Background : As one of the main pillars of health assessment of diverse societies and influenced by the quality of life, Community Mental Health has become very important for the groups of students due to the modern highly stressful education period. Aim: The purpose of this research was to examine the relationship between the demographic variables and the general health and quality of life among the male and female students in the Islamic Azad University of Sabzevar in 2013. Subjects and Methods : This analytical-descriptive study was conducted on a sample of 209 students who were selected using stratified sampling method. To collect the data, the following questionnaires were used: demographic questionnaire, World Health Organization's Quality of Life-BREF (WHOQOL-BREF) and 28-item General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-28). Data analysis was done using SPSS 22 Software and descriptive and inferential statistics. Results : On the basis of the findings of the study, the average overall quality of life of the female students was lower than the male students (less than male students 8.32±1.91 vs. 8.91±1.62). Alike, the average overall general health of the female students was poorer when compared to the male ones (32.64±12.91 vs. 16.41±7.63). The students with depression disorder (r=-0.178, p=0.01) and low general health(r=-0.152, p=0.029) reported lower quality of life on mental health domain. Conclusion : Quality of life and general health play a prominent role in ensuring the vitality and efficiency of the whole community especially the youth. As a result, recognition of the factors effective in reducing the welfare of this age group and adoption of preventive measures so as to resolve their probable disorders is of particular importance. Keywords : Quality of life, general health, education period, disorders


The diet of the long-nosed potoroo, Potorous tridactylus, in south-western Victoria, was investigated by the microscopical identification of faecal remains. P. tridactylus is omnivorous: the main component of the diet was fungi, and other important items included hard-bodied arthropods, vascular plant tissues, seeds and fleshy fruits. There was a seasonal switch in the relative proportions of the main dietary components between the autumn-winter and spring-summer periods of the year. During autumn and winter, the main components were fungi and seeds. In spring and summer, fewer fungi were eaten and the proportions of arthropods, plant tissues, fleshy fruit and flowers in the diet increased. Identification of fungal spores revealed the presence of at least 50 species in the diet, most of which have a hypogeal fruiting habit. Hypogeal fungi form ectotrophic mycorrhizal associations with forest trees and are important in the health and productivity of forests. They lack active mechanisms for spore dispersal and are dependent upon mycophagous animals. The role of mycophagous small mammals, such as P. tridactylus, in the health of forest ecosystems may be more important than previously recognised.


Compared to the common hot runner molding,the valve gate control sequential molding has the advantages in the control of (injection and packing)pressure and weld lines,etc.the method is very suitable for large sized thin wall parts. In this paper,the door-panel of a washing machine was taken for an example, the simulation of the both process above mentioned were carried out by computer-aided engineering. According to the results of the study,the main achievements are as follows:Although the equipment cost of the valve gate control sequential molding was increased,the part quality (especially the quantity of weld 1ines and air traps) is improved greatly,at the same time,the clamping force of the injection machine are dropped.


We study how people terminate their search for information when making decisions in a changing environment. In 3 experiments, differing in the cost of search, participants made a sequence of 2-alternative decisions, based on the information provided by binary cues they could search. Whether limited or extensive search was required to maintain accurate decisions changed across the course of the experiment, but was not indicated to participants. We find large individual differences but that, in general, the extent of search is changed in response to environmental change, and is not necessarily triggered by a reduction in accuracy. We then examine the ability of 4 models to account for individual participant behavior, using a generalization measure that tests model predictions. Two of the models use reinforcement learning, and differ in whether they use error or both error and effort signals to control how many cues are searched. The other 2 models use sequential sampling processes, and differ in the regulatory mechanisms they use to adjust the decision thresholds that control the extent of search. We find that error-based reinforcement learning is usually an inadequate account of behavior, especially when search is costly. We also find evidence in the model predictions for the use of confidence as a regulatory variable. This provides an alternative theoretical approach to balancing error and effort, and highlights the possibility of hierarchical regulatory mechanisms that lead to delayed and abrupt changes in the extent of search.


Nonviolent resistance is considered one of the most effective methods of bringing about political change. Yet empirical research on how nonviolent campaigns emerge is limited. This article considers two sets of considerations which influence the strategic decision of a campaign to use nonviolent or violent methods: interactions with the state and campaign resources. Campaigns are concerned about the risk of repression from the state and are more likely to choose nonviolence when they believe the state will accommodate their demands. Open political competition signals likely accommodation. Campaigns' nonviolent tactics are more effective when they possess social movement resources, though high levels of movement resources threaten the state. The argument implies political competition and social movement resources are associated with a higher likelihood of a campaign using nonviolence, though the relationship with social movement resources diminishes at high levels. Implications of the argument are tested on a sample of contentious campaigns from 1945 to 2006. Political competition and social movement resources are related as expected to the use of nonviolence. However, an extension shows these factors do not account for the advantage of nonviolent methods, particularly in triggering backlash protests, once a campaign is under way. An original ordinal measurement strategy for campaign methods suggests the intensity of violence and nonviolence are likewise unrelated to competition and resources.


With dandruff being a common everyday problem and the market loaded with antidandruff shampoos and such skin care products, it is obvious to assume resourceful research into this area would be both objective to present scenario and lucrative potentially. Nanoparticles are frequently in use in some very powerful antimicrobial, antifungal cosmetics nowadays especially silver. However most metallic nanoparticles are harsh and often toxic, and concern remains on their ill effects. Sulphur, certified as biocompatible to eukaryotes and as soil nutrient is often used in medicine. Though sulphur nanoparticles are not much worked with it still is a strong antifungal agent and have been used in macro amount in shampoos. Our work concentrates on synthesizing sulphur nanoparticles in a surfactant system, insitu, such that it could possibly be used in curbing dandruff naturally. A surfactant has some natural antimicrobial property and therefore such combination could be a potential antidandruff hair washing formulation. To check its antidandruff activity, experiments have been conducted on Malassezia furfur the causal organism for seborrheaic dermatitis or dandruff, which have been cultured for such study in our lab. Spectroscopy based microbial growth kinetics and colony inhibition studies have been performed to show that nanoparticles of sulphur reduce proliferation of Malassezia yeast colonies abundantly, and cause cellular damage which inhibit its growth and viability considerably.


The development and size of hypopharyngeal glands (HPGs) in workers sampled from the nurse colony was compared to workers from the control queen-right honeybee colony. The diameter of the acini in workers (age 1 to 30 days) from the nurse colony ranged from 109.2 to 180.9 μm, and in workers of the same age from the control colony was between 100.8 and 158.2 μm. We found that nurses from the nurse (cell builders) colonies aged 15 to 27 days had significantly larger acinar diameter (p<0.0001) than the workers in the control colonies of the same age. We described the morphological and histological characteristics of the HPGs in nurse workers aged 1 to 27 days and found that HPGs secretion in brood feeding nurses was extended in comparison to workers from the control colony. Moreover, we described the HPGs in a worker pupa before the emergence and in winter bees from the control colony. Results show that HPGs in worker pupae consist of clusters of irregularly shaped secretory acini. Cell cytoplasm is not structured and is homogeneous, nuclei are dense and oval in shape. Winter bees had hypertrophied HPGs and cells containing numerous vesicles accumulating secretion. We found larger acini with a dense structure and milky-white colour. Physiological function of the glands and age related tasks of nurse worker bees is also discussed.


Safety instrumented systems (SISs) are frequently used in the process industry to detect the undesired or dangerous process conditions and mitigate the harm to humans, environment, and materials. This thesis attempts to address some unclear points of SISs used in industries. Safety integrity level (SIL) follow-up is such a point. The concepts associated with SIS/SIL have been thoroughly defined and clarified. IEC 61508 and IEC 61511 are two standards for SIS. In these standards, the functional requirements and SIL requirements are decisive measures for a complete safety instrumented function (SIF). Both qualitative and quantitative parts of these requirements are presented. SIL follow-up is activities associated with SIS/SIF in the operational phases to ensure that experienced performance (e.g. PFD) of each SIF continues to meet the SIL requirements. Standards and regulations related to SIL follow-up have also been presented. Desired (or required) SIL, predicted SIL, actual (or experienced) SIL are three terms related to SIL. Desired SIL is the target that SIS users want the SIS to achieve. Predicted SIL is a forecasting about the SIL performance will perform. Actual SIL is the SIL performance the users actually get when the specific SIS is already utilized in the actual process. The goal for SIL follow-up is to let the actual SIL performance better than the SIL performance that predicted by engineers. Different approaches (includes CCPS approach, OLF 070 appendix F approach, DNV procedure, and PDS approach) on SIL follow-up found in literature have been presented. The difference between these four approaches has been discussed with different stages in operational phase separately. Four SIL follow-up methods have been applied on a case study based on sensor part of a high integrity pressure protection system (HIPPS). The PFD is a recognized measure for the SIL performance in the operational phase. It is not reasonable to change the design to make the experienced PFD in accordance with the predicted PFD. Except for CCPS approach; the other three approaches attempt to achieve acceptable PFD by updating the functional test interval. Conclusions are drawn, based on the numerical results. In addition, for the PDS approach to become more complete, the following suggestions are made:  Improve data collection mechanisms i.e. discuss how to developing performance indicators and list the suggested indicators  Improve data quality i.e. data availability and data accuracy  Conduct data analysis not only by comparing the values, but also can have some other aspects such as tread analysis Finally, this thesis advances two proposals on future work. Continuous improvement is always necessary to perfect the SIL follow-up procedure.


Cultivated apple (Malus × domestica Borkh.) is one of the most important fruit crops in temperate regions, and has great economic and cultural value. The apple genome is highly heterozygous and has undergone a recent duplication which, combined with a rapid linkage disequilibrium decay, makes it difficult to perform genome-wide association (GWA) studies. Single nucleotide polymorphism arrays offer highly multiplexed assays at a relatively low cost per data point and can be a valid tool for the identification of the markers associated with traits of interest. Here, we describe the development and validation of a 487K SNP Affymetrix Axiom(®) genotyping array for apple and discuss its potential applications. The array has been built from the high-depth resequencing of 63 different cultivars covering most of the genetic diversity in cultivated apple. The SNPs were chosen by applying a focal points approach to enrich genic regions, but also to reach a uniform coverage of non-genic regions. A total of 1324 apple accessions, including the 92 progenies of two mapping populations, have been genotyped with the Axiom(®) Apple480K to assess the effectiveness of the array. A large majority of SNPs (359 994 or 74%) fell in the stringent class of poly high resolution polymorphisms. We also devised a filtering procedure to identify a subset of 275K very robust markers that can be safely used for germplasm surveys in apple. The Axiom(®) Apple480K has now been commercially released both for public and proprietary use and will likely be a reference tool for GWA studies in apple.


This paper describes a fully integrated low-jitter CMOS phase-locked loop and clock buffer for low-power digital systems with a wide range of operating frequencies. The design uses static CMOS inverters as a building block of the voltage-controlled oscillator and clock buffering. To reduce supply-induced jitter, programmable circuits with opposite sensitivity compensate for the delay variations. Both elements have supply-induced delay sensitivity of /spl les/0.1%-delay/1%-V/sub DD/. The design is fabricated in 0.25-/spl mu/m CMOS technology and consumes 10mW from a 2.5-V supply. The experimental results verify that the proposed methods significantly improve the jitter.


Bacillus amyloliquefaciens NX-2S154 is a promising poly(γ-glutamic acid) (γ-PGA) producing strain discovered in previous studies. However, the wild-type strain contains an unknown endogenous plasmid, p2Sip, which causes low transformation efficiency and instability of exogenous plasmids. In our study, p2Sip is 5622 bp with 41% G+C content and contains four putative open reading frames (ORFs), including genes repB, hsp, and mobB and γ-PGA-synthesis regulator, pgsR. Elimination of p2Sip from strain NX-2S154 delayed γ-PGA secretion and decreased production of γ-PGA by 18.1%. Integration of a pgsR expression element into the genomic BamHI locus using marker-free manipulation based on pheS* increased the γ-PGA titer by 8%. pgsR overexpression upregulated the expression of γ-PGA synthase pgsB, regulator degQ, and glutamic acid synthase gltA, thus increasing the γ-PGA production in B. amyloliquefaciens NB. Our results indicated that pgsR from p2Sip plays an important regulatory role in γ-PGA synthesis in B. amyloliquefaciens.


Purpose: To evaluate the results of operating an in-hospital coronavirus disease 2019 screening station on an outpatient basis and to identify the effectiveness and necessity of such a screening station. Patients and Methods: This cross-sectional study included 1345 individuals who were tested for COVID-19 using real-time reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) at an in-hospital screening station on an outpatient basis. The subjects were healthcare workers (HCWs) with suspected COVID-19 symptoms or exposure to patients with confirmed COVID-19, caregivers at the hospital for complete enumeration, and patients who were scheduled to be admitted to a nonrestricted area in the hospital or to visit for outpatient treatment, but had suspected COVID-19 symptoms. The subjects were divided and compared as follows: HCW versus non-HCW groups and RT-PCR positive versus negative groups. Results: A total of 140 had symptoms, 291 wanted to be tested, and 664 were asymptomatic but were screened. Seven subjects had positive results for COVID-19. Compared with the non-HCWs, the HCWs were younger and had a lower rate of underlying medical conditions. In addition, there were more women, individuals with exposure to confirmed cases, and individuals with symptoms or those who just wanted to be tested. The frequency of all symptoms was high among the HCWs. The results of the logistic regression analysis showed that the HCWs were significantly associated with the presence of symptoms, having an odds ratio of 23.317 (confidence interval, 15.142–35.907L; P < 0.001). The positive group had a high rate of exposure to patients with confirmed COVID-19 and had more subjects with symptoms or those who wanted to be tested. Conclusion: In-hospital screening stations are a relatively safe way to protect and support HCWs and to reduce and manage the spread of infection within the hospital effectively during an outbreak in the community.


Three-dimensional (3D) in vitro skin models have been widely used for cosmeceutical and pharmaceutical applications aiming to reduce animal use in experiment. This study investigate capability of ovine tendon collagen type I (OTC-I) sponge suitable platform for a 3D in vitro skin model using co-cultured skin cells (CC) containing human epidermal keratinocytes (HEK) and human dermal fibroblasts (HDF) under submerged (SM) and air-liquid interface (ALI) conditions. Briefly, the extracted OTC-I was freeze-dried and crosslinked with genipin (OTC-I_GNP) and carbodiimide (OTC-I_EDC). The gross appearance, physico-chemical characteristics, biocompatibility and growth profile of seeded skin cells were assessed. The light brown and white appearance for the OTC-I_GNP scaffold and other groups were observed, respectively. The OTC-I_GNP scaffold demonstrated the highest swelling ratio (~1885%) and water uptake (94.96 ± 0.14%). The Fourier transformation infrared demonstrated amide A, B and I, II and III which represent collagen type I. The microstructure of all fabricated sponges presented a similar surface roughness with the presence of visible collagen fibers and a heterogenous porous structure. The OTC-I_EDC scaffold was more toxic and showed the lowest cell attachment and proliferation as compared to other groups. The micrographic evaluation revealed that CC potentially formed the epidermal- and dermal-like layers in both SM and ALI that prominently observed with OTC-I_GNP compared to others. In conclusion, these results suggest that OTC_GNP could be used as a 3D in vitro skin model under ALI microenvironment.


A biophysically based multilayer continuum model of the facial soft tissue composite has been developed for simulating wrinkle formation. The deformed state of the soft tissue block was determined by solving large deformation mechanics equations using the Galerkin finite element method. The proposed soft tissue model is composed of four layers with distinct mechanical properties. These include stratum corneum, epidermal-dermal layer (living epidermis and dermis), subcutaneous tissue and the underlying muscle. All the layers were treated as non-linear, isotropic Mooney Rivlin materials. Contraction of muscle fibres was approximated using a steady-state relationship between the fibre extension ratio, intracellular calcium concentration and active stress in the fibre direction. Several variations of the model parameters (stiffness and thickness of epidermal-dermal layer, thickness of subcutaneous tissue layer) have been considered. Keywords—Bio-physically based, soft tissue mechanics, facial tissue composite, wrinkling.


The theme of this research work is citizen involvement in public policy.Participation is both a subject of the research and the perspective through which a range of different policy areas are approached.
These include land-use planning, social services, community care, poverty, child care and the future of welfare. Participation is also central to the chosen research methodology and methods. A particular focus is placed on the perspective of the subjects of public policy. The research also explores social care service users' discourses on their rights and needs and the relation of public policy to them, particularly the discourses of psychiatric system survivors and disabled people. 23 publications have been submitted as part of this application (see Appendix).
They' are part of a much larger body of work undertaken by the candidate over the same period. They have been selected to reflect some of the key themes identified, explored and developed in the candidate's work.
These works have been undertaken over a period of 18 years. Such a length of time means that there have not only been significant developments in the research, but also in its subject matter. The two are in close and dynamic relationship. Over this period, there have been major changes and developments in public policy, politics, welfare and academic debates. The research work has responded to these broader developments.They have influenced its focus and direction and it has sought to influence them.
There is currently considerable interest in issues of participation and empowerment. They have gained priority over the period of this work as subjects of study, research, practice and public policy. They are now embodied in a wide range of UK government legislation and guidance. However this is a relatively recent development. The candidate's work starts at a time when participation was much lower on political, academic and professional agendas and it both reflects and takes forward discussion and developments in this field.
The particular history of participation has implications both for the kind of questions which the research has asked and the way in which it has been financed and supported.
Participation is also associated with a range of key concepts which currently have high priority on public and academic agendas. These include: citizenship, social exclusion, empowerment, community, identity and diversity. The research work has addressed all of these.
The work has sought to address a series of key research questions which participation raises. These have emerged, changed and developed over time.


The purpose of this study was to determine and analyze the effect of entrepreneurship on poverty reduction. The data collection was done by direct interview used questionnaires, in-depth discussions with respondents, field notes and documentation. Respondents in this study are business owners of food and beverage industry who are considered to have a direct and responsible role in corporate decision. The reason for choosing the food and beverage industry is because this business does not require much investment and working capital, labor-intensive and prospective market potential. Method of data analyzes used descriptive statistics and Partial Least Square (PLS) analysis. The result of this study showed that entrepreneurship has significant effect on poverty reduction. Enterprise business actors in implementation have been good but still needs to be optimized entrepreneurial competencies. This means that poverty reduction can be done through the development of entrepreneurship. Keywords— Entrepreneurship and Poverty Reduction.


Do people think that scientists are bad people? Although surveys find that science is a highly respected profession, a growing discourse has emerged regarding how science is often judged negatively. We report ten studies (N = 2328) that investigated morality judgments of scientists and compared those with judgments of various control groups, including atheists. A persistent intuitive association between scientists and disturbing immoral conduct emerged for violations of the binding moral foundations, particularly when this pertained to violations of purity. However, there was no association in the context of the individualizing moral foundations related to fairness and care. Other evidence found that scientists were perceived as similar to others in their concerns with the individualizing moral foundations of fairness and care, yet as departing for all of the binding foundations of loyalty, authority, and purity. Furthermore, participants stereotyped scientists particularly as robot-like and lacking emotions, as well as valuing knowledge over morality and being potentially dangerous. The observed intuitive immorality associations are partially due to these explicit stereotypes but do not correlate with any perceived atheism. We conclude that scientists are perceived not as inherently immoral, but as capable of immoral conduct.


The objective of this study was to construct a fluid force model for the dive start. The fluid force model is incorporated into a swimming human simulation model SWUM, which has been developed by the authors. In order to identify the fluid force coefficients in the model, dive starts performed by actual swimmers were filmed and reproduced by the simulation model. The fluid force coefficients were determined so that the swimmers' movement in the simulation agreed with that of the experiment as much as possible. From simulations using the identified fluid force coefficients, it was found that simulation results of normal and 'intentionally bad form' trials for one subject agreed well with the experimental ones. This suggests that the proposed fluid force model would be valid to reproduce dive starts of various forms. For trials of another subject, the discrepancy between simulation and experiment becomes somewhat larger. This error can be reduced, however, by tuning the fluid force coefficients. This indicates that tuning the fluid force coefficients is effective to improve the accuracy of the simulation, and that the proposed model for the fluid forces will be valid for other swimmers.


Gambling behavior can serve as an informative indicator of important household heterogeneity that is difficult to observe directly in data. We present, to the best of our knowledge, the first comprehensive study of the consumption and personal finance of gamblers using a nationwide representative household survey. We find that consumers are more likely to gamble when income is higher than its normal level predicted by observable characteristics, and that nongambling expenditures tend to increase with gambling activities. In addition, gamblers are more likely to concurrently have various types of debt and assets, assuming a more active position on household balance sheets. However, gamblers do not necessarily have a higher net worth than comparable nongamblers. Gamblers also tend to engage in health-wise risky behaviors, such as smoking and heavy drinking, while paying out-of-pocket on life and health insurance. We present extensive evidence that such behavior differences observed in the data are not primarily due to different degrees of careless reporting to the survey. Rather, we argue that our findings are consistent with the notion that certain consumers, namely, the active participants in personal finance markets, take on gambling as a form of entertainment.


This research investigates the effect of Sugarcane Bagasse Ash (SBA) on the engineering properties of sandcrete blocks produced with optimal amount of blended lateritic and marine sand. Sandcrete hollow blocks (450mm x 225mm x 225mm) were made by blending varying contents of marine sand and lateritic sand using the nominal mix ratio of 1:6 (cement: sand). Marine and clean lateritic sand were blended at intervals of 10%. A total of 90 sandcrete blocks were casted and the compressive strengths of the blocks determined at 7, 14 and 28 days. The 28 day compressive strength of mixes containing 0, 10, 20, 30, 40, 50, 60, 80 and 100% marine sand were, 4 .47, 5.10, 5.25, 5.33, 5.20, 4.63, 4.58, 3.88 and 3.76 N/mm respectively. The 28 days strength for both blends of sand exceeded the minimum strength value of 3.45N/mm specified by BS 6073:2.Sandcrete blocks made with 30:70 marine-lateritic sand blending ratio produced the highest compressive strength. Using this ratio, 90 sandcrete blocks were casted by replacing cement with Sugar Bagasse Ash in the ratio of 0%, 5%, 10% 15% 20% and 25% by weight. The blocks were tested for compressive strength, density, water absorption and durability. The 28 day compressive strength were 5.33, 5.29, 5.18, 4.71, 3.42, 3.08 N/mm for 0, 5, 10, 15, 20 and 25 % replacement respectively. Upto 15% replacement levels met the minimum compressive strength recommended in standards. The results for water absorption, density and durability of the blocks were within the acceptable limits. Key Words--Sugarcane Bagasse Ash, Sandcrete blocks, Lateritic Sand, Marine Sand, Blended Sand, Compressive Strength, water absorption, durability.


Abstract Using data from the Department of Statistics Malaysia from 1987 to 2018 and decompositions that take account of both the static and dynamic efficiency gains from labor reallocation, this study documents that Malaysia has undergone structural transformation from an agriculture-driven to a services-driven economy. In contrast to common perceptions, however, the country's impressive growth in output per capita over the last three decades can largely be attributed not to its structural transformation but instead to sustained growth in within-sector labor productivity. At 3 percent, the contribution of between-sector reallocation of labor to output per capita growth has been relatively low.


Russian education is an illuminating contribution. The Soviet system is examined in detail including the curriculum, organization, administration, and the good and bad points. The emphasis throughout is on the selection and training of scientists and engineers but the implications are pertinent to all education. This report deserves serious study particularly from the point of view of the response of the educational system to the objectives determined by the culture.


This study aims to investigate the direct and indirect impacts of relationship marketing orientation RMO components - trust, competency, commitment, communication and conflict handling - on customers' relational response behaviours, such as satisfaction, loyalty, and positive word of mouth WOM, in the Turkish mobile telecommunications industry. A total of 230 usable questionnaires were collected in Istanbul, Turkey, in August 2013 using convenience sampling. After confirmation of the measurement model, the direct and indirect effects of RMO components on customers' relational response behaviours were analyzed using path analysis and the product of path coefficients. The findings show that all the RMO components, except competency, have significant positive impacts on relational response behaviours. Of all the RMO components, trust has the strongest positive impact on satisfaction and positive WOM, whereas conflict handling has the strongest positive impact on loyalty. In addition, of all the variables, satisfaction has the strongest direct impact on loyalty, and loyalty has the strongest direct impact on positive WOM in Turkey's mobile telecommunications industry.


A study examined a format for fear appeal messages that introduced a threat through one medium (i.e., a segment of dramatic television programming) and the recommended action through another medium (i.e., the verbal presentation of safety guidelines by an adult to a child). Subjects, 138 elementary school children from a middle-class elementary school in Madison, Wisconsin, were exposed to a videotape of a dramatized sequence depicting either fatal accidents or neutral events involving either fire or water. Their affective responses were assessed during exposure and immediately after viewing the videotape. They rated the likelihood that such an event would occur, the perceived severity of such events, and the degree to which they worried about such events. Next, they were taught safety guidelines appropriate to the subject matter of the event th*y had just watched. Finally, they gave ratings of how safe or dangerous it would be not to follow both fire and water safety guidelines and how important they thought it was to comply with them. Results indicated that children who watched dramatized accidents considered the relevant safety guidelines more important than children who watched neutral events on the same topic or neutral or threatening events involving unrelated activities. Perceived dangerousness of not complying was significantly affected by both the topic of the drama seen and whether or not subjects had seen a dramatized accident, but the interaction was not significant. In regression analyses, emotional arousal and the three cognitive responses predicted perceived importance of the guidelines differently for the different topics. There were no significant interactions between the cognitive responses. (Seven tables of data are included. Contains 26 references.) (RS) *********************************************************************** Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made from the original document. ***********************************************************************


: Morphological characteristics of lymphoid structures in the walls of duodenum in adults are presented including the data on the thickness of layers of duodenal wall at different regions, the dimensions of lymphatic nodules and the depth they lie at and the arrangement of diffuse lymphoid tissue. These findings may help to approach the understanding of mechanisms of immune processes in people of different age.


Aviation security screening has become very important in recent years. It was shown by Schwaninger et al. (2004) that certain image-based factors influence detection when visually inspecting X-ray images of passenger bags. Threat items are more difficult to recognize when placed in close-packed bags (effect of bag complexity), when superimposed by other objects (effect of superposition), and when rotated (effect of viewpoint). The X-ray object recognition rest (X-ray ORT) was developed to measure the abilities needed to cope with these factors. In this study, we examined the reliability and validity of the X-ray ORT based on a sample of 453 aviation security screeners and 453 novices. Cronbach Alpha and split-half analysis revealed high reliability. Validity was examined using internal, convergent, discriminant and criterion-related validity estimates. The results show that the X-ray ORT is a reliable and valid instrument for measuring visual abilities needed in X-ray screening. This makes the X-ray ORT an interesting tool for competency and pre-employment assessment purposes.


Is growth ultimately fully endogenous or semi-endogenous? A quarter-century theoretical and empirical growth economics has still kept both possibilities open. Consequently, I assume that R&D-driven growth is a general combination of both semi-endogenous and fully endogenous mechanisms. I here prove that if the semi-endogenous growth component is essential to the actual growth mechanism, the long-run growth rate will follow the semi-endogenous growth predictions. On the other hand, if the semi-endogenous is not essential, the fully endogenous growth mechanism may dictate the long run if the world population does not grow too fast. This result holds regardless of whether fully endogenous growth is essential. I also prove that if no other (third) growth mechanism exists, it su¢ces to prove that less research always leads to fewer innovations to ascertain semi-endogenous growth essentiality.


This study describes briefly the production of sintered metal components and their characterisation with respect to the physical and mechanical properties by using ultrasonics. Pellet samples of sintered metal powder compacts have been prepared with different fabrication parameters to obtain different densities and thus different elastic properties. Longitudinal and transverse wave ultrasonic velocities have been measured to determine the elastic moduli of the samples and then correlated with densities The results of the ultrasonic measurements have shown that ultrasonic velocity may be used to determine precisely the basic production parameters and therefore as a quality control tool of the sintered metal products.


The interest for observations of the water isotopic ratio in the vapor has rapidly increased this last decade. Some of the remote sounders in orbit can be used to derive information on the deuterium isotopic ratio, δD, with the great advantage to be able to provide global data. The Infrared Atmospheric Sounding Interferometer (IASI) operational since 2007 for a 15 to 20 years period can provide δD estimates in the free troposphere at high spatio-temporal resolution, allowing for unprecedented daily analyses of the isotopic variations in the troposphere. After a summary of IASI capabilities to retrieve vertical profile of δD - which is mainly sensitive in the free troposphere - we present newly available δD distributions derived from IASI and explore how they can contribute to improve our understanding of several aspects of the hydrological cycle.
Among the different hydrological processes seen with IASI we emphasis on the role of the convection. In the tropics, we noticed that the isotopic composition in the free troposphere is sensitive to the height of convection: regions where the convection is the highest show depleted δD values while regions associated to shallow convection are more enriched. This finding could help to evaluate the representation of deep and shallow convection in GCMs (General Circulation Model) which has been suggested to be in a great part associated with the climate sensitivity uncertainty.

The interest of IASI measurements is further illustrated with examples of enriched water vapour above and around the tropical continents that indicate an important contribution of the evapotranspiration on the water budget. We also investigate the differences between the Northern and Southern hemispheres during the water vapour transport poleward.


Background: Ventricular septal defect (VSD) is the most common congenital heart disease, and conduction disorder is one of the frequent complications after VSD closure. Suturing technique used for VSD closure may affect the occurrence of this complication. The aim of this study was to compare the outcome of VSD surgical patch closure using continuous versus interrupted suture techniques.
Methods: The study included 150 VSD patients who had surgical patch closure between December 2014 and March 2017. They were subclassified into two groups according to the suture technique; continuous suture technique (n= 75) and interrupted suture technique (n= 75). Preoperative, operative, and postoperative variables were reviewed and analyzed. The postoperative rhythm was recorded using contіnuous electrocardiogram during intensive care unit stay. 12-leads electrocardiogram and echocardiography were performed immediately after surgery and repeated before discharge and after 3, 6, 12 months then yearly. The follow-up period ranged from 1 to 3.25 years (2.04 ± 0.84 years).
Results: Aortіc cross-clamp tіme was longer in the interrupted technique group (51.40±15.21 vs. 42.32±13.86 minutes; p <0.01). 7 (9.3%) patients in the continuous technique group had an atrioventricular block during ICU stay, and 2 (2.7 %) had complete heart block. However, one patient  (1.3%) in the interrupted technique group had an atrioventricular block, and no patient had complete heart block (p=0.006). Incidence of conduction defects during follow-up was insignificantly different between the groups. There was no significant difference in the postoperative complications between the groups.
Conclusions: Complete heart block is an infrequent complication after VSD patch closure. The interrupted suture technique was associated with a lower incidence of conduction defects during the early postoperative period


Non-volatile main memory (NVRAM) technologies provide an attractive set of features for large-scale graph analytics, including byte-addressability, low idle power, and improved memory-density. NVRAM systems today have an order of magnitude more NVRAM than traditional memory (DRAM). NVRAM systems could therefore potentially allow very large graph problems to be solved on a single machine, at a modest cost. However, a significant challenge in achieving high performance is in accounting for the fact that NVRAM writes can be much more expensive than NVRAM reads.
In this paper, we propose an approach to parallel graph analytics using the Parallel Semi-Asymmetric Model (PSAM), in which the graph is stored as a read-only data structure (in NVRAM), and the amount of mutable memory is kept proportional to the number of vertices. Similar to the popular semi-external and semi-streaming models for graph analytics, the PSAM approach assumes that the vertices of the graph fit in a fast read-write memory (DRAM), but the edges do not. In NVRAM systems, our approach eliminates writes to the NVRAM, among other benefits.
To experimentally study this new setting, we develop Sage, a parallel semi-asymmetric graph engine with which we implement provably-efficient (and often work-optimal) PSAM algorithms for over a dozen fundamental graph problems. We experimentally study Sage using a 48-core machine on the largest publicly-available real-world graph (the Hyperlink Web graph with over 3.5 billion vertices and 128 billion edges) equipped with Optane DC Persistent Memory, and show that Sage outperforms the fastest prior systems designed for NVRAM. Importantly, we also show that Sage nearly matches the fastest prior systems running solely in DRAM, by effectively hiding the costs of repeatedly accessing NVRAM versus DRAM.


Free abscisic acid (ABA) and bound abscisic acid (ABA-GE: ABA glucose ester) contents and growth were investigated in leaves, internodes, flowers buds, flowers and berries of Vitis vinifera L. cv. Cabernet Sauvignon between flower buds separated and grape closed stages. The ABA levels in leaves and in internodes decrease when the growth was hight and increases when the growth become smaller or stopped. What is more, ABA was accumulated hightly in the flowers (at 50% of flowering) and then appears to be a good marker of flowering. ABA contents decreased at berry setting and till grape closed stage. In leaves, internodes, flowers buds and flowers, ABAGE and ABA show an inverse development and then suggests an interconversion phenomenon between theses two forms. Two most importants points were discuted in this paper: 1) The role of ABA in the controle of growth and development of the organs studied and (2) The translocation of abscisic acid between the organs studied and the role of ABA-GE in this transport.


The content of water glass in accordance with the size of range is a major factor in magnesium slag strength. The microstructure of the block of orthogonal testing three shows network-like, acicular, cotton wool attached to each other, the main hydration products are calcium silicate hydrate, needle-like ettringite and CSH gel, just the good combination among the hydration products the cementitious material get the ideal strength value. From the view of differential analysis curve, Ca (OH) 2 decomposed when the temperature reaches 500 °C -540 °C, Ca (OH) 2 generated by the calcium component within the cementitious material reaction with alkali, and the Ca (OH) 2 will participate in the reaction of hydrated calcium silicate gel, and enhance strength of the test block. From the TG thermal analysis we can see that there is no water loss in the process, the performance of ofmineral phase changes and thermal stability are great.


Grid shell is a new type of single layer latticed shell. Joint connections of this structrue always adopt semi-rigid joints: in-plane pin joints, out-plane rigid joints. A parametric modeling method using self-designed program is proposed in this paper. Bearing capacity of the elliptic paraboloid grid shell with semi-rigid joints is analyzed. Then, the influence of section of steel bars, rise-span ratio and initial imperfection on the bearing capacity is investigated.


Aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage(aSAH) is a devastating neurological disease. During the course of the aSAH several neurological and medical complications may occur. Cardiac abnormalities after aSAH are observed often and resemble stress cardiomyopathy or Tako-tsubo cardiomyopathy(Broken Heart Syndrome) that has been described after acute stress. It is a reversible cardiac dysfunction with distinct imaging features(the echocardiographic or left ventricular angiographic image resembles a Tako-Tsubo which is a Japanese octopus trap). This thesis was based on the question how often cardiac dysfunction occurs in aSAH, what the clinical characteristics are and whether it influences outcome. Second we sought to further investigate Tako-Tsubo cardiomyopathy in a disease where it seemed to occur often: aSAH.

We designed a multicenter cohort study(Serial Echocardiography After Subarachnoid Hemorrhage (S.E.A.S.A.H.)) to observe the frequency of cardiac dysfunction, characteristics of the cardiac dysfunction and to investigate prognostic meaning in patients with aSAH.

In Chapter 1 the outline of this thesis is described. Furthermore we elaborate on the design of the SEASAH study.

In Chapter 2 the results of our meta-analysis are presented. We concluded that troponin and/or NT-proBNP and abnormal echocardiographic findings are associated with an increased risk of death, poor outcome, and delayed cerebral ischemia after subarachnoid hemorrhage. However, many questions remained. So we decided to go forward with the SEASAH study.

In Chapter 3 we describe the results of the SEASAH study. In this study we included 301 patients in which we performed serial ECGs, echocardiography and measured troponin and NT-proBNP. We found that echocardiographic wall motion abnormalities were associated with death, DCI and poor outcome, independent of other clinical predictors for outcome.

In Chapter 4 we found that WMA may be present on admission or develop during the course of aSAH. Poor neurological condition on admission, sinus tachycardia, ST-depression and ST-elevation at the admission ECG and elevated troponin T, are independent predictors for early WMA, a myocardial infarct pattern on the admission ECG and elevated troponin T in patients with aSAH predict late WMA independent of other clinical predictors.

In Chapter 5 data of cerebral CT perfusion was correlated with cardiac data from the SEASAH. We found an association between decreased cerebral blood flow in patients with impaired cardiac function compared to patients with normal cardiac function.

In Chapter 6 we describe the results of a histopathological study. In this study we sought for evidence that the mononuclear cellular infiltration that is found in the myocardium of patients with aSAH might be a myocarditis. We compared postmortem myocardium of patients who died from aSAH with controls. We found a markedly increase in inflammatory cells in patient with aSAH. Furthermore, we found evidence of thrombi and myocytolysis. This study supports the theory that catecholaminergic stress causes a myocarditis and gives direction to future research.

Finally, in Chapter 7 we summarize the main conclusions of this thesis and put the findings into perspective of literature.


Food systems in developing countries are undergoing a profound transformation characterized by the emergence and expansion of modern retailers and integrated supply chains. Appropriate policies are needed to guide this transformation, presupposing a good understanding of consumer preferences. We analyze consumers' valuation of different vegetable attributes in metropolitan areas of Vietnam, using contingent valuation techniques and a mediation framework for two specific examples. Consumers are willing to pay an average price premium of 60% for Chinese mustard that is free of chemical residues and of 19% for different convenience attributes of potatoes. Income levels and media have positive impacts on the willingness to pay, partly mediated through different consumer perceptions like food safety concerns, openness towards new food products or price consciousness. These results deepen our understanding on how consumers value new food attributes.


Semiconducting material like TiO 2 and ZnO plays a promising role in the photodegradation of toxic organic materials present in water. In the present case the author reports the photodegradastion of textile effluent using Cr: ZnO, where the photodegradation of textile effluent was carried out under both sunlight and UV light. The effect of various parameters such as catalyst loading, intensity of illumination was investigated on photocatalytic degradation of textile effluent. The degradation efficiency of these compounds was calculated by knowing the % Decomposition, Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD) and % Transmission (%T) of textile effluent before and after exposing to light. The increase in %T, % Decomposition and reduction in COD of treated effluent reveales the destruction of organics present in textile waste. 2015 Trade Science Inc. INDIA


Opportunity discovery and creation are key areas of research in entrepreneurship literature. Based on the ongoing discussion, this paper proposes an integrative view of a dynamic multi-stage new venture emergence. In particular, the findings of our research show how to match these approaches with the life cycle stages of an emerging venture. This paper contributes to existing entrepreneurship research by acknowledging the value of parallel sequential process combinations, by including customer demand as part of a market participant's selection criteria, and by recognising failure as valuable outcome. The implication for entrepreneurs is that, beyond discovering a potential venture idea, substantial development efforts are required to form a sustainable business model. For entrepreneurship research, our model is a first step towards an integrative discussion of new venture emergence aimed at fostering further research and the advancement of new theoretical insights.


We present follow-up spectroscopy of 711 white dwarfs within 100 pc, and we present a detailed model atmosphere analysis of the 100 pc white dwarf sample in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey footprint. Our spectroscopic follow-up is complete for 83% of the white dwarfs hotter than 6000 K, where the atmospheric composition can be constrained reliably. We identify 1508 DA white dwarfs with pure hydrogen atmospheres. The DA mass distribution has an extremely narrow peak at 0.59 M⊙ and reveals a shoulder from relatively massive white dwarfs with M = 0.7–0.9 M⊙. Comparing this distribution with binary population synthesis models, we find that the contribution from single stars that form through mergers cannot explain the overabundance of massive white dwarfs. In addition, the mass distribution of cool DAs shows a near absence of M > 1 M⊙ white dwarfs. The pile-up of 0.7–0.9 M⊙ and the disappearance of M > 1 M⊙ white dwarfs is consistent with the effects of core crystallization. Even though the evolutionary models predict the location of the pile-up correctly, the delay from the latent heat of crystallization by itself is insufficient to create a significant pile-up, and additional cooling delays from related effects like phase separation are necessary. We also discuss the population of infrared-faint (ultracool) white dwarfs and demonstrate for the first time the existence of a well-defined sequence in color and magnitude. Curiously, this sequence is connected to a region in the color–magnitude diagrams where the number of white dwarfs with a helium-dominated atmosphere is low. This suggests that the infrared-faint white dwarfs likely have mixed H/He atmospheres.


Diacylglycerols (DAG) are esters of glycerol where two of the hydroxyl groups
of glycerol are esterified with fatty acids. DAG exists in two isomeric forms,
1,2(2,3)-DAG and 1,3-DAG, with a natural ratio of approximately 3:7. DAGbased
edible fats or oils can be used as a substitute of natural triacylglycerolbased
oils, because of their enhanced nutritional properties. In particular the
1,3-DAG isomer is beneficial.
We developed a novel biocatalytic method for producing a fatty material rich in
DAG in their natural ratio, using milk fat as the raw material and supercritical
carbon dioxide (SC-CO2) as the only processing solvent. The process steps of
the method are alcoholysis of the fat, separation by SC-CO2 extraction of the
produced fatty acid esters from the DAG product, and induced acyl migration to
increase the ratio 1,3-DAG/1,2(2,3)-DAG. The main advantages of this process
over existing ones are that a high 1,3-DAG yield can be obtained, and that the
mild process conditions used avoid possible degradation of the product.
The alcoholysis of TAG from milk fat was carried out using an immobilized
lipase from Pseudomonas fluorescens, a highly selective lipase able to produce
1,2-DAG as the main partial glyceride product. The influence of several reaction
variables on lipase activity and selectivity were studied, including lipase load,
temperature, solvent medium, pressure, reactants ratio and humidity of the
lipase carrier. The lipase resulted to be selective towards long-chain fatty acids,
being able to produce a partial glyceride product which retained the short-chain
fatty acids. By extraction with SC-CO2, complete separation of fatty acid ethyl
esters from the partial glyceride mixture was achieved. Induced acyl migration
increased the 1,3-DAG yield, at 50oC and presence of silica.


By solving a time-dependent Schrodinger equation (TDSE), we studied the electron capture process in the He2 + +H collision system under a strong magnetic field in a wide projectile energy range. The strong enhancement of the total charge transfer cross section is observed for the projectile energy below 2.0 keV/u. With the projectile energy increasing, the cross sections will reduce a little and then increase again, compared with those in the field-free case. The cross sections to the states with different magnetic quantum numbers are presented and analyzed where the influence due to Zeeman splitting is obviously found, especially in the low projectile energy region. The comparison with other models is made and the tendency of the cross section varying with the projectile energy is found closer to that from other close coupling models.


In this paper, we present a mandatory access control system that uses input from multiple stakeholders to compose policies based on runtime information. In the emerging open cell phone system environment, many devices run software whose access permissions depends on multiple stakeholders, such as the device owner, the service provider, the application owner, etc., rather than a single system administrator. However, current access control administration remains as either discretionary, allowing the running and perhaps compromised process to administer permissions, or mandatory, requiring a system administrator to know all permissions for all possible legal runs. A key problem is that users may download arbitrary programs to their devices, requiring that the system contain such programs while allowing some reasonable functionality. However, such programs may need access to permissions that in combination with other conflicting permissions may lead to an attack, such as allowing voice-over-IP calls. In our approach, we use a "soft" sand-boxing mechanism to first contain such processes, request the stakeholder to authorize operations outside the sandbox that are not prohibited by policy, and maintain a runtime execution role for the process to identify its access state to the stakeholders. We define a proxy policy server that caches and combines stakeholder policies to make such access decisions. Our framework was implemented by modifying the SELinux module and using a remote proxy policy server, although a local proxy policy server is also possible. We incur a 0.288 ts performance overhead only when stakeholders need to be consulted, and new permissions are cached.


In this study, a simple and label-free colorimetric sensing strategy was reported for rapid and selective detection of dopamine by inhibiting the Cu2+-catalyzed oxidation of a 3,3′,5,5′-tetramethylbenzidine (TMB)–H2O2 system. Similar to natural peroxidase, Cu2+ could catalyze the oxidation of the peroxidase substrate TMB to oxidized TMB (ox TMB) in the presence of H2O2, producing a blue color. However, dopamine could chelate with Cu2+ to form stable dopamine–Cu2+ complexes by strong coordination between Cu2+ and dopamine. It was found that the formation of dopamine–Cu2+ complexes hindered the Cu2+-catalyzed oxidation of the TMB–H2O2 system. As a result, in the presence of dopamine, the solution color changed from blue to colorless with a remarkable decrease of absorbance. Under optimized experimental conditions, the colorimetric sensor exhibited a linear range of 1 μM to 50 μM for dopamine detection, with a detection limit of 1 μM. Furthermore, the proposed method was successfully applied to determine the dopamine content in real samples. Compared with other reported methods, the colorimetric method could be performed within several minutes and did not require any complex or time-consuming preparation and purification process. The results suggested that this strategy would have potential applications in biotechnology and clinical diagnosis.


The influence of the highly fluorescent tricyclic cytosine base analogue (tC) on duplex DNA conformation is investigated. The duplex properties are characterized by absorbance and circular dichroism (CD) for all combinations of neighbouring bases to tC, and an NMR structure is determined for one tC-containing sequence. For the oligonucleotides with one tC incorporated instead of cytosine, the melting temperature is increased on average by 2.7 degrees C above that for the unmodified ones. CD spectra are practically identical for modified and unmodified sequences, indicating an unperturbed B-DNA conformation. The NMR structure determination of the self-complementary sequence 5'-CTC(tC)ACGTGGAG shows a DNA conformation consistent with B-form for the whole duplex. The root-mean-square distance for the nucleotides of the eight central base pairs between the 10 structures with lowest CYANA target functions and a mean structure is 0.45 +/- 0.17 A. The NMR data confirm correct base pairing for tC by the observation of both intrastrand and interstrand imino proton NOEs. Altogether, this suggests that tC works well as a cytosine analogue, i.e. it is situated in the base stack, forming hydrogen bonds with G in the complementary strand, without distorting the DNA backbone conformation. This first example of an artificial, highly fluorescent DNA base that does not perturb the DNA conformation could have valuable applications for the study of the structure and dynamics of nucleic acid systems.


OBJECTIVE
To investigate parental reactions following the diagnosis of cerebral palsy (CP) in their young children.

METHODS
In this cross-sectional study, 51 parents of children with CP (mean age = 18.5 months, SD = 1.5) completed the Reaction to Diagnosis Interview, assessing their personal reactions to their children's diagnosis. Relationships between these reactions and the severity of CP in terms of motor abilities and the child's cognitive functioning, as well as coping of parents and perceived social support, were investigated using univariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses.

RESULTS
Thirty-nine parents (77%) were classified as "resolved." Multivariate regression analysis revealed that severity of CP was associated with an "unresolved" status.

CONCLUSION
The majority of parents of children with CP have come to terms with this diagnosis by the time their children is 18 months old. The child's gross motor limitations seem to represent an important factor explaining negative parental reactions at this time.


The people attending the three local
social education centres (SECs) and those
attending the "Into Independence" and
"Community Access" courses at the local
technical college who smoked were identified.
A questionnaire on knowledge and
attitude to smoking was then given to
each smoker as well as to a group of
matched controls (matched on age sex and
approximate degree of learning disability
who attended the same facility). A similar
questionnaire was also given to the carers
of the smokers and the carers of the controls.
It was found that the overall prevalence
rate of smoking was only two percent,
and that there was no significant difference
in the knowledge about smoking
between the smokers and controls; however,
the smokers were significantly more
likely to live with someone


Studies were conducted into 80 pregnant crossbred cows belonging in equal numbers to 1/2Friesian (F) 1/2Gir (G) and 1/2Jersey (J) 1/2G genetic groups to determine the effect of pregnancy on body weight (B.W.) and pelvic conformation of the dam. Mean B.W. started to increase in 1/2F1/2G/1/2J1/2G genetic groups from 406.08 +/- 6.16/375.45 +/- 7.73 kg on the 120th day of pregnancy and reached its maximum of 470.42 +/- 7.22/428.05 +/- 8.36 kg on the day of calving. A significant increase in weight occured in both groups between the 240th and 270th days of pregnancy. Total weight gain in both groups during pregnancy was 63.34/52.60 kg. There was a steep fall (P less than 0.01) in B.W. in both groups, within 1 month after calving. Weight became stable 60 days after calving in both groups. The cows in the 1/2F1/2G group were significantly heavier (P less than 0.01) than the 1/2J1/2G group, all the time. The mean pelvic outlet area started to increase in 1/2F1/2G/1/2J1/2G groups from 278.28 +/- 4.03/249.29 +/- 5.02 cm2 by the 120th day of pregnancy. Like B.W., the pelvic area, too, increased significantly (P less than 0.01) between the 240th and 270th days of pregnancy and dropped within 1 month post partum in both groups. Total increase in pelvic area was 49.15/39.76 cm2 in both groups, between the 120th day of pregnancy and calving. The area became stable 60 days after calving in both groups. The pelvic area in the 1/2F1/2G group was always significantly larger (P less than 0.01) than that in the 1/2J1/2G group.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)


An efficient maintenance of roads to ensure high accessibility and durability of the transport capacity requires an understanding of how the hydrological response depends on both the road and the landscape characteristics. New methods and data were used to identify and explain interaction between roads and surrounding environment and their influence on hydrologic responses both in watershed scale and road-section scale. In the watershed scale, flood hazard probability was made with reference to the most influential physical catchment descriptors and road characteristics. Additionally, a physical based model was used to estimate the effect of road topography on the hydrological responses of 20 watersheds to storms with different intensities. A simple method was developed and discussed to address flood risk probability in the road-stream crossings concerning the correlation between the quantities of the physical catchment descriptors and occurrence/absence of flooding. The most influential factors in describing the probability of flooding along the roads were topographic wetness index, soil properties, road density and channel slopes. A detailed study of simulated flow duration curves showed differences between the 20 watersheds for three different storms based on topography with and without roads. An increase in peak flow and reduced time to pick occurred with existence of roads and increased storm intensity.In the road-section scale, an uncertainty-based simulation approach was used to identify the most influencing processes in controlling the dynamics of the groundwater level. A model (CoupModel) set up with four different geological stratifications was made to model two positions in a slope upstream of a road with drainage pipes and ditches. Results from the simulations indicate the significance of precipitation rate, road drainage and position in hillslope, and soil properties and stratifications in controlling groundwater levels. The same model was also applied to simulate soil moisture and temperature dynamics in two road sections by using groundwater and climate data. Porous media properties were obtained as statistical distribution function that provided the best performance of moisture and temperature dynamic in the road layers and underlying soil.


All-words sense tagging is the task of determining the correct senses of all content words in a given text. Many methods utilizing various language resources, such as a machine readable dictionary (MRD), sense tagged corpus, and WordNet, have been proposed for tagging senses to all words rather than a small number of sample words. However, sense tagging methods that require vast resources cannot be used for resource-deficient languages. The conventional sense tagging method for resource-deficient languages, which utilizes only an MRD, suffers from low recall and low precision because it determines senses only when a gloss word in the dictionary exactly matches a context word. In this study, we propose an all-words sense tagging method that is effective for resource-deficient languages in particular. It requires an MRD, which is the essential resource for all-words sense tagging, and a raw corpus, which is easily acquired and freely available. The proposed sense tagging method attempts to find semantically related context words based on the co-occurrence information extracted from the raw corpus and utilizes these words for tagging the senses of the target word. The experimental results of an evaluation of the proposed sense tagging algorithm on a Korean test corpus consisting of approximately 15 million words show that it can tag senses to all contents words automatically with high precision. Furthermore, we also show that a semantic concordancer can be developed based on the automatic sense tagged corpus.


This non-randomised study examined a set of predictive factors of changes in child behaviour following parent management training (PMTO). Families of 331 Norwegian girls (26%) and boys with clinic-level conduct problems participated. The children ranged in age from 3 to 12 years (Mage = 8.69). Retention rate was 72.2% at post-assessment. Child-, parent- and therapy-level variables were entered as predictors of multi-informant reported change in externalising behaviour and social skills. Behavioural improvements following PMTO amounted to 1 standard deviation on parent rated and ½ standard deviation on teacher rated externalising behaviour, while social skills improvements were more modest. Results suggested that children with higher symptom scores and lower social skills score at pre-treatment were more likely to show improvements in these areas. According to both parent- and teacher-ratings, girls tended to show greater improvements in externalising behaviour and social skills following treatment and, according to parents, ADHD symptomology appeared to inhibit improvements in social skills. Finally, observed increases in parental skill encouragement, therapists' satisfaction with treatment and the number of hours spent in therapy by children were also positive and significant predictors of child outcomes.


Since variable speed electric drive systems are supplied from power electronic converters, it is possible to utilize ac machines with a phase number higher than three. It is shown in the paper, using general theory of electrical machines, that an increase of the stator phase number to at least five (or more) enables completely independent vector control of two (or more) multiphase machines that are supplied from a single current-controlled voltage source inverter. In order to achieve such an independent control it is necessary to connect multiphase stator windings of the machines in series and perform an appropriate phase sequence transposition. The concept is equally applicable to any multiphase ac machine type and its major advantage, compared to an equivalent multimotor three-phase drive system, is the saving of a certain number of inverter legs. The actual saving depends on the number of phases. The concept is introduced using an n-phase induction machine as the starting point and further analysis is restricted to an odd number of phases, for the reason explained in the paper. Classification of all the possible cases that may arise is given, followed by presentation of connection diagrams for selected phase numbers. Detailed verification of the proposed concept is provided by simulating the operation of a seven-phase three-motor drive system, controlled using indirect rotor flux oriented control principles. Some preliminary experimental results, which confirm the feasibility of a two-motor series-connected drive system, are included as well. The main advantages and drawbacks of the concept, when compared with an equivalent three-phase multimotor drive system, are finally addressed.


This study aimed to find out the morpho-functional correlations of supra-branchial gaseous chambers (SC) and gas bladder (GB) in Clarias gariepinus. Gross, and Histological observations were made on ten different ontogenetic stages ranged from 10 mm SL (Standard length) to 100 mm SL, and mature fish 330 mm-333 mm SL. Computed tomography (CT) was performed on five mature fishes at 130 K Volt and 80 Ma, different CT windows were adjusted as follows: Soft tissue (WL: 40, WW: 300), Bone (2000: 400), and Air-chambers (-600:1200). Each SC lodged mid-constricted membranous sac, communicated to gill cavity via single opening. The GB was an oval sac surrounded by incomplete bony capsule, it touched the skin laterally, otic capsule medially and SC anteriorly. The SC membrane was three layered with a gill like mucosa (respiratory mucosa); GB has an inner layer of simple squamous epithelium and an outer layer of dense irregular connective tissue. Collectively, the larval stages were adult like, but differ in proportions; in stages from 10 to 26 mm, SC adventitia was ill defined or absent and SC musculosa was well developed relatively to the total thickness of the membrane. In CT images, there was a clear communication between the otic capsule and GB at the level of anterior-medial fissures of complex vertebra; disc–shaped fat pads appeared as hypodense bilateral areas dorso-medial to GB and caudo-posterior to SC. Results Concluded that GB and SC had an accessory auditory role related to their anatomical structure, position and communications.


: Three boys aged 6, 7 and 4 years, had experienced fever, vomiting, headache and/or an otorrhoea for about a week. Then the clinical picture of acute otitis media exacerbated by a thrombosis of a sigmoid sinus in the 4- and 6-year-old and by brain infarcts in the 7-year-old. Treatment consisted of antibiotics and the youngest two also underwent surgery. The 6-year-old made a good recovery, the 7-year-old retained motor aphasia and hemiparalysis and the 4-year-old died. Although the incidence of acute otitis media complications has decreased since the widespread introduction of antibiotics, the complications are severe enough to warrant particular care in the treatment of these patients. The early recognition of a complicated acute otitis media and the immediate start of an appropriate therapy may lower the morbidity and mortality rates associated with this condition.


Purpose: This article integrates two distinct discourses to show how an Aristotelian account of character education can supply a valuable framework for developing a habit of social action.

Approach: We use a review of relevant secondary literature, a documentary analysis of #iwill materials, and an Aristotelian conceptual framework to analyse the quality principles of the #iwill campaign—a cross-sector, cross-party collective impact campaign that encourages youth social action in the UK.

Findings: We show how an Aristotelian account offers useful resources for conceptualising and
applying #iwill's six quality principles and addresses four practical and theoretical challenges in #iwill's model. In particular, an Aristotelian account provides a more capacious conception of a habit and offers a revised model for understanding social action's benefits to individuals and communities.

Practical Implications: With over 800 partner organizations in the UK, #iwill has a significant impact on how social action is practised and supplies a valuable model for other campaigns to follow. By informing #iwill's quality framework, this Aristotelian account seeks to amplify efforts to cultivate social action as a virtuous habit for life.


A typical example of transvection is a complementation between alleles in the yellow locus: y2 (mdg4 insertion inactivating certain y-enhancers) and y1 (deletion of the y-promoter but not of the enhancer). Transvection was explained by trans-activation of promoter in y2-allele by enhancer of y1-allele. Here we found that the mutation mod(mdg4)1u1 in the modifier of mdg4 locus (a regulatory gene controlling, together with suppressor of Hairy wing) expression of (mdg4) completely suppress the complementation. Removal of an acidic domain from su(Hw) protein product in su(Hw)j mutation partially suppress the complementation. We also have found that mod(mdg4)1u1 mutation trans-inactivates the yellow allele with a wild type phenotype (y+2MC) in heterozygote with the y2 allele, i.e. the negative transvection takes place. In this case, deletion removing an acidic domain even in one copy of su(Hw) suppresses the effect of mod(mdg4)1u1 mutation.


This study aimed to determine the contribution of gender, age, intensity of exercise, perfectionism, perfectionistic self-presentation and eating attitudes in the explanation dimensions of social physique anxiety (SPA) in a sample of 345 male and female gym exercisers. The results of this study indicate that the implemented model explains 21.3 % (p < .001) of the variance in Dissatisfaction with appearance and 48.4 % (p < .001) of the variance in Worry about appearance. Significant predictors of Dissatisfaction with appearance are intensity of exercise, discrepancy and eating attitudes, while significant predictors of Worry about appearance are gender, intensity of exercise, discrepancy, avoiding displays of imperfection and eating attitudes. In other words, recreational levels of exercise, negative perfectionism and negative attitudes towards food are strong predictors of social physique anxiety, while the tendency to hide our imperfections and female gender are only relevant when it comes toWorry about appearance.


In this paper, we propose FFCI, a framework for fine-grained summarization evaluation that comprises four elements: faithfulness (degree of factual consistency with the source), focus (precision of summary content relative to the reference), coverage (recall of summary content relative to the reference), and inter-sentential coherence (document fluency between adjacent sentences). We construct a novel dataset for focus, coverage, and inter-sentential coherence, and develop automatic methods for evaluating each of the four dimensions of FFCI based on cross-comparison of evaluation metrics and model-based evaluation methods, including question answering (QA) approaches, semantic textual similarity (STS), next-sentence prediction (NSP), and scores derived from 19 pre-trained language models. We then apply the developed metrics in evaluating a broad range of summarization models across two datasets, with some surprising findings.


This paper provides a close reading on post-colonial engagements with American slavery in Belinda Starling's neo-Victorian novel The Journal of Dora Damage (2007), particularly on the transoceanic links between Antebellum America and Victorian Britain. Firstly, this article engages with previous feminist criticism on the novel in order to analyse Starling's stimulating revision of Victorian female abolitionism and interracial relations. Secondly, drawing on recent historical reconstructions on the presence of American slaves in Victorian England and seeking to open new avenues of research within this novel, this paper considers the transatlantic context inherent in Starling's narration, particularly the interplay between nineteenth-century radical discourses and African-American discourses of liberation.


A one-step synthesis procedure at elevated temperature was used to prepare Ti3+-containing blue titania. The prepared material was characterized by X-ray powder diffraction (XRD), UV–vis, Raman, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), and N2 adsorption and desorption measurements. The blue titania sample was found to be crystalline, with a surface area of 22 m2/g. Its phase composition consists of 85% rutile and 15% anatase with a multitude of defect surface VO-Ti3+ sites. The blue titania showed an absorption red-shifted as compared to that of rutile, with a calculated bandgap of 2.93 eV. The photocatalytic performance of the blue titania was evaluated in the liquid phase selective photo-oxidation of methylcyclohexane (MCH) by illumination at 375 ± 10 nm (UV) and 425 ± 10 nm (visible light). The activity was monitored by attenuated total reflectance–Fourier transform infrared analysis. A high activity was observed for blue TiO2, remarkably equal in magnitude at both investigated wavelengths. The activity of the blue titania surpassed the activity of other (commercial) titania catalysts (rutile and P25), in particular at 425 nm, and the obtained selectivity for ketones was also greater. The activity data are discussed in relation to the properties of the three catalysts investigated, i.e., the texture, phase composition, and presence or absence of surface defects, of which the latter appears to be dominant in explaining the performance of the blue titania


The adherence, phagocytic activity and buoyant density of mouse peritoneal exudate colony forming units (CFU‐PE) were investigated. There was a significant enrichment in the proportion of CFU‐PE in the adherent cells population, defined as cells adhering to a plastic surface within 30 minutes of incubation. The phagocytic activity of CFU‐PE was studied by incubating exudate cells with iron particles for 45 minutes. The cells were then separated into phagocytic and non‐phagocytic cell fractions by passing the incubation mixture through a magnetic field. A significant enrichment of CFU‐PE was seen in the phagocytic cell fraction. When exudate cells were fractionated in a Ficoll discontinuous density gradient, more than 88% of CFU‐PE were recovered at the 16/18% and 18/20% interfaces. It is concluded that CFU‐PE are adherent cells, have strong phagocytic activity and have a buoyant density between 1.0562 and 1.0703. When bone marrow cells were studied by these techniques, the committed stem cells for both granulocytes and macrophages (CFU‐C) were enriched in both non‐adherent cell and non‐phagocytic cells populations. In the Ficoll density gradient, CFU‐C banded at a heavier density region than CFU‐PE.


A 36-year-old man had Sweet's syndrome associated with plaques on the legs that were typical of erythema nodosum both clinically and histologically. To our knowledge, true erythema nodosum has not previously been recognized as part of Sweet's syndrome.


International business decisions to be taken by executive managers of multinational firms are becoming more challenging due to uncertainties in business environment which is due to fast changing and unpredictable domestic, foreign, and global environment for long term sustainability. Even though firms are cautious and take precautions while taking decisions on international investment for production and marketing, their sustainability for a long time in a given business is shaking due to continuous changes in domestic, foreign, and global business environment. This is mainly due to variations in economic conditions, political scenarios, socio-cultural environment, technological breakthroughs, legal aspects and human behavioural effects on opportunities and challenges on the international business performance of multinational firms. In this paper, we have studied in brief, the various domestic, foreign, and global environmental issues which affects the multinational firm's business decisions related to international investments and marketing. The paper also discusses the impact of the domestic environment, foreign environment, and global environment on economical, political, technological, legal, and cultural issues on investment and expansion decisions of multinational corporations in general.


Structural relaxations, molecular-dynamics simulations, and lattice-dynamics calculations were performed to study the phase transitions in Rb2ZnCl4, using intermolecular and intramolecular potentials generated from ab initio quantum-chemistry calculations for the whole molecular ion ZnCl4. Compared with an earlier treatment of the system by a polarizable-ion model, the present approach emphasizes the static effect of the electron covalency within the molecular ions that affects strongly both the intermolecular and intramolecular interactions. The calculations gave a close agreement with experiment on the static structures of the Pnam and the Pna21 phases and the transition temperature from the former to the latter. For the lower-temperature, monoclinic phase of Rb2ZnCl4, the detailed structure of which is unknown, our simulations predict a structure with C1c1 space-group symmetry, which doubles the Pna21 structure along both the b and c axes and thus has 48 formula units per unit cell. The lattice-dynamics calculations for the Pna21 structure clearly revealed the lattice instability responsible for the Pna21-monoclinic transition and provided a more convincing explanation of a previous Raman measurement. We have shown that the potential-energy surface in Rb2ZnCl4 pertinent to the phase transitions contains a double-well structure, very similar to that of K2SeO4, except that the double well is much deeper, causing the much more severe disordering in the Pnam structure of Rb2ZnCl4 observed experimentally. ©1992 The American Physical Society. Used by permission. URL: http://link.aps.org/doi/10.1103/PhysRevB.45.7609 DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevB.45.7609


[Re(bpy-tBu)(CO)4](OTf) (bpy-tBu = 4,4'-di-tert-butyl-2,2'-bipyridine, OTf = trifluoromethanesulfonate) (1) and [Re(bpy)(CO)4](OTf) (bpy = 2,2'-bipyridine) (2) were synthesized and studied as proposed intermediates in the electrocatalytic reduction of carbon dioxide (CO2) by Re(bpy-R)(CO)3X. Both compounds demonstrated increased current responses in cyclic voltammograms under CO2. Complex 1 was also characterized by X-ray crystallography. Infrared-spectroelectrochemistry (IR-SEC) of 1 and 2 indicated that upon exposure of the cationic tetracarbonyl compounds to a reducing potential, a CO ligand is labilised and [Re(bpy-R)(CO)3(CH3CN)](+) species are formed. This is proposed to occur via an electron-transfer-catalysed process wherein a catalytic amount of reduced species propagates a ligand exchange reaction. Addition of a catalytic amount of potassium intercalated graphite (KC8), a chemical reductant, to a solution of 1 or 2 also yielded quantitative formation of [Re(bpy-R)(CO)3(CH3CN)](+), which indicates that the CO loss is catalysed by electron transfer, and not the electrode itself.


With the aging of the population, the prevalence of chronic kidney disease (CKD) is increased. Measurement of glomerular filtration rate as a screening tool may over-diagnose CKD, especially when proteinuria is normal, but it can be very useful when considering drug metabolism. Renal dysfunction is a factor predisposing to potential adverse drug reactions, because drug can accumulate to toxic levels. In addition, some drugs are nephrotoxic and can more easily damage the kidneys in the elderly. Limited data are available on the risks of drugs in the elderly population with CKD. Drugs with no clear evidence-based indication, drugs with higher risks of adverse side effects compared to their benefits, and drugs which are not cost-effective, have been defined "potentially inappropriate medications" (PIMs). Even if criteria to evaluate PIMs and adverse drug reactions are available to clinical management, we strongly support the idea that the issue of PIMs in the elderly affected by CKD should be better studied and defined. The Italian website Slow Medicine, based on the US project "Choosing Wisely", opened a new strategy in this field, taking into consideration both economic issues and patients quality of life. The main goal of this initiative is avoiding wasteful or unnecessary medical tests, treatments and procedures.


Airborne electromagnetic (AEM) data processing and inversion has progressed from the early conductivity-depth imaging, to 1D inversion for a layered earth model, and most recently to 2D/3D inversions. The new processes have used methods for searching for solutions, applying constraints, and focusing images, such as Occam's, laterally constrained, and holistic inversions. For airborne data imaging and 1D inversion, some algorithms are fast, whereas others have control over data misfit and the vertical or lateral smoothness. Beyond 1D algorithms, 2D/3D inversions are based on currently used methods such as isolated conductor models (which are good for highly conductive orebodies in resistive background) and techniques that discretized regions that are used for more complex structures and backgrounds. In the latter case, the computations are slow, so research is focusing on time-efficient computer algorithms for solving the equations such as Gauss-Newton, quasi-Newton, and nonlinear conjugate gradient algorithms. For the electromagnetic (EM) problem, the solution can be obtained in a more practical time frame if material that has minimal impact is ignored. Two approaches can be used to speedup the EM inversion process — the moving footprint and direct solver methods. We hope our work will to some extent help stimulate and focus the research in AEM inversion.


In NC machining, the precision of the final parts is affected by many factors, including geometric deviation of machine tool components and structures, deformation of process system caused by cutting force and cutting heat, servo delay, tool wear and so on. Among which geometric error of machine tool is one of the most important factors. This study focused on geometric error identification and compensation of rotation axes of five-axis machine tools. A new method was proposed to identify the 6 geometric error parameters of each rotation axes of five-axis machine tools based on a ball-bar system. Regarding the machine tool as a rigid multi-body system (MBS), a geometric error model was established based on homogeneous transfer matrix (HTM). Finally, the geometric errors were compensated by correcting NC codes by the prototype software system developed in this study. An experiment and an application were conducted and the results show that the proposed method is effective to improve the machining accuracy.


: The patented super-light technology is inspired by ancient Roman concrete structures with strong concrete placed, where the engineer would like the forces to be, and light concrete fills out the shape stabilizing the strong and protecting it. Pearl-chain technology is invented in order to create optimal and often curved paths of strong concrete assembled from smaller segments by prestressing wires, so that expensive curved moulds and supports can be avoided. Pearl-chains can provide a resistance to impact and earthquake of ancient structures. High-strength concrete and prestressed carbon fibre reinforcement may be applied, because the new technology solves the main problems for that, since the light aggregate concrete provides a fire protection needed for both materials and provides a stabilization of the slender cores in compression. The paper explains more about the new technology and the structures it can be applied for.


The mass composition is one of the key observables to understand the nature and origin of ultrahigh energy cosmic rays. The study of hadronic interactions at energies well beyond human-made accelerators is a fundamental probe of elementary particle physics. In previous analyses, the properties of the hadronic interactions were estimated under the assumption of a certain mass composition, typically proton-dominated, and the cross sections were calculated by fitting the tail of the -max distribution. In such an analysis, the impact of a possible He-contamination on the cross section measurement is quoted as a systematic uncertainty. Vice versa, the cosmic-ray mass composition is typically determined using air shower simulations by assuming the validity of the considered hadronic interaction models. In this contribution, we present a fully self-consistent approach of varying the proton-proton cross sections, with the nucleus-nucleus cross sections being predicted via the Glauber theory, and making a full -max distribution fit to get an independent and simultaneous estimation of the interaction cross sections and cosmic-ray primary composition. We will discuss the degeneracy between mass composition and hadronic interactions and compare the sensitivity of the proposed method to one of the previous approaches.


Author(s): Nguyen, Phu Dinh | Advisor(s): Sorooshian, Soroosh | Abstract: Floods are among the most devastating natural disasters which affect millions of people worldwide. Forecasting floods to provide warnings to the public in a timely manner is crucially important, however, this is a very challenging task. HiResFlood-UCI was developed by coupling the National Weather Service's (NWS) distributed hydrologic model (HL-RDHM) with the hydraulic model BreZo (developed by Sanders and Begnudelli) in order to estimate localized flood depths and velocities. A semi-automated technique of efficient unstructured mesh generation for BreZo was developed. HiResFlood-UCI was implemented for the ELDO2 catchment in Oklahoma. Using synthetic precipitation input, the model was tested for various components including HL-RDHM parameters (a priori versus calibrated), channel and floodplain Manning n values, DEM resolution (10m versus 30m), and computation mesh resolution (10m+ versus 30m+). Simulations show that HiResFlood-UCI produces reasonable results with the a priori parameters from NWS. Sensitivities to hydraulic model resistance parameters, mesh resolution, and DEM resolution are also identified, pointing to the importance of model calibration and validation for accurate prediction of localized flood intensities. HiResFlood-UCI performance was examined using six measured precipitation events as model input for validation of the streamflow at the outlet and an interior point. Validation builds confidence in model predictions of river discharge, flood extent and localized velocities, which are fundamental to reliable flood warning. HiResFlood-UCI was implemented for flood forecasting in the Cedar River Basin using real-time remote sensing precipitation PERSIANN-CCS data. The model was evaluated for the historical 2008 Iowa flood. The results show HiResFlood-UCI with real-time PERSIANN-CCS was able to capture the observed hydrographs and reasonably match the USDA's AWiFS 56m resolution flood imagery over the most impacted area in the extended Cedar Rapids region. This is promising for a global high resolution flood warning system pairing HiResFlood-UCI with PERSIANN-CCS in the near future.


One peculiar phenomenon in the Korean Protestant churches today is that most churches, regardless of their size and denomination, assert that they are "evangelical." By claiming to be evangelical, they want to display not simply their conservative theological stance but also continuity with their tradition. Self-acclaimed evangelical churches generally believe that the early Korean church in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries was also evangelical, and hence they are its true heirs. Moreover, in the mind of the self-consciously evangelical Korean Christians, "Puritanism" is something to be admired, a lost glory of which evangelicalism is the closest contemporary replica. A few progressive churches would distance themselves from this general tendency, but these churches are more often than not far smaller and less appealing to the average Christian. World-class megachurches and nearly all rank-and-file churches in Korea are "evangelical" churches. The matter in Korean Protestantism is more who is "really" evangelical rather than a competition between evangelicals and non-evangelicals.


Manufacturing companies have to manage a large amount of data and information. This is due to both the presence of advanced sensors systems at the shop floor level and to the spreading of simulation and decision support software tools. The exchange of simulated and real data can be effective only if interoperability is guaranteed. However, most of the software tools are based on their own data models and proprietary file formats, thus jeopardizing the interoperability. This paper presents the outcomes of a European research project, named Virtual Factory Framework (VFF), that aims at developing an integrated virtual environment to enable the interoperability between software tools supporting the factory processes along all the phases of its lifecycle. The cornerstone of the proposed VFF consists in a common Virtual Factory Data Model (VFDM) that can be considered as the shared meta-language providing a common definition of the data that are shared among the software tools connected to the framework. Semantic web technologies have been adopted to develop the VFDM because of their ability in representing formal semantics, and efficiently modeling and manage distributed data.


The names of Paul Debach and David Rosen are familiar to all practitioners and many students of the biocontrol of insect pests; in fact, the first edition of this book (1974) is probably on the shelves of many of them. A flick through the pages of the second edition shows that the familiar format is retained and accompanied by a dense textual layout. Some of the photographs are of excessive contrast and of very poor quality, presumably having been made from unsuitable colour slides. Apart from these problems, the book follows an empirical and historical approach to biocontrol problems, with much practical information (on rearing, release etc.) to assist successful control. It is interesting that in Paul Debach's original introduction, repeated here, he says that all pests are not equally susceptible to biological control '. . . although we have to learn this by trying . . .'. Some scientists would say that this advice is flawed, eschewing as it does any contribution from ecological theory. The book is a good source of references on the subject, with an emphasis on practical success, but do not seek here the synthesis of experimental and theoretical ecology within which lies the future of biocontrol in the view of many current practitioners.


Some interpretations of quantum mechanics use notions of possible states and possible trajectories. We investigate how this modal approach correlates with several metaphysical conceptions of a transition from potential to actual existence. The comparison is based on a discussion in contemporary analytical metaphysics of modality. We also consider an analogy between Leibniz's theory of the possibilities striving towards existence, wave mechanics of Schrödinger, and Feynman path integral.


We present a pH nanosensor conceived for single intracellular measurements. The sensing architecture consisted of a two-electrode system evaluated in the potentiometric mode. We used solid-contact carbon nanopipette electrodes tailored to produce both the indicator (pH nanosensor) and reference electrodes. The indicator electrode was a membrane-based ion-selective electrode containing a receptor for hydrogen ions that provided a favorable selectivity for intracellular measurements. The analytical features of the pH nanosensor revealed a Nernstian response (slope of −59.5 mV/pH unit) with appropriate repeatability and reproducibility (variation coefficients of <2% for the calibration parameters), a fast response time (<5 s), adequate medium-term drift (0.7 mV h–1), and a linear range of response including physiological and abnormal cell pH levels (6.0–8.5). In addition, the position and configuration of the reference electrode were investigated in cell-based experiments to provide unbiased pH measurements, in which both the indicator and reference electrodes were located inside the same cell, each of them inside two neighboring cells, or the indicator electrode inside the cell and the reference electrode outside of (but nearby) the studied cell. Finally, the pH nanosensor was applied to two cases: (i) the tracing of the pH gradient from extra-to intracellular media over insertion into a single PC12 cell and (ii) the monitoring of variations in intracellular pH in response to exogenous administration of pharmaceuticals. It is anticipated that the developed pH nanosensor, which is a label-free analytical tool, has high potential to aid in the investigation of pathological states that manifest in cell pH misregulation, with no restriction in the type of targeted cells.