical background, the complex contributions that women have made to composition and rhetoric in American education. Using varied and at times experimental modes of presentation to portray teachers and learners at work, including the very young and the elderly, the text provides a generous and fresh feminine perspective on the field.


A method for making inferences about the components of a generalized additive model is described. It is found that a variation of the method, based on means, performs well in simulations. Unlike many other inferential methods, switching from a mean to a 20% trimmed mean was found to offer little or no advantage in terms of both power and controlling the probability of a Type I error.


Objective: Sweat secretions lead to variations in skin conductance (SC) signal. The relatively fast variation of SC, called the phasic component, reflects sympathetic nervous system activity. The slow variation related to thermoregulation and general arousal is known as the tonic component. It is challenging to decompose the SC signal into its constituents to decipher the encoded neural information related to emotional arousal. Methods: We model the phasic component using a second-order differential equation representing the diffusion and evaporation processes of sweating. We include a sparse impulsive neural signal that stimulates the sweat glands for sweat production. We model the tonic component with several cubic B-spline functions. We formulate an optimization problem with physiological priors on system parameters, a sparsity prior on the neural stimuli, and a smoothness prior on the tonic component. Finally, we employ a generalized-cross-validation-based coordinate descent approach to balance among the smoothness of the tonic component, the sparsity of the neural stimuli, and the residual. Results: We illustrate that we can successfully recover the unknowns separating both tonic and phasic components from both experimental and simulated data (with $R^2 > 0.95$). Further, we successfully demonstrate our ability to automatically identify the sparsity level for the neural stimuli and the smoothness level for the tonic component. Conclusion: Our generalized-cross-validation-based novel method for SC signal decomposition successfully addresses previous challenges and retrieves a physiologically plausible solution. Significance: Accurate decomposition of SC could potentially improve cognitive stress tracking in patients with mental disorders.


Regions rely not only on their own efforts and characteristics but also on their capacity to attract and assimilate knowledge produced elsewhere to innovate. In other words, interactions among individuals, firms and institutions produce the transmission of knowledge in the form of knowledge spillovers. In the case of knowledge-intensive business services (KIBS), one of their main features is their capacity to adapt and disseminate tacit knowledge. Despite a variety of recent studies have contributed to improve one´s understanding of the tacit knowledge diffuser role of KIBS, there has been little investigation on the spatial effects related to the presence of KIBS. This article represents an attempt to combine in one model knowledge spillovers and availability of a group of KIBS, those called high-tech services (HTS). The objective is to shed some light on the role of both geographical and technological distance in the knowledge diffusion process and to show how HTS account for a significant part of the regional innovation process using an extended knowledge production function (KPF) framework applied to 240 European regions from 23 countries. Two major findings of this analysis are following. For one part, inter-regional knowledge flows are key elements for explaining regional innovation performance, although technological proximity is far less important than geographical proximity. For the other part, regions with a higher specialization in HTS, or proximate to regions with a higher presence of HTS, tend to innovate more, mainly because HTS can improve their capacity to transform knowledge into innovation. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5755/j01.ee.25.1.3207


ABSTRACT Our work is within the context of the ubiquitous discussion about adopting mobile devices to offer school-age students new learner-centric learning opportunities. Leveraging location-based context-aware mobile technology, based on the theoretical foundation of constructivist learning, we have developed EduVenture, an integrated mobile learning system by which teachers can facilitate students pursuing outdoor social inquiry learning in social and humanities education (namely, Liberal Studies in Hong Kong). This paper reports on our study in which we investigated 302 in-service Liberal Studies teachers' concerns about adopting EduVenture in practice with the Stages of Concern model, in terms of five categorical concerns – Evaluation, Information, Management, Consequence, and Refocusing. Results reveal that their Management concern was the most intense. The findings not only offer us critical insights into formulating more articulated interventions for better supporting teachers' adoption of EduVenture in schools, but they also provide a useful reference for researchers and practitioners who are pursuing work on integrating mobile learning into school education.


There is a wide list of sources of contamination by alpha emitters : radon, drink- and seawater, "NORMs" in coal, fertilizers, oil, gas, building material, ore mining, and artificial sources (atomic test fallout, nuclear accidents...) all able to go through the food chain (esp. meat). Waste incineration burns lots of products (eg plastics) contaminated with NORMs. Sewage also brings alpha emitters from the food chain recycled for agriculture. The IARC Group 1 list includes all alpha emitters in internal contamination. No study on chemicals and health ever confronted the results with that list. The very limited effect of chemicals can be predicted from the weakness of the chemical energy the atom can produce, approximatively one million times inferior to the energy of a single alpha decay – 3 to 7 MeVs. This is here demonstrated through an extensive study of epidemiological results, using the radioactivity source easiest to track, natural radioactivity.


In many medical procedures where accurate radiation dose measurements are needed, the variation of detector response with x-ray energy is of concern. The response of LiF:Mg,Cu,P TLDs to a range of x-ray energies was analysed in monoenergetic (synchrotron), diagnostic and therapy radiation beams with the aim of implementing this dosimeter into clinical practice where existing dosimetry techniques are limited due to lack of sensitivity or tissue equivalence (e.g. neonatal radiography, mammography and brachytherapy). LiF:Mg,Cu,P TLDs in different forms from two manufacturers (MCP-N: TLD Poland, GR200: SDDML China) were irradiated using x-ray beams covering 10 keV to 18 MVp. Dose readings were compared with an ionization chamber. The effect of different TLD types and annealing cycles on clinical utility was investigated. The measured energy response of LiF:Mg,Cu,P TLDs was fit to a simple model devised by Kron et al (1998 Phys. Med. Biol. 43 3235-59) to describe the variation of TLD response with x-ray energy. If TLDs are handled as recommended in the present paper, the energy response of LiF:Mg,Cu,P deviates by a maximum of 15% from unity and agrees with the model to within 5% or experimental uncertainty between 15 keV and 10 MeV. LiF:Mg,Cu,P TLDs of all forms have consistent and superior energy response compared to the standard material LiF:Mg,Ti and are therefore suitable for a wide range of applications in diagnostic radiology and radiotherapy.


A host-dependent conditional lethal mutant of vaccinia virus strain DIs was rescued to form plaques in a non-permissive cell line JINET co-infected with Yaba virus, a poxvirus serologically distant from the rescued virus. The efficiency of plaque formation under optimal conditions in this system was comparable to that in Vero cells which were permissive for the mutant. The plaque number of the mutant in JINET cells was influenced greatly by the multiplicity of Yaba virus, the interval between inoculations with DIs and Yaba virus and the maintenance medium for pre-infection of cells with Yaba virus. The plaque formation by DIs in JINET cells was suppressed or inhibited when the duration of pre-infection with high multiplicities of Yaba virus was prolonged. Thus, Yaba virus possessed both rescuing and inhibitory activities on DIs and the plaque number of DIs in doubly infected cells was thought to be determined by the balance between the two activities. Ultraviolet light-inactivated Yaba virus retained rescuing activity on DIs in JINET cells.


Shrinking the pixel size in advanced infrared Focal Plane Array (FPA) detectors allows either a reduction in the system size for the same number of pixels, or an increase in the pixel count for the same focal plane area. Smaller pitch and increased pixel count enables new applications such as long range surveillance, advanced Search and Track, missile warning, persistent surveillance, and infrared spectroscopy. In the last two decades SCD has followed this path of reducing the pixel size in InSb detectors for Mid-Wave Infrared (MWIR) applications, developing and manufacturing FPAs from 30μm down to 10μm pitch. The Blackbird InSb detector with 1920×1536/10μm format was introduced in 2013. Modern electro-optical systems are also designed towards a more compact, low power, and lower cost solution compared with traditional systems. In order to meet these requirements, detectors are being developed to work at Higher Operating Temperatures (HOT). In the last few years SCD has introduced 15μm pitch MWIR detectors based on the novel XBn-InAsSb technology, which enables outstanding electro-optical performance at temperatures as high as 150K. Two XBn FPA formats were developed and are now in production: 640×512/15μm and 1280×1024/15μm. Following the above trends, SCD is currently developing a 10μm XBn pixel, designed to operate at 150K with performance similar to the mature 15μm pixel. In this paper we present results from XBn FPA test devices, where the XBn array is flip-chip bonded to a Readout Integrated Circuit (ROIC) with a 10μm pitch. Test measurements in a laboratory Dewar at 150K demonstrate dark currents of 250fA, quantum efficiency greater than 70%, pixel operability of higher than 99.5%, and excellent array uniformity.


The orphanin-FQ/nociceptin (OFQ/N) receptor (previously, ORL1, LC132) has been shown to be coupled to an inwardly rectifying K+ conductance in several neuronal populations. Although OFQ/N receptor mRNA is densely expressed in the supraoptic nucleus (SON), little is known about its coupling to effector system(s). The present study examined the effects of OFQ/N on guinea pig magnocellular neurons within the SON using intracellular recording from hypothalamic slices. In the presence of tetrodotoxin, OFQ/N hyperpolarized 48 of 48 SON magnocellular neurons, 24 of which were subsequently identified by immunocytochemistry as arginine vasopressin positive (AVP+). Nineteen of the 48 SON neurons, including 7 which were AVP+, responded to OFQ/N with an outward current that reversed at the K+ equilibrium potential (EK+) and a decrease in slope resistance consistent with the activation of an inwardly rectifying K+ channel. In 4 of these neurons, BaCl2 significantly attenuated both the hyperpolarization and the decrease in slope resistance induced by OFQ/N. Twenty-one SON neurons, 13 of which were AVP+, responded to OFQ/N with an increase in slope resistance which did not reverse at EK+. An additional 5 neurons (2 were AVP+) were treated with the gap junction blocking agent carbenoxolone (CARB). CARB induced a small hyperpolarization, increased slope resistance and significantly reduced the subsequent OFQ/N-induced hyperpolarization. However, when the CARB and CARB plus OFQ/N hyperpolarizations were summed in these 5 cells, they were no different than the OFQ/N hyperpolarization alone. The effect of two putative OFQ/N receptor antagonists was also evaluated. The ĸ3-opioid antagonist naloxone benzoylhydrazone was without effect (n = 3), and the 13-amino-acid [Phe1Ψ(CH2-NH)Gly2]OFQ/N(1–13)NH2 OFQ/N analog produced a small hyperpolarization on its own in addition to partially antagonizing the effects of OFQ/N (n = 3). Taken together, these results suggest that OFQ/N acts upon SON neurons through two mechanisms, one which hyperpolarizes the neuron by activating an inwardly rectifying K+ conductance, and another which may increase membrane resistance by closing the low-resistance gap junctions.


Studies exploring the linkages between training and turnover have produced inconsistent results. That inconsistency suggests a path for further study into the variables that might be confounding this relationship. The main purpose of this research was to test the mediating effect of organisational commitment in the relationship between training and turnover intentions. A sample of 124 participants took part in this study. Training was initially found to have a significant inverse relationship with turnover intentions. However, when organisational commitment was entered into the model as a mediating variable, the effect of training on employee turnover intentions became insignificant, suggesting full mediation. The impact of training on turnover intentions is not straightforward, but works first through the effect of training on attitudes, that is on commitment. The results demonstrate the importance of increasing the commitment of employees to the organisation through training, which can help companies to reduce turnover intentions.


Seven university teaching hospitals or retina subspecialty clinics with published experience in the treatment of viral retinitis were surveyed to identify cases of acyclovir-induced nephrotoxicity. Four patients from three university teaching hospitals were identified. These four patients, who were presumed to have viral retinitis and normal renal function, developed acute oliguric renal failure between 48 and 72 hours after the initiation of high-dose (500 mg/m 2 or 10 mg/kg every eight hours) intravenous acyclovir. Peak serum creatinine concentrations ranged from 3.4 mg/dL to 7 mg/dL. In three of the four patients, renal function returned to normal between four and seven days after discontinuation of the acyclovir. Reduced dosage of either intravenous or oral acyclovir was not associated with recrudescence of the acute renal failure in any of these three patients. The authors' findings suggest that renal function should be monitored routinely in patients receiving high-dose intravenous acyclovir for the treatment of presumed viral retinitis and that reduction of the acyclovir dose frequently results in resolution of the acute renal failure despite continued treatment of the viral retinitis


The use of lean, premixed fuel and air mixtures is a common strategy to reduce NOx emissions in gas turbine combustors. However, this strategy causes an increased susceptibility to self-excited instability, which manifests as fluctuations in heat release rate, flow velocity, and combustor acoustics that oscillate in-phase in a feedback loop. This study considers the effect of the level of premixedness on the self-excited instability in a single-nozzle combustor. In this system, the fuel can be injected inside the nozzle to create a partially-premixed mixture or far upstream to create a fully-premixed mixture, varying the level of premixedness of the fuel and air entering the combustor. When global equivalence ratio is held constant, the cases with higher levels of premixing have higher instability amplitudes. High-speed CH* chemiluminescence imaging shows that the flame for these cases is more compact and the distribution of the heat release rate oscillations is more concentrated near the corner of the combustor in the outer recirculation zones. Rayleigh index images, which are a metric for the relative phase of pressure and heat release rate oscillations, suggest that vortex rollup in the corner region is primarily responsible for determining instability characteristics when premixedness is varied. This finding is further supported through analysis of local flame edge dynamics.


This paper explores the psychological facets of women empowerment. In our country various empowerment programs were carried out but the expected outcomes were seen because the psychological facet was either missing or not much importance was given to it. The specific objective of this paper is to discover the importance of psychological dimension of empowerment with special reference to working women of India. In addition to it, the paper also discusses about the various psychological bottlenecks of women psychological empowerment. In this paper, attempt is being made to throw a light on psychological well-being, role clarity, self esteem, and happiness, which is crucial to psychological empowerment of working women. The paper thus concludes with some suggestions so that proper attention must be paid to the psychological aspect which plays a very critical role in empowering the working women. This paper broadens the conceptual understanding of psychological empowerment.


: In April 2018 the European Commission presented an e-evidence package including a Proposal for a Regulation on a European Production and Preservation Orders for electronic evidence in criminal matters and a Proposal for a Directive on the appointment of legal representatives. The e-evidence package was accompanied by an impact assessment. This assessment asserts that e-evidence is requested in half of all investigations (first premise), that the mutual legal assistance treaties (MLAT) system is an inefficient channel for that purpose (second premise), and that as a result, two thirds of crimes cannot be effectively investigated (third premise). I challenge the empirical soundness of these three findings and argue that the percentages and figures used frame the problem fundamentally on technical and efficiency grounds. There is no reference to the political and economic motivations behind the promotion of a policy shift from MLAT to direct cooperation, which in my view, is the fourth and lost premise.


Background:  With the prevalence of overweight and obesity in the under 18 s on the rise, there are increasing numbers of weight management programmes offering treatment within and outside of the NHS, however only a few are formally evaluated (Aicken et al., 2008). Activ8 is a 6-week community based group intervention targeting overweight and obese children aged between 5 and 18 years. The course consists of weekly 1-h sessions that combine game based physical activities and nutritional education sessions. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of the Activ8 intervention on anthropometry and body composition.

Methods:  Routinely collected data was pooled from all children attending Activ8 during 2009. Information recorded included gender, date of birth and measurements for weight, height and body fat percentage (%BF), measured using bioelectrical impedance analysis. Patients with only a single measurement, missing birth date and attending siblings under the 91st percentile for BMI for age were excluded. The prevalence of co-morbidities such as type 2 diabetes and sleep apnoea were not assessed. Statistical analysis was carried out using SPSS comparing anthropometric and body compositional variables before and after attendance and examining the effect of age and gender on outcomes. Ethical approval was received from the Research Ethics Review Panel of the London Metropolitan University prior to the commencement of data collection.

Results:  In 2009, 15 courses were organised. Of the 133 children starting, 70 completed the course. All but two of the participants were clinically obese at the start of the course (mean BMI centile = 99.69 (0.60). Mean age was 10.62 (2.97) years. Girls represented 52.9% of the sample, whilst 86.7% were from ethnic minority backgrounds. The results indicated that at the end of the intervention average absolute BMI decreased by −0.29 kg m−2 (SD = 0.49, P = 0.000, CI = 95%), which remained significant when converted to z-scores and percentiles. Whilst %BF decreased on average by −0.79%, this did not reach statistical significance (SD = 2.43, P = 0.080, CI = 95%). Reduction in z-BMI, but not absolute BMI or BMI centile, was significantly greater (P = 0.046) in boys compared with girls. Some differences in outcomes stratified by age were also observed with the younger age groups achieving significantly greater reductions in absolute BMI (P = 0.003), z-BMI (P = 0.000) and BMI centile (P = 0.009). No significant differences were observed according to age group or gender in the reduction of %BF.

Discussion:  The results are in line with the findings of other, similar interventions (Oude Luttikhuis et al., 2009). In line with NICE guidelines, the results indicate that Activ8 appears to be successful in achieving a decrease in adiposity as indicated by BMI, at least in the short term. Whether these results are sustained should be examined in a longer-term follow up study. It is recommended that the reasons behind the relatively high drop out and low uptake rates should be investigated through the adoption of a robust evaluation process.

Conclusion:  This audit of Activ8 has shown that it compares favourably to similar interventions, however further studies are required to evaluate long term efficacy, to eliminate the possible confounding effect of factors such as ethnicity and co morbidities and to strengthen the quality of the evidence by the use of randomisation and a control group.

References:  Aicken, C., Arai, L. & Roberts, H. (2008) Schemes to Promote Healthy Weight Amongst Obese and Overweight Children in England. London: Evidence for Policy and Practice Information Centre, Social Science Research Unit, Institute of Education, University of London.

Luttikhuis, H.O. et al. (2009) Interventions for Treating Obesity in Children. Cochrane Database Syst. Rev.3, 1–57.


In this paper, based on the technical theory developed by the article contributors and the theory designed for twisting of a composite laminated rod of any cross section, a computer program for numerical stress-strain analysis of laminated composite blades in the centrifugal forces field is presented. The naturally twisted laminated composite blade is considered to be under the combined action of the tensile stresses, bending and twisting moments or under the influence of centrifugal forces. In the program, the technological problem of blade unfolding into petals is solved. These petals lie in planes which are parallel to the rod axis and appear due to the varying cross-section along the length of the blade. The investigated blade is represented with eight sections. The results of research on stress-strain behaviour of boron aluminium laminated compressor blades which operate in the fields of centrifugal forces are analysed.


We consider a cooperative device-to-device (D2D) communication system, where the D2D transmitters (DTs) act as relays to assist cellular users (CUs) in exchange for the opportunities to use the licensed spectrum. To reduce the overhead, we propose a novel two-timescale resource allocation scheme, in which the pairing between CUs and D2D pairs is decided at a long timescale and time allocation factor for CU and D2D pair is determined at a short timescale. Specifically, to characterize the long-term payoff of each potential CU-D2D pair, we investigate the optimal cooperation policy to decide the time allocation factor based on the instantaneous channel state information (CSI). We prove that the optimal policy is a threshold policy. Since CUs and D2D pairs are self-interested, they are paired only when they agree to cooperate mutually. Therefore, to study the behaviors of CUs and D2D pairs, we formulate the pairing problem as a matching game, based on the long-term payoff of each possible pairing. Furthermore, unlike most previous matching model in D2D networks, we allow transfer between CUs and D2D pairs to improve the performance. Besides, we propose an algorithm, which converges to an ε-stable matching.


This essay advances a regional critique of the Indian-centric scholarship on hijra, a publicly institutionalized subculture of people typically assigned a male gender at birth who often sacrifice their genitals in return for spiritual power. The unexamined Indian hegemony in hijra studies works to reify not only hijra but also India. Drawing on ethnographic research in Bangladesh, this essay offers preliminary reflections on the need to adopt a regional approach in place of a national frame in studies of gender and sexuality, arguing that hijra subjectivities are constituted at the interstice of intra-, inter-, and transregional comings and goings. The regional approach proposed here also allows us to take into account the intraregional and cross-scalar inequalities within the geopolitically constructed South Asia.


This chapter introduces and discusses to what extent policies focused on promoting maternal and infant health through public health services are or are not effective in the coverage area. The discussion is based on accounts of adolescents--mothers or still pregnant--and the assistance provided to them and their children through these services. The accounts, which are derived from an independent program of home visits to accompany these adolescents, are complemented by observations made by the visitation team about whether assistance provided by health services promote maternal and infant health and the rights of children and adolescents. To provide context, we present a panorama of current public-health policies and services aimed at mothers and infants in Brazil, as well as some health indicators for this population. Finally, we discuss the possibilities and challenges of promoting the healthy development of mothers and their children in these contexts.


The channel width dependence of gate delay in 0.18-/spl mu/m CMOSFET has been characterized. Substantial increase of gate delay observed in the narrow channel width region is found due to channel width independent capacitance components, which is inherent to transistors. An expression for gate delay considering the channel width independent capacitance components and gate sheet resistance is derived and compared with experimental data. The minimum gate delay is shown to result from the compromise between delay components proportional to channel width and proportional to inverse of channel width. Although the channel width independent capacitance is negligible in the wide channel width region, the gate delay of the 1-/spl mu/m channel width ring oscillator increased more than 20% compared with the 5-/spl mu/m channel width ring oscillator.


Abstract The advent of very sensitive and rapid agglutination tests has been a major advance in facilitating the rapid diagnosis of bacterial meningitis (Table 3). Future investigations will focus on the use of monoclonal antibodies that have been found to be more sensitive and specific than polyclonal antiserums. Modifications of enzyme immunoassays of bacterial antigens to improve speed and technical reliability are in progress. The day may come with the present advances in technology that within 1 hour of receiving a CSF specimen, both the identity and antimicrobial sensitivity of the invading pathogen will be known to the physician. In addition, through quantitation of bacterial antigen, a reliable prognosis as to the outcome of the treated meningitis will also be possible. Finally, the continued refinement of reliable antiserums to group B Neisseria meningitidis, as well as other bacteria responsible for meningitis, particularly in the immunocompromised host will occur.


Social studies teachers engage a vast subject area within which they can enlist a wide scope of possible curriculum and pedagogy choices. Despite the opportunity to engage students with an abundance of potentially fruitful themes, topics, and ideas, social studies teaching can be captured by the need to cover specific content in particular ways. Philosophers Gilles Deleuze and Felix Guattari (1983), in Anti-Oedipus: Capitalism and Schizophrenia, would connect such an agenda to the capitalistic machine that shrinks potential sources into what Foucault (1980) sees as tendencies to seek control rather than the openness of becoming. We contend that Deleuze and Guattari's concept of the rhizome opens new lines of flight in social studies curricula and works to revolutionize social studies as a subject area that often has been over-standardized and taught as one-size-fits-all. We also contend that rhizomic thinking can renew how students see the world and transform how they interpret events, epochs, eras, and cultures by drawing from rhizomic research's bamboo-like qualities.


Card (2) incorporating a transponder, including an electronic unit (6) and an antenna (8) electrically connected to the electronic unit, wherein the antenna is formed by an uninsulated conductor track (10), which is arranged on an insulating support (4). The track defines at least one winding (12) and has first and second ends respectively located on either side of the at least one winding. The electronic unit is arranged inside or outside the at least one winding on a side of the first end, to which it is electrically connected. The second end of the track is electrically connected to the electronic unit by an electric wire (30) fitted with an insulating sheath crossing the at least one winding, wherein the first and second end parts (32, 34) of the electric wire are at least partially stripped to assure there are electrical contacts necessary for an electrical connection between the second end of the track and the electronic unit.


Hypermutable H6 colorectal tumor cells are defective in strand-specific mismatch repair and bear defects in both alleles of the hMLH1 gene. We have purified to near homogeneity an activity from HeLa cells that complements H6 nuclear extracts to restore repair proficiency on a set of heteroduplex DNAs representing the eight base-base mismatches as well as a number of slipped-strand, insertion/deletion mispairs. This activity behaves as a single species during fractionation and copurifies with proteins of 85 and 110 kDa. Microsequence analysis demonstrated both of these proteins to be homologs of bacterial MutL, with the former corresponding to the hMLH1 product and the latter to the product of hPMS2 or a closely related gene. The 1:1 molar stoichiometry of the two polypeptides and their hydrodynamic behavior indicate formation of a heterodimer, which we have designated hMutL alpha. These observations indicate that interactions between members of the family of human MutL homologs may be restricted.


To the Editor:—Heidegger et al. are to be congratulated for a wellperformed study that validates the relative safety of their practice. The conclusions from their study, however, can be applied only narrowly. First, as they admit, it was conducted by individuals with extensive previous experience with the technique. Indeed, each had performed more than 200 previous bronchoscopic intubations. Therefore, the study addresses the safety of bronchoscopic-assisted intubation for those needing to maintain, rather than acquire, this skill. It does not serve to document the equivalent safety of this technique with direct laryngoscopy for those with limited previous experience. Second, the study was performed on the very population not requiring flexible bronchoscopic intubation—namely, those with normal airways. The study falls short of documenting the absence of vocal cord sequelae when performed in patients who may require this approach. Third, the authors have compared the vocal cord sequelae resulting from a nasally inserted 6-mm tube with an orally inserted 7or 8-mm tube. Nasal tubes assume a more vertical passage through the larynx and exert less force on the posteromedial glottis. Likewise, smaller tubes probably exert less force on the vocal folds and arytenoid cartilages. Finally, their technique involved the induction of anesthesia absent neuromuscular blockers. The national guidelines referred to, insofar as they address the anticipated difficult airway, recommend the preservation of spontaneous ventilation. This demands much less medication than Heidegger et al. administered and results in a higher probability of coughing and difficulty in advancing the tube. These may increase the probability of vocal cord sequelae. Skill at intubating with a flexible bronchoscope is essential to the safe practice of anesthesia. It is important that this skill be acquired and maintained in a manner that simultaneously meets our professional needs and protects our patients from harm. Heidegger et al. have demonstrated that their methods achieve those ends for experienced clinicians on patients with normal airways, but their findings cannot be extrapolated to dissimilar practices.


To investigate the regulation of flavin-containing monooxygenase 5 (FM05) by xenobiotics in mouse liver, a method for isolating primary mouse hepatocytes was designed. Fmo5 expression was up-regulated by hormones (estradiol, progesterone), dietary supplements (lipoic acid) and other xenobiotics (rifampicin, ethanol) in primary mouse hepatocytes and HepG2 cells. Gene reporter assays showed that Fmo5 expression in HepG2 cells is mediated by pregnane-x-receptor (PXR) ligands. To uncover more about the endogenous role of FMOs, two knockout mouse models, Fmol, 2, 4 (-/-) and Fmo5 (-/-), were studied. Fmol, 2, 4 (-/-) males weighed less and had less gonadal fat than their wild-type counterparts. The bodyweight of the Fmol, 2, 4 (-/-) females was greater than that of the wild-type females. Histology shows that the adipocytes in the Fmol, 2, 4 (-/-) male mice are 50% smaller than wild-type male adipocytes, and the liver histology shows the Fmol, 2, 4 (-/-) males had less fat in the liver compared to wild-type males. Fmol, 2, 4 (-/-) mice had higher plasma total-, HDL- and LDL-cholesterol than the wild-type mice. On a high-fat diet, the male Fmol, 2, 4 (-/- ) mice gain weight and gonadal fat weight. The Fmo5 (-/-) mice have a similar bodyweight and fat weight to the wild-type animals, but Fmo5 (-/-) mice have lower plasma HDL cholesterol and lower plasma iron than WT mice. The results therefore show that a deficiency in FMOs interferes with endogenous fat metabolism. Lipoic acid is an endogenous substrate of FMOl, so to see if the inability to metabolise lipoic acid is the reason for the lower bodyweight and fat weight in Fmol, 2, 4 (-/-) males, the mice were fed a 0.1% lipoic acid diet. All knock-out and wild-type mice lose a similar amount of weight. This implies that the metabolism of lipoic acid is not the fundamental endogenous role of FMOs.


Bolavoli is one of the sports that is included in the physical matter of physical education. Many benefits that can be used to improve the body's ability, physiological, health and physical kemampun. The benefits for the spiritual that is psychological, personality and character will grow in the direction appropriate with the pressure of society. Based on the results of the review and information obtained from the sports education and sports teacher of Cadas Ngampar, the problems developed in MI Cadas Ngampar are: physical and health education teachers who only watch the scope of learning as they usually do, learning bolavoli always use bolavoli the original and it is used, the learners who feel the pain while serving bottom. There are words that can be used to do what can be done by using functions that can improve your ability in a fourth-grade bolavoli game MICADAS Ngampar,
The research method that will be carried out is quantitative experimental method. Based on the results of data processing, researchers conducted experiments on the effort to increase the ability to use plastic ball in the game bolavoli, there are findings that exercise with the ball gives a significant effect on the game bolavoli. This can be argued with data showing the highest group average before being given as early as 9.3, standard deviation 0.96, and average in the final test of 16.7, standard deviation 1.87. While in the control group the average of the initial test was 9.3, standard deviation 2.41, and the mean final test was 12.8, standard deviation 2.04.
From the results of the data it can be concluded that the practice of service using the ball in fourth grade students MI Cadas Ngampar give a significant influence on the game bolavoli, and the experimental group more significant influence than the control group.


Purpose

The purpose of this study is to examine the factors that are likely to influence the loyalty behavior of first-time and repeat visitors to all-inclusive resorts.

Design/methodology/approach

Data were collected from first-time and repeat Russian tourists to Antalya, Turkey, utilizing a self-administered survey questionnaire. A total of 339 usable responses were obtained. A structural equation modeling approach was used to test the proposed model on the first-time and repeat visitors' samples.

Findings

This study suggests that the effects of cognitive evaluation of the resort (service quality) channel through affective evaluation of the visitor experience (visitor satisfaction) before bolstering visitor loyalty. This study also shows that differences exist between the two groups of visitors – first time visitors value cognitive attributes more and rely more on cognitive evaluation.

Practical implications

Destination marketers and managers need to promote all aspects and attributes of a destination among all-inclusive vacationers by creating innovative and comprehensive marketing campaign. Due to the differences between first-time and repeat visitors, it is critical to differentiate the two groups in designing targeted marketing campaign and providing targeted service/product.

Originality value

All-inclusive resorts have attained substantial global presence and popularity over the past 40 years. However, guest satisfaction/loyalty studies in this particular context have not often been approached with the kind of statistical breadth and rigor presented herein. This study adds new information for the understanding of and marketing to the all-inclusive resort guest.


Single-molecule measurements of protein dynamics help unveil the complex conformational changes and transitions that occur during ligand binding and catalytic processes. Using high-resolution single-molecule nanocircuit techniques, we have investigated differences in the conformational dynamics and transitions of lysozyme interacting with three ligands: peptidoglycan substrate, substrate-based chitin analogue, and indole derivative inhibitors. While processing peptidoglycan, lysozyme followed one of the two mechanistic pathways for the hydrolysis of the glycosidic bonds: a concerted mechanism inducing direct conformational changes from open to fully closed conformations or a nonconcerted mechanism involving transient pauses in intermediate conformations between the open and closed conformations. In the presence of either chitin or an indole inhibitor, lysozyme was unable to access the fully closed conformation where catalysis occurs. Instead, lysozymes' conformational closures terminated at slightly closed, "excited" conformations that were approximately one-quarter of the full hinge-bending range. With the indole inhibitor, lysozyme reached this excited conformation in a single step without any evidence of rate-liming intermediates, but the same conformational motions with chitin involved three hidden, intermediate processes and features similar to the nonconcerted peptidoglycan mechanism. The similarities suggest that these hidden processes involve attempts to accommodate imperfectly aligned polysaccharides in the active site. The results provide a detailed glimpse of the enzyme-ligand interplay at the crux of molecular recognition, enzyme specificity, and catalysis.


Sustainable business practices are long cherished system that business organizations are expected to exercise to sustain their businesses. The Ready-made Garments industries (RMG) in Bangladesh are now facing this crucial question to adopt a sustainable system in operating their businesses. The more the industry experiences rapid growth, the higher the demand for the implementation of sustainability. Though the experienced and old garments are seen quite well in maintaining this sustainability, the newly established RMG factories are blamed for not having sustainable business procedure, especially economic sustainability which relates to labor standards and labor rights. Despite continuous tremendous pressure from government and international communities, these new establishments often emphasize on profit maximization rather good labor practices. This article examines the business sustainability issues on economy aspects in new generation RMG factories in Bangladesh. This economic sustainability includes the functional strategies regulating the human resources, labor rights and labor conditions of a factory. To study these issues, this research follows the mixed-method research approaches to get better findings of the sampled factories. The study is based on findings of factory level investigation and analysis of in-depth semi structured interviews and focus group discussions (FGD). The results of factory visits show that most of the investigated factories are lack of implementation of economic sustainability. The findings from interviews and FGD revealed underlying causes of this lack of implementation.


A study was conducted in the high and low rainfall zones in the banana-based farming system in Bukoba district, Tanzania, to explore the variability among household characteristics and farm productivity. Approaches used included a participatory rural appraisal, rapid system characterization, surveys and detailed farm monitoring in two villages, one from each zone in 2005 through 2006. Based on a wealth-ranking, four household resource groups with decreasing wealth were identified: Resource group 1 > Resource group 2 > Resource group 3 > Resource group 4, distinguished by domestic assets, livestock ownership and labour relations. Through principal component analysis using additional variables defined by research team, three Functional Resource Groups from among the four Resource groups at each rainfall zone were identified distinguished by: soil fertility management, food security and farm and off-farm income as important indicators of variability. Further detailed monitoring over 14 months (from March, 2006 through May, 2007) in at least three households from each functional resource group showed that N, P and K balances among land use types and farms were driven by levels of organic inputs used and were also related to wealth and dependence on off-farm activities. However, all households were net food buyers, implying food insecurity. In addition, off-farm activities and off-farm income were important livelihood survival strategies


As the Millennium Development Goal (MDG) of halving the number of people without access to sustainable source of drinking water was reportedly reached in 2012 the long term sustainability of these water supplies can be questioned. This paper investigates the success and failure of water supply systems of the district of Tonkolili, Sierra Leone. The primary focus of this research is on rural hand-dug wells that have been provided by Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs). To fully appreciate the current condition of the water supply systems a grading system, based on quantitative measurements, was developed. This system allowed comparisons between NGO provided water points and highlighted current successes and failures of the water supplies. The grading system suggests that the water supply sector in Tonkolili is in an exceptionally poor condition. This undermines the valuation of the success in water supply coverage statistics monitored by the Millennium Development Goals in Sierra Leone.


OBJECTIVE
The plain abdominal x-ray is still the first imaging modality in diagnosis of acute abdomen. The aim of this study was to find the value of plain abdominal x-ray in the management of abdominal emergencies seen in Lagos university teaching hospital.

BACKGROUND
The accurate diagnosis of the cause of acute abdominal pain is one of the most challenging undertakings in emergency medicine. This is due to overlapping of clinical presentation and non-specific findings of physical and even laboratory data of the multifarious causes. Plain abdominal radiography is one investigation that can be obtained readily and within a short period of time to help the physician arrive at a correct diagnosis The relevance of plain abdominal radiography was therefore evaluated in the management of abdominal emergencies seen in Lagos over a 12 month period (April 2002 to March 2003).

METHOD
A prospective study of 100 consecutively presenting patients with acute abdominal conditions treated by the general surgical unit of Lagos University Teaching Hospital was undertaken. All patients had supine and erect abdominal x-ray before any therapeutic intervention was undertaken. The diagnostic features of the plain films were compared with final diagnosis to determine the usefulness of the plain x-ray

RESULTS
There were 54 males and 46 females (M:F 1.2:1). Twenty-four percent of the patients had intestinal obstruction, 20% perforated typhoid enteritis; gunshot injuries and generalized peritonitis each occurred in 13%, blunt abdominal trauma in 12%, while 8% and 10% had acute appendicitis and perforated peptic ulcer disease respectively. Of 100 patients studied, 54% had plain abdominal radiographs that showed positive diagnostic features. Plain abdominal radiograph showed high sensitivity in patients with intestinal obstruction 100% and perforated peptic ulcer 90% but was less sensitive in patients with perforated typhoid, acute appendicitis, and blunt abdominal trauma and generalized peritonitis.

CONCLUSION
In conclusion, this study shows that abdominal radiographs are useful when appropriate criteria are followed in requesting for the investigation. The investigation should be requested for all patients with moderate to severe abdominal tenderness, those with gunshot injuries, blunt abdominal trauma and generalized peritonitis. It should be an integral part of management of patients with clinical suspicion of bowel obstruction and gastrointestinal perforation.


Summary: The GPS data is obtained by the target and host aircrafts. The data obtained from the GPS is in the NEMA format. Each target aircraft will pass the parameters such as longitude, latitude, altitude, speed and range to the Host. The HOST aircraft stores the information and uses the same to display on the map. To improve the accuracy and to obtain the multiple flying targets position relative/absolute to the HOST aircraft during sortie, a perfect and efficient multiple tracking systems like RADAR is available. The RADAR data is fine tuned to better the performance in tracking the multiple TARGETs accurately. To do so the navigation parameters of both HOST and TARGET aircrafts received through GPS receivers and RADAR is recorded in separate files on-line, in an industrial computer onboard HOST aircraft during sorties and use the same data in offline for analyzing. MIL-STD 1553B bus is used to get data from multiple target system in Asynchronous mode. All the information obtained by the RADAR is stored in a file. Each and every line of the file is read by the system and after parsing the entire file for 4-R-1-1 and 4-R-2-30 messages all the valid data is written to another file. This file contains all the valid RADAR data. Now this file is parsed line by line to get the time tag information and GPS Host and Target file is opened and checked for the corresponding time tag and a comparison is made if they match then the other information such as speed, azimuth, range etc., are extracted and displayed on the GUI with aircraft positions. If there is no corresponding GPS data for the time tag extracted by the RADAR, then interpolation of the GPS data for the corresponding RADAR time tag data is carried out and simultaneously the user will be shown navigation specific messages and data on the Graph.


This article sought to determine how the foundations of Kantian ethics can support the construction of a code of ethics for a specific company. This was a qualitative research based on interviews of 138 collaborators and which analyzed the process followed in a company to design their code of ethics. Within this process the principle of collaborator autonomy was respected, both in the generation and appropriation of ethical criteria. Under this perspective, the code of ethics manages to clearly and precisely establish the organization's ought be by following the rationality criteria and universalization of norms, as well as respect to human dignity. Due to this, the code of ethics responds to the problems every collaborator faces throughout organizational life, as well as ensures its legitimacy as a pillar of entrepreneurial ethics.


District cooling (DC) continues to proliferate due to increasing global cooling demands and economies of scale benefits; however, most district-scale modeling has focused on heating, and to the best of our knowledge, researchers have yet to model cooling plants featuring waterside economizers in DC settings. With the Modelica Buildings library expanding its capabilities to district scale, this study is one of the first to demonstrate how the open-source models can be used for detailed energy and control analysis of a DC plant. For a real-world case study, we developed and calibrated high-fidelity models for a DC system central plant at a college campus in Colorado, USA, and we optimized the condenser water supply temperature (CWST) setpoint for a DC plant across multiple time horizons using the Optimization library in Dymola. Results indicate that annual CWST optimization saves 4.7% annual plant energy, with less than 1% of additional energy savings gained through daily optimization. This confirms previous studies' findings that high frequency CWST optimizations are not necessary for the studied system.


Each module handles one phase of the running stride. A self-organizing fuzzy takeoff controller controls the size and angular momentum of the stride. A neural network based ballistic controller controls the movement of the airborne leg; and a similar landing controller repositions the leg for takeoff of the next stride.


This article presents a comprehensive history and analysis of work injury compensation in the U.S. from the time of the initial adoption of workers' compensation laws in the early 20th century to 2017. Workers' compensation is almost entirely the domain of state legislatures and state courts without any federal oversight or standards, making it particularly difficult to study. In this article, Part I (the Introduction) situates workers' compensation within the social benefit system of the U.S. Part II provides a history of the evolution of the laws, describing three periods: an early period, during which state variation and inadequacy of benefits were commonplace; a turn toward concern about adequacy of benefits and reforms in state legislatures after the 1972 report of the National Commission on State Workmen's Compensation Laws noted the inadequacy and inequity of the state systems; and retrenchment, starting in the early 1990s, as employers and insurers successfully have fought to reduce the growing costs of the program by limiting access to benefits. Part II also briefly describes recently successful litigation that relies on state constitutions to challenge the inadequacies of the state programs. Part III focuses on the key contextual forces influencing workers' compensation, noting the ways in which the nature and regulation of work, conceptions of safety, the surrounding social safety net and the health care system have affected the evolution and functioning of the state workers' compensation systems. This section concludes with a discussion of the way in which changes in political equilibrium play out in these programs. Part IV provides a review of the current status of workers' compensation in the U.S., including the adequacy of benefits and the dueling views that underlie some of the political battles in the states. It summarizes evidence that suggests that many injured workers never receive compensation, and explores the problems caused by inconsistent narratives regarding the purpose of the program. Finally, Part V addresses the future of workers' compensation in the U.S.


The current dynamics of business systems require new ways of conceiving the role of single entities. On this basis, a complex of interactions between the company and the reference context must be activated to guarantee survival dynamics. From these considerations re-emerge the ideas of Peccei (2013) and King (2013) that recognise in the systemic thought the foundations for a sustainable society. The present study derives from these considerations, and aims at contributing to the advancement of the knowledge necessary to overcome the challenges in the sustainability field. The methodological approach, albeit heuristic, can be traced back to the positive scientific and constructivist method. The results of the study showed the prevalence of qualitative and subjective techniques, accompanied by the so-called inductive method, testifying to the intense interaction between the scholar and the object investigated. With regard to future research, it would be interesting to construct a flexible, scalable and extensible model to recover both a database and an ontology for the theoretical framework.


Local current transport across graphene/4H-SiC was studied with nanometric scale lateral resolution by Scanning Current Spectroscopy on both graphene grown epitaxially on 4H-SiC(0001) (EG-SiC) and graphene exfoliated from highly oriented pyrolitic graphite and deposited on 4H-SiC(0001) (DG-SiC). The study revealed that the Schottky barrier height (SBH) of EG/4H-SiC(0001) is lowered by ~0.49eV. This is explained in terms of Fermi-level pinning above the Dirac point in EG due to the presence of positively charged states at the interface between Si face of 4H-SiC and carbon-rich buffer layer. Furthermore, Scanning Capacitance Spectroscopy based method allowed evaluating local electron mean free path (lgr) in graphene. lgr in EG-SiC was observed to be, on average, ~0.4 times that in DG-SiC and exhibited large point-to-point variations due to presence of laterally homogeneous positively charged buffer layer at the interface. However, lgr in graphene on SiC was observed to be larger than on standard SiO2 samples (DG-SiO2), which is explained by better dielectric screening of charged impurities and lower surface polar phonon scattering at the graphene/substrate interface.