The authors consider connection-oriented wireless cellular networks such as IS-54, IS-95, GSM, and wireless ATM networks. These are connection-oriented digital networks which employ separate radio channels for the transmission of signaling information. A forward signaling channel is a common signaling channel assigned to carry the multiplexed stream of paging and channel-allocation packets from a base station to mobile stations. For wireless ATM networks, paging and virtual-circuit (VC) allocation packets are multiplexed across the forward signaling channels as part of the VC setup phase. A reverse signaling channel, which employs a contention-oriented medium access algorithm, is used by mobile stations to send channel-request and location-update packets. A location area is a region which includes a specified set of adjacent cells; it is used to track the location of mobile stations. Mobile units must reregister as they cross the boundary of a location area. The channel setup and paging response times are critical performance factors in the design of the signaling subsystem. A location area structure must be suitably selected to ensure that acceptable levels of such performance functions are achieved. A network which employs small location-areas will experience a high rate of location updates, while larger location areas lead to higher traffic intensities of paging messages. In this article, combining the operation of forward and reverse signaling channels, the authors overview a method for calculating the performance behavior of signaling messages. Subsequently the impact of the location area structure on the performance of the signaling system is investigated.


By a twist of irony one of America's foremost resources of clinical and epidemiological research has been struck by a growing concern about patient privacy.1 Since the early 1900s the Mayo Clinic Foundation at Rochester, Minnesota, has maintained a medical record system that amounts to a population registry on health and disease.2 Hundreds of clinical, biochemical, and epidemiological research papers have used old records and added new analyses or follow up data. Recent legislation in the state of Minnesota has made such use next to illegal. Minnesota is not the only place where privacy legislation is jeopardising the use of patient data for research. It is time to reassess the terms of the privacy debate.

In response to the Minnesota law the New England Journal of Medicine has devoted no fewer than four pages to a cry from the heart from Rochester.1 The Mayo Clinic Foundation is setting up a heroic effort to obtain "broad informed consent" from all patients for future use of their data. Predictably, this will fall short of the requirements of those who demand specific informed consent for each piece of research—even retrospectively.3 The mere possibility of litigation recently prevented the description of an epidemic of drug resistant tuberculosis …


An online questionnaire "Semantic web searches for geoscience resources" was completed by 35
staff of British Geological Survey (BGS) between 28th July 2015 and 28th August 2015. The
questionnaire was designed to better understand current web search habits, preferences, and the
reception of semantic search features in order to inform PhD research into the use of domain
ontologies for semantic information retrieval.
The key findings were that relevance ranking is important in focussed searches that seeks the
answer to a specific question, because 50% of people only look at the first 10 results. Relevance
ranking is important but not so critical for broad reaching literature and data gathering searches
because 88% of respondents would typically assess more than 10 results in this case. A large
majority of respondents usually or sometimes had to perform multiple searches or construct
advanced searches in order to include all relevant variations in terminology, and an optional
feature in the search engine that expanded the search terms for them would be beneficial and
desirable. All respondents reported that their search results were at some point, dominated by
irrelevant result entries. Asked how a feature that disambiguates terms in search queries should
be implemented, 81% will like to be able to specify intended context/meaning of search terms
but only when such terms are ambiguous. The conclusion was that the collected responses, though a small sample, indicated vast support
for the implementation of semantic search features to add narrower or equivalent terms to
original search intent and to specify the context/meaning of ambiguous search terms, but the
respondents preferred to be in control of whether or not those features were implemented on each
search.


Recent literature suggests that elites are increasingly fragmented and divided. Yet there is very little empirical research that maps the distinctions between different elite groups. This article explores the cultural divisions that pertain to elite factions in two distinct, but proximate Strategic Action Fields. A key insight from the paper is that the public sector faction studied exhibits a much broader, more aesthetic set of cultural dispositions than their private sector counterparts. This permits a number of inter-related contributions to be made to literature on both elites and field theory. Firstly, the findings demonstrate that cultural capital acts as a salient source of distinction between elite factions in different Strategic Action Fields. Secondly, it is shown how cultural capital is socially functional as certain cultural dispositions are strongly homologous with specific professional roles. Thirdly, the paper demonstrates the implications for the structure of the state when two culturally distinct elites are brought together in a new Strategic Action Field.


Magnetic liquids enabled development of new devices and technologies that are a useful alternative to theexisting ones. Many of these applications are still in progress and do not represent any break-through discoveries yet.Nevertheless one may expect that owing to their remarkable qualities magnetic fluids will become in the future a part oforiginal projects. The research of magnetic liquids has a strongly multidisciplinary character. It is thus desirable fortechnicians of different specializations or other specialists (such as physicians, biologists, pharmacists etc.) to be acquaintedwith the qualities and existing applications of these perspective materials.


Teaching-learning-based optimization (TLBO) algorithm is proposed in recent years that simulates the teaching-learning phenomenon of a classroom to effectively solve global optimization of multidimensional, linear, and nonlinear problems over continuous spaces. In this paper, an improved teaching-learning-based optimization algorithm is presented, which is called nonlinear inertia weighted teaching-learning-based optimization (NIWTLBO) algorithm. This algorithm introduces a nonlinear inertia weighted factor into the basic TLBO to control the memory rate of learners and uses a dynamic inertia weighted factor to replace the original random number in teacher phase and learner phase. The proposed algorithm is tested on a number of benchmark functions, and its performance comparisons are provided against the basic TLBO and some other well-known optimization algorithms. The experiment results show that the proposed algorithm has a faster convergence rate and better performance than the basic TLBO and some other algorithms as well.


Patterns of initiation, persistence, and cessation of use of licit, illicit, and prescribed drugs are presented for a longitudinal cohort from their middle to the late twenties. The cohort is representative of adolescents formerly enrolled in public secondary high schools in New York State. No additional initiation of cigarettes, alcohol, and illicit drugs occurred in the four-year follow-up interval, except for cocaine and pills. The largest proportional increase of new users occurred for prescribed psychoactive drugs. Alcohol showed the most persistence of use, followed by cigarettes and marijuana. As the cohort ages, those who continue to use illicit drugs actively do so at lower levels of intensity than at younger ages. For each drug class, the persistence of use is strongly related to earlier intensity of involvement. By age 29, men have accumulated almost twice as many months of use of illicit drugs as women.


The effects of inhaled corticosteroids (ICSs) in asthma include reduced severity of symptoms, improved pulmonary function, diminished bronchial hyperresponsiveness (BHR), prevention of exacerbations, and possible prevention of airway wall remodeling. Compared with an inhaled beta(2)-agonist, ICSs improve airway function and BHR, reduce bronchial-epithelium abnormalities, decrease bronchial inflammation, and reduce inflammatory-cell infiltration into the bronchial lamina propria; thus, they may prevent airway remodeling. In children, early use of ICSs may result in improved airway function over time. ICSs reduce use of prednisone, asthma medications, hospitalizations, and urgent-care visits. The primary side effects of ICSs in children are limited to transient reduction in growth. Compared with a leukotriene receptor antagonist (LTRA), ICSs produced a greater change from baseline in FEV(1) and greater reductions in symptoms. A long-acting beta(2)-agonist (LABA) combined with an ICS produced greater improvements than does therapy with ICSs even at higher doses. In COPD, the therapeutic value of ICSs is not as clear. While clinical trials in patients with mild COPD have not shown a reduction in decline in FEV(1) over time, other studies have shown that ICS therapy reduces exacerbations in patients with more severe COPD. Combination therapy with both ICS and LABA has recently been shown to be effective in COPD, where studies have documented additive improvement in FEV(1). Overall, the same therapeutic approaches show clinical effectiveness in both asthma and COPD. This supports the hypothesis that there are some similarities in these obstructive airway diseases. Future approaches should further define phenotypes, perhaps based in part on pharmacogenetic factors that will guide anti-inflammatory therapy in asthma and COPD.


The influence of Fusarium graminearum infection on mycotoxin formation and on the protein composition of emmer and naked barley grains was investigated during grain ripening from milk ripe grains until ripeness and during a storage period of six month.
F. graminearum inoculation affected the protein composition of emmer and naked barley grains from the early grain development on, whereupon emmer and wheat were more affected than naked barley. F.graminearum inoculation led to increased gliadin sub-fractions and decreased glutenin sub-fractions in emmer and wheat grains. However, naked barley proteins also showed increased hordein and hordenin sub-fractions during early grain development. The hordenins and the glutenins were apparently degraded by fungal proteases, particularly at later grain development stages. Furthermore, emmer and wheat grains showed distinct higher toxin contents than naked barley. In naked barley the toxin contents increased with grain ripening, whereas they were rather constant in emmer and wheat.
Furthermore, naked barley and emmer exhibited different toxin spectra in both natural infected and artificially inoculated grains. Natural infected emmer and wheat showed DON and ZEA accumulation, whereas naked barley accumulated only NIV, assuming different Fusarium species may establish depending on the grain variety. After inoculation with DON-producing F. graminearum strains, DON and ZEA accumulated strongly in emmer, wheat and naked barley, whereas NIV was again only detected in the naked barley cultivars.
During storage of mature grains the toxin composition in natural infected grains was hardly changed, whereas in inoculated grains the DON contents in emmer and naked barley cultivars were significantly reduced. Nevertheless, the prolamins and glutelins of natural infected and artificial inoculated grains were significantly affected during storage of six months, particularly at rather warm and humid storage conditions. This effect was also observed in F. graminearum inoculated grains at colder and dryer storage conditions.
Regarding the occurrence of phenolic compounds in emmer and naked barley grains and in the respective hulls, ferulic acid was the major phenolic acid, followed by p-coumaric and caffeic acid in soluble and bound forms. Furthermore, naked barley had higher amounts of cinnamic acid derived phenolics in the grains and particularly in the hulls. However, phenolic acids, especially ferulic acid decreased after F. graminearum inoculation, possibly resulting from inhibition of their biosynthesis by the fungi. Mechanisms in plants depending on antioxidant capacity and the general redox status can interfere with the antioxidant secondary plant metabolites and thus may influence toxin accumulation and resistance to Fusarium infection in cereals. The phenolic compounds in the hull-tissues obviously play an important role in inhibiting pathogen growth and toxin accumulation in emmer and naked barley grains.
Proteomic studies were conducted to analyse the effect of Fusarium inoculation on emmer and naked barley grains during the entire grain ripening and infection-period beginning with early grain development (milk ripe) until plant death. The obtained results allow an overview of molecular mechanisms initiated by F. graminearum infection of emmer and naked barley grains and an insight into the interactions between two cereal grains with F. graminearum during the entire period of grain ripening. Different proteins have been induced depending on the grain ripening stages and the cereal genotype. An inoculation of emmer grains with F. graminearum led to changes of protein expression in all analysed development stages. In the early ripening stages proteins, predominantly related to metabolism and photosynthesis as well as stress-related proteins, like PR-poteins and proteins related to oxidative stress were up regulated. Additionally a spermidine synthase was up regulated at BBCH 75 (milk ripe). During later ripening stages at BBCH 87 and BBCH 97 predominantly stress-related proteins were down regulated. Nevertheless, some stress-related proteins such as peroxidase and chitin binding proteins were increased in abundance after F. graminearum infection, demonstrating some defence strategies were persistent during the whole infection period. The pathogen may profit from the enhanced metabolism, providing nutrients that are beneficial for fungal growth.
In naked barley grains, more proteins were changed in abundance during early grain development after F. graminearum inoculation than in the later grain ripening sages. Protease inhibition played a major role at early milk ripe stage, whereas several pathogenesis related proteins and proteins associated with defence response, such as thaumatin-like proteins and ROS scavenging enzymes were regulated due to F. graminearum infection during the entire infection period. Interestingly, proteins related to nitrogen metabolism were predominantly down regulated in naked barley, whereas proteins related to carbohydrate metabolism were predominantly up regulated in artificially inoculated grains compared to natural infected grains. These results demonstrate that complex mechanisms are initiated by Fusarium infection, which are supposed to be partly adapted to the respective infection strategy of the pathogen.


Air temperature, precipitation and wind direction are important atmospheric variables when developing a climatology for a certain region. A short-term climatology can be a useful reference for environmental and life science researchers to better understand the environmental conditions of their research. Data were acquired from the VCU Rice Rivers Center (RRC) bluff meteorological tower from 15 June 2008 through 21 July 2016 with a temporal resolution of ten minutes. Time series plots of daily average temperature were created for each year. Temperature and precipitation data were validated by comparison to similarly resolved weather data from a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) sponsored station in Hopewell, VA for the same time period. A two-sample t-test between the two data sets demonstrated that the RRC data were of high quality. Cumulative precipitation plots were produced for 2014, 2015 and 2016. Comparison of these plots to both Hopewell and the Richmond International Airport (RIC) showed high amounts of rainfall at the RRC in early 2016, which can be explained in part by strong positive phases of the El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO) and other climatic teleconnections. However, further investigation needs to be done to ensure the validity of solely these data. Wind direction was also investigated to determine whether or not channeling along the James River as well as air pollution transport from Hopewell to the RRC occurred. While data did not suggest channeling along the James River, direct transport of air from Hopewell to the RRC was implicated by the data analyzed. Wind direction data analyzed further showed wind shifts associated with the passage of frontal boundaries. The short-term climatology produced by this investigation provides valuable insight to the environment of the RRC and its surroundings, and is a useful tool for researchers seeking environmental information for their work.


Cholesterol-fed zebrafish is an emerging animal model to study metabolic, oxidative, and inflammatory vascular processes relevant to pathogenesis of human atherosclerosis. Zebrafish fed a high-cholesterol diet (HCD) develop hypercholesterolemia and are characterized by profound lipoprotein oxidation and vascular lipid accumulation. Using optically translucent zebrafish larvae has the advantage of monitoring vascular pathology and assessing the efficacy of drug candidates in live animals. Thus, we investigated whether simvastatin and ezetimibe, the principal drugs used in management of hypercholesterolemia in humans, would also reduce cholesterol levels in HCD-fed zebrafish larvae. We found that ezetimibe was well tolerated by zebrafish and effectively reduced cholesterol levels in HCD-fed larvae. In contrast, simvastatin added to water was poorly tolerated by zebrafish larvae and, when added to food, had little effect on cholesterol levels in HCD-fed larvae. Combination of low doses of ezetimibe and simvastatin had an additive effect in reducing cholesterol levels in zebrafish. These results suggest that ezetimibe exerts in zebrafish a therapeutic effect similar to that in humans and that the hypercholesterolemic zebrafish can be used as a low-cost and informative model for testing new drug candidates and for investigating mechanisms of action for existing drugs targeting dyslipidemia.


ABSTRACT Facile synthesis of CuAl2O4 and sintering effects on the phase composition are reported. Annealing at 500 °C showed only CuO phase and the spinel phase started evolving at 700 °C with the concurrent decrease in the CuO phase. Diffusion-mediated growth of spinel phase was also observed at higher temperatures forming CuAl2O4 at 1000 °C. The material was stoichiometric and the average particle size was 55 nm, as evidenced by EDS and FE-SEM studies, respectively. The zeta potential of +30 mV and lower (0.346) value of the poly dispersive index (PDI), confirmed the high dispersability of CuAl2O4 in water. The favourable band gap (2.2 eV) makes it suitable as visible light photocatalyst. Owing to its positive surface charge and conducive pH, material could adsorb anionic methyl orange dye. A total of 74% of the dye could be recovered by a simple methanolic extraction. The visible light photocatalysis of the same dye leads to 67% decolouration and the addition of H2O2 accelerated the photodegradation to completion. The catalyst displayed excellent reusability and stability even after five successive runs.


Useful and Accessible Apps especially chosen for Focusing, Organizing, Reminding, Mindfulness, Dictation and tested on iPhones, iPads, PC & Mac computers.


Recent years have seen significant advances in end-to-end (E2E) spoken language understanding (SLU) systems, which directly predict intents and slots from spoken audio. While dialogue history has been exploited to improve conventional text-based natural language understanding systems, current E2E SLU approaches have not yet incorporated such critical contextual signals in multi-turn and task-oriented dialogues. In this work, we propose a contextual E2E SLU model ar-chitecture that uses a multi-head attention mechanism over encoded previous utterances and dialogue acts (actions taken by the voice assistant) of a multi-turn dialogue. We detail alternative methods to integrate these contexts into the state-of-the-art recurrent and transformer-based models. When applied to a large de-identified dataset of utterances collected by a voice assistant, our method reduces average word and seman-tic error rates by 10.8% and 12.6%, respectively. We also present results on a publicly available dataset and show that our method significantly improves performance over a non-contextual baseline.


A simple circuit for direct current (dc) measurement using a transformer is proposed. The circuit is based on nonlinear effects in the transformer ferromagnetic core, and it provides information about the current magnitude and polarity. The circuit is analyzed applying piecewise-linear model of the core magnetization curve. An averaged-circuit model and the circuit transfer function are presented. Good linearity and wide measurement range are obtained. Design guides for reduction of the output voltage ripple are given. Measurement error within 0.25% of the full scale is achieved.


In order to establish new ICT technologies successfully on the market it is essential to build trust within any potential users. This is especially true for technologies which are based upon paradigms that are not yet familiar to these users, such as quantum technologies. Technical standards are an excellent means to offer a certain degree of legal reliability and technical interoperability that is required by industry for commercial take up. While such standards on the one hand must be clear enough to provide strict rules for implementers, on the other hand they also must remain flexible enough to not restrict progress in further research and development on the standardized technology. Hence such standards have to be produced by a wide variety of stakeholders taking into account all their different needs. The paper will provide some insight into the general mechanisms of standardization and their relation to quantum technologies. Alongside with the relevance of standardization as an enabler for certification of quantum based technologies it will explain its potential for securing intellectual property. In its first part paper will concentrate on the advantages of standardization and discuss fears some of the stakeholders share, in detail. The second part will focus on the technical work going on in ETSI in relation to quantum technologies. In 2008 ETSI created a standards work group on Quantum Key Distribution, the ETSI ISG QKD and more recently a group on Quantum-Safe Cryptography, the ETSI ISG QSC. A significant part of the technical work of these groups has already been published and will be introduced in the following. However a big share of work is still ongoing and lot more is planned for the future, as are continuous revisions and updates of the published specifications. This standardization work covers several levels: It starts of by problem statements in the form of use cases, from which technical requirements can be derived. These requirements then form the base upon which a reference architecture is created. Various different specifications describe in detail components, protocols and interfaces. An ontology is developed in order to guarantee common understanding of the technical terms used in standardization for quantum technologies. Special emphasis is provided to security proofs.


Reproductive isolation is a critical step in the process of speciation. Among the most important factors driving reproductive isolation are genetic incompatibilities. Whether these incompatibilities are already present before extrinsic factors prevent gene flow between incipient species remains largely unresolved in natural systems. This question is particularly challenging because it requires that we catch speciating populations in the act before they reach the full‐fledged species status. We measured the extent of intrinsic postzygotic isolation within and between phenotypically and genetically divergent lineages of the wild yeast Saccharomyces paradoxus that have partially overlapping geographical distributions. We find that hybrid viability between lineages progressively decreases with genetic divergence. A large proportion of postzygotic inviability within lineages is associated with chromosomal rearrangements, suggesting that chromosomal differences substantially contribute to the early steps of reproductive isolation within lineages before reaching fixation. Our observations show that polymorphic intrinsic factors may segregate within incipient species before they contribute to their full reproductive isolation and highlight the role of chromosomal rearrangements in speciation. We propose different hypotheses based on adaptation, biogeographical events and life history evolution that could explain these observations.


OBJECTIVE
Refine the understanding of the desirable skills for health sciences librarians as a basis for developing a training program model that reflects the fundamental changes in health care delivery and information technology.

DESIGN
A four-step needs assessment process: focus groups developed lists of desirable skills; the research team organized candidate skills into a taxonomy; a survey of a random sample of librarians and library users assessed perception of importance of individual skills; and the research team framed, as a unifying hypothesis, a training model.

SURVEY METHODS
The survey was distributed to random samples of 150 librarians, stratified by type of library, and 150 library users, stratified by type of use. A non-randomized sample was obtained by mounting the survey on a World Wide Web server. The survey instrument included 96 distinct skills organized into 13 categories. Respondents rated the importance of each skill on a Likert scale and provided a separate ranking by identifying the ten most important skills for the profession.

RESULTS
Among the participants, 51% of librarians and 36% of library users responded to the survey. All categories of skills were rated above the midpoint of priority on the Likert scale. All groups rated personality characteristics and skills as most important, with an understanding of the health sciences, education, and research being rated comparably to technical skills.

CONCLUSIONS
Health sciences librarians need a new educational model that provides them with broad-based tools to discover new roles and new resources for acquiring individual skills as the need arises. A unifying training model would involve trainees in developing their learning plan in a way that promotes proactive inquiry and self-directed learning, and it would rotate the trainees through projects to provide skills and an understanding of end-user work processes.


Since the introduction of medium-voltage cables with extruded insulation, essential improvements in materials, design and technology have taken place resulting in a remarkable increase of the electrical and ageing performance. In spite of this technological progress, the specified insulation thickness has never been modified. The currently high safety margins and the increasing cost pressure lead to a study of whether a reduction of the insulation thickness would be possible today. This report presents the results of an investigation on cables with a 4 mm thickness of XLPE or EPR insulation in different designs (France, Germany, Italy, Switzerland) which were tested as 12/20 (24) kV cables. The use of such cables will require adapted accessories. Therefore system tests with slip-on and coldshrink joints and terminations were additionally performed. Finally a proposal for new dimensions of extruded medium-voltage cables is made and the first realisations in utility networks in Belgium and France are presented.


BACKGROUND
In the assisted reproductive technique, cryopreserving in vitro-matured oocytes is a new strategy to extend the pool of total oocytes. However, oocyte cryopreservation technique is still unsatisfied. So the assessment of cyro-damage on meiotic spindle and mitochondrial function is necessary to evaluate and refine the current protocols.

MATERIAL AND METHODS
The immature oocytes were donated from women undergoing ICSI cycles. Cytoskeleton was assessed by α-tubulin and mitochondria through the fluorescent ΔΨm reporter JC-1.

RESULTS
Relative inner membrane potential in MII oocytes from vIVM group sharply decreased, compared with the control (n=30) (1.397 vs. 1.019, P<0.05). 45.2% defective spindles were observed in fIVM group, compared with 48.0% in vIVM group (P>0.05). Oocytes in fIVM (35.5%, 11/31) and vIVM (40.0%, 10/25) displayed abnormal chromosome (P>0.05).

CONCLUSION
In vitro maturation (IVM) has an adverse effect on the organization of spindle and chromosome, and no significantly effect on spindle and chromosome was discovered after vitrification-thaw cycle, while there was obvious damage of oocyte mitochondrial function of in vitro-matured oocyte detected after warming, which may be the reason of the low following developmental potential.


According to the materials of casing, frame, and cushion, this research aims to investigate the environmental impact assessment of sofas. With reference to this characteristic, this assessment is based on the evaluation model "Eco-indicator 99" of Sima Pro and the results are listed as below: l Regarding sofa materials which are brought about the negative influence to the environment: Sofa casing: polyester fiber > leather > imitation leather > cotton; sofa frame: wood > plastic > metal; sofa cushion: TDI foam > MDI foam. l If we deal with sofa materials by chemical methods, respiratory inorganics are caused from a great quantity of fossil fuels during production and the huge negative influence will result in climate change. l Concerning the waste influence on the environment when sofas are end of life: Sofa casing: To incinerate or landfill polyester fiber is more seriously; sofa frame: To incinerate or landfill wood is more critically; sofa cushion: to incinerate TDI or MDI is more harmfully than to landfill or recycle them. l It will have positive help and decrease garbage if we can recycle sofa waste.


Reed valves in many small compressors arc usually activated automatically by pressure differences across the valve. These valves arc sometime called automatic valves. They have a very simple geometry and construction but they comprise one of the most complicated performance characteristics. The unsteady vibration of the valve reed during the operation requires a proper design. Generally too stiff the valve plate causes over~compression and too flexible causes unnecessaJy fluctuation of the valve plate. The paper presents a simulation model of a typically used reed valve in a small refrigeration roiling piston compressor. The narural fundamental frequency was obtained using the Rayleigh's quotient. The non-uniformity of the valve width can be conveniently accounted for by considering the deflected mode shapes of the valve reed using the actual valve geometry and dimensions. The mode shape can then be applied in the simulation model of the valve reed. The mode shapes for the deflected valve before and after hitting the valve stop arc taken into the consideration. Predicted results are presented for various compressor delivery pressurcs. Effects of various valve damping coefficient, valve thickness and sensitivity of the valve behaviour with respect 10 the valve force area coefficient arc also presented. NOMENCLATURE A, Valve flow area, m B effective vai'~e fon:e area, m2 c. Coefficient of discharge C1• fon:e area coefficient d valve body width, m E Young modulus, Nlm I moment of ineltia, m" h, upstream enthalpy, k.Jikg h!{ downstream entl)alpy assuming isentropic e»pansion, k./lkg I effective valve length, m m mass flowrate, kgls P pressure, Nld P.., indicated power, W P "'" over compression power loss, W q(x) mode participation factor r valve tip radius, m valve thickness, m v, specific volume, m1kg V flow velocity, mts x distance from valve free end, m y(x) deflection of valve m natural frequency ell(:. l valve shape function P, plate density, kglm C damping coefficient


We investigate the pathway of thinning process for transient [110] nanowires (NWs) of Ag. The result is in good agreement with experimental observations. An unambiguous identification of the structure of a NW requires at least two views along different directions. In the cases where two views of different NW structures are practically the same for very thin NWs which pose experimental difficulty due to small signal-to-noise ratio, our theoretical analysis helps distinguish these structures. On the basis of conductance (G) calculations vis-á-vis the structure of transient NWs, the puzzling experimental observation of fractionally quantized G values is explained by considering the existence of mixed structures for thin wires.


Sixty episodes of candidemia among hospitalized patients in the United Arab Emirates (0.77/1000 discharges) in 1995-2001 were identified through case retrieval. All patients had malignancy (65%) or serious non-malignant disease (35%). Candida albicans accounted for 45% of isolates. Non-C. albicans Candida species occurred more frequently than C. albicans in adults (67%), hematologic-malignancy patients (58%), and cases of breakthrough candidemia (83%) and were prevalent overall in 2000-2001 (67-73%). C. tropicalis was identified in 15% of cases, C. glabrata in 5%, C. parapsilosis in 5%, C. inconspicua in 2%, C. famata in 2% and C. lusitaniae in 1%. Delayed diagnosis or treatment was common, as was Karnofsky scale < or = 40%, septic shock, and inadequate dosage or duration of antifungal drug therapy. Crude mortality was 50%, and mortality attributable to candidemia was 30%. Univariate analysis indicated patients were more likely to die (odds ratio for death [95% CI]) if they had been stationed in the intensive care unit (ICU) (4.76 [1.31-17.2]), had a Karnofsky scale < or = 40% (38.76 [4.66-322.47]), or suffered septic shock (9.88 [2.9-33.65]). They were more likely to survive in cases with concomitant bacteremia (0.25 [0.07-0.91]), adequate antifungal dose (0.28 [0.08-0.94]), and removal of central lines (0.26 [0.07-0.95]). The high association of bacteremia with candidemia (70% of cases) is unusual. The apparent survival benefit experienced by patients who had bacteremia (odds ratio for survival on multivariate analysis = 2.40 [0.28-20.17], P < 0.03) is novel.


Services are increasingly provided by cloud computing systems. Such services are often accessed while on the move. If the distance between the user and the service is getting large, quality-of-experience, in particular for interactive services, deteriorates. To counter this, the provisioning location of the service should be as close to the user as possible. This paper describes the concept of follow-me cloud, according to which services are migrating in unison with the user's movements. The key components required for such integrated user mobility/service mobility management are introduced and mappings to an OpenFlow-based implementation are described.


Development activities threaten the long-term sustainability of tropical floodplain systems. The construction of dams, weirs, irrigation infrastructure and regulators affect connectivity among habitats and can facilitate rapid declines in riverine biota, especially fish. Indonesia is a tropical island country with an abundance of monsoonal rivers. Massive expansions in hydropower and irrigation infrastructure are planned over the next two decades and mitigation measures will be needed to protect migratory fish. Most Indonesian freshwater fish need to migrate among habitats to complete essential life-history stages. So, strategies are urgently needed to mitigate the barrier effects of river infrastructure to ensure the long-term sustainability of river fishes. A common tool used worldwide is the construction of upstream and downstream fish passes. Only two fish passes exist in Indonesia. One at Perjaya Irrigation Dam on the Komering River (Sumatra island) and another on Poso Dam on the Poso River (Sulawesi island). Neither of these structures has been assessed and many other projects are proceeding without considering potential impacts on fisheries. The proposed infrastructure upgrades over the next two decades provide a once-in-a-generation opportunity to ensure that migratory fish are adequately protected into the future.


Although it is generally known, and even quoted as a quite ordinary failing of old age, routinization has been rarely the subject of scientific investigation. Is this behaviour so "ordinary" as seem to affirm the usual prejudices? In the present article, the authors present an overview of their work on this question. They developed a 10-item 5-point Likert Scale of Preference in Routine. The scale has been validated and related to age, anxiety and depression as well as cognitive deterioration. The results confirm that the routinization can be an interesting indication of vulnerability that must be taken in consideration especially in dealing with institutionalized elderly.


Citywide produced these short videos on the drugs crisis to highlight the key issues raised at the Community Campaign meeting held in October 2013 Crime and Punishment - in this video the contributors speak about the link between social disadvantage and community drug problems and look at the harm done to individuals and communities by criminalising people for using drugs. Then and Now - looks at how the drugs problem has affected our communities over the years and highlights some of the devastating impacts that are currently being experienced. At the same time as these problems have been developing, resources to projects in disadvantaged areas have been cut by up to 45%.


Nigericin, an ionophore that exchanges K+ for H+ across most biologic membranes, reversibly inhibited the proliferative response of human lymphocytes to phytohemagglutinin (PHA). Inhibition occurred at nigericin concentrations of 10(-8) M or greater, and only during the early event of mitogenesis. There was no effect if nigericin was added 24 h or later after the initiation of PHA-stimulated cultures. The effect was not the result of toxicity or impaired mitochondrial respiration. At similar concentrations, nigericin also inhibited lymphocyte responses in mixed lymphocyte cultures and to other mitogens including concanavalin A, pokeweed mitogen, and the calcium ionophore A23187. The findings support the view that one or more transmembranous events, mediated by changes in cation flux and/or membrane potential, are critical in the initial stages of lymphocyte mitogenesis.


A Web graph refers to the graph that is used to represent relationships between Web pages in cyberspace, where a node represents a URL and an edge indicates a link between two URLs. A Web graph is a very huge graph as growing with cyberspace This paper presents a pipeline for extracting web information from cyberspace to a web graph and layout techniques for making the web graph more readable As the size of computer screen is limited, only a small part of the Web graph can be displayed Several layout techniques should be adapted and combined effectively for web graph visualization. The visualization process incorporates graph drawing algorithms, layout adjustment methods, as well as filtering and clustering methods in order to decide which part of the Web graph should be displayed and how to display it based on the user's focus in navigation.


Cysteine proteases are of great scientific and pharmaceutical interest due to their diverse roles in cellular processes and diseases. However, it has been difficult to design inhibitors for use in determining their individual roles due to the conserved active site. Interestingly, each protease has an endogenous inhibitor that forms an α-helix at the prime side of the active site. We developed a new method for stabilizing α-helices using natural amino acids that allowed us to make small peptides into α-helical inhibitors. We were then able to use structure based design to turn these α-helices into specific inhibitors and probes for use in understanding the proteases' roles in various diseases and cell processes. The use of α-helices has further implications as a new method of creating investigative tools for understanding proteases. new method of creating investigative tools for understanding proteases. Degree Type Dissertation Degree Name Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) Graduate Group Biochemistry & Molecular Biophysics First Advisor Doron C. Greenbaum


Oil-soluble components can be encapsulated in an O/W1/W2 microsystem, in which they are dissolved in oil droplets dispersed in a gelled microbead (W1), which forms a barrier between the oil droplets and the aqueous continuous phase (W2). We investigated the rate and mechanism of breakdown of protein microbeads in a simulated gastric system, and studied the influence of microbead protein concentration, gelling method (cold-set, slow and fast heat-set), and further processing (freeze-drying), on the breakdown process. Breakdown rate decreased with increasing protein content of the beads, for the same method of production. Due to the porosity of the slowly-heated heat-set beads, breakdown occurred evenly throughout the entire bead. Cold-set microbeads of 10% protein broke down slightly slower than the heat-set microbeads of 15%. The denser surface of the 10% beads slowed down the diffusion of the enzymes into the bead's interior, causing the beads to be broken down from the outside inward. All these beads broke down within one hour. Increasing the rate of temperature increase during the heating step dramatically slowed breakdown. There was no significant breakdown of rapidly heated beads within 138 minutes, even though no difference in microstructure between rapidly and slowly heated beads was visible with electron microscopy. Freeze-drying of the beads also slowed their breakdown. After 132 minutes more than half the measured particle volume of were intact beads. Freeze-drying changed the microstructure of the beads irreversibly: rehydrating the dried beads did not result in a breakdown behaviour similar to that of unprocessed beads.


Compressive sensing (CS) is a new paradigm in signal processing and sampling theory. In this chapter, we introduce the mathematical foundations of this novel theory and explore its applications in wireless sensor networks (WSNs). CS is an important achievement in sampling theory and signal processing. It is increasingly being implied in many areas like multimedia, machine learning, medical imaging, etc. We focus on the aspects of CS theory that has direct applications in WSNs. We also investigate the most well-known implementations of CS theory for data collection in WSNs. © 2013 by Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.


It is an expectation of most of the numerical control products manufacturer that have a powerful controller with whole won intellectual property and without restriction from other companies. The paper introduces a new type of motion controller that based on ARM and EtherCAT field bus. It concludes the analysis and porting method of the EtherCAT soft master source code, and how to modify the driver of dm9000 to make EtherCAT master works correctly. It also gives an example to confirm the reliability of the controller. Since ARM has an open architecture, EtherCAT soft master does not depend on any special hardware card, and Linux OS is an open source system, this controller has open and flexible characteristic both on hardware and software.


Abstract. Small-scale surface heterogeneities can influence land-atmosphere fluxes and therefore carbon, water and energy budgets on a larger scale. This effect is of particular relevance for high-latitude ecosystems, because of the great amount of carbon stored in their soils. We introduce a novel micro-topographic model, the Hummock-Hollow (HH) model, which explicitly represents small-scale surface elevation changes. By computing the water table at the small scale, and by coupling the model with a process-based model for soil methane processes, we are able to model the effects of micro-topography on hydrology and methane emissions in a typical boreal peatland. In order to assess the effect of micro-topography on water the balance and methane emissions of the peatland we compare two versions of the model, one with a representation of micro-topography and a classical single-bucket model version, and show that the temporal variability in the model version with micro-topography performs better if compared with local data. Accounting for micro-topography almost triples the cumulative methane flux over the simulated time-slice. We found that the single-bucket model underestimates methane emissions because of its poor performance in representing hydrological dynamics. The HH model with micro-topography captures the spatial dynamics of water and methane fluxes, being able to identify the hotspots for methane emissions. The model also identifies a critical scale (0.01 km2) which marks the minimal resolution for the explicit representation of micro-topography in larger-scale models.


A newspaper clipping from the Charles B. Moore Collection. the clipping details a meteorological table for the month of January in the year of 1855. The table records these variables for January: the morning, afternoon, and evening temperatures; the mean temperature of the month; the barometer reading; the monthly rainfall; and the direction of the wind. The table also includes the total rain fall for the month and the calculated mean temperature.


Dust production due to plasma disruptions has been investigated using a safety analysis code, which can calculate the plasma dynamics and thermal characteristics of fusion reactor structures simultaneously. We selected two fusion reactor designs in the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER ), i.e., the Engineering Design Activity (EDA) and the Conceptual Design Activity (CDA). The ITER/EDA will adopt beryllium for the plasma-facing component (PFC), and the ITER/CDA adopted graphite for PFC. The beryllium dust production in the ITER/EDA reactor will range from 7.0 to 10.3 kg/disruption, which strongly depends on vapor shield effects. The carbon dust production in the ITER/CDA reactor will range from 1.9 to 2.4 kg/disruption. However, the carbon dust will increase by as much as a factor of 2 to 5 because the effective latent heat of graphite has a large uncertainty under the extremely high heat flux during disruptions. For both, dust production from the first wall depends on the current quench time during disruptions. If the current quench time can be extended, the beryllium dust from the first wall will be minimized, and the carbon dust from there will be negligible.


A hybrid stated-preference model is developed that combines the referendum contingent valuation response format with an experimentally designed set of attributes. A sequence of valuation questions is asked to a random sample in a mail-out mail-back format. Econometric analysis shows that willingness to pay for policy attributes is formed dynamically.


Pulmonary exposure to Bacillus anthracis spores initiates inhalational anthrax, a life-threatening infection. It is known that dormant spores can be recovered from the lungs of infected animals months after the initial spore exposure. Consequently, a 60-day course antibiotic treatment is recommended for exposed individuals. However, there has been little information regarding details or mechanisms of spore persistence in vivo. In this study, we investigated spore persistence in a mouse model. The results indicated that weeks after intranasal inoculation with B. anthracis spores, substantial amounts of spores could be recovered from the mouse lung. Moreover, spores of B. anthracis were significantly better at persisting in the lung than spores of a non-pathogenic Bacillus subtilis strain. The majority of B. anthracis spores in the lung were tightly associated with the lung tissue, as they could not be readily removed by lavage. Immunofluorescence staining of lung sections showed that spores associated with the alveolar and airway epithelium. Confocal analysis indicated that some of the spores were inside epithelial cells. This was further confirmed by differential immunofluorescence staining of lung cells harvested from the infected lungs, suggesting that association with lung epithelial cells may provide an advantage to spore persistence in the lung. There was no or very mild inflammation in the infected lungs. Furthermore, spores were present in the lung tissue as single spores rather than in clusters. We also showed that the anthrax toxins did not play a role in persistence. Together, the results suggest that B. anthracis spores have special properties that promote their persistence in the lung, and that there may be multiple mechanisms contributing to spore persistence.


In the portion of their reply directed to me, Professor Asch and Dr. Wasserman helpfully develop the synecdoche argument by highlighting its connections to stigma. I understand them to distinguish the situation of a woman making a decision concerning her pregnancy informed by prenatal testing from a woman making a similar decision informed by considerations of, for example, poverty, like so: In testing contexts, it will characteristically be the case that the woman's decision will be distorted by the stigma associated with impairment: She will consider only the fact that, should her pregnancy come to term, the child would be impaired; she will not be able to attend in a satisfactory manner to a fuller range of possible features, both good and bad, that may characterize the child's life and her experience of being the child's parent. The woman considering whether to terminate her pregnancy due to, say, poverty will, in contrast, typically be able to deliberate in ways more responsive to a broader range of relevant matters, as the possible child's poverty will not be the only thing she is in a position to take into account about her or his life and their life together. Further, even where poverty or some other factor influencing decisions about terminating or continuing pregnancy are stigmatizing, they are not as thoroughly stigmatizing as are impairment-related conditions, due to prevalent confusions about the immutability of traits seen as biological rather than social.


Objective: From the review of the theories of the cycle of violence, gender violence and the social construction of masculine and feminine identities.
Methodology: Carried out a non - experimental, exploratory and descriptive study with a nonrandom selection of students a public university with the aim of establishing a balance and a prospective expectation of violence.
Results: The results show that of synaptic weights are explained by incoming, and outgoing latent layers on the pre-contemplation of violence, contemplation of aggressive relationships and personal change.
Conclusion: Lines alluding to the kind of relationship research, negotiation and consensus decision making to warn couple conflicts.


The MARCOS cruise, which took place in the South Central Mediterranean Sea on board the RV 'Urania', resulted in the collection of 27 species of Echinodermata from shallow to bathyal depths, many from around Malta (the Fisheries Management Zone). The fauna is represented by common to rare taxa already reported from the Mediterranean with the exception of the amphi-Atlantic ophiuroid Ophiotreta valenciennesi rufescens (Koehler, 1896), recorded from the Mediterranean Basin for the first time. Odontaster mediterraneus (von Marenzeller, 1893) and Luidia sarsi Lutken, 1858 are also first records for the Maltese Islands.


PURPOSE
To compare the efficacy and safety of percutaneous nephrolithotomy (PNL) in the treatment of staghorn calculi (SC) under spinal anesthesia (SA) versus general anesthesia (GA).

MATERIALS AND METHODS
Patients with SC who treated with PNL from 2011 to 2014 were retrospectively reviewed. In total, 100 patients were divided into 2 groups according to anesthesia type: SA (group 1, n = 47) and GA (group 2, n = 53). Demographics, perioperative parameters, and postoperative analgesic requirements were compared between the two groups.

RESULTS
There was no significant difference in terms of age, sex, American Society of Anesthesiologists score, body mass index, or stone size between the two groups (P = .40, .30, .18, .20, and .50, respectively). The mean procedure times were 84.7 and 87.5 min in the SA and GA groups, respectively (P = .68). The complication rates were similar in the SA and GA groups (19.1% vs. 13.2%, respectively; P = .421). The stone-free rates were also similar in the SA and GA groups (61.7% vs. 52.8%, respectively; P = .374). No statistically significant difference was found in analgesic requirements.

CONCLUSION
SA is a safe method without the risks of GA and may be used for conditions in which GA is contraindicated or in patients with concerns about GA. Our outcomes indicated that SC can be treated safely and effectively under SA.


Background : Cigarette smoking is known to harm the health of smokers and causes the death of millions people around the world. Smoking initiation in Indonesia is begun early especially during teenagers year. The aim of the study was to analyze the factors related to the intention to cigarette smoking among Junior High School students in Jatinangor subdistrict. Methods : A quantitative method with cross sectional study was conducted in the junior high school setting during the period of September to November 2013. Inclusion criterias were students aged 1315 years old and did not smoke. Four factors were measured in this study, which were attitudes toward cigarette smoking, parents who smoke, peers influence and advertisement where each factor had 5 questions with 'Yes' or 'No' answers. Data were collected through self-administered questionnaire among 226 students using stratified random sampling. Statistical analysis of the variables was using chi square test. Results : As much as 44.25% of the respondents had intention and 55.75% had no intention to cigarette smoking. This study showed significant relation among attitudes, parents who smoke, peers influence and advertisements with the intention to cigarette smoking. Conclusions : Half of the respondents have intention to cigarette smoking and the most factors related to it are peers influence. DOI : 10.15850/amj.v2n3.528


N-Acylhomoserine lactones (AHLs) are used as quorum-sensing signals in Gram-negative bacteria. Many genes encoding AHL-degrading enzymes have been cloned and characterized in various microorganisms. Coagulase-negative staphylococci (CNS) are present on the skin of animals and are considered low-virulent species. The AHL-lactonase gene homologue, ahlS, was present in the genomes of the CNS strains Staphylococcus carnosus, Staphylococcus haemolyticus, Staphylococcus saprophyticus, and Staphylococcus sciuri. We cloned the candidate ahlS homologue from six CNS strains into the pBBR1MCS5 vector. AhlS from the CNS strains showed a higher degrading activity against AHLs with short acyl chains compared to those with long acyl chains. AhlS from S. sciuri was expressed and purified as a maltose-binding protein (MBP) fusion. Pseudomonas aeruginosa is an opportunistic pathogen that regulates several virulence factors such as elastase and pyocyanin by quorum-sensing systems. When MBP-AhlS was added to the culture of P. aeruginosa PAO1, pyocyanin production and elastase activity were substantially reduced compared to those in untreated PAO1. These results demonstrate that the AHL-degrading activity of AhlS from the CNS strains can inhibit quorum sensing in P. aeruginosa PAO1.


Abstract The clay-mineral fraction of samples from a bentonite deposit in the Zvolenská kotlina Basin (Slovakia), formed by the alteration of andesitic pyroclastics, was dominated by Febearing montmorillonite of relatively low charge. The total Fe content of the samples ranged from 3.58 to 5.81 wt.% Fe. Variable-temperature Mössbauer spectroscopy revealed that structural Fe(III) in smectite accounts for 70-90% of the total Fe in the unfractionated samples. No structural Fe(II) was observed by Mössbauer spectroscopy, but a small amount was detected by wet chemical analysis. The remainder of the Fe is present in oxide and/or oxyhydroxide phases dominated by poorly ordered goethite and hematite. The hyperfine parameters of the Mössbauer spectra for the raw bentonite are consistent with structural Fe(III) in an aluminosilicate phase mixed with varying quantities of hematite, goethite and possibly maghemite. Except in the fine fraction of sample L28, the hematite failed to undergo the Morin transition, as shown by the negative values for quadrupole splitting at 298 K and 6 K.


Heat shock proteins (HSPs) are chaperones induced under pathological conditions and involved in protein stabilization and cellular protection. In this study, we have evaluated the expression pattern of the glial cell–related HSP27, HSP32, and HSP47 following an excitotoxic lesion in the immature rat brain. Postnatal day 9 rats received an intracortical injection of N‐methyl‐D‐aspartate and tissue was processed immunohistochemically for HSPs and double labeling using astroglial and microglial markers. HSP expression was quantified by image analysis. Excitotoxic damage caused primary cortical degeneration and secondary damage in the corresponding thalamus. In the injured cortex, reactive microglia/macrophages expressed HSP32 from 10 h until 14 days postlesion (PL), showing maximal levels at days 3–5. In parallel, most cortical reactive astrocytes showed expression of HSP47 from 10 h until 14 days PL and a population of them also displayed HSP27 labeling from 1 day PL. In addition, some cortical reactive astrocytes showed a temporary expression of HSP32 at day 1. In general, astroglial HSP expression in the cortex achieved maximal levels at days 3–5 PL. In the damaged thalamus, HSP32 was not significantly induced, but reactive astrocytes expressed HSP47 and some of them also HSP27. Thalamic astroglial HSP induction was transient, peaked at 5 days PL and reached basal levels by day 14. The injury‐induced expression of HSP32, HSP27, and HSP47 in glial cells may contribute to glial cell protection and adaptation to damage, therefore playing an important role in the evolution of the glial response and the excitotoxic lesion outcome. HSP32 may provide antioxidant protective mechanisms to microglia/macrophages, whereas HSP47 could contribute to extracellular matrix remodeling and HSP27 may stabilize the astroglial cytoskeleton and participate in astroglial antioxidant mechanisms. GLIA 38:1–14, 2002. © 2002 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.


In this paper, the steady flow characteristics around 3-dimensional cavitating or noncavitating bodies (such as hydrofoils, struts and ships) inside a numerical towing tank (NTT) are investigated by an iterative boundary element method (IBEM). The iterative nonlinear method is based on Green's theorem, which is applied to the surfaces of the cavitating or noncavitating surface-piercing body, to the walls of the NTT and to the free surface. The integral equation based on Green's theorem is divided into 5 parts: the surface-piercing body; the free surface; the NTT's right sidewall, left sidewall and bottom surface. Those 5 problems are solved separately, with the effects they have on one another being accounted for in an iterative manner. The cavitating or noncavitating 3-D surface-piercing body is modeled with constant strength dipole and constant strength source panels, distributed over the body surface including the cavity surface. The free-surface part and the NTT's sides and bottom surface are also modeled with constant strength dipole and source panels. The method is first applied to a rectangular surface-piercing hydrofoil and validated with experimental measurements. The method is then applied to a cavitating rectangular hydrofoil, and the effects of the reflected waves from the NTT's sidewalls on cavity characteristics and Kelvin wave pattern are discussed.


The suggested system will make use of recent technology that according to Embedded Linux board namely Raspberry Pi and Smartphone android application. The suggested system creates Gps navigation/GPRS/GSM SIM900A Module including all of the three things namely Gps navigation GPRS GSM. The Gps navigation current location from the vehicle GPRS transmits the tracking information towards the server and also the GSM can be used for delivering alert message to vehicle's owner mobile. A sophisticated vehicle monitoring and tracking system according to Embedded Linux Board and android application was created and implemented for monitoring the college vehicle from the location A to location B at real-time. The suggested system would place within the vehicle whose position will be determined on the internet page and monitored at real-time. Within the suggested system, there's comparison between your current vehicle path and already specified path in to the file system of raspberry pi. Therefore, the driver drives the automobile only around the vehicle owner's specified path. When the driver drives the automobile around the wrong path then your alert message is going to be sent in the suggested system towards the vehicle's owner mobile as well as loudspeakers alert driven using Raspberry pi's audio jack. Within the suggested system the already specified path within the raspberry pi's file system obtained from vehicle owner's android Smartphone using android application. The suggested system also required proper care of the traveler's safety by utilizing LPG Gas leakage sensor MQ6 and temperature sensor DS18B20.Means picking a path from location one place to another happens from vehicle owner's android application which provides more safety and safeguards visiting the traveler. When the vehicle's speed goes past the required worth of the rate, then even the warning message is going to be sent from system towards the owner mobile.


: The results of early diagnosis of acute hematogenous osteomyelitis in 329 children were analysed, causes of diagnostic errors and late hospitalization studied. A comparative assessment of diagnostic potentialities of liquid crystal termography (142 cases), osteotonometry and cytologic of a punctate of medullar cavity (89), osteomedullography (65), intraosseous thermometry (75) and roentgenography of the bones. Use of liquid crystal thermography permitted to establish location and spreading of the inflammatory process in a bone at the first day of the disease, to control the effectiveness of treatment, to predict its course and outcome.


Background and Objective: Our group is investigating the effect of laser phototherapy on a range of cell lines seeded onto novel bioscaffolds as a potential method for assisting in tissue repair and healing. Our aim was to analyse the cell proliferation and growth characteristics of the olfactory neuronal ensheathing cells on the chosen bioscaffolds. Methods: Olfactory lamina propria ensheathing (OLF442) cells were cultured, seeded and grown on two novel scaffolds: (1) fully crystallised bioactive glass-ceramic, and (2) modified spongin collagen matrix. Twenty-four hours after seeding of scaffolds, cells were irradiation with a single exposure of laser (830 nm continuous, 30 mW, 10 J/cm2; Smart Laser Medilase, NSW, Australia). Cell proliferation was calculated with spectrophotometry. Scanning electron micrography was utilised to visualise cell growth, migration patterns, and morphology of cells growing on the three-dimensional scaffolds. Results: Laser irradiation produced a 29% mean reduction in OLF442 cell growth on the glass-ceramic scaffold discs (mean absorbance +/- SD = 0.192+/-0.002) compared to control (non-irradiated) discs (mean absorbance +/- SD = 0.22+/-0.002). There was a 43% mean increase in OLF442 cell proliferation on the modified collagen scaffolds compared to non-irradiated control scaffolds. Conclusion: Both scaffolds were capable of supporting OLF442 cell growth. There was a stimulatory effect of phototherapy on OLF442 cells in collagen derived scaffolds, and inhibitory effect of the same laser attributes on a glass-ceramic scaffold. The results support the potential use of laser for promoting tissue healing using bioscaffolds but the type of scaffold may affect the laser-mediated outcomes.


Most political scientists studying representation adopt some version of Hanna Pitkin's definition of representation as "making present what is absent." Their emphasis is on the "making present"—that is, on how representatives gain access, voice, and decision-making authority. Although presence is an essential component of representation, understanding and properly evaluating representation requires attending not only to how representation makes groups present but also to how it makes groups absent. In particular, it is important to differentiate the various kinds of absences that constitute representation. To that end, this paper offers a typology of political absence. It identifies three relevant divisions within absence (and presence) and distinguishes strategic absences from involuntary ones. Such theoretical distinctions are central to any general theory of representation that can adequately account for how representatives make and further claims by choosing to be absent from representative processes, and explicate the democratic costs and benefits of such absences.


INTRODUCTION In October 1997, the Business Council for Sustainable Development - Gulf of Mexico (BCSD-GM) launched a demonstration By-Product Synergy project in Tampico, Mexico with a group of 21 local industries. The goal was to promote joint commercial development among economic sectors so that one industry's wastes became another industry's inputs. The project demonstrated that by working together, industries can maximize use of potentially profitable materials which otherwise may be treated as "waste". By reusing by-products as raw materials rather than disposing of them as waste, companies save energy reduce environmental damage, and gain potential trade opportunities. They may also lower their greenhouse gas emissions, while cutting the demand for raw materials and landfills. The Tampico project provided an opportunity to put those ideas into practice. The goals of the demonstration BPS project were to identify a minimum of five synergies, foster greater understanding of eco-efficiency, and create a new community of companies with greater industry leadership. This summary report documents and disseminates the project's successes, shares the lessons learned, and recommends ways to overcome barriers in future by-product synergies. BACKGROUND Several member companies of the American chapter of the Business Council for Sustainable Development for the Gulf of Mexico (BCSDGM) have experienced individual successes with by-product synergies. These have been documented in the primer, "By-Product Synergy: A Strategy for Sustainable Development - A Primer" (April 1997). The American and Mexican chapters of the BCSD-GM wanted to test the idea of approaching by-product synergy in a systematic manner. Rather than stumble upon synergies haphazardly, the idea was to seek these potentially profitable synergies among a group of industries. The Tampico-Cuidad Madero-Altamira region offered an ideal location for a demonstration by-product synergy project. Most of the major industries in the area were already linked for other business purposes through the powerful network of the Asociacion de Industriales del Sur de Tamaulipas (AISTAC). Eighteen of the twenty-one companies are members of this association; the demonstration project was able to take advantage of the association's structure and relationships. The region has recognized that it must set a zero waste - 100% product goal, if it is to shift to a sustainable industrial economy. Eco-efficiency has been an ongoing pursuit within these companies; most companies are ISO 9000 certified and several are ISO 14000 certified. The BCSD-GM is advancing these efforts a step further by identifying and capitalizing on opportunities to promote eco-efficiency across industries, not just within a given industry. The Tampico region with a population of approximately 800,000 is located on the Gulf of Mexico. It is one of the busiest ports in Mexico. Most of the participating firms were chemical and petrochemical companies (see Appendix 1). The driving forces behind the project were the BCSD-GM, (American and Mexican chapters) AISTAC, and the strong leadership and support of Mexican industrialist Ing. Eduardo Prieto Sanchez M., director general of GRUPO/PRIMEX, and president of the BCSD-GM Mexican Chapter. The US Environmental Protection Agency, NAFTA's Commission for Environmental Cooperation (CEC), the AVINA Foundation, and the Ford Foundation also supported the project, which was managed by Susana Hurtado, a local facilitator. THE PROCESS The entire process took approximately fourteen months, plus the evaluation period. The proposal for a generic BPS Project estimates that it should take nine to twelve months, with two additional months to evaluate the results. Awareness Project organizers began by seeking the support and commitment of a core group of participant companies. Ing. Prieto and Susana Hurtado worked together to sell the idea to the CEOs of major industrial companies in the area. …


Conventional carbon fiber reinforced phenolic resins are widely used to prepare carbon/carbon composites due to their high carbon yield. Property enhancement of carbon fabric/phenolic composites is possible through carbon nanomaterial dispersion in the matrix. The effect of carbon nanofiber dispersion in phenolic resins/carbon fabric composites was investigated. The dispersion efficiency in different systems and conditions was studied and the effect of nanofiber concentration on the properties determined. Carbon nanomaterial incorporation influences the mechanical properties of the composites and gives better thermal stability. Nanofiber dispersion shows better adhesion of phenolic resin to the fabric under fracture surface study.


A considerable amount of mobility data has been accumulated due to the proliferation of location-based service. Nevertheless, compared with mobility data from transportation systems like the GPS module in taxis, this kind of data is commonly sparse in terms of individual trajectories in the sense that users do not access mobile services and contribute their data all the time. Consequently, the sparsity inevitably weakens the practical value of the data even it has a high user penetration rate. To solve this problem, we propose a novel attentional neural network-based model, named AttnMove, to densify individual trajectories by recovering unobserved locations at a fine-grained spatial-temporal resolution. To tackle the challenges posed by sparsity, we design various intra- and inter- trajectory attention mechanisms to better model the mobility regularity of users and fully exploit the periodical pattern from long-term history. We evaluate our model on two real-world datasets, and extensive results demonstrate the performance gain compared with the state-of-the-art methods. This also shows that, by providing high-quality mobility data, our model can benefit a variety of mobility-oriented down-stream applications.


Pain is a challenging health dilemma and has gained a great focus in clinico-pathological conditions correlated with post-operative, neuropathic and cancer pain. While perioperative administration of analgesics to mitigate the postoperative pain has been well established in the literature (termed preventive analgesia), preemptive analgesia or effects of any drug (such as anesthetics) prior to operation has been less highlighted [1]. It is important to note that adequate management of the pain either postoperative or neuropathic facilitates functional recovery, decreases financial burden (such as therapeutic costs), diminishes morbidity and improves quality of life of the patients. In this regard, there are emerging lines of evidences indicating that the use of local anesthetics not only potentiate the effects of analgesics but per se, exerts protective effects against the painful conditions [1-2]. Interestingly, while general anesthetics have been reported to render the pain potentiation and inflammation, local anesthetics conversely have potent anti-inflammatory properties, a unique characteristic which plays a critical role in the management of postoperative and neuropathic pain [3-4]. To support the advantageous utilization of local anesthetics in controlling the pain, clinical and preclinical studies have demonstrated the efficacy of these compounds in modulation of painful outcomes of spinal pain, and pain related to hip and knee arthroplasty, foot and ankle surgery, arthroscopic and open shoulder surgery [1-2]. These effects of local anesthetics have been attributed to blocking of the peripheral nerves and prevention of the nerve injury by inhibiting the microglial activation [5-6]. Recently, animal research has demonstrated the functional and structural abnormalities following exposure to general anesthetics in early life. Millions of infants and children experience surgical operations and undergo painful interventions each year. Similarly, epidemiological reports elucidated that exposure to anesthetics in the early child-hood correlated with subsequent neurobehavioral difficulties [7-8]. Collectively, these reports have raised serious concerns that anesthetics may disrupt the normal development of the brain in humans. On the other hand, the fact is that anesthetics also have protective properties against deleterious effects of stress, pain, and ischemia in the immature brain [8]. However, despite the multiple potential benefits of local anesthetics, possible effects of these compounds on the developing brain are elusive. This review calls for epidemiological and preclinical investigations in order to determine if common medications used as local anesthetics may result in the neurobehavioral and neurochemical abnormalities. Considering that using humans for such experiments is practically impossible due to ethical and subjective matters, experimental animal models are widely applied in laboratories. There are questions as to whether exposure to local anesthetics as analgesics in early life may induce behavioral, structural and functional changes in the adulthood and more importantly is the possibility of altered response to analgesics in later life. Although this finding that analgesic effects of local anesthetics have opened new avenues for better management of pain, but this perspective of the possible adverse effects of local anesthetics on developing brain has largely been omitted in the field of research. Apparently, it is important to know that if epidural or systemic administration of local anesthetics is able to induce any harm to the developing brain, their use in the clinics may result in irrecoverable outcomes with huge financial and social burden and negatively affect the children and their families later. Thus, we considered these issues in this review that investigations in this field not only prevent the possible malicious consequences of local anesthetics but at the same time assist the experts in the field in proper utilization of these medications.


We present a new method for compressing spatio-temporal audio data for reproduction through wave field synthesis. The data is obtained by sampling the sound field in space at equally-spaced points on a straight line, and transformed into the frequency domain using a spatio-temporal lapped transform. The two-dimensional spectrum is quantized using a psychoacoustic model derived for spatio-temporal frequencies, which estimates the maximum quantization noise power that each frequency can support in order to preserve transparency in the decoded signal. On the decoder side, the inverse lapped transform recovers the spatio-temporal data. In our experimental results, we verified that the bitrate-efficiency can be improved by increasing either the spatial sampling frequency or the spatial resolution of the lapped transform.


Technology has reshaped the workplace and the rapid improvements have transformed how we work nowadays. In the pursuit of industry 4.0, we build smart machines and robots to replace manual labor. While the manual labor is replaced by machines, in many cases, humans are trans-formed into desktop software users. Jobs such as testing, quality inspection, data monitoring, data entry, and routine editing remain to be done by humans in front of desktop computers. The operations to software applications in principle can be reduced to screen output understanding and mouse and keyboard operations. When the characteristics of these jobs are repetitive, tedious, and monotonous, they can be replaced by GUI automation techniques. GUI automation can be achieved by different un-derlying technologies, each has its pros and cons. In this paper, we describe a tool-Korat, which uses computer-vision to achieve maximum cross-platform capability for industrial applications, including test automation and robotic process automation. Although Korat has been successfully adopted by several industrial customers, difficult problems remain to be addressed. The problems and difficulties in applying computer vision for GUI automation are discussed and studied in this paper, particularly the experiences of applying open source OCR to GUI automation over color screenshots. By intro-ducing critical pre-processing stages and algorithms, the recognition rate is significantly increased and becomes feasible for practical usage.


A novel high-speed and low-power negative level shifter suitable for low voltage applications is presented. To reduce the switching delay and leakage current, a novel bootstrapping technique is designed for the level shifter. Furthermore, a pull-down driver is proposed to have high driving capability under different operation modes. The circuit has been designed in 130nm 1.5V/5V triple-well CMOS technology with a nominal power supply VDD of 1.5V and a negative voltage of −4.5V. Simulation results show that the switching delay and power consumption have been significantly reduced by roughly 62% and 65%, respectively. In addition, the proposed level shifter realizes a wide operation margin with a lower VDD compared to conventional implementations.


The most dynamic and global environmental issue to date is climate change. The consequences of greenhouse effect and climate change from rising temperatures, frequent droughts, irregular rainfall, etc. are already evident. Insects and plants are affected by climate change and extreme weather events and the direct impact of anthropogenic climate change has been reported on every continent, in every ocean and in most major taxonomic groups. In the modern period, as a result of natural cycles and anthropogenic activities and their effects on the global climate, plants are typically susceptible to new environmental factors, i.e. higher levels solar radiation, rise in temperatures, greenhouse effect and changes in rainfall patterns over the seasons. Increased temperatures, CO2 and rapid changes in rainfall patterns can dramatically alter the biochemistry of plants and thus plant defence responses. This can have important implications in insect fertility, feeding rates, survival, population size, and dispersal. The relationships between plants and insects are thus changed with significant consequences for food security and natural ecosystems. Similarly, mismatches between plants and insect pollinators are caused by the acceleration of plant phenology by warming. Human nutrition which depends on insect pollination can be affected with reduction in plant reproduction and fitness. Thus, understanding abiotic stress reactions in plants and insects is relevant and challenging in agriculture. In the preparation and implementation of effective strategies for future insect pest management programmes, the impact of climate change on crop production, mediated by changes in the populations of extreme insect pests should be carefully considered.


: The present work reports on a new silicotungstic acid catalyst supported on graphene (HSiW/G). The deposition was performed by sonochemical method proven as an effective technique for the synthesis of the supported catalysts. The catalyst (HSiW/G) was characterized using a variety of physico-chemical methods as TEM, HR SEM, DLS, FTIR and Raman spectroscopy. Homogeneous distribution of HSiW on the surface of graphene was demonstrated. Hydrolysis of biomass for the production of glucose was studied. The hydrolysis of glycogen was performed with a HSiW/G catalyst by hydrothermal treatment. The yield of glucose (65 wt%) obtained was about 8 times higher than that obtained with the same amount of bare HSiW. Stability of the HSiW/graphene even after 3 repeated uses was confirmed. The mechanism of enhancement of the catalytic activity was discussed in terms of a special interaction between the graphene support and HSiW and also the appearance of hydrophobic cavities on the surface of graphene.


In nuclear cardiology, radionuclide data concerning the cardiac function are presently collected using external detectors, providing scintigraphic images or activity curves with respect to time. This paper presents a new approach to the latter kind of instruments, which are often called nuclear stethoscopes. This proposed system is composed of a cardiac implant, a miniature transmitter positioned externally on the chest and a remote receiver system allowing the processing of the cardiac function data. The transcutaneous magnetic link permits the power transfer in order to energize the electronic implant, and permits the telemetry of the electrocardiogram and the radionuclide data between the implant and the external receiver system. The nuclear activity measured by a photodiode for gamma rays based on cadmium telluride, with pulse width modulation, constitutes the carrier of the electrocardiographic activity. The composite signal is transmitted by means of the implant impedance modulation. The use of this transmission concept reduces to a minimum the volume of the implant. Furthermore, this system, allowing the correct positioning of the external transmitter facing the left ventricle, increases the performance of the global transmission system. Theoretical results on the design of the magnetic link are presented.


The sintering of RF plasma synthesized NiZn ferrite nanoparticles was studied. The as-synthesized nanoparticles have been modeled as having a core-shell structure with richer Zn concentration on the surface. Most Zn cations occupy tetrahedral sites typical of zinc ferrites, while some of the Zn cations occupy tetrahedral sites in a (111) oriented surface layer in the form of ZnO. Ni and Fe cations show no evidence of such disorder and their positions are consistent with the bulk spinel structure. This core-shell structure evolves by decomposition of the as-synthesized nanoparticles into Ni-and Zn-rich ferrites followed by the decomposition of the Zn-rich ferrites into ZnO and -Fe2O3 during sintering of the nanoparticles. Within the core region, sintering causes Ni to exit the ferrite structure and be reduced to a metallic form, possibly via a NiO intermediate. The miscibility gap in the pseudo-binary ZnFe2O4/NiFe2O4 system was modeled using equilibrium solution data. Decomposition rates are interpreted considering inter-diffusion kinetics. Sintered nanoparticle compacts showed an evolution of a 4- phase mixture of ferrite + ZnO + -Fe2O3 + Ni with increasing sintering temperature. The average ferrite nanoparticle size is preserved up to very high sintering temperatures. These observations suggest that the ZnO shell contributes to the sintering process by surface diffusion while acting as a barrier to the growth of the ferrite core. Metal edge EXAFS patterns of the sintered compacts confirm that Fe transforms from a single ferrite phase into a mixture of -Fe2O3 and ferrite; ZnO content progressively increases with sintering temperature and elemental Ni evolves from the ferrite with increasing sintering temperature. The saturation magnetization and Curie temperature were observed to decrease as a function of sintering temperature, with an anomaly at the temperature where Ni starts to form. This is explained by Zn diffusing from the core depleting the ferrite and increasing the amount of non-magnetic ZnO in the shell. AC magnetic measurements also vary systematically with the microstructural evolution.


Context; Our understanding of the star formation process has traditionally been confined to certain mass or luminosity boundaries because most studies focus only on low-, intermediate- or high-mass star-forming regions. As part of the "Water In Star-forming regions with Herschel" (WISH) key program, water and other important molecules, such as CO and OH, have been observed in 51 embedded young stellar objects (YSOs). The studied sample covers a range of luminosities from 10^5 L_sol. Aims; We analyse the CO line emission towards a large sample of protostars in terms of both line intensities and profiles. Methods; Herschel-HIFI spectra of the 12CO 10-9, 13CO 10-9 and C18O 5-4, 9-8 and 10-9 lines are analysed for a sample of 51 YSOs. In addition, JCMT spectra of 12CO 3-2 and C18O 3-2 extend this analysis to cooler gas components. Results; All observed CO and isotopologue spectra show a strong linear correlation between the logarithms of the line and bolometric luminosities across six orders of magnitude on both axes. This suggests that the high-J CO lines primarily trace the amount of dense gas associated with YSOs. This relation can be extended to larger (extragalactic) scales. The majority of the detected 12CO line profiles can be decomposed into a broad and a narrow Gaussian component, while the C18O spectra are mainly fitted with a single Gaussian. A broadening of the line profile is also observed from pre-stellar cores to embedded protostars, which is due mostly to non-thermal motions (turbulence/infall). The widths of the broad 12CO 3-2 and 10-9 velocity components correlate with those of the narrow C18O 9-8 profiles, suggesting that the entrained outflowing gas and envelope motions are related independent of the mass of the protostar. These results indicate that physical processes in protostellar envelopes have similar characteristics across the studied luminosity range.


In biometrics research, the periocular region has been regarded as an interesting trade-off between the face and the iris, particularly in unconstrained data acquisition setups. As in other biometric traits, the current challenge is the development of more robust recognition algorithms. Having investigated the suitability of the 'elastic graph matching' (EGM) algorithm to handle non-linear distortions in the periocular region because of facial expressions, the authors observed that vertices locations often not correspond to displacements in the biological tissue. Hence, they propose a 'globally coherent' variant of EGM (GC-EGM) that avoids sudden local angular movements of vertices while maintains the ability to faithfully model non-linear distortions. Two main adaptations were carried out: (i) a new term for measuring vertices similarity and (ii) a new term in the edges-cost function penalises changes in orientation between the model and test graphs. Experiments were carried out both in synthetic and real data and point for the advantages of the proposed algorithm. Also, the recognition performance when using the EGM and GC-EGM was compared, and statistically significant improvements in the error rates were observed when using the GC-EGM variant. .


We have produced single, synthetic nanometer-diameter pores by using a tightly focused, high-energy electron beam to sputter atoms in 10-nm-thick silicon nitride membranes. Subsequently, we measured the ionic conductance as a function of time, bath concentration, and pore diameter to infer the conductivity and ionic mobility through the pores. The pore conductivity is found to be much larger than the bulk conductivity for dilute bath concentrations, where the Debye length is larger than the pore radius, whereas it is comparable with or less than the bulk for high bath concentrations. We interpret these observations by using multiscale simulations of the ion transport through the pores. Molecular dynamics is used to estimate the ion mobility, and ion transport in the pore is described by the coupled Poisson-Nernst-Planck and the Stokes equations that are solved self-consistently for the ion concentration and velocity and electrical potential. We find that the measurements are consistent with the presence of fixed negative charge in the pore wall and a reduction of the ion mobility because of the fixed charge and the ion proximity to the pore wall.


Humans are not ready for what humanity has createdBy 2020, chronic diseases will account for almost three-quarters of all deaths worldwide. This is a result of malnutrition in today's food environment.The food industry takes advantage of predisposed human preferences for sugar, salt, and fat. This creates the necessity for individual willpower and habit control and leads to decision fatigue of healthy food choices in our already busy lives. The critical issue is that we as humans are not biologically ready for what is offered to us today.Situated between nutrition science and human psychology, this project aims to critique the food industry and our interactions with food by reflecting on human weaknesses and habits. A combination of human centered design and critical design allows this project to address this issue through communicating the needs of what might have to happen if our behavior and environment do not change.This project is meant to create a critical reflection around our personal relationship to our own body with the hopes that this may lead to an individual awareness of our own food relationship.How might we enable humans to catch up with the food environment today?


This article presents a study of Web2.0 technologies that can be applied in the educational process to computer science and more. The following categories of Web 2.0 technologies are described: Google Apps - a means of interaction in the educational environment; elaboration of multimedia presentations in the network; information retrieval and bookmarking tools; educational blogs; word clouds; TimeLines; mental maps; virtual whiteboards; builders of tests, surveys, crosswords and interactive exercise creation services. Examples of applications that can be used in the educational process are given in each of these categories.


Baicalein is a flavonoid derived originally from the root of Scutellaria baicalensis Georgi, which has been used in Oriental medicines for treating various diseases. Although this compound has been reported to have anticancer activities in several human cancer cell lines, the therapeutic effects of baicalein on human bladder cancer and its mechanisms of action have not been extensively studied. This study investigated the proapoptotic effects of baicalein in human bladder cancer 5637 cells. For this study, cell viability and apoptosis were evaluated using the 3-(4,5-dimethylthia-zol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide assay, trypan blue dye exclusion assay 4,6-diamidino-2-phenylindole staining, and flow cytometry. Measurements of the mitochondrial membrane potential (MMP), caspase activity assays and western blots were conducted to determine whether 5637 cell death occurred by apoptosis. Treatment with baicalein resulted in a concentration-dependent growth inhibition coupled with apoptosis induction, as indicated by the results of nuclei morphology examination and flow cytometry analyses. The induction of the apoptotic cell death of 5637 cells by baicalein exhibited a correlation with the downregulation of members of the inhibitor of apoptosis protein (IAP) family, including cIAP-1 and cIAP-2, and the activation of caspase-9 and -3 accompanied by proteolytic degradation of poly(ADP-ribose)-polymerase. The study also showed that baicalein decreases the expression of the proapoptotic protein Bax, increases antiapoptotic Bcl-2 expression, and noticeably aggravates the loss of MMP. Concomitantly, the data showed that baicalein increases the levels of death receptors and their associated ligands and enhances the activation of caspase-8 and truncation of Bid. However, the pan-caspase inhibitor can reverse baicalein-induced apoptosis, demonstrating that it is a caspase-dependent pathway. Moreover, it was found that baicalein can induce the production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and that pretreatment with the antioxidant N-acetyl-L-cysteine significantly attenuates the baicalein effects on the loss of MMP and activation of caspase. In addition, the blocking of ROS generation decreases the apoptotic activity and antiproliferative effect of baicalein, indicating that baicalein induces apoptosis of 5637 cells through the ROS-dependent activation of caspases.


Mid-infrared photothermal microscopy has been suggested as an alternative to conventional infrared microscopy because in addition to the inherent chemical contrast available upon vibrational excitation, it can feasibly achieve spatial resolution at the submicrometer level. Furthermore, it has substantial potential for real-time bioimaging for the observation of cellular dynamics without photodamage or photobleaching of fluorescent labels. We performed real-time imaging of oligodendrocytes to investigate cellular dynamics throughout the life cycle of a cell, revealing details of cell division and apoptosis, as well as cellular migration. In the case of live neurons, we observed a photothermal contrast associated with traveling protein complexes on an axon, which correspond to the transport of vesicles from the cell body to the dendritic branches of the neuron through the cytoskeleton. We anticipate that mid-infrared photothermal imaging will be of great use for gaining insights into the field of biophysical science, especially with regard to cellular dynamics and functions.


[1] Hydrologic flow paths were assessed and stream water quality was monitored in two adjacent watersheds to improve the understanding of how flow paths impact stream water nitrate nitrogen to total phosphorus ratios (NO3:TP). We hypothesized that a watershed with mostly subsurface flow paths will have high stream water NO3:TP ratios relative to a watershed with a greater tendency to have overland flow paths. Flow paths were assessed with end member mixing analysis (EMMA), stream water temperature, and stream discharge flashiness. The EMMA suggested that groundwater comprised a larger percentage of stream discharge in the west stream compared to the east stream. The analysis of stream water temperature and stream flashiness corroborated the results from the EMMA. Nitrate and TP concentrations were similar in both streams during low discharge. However, during storm flows nitrate decreased and TP increased in the east stream, while nitrate and TP concentrations remained similar during all discharge rates in the west stream. Thus, NO3:TP ratios in the east stream dramatically decreased during peak storm flows, while NO3:TP ratios remained relatively stable during all discharge rates in the west stream. Exploring hydrological processes helped explain the temporal variation within and spatial variation between the two streams, with regard to NO3:TP ratios. Further attention is necessary to understand whether hydrologic flow paths act as a control of other stream water N:P ratios and quantify flow path control relative to in-stream processes.


ABSTRACT Many countries have large or increasing migrant populations. We estimate the elasticity of private-sector employment to nonoil GDP for nationals and migrants using a Seemingly Unrelated Error Correction (SUREC) model. We use data from the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries, which have a particularly large share of foreign workers. Our results indicate that the employment response is statistically significantly lower for nationals, who have an estimated short-run elasticity of only 0.15 and a long-run response of 0.7, than for migrants, where the short- and long-run elasticities are 0.35 and almost unity. Lower elasticities could signal higher labour market adjustment costs. In the context of low oil prices, forecasts imply a significant jobs shortfall for nationals in the coming years.


Background Genetic susceptibility to multiple sclerosis (MS) has been recognised for many years. Considerable data exist from the northern hemisphere regarding the familial recurrence risks for MS, but there are few data for the southern hemisphere and regions at lower latitude such as Australia. To investigate the interaction between environmental and genetic causative factors in MS, the authors undertook a familial recurrence risk study in three latitudinally distinct regions of Australia. Methods Immediate and extended family pedigrees have been collected for three cohorts of people with MS in Queensland, Victoria and Tasmania spanning 15° of latitude. Age of onset data from Queensland were utilised to estimate age-adjusted recurrence rates. Results Recurrence risks in Australia were significantly lower than in studies from northern hemisphere populations. The age-adjusted risk for siblings across Australia was 2.13% compared with 3.5% for the northern hemisphere. A similar pattern was seen for other relatives. The risks to relatives were proportional to the population risks for each site, and hence the sibling recurrence-risk ratio (λs) was similar across all sites. Discussion The familial recurrence risk of MS in Australia is lower than in previously reported studies. This is directly related to the lower population prevalence of MS. The overall genetic susceptibility in Australia as measured by the λs is similar to the northern hemisphere, suggesting that the difference in population risk is explained largely by environmental factors rather than by genetic admixture.