60-GHz wireless communication system will become the world's first massively wireless broadband millimetre wave propagation system. The data rates and bandwidth provided by this band are excellent. If we add all bandwidths currently used by all wireless communication systems then it will represents only a small percentage of total bandwidth available on this 60 GHz band. Therefore it can be a good solution for future 5G technology for mobile communication. But this band will face some design challenges which makes this band difficult to implement in consumer market. In this paper, we have presented literature review of papers which have shown different design challenges faced by 60 GHz band. Some major design challenges of 60 GHz band are high path loss, rapid variations in the channel, high power requirements, and shadowing. Some path loss models are also given here for calculating path loss for both LOS and NLOS cases.


The phenomenon of 'international technology transfer' or ITT projects has emerged as an important business and managerial concern for many developing countries. ITT in construction is seen as an effective mechanism to advance the flow of technological development by acquiring newer technology from abroad in response to a changing economic environment. The concept of ITT in construction organisations could occur simultaneously, involving the flow of imported technology (i.e., knowledge, skills and tools) via construction projects. Thus, the aim of this research is to develop a framework to enhance implementation of International Technology Transfer (ITT) in Malaysian construction projects. Empirical research undertaken by means of Initial Survey among two academicians and three practitioners involved in technology transfer research and projects, followed by Case Studies (by means of semi-structured interviews) among the six (6) Malaysian International Companies with experience in ITT projects. The response rate was 48.6% (35 out of 72 respondents) within a-year period. The results were analysed by means of content analysis techniques using NVivo software version 8. The findings from the research were then used to develop a conceptual framework for ITT and development of technological capabilities in Malaysian construction industry. The Framework was validated using a validation questionnaire survey. The research showed that the five major factors (or components) that influence the process of international technology transfer (ITT). There are: types of technology (i.e., knowledge, skills and tools); the organisations (i.e., public and private sectors); the level of absorptive capacity; the level of technological capabilities, and benefits and barriers of ITT projects. The results of the research could provide an insight into the Malaysian construction project development and will hopefully provide valuable guidelines, especially to public or private sectors in Malaysia that are looking forward to global construction market.


Interstitial collagenase (EC 220.127.116.11, matrix metalloproteinase-1, MMP-1) is synthesized and secreted by many cells, and plays an important role in a wide variety of pathophysiological degradation processes of extracellular matrices. The activity of MMP-1 is regulated by tissue inhibitors of metalloproteinases, TIMP-1 or TIMP-2, which form a non-covalent complex with the active enzyme. We raised monoclonal antibodies against zymogen of MMP-1, proMMP-1 purified from human skin fibroblasts. The antibodies recognized both precursor and active forms of MMP-1, but did not cross-react with 72-kDa and 92-kDa gelatinase/type IV collagenases or stromelysin-1. A specific and sensitive one-step sandwich enzyme immunoassay for human MMP-1 was developed using a solid phase monoclonal antibody and a horseradish peroxidase-labeled monoclonal antibody (Fab'). The assay can be completed within 1 h (30 min for immunoreaction and 15 min for color development) and the sensitivity is 0.12 microgram/l with the linearity between 0.12 and 10 micrograms/l. Active MMP-1 shows 1.3-fold higher absorption at 492 nm than proMMP-1. However, the recognition rate of MMP-1 is decreased to approximately 50% and < 3% for the MMP-1-TIMP-1 and MMP-1-TIMP-2 complex forms, respectively. The MMP-1 levels in human sera from 120 healthy subjects are shown to be in the range of 8.5 +/- 5.2 micrograms/l (mean +/- S.D.) and the levels of 95% of the samples range from 0 to 20 micrograms/l.


The microsound synthesis framework in the LC computer music programing language integrates objects and library functions that can directly represent microsounds and related manipulations for microsound synthesis. Together with the mechanism that enables seamless collaboration with the unit-generator-based sound synthesis framework, such abstraction can help provide a simpler and terser programing model for various microsound synthesis techniques. However, while the microsound synthesis framework can achieve practical real-time sound synthesis performance in general, it was observed that temporal suspension in sound synthesis can occur, when a very large microsound object beyond microsound time-scale is manipulated, missing the deadline for real-time sound synthesis. In this paper, we describe our solution to this problem. By lazily evaluating microsound objects, computation is delayed until when the samples are actually needed (e.g., for the DAC output), and, when performing the computation, only the amount of samples required at the point is computed; thus, temporal suspension in real-time sound synthesis can be avoided by distributing the computational cost among the DSP cycles. Such a solution is beneficial to extend the application domains of the sound synthesis framework design beyond microsound synthesis towards more general sound synthesis techniques.


This handbook was produced by TDR together with WHO's Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTD) Department and WHO regional offices in the context of a European Union-financed research programme, the International Research Consortium on Dengue Risk Assessment, Management and Surveillance (IDAMS), to develop an evidence-based handbook for the early outbreak detec-tion and management of dengue fever outbreaks. The handbook targets public health providers, in particular those at national level. It is not an implementation guideline, but a framework for developing a national contingency plan with local adaptations that acknowledge micro-level pro-gramme components. Response planning requires contextual details encompassing the structure of the health and vector control services, the availability of infrastructure and budget, and human resources, and the willingness of staff to cooperate, among others.

The aim of this "model contingency plan" is to assist programme managers and planners in devel-oping a national, context-specific, dengue outbreak response plan in order to: (a) detect a dengue outbreak at an early stage through clearly defined and validated alarm signals; (b) precisely define when a dengue outbreak has started; and (c) organize an early response to the alarm signals or an "emergency response" once an outbreak has started.

A summary of this document, "Dengue Contingency Planning: From Research to Policy and Practice" (PNTD-D-16-00407R1) has also been published in PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases.


The electrical resistivity of concrete is an important value for designing electrochemical anti-corrosive methods or a durability indicator of reinforced concrete structures. It is well known that the four-probe method (the Wenner method) can be useful one for non-destructive evaluation of electrical resistivity. However, it has been pointed out that the measured results must be identified as an apparent value including the effect of water content gradient in concrete. In order to consider the engineering property of apparent electrical resistivity, this study evaluated the water content gradient dependency of the measured results by experimental approach and numerical analysis with FEM. As a result, this study explained the mechanism about the probe spacing dependency of apparent electrical resistivity of concrete with water content gradient in depth direction. Moreover, it was pointed out that the apparent electrical resistivity of concrete with water content gradient was correlated with the electrical resistivity at a depth about equal to the probe spacing, and measuring apparent electrical resistivity does not necessarily mean that the four probe method can evaluate the electrical resistivity of the immediate surface of concrete in dry conditions. In addition to this, it was recommended to compare the apparent electrical resistivities measured by several distance of the probe spacing in order to clarify the presence or absence of the effect of the water content gradient in concrete.


Flexible memory devices represent an emerging technological goal for information storage and data processing in portable, wearable, and smart electronics that work in curved conditions. This work presents a direct and cost‐effective fabrication of a bendable PbZr0.52Ti0.48O3 (PZT) ferroelectric memory element with a Pt bottom electrode layer and Au top electrodes on a flexible mica substrate. The polycrystalline PZT film with morphotropic phase boundary composition shows excellent electrical properties, reflected by superior ferroelectricity with a large remanent polarization (Pr ≈ 30 μC cm−2), good frequency stability (1–50 kHz), broad working temperature (25–200 °C), and excellent fatigue resistance (up to 109). Most importantly, with the assistance of the flexible mica substrate and the individual bendability of each film layer, the all‐inorganic PZT ferroelectric film capacitor can be safely bent to a small bending radius of 2 mm with a bending strain of less than 0.3%, undergo repeated bending–releasing cycles for 103 times where no obvious deterioration occurs in polarization, and show data retention of 105 s, and fatigue resistance at 109 switching cycles. This work is anticipated to advance the application potential of high‐performance flexible ferroelectric memories in next‐generation wearable electronic devices.


In the 1820s and 1830s, British industry faced a choice between two energy sources to fuel its expansion: water and coal. A series of water reservoir schemes were proposed to scale up the power capacity of rivers in the central manufacturing districts, but the schemes with the largest potentials were never realized. Instead, the industry veered toward steam power, fatefully linking self-sustaining growth to the combustion of coal for mechanical energy. This article presents the first inquiry into the fate of the reservoir schemes. It describes the work of Robert Thom, leading Scottish engineer, champion of water, and critic of steam, and traces the fate of several plans in Lancashire. It demonstrates that water, contrary to the dominant narrative of coal in the Industrial Revolution, was consistently the cheaper alternative. The reservoir schemes had the drawback of obliging manufacturers to coordinate their energy consumption, submit to planning, and contribute to collective funding of construction work. In an environment of free competition, this ultimately proved unfeasible. This raises questions on the perception of the role of energy in the Industrial Revolution, as well as of the prerequisites for a future transition to renewable energy sources.


This study presents recent findings on home-ownership in the 1990s. It examines economic and social issues central to the housing market and provides an analysis of "winners" and "losers": those who gained financially and those who became victims of negative equity. Covering the postwar period the authors trace developments in the housing market in relation to class, race, gender and income with special reference to the growth and evolution of home-ownership since the Second World War; the sale of council houses; the role of government in encouraging home- ownership; and changes in bank and building society lending in the 1970s and 1980s and the consequences. This accessible volume should appeal to undergraduates of urban planning, human geography, social policy and applied economics but should also be of interest and value to policy makers.


OBJECTIVES
To determine the effectiveness of nitric oxide agents in modifying the metabolic factors of pre-eclampsia and its effectiveness in preventing the onset of pre-eclampsia in high-risk pregnancies.

INTRODUCTION
Pre-eclampsia is a major cause of maternal death during the prenatal and neonatal periods. Nitric oxide is a vasodilator and platelet aggregation inhibitor responsible for the vascular adaptation of the placenta. Although various studies have established that nitric oxide is effective in preventing complications from pre-eclampsia, there is limited evidence to show that administering nitric oxide agents to the high-risk women before 20 weeks' gestation will prevent the onset of pre-eclampsia.

INCLUSION CRITERIA
This review will consider randomized controlled trials that compare nitric oxide donors and precursors with a placebo or no intervention on pregnant women (18 to 44 years) with ≤ 20-week gestational age that are at high risk of pre-eclampsia. The primary outcome of interest will be the onset of pre-eclampsia. Secondary outcomes include increased systolic and diastolic blood pressure, elevated asymmetric dimethylarginine levels, decreased endothelial nitric oxide synthase activity, reduced maternal placental vasculature, and abnormal Doppler ultrasound waveforms.

METHODS
Data sources will be drawn up from MEDLINE, CINAHL, ProQuest (Health and Medicine) and Web of Science from inception till current date. No language restrictions will be applied in the search strategy. Selected studies will be assessed against the JBI critical appraisal checklist, and the certainty of evidence and strength of recommendations from findings will also be ascertained.

SYSTEMATIC REVIEW REGISTRATION NUMBER
CRD42018099298.


This study of the Labour Movement in Nottingham 1880-1918 sets out to examine the development in size, self confidence and influence of the working class institutions built by the men and women workers of Nottingham in a period when Socialism in all its variegated forms was becoming the established philosophy of the British working class. Attention is given to the manner in which the Nottingham workers responded to the specific threats and challenges of the period. The main concern of the thesis, however, is to try to understand how it was that although in 1873 the vangard of the local labour movement could earn for Nottingham the description of "advanced" or ''banner town", its developed mass movement was in 1918 being described as "the despair of labour politicians". Part of the explanation for this seeming paradox, it is suggested lies in demographic factors which, up until the First World War, gave'control of the Trades Council to an alliance ot aristocratic lace workers and newly urbanised colliers who tor many years were politically dominated by Liberal coal owners. It is also argued that political "accidents" of personality and geographical factors which ensured that Parliamentary "two member" alliances could not be struck with the Liberals need to be taken into consideration. Less certainly, the geological conditions of the Nottinghamshire coalfield which may have dampened the militancy of the mining community are pointed to as a possible retarding factor. Similarly, it is argued that the appeal of protectionism for some lace workers, and the a-political or anti-political attitudes of the exceptionally large female proletariat were together with the attitudes of the casual poor important special elements in the Nottingham situation which helped to explain its relative backwardness.


ABSTRACT COVID-19 has led to dramatic changes in the way teachers teach and students engage in higher education (HE). To cater for social distancing and learners' diverse needs, including being in different geographical locations from their HE instruction, different modes of teaching and learning have been adopted. One such mode is HyFlex. HyFlex sees teachers teaching students at the same time in a physical classroom and synchronously online through video-conferencing software. This small-scale exploratory study considers the experiences and perceptions of nine post-graduate students who attended a six-week course delivered through HyFlex. Findings suggest that while there were communication challenges between students who attended through different modes, participants did appreciate the flexibility it afforded. The utilisation of various features of the video-conferencing software and other digital tools were seen as essential to the effectiveness of HyFlex.


From the last few decades the construction of tall stacks increases due to increase in air pollution. Here in this paper, the "Self supporting steel chimney" of height 60m was considered and analysed for the prevailing wind forces and seismic forces considering chimney in four different earthquake zones and bending moments, shear forces were calculated using IS 6533 (part1&2):1989 and were also plotted. Also the chimney was modelled using STAAD PRO Vi8 software. And in the next part, is to justify the code criteria with regard to basic dimensions of industrial steel chimney. A total of 66 numbers self supporting steel flared unlined chimneys with different top-to-base diameter ratio and height-to-base diameter ratio were considered for this study. The thickness of the chimney was kept constant for all the cases. Maximum bending moments and stresses for all the chimneys were calculated for wind load using MSExcel sheets and were plotted as a function of top-to-base diameter ratio and height-to-base diameter ratio.


The redistributive effect of the Portuguese welfare state through pensions, benefits and income taxes is investigated in detail over the 20062010 period using disposable income as benchmark. All social and fiscal policy instruments analysed contribute significantly to the reduction in inequality and poverty, with benefits other than pensions being the most cost-efficient. However, the impact of the economic crisis and austerity policies implemented from 2010 has reversed the previous trends and affected negatively the efficacy and efficiency of all instruments.


Objectives Falls from standing are an important cause of vertebral fractures, particularly in the elderly. They are associated with significant morbidity and long-term mortality. The aim of this study was to determine the treatment and outcomes, in a single centre, of managing spinal fractures due to falls from standing height. Design Retrospective case note review of patients with a fracture sustained due to a fall from standing (2011–2016 inclusive). Subjects 229 patients with average age 76.6±14.5 years; 134 (58.5%) female. Methods Patients were identified from the Trauma Audit and Research Network database. Case notes were reviewed for demographics, treatment details and outcome at 6 months post-admission. Results 1408 patients were admitted with spinal fractures of which 229 (16.3%) sustained a fall from standing height. Two hundred and eighty-three fractures were identified in the 229 patients, which were distributed in the cervical (n=140), thoracic (n=65) and lumbar (n=78) spine. The average ISS score was 9.7±5.4. Twenty-three (10.0%) patients had either incomplete or complete spinal cord injury. Fifty-six (24.5%) patients underwent surgical intervention. Forty-three patients (18.7%) died within 6 months and increasing age and Charlson co-morbidity score were associated with higher mortality. Conclusions Falls from standing comprise a large portion of the spinal service emergency workload. They are associated with a high 6 month mortality similar to other fragility fractures experienced by the elderly.


We present an experimental comparison of several Sc-based short period multilayer mirrors including Cr/Sc with B4C barrier layers and CrNx/Sc, and we propose a new material combination that provides high reflectance in the water window domain. Multilayer samples with period thickness in the range 1.5-1.7 nm have been deposited by magnetron sputtering and characterized by x-ray reflectometry with a Cu-Kα source and with synchrotron radiation near the Sc-L2,3 edge. Best results are achieved by combining the nitridation of Cr layers and the addition of B4C barrier layers. Near normal incidence reflectance as high as 23% has been measured at photon energy of 397 eV. A simulation model of the multilayer structure is proposed and it predicts that reflectance higher than 32% is achievable with CrNx/B4C/Sc mirrors.


Created by Jacques Bertin in 1953, this projection was the go-to choice of the French cartographic school when they wished to represent phenomena on a global scale. We present a formula to reproduce and automate it by computer code. research & development: Philippe Riviere If you are looking for a base map for your projects, do not download this image: go instead to our dedicated page. The 1953 Bertin projection was originally presented in the form of a drawing which came with the (...)


In a recent paper, Lang et al. proposed that edge states and topological phases can be observed in one-dimensional optical superlattices. They showed that the topological phases can be revealed by observing the density profile of a trapped fermion system, which displays plateaus with their positions. However, disorders are not considered in their model. To study the effect of disorders on the topological phases, we introduce random potentials to the model for optical superlattcies. Our calculations show that edge states are robust against the disorders. We find the edge states are very sensitive to the number of the sites in the optical superlattice and we propose a simple rule to describe the relationship between the edge states and the number of sites. The density plateaus are also robust against weak disorders provided that the average density is calculated over a long interval. The widths of the plateaus are proportional to the widths of the bulk energy gaps when there are disorders. The disorders can diminish the bulk energy gaps. So the widths of the plateaus decrease with the increase of disorders and the density plateaus disappear when disorders are too strong. The results in our paper can be used to guide the experimental detection of topological phases in one-dimensional systems.


Abstract Background Human rhinovirus (HRV) is the most common cause of the common cold but may also lead to more severe respiratory illness in vulnerable populations. The epidemiology and genetic diversity of HRV within a school setting have not been previously described. The objective of this study was to characterize HRV molecular epidemiology in a primary school in a rural location of Kenya. Methods Between May 2017 and April 2018, over 3 school terms, we collected 1859 nasopharyngeal swabs (NPS) from pupils and teachers with symptoms of acute respiratory infection in a public primary school in Kilifi County, coastal Kenya. The samples were tested for HRV using real-time reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction. HRV-positive samples were sequenced in the VP4/VP2 coding region for species and genotype classification. Results A total of 307 NPS (16.4%) from 164 individuals were HRV positive, and 253 (82.4%) were successfully sequenced. The proportion of HRV in the lower primary classes was higher (19.8%) than upper primary classes (12.2%; P < .001). HRV-A was the most common species (134/253; 53.0%), followed by HRV-C (73/253; 28.9%) and HRV-B (46/253; 18.2%). Phylogenetic analysis identified 47 HRV genotypes. The most common genotypes were A2 and B70. Numerous (up to 22 in 1 school term) genotypes circulated simultaneously, there was no individual re-infection with the same genotype, and no genotype was detected in all 3 school terms. Conclusions HRV was frequently detected among school-going children with mild acute respiratory illness symptoms, particularly in the younger age groups (<5-year-olds). Multiple HRV introductions were observed that were characterized by considerable genotype diversity.


Objectives: The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of using different diameters of parallel cast posts with, or without ferrule, on the overall fracture resistance of Cast Post and Core (CPC).Material and methods: Forty (40) endodontically treated human maxillary central incisors were divided into four groups (n=10): [F1] 1.0 mm diameter post with ferrule; [NF1] 1.0 mm diameter cast post without ferrule; [F1.5] 1.5 mm diameter cast post with ferrule; [NF1.5] 1.5 mm diameter post without ferrule. For all teeth, the post space (9.0 mm, in depth) was prepared using ParaPostTM drill. CPC using base metal alloy were fabricated and were cemented using resin modified glass ionomer (RMGI) cement along with the PFM crowns. A universal testing machine (Instron) was used to apply horizontal force perpendicular to the long axis of the tooth at the center of lingual surface, until catastrophic failure. Data was submitted to two-way ANOVA and Scheffé tests (P<0.05).Results: Both post diameter and ferrule statistically affected the maximum load at fracture (P=0.004 and P=0.013, respectively). The highest mean values were observed for samples with ferrule and wider post size (490N), while the lowest were observed for samples without ferrule and narrower post size (254N). There was no relationship between the presence of a ferrule and post size (P=0.937).Conclusions: For endodontically treated teeth with no ferrule, a wider-diameter cast post increases fracture resistance of a CPC and PFM crown procedure.


This report is the result of a ten-day general conceptualisation research trip in May 2003 into an Indigenous community to study the Djelk Ranger program operating under the Bawinanga Aboriginal Corporation (BAC). During this visit I spent time with several different groups of Rangers and visited several sustainable wildlife harvesting sites which are described here. The Djelk Ranger program established by the BAC is built on the extensive knowledge and skills that already exist within this Indigenous community. The success of the ventures mentioned in this report is built on a unique blend of formal legal institutional mechanisms and customary law and socio-cultural conventions. Cooperative community-based wildlife resource management and aquaculture has the potential to deliver sustainable and cost effective development benefi ts for Indigenous landowners. Greater recognition of the valuable land management and biodiversity conservation roles undertaken by Indigenous people in these circumstances would seem appropriate, and it would be desirable for these roles to be refl ected in more formal and sustained income arrangements than the current CDEP project funding. The opportunities for economic development in Indigenous communities, and some of the challenges that these communities face are demonstrated in the Djelk Ranger program initiative. The BAC is an impressive institution for its commitment to learning, communication, cultural integration, and economic development. There is clearly a need for such adaptive and fl exible institutions to provide a bridge between cultures and protect the interests of remote Indigenous communities.


Objective To describe the clinical course and prognosis of ocular syphilis in patients infected with HIV-1 in the antiretroviral therapy (ART) era. Methods We conducted a single-centre retrospective chart review of ocular syphilis in patients infected with HIV-1 diagnosed between August 1997 and July 2015. The prognosis of best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA) was analysed. Results The study subjects were 30 eyes of 20 men who had sex with men (MSM) (median age, 41). Loss of vision and posterior uveitis were the most common ocular clinical features (43%) and location of inflammation at presentation (50%), respectively. The median baseline BCVA was 0.4 (IQR 0.2–1.2), including three eyes with hand motion. BCVA≤0.4 at diagnosis was significantly associated with posterior uveitis or panuveitis (p=0.044). Seventy-five per cent were treated with intravenous benzylpenicillin and 53% were diagnosed with neurosyphilis. After treatment (median follow-up: 21 months), BCVA improved in 89% of the eyes, including all eyes with hand motion, to a median BCVA of 1.2 (IQR 0.8–1.2). Kaplan–Meier analysis showed that >28 days of ocular symptoms before diagnosis was the only factor associated with poor prognosis of BCVA. Three patients (15%) developed recurrence after treatment. Conclusions The prognosis of BCVA in HIV-infected patients with ocular syphilis in the ART era was favourable after proper treatment. Having >28 days of ocular symptoms before diagnosis was associated with poor prognosis. Changes in visual acuity in HIV-infected MSM should prompt an immediate assessment for ocular syphilis as delays in diagnosis and therapy can lead to irreversible visual loss.


The heat of formation values of all possible nitro derivatives of pyridine have been calculated by the application of various density functional theory (DFT) methods by a proper isodesmic reaction. The heat of formation data trends in series are found to be independent of the selected DFT method, although some differences have been observed in value. Total energies and nucleus-independent chemical shift (NICS(0)) values have also been calculated in order to jugde the aromatic stabilities for the nitropyridine derivatives. Moreover, a novel topological (Türker-Gümüş, TG) index has been defined for modeling the detonation properties of the explosives.


We propose a deformation of = 4 SYM theory induced by nonanticommutative star product. The deformation introduces new bosonic terms which we identify with the corresponding Myers terms of a stack of D3-branes in the presence of a five-form RR flux. We take this as an indication that the deformed lagrangian describes D3-branes in such a background. The vacuum states of the theory are also examined. In a specific case where the U(1) part of the gauge field is nonvanishing the (anti)holomorphic transverse coordinates of the brane sit on a fuzzy two-sphere. For a supersymmetric vacuum the antiholomorphic coordinates must necessarily commute. However, we also encounter non-supersymmetric vacua for which the antiholomorphic coordinates do not commute.


The efficiency of retroviral-mediated gene transfer into hematopoietic stem cells (HSC) is dependent on the survival and self-renewal of HSC in vitro during retroviral infection. We have examined the effect of prestimulation of bone marrow with various cytokines, including the product of the Steel gene, Steel factor or stem cell factor (SCF) (the ligand for the c-kit receptor) on the efficiency of retroviral transduction of the human adenosine deaminase (hADA) cDNA into murine HSC. Bone marrow cells were prestimulated for 48 hours with hematopoietic growth factors, then cocultivated with the packaging cell line producing the ZipPGK-ADA simplified retrovirus for an additional 48 hours with continued growth factor exposure. Nonadherant cells from these cocultures were injected into lethally irradiated recipients. The content of day 12 colony-forming unit-spleen (CFU-S12) in SCF/interleukin 6 (IL-6)-prestimulated and cocultured bone marrow was more than threefold greater than that of IL-3/IL-6-prestimulated bone marrow cells. All mice receiving bone marrow cells infected with the PGK-ADA virus after prestimulation with IL-3/IL-6 or SCF/IL-6 demonstrated hADA expression in the peripheral blood after full hematopoietic reconstitution. While all recipients of IL-3/IL-6-prestimulated bone marrow expressed hADA at 4 months posttransplant, in three independent experiments examining a total of 33 mice, in most recipients of SCF/IL-6-prestimulated and infected bone marrow cells, the expression of human enzyme was higher than IL-3/IL-6 mice. Southern blot analysis of DNA from hematopoietic tissues from these same mice prepared at least 4 months posttransplantation also demonstrated a higher infection efficiency of HSC as measured by proviral integration patterns and genome copy number analysis. These results suggest that the higher level of hADA expression seen in mice receiving marrow prestimulated with SCF/IL-6 before retroviral infection is due to more efficient infection of reconstituting HSC. Other growth factor combinations were also studied; however, prestimulation with SCF/IL-6 or IL-3/IL-6 appeared optimal. Using retroviral-mediated gene transfer and viral integration patterns, Steel factor (SCF) in combination with IL-6 appears to increase the survival and self-renewal of reconstituting hematopoietic stem cells and proves useful in effecting expression of foreign genes in transplant recipients. Such pretreatment may also be useful in the application of retroviral transfer methods to human cells.


Bonded structures are frequently adopted in structural connections and are highly prone to degradation or decrease of interfacial strength due to adhesive aging, poor quality of surface preparation, as well as the exposure to harsh environment and external loading. This study addresses the establishment of a framework in which a modally selective ultrasonic guided wave is used for disbond identification and sizing. In this framework, the propagating and evanescent modes of ultrasonic guided waves are first obtained, followed by the excitability analysis for each ultrasonic guided wave propagating mode, providing a theoretical basis for effective wave excitation in the experiment. Then the interaction of ultrasonic guided wave with disbond is interrogated analytically using a method combining semi-analytical finite element and normal mode expansion, whereby wave transmission, wave reflection, and mode conversion can be calculated quantitatively. Taking all these aspects into account, mode 11 at around 3.85 MHz features a high propagation velocity, large mode excitability, and increasing amplitude drop with the enlargement of disbond size, and is thus selected for disbond detection. Both numerical and experimental validations are performed, in which disbonds of different lengths from 10 to 40 mm are examined, and the results well corroborate the effectiveness of the proposed framework for ultrasonic guided wave–based disbond detection.


Succession dynamics in natural communities can be influenced both by interactions among recruiting species and by characteristics of the gaps created by disturbances such as the perimeter:area (P:A) ratio. We carried out experiments on 2 subtropical shores in SE Brazil to investi- gate the influence of gap size (P:A ratio and area variable) and shape (P:A ratio constant and area variable) on the succession of mussel beds dominated by Brachidontes solisianus and B. darwinianus. Small gaps harbored more herbivorous gastropods (mainly the limpet Collisella subrugosa) and were more rapidly preempted by lateral migration of the surrounding mussels than larger gaps. The larger gaps had higher densities of the barnacle Chthamalus bisinuatus and sheltered more limpets in the edges, while the core areas had more Brachidontes recruits. Gaps with different areas but constant P:A ratios had similar succession trends. Although the processes that influence gap closure in other mussel bed species are similar to the studied one, the closure rate in Brachidontes was lower, possibly due to bed structure. However, there were differences between both mussel species, with a faster response to gap formation by B. darwinianus in comparison to B. solisianus, suggesting that distur- bances can influence the distribution of these species. The relative influence of edge effects on suc- cession processes may differ among communities dominated by different organisms, and generaliza- tions are possibly restricted to communities composed of functionally similar species.


Core/shell type nanoparticles with an average diameter of 20nm were synthesized by chemical precipitation method. Firstly, Monodisperse Fe3O4 nanoparticles were synthesized by solvethermal method. FeSO4ž7H2O and NaBH4 were respectively dissolved in distilled water, then moderated Fe3O4 particles and surfactant(PVP) were ultrasonic dispersed into the FeSO4ž7H2O solution. The resulting solution was stirred 2 h at room temperature. Fe could be deposited on the surface of monodispersed Fe3O4 nanoparticles to form core-shell particles. The particles were characterized by using various experimental techniques, such as transmission electron microscopy (TEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), AGM and DTA. The results suggest that the saturation magnetization of the nanocomposites is 100 emu/g. The composition of the samples show monodisperse and the sides of the core/shell nanoparticles are 20-30nm. It is noted that the formation of Fe3O4/Fe nanocomposites magnetite nanoparticles possess superparamagnetic property.


At present (in 1999) there are approximately 1.5 million semi-domesticated and 1.3 million wild reindeer in Russia. The co-existence of these two forms remains a major problem. Reindeer herding has declined while the number of wild reindeer has increased during the last 10 years. The main causes of these changes are social and economic. The 1960s and 1970s were characterised by a deliberate attempt to eradicate the nomadic way of life of reindeer herders. It was relatively easy to introduce public (kolkhoz or sovkhoz) reindeer herding in the Nenets, Chukchi and Komi-Izhem areas where large-scale reindeer herding was typical and, as a result, there were almost 1 million reindeer in collectives in the extreme north-eastern part of the USSR. At the same time reindeer herding deteriorated among the Khanty, Mansi, Evenk, Even, Selkup peoples. Perestroika in the 1990s resulted in the formation of a market economy. Collective reindeer herding declined and the number of semi-domesticated reindeer decreased during a period of gradual return to private ownership of reindeer. The largest region of reindeer herding is now the Nenets tegion in the north-west of Russia. Successful sympatric existence of wild and semi-domesticated reindeer is not possible. The Taimyr wild reindeer population numbers about 500-600 000 reindeer. From 1971 to 1981 not less than 700 000 reindeer in this population were shot. Ecological and economic control over them has now been lost. There are approximately 200 000 animals in Yakutia. The number of wild reindeer here has grown following the decline of reindeer husbandry. Yakut and Even reindeer herders believe that the decline has been due to wild reindeer drawing semi-domesticated teindeer away. At present 13 aboriginal peoples in northern Russia engage in reindeer herding. Five former reindeer herding peoples have given up herding but thete are signs of improvement in the situation among those peoples which have retained reindeer herding culture following the gradual restoration of private ownership of reindeer. In the 20 regions where only a few wild reindeer remain hunting should be prohibited and measures should be taken for protecting and restoring the populations. There are approximately 6000 reindeer on Novaya Zemlya; a further 6000 animals live on the Novosibirsk islands. The Red Data Book of Russia should include rare and disappearing populations both on the periphery of the species' distribution and inside it to preserve and restore the species and to conserve its genetic diversity.


The ability of inhibitory synaptic inputs to dampen the excitability of motoneurons is augmented when persistent inward currents (PICs) are activated. This amplification could be due to an increase in the driving potential of inhibitory synapses or the deactivation of the channels underlying PICs. Our goal was to determine which mechanism leads to the amplification of inhibitory inputs by PICs. To reach this goal, we measured inhibitory postsynaptic currents (IPSCs) in decerebrate cats during somatic voltage-clamp steps. These IPSCs were generated by tonic activation of Renshaw cells. The IPSCs exhibited a rapid rise and a slower decay to a plateau level. Activation of PICs always led to an increase in the peak of the IPSC, but the amount of decay after the peak of the IPSC was inversely related to the size of the IPSC. These results were replicated in simulations based on compartmental models of motoneurons incorporating distributions of Renshaw cell synapses based on anatomical observations, and L-type calcium channels distributed as 100-microm-long hot spots centered 100 to 400 microm away from the soma. For smaller IPSCs, amplification by PICs was due to an increase in the driving force of the inhibitory synaptic current. For larger IPSCs, amplification was caused by deactivation of the channels underlying PICs leading to a lesser decay of the IPSCs. As a result of this change in the time course of the IPSC, deactivation of the channels underlying PICs leads to a greater amplification of the total inhibitory synaptic current.


The paper presents a novel two-layer learning method for radial basis function (RBF) networks. At the lower layer, a regularised orthogonal least squares (ROLS) algorithm is employed to construct RBF networks while the two key learning parameters, the regularisation parameter and hidden node's width, needed by the ROLS algorithm are optimized using the genetic algorithm at the higher layer. Networks constructed by this learning method have superior generalisation properties, and the computational complexity of the method is reasonable. Nonlinear time series modelling and prediction is used as an example to demonstrate the effectiveness of this hierarchical learning approach.


: Multifactor analysis was used to make clinical and hemodynamic comparisons in 42 patients with borderline arterial hypertension, 27 with Stage I hypertension, 40 with Stage II hypertension, and 40 healthy persons. Central hemodynamic parameters at rest and during graded bicycle ergometer exercise were measured by the Defares carbon dioxide return respiration method modified by V. L. Karpman. As compared with patients with hyperkinetic circulation, those with hypokinetic one were older, had a longer history of arterial hypertension, obesity, more common left ventricular hypertrophy, higher baseline diastolic pressures and total peripheral vascular resistance, less increase in cardiac index and greater enhancement of total peripheral vascular resistance during submaximal exercise. There was a clear-cut correlation between the progression of arterial hypertension and increase in values of factors I (clinical and hemodynamic) and III (cardiotonic).


We present a simple and effective tool for performing interactive 3D object annotation for 3D object detection on LiDAR point clouds. Our annotation pipeline begins with a pre-labeling stage that infers 3D bounding boxes automatically by using a pre-trained deep neural network. While this stage can largely reduce manual effort for annotators, we found that pre-labeling is often imperfect, e.g., some bounding boxes are missing or inaccurate. In this paper, we propose to enhance the annotation pipeline with an interactive operator that allows users to generate a bounding box for a 3D object missed by the pre-trained model. This user interaction acts in the bird's eye view (BEV), i.e., top-down perspective, of the point cloud, where users can inspect the existing annotation and place additional boxes accordingly. Our interactive operator requires only a single click and the inference is done by an object detector network trained on the BEV space. Experimental results show that, compared with existing annotation tools, our method can boost up the annotation efficiency by conveniently adding missing bounding boxes with more accurate dimensions using only single clicks.


Technology safety represents a key enabling factor for the commercial use of hydrogen within the automotive industry. In the last years considerable pre-normative and normative research effort has produced regulations at national, European and global level, as well as international standards. Their validation is at the moment on going internationally. Additional research is required to improve this regulatory and standardization frame, which is also expected to have a beneficial effect on cost and product optimization. The present paper addresses results related to the experimental assessment and modeling of safety performance of high pressure onboard storage. To simulate the lifetime of onboard hydrogen tanks, commercial tanks have been subjected to filling-emptying cycles encompassing a fast-filling phase as prescribed by the European regulation on type-approval of hydrogen vehicles. The local temperature history inside the tanks has been measured and compared with the temperature outside at the tank metallic bosses, which is the measurement location identified by the regulation. Experimental activities are complemented by computational fluid-dynamics (CFD) modeling of the fastfilling process, by means of a numerical model previously validated. The outcome of these activities is a set of scientifically based data which will serve as input to future regulations and standards improvement. © 2012 Published by Elsevier Ltd. Selection and/or peer-review under responsibility of Canadian Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Association


T paper aims to extend the analytical tractability of the Black–Scholes model to alternative models with arbitrary jump size distributions. More precisely, we propose a jump diffusion model for asset prices whose jump sizes have a mixed-exponential distribution, which is a weighted average of exponential distributions but with possibly negative weights. The new model extends existing models, such as hyperexponential and double-exponential jump diffusion models, because the mixed-exponential distribution can approximate any distribution as closely as possible, including the normal distribution and various heavy-tailed distributions. The mixed-exponential jump diffusion model can lead to analytical solutions for Laplace transforms of prices and sensitivity parameters for path-dependent options such as lookback and barrier options. The Laplace transforms can be inverted via the Euler inversion algorithm. Numerical experiments indicate that the formulae are easy to implement and accurate. The analytical solutions are made possible mainly because we solve a high-order integro-differential equation explicitly. A calibration example for SPY options shows that the model can provide a reasonable fit even for options with very short maturity, such as one day.


Recent studies showed that hepatic insulin clearance is lower in African Americans (AA) than European Americans (EA). The aim of this work is to elucidate the possible genetic/epigenetic versus lifestyle causes. The frequently-sampled intravenous glucose tolerance test (FSIGT) was performed in 142 children [38 AA, 69 EA, 28 HA (Hispanic Americans), both sexes, age 7-13 years, mean BMI = 19 kg/m 2 , basal plasma glucose = 99 mg/dL, insulin = 78 pmol/L, C-peptide = 511 pmol/L]. Mathematical modeling provided hepatic (FE L ) and extra-hepatic (CL P ) insulin clearance values. Two-way analysis of covariance was done (groups: sex and ethnicity, covariates: age, Tanner stage and body fat from DXA). Data are mean (standard error). FE L was lower in AA than EA (18% (2%) vs. 31% (3%), p=0.001), but no difference was observed in HA. CL P was not different among ethnicities. Partial correlation was calculated between FE L , CL P and 1) diet composition (energy intake, % of calories from carbohydrate, fat, protein), 2) physical activity (PA: light, moderate, hard, very hard), 3) admixture scores (African, European, Amerindian). FE L was positively correlated with the European admixture score (r=0.3, p L was negatively associated with moderate PA in all the subjects (r=-0.2, p=0.01), and with hard PA in EA (r=-0.4, p P was positively correlated with moderate PA in AA (r=0.4, p=0.02). Concerning diet, FE L was only correlated with % of calories from fat in EA (r=0.3, p=0.01). Because of its negative association with the African admixture, but positive with the European one, the lower hepatic insulin clearance might be genetic in origin, possibly resulting in hyperinsulinemia and diabetes risk. Our data also suggest that detrimental effects of lower insulin clearance might be mitigated by lifestyle changes such as exercise: moderate PA in AA could lead to a normalization of insulinemia by increasing extra-hepatic insulin clearance. Disclosure F. Piccinini: None. B. Gower: None. J.R. Fernandez: None. R.N. Bergman: Consultant; Self; Zafgen, Inc. Funding National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (DK067426); Nutrition Obesity Research Center (DK56336); National Institutes of Health (M01RR00032)


Effective asset integrity management is supported through the understanding of the condition of the asset, and the quantification of the safety and uncertainty of its properties. Risk based and risk informed decision making can help operators prioritize inspections and repairs on mainline pipe, as well as within operator facilities. Setting operator system specific targets for reliability and risk can help operators better understand the condition of their system, and provide one means of determining whether integrity action or other risk treatment is required on a specific asset, either on the mainline pipe system or on a facility asset system.
 While mainline pipe condition is better understood through the use of inline inspection technology and non-destructive examination in the field, facility piping and storage condition is more difficult to understand due to the complexity and number of segments of assets within an operator's facility, as well as the unpiggable nature of the majority of facility piping.
 To help resolve this issue, a risk quantification can be done for each segmented asset within a facility. A relative ranking of asset risks can help prioritize facility integrity activities and drive the planning and execution optimization. However, simply looking at a relative ranking of asset risks may not be enough to maximize risk reduction and achieve safety and reliability targets.
 This paper looks to expand on the implementation of Risk Based Inspection (RBI) standard in API 581 and explore more broadly how facility asset risk results can be used in integrity planning and decision making. The paper also examines the application of using finance principals to better quantify risk and carry out a meaningful cost benefit analysis to optimize integrity programs.
 Interpreting a quantified risk dollar amount is an industry challenge, and shedding light onto the value of applying reliability and risk models beyond the safety of an operator's system can be extremely beneficial for operators to enhance cost efficiency. The quantification of risk helps support the optimization of spend and resource allocation to bring efficiencies into integrity management systems while maintaining focus on the right risk mitigation across an operator's system.


Apart from their archetypic use in anaerobic digestion (AD) methanogenic archaea are targeted for a wide range of applications. Using different methanogenic archaea for one specific application requires the optimization of culture media to enable the growth of different strains under identical environmental conditions, e.g., in microbial electrochemical technologies (MET) for (bio)electromethanation. Here we present a new culture medium (BFS01) adapted from the DSM-120 medium by omitting resazurin, yeast extract, casitone, and using a low salt concentration, that was optimized for Methanosarcina barkeri, Methanobacterium formicicum, and Methanothrix soehngenii. The aim was to provide a medium for follow-up co-culture studies using specific methanogens and Geobacter spp. dominated biofilm anodes. All three methanogens showed growth and activity in the BFS01 medium. This was demonstrated by estimating the specific growth rates ( μ ) and doubling times ( t d ) of each methanogen. The μ and t d based on methane accumulation in the headspace showed values consistent with literature values for M. barkeri and M. soehngenii. However, μ and t d based on methane accumulation in the headspace differed from literature data for M. formicicum but still allowed sufficient growth. The lowered salt concentration and the omission of chemically complex organic components in the medium may have led to the observed deviation from μ and t d for M. formicicum as well as the changed morphology. 16S rRNA gene-based amplicon sequencing and whole genome nanopore sequencing further confirmed purity and species identity.


An ultimate goal in wireless network is to detect the feedback collision occurred in the multiuser environment. Though it is difficult to detect the feedback collision, we proposed an algorithm called Recurrent Cluster Rifting (RCR).In this we fix a threshold value (constant value) based on the number of users in the multiuser environment. This value is otherwise known as feedback threshold. If nouser in the multiuser environment send the feedback, there will be some adjustment in the threshold value(i.e.)this algorithm will lower the value. Therefore if there is any feedback collision occurs in the multiuser environment there will be no change in this value but this algorithm will rift the users recurrently to detect the collision and find the certified user involved in this collision.After detecting the collision we use two schemes namely Bandwidth Efficient Scheme(BES) and Switching Efficient Scheme (SES) to avoid the collision occurred during retransmission of data with lower bandwidth in this environment. Index Terms Feedback collision, multiuser environment, Recurrent cluster rifting, TDMA.


Air pollutant effects are commonly investigated using panel studies employing daily measurement of changes in peak expiratory flow (PEF). Variable orifice PEF meters are inaccurate with a nonlinear relationship to actual PEF. The impact on a panel study of correcting these errors was examined. Twice-daily PEF readings were taken by 147 9-yr old children for 8 weeks and corrected using an equation derived from the response of 32 Vitalograph meters to a servomechanism-controlled pump. Pollutant effect estimates for corrected and uncorrected readings were derived using a regression approach incorporating appropriate confounders. Correction impacted little on mean PEF values (333.1-334.2 L x min(-1)), but did alter effect sizes. Nonsignificant nitrogen dioxide estimates for the entire panel decreased by up to 73%, but, for symptomatic/atopic children, a significant 5-day mean result was lost (decrease in effect size from -2.53 to -0.90% per 10 parts per billion (ppb)) and lag 0 became significant (decrease from -0.51 to -1.22% per 10 ppb). Mass concentration estimates of particles with a 50% cut-off aerodynamic diameter of 2.5 microm moved in both directions (-0.22 changed to 0.11% per 10 microg x m(-1) lag 3 and -0.29 to -0.73% per 10 microg x m(-3) for the 5-day mean). Correction of nonlinearity of peak expiratory flow meters influenced the overall outcome of this panel study, and the changes in effect estimates would be sufficient to alter the interpretation of some studies. For adults, a greater change in effect estimates may follow the larger correction required for their usual peak expiratory flow range.


This paper studies a dynamic communication game in which the seller of an asset, whose credibility is unknown to the market, reports changes in the asset value during multiple periods before selling the asset. We characterize the strategy by which the seller exploits his credibility over time to maximize the asset's terminal price. Though the asset value is iid across periods, and its distribution is continuous, the equilibrium has a simple Markov structure that depends on a single state variable: the seller's cumulative report. The possibility of misreporting generates reports that are serially dependent, even when the shocks are independent across periods. In equilibrium, prices are relatively insensitive to good news, particularly in the last period. The seller's cumulative report tends to grow over time, while the seller's credibility tends to decrease slowly. The seller is able to maintain inflated prices for as long as necessary. Furthermore, the terminal price explodes as the seller's horizon grows large.


High levels of insulin may promote hypertension pathogenesis, in part, via enhanced sympathetic nervous system (SNS) activity. This study examined potential interactive relations of fasting insulin levels, gender, and race to cardiovascular reactivity-a correlate of SNS activation. Hemodynamic re sponses to 4 laboratory challenges were determined by impedance cardiography in 64 healthy young adults (ages 18–26; 48% male; 50% White, 50% African American). Also examined were lipoprotein lipids, central and total adiposity, self-reported dietary factors, and physical activity. High-insulin (< 10,2 μU/ml) men showed greater total peripheral resistance and longer pre-ejection period responses than low-insulin (≤10.2 μUfml) men. High-insulin women displayed greater cardiac index responses than high-insulin men. High insulin levels were related to greater percentage body fat, dietary carbohydrate and fat intake, lower high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol (in men), higher total cholesterol (in women), and a trend toward higher triglycerides. Cardiovascular reactivity findings were unchanged after statistical adjustment for total and HDL cholesterol, triglycerides, percentage body fat, dietary carbohydrates, and fat. The Gender x Insulin (continuous scores) interaction accounted for 7% and 9% of the variance in cardiac index and total peripheral resistance responses, respectively. These results indicate that high insulin levels are associated with greater vascular reactivity in young men and cardiac reactivity in young women. Enhanced cardiovascular reactivity may constitute a biobehavioral dimension of the metabolic syndrome.


This is not a book of techniques for those who would acquire the expert skill of a modern guidance officer. Rather is it a book of insight into the nature of the problems growing out of life's complexities and the need of equipping all sorts of different and indifferent children for coping with this environment as well as their v~ry ing abilities permit. Anyone who read the article by this same author, Dr. Ruth Strang, in THE JOURNAL OF EDUCATION for November, 1939, titled "The Art of 'Learning' Children," would have been able to predict the common sense and human sympathy that are at the core of this new volume. Directed as it is at teachers and administrators, either in service or in preparation for service, the treatise gives them a point of view and a gr~sp upon what each of them-e-teacher, principal, superintendent, home-room teacher, dean or guidance officer-may well contribute to the children's development, selfdiscovery. The book gets down co cases, is well stocked with practical suggestion, and should add to the effectiveness of any educational worker.


Low areal bone mass is a risk factor for fractures in men. Limited data are available on fractures and bone geometry in men, and the relation with sex steroids is incompletely understood. We investigated prevalent fractures in relation to peak bone mass, bone geometry, and sex steroids in healthy young men. Healthy male siblings (n = 677) at the age of peak bone mass (25 to 45 years) were recruited in a cross‐sectional population‐based study. Trabecular and cortical bone parameters of the radius and cortical bone parameters of the tibia were assessed using peripheral quantitative computed tomography (pQCT). Areal bone mineral density (aBMD) was determined using dual‐energy X‐ray absorptiometry (DXA). Sex steroids were determined using immunoassays, and fracture prevalence was assessed using questionnaires. Fractures in young men were associated with a longer limb length, shorter trunk, lower trabecular BMD, smaller cortical bone area, and smaller cortical thickness (p < .005) but not with bone‐size‐adjusted volumetic BMD (vBMD). With decreasing cortical thickness [odds ratio (OR) 1.4/SD, p ≤ .001] and decreasing cortical area (OR 1.5/SD, p ≤ .001), fracture odds ratios increased. No association between sex steroid concentrations and prevalent fractures was observed. Childhood fractures (≤15 years) were associated with a thinner bone cortex (−5%, p ≤ .005) and smaller periosteal size (−3%, p ≤ .005). Fractures occurring later than 15 years of age were associated with a thinner bone cortex (−3%, p ≤ .05) and larger endosteal circumference (+3%, p ≤ .05) without differences in periosteal bone size. In conclusion, prevalent fractures in healthy young men are associated with unfavorable bone geometry and not with cortical vBMD when adjusting for bone size. Moreover, the data suggest different mechanisms of childhood fractures and fractures during adult life. © 2010 American Society for Bone and Mineral Research


The aims of the study were to determine the impact of temporomandibular disorders (TMD) on self-percieved oral health related quality of life (OHRQoL) and to compare OHRQoL of patients with TMD with a control group. A total of 81 TMD patients participated in a study group and 400 adults served as the control group. The mean OHIP summary scores were computed for all patients with the same diagnosis and the same subgroup of axis I according to the RDC/TMD exam form. The mean OHIP subscores for all seven domains of the OHIP questionnaire were compared between the study and the control group. The hierarchical linear regression model was used to assess the most important variables according to the RDC/TMD protocol that contribute to OHRQoL in TMD patients with the OHIP summary score as dependent variable. According to this study, TMD had a high association with reduced OHRQoL (p < 0.001). More diagnoses of axis I according to the RDC/TMD protocol (p < 0.001), higher age of TMD patients (p < 0.001) and diagnoses associated with limited jaw movements contributed to more impaired OHRQoL (p = 0.008 and p = 0.030, respectively). Female TMD patients had no significantly different OHRQoL compared to male patients (p = 0.436). According to regression analysis, higher age (p < 0.001), more physical diagnoses (p = 0.018) and diagnosis Ib (p = 0.169) explained 39.1% of the variability (p < 0.001) of the OHIP summary score in TMD patients.


The expansion of photovoltaic solar energy in the world is significant. However, its contribution to decreases in greenhouse gases (GHG) is not an absolute guarantee. In this context, it is necessary to evaluate its benefits in advance, considering the structure of the electric energy supply matrix of the country producing the photovoltaic solar system, as well as the country where the technology will be implemented. This study evaluates the adoption of renewable sources for electric power generation in a country with a high share of renewable energy. A life-cycle assessment (LCA) of a set of multi-Si photovoltaic (PV) systems installed in the Brazilian northeast (NE), was carried out. The actual generation data of 10 plants totaling 1.1 MWp installed capacity were evaluated during two years of operation. Energy payback time (EPBT), greenhouse gas emission rate (GHGe-rate), and emission payback time were calculated. The great influence of the electric matrix characteristics of the country manufacturing PV systems was evidenced in the results. The interconnected Brazilian electrical system had a 2020 projected GHGe-rate of 63.9 g CO2/kWh, while the results of 70% of the photovoltaic solar power plants (PSPS) assessed herein exhibit higher GHGe-rates. Thus, in countries where the electric matrix comprises a high share of renewable sources, such as Brazil, the incentive to use PV systems manufactured in nations whose electric matrix registers high emission factors should be well evaluated in terms of the impacts of GHG concentrations and the promotion of sustainable development, in order to avoid indirect import of significant amounts of carbon embedded in the systems.


Attosecond transient absorption is one of the promising new techniques being developed to exploit the availability of sub-femtosecond extreme ultraviolet (XUV) pulses to study the dynamics of the electron on its natural time scale. The temporal resolution in a transient absorption setup comes from the control of the relative delay and coherence between pump and probe pulses, while the spectral resolution comes from the characteristic width of the features that are being probed. In this review we focus on transient absorption scenarios where an attosecond pulse of XUV radiation creates a broadband excitation that is subsequently probed by a few cycle infrared (IR) laser. Because the attosecond XUV pulses are locked to the IR field cycle, the exchange of energy in the laser–matter interaction can be studied with unprecedented precision. We focus on the transient absorption by helium atoms of XUV radiation around the first ionization threshold, where we can simultaneoulsy solve the time-dependent Schrödinger equation for the single atom response and the Maxwell wave equation for the collective response of the nonlinear medium. We use a time-domain method that allows us to treat on an equal footing all the different linear and nonlinear processes by which the medium can exchange energy with the fields. We present several simple models, based on a few-level system interacting with a strong IR field, to explain many of the novel features found in attosecond transient absorption spectrograms. These include the presence of light-induced states, which demonstrate the ability to probe the dressed states of the atom. We also present a time-domain interpretation of the resonant pulse propagation features that appear in absorption spectra in dense, macroscopic media. We close by reviewing several recent experimental results that can be explained in terms of the models we discuss. Our aim is to present a road map for understanding future attosecond transient absorption experiments in more complex systems.


Game Theory has provided an extremely useful tool in enabling economists to venture into unknown areas. Its concepts of conflict and cooperation apply whenever the actions of several agents are interdependent; providing language to formulate as well as to structure, analyse, and understand strategic scenarios. Economic Behavior, Game Theory, and Technology in Emerging Markets explores game theory and its deep impact in developmental economics, specifically the manner in which it provides a way of formalising institutions. This is particularly important for emerging economies which have not yet received much attention in the academic world. This publication is useful for academics, professors, and researchers in this field, but it has also been compiled to meet the needs of non-specialsits as well.


Calcium is a second messenger for many signaling pathways in B cells, but its role as a receptor ligand has not been well characterized. However, pulses of free calcium were found to cause the rapid release of internal calcium stores in normal human B cells. This response appeared to be mediated by a cell surface protein with receptor properties as it could be blocked by pretreatment with trypsin and with kinase and phospholipase Cgamma inhibitors. The calcium receptor on B cells was not the conventional calcium-sensing receptor (CaSR) since B cells did not express CaSR and calcium-induced responses could not be blocked by specific CaSR inhibitors. B-cell responses to extracellular calcium activated phosphoinositide-3 kinase/AKT, calcineurin, extracellular signal regulated kinase, p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase, protein kinase C, Ca(2+)/calmodulin kinase II, and nuclear factor-kappaB signaling pathways, and resulted in transcription of the early response gene, CD83. This extracellular calcium sensor enhanced B-cell responses to Toll-like receptor, B-cell receptor, and cytokine receptor agonists. These findings suggest a means by which B cells prepare to engage in immune responses by responding to calcium fluctuations in their environment.


Forty-eight of 81 (59%) of N-nitrosomethylurea-induced rat mammary tumors regressed in average to almost one-half of the original size 10 days after ovariectomy (ovax) (hormone responsive), while 33 remained essentially unchanged (hormone resistant). AT 20 days after ovax, further decline in hormone-responsive tumors was observed when the rats were treated daily with 0.9% NaCl solution on the tenth day after ovax. Treatment for the same length of time with estrogen either alone or in combination with bromocryptine (to effectively suppress serum prolactin level) prevented tumor regression in hormone-responsive tumors. A similar effect was observed when rats were treated with perphenazine (to stimulate endogenous prolactin secretion) either alone or in combination with the antiestrogen tamoxifen. Estrogen receptors (ERs) significantly declined after ovax. Treatment with estrogen or perphenazine did not have any significant effect on ER level. Progesterone receptors (PGRs) became virtually undetectable after ovax. Treatments with estrogen, estrogen plus bromocryptine, and perphenazine plus tamoxifen but not perphenazine alone were able to partially restore PGRs although this effect was of borderline statistical significance. ER and PGR levels were not significantly different between hormone-responsive and -resistant tumors within each group. We conclude that both estrogen and prolactin play a role in the growth of the N-nitrosomethylurea-induced rat mammary tumor. Changes in ER and PGR levels did not correlate with tumor growth under the present experimental conditions.


Abstract Distribution of the swift fox (Vulpes velox) has declined dramatically since the 1800s, and suggested causes of this decline are habitat fragmentation and transformation due to agricultural expansion. However, impacts of fragmentation and human-altered habitats on swift foxes still are not well understood. To better understand what effects these factors have on diets of swift foxes, scats were collected in northwestern Texas at two study sites, one of continuous native prairie and one representing fragmented native prairie interspersed with agricultural and fields in the Conservation Reserve Program. Leporids, a potential food source, were surveyed seasonally on both sites. Diets of swift foxes differed between sites; insects were consumed more on continuous prairie, whereas mammals, birds, and crops were consumed more on fragmented prairie. Size of populations of leporids were 2–3 times higher on fragmented prairie, and swift foxes responded by consuming more leporids on fragmented (11.1% frequency occurrence) than continuous (3.8%) prairie. Dietary diversity was greater on fragmented prairie during both years of the study. Differences in diets between sites suggested that the swift fox is an adaptable and opportunistic feeder, able to exploit a variety of food resources, probably in relation to availability of food. We suggest that compared to continuous native prairie, fragmented prairie can offer swift foxes a more diverse prey base, at least within the mosaic of native prairie, agricultural, and fields that are in the Conservation Reserve Program.


The lower Paleozoic Sauk sequence of northern Ohio represents a carbonate and clastic sedimentary sequence deposited during the late Late End_Page 1440------------------------------ Cambrian Saint Croixan and early Early Ordovician Canadian. It is bounded below by the unconformity on the Precambrian basement and above by the Knox unconformity. The Sauk sequence was deposited throughout the study area of northern Ohio, which includes the western portion of the Appalachian basin, the Ohio-Indiana platform to the west, and the southernmost portion of the Michigan basin northwest of the Ohio-Indiana platform. The major lithostratigraphic units, all in the subsurface, are the Cambrian Mount Simon Sandstone, Shady Dolomite, Eau Clair Formation, Rome Formation, and Kerbel Formation, and the Cambrian-Ordovician Knox Group. Stratigraphic interpretations generally show that the Sauk sequence begins with clastic deposition occurring in the north-central and western portions of Ohio and predominantly carbonate and open-marine clastic deposition occurring in eastern and south-central Ohio. The location of the present Cincinnati arch marks a transition zone between the two sedimentary regimes. The final stage of Sauk sequence deposition was marked by a major marine transgression that resulted in deposition of the Knox Dolomite over the entire study area. Producing reservoirs occur in four stratigraphic-structural settings. The Copper Ridge Dolomite (Knox Group) on the eastern edge of the Ohio-Indiana platform has oil production from glauconitic sandstone reservoirs. Basinward, the Cambrian dolomitic Rose Run Sandstone Member occurs at the top of the Copper Ridge Dolomite. Mainly gas has been discovered in the Rose Run in secondary reservoirs formed during erosion of the Knox unconformity. Middle Ordovician shales and impermeable limestones are the seals. The majority of hydrocarbon production from the Knox Dolomite is located in central Ohio's Morrow County where erosional remnants of vuggy dolomite on the Knox unconformity form paleotopographic highs with Middle Ordovician shale as the seal. Other small pools consist of vuggy dolomite reservoirs with small structural closures. Although no significant amounts of hydrocarbons have been discovered below the Copper Ridge Dolomite, high porosities and permeabilities in the Mount Simon Sandstone and Eau Claire Formation lend potential to these rocks for liquid waste disposal. End_of_Article - Last_Page 1441------------


We describe and compare the proposed mechanisms of ethene polymerization by the metallocene/methylaluminoxane (MAO) catalyst in terms of quantum chemical calculations. In combination with the Cp2ZrMe2 precatalyst, we employ two models for MAO, produced by hydrolysis of trimethylaluminum (TMA). Both MAOs contain associated TMA as a key ingredient for cocatalytic activity. The TMA association/dissociation equilibrium in the MAOs controls the mechanism of catalyst activation and suggests preference for catalyst activation via [AlMe2]+ abstraction from the MAO by the precatalyst rather than via Lewis-acidic abstraction of the leaving group from the precatalyst by the MAO. Solvent interactions increase the relative concentration of Lewis-acidic sites. Chlorination of MAO facilitates the catalytic processes. Studies as a function of precatalyst structure reproduce the general experimental observations of the easier catalyst activation by zirconocenes than by hafnocenes and the positive effects of adding a dimet...


Abstract Previous attempts to refine the crystal structure of welshite, known only from Långban, Sweden, have been foiled by its extensive polysynthetic twinning, and without a structure determination, derivation of a reasonable formula has been difficult due its eclectic chemical composition. We report a successful refinement [wR(F2) = 0.0566 for 8048 unique reflections] in the non-centrosymmetric space group P1 of a relatively little twinned crystal (4% chiral) from sample NRM040068: a = 10.394(3) Å, b = 10.777(3) Å, c = 8.896(2) Å, α = 105.953(4)°, β = 96.294(4)°, γ = 124.948(3)°, V = 738.8(3) Å3, Z = 1. The refined formula, Ca3.78Mg7.87Sb3.00Mn1.35Si5.73Be3.33Al1.71Fe3+0.96As0.27O40, is in reasonable agreement with a formula determined by electron microprobe and Mössbauer spectroscopy (Be from the refinement), Ca3.81Mg7.84Sb3.03Mn1.17Zn0.04Fe2+ 0.05Si5.57Be3.24Al1.54Fe3+1.25As0.37O40. The P1 symmetry of welshite 040068 is mainly a result of its cation distribution, which is driven by charge ordering on both the octahedral and tetrahedral sites as supported by calculation of electrostatic site potentials. Welshite can accommodate up to 3.46 Be per 40 O atoms by including several T sites with 100% Be occupancies without the formation of unfavorable tetrahedral Be-O-Be linkages that would result in the related centrosymmetric structures of sapphirine, khmaralite, makarochkinite, and høgtuvaite, none of which contain >2.1 Be per 40 O. A generalized formula for welshite is (Ca,Mn)4(Mg,Mn,Fe2+,Fe3+)9(Sb,Fe3+)3O4[(Si,As)6(Be,Al)4(Al,Fe3+)2O36]. Compositions of most of the samples, including NRM040068, can be expressed in terms of two idealized Al and Fe end-members Ca4Mg9Sb3O4[Si6Be3Al3O36] and Ca4Mg9Sb3O4[Si6Be3AlFe2O36], respectively; the latter is the most representative for welshite and could be used in databases. One sample is far more heterogeneous and is irregularly zoned on scales from <1 to 10 μm. Compositional variation in this sample and in a crystal from another lie between the end-members Ca4Mg8.55Fe0.45Sb3.0O4[Si5.15As0.45Be3.45Al0.5Fe2.45O36] and Ca4Mg7.05Fe3.45Sb1.5O4[Si6.65As0.45Be3.45Al0.5Fe0.95O36], which are related by the coupled substitution MSb5+ + VIMg2+ + IVFe3+ = MFe3+ + VIFe3+ + IVSi4+, where M refers specifically to the M7, M3A, and M4A octahedral sites. The lowest measured Sb is 1.454/40 O, which may be close to the limit imposed by the need to maintain local charge balance.


Parameterized Lyapunov bounds and shifted quadratic guaranteed cost bounds are merged to develop shifted parameter-dependent quadratic cost bounds for robust stability and robust performance. Robust fixed-order (i.e., full- and reduced-order) controllers are developed based on new shifted parameter-dependent bounding functions. A numerical example is presented to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed approach.


More and more women and men are becoming dependent on some form of small business activity for all or part of their livelihoods but there is little research offering insight into gender and working practices in small businesses. In this article we assess some theoretical approaches and discuss these against an empirical investigation of micro-firms run by women, men and mixed sex partnerships. In the 'entrepreneurship' literature, with its emphasis on the individual business owner, we find little guidance. We argue that in the 'modern' micro-business, family and work are brought into proximity as in the 'in between' organizational form described by Weber. The celebrated 'flexibility' of small firms often involves the reproduction within modernity of seemingly pre-modern practices in household organization and gender divisions of labour. This is true in the Britain of the 1990s in a growing business sector normally associated neither with tradition nor with the family. Tradition, however, is never automatic or uncontested in a 'post-traditional society'. A minority of women and men in micro-enterprises actively resist traditional solutions and even traditional imagery of male and female behaviour. For this small group alone new economic conditions seem to bring new freedom.


In industrial settings, practical techniques for measurement and characterisation of emissions and air pollutants for long periods of time are lacking today. Currently, measurement of air pollution in work environments for risk assessment is performed through personal monitoring at most a few days per year. We aim to develop a method for the systematic sampling of particulates (dust) with significantly higher temporal and spatial resolution than the traditionally used techniques by combining stationary (wireless sensor network based) and mobile (robot-based) measurement nodes. The mobile robot creates environmental maps of particle concentration, airflow, gas concentration, temperature and humidity, thereby creating a high resolution spatial model of these variables. The stationary nodes provide data over long periods with high temporal resolution. The combination of both types of data result in high resolution spatiotemporal models that are validated against traditional measurements of air pollution in the work environment. Preliminary results support that the data is useful for surveillance and to evaluate the before/after situations in which the elimination of technical measures are taken. We evaluated the proposed sampling system with data collected in an industrial foundry hall during several measurement campaigns. Preliminary results suggest that the created models can be used as a basis for companies in the planning of the daily work and can also widen the perspective of the technical measures needed to reduce worker's exposure to particulate matter. In addition, the air flow and distribution patterns can enable the investigation of cause and effect with changes in the working environment (e.g. adjustments in the ventilation system). Furthermore, we intend to determine different exposure measures for longer periods of time to be used in epidemiological studies.


Food has been identified as a material in Design and Technology. This has led to the expression of much comment and prejudice especially with regard to the relationship between food and modelling. Five topics relating to modelling and food as a material are discussed in this paper.

Definitions of modelling - are they broad enough to encompass the materials and the functions of modelling?
Modelling of ideas - is fundamental to all materials for developing, expressing and communicating ideas.
Cognitive processes - modelling is part of concept formation and engaging in practical activity and therefore essential.
Representational materials used - must be appropriate for the actual materials, including food, being represented.
Teaching and learning implications - students should engage in imaging, modelling and representing ideas.
Teachers should provide students with opportunities for modelling in ways that are appropriate to the student, the intended audience, the materials and outcomes being considered.

The paper demonstrates the relationship between modelling and food as a material through discussion and specific food examples.


Various Salmonella serovars were isolated from rooibos tea, a natural, untreated agricultural product. The results of a study to identify the serovars is reported. The possibility of lizard origin is discussed and the low pathogenicity of the salmonellae isolated is highlighted.


Recently, the booming fashion sector and its huge potential benefits have attracted tremendous attention from many research communities. In particular, increasing research efforts have been dedicated to the complementary clothing matching as matching clothes to make a suitable outfit has become a daily headache for many people, especially those who do not have the sense of aesthetics. Thanks to the remarkable success of neural networks in various applications such as the image classification and speech recognition, the researchers are enabled to adopt the data-driven learning methods to analyze fashion items. Nevertheless, existing studies overlook the rich valuable knowledge (rules) accumulated in fashion domain, especially the rules regarding clothing matching. Towards this end, in this work, we shed light on the complementary clothing matching by integrating the advanced deep neural networks and the rich fashion domain knowledge. Considering that the rules can be fuzzy and different rules may have different confidence levels to different samples, we present a neural compatibility modeling scheme with attentive knowledge distillation based on the teacher-student network scheme. Extensive experiments on the real-world dataset show the superiority of our model over several state-of-the-art methods. Based upon the comparisons, we observe certain fashion insights that can add value to the fashion matching study. As a byproduct, we released the codes, and involved parameters to benefit other researchers.


According to recent theories, both person characteristics and environmental characteristics have to be taken into account in order to understand individual development. In line with these theories, the present thesis focused on the ways in which child characteristics and parental characteristics interplay in affecting an important negative outcome in toddlerhood; externalizing behaviors. To investigate these issues, five empirical studies were conducted. Participants of these studies were 117 toddler boys and their parents. The families were followed from the moment the children were 17 months of age until they were 35 months old. Since toddlerhood is one of the most critical periods in development with many changes for both children and their parents, four measurement waves with 6-months intervals were used to keep track of these changes. It was found that toddlers' externalizing behaviors are predicted by both child temperament and parental personality traits and psychopathological symptoms. However, child temperament seemed to be more important than parental characteristics in predicting these externalizing behaviors. The findings of the studies presented in this thesis also demonstrated that an exclusive focus on main effects of child and parental characteristics only partly unravels the ways in which these characteristics affect children's externalizing behaviors. Parental personality traits partially affected toddlers' externalizing behaviors through the impact on parenting. Above and beyond these indirect effects, parental personality was also directly associated with externalizing behaviors in toddlerhood. Parenting did not affect all children to the same extent; poor parenting was found to be particularly negative for children with certain vulnerable temperamental traits. Longitudinal data provided evidence that parenting practices predict subsequent changes in the level of toddlers' externalizing behaviors. Additionally, changes in parenting were found to be accompanied by changes in toddlers' externalizing behaviors and vice versa. For very young children maternal parenting was stronger associated with child externalizing behaviors than paternal parenting. During toddlerhood the influence of fathers seemed to become more similar to that of mothers. Consequently, later in toddlerhood disciplining techniques of both mothers and fathers affected children's externalizing behaviors. However, mothers' warmth more strongly predicted children's externalizing behaviors than fathers' warmth. With regard to different types of child problem behaviors, both common and specific risk factors were found. Finally, parental personality traits appeared to have little distorting effect on parental reports of toddlers' temperament, supporting the value of parental reports of children's adjustment. Taken together, the main conclusion that can be drawn from the studies presented in this thesis, is that it is important to integrate person and environmental characteristics in research on child externalizing behaviors. Furthermore, the results presented in this thesis indicate that attention should be paid to the contributions of both mothers and fathers, the specificity of relations between risk factors and negative child outcomes, and the longitudinal relations between these constructs.


Healthcare reforms and reductions in the number of hospital beds are leading to an increasing amount of medical technology moving from hospitals into home care, affecting the daily lives of patients. The aim of this study was therefore to describe the ways patients understand medical technology in palliative home care. With use of a phenomenographic approach, 15 patients with medical technology were interviewed, and data were analyzed in a 7-step process. Three ways of understanding the phenomenon emerged: a masterful patient, an adjustable patient, and a restricted patient. Masterful patients took control over the medical technology and were mostly independent of assistance from personnel. Adjustable patients accepted and adapted their lives to the medical technology and were satisfied with assistance from the personnel. Restricted patients were reminded daily of the medical technology and dependent on assistance from personnel. Depending on the patients' health conditions, the support from the personnel, and the impact of medical technology, a transfer between the different ways of understanding occurred with a simultaneous movement between independence and dependence. The patient exhibited various ways of understanding, although one way of understanding was more dominant.


Hyperphenylalaninaemia induced by daily injections of alpha-methylphenylalanine plus phenylalanine caused 20-40% decreases in cerebral dopamine (3,4-dihydroxyphenethylamine) and noradrenaline in 7- and 11-day-old rats. alpha-Methylphenylalanine alone as well as phenylalanine alone caused cerebral dopamine depletion. However, the effects were not additive, in that the depletion caused by alpha-methylphenylalanine was greater, not less, than that after treatment with both it and phenylalanine. Increased concentrations of tyrosine in the brain, owing to administered or endogenously formed tyrosine, could overcome the effect of excess phenylalanine on cerebral dopamine content. The fact that the inhibition of tyrosine hydroxylase by phenylalanine (or alpha-methylphenylalanine) in vitro was overcome by tyrosine concentrations similar to those effective in vivo further implicates the tyrosine hydroxylase inhibition as the mechanism underlying the dopamine depletion in hyperphenylalaninaemia. These results provide a theoretical basis for elevation, by tyrosine supplementation, of the cerebral phenylalanine/tyrosine ratio as a possible treatment modality for phenylketonuria.


Nez Perce is a language with a dedicated comparative morpheme and crisp judgments in its comparatives, but with no means to express differential measurement in its comparative. These data can be captured by two different types of analyses: either Nez Perce has a negative setting of the Degree Semantics Parameter ([±DSP]) (Beck et al., 2009), along with a comparative operator that allows manipulation of context (Klein, 1980), or it has a positive setting of said parameter, but the comparative operator does not provide a slot for a differential degree argument. We show that the "degreeless" analysis of gradable adjectives in Nez Perce provides a unified and simple explanation for a cluster of additional properties of the language. At the same time, our findings draw attention to hitherto unattested variation within degreeless languages: other [-DSP] languages like Motu (Beck et al., 2009), Washo (Bochnak, 2015) and Warlpiri (Bowler, 2016) lack the Klein-style comparative operator present in Nez Perce.


Food waste has been linked with food insecurity, environmental degradation, and economic inefficiency. Although research on food waste has increased recently, food waste tends to be poorly conceptualized and is often disproportionality focused on local consumer decisions. For this reason, this paper critically analyzes perspectives on food waste in Los Angeles (LA) as a case study in order to understand the structural challenges of food waste governance in cities. To achieve this goal, this study uses content analysis of interview data of key stakeholders in LA's food system and descriptive statistical analysis of survey data of university undergraduate students in LA. Findings in this paper suggest that students purchase, consume, and waste food in line with broader national trends in the U.S. Additionally, students indicated that the causes and solutions of food waste management lies with more responsible individual decisions and sustainable local food practices. While students noted that they may have acted differently towards food waste reduction if structural opportunities existed, results from the survey reveal that the role of corporations, global food system flows, and the political economy of food production remain relatively unrecognized by students in their perceptions of food waste. Although responsible consumer practices are clearly an important aspect of food waste reduction, findings in this paper suggest that food waste governance may be limited by a narrow local consumer focus.


The aim of this study was to analyze the psychometric properties of the Portuguese version of the Inventory of Father Involvement–Short Form (IFI-SF) with respect to its factor structure, reliability, and preliminary concurrent and discriminant validity (Study 1), and to confirm the factor structure in a different sample (Study 2). In Study 1, 380 men (M = 42.2, SD = 6.8) completed the IFI-SF translated version, and a subgroup of 92 men also completed the Portuguese versions of the Parenting Stress Index–Short Form, the Parenting Styles and Dimensions Questionnaire–Short Form, and the Paternal Involvement Scale. In Study 2, 220 men (M = 43.1, SD = 6.1) completed the IFI-SF translated version. The results of confirmatory factor analyses (Study 1) found that the Portuguese IFI-SF had a bifactor structure, dissimilar to that of the original version. More specifically, a model depicting a general factor and 9 first-order factors was confirmed, with omega hierarchical coefficients indicating that only an IFI-SF global score should be calculated/interpreted. This structure was confirmed in Study 2. Cronbach's alpha reliabilities in Study 1 and 2 were .93 and .95 for the global scale, respectively. Moreover, there was preliminary evidence of the scale's concurrent and discriminant validity. These results indicate that the measure is suitable for use in the Portuguese context with an interpretable global score, and may be a useful tool for research regarding the positive aspects of men's parental involvement, as such information may also be relevant in cross-cultural studies.


Subdural hematoma (SDH) has been reported in 0.5–4% of all intracranial metastatic tumors. Chronic SDH has been reported in intracranial metastases from both solid and haematological malignancies. Here we report recurrent SDH in a patient with chronic myeloid leukaemia (CML) following dural metastases. An elderly male patient a known case of CML was admitted to our casualty with symptoms of headache and altered sensorium and imaging revealed a large right fronto temporo parietal chronic SDH. This was surgically managed and histopathology of the duramater and subdural membrane confirmed infiltration with leukemic cells. The pathogenesis of chronic SDH in malignancies is multifactorial and this case report throws light on leukemic infiltration of duramater as a cause for chronic SDH other than coagulopathy.


This thesis presents a first principle approach to model helium diffusionand retention in molybdenum. Results from electron structure calculations within the framework of density functional theory are used to assess parameters in a rate theory model. The model is used to reproduce experimental desorption spectra, which, to a large degree of accuracy, coincide with experimental data in temperature regions relevant for nuclear fuel applications. The models indicate that produced helium will diffuse out into the fuel pin during operation. However, some helium will be trapped in molybdenum vacancies. The amount of trapped helium will largely depend on the fuel operational temperature. Data presented in the thesis is a first step towards a self consistent dataset of first principle data on helium diffusion in CERMET fuel, one candidate fuel suggested for transmutation of nuclear waste. To realise the use of CERMET fuel, modelling of fuel performance is essential, and to accomplish this, the understanding of helium diffusion and retention in molybdenum is one important aspect.


Mass media's portrayal of minorities and women in society has the potential to shape perception and affect behavior. Our objective was to examine minority and gender representation in professional roles as lawyers and physicians on television. We hypothesized that minorities and women are less likely to be represented in these roles on television compared to White men. In addition, we hypothesized that the lower fictional representations of minorities and women as professionals would be mirrored by lower rates of minorities and women in actual legal and medical practice. We analyzed medical and legal primetime dramas featuring lawyers and physicians to determine the race and gender of the lead character(s). The distribution of fictional minority and female professionals was compared to a racial distribution obtained from the 2020 US census, as well as data on the race and gender of lawyers and physicians in practice. Our findings showed fictional lawyers and physicians on television were predominantly White and male. The next most common groups represented were Black lawyers and physicians. There were no major Hispanic or Asian lawyers and only one Hispanic and Asian male physician represented. Women were underrepresented as both lawyers and physicians. When compared to the expected population demographic data from the 2020 census, both racial and gender disparity were noted, with significantly fewer than expected fictional representations of minority and female lawyers and physicians. The racial and gender disparity found with fictional lawyers and physicians mirrored lower numbers of minority and female lawyers and physicians in actual practice.