This study integrates new geologic mapping and structural analysis with previous work near Walnut Canyon and Telegraph Canyon to address the style and magnitude of shortening and the relationship between contractional structures and porphyry preservation and localization between the Ray and Resolution porphyry copper deposits. Cenozoic extensional structures were superimposed on earlier contractional structures formed during the Laramide orogeny, which dates from ~80 to 50 Ma. This superposition requires that Cenozoic normal faults be restored prior to analysis of Laramide contractional structures and their relationship to nearby porphyry copper deposits. Five distinct sets of normal faults within the study area progressively tilted the region 65° east. The amount of extension was 10.3 km or 276%. Using key constraints such as offset strata, cutoff angles between faults and various units, and Laramide fault geometries, the study area was structurally reconstructed and verified using 2-D kinematic modeling of reverse fault offset and related folding. Total shortening is 7.2 km or 98%. Laramide reverse faults are interpreted as thick-skinned basement-cored uplifts, because they restore to moderate angles, have related fault-propagation folds, and involve significant crystalline basement rock. The Telegraph Canyon reverse fault has at least 5.3 km of offset, and the Walnut Canyon reverse fault has 3.2 km. The preferred estimate of the total vertical uplift for the fault system is 5.2 km but could be several kilometers greater. The restored strike direction of these faults combined with mid-Cenozoic erosion surfaces throughout the region suggests that this fault system may be responsible for the Laramide uplift of the Tortilla Mountains and Black Hills. In addition, most major porphyry centers appear to have been intruded into the footwall of this large uplift, with local examples including Ray and Resolution, suggesting that topography generated from this uplift may have been critical to preservation of these ore systems. Though definitive crosscutting relationships do not exist in the immediate map area, geologic relationships in a broader area suggest that shortening here began after 74 Ma and, in the Ray area, had ended by ~69 Ma and that porphyry formation postdated reverse faulting by as much as 5 m.y. to as little as <1 m.y.


In order to research the problem of rescue chamber colliding with the tunnel wall. The theoretical model of rescue chamber has been formed, based on the principle of energy conservation, by using theories of plates and shells, large deformed plate and shell, and by analysis of dynamic response of mine rescue chamber under axial impact load. This model includes initial velocity, contact force deformation energy and shell deformation. Dytran software was applied to build the finite element model of the rescue chamber contacting the rigid plate. Through comparison emulation result and theoretical analysis result, this model is proved to be highly reliable. The theoretical calculation and the simulation indicated that there were obvious relationships among the ability of the mine rescue chamber under axial impact load with the thickness, depth of flat spherical shells. If the thickness or depth increases, then the chamber could stand more. It is also confirmed that increasing the depth of flat spherical shells can minish the impact force for making impact process abate, which provides a basis for the research of rescue chamber.


Capturing 3D foot models is important for applications such as manufacturing customized shoes and creating clubfoot orthotics. In this paper, we propose a novel prototype, Sensock, to offer a fully wearable solution for the task of 3D foot reconstruction. The prototype consists of four soft stretchable sensors, made from silk fibroin yarn. We identify four characteristic foot girths based on the existing knowledge of foot anatomy, and measure their lengths with the resistance value of the stretchable sensors. A learning-based model is trained offline and maps the foot girths to the corresponding 3D foot shapes. We compare our method with existing solutions using red-green-blue (RGB) or RGBD (RGB-depth) cameras, and show the advantages of our method in terms of both efficiency and accuracy. In the user experiment, we find that the relative error of Sensock is lower than 0.55%. It performs consistently across different trials and is considered comfortable and suitable for long-term wearing.


A chemically defined medium, OMIZ (Oral Microbiology and Immunology, Zurich)-W1 was developed. Medium OMIZ-W1 supports the long-term proliferation of a wide range of oral anaerobes, including representative strains of four Treponema species and Porphyromonas gingivaIss. High concentrations of ascorbic acid and ammonium ions proved to be important for the growth of these organisms. T. denticola CD-1 grew in the absence of polyamines and long-chain fatty acids, T. pectinovorum and T. socranskii required polyamines, whereas T. vincentii depended on both polyamines and lecithin for growth. Specific requirements for purines and/or pyrimidines were detected, and these requirements couid be used to distinguish Haemophilus-Actinobacilus group organisms. Some strains ofP. gingivalis grew without vitamin K, while others were not satisfied by menadione but required its precursor 1,4-dihydroxy-2-naphthoic acid. Protoporphyrin IX or hemin equally satisfied the porphyrin requirements ofP. gingivalis and Bacteroidesforsythus, whereas ferrous sulfate was more efficiently used as a source of iron than was hemin. The cellular cohesiveness ofP. gingivalis increased with high concentrations of hemin in the growth medium. PrevoteUa intermedia, B. forsythus, and several strains of P. gingivalis were more fastidious and required a protein or serum supplement to grow in medium OMIZ-W1.


The use of poultry waste as a fertiliser on arable land is an accepted method of waste treatment. However, run-off from such practices may result in contamination of the watercourse by human pathogens. In this study the effectiveness of using constructed wetlands as an alternative treatment for poultry manure waste was evaluated. Enumeration of Campylobacter spp., Escherichia coli , total coliforms and total aerobes were carried out on influent and effluent samples from reed beds loaded with poultry waste. For both sequential loading and continuous loading there was a statistically significant mean log reduction of 3.56 and 4.25 for E. coli , 3.2 and 3.88 for coliforms, 3.85 and 4.2 for total aerobic counts and 3.13 and 2.96 for Campylobacter spp., respectively. This method, which has been previously recognised as cost-effective and environmentally acceptable, provides an efficient method for reducing numbers of these bacteria in poultry waste and therefore an effective alternative treatment for such waste or waters containing run off from land previously spread with poultry manure.


Well-defined ABA type block copolymers of acetophenone formaldehyde resin (AFR) and methyl methacrylate (MMA) were synthesized via atom transfer radical polymerization. In the first step, acetophenone formaldehyde resin containing hydroxyl groups was modified with 2-bromopropionyl bromide. Resulting difunctional macroinitiator was used in the ATRP of MMA using copper bromide (CuBr)/N,N,N 0 ,N 00 ,N 00 -pen- tamethyl-diethylenetriamine (PMDETA) as the catalyst system at 90 � C. The chemical composition and structure of the copolymers were characterized by nuclear magnetic resonance ( 1 H-NMR) spectroscopy, Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy, and molecular weight mea- surement. Gel permeation chromatography (GPC) was used to study the molecular weight distributions of the AFR block copolymers. Mn up to 24,000 associated with narrow molecular weight distributions (PDI < 1.5) were obtained with conversions up to 79%. Coating properties of obtained block copolymers such as adhesion and reflectance values were investigated. They showed good adhesion properties on Plexiglass substrates. Reflectance values increased as the resin content of polymer increased. The thermal properties of all polymers were studied using differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). All block copolymers showed higher thermal stability than their precursor AFR


IntroductionThe World Health Organization recognizes suicide as a public health priority. Recent studies have focused on health care contacts for those who complete suicide to highlight opportunities for intervention. In Wales, electronic health records (EHR) are routinely collected, providing an invaluable opportunity for researching suicide risk factors.
Objectives and ApproachWe aim at linking primary and secondary EHRs to identify suicide risk factors for those between 10 and 24 years of age. We linked 7 different demographic and health datasets from the Secure Anonymised Information Linkage Databank UK, and identified a total of 471 cases between 2001 and 2015, 10 matched controls of same gender and age (±1 year), as well as cases' and controls' mothers. We measured a number of factors from primary and secondary care including self-harm, mental health issues and drugs and alcohol misuse. We used conditional logistic regression to conduct our analyses.
ResultsPreliminary results suggest that environmental factors extracted from cohabitants and mothers have a statistically significant effect even after adjusting for deprivation. Self-harm, possible maltreatment and alcohol and drugs misuse seem to be strongest factors of those studied. Factors related to mental health have smaller and more complex effects when adjusting for deprivation.
Conclusion/ImplicationsOur preliminary analysis indicate that EHR can be linked to study the effect of the environment on suicide risk. Once completed, we hope this study will help to identify other suicide risk factors, improve our knowledge of the mechanisms underlying suicide and help to identify opportunities for intervention and improve care.


Rates of 3H-thymidine, 3H-uridine and 14C-glycine incorporation in nucleic acids and total proteins were studied in cells of bone marrow, spleen, thymus and ileocecal lymph nodes tissues of BALB/c mice with subacute alloxan diabetes (content of blood sugar was higher than 14 mmol/l). Synthesis of DNA, RNA and protein was not considerably inhibited in the thymus tissue of the impaired animals which may correlate with pronounced dysfunction of cytotoxic T lymphocytes typical for the disease.


The Internet of Things is growing rapidly while still missing a universal operating and management platform for multiple diverse use cases. Such a platform should provide all necessary functionalities and the underlying infrastructure for the setup, execution and composition of Smart Services. The concept of Smart Services enables the connection and integration of cyber-physical systems (CPS) and technologies (i.e., sensors and actuators) with business-related applications and services. Therefore, the SmartOrchestra Platform provides an open and standards-based service platform for the utilization of public administrative and business-related Smart Services. It combines the features of an operating platform, a marketplace, a broker, and a notary for a cloud-based operation of Smart Services. Thus, users of cyber-physical systems are free to choose their control applications, no matter what device they are using (e.g., smartphone, tablet or personal computer) and they also become independent of the manufacturers' software. This will enable new business opportunities for different stakeholders in the market and allows flexibly composing Smart Services.


We previously showed that transgenic enhancement of histamine production in B16-F10 melanomas strongly supports tumor growth in C57BL/6 mice. In the present study, gene expression profiles of transgenic mouse melanomas, secreting different amounts of histamine, were compared by whole genome microarrays. Array results were validated by real-time PCR, and genes showing histamine-affected behavior were further analyzed by immunohistochemistry. Regulation of histamine-coupled genes was investigated by checking the presence and functional integrity of all four known histamine receptors in experimental melanomas and by administering histamine H1 receptor (H1R) and H2 receptor (H2R) antagonists to tumor-bearing mice. Finally, an attempt was made to integrate histamine-affected genes in known gene regulatory circuits by in silico pathway analysis. Our results show that histamine enhances melanoma growth via H1R rather than through H2R. We show that H1R activation suppresses RNA-level expression of the tumor suppressor insulin-like growth factor II receptor (IGF-IIR) and the antiangiogenic matrix protein fibulin-5 (FBLN5), decreases their intracellular protein levels, and also reduces their availability in the plasma membrane and extracellular matrix, respectively. Pathway analysis suggests that because plasma membrane-bound IGF-IIR is required to activate matrix-bound, latent transforming growth factor-beta1, a factor suggested to sustain FBLN5 expression, the data can be integrated in a known antineoplastic regulatory pathway that is suppressed by H1R. On the other hand, we show that engagement of H2R also reduces intracellular protein pools of IGF-IIR and FBLN5, but being a downstream acting posttranslational effect with minimal consequences on exported IGF-IIR and FBLN5 protein levels, H2R is rather irrelevant compared with H1R in melanoma.


This article shows how similar humanitarian narratives of states can travel across different geographies in response to refugee crises. Empirically, it follows Turkey's position vis-à-vis the Syrian and Rohingya refugee crises. Considering Turkey's migration management practices, humanitarian activism narrative, and its political ambition to foster domestic and international audiences for this narrative, this article elaborates on how Turkey has become a humanitarian actor responding both to Syrian and the Rohingya crises. In both cases, the Turkish political discourses have been very resonant of each other, despite Syria and Myanmar being in different geographies and proximities to Turkey. The article also shows how Turkish politicians and the civil servants aspired to enhance visibility and credibility of Turkey as a humanitarian actor. Delineating Turkey's humanitarian narrative shows the role of political agency in forging sympathetic domestic and international audiences. Overall, the Turkish case presents how states operate migration regimes at the cusp of discourses and institutions affecting their forced migration management and humanitarian engagements.


This study investigates and compares several design storms for flood estimation in partially urbanized catchments. Six different design storms were considered: Euler II, alternating block method, average variability method, Huff's curves, and uniform rainfall. Additionally, two extreme historical storms were included for comparison. A small, ungauged, partially urbanized catchment in Novigrad (Croatia) was chosen as a study area to account for the infiltration impact on the rainfall-runoff process. The performance of each design storm was assessed based on the flood modeling results, namely the water depth, water velocity, flow rate, and overall flood extent. Furthermore, several rainfall durations were considered to identify a critical scenario. The excess rainfall was computed using the Soil Conservation Service's Curve Number method, and two-dimensional flooding simulations were performed by the HEC-RAS model. The results confirmed that the choice of the design storm and the rainfall duration has a significant impact on the flood modeling results. Overall, design storms constructed only from IDF curves overestimated flooding in comparison to historical events, whereas design storms derived from the analysis of observed temporal patterns matched or slightly underestimated the flooding results. Of the six considered design storms, the average variability method showed the closest agreement with historical storms.


A visual cryptography scheme (VCS) is a kind of secret sharing scheme which allows the encoding of a secret image into shares distributed to participants. The beauty of such a scheme is that a set of qualified participants is able to recover the secret image without any cryptographic knowledge and computation devices. An extended visual cryptography scheme (EVCS) is a kind of VCS which consists of meaningful shares (compared to the random shares of traditional VCS). In this paper, we propose a construction of EVCS which is realized by embedding random shares into meaningful covering shares, and we call it the embedded EVCS. Experimental results compare some of the well-known EVCSs proposed in recent years systematically, and show that the proposed embedded EVCS has competitive visual quality compared with many of the well-known EVCSs in the literature. In addition, it has many specific advantages against these well-known EVCSs, respectively. Visual cryptography is one of the technique used to encrypt the images by dividing the original image into transparencies. The transparencies can be sent to the intended person,


This thesis examines the legal and governance issues presented by internet blocking ("filtering") systems through the use of the United Kingdom's Cleanfeed system as a national case study. The Cleanfeed system – which aims to block access to child abuse images – has been influential both domestically and internationally but has been the subject of relatively little sustained scrutiny in the literature. Using a mixed doctrinal and empirical methodology this work discusses the evolution of Cleanfeed and considers the way in which government pressure has led to a private body without any express legislative basis (the Internet Watch Foundation) being given the power to control what UK internet users can view. The thesis argues that the Cleanfeed system sits at the intersection of three distinct trends – the use of architectural regulation, regulation through intermediaries and selfregulation – which individually and collectively present significant risks for freedom of expression and good governance online. It goes on to identify and examine the fundamental rights norms and governance standards which should apply to internet blocking and tests the system against them, arguing in particular that Cleanfeed fails to meet the requirements developed by the European Court of Human Rights under Articles 6 and 10 ECHR. It considers the extent to which Cleanfeed might be made amenable to these principles through the use of judicial review or actions under the Human Rights Act 1998 and concludes that the diffuse structure of the system and the limited availability of horizontal effect against private bodies will leave significant aspects beyond the effective reach of the courts. This work also assesses claims that the Cleanfeed system is a proof of concept which should be extended so as to block other material considered objectionable (such as websites which "glorify terrorism"). It argues that the peculiar features of the system mean that it represents a best case scenario and does not support blocking of other types of content which are significantly more problematic. The thesis concludes by considering proposals for reform of the Cleanfeed system and the extent to which greater public law oversight might undermine the desirable features associated with selfregulation.


This paper focuses on Lefort's and Rancière's conceptions of democracy as a set of conflictual processes through which the composition of the public sphere is reassessed. Reading their works together and sometimes in opposition to each other, the paper extracts elements of a theory of inessential sovereignty that avoids the pitfalls of populist antagonism and of neoliberal diffuse domination. It analyses Lefort's and Rancière's understandings of democracy as rule of the people, which are based on ontological and aesthetical distinctions between 'politics' and 'the political'. It argues that in the structural situation of dissensus described by both Lefort and Rancière, popular sovereignty could be conceptualized as lying in an ability to shape and transform the public sphere.


Historically, cryptographic file systems have been several times slower than non-cryptographic file systems. This paper describes the design and implementation of a fast Cryptographic Log-structured File System on OpenBSD. We experimentally demonstrate that our pro-totype file system performs close to the Fast File System (FFS) and the Log-structured File System (LFS). To increase performance, our file system performs most encryption and decryption work during disk read and write operations. This is possible thanks to the SEAL encryption algorithm, a software optimized stream cipher that allows the en-cryption work to be performed prior to the actual data is available. We believe that our cryptographic file system design is ideal for optimal read and write performance on locally stored confidential data.


The study of the Vetiveria zizanioides (L.) Nash root from six different varieties namely : Surat Thani, Phimai, Wiang-Chai, Pang Bong, Rachaburi and Indonesia revealed very minor differences in shape and size. The variety of names were native of the area in which they were first cultivated in Thailand, and the samples we investigated came from Doi Tung Palace. In determining antimicrobial activity we found that crude methanolic extracts of the 6 varieties of V. zizanioides roots showed antifungal activity against Trichophyton mentagrophytes at 1% W/V. Some varieties showed antibacterial activity against Staphylococcus aureus ATCC 25923, Escherichia coli ATCC 25922 and Pseudomonas aeruginosa ATCC 278533 at 10% W/V. The most active variety was Pang-Bong. We purified crude methanolic extract of the Surat-Thani variety by column and preparative thin layer chromatography. Five components were collected and analized and four of them showed antifungal activity against T. mentagrophytes by using the agar well diffusion method. The minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of the purified combined column chromatographic fractions against T. mentagrophytes , as determined by the agar dilution method was 78 μ g/mL, and the MIC of one from four components was 1,628 μ g/mL. In addition to the pharmacognostic identification and antimicrobial activity of these six varieties, the crude methanolic extracts may be able to cure dermatophytic infection that is associated to some types of skin disorder. Chiang Mai Med Bull 2005;44(3):85-90.


What factors determine countries' international trade relations? Recent theories point to the potential importance of domestic legal traditions. Countries' legal systems influence the enforcement of contracts. This has been shown to affect trade flows in common law and civil law countries. However, these two legal systems do not constitute the universe of legal traditions. Islamic law is an important and fundamentally distinct legal system that has been largely overlooked. In this article, we offer the first direct test of the effect of Islamic law on countries' trade relations. We find that, on average, levels of bilateral trade are lowest among Islamic law states, holding all else constant. This finding suggests that, contrary to conventional wisdom, shared institutions alone are insufficient to enhance trade flows. Instead, levels of bilateral trade depend critically on the quality of shared institutions. The importance of countries' legal systems for trade declines over time, possibly due to the increased role of international arbitration bodies and/or the standardization of international sales contracts.


Objective 1,25(OH)2 vitamin D3 can affect immune cells. However, the mechanism responsible for the favorable effects of 1(OH) vitamin D3, which becomes 1,25(OH)2 vitamin D3 in the liver, is not clear. The aim of this study is to analyze the immunological response of 1(OH) vitamin D3 supplementation in CH-C patients. Design Forty-two CH-C patients were treated with 1(OH) vitamin D3/Peg-IFNα/RBV. Forty-two case-matched controls were treated with Peg-IFNα/RBV. The expression of Interferon-stimulated genes (ISGs)-mRNA in the liver biopsy samples and JFH-1 replicating Huh-7 cells were quantified by real-time PCR. Ten kinds of cytokines in the plasma were quantified during treatment by using a suspension beads array. A trans-well co-culture system with peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) and Huh-7 cells was used to analyze the effect of 1(OH) vitamin D3. The activities of the Th1 response were compared between subjects treated with 1(OH) vitamin D3/Peg-IFN/RBV and those treated with Peg-IFN/RBV therapy alone. Results 1(OH) vitamin D3/Peg-IFN/RBV treatment could induce rapid viral reduction, especially in IL28B T/T polymorphism. Several kinds of cytokines including IP-10 were significantly decreased after 4 weeks of 1(OH) vitamin D3 treatment (p<0.05). Th1 responses in the subjects treated with 1(OH) vitamin D3/Peg-IFN/RBV were significantly higher than those treated with Peg-IFN/RBV at 12 weeks after Peg-IFN/RBV therapy (p<0.05). The expression of ISGs in the patient's liver biopsy samples was significantly lower than in those treated without 1(OH) vitamin D3 (p<0.05). Conclusion 1(OH) vitamin D3 could improve the sensitivity of Peg-IFN/RBV therapy on HCV-infected hepatocytes by reducing the IP-10 production from PBMCs and ISGs expression in the liver.


In the early 1980s, Selman's seminal work on positive Turing reductions showed that positive Turing reduction to NP yields no greater computational power than NP itself. Thus, positive Turing and Turing reducibility to NP differ sharply unless the polynomial hierarchy collapses.
We show that the situation is quite different for DP, the next level of the boolean hierarchy. In particular, positive Turing reduction to DP already yields all (and only) sets Turing reducibility to NP. Thus, positive Turing and Turing reducibility to DP yield the same class. Additionally, we show that an even weaker class, P(NP[1]), can be substituted for DP in this context.


Abstract Lactobacillus fermentum is a lactic acid bacterial species commonly found in the digestive tracts of pigs and rodents and also present in man. We characterized a 5.7-kb plasmid, pLEM3, conferring erythromycin resistance, which was isolated from a porcine strain of L. fermentum. Plasmid pLEM3 established efficiently in L. fermentum, conferred high-level erythromycin resistance (MIC > 1 mg/ml), and was segregationally stable. A deletion derivative of pLEM3, called pLEM5, was constructed and found to be as genetically stable as the parent. A multiple cloning site was inserted into pLEM5, generating plasmid pLEM7. Nucleotide sequence determination of pLEM5 revealed similarities with known genes. The replicon itself is a member of the pC194 family of rolling circle plasmids. The region responsible for erythromycin resistance was 98.2% identical to the erm gene of conjugative transposon Tn 1545.


Background: Higher education is growing fast and every day it is more and more exposed to the globalization processes. The quality of educational Services, with emphasis on students' satisfaction, is a newly emerging field of concern.

Objective : This study was carried out to determine the quality gap of educational services based on students' perceptions and expectations in Hormozgan University of Medical Sciences.

Methods: In this cross-sectional study, 300 students were selected randomly and asked to fill out a questionnaire designed according to SERVQUAL method. This questionnaire measures students' perceptions and expectations in five dimensions of educational services including assurance, responsiveness, empathy, reliability and tangibles. Quality gap of educational services was determined by calculating the difference between students' perceptions and expectations.

Results: According to the results, there were negative quality gaps in all of the five dimensions. The greatest gap (-1.14) was in responsiveness dimension followed respectively by empathy
(-0.95), assurance (-0.89), tangibles (-0.84) and reliability (-0.71). There were significant differences among the means of quality gap in all of the five domains (p=0.0001).

Conclusion: Negative quality gap of educational services indicates that students' expectations are more than their perceptions and in none of the studied dimensions; students' perceptions have met their expectations. Thus, in planning for the improvement of educational services quality, students' expectations, especially in the dimensions with higher negative gaps should be considered as priority.
Keywords: Quality, Educational services, Student, Medical Sciences University,


Effects of low energy electron irradiation (5-30 keV) on some of the optical properties of CdSe nanocrystals are examined. Degradation in luminescence intensities are measured and compared for inorganic nanocrystals coated in trioctylphosphine oxide (TOPO) and biologically compatible CdSe nanocrystals coated in mercaptoacetic acid (MAA), as well as CdSe-MAA nanocrystals conjugated with the protein Streptavidin. Electron beam effects are investigated using the technique of cathodoluminescence, which is seen to induce significant degradation in nanocrystal related fluorescence in all nanocrystals. Varying beam energy and sample temperatures showed faster degradation at cryogenic temperatures and a higher susceptibility to low beam energies in protein conjugated nanocrystals.


We address the synthesis of fast, efficient and regular computational structures for the Discrete Wavelet Transform (DWT) algorithm, using linear space-time mapping and constraint driven localization techniques. Index space transformations are used to regularize the DWT algorithm and to avoid data collisions due to multiprojection. A summary of the data dependence and localization analysis is presented, as well as an array of L Processing Elements (PEs) for computing any J-octave DWT decomposition with latency of M, where L is the wavelet filter length and M is the input sequence length. The latency is independent of the highest computable octave J, for any value of J, and the efficiency is nearly optimal and independent of M. The proposed design is the fastest parallel implementation of the 1-D DWT with L PEs that we know of.


The evaluation of the reliability of a witness must take into consideration a series of factors such as: the characteristics of the individual interviewed; the interviewer; the presence of repeated or suggested questions from the interview; as well as the motivation of the subject to render a more or less truthful account.  This involves, therefore, very delicate analysis which requires adequate preparation on the part of those called upon to carry out the task. In particular, special attention must be paid to the content of the declaration given by the subject. In light of some important contributions provided in the international literature, the objective of this work is to carry out a critical analysis of two instruments which are used to analyze the contents of testimony: the SVA, or the Statement Validity Analysis (with particular attention to CBCA, which makes up the integrative part), and the  RM, or Reality Monitoring. A comparison between these instruments and an analysis of the capacity of each of them to be able to correctly discriminate between true and false accounts has resulted from this analysis. By comparing the SVA and the RM, it was possible to show that both approaches have a set of discriminating criteria in common. While at the same time it has been noted that some of the characteristics present in one, are not present in the other. In light of these considerations, many studies have shown that the discriminative capacity of the SVA and the RM is much greater if the overall points of the two instruments are considered together and not singularly. In addition, both of these instruments offer a set of methodological limits that should go further in-depth. This work seeks to underline the importance of continuing studies in this field in light of the encouraging results that have been achieved in the area of reliability evaluation of witnesses as well as the possible integration of the two instruments.


Introduction: Epithelial cell-derived mediators have emerged as key players for instigating local remodeling and the associated cellular inflammation in asthmatic airways. In particular, the epithelial-derived cytokine, thymic stromal lymphopoietin (TSLP), has been identified as a master switch for allergic inflammation. Areas covered: TSLP is expressed by structural and immune cells at the site of allergen entry in the airways. Stimuli for release of TSLP include common triggers of asthma symptoms, and TSLP levels correlate with disease severity. TSLP regulates helper T cell 2 (Th2) humoral immunity through upregulating OX40L on dendritic cells (DCs), which drives Th2 lymphocytes; however, activation of several other cells by TSLP also supports the development of Th2 inflammation. Animal models of asthma demonstrate that increased levels of TSLP can induce many of the characteristics of asthma. Expert opinion: The work conducted to date supports a critical role of TSLP in the pathogenesis of allergic asthma. The first clinical trial to block the downstream effects of OX40L has shown reduced levels of circulating IgE and airway eosinophils, confirming the importance of TSLP-induced OX40L levels on DCs. Clinical trials with TSLP blockade are underway and will unequivocally confirm whether TSLP is indeed a key driver of allergic inflammation in asthma.


Background and Study Aim: In the early literature on karate, it is empirically suggested that biomechanical variable such as executing time and impact force are affected by the stance. The aim of the research is to verify the hypothesis: there is no difference in the maximum impact force between natural (shizen-tai) and front (zenkutsu-dachi) stances; the maximum impact force may differ between the two stances because of the weight distribution on the lower limbs, and a greater engagement of body parts (effective mass) and joints. Material and Methods: The impact force of a straight punch was acquired for eight highly trained back belt karate practitioners (age: 47.5 ±10.13 years; height: 1.76 ±0.03 m; mass: 86.08 ±17.43 kg; expertise: 32.13 ±8.87 years) using two load cells (maximum capacity: 2000 N) fixed between two parallel boards with the same dimensions of a target. The subjects executed a straight punch while adopting two stances: natural and front stance targeting the force measurement device at full power. The effect of natural and front stances on the impact force (peak) was analysed using the nonparametric Wilcoxon rank test. Additionally, the nonparametric bootstrap resampling technique was employed to investigate the robustness of the results. Results: The impact force (peak) of the straight punch is average 2260.79 ±538.44 N and average 2645.59 ±538.44 N for the natural and front stance, respectively. A straight punch in front stance presents statistically significant higher impact force (peak) than the same technique while adopting a natural stance. Conclusions: In the front stance (zenkutsu-dachi), karate athletes are able to engage more body parts and consequently increase effective mass during impact, which transfers greater momentum, and consequently generates a high impact force. These results were corroborated by the nonparametric bootstrap paired t-statistic which rendered similar conclusions.


Very high temperature reactors (VHTRs) are planned to be operated between 550 to 950°C, and demand a thermally efficient intermediate heat exchanger (IHX) in the heat transport system (HTS). The current technological development of compact heat exchangers (CHXs) for VHTRs is at the 'proof of concept' level. A significant development in the CHX technologies is essential for the VHTRs to be efficient, cost-effective, and safe. CHXs have very high thermal efficiency and compactness, making them a prime candidate for IHXs in VHTRs. Photochemically etched plates with the desired channel pattern are stacked and diffusion bonded to fabricate CHXs. All plates are compressed at an elevated temperature over a specified period in the diffusion bonding process, promoting atomic diffusion and grain growth across bond surfaces resulting in a monolithic block. The diffusion bonding process changes the base metal properties, which are unknown for Alloy 800H, a candidate alloy for CHX construction. Hence, developing mechanical response data and understanding failure mechanisms of diffusion bonded Alloy 800H at elevated temperatures is a key step for advancing the technology of IHXs in VHTRs. The ultimate goal of this study is to develop ASME BPVC Section III, Division 5 design rules for CHXs in nuclear service. Towards this goal, mechanical performance and microstructures of diffusion bonded Alloy 800H is investigated through a series of tensile, fatigue, creep, and creep-fatigue tests at temperatures 550 to 760°C. The test results, failure mechanisms, and microstructures of diffusion bonded Alloy 800H is scrutinized and presented.


The authors analyzed the results of thermographic and scintigraphic (using 67Ga-citrate produced in the USSR) investigations in 41 patients: 10 with tumors of the oral cavity, 12 with oropharyngeal tumors, and 19 with parapharyngeal tumors. Of the latter 10 had morphologically verified benign tumors, 5--mixed type tumors, and 4--malignant tumors (sarcoma in 2 patients, a thyroid cancer metastasis to the parapharyngeal lymph nodes in 1, malignant chemodectoma in 1). Thermography and scintigraphy positive results (the absence of hyperthermia and RP hyperfixation in a tumor) were obtained in 7 of 10 patients with benign parapharyngeal tumors. Thermography false-positive results were obtained in 3 patients, however 67Ga-citrate accumulation was undetectable in these patients' tumors making the diagnosis more accurate. Thermography and scintigraphy results were positive in all 22 patients with malignant oropharyngeal (the oral cavity and oropharynx) tumors. Thermography and scintigraphy positive results were also noted in all 5 patients with parapharyngeal mixed tumors which could be associated with raised tumor tissue biological activity. The data obtained suggested a possibility of the use of thermography and scintigraphy in the diagnosis of oro-and parapharyngeal tumors.


In the past, studies on the linkage between share prices movement and inflation has been subjected to extensive research by academics, researchers, practitioners and policy makers since the 1990s. Most studies in the industrialized economies showed the existence of negative relationship between share price movement and inflation. Consequently, this paper utilized generalized autoregressive conditional heteroschedasticity (GARCH) model and investigated the influence of inflation on share price movement in Nigerian stock market, using quarterly data for the period 1981 to 2012. The findings of this paper suggest that the GARCH terms of the share price movement in Nigeria depicted a variance of autoregressive conditional heteroscedastic behaviour. Furthermore, share price movement and inflation exhibited a collective volatility of about 0.0015% during the study period. Share price movement exhibit a volatile shock of about 79% in behaviour while a 1% increase in inflation leads to about 0.15% decrease in share price movement in Nigeria. In addition, a 1% increase in market capitalization leads to about 66.8% increase in share price movement in Nigeria. Therefore, stabilizing inflation will deepen the Nigerian stock market the more thereby leading to a trickling down effect on the stock market capitalization. Hence, policies geared towards the reduction and stabilization of inflation to at least, single digit is recommended to the Nigerian monetary authorities.


Objective: To evaluate the safety and tolerability of natalizumab when added to glatiramer acetate (GA) in patients with relapsing multiple sclerosis. The primary outcome assessed whether this combination would increase the rate of development of new active lesions on cranial MRI scans vs GA alone. Methods: This phase 2, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study included patients aged 19 to 55 years who were treated with GA for at least 1 year before randomization and experienced at least one relapse during the previous year. Patients received IV natalizumab 300 mg (n = 55) or placebo (n = 55) once every 4 weeks plus GA 20 mg subcutaneously once daily for ≤20 weeks. Results: The mean rate of development of new active lesions was 0.03 with combination therapy vs 0.11 with GA alone (p = 0.031). Combination therapy resulted in lower mean numbers of new gadolinium-enhancing lesions (0.6 vs 2.3 for GA alone, p = 0.020) and new/newly enlarging T2-hyperintense lesions (0.5 vs 1.3, p = 0.029). The incidence of infection and infusion reactions was similar in both groups; no hypersensitivity reactions were observed. One serious adverse event occurred with combination therapy (elective hip surgery). With the exception of an increase in anti-natalizumab antibodies with combination therapy, laboratory data were consistent with previous clinical studies of natalizumab alone. Conclusion: The combination of natalizumab and glatiramer acetate seemed safe and well tolerated during 6 months of therapy.


Background: The microbial diagnosis of tuberculosis (TB) remains challenging and relies on multiple microbiological tests performed on different clinical specimens. Polymerase chain reactions (PCRs), introduced in the last decades has had a significant impact on the diagnosis of TB. However, questions remain about the use of PCRs in combination with conventional tests for TB, namely microscopy and culture. We aimed to determine the performance of microscopy, culture and PCR for the diagnosis of pulmonary tuberculosis according to the type of clinical specimen in order to improve the diagnostic yield and to avoid unnecessary, time and labor-intensive tests. Methods: We conducted a retrospective study (2008-2018) on analysis (34429 specimens, 14358 patients) performed in our diagnostic laboratory located in the Lausanne University Hospital to compare the performance of microbiological tests on sputum, induced sputum, bronchial aspirate and bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL). We analysed the performance using a classical "per specimen" approach and a "per patient" approach for paired specimens collected from the same patient. Results: The overall sensitivities of microscopy, PCR and culture were 0.523 (0.489, 0.557), 0.798 (0.755, 0.836) and 0.988 (0.978, 0.994) and the specificity were 0.994 (0.993, 0.995), 1 (0.999, 1) and 1 (1, 1). Microscopy displayed no significant differences in sensitivity according to the type of sample. The sensitivities of PCR for sputum, induced sputum, bronchial aspirate and BAL were, 0.821 (0.762, 0.871), 0.643 (0.480, 0.784), 0.837 (0.748, 0.904) and 0.759 (0.624, 0.865) respectively and the sensitivity of culture were, 0.993 (0.981, 0.998), 0.980 (0.931, 0.998), 0.965 (0.919, 0.988), and 1 (0.961, 1) respectively. Pairwise comparison of specimens collected from the same patient reported a significantly higher sensitivity of PCR on bronchial aspirate over BAL (p < 0.001) and sputum (p < 0.05) and a significantly higher sensitivity of culture on bronchial aspirate over BAL (p < 0.0001). Conclusions: PCR displayed a higher sensitivity and specificity than microscopy for all respiratory specimens, a rational for a smear-independent PCR-based approach to initiate tuberculosis microbial diagnostic. The diagnosis yield of bronchial aspirate was higher than BAL. Therefore, PCR should be systematically performed also on bronchial aspirates when available.


Dialogue systems in open domain have achieved great success due to the easily obtained single-turn corpus and the development of deep learning, but the multi-turn scenario is still a challenge because of the frequent coreference and information omission. In this paper, we investigate the incomplete utterance restoration which has brought general improvement over multi-turn dialogue systems in recent studies. Meanwhile, inspired by the autoregression for text generation and the sequence labeling for text editing, we propose a novel semi autoregressive generator (SARG) with the high efficiency and flexibility. Moreover, experiments on Restoration-200k show that our proposed model significantly outperforms the state-of-the-art models in terms of quality and inference speed.


Natural fiber has emerged as a renewable and economical substitute to synthetic materials such as glass, carbon, which are used as reinforcements. In this paper work, the objective was to develop, investigate and analyze the mechanical properties of a composite material using bamboo fiber and banana fiber polymer. The long bamboo fiber was extracted using chemical digestion and maceration methods. The fabrication of the composite was carried out using epoxy resin as the matrix and the bamboo fiber and the banana fiber as reinforcement. Tests were carried out to determine the mechanical properties such as tensile, hardness and bending strengths. The results were studied and compared with the conventional materials and it process that the material developed can be used in structural applications with strong dependence on its mechanical properties.


TO THE EDITOR: Reassuring as it is to see that a recent record linkage study from Denmark by Susanne Oksbjerg Dalton, M.D., Ph.D., et al. (1) accurately replicated our previous finding of a reduced incidence of cancer in the parents of patients with schizophrenia in Finland compared with the general population (2), I was surprised to recognize that this difference vanished when parents whose children were free of schizophrenia were chosen as the comparison group instead. Thus, the authors made a point that our common finding with the general population as the reference group should be invalid, and they claimed a "healthy parenthood effect" as the critical source of bias. However, when testing our genetic hypothesis, they should have considered parents exposed to cancer risk throughout their lifetime. I am not sure whether their method of having follow-up for cancer in parents starts only at the birth of the first child or, alternatively, at the birth (or age at disease onset) of the first child with schizophrenia might have biased their finding of equal cancer risk (e.g., given that some studies find schizophrenia risk to depend on birth order, e.g., Kemppainen et al. [3]). Also, the "healthy parenthood effect" they introduced from a Danish study that found parents of children with cancer at no higher incidence than the general population (4) did not receive general support from several other population studies in parents of individuals with cancer at a younger age (5–7), and it seems counterintuitive at least since a significant proportion of cancer at a younger age is known to occur on a genetic basis. In fact, the only other retrievable large population study that compared cancer risk between the relatives of patients with cancer and the relatives of otherwise deceased persons from Utah (instead of the general population) still found familial cancer risk increased (8). Therefore, I doubt the general validity of the "healthy parenthood effect." It would have been useful to see whether cancer risk in the Danish comparison group of parous individuals with no child affected by schizophrenia was indeed lower than in the general population, including parous and nonparous individuals. Unfortunately, the lack of resources does not currently permit me to replicate, in turn, selection of a parous comparison group from the Finnish population register and analyses similar to those of the Danish study. Meanwhile, I commend the colleagues from Denmark for drawing benefit from the excellent epidemiological material available in Nordic countries, and I hope that other appropriate registers (e.g., Hemminki et al. [9]) will contribute.


A software system for CNC dressing involute grinding wheel was developed. When the ordinary grinding wheel was used in gear form grinding, the key was to handle the on-line dressing of involute wheel. Based on involute generation principle, an algorithm by taking straight line to approach involute with equal error was mainly studied. The NC program for dressing involute wheel was prepared by using VC++6.0 as programming tool, and wheel dressing experiment was completed. Experimental result shows that the proposed algorithm is valid,and the developed program is feasible with friendly interface. The success of this software system lays the foundation for further developing CNC gear form grinding system.


Based on the ground penetrating radar's work mechanism, this article briefly introduces the working principle and the data processing method of ground penetrating radar detecting the tunnel lining. In view of the lining quality detection's characteristics, it summarizes a series of atlas reflection characteristic of the examination target such as the lining thickness, the backfill quality, the steel bar reinforcement situation, the adjacent formation structural feature and so on, and analyses and comments on them with project examples. The research believes that under appropriate working condition, as an important means to guarantee the construction security and maintain the tunnel health, ground penetrating radar technology can examine the lining quality fast and effectively, and meet the needs of the tunnel lining quality detection with suitable equipment, working method and data processing plan.


Based on neo-racism theory and human capital theory, this study examined whether international bachelor's degree recipients who graduated from U.S. institutions have significant early career outcome differences compared to domestic bachelor's degree recipients in terms of major-job match, annual earnings, and job satisfaction. Recognizing the significant differences in language, culture, and socio-economic conditions among immigrants from different countries of origin, this study further explored possible differences in career outcomes of international bachelor's degree recipients by regions of origin. The findings of this study suggest that international degree recipients have gained labor market parity in majorjob match as well as salary and job satisfaction with their domestic counterparts, all things being equal. Further, this study found evidence that region of origin plays an important role in shaping international bachelor's degree recipients' major-job match and annual earnings. The policy implications for postsecondary institutions and the U.S. as a society are discussed.


The importance of calcium ions in coupling physiological responses to external and developmental signals in plants has been well documented. Recently, Plieth and Trewavas (Plant Physiology, 2002, 129: 786-796) have shown that gravistimulation, too, elicits changes in the concentration of cytoplasmic Ca2+ in Arabidopsis plants. Cytoplasmic calcium brings about responses by interacting with target proteins, many of which contain EF-hand calcium-binding motifs. In plants there are at least five classes of protein kinases, all of which are in the CDPK/SnRK family, that either contain EF-hands within their structure or interact with proteins that contain EF-hands. Calcium-dependent protein kinases (CDPKs) and calcium and calmodulin-activated protein kinases (CCaMKs) both contain EF hands in their C-terminal domains and are activated by the binding of calcium. SnRK3s (Group 3 of the SNF-1 related kinases) bind to proteins that contain three EF hands, and some are activated by calcium. Members of two other protein kinase classes, plant calmodulin-dependent protein kinase (CaMK) and CDPK-related kinase (CRK), bind to calmodulin, but it remains to be seen whether the activity of these enzymes is regulated by calcium/calmodulin. This paper will review what is known about the structure and the regulation of these protein kinases and address the question of why there is such a plethora of calcium-regulated kinases in plants.


But, as we look to the horizon of a decade hence, we see no silver bullet. There is no single development, in either technology or in management technique, that by itself promises even one orderof-magnitude improvement in productivity, in reliability, in simplicity. In this article, I shall try to show why, by examining both the nature of the software problem and the properties of the bullets proposed.


Magnetic properties and magnetoresistance of a Co/Al/NiFe giant-magnetoresistance (GMR) spin valve are analyzed by a new micromagnetic simulation model for the strongly interacting soft magnetic materials. The coercivity is less than 10 Oe in an isolated Co or NiFe film. However, in the Co/Al/NiFe GMR structure with a 80 /spl Aring/ interlayer spacing, the coercivity of the Permalloy film increases to 208 Oe; and the remnant magnetization in the Co film even has an opposite sign with that in the NiFe film, which means the two magnetic films coupled anti-ferromagnetically in a zero external magnetic field. The looped resistance-magnetic field (R-H) curve is obtained. The noise during the switching process can be decreased and the linearity of the R-H curve can be improved by an orientation distribution of anisotropy fields for the GMR sample.


Background Limited data are available regarding the management of subsolid nodules detected on lung cancer screening with low-dose CT (LDCT). We aimed to determine the characteristics of screen-detected subsolid nodules, and to evaluate the probability of lung cancer and the clinical course of subsolid nodules detected at baseline and during follow-up screening. Methods We evaluated 50 132 asymptomatic adults (22 631 never-smokers and 27 501 ever-smokers) who underwent LDCT screening for lung cancer between May 2003 and June 2019 at a tertiary centre in South Korea. The incidence, characteristics and clinical outcomes of the baseline and new screen-detected subsolid nodules were determined. Results A total of 6725 subsolid nodules (5116 pure ground glass opacity nodules and 1609 part-solid nodules) were detected in 4545 participants (1484 new subsolid nodules detected in 937 (1.9%) participants; the overall incidence of subsolid nodules: 10.7% in never-smokers and 7.7% in ever-smokers, p<0.001). Among 4918 subsolid nodules that underwent follow-up with CT scans (the mean number of CT scans, including the baseline LDCT scan: 4.6), 2116 nodules (30.0% of baseline subsolid nodules and 78.9% of new subsolid nodules) resolved spontaneously. Among 293 biopsied subsolid nodules, 227 (77.5%) nodules were diagnosed as lung cancer, of which 226 (99.6%) were adenocarcinomas. No significant difference was observed in pathological invasiveness or the initial stage between the baseline and new cancerous subsolid nodules. Multivariable analyses revealed that new detection at follow-up screening was significantly associated with a lower probability of lung cancer (OR 0.26, 95% CI 0.14 to 0.49) and overall growth (OR 0.39, 95% CI 0.26 to 0.59), but with a higher probability of resolution (OR 6.30, 95% CI 5.09 to 7.81). Conclusions LDCT screening led to a considerably high rate of subsolid nodule detection, particularly in never-smokers. Compared with the baseline subsolid nodules, the new subsolid nodules were associated with a lower probability of lung cancer and higher probability of spontaneous resolution, indicating their more inflammatory nature. Less aggressive follow-up may be allowed for new subsolid nodules, particularly in screening programmes for Asian populations.


Gaining aerodynamic advantage is crucial in cycling, wherein drag force can account for 90% of resistance to a cyclist. The interaction of wind with the moving human and cycling equipment also contributes to drag. Testing equipment for aerodynamic properties in a wind tunnel is of interest to manufacturers in the sports industry. However, a protocol that needs to depend on the ability of a human to accurately recreate desired poses and movements multiple times may be cumbersome during testing. Additionally, a stationary mannequin does not accurately represent real-life cycling, where pedaling is a constant. Hence, a moving mannequin is suited for such applications. In this contribution, we demonstrate the development of a 3D printed articulating cycling mannequin. A cyclist was scanned using a structured light 3D scanner. Our goal was to develop an articulating mannequin with pedalling legs and a detachable upper-body to recreate two common cycling poses - time-trial and regular. In this contribution, we describe the full development of the mannequin in time trial pose. This approach outlines a low-cost method to developing mannequins for testing applications in sports.


Lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD), described as a classical hallucinogen, began its journey from the middle of the last century following an accidental discovery. Since then, it was used as a popular and notorious substance of abuse in various parts of the world. Its beneficial role as an adjunct to psychotherapy was much unknown, until some 'benevolent' experiments were carried out over time to explore some of its potential uses. But, many of its effects were unclear and seemed to be a psychedelic enigma. In this review article, we have described the receptor pharmacology, mechanism of action, effects and adverse effects of LSD on the normal body system. We have also highlighted its addictive potentials and the chances of developing tolerance. We have assimilated some of the interesting therapeutic uses of this drug, such as an antianxiety agent, a creativity enhancer, a suggestibility enhancer, and a performance enhancer. We have also described LSD to be successfully used in drug and alcohol dependence, and as a part of psychedelic peak therapy in terminally ill patients. The relevant chronological history and literature in the light of present knowledge and scenarios have been discussed. Based on available evidence, LSD could be tried therapeutically in certain specific conditions under controlled settings. But as we mention, due to all the safety concerns, the use of this nonaddictive 'entheogen' in actual practice warrants a lot of expertise, caution, cooperation and ethical considerations.


Conducting a manual evaluation is considered an essential part of summary evaluation methodology. Traditionally, the Pyramid protocol, which exhaustively compares system summaries to references, has been perceived as very reliable, providing objective scores. Yet, due to the high cost of the Pyramid method and the required expertise, researchers resorted to cheaper and less thorough manual evaluation methods, such as Responsiveness and pairwise comparison, attainable via crowdsourcing. We revisit the Pyramid approach, proposing a lightweight sampling-based version that is crowdsourcable. We analyze the performance of our method in comparison to original expert-based Pyramid evaluations, showing higher correlation relative to the common Responsiveness method. We release our crowdsourced Summary-Content-Units, along with all crowdsourcing scripts, for future evaluations.


Smart buildings are embedded with large amounts of latent data from different sources, e.g. IoT devices, sensors, and the like. Integration of this latent data with the buildings information can highly impact efficiency services provided by various industries such as facility management companies, utility companies, smart commerce, and so forth. To enable the integration of buildings information, diverse technologies such as Building Information Modelling (BIM) have been developed and changed the traditional approaches. Notwithstanding a plethora of research in this area, potential users of this information such as facility management companies are still unable to fully benefit from the building information. This is due to this fact that various information and data have been heterogeneously scattered across various sources. To overcome this challenge, this research follows the design science approach to propose a process model to address facility management concerns in terms of the ability to access the combination of building information with live data captured from various sources. The presented process model is introduced thoroughly by explaining the required steps to collect and integrate this information with the live data. The Artifact evaluation of the process model was undertaken via the employment of a focus group session with the construction professionals, the IoT experts, and the data analysts. Also, this paper elaborates on two industrial use-cases to demonstrate how having access to the building information effectively affects the other industries. The outcome of this research provides an open access to the integrated building information and live data for diverse range of users.


ABSTRACT Research in the 1960s and 1970s by Merrilees, Hallam and Jones brought to prominence the concept that 'fire-stick' farming shaped the Australian environment creating small-scale mosaic vegetation patterns such that the productive capacity increased and that grasslands with spaced trees were maintained, a 'caring for country'. Signs of fire during the colonial period (1788–1901) have been interpreted as expressions of Aboriginal 'caring for country'. Close examination of other kinds of cultural causes for fire and smoke, as well as an assessment based upon bushfire incidents in south-eastern and south-western Australia, suggests there is a likelihood that at least some, if not the majority, of the ignitions attributed to Aboriginal agency were caused by lightning strikes. A brief case study of the Jingera Rocks wildfire, inland from Bega, south-eastern New South Wales, and in close proximity to lands described by Weatherhead in a colonial narrative, is provided to illustrate the impact of lightning that strikes in mountainous and distant locations. A comparative study of colonial period and contemporary Western Australia wildfire incidents highlights the discrepancies in fit between the reality of today, an understanding of Aboriginal caring for country and fire behaviour attributed to lightning ignitions. The implications for researchers are apparent in that they no longer can rely upon generalised interpretations of the colonial record but must validate assumptions concerning the use of fire by Aboriginal people and be particularly careful when those notions are applied to guide contemporary fire management practices.


The ion or plasma nitriding process has been around for many decades. Developed in the late 1930s, the process was used extensively in Europe. During the 1980s, the process became more popular in the U.S., and many systems were purchased. Early on, the process was not widely understood, and some applications were not a good fit. As plasma nitriding advantages and limitations became realized, the process found its niche in many different industries. Very demanding applications proved to be good applications for ion over gas nitriding. In general, plasma nitriding uses high voltage power operating in the 500–100VDC range, often conducting hundreds of amps to power the process by activating the glow discharge. The glow discharge is not only capable of heating the parts but also ionizes the atmosphere to allow the process to operate. This paper provides insight into plasma nitriding and discusses new advances, widening the range of applications for the process. Many of the advances are in the form of advanced process control electronics, mass flow controllers for process gas flow, and, most importantly, newer high voltage power supply designs with high speed microprocessor arc detection technology.


Bad urban policy leads to environmental degradation and a reduction in the quality of life in cities. Therefore, local government action ought to be guided by the principle of sustainable development. The application of the green city idea can have a positive effect on the natural environment and urban quality of life. The research methods presented in this paper concern the development of green cities, which are most vulnerable to the risk of what can be called excessive urbanization. The conversion of degraded or neglected cities into green urban centers may be the answer to environmental, social, and economic problems in such cities. Urban planners increasingly more often pay attention to the link, which exists between the idea of green cities and the urban concept of a garden city. However, this novel idea assumes not only the creation of green areas, but also a reduction in dust and gas emissions, likewise noise and waste, renewable energy, implementation of sustainable transportation, and promotion of organic food staples. Cities that properly apply these principles are called green cities or eco-cities. Many Scandinavian and North American countries base their policy on sustainable development. Local governments in Poland, as well as urban planners in Poland, must derive inspiration from the environmental approach employed in other countries. Greenery plays important roles in urban aesthetics; therefore, it is necessary to take it into consideration in land use planning, city development strategies, and local programs linked with urban revitalization. New housing projects should assume the existence of such spaces, which would interfere with the natural environment as little as possible. Developers should also be required to restore destroyed green areas. The revitalization of Polish housing units must be rethought in the spirit of the green city concept. Greenery should dominate in all housing complexes, which would refresh and enrich the landscape through so-called living walls. This would have a positive effect not only on the aesthetic appearance of buildings, but also it would help maintain a more comfortable temperature throughout housing estates in the winter and in the summer. So-called green roofs could be built on the flat roofs of all existing housing blocks. Geographers and landscape ecologists should be permitted to evaluate new construction projects. Community participation and environmental education both play a key role in pro-environmental policy. Moreover, city residents should have some influence on the appearance of their city.


Although some populations remain stable, moose (Alces alces) density and distribution have been declining in many areas along the southern edge of their North American distribution. During 2006- 2009, we deployed 99 vaginal implant transmitters (VITs) in 86 adult female moose in central Ontario, Canada to assist in locating and radiocollaring neonatal moose calves. We monitored radiocollared calves to estimate calf survival and assess the relative importance of specific causes of death. Calves in the western portion of our study area (WMU49) were exposed to a 6-day general hunting season, whereas calves in the eastern portion of our study area (Algonquin Provincial Park (APP)) were not exposed to hunting. Annual survival for 87 collared calves was greater in the protected area than the harvested area (72.4 � 6.8% and 55.8 � 8.3%, respectively) and averaged 63.7 � 7.1% overall. Predation by wolves (Canis sp.) and American black bears (Ursus americanus) was the dominant cause of death but occurred predominately in APP, whereas other natural mortality agents were 4� more common in WMU49. Only 16% of the collared calves in WMU49 were harvested each year despite a high proportion (approx. 50%) of accessible, public land. Most natural mortality occurred prior to the autumn hunting season such that reductions in natural mortality had little potential to compensate for calf harvest. Overall, calf survival in our study area was moderate to high and our findings suggest predator control or further restrictions of calf hunting in this area is not justified. 2013 The Wildlife Society.


ABSTRACT Thick quartz arenite formations in the Upper Silurian Grampians Group of southeastern Australia have been previously interpreted as fluvial deposits, but detailed study of one of these formations, the Mount Difficult Sandstones, shows that shallow-marine conditions existed during their deposition in the southeastern part of the Grampians Basin. The Mount Difficult Sandstones are a succession of cross-bedded quartz arenites with an overall fining-upward trend. Four lithofacies associations are recognized: the two lower associations record tidally dominated sedimentation, whereas the two upper associations represent deposition in wave-dominated environments. Boundaries are gradational, and the associations arc interpreted as four spatially and genetically related environments within a t dal-inlet and barrier-beach system. The basal tidal-inlet channel-fill complex overlies an erosion surface on tidally influenced coastal-plain deposits of the Silverband Formation. Vertically stacked fining-upward channel fills record lateral migration of tidal channels during transgression. The overlying association was deposited in mixed tide-wave conditions, and tidal-channel margin to ebb-tidal delta environments seaward of the inlet are proposed. The development of tidal-inlet channels and a tidal delta suggests deposition of the Mount Difficult Sandstones in a mesotidal setting (tidal range 2-4 m) with a time-velocity asymmetry dominated by ebb-tidal currents. The increasing influence of waves is recorded by barrier-beach deposits that migrated over the inlet-delta system. The barrier beach is represented by two lithofacies associations, interpreted as upper-shoreface and overlying foreshore deposits, an arrangement that signals a change from transgressive to regressive (progradational) conditions. Thus, the Mount Difficult Sandstones represent a single transgressive-regressive cycle (most likely third-order) that was controlled mainly by the rate of subsidence in the tectonically active Grampians Basin, under conditions of a relative highstand of sea level and high rates of sediment supply.


When a bluff body is located in a uniform flow, the flow is separated and vortices are formed. Consequently, the vortices cause "flow-induced vibrations". Especially, if the Strouhal number and the frequency of the body oscillation coincide with the natural frequency, the lock-in regime will occur and we could find the large damages on it. Therefore, it is profitable, in engineering problems, to clarify this phenomenon and to suppress the vibration, in which the effect of elastic walls on the suppression is focused. Then, the aims of this article are to clarify the oscillatory characteristics of the elastic body and the flowfield around the body by numerical simulations, in which a square pillar with elastic walls is set in a uniform flow. Two dimensional incompressible flows are solved by the continuity equation, Navier-Stokes equation and the Poisson equation which are derived by taking divergence of Navier-Stokes equation. Results show that a small deformation of elastic walls has a large influence on the body motion. In particular, the effect is very distinct at the back.


The design of RF and millimetre-wave receivers demands low-cost features and compact architecture. Self-oscillating mixers (SOMs) are excellent choices for such a design as both the oscillating source and the mixer are combined in one single device. Moreover, subharmonic operation reduces LO frequency requirements and therefore opens up interesting perspectives for high-end millimetre-wave systems. A fully-balanced third-harmonic SOM structure is presented, operating at 5.8 GHz with high measured conversion gain (max. 8.75 dB) that is used as a frequency-scaled prototype for future millimetre-wave circuits. To the authors' knowledge, this is the first presentation of such a circuit structure.


Hypertrophic drug-induced gingivites aroused a special interest from the part of researches, if considering the quite numerous studies devoted to the clinical aspects and treatment of such pathological gingival manifestations. In this context, the first observation to be made is the absence of an unanimous position as to their treatment, starting from the prophylaxy up to the most recent surgical techniques. The risk of the manifestation of post-drug adverse effects influences any decision related to drug prescription and, finally, to their consumption. Some drugs are associated with a higher incidence of anomalies in children. For example, gingival hyperplasia induced by phenytoin is more frequent in children and adolescents than in adult persons. An overgrowth of the gingiva may be observed in more than 50% of the persons receiving phenytoin (Dilantin).


In this work, novel rectangle and circular orifice dies have been utilized for temperature-strain rate dependent planar and uniaxial elongational viscosity measurements for the LDPE polymer melt by using standard twin bore capillary rheometer and Cogswell model and the capability of three different constitutive equations (novel generalized Newtonian model, modified White-Metzner model, modified Leonov model) to describe the measured experimental data has been tested. It has been shown that chain branching causes the strain hardening occurrence in both, unixial and planar elongational viscosities and its maximum is shifted to the higher strain rates if the temperature is increased. The level of uniaxial elongational strain hardening for the branched LDPE sample has been found to be higher in comparison with the planar elongational viscosity within wide range of temperatures.


A new degradation behavior of LDD N-MOSFETs during dynamic hot-carrier stress is presented. Increased degradation occurs during the gate pulse transition, and involves hot-hole injection that initially begins in the oxide-spacer region, and later propagates to the channel region. Experimental results clearly show that increased degradation of the linear drain current and transconductance is mainly due to hole-induced interface traps in the oxide-spacer region. Electron trapping at hole-induced oxide defects, on the other hand, is mainly responsible for the enhanced threshold voltage shift in the late stage, when hole injection coincides with electron injection in the channel region.


This study investigates the opportunities for transmission power control (TPC) protocols in resource constrained wireless sensor networks (WSNs). The paper begins by creating a generalised model to describe the relationship between transmission power, communication reliability and energy consumption. Applying this model to the performance of state-of-the-art radio hardware, the maximum potential energy savings achievable through the implementation of a TPC protocol are identified. From this, previous assumptions about the limited impact of protocols and mechanisms, such as TPC, which seek to reduce the energy consumed by wireless communication activities through targeting the distance dependent term are disproven. This paper concludes by presenting guidelines on the link conditions which offer the greatest opportunities for a TPC protocol.


We present results from eight months of Green Bank Telescope 8.7 GHz observations and nearly 18 months of Swift X-ray telescope observations of the radio magnetar SGR J1745–2900. We tracked the radio and X-ray flux density, polarization properties, profile evolution, rotation, and single-pulse behavior. We identified two main periods of activity. The first is characterized by approximately 5.5 months of relatively stable evolution in radio flux density, rotation, and profile shape, while in the second these properties varied substantially. Specifically, a third profile component emerged and the radio flux also became more variable. The single pulse properties also changed, most notably with a larger fraction of pulses with pulse widths ∼5–20 ms in the erratic state. Bright single pulses are well described by a log-normal energy distribution at low energies, but with an excess at high energies. The 2–10 keV flux decayed steadily since the initial X-ray outburst, while the radio flux remained stable to within ∼20% during the stable state. A joint pulsar timing analysis of the radio and X-ray data shows a level of timing noise unprecedented in a radio magnetar, though during the time covered by the radio data alone the timing noise was at a level similar to that observed in other radio magnetars. While SGR J1745–2900 is similar to other radio magnetars in many regards, it differs by having experienced a period of relative stability in the radio that now appears to have ended, while the X-ray properties evolved independently.


The synthesis of seed mediated AgM (M = Co, Ni, Ru, Pd and Pt) allied nanobimetallic particles was successfully carried out by simultaneous reduction in aqueous and non-aqueous solutions. The formation of novel monodispersed and unaggregated bimetallic nanoparticles capped by polymer and organic chelating agents was desirable for catalysis and photonic applications. As a result, wet chemical approach was successfully deployed to produce some novel bimetallic silver allied nanoparticles distinct in morphology from their monometal analogues. Optical and morphological investigation of the nanoparticles revealed that the shape, size and size distribution of the silver allied nanoparticles depended on the stabilizer or capping agent, mole ratio of inorganic sources, temperature and time of reaction. The analyses of the nanoparticles also showed that formation of uniformly distributed, highly crystalline and monodispersed/polydispersed silver allied bimetallic nanocomposites of different dimensions within the quantum realm had been achieved. Consequently, the alloy or core-shell crystalline structure of nanocomposites was also established. Furthermore, X-ray photoelectron spectrometer (XPS) scan established the surface elemental composition and the binding energy of the nanocomposites. As a result, a new morphology described as hybrid quasi nanocubes entangled in nanowebs was discovered for polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) stabilized AgPt nanoparticles passivated by diethylene glycol (DEG) and ethylene glycol (EG) which evolved a core-shell structure. The mean size of the nanocubes was 30.45 6.23 nm, while XRD analysis strongly suggested that the nanocubes pertained to {111} plane of face-centered cubic Ag. Meanwhile, the nanoweb was formed as a result of phase contraction by Pt. Likewise, electron micrographs of Ag/Ru nanoparticles capped by dodecanethiol/polyol at 200⁰C; 3h showed the presence of novel well-ordered core-shell structures with particle size in the range of 8.2 ± 0.7-11.4 ±1.3 nm. In addition, novel core-shell nanoparticles of AgPt capped by hexadecylamine (HDA) were discovered from their electron micrographs. The X-ray diffraction spectra suggested dominance of face-centered cubic structure with 2θ reflections slightly shifted from silver peaks. This is reminiscent of noble metals forming alloy or core-shell morphology with silver. Similarly, AgCo and AgNi nanoparticles passivated by polyol particularly revealed the formation of nearly uniform, monodispersed core-shell structure which proved to be optically active by characteristic surface plasmon resonance band blue shifted for pentaerythritol (PET) and trisodium citrate trihydrate (SC) derived nanoparticles. Further optical characterization also revealed the fluorescent potential of AgCo, AgNi, AgPt, AgPd and AgRu sols as a result of their S1-S0
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vibrational mode relaxation with appreciable emission of appropriate quantum yield. Finally, the catalytic potential of the nanocomposites investigated using 4-nitrophenol in the presence of sodium borohydride at 299 K indicated a pseudo-first-order kinetics which gave AgPd/PVPGLY a rate constant of 5.4 x 10-3 s-1. This value is significantly higher than 2.8 x 10-3 s-1 reported for poly(ethylenimine)-stabilized Ag nanoparticles (Ag-HNP), but relatively lower than 9.2 ± 1.7 × 10-3 s-1 recorded for AuAg-HNP due to the fact that Au/Ag bimetallic nanoparticles have been shown to exhibit greater quantum size effect. These results strongly indicate the application of these materials for catalysis and optoelectronics.


Toxoplasma gondii the causative agent of toxoplasmosis is an obligate intracellular parasite with a wide host range including all warm-blooded animals and birds. T.gondii infection causes congenital toxoplasmosis in newborns and this may lead to fetal anomalies, retinochoroiditis leading to blindness, lethal toxoplasmic encephalitis in immune compromised patients, and organ failure in transplantation patients. The pathogenesis of toxoplasmosis change due to differences in the specific immune response elicited by diverse T.gondii strains. The protective immunity against toxoplasmosis is conferred by cellular immune responses. In the present study, two different strains isolated from Turkey named T.gondii Ankara and Ege were used to evaluate the types of humoral and cellular immune responses elicited by adjuvanted tachyzoite protein vaccines in an animal model. In the study, 6-8 weeks old female BALB/c mice were used and six study groups (each contains three mice) were composed for vaccination. The first and second groups were vaccinated with T.gondii Ankara and Ege (TAnkPE and TEgePE, respectively) tacyhzoite lysates, the third and fourth groups were vaccinated by tacyhzoite lysates adjuvanted with Freund's adjuvant (TAnkPE-Freund; TEgePE-Freund, respectively). The fifth and sixth groups were vaccinated with PBS and Freund's adjuvant as controls. Immunization of the animals was performed two times at three weeks intervals. The serum samples were collected before vaccination and after each vaccination to determine the IgG response by Western blotting, and IgG1 and IgG2a responses by ELISA. To determine the cellular immune response, CD8/CD4 cell ratio, intracellular IFN-g and IL-4 levels were determined in stimulated spleen cells grown in cell culture systems by flow cytometry. Toxoplasma IgG antibodies were only detected in TAnkPE-Freund group. IgG1 and IgG2a responses did not increase in any vaccination groups and there was not any polarization towards IgG1 or IgG2a. There was no significant increase in CD8/CD4 ratio of stimulated spleen cells. IFN-g level was increased in only TAnkPE-Freund vaccination group, however IL-4 levels were increased in TAnkPE-Freund, TEgePE-Freund and TEgePE groups. Our data showed that TAnkPE-Freund vaccine led to increase in IgG and IFN-g responses in BALB/c mice, however, tachyzoite lysate vaccines developed in this study did not induce sufficient protective immune response against toxoplasmosis. Thus, use of specific immunogenic proteins must be taken into consideration in the future vaccine development studies against toxoplasmosis.


A new European Directive requires food manufacturers to label the potential allergenic substances sulphur dioxide and sulphites if they are used as ingredients at concentrations of more than 10 mg/l in pre-packed foods. FTIR in combination with Partial Least Squares (PLS) regression is presented as a fast (30 samples/hour), simple and inexpensive procedure for the determination of sulphite concentrations in beer (simultaneously with standard parameters like ethanol and original gravity). FTIR/PLS offers considerable advantages when measured against the conventional enzymatic reference procedure and will acquire increasing importance as an effi cient high-throughput tool for screening alcoholic beverages. With information gained by FTIR screening, decisions can be made whether additional analyses (with more time-consuming and expensive but more accurate standard procedures) are required. The average concentrations expressed as SO 2 were 1.0 mg/l for spirits (n=101) and 4.2 mg/l for beer (n=195). The sulphite concentrations of spirits were found to be signifi cantly lower than those of beer (p<0.0001). The new requirement of allergen labelling presents in few cases a problem for manufacturer of beer and spirits as only 2 spirit (1.9%) and 9 beer samples (4.6%) exceeded the limit of 10 mg/l. However, a labelling of the sulphite concentration had not been carried out in any of these cases. Descriptors: sulphite, SO 2 , allergen labelling, FTIR, enzymatic analysis


Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a complex multifactorial disease that results from the interplay between environmental factors and a susceptible genetic background. Experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE) has been widely used to investigate the mechanisms underlying MS pathogenesis. Chemokines, such as CCL2, are involved in the development of EAE. We have previously shown that thiamine deficiency (TD) induced CCL2 in neurons. We hypothesized that TD may affect the pathogenesis of EAE. In this study, EAE was induced in C57BL/6J mice by the injection of myelin oligodendroglial glycoprotein (MOG) peptides 35–55 with or without TD. TD aggravated the development of EAE, which was indicated by clinical scores and pathologic alterations in the spinal cord. TD also accelerated the development of EAE in an adoptive transfer EAE model. TD caused microglial activation and a drastic increase (up 140%) in leukocyte infiltration in the spinal cord of the EAE mice; specifically, TD increased Th1 and Th17 cells. TD upregulated the expression of CCL2 and its receptor CCR2 in the spinal cord of EAE mice. Cells in peripheral lymph node and spleen isolated from MOG-primed TD mice showed much stronger proliferative responses to MOG. CCL2 stimulated the proliferation and migration of T lymphocytes in vitro. Our results suggested that TD exacerbated the development of EAE through activating CCL2 and inducing pathologic inflammation. The Journal of Immunology , 2014, 193: 2157–2167.


The last decade has seen an enormous increase in the number of peer-reviewed open access research journals in which authors whose articles are accepted for publication pay a fee to have them made freely available on the Internet. Could this popularity of open access publishing be a bad thing? Is it actually imperiling the future of science? In this commentary, I argue that it is. Drawing upon research literature, I explain why it is almost always best to publish in society journals (i.e., those sponsored by research societies such as Journal of Wildlife Management) and not nearly as good to publish in commercial academic journals, and worst—to the point it should normally be opposed—to publish in open access journals (e.g., PLOS ONE). I compare the operating plans of society journals and open access journals based on 2 features: the quality of peer review they provide and the quality of debate the articles they publish receive. On both features, the quality is generally high for society journals but unacceptably low for open access journals, to such an extent that open access publishing threatens to pollute science with false findings. Moreover, its popularity threatens to attract researchers' allegiance to it and away from society journals, making it difficult for them to achieve their traditionally high standards of peer reviewing and of furthering debate. I prove that the commonly claimed benefits to science of open access publishing are nonexistent or much overestimated. I challenge the notion that journal impact factors should be a key consideration in selecting journals in which to publish. I suggest ways to strengthen the Journal and keep it strong. © 2016 The Wildlife Society.


Positive and negative word-of-mouth (WOM) have yet well-understood in social media like blogs. These affective-driven WOM and cognitive-driven acceptance decision are important to e-services success. In this study, we incorporate two main streams of IS research: 1)the quality of the systems in determining systems success and 2) the effects of online incidents including online waiting, interruptions, and service failures on consumer behaviors, to understand these affective and cognitive-driven behaviors. We bridge the two streams of research and explain blog usage from the perspectives of affective events theory and social exchange factors. The research model posits that blog usage behaviors are determined by perceived site quality and cognitive appraisal of incidents handling (CAIH) and satisfaction mediated the effects of positive and negative affects to postadoption behaviors. Results of partial least squares analysis with 467 responses from an online survey indicate that all measures have acceptable psychometric properties and confirmatory factor analysis attests the dimensionality of constructs. Structural equation analysis provides evidence for the structure relationships of the integrated model.


Thunderstorms are common weather phenomena at high altitudes, accompanying with
lightning, strong winds and other disasters. During thunderstorms, the strength of atmospheric
electric fields could be up to 1000 V/cm or even higher. The intensity fluctuates violently and the
polarity could change multiple times. So, direct measurement of the thunderstorm electric field is
a quite challenging work. The Large High Altitude Air Shower Observatory (LHAASO), under
the construction of a project at Daocheng (4410 m a.s.l., Sichuan, China), is featured with frequent thunderstorms, especially in summer. The distribution of thunderstorm parameters is presented
by analyzing the near-earth atmospheric electric field of the LHAASO station in this work. The polarity and intensity variation characteristics of the electric field in the cumulus, mature and
dissipating stages of thunderstorm are also discussed. The results show that the thunderstorms mainly occur in the period of a time from late afternoon to evening. They are more frequent and stronger in summer. During the mature stage, the field changes more dramatically. Our results could be helpful in understanding the variations of cosmic rays at LHAASO during thunderstorms,and provide valuable information for studying global thunderstorm activity.


ABSTRACT The aim of this study is to investigate the land ethics of tourists regarding the geotourism resources in the Protected Area of Manesht and Ghelarang, Ilam Province, Iran. The theoretical framework of the research is based on environmental knowledge, environmental behavior, normative pressures, facilities, multiple incentive models, ability, opportunity, and environmental ethics model. Approximate number of tourists visiting (local tourist) the protected area in the specified time range (spring 2017) was 3,000. Using the Cochran sampling formula, the sample size was determined to be 475 people and questionnaires, based on available sampling, were distributed among the tourists. The findings show that there is no significant relationship between tourists' age, the habitat, and environmental behaviors. In contrast, there is a positive relationship with gender and level of education. This study demonstrates that the lowest score in the assessment section of the variables analyzed was related to environmental knowledge and facilities. Hence, the low environmental knowledge of tourists needs to be improved through training so that they can gain an increased environmental awareness over time. Further, the second factor involves discussion of structural facilities that are rooted in national macroeconomic, and management policies which require a comprehensive overview of Iran's tourism management.


We perform a comprehensive study of the effects of different types of line defects on the electronic and magnetic properties of ZnO nanoribbons and monolayer sheets by using first-principles computations. Our computations show that for zigzag ZnO nanoribbons, their metallic characteristics are unchanged by the line defects, although certain nanoribbons can exhibit much higher magnetic moments contributed by atoms within the line defects. For the armchair nanoribbons containing the 4–8 line defects, their semiconducting characteristics are the same as those of the defect-free nanoribbons. Besides the line defects, two large-angle grain boundaries are also considered for zigzag and armchair nanoribbons. In both cases, the ZnO nanoribbons show metallic characteristics. Finally, the effects of line defects on 2D ZnO monolayer sheets are also studied. It is found that the line defects in ZnO sheets can markedly enhance visible-light absorption.


The Jakekur Reservoir is one of the most important aquatic water bodies in Ta. Omerga Dist. Osmanabad (M.S). The reservoir is used for irrigation, Drinking purpose, as well as pisciculture by the local communities. Limnological investigations of man-made lakes (reservoirs) are necessary to evaluate water quality is related to the health of people, ecosystem, societies, and potential fish production. It provides information that could be useful in fisheries developmental planning and it is supply for Domestic, Industrial, Agriculture & aquaculture practices. Reservoir has large and varied chemical contents. Innumerable materials enter the system from the atmosphere, catchments area and its own basin. The chemical properties of reservoir not only alter but also have significant bearing on the distribution and metabolic activities of the existing life. During the study period samples were collected from the reservoir for a period of one year. From result it is concluded that sample result was within permissible limits in context with drinking water standards as described by Bureau of Indian Standard for Drinking Water for Water Quality Standards.


PULMONARY alveolar proteinosis was first described in 27 patients by Rosen et al.1Since then, more than 100 adult cases have been documented. One of the initially reported 27 cases was a 2½-year-old boy. Rosen,2in a subsequent study, included a 7-year-old girl whose medical course was not specified. In 1963, Udani and Mukerji3reported a 3-year-old Indian boy with tuberculous meningitis and pulmonary alveolar proteinosis. Stansifer and Bourgeois4performed detailed histochemical studies on the lipoproteinaceous alveolar material from an 8-month-old girl. Three more cases were recently added by Wilkinson et al.5Two of their patients were only 3 months old, representing the youngest patients reported. Radiographic changes of pulmonary alveolar proteinosis in two other children were illustrated by Felson6and McAlister and Gleason.7Our patient apparently represents the seventh completely described pediatric case of the ten reported and the first pediatric case


There is considerable evidence that the early climate of Mars was very different from the inhospitable conditions there today. This early climate was characterized by liquid water on the surface and a dense atmosphere composed predominantly of CO2. The duration of these warm initial conditions on the surface of Mars is uncertain, but theoretical models suggest that they could have persisted for hundreds of millions up to a billion years. From studies of the Earth's earliest biosphere we know that by 3.5 Gyr ago, life had originated on Earth and reached a fair degree of biological sophistication. Surface activity and erosion on Earth make it difficult to trace the history of life before the 3.5-Gyr time frame. If Mars did maintain a clement environment for longer than it took for life to originate on Earth, then the question of the origin of life on Mars follows naturally. The fossil evidence of early life on Earth provides clues as to what form fossils on Mars might take. Of particular interest are stromatolites, macroscopic layered structures that result from the anchoring of sediments by microorganisms living in the photic zone. Since over two thirds of the Martian surface is more than 3.5 Gyr old, the possibility exists that Mars may hold the best record of the events that led to the origin of life, even though there may be no life there today.


Copper processing plants involved in smelting, electro-refining and electro-winning are heat-intensive undertakings that provide extensive challenges for attainment of high energy efficiency. Literature has shown that most of these plants, especially smelters, operate at low overall energy efficiency due to the seemingly complex energy scenario where heat and electricity as forms of energy are treated distinctively from each other. Many copper processing plants have not yet explored both available and emerging waste heat recovery technologies hence remain operating at lower energy efficiencies.In the copper processing plants under study in particular the Nchanga tailings leach plant (TLP), plant operators hinted that some of the processes that ought to operate in heated environments operate at ambient temperatures because of lack of a heating mechanism. The project discusses possible heating mechanisms from available local resources and applicable technologies. As the competing options for providing the required heat at the Nchanga TLP present different carbon emission scenarios, the carbon emissions associated to the recommended installations shall be quantified against a suitable baseline. Flue gas waste heat from the nearby Nchanga smelter has been taken as the available local energy source on which the applicable heating scenarios at TLP are analyzed.The project analyzed waste heat scenarios for three furnaces at Nchanga smelter where it has been established that flue gases from the furnaces contain 37.31 MW of waste heat. Analysis for channeling the waste heat into heat recovery steam generators gave the steam turbine power generation potential of 7.06 MW. The project also demonstrated how energy efficiency undertakings can be used as a driver for carbon emission reduction measures and for participation to the available carbon trading mechanisms such as CDM. Selection of suitable baseline scenarios revealed a lot of potential for carbon finance undertakings in the three case study plants. At the Nchanga smelter, the 7.06 MW power generation capacity has an associated potential of 61,820 tCO2/year emission reductions that can be monetized through the available carbon trading markets. The research established that Nchanga TLP has a heating demand of 10.87MW. If this heating demand was to be met by using the smelter waste heat, the undertaking can be taken as CDM activity or other carbon trading platform with an associated potential of 95,183 tCO2/year.