 Abstract —Distillery wastewater in the form of spent wash is a complex and strong industrial effluent, with high load of organic pollutants that may deplete dissolved oxygen on being discharged into aquatic systems and contaminate groundwater by leaching of pollutants, while untreated spent wash disposed on land acidifies the soil. Stringent legislative measures have therefore been framed in different countries for discharge standards of distillery effluent. Utilising the organic pollutants present in various types of wastes as food by mixed microbial populations is emerging as an eco-friendly approach in the recent years, in which complex organic matter is converted into simpler forms, and simultaneously useful gases are produced as renewable and clean energy sources. In the present study, wastewater from a rice bran based distillery has been used as the substrate in a dark fermenter, and native microbial consortium from the digester sludge has been used as the inoculum to treat the wastewater and produce hydrogen. After optimising the operational conditions in batch reactors, sequential batch mode and continuous flow stirred tank reactors were used to study the best operational conditions for enhanced and sustained hydrogen production and removal of pollutants. Since the rate of hydrogen production by the microbial consortium during dark fermentation is influenced by concentration of organic matter, pH and temperature, these operational conditions were optimised in batch mode studies. Maximum hydrogen production rate (347.87ml/L/d) was attained in 32h dark fermentation while a good proportion of COD also got removed from the wastewater. Slightly acidic initial pH seemed to favor biohydrogen production. In continuous stirred tank reactor, high H 2 production from distillery wastewater was obtained from a relatively shorter substrate retention time (SRT) of 48h and a moderate organic loading rate (OLR) of 172 g/l/d


We consider a holographic description of the inflationary multiverse, according to which the wave function of the universe is interpreted as the generating functional for a lower dimensional Euclidean theory. We analyze a simple model where transitions between inflationary vacua occur through bubble nucleation, and the inflating part of spacetime consists of de Sitter regions separated by thin bubble walls. In this model, we present some evidence that the dual theory is conformally invariant in the UV.


The localization and translation of mRNAs is controlled by a diverse array of ribonucleoprotein particles (RNPs), multimolecular complexes containing mRNAs and RNA binding proteins. Fragile X granules (FXGs) are a family of RNPs that exemplify the diversity of RNA granules in the mammalian nervous system. FXGs are found in a conserved subset of neurons, where they localize exclusively to the axonal compartment. Notably, the specific RNA binding proteins and mRNAs found in FXGs depend on brain circuit and neuron type, with all forebrain FXGs containing Fragile X mental retardation protein (FMRP), the protein mutated in the human autism-related disorder Fragile X syndrome. FMRP negatively regulates FXG abundance but is not required for their association with ribosomes or mRNA. To better understand the circuit-dependent mechanisms whereby FMRP associates with and regulates FXGs, we asked how a disease-causing point mutation, I304N, in the KH2 RNA binding domain of FMRP affects these granules in two brain regions – cortex and hippocampus. We found that FMRPI304N had a reduced association with FXGs, as it was absent from approximately half of FXGs in cortex and nearly all FXGs in hippocampus. FXG abundance correlated with the number of FMRP-containing FXGs, suggesting that FMRP regulates FXG abundance by KH2-independent mechanisms that occur locally within the granules. Together, these findings illustrate that cell type-dependent mechanisms guide the assembly of similar RNA granules. Further, point mutations in RNA granule components may lead to cell type-dependent phenotypes that produce atypical forms of disorders that normally arise from more severe mutations.


This paper presents an optimization strategy for optimal control and operation of building central chilling systems in order to minimize their energy consumption and provide improved control performance. The strategy is formulated using a systematic approach, in which the characteristics and interactions among the components and subsystems in the central chilling system are considered. The simplified models of major components are used in the strategy as the performance predictors to estimate the system energy performance and responses to the changes of control settings and working conditions. To ensure the models to provide reliable estimates when the working condition changes, the model parameters are updated online using the recursive least squares (RLS) estimation technique. A genetic algorithm (GA) is used to solve the optimization problem and search for globally optimal control settings on the basis of a cost function estimator defined. The performance of this strategy was tested and evaluated in a simulated virtual system representing the complex central chilling system in a super high-rise building under various working conditions. The model parameter identification and performance validation as well as the performance evaluation of the optimization strategy are presented.


Internal communications is identified as being a key lever of organisational change. The literature consistently puts forward a comprehensive list of guidelines for communicating for change, but these guidelines tend to be prescribed universally and with no explanation given as to why a relationship between the two might exist Research was earned out to explore this relationship, using total quality as the context of organisational change.

Through the findings of a questionnaire completed by 116 Irish Q Mark organisations and a senes of follow-up interviews, a number of conclusions were drawn about communicating for change. It was concluded that organisations do not necessarily adhere to all of the methods of communicating for change advocated in the literature and that the literature is incorrect in assuming that all communications practices are of equal importance. It is also concluded that the selection of communicating for change practices is contingent upon organisational and change variables.

By identifying two key communications approaches - 'Integrated' and 'Person-centred' communications - and charting their relative unpact on organisational change to total quality, an explanation was also put forward regarding how communications can influence organisational change Integrated communications promotes open shanng of information in all directions to achieve management's change objectives, while Person-centred communications focuses more on the personal needs of employees in the organisation Person-centred communications was found to have a stronger relationship with transformational organisational change and as a result, it is argued that the relationship between communications and organisational change is explained by the extent to which the communications approach taken supports individuals m taking 'emotional ownership' of the required changes. It is concluded that the relative success of this humanist approach to communications in supporting transformational organisational change challenges traditional assumptions that the primary purpose of communications in a change setting is to achieve managerial goals.

Further research opportunities anse from this work, including investigating whether the two communications approaches apply in other organisational change situations and whether they can be further added to or refined.


In this paper, we define a notion of calibration for an approach to the classical Steiner problem in a covering space setting and we give some explicit examples. Moreover, we introduce the notion of calibration in families: the idea is to divide the set of competitors in a suitable way, defining an appropriate (and weaker) notion of calibration. Then, calibrating the candidate minimizers in each family and comparing their perimeter, it is possible to find the minimizers of the minimization problem. Thanks to this procedure we prove the minimality of the Steiner configurations spanning the vertices of a regular hexagon and of a regular pentagon.


Aircraft systems are evolving and being enhanced thanks to new design paradigms leveraging on recent technology advances in embedded systems. However, the Integrated Modular Avionics (IMA) model, used in current avionics, has shown important limitations to accommodate such evolution. These new paradigms demand for much more global system modularity than what IMA is able to offer. Such system evolution has as well an impact on the underlying different networks present on aircrafts. In this context, it is mandatory to investigate the kind and the breadth of adaptation networks need in order to cope with new requirements. To this end, this paper we firstly investigate the current aircrafts network configuration and management procedures. It appears that they lack the features, more specifically, the configuration management features, necessary to support these new use cases. We then look at proposals trying to fulfil this features gap. Each of them, while providing parts of the answers, also come with trade-off or insufficiencies that prevent them from fully answering to the new needs. Then, a new network configuration architecture able to cope with the newly defined configuration management requirements is provided. A comparison to the other approaches is presented, so to highlight how the proposed architecture better fulfils long-term evolution requirements while being less complex and more suitable for current configuration procedures than the other proposal. Finally, a simulation of the configuration architecture is done to provide insights on the new proposed features.


Background. Undergoing mandatory HIV testing as a criterion for a surgical or invasive procedure is illegal in Nigeria, and unethical. This includes requesting an HIV test without the consent of the client, and the disclosure of the test results.  Objectives. To assess the practice of mandatory HIV testing among health practitioners, and to examine HIV testing without consent, and the disclosure of test results to the patient.  Methods. This was a cross-sectional survey of both medical doctors and nurses with surgical skills. We used convenience sampling to select respondents from Jos University Teaching Hospital, Nigeria and Federal Teaching Hospital, Gombe, Nigeria. A total of 99 respondents filled and returned a questionnaire. Statistical Package for the Social Sciences version 20 was used to manage the data, and the results were presented using descriptive statistics.  Results. Over one-third (34.3%) of the respondents reported that they would insist on seeing an HIV test result before performing a surgical or invasive procedure; meanwhile, 4 (4%) of the respondents had refused to render surgical or invasive intervention to HIV clients, while (3%) admitted having refused surgical procedures to patients who refused to take an HIV test. The majority of the respondents (79; 79.8%) reported that the basic equipment and consumables needed for universal precautions were either not available or grossly inadequate.  Conclusion. Requests for patients to take an HIV test before surgical procedures are frequent; however, only a few respondents had ever refused to provide a surgical intervention on the basis of a patient's HIV-positive status. Equipment and consumables necessary for universal precautions were either not available or grossly inadequate in the surveyed hospitals


The agreement in gender and number is a critical problem in statistical language modeling. One of the main difficulties in speech recognition of French language is the presence of misrecognized words due to the bad agreement (in gender and number) between words. Statistical language models do not treat this phenomena directly. This paper focuses on how to handle the issue of this agreement. We introduce an original model called Features-Cache (FC) to estimate the gender and the number of the word to predict. It is a dynamic variable-length Features-Cache. The size of the cache is automatically determined in accordance to syntagm delimitors. The main advantage of this model is that there is no need to any syntactic parsing : it is used as any other statistical language model. Several models have been carried out and the best one achieves an improvement of approximatively 9 points in terms of perplexity. This model has been integrated in a speech recognition system based on JULIUS engine. Tests have been carried out on 280 sentences provided by AUPELF for the French automatic speech recognition evaluation campaign. This new model outperforms the baseline one, in terms of word error, by 3%. Index Terms : statistical language modeling, features, Features Cache, Partial Features Cache.


Myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS) is a heterogeneous illness characterized by a number of comorbid conditions; gastrointestinal (GI) dysregulation make up one subgroup of this disease. IgA is the most abundant antibody isotype found in mucosal secretions including the gut. In a process of class switch recombination (CSR), that relies on the interaction of plasmacytoid dendritic cells (pDCs) with B cells, in a T cell independent (TI) manner, low-affinity IgA are produced that limit the adhesion of commensal bacteria to intestinal epithelia without neutralizing them. These low-affinity antibodies also limit bacterial overgrowth and potential bacterial translocation thus maintaining gut homeostasis. This process is known as "immune exclusion". Two ligands on the surface of pDCs that are obligatory for the process; the membrane bound form of APRIL and BAFF. The upregulation of APRIL and BAFF on the surface of pDCs is dependent on low-level expression of type I interferon (IFN) which is produced by intestinal stromal cells in response to Toll-like receptor (TLR) engagement. Previous studies suggest that peripheral pDCs are significantly lower in subjects with ME/CFS when compared to controls and studies conducted by us further suggest these cells likely redistribute from the periphery to the gut. We have observed that, in contrast to controls, gut-associated pDCs in subjects with ME/CFS lack APRIL and BAFF expression. These data support a model of gut pathology in ME/CFS whereby dysregulated pDCs fail to promote the production of low-affinity IgA through the process of TI activation of B cells, thereby leading to bacterial overgrowth, dysbiosis, bacterial translocation and systemic immune activation.


Crop yields are sometimes reduced on irrigated calcareous soils with elevated lime concentrations. This study was conducted to determine the influence of lime on P availability. The effects of acid-equivalent lime concentrations and P fertilization rates on NaHCOrsoluble P, anion resin-extractable P, P-adsorption isotherms in 0.01 M CaCl 2, and P uptake by sudangrass [Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench] and potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) were investigated in the greenhouse on soil samples from the Portneuf silt loam (coarse-silty, mixed, mesic Durixerollic Calciorthid). Plant P uptake was increased by P fertilization and decreased by increasing lime concentration. Phosphorus uptake was curvilinearly related to solution P (extracted by 0.01 M CaCl2). Solution P concentrations increased linearly as the resin-extractable P/equilibrium buffer capacity (EBC) ratio increased, where EBC is the slope of the P-adsorption isotherm at the indigenous equilibrium P concentration. The EBC increased as the lime concentration increased. Phosphorus applications increased solution P and resinextractable P and decreased EBC within a given lime concentration. These data indicate that the soil-test P concentration or P fertilization rate should increase as the lime concentration increases to provide the same degree of P availability and plant P uptake in this calcareous soil. M


The use of notational prescription and extended techniques are effective in 'narrowing the gap' between composer and performer insofar as they instruct actions that can be used to allude to the 'imaginings'of the composer. This alluding to intent is more successful if there is an agreed symbolic language and resultant performative action. The performer can then build their version of the composer's 'imaginings', and contribute to the conversation using the same language.

This research is an exploration of the shared 'imaginings' between composer and performer through a series of experimental case studies. In particular, how the use of extended techniques and notational prescription support the sharing of 'imaginings'enabling a more accurate realisation of a score.

The dialogue focuses on classical saxophone performance in the French tradition, encompassing discussions relating to instrumental treatises and the influence of equipment choice.


The government of Bangladesh since independence has tried to strengthen the national family planning program. Using data from the 1989 Bangladesh Fertility Survey on a nationally representative sample of 7984 rural and urban households, the authors consider fifteen socioeconomic and demographic variables and assess their relative importance in relation to current contraceptive use. The data indicate that 31.1% of younger and lower parity women use contraceptives. Women's education, followed by women's participation in family planning decision making, were the most important of selected factors which positively affect current use of contraception. Administrative division, desire for additional children, urban residence, and family planning worker visits were also important factors significantly and positively related to the current use of contraception. Husband's occupation was strongly associated with contraceptive use. Child loss, however, was negatively associated with contraceptive use, followed by sex composition of living children. The authors suggest that women should be encouraged to participate in family decisions, and become informed about their rights, privileges, and family law. Finally, it was found that education makes less difference to contraceptive use where family planning programs are strong.


In this paper, we investigate what role the network topology plays when controlling a network of mobile robots. This is a question of key importance in the emerging area of human-swarm interaction and we approach this question by letting a human user inject control signals at a single leader-node, which are then propagated throughout the network. Based on a user study, it is found that some topologies are more amenable to human control than others, which can be interpreted in terms of the rank of the controllability matrix of the underlying network dynamics, as well as, measures of node centrality on the leader of the network.


Liberal theories of justice typically claim that political institutions should be justifiable to those who live under them – whatever their values. The more such values diverge, the greater the challenge of justifiability. Diversity of this kind becomes especially pronounced when the institutions in question are supranational. Focusing on the case of the European Union, this article aims to address a basic question: what kinds of values should inform the justification of political institutions facing a plurality of value systems? One route to an answer is provided by John Rawls, who famously distinguishes between comprehensive and political values, and defends the exclusion of the former from the foundations of a political theory of justice. This article questions the tenability of the Rawlsian solution, and draws attention to an alternative twofold conceptual distinction: that between minimal and non-minimal and between substantive and procedural values. Minimal values are meant to be as independent as possible of controversial conceptions of the good and views of the world, regardless of whether these are comprehensive or purely political. It will be argued that their endorsement may thus further specify the nature of what should be shared in order to justify political institutions in conditions of pluralism. In order to refine further the account of such a basis of justification, two variants of minimalism will be presented according to whether they invest substantive or procedural values. Substantive values qualify the property of an outcome; procedural values qualify the property of a procedure. The latter part of the article consists of a 'face-off' between minimal proceduralism and minimal substantivism, considering reasons in favour of the adoption of each. The result, we suggest, is a helpful reorientation of the political dimension of the value debates to which the multiplicity of values amid contemporary European horizons give rise.


ABSTRACT Flavobacteria are a poorly understood and speciated group of commensal bacteria and opportunistic pathogens. The psychrotrophFlavobacterium psychrophilum is the etiological agent of rainbow trout fry syndrome and bacterial cold water disease, septicemic diseases that heavily impact salmonids. Consequently, two verified but geographically diverse isolates were characterized phenotypically and biochemically. A facile typing system was devised which readily discriminated between closely related species and was verified against a pool of recent prospective isolates. F. psychrophilum was found to be enveloped in a loosely attached, strongly antigenic outer layer comprised of a predominant, highly immunogenic, low-molecular-mass carbohydrate antigen as well as several protein antigens. Surface-exposed antigens were visualized by a combination of immunoflourescence microscopy, immunogold transmission, and thin-section electron microscopy and were discriminated by Western blotting using rabbit antisera, by selective extraction with EDTA-polymyxin B agarose beads, and by extrinsic labeling of amines with sulfo–N-hydoxysuccinimide–biotin and glycosyl groups with biotin hydrazide. The predominant ∼16 kDa antigen was identified as low-molecular-mass lipopolysaccharide (LPS), whereas high-molecular-mass LPS containing O antigen was not as prevalent on whole cells but was abundant in culture supernatants. Rainbow trout convalescent antisera recognized both molecular mass classes of LPS as well as a predominant ∼20-kDa protein. This study represents the first description at the molecular level of the surface characteristics and potential vaccine targets of confirmed F. psychrophilumstrains.


Deletion is a core facet of Online Social Networks (OSNs). For users, deletion is a tool to remove what they have shared and control their data. For OSNs, robust deletion is both an obligation to their users and a risk when developer mistakes inevitably occur. While developers are effective at identifying high-level deletion requirements in products (e.g., users should be able to delete posted photos), they are less effective at mapping high-level requirements into concrete operations (e.g., deleting all relevant items in data stores). Without framework support, developer mistakes lead to violations of users' privacy, such as retaining data that should be deleted, deleting the wrong data, and exploitable vulnerabilities. We propose DELF, a deletion framework for modern OSNs. In DELF, developers specify deletion annotations on data type definitions, which the framework maps into asynchronous, reliable and temporarily reversible operations on backing data stores. DELF validates annotations both statically and dynamically, proactively flagging errors and suggesting fixes. We deployed DELF in three distinct OSNs, showing the feasibility of our approach. DELF detected, surfaced, and helped developers correct thousands of omissions and dozens of mistakes, while also enabling timely recovery in tens of incidents where user data was inadvertently deleted.


Presents an obituary for Donald E. Polkinghorne, who passed away on January 17, 2018. He was a gifted teacher and mentor, skilled psychotherapist. Don was hired as The Saybrook Institute's academic dean in 1975 and became its first president the following year-and served in that position for a decade. Following 3 years as professor of counseling at California State University, Fullerton, he was professor of counseling psychology at the University of Southern California School of Education, from which he retired in 2005. From 2008 until the time of his death, he was a faculty member at Fielding Graduate Institute's Media Psychology program. His Methodology for the Human Sciences: Systems of Inquiry (1983) sketched the basis for a distinctively human science fitted to the complexities and nuances of human existence. Narrative Knowing and the Human Sciences (1988) set the bar for scholarship in narrative psychology. Here and in his last book, Practice and the Human Sciences: The Case for a Judgment-Based Practice of Care (2004), Don explicated how expert psychotherapists use narratives to conceptualize their clients and rely on moment-to-moment intuitive judgments to guide their work. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved).


Energy and resource efficiency is a pressing issue for technological markets in the 21st century. In the field of production technology the development of energy and resource efficient processes and process chains is of particular importance. In order to meet these needs sustainable methods and standards have to be developed. This paper presents a new procedure to calculate and evaluate the energy and resource efficiency of process chains. The method consists of 4 stages that proceed from the real world to the quantitative calculation and qualitative evaluation of material and energy flows. The method is explained and validated using press hardening process chains as an example. The procedure enables the user to systematically capture and structure the press hardening process chain and subsequently develop a comprehensive model of the whole process chain. As a result, it allows to calculate the energy requirements for each stage of the process chain, and later on the process chain as a whole. The intention of the developed procedure is to provide a tool to detect the most energy efficient variant from a range of possible process chains.


A recent survey by Meyer (2009) on the need for the training of general library workers revealed that employers in library services are often not aware of the conditions affecting the ability of library and information science (LIS) educators at South African tertiary institutions to deliver 'work ready' general workers to the LIS industry. Simultaneously, LIS educators are not aware of the extent to which changes to learning programmes can affect the appointment and promotions of library staff in practice. The objectives of the study were to determine the need for a formal learning programme for general library workers and how existing study material can be adapted to develop a formal learning programme suitable for general library workers countrywide. Data was collected by means of a self-administered questionnaire directed at supervisory staff of provincial and municipal libraries in South Africa, interviews with supervisors, and consultation of relevant internal documentation on job descriptions and legislation. The findings revealed that there is a definite need for training general library workers, whether formally or informally.
This article, the first of two parts, considers the challenges facing LIS educators of which employers in the LIS industry are seldom aware of. The discussion is based on a literature study regarding training of general library workers in South Africa, as well as personal experience of the impact of various conditions on the relevant learning programmes of the Department of Information Science, University of South Africa before and after merging with the former Technikon SA. It considers the implementation of legislation and policies with regard to LIS training and how LIS educators, involved in open distance learning (ODL) cope with the specific challenges for delivering 'work ready' general library workers. Part two will deal with aspects concerning the types of task general workers perform, and the specific type of training required to ensure that these workers contribute to efficient service delivery.


Abstract Background People with intellectual disabilities are more likely to experience poor health than the general population and are frequently prescribed multiple medications. Therefore, it is important that people with intellectual disabilities understand their medication and potential adverse effects. Method A scoping review explored people with intellectual disabilities' knowledge of prescription medications, their risks and how medication understanding can be improved. Results Ten journal articles were included. People with intellectual disabilities often lacked understanding of their medication, including its name, purpose and when and how to take it. Participants were often confused or unaware of adverse effects associated with their medication. Information was sometimes explained to carers rather than people with intellectual disabilities. Some interventions and accessible information helped to improve knowledge in people with intellectual disabilities. Conclusion There is a need for accessible and tailored information about medication to be discussed with people with intellectual disabilities in order to meet legal and best practice standards.


BACKGROUND: Both postoperative acute kidney injury (AKI) and preoperative chronic kidney disease (CKD) are associated with significantly worse outcomes following surgery. The relationship of both of these conditions with each other and with CKD progression after surgery remains poorly studied. Our objective was to assess if there was an interaction between preoperative kidney function estimated by preoperative estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR)/CKD stage, postoperative AKI, and eGFR/CKD progression within 1 year of surgery. Our hypothesis was that AKI severity would be associated with a faster time to eGFR/CKD stage progression within 1 year of surgery in a graded-fashion, which would be exacerbated by preoperative kidney dysfunction. METHODS: This was a retrospective cohort study at Landspitali University Hospital in Iceland, which serves about 75% of the population. Participants included adults receiving their first major anesthetic between 2005 and 2018. Patients with CKD stage 5, undergoing major urologic procedures, or having missing creatinine values for follow-up of eGFR stage were excluded from analysis. The primary exposure was postoperative AKI stage within 7 days after surgery classified by the kidney disease improving global outcome (KDIGO) criteria. The primary outcome was time to progression of CKD by at least 1 eGFR/CKD stage within 1-year following surgery. Multivariable Cox proportional hazards models were used to estimate hazard of eGFR/CKD stage progression, including an interaction between AKI and preoperative CKD on eGFR/CKD stage progression. RESULTS: A total of 5548 patients were studied. In the multivariable model adjusting for baseline eGFR/CKD stage, when compared to patients without AKI, postoperative AKI stage 1 (hazard ratio [HR], 5.91; 95% confidence interval [CI], 4.34–8.05), stage 2 (HR, 3.86; 95% CI, 1.82–8.16), and stage 3 (HR, 3.61; 95% CI, 1.49–8.74) were all independently associated with faster time to eGFR/CKD stage progression within 1 year following surgery, though increasing AKI severity did not confer additional risk. The only significant interaction between the degree of AKI and the preexisting renal function was for stage 1 AKI, where the odds of 1-year eGFR/CKD stage progression actually decreased in patients with preoperative CKD categories 3a, 3b, and 4. CONCLUSIONS: KDIGO-AKI was independently associated with eGFR/CKD stage progression within the year following surgery after adjustment for baseline eGFR/CKD stage and without an interaction between worse preoperative kidney function and higher stage AKI. Our observations suggest that further studies are warranted to test whether CKD progression could be prevented by the adoption of perioperative kidney protective practices.


Abstract Silicon carbide ceramics were fabricated using the spark plasma sintering technique without the use of additives. The sintering process was carried out at four different temperatures in the range of 2 073−2 223 K under two different pressures, 40 MPa and 80 MPa, under vacuum. The effects of different temperatures and pressures on the density, Vickers hardness, fracture toughness, and microstructure were examined. Fully dense monolithic silicon carbide ceramics with a relative density of approximately 99 % were obtained. Increasing the pressure from 40 to 80 MPa and the temperature from 2 073 to 2 223 K resulted in an increase in the relative densities of spark plasma sintered ceramics from 87 % to 97.5 % and 95.5 % to 99.7 %, respectively. The results revealed that the silicon carbide ceramic spark plasma sintered at 2 223 K while applying 80 MPa of pressure with a 5-minute soaking time under vacuum has the highest hardness and fracture toughness values of 31.9 GPa and 3.6 ± 0.3 MPa·m1/2, respectively.


Introduction: Rapid development of minimally invasive surgery has led to escalation of the demands placed on health care professionals. Nowadays the patient is the one to choose where and how she/he wants to be operated on. Perioperative and postoperative quality of life is the most common item impacting the patients' choice. Laparoscopic surgery is undoubtedly advantageous in several applications; however a further improvement of medical services has been introduced: the NOTES technique. This novel surgical approach definitively eliminates the problem of having scars. Though NOTES is still in the clinical trial stage, it might become an alternative for selected procedures soon. At this point it is necessary to define the patients' expectations and preferences. Aim: To evaluate patients' opinions on the four surgical approaches: open, laparoscopic, transvaginal and transgastric. Material and methods: For this purpose a special questionnaire was designed and one hundred randomly selected women were asked to complete it. Results: The laparoscopic access was preferable in most aspects, closely followed by the transvaginal access. Open and transgastric approaches were considered as dangerous and disadvantageous. Conclusions: Currently NOTES is a possible reality of tomorrow for some procedures. The transvaginal access was scored as "attractive", "cosmetically attractive" and "technologically advanced", as opposed to the transgastric access. The fact of manipulation in the intimate region requires thorough attention in future NOTES studies. Though the patients currently prefer the laparoscopic approach, this study proves that further development of transvaginal NOTES technology is acceptable and to some extent desired by the patients.


Radioprotectors with few side effects are useful for carbon-ion therapy, which directly induces clustering damage in DNA. With the aim of finding the most effective radioprotector, we investigated the effects of selected amino acids which might have chemical DNA-repair functions against therapeutic carbon ions. In the current study, we employed five amino acids: tryptophan (Trp), cysteine (Cys), methionine (Met), valine (Val) and alanine (Ala). Samples of supercoiled pBR322 plasmid DNA with a 17 mM amino acid were prepared in TE buffer (10 mM Tris, 1 mM ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid, pH 7.5). Phosphate buffered saline (PBS) was also used in assays of the 0.17 mM amino acid. The samples were irradiated with carbon-ion beams (290 MeV/u) on 6 cm spread-out Bragg peak at the National Institute of Radiological Sciences and Heavy Ion Medical Accelerator in Chiba, Japan. Breaks in the DNA were detected as changes in the plasmids and quantified by subsequent electrophoresis on agarose gels. DNA damage yields and protection factors for each amino acid were calculated as ratios relative to reagent-free controls. Trp and Cys showed radioprotective effects against plasmid DNA damage induced by carbon-ion beam, both in PBS and TE buffer, comparable to those of Met. The double-strand break (DSB) yields and protective effects of Trp were comparable to those of Cys. The yields of both single-strand breaks and DSBs correlated with the scavenging capacity of hydroxyl radicals (rate constant for scavenging hydroxyl radicals multiplied by the amino acid concentration) in bulk solution. These data indicate that the radioprotective effects of amino acids against plasmid DNA damage induced by carbon ions could be explained primarily by the scavenging capacity of hydroxyl radicals. These findings suggest that some amino acids, such as Trp, Cys and Met, have good potential as radioprotectors for preventing DNA damage in normal tissues in carbon-ion therapy.


In an arbitrary dimension D, we study quadratic corrections to Einstein-Hilbert action described by the Gauss-Bonnet term. We consider charged black hole solutions with anti-de Sitter (AdS) asymptotics, of interest in the context of gravity/gauge theory dualities (AdS/CFT). The electric charge here is due to the addition of an arbitrary nonlinear electrodynamics (NED) Lagrangian. Due to the existence of a vacuum energy for global AdS spacetime in odd dimensions in the framework of AdS/CFT correspondence, we derive a Quantum Statistical Relation directly from the Euclidean action and not from the First Law of thermodynamics. To this end, we employ a background-independent regularization scheme which consists in supplementing the bulk action with counterterms that depend both on the extrinsic and intrinsic curvatures of the boundary (also known as Kounterterms). This procedure results in a consistent inclusion of the vacuum energy in the thermodynamic description for Einstein-Gauss-Bonnet AdS gravity regardless the explicit form of the NED Lagrangian.


Bending response of corrugated core metallic sandwich panels was studied experimentally under three-point bending loading. Two different core configurations were used: the corrugated monolithic core and the corrugated sliced core. The trapezoidal corrugated cores were manufactured from aluminum sheets via a sheet metal bending mould. After the sandwich panel samples were prepared, they were subjected to three-point bending tests. The load and displacement responses of the sandwich panels having different core configurations were obtained from the experimental testing. The influence of the core configuration on the three-point bending response and failure modes was then investigated. The experimental results revealed that the corrugated sliced core configuration exhibited an improved bending performance compared to the corrugated monolithic core configuration.


Objective: The objectives of the present formative research were to explore the medical undergraduates' study problems and their perceptions about various teaching approaches in currently practiced teaching curriculum of Community Medicine. Material and Methods: The present formative research was undertaken at Dr. Sushila Nayar School of Public Health incorporating Department of Community Medicine, Mahatma Gandhi Institute of Medical Sciences, Sewagram. The respondents were 17 (26.5%) conveniently selected final year exam appearing medical undergraduates from 2004 regular batch of 64 students. A triangulation of qualitative research methods like free listing, pile sort exercise and a Focus Group Discussion (FGD) were used. A two dimensional scaling and hierarchical cluster analysis was completed with the pile sort data. The data was analyzed by using software Anthropac 4.98.1/X software. Results: The medical undergraduates could understand the topics like Integrated Management of Neonatal and Childhood (IMNCI), Primary Health Care (PHC), cold chain system for vaccines, immunization and health education, dietary survey and cluster survey method taught in the community based camp approaches. Students found it difficult to comprehend the core of subject from the scattered lecture series over a long teaching period, especially using lengthy over head projector/liquid crystal display presentations. The major problems encountered in studying the subject of Community Medicine were difficulty in understanding the concepts of biostatistics, confusions due to apparently similar text in National Health Programs and difficulty to recall disease statistics due to vast syllabus. Conclusions: Students perceived the community based camp approach of teaching as a best method to understand the subject, which is an integration of task oriented assignments, integration of social sciences within medical domain and active community involvement. Hence, the community based camp approach can be scaled up as a best Community Medicine teaching approach. The active learning methods could be used to improve the lectures and the clinics which should be more concentrated in final year of teaching


A strong capitalized position of financial institutions is essential to ensure their solvency. Because of their unique nature, banks must always keep an optimum level of capital to ensure smooth banking earnings. Consequently, it is mandatory for all types of banks operating in Pakistan to keep a minimum amount of required capital along with capital adequacy to remain solvent and profitable. Therefore, using three measures of capitalization, i.e., the Capital Ratio (CR), Capital Adequacy Ratio (CAR), and Minimum Capital Requirement (MCR), and four measures of profitability, i.e., Return on Avg. Assets (ROAA), Return on Avg. Equity (ROAE), Net Interest Margin (NIMAR), and Profit Margin (NMAR), this study contributes to the existing literature on the relationship between the capitalization and profitability of 29 Pakistani banks over the period of 2007–2018. The results, based on the Generalized Method of Moments (GMM) system estimator technique, reported an inverted U-shaped relationship between the two capitalization measures, i.e., CR and CAR, and the four profitability measures, i.e., ROAA, ROAE, NIMAR, and NMAR. This indicates that profitability increases with an increase in capitalization up to a certain level, while beyond that level, a further increase in capitalization decreases profitability. The results also indicate that banks who maintain their MCR have higher profitability than those who do not.


A low temperature molten salt process is developed to prepare crystalline Si nanoparticles through the reduction of micro-sized high silicon zeolite by metallic Al (or Mg) in molten AlCl3. The reaction can be initiated at 200 °C, and the yield is about 40%. As the reaction temperature increases to 250 °C, the yield can reach about 75%. When the prepared Si was used as an anode for Li-ion batteries, reversible capacities of 2663 mA h g−1 at 0.5 A g−1 after 50 cycles and 870 mA h g−1 at 3 A g−1 after 1000 cycles can be obtained. Similarly, this synthetic strategy is employed to synthesize Si nanoparticles starting from various abundant raw materials including SiO2 powder, kieselguhr, fiberglass, and even the natural mineral of albite.


Immunogenic tumor variants were previously derived after transplantation in vivo into nude mice of NIH/3T3-transformed cell lines. Nude-passaged cell lines were rejected by immunocompetent H-2q NIH mice, were recognized by specific CTL clones, and expressed new retroviral Ag. The aim of the present work was to investigate whether somatically acquired proviral sequences were present in the genome of nude-passaged cells and to test directly for a causative relationship between murine leukemia virus (MuLV) expression and immunogenicity. Southern blot analysis of PstI-digested DNA indicated that in contrast to the parental NIH/3T3 transformed cell lines (pT, T12N/5a, NS-1) all the nude-passaged immunogenic variants (pT-nude, T12N/5a-nude, NS-1-nude) contained newly acquired ecotropic-related proviruses. Immediately after in vitro establishment, these tumors displayed multiple integration sites as assessed by analysis of 3' proviral-cellular junctions. Long term in vitro culture of one of the cell lines (pT-nude) resulted in a cell line (pT-nude/vitro) that was clonal or oligo-clonal with respect to viral integration. Northern blot analysis established that the new proviruses were actively transcribed in all the immunogenic variants. To assess whether the somatically acquired ecotropic proviral sequences encode for target structures recognized by specific CTL, obtained after immunization of NIH mice with pT-nude, the parental cell line pT was transfected with plasmids containing the entire AKV MuLV genome, the cloned AKV gag or env genes. Screening of transfectants for their ability to stimulate the production of TNF by anti-pT-nude effectors indicated that cells transfected with the entire ecotropic virus or with MuLV-env gene products could be recognized by an NIH anti-pT-nude CTL line and NIH anti-pT-nude Kq-restricted CTL clones as well as the immunizing target pT-nude.


A long-standing issue in syntactic theory, and argument structure in particular, involves the relationship between particular lexical items and the syntactic structures they are embedded in. Lexical roots seem to be choosy about the structures they are able to appear in, but are at they same time very flexible. Complicating the matter further, roots are in some cases able to appear in certain structures only with a certain special meaning. In this paper, I focus on the causative alternation in Icelandic, and propose that we can understand root distribution (the inability of certain roots to appear in certain structures) as a special case of root allosemy (the special interpretation of certain roots in certain structures). This allows for a model where roots have no formal features whatsoever, even if they appear to select for particular structural features, and offers an explanation for cases where it is shown that the putative features of a root cannot be responsible for the interpretation of external arguments directly.


The flow of aid to developing countries has increased massively and they receive billions of dollars per year in the form of aid from bilateral and multilateral donors. However, the economic growth achieved by many developing countries in general has not been satisfactory. Poverty is still there and resulted in a custom of aid dependence and foster the opportunity for the corrupted political leader. The conclusion on aid effectiveness is doubtful among economists, found to be inconclusive.This paper intends to see how ethiopian economy is reacting to the flow of foreign aid coming from rest of the world viz-a-viz the current most prestigous and influential arguments against and pro-effectiveness of aid. A time series on important parameters extending from 1981 to the most current 2017 is used and an econometrics techniques ECM is employed to examine the short run dynamics and long run relationship among the variables.The result of the short run dynamics showed that aid has a negative and statistically significant impact on economic growth. However, the impacts turns to be positive in the long run. economic growth measured by the real GDP adjusts to its long run equilibrium with an average speed of about 25.7 percent annually and it will roughly take it about 4 years to restore back to equilibrium, ceteris paribus.


In wireless network resource allocation, the radio power control problems are often solved by fixed point algorithms. Although these algorithms give feasible problem solutions, such solutions often lack notion of problem optimality. This paper reconsiders well-known fixed-point algorithms, such as those with standard and type-II standard interference functions, and investigates the conditions under which they give optimal solutions. The optimality is established by the recently proposed fast-Lipschitz optimization framework. To apply such a framework, the analysis is performed by a logarithmic transformation of variables that gives tractable fast-Lipschitz problems. It is shown how the logarithmic problem constraints are contractive by the standard or type-II standard assumptions on the power control problem, and how sets of cost functions fulfill the fast-Lipschitz qualifying conditions. The analysis on nonmonotonic interference function allows establishing a new qualifying condition for fast-Lipschitz optimization. The results are illustrated by considering power control problems with standard interference function, problems with type-II standard interference functions, and a case of subhomogeneous power control problems. Given the generality of fast-Lipschitz optimization compared to traditional methods for resource allocation, it is concluded that such an optimization may help to determine the optimality of many resource allocation problems in wireless networks.


Purpose: As the population ages, the incidence and prevalence of chronic health issues requiring allied health management is increasing. Currently, there is an undersupply of appropriately skilled allied health professionals working in aged care. This has also been identified as a setting in which many beginning health practitioners are reluctant to seek employment. In order to address this workforce shortage, it is imperative that students are prepared for a possible future career within aged care facilities. Early clinical experience within this setting may increase student confidence, raise awareness of the need for services, and encourage students to consider working in aged care. At present, student clinical placements within aged care facilities are limited, potentially contributing to difficulties addressing workforce needs. The reasons for the lack of clinical placements and the relative contribution of the opinions, attitudes, training, and support needs of staff are unknown. The purpose of this study was to investigate the opinions, attitudes, support, and training needs of physiotherapists, dieticians, and managers working in residential aged care regarding allied health professional student clinical placements. Method: A written survey of allied health professionals (dieticians and physiotherapists, n=26) and managers (n=40) working in residential aged care was conducted. Responses were analysed using qualitative and quantitative methods. Results: Participants had generally positive attitudes towards student placements in residential aged care. Managers were significantly more positive regarding the scope for student clinical placements within their facilities than allied health professionals (p<0.05). The biggest barrier to student placements identified by both managers and allied health professionals was the nature of employment of allied health professionals in the sector. Participating allied health professionals also indicated that they required specific training in student supervision and the provision of clinical education. Conclusion: The attitudes and opinions of allied health professionals and managers did not appear to contribute to a lack of allied health professional student placements in aged care facilities. The main barriers to placement were the nature of allied health professional employment and a lack of staff experience in supervising students on clinical placement. Specific training and mentoring of allied health professionals may facilitate increased student placement capacity in the aged care setting.


Guest-host chemistry is an emerging tool in the preparation of biomaterials. Towards the design of hydrogels, guest-host chemistry has been used to impart unique shear-thinning and self-healing properties that allow these materials to be injected through syringes and catheters as a single component, avoiding complications associated with traditional covalent systems. As a treatment for myocardial infarction, injectable guest-host hydrogels may be injected directly into the myocardial wall and have shown therapeutic benefit in a number of strategies, including drug delivery, cell delivery, and tissue bulking. As delivery systems, injectable hydrogels provide controlled release of payloads that attenuate maladaptive remodeling of the left ventricle, by inhibiting expression of proteases, recruiting cells to the region, or otherwise stimulating therapeutic biological processes such as angiogenesis. Guest-host biomaterials must be refined and advanced to overcome challenges associated with delivering therapeutics in these areas, as well as to provide novel materials platforms for investigating therapeutic delivery in the future. This dissertation describes the engineering of two injectable hydrogel platforms that address challenges in the delivery of therapeutics after myocardial infarction. Each of these systems is investigated both in vitro for an understanding of material properties and the parameters that tune them, as well as in vivo, in a number of clinically relevant animal models and therapeutic targets. In the first aim of this thesis, isotropic guest-host hydrogels are designed for the sustained release of a variety of small molecules. Through the control of small molecule binding with cyclodextrin host moieties engineered in the hydrogel, we show that both cyclodextrin content and molecule affinity for cyclodextrin are critical factors that provide tunable release of small molecules from these systems. Furthermore, we demonstrate that this system is broadly applicable to the release of a number of pharmaceutical small molecule payloads. In the second aim of this thesis, isotropic guest-host hydrogels are specifically formulated for the delivery of the small molecule protease inhibitor SD-7300, a therapeutic requiring local delivery after myocardial infarction. Here we demonstrate that the engineered guest-host hydrogels provide sustained release and retain activity of this molecule, which in turn provides improved functional and biological outcomes in a large-animal model of myocardial infarction. In the third aim of this thesis, guest-host chemistry is utilized to assemble microstructured granular hydrogels for the design of multifunctional material platforms. Granular hydrogels are demonstrated to have disease responsivity in myocardial infarction, and functional benefit through the delivery of the chemokine SDF-1α. Degree Type Dissertation Degree Name Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) Graduate Group Bioengineering First Advisor Jason A. Burdick This dissertation is available at ScholarlyCommons: https://repository.upenn.edu/edissertations/3160


The 1997 Merger Guidelines appeared to significantly expand the role of efficiency considerations in merger analysis. However, it is possible that the revision simply memorialized existing policy and thus served more to improve transparency than reform policy. By combining an existing review of Federal Trade Commission merger studies after the 1997 reform, with a new review of merger studies from the five years prior to the revision, it is possible to shed some light on this question. In general, the FTC efficiency analyses did not change after the reform, and the bulk of the considerations noted in the Guidelines appear in the files over the entire sample period. Only the study of merger specific efficiencies seemed to clearly change in 1997, as the revised Guidelines mandated that alternative methods to achieve the efficiency must be practical given the market considerations. Overall, the impact of efficiencies on the merger challenge decision appeared to date to the arrival of Chairman Pitofsky at the FTC. Interestingly, this change also supported giving consideration to fixed cost savings, but seemed to insist on some evidence of pass-through to consumers for the fixed cost claims to "count." Finally, the evidence suggests that findings of efficiencies are not always more likely to occur in closed investigations, further suggesting efficiency claims may affect the merger challenge decision in a "close call."


ABSTRACT Ota, T.; Kawamura, H.; Matsumi Y., and Hirayama, T., 2016. Evaluation of life cycle cost for wave-dissipating works considering occurrence probability of high waves. In: Vila-Concejo, A.; Bruce, E.; Kennedy, D.M., and McCarroll, R.J. (eds.), Proceedings of the 14th International Coastal Symposium (Sydney, Australia). Journal of Coastal Research, Special Issue, No. 75, pp. 675–679. Coconut Creek (Florida), ISSN 0749-0208. This study deals with the influences of occurrence frequency and the duration of high waves on estimation of life cycle cost (LCC) for wave-dissipating works that consist of wave-dissipating blocks using Monte Carlo simulation. LCC is defined as sum of an initial construction cost and an expected repair cost of wave-dissipating blocks. As analysis results of high waves at four observation stations in NOWPHAS, the occurrence frequency of high waves can be approximated by the Poisson distribution. In the computation of LCC, occurrence frequency of high waves is assumed as once a year or is determined by using the Poisson distribution for comparison. The duration of high waves is given in consideration of its statistical characteristics. The optimum size of block that minimizes LCC agrees in most cases regardless of the occurrence frequency and the duration of high waves, however, the variation in the total repair cost during the in-service period is different depending on the occurrence frequency.


Effective reading instruction in the early grades is the key to creating strong, competent readers. Hence, explicit strategy-instruction can be seen as a powerful student-centred approach to develop good learners to engage in divergent thinking. This study was conducted to look into the efficacy of explicit strategy-instruction in reading to develop the higher-order thinking skills in a year-four primary classroom. The focus of the study was on higher-order thinking skills such as predicting, inferencing and personal response. The materials used were from children's year-four textbooks and literature books supplied by the Curriculum Development Centre of Malaysia. This was carried out to ensure adherence to curriculum guidelines as well as for ease and effectiveness of implementation in the language classroom. Collection of data was through interviews, questionnaires, participant observation, written responses as well as results of pre and post intervention reading tests. The Critical Reading Inventory test was administered to measure participants' critical reading ability pre and post intervention of explicit strategy-instruction. Reading lessons were purposely tailored to create opportunities to enable participants to apply strategies taught. The gains in critical reading ability were assessed based on pre and post reading tests. Results from interviews, questionnaires, participants' written responses, reading tests revealed that participants critical reading ability did improve in a significant way post intervention of explicit strategy-instruction. To conclude the study is a discussion on the limitations of the study, implications of the study, implications of the study to teachers and also implications for future research.


Prohormone convertase-1 (PC1), an endopeptidase that is structurally related to the yeast subtilisin-like Kex2 gene product, has been proposed to be involved in mammalian tissue-specific prohormone processing at pairs of basic residues. To better study this enzyme, a rat somatomammotroph cell line, GH4C1, was infected with vaccinia virus recombinants of murine PC1 (mPC1) and human PC1 (hPC1). An enzymically active form of each protein was secreted into the cell medium and partially purified by anion-exchange chromatography. The 80-85 kDa enzyme was shown to be Ca(2+)-dependent and exhibited a pH optimum of 6.0 when assayed against a synthetic fluorogenic substrate, acetyl-Arg-Ser-Lys-Arg-4-methylcoumaryl-1-amide. mPC1 and hPC1 displayed identical cleavage selectivity towards a number of fluorogenic substrates, and those incorporating an Arg at the P4 site were most favoured. Synthetic peptides, encompassing the junction between the putative pro-region and the active enzyme, and between the pro-region and the biologically active parathyroid hormone, were shown to be recognized and cleaved specifically at the pair of basic residues by both enzymes. Group-specific proteinase inhibitors such as metal ion chelators and p-hydroxymercuribenzoate, but not phenylmethanesulphonyl fluoride and pepstatin, strongly inhibit the PC1-associated activity. In addition, it is shown that an enzyme activity displaying identical properties is present in the cell medium of uninfected corticotroph AtT-20 cells and that its level is increased following stimulation of secretion by the secretagogue 8-bromo cyclic AMP.


Oils are known to have important biological activities. The development in demand and different utilizations of oils foster the search for seed and vegetable oils that are of high quality to meet up with the developing rate of its demand worldwide. In this research, the extraction and physicochemical properties tests of the oil extracted from the seed of Balanites Aegyptiaca (Heglig tree) was carried out. The physical properties of the oil compares positively with those of the conventional vegetable and seed oils like groundnut oil, cotton seed oil and soybean oil among others. The results obtained showed 43% oil yield, light yellowcolour of the oil,agreeable odour,transparent liquid appearanceat room temperatures, 1.498 refractive index, 18.97 cp viscosity, 0.912 g/ml specific gravity, 1.51 mgKOH/g acid value, 1.21 meq/Kg peroxide value, 121.56 mg I 2 /g iodine value and 223.98 mgKOH/g saponification value. The acid value of the oil is lower than the maximum permissible acid level of 4mgKOH/g fat or oil required for edible virgin fats and oils and therefore it is suitable for consumption. High saponification value guarantees the use of the oils in cosmetics and soap making industry. This study shows that, heglig seeds oil is a good source of edible oil.


Mark Osiel's provocative new book, The End of Reciprocity: Terror, Torture and the Law of War, provides detailed discussions of a number of important moral and legal issues arising for the United States in its ongoing response to the threats posed by the Al Qaeda terrorist network. The specific focus is the US-deployed counter-terrorist methods of sustained detention, torture, and targeted killing of suspected terrorists. The author, Mark Osiel, displays a wide knowledge of relevant literature in a number of fields, including international law, philosophy, sociology and cultural studies. The book is lengthy (667 pages). It is also heavily referenced (250 pages of end-notes) and, as such, is a useful reference tool. It is in four parts. Part One concerns international law. Osiel argues that "the principle of reciprocity continues to infuse much of international law" and in the context of the persistent refusal of the United States to accept customary rules prohibiting reprisals against civilians, could reasonably be used to justify lawful US counter-measures against terrorism, such as sustained detention, coercive interrogation, and targeted killing. Roughly speaking, the principle of reciprocity uses grounds of fairness to justify one side in a war in breaching the laws of war--by, say, mistreating the other side's POWs--if it is in retaliation for the other side's breach--by, say, using prohibited weapons. Osiel claims that this legal argument was one that the Bush administration and its supporters perceived as adequate legal justification for the Bush administration's counter-terrorism policies given Al Qaeda's egregious violations of international law. In Part Two, Osiel argues for the moral acceptability of these counter-measures; specifically, they are justified by the principle of reciprocity, understood now as a moral principle. Although Osiel's argument that the US-Al Qaeda confrontations can reasonably be regarded as constituting an international armed conflict is persuasive, the moral and other non-legal arguments he advances regarding the justifiability of specific counter-terrorism measures are much weaker. Legal considerations notwithstanding, the moral principle of fairness in combat seems to be a notion that is relative to the combatants; murdering innocent non-combatant bystanders cannot easily be seen as necessarily unfair to the enemy combatants qua combatants. Moreover, the principle of fairness in combat is evidently constrained, morally speaking, by at least some human rights of the combatants, e.g. the moral, as opposed to legal, human right not to be tortured. While I agree with Osiel that targeted killing and sustained detention of terrorists are morally justifiable under certain circumstances--and could justifiably be legalized--my disagreement concerns the moral basis for these practices. As noted, torture is a different matter. I believe that although torture might be morally justifiable under extreme circumstances, it could never justifiably be legalized. At any rate, Osiel understates the moral wrongness of torture. He suggests that it is the intentional infliction of severe pain in the service of another purpose including coercion, intimidation and punishment. However, this omits a central constitutive feature of torture, namely, that it is an attempt to break a defenseless person's will at whatever cost to their autonomy; contra Osiel, defenselessness does not entail powerlessness. So torture necessarily threatens to destroy a human being's autonomy, and is not simply to be understood as the infliction of severe pain for other purposes external to it. In this respect torture is akin to slavery and, as with slavery, ought never to be legalized. In Parts Three and Four, Osiel pulls back from the implications of what he takes himself to have established in Parts One and Two, i.e., that the United States should use the counter-terrorism methods in question since they are both legally and morally justified. …


The Korea Superconducting Tokamak Advanced Research (KSTAR) project was started in December 1995, and its construction was completed in August 2007. On June 13, 2008, the KSTAR successfully produced its first plasma, and the diagnostic systems played an important role in achieving the first successful plasma operation. In fact, various diagnostic systems are required to protect reactor devices, to the control plasma, and to evaluate the plasma's performance in fusion reactors. One of the most essential tools for control of the burning plasma in fusion reactors may be a neutron diagnostic system to prove the presence of the plasma by measuring the neutrons from fusion reactions directly. The stilbene scintillator has been proposed as a good candidate for a neutron diagnostic system in the KSTAR fusion reactor because the stilbene scintillator is well-known to be an excellent material for detection of fast neutrons in a high gamma-ray background environment. If fast-neutron spectra are to be measured amid a high gamma-ray background, especially-designed electronics are necessary. For instance, a digital charge pulse shape discrimination (PSD) method, utilizing a total-to-partial-charge-ratio analysis, discriminates neutron from gamma-ray signals. Also, a flash analog-to-digital convertor (FADC) with a field-programmable gate array (FPGA) increases the data-transfer rate for real-time evaluation of plasma performance. In the present study, measurements and simulations were performed in order to confirm the stilbene scintillator's response to D-D fusion reaction neutrons. Additionally, the count-rate limit of the neutron diagnostic system was determined by using measurements with a 252Cf source at different distances.


Although intergroup contact is a well-established area of inquiry within social psychology, the majority of research adheres to testing its traditional formulation, i.e. the extent that contact can reduce prejudice. Under this approach researchers do not investigate what happens during interactions, only if (and often, what sort of) contact has occurred. Consequently, it lacks the power to explain why interactions should be as they are between groups. Conversely, this thesis proposes that investigating contact as an outcome may provide a new and important insight into intergroup life. Specifically, this thesis investigated social psychological antecedents of contact quality among non-disabled and physically disabled people. This unique and challenging context is one that has largely been neglected by prior research.
A review of the existing literature identified two key potential antecedents of contact quality, specifically the psychological concerns and embarrassment that both groups experience when interacting with out-group members. A qualitative study (Study 1) was then conducted to gain insight into the phenomenology of these constructs. Importantly, this allowed for the identification of the unique group-specific concerns that non-disabled and physically disabled people may hold.
This thesis went on to test the impact of concerns and embarrassment on contact quality through a series of experiments involving both vignette-based and actual interactions (Studies 2-5). Among both groups, these studies revealed evidence of an indirect link between concerns and reduced contact quality. Furthermore, embarrassment was identified as the linking mechanism driving this important relationship.
Subsequently the thesis tested a series of interventions directed at attenuating embarrassment and improving the contact quality of these encounters. Two of these studies (Study 6-7) tested the efficacy of an interpersonal feedback strategy, delivered by the physically disabled interactant across an actual (Study 6) and vignette-based (Study 7) interaction. Findings indicated that such feedback could improve contact quality perceptions among both groups, but it was unclear if it did so by reducing embarrassment. Additionally, among the physically disabled sample, the effects became non-significant when controlling for demographic factors.
Finally, Studies 8a and 8b examined the potency of a societal-level intervention, the 2012 Paralympic Games. Over the period of the event, concerns and embarrassment were found to decrease in both groups but there was no reported change in contact quality. Additionally, differences once again disappeared when controlling for demographic factors.
Implications of these findings, limitations and directions for future research are discussed.


Cultural capital is an important part of the conceptual apparatus of research on inequalities and social reproduction. The putative transformation of cultural hierarchies in contemporary society, however, opens up the question of whether it still makes any sense to speak of 'legitimate taste' and eventually of what the nature this legitimate taste might be. This article examines what constitutes legitimate culture in the context of university-level study. It focuses on the differentiation of taste and the way in which the space of cultural consumption is structured by academic disciplines and university faculties. The article draws on data from a questionnaire survey of first- and second-year students at Charles University in 2017 (n = 5127) and conducts a multiple correspondence analysis. It shows that the first dimension of the cultural space of students can be interpreted as the axis of overall cultural capital without any specific differentiation. The third dimension of cultural space, by contrast, convincingly captures a cleavage between traditional cultural capital and a new form of cultural capital. The amount of cultural capital accumulated depends on the kind of academic disciplines studied, but another significant structuring element of cultural capital is the environment of individual university faculties itself.


This study uses an affect theory of social exchange (Lawler 2001) to investigate how and when network structures generate "micro social orders." Micro social order entails recurrent interactions, emotional reactions, perceptions of a group, and affective sentiments. The core theoretical argument is that micro orders, involving behavioral, cognitive, and affective dimensions, develop and are stronger to the degree that (1) actors engage in highly joint tasks or activities and (2) these tasks generate a sense of shared responsibility for the interaction outcomes. A laboratory experiment varies different forms of social exchange—negotiated, reciprocal, generalized, and productive—within a network structure, and offers strong support for the core expectation that productive forms of exchange generate the strongest micro order. Conversely, generalized exchange generates the weakest order, with negotiated and reciprocal forms in between. In general, productive exchange bolsters more exchange behavior, more positive feelings, perceptions of cohesion at the network level, and affective attachments to the network as a social unit. This research has broad implications for the conditions under which task activity promotes micro social orders that involve strong person-to-group ties (as opposed to person-to-person ties) and affective sentiments regarding the social unit.


General practitioners participating in a multipractice study were compared with those who refused to participate. We found that younger doctors, doctors in partnerships, and doctors with many patients were represented more among participants. However, no correlation was found between the number of patients examined for urinary tract infection in connection with the study.


What explains varying levels of emigrant transnational engagement in home-country politics? The well-known difficulties in obtaining migrant profile data and restriction to a few destination countries have resulted in a lack of systematic empirical investigation of this question. We expand nascent efforts to fill this gap by offering a new theoretical framework and novel research design that stress the potential importance of destination characteristics. We argue that the experience and environment in emigration are critical factors for emigrants' engagement with two major types of homeland-related political activities: electoral and community. Using Ukraine as a case of an average migrant-producer developing country and using count models on original survey data on Ukrainian extraterritorial voters in a diverse set of 15 countries, we show that assimilation, emigrant networks, and destination characteristics are consistently strong predictors of transnational political engagement among the emigrants who show at least a minimal concern for homeland politics.


Abstract— New occurrences of the Acraman impact ejecta layer were recently discovered in two South Australian drillholes, SCYW‐79 1a (Stuart Shelf) and Munta 1 (Officer Basin) using lithostratigraphy, acritarch biostratigraphy, carbon isotope stratigraphy, and biomarker anomalies to predict the stratigraphic position. The ejecta layer is conspicuous because it consists of pink, sandsized, angular fragments of volcanic rock distributed along the bedding plane surface of green marine siltstone. In SCYW‐79 1a it forms a layer 5 mm thick; in Munta 1 the ejecta layer is thin and discontinuous because of its distance (˜550 km) from the impact structure. Palynological, biomarker, and carbon isotope anomalies can now be shown to coincide with the ejecta layer in SCYW‐79 1a and Munta 1 suggesting the Acraman impact event may have had far reaching influences on the rapidly evolving Ediacaran biological and geochemical cycles.


OBJECTIVE
Endocrine diseases that can be part of the rare inheritable syndrome multiple endocrine neoplasia type 1 (MEN1) commonly occur in the general population. Patients at risk for MEN1, and consequently their families, must be identified to prevent morbidity through periodic screening for the detection and treatment of manifestations in an early stage. The aim of the study was to develop a model for predicting MEN1 in individual patients with sporadically occurring endocrine tumors.

DESIGN
Cross-sectional study.

METHODS
In a nationwide study in The Netherlands, patients with sporadically occurring endocrine tumors in whom the referring physician suspected the MEN1 syndrome were identified between 1998 and 2011 (n=365). Logistic regression analysis with internal validation using bootstrapping and external validation with a cohort from Sweden was used.

RESULTS
A MEN1 mutation was found in 15.9% of 365 patients. Recurrent primary hyperparathyroidism (pHPT; odds ratio (OR) 162.40); nonrecurrent pHPT (OR 25.78); pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors (pNETs) and duodenal NETs (OR 17.94); pituitary tumor (OR 4.71); NET of stomach, thymus, or bronchus (OR 25.84); positive family history of NET (OR 4.53); and age (OR 0.96) predicted MEN1. The c-statistic of the prediction model was 0.86 (95% confidence interval (95% CI) 0.81-0.90) in the derivation cohort and 0.77 (95% CI 0.66-0.88) in the validation cohort.

CONCLUSION
With the prediction model, the risk of MEN1 can be calculated in patients suspected for MEN1 with sporadically occurring endocrine tumors.


BACKGROUND
Little is known about the characteristics of mentoring relationships formed between faculty and medical students. Individual mentoring relationships of clinical medical students at Munich Medical School were characterized quantitatively and qualitatively.

METHODS
All students signing up for the mentoring program responded to a questionnaire on their expectations (n = 534). Mentees were asked to give feedback after each of their one-on-one meetings (n = 203). A detailed analysis of the overall mentoring process and its characteristics was performed. For qualitative text analysis, free-text items were analyzed and categorized by two investigators. Quantitative analysis was performed using descriptive statistics and Wilcoxon-test to assess differences in grades between students with and without mentors.

RESULTS
High-performing students were significantly more likely to participate in the mentoring program (p<0.001). Topics primarily discussed include the mentee's personal goals (65.5%), career planning (59.6%), and experiences abroad (57.6%). Mentees mostly perceived their mentors as counselors (88.9%), providers of ideas (85.0%), and role models (73.3%). Mentees emphasized the positive impact of the mentoring relationship on career planning (77.2%) and research (75.0%).

CONCLUSIONS
Medical students with strong academic performance as defined by their grades are more likely to participate in formal mentoring programs. Mentoring relationships between faculty and medical students are perceived as a mutually satisfying and effective instrument for key issues in medical students' professional development.

PRACTICAL IMPLICATIONS
Mentoring relationships are a highly effective means of enhancing the bidirectional flow of information between faculty and medical students. A mentoring program can thus establish a feedback loop enabling the educational institution to swiftly identify and address issues of medical students.


Past research overwhelmingly suggests that relationship conflict (RC) has negative effects on team processes and performance. However, little research has investigated the effects of RC through a temporal lens with an eye toward overcoming the short-term deleterious consequences of RC. Integrating threat rigidity and threat regulation theories, we first argue that RC disrupts team processes over time because members feel threatened and, second, that cognitive reappraisal, as an emotion regulation strategy, is a threat regulation mechanism by which teams can overcome RC. Specifically, we examine the influence of early-stage RC on team process trajectories, the moderating effect of team-level cognitive reappraisal on these trajectories, and the team performance implications of team processes. Testing our predictions in both field and laboratory studies with conditional linear growth modeling, we show that while teams with high early-stage RC are lower initially on critical team processes (coordination and interpersonal processes), they incrementally "rebound" from these lower levels of team processes if team members have a tendency to cognitively reappraise past affective events. Further, we find that changes in perceived threat stemming from early-stage RC drives these effects. Finally, we find that as a result of managing early-stage RC through cognitive reappraisal, team performance does not suffer. Overall, these results suggest that teams can overcome the negative effects of early-stage RC by addressing underlying appraisals of threat, and that they may benefit in the long run from the struggle of doing so. Implications of these findings and directions for future research are discussed.


Improved climate forecasting has the potential to increase the ability of farm managers to cope with a variable climate. In this study a simulation model of a breeding ewe flock was used to make a preliminary assessment of the value of climate forecasting for wool-producing enterprises in Victoria. Stocking and selling policies were modified in response to long-range forecasts of weather conditions. The effects on pasture cover, sheep welfare and financial returns were compared with those of a traditional management policy for a period of 25 years. These comparisons were made at two locations, Hamilton and Rutherglen, and at two stocking rates. The effects of different levels of accuracy of the weather forecast on the value of the changes in stocking and selling policies were also evaluated. Altering the stocking and selling policies using an accurate forecast of seasonal conditions resulted in a reduction in the death rate of adult ewes and their progeny. Timely action when adverse conditions were imminent resulted in an increase in both pasture cover during autumn and winter and minimum liveweight of the sheep. Gross returns were increased on average by more than 5%. Much of this increase was contributed by higher wool returns associated with the increase in size of the flock during favourable conditions. Expenditure on sheep purchases was lower for the traditionally managed farms; however, knowledge of forthcoming conditions did allow stock numbers to be reduced before pasture reserves were depleted in poor seasons which in turn reduced the requirement for supplementary feed. The total cash costs tended to be lower on the traditionally managed farm, but this difference was not significant. Both the cash operating surplus and net cash income were significantly increased by altering stocking and selling policies using an accurate forecast of seasonal conditions at Hamilton, but, although the same trends were evident, the effect of using the forecast at Rutherglen was not significant. Where the forecast was accurate in only 8 years in 10 or 6 years in 10, the benefits of altering the stocking and selling policies were reduced, but even at the lower level of accuracy the average cash operating surplus for the 25 years of the analysis was higher than that achieved using the traditional management regime. However, in individual years, inappropriate policies adopted due to an incorrect forecast resulted in reductions in financial returns of up to 64%. Accurate forecasts can improve land care and animal welfare by changing pasture and animal management, particularly by reducing stock numbers. However, since the profitability of sheep enterprises in Victoria is highly dependent on the choice of stocking rate, recommendations to reduce stock numbers without considering the financial viability of sheep enterprises may go unheeded. Hence, in the short-term at least, it can be difficult to achieve improvements in land care and animal welfare while at the same time maintaining profitability. This study indicated that the financial benefits for wool producers of reliable seasonal outlooks in southern Australia are probably substantially less than generally anticipated, at least for the strategies investigated. Furthermore, the accuracy of seasonal forecasting in southern Australia is such that the benefits from correct forecasts can be partly offset in other years from decisions which have been made on the basis of incorrect forecasts. The study also highlighted a number of important issues that need to be considered in evaluating climate forecasts.


The natural philosophy which is implied in Zhouyi is a philosophy of generation. This is a metaphor for life and the unity of cosmology, ontology and axiology, based on a practice of life which is a unity of moral and cognitive practice. This article suggests that, based on the implications of the original classic text of Zhouyi and its commentaries, the characteristics and meaning of Chinese natural philosophy can be understood through the cosmology of morality, the ontology of unity of heaven, earth and humanity, the theory of practice that integrates knowing with action, and the methodology of wholly generating. I argue that this unique natural philosophy is not only the origin of the transcendental values of Chinese culture, but also the metaphysical foundation of ancient science in China. In the great transformation of history and dialogue between East and West in 21st century, it creates a unity of different cultures of human beings from different ways which are harmonious but not uniform.


The International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) design standard (IEC 61400-3) for offshore wind turbines includes a design load case which considers loads on the turbine during extreme conditions, when the wind turbine is not operating and the blades are feathered. The recommendation of this design standard is to simulate 6 one-hour periods, each with wind and wave fields modeled as random processes, and to calculate design loads as the mean of the maximum from the six simulations. Previous studies have investigated this recommendation for fixed bottom offshore wind turbines and raised concerns about the stability of the estimate of the design load calculated using these guidelines. The research presented in this paper calculates statistics of extreme design loads as a function of the number of one-hour simulations considered for three offshore wind turbine support structures: a fixed-bottom turbine supported by a monopile and two floating turbines, a spar buoy and a semi-submersible. The study considers one extreme design load, the moment at the tower base, one set of 50-year metocean conditions representive of the Northeast U.S. Atlantic coast, and five combinations of wind and wave models, including linear and nonlinear representations of irregular waves. The data generated from this study are used to assess the stability of the estimate of the extreme load for various numbers of one-hour simulations for each turbine type. The study shows that, for the considered metocean conditions and models, the monopile exhibits the least stability in the estimate of the extreme load and therefore requires more one-hour simulations to have comparable stability as the two floating support structures. Explanations for this result are provided along with a probabilistic formulation for estimating variability of design loads more efficiently, using fewer one-hour simulations.


Author(s): Mebane, Richard H; Mirocha, Jordan; Furlanetto, Steven R | Abstract: We present a semi-analytic model of star formation in the early universe, beginning with the first metal-free stars. By employing a completely feedback-limited star formation prescription, stars form at maximum efficiency until the self-consistently calculated feedback processes halt formation. We account for a number of feedback processes including a meta-galactic Lyman-Werner background, supernovae, photoionization, and chemical feedback. Halos are evolved combining mass accretion rates found through abundance matching with our feedback-limited star formation prescription, allowing for a variety of Population III (Pop III) initial mass functions (IMFs). We find that, for a number of models, massive Pop III star formation can continue on until at least $z \sim 20$ and potentially past $z \sim 6$ at rates of around $10^{-4}$ to $10^{-5}$ M$_\odot$ yr$^{-1}$ Mpc$^{-3}$, assuming these stars form in isolation. At this point Lyman-Werner feedback pushes the minimum halo mass for star formation above the atomic cooling threshold, cutting off the formation of massive Pop III stars. We find that, in most models, Pop II and Pop III star formation co-exist over cosmological time-scales, with the total star formation rate density and resulting radiation background strongly dominated by the former before Pop III star formation finally ends. These halos form at most $\sim 10^3$ M$_\odot$ of massive Pop III stars during this phase and typically have absolute magnitudes in the range of $M_\text{AB} = -5 $ to $ -10$. We also briefly discuss how future observations from telescopes such as JWST or WFIRST and 21-cm experiments may be able to constrain unknown parameters in our model such as the IMF, star formation prescription, or the physics of massive Pop III stars.


SIR,-The general practice trainers in Edgware (27 February, p 640) are to be congratulated on taking a stand against the increasing practice of self referral to consultants and are possibly underplaying their anxieties lest they be accused of self interest. Every consultant has occasional patients who arrive without any introduction from their general practitioner, and this is not known until the patient is in the consulting room. Sometimes this occurs because a lesion has been picked up at an insurance medical examination or routine occupational health examination, and referral comes that way. It seems only reasonable then to try to help the patient on the strict understanding that the general practitioner is informed by an explanatory letter. Self referral, however, should be discouraged because it is dangerous. In central London it is common for patients to refer themselves to and receive treatment from physicians and surgeons who are not qualified to deal with their illness. The other danger of self referral is that a consultant may not receive necessary information. The good general practitioner tells you a lot about the patient and his or her history, medications, and investigations, and also stops one consultant passing the patient on to another consultant ad infinitum. The General Medical Council should look on this matter as one of ethics.


. Hospitals are facing a wide variety of challenges in terms of quality and efficiency of healthcare. Internet of Things (IoT) is a technology used by organ-isations to increase efficiency and quality by recording measurements for historic analysis. The data thus produced can then go on to inform future decisions and predictions. Unfortunately, the benefits provided for by a successful IoT adoption are currently out of reach for many hospitals. The lack of a maturity model for IoT adoption in hospitals aggravates this situation. The goal of defining and applying such a model is to assist hospitals in reaching a higher level of IoT maturity and thereby improving the quality of services delivered. This paper develops an IoT maturity model that is tailored to the healthcare industry with an emphasis on Belgian hospitals. The developed maturity model is grounded in scientific literature and industry expert opinions. Experts found the maturity model to be relevant, clear, and helpful for the hospitals' road to IoT adoption.


Researchers have argued that an effort should be made to raise teachers' and parents' awareness of the potentially positive educational benefits of playing video games (e.g., see Baek, 2008). One part of this effort should be to increase understanding of how video games can be situated within teachers' existing goals and knowledge of learning and instruction. However, relatively little research on game-based learning addresses teachers (Ketelhut & Schifter, 2011), and for many a gap remains between the apparent enthusiasm of researchers and policy makers relative to the potential of educational games and the attendant practicalities of selecting and implementing video games in classroom settings. This article begins to bridge this gap by providing research-based areas of awareness and a discussion of factors that can facilitate understanding related to choosing and using video games. To this end, we show how educational games can be conceptualized from different theoretical perspectives on learning and discuss a number of essential design issues that educators should take into account when considering a video game for educational use.


Purpose

This pilot aims to study a way of integrating research and writing support into a university course along with content. Research and writing skills are not taught explicitly in most university courses, yet these skills are increasingly required both in and outside of the classroom.

Design/methodology/approach

An embedded, collaborative instructional team comprising the instructor, librarians and writing specialists re-designed a first-year inquiry-based learning course, incorporating research and writing instruction throughout, formative and summative assessments and a flipped classroom model. At the end of the course, each member of the team reflected on their collaborative and individual experiences. The team also surveyed students to gauge their perceptions of the research and writing sessions.

Findings

The team learned from this experience and noted a large, but rewarding, time commitment. The flipped classroom model allowed the tailoring of instruction to students' needs but required more work by librarians to prepare content and to grade. Students indicated appreciation for repeated interactions with librarians and reported confidence to use the skills taught.

Originality/value

Embedding librarians throughout the course with a writing specialist, as well as involvement in grading, is novel – this may be the first example in the literature of "deep integration". The concept of "embedded librarianship" can be enhanced by expanding librarian and other support roles in a course.


We used a thermal model of an iron core to calculate magnetodynamo evolution in Earth‐mass rocky planets to determine the sensitivity of dynamo lifetime and intensity to planets with different mantle tectonic regimes, surface temperatures, and core properties. The heat flow at the core‐mantle boundary (CMB) is derived from numerical models of mantle convection with a viscous/pseudoplastic rheology that captures the phenomenology of plate‐like tectonics. Our thermal evolution models predict a long‐lived (~8 Gyr) field for Earth and similar dynamo evolution for Earth‐mass exoplanets with plate tectonics. Both elevated surface temperature and pressure‐dependent mantle viscosity reduce the CMB heat flow but produce only slightly longer‐lived dynamos (~8–9.5 Gyr). Single‐plate ("stagnant lid") planets with relatively low CMB heat flow produce long‐lived (~10.5 Gyr) dynamos. These weaker dynamos can cease for several billions of years and subsequently reactivate due to the additional entropy production associated with inner core growth, a possible explanation for the absence of a magnetic field on present‐day Venus. We also show that dynamo operation is sensitive to the initial temperature, size, and solidus of a planet's core. These dependencies would severely challenge any attempt to distinguish exoplanets with plate tectonics and stagnant lids based on the presence or absence of a magnetic field.


To aid in the rapid diagnosis of staphylococcal infection, a solid-phase radioimmunoassay for Staphylococcus aureus antigen was developed and evaluated in rabbits with staphylococcal endocarditis. Test specimens containing antigen were added to polystyrene tubes coated with antibody to S. aureus. Antigens immobilized on the tube were detected by adding radiolabeled antibody to S. aureus. Sensitivity for antigen was 0.312 microgram/ml in buffer and 1.25 microgram/ml in 50% rabbit serum. Cross-reactions were not observed with antigens extracted from streptococci; however, antigen extracted from Staphylococcus epidermidis (which contained ribitol-teichoic acid) could also be detected at low concentrations. Antigen was detected in each of 12 rabbits with S. aureus endocarditis but not in control rabbits. This assay is sensitive, specific, reproducible, and capable of detecting antigens in the serum of rabbits with endocarditis.