A large portion of highway bridges in the United States are reaching or have reached their intended design lives. To avoid replacing a large number of bridges simultaneously, methodologies to safely extend their lives are important to help avoid high replacement costs and to schedule bridge replacement over a longer time window. This paper proposes an approach to extend the fatigue life of vulnerable steel bridges through a response modification apparatus, consisting of a mechanical amplifier and a response modification device, which provides supplemental stiffness and damping to the bridge. Because of the relatively small deflections encountered under typical service loads, the use of a mechanical amplifier allows for a smaller apparatus and enables a more efficient device to provide adequate response modification forces to the bridge. Herein, the use of a scissor jack as the mechanical amplifier is proposed for use in bridge applications, and its utility in concert with a passive stiffness device is demonstrated by application to a simple beam structure. Reductions in moment ranges of 37% and safe life extensions of 300% are achieved on a simple beam model with the proposed response modification apparatus.


It is common in international practice that several states and/or international organizations contribute together to the indivisible injury of a third party. Examples thereof are aplenty in relation to climate change and other environmental disasters, joint military activities and cooperative actions aimed at stemming migration. Such situations are hardly captured by the existing rules of the law of international responsibility. In particular, the work of the International Law Commission, which is widely considered to provide authoritative guidance for legal questions of international responsibility, has little to offer. As a result, it is often very difficult, according to the existing rules of the law of international responsibility, to share responsibility and apportion reparation between the states and/or international organizations that contribute together to the indivisible injury of a third party. The Guiding Principles on Shared Responsibility in International Law seek to provide guidance to judges, practitioners and researchers when confronted with legal questions of shared responsibility of states and international organizations for their contribution to an indivisible injury of third parties. The Guiding Principles identify the conditions of shared responsibility (including questions of multiple attribution of conduct), the consequences of shared responsibility (notably, the possibility of joint and several liability) and the modes of implementation of shared responsibility. The Guiding Principles are of an interpretive nature. They build on the existing rules of the law of international responsibility and sometimes offer novel interpretations thereof. They also expand on those existing rules, backed by authoritative practice and scholarship, to address complex questions of shared responsibility.


New in our successful collection of books showcasing historical, every day fashions comes an assortment of photographs documenting trends in the mid-1920s. During post-World War I's economic revival, women emerged from an era of corsets, long gowns, and formality to express their independence. Sheath dresses were designed to mimic mannish styles, while hemlines and haircuts were shortened. Even men's suits changed, to include exaggerated shoulders and an emphasis on narrow hips. Children often were dressed to honor recent war heroes. More than 380 beautiful images feature hundreds of clothing styles from the catalogs of Bellas Hess & Company, and The Charles William Stores, Inc. Costume designers seeking to recreate an era, collectors looking for vintage clothing, and fashion designers looking for inspiration for today's looks, will all find something new here.


Abstract Astronomy is entering a new era of discovery, coincident with the establishment of new facilities for observation and simulation that will routinely generate petabytes of data. While an increasing reliance on automated data analysis is anticipated, a critical role will remain for visualization-based knowledge discovery. We have investigated scientific visualization applications in astronomy through an examination of the literature published during the last two decades. We identify the two most active fields for progress — visualization of large-N particle data and spectral data cubes—discuss open areas of research, and introduce a mapping between astronomical sources of data and data representations used in general-purpose visualization tools. We discuss contributions using high-performance computing architectures (e.g. distributed processing and GPUs), collaborative astronomy visualization, the use of workflow systems to store metadata about visualization parameters, and the use of advanced interaction devices. We examine a number of issues that may be limiting the spread of scientific visualization research in astronomy and identify six grand challenges for scientific visualization research in the Petascale Astronomy Era.


Preserving user privacy is paramount when it comes to publicly disclosed datasets that contain fine-grained data about large populations. The problem is especially critical in the case of mobile traffic datasets collected by cellular operators, as they feature elevate subscriber trajectory uniqueness and they are resistant to anonymization through spatiotemporal generalization. In this work, we investigate the $k$-anonymizability of trajectories in two large-scale mobile traffic datasets, by means of a novel dedicated measure. Our results are in agreement with those of previous analyses, however they also provide additional insights on the reasons behind the poor anonimizability of mobile traffic datasets. As such, our study is a step forward in the direction of a more robust dataset anonymization.


We consider a simple dynamic model of environmental taxation that exhibits time inconsistency. There are two categories of firms, Believers, who take the tax announcements made by the Regulator to face value, and Non-Believers, who perfectly anticipate the Regulator's decisions, albeit at a cost. The proportion of Believers and Non-Believers changes over time depending on the relative profits of both groups. We show that the Regulator can use misleading tax announcements to steer the economy to an equilibrium that is Pareto superior to the solutions usually suggested in the literature. Depending upon the initial proportion of Believers, the Regulator may prefer a fast or a low speed of reaction of the firms to differences in Believers/Non-Believers profits.


The purposes of this study were to 1) examine the immune and oxidative stress responses following high-intensity interval training (HIIT); 2) determine changes in antioxidant enzyme gene expression and enzyme activity in lymphocytes following HIIT; and 3) assess pre-HIIT, 3-h post-HIIT, and 24-h post-HIIT lymphocyte cell viability following hydrogen peroxide exposure in vitro. Eight recreationally active males completed three identical HIIT protocols. Blood samples were obtained at preexercise, immediately postexercise, 3 h postexercise, and 24 h postexercise. Total number of circulating leukocytes, lymphocytes, and neutrophils, as well as lymphocyte antioxidant enzyme activities, gene expression, cell viability (CV), and plasma thiobarbituric acid-reactive substance (TBARS) levels, were measured. Analytes were compared using a three (day) × four (time) ANOVA with repeated measures on both day and time. The a priori significance level for all analyses was P < 0.05. Significant increases in superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT), and glutathione peroxidase (GPX) activities were observed in lymphocytes following HIIT. No significant increases in lymphocyte SOD, CAT, or GPX gene expression were found. A significant increase in TBARS was found immediately post-HIIT on days 1 and 2. Lymphocyte CV in vitro significantly increased on days 2 and 3 compared with day 1. Additionally, there was a significant decrease in CV at 3 h compared with pre- and 24 h postexercise. These findings indicate lymphocytes respond to oxidative stress by increasing antioxidant enzyme activity. Additionally, HIIT causes oxidative stress but did not induce a significant postexercise lymphocytopenia. Analyses in vitro suggest that lymphocytes may become more resistant to subsequent episodes of oxidative stress. Furthermore, the analysis in vitro confirms that lymphocytes are more vulnerable to cytotoxic molecules during recovery from exercise.


Objective: Case report and review of the current literature about febrile ulceronecrotic Mucha-Habermann disease (FUMHD). Methods: Review of our patient's medical records and of the current literature. Results: The FUMHD is a rare and potentially lethal type of pityriasis lichenoides et varioliformis acuta. It is characterized by the sudden onset of ulceronecrotic skin lesions associated with high fever and systemic symptoms. Because of a high case-fatality rate it requires quick and decisive action. Only 40 cases of this severe form of the disease have been reported in the literature to date. We present the case of a 30-year-old male patient with severe FUMHD who was successfully treated in our burn intensive care unit after failed treatment at a dermatological hospital. The patient was treated with topical antiseptics, moisturizers, and artificial skin substitutes, as well as systemic immunosuppressive therapy (glucocorticoids) with which we were able to control the disease activity so that healing of the patient's skin lesions could be achieved. Conclusion: Patients with FUMHD should be treated in a specialized center for severely burned patients. Only such centers can provide the structural and logistical capacities necessary for the treatment of such extensive superficial wounds.


Althoughen shown to be acutely responsive to several interventions, including benzodiazepines and electroconvulsive therapy, 1,2 some individuals do not respond to these interventions. A review of the literature does not reveal previous reports of catatonia treated with risperidone. Therefore, we report the response to risperidone of a patient with persistent organic catatonia. Report of a Case. Mr A's initial symptoms occurred during graduate school after the death of a close friend. He had a severe flulike illness for which he required residence for several weeks in the college infirmary. However, he was able to complete his PhD program in mathematics. When he was 31 years old, he had an apparent episode of catatonic excitement, followed by catatonic stupor. The initial course of catatonic stupor was episodic, but catatonic stupor became constant by the time he was 45 years old. His initial computed tomographic scan revealed discrete bilateral orbitofrontal atrophy, which


This comment discusses ENDA's long history of broad religious exemption and its meanings for LGBT civil rights progress ahead. Part I traces ENDA's religious exemption transformation from 1994 to present, noting a narrowing of the exemption as the LGBT movement witnessed increasing political success. Part II examines the delicate balance between the First Amendment Religion Clauses, as well as LGBT civil rights and religious freedom, and argues that ENDA's previous exemptions tipped this delicate balance toward religious over-accommodation prohibited by the Establishment Clause. Part III concludes that the LGBT movement experienced a significant victory with the modified religious exemption in the 2009 version of ENDA, which challenged the conservative Christian bloc's political and cultural monopoly over LGBT rights' narrative, and represents the defeat of a potentially dangerous precedent for future civil rights struggles.


In this book the authors focus on the description of the physical nature of cleavage fracture to offer scientists, engineers and students a comprehensive physical model which vividly describes the cleavage microcracking processes operating on the local (microscopic) scale ahead of a defect. The descriptions of the critical event and the criteria for cleavage fracture will instruct readers in how to control the cleavage processes and optimize microstructure to improve fracture toughness of metallic materials. * Physical (mechanical) processes of cleavage fracture operating on the local (microscopic) scale, with the focus on the crack nucleation and crack propagation across the particle/grain and grain/grain boundaries* Critical event, i.e., the stage of greatest difficulty in forming the microcrack, which controls the cleavage fracture* Criteria triggering the cleavage microcracking with incorporation of the actions of macroscopic loading environment into the physical model* Effects of microstructure on the cleavage fracture, including the effects of grain size, second phase particles and boundary* Comprehensive description of the brittle fracture emerging in TiAl alloys and TiNi memory alloys


. The government has planned programme "UKM Naik Kelas" to increase the number of halal certification but the objective was not achieved by the poor performance of SME. The study aimed to test the effects of innovation and Halal certification on SME performance. The innovation is measured by five dimensions are design and atmosphere, food and beverages, technology application, responsible business and human resources. The Halal certification is measured by two dimensions are knowledge on Halal concept and practices on Halalan Tayyiba. The SME performance is measured by three dimensions are profitability, business growth, and customer satisfaction. The study is carried out in the context of restaurants and café industry by distributing questionnaires to 200 owners of SMEs. The multiple linier regressions are used of this study to test both partially and simultaneously effects. The results show that either partially or simultaneously there are significant and positive effects of innovation and Halal certification on SME performance. The benefits of innovation can affect an organization's business processes, product performance, and human resources performance which can optimally encourage SME performance. Meanwhile the Halal certification can grow the level of consumer trusts towards the brand and then encourage them to increase customer satisfaction and loyalty.


Most lung cancer patients report perceiving stigma surrounding their diagnosis, and routine clinical interactions with their health care providers (HCPs) are reported as a common source. The adverse effects of lung cancer stigma are associated with several adverse psychosocial and behavioral outcomes. One potential clinician-level intervention target is empathic communication because of its association with higher rates of patients' satisfaction, treatment adherence, and lower levels of psychological distress. This study describes the conceptual model and evaluation of clinician-targeted empathic communication skills training to reduce lung cancer patients' experience of stigma. The goal of the training module is to enhance clinician recognition and responsiveness to lung cancer patients' empathic opportunities by communicating understanding, reducing stigma and distress, and providing support. Thirty multidisciplinary HCPs working in thoracic oncology, thoracic surgery, or pulmonary medicine participated in 2.25 hr of didactic and experiential training on responding empathically to patients with lung cancer. Overall, participants reported highly favorable evaluations of the training, with at least 90% of participants agreeing or strongly agreeing to 11 of the 12 items assessing clinical relevance, novelty, clarity, and facilitator effectiveness. Participants' self-efficacy to communicate empathically with lung cancer patients increased significantly from pretraining to posttraining, t(29) = -4.58, p < .001. The empathic communication skills training module was feasible and well received by thoracic and pulmonary medicine HCPs and demonstrated improvements in self-efficacy in empathic communication from pretraining to posttraining. The examination of patient outcomes is warranted.


An efficient resource sharing strategy is proposed for multimedia wireless networks. We assume the channel resource in a wireless system is partitioned into two sets: one for voice calls and one for video calls. In the proposed channel borrowing strategy, voice calls can borrow channels from those pre-allocated to video calls temporarily when all voice channels are busy. A threshold type decision policy is designed such that the channel borrowing request will be granted only if the quality of service (QoS) requirement on video call blocking will not be violated during the duration of channel lending. An analytical model is constructed for evaluating the performance of the channel borrowing strategy in a simplified wireless system and is verified by computer simulations. We found that the proposed channel borrowing scheme can significantly reduce the voice call blocking probability while the increase in video call blocking probability is insignificant.


Group delinquency has been of theoretical in terest to American sociology for more than half a century. During that time, four major interpretations of the origins of gang delinquency and delinquent subcultures have emerged. The classical view developed by Thrasher focuses on the de velopment of spontaneous groups under conditions of weak social control and social disorganization. Two other views, somewhat akin, emphasize the adjustment problems of lower class boys and stress respectively the status deprivation of such boys when they fail to place well according to the middle class measuring rod and the alienation produced when opportunities to achieve universally demanded success goals are denied lower class boys. Another view is that of the lower class street gang and its way of life as the adolescent version of a more general adult life style, namely, lower class culture. There is a no ticeable tendency in the recent theories to emphasize irrational explanations of gang delinquency, to view the boys who par ticipate as driven rather than attracted, and polemical pres sures have tended to produce extreme theoretical interpreta tions.


The use of nanoplasmonics to control light and heat close to the thermodynamic limit enables exciting opportunities in the field of plasmonic catalysis. The decay of plasmonic excitations creates highly nonequilibrium distributions of hot carriers that can initiate or catalyze reactions through both thermal and nonthermal pathways. In this Perspective, we present the current understanding in the field of plasmonic catalysis, capturing vibrant debates in the literature, and discuss future avenues of exploration to overcome critical bottlenecks. Our Perspective spans first-principles theory and computation of correlated and far-from-equilibrium light-matter interactions, synthesis of new nanoplasmonic hybrids, and new steady-state and ultrafast spectroscopic probes of interactions in plasmonic catalysis, recognizing the key contributions of each discipline in realizing the promise of plasmonic catalysis. We conclude with our vision for fundamental and technological advances in the field of plasmon-driven chemical reactions in the coming years.


A short cut review was carried out to establish whether supplemental oxygen reduces mortality in patients with uncomplicated acute myocardial infarction. Altogether 290 papers were found using the reported search, of which one presented the best evidence to answer the clinical question. The author, date and country of publication, patient group studied, study type, relevant outcomes, results and study weaknesses of this best paper are tabulated. A clinical bottom line is stated.


Magnetic tape provides a cost-effective way to retain the exponentially increasing volumes of data. The low cost per gigabyte and the low energy consumption render tape a preferred option over hard disk drives and flash for infrequently accessed data. Assessing the performance of tape library systems is central to achieving appropriate storage provisioning and dimensioning. Performance is affected by the number and the operational characteristics of the tape drives and the robotic arms, and the mount and unmount policies deployed. In this paper, we develop a novel analytical model that accurately captures the principal aspects of tape library operation. Several relevant performance measures including the mean waiting time and the mount/unmount rates are derived. The model provides useful insights into the behavior of the tape library mechanisms and yields results, which enable a better understanding of the design tradeoffs. The validity of the model developed is confirmed by demonstrating a good agreement of the predicted performance with that obtained by simulation across various configurations.


Ocean Alkalinity Enhancement (OAE) simultaneously mitigates atmospheric concentrations of CO2 and ocean acidification; however, no previous studies have investigated the response of the non-linear marine carbonate system sensitivity to alkalinity enhancement on regional scales. We hypothesise that regional implementations of OAE can sequester more atmospheric CO2 than a global implementation. To address this, we investigate physical regimes and alkalinity sensitivity as drivers of the carbon-uptake potential response to global and different regional simulations of OAE. In this idealised ocean-only set-up, total alkalinity is enhanced at a rate of 0.25 Pmol a-1 in 75-year simulations using the Max Planck Institute Ocean Model coupled to the HAMburg Ocean Carbon Cycle model with pre-industrial atmospheric forcing. Alkalinity is enhanced globally and in eight regions: the Subpolar and Subtropical Atlantic and Pacific gyres, the Indian Ocean and the Southern Ocean. This study reveals that regional alkalinity enhancement has the capacity to exceed carbon uptake by global OAE. We find that 82–175 Pg more carbon is sequestered into the ocean when alkalinity is enhanced regionally and 156 PgC when enhanced globally, compared with the background-state. The Southern Ocean application is most efficient, sequestering 12% more carbon than the Global experiment despite OAE being applied across a surface area 40 times smaller. For the first time, we find that different carbon-uptake potentials are driven by the surface pattern of total alkalinity redistributed by physical regimes across areas of different carbon-uptake efficiencies. We also show that, while the marine carbonate system becomes less sensitive to alkalinity enhancement in all experiments globally, regional responses to enhanced alkalinity vary depending upon the background concentrations of dissolved inorganic carbon and total alkalinity. Furthermore, the Subpolar North Atlantic displays a previously unexpected alkalinity sensitivity increase in response to high total alkalinity concentrations.


Despite their increasing use, composite indicators remain controversial. The undesirable dependence of countries' rankings on the preliminary normalization stage, and the disagreement among experts/stakeholders on the specific weighting scheme used to aggregate sub-indicators, are often invoked to undermine the credibility of composite indicators. Data envelopment analysis may be instrumental in overcoming these limitations. One part of its appeal in the composite indicator context stems from its invariance to measurement units, which entails that a normalization stage can be skipped. Secondly, it fills the informational gap in the 'right' set of weights by generating flexible 'benefit of the doubt'-weights for each eval uated country. The ease of interpretation is a third advantage of the specific model that is the main focus of this paper. In sum, the method may help to neutralize some recurring sources of criticism on composite indicators, allowing one to shift the focus to other, and perhaps more essential stages of their construction.


A theoretical study of channel crosstalk due to gain saturation in a laser amplifier in multichannel transmission is discussed. When the amplifier is gain-saturated, the gain of any channel is influenced by the light intensity of the other channels, which causes channel crosstalk in intensity-modulated multiplexing transmission. On-off-keying modulation systems with more than two channels are discussed. Considering the probability distribution, the power penalty due to crosstalk is presented for practical system design. Calculated examples reveal that the power penalty is dependent on both the level of gain saturation and the number of multiplexed channels. >


The names Arctotis staticifolia Poir. and Arctotis tenuifolia Poir. were validly published by Jean Louis Marie Poiret based on material collected from "Cap de Bonne-Esperance" and stated to be lodged in the Herbier Desfontaines. No original material for Arctotis staticifolia has been traced. The protologue is inconsistent with any known Arctotis L. species and previous treatment of A. staticifolia as a synonym of Gazania linearis (Thunb.) Druce var. linearis is not supported. The protologue for Arctotis staticifolia is most consistent with a narrow-leaved taxon of Dimorphotheca Vaill. ex Moench and specifically D. nudicaulis (L.) DC. var. graminifolia (L.) Harv. A neotype for Arctotis staticifolia is designated consistent with our interpretation and the name is formally placed in the synonymy of Dimorphotheca nudicaulis var. graminifolia. Arctotis tenuifolia Poir. has previously been treated as a synonym of Dimorphotheca nudicaulis var. graminifolia. Original material was located and the name Arctotis tenuifolia Poir. is here lectotypified and is placed in the synonymy of Ursinia tenuifolia (L.) Poir. subsp. tenuifolia. Arctotis tenuifolia Poir. is a later heterotypic homonym of Arctotis tenuifolia L. and is therefore nomenclaturally illegitimate. A lectotype is designated for Sphenogyne tenuifolia (L.) DC. var. heterochroma Harv., a synonym of Ursinia tenuifolia subsp. tenuifolia.


Given the undoubted and immense significance of the apportionment legislation, it is surprising how little is known about the process of apportionment, both as a matter of theory and practice. The subject rarely has been addressed in the literature and certainly not at any length. Scholars usually simply identify the factors that judges take into account in determining the extent to which damages should be reduced. It is widely accepted throughout the common law world that one relevant factor in this regard is the parties' relative blameworthiness. This criterion requires consideration of the extent to which each party took less care than the reasonable person in their position would have taken. The purpose of this article is to assess the merits of an additional criterion that is also relevant in many jurisdictions: the causal potency of the parties' respective acts. It will be argued that this criterion should never have been adopted. It is at best a mere surplus-age. At worst it is an unwelcome distraction which provokes barren disputes and which increases the already considerable uncertainty that afflicts the process of apportioning damages for contributory negligence.


Description logics (DLs) are well-known knowledge representation formalisms focused on the representation of terminological knowledge. Due to their first-order semantics, these languages (in their classical form) are not suitable for representing and handling uncertainty. A probabilistic extension of a light-weight DL was recently proposed for dealing with certain knowledge occurring in uncertain contexts. In this paper, we continue that line of research by introducing the Bayesian extension \BALC of the propositionally closed DL \ALC. We present a tableau-based procedure for deciding consistency, and adapt it to solve other probabilistic, contextual, and general inferences in this logic. We also show that all these problems remain \ExpTime-complete, the same as reasoning in the underlying classical \ALC.


Context. T Tauri stars are low-mass young stars whose disks provide the setting for planet formation. Despite this, their structure is poorly understood. We present new infrared interferometric observations of the SU Aurigae circumstellar environment that offer resolution that is three times higher and a better baseline position angle coverage than previous observations.
Aims. We aim to investigate the characteristics of the circumstellar material around SU Aur, constrain the disk geometry, composition and inner dust rim structure.
Methods. The CHARA array offers unique opportunities for long baseline observations, with baselines up to 331 m. Using the CLIMB three-telescope combiner in the K-band allows us to measure visibilities as well as closure phase. We undertook image reconstruction for model-independent analysis, and fitted geometric models such as Gaussian and ring distributions. Additionally, the fitting of radiative transfer models constrain the physical parameters of the disk. For the first time, a dusty disk wind is introduced to the radiative transfer code TORUS to model protoplanetary disks. Our implementation is motivated by theoretical models of dusty disk winds, where magnetic field lines drive dust above the disk plane close to the sublimation zone.
Results. Image reconstruction reveals an inclined disk with slight asymmetry along its minor-axis, likely due to inclination effects obscuring the inner disk rim through absorption of incident star light on the near-side and thermal re-emission and scattering of the far-side. Geometric modelling of a skewed ring finds the inner rim at 0.17 ± 0.02 au with an inclination of 50.9 ± 1.0° and minor axis position angle 60.8 ± 1.2°. Radiative transfer modelling shows a flared disk with an inner radius at 0.18 au which implies a grain size of 0.4 μm assuming astronomical silicates and a scale height of 15.0 at 100 au. Among the tested radiative transfer models, only the dusty disk wind successfully accounts for the K-band excess by introducing dust above the mid-plane.


For nearly three decades prior to 1947 federation was the dominant and most plausible model for reforming Britain's Indian Empire. Federation offered a capacious framework for innovating upon the sovereign landscapes of empire, for imagining a wide array of nonnational futures, and for elaborating questions of rights and democracy. This essay examines official projects of federation in interwar India, efforts that culminated with the "Federation of India" envisioned by the 1935 Government of India Act. These projects sought to codify the Raj's uncodified, plural, and ambiguous imperial regime of sovereignty. As a result, the nearly six hundred "princely states" or "Indian States" had a major influence over the course of India's constitutional development. The 1935 Act inaugurated the most decisive phase in late colonial India's political and constitutional development by unleashing a competition over sovereignty in the subcontinent. It was in this context that a fully sovereign constituent assembly was adopted by the Indian National Congress as their fundamental demand. Federation played a decisive role in the development of republicanism in India.


Between 1977 and 1981, we observed the presence of inspiratory crepitations in the chests of five infants with severe dehydration as a consequence of gastroenteritis. There was no evidence of chest disease, and the crepitations resolved as the dehydration was corrected. To our knowledge, this sign has not been reported in the indexed medical literature during the past ten years or in standard textbooks that describe dehydration. We report a case in detail and describe the clinical features in five infants. Report of a Case .—A 20-month-old male infant was admitted to Princess Mary Hospital for Children, Auckland, New Zealand, with a four-day history of diarrhea and subsequent vomiting. Before admission, he had been treated with an oral electrolyte solution, promethazine hydrochloride, and codeine phosphate. At admission, the infant was dehydrated and in shock. Temperature was 38 °C, pulse rate was 60 beats per minute, systolic BP was 40 mm


When designing a clinical trial or study, the value of the following interrelated parameters should be determined prior to collecting data: clinical significance, statistical significance, power, and sample size. Too often, clinical importance and the other design issues are ignored and only statistical significance dictates the conclusions of the study. In order to evaluate the frequency that each of these design parameters is addressed in the published literature, the topic of pulmonary function tests (specifically forced vital capacity) was chosen, and all relevant articles for one year (1990) were identified using Minnesota MEDLINE. A total of 121 articles met the selection criteria and were reviewed. Of all the articles, 13.2% discussed clinical significance, 21.5% discussed sample size, and only 5.0% addressed statistical power. As expected, the majority of the articles (92.6%) discussed statistical significance (P values). None of the articles mentioned all four factors. When choosing the level of clinical significance several methods may be used. Such might be well established in certain clinical areas or available from previous publications and references or they may be attainable from pilot study data and, in the absence of any prior information, a clinician may use personal experience. To minimize subjectivity, the clinical effect‐size can be based on the population distribution of the measurement of interest. Pediatr Pulmonol. 1993; 16:336–340. © 1993 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.


Abstract : The relation of fire to wetland ecosystems is reviewed to prepare an annotated bibliography of 319 citations that provide specific research data, summaries of existing knowledge, or site-specific management advice for North America. To this bibliography is appended a supplemental bibliography of all articles cited in the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service publication series, Wildlife Review, years 1935 through the September 1987 issue (Number 206) that discussed any aspect of wildlife management and ecology related to fire management, fire behavior, or fire effects in North America. The annotated bibliography is intended to provide access to literature on fire-wetlands relations and to provide initial guidance in preparation of fire management planning documents on Service lands. The 942 citations in the supplemental bibliography are intended to provide a ready reference to the fire-wildlife literature that can be used to evaluate past, current, or proposed use of fire in wildlife habitat management. Guidance for obtaining the literature cited in both sections is provided.


Background In 2001, the introduction of imatinib in the USA and Europe deeply modified both the treatment of chronic myeloid leukaemia (CML) and the prognosis of patients. The scientific literature shows that imatinib is highly effective, with better rates for complete haematological response (CHR), and major and complete cytogenetic response (MCyR, CCyR). As is well known, strict adherence to therapy increases the percentage of clinical success. Purpose We carried out a retrospective observational study aimed at evaluating medication adherence using the the ratio between received daily dose and prescribed daily dose (RDD/PDD) as the method for analysis of home therapy with imatinib in patients with CML. The correlation between adherence and clinical outcomes was investigated. Material and methods This study was carried out in the pharmacy unit and haematology unit of Pescara Hospital. The analysis included data collected by pharmacists and haematologists in the period between 1 January 2007 and 31 March 2015. All CML patients treated with imatinib were included in the study. Data were recorded in a specific online database, Pharmadd.it., created ad hoc by hospital pharmacists. The method used to calculate medication adherence was the ratio between RDD/PDD. Statistical analysis of the collected data was performed with a Studio v.0.98.1103, running R v.3.1.3. Results 53 patients were enrolled in the first year and 50 patients were enrolled in the second year. We observed the level of adherence for each of the following groups of answers for the first and second years: complete answer (adherence 0.96, 0.95), MR4.5 (adherence 1.00; no patients with MR4.5 in the second year), MR4 (adherence 0.93, 0.91), MR (adherence 0.96, 0.97), warning (adherence 0.91, 0.89) and failed (adherence 0.79, 0.84). Conclusion The results showed that the higher the adherence, the lower the level of BCR-ABL. Furthermore, the outcome for cut offs ≥0.9 were significantly higher than cut offs <0.90. References and/or Acknowledgements Santoleri F, Sorice P, Lasala R, et al. Patient adherence and persistence with imatinib, nilotinib, dasatinib in clinical practice. PLoS One 2013;8(2) No conflict of interest.


Life-cycle cost analysis (LCCA) is increasingly gaining recognition by the transportation community as an indispensable practice if the sustainability of its infrastructure systems is to be realized. The product of a 3-year study that assessed the LCCA practice in state highway agencies (SHAs) is presented. The study examined how LCCA practice changed in two decades, surveyed the way LCCA is practiced currently at SHAs in the United States, and reviewed how this evaluation technique is deliberated by the academics and researchers in the engineering and economics domains. Results of this study prove noteworthy in the inspection of an observed gap between the state of the practice and state of the art of LCCA. After all, that gap set up grounds for the noted mistrust in the credibility of LCCA. In addition to study results, an analysis of the observed gap and its causes is presented as well as recommendations for what can be done to bridge that gap. It is hoped that this will prove valuable for practitioners conducting LCCA, for policy makers, and for researchers carrying out studies on various topics related to LCCA.


A combination of HIV-1–specific broadly neutralizing antibodies is necessary to protect rhesus monkeys against a mixed SHIV challenge. Swatting away a swarm Monoclonal antibodies are being tested as therapy for many infections, including HIV. However, increasing evidence suggests that therapy with a single agent may encourage resistant viral strains to emerge. Julg et al. tested how potent HIV neutralizing antibodies could combat challenge with a mix of SHIV strains in nonhuman primates. They found that monotherapy with anti-V3 PGT121 or anti-V2 PGDM1400 allowed for selection of resistant viruses and subsequent replication in the animals. Dual antibody administration conferred complete protection, confirming that combination therapy may be necessary for protective efficacy against HIV in people. HIV-1 sequence diversity presents a major challenge for the clinical development of broadly neutralizing antibodies (bNAbs) for both therapy and prevention. Sequence variation in critical bNAb epitopes has been observed in most HIV-1–infected individuals and can lead to viral escape after bNAb monotherapy in humans. We show that viral sequence diversity can limit both the therapeutic and prophylactic efficacy of bNAbs in rhesus monkeys. We first demonstrate that monotherapy with the V3 glycan-dependent antibody 10-1074, but not PGT121, results in rapid selection of preexisting viral variants containing N332/S334 escape mutations and loss of therapeutic efficacy in simian-HIV (SHIV)–SF162P3–infected rhesus monkeys. We then show that the V3 glycan-dependent antibody PGT121 alone and the V2 glycan-dependent antibody PGDM1400 alone both fail to protect against a mixed challenge with SHIV-SF162P3 and SHIV-325c. In contrast, the combination of both bNAbs provides 100% protection against this mixed SHIV challenge. These data reveal that single bNAbs efficiently select resistant viruses from a diverse challenge swarm to establish infection, demonstrating the importance of bNAb cocktails for HIV-1 prevention.


Preterm birth (PTB) is the leading cause of neonatal morbidity and mortality and spontaneous PTB is a major contributor. The preceding inflammation/infection contributes not only to spontaneous PTB but is associated with neonatal morbidities including impaired brain development. Therefore, control of exaggerated immune response during pregnancy is an attractive strategy. A potential candidate is synthetic PreImplantation Factor (sPIF) as sPIF prevents inflammatory induced fetal loss and has neuroprotective properties. Here, we tested maternal sPIF prophylaxis in pregnant mice subjected to a lipopolysaccharides (LPS) insult, which results in PTB. Additionally, we evaluated sPIF effects in placental and microglial cell lines. Maternal sPIF application reduced the LPS induced PTB rate significantly. Consequently, sPIF reduced microglial activation (Iba-1 positive cells) and preserved neuronal migration (Cux-2 positive cells) in fetal brains. In fetal brain lysates sPIF decreased IL-6 and INFγ concentrations. In-vitro, sPIF reduced Iba1 and TNFα expression in microglial cells and reduced the expression of pro-apoptotic (Bad and Bax) and inflammatory (IL-6 and NLRP4) genes in placental cell lines. Together, maternal sPIF prophylaxis prevents PTB in part by controlling exaggerated immune response. Given the sPIF`FDA Fast Track approval in non-pregnant subjects, we envision sPIF therapy in pregnancy.


In this paper we propose a manifold embedding methodology to integrate heterogeneous sources of genomic data for the purpose of interpretation of transcriptional regulatory phenomena and subsequent visualization. Using the Gata3 gene as an example, we ask if it is possible to determine which genes (or their products) might be potentially involved in its tissue-specific regulation - based on evidence obtained from various available data sources. Our approach is based on co-embedding of genes onto a manifold wherein the proximity of neighbors is influenced by the probability of their interaction as reported from diverse data sources - i.e. the stronger the evidence for that gene-gene interaction, the closer they are.


Abstract:In this interview Amy Hollywood talks about her collection of essays Acute Melancholia and how medieval mystical texts might speak to persistent dilemmas in critical theory and philosophy of religion. The relationship between theory and practice is traced back to monastic discourses on the life of contemplation and the life of action. While critique is widely understood to indicate that something is undone or swept away, there is recurring difficulty determining what constitutes a truly new or transformative turn. This is a political as well as theoretical matter, and the interview engages head-on ways that power and inequality shape perceptions of rationality, possibility, truth, and value.


Peptide CH3CO-Lys-Lys-Arg-Arg-NH2 (protectin) was synthesized and its activity was studied on the model of experimental myocardial infarction in rats in comparison to the reference antihypoxant drug riboxin. Intranasal injections ofprotectin at doses within 2-20 microg/kg once a day by course of 7 days produced a pronounced anti-ischemic action, improved coronary circulation of the blood, increases contractile activity of myocardium, reduced intensity of lipid peroxidation, and improved antioxidant protection. In some respects (improved coronary circulation of the blood, increased antioxidant protection), protectin was more effective than riboxin.


The study reported here indicates that total picker-to-gin costs per bale can be significantly lower with the module system than with the conventional trailer system or ricking. If a grower already has trailers, the module system requires considerably more additional investment in equipment than the ricking system. But modules can be taken from the field immediately and are then available for ginning whenever needed. Storing part of the seed cotton between picking and ginning allows growers to continue picking whenever the weather is favorable, even though the gins may not be able to keep up. Seed cotton storage usually reduces ginning costs, and a gin's seasonal capacity is increased by being able to operate more hours per year.


Background: Post-therapy differentiation in medulloblastoma (MB) is a rare event that has been described only in pediatric age.
Methods: We describe the long term follow up of a case of medulloblastoma maturation after chemotherapy and radiotherapy in an adult MB patient.
Results and Discussion: A 20-year-old patient was partially resected of a MB with ki-67 of 60%. DNA methylation-derived subgroup showed a molecular SHH profile. The patient received cranio-spinal tomotherapy (32.4 Gy in 18 fractions) with a boost on posterior fossa (23.4 Gy in 17 fractions, total dose: 55.8 Gy in 32 fractions). The MRI performed 2 months after revealed a minimal volumetric increase. The patient underwent 2 cycles of Cisplatin - Etoposide chemotherapy. The MRI showed stable disease. The patient underwent second surgery. The specimen showed neuronal cells showing various degrees of maturation from neurocytic to ganglion cells. No embryonal cells were present. Mitoses were absent. The residual lesion showed the post-therapy neuronal maturation of a medulloblastoma. DNA methylation-derived subgrouping confirmed the SHH profile. No other treatments were delivered after the second resection. To date the patient is still alive and free from progression 54 months after primary surgery.
Conclusion: After a long term follow up, we showed that tumor maturation in an adult patient with medulloblastoma is characterized by a favorable outcome. Physicians should take into account that tumor maturation may occur and that its recognition is essential to define the prognosis and to manage adult patients.


Purpose: The Medical Maximizer-Minimizer Scale (MMS) has been validated to predict preferences for health-care service use on hypothetical vignettes in nonclinical cohorts. Using mixed methods, we sought to determine whether it would predict preferences for cardiac stress testing in a cohort of emergency department (ED) patients with low-risk chest pain within the context of the Health Belief Model (HBM). Design: Patients who met the definition for low-risk chest pain and who were eligible to take a cardiac stress test before being discharged from the hospital were recruited to participate. Each participant provided demographic information and completed the MMS-10 paper-and-pencil scale. They then watched a 7-min informational video on an iPad tablet that provided information about the condition of "low-risk chest pain" and the probabilities of results and outcomes following a cardiac stress test. After the video, participants answered a one-question survey on their intention-to-take (ITT) a cardiac stress test or not and were then interviewed about factors that influenced their decision-making. Interviews were interpreted using a HBM lens. Results: Sixty participants were enrolled in the study who were between the ages of 29 and 80 years with a mean age of 53 (± 10.8); 58% were women and 90% were white. The mean MMS score was 4.6 (± 0.8) and ranged from 2.6 to 6.8. Minimizers accounted for 25% (n = 15) of the cohort while maximizers accounted for 75% (n = 45). MMS scores followed a normal distribution and were found to be mildly correlated with ITT scores (r = 0.25; P = 0.051). The mean ITT scores for individuals with MMS scores in the 1st and 4th quartiles were 3.9 ± 2.2 and 5.9 ± 1.7, respectively. After watching the informational video, individuals' perceptions related to the: (1) low threat posed by the condition, (2) low utility (low benefits + significant barriers) of taking a cardiac stress test, and (3) high benefits of taking a cardiac stress test were all strongly associated with ITT scores in a directional manner. No direct connection was found between minimizer-maximizer preferences and health beliefs after watching the informational video. This may have been due to sample size and underrepresentation of minimizers in the cohort. Conclusions: MMS and health beliefs predicted preferences for cardiac stress testing in ED patients with low-risk chest pain after viewing an informational video on the topic. However, we did not find direct evidence that the relationship between MMS and decision-making is mediated through the formation of perceptions of threat and utility consistent with the HBM. More research is needed to establish this connection and understand how framing of information in the health-care space may interact with stable personality traits to influence decision-making.


Background: Adolescence period is very crucial since these are the formative years in the life of an individual when major physical, psychological and behavioural changes take place. The aim and objective of study was conducted as part of Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), Short Term Studentship (STS) project and was done with the objectives of assessing the nutritional status and morbidity conditions among adolescent girls residing in a social welfare hostel and to study association between nutritional status and morbidity conditions among these adolescent girls. Methods: A cross sectional study was conducted among adolescent girls aged 10-19 years who were residing in the social and tribal welfare hostel in Kuppam mandal of Chittoor district, Andhra Pradesh, India. Results: A total of 583 adolescent school girls were studied. There was a high prevalence of under nutrition (70.5%), which was significantly associated with the early age. We also noted higher prevalence of morbidity conditions like reproductive (28.7%), skin (21.5%) and dental problems (19.2%). Conclusions: The outcome of this nutritional assessment among adolescent girls can be used as the basis for policy-making decisions at various ministry levels such as ministry of social welfare and ministry of women and child development. Ensuring regular school health programmes for health education, early detection and proper treatment will bring down the burden of malnutrition among these populations.


Background:
 In the clinical trials evaluating new therapies for acute management of intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH), rapid hematoma volume (HV) measurements from computed tomographic (CT) scan using previously described 'ABC/2' method at study sites is frequently required for either determining eligibility or stratification. However, the accuracy of this method by multiple observers using variable visual display modes is not known.

 Method:
 We performed a post hoc analysis of a multicenter clinical trial that recruited ICH patients within 6 hours of symptom onset at ten sites in the United States. HV was measured by local site investigators to determine eligibility for enrollment (<60 cc) into the trial using the ABC/2 method (manual method) on the initial CT scan. CT scan images were subsequently sent to the core imaging laboratory for blinded computer based analysis of HV using 'Medical Image Processing, Analysis, and Visualization (MIPAV)' software (computer method). Paired t-test was used to identify any differences between the manual and the computer methods of HV measurements. Spearman's correlation was used to study the agreement between the two methods.

 Results:
 HV measurements by both the manual and the computer methods were available in 51 patients enrolled in the trial (mean±standard deviation [SD] age 62±15 years; 26 were women.) The mean±SD HV using as calculated by he computer method (14.6±15.3 mL) was not statistically different from the values calculated by the manual method (16.5±15 mL; p=0.6). Using Spearman's correlation, there was a significant correlation between the two methods (rho 75%, p<0.01). Manual calculation under estimated the HV by an average of 1.5 mL in the lower 50 percentile of computer-calculated HV (<9.4 ml), while overestimated the HV in the upper 50 percentile by an average of 3.1 mL. None of these differences were statistically significant.

 Conclusion:
 Rapid measurements at study sites for either determining eligibility or stratification provides reliable HV measurements despite measurements by multiple observers using variable visual CT scan display modes.


This paper studies the effect of political elite's career incentive on China's trade policy formation. The conventional wisdom in both the China field and the political economy literature predicts that trade policy rents tend to be doled out by leaders to those political elite who enjoy close political relationship such as factional ties with them. This view, however, fails to appreciate analytically that, in a highly institutionalized autocratic state like China, in addition to giving out policy favors, autocratic leaders also enjoy access to another source of rents, promotion in authoritarian institutions. In other words, instead of viewing political elite's policy preferences from a static perspective (as suggested by the standard fragmented authoritarian framework), we should adopt a dynamic interpretation where autocratic leaders can change the policy preferences of their selectorate by offering them promotion opportunities within the authoritarian hierarchy as long as they can credibly commit to these political promises. We therefore hypothesize that sectoral political elite's decisions to lobby for trade policy favors are determined by the credibility of leaders' promotion promises. When the top leaders are able to make credible commitments to their promises, political elite will then cooperate with them and choose not to engage in lobbying activities. By contrary, if the former fail to do so, then the latter will act according to their own sectoral interests. This study tests this idea with a completely new dataset with 66 sectors between 1998 and 2009, and, in particular, a new political variable capturing political elite's promotion expectations and leaders' credibility is used to identify the effect of career incentive on China's trade policy determination. We choose a panel data endogenous switching regression model to test this long-run model from the endogenous lobby formation process to the endogenous determination of China's tariff policy, and the estimated structural parameters also support the idea that it is less likely for a sector with higher promotion expectation score to get organized and political organization has a causal impact on China's tariff patterns.


Infrared spectra of jet-cooled CH(3)OD and CH(3)OH in the CH stretch region are observed by coherence-converted population transfer Fourier transform microwave-infrared (CCPT-FTMW-IR) spectroscopy (E torsional species only) and by slit-jet single resonance spectroscopy (both A and E torsional species, CH(3)OH only). Twagirayezu et al. reported the analysis of ν(3) symmetric CH stretch region (2750-2900 cm(-1); Twagirayezu et al. J. Phys. Chem. A 2010, 114, 6818), and the present work addresses the more complicated higher frequency region (2900-3020 cm(-1)) containing the two asymmetric CH stretches (ν(2) and ν(9)). The additional complications include a higher density of coupled states, more extensive mixing, and evidence for Coriolis as well as anharmonic coupling. The overall observed spectra contain 17 interacting vibrational bands for CH(3)OD and 28 for CH(3)OH. The sign and magnitude of the torsional tunneling splittings are deduced for three CH stretch fundamentals (ν(3), ν(2), ν(9)) of both molecules and are compared to a model calculation and to ab initio theory. The number and distribution of observed vibrational bands indicate that the CH stretch bright states couple first to doorway states that are binary combinations of bending modes. In the parts of the spectrum where doorway states are present, the observed density of coupled states is comparable to the total density of vibrational states in the molecule, but where there are no doorway states, only the CH stretch fundamentals are observed. Above 2900 cm(-1), the available doorway states are CH bending states, but below, the doorway states also involve OH bending. A time-dependent interpretation of the present FTMW-IR spectra indicates a fast (∼200 fs) initial decay of the bright state followed by a second, slower redistribution (about 1-3 ps). The qualitative agreement of the present data with the time-dependent experiments of Iwaki and Dlott provides further support for the similarity of the fastest vibrational relaxation processes in the liquid and gas phases.


To supply power for wireless sensor networks (WSNs) from renewable energy sources. In this system we are using renewable energy sources from microbial fuel cells (MFCs) a major challenge faced by wireless sensor networks (WSNs) for monitoring purposes is their energy supply. Renewable energy sources are useful for sustainable monitoring, but still very limited today due to variousimplementationconstraints.Fortunately, microbial fuel cells (MFCs) provide a renewable power source, which can be integrated into terrains, wetlands, and some civil structures for environmental monitoring. However, as MFCs may only provide ultralow and dynamic power, an energy-neutral communication protocol is crucial for MFCpowered WSNs. Herein a duty-cycle-based energy-neutral communication protocol is proposed for MFCpowered WSNs. Mathematical models for optimal duty-cycling that minimize the probe packet reception time are first proposed. Then, an energy-neutral joint scheduling and routing protocol in multihop MFC networks is introduced. Simulation results show that WSNs adopting the proposed protocol can achieve sustainable network operations. It is also demonstrated that the protocol enables reliable data transmission when using ultralow and time-varying MFC power inputs.


INTRODUCTION
Placement of anterior abdominal wall trocars during laparoscopic radical prostatectomy (LRP) carries the risk of inadvertent injury to the inferior epigastric artery (IEA) and crossover confliction between midline and lateral ports. We described and evaluated a new measured port placement approach.

MATERIALS AND METHODS
The intervention group included patients who underwent LRP with a specifically measured five port approach. The medial 10 mm ports were placed 5 cm from the patient's midline at a level mid-way between the anterior superior iliac spine (ASIS) and the umbilicus. The control group had five ports placed at the surgeon's discretion. We prospectively compared intraoperative blood loss, need for port repositioning, and incidence of adverse surgical events.

RESULTS
In the interventional cohort patients (n = 112) the course of the IEA was found to be lateral to the medial 10 mm port in all cases. There were no adverse surgical outcomes in this group. In the control group patients (n = 97), three demonstrated IEA injuries (p <0.01) and three required port repositioning (p < 0.01). The mean blood loss reported between groups was not significant (p = 0.70).

CONCLUSION
Our specifically measured port placement approach predictably allowed for the placement of the trocar medial to the IEA. This minimized the risk of injury to the IEA, allowed for adequate instrument manipulation and minimized the need to reposition ports.


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The aim and scope of this study was to examine to what extent the mentally ills' therapists involve children. Nine therapists from the psychiatric policlinic at the hospital in Namsos, Norway were interviewed. The selection of interviewees was done in order to ensure representation across the complete range of professions involved. An interview guide consisting of 12 pertinent questions was developed and employed. The results show that the informants claimed there were no known procedures for exploring the children's situation. All of the therapists reported that the sick parent(s) had brought up their personal concerns for their children in the course of treatment. Five of the informants confirmed that they had at times invited the children to participate in conversations with their parents. Only two of these had done this more than once. The explanation for why children are so seldom involved can be stringent environmental control factors, uncertainties, fear of generated increased workload, or of undertaking a more complex treatment process. Perhaps treatment in adult psychiatry is primarily focused on the mentally ill target person alone. It seems that it's socially unacceptable to examine children's circumstances in the course of treatment.


Both diabetes and ischemic heart disease (IHD) are important risk factors for heart failure hospitalization. We investigated the association between the degree of risk-factor control and risk of heart failure in diabetic patients with and without IHD. A total of 20,9diabetic patients from UK Biobank were included, and matched with 82,582 controls based on age, sex, the presence of IHD, and assessment center. Risk-factor control was evaluated by 3 factors: glycated hemoglobin <53 mol/mol, blood pressure <140/90 mm/Hg and non-HDL-cholesterol <130 mg/dl. The Cox regression model was used to assess the association between the number of risk-factor control and the risk of heart failure. During a mean follow-up of 8.7 years, 1,139 incident heart failure hospitalization were documented. Higher degree of risk-factor control was significantly associated with a lower risk of heart failure in diabetic patients without IHD, but not in diabetic patients with IHD (P-interaction=0.008) . Moreover, as compared with non-diabetic controls, the diabetes-related excess risk of heart failure became diminished when all the three risk factors were under control in diabetic patients without IHD; the hazard ratio for heart failure was 1. (95%, CI, 0.85-1.49) . Our findings highlight the importance of early intervention for controlling cardiovascular risk factors in preventing heart failure, especially before the onset of IHD.

 H.Ma: None. X.Wang: None. Y.Heianza: None. L.Qi: None.


The Cloud is increasingly being used to store and process big data for its tenants and classical security mechanisms using encryption are neither sufficiently efficient nor suited to the task of protecting big data in the Cloud. In this paper, we present an alternative approach which divides big data into sequenced parts and stores them among multiple Cloud storage service providers. Instead of protecting the big data itself, the proposed scheme protects the mapping of the various data elements to each provider using a trapdoor function. Analysis, comparison and simulation prove that the proposed scheme is efficient and secure for the big data of Cloud tenants.


Abstract Background: Historically, the Rod of Asclepius is considered as the correct symbol of Medicine. Unfortunately, many medical/health institutions in the world have erroneously interchanged the Rod of Asclepius symbol with erroneous symbols (e.g. Caduceus) to depict Medicine. This study aims to assess the official logos (i.e. institutional symbols) of university teaching hospitals in Nigeria and determine if these logos actually depict the true symbol of Medicine. Methods: This study was a cross-sectional online survey of teaching hospitals in Nigeria on their official logos. A total of 40,556 operating hospitals and clinics in Nigeria were identified. After systematic screening, a total of 35 hospitals were identified as university teaching hospitals and used for the survey. Official information about the geopolitical zone, ownership and official logo of the selected hospitals was obtained (via online and offline search). Data collected was analysed using SPSS version 22 software. Results: Out of the 35 surveyed university teaching hospitals, only 7 did not have snake(s) as part of their official logo. However, out of the remaining 28 hospitals that have snake(s) as part of their official logos, only 57.1% (16/28) of them have only one snake in their logo. Exactly half of the surveyed hospitals having logos with two entwined snakes (i.e. Caduceus) were owned by the federal government. Bivariate analysis showed that there exists statistically significant relationship between the geopolitical zone where a hospital is situated and the number of entwined snakes indicated in their official logo (p-value=0.034). Conclusion: This study shows that the correct symbol of Medicine is not universally indicated in the official logos of the university teaching hospitals in Nigeria.


We have investigated the proteins binding the E-selectin promoter NF-kappa B element in its natural DNA context, using probes extending beyond the NF-kappa B recognition decamer. In band shift assays, we detected two distinct NF-kappa B complexes using nuclear extracts from several cytokine-induced cells. Subunit-specific antisera as blockers of complex formation plus DNA-protein cross-linking experiments revealed the faster migrating form to contain the NF-kappa B p50 plus p65 subunits. In contrast, the slower migrating form is composed of p50 plus the p65-related p75 protein. We show as the crucial determinant in generation of the larger complex the presence of more than five basepairs extra DNA sequence downstream of the NF-kappa B-site. Although no specific sequence is required in this 3' extended DNA to bind the larger complex, an intact kappa B binding site is. This may be explained by a requirement for activated p50 as part of this complex. The potential for a regulatory role for the p75 containing complex on the E-selectin promoter is discussed.


Are Patients of Asian Medicine Active Consumers? Background: The hypothesis that heterodox patients are active consumers. Objective: What are the decisional criteria that lead patients to Asian medicine? Do they want to be involved in therapeutic decision-making? Are they well informed about diverse therapeutic options? Methods: Semistructured interviews with 26 patients using Ayurveda or acupuncture. Results: Active consumerism among the patients is limited to processes before the beginning of the treatment. They collect little information about the concepts of Asian medicine. They also tend to welcome a rather paternalistic therapeutic relationship in which medical decision-making is centered around the physician. Conclusion: As only two of the 26 interviewed patients conform to the notion of active consumerism, we argue that the majority of patients engages in practices of passive consumerism.


1 Understanding seed dispersal by wind and, in particular, long‐distance dispersal (LDD) is needed for management of plant populations and communities, especially in response to changes in climate, land use and natural habitats. Numerical models designed to explore complex, nonlinear atmospheric processes are essential tools for understanding the fundamental mechanisms involved in seed dispersal. Yet, thus far, nearly all such models have not explicitly accounted for the spatial heterogeneity that is a typical feature of all ecosystems. 2 The recently developed Regional Atmospheric Modelling System (RAMS)‐based Forest Large Eddy Simulation (RAFLES) is used here to explore how within‐stand canopy heterogeneity impacts LDD. RAFLES resolves microscale canopy heterogeneity such as small gaps and variable tree heights, and it simulates their impacts on turbulence inside and above the canopy in the atmospheric boundary layer (ABL). For that purpose, an Eulerian–Lagrangian module of seed dispersal is added to RAFLES to simulate seed trajectories. 3 Particular attention is paid to the sensitivity of statistical attributes of the dispersal kernels (i.e. mean, mode, variance, tail) to key simplifications common to all seed dispersal models, such as horizontal homogeneity in the canopy and flow field, and the tight coupling between air parcel trajectories and seed trajectories (i.e. neglecting seed inertia). These attributes appear to be sensitive to various factors operating at scales ranging from the seed scale to the ABL scale. 4 Simulations with RAFLES show that LDD is characterized by a dispersal kernel with a 'tail', asymptotically approaching a power law decay of –3/2 (mainly occurring for lighter seeds at high wind speeds). This is consistent with asymptotic predictions from analytical models. The wind speed threshold at which seed abscission occurs, set‐up to be twice the standard deviation of the vertical wind speed, is shown to affect short‐distance dispersal, but has no significant impact on LDD. Ignoring the effects of seed inertia on the seed trajectory calculations has a minor effect on short‐distance dispersal and no effect on the probability of seed uplift. Thus, it has no significant impact on LDD. 5 Synthesis. Tree‐scale canopy heterogeneity affects the turbulence characteristics inside and above the canopy and, consequently, this affects dispersal kernel statistics. A key finding from this study is that ejection is enhanced above the shorter trees of the canopy. Seeds dispersed above shorter trees have a higher probability of experiencing LDD while their short‐distance dispersal remains practically the same. At inter‐annual time scales, such interactions could affect species composition.


Measurements on physical systems result from the systems' activity being converted into sensor measurements by a forward model. In a number of cases, inversion of the forward model is extremely sensitive to perturbations such as sensor noise or numerical errors in the forward model. Regularization is then required, which introduces bias in the reconstruction of the systems' activity. One domain in which this is particularly problematic is the reconstruction of interactions in spatially-extended complex systems such as the human brain. Brain interactions can be reconstructed from non-invasive measurements such as electroencephalography (EEG) or magnetoencephalography (MEG), whose forward models are linear and instantaneous, but have large null-spaces and high condition numbers. This leads to incomplete unmixing of the forward models and hence to spurious interactions. This motivated the development of interaction measures that are exclusively sensitive to lagged, i.e. delayed interactions. The drawback of such measures is that they only detect interactions that have sufficiently large lags and this introduces bias in reconstructed brain networks. We introduce three estimators for linear interactions in spatially-extended systems that are uniformly sensitive to all lags. We derive some basic properties of and relationships between the estimators and evaluate their performance using numerical simulations from a simple benchmark model.


Understanding the processes occurring in the nuclear disk of our Galaxy is interesting in its own right, as part of the Milky Way, but also because it is the closest galactic nucleus. It has been more than two decades since the general phenomenon of higher gas temperature in the inner few hundred parsecs by comparison with local clouds in the disk of the Galaxy was recognized. This is one of the least understood characteristics of giant molecular clouds having a much higher gas temperature than dust temperature in the inner few degrees of the Galactic center. We propose that an enhanced flux of cosmic-ray electrons, as evidenced recently by a number of studies, is responsible for directly heating the gas clouds in the nuclear disk, elevating the temperature of molecular gas (~75 K) above the dust temperature (~20 K). In addition, we report the detection of nonthermal radio emission from Sgr B2 F based on low-frequency GMRT and VLA observations. The higher ionization fraction and thermal energy due to the impact of nonthermal electrons in star-forming sites have important implications in slowing down star formation in the nuclear disk of our Galaxy and nuclei of galaxies.


Purpose: The oxygen uptake efficiency slope (OUES) represents the rate of increase in VO2 in response to a given VE during incremental exercise, indicating how effectively oxygen is taken in by the lungs, transported and used in the periphery. OUES, calculated using only submaximal exercise data is identical to the OUES calculated over the entire duration of a cardiopulmonary exercise test (CEPT) , and both maximal and submaximal OUE are significantly related to cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF) measured as VO2peak. Currently, little research has been published on how physical activity (PA) assessed by accelerometers is related to submaximal and maximal OUES. The purpose of this study was to determine the relation light (LIPA), moderate (MIPA) and vigorous (VIPA) intensity physical activity and maximal and submaximal OUES in men with cardiovascular disease (CVD).
Methods: A total of 56 men (mean ( SD): age of 59.3 ± 9.2 yr., VO2 peak (L/min) 2.0  0.50, VO2 peak (mL/kg/min) 23.6  5.8, were recruited during an induction to a community-based exercise referral program following completion of phase 2 cardiac rehabilitation program. Participants underwent a graded exercise test on a cycle ergometer with breath by breath open circuit spirometry after which they wore a wrist worn accelerometer (Actigraph) for 7 d. Absolute and relative submaximal and maximal OUES were calculated by plotting VO2 in mL/min on the x axis, and the log transformed VE on the y axis (VO2 = a log 10 VE + b). Exercise data up to the ventilatory anaerobic threshold and maximal exercise were used to calculate submaximal and maximal OUE, respectively.
Results: Participants performed 584.49  73.87 min of daily LIPA, 145.45  60.85 min of MIPA and no daily min of VIPA. There was a significant relation between absolute submaximal OUES (r=0.386; p<0.01), submaximal OUES/Kg (r=0.296; p<0.05) and LIPA. There was a significant relation between maximal OUES (r=0.286; p<0.05), maximal OUES/Kg (r=0.279; p<0.05) and MIPA.
Conclusion: Submaximal and maximal OUE are related to levels of LIPA and MIPA, respectively. Submaximal OUES can potentially be used as an objective, effort independent test to estimate LIPA levels among men with CVD.


Carbon nanotubes and graphene are an almost perfect molecule with truly amazing combinations of thermal electrical and structural properties. In order to achieve their full potential, they need to be fully integrated in all sorts of matrices. Full integration requires their development beyond conventional composites so that the level of the non-nano material is designed to fully integrate with the amount of nanotubes and graphene. Here, the nano materials are part of the matrix rather than a differing component, as in the case of conventional composites. In order to advance the development of multifunctional materials integrating nanotubes and graphene, this research is focused on the simultaneous control of the nanoarchitecture, structural, thermal and electrical properties of fully integrated hybrid materials. These are hybrid materials systems designed to surpass the limits of rule of mixtures engineering and composite design. The goals are to implement multifunctional designs to fully mimic the properties of carbon nanotubes and grapheme on larger scales for enhanced thermal and electrical management in addition to the control of other properties such as strength and toughness. These new approaches involve exfoliation, functionalization, dispersion, stabilization, alignment, polymerization, reaction bonding and coating in order to achieve full integration. Typical examples of structural applications of polymeric and ceramic matrices and applications in energy systems, such as capacitors and batteries as well as other material systems, are presented and discussed.


In response to the increasing prevalence of overweight and obesity, public health efforts to curb these conditions have been delivered in abundance. There is concern however that the messages used to target these conditions may be increasing risk factors for disordered eating. Therefore, we sought to systematically review the literature on the effects of anti-obesity public health messages on risk factors for disordered eating. Seven electronic databases were searched for articles meeting the inclusion criteria, resulting in the inclusion of 12 studies of various methodologies that measured one or more risk factors for disordered eating following exposure to public health messages. Few studies specifically and accurately measured disordered eating behaviours. Most studies found that messages were stigmatizing towards persons who are overweight/obese, and exacerbate thin ideals and drive for thinness. Interestingly, the same was not found for measures of body dissatisfaction. Messages promoting smaller meals were also thought to be potential triggers for disordered eating. Whilst the studies included in this review offered both quantitative and qualitative insights into how public health messages may have adverse effects on eating behaviours, there was a consistent lack of valid reporting measures and clear classification of outcomes overall. Hence, future research is recommended using valid reporting tools such as validated questionnaires, as well as prolonged exposure to the intervention condition to determine longer-term impact.


Wearable technologies, interactive and safe robotic systems require an effective actuator control that highly depends on the accurate feedback from flexible and dense array of sensors. In this paper, we introduce a novel soft stretch sensor design that is applicable to distributed high strain measurements. The proposed sensor design utilizes 2-D fabrication processes to create specific profiles and stretchable mesh patterns in Constantan-polyimide laminate that are scalable and customizable. In addition to the geometrical parameters of the stretchable mesh pattern, the sensitivity in the proposed design is determined by the metal layer profile. Without considerably affecting its mechanical properties and stretchability, the profile design allows an engineering freedom to choose the scope of measurements and the sensitivity. Similar design principle can eventually produce complete sensor/circuit systems, where the circuitry and the sensing elements can coexist in a single metal laminate. In this paper, we describe the sensor design parameters and the sensor model that include the equations of deformation and resistance change as a function of the stretch. We compare the prototype test results to the model prediction. The findings provide guideline to designing customized sensors that satisfies specific size and stretch requirements.


The main purpose of this study is to investigate, by using regressions analysis, the DR effect on households' electricity consumption. We employ three kinds of estimation models: a pooled OLS model, a random effect model, and a fixed effect model. Major results are as follows. First, the DR scheme clearly reduces electricity consumption. As the peak-time price of electricity increases by 20 yen/kWh in the form of TOU and CPP, electricity consumption decreases by about 8.1% at sample mean. However, consumption after DR tends to increase, most likely due to the rebound effect. Second, the reduction effects of the DR scheme can be strengthened as households' income becomes higher. In contrast, as more people stay at home during the daytime and the temperature rises, the reduction effects of the DR scheme may become weaker. Third, electricity price, household characteristics, and external conditions are significant factors affecting electricity consumption. Fourth, the effects of some DR schemes such as requests to save electricity, TOU, and CPP, can differ largely according to household characteristics and external conditions.


In this preliminary investigation milk samples from 4 multiparous amiata asses and 5 half-breed mares belonging to the same farm located near Grosseto (Tuscany), feeding the same pasture, were collected and analyzed. Milk samples collection was performed in the first three mounths of lactation. Capillary electrophoresis (CE) analysis were performed to quantify 3-sialyllactose (3-SL) and 6-sialyllactose (6-SL). 3-SL and 6-SL highest amounts were found in mares samples (197.3 mg/L e 82.2 mg/L), while highest asses amounts were 45.1 mg/L and 49.8 mg/L respectively. 3-SL amounts were higher in all mares samples than in donkey samples; in mares samples 3-SL amounts were always higher than 6-SL.


The management of the patients with acute pseudo-obstruction of the colon (APOC) still represents a matter of debate. To better evaluate and compare the effectiveness of various therapeutic approaches in the management of APOC 29 patients were considered. These were included according to three consecutive periods in: group A (1977-1982) concerning patients who underwent medical treatment alone (n = 8) or endoscopic (n = 4) and surgical (n = 1) decompression; group B (1983-1990) in which the management was based on simple endoscopic decompression (n = 10); group C (1991-1995) including patients in whom placement, under fluoroscopic control, of a tube in the cecum following endoscopic decompression was provided (n = 6). Mean time required for resolution of colonic distension was 2.3 (+/- 0.50 SD) days in patients who underwent endoscopic decompression and tube placement, as compared to 4.5 (+/- 2.47 SD) days in the group of patients treated either with conservative measures or simple endoscopic decompression (p = 0.04). No recurrence occurred after colonoscopic decompression and tube placement while colonic distension recurred in 4 of 14 patients managed by simple endoscopic decompression (0% vs. 28.6%, n.s.). Our experience showed that endoscopic decompression is an effective method, moreover if associated with the placement of an indwelling tube into the right colon. This method, for its easiness and safeness, besides its effectiveness in preventing the recurrence of colonic distension, may be surely considered an advance in the management of acute pseudo-obstruction of the colon.


The objective of this work is to identify the differences among educational texts written in two styles: normal educational text and their knowledge form. The research sample consists of 60 documents – educational texts on agriculture waste processing – converted by the authors into the knowledge form. Over the set of indicators used for evaluating the educational texts, we formulated working and operational hypotheses and validated them using the paired sample t-test. The results show that the complex text difficulty rate of knowledge texts is significantly (α = 0.05) lower than of the normal texts. They present the same amount of information logically divided into more simple sentences merged to complex sentences. Based on the difference in frequencies of selected identifiers we are able to distinguish the literary styles. The further research aims at an automatic recognition of the text styles and measuring the amount of knowledge inside the text.


The regional phase Lg is often used to estimate location and magnitude for sources closer than 1,500 km. The complexity of Lg waveforms makes it difficult to determine consistently a unique Lg arrival time, thus affecting source location with a single station or array. This study tests an automatic method for timing Lg arrivals once the phase is roughly associated by analyst or using automatic detection algorithms. We used wavelet transforms to decompose the Lg signal into its components localized both in time and scale. A continuous wavelet transform (CWT) using a Daubechies order two (db2) wavelet is applied to 10 seconds of raw data containing the start of Lg . The coefficients at scale 16 from the db2 decomposition are squared and the resulting time series is represented by an approximation of the fourth-level discrete wavelet transform (DWT) using a Haar wavelet. A threshold detector is then applied to the resulting time series to determine the Lg arrival time. The method was tested using well located earthquakes and explosions from known mines ( mb < 4.0), recorded on the vertical components at TXAR (Lajitas, Texas) and PDAR (Pinedale, Wyoming) arrays. The Lg arrival time was automatically picked with a standard deviation of less than 1.5 seconds (less than 10 km location error) for well known locations. Location standard deviation is larger with the increase of distance and smaller with the increase in signal to noise ratio of events.


A great deal has been written about the Korean War, but most of it has dealt with high-level decision-making or the experiences of combat units and soldiers. This article takes a different approach, looking at the reactions of Chinese citizens to the war and the way their perceptions were molded in part by the Communist regime and in part by memories of the brutal Japanese occupation in the 1930s and 1940s. Formerly classified Chinese documents shed valuable light on the way popular attitudes affected the Communist authorities and vice versa. The regime, led by Mao Zedong, exercised harsh rule in China, but ordinary citizens' observations and judgments were not necessarily the product of Communist Party programs. The regime also had to be constantly mindful of popular morale. The "Resisting America and Assisting Korea" campaign was devised and controlled by the Communist Party but was also shaped in part from below.


BACKGROUND
Pterygium is a common problem and after surgical removal may recur in up to 80% of cases, depending on the technique of primary excision. Recurrent pterygia can be aggressive and repeated excision may result in severe conjunctival scarring and shortening, resulting in insufficient conjunctiva to perform further grafting and lid surgery. When there is insufficient autologous conjunctiva, mucous membrane must be obtained from other sites. Full thickness buccal mucous membrane grafts have been described, but they may result in a beefy red appearance, with graft contraction and a poor tear film.

METHOD
The use of split thickness buccal mucous membrane grafts is described in three patients with recurrent pterygium, two in combination with lamellar keratoplasty. beta Irradiation was used as adjuvant therapy in all cases.

RESULTS
In all three cases an acceptable cosmetic appearance was achieved, with no recurrence of the pterygium, and a good range of eye movements.

CONCLUSIONS
It is recommended that split thickness buccal mucosal grafts, combined with beta irradiation, should be considered in complex cases of pterygium recurrence when there is insufficient autologous conjunctiva and conjunctival shortening with restricted eye movements.


A time-of-flight (TOF) detector has been used in the BESⅢ experiment to provide charged particle identification. In this paper, we present a novel high performance differential amplifier, which has been designed for amplifying the signals from the detectors. The preamplifier can amplify differential signals, which can help to eliminate the common mode pickup, and increase the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR). Bilinear gain is one of the features of this preamplifier, which greatly increases the dynamic range and avoids the dead time of the preamplifier. In order to describe the bilinear gain, a 4-parameter function is developed. And this 4-parameter function can also be used in the calibration of the time walk caused by the amplitude due to the bilinear gain. The preamplifier has a gain about 10 V/V with a small signal and about 1.0 V/V with a large signal. The rise time of the preamp is less than 2 ns.


Of every 10 workers in the world six work in the informal economy, while four out of every five organizations operate in the informal economy. An important sector in the informal economy is street food vending. Street food vendors not only earn their own living but provide a service to the market by making affordable food available quickly to the participants of the street market. While their role in the developing economies cannot be overlooked, not a lot has been known about them. This thesis explores street food vending in Afghanistan and Nigeria. Nigeria is used as an example for the rest of West Africa. In this thesis we will find out what crops are predominantly used by street food vendors, what are the impacts of price volatility on the profitability of street food vendors, are the vendors profitable, and how they make decisions under risk. We will be using tornado graphs, as well histograms, and cumulative density function to determine profitability and risk for street food vendors. We will also be using decision making trees to visualize how decisions are made by street food vendors.


BACKGROUND
Symptoms associated with urinary tract infection (UTI) are common in women in general practice and represent a significant burden for the National Health Service. There is considerable variation among general practitioners in the management of patients presenting with these symptoms.

AIM
To identify the most appropriate patient management strategy given current information for non-pregnant, adult women presenting in general practice with symptoms of uncomplicated UTI.

METHOD
A decision analytic model incorporating a variety of patient management strategies was constructed using available published information and expert opinion. This model was able to provide guidance on current best practice based upon cost-effectiveness (cost per symptom-free day).

RESULTS
Empiric treatment was found to be the least costly strategy available. It saved two days of symptoms per episode of UTI at a cost of 14 Pounds. The empiric-and-laboratory strategy involves an incremental cost-effectiveness ratio of 215 Pounds per symptom day averted per episode of UTI. The remaining patient management strategies are never optimal.

CONCLUSION
Empiric treatment of patients presenting with symptoms of UTI was found to be cost-effective under a range of assumptions for this patient group. However, recognition of the impact of this strategy upon antibiotic resistance may lead to the dipstick strategy being considered a superior strategy overall.


Mobile telecommunications networks will evolve to a great extent in the future. They will offer higher data rates and provide new services for nomadic users. The development of packet switched data bearers for 3/sup rd/ generation wireless networks will enable support for multimedia applications as well. Multimedia can be divided into real-time and non-real-time services. In this paper we concentrate on a new non-real-time multimedia service called multimedia messaging service (MMS). Multimedia messaging service allows mobile subscribers to exchange arbitrary types of information in a store-and-forward manner. Multimedia messages may consist of text, images, audio or video clips, or any combination of these. A new network element called multimedia messaging service center is needed for storing and forwarding the messages. We describe in more detail what we mean by multimedia messaging service. We also analyze the different architectural options for supporting multimedia messaging within UMTS (Universal Mobile Telecommunications System) and GPRS (General Packet Radio Service for GSM) networks.


The present research article focuses on public participation in the environmental policy-making process in post-Mao China. It is a well-known fact that public administration in socialist China is highly centralised, and that public policies are initiated at the center and then locally administered under the one-party rule. In this monist political system, main stakeholders in the policy process are mainly Chinese Communist Party cadres, together with the 'authorised' groups of societies; so far participation from autonomous interest groups and society has been limited at best. In general, the 'western model' of civil society, which is characterised by a plurality of interest groups participating in public policymaking, implementation and evaluation, has – so far – been absent in China. This study aims to use environmental protection as a platform to examine the transformations that have been taking place in the environmental policy process and use it as a piece of references to revisit the current academic literature on China.

Specifically this article will compare two anti-incinerator protests in Guangzhou (Canton) and Beijing, to illustrate the dynamics surrounding the emergence of public participation in China's environmental policy process. This study plans to analyse why Guangzhou and Beijing Municipal governments have had different responses and attitudes to address citizens' grievances. Furthermore, the research will dwell on the establishment up of a Public Consultative and Supervision Committee for Urban Waste Management in Guangzhou City, a public consultative mechanism on waste management, which certainly represents a major novelty and a breakthrough for the policy making process of China. This research project demonstrates how policy adjustment is not determined solely by protests' outcomes but is also greatly affected by the response of local governments and the development of civil society. Consequently, the discussion is expected to give a new interpretation on environmental management of China.


The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of the colonization of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi in the production of secondary metabolites in Petroselinum crispum, Salvia officinalis and Dysphania ambrosioides. Three treatments were established: Control (C), commercial inoculum (CI) and native inoculum (NI). Every 15 days height, stem diameter and number of leaves were measured. The percentage of colonization was assessed by staining of roots, and identification of flavonoids through TLC thin layer chromatography, finally the concentration of total phenols was evaluated by spectrophotometry from the ethanol extracts of each plant. The results of development of biomass and the percentage of colonization show statistically significant difference for the three variables evaluated (P≤0.05) from each culture in the treatment of NI with respect to control, showing a greater effect on plants of S. officinalis (51% and 91%, respectively). Chromatography reveals the presence of flavonoids in the three plants; however this is more intense for the treatment of NI, showing increased production of total phenols in S. officinalis. Finally, the chemical characterization of the substrate shows a higher assimilation of nitrogen and phosphorus (0.11% and 0.35 mg / kg respectively) in S. officinalis associated with a native inoculum (NI).


While there is a vast body of research on the benefits of FDI in developing countries, whether and how the form of FDI matters have received limited attention. This paper studies the impact of FDI via quid pro quo (technology for market access) on facilitating knowledge spillover and quality upgrading. Our context is the Chinese automobile industry, where foreign automakers are required to set up joint ventures (the "quid") with domestic automakers in return for market access (the "quo"). The identification strategy exploits a unique dataset of detailed vehicle quality measures along multiple dimensions and relies on within-product quality variation across dimensions. We show that affiliated domestic automakers adopt more similar quality strength as their joint ventures, compared to non-affiliated pairs. The results suggest that quid pro quo generates additional knowledge spillover to affiliated domestic automakers, on top of any industry-wide spillover. We rule out endogenous joint venture network formation, overlapping customer bases, or direct technology transfer via market transactions as alternative explanations. Analyses leveraging additional micro datasets on worker flows and shared upstream suppliers among automakers demonstrate that labor mobility and supplier network are important channels in mediating knowledge spillover. On the other hand, while quid pro quo facilitates learning, such a requirement is not a prerequisite for knowledge spillover. Counterfactual exercises show that quid pro quo is not the primary driver of the overall quality improvement experienced by domestic automakers.


The objectives of this study were to quantify the load and the asphalt-aggregate mix factors that enhance pavement resistance against rutting and fatigue cracking and to develop a computer program for the backcalculation of pavement layer moduli. Results of indirect cyclic load and other supporting tests conducted on pavement cores, pavement evaluation of rut depth and fatigue cracks, and nondestructive deflection tests (NDT) are presented, compared, and discussed. The cores were obtained from 49 flexible and 15 composite pavement sections. During the course of the investigation, a new computer program for the backcalculation of layer moduli was developed. Relationships between the asphalt mix factors and pavement rutting and fatigue cracking are developed, discussed, and presented. This volume, Volume 3 of 4, contains the analysis, discussion, conclusions, and recommendations from the study.