Abstract Arts and crafts are widely considered to be psychologically beneficial. Letterpress, as a traditional method of printing, was made redundant by computers in the later twentieth century but has enjoyed a 'rebirth' in recent years. There are a growing number of independent
 presses, and universities who are recognizing its potential as a pedagogical tool. As a printing method, it is no longer a necessity, so what is its role going forward? The techniques are not lost, but their value has changed. As a craft, letterpress has several distinctive qualities, particularly
 when compared to digital alternatives. When working with letterpress, students are no longer alone at their desks. Rather, the letterpress workshop is a social, communal space. In this article we reflect on the resurgence of letterpress as a celebration of culture and heritage: a coming together
 of like-minded individuals in a community of action. What is the value of enabling students to immerse themselves in letterpress, and what are the effects of this immersion on the practitioner and their well-being? There is a shift in focus of letterpress from output ‐ mass-produced
 printed media ‐ to process. We analyse the unique qualities of this process ‐ its physicality, the restrictions it imposes and the latitude it allows ‐ and explore links to mental and physical health and well-being. This position paper explores the practical, conceptual
 and emotional dimensions of letterpress as a craft. It draws upon personal reflection, observation and anecdotal accounts collected over years of teaching (V. S.), while offering psychological perspectives on the links between letterpress, craft and well-being (S. R. H.).


Abstract Hypericin (HYP) has been reported to have photodependent cytotoxic activity in a variety of cancer cell lines. However, this activity has yet to be rigorously tested in vivo in tumor models. In this study LNCaP, PC-3 and DU-145 cells were used to test the cytotoxic effects of HYP in vitro, precursory to an in vivo study designed to investigate the effects of HYP in an established murine model for prostate cancer. Specifically, the model used employs immunocompromised nude mice bearing the LNCaP solid tumor xenograft. In vitro cytotoxicity experiments indicated that the dose causing 50% lethality for HYP in LNCaP, PC-3 and DU-145 cells were 2.07, 2.15 and 2.23 μM, respectively, following irradiation with red light (590 nm) for 30 min at a fluence rate of 0.1 J/cm2/s. Cells treated with HYP in the absence of photoirradiation showed no signs of cytotoxicity. A tissue distribution study was also carried out using the LNCaP solid tumor model to determine whether or not HYP is distributed to the target tissue. HYP was broadly distributed in tissues studied, including LNCaP tumor xenograft tissue. Furthermore, tumor tissue eliminated HYP at a slower rate than any of the other tissues examined. Interestingly, HYP levels were maintained in serum 24 h after oral administration (5 mg/kg dose). A pilot study designed to examine the efficacy of HYP treatment in nude mice bearing LNCaP tumors conducted over 28 days suggested that HYP, in combination with photoirradiation, inhibits both tumor growth and the elevation of prostate-specific antigen levels. Although the results reported for the current studies are preliminary they do provide evidence for an application of HYP PDT to prostate cancer which warrants further investigation.


People suffering from low back pain (LBP) fail in performing many daily living activities. The aim of this study was to compare two different back pain scales and to determine the relation between pain intensity and these scales on women with low back pain. Fifty-five women with chronic LBP (X ± SD: 37.76 ± 5.12 years) participated in this study. Their disabilities were determined by Quebec Back Pain Disability Scale (QBPDS) and Oswestry Low Back Disability Questionnaire Scale (OLBDQS). Pain intensity was measured by a visual analogue scale (VAS). Outcome of this study showed that the QBPDS and OLBDQS were highly correlated. Also, VAS scores were correlated with both scale scores but this correlation was less strong. These two disability measuring methods are comparable, but OLBDQS has the advantage of requiring shorter time. summary


The aim of this study was to determine the relationship between daily milk yield and udder traits using multiple regression analyses in order to predict daily milk yield in Norduz goats. 10 udder traits including upper udder height, bottom udder height, udder depth, udder width, udder circumference, left teat length, right teat length, left teat circumference, right teat circumference and teat angle. The data was collected from 27 Norduz goats raised in pastoral conditions in the Norduz region of Van province South Eastern Turkey. Factor analysis was employed to simplify the complex relationships between udder traits. After the udder traits were exposed to factor analysis, four factors with Eigen values greater than 1 were selected as explanatory (independent) variables and used for multiple linear regression analysis. First factor was named teat factor, second and third factors were named udder factors while the fourth was udder bottom height. The 2 nd and 3 rd factors, which were significant, were then used to fit the regression model. The study found that two udder factors had significant statistical effect on daily milk yield and these factors together had accounted for 78.6 % of the variation in daily milk yield. The findings of this study showed that both multivariate and univariate approaches can be used to determine the relationship between milk yield and udder traits. In addition, these statistical approaches may also be useful to eliminate multicollinearity problems among large number of variables. In conclusion, the study proved that both univariate and multivariate methods can be applied successfully to predict daily milk yield using udder traits in goats.


In an era of rapid urbanization, a changing climate, and deepening political division, parks represent increasingly important places for urban residents to interact with, and feel connected to, the natural environment and the mental and physical health benefits it provides. Unfortunately, in an age of austerity politics, parks and recreation departments in Midwest Rust Belt cities often lack adequate funding to maintain such public spaces. Recently, the business-minded Rock Island, Illinois Department of Parks and Recreation has implemented a creative cost-saving management solution: "naturalizing" sections of its city parks. Using a mixed-methods approach, this interdisciplinary study aims to discover how the community members near two representative urban parks in Rock Island perceive this economically motivated "re-wilding" of long-manicured and domesticated urban nature. Resident reactions reveal enduring conceptions of a nature-culture divide, as well as the upper class, White ideologies that have historically shaped park construction and use in the United States.


A new and simple method is described for the determination of the piezoelectric coefficients d33,f and e31,f for piezoelectric films deposited on substrates using a conventional point-loading `d33' or `Berlincourt' piezometer. An analytical mathematical model is developed which simulates the dynamical flexure of such films when a ring-supported sample is subject to central loading. Classical plate theory and elastic analysis are used to calculate the stresses in doped lead zirconate titanate (PZT) film for different radii of supporting rings, enabling both piezoelectric coefficients to be determined through a simple modification to the piezometer. The analytical model for the radial stresses has been evaluated in comparison with the results of finite element analysis and has shown a good correlation. The new measurement technique has been applied to both thick films of PZT and thin films of manganese-doped lead zirconate titanate (PMZT) on silicon substrates. The values of d33,f and e31,f obtained experimentally are found to be similar to those that have been determined by more elaborate methods.


BCC wires macroscopically deformed by axisymmetric elongation (wire drawing) develop an intense <011> fibre texture and exhibit a characteristic non-uniform deformation of the grains evident in transverse sections (grain curling or "Van Gogh sky structure"). The extraordinary grain morphology induced by the <011> fibre texture is also accompanied by a peculiar constant strain hardening rate in single-phase BCC wires (exponentially increasing in case of BCC containing composite wires) that allows to reach very high strengths. Here we present a calculation of the elastoplastic axial elongation of such an aggregate of BCC grains with the ideal <011> fibre texture, using a slip-gradient dependent large-strain crystal plasticity constitutive equation incorporated into a finite element method (FEM) code, i.e., with proper account of the influence of the evolving shape and size of individual grains and of the local grain interactions. The results reproduce well the observed macroscopic behaviour (linear flow stress-strain curve at large strains) and the peculiar mesoscopic structural changes (grain curling in transverse sections). The simulation is focused on the analysis of strain and dislocation density heterogeneities and on the building up of mesoscopic (inter- and intra-granular) internal stresses during deformation. The computed average transverse tensile stresses acting normal to the axially oriented {100} planes approximately parallel to the boundaries of the flattened grains is close to 0.3 times the tensile flow stress of the aggregate, in good agreement with previous calculations based on the Taylor-Bishop-Hill model or on elasticplastic self-consistent calculations and with available neutron diffraction measurements. Such a high level of internal tensile stresses explains the well-known tendency of high strength BCC wires to fail by longitudinal splitting.


The historical emphasis on technological innovation as a pathway to rural development has obscured the institutional foundations of development - in this case, the role of local and external organizations in shaping patterns of benefits capture. Agrarian communities have a host of ways in which they self-organize to buffer themselves from economic hardship, facilitate access to limited resources and foster social cohesiveness. Yet these forms of collective action often remain invisible to development actors. External agricultural research and development organizations also play an important role in structuring development pathways and opportunities for some while marginalizing others. They also tend to create new social structures at the community level, rather than build upon existing social capital to channel its potential as a driver of development. This paper summarizes research on the development and natural resource management functions of local organizations in the highlands of Ethiopia, and on the role of local and external organizations in structuring patterns of opportunity. Three key findings are highlighted, namely: that wealth tends to beget wealth, requiring concerted attempts to support resource-poor households; that local organizations tend to produce more equitable outcomes than external development organizations; and that local organizations for natural resource management (NRM) are deficient, despite the prevalence of local NRM concerns. Implications for agricultural research and development include the need to build upon the strengths of local institutions; make the practices of external development organizations more equitable; minimize the effect of existing wealth on the potential for wealth creation; and strengthen local organizational capacities to address commonly felt NRM concerns.


Decision-making on animal welfare issues requires a synthesis of information. For the assessment of farm animal welfare based on scientific information collected in a database, a methodology called 'semantic modelling' has been developed. To date, however, this methodology has not been generally applied. Recently, a qualitative Risk Assessment approach has been published by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) for the first time, concerning the welfare of intensively reared calves. This paper reports on a critical analysis of this Risk Assessment (RA) approach from a semantic-modelling (SM) perspective, emphasizing the importance of several seemingly self-evident principles, including the definition of concepts, application of explicit methodological procedures and specification of how underlying values and scientific information lead to the RA output. In addition, the need to include positive aspects of welfare and overall welfare assessments are emphasized. The analysis shows that the RA approach for animal welfare could benefit from SM methodology to support transparent and science-based decision-making.


Prevention of bacterial inflammation around dental implants (peri-implantitis) is one of the keys to success of the implantation and can be achieved by securing the gingival tissue-abutment interface preventing penetration of bacteria. Modern dental practice has adopted zirconia abutments in place of titanium, but the adhesion of gingival tissue to zirconia is inferior to titanium. The aim of this study was to assess and improve the adhesion of mucosal tissues to zirconia posts using sol-gel derived TiO2 coating following dynamic mechanical testing. The posts were cultivated with porcine bone-gingival tissue specimens in vitro for 7 and 14 days and then subjected to dynamic mechanical analysis simulating physiological loading at 1 Hz up to 50 μm amplitude. In parallel in silico analysis of stresses and strains have been made simulating "the worst case" when the fixture fails in osseointegration while the abutment still holds. Results show treatment of zirconia can lead to double interface stiffness (static shear stiffness values from 5–10 to 17–23 kPa and dynamic from 20–50 to 60–125 kPa), invariant viscostiffness (from 5–35 to 45–90 kPa·sα) and material memory values (increased from 0.06–0.10 to 0.17–0.25), which is beneficial in preventing bacterial contamination in dental implants. This suggests TiO2-coated zirconia abutments may have a significant clinical benefit for prevention of the bacterial contamination.


Nickel oxide (NiO) nanostructures were deposited on Si (100), potassium bromide (KBr), and glass slide substrates at room temperature by the evaporation technique. The prepared samples were annealed at temperatures of 400 ◦C and 600 ◦C in air atmosphere. The structure, morphology, crystalline phase, optical properties, and chemical bonding of nanocrystalline nickel oxide were investigated by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), UV-visible absorption spectrum, and FT-IR spectroscopy. XRD results and SEM images showed that nickel oxide nanoparticles have preferred orientation with uniform size distribution. The as-deposited films showed preferred orientation (texture) growth. As the films were annealed, the crystallites were agglomerated to form bigger particles. Optical properties were identified by measuring transmittance using a UV-Vis spectrophotometer. Optical constants such as the refractive index n, the extinction coefficient k, and the films' thickness and roughness were calculated from transmittance data using a reverse engineering method. As the sample annealed, the ad-atom surface mobility increased, and smaller crystallites agglomerated to form bigger ones.


Abstract A high H2S concentration inhibits nitrification when H2S and NH3 are simultaneously treated in a single biofilter. To improve NH3 removal from waste gases containing concentrated H2S, a two-stage biofilter was designed to solve the problem. In this study, the first biofilter, inoculated with Thiobacillus thioparus, was intended mainly to remove H2S and to reduce the effect of H2S concentration on nitrification in the second biofilter, and the second biofilter, inoculated with Nitrosomonas europaea, was to remove NH3. Extensive studies, which took into account the characteristics of gas removal, the engineering properties of the two biofilters, and biological parameters, were conducted in a 210-day operation. The results showed that an average 98% removal efficiency for H2S and a 100% removal efficiency for NH3 (empty bed retention time = 23–180 sec) were achieved after 70 days. The maximum degradation rate for NH3 was measured as 2.35 g N day-1 kg of dry granular activated carbon-1. Inhibition of nitrification was not found in the biofilter. This two-stage biofilter also exhibited good adaptability to shock loading and shutdown periods. Analysis of metabolic product and observation of the bacterial community revealed no obvious acidification or alkalinity phenomena. In addition, a lower moisture content (`40%) for microbial survival and low pressure drop (average 24.39 mm H2O m-1) for system operation demonstrated that the two-stage biofilter was energy saving and economic. Thus, the two-stage biofilter is a feasible system to enhance NH3 removal in the concentrated coexistence of H2S.


The mechanism of fatigue crack nucleation for nanocrystalline (nc) nickel was experimentally investigated in this paper. The samples of electrodeposited nc nickel were loaded cyclically by using a three point bending instrument at first. Then, atomic force microscopy (AFM) was used to scanning the sample surface after fatigue testing. The results indicated that, after fatigue testing, there are vortex-like cells with an average size of 108nm appeared along the crack on nc nickel sample. And, the roughness of sample surface increased with the maximum stress at the surface


Abstract. This study presents a Lagrangian analysis of upper-tropospheric anticyclones that are connected to surface heat waves in different European regions for the period 1979 to 2016. In order to elucidate the formation of these anticyclones and the role of diabatic processes, we trace air parcels backwards from the upper-tropospheric anticyclones and quantify the diabatic heating in these air parcels. Around 25 %–45 % of the air parcels are diabatically heated during the last 3 d prior to their arrival in the upper-tropospheric anticyclones, and this amount increases to 35 %–50 % for the last 7 d. The influence of diabatic heating is larger for heat-wave-related anticyclones in northern Europe and western Russia and smaller in southern Europe. Interestingly, the diabatic heating occurs in two geographically separated air streams; 3 d prior to arrival, one heating branch (remote branch) is located above the western North Atlantic, and the other heating branch (nearby branch) is located over northwestern Africa and Europe to the southwest of the target upper-tropospheric anticyclone. The diabatic heating in the remote branch is related to warm conveyor belts in North Atlantic cyclones upstream of the evolving upper-level ridge. In contrast, the nearby branch is diabatically heated by convection, as indicated by elevated mixed-layer convective available potential energy along the western side of the matured upper-level ridge. Most European regions are influenced by both branches, whereas western Russia is predominantly affected by the nearby branch. The remote branch predominantly affects the formation of the upper-tropospheric anticyclone, and therefore of the heat wave, whereas the nearby branch is more active during its maintenance. For long-lasting heat waves, the remote branch regenerates. The results from this study show that the dynamical processes leading to heat waves may be sensitive to small-scale microphysical and convective processes, whose accurate representation in models is thus supposed to be crucial for heat wave predictions on weather and climate timescales.


AIM
The aim of our study was to analyze the value of prostate gland volume measurement by transrectal ultrasonography (TRUS) in prediction of lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS).

MATERIAL AND METHODS
One hundred and one patients undergoing TRUS guided core needle prostate biopsy for the investigation of prostate cancer were prospectively evaluated. All patients had filled in the international prostate symptom score (IPSS) scala, tested for PSA and prostate volume measurement was done by TRUS prior to biopsy. According to their biopsy results, patients were divided into two groups: negative and positive for malignancy.

RESULTS
There was a significant but low correlation of 0.37 between IPSS and prostate volume measurement by TRUS (p=0.001). Serum free prostate specific antigen (fPSA), total PSA (tPSA), ratio of fPSA to tPSA and PSA density did not show a statistically significant correlation with IPSS (p>0.05). No statistically significant difference in IPSS between the benign and malignant groups (p=0.681) was found. In the benign group, mean IPSS was 14.59 +/- 8.73, range: 0-35 while in the malignant group, mean IPSS was 15.33 +/- 9.22, range: 3-28.

CONCLUSIONS
Prostate volume measurement by TRUS is a poor predictor for the determination of the severity of LUTS and IPSS should be primarily considered for the determination of the severity of LUTS. On the other hand according to this study conducted with patients who were at their first set of prostate biopsy, IPSS cannot be used as a predictor of malignancy. PSA values are not related to IPSS.


Metformin is an oral antidiabetic drug in the biguanide class, which is used for type 2 diabetes. The side effects of metformin are mostly limited to digestive tract symptoms, such as diarrhea, flatulence and abdominal discomfort. The most serious potential adverse effect of metformin is lactic acidosis. A 51-year-old man was admitted due to hypoglycemia as a result of an overdose of antidiabetic drugs. He took massive dose of metformin. Conservative treatment failed for metabolic acidosis without lactic acidosis accompanied by acute kidney injury. Hemodialysis was executed to correct the high anion gap metabolic acidosis and acute kidney injury, and the patient recovered fully from metabolic acidosis. This case illustrates that the presence of clinical conditions, such as metformin-induced acute kidney injury and metabolic acidosis, can be developed without lactic acidosis. Prompt recognition of metabolic acidosis and early intervention with hemodialysis can result in a successful clinical outcome.


The main focus of this study is improvement of the steam-methane reforming (SMR) process by in-situ CO2 removal to produce high hydrogen content synthesis gas. Sorption-enhanced (SE) concept is applied to improve process performance. In the proposed structure, the solid phase CO2 adsorbents and pre-reformed gas stream are introduced to a gas-flowing solids-fixed bed reactor (GFSFBR). One dimensional mathematical model is developed to evaluate the effect of adsorbents on the efficiency of SMR at steady-state condition. To prove the accuracy of the considered model, simulation results are compared against available industrial plant data. Modeling results represent that application of SE method in SMR enhances syngas production and reduces CO2 content. The reported data indicate that by overcoming thermodynamic limitations and controlling coke formation, CH4 conversion and H2 yield improve about 23% and 29%, respectively. For more investigation, sensitivity analyses of some related parameters of the pre-reformed gas are performed to predict optimum conditions. Finally, the proposed GFSFBR for the SMR process leads to higher hydrogen production and H2/CO ratio. As the last part, non-dominated sorting genetic algorithm-II is applied to perform multi-objective optimization of the SE-SMR.


According to the latest ITRS roadmap, the pitch of area array packages is expected to decrease to 100 /spl mu/m by 2009. Simultaneously, the electrical performance of these interconnections needs to be improved to support data rates in excess of 10 Gbps, while guaranteeing thermomechanical reliability and lowering the cost. These requirements are challenging, thus, needing innovative interconnection designs and technologies. This paper describes the development of three interconnection schemes for wafer-level packages (WLPs) at 100-/spl mu/m pitch, involving rigid, compliant, and semicompliant interconnection technologies, extending the state of the art in each. Extensive electrical and mechanical modeling was carried out to optimize the geometry of the interconnections with respect to electrical performance and thermomechanical reliability. It was found that the requirements of electrical performance often conflict with those of thermomechanical reliability and the final "optimum" design is a tradeoff between the two. For the three interconnection schemes proposed, it was found that the electrical requirements can be met fairly well but acceptable mechanical reliability may require organic boards with a coefficient of thermal expansion of 10 ppm/K or lower.


The role of IgG antibody in the sensitization of human basophils and mast cells to antigen is uncertain. To help resolve this uncertainty, we characterized by two-color fluorometric analysis the Fc receptors for IgG (Fc gamma R) on human basophils. Basophil-containing mononuclear cell fractions of atopic and nonatopic adult volunteers were incubated sequentially with fluorescein isothiocyanate-conjugated murine monoclonal IgE and biotinylated monoclonal antibodies (MAb) that bind specifically to the different Fc gamma R subtypes. Binding of biotinylated MAbs was visualized after subsequent incubation with phycoerythrin-strepavidin conjugate. Basophils did not react with a murine monomeric IgG2a, which binds specifically through its Fc to the high-affinity Fc gamma RI (CD64), or with MAbs specific for the low-affinity Fc gamma RIII (CD16). However, basophils reacted with a MAb specific for the low-affinity Fc gamma RII (CDw32). The profile of basophil Fc gamma R expression was not altered after brief IgE-mediated activation. In addition, pretreatment with gamma interferon, which induced expression of Fc gamma RI (CD64) on neutrophils, did not induce Fc gamma RI expression on basophils. These results indicate that the Fc gamma R present on basophils is exclusively of the Fc gamma RII (CDw32) subtype. The absence of the high-affinity Fc gamma RI (CD64) suggests that antigenic sensitization of basophils by monomeric IgG does not occur.


The development of software for domains such as avionics, automotive and healthcare is heavily regulated via safety standards. The effort to interpret the underlying standards is cumbersome and time consuming. The certification of components is expensive. Changing the components or applying the components in another domain involves in many cases re-certification. The representation of relevant information from standards in an electronic form enables, for instance, a faster and more robust safety argumentation. In the OPENCOSS project, www.opencoss.eu, a generic meta-model is developed to support the re-use of safety assurance data. Based on this generic meta-model, conceptual models in the form of meta-models to represent standards, e.g. the ISO 26262 standard, are derived. Model transformations are used to express the mapping between the conceptual models of the safety standards. Furthermore, the safety standard conceptual models can facilitate the construction of safety cases via (derived) vocabularies. This reduces inconsistencies and improves the clearness of the safety cases. Safety argumentation editors, based on EMF and Xtext, have been developed.


This thesis explores the role of learning communities in the evolution of the EU's Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP). It engages the academic debate on institutional learning and the "practice turn" in IR to shed light on the
factors leading the EU to learn by policy failure, as well as by ten years of practice in crisis management. Specifically, the work investigates the role of the knowledge and practice-based communities that shaped the consensus towards the comprehensive approach, with a strong emphasis on civilian means.
Ideational factors, as opposed to material ones, are critical in understanding why the EU has developed a "soft" provider of security, in spite of the St Malo commitment to develop hard security capabilities. In the absence of a direct threat, EU member states' preferences towards CSDP were driven by a set of new ideas, which in turn resulted from an emerging international agenda advocating the development of non-military crisis management approaches and tools. Through a critical appraisal of the "practice turn" and its application to the study of EU security and defence, the thesis sheds additional light on the overlap between knowledge and practice, which bears relevance for the research agenda on learning communities and norm diffusion.
The empirical analysis makes an evidence-based reconstruction of the rise and evolution of civilian crisis management (CCM) and security sector reform (SSR). The comparison between the two case studies assesses the extent to which, at critical junctures, ideational factors influenced security policies. CCM and SSR, in fact, shared a similar learning process, yet the former had a much deeper
impact on the shape and activities of the CSDP than the latter. To account for such variation in outcomes, it is argued that the emergence of "learning by doing" shaped CCM evolution. On the contrary, the introduction of SSR by knowledge-based communities failed to produce a common practice. Therefore, when policy innovation is supported by the re-elaboration of practices, the ideas diffused by learning communities are more persuasive and impactful on policy-making.


Reactor internals are components that are no typical pressure boundary but they are nevertheless very important as they hold fuel elements and all reactor control system elements and thus must ensure their safe and reliable operation during the whole reactor life under all operating and even beyond bases regimes.
 In principle, reactor internals can be replaced but their weight, quantity of very high activated material and cost such possibility practically excluded.
 Thus, evaluation of the reactor internals condition and prediction of their behavior during the whole or even extended lifetime is of high importance. Reactor internals are subjected to very high neutron irradiation that could initiated not only stress corrosion (irradiation assisted) cracking but also large embrittlement and changes in dimensions (swelling and creep).
 VERLIFE – "Unified Procedure for Lifetime Assessment of Components and Piping in WWER NPPs during Operation" was initiated and co-ordinated by the Czech and was developed within the 5th Framework Program of the European Union in 2003 and later upgraded within the 6th Framework Program "COVERS – Safety of WWER NPPs" of the European Union in 2008. This Procedure had to fill the gap in original Soviet/Russian Codes and Rules for Nuclear Power Plants (NPPs) with WWER (Water-Water-Energetic-Reactor = PWR type) type reactors, as those codes were developed only for design and manufacture and were not changed since their second edition in 1989.
 VERLIFE Procedure is based on these Russian codes but incorporates also new developments in research, mainly in fracture mechanics, and also some principal approaches used in PWR codes.
 Within the last upgrading and principal extending of this VERLIFE Procedure was developed within the 3-years IAEA project (in close co-operation with another project of the 6th Framework Program of the European Union "NULIFE – Plant Life Management of NPPs") that started in 2009 with final approval and editing in 2013") a part dealing with the evaluation of reactor internals lifetime was elaborated..
 This IAEA VERLIFE procedure for internals has been implemented into the existing Normative Technical Documentation (NTD) ASI (Czech Association of Mechanical Engineers), Section IV – Evaluation of Residual Lifetime of Components and Piping in WWER type NPPs.
 Main damaging mechanisms that should be taken into account in reactor internals and the procedure are described in detail with necessary formulae for materials of internals:
 - Radiation hardening
 - Radiation embrittlement
 - Radiation swelling
 - Radiation creep
 - Swelling under stress effect
 - Swelling inducing embrittlement
 - Irradiated assisted stress corrosion cracking
 - Transformation austenite-ferrite
 and also the method for evaluation of the resistance against non-ductile failure of postulated defect.
 The paper will describe these main principles and also more detailed information on the procedure for evaluation of reactor internals will be given.


This research was designed to explore the implications that an interpersonal theory has to offer in explaining the reported difference between the conceptions of job interviewers to two approaches of describing former psychiatric hospitalization of a patient. These approaches use problem-centered (PC) and mental illness (MI) terms. Sixty males, Business and Economics majors, at Fort Hays Kansas State College served as subjects. The Interpersonal Check List (ICL) was administered to twenty-nine subjects who received the PC description of the applicant and thirty-one subjects who received the MI description of the applicant. The applicant for a hypothetical occupational position happened to be a former ex-psychiatric patient. The interpersonal conceptions of these interviewers, subjects, to the descriptions of hospitalization were measured by the following three adapted indices of the Leary Interpersonal System: Conscious Identification, Objective and Subjective Idealization. In comparing the PC and MI groups of subjects, it was possible to delineate differences between conceptions about the interpersonal traits of an ex-psychiatric patient on the ICL. PC and MI descriptions of the patient did not, however, elicit significantly different reactions that were measured by the indices proposed.


Glucose acts as both a carbon source and a hormone-like regulator of gene expression in eukaryotic organisms from yeast to man. Phosphorylation of glucose is executed by hexokinases, which represent a class of multifunctional enzymes that, in addition to their contribution to the uptake and initiation of metabolism of glucose, fructose and mannose, are involved in glucose signalling. The genome of the budding yeast Kluyveromyces lactis encodes a single hexokinase (KlHxk1) and a single glucokinase (KlGlk1). KlHxk1 exists in a monomer-homodimer equilibrium which is presumed to play a role in metabolic regulation. In order to evaluate the physiological significance of KlHxk1 dimerization on a molecular level, the enzyme was crystallized and subjected to X-ray structure analysis. Crystallization employing ammonium sulfate, diammonium phosphate or polyethylene glycol 6000 at pH values of 8.0-9.5 gave seven different crystal forms of KlHxk1. Crystallographic data to 1.66 A resolution were obtained using synchrotron radiation. Structure determination of KlHxk1 in various packing environments will reveal the full architecture of the homodimeric enzyme and complete our mechanistic understanding of the catalytic and regulatory functions of the enzyme.


This article examines the cultural conflicts, dilemmas and disillusionment among the San communities at Platfontein in the Northern Cape province of South Africa. A critical review of written texts, interviews, observations and focus group discussions with the community knowledge-holders shows that the community's new Westernised lifestyle in the midst of the capitalist society at Platfontein turns the collective spirit, human relations, mutual reverence, sincerity and self-confidence that existed before their contact with Westernised societies into unusual selfishness, individualism, impiety, dishonesty, greed and disregard for others. The conflict between the communal hunter-gatherer culture and the alien individualist mode of existence has created serious dilemmas and moral conflicts in the community. The Westernised mode of existence has alienated the community from their human nature, their natural environment, their productive chores and their communal life. The community has an undefined, unclear and controversial understanding of their own racial identity. The San refer to the black and white races that have historical relationships with them as Others, which in turn has an Othering effect on the San themselves. The causes of moral and psychological conflicts, identity crises, dilemmas and disillusionment are power relations related to ethnic and racial politics, colonial discourse and identity politics. The researcher recommends that to achieve harmonious relationships with other communities and among themselves, the San need to redefine themselves and other societies that have historical ties with them.


Recently new technologies such as cloud computing, massive data processing, and knowledge processing are emerging to enable new ways to build IT infrastructures. On the other hand companies and our society face more and more complex issues today. Accordingly, the number of new IT services that should be designed to address the needs of multiple companies or stakeholders is increasing. On the contrary most IT systems up to now have been designed to satisfy limited business functions within a single enterprise, typically substituting simple human activities. With this in mind, in this keynote a new vision will be introduced that shifts the system design paradigm from IT-centric to human-centric, focusing on "people and society" and the "value and benefit" that they will obtain from IT systems. Also research directions such as "value-based visualization & optimization" and "value-based knowledge processing" that will underpin such new infrastructures under this vision will be discussed.


This paper analyzed the prevalence and distribution of serological reactivity to hantavirus (antibody against ANDES virus) of human population exposed to hantavirus and rodents trapped in the studied area. This study was developed in Salta (Orán and San Martín Departments), area with the highest incidence for Hantavirus Pulmonary Syndrome (HPS) in Argentina. In December 1997, 453 healthy people were studied by serology and 39 rodents by serology and PCR. The studied individuals were distributed as: 145 farm inhabitants (FI), 212 people living in the same dwelling with healthy individuals (controls) (Cco), 87 people living in the same dwelling with persons undergoing SPH in 1997 (cases) (Cca). Moreover, 19 physicians and nurses who cared for patients with SPH in 1997 were also studied. The prevalence of hantavirus infection among the studied population was 6.3%. The prevalence was 10.3% among FI, 6.9% among Cca and 3.3% among Cco (p < 0.02). There was no serological reactivity among PS. The prevalence in 39 trapped rodents was 10.2%, with infection only for Oligoryzomys chacoensis, O. flavescens and Akodon varius species. The prevalence of human cases with asymptomatic infection in Salta is higher than in other regions of the country, and we are presenting a hypothesis to explain these differences. The analyzed data suggest that in this region up to the time this study was performed, there would not have been person to person transmission of hantavirus. The transmission would be from rodent contact exclusively and mainly in ongoing deforestation areas and domestic habitat surrounding rural dwellings.


Education is an important aspect of Islamic civilization. Muslim have discussed theories and practice of education since the early period of Islamic history. However, modern scholarship that tends to treat their legacy as mere historical artefacts often fails to identify its relevance to modern education. Furthermore, Islamic pedagogy is often criticized for its overemphasis on memorization over critical thinking. This paper would examine these notions by reconstructing a model of teaching employed by Abū Hanīfah (d. 150/767), a prominent figure of ahl al-ra'yi tradition which is known for their rational approach in understanding Islam. As a literature based research, the primary source of this study is a treatise entitled " Al-' Ā lim wa al-Muta'allim ." The work is attributed to a student of Abū Hanīfah who documented his learning process and described his master's educational thought and practice. The text will be analysed using the contemporary models of teaching as the analytical framework. Analysing the text in the frame of modern models of teaching allows his legacy to not only be presented as a historical account but also an operative model of teaching that can be adopted in modern educational institutions. Keywords: Models of teaching, Abū Hanīfah, al-'Ālim wa al-Muta'allim . Keywords : Turkey, Indonesia, Relationship, Muslim leaders.


Touch dressing of electroplated diamond wheels is a challenging technique used for precision form grinding. This paper presents an investigation to explore the capabilities of modern laser technology for touch dressing. A pulsed picosecond laser (ps-laser) beam (Yb:YAG) is used to cut diamond grains within a definite grain protrusion without noticeable thermal damage neither on the nickel bond material nor the diamond itself. A systematic study on laser irradiation parameters on cutting quality is presented. Series of experiments by dressing of SiC wheels using an ultrashort pulsed laser source as well as conventional touch dressed diamond wheel are carried out and both methods are compared. Significant advantages of the novel laser method are presented.


Management of tremor is a challenge for physicians. In addition to medication, surgical procedures such as deep brain stimulation (DBS) are performed in intractable cases. For some types of tremor, such as essential tremor, there are still no reliable treatment options. On the other hand, Complementary and traditional medicines have been used to treat tremor for centuries in many cultures (Frey & Meyers, 2010). Traditional Persian Medicine (TPM) in the medieval period was one of the most well developed systems of medicine. In this regard, we investigated in some important Persian traditional manuscripts including the to find simple medicines used to treat tremor. The identification of medicinal herbs is discussed in Kitab al-saydala fi Teb of Biruni (Biruni, 1050AD and Al-Havi of Rhazes (Rhazes, 10 th century). As result, 20 medicinal herbs and natural product were identified. In the next step, their pharmacological effects were studied to find the probable mechanisms of effect. It should be noted that many of mentioned medicinal herbs in medieval Persia have shown anti oxidant, dopaminergic and antimuscarinic properties. It can be the key role for their anti tremor activities. By this study many traditional natural products are suggested to further investigations for management of tremor.


Automated interactive voice messages about post-menstrual regulation contraception delivered to women in Bangladesh via mobile phone were associated with increased reports of intimate partner violence. This finding highlights the importance of taking steps to minimize risk when delivering phone messages on sensitive topics and the need for assessing violence in such situations. Automated interactive voice messages about post-menstrual regulation contraception delivered to women in Bangladesh via mobile phone were associated with increased reports of intimate partner violence. This finding highlights the importance of taking steps to minimize risk when delivering phone messages on sensitive topics and the need for assessing violence in such situations. ABSTRACT Background: Mobile phones for health (mHealth) hold promise for delivering behavioral interventions. We evaluated the effect of automated interactive voice messages promoting contraceptive use with a focus on long-acting reversible contraceptives (LARCs) among women in Bangladesh who had undergone menstrual regulation (MR), a procedure to "regulate the menstrual cycle when menstruation is absent for a short duration." Methods: We recruited MR clients from 41 public- and private-sector clinics immediately after MR. Eligibility criteria included having a personal mobile phone and consenting to receive messages about family planning by phone. We randomized participants remotely to an intervention group that received at least 11 voice messages about contraception over 4 months or to a control group (no messages). The primary outcome was LARC use at 4 months. Adverse events measured included experience of intimate partner violence (IPV). Researchers recruiting participants and 1 analyst were blinded to allocation groups. All analyses were intention to treat. The trial is registered with ClinicalTrials.gov (NCT02579785). Results: Between December 2015 and March 2016, 485 women were allocated to the intervention group and 484 to the control group. We completed follow-up on 389 intervention and 383 control participants. Forty-eight (12%) participants in the intervention group and 59 (15%) in the control group reported using a LARC method at 4 months (adjusted odds ratio [aOR] using multiple imputation=0.95; 95% confidence interval [CI]=0.49 to 1.83; P=.22). Reported physical IPV was higher in the intervention group: 42 (11%) intervention versus 25 (7%) control (aOR=1.97; 95% CI=1.12 to 3.46; P=.03) when measured using a closed question naming acts of violence. No violence was reported in response to an open question about effects of being in the study. Conclusions: The intervention did not increase LARC use but had an unintended consequence of increasing self-reported IPV. Researchers and health program designers should consider possible negative impacts when designing and evaluating mHealth and other reproductive health interventions. IPV must be measured using closed questions naming acts of violence.


Three major themes were studied during the course of this work. The role of the XerC binding site in resolution selectivity: Site-specific recombination catalysed by the Escherichia coli proteins XerC and XerD is required for stable inheritance of natural multi-copy plasmids at cell division, and for resolution of chromosome dimers to allow segregation of circular chromosomes. Recombination occurs in both cases at ~30 bp core recombination sites of sinular sequence, which can be divided into a left arm (where XerC binds), a right arm (where XerD binds), and a central region of 6-8 bp between the two arms. Sites that are involved in plasmid resolution, such as cer from plasmid ColE1, also require 220 bp of accessory DNA, and two proteins ArgR (the arginine repressor) and Pep A (aminopeptidase A) to permit recombination to occur. To resolve plasmid dimers, thereby ensuring their heritable stability, site-specific recombination must occur preferentially between sites that are present in direct repeat within a DNA molecule; the molecular mechanisms underlying this "resolution selectivity" were investigated by studying recombination substrates with different left arm sequences. A series of plasmids was constructed varying in sequence at four positions in the left arm, and their abilities to recombine intermolecularly (i.e. without resolution selectivity) was assayed. One base within the left arm was found to be especially important in determining whether or not a site could support intermolecular recombination, but this effect was modified by the other three variant bases in the left arm. Six (of a total of sixteen) sites were analysed further. It was established that XerD bound equivalently to all of the six sites in the absence of XerC, but that the DNA-XerC/D complexes formed in vitro had different electrophoretic mobilities in gel retardation assays; this was proposed to be as a result of differences in protein-induced DNA bending. The relative affinities of XerC/D for the sites also varied depending on left arm sequence. The relative mobilities of the DNA-XerC/D complexes were correlated with both the relative affinities of the sites for XerC/D, and with their abilities or inabilities to support intermolecular recombination. It was therefore suggested that the protein-DNA conformation, and the affinity of the recombinases for a recombination site, could be affected by the sequence of the left arm, and that this affects whether or not a site is effective in resolution of plasmid dimers. The role of Fis on Xer recombination: The role of the DNA-binding protein Fis on Xer recombination was investigated. It was established that recombination at an XerC/D-substrate, dif, was reduced in a fis mutant strain. Fis plays a variety of cellular roles, both in other recombination systems, and as a transcriptional and replication effector, therefore experiments were performed to establish whether the effect of Fis during Xer recombination is exerted directly at the recombination site, or indirectly. The results established that Fis acts indirectly. A fis derivative of ah xerC::mini Mud lacZ strain was constructed, and expression of lacZ in the two strains was compared using P-galatosidase assays. The assays indicated that expression of xerC may be significantly reduced in a fis mutant, implying that Fis might stimulate expression of xerC. A screen for additional xer mutants: A Tn5 mutagensis of the E. coli chromosome was undertaken, with two major aims. We are currently unable to detect products of Xer recombination in vitro, although it is possible to recreate a single strand-exchange either to produce or to resolve Holliday junctions. This has led to concern that there may be additional Xer proteins awaiting discovery, or that the existing reaction conditions are inappropriate. By performing a mutagenesis it was hoped that it would be possible to screen for novel xer mutants not falling into any of the four known complementation groups {argR, pepA, xerC, xerD). A reporter plasmid was constructed for screening of putative mutants, consisting of two psi sites (from plasmid pSClOl) in direct repeat. This plasmid was utilised because recombination at psi was found to be ArgR- independent, but dependent on PepA, XerC and XerD; however, deletion analysis of psi indicated that another protein might be required to bind to this site to perform a similar role to that of ArgR during recombination at cer. The mutagenesis was therefore also undertaken with the second major objective of identifying the protein binding to this site. A mutant strain, JR29, was identified that failed to recombine at psi and at cer, but recombined at dif. JR29 was not complemented by XerC or by XerD, but was partially complemented by PepA. In vivo and in vitro assays also indicated that this strain was a pep A mutant; however, PI transduction of the Tn5 kanamycin resistance allele into another strain failed to produce a pepA mutant, but created a strain, JR30, in which recombination appeared to be at a lower rate. Therefore JR29 appears to contain two mutations: one in pep A, the other in an unidentified locus.


In a letter written in the year he died, the novelist Italo Calvino spoke of his unease with the writing of the story of his own life: 'Each time I see my life fixed and objectified I am seized with anxiety, especially when it is notes that I myself have supplied … by repeating the same things [but] using different words I always hope to get round my neurotic relationship with autobiography.' Such testimony from a still-living creative artist is a valuable reminder of the historiographical conundrums of even the most apparently 'authentic' biographical narrative. Those of us who read, research and write the stories of long-dead artists, relying as we must on the contents of documents both written and preserved for all kinds of forgotten and quite likely unfathomable reasons, have learnt to be cautious, if not a little anxious, in our relationships with what they seem to be saying to us. The more consciously autobiographical such writings appear to be, the more circumspectly we tend to tread, trying to temper the seductive pleasure of a time-dissolving intimacy with our subjects which such texts seem to promise with our historians' sense of their Siren dangers. Nevertheless, in the case of the still largely unknown story of Philippe de Monte, whose scarce documentary sources, apart from a rich but small handful of private letters, consist of the often enigmatic prefaces to his published music, the addition of two new, very substantial and intensely autobiographical documents can hardly fail to excite expectations of increased access to 'the man himself'.


Purpose: B-cell maturation antigen (BCMA) chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy results in high remission rates in patients with relapsed/refractory (R/R) multiple myeloma. However, the factors associated with prognosis following CAR T-cell therapy are unknown. Patients and Methods: Between July 1, 2018 and July 31, 2020, 61 patients with R/R multiple myeloma received anti-BCMA CAR T-cell therapy (Chictr.org number, ChiCTR1800017404). Step-wise multivariate Cox regression and competing risk analyses were conducted to identify poor prognosis–associated risk factors. Results: Sixty patients (98.4%) experienced cytokine release syndrome (CRS), including 33, 23, and 4 cases of CRS grades 1 to 2, 3, and 4, respectively. The objective response rate (ORR) was 98.3%, and the complete remission (CR) rate was 70.3%. With a median follow-up period of 21.1 months, the 1-year overall survival (OS) and progression-free survival (PFS) rates were 78.0% and 50.2%, respectively. The median PFS was 12.7 months. Cox modeling revealed that poor PFS was associated with extramedullary disease [HR = 2.59, 95% confidence interval (95% CI) = 1.29–5.21, P = 0.008], light chain multiple myeloma (HR = 2.53, 95% CI = 1.03–5.97, P = 0.035), high-risk cytogenetics (HR = 2.80, 95% CI = 1.27–6.14, P = 0.01), and prior treatment with more than 3 therapeutic lines (HR = 3.14, 95% CI = 1.34–7.34, P = 0.008). Among the 41 CR cases, competing risk analyses demonstrated higher relapse predispositions in those with extramedullary disease (HR = 4.51, 95% CI = 1.86–10.9, P = 0.001), light chain multiple myeloma (HR = 4.89, 95% CI = 1.52 – 15.7, P = 0.008), or high-risk cytogenetics (HR = 5.09, 95% CI = 1.63–15.9, P = 0.005). Conclusions: Anti-BCMA CAR T-cell therapy is safe and effective for R/R multiple myeloma. For patients with high-risk factors, improvements to extend remission and more specific individualized therapies are needed.


The correct attachment of prepositional phrases (PPs) is a central disambiguation problem in parsing natural languages. This paper compares the baseline situation in English, German and Swedish based on manual PP attachments in various treebanks for these languages. We argue that cross-language comparisons of the disambiguation results in previous research is impossible because of the different selection procedures when building the training and test sets. We perform uniform tree-bank queries and show that English has the highest noun attachment rate followed by Swedish and German. We also show that the high rate in English is dominated by the preposition of. From our study we derive a list of criteria for profiling data sets for PP attachment experiments.


In this paper, we developed a simulation-based architecture evaluation framework for field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), called FPGA-SPICE, which enables automatic layout-level estimation and electrical simulations of FPGA architectures. FPGA-SPICE can automatically generate Verilog and SPICE netlists based on realistic FPGA configurations and a high-level eTtensible Markup Language-based FPGA architectural description language. The outputted Verilog netlists can be used to generate layouts of full FPGA fabrics through a semicustom design flow. SPICE simulation decks can be generated at three levels of complexity, namely, full-chip-level, grid-level, and component-level, providing different tradeoff between accuracy and simulation time. In order to enable such level of analysis, we presented two SPICE netlist partitioning techniques: loads extraction and parasitic net activity estimation. Electrical simulations showed that averaged over the selected benchmarks, the grid-/component-level approach can achieve  $6.1\times /7.5\times $  execution speed-up with 9.9%/8.3% accuracy loss, respectively, compared to the full-chip level simulation. FPGA-SPICE was showcased through three different case studies: 1) an area breakdown analysis for static random access memory-based FPGAs, showing that configuration memories are a dominant factor; 2) a power breakdown comparison to analytical models, analyzing the source of accuracy loss; and 3) a robustness evaluation against process corners, studying their impact on energy consumption of full FPGA fabrics.


The present paper is based on a case study: the Ibero-American hotel Industry and their evolution inside the process of international expansion. Through economic, sequential and strategic approaches that study the internationalization phenomenon , a theoretical-empiric analysis of strategies and entrance modalities is carried out. Being obtained a tendency toward strategic alliances through administration contracts and franchising.


Recognition of emotions by face expression was studied in 20 healthy subjects and 20 patients with endogenous depression. Pictures of sad, laughing and neural faces were displayed on computer screen and administered to the center of the visual field and to the right or left visual hemifields during 40-160 ms. Healthy subjects demonstrated more accurate recognition of emotional expression than the neutral expression; the right hemisphere dominated in discrimination of laughing faces. Depressed patients showed the overall impairment of facial expression recognition, which was the most significant for discrimination of sad faces; there were no interhemispheric difference. Discriminant analysis showed that activity of the right hemisphere is crucial for discrimination of healthy subjects and patients with endogenous depression. Possible mechanisms of impairment in recognition of emotional facial expressions in depressed patients are discussed.


Extended Kalman filtering techniques have been successfully used as sensorless control schemes on many different types of synchronous motors. One big disadvantage of the extended Kalman filtering technique is the large computational cost. Even with today's powerful DSPs, it is difficult to achieve effective real-time implementations. It is especially problematic for high speed motors or motors with many pole pairs such as hybrid stepper motors. In this article, it is shown how a steady-state version of the Kalman filter can be used to calculate the rotor position and speed for a hybrid stepper motor. By using a steady-state Kalman filter the computational effort can be drastically reduced. The proposed method is verified by a closed loop simulation of a hybrid stepper motor with additional current and speed regulators.


It is often suggested that education in ethnically, religiously or socio-politically divided societies can play a role in addressing division (Gallagher, 2004). However, education may also be considered inherently political insofar as it is 'the means and the message by which worldviews are transmitted [and] cultures are reproduced (Randall, Cooper & Hite, 1999, p. 10). Such a value-laden approach when applied to citizenship education is controversial in the divided societies of Northern Ireland and Israel, where conceptions of citizenship vary. Could the purportedly universal nature of international educational rights obligations offer a fresh, unifying perspective and an alternative way of delivering the curriculum? Or does the considerable scope for interpretation left to states lead to these obligations acquiring different meanings among citizenship education stakeholders? The international obligations that education be 'acceptable' and 'adaptable' constitute the conceptual framework for this doctoral research. The study employs a qualitative and comparative research approach through interviews and focus groups with policy-makers, teachers and students of citizenship education in order to explore the influence of these '2 A's' on policy development and pedagogy, and their varying interpretations, to date undocumented. This research note focuses on the relevant background information and conceptual framework of the study.


With the booming of economy and population expansion, ecological environment is under great pressure. In recent years, frequent incidents of environmental pollution caused serious damage to human health and ecological environment. To guarantee the damaged resources' timely restora- tion and compensation, it is essential to improve the environmental damage assessment system and investigate the responsibility of damage reparation. This paper took diesel oil tanker rollover pollution incidents for an example, then established a set of evaluation method which was used for quantifying environmental pollution damage from three aspects, including the quantification re- sult of the damage of ecological environment and resources, the costs of administrative affairs in emergency disposal and the costs of investigation and evaluation, in order to provide reference for environmental damage assessment.


We study a driven-dissipative model of spins one-half (qubits) on a lattice with nearest-neighbor interactions. Focusing on the role of spatially extended spin-spin correlations in determining the phases of the system, we characterize the spatial structure of the correlations in the steady state, as well as their temporal dynamics. In dimension one we use essentially exact matrix-product-operator simulations on large systems, and pushing these calculations to dimension two, we obtain accurate results on small cylinders. We also employ an approximation scheme based on solving the dynamics of the mean field dressed by the feedback of quantum fluctuations at leading order. This approach allows us to study the effect of correlations in large lattices with over one hundred thousand spins, as the spatial dimension is increased up to five. In dimension two and higher we find two new states that are stabilized by quantum correlations and do not exist in the mean-field limit of the model. One of these is a steady state with mean magnetization values that lie between the two bistable mean-field values, and whose correlation functions have properties reminiscent of both. The correlation length of the new phase diverges at a critical point, beyond which we find emerging a new limit cycle state with the magnetization and correlators oscillating periodically in time.


Abstract: The possibility that hemodynamic forces can act as a "local risk factor" for endothelial dysfunction provides a conceptual framework for the long‐standing observation that the earliest lesions of atherosclerosis develop in a nonrandom pattern, the geometries of which correlate with branch points and other regions of altered blood flow. This has led us to hypothesize that hemodynamic forces, in particular wall shear stresses generated by complex patterns of blood flow, can function as both positive and negative stimuli in atherogenesis via effects on endothelial cell gene expression. To understand how endothelial cells in different regions of the arterial tree acquire both functional and dysfunctional phenotypes due to regional hemodynamics, it was important to begin to delineate, in a comprehensive fashion, the mechanoresponsiveness of endothelial cells. To address this fundamental question, we undertook high‐throughput transcriptional profiling to assess the global patterns of gene expression in cultured endothelial cells exposed to two defined biomechanical stimuli. Analyses of the transcriptional activity of thousands of genes have revealed unique patterns of gene expression associated with certain types of stimuli. These unique gene expression programs and their associated functional phenotypes constitute the strongest evidence to date that vascular endothelial cells can discriminate among different types of biomechanical stimuli. The results of these studies and the working hypotheses inspired by detailed molecular analyses of biomechanically activated vascular endothelium promise to provide new insights into the role of hemodynamics in the pathogenesis of atherosclerosis.


Science educators have debated the impact of teleological reasoning on student learning of the sciences. This investigation examined the occurrence of teleological thinking among students in an undergraduate physiology class and compared its prevalence with course performance. 104 students in four separate classes were asked to identify the cause of physiological phenomena on a ten item conceptual diagnostic test where one or two out of four possible answers were formulated teleologically. Overall, 39 % of the answers chosen on the test were teleological. Moreover, percentages ranged from 6% to 76% for individual items, indicating considerable variance in the preference for teleological answers to explain different physiological phenomena. There was no correlation between the total number of teleological answers chosen by individual students and final course grade. This result implies that a preference for teleological answers on the conceptual diagnostic test did not interfere with student ability to think or reason mechanistically in other contexts. Structured interviews indicated that some students internally translate the teleological wording of test answers into mechanistic processes. This apparent internal restructuring indicates that students may accept teleological formulations as answers without necessarily embracing teleological reasoning as a means of explanation. These results suggest that instructors need not hesitate to use teleological formulation in the class room for its heuristic value, as long as students are able to finish with satisfactory mechanistic explanations for physiological phenomena.


Objectives: Understanding the nature and types of stressful events in life of school age children. Method: In this qualitative study, using an open interview, the description of stressful life events by 29 schoolchildren in Tabriz, Iran, were recorded and analyzed. Results: 223 stressful events derived from the interviews, were classified into 17 basic categories. In the end, four themes were assumed for these categories: 1- non-supplied demands, 2- loss, 3- threatening events, 4- stimulating events. Conclusion: The categorization derived from this study was similar to other categorizations. Due to their developmental stage and cognitive level, childhood stressful life events are different from adulthood stressful


In candidate gene association studies, usually several elementary hypotheses are tested simultaneously using one particular set of data. The data normally consist of partly correlated SNP information. Every SNP can be tested for association with the disease, e.g., using the Cochran-Armitage test for trend. To account for the multiplicity of the test situation, different types of multiple testing procedures have been proposed. The question arises whether procedures taking into account the discreteness of the situation show a benefit especially in case of correlated data. We empirically evaluate several different multiple testing procedures via simulation studies using simulated correlated SNP data. We analyze FDR and FWER controlling procedures, special procedures for discrete situations, and the minP-resampling-based procedure. Within the simulation study, we examine a broad range of different gene data scenarios. We show that the main difference in the varying performance of the procedures is due to sample size. In small sample size scenarios, the minP-resampling procedure though controlling the stricter FWER even had more power than the classical FDR controlling procedures. In contrast, FDR controlling procedures led to more rejections in higher sample size scenarios.


In order to simulate long-term water balances hydrologic models have to be parameterized for several types of vegetation. Furthermore, a seasonal dependence of vegetation parameters has to be accomplished for a successful application. Many approaches neglect inter-annual variability and shifts due to climate change. In this paper a more comprehensive approach from literature was evaluated and applied to long-term water balance simulations, which incorporates temperature, humidity and maximum bright sunshine hours per day to calculate a growing season index (GSI). A validation of this threshold-related approach is carried out by comparisons with normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) data and observations from the phenological network in the state of Lower Saxony. The annual courses of GSI and NDVI show a good agreement for numerous sites. A comparison with long-term observations of leaf onset and offset taken from the phenological network also revealed a good model performance. The observed trends indicating a shift toward an earlier leaf onset of 3 days per decade in the lowlands were reproduced very well. The GSI approach was implemented in the hydrologic model Panta Rhei. For the common vegetation parameters like leaf area index, vegetated fraction, albedo and the vegetation height a minimum value and a maximum value were defined for each land surface class. These parameters were scaled with the computed GSI for every time step to obtain a seasonal course for each parameter. Two simulations were carried out each for the current climate and for future climate scenarios. The first run was parameterized with a static annual course of vegetation parameters. The second run incorporates the new GSI approach. For the current climate both models produced comparable results regarding the water balance. Although there are no significant changes in modeled mean annual evapotranspiration and runoff depth in climate change scenarios, mean monthly values of these water balance components are shifted toward a lower runoff in spring and higher values during the winter months.


Observations based on necropsy findings in 89 dogs with osteochondrosis are presented. Osteochondrosis was most common in the elbow joint, followed by the shoulder joint, the stifle and the hock joint. There were 59 male and 30 female dogs, and the mean age was 2 years. The high frequency of bilateral lesions and the occurrence of osteochondrosis in more than one pair of joints in 25 of the 89 dogs indicates that general factors are important. The various manifestations of osteochondrosis and their frequency are reported. Various local factors believed to be important for the occurrence of the lesions within the joints are also considered.


Our conclusions are that the most important influences on unemployment come from the following. (i) The longer unemployment benefits are available the longer unemployment lasts. Similarly, higher levels of benefits generate higher unemployment, with an elasticity of around one half. On the other hand active help in finding work can reduce unemployment. So more "flexibility" may need to be complemented by more intervention to provide active help. (ii) Union coverage and union power raise unemployment. But if wage bargaining is decentralised, wage bargainers have incentives to settle for more than the "going rate", and only higher unemployment can prevent them leap-frogging. Although decentralisation makes it easier to vary relative wages, this advantage is more than offset by the extra upward pressure on the general level of wages. Thus, where union coverage is high, coordinated wage bargaining leads to lower unemployment. (iii) Conscious intervention to raise the skill levels of less able workers is an important component of any policy to combat unemployment. Pure wage flexibility may not be sufficient because it leads to growing inequality which in turn discourages labour supply from less able workers. Thus in these areas it is clear what types of reform are needed. If well designed, such reforms might halve the level of unemployment in many countries. But there are three other remedies which have been widely advocated in both the OECD Jobs Study and the Delors White Paper. These are: less employment protection, lower taxes on employment, and lower working hours. Our research does not suggest that lower employment taxes or lower hours would have any long term effects; while the effects of lower employment protection would be small. (iv) Lower employment protection has two effects. It increases hiring and thus reduces long-term unemployment. But it also increases firing and thus increases short-term unemployment. The first (good) effect is almost offset by the second (bad) one. The gains from flexibility are small. (v) Employment taxes do not appear to have any long-term effect on unemployment and are borne entirely by labour. There may be some shortterm effects, but it is not clear that there would be any fall in inflationary pressure if taxes on polluting products were raised at the same time as taxes on employment were lowered. (vi) Hours of work appear to have no long-term effect upon unemployment. Equally, if early retirement is used in order to reduce labour supply, it is necessary to reduce employment pari passu unless inflationary pressure is to increase. While flexible hours and participation can reduce the fluctuations in unemployment over the cycle, they cannot affect its average level.


We show that the behavior of T700/M21s and T800/M21s composite panels are affected by the influence of strain rates together with local shear and crush punch or global flexural strengths of the structure. A deterministic continuous composite material model has been developed as a LS-DYNA user defined material model for unidirectional composites on the basis of the Matzenmiller model widely used for woven composites. Initiation and evolution up to saturation and fracture are implemented for various and coupled damage mechanisms including delamination. Quasi-static and dynamic characterization tests laminates have been carried out on balanced angle ply [±θ] and used for calibration of numerical values. Impact induced damage from experiment's measures and numerical predictions are compared for T800/M21S aeronautical samples impacted at 15J.


African traditional medicine (ATM) has been used by African populations for the treatment of diseases long before the advent of orthodox medicine and continues to carry a part of the burden of health for the majority of the population. South Africa, as a member state of the World Health Organisation, has been set on the path of institutionalising African traditional medicine. This chapter outlines the processes and progress pertaining to the acceptance and acknowledgement of the role of ATM in health care. It sets out to describe the strides made with regard to the traditional health practitioners' Act and other laws, research in ATM, education of both health care and traditional health practitioners, including the role of collaboration. An overview of the practice of African traditional medicine is provided.


This study was conducted to evaluate the effects of skim milk, skim milk extender supplemented with modified Tyrode's medium, and seminal plasma (obtained from the sperm-rich fraction) on stallion sperm survival after 24 h cooled storage at 4 °C. Ejaculates from 3 Finnhorse stallions were used in this study. Ejaculates were collected by an automated phantom (Equidame) which separates fractions of semen into 5 cups. Only the second cup (sperm-rich fraction) was used to obtain spermatozoa and seminal plasma for the experiment. Semen was diluted with the stallion's own second cup seminal plasma and the extenders to a final concentration of 50 × 10 6 sperm/ml. After 24-h cooled storage in Equitainer, spermatozoal motion characteristics were evaluated using a computerized motility analyzer. Spermatozoal viability was assessed by staining spermatozoa with CAM/PI (calcein AM / propidium iodide). Membrane integrity was evaluated using a fluorometer and staining with Hoechst 33258. After cooled storage, seminal plasma showed significantly lower viability and membrane integrity than the extenders and differences were significant, but total motility and progressive motility in seminal plasma and Kenney extender were not significantly different. The best total motility, progressive motility, VCL (velocity curve linear) and DCL (distance curve linear) values were observed in skim milk extender supplemented with Tyrode's medium. The results of this study demonstrated that; 1) exposure to seminal plasma for long periods is detrimental to sperm survival, 2) skim milk glucose extender provides good protection for sperm viability and membrane integrity, but not for motility, 3) on the contrary, skim milk glucose extender supplemented with modified Tyrode's medium is more effective in maintaining motility, presumably because of its ionic balance.


The 60 GHz band has emerged as an international spectrum opportunity for short-range wireless communication networks. In this paper, technology trends that can impact the commercial deployment of systems utilizing millimeter-wave frequency bands are discussed. Millimeter-wave frequency bands have historically been costly to utilize and traditionally used almost exclusively for government and non-consumer products. Recent and ongoing advances in semiconductor technology and low cost high frequency packaging can be leveraged for low cost solutions that enable widespread deployment. An example of such a system operating in the millimeter-wave spectrum where bandwidths of ~3 GHz have been achieved. Multi-gigabit data transmission and reception over significant distances has also been realized to demonstrate the potential throughput of such a broadband wireless system.


Polyamide (PA6) is an engineering plastic with wide range of applications and the development in the field of montmorillonite (MMT) filled polymer nanocomposites has resulted in the development of PA6/MMT nanocomposites. However, MMT filled PA6 nanocomposites are notch sensitive and brittle at low temperatures, which posed as a major setback for many of its applications. The main objective of this study is to enhance the toughness of PA6/MMT (100/4) nanocomposites with epoxidised natural rubber-25 (ENR25). The ENR-25 content in the composites ranged from 15 to 30 wt%. The PA6/ENR/MMT nanocomposites were extruded and injection molded into tensile and impact test samples. The addition of ENR25 into PA6/MMT nanocomposites improved the impact strength of the nanocomposites while tensile modulus and tensile strength decreased with increasing ENR25 content. The thermal properties of PA6/ENR/MMT nanocomposites were also investigated via thermal gravimetric analysis (TGA). Both T10% and derivative thermal analysis (DTA) determined the lower thermal stability of PA6/MMT nanocomposites after addition of ENR.


State of the 3Rs in Asia and the Pacific Project was formulated as a joint initiative of Ministry of the Environment of Japan (MOEJ), United Nations Centre for Regional Development as a secretariat of Regional 3R Forum in Asia and the Pacific, and Institute for Global Environmental Strategies (IGES) to respond the needs to assess the progress of 3R-related efforts in the region based on a bottom-up process of policy-relevant data gathering on waste and resources management. This project was established to contribute to the only regional forum on waste management and the 3R policy participated by 12 countries in Asia and the Pacific region. It is intended to provide base-line information on what we know about waste and 3Rrelated data in each country by top-experts in the region. By doing so, this project is to develop regional assessment report on 3R policy implementation in a regular manner for Regional 3R Forum in Asia and the Pacific. The first publication will be provided as inputs to Regional 3R Forum in Asia and the Pacific to be held in 2017-2018. This presentation provides overview of development process, progress, and main findings from this process.


Thunderstorm winds have been known to be highly non-stationary as compared to other large scale winds like monsoons. The highly localized nature of these winds generates ferocious winds at low to mid-height, deviating from the boundary layer wind profile that most building codes recognized. The thunderstorm downdraught rushes down vertically and spreads out radially like a wall-jet. Highest wind speeds are registered at locations which are nearest to the storm cell centre. The collection of thunderstorm data by an existing facility in the Nanyang Technological University campus provides the means by which a stochastic thunderstorm model may be constructed. The random nature of natural wind allows computation of stochastic response by using the random vibration theory. The thunderstorm time-history can be modelled by two separate parts: the non-stationary mean and the stochastic part.


Respondents in a 1984 national adult sample report on the experiences of treatment for alcohol problems, of talking to someone about an alcohol problem of their own, and of others' suggestion that the respondent cut down. Most who have been treated (3.4% on a lifetime basis, 1.3% within the last year) have also encountered informal pressures. A majority of respondents have pressured others to cut down their drinking; such efforts do not appear to be clustered in a few 'control specialists', and heavier drinkers are about as likely as lighter drinkers to pressure others. Within the family, the flow of pressure is from older to younger generations, and from women to men, but a heavy-drinking woman is as likely to be pressured as a heavy-drinking man. Somewhat more men than women report applying pressure on friends.


RCN Nursing Update is just one of the ways that the RCN can help you choose what is appropriate to you and your personal and professional development, as part of the UKCC's PREP requirements. Nursing Update has two main components - this supplement and a television programme.


We incorporate matching schemes into a model of transboundary environmental agreements and investigate their effectiveness using three-stage game model. In the first stage, each country decides whether or not to accede to the agreement. In the second stage, the signatories collectively choose a common matching rate. Finally, in the third stage, each signatory and non-signatory determines its unconditional flat abatement noncooperatively, taking the value of the matching rate as given. Each signatory is imposed an additional abatement obtained by multiplying the total of all the other countries' flat abatements by the matching rate. The analysis of a matching agreement game with symmetric countries as players suggests the existence of a self-enforcing agreement leading to an efficient and equitable outcome, and thus shows that matching schemes are effective.


The development of private forestry in Lithuania has raised the problem of its sustainability assessment. In order for private forest management in small holdings to be based on sustainability principles, this sustainability must be characterized by a system of measurable criteria and indicators. The purpose of the study is to assess the sustainability of Lithuanian private forestry. Based on European and other processes on criteria and indicators of sustainable forest management for the first time Lithuanian private forestry sustainability was assessed. The assessment model is based on the multicriteria analysis and includes 7 steps: 1) criteria and indicators, 2) their importance, 3) values of indicators, 4) target indicators, 5) assessment scales, 6) assessment of indicators, 7) overall assessment. The article describes the small-scale private forestry of Lithuania, the model of its sustainability assessment and the results of the assessment. The assessment score for the sustainability of Lithuanian private forestry is 3.2 on the 5-point scale.


This author already published one paper about semantic reading in mathematics teaching (Naziev, 2014). The paper contained short instructions on what semantic reading is and several more or less simple examples of the application of semantic reading in school algebra, geometry, probability, and calculus. In this paper, we will give a more instructive definition of semantic reading and several more complicated and, we hope, more interesting examples. Our work is connected with the results in artificial intelligence (Garrido, 2017). An important subject in the artificial intelligence is the automated (or mechanical) theorem proving, and, in particular, mechanical geometry theorem proving (Chou, 1988). The development of this last area has showed the evidence that in order to carry out proofs of geometry theorems mechanically, we have to strictly follow some rules and axioms (Chou, 1988). This is the main goal of our article, to show how important it is in mathematics, not only in artificial intelligence, to strictly follow axioms, definitions and theorems, that is, to read them semantically.


Abstract Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death in developed countries. As low levels of the cardioprotective particle HDL are associated with cardiovascular disease, raising HDL levels may lead to positive outcomes. Reconstituted HDL (rHDL) therapy in humans has resulted in regression of atheroma volume and plaque remodeling. The applications of rHDL appear vast as encouraging results in improving glucose uptake and insulin levels have also been reported in Type 2 diabetics. The potent anti-inflammatory properties of rHDL can also be exploited to reduce inflammation is diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis. Furthermore, as HDL is an inert particle, it may also have applications in drug delivery. This paper discusses the results obtained to date with rHDL therapy and provides an outlook into the future in regards to potential uses.


Two types of nondestructive chlorophyll meters were compared with a standard, destructive chlorophyll measurement technique. The nondestructive chlorophyll meters were 1) a custom built, single-wavelength meter, and 2) the recently introduced, dual-wavelengh, chlorophyll meter from Minolta (model SPAD-502). Data from both meters were closely correlated with destructive measurements of chlorophyll (r2 = 0.90 and 0.93; respectively) for leaves with chlorophyll concentrations ranging from 100 to 600 mg m-2, but both meters consistently overestimated chlorophyll outside this range. Although the dual-wavelength meter was slightly more accurate than the single-wavelength meter (higher r2), the light-scattering properties of leaf cells and the nonhomogeneous distribution of chlorophyll in leaves appear to limit the ability of all meters to estimate in vivo chlorophyll concentration.


Aeration, a very common method used in conventional water treatment industries for oxidation and mixing purposes, was used along with pH increment for removal of manganese by microfilter membrane. However, experiments showed that aeration instead of accelerating the manganese oxidation process as normally expected rather declined the manganese removal percentage by a noticeable difference from that obtained by pH increment alone. As high as 97% manganese removal could be attained by microfilter membrane with an increased pH level of 9.7 of the raw water, whereas the removal percentage was reduced to 60% when the mechanical aeration was incorporated.

H2O2, being activated by UV light decomposes into very reactive OH-radical which is of very high oxidizing potential and can break down or change the physical properties of even very strongly-bonded compounds which then can be removed by any suitable physical means. From this principle, H2O2 coupled with UV irradiation was also included in the experiment of manganese removal by microfilter membrane to pursue it's manganese removal efficiency. However, experiments showed that a negative manganese removal occurred with amount of manganese in the filter water surpassing the amount of manganese in the raw water. Also a very high trend in the manganese and turbidity level was found in the membrane washed drain water, which helped conclude that H2O2 coupled with UV irradiation should not be used as a process for manganese removal by microfilter membrane, rather it can be used as a process for washing of the membrane module.


Health inequalities are no longer an issue only for developed countries. In recent years there is agreement that all countries present health inequalities regardless of their level of wealth. In low-income countries and especially in sub-Saharan Africa where the majority of the poor people live as well as their children, research on child health inequalities is still scarce. This review of evidence suggests that if Mozambique is to achieve the millennium development goals (MDGs) by 2015 further research on important determinants of disparities in child mortality is urgently needed.


Gelcasting is a novel ceramic forming process for fabricating products of complex-shaped ceramics. In this contribution, the gelcasting process is applied to manufacture green body of microwave ceramic components for resonators, oscillators and antennas. Calcined powders, dispersant and organic monomers are mixed together by ball-milling to acquire high solid loading slurry with low viscosity. After addition of initiator and catalyst, the slurry is cast into a non-pours mold and then polymerized. The slurry is thus solidified in situ and the green bodies with the desired shapes are obtained. The dried body is rather strong and can be machined so as to get more precise or complex-shaped components. Then the green bodies are sintered at high temperature. The microwave properties (εr, Q, τf) and microstructures of the ceramics prepared by gelcasting are compared with those of die-pressed ones.


Detailed descriptions of echolocation calls for most of the Neotropical bat species have been published only recently. Yet, the available descriptions are from bats that emit high-intensity calls. The families of insectivorous bats that emit low-intensity calls, such as Furipteridae, are less frequently recorded by more traditional equipment; thus, there are no detailed descriptions of echolocation calls for these species. The family Furipteridae includes only two species of small insectivorous bats from Neotropics, the thumbless bat Furipterus horrens and the smoky bat Amorphochilus schnablii. The ecology, behaviour and even the natural history of both species are barely known. In order to contribute to the description of echolocation calls of Neotropical bat species and to the knowledge of these two poorly known species, here we describe in more detail the echolocation calls of furipterids. Thumbless bats were recorded from two colonies, one located in south-western Bahia, Brazil, and another located in the Amazon forest of Matoury, French Guyana, whereas the smoky bats were recorded in the Pacific coast of Arequipa, south-western Peru. Echolocation calls of both species were characterized by pulses of downward broadband frequency-modulated sweeps of short duration. Our results show that the ultrasound calls emitted by thumbless bats is one of the highest in frequency among Neotropical bats. This detailed characterization of furipterid calls and their distinct features, like very high frequencies and wide bandwidth, making it relatively easy to identify, aids in the inclusion of these species in acoustic surveys and monitoring.


In "Deaf People Around the World: Educational and Social Perspectives, "the leading researchers in 30 nations describe the shared developmental, social, and educational issues facing deaf people filtered through the prism of unique national, regional, ethnic, and racial realities. Editors Donald F. Moores and Margery S. Miller have organized this remarkable collection in five major sections: Asia/Pacific, the Middle East and Africa, Europe, North and South America, and International Developments, which includes the International Committee on Sports for the Deaf and the World Federation of the Deaf.More than 50 internationally recognized scholars provide a historical view of the education and treatment of deaf people in their respective countries. They examine a wide range of issues, including current academic placement; communication modes used in schools; the recognition of sign languages; the curricula of the deaf schools versus that of regular schools; for secondary and postsecondary opportunities; the status of deaf adults; deaf teachers; special laws if any; the preparation of teachers, psychologists, therapists, and other special personnel who work with deaf clients; and current trends anddevelopments in their countries."Deaf People Around the World "reveals that deaf people generally have gained a sense of confidence, empowerment, and global awareness of their shared experience. Many have seen significant improvement in their lives from greater educational and professional opportunities. Finally, more deaf leaders argue that the pathological model of deafness must be abandoned to continue this marked progress for deaf people around the world.


Teaching assistants represent a significant proportion of the school workforce. Evidence tells us that deployed well, TAs can make a big difference to the outcomes of children and young people. This Review - developed as part of a suite of SEND Reviews and resources - aims to support the effective deployment and management of teaching assistants. It can be used as a valuable tool for both school self-assessment and improvement, and to support a process of school-to-school review and support. While created as part of the SEND Review Programme, run by Whole School SEND, it is important to note that this Review - like others - has a value beyond SEND learners. Effective TA preparation and deployment in classrooms can benefit all learners. The Review can be adapted to local context, and a white label version is available for those wishing to adjust it for specific settings. The Review has an accompanying guide to useful online resources to support schools' decision-making and the development of points for action. Over 2017/18, Whole School SEND will be running TA Reviewer Training for those wishing to explore our resources in more depth. We are very grateful to those who have contributed to this Review, which recognises and builds on the research and development of others. We are delighted to be part of the Whole School SEND community of practice, and excited by the potential it has to transform outcomes for children and young people.


ABSTRACT In order to investigate tritium behavior in tokamak, we have measured surface distributions of deuterium and tritium on graphite limiter tiles used in TEXTOR under D-D operation by means of an ion beam analysis and tritium imaging plate technique, respectively. It was found that both distributions were quite different, i.e. deuterium retention was higher at the deposited area, whereas tritium retention was higher at the erosion dominated area. This is because tritium produced by the D-D reaction, initially having 1 MeV, did not fully lose its energy in the TEXTOR plasma and implanted into the plasma facing materials nearly homogeneously, whereas deuterium was codeposited with carbon and boron, the main impurities in the TEXTOR plasma. This is also confirmed by the finding that high level of tritium was detected beneath the deposited layer. Tritium distribution, however, was modified by the temperature increase due to plasma heat load. Thus the comparison of tritium profiles with the deuterium profile gives a large amount of important and new information on PMI, and may be used as a new diagnostic technique for PMI.


This dissertation is motivated by the need, in today's globalist world, for a precise way to enable governments, organisations and other regulatory bodies to evaluate the constraints they place on themselves and others. An organisation's modus operandi is enacting and fulfilling contracts between itself and its participants. Yet, organisational contracts should respect external laws, such as those setting out data privacy rights and liberties. Contracts can only be enacted by following contract law processes, which often require bilateral agreement and consideration. Governments need to legislate whilst understanding today's context of national and international governance hierarchy where law makers shun isolationism and seek to influence one another. Governments should avoid punishment by respecting constraints from international treaties and human rights charters. Governments can only enact legislation by following their own, pre-existing, law making procedures. In other words, institutions, such as laws and contracts are designed and enacted under constraints.


Atomic simulations of material microstructure require significant resources to generate, store and analyze. Here, atomic descriptor functions are proposed as a general latent space to compress atomic microstructure, ideal for use in large-scale simulations. Descriptors can regress a broad range of properties, including character-dependent dislocation densities, stress states or radial distribution functions. A vector autoregressive model can generate trajectories over yield points, resample from new initial conditions and forecast trajectory futures. A forecast confidence, essential for practical application, is derived by propagating forecasts through the Mahalanobis outlier distance, providing a powerful tool to assess coarse-grained models. Application to nanoparticles and yielding of dislocation networks confirms low uncertainty forecasts are accurate and resampling allows for the propagation of smooth microstructure distributions. Yielding is associated with a collapse in the intrinsic dimension of the descriptor manifold, which is discussed in relation to the yield surface.