Robert F. Kiernan's Frivolity Unbound quotes as an acceptable definition of camp E. F. Benson's description of his Lucia novels as "small beer with a head on it." Kiernan acknowledges the difficulty of defining camp "apart from such whimsies of metaphor because it [camp] depends crucially upon a style of appreciation as well as upon the structure of incongruities that informs all comedy." This attempt to create camp by combining a properly situated reader/observer with an unspecifiable proportion of comic content improves little on the descriptions of previous theorists of camp like Christopher Isherwood and Susan Sontag. Such discussions rely heavily on illustration, Kiernan complains, but so does his own—his illustrations being, among others, the Royal Pavilion in Brighton, "Liberace's feather-and-leather wardrobe," and selected novels of Thomas Love Peacock, Max Beerbohm, Ronald Firbank, E. F. Benson, P. G. Wodehouse, and Ivy ComptonBurnett. He complains as well about the "proprietary attitude [toward camp] in the homosexual subculture" that "resents any effort to edit homosexuality out of the genre," and whereas Kiernan claims a broader definition of camp that includes "excessive stylization of whatever kind," his own choice of example leans heavily toward the "gender-exaggerated." He tries to subdue this element in his discussion of the novels, touching only very lightly on homosexual subtexts. He remarks, for example, that Quaint Irene in E. F. Benson's Lucia series might be a serious challenge to Lucia but that she "worships Lucia blindly." Blind worship seems an odd underappreciation of Quaint (queer) Irene's wonderfully camp (by Kiernan's own definition) attitude toward the Queen of Tilling— uncritical, affectionate amusement and unbounded admiration of Lucia's artifice. Kiernan's study consists largely of entertaining summaries of the campiest novels of his chosen writers, pointing out along the way their campiest moments. It is all good fun, and one does get a sense thereby of the "frivolity unbound" that Kiernan sees as constitutive of camp. The sense weakens at the end with the chapter on Ivy Compton-Burnett, whose novels seem to require great stretching to illustrate the necessary degree of excess and frivolity. One wonders if Kiernan's conscience (or an editor's) insisted on the inclusion of a woman; Rose Macauley might have been more a amenable, if still problematic, choice. Better yet might have been a chapter on Stevie Smith as a camp poet. It is, finally, in a Beerbohm quip that Kiernan provides us with the most precisely eloquent illustration of the phenomenon of camp: "They were a tense and peculiar family, the Oedipuses, weren't they?" They are a tense and peculiar family, the authors of British university fiction. Ian Carter's study of this fiction in the postwar period argues for a separate genre, characterized by the assumptions that Oxford is England is civilization and that a threat to the first is a threat to the second is a threat to the third. The threats, which Carter elaborates at great length, are "proletarians, scientists, women, and foreigners." Quite different from Kiernan's camp novels, the conservative, bitter, chauvinistic, and misogynist comedies that Carter describes as typical of the genre are no fun at all. After reading about the retrograde assumptions in the 196 books on Carter's list, I may even stop reading David Lodge.


Hardware customization is an effective approach for meeting application performance requirements while achieving high levels of energy efficiency. Application-specific processors achieve high performance at low energy by tailoring their designs towards a specific workload, i.e., an application or application domain of interest. A fundamental question that has remained unanswered so far though is to what extent processor customization is sensitive to the training workload's input datasets. Current practice is to consider a single or only a few input datasets per workload during the processor design cycle — the reason being that simulation is prohibitively time-consuming which excludes considering a large number of datasets. This paper addresses this fundamental question, for the first time. In order to perform the large number of runs required to address this question in a reasonable amount of time, we first propose a mechanistic analytical model, built from first principles, that is accurate within 3.6% on average across a broad design space. The analytical model is at least 4 orders of magnitude faster than detailed cycle-accurate simulation for design space exploration. Using the model, we are able to study the sensitivity of a workload's input dataset on the optimum customized processor architecture. Considering MiBench benchmarks and 1000 datasets per benchmark, we conclude that processor customization is largely dataset-insensitive. This has an important implication in practice: a single or only a few datasets are sufficient for determining the optimum processor architecture when designing application-specific processors.


The multiplicity of wars and armed conflicts in Africa, coupled with diverse security threats and challenges, has refocused international policy and academic attention on the peace-securitydevelopment nexus. A particular area of concern is what role African regional economic and security organisations can play in conflict stabilisation, conflict management and winning the peace in transition societies in post-Cold War Africa. This article critically explores the nexus of peace, security and development within the framework of the resurgence of economic and security regionalisms with a particular focus on regionalist projects in Africa, including ECOWAS in West Africa, SADC in Southern Africa and IGAD in the Horn of Africa. It explores the role of viable, strong and modern states in driving and strengthening the nexus within the framework of economic and security regionalism in Africa.


The extent and location of weak learning environments and poor student outcomes in American high schools need to be better understood if we are to focus attention and resources where reforms are most needed. We begin this chapter by providing various indicators of the serious problems affecting high schools and then describe how the indicators are concentrated in large high schools in high-poverty areas. There is an emerging consensus that comprehensive reform approaches that address high school organization and operations offer promising solutions to these problems. Therefore, we also provide a brief history of earlier reform recommendations that have evolved into the comprehensive change models now available. We conclude with a description of four common components of comprehensive reform models for high schools, with examples and recent evaluation evidence from one selected model that offers specific materials and support systems.


A frequency tunable MSW resonator made by a YIG film has been used as a selective frequency component in a micromachined resonating filter. S-parameters have been measured at different DC magnetic bias fields, with a frequency tunability between 2 GHz and 7.5 GHz. An improvement of the performances for the SERs excited by micromachined microstrip transducers has been clearly demonstrated. Moreover, the utilization of silicon membranes to support MSW-SERs offers important openings toward the integration of magnetostatic wave devices with micromachined structures.


Contemporary wireless networks are tasked with supporting different connection profiles, including real-time traffic and delay-sensitive communications. This creates a need to better understand the fundamental limits of forward error correction in non-asymptotic regimes. This paper characterizes the performance of block codes over finite-state channels and evaluates their queueing performance under maximum-likelihood decoding. Classical results from digital communications are revisited in the context of channels with rare transitions, and bounds on the probabilities of decoding failure are derived for random codes. This creates an analysis framework where channel dependencies within and across codewords are preserved. These results are subsequently integrated into a queueing problem formulation.


Preface. Acknowledgements. 1 Introduction. 1.1 Modern Public Administration. 1.2 The Traditions of State Audit. 1.3 The Contents and Argument of this Book. 2 Why Bureaucracy Will Never Work. 2.1 Public Programmes are Often Late, Cost More than Planned and do not Work as Intended. 2.2 The Causes of Public Programme Failure. 2.3 Bureaucracy's Fundamental Flaw. 2.4 Literary Insights. 2.5 Wider Problems with Bureaucracy. 2.6 The Flaws of Bureaucracy have been Reinforced by Traditional Audit. 2.7 Summary. 3 The Failure to Analyse Outcomes. 3.1 How is Value for Money to be Secured? 3.2 Traditional Outputs are Valuable but Cannot Demonstrate Value for Money. 3.3 Public Choice. 3.4 Cost Benefit Analysis and Cost Effectiveness Analysis. 3.5 Value for Money Auditing. 3.6 Greater Focus on Outcomes. 3.7 More Sophisticated Diagnostic and Analytical Techniques. 3.8 Summary. 4 How Effective Audit can be Secured - the Auditor as Soach and Mentor Rather than Critic and Nark. 4.1 How can Progress be Made? 4.2 Separate Methodologies for Separate Subjects. 4.3 The Meanings which Participants give to their Roles. 4.4 Understanding 'Accountability'. 4.5 The Relevance of Social Anthropology. 4.6 The Auditor as Coach and Mentor. 4.7 Conclusion. 4.8 Summary. 5 Privatisation - The Alternative to Bureaucracy? 5.1 Private and Public Sector Approaches Compared. 5.2 Getting the Best from Privatisation. 5.3 The Privatisation Process - the General Issues. 5.4 Getting the Best from Privatisation. 5.5 The Importance of having the Right Pre-conditions in Place to Maximise the Success of Privatisation. 5.6 Conclusion. 5.7 Summary. 6 Public Private Partnerships-Another Option. 6.1 Getting the Best from PFI/PPP Deals. 6.2 Selecting the Best Project. 6.3 Applying the Proper Processes to PPP/PFI. 6.4 Selecting the Best Bid. 6.5 Checking the Deal Makes Sense. 6.6 Delivering Long Term Value for Money. 6.7 Good Practice for the Future. 6.8 Questions for the Future. 6.9 Summary. 7 Regulations-Bureaucracy's Tentacles. 7.1 Bureaucracies Cause Regulations to Grow - for Commendable and Less Commendable Reasons. 7.2 The Costs of these Regulations are Hidden, and Quite Pernicious. 7.3 The Auditor can Help to Some Extent... 7.4 ... But Society's Addiction to Rules and Regulations Make it Hard to do. 7.5 Summary. 8 Meeting Citizens' Needs - Quality of Public Services. 8.1 Barriers to High Quality Services. 8.2 Improving the Quality of Public Services. 8.3 The Implications for Audit. 8.4 Conclusions. 8.5 Summary. 9 Risk Averse or Risk Ignorant? 9.1 Risk Ignorance and Bureaucracy. 9.2 The Application of Technology. 9.3 Human Behaviour. 9.4 Asymmetry of Information. 9.5 Agency Interdependence. 9.6 The Impact of the Media. 9.7 'The Risk Management of Everything'. 9.8 The Requirements for Effective Risk Management - General. 9.9 Effective Risk Management - Top Level Commitment. 9.10 Effective Risk Management - Synergy through the Delivery Chain. 9.11 Effective Risk Management - Understanding and Managing Common Risks Together. 9.12 Effective Risk Management - Reliable, Timely and up to Date Information. 9.13 Effective Risk Management - Scrutiny and Challenge. 9.14 Conclusion. 9.15 Summary. 10 Vulnerability to Fraud, Theft and Corruption. 10.1 Varieties of Fraud, Theft and Corruption. 10.2 What are Fraud, Corruption and Theft? 10.3 Definition of Terms. 10.4 Crime and Punishment. 10.5 Problems Faced by the UK: Diagnosis and Cure. 10.6 Macro Weaknesses: Social Security Benefits and Tax Credits. 10.7 Micro Weaknesses: Abuse of Trust. 10.8 A Failure to Pilot: Fraud and Abandonment. 10.9 Fraud versus Corruption. 10.10 The Changing Nature of Fraud: Identity Theft, Information Technology and Organised Crime. 10.11 Conclusions. 10.12 Summary. 11 Programme and Project Management - Bureaucracies' Weakest Link? 11.1 Bureaucracies' Failures. 11.2 Transcending Failure. 11.3 Examining Broader Delivery Issues. 11.4 Conclusion. 11.5 Summary. 12 Performance Measurement - Clarity or Confusion? 12.1 Management by Objectives and Performance Measurements. 12.2 Performance Measurement Methodologies. 12.3 International Experience. 12.4 Experience in the United Kingdom. 12.5 The Difficulties of Determining what Interventions Secure the Desired Outcomes. 12.6 Outcome Measuring - the Influence of External Factors. 12.7 Outcome Measures: Links Between the Public, Staff and Delivery Agents. 12.8 Outcome Measures: Specification, Incentives and Accountabilities. 12.9 Outcomes Measures: Accountability. 12.10 Outcome Measures: Data Quality and Reporting. 12.11 Conclusions. 12.12 Summary. 13 Organising the Audit. 13.1 What Results do We Achieve? 13.2 Conclusion and Summary. 14 Concluding Thoughts. 14.1 Traps. 14.2 The future. Appendix: Value for Money Methodology. A1 The Choice of Subject. A2 The Team. A3 Study Process and Methodology. Bibliography. Index.


Affordances of Simulation-based Science Assessments Jodi Davenport WestEd Edys Quellmalz WestEd Michael Timms WestEd Abstract: What are the affordances of simulation-based assessments for eliciting science inquiry skills? To test the affordances, WestEd's SimScientists program created 3 versions (static, active and interactive) of computer-based Ecosystems assessments. In the static version, students viewed still images on the screen. In the active version, students viewed animations, but did not conduct active investigations. In the interactive version, students designed and ran their own experiments. All versions assessed the same science inquiry skills (e.g., making observations, designing experiments, evaluating predictions etc.). Eight middle-school students completed each assessment version while thinking aloud. On items that required declarative knowledge, students performed similarly across versions. However, on items requiring more sophisticated reasoning (e.g., experimental design), students performed better when generating their own trials in the interactive version, than when recognizing correctly designed trials in the active and static versions. The results suggest that simulation-based assessments provide more complete measures of students' science proficiency.


Data on individual patients collected through state and federal health information exchanges has the potential to usher in a new era of drug regulation. These exchanges, produced by recent health care reform legislation, will amass an unprecedented amount of clinical information on drug usage, demographic variables, and patient outcomes. This information could aid the Food and Drug Administration ("FDA") with post-market drug surveillance because it more accurately reflects clinical practice outcomes than the trials the FDA relies upon for drug approval. However, even with this data available, the market-driven impetus to use it to police drugs is weak. This is fixable; the post-market drug regulatory process needs new incentives to boost third party participation. While a variety of mechanisms could achieve this, the best option for generating robust results may be an administrative bounty proceeding that will allow third parties to submit evidence to the FDA to contest the claimed safety and efficacy profiles of drugs already on the market. This Article uses a case study of Merck's former blockbuster drug Vioxx to demonstrate how this system might work. In creating a new incentive that counters the powerful financial motivation of drug manufacturers to obscure or misrepresent safety profiles, the proposed bounty proceeding could lead to an improved balance of the risks and benefits of drugs used by the American public. More broadly, this Article illustrates how to create an incentive for the private sector to supplement regulatory activity in a complex field.


In Vol. xliii, No. 2, through an unfortunate oversight, the scale along the ordinate was omitted from Text-fig. 1, between pages 146 and 147, as originally printed. The accompanying slip is arranged to be pasted along the left side of Text-fig. 1. The arrow at the top of the slip should be so placed as to be a continuation of the upper border of the chart. From the scale given in this slip the relative values of the curves shown in Text-fig. 2 (page 148) can be easily determined, since this is merely an enlarged and somewhat compressed portion from the larger text-figure. See PDF for Structure


When analysing asset prices in isolation, the classical asset pricing models only account for the time-series variation of the asset with the factors. However, we show that valuable information can be extracted if we account for spatial dependence across the assets when pricing real estate companies. We extend the factor model in Fama and French (2012) to include a spatial term and estimate a spatial factor model. We model the spatial linkages across real estate company returns using the physical distance between their properties. We find that the spatial factor model is not rejected and the spatial parameter is significant. The spatial factor model performs better than the factor model, substantially improving the model explaining real estate returns. Proximity across the property holdings of real estate companies can be used to model prices for listed real estate companies in addition to size, style and momentum factors. The spatial factor model is then used to disentangle direct and indirect spillover effects through idiosyncratic and market shocks respectively. We find that the spillover effect increases during the global financial crisis and can explain up to 30% of total return variation in the US. UK. and EU markets.


Background: Metaplastic carcinoma of the breast (MCB) is a rare histological subtype of breast carcinoma containing glandular and nonglandular components with mixed epithelial and mesenchymal differentiations. Aim of the Study: The study aimed to report clinical, radiological and pathological profiles, treatment and outcome of patients diagnosed with MCB from a tertiary care institute along with literature review. Materials and Methods: Diagnosed cases of MCB were obtained from the record over a period of January 2010 to December 2017, and data were recorded in a structured pro forma. Results: A total of 9 (0.9%) cases of MCB were identified out of 1031 breast cancer patients with the median age of presentation of 53 years. The palpable lump was the most common presentation (77.78%). The mean tumor size was 4.9 cm in greatest dimension. Sonographically, most of the lesions were solid (44.44%) followed by cystic (33.33%). Mammographically, microcalcifications were absent in eight cases. Histologically, 55.56% of cases were purely epithelial subtype (3: pure squamous and 2: adenosquamous) and 4 (44.44%) cases were mixed epithelial and mesenchymal subtypes (3: carcinosarcoma and 1: invasive lobular carcinoma with sarcomatous component and osseous metaplasia). All the cases were having triple-negative receptor status. Modified radical mastectomy (MRM) was performed in all cases and 33.33% of cases had axillary node positive. About 77.88% and 88.89% of cases received adjuvant chemotherapy and adjuvant radiotherapy, respectively. At median follow-up of 27 months, local recurrence and distant metastases were seen in 1 and 3 cases, respectively. At present, 33.33%, 22.22%, and 44.45% of patients were died, alive, and lost for follow-up, respectively. Conclusion: MCB is a rare histologic subtype of breast cancer with larger tumor size at presentation and MRM is the preferred surgical procedure over breast conservation surgery. Long-term and regular follow-up is necessary to know the outcome.


Polymorphism of organic molecules has received special attention, since the significantly different photophysical properties can provide important information to build a bridge between the micro- and macro-world. Here, we report three crystalline polymorphs of CzS-CN, which display much different properties of room temperature phosphorescence (RTP) and aggregation-induced emission (AIE). Due to their different molecular packings, the RTP lifetimes change from 266 ms to 41 ms, and then to 32 ms, accompanied by different photoluminescence quantum yields of crystals from 22.6% and 17.8% to 6.9%. Careful analyses of these crystal structures demonstrate that the properties are highly related to the packing mode and molecular configuration, regardless of the same chemical structure, thus disclosing some important clues to understand the structure–packing–property relationship of RTP and AIE performances.


Simulation and rendering of sparse volumetric data have different constraints and solutions depending on the application area. Generating precise simulations and understanding very large data are problems in scientific visualization, whereas convincing simulations and realistic visuals are challenges in motion pictures. Both require volumes with dynamic topology, very large domains, and efficient high quality rendering. We present the GPU voxel database structure, GVDB, based on the voxel database topology of Museth [Mus13], as a method for efficient GPU-based compute and raytracing on a sparse hierarchy of grids. GVDB introduces an indexed memory pooling design for dynamic topology, and a novel hierarchical traversal for efficient raytracing on the GPU. Examples are provided for ray sampling of volumetric data, rendering of isosurfaces with multiple scattering, and raytracing of level sets. We demonstrate that GVDB can give large performance improvements over CPU methods with identical quality.


The optimisation of vapour-grown carbon nanofibres (VGCNFs) dispersed in the biopolymer gellan gum (GG) and its usage as an ink for the direct writing of conducting networks are reported. Sonication optimisation showed that dispersing 10 mg per mL VGCNFs required 3 mg per mL GG solution and 4 minutes of low energy probe sonication. Free-standing films prepared by evaporative casting were found to exhibit electrical conductivity values of up to 35 ± 2 S cm−1. It is demonstrated that sonolysis has a detrimental effect on electrical conductivity. The dispersions were easily modified to allow for direct writing of conducting networks on paper using a commercial fountain pen. The electrical characteristics of these direct written electrodes (on paper) improved with increasing number of layers. The written electrodes on paper were used to connect a battery to a light emitting diode to demonstrate that they can be used in simple devices.


Pathologic factors of predictive value for carcinoma ex pleomorphic adenoma (CXPA), an aggressive salivary gland malignancy, are poorly defined. Because residual mixed tumor may be relatively inconspicuous and various carcinoma subtypes are encountered, misdiagnosis is common. To describe the pathologic features and identify potential prognostic factors, we retrospectively examined 73 cases of CXPA of the major salivary glands treated at Mayo Clinic. Paraffin section immunostaining for keratins (AE1/AE3, CK7, CK20), epithelial membrane antigen, carcinoembryonic antigen, vimentin, actin, S-100 protein, glial fibrillary acidic protein, and p53 and c-erbB-2 oncoproteins was performed in 69 cases. DNA content and proliferation indices were determined by digital image analysis of Feulgen- and MIB-I-stained sections, retrospectively. Survival was calculated by the Kaplan-Meier method, and prognostic variables were analyzed with the log-rank test. The carcinoma component was predominant in 82% of tumors. Adenocarcinoma not otherwise specified (31 cases) and salivary duct carcinoma (24 cases) were the most frequent histologic subtypes. Sixty-two tumors were high grade (Broders 3 or 4). Residual mixed tumor was extensively hyalinized in 54 cases. Pathologic features significantly associated with overall survival included pathologic stage (P =.009), tumor size (P =.012), grade (P =.005), proportion of carcinoma (P =.004), extent of invasion (P =.002), and proliferation index of carcinoma (P =.03). Of 4 patients with intracapsular (noninvasive) carcinoma, none had an adverse outcome. The immunohistochemical profile of CXPA included positive staining reactions in the malignant component for AE1/AE3 in 97% of cases, CK7 in 94%, epithelial membrane antigen in 86%, carcinoembryonic antigen in 75%, vimentin in 52%, and S-100 protein in 29%. Expression of p53 and c-erbB-2 oncoproteins was detected in 41% and 30% of the carcinomas, respectively, but neither was associated with decreased survival. High-grade salivary adenocarcinoma that is difficult to classify should raise the suspicion of possible CXPA. Intracapsular carcinoma has a benign clinical course. Significant prognostic factors in CXPA include tumor stage, grade, proportion of carcinoma, extent of invasion, and proliferation index.


The external morphological characters of integumental scales in four species of Acmaeoderella Cobos, 1955 (Coleoptera: Buprestidae) were examined using stereo microscope (Olympus SZX-12) and scanning electron microscope (JEOL JSM 6060 SEM). Dried museum materials that are deposited in ZMGU (Zoology Museum of Gazi University) were used in this study. Specimens were examined under the stereo microscope (Olympus SZX-12). Similarities and differences among the species were discussed. Although the scales look alike under the stereo microscope, they showed a rather different pattern under SEM. The fine structure of scales was shown to be useful for species diagnostics.


Accurately measuring older adults' physical activity (PA) and sedentary behavior (SB) using accelerometers is essential, as both are important markers of health. This study aimed to highlight how steps taken during data processing may affect key hip-based accelerometry outcomes in older adults, using a selection of baseline accelerometry data (n = 658) from the SITLESS study. Different analytical parameters tested included wear-time algorithms, use of low-frequency extension (LFE) filter, epoch length, and minimum and maximum daily wear-time thresholds. These were compared against vertical axis counts per minute (CPM), vector magnitude (VM) CPM, SB, light PA, moderate-to-vigorous PA, step counts, and wear-time percentage. Differences in settings across the analytical parameters were assessed using paired sample t-tests and repeated measures ANOVAs using Bonferroni correction. Using the "Choi" versus "Troiano" wear-time algorithm resulted in a higher percentage wear-time. Most SB and PA outcomes were significantly different across wear-time algorithms (p < .001). This was similar when using the LFE filter versus normal filter (p < .001). Using 10-second epoch length increased daily SB time (between +75.7 and +79.2 minutes) compared to 60-second. Most SB and PA outcomes significantly changed comparing minimum-wear-time thresholds of 360, 480, 600, and 720 minutes per day (p < .001). Applying a log-diary with a ≥1140-minute threshold had a significant impact on vertical axis CPM, VM CPM, SB, and light PA outcomes (p < .001). This study demonstrates the potential variability in the number of participants being included in studies and reported SB and PA levels when processing older adults' accelerometry data dependent on the analytical procedures utilized.


Abstract
Eight cases of follicular lymphoma of the spleen were found among 863 spleens surgically removed from patients with hepatosplenic schistosomiasis mansoni (0.9%). Superficial lymph nodes were not enlarged. A supraclavicular mass developed in one patient 3 months after splenectomy that was proved histologically to be a reticulosarcoma. Another patient died 2 months after surgery; no changes attributable to follicular lymphoma were found at necropsy. All patients had huge spleens that had on the cut surface numerous whitish nodules varying in diameter from 0.1 to 0.6 cm. Since follicular lymphoma is the least frequent type of lymphoma and its isolated splenic form is an extraordinary rarity, the occurrence of eight cases of this condition associated with hepatosplenic schistosomiasis was not considered merely coincidental. We suggest that the changes in the spleen caused by advanced schistosomiasis, which include cycles of follicular hyperplasia and involution, predispose this organ to the development of follicular lymphoma in some patients.


The evidence from observation and theory is mounting that cosmic dust grains possess a fluffy and composite nature. The computational simplicity of using effective medium theory (EMT) with series solution cross sections to model such grains has lead some workers to disregard the validity criterion inherent in the various EMT mixing rules. Fortunately, the recent availability of robust electromagnetic scattering finite element codes allows one to explore the applicability of the various mixing rules through direct computation. Building on the methodology and results of a previous paper, we extend our calculations to the angular distribution of scattered light. We establish numerical and physical convergence properties for both solid and porous targets. The discrete dipole approximation (DDA) scattering properties are compared to those computed by the EMT/series solution technique in order to examine further the applicability of several mixing rules. For grains with vacuum inclusions in the Rayleigh limit, we show that the EMT/series solution approach is generally valid even for the particle phase functions, especially in the case of a polydispersion (size distribution) of particles. We also investigate the impact of inclusions that are clearly non-Rayleigh in nature and find that they can be significant and are not reproducible by the mixing rules considered. Possible ramifications of the results are explored through the simple example of radiation pressure in late-type stellar and brown dwarf environments.


The functionalized porous hybrid silica as a separation medium was synthesized by using Cetyltrimethyl Ammonium Bromide(CTAB) as template, (3-aminopropyl) triethoxysilane (APTES) and tetraethyl orthosilicate (TEOS) as reactive monomer, with the existence of ammonia, reacting for 80 h at 80°C. The influences of the main reactants ratio and the pH of reaction on the structure of the materials were investigated through the characterization by Fourier-Transform infrared spectrometer (FTIR), scanning electron microscope (SEM) and pore structure measurements. And the best reaction conditions were optimized. The monolithic column made by this porous hybrid silica has been applied to separate benzylideneacetone and o-chlorotoluene, which are the main composition in electroplating additive.


The objective of this study was to evaluate the influence of four substitution levels (0; 33; 67 and 100%) of soybean meal by detoxified castor cake on performance and carcass characteristics of 20 non-castrated male crossbred Morada Nova lambs, with mean body weight of 18.7 kg, in a randomized blocks design with four treatments and five replicates. Performance, carcass weight, carcass yield and relative composition of the commercial cuts were evaluated. The substitution levels of soybean meal by detoxified castor cake had no effect on final live weight or total weight gain in feedlot, but it caused decreasing linear effect on average daily gain and feed conversion ratio was observed. There was no effect of the substitution levels of soybean meal by detoxified castor cake on final body weight, live weight at fasting, empty body weight, hot carcass weight or cold carcass weight. The hot carcass yield was affected by substitution levels; the same behavior was observed for cold carcass yield. Rib weight and yield and shoulders yield had linear decrease of substitution levels of soybean meal by detoxified castor cake, whereas weight and yield of other regions did not present any effect for the substitution levels. Detoxified castor cake can be utilized in levels of up to 67% in substitution of the soybean meal in sheep diets.


In our study, a new kind of material for Copper (Cu2+) absorbency was prepared by melt blending with EPDM as the matrix and modified zeolite as the filler. In order to overcome this obstruction, PEG-2000 was used as pore forming agent. By calculating, trial parameter n was 1.9, so, the composite was easy absorption. By SEM and XRD measurement, it was confirmed that the composite was more suitable as filler than the original zeolite and the acid modified zeolite. It can be showed that the pore forming agent adding was necessary and effective for the absorption by SEM micrograph of suction passage in EPDM and the composite.


Mexico undergoes an enormous natural and social devastation. The situation has become almost unbearable in the last 35 years. As a modest contribution to confront such devastation I propose three general community categories to analyze and organize the struggles towards the building of a new social tissue.  The proposal comes from my 40 years community life and work in the middle of a poor, despised and native people. Together with my wife we have condensed that experience in our 2014 book "Community: Interaction, Conflict and Utopia". To carry out social transformations we have noticed that community integration and democratic commitment require the implementation of three elements: the creation of a structural basis, rather territorial, and a social cohesion resulting from a strong subjective conscience of dignity, at the personal and collective levels. These are characteristics that are visible in the life of an experience if one is able to perceive openness in the interactions, humility in confronting conflicts and trust in journeying towards the utopian horizons of a dignified life. In the XIX Century slavery, racism, and colonizing processes increased in Africa, Asia and Latin America. In the XX Century the ambition and arrogance of the rich countries became patent through two World Wars and the Cold War. The last two decades have witnessed the development of human degradation and planetary devastation as new malignant fruits of nature´s abuse, human work´s devaluation, money´s idolatry, and overvaluation of knowledge by itself. The possibilities for a dignified life have now to be looked for at the levels, styles and quality of life that have survived in the life of solidarity, resilience and audacity of the poor, the despised and the native peoples of the world.


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The polymetallic nodules lying on the seafloor of the Clarion-Clipperton Fracture Zone (CCFZ) represent over 30 billion metric tons of manganese. A single mining operation has potential to directly impact approximately 200 km2 of the seabed per year. Yet, the biodiversity and functioning of the bentho-demersal ecosystem in the CCFZ remain poorly understood. Recent studies indicate a high species diversity in a food-poor environment, although the area remains poorly sampled. Undersampling is aggravated by a combination of low densities of fauna and high habitat heterogeneity at multiple spatial scales. This study examines the Polynoidae, a diverse family of mobile polychaetes. Sampling with an epibenthic sledge and a remotely operated vehicle was performed during the cruise SO239 within the eastern CCFZ. Five areas under the influence of a sea surface productivity gradient were visited. Specimens were identified using morphology and DNA: (i) to provide a more comprehensive account of polynoid diversity within the CCFZ, (ii) to infer factors potentially driving alpha and beta diversity, and (iii) to test the hypothesis that epibenthic polychaetes have low species turnover and large species range. Patterns of species turnover across the eastern CCFZ were correlated with organic carbon fluxes to the seafloor but there was also a differentiation in the composition of assemblages north and south of the Clarion fracture. In contrast to the previous studies, patterns of alpha taxonomic and phylogenetic diversity both suggest that polynoid assemblages are the most diverse at Area of Particular Environmental Interest no. 3, the most oligotrophic study site, located north of the Clarion fracture. Without ruling out the possibility of sampling bias, the main hypothesis explaining such high diversity is the diversification of polynoid subfamily Macellicephalinae, in response to oligotrophy. We propose that macellicephalins evolved under extremely low food supply conditions through adoption of a semi-pelagic mode of life, which enabled them to colonise new niches at the benthic boundary layer and foster their radiation at great depths.


In this study, we investigate the causes and balance sheet effect consequences of Liability Dollarization (LD) of nonfinancial sectors in Turkey. The dynamic panel data Generalized Method of Moments (GMM) results suggest that both sector specific and macroeconomic variables are significant in explaining the corporate sector LD. Industries appear to partially match the currency composition of their debt with their income streams. Devaluations are found to be contractionary, in terms of investments and profits, for sectors with higher LD. Macroeconomic instability affects the performance of the industries negatively. Our results also stress the importance of strong macroeconomic policy stance for an endogenous dedollarization process.


The popularity of racket sports (e.g., tennis and table tennis) leads to high demands for data analysis, such as notational analysis, on player performance. While sports videos offer many benefits for such analysis, retrieving accurate information from sports videos could be challenging. In this paper, we propose EventAnchor, a data analysis framework to facilitate interactive annotation of racket sports video with the support of computer vision algorithms. Our approach uses machine learning models in computer vision to help users acquire essential events from videos (e.g., serve, the ball bouncing on the court) and offers users a set of interactive tools for data annotation. An evaluation study on a table tennis annotation system built on this framework shows significant improvement of user performances in simple annotation tasks on objects of interest and complex annotation tasks requiring domain knowledge.


Rabbits in two groups were given different doses of sodium fluoride i.e. low dose (10 mg NaF/kg body weight) and high dose (50 mg NaF/kg body weight). Blood was drawn from both groups on certain specific days after fluoride administration. The two different doses of sodium fluoride gave different response with regards to the fibrinogen levels in blood plasma. It is suggested that administration of low doses of sodium fluoride, induce new bone formation enhancing fibrinogen levels. But in high doses of sodium fluoride, moderate tissue damage results in high levels of plasma fibrinogen.


Baroreflex sensitivity (BRS) has been proposed as a diagnostic parameter for neurological disorders and as a survival-prognosis parameter in diabetic and cardiac patients. Therefore reference values and the reproducibility of BRS were assessed, taking into account the possible influence of age, gender, test conditions and some analysis variants. Healthy subjects (n=191) were randomly selected from the 50-75-year-old general population (the Hoorn Study). Variations in blood pressure and heart rate were recorded non-invasively during three breathing modes: spontaneous (3 min), slow metronome (1 min; 6 breaths/min=0.1 Hz) and fast metronome (1 min; 15 breaths/min=0.25 Hz), all in a supine position. From these recordings, BRS was assessed as the transfer gain between changes in blood pressure and heart period, and as the alpha coefficient. BRS values ranged from 5.0 to 8.9 ms.mmHg(-1). Slow metronome breathing resulted in higher BRS values than fast breathing, while during spontaneous breathing BRS in the low-frequency band was lower than that in the high-frequency band (respiratory origin). BRS values decreased with lower coherence criteria. BRS-alpha was significantly higher than BRS-gain. While regression analysis showed no gender differences, BRS decreased with age. Therefore age-specific reference values were calculated. The reproducibility of BRS values was in general moderate, with reliability coefficients ranging from 43 to 81% and coefficients of variation ranging from 34 to 59%. In conclusion, this study shows age, breathing mode, frequency and coherence threshold to affect measures of BRS. Therefore these factors should be considered in clinical studies; appropriate reference values are given.


In 1980 twenty four bronze coins of towns in various provinces in Asia Minor entered the numismatic collection of the Museum of Archaeology in Sofia registered in the Inventory books as a hoard. There are not any data on their provenance. According to the only information available they were received as a donation from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
The coins of towns in Cilicia take the main part in the composition of the hoard coming mostly from its capital town of Tarsus (17 in number). Single coins represent some other towns in Cilicia – Olba, Celeuceia ad Calucadnum, and the colony of Ninica-Claudiopolis, as well as in other provinces in Asia Minor – Caesarea in Cappadocia, Perga in Pamphylia and Nicaea in Bithynia.
The earliest coin in the hoard is an autonomous piece of the town of Soli in Cilicia dating from 100 – 30 BC, and latest one was struck during the short reign of Emperor Tacitus (275-276).
With the exception of Nicaea's pieces, the coins of towns in Cilicia, Pamphylia and Cappadocia distant from the Balkan territories of the Roman Empire are not at all characteristic of the coin circulation in Moesia and Thrace. Even less they are found here as hoards. Having in mind the great number of coins of Tarsus in the hoard composition, most probably it has been found in the vicinity of this town. It is well known that the provincial coins circulated in the area of the town they had been minted in as well as over the territory of the province this particular town was located.
In the days of Tacitus' reign (275-276) almost all of the provincial mints ceased their activities. The only ones that continued striking coins were Perga in Pamphylia and Alexandria in Egypt.
The social and economical crisis that covered the Roman Empire in the second half of the 3rd c. lead to devaluation of the coins, rising prices, withdrawing the coins from the market and hiding them as treasures. The coins in the hoard here discussed are distinguished by their good preservation and high nominal values; they were concealed after AD 276 as a result of intentional deposit of quality pieces. As a reason for hiding the hoard we can point out to the disarray in Tarsus as well as all over the Empire after Florianus' death, who succeeded Tacitus for several months, happening in the same town.


This note analyzes recent trends in offshore US dollar funding markets and explores the drivers of dollar funding costs during the COVID-19 pandemic crisis. Preliminary evidence suggests that only part of the sharp increase in observed dollar funding costs can be attributed to the standard supply- and demand-side factors analyzed in the October 2019 Global Financial Stability Report
(GFSR), including the dollar funding fragility of non-US global banks. Changes in market structure since the global financial crisis, as well as heightened uncertainty and tensions in the commercial paper market, may provide further explanations for the movements in dollar funding costs in late March 2020. The US Federal Reserve's swap line arrangements have helped lessen strains in dollar funding markets, but funding pressure remains significant for some emerging market economies, notably those with-out access to the swap lines. Furthermore, tighter dollar funding conditions appear to have accompanied increases in financial stress in the home economies of affected non-US global banks and to have generated adverse spill-over effects in the form of cutbacks in cross-border lending.


We propose an online framework to defend against cyber attacks on Automatic Generation Control (AGC). A cyber attack detection algorithm is designed based on the approach of Dynamic Watermarking. The detection algorithm provides a theoretical guarantee of detection of cyber attacks launched by sophisticated attackers possessing extensive knowledge of the physical and statistical models of targeted power systems. The proposed framework is practically implementable, as it needs no hardware update on generation units. The efficacy of the proposed framework is validated by a four-area synthetic power system.


Objectives: In order to study the effect of child emotional abuse (CEA) on adult well-being, a survey was conducted to determine the links. In order to understand how the various forms of abuse are dealt with by the victim, this research examines the different coping strategies employed in both childhood and adulthood. Design: An online survey was developed including questions designed to elicit qualitative and quantitative data. The online survey method was used in order to maintain anonymity of participants and produce rich and useful data. Method: Charitable organisations who work with adult victims of child abuse agreed to help network this survey to their client groups. The data from this client group will be compared to that collected from non-client groups who may or may not have been subject to abuse. Results: Data will be analysed using both qualitative (thematic) and quantitative (correlational) analytical procedures. The results discussed in this paper are preliminary results only. Conclusions: Practical implications in terms of understanding how emotional abuse experienced in childhood impacts on mental health and well-being in adulthood will be discussed, alongside the possibility of identifying the most effective defence mechanisms/coping strategies employed which could then be utilised effectively in child and adult therapy sessions or interventions.


OBJECTIVE
Bleeding disorders are a very important health problem due to the associated high risk of hemorrhage during dental procedures. The present study aimed to investigate oral manifestations of inherited disorders of platelet function (IDPF).

METHODS
The study included 20 IDPF patients (mean age: 31.90±10.71 years) and 40 healthy controls (mean age: 31.63±9.07 years). Tooth brushing habits, level of education, and clinical index scores (Simplified Oral Hygiene Index [OHI-S], Decayed Missing Filled Teeth Index [DMFT] index, probing depth [PD] index, Gingival Bleeding Index [GBI], and Community Periodontal Index [CPI]) were recorded.

RESULTS
There weren't any significant differences between the 2 groups with respect to tooth brushing habit, level of education level, OHI-S, DMFT index, or CPI (p>0.05), whereas significant differences in PD index and GBI were observed between the groups (p<0.05).

CONCLUSION
The present study's findings show that IDPF has a negative effect on periodontal tissues.


ABSTRACT To construct a prototype hybrid vaccine againstShigella and enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli(ETEC), the genes encoding the production of ETEC CS2 and CS3 fimbriae were isolated and expressed in attenuated Shigella flexneri2a guaBA strain CVD 1204. The CS2 cotA to -D genes, isolated from ETEC strain C91F, and the CS3cstA to -H genes, subcloned from plasmid pCS100, were cloned into ∼15-copy-number-stabilized pGA1 behind the osmotically regulated ompC promoter, resulting in high expression of both fimbriae. Under nonselective in vitro growth conditions, pGA1-CS2 and pGA1-CS3 were stable in CVD 1204, exhibiting a plasmid loss of only approximately 1% per duplication. Expression of CS2 and CS3 reduced the invasiveness of Shigella for HeLa cells and slowed the intracellular growth rate. Guinea pigs immunized intranasally with CVD 1204(pGA1-CS2) or CVD 1204(pGA1-CS3), or with a mixture of these strains, developed secretory immunoglobulin A (IgA) in tears and serum IgG antibodies against Shigellalipopolysaccharide, CS2, and CS3 antigens. Moreover, the animals were protected against keratoconjunctivitis following conjunctival challenge with virulent S. flexneri 2a strain 2457T. Animals immunized with Shigella expressing CS2 or CS3 developed serum antibodies that agglutinated Shigella as well as an ETEC strain bearing the homologous fimbriae, whereas animals immunized with combined CVD 1204(pGA1-CS2) and CVD 1204(pGA1-CS3) developed antibodies that agglutinated all three test strains. These observations support the feasibility of a multivalent vaccine against shigellosis and ETEC diarrhea consisting of multiple Shigella live vectors expressing relevant ETEC antigens.


Purpose This study explores how Australian Muslim men cope with potential conflict and achieve feelings of balance between their work, family and religious roles. Design/methodology/approach The study is guided by the interpretive paradigm and is qualitative. Data is collected from participants via semi-structured in-depth interviews (n=20) and analysed using thematic analysis. Findings Personal coping strategies (e.g. making permanent changes and time management) seem more effective in coping with immediate conflict and achieving work-life balance as opposed to external ones (e.g. supervisor support). Although some of the strategies mirror existing research, their extent of use and reasons for usage by Muslim men are different. Muslim men use these strategies in a preventive manner to actively achieve work-life balance rather than just cope with episodic work-life conflict. Research limitations/implications The study is conducted with a small sample and the findings may not be generalizable to non-practising Australian Muslim men. To date, research has not clearly articulated how people who do not experience work-life conflict, make decisions to achieve balance. This study has a positive look at a negative issue by indicating that workers can go beyond coping with conflict and explore avenues to achieve work-life balance. The findings underscore the importance of preventive coping in achieving work-life balance and caution researchers about investigating how people cope with immediate work-life conflict only. Originality/value In addition to work and family roles, this study focuses on religious commitments, with religion being a largely overlooked concept within the work-family coping literature.


This paper is concerned with two improved variants of the Hutch++ algorithm for estimating the trace of a square matrix, implicitly given through matrix-vector products. Hutch++ combines randomized low-rank approximation in a first phase with stochastic trace estimation in a second phase. In turn, Hutch++ only requires $O\left(\varepsilon^{-1}\right)$ matrix-vector products to approximate the trace within a relative error $\varepsilon$ with high probability. This compares favorably with the $O\left(\varepsilon^{-2}\right)$ matrix-vector products needed when using stochastic trace estimation alone. In Hutch++, the number of matrix-vector products is fixed a priori and distributed in a prescribed fashion among the two phases. In this work, we derive an adaptive variant of Hutch++, which outputs an estimate of the trace that is within some prescribed error tolerance with a controllable failure probability, while splitting the matrix-vector products in a near-optimal way among the two phases. For the special case of symmetric positive semi-definite matrix, we present another variant of Hutch++, called Nystr\"om++, which utilizes the so called Nystr\"om approximation and requires only one pass over the matrix, as compared to two passes with Hutch++. We extend the analysis of Hutch++ to Nystr\"om++. Numerical experiments demonstrate the effectiveness of our two new algorithms.


Despite major progress in the knowledge and management of human liver injury, there are millions of people suffering from chronic liver disease. Currently, the only cure for end‐stage liver disease is orthotopic liver transplantation; however, this approach is severely limited by organ donation. Alternative approaches to restoring liver function have therefore been pursued, including the use of somatic and stem cell populations. Although such approaches are essential in developing scalable treatments, there is also an imperative to develop predictive human systems that more effectively study and/or prevent the onset of liver disease and decompensated organ function. We used a renewable human stem cell resource, from defined genetic backgrounds, and drove them through developmental intermediates to yield highly active, drug‐inducible, and predictive human hepatocyte populations. Most importantly, stem cell‐derived hepatocytes displayed equivalence to primary adult hepatocytes, following incubation with known hepatotoxins. In summary, we have developed a serum‐free, scalable, and shippable cell‐based model that faithfully predicts the potential for human liver injury. Such a resource has direct application in human modeling and, in the future, could play an important role in developing renewable cell‐based therapies.


A total of 102 undergraduate students performed the Letter Number Sequencing (LNS) task in addition to a series of other measures of reading, working memory, motor execution, visuo-spatial memory, and executive functions. Performance on the LNS was uniquely contributed to by reading level, digit span forward and backward, arithmetic, visual spatial learning, and by performance on the Symbol Search subtest of the WAISIII. The results indicate that while much of the variance on the LNS task is explained by performance on the traditional measures of digit span, additional unique contributions to prediction of LNS performance are provided by measures of processing speed and visual spatial working memory.


The COVID-19 pandemic has confronted school leaders across the four devolved nations of the United Kingdom (UK) with a period of exceptional crisis. This responsive, small-scale, but UK-wide study focuses on headteacher perspectives on leadership and management in the initial stages of this pandemic, contributing to our understanding of this crucial period. The headteacher respondents met the multiple predicaments and situational ambiguities of the pandemic with a resilience which drew heavily upon the strengths of pre-existing structures and teams. They were required to provide effective emotional and moral leadership in uncharted and rapidly shifting territory. They spoke most eloquently of how they developed pragmatic, versatile and personally reassuring approaches to communication with parents, staff, pupils, and a range of external agencies, all of which were also facing extraordinary circumstances with varying degrees of resilience. The paper concludes by conceptualising the key elements of headteachers' leadership and management, both inside and outside of school, at in the early stages of societal crisis.


The alignment of talent and time period was fortuitous for the renowned portraitist Sir Anthony van Dyck (1599-1641). His birthplace of Antwerp, Belgium, was a bustling port of international trade, made wealthy primarily by its success in the textile industry. Its artistic pedigree was bolstered by a high population of artisans supplying luxury goods for export. Fine artists also found professional support within the regimented guild system, which provided training and opportunities through apprenticeships. Painters, like the famed Peter Paul Rubens (JAMA cover, April 17, 2002) and Van Dyck, were members of the Guild of St Luke. Painters also enjoyed the patronage of more modest citizens, with many Antwerp households counting multiple pieces of art in their household inventories. It was fertile ground for a precocious youngster with an intrinsic talent for art.


Hand-crafted illustrations are often more effective than photographs for conveying the shape and important features of an object, but they require expertise and time to produce. We describe an image compositing system and user interface that allow an artist to quickly and easily create technical illustrations from a set of photographs of an object taken from the same point of view under variable lighting conditions. Our system uses a novel compositing process in which images are combined using spatially-varying light mattes, enabling the final lighting in each area of the composite to be manipulated independently. We describe an interface that provides for the painting of local lighting effects (e.g. shadows, highlights, and tangential lighting to reveal texture) directly onto the composite. We survey some of the techniques used in illustration and lighting design to convey the shape and features of objects and describe how our system can be used to apply these techniques.


We used MR angiography to assess the thoracic inlet veins in 5 normal volunteers and 14 patients with thrombosis of these veins. The results were compared with conventional venography and contrast-enhanced computed tomography (CT). The normal anatomy was readily depicted by MR angiography in all normal volunteers. Pathology was assessed correctly by MR angiography in all patients. Thrombosis of the internal jugular vein was seen on MR angiography in all cases whereas conventional venography failed to demonstrate this region adequately in 3 cases. The best overview of the thoracic inlet veins was achieved in the coronal plane; however, for detailed demonstration of pathology, imaging in additional planes was necessary. We conclude that MR angiography is a promising method for non-invasive assessment of thoracic veins.


The authors have developed a flow-phantom model in order to measure the temperature profile of radiofrequency (RF) and microwave (MW) catheters. The model consists of a muscle equivalent phantom in a perfusion chamber with constant saline infusion of 4 L/min immersed in a 37/spl deg/C saline bath, RF (4 or 8 mm, 550 kHz) or MW (12 mm helical antenna, 915 MHz) catheters were placed on the surface of the phantom and various energies were applied. Temperature measurements were obtained with fiberoptic thermometry probes placed at various distances from the catheter. Temperature contours were generated, and lesion volumes were estimated using 47/spl deg/C isotherm (/spl Delta/T 10/spl deg/C). The dosimetry of power versus /spl Delta/T was linear. A 2.59 fold increase in power density was required to achieve a similar surface temperature with the 8 mm versus 4 mm electrode tip. The volumes of lesions created with an 8 mm electrode were 2.5/spl times/ larger than those made with a 4 mm electrode at a similar surface temperature. The RF phantom data compared favorably with the lesion volumes seen in the in vivo canine left ventricular model. The temperature profile of the microwave electrode showed heating along the length of the catheter due to imperfect tuning of the antenna. Deeper heating was seen with 8 mm RF and MW electrodes than with an RF 4 mm electrode given the same surface temperature. Measurements obtained with both a static and flow-phantom model demonstrated the cooling effects of flow on surface temperature measured during power delivery. Conclusions: The flow-phantom model accurately predicts the lesion geometry but underestimates the lesion volume at higher temperature when compared to the in vivo left ventricular canine model. Static phantom models will overestimate lesion size due to the surface cooling effects of cardiac blood flow. Changes in microwave catheter design may be carefully analyzed with the flow-phantom model prior to in vivo testing.


The Leyden Museum is in possession of a male and a female of a species of Gerygone, collected by Schwaner in Southern Borneo. These two specimens are identified by Finsch with G. sulphurea Wall., the typical and probably hitherto unique specimen of which species has been collected by Wallace on the Island of Solor, one of the small islands near the eastern end of Flores. As far as we may conclude from the geographical distribution of the other species of the genus, it is not very reasonable that two birds from these different localities would belong to one and the same species, and it is not without much reservation that Salvadori accepts this name in his work: Uccelli di Borneo ¹). A year later, in his Uccelli di Celebes ²), the learned author feels much inclined to consider our two birds to belong to a different, still undescribed species. — Sharpe, who had seen the two birds in 1878, without being able to compare them with the typical G. flaveola, united them with G. flaveola from Celebes, to which species they are certainly very closely allied. A close examination of the birds, on the occasion of a recent review of the specimens of this genus in our Museum, convinced me that they really belong, as Salvadori already suggested, to a species different from both G. sulphured and flaveola, and I am much pleased to name this new species, in honor of the learned Professor, who was the first to point to the probable specific difference of our specimens from Borneo,


BACKGROUND
Cryopreservation of P. canaliculus oocytes has not yet been achieved.

OBJECTIVE
The present study is to investigate whether the incorporation of: DMSO (0.09%), α-tocopherol (0.1 mM) plus taurine (1 mM) and ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA; 0.1 mM), is beneficial during cryopreservation.

METHODS
These three additives were incorporated to both the cryoprotectant (CPA) and recovery media, and evaluated in terms of development and oxidative stress at three key stages of cryopreservation: 1) cryoprotectant addition [10% v/v ethylene glycol plus 0.2M trehalose; final concentration], 2) cooling to -6 degrees C, and 3) cooling to -35 degrees C and liquid nitrogen immersion.

RESULTS
Over all treatments (including controls) progressive cryopreservation steps resulted in a decrease in fertilization and development to D-larvae, an increase in macromolecular oxidative damage markers (protein carbonyls, lipid hydroperoxides and oxidized DNA), and a decrease in enzymatic (superoxide dismutase, catalase, glutathione S-transferase and glutathione reductase) and non-enzymatic antioxidants.

CONCLUSION
Whilst results varied, the major effects of the additives were the improved percentage fertilization and a decrease in macromolecular damage.


Counting circular objects such as cell colonies is an important source of information for biologists. Although this task is often time-consuming and subjective, it is still predominantly performed manually. The aim of the present work is to provide a new tool to enumerate circular objects from digital pictures and video streams. Here, I demonstrate that the created program, OpenCFU, is very robust, accurate and fast. In addition, it provides control over the processing parameters and is implemented in an intuitive and modern interface. OpenCFU is a cross-platform and open-source software freely available at http://opencfu.sourceforge.net.


The aim of this study is to determine the features and changes in the medicolegal childhood deaths that occurred in Sivas, Turkey; and to contribute in the establishment of a database on childhood deaths. The authors evaluated the deaths of children aged to 0 to 18 years, whose autopsies were performed in Sivas Cumhuriyet University between 2006 and 2009. The childhood deaths were reviewed with respect to sex, age, event region, event date, event type, creme scene, cause of death. The evaluation of 90 cases was made by use of Chi-square test in SPSS (Ver: 10.0). During four years, of 547 forensic death cases that underwent autopsy, 90 were aged between 0 to 18 years. 57 (63.3%) of the cases were male. The main cause of death was traffic accident in 24 (26.7%) cases. In order to avoid children deaths, the preventive and curative health services should be strengthened, and the training programs must be provided for parents. To avoid child abuse, it should be a concern of the government bodies and civil society. As a result, the child protection programme is needed in our regions and new regulations should be enacted to protect children against accidents, injuries, hazards and abuse.

 Key words: Childhood deaths, accident, abuse, autopsy, forensic medicine.


The end of the current solar minimum is at least 2 years late, and indicators of solar and geomagnetic activity are approaching or are at their historical lows. We examine current indicators to determine how unprecedented this solar cycle might be, comment on possible earlier analogs to the current situation, and discuss attempts to predict future sunspot maxima on the basis of geomagnetic and solar magnetic data. Accompanying the change in the solar magnetic field has been a significant, albeit small, change in the total solar irradiance. Thus, the coming solar cycle(s) may provide an opportunity to separate the climatic effects of solar and anthropogenic sources.


Development economists agree that increasing export diversification is a concomitant to economic development. An accepted explanation for Africa's export stagnation is its dependence on monoculture, and on small number of commodities. Recently a large body of literature focuses on the relationship between economic growth and export specialization. However, there does not exist one generally acceptable measure or index for the concept of "Specialization in International Trade". This paper suggest one such measure for specialization and its theoretical and conceptual framework are developed and applied to Singapore, South Korea, Malaysia, Mexico, Tunisia and Morocco, during the years of their take offs.


The simplicity and analytical utility of silver nanoparticles used as immunolabels with screen-printed measurement electrodes is illustrated by demonstrating an appropriate analytical signal for myoglobin (a protein marker for muscle damage) across a range of concentrations of physiological interest for distinguishing potential myocardial infarctions from normal background levels in serum. Silver nanoparticles were used as labels on one of a pair of anti-myoglobin clones while the other clone was covalently attached to magnetic beads. The two clones were selected so as to bind to different sites on the target protein and allow the formation of complexes containing both magnetic beads and silver nanoparticles. The magnetic beads enabled protein captured from test samples to be separated from other components, while the silver nanoparticles enabled the protein to be quantified. An oxidising potential, applied to screen-printed carbon electrodes, was used to dissolve silver without the need for an external oxidising agent. Silver ions released in the process were subsequently accumulated at the measurement electrodes by applying a suitable reducing potential and, finally, analytical signals were obtained by integrating the charges passed when accumulated silver was stripped from the electrodes by applying a potential ramp. The magnitudes of the measured charges were indicative of the concentrations of myoglobin in each of the test solutions.


Many recall the phrase "To know syphilis is to know medicine." Now Lyme disease (Lyme borreliosis), the new "great imitator," is the ultimate challenge to the breadth and depth of our knowledge. In psychiatry, we generally treat mental symptoms or syndromes rather than the underlying cause of a disorder.


Models can expose sensitive information about their training data. In an attribute inference attack, an adversary has partial knowledge of some training records and access to a model trained on those records, and infers the unknown values of a sensitive feature of those records. We study a fine-grained variant of attribute inference we call sensitive value inference, where the adversary's goal is to identify with high confidence some records from a candidate set where the unknown attribute has a particular sensitive value. We explicitly compare attribute inference with data imputation that captures the training distribution statistics, under various assumptions about the training data available to the adversary. Our main conclusions are: (1) previous attribute inference methods do not reveal more about the training data from the model than can be inferred by an adversary without access to the trained model, but with the same knowledge of the underlying distribution as needed to train the attribute inference attack; (2) black-box attribute inference attacks rarely learn anything that cannot be learned without the model; but (3) white-box attacks, which we introduce and evaluate in the paper, can reliably identify some records with the sensitive value attribute that would not be predicted without having access to the model. Furthermore, we show that proposed defenses such as differentially private training and removing vulnerable records from training do not mitigate this privacy risk. The code for our experiments is available at https://github.com/bargavj/EvaluatingDPML.


The internationalisation of universities has become an increasingly topical issue with, inter alia, growing numbers of students seeking higher education (HE) across national borders. There has been much discussion of the implications of internationalisation for HE policy and for nation states; however, internationalisation has not been investigated from a strategic organisational perspective. A pilot study of four English universities was undertaken via a process of document review and semi structured interviews. A modified form of Grounded Theory was employed to analyse the outcomes of the document reviews and the interviews. The results indicate that international strategies in the four English universities have gone through three phases, as their approaches to this phenomenon have matured and progressed from operational to strategic. The findings have led to the development of a model which conceptualises the main stages of the internationalisation of English (and, by implication, UK) universities. The possible consequences of Brexit for the model are discussed. Future research will seek to investigate universities' international strategies in other national HE contexts.


South African giraffe ( Giraffa camelopardalis giraffa ) have been introduced as an extralimital species to private farms in the Little Karoo on the basis of economic sustainability, and the need to create a competitive tourism product. However, little is known about the medium- to long-term impacts and ecological sustainability of such introductions. The diet of a population of giraffe on Sanbona Wildlife Reserve, near the town of Ladismith, was assessed via direct observations between January and October 2014, in order to determine their potential impact on the world's most species-rich semi-desert, the Succulent Karoo. Unlike giraffe in their native range, the Sanbona population showed seasonal preference for browse species. Acacia karroo (sweet thorn) appears to be the preferred browse species during autumn and spring, with Schotia afra being the preferred species in winter, and no significant preference being shown in summer. Giraffe also appeared to seasonally move between catchments where tree species other than A. karroo occurs, especially during winter and spring when the tributaries of the Brak River, containing mixed Acacia with S. afra (karoo boer-bean) and Euclea undulata (small-leaved guarri), were visited with increasing frequency. These results largely confirm the importance of A. karroo as the main browse species in this environment but also suggest that other species may be important components of the diet of extralimital giraffe in the Little Karoo. On farms where A. karroo is dominant, supplementary feed may be needed when A. karroo browse is unavailable due to leaf drop. Conservation implications: Acacia karroo was the main browse species of extralimital G. c. giraffa at Sanbona Wildlife Reserve, but it switched to S. afra during winter. This suggests that an assessment of alternative food species forms part of suitability assessments for the introduction of extralimital G. c. giraffa for areas similar to Sanbona.


: The Clinic for Rheumatology and Clinical Immunology of the Military Medical Academy, with the participation of the hosts and experts from eminent Yugoslav institutions, in April 1997 organized the symposium on two current and trendy subjects from clinical immunology: "Antiphospholipid syndrome" and "The use of polyvalent intravenous immunoglobulins in the clinical praxis". This paper summarizes the contemporary knowledge about the structure and biological activity of immunoglobulins, methods for their production, different pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic characteristics of two types (5S and 7S) IVIG preparations, etc. We pointed out three basic groups of indications for IVIG clinical use: 1) substitutional therapy in the primary and secondary immunodeficiencies; 2) adjuvant therapy for severe infections; 3) immunomodulation in autoimmune diseases. Particular emphasis was put on currently known mechanisms of immunosuppressive action of IVIG in autoimmune diseases. Except for presently accepted indications for their use (idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura and Kawasaki syndrome) we mentioned about 40 different diseases in hematology, neurology, rheumatology and other branches of medicine, from neonatology to transplantology, in which IVIG had shown some efficacy. Possibilities of different therapeutic modalities and the choice of diverse pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic effects, benefit the very wide spectrum of diseases, while minimal incidence of adverse effects suggested them to be the therapy of the future in the clinical practice.


Many forms of renewable energy exist in the world's oceans, with ocean wave energy showing great potential. However, the ocean environment presents many challenges for cost-effective renewable energy conversion, including optimal control of a wave energy converter (WEC). This paper presents a maximum power point tracking (MPPT) algorithm for control of a point absorber WEC. The algorithm and testing hardware are presented in detail, as well as simulated and laboratory test results. The results show that MPPT applied to ocean wave energy is an effective and promising control strategy.


Sophisticated machine learning (ML) models to inform trading in the financial sector create problems of interpretability and risk management. Seemingly robust forecasting models may behave erroneously in out of distribution settings. In 2020, some of the world's most sophisticated quant hedge funds suffered losses as their ML models were first underhedged, and then overcompensated. We implement a gradient-based approach for precisely stress-testing how a trading model's forecasts can be manipulated, and their effects on downstream tasks at the trading execution level. We construct inputs -- whether in changes to sentiment or market variables -- that efficiently affect changes in the return distribution. In an industry-standard trading pipeline, we perturb model inputs for eight S&P 500 stocks. We find our approach discovers seemingly in-sample input settings that result in large negative shifts in return distributions. We provide the financial community with mechanisms to interpret ML forecasts in trading systems. For the security community, we provide a compelling application where studying ML robustness necessitates that one capture an end-to-end system's performance rather than study a ML model in isolation. Indeed, we show in our evaluation that errors in the forecasting model's predictions alone are not sufficient for trading decisions made based on these forecasts to yield a negative return.


This article predicts future policy configurations of PRC (People's Republic of China) and East Asian emerging economies using Mundell's trilemma and its quantitative measurement. Due to fear of capital flows and exchange-rate volatility, the East Asian emerging economies may still choose a collective exchange rate stability mechanism, which constitutes exchange rate stability, monetary independence, and limitation on capital flows with the support of precautious reserve accumulation and multilateral currency swaps. That is, a Bretton Woods-style mechanism will still be feasible after the global financial crisis. On the other hand, East Asia may be willing to decrease precautious reserve accumulation once a new international currency can be launched. However, the PRC's attitude will be the critical factor.


Background:. We recommend the use of models to estimate mortality hospital risk in cardiac surgery (CC). The aim of this study was to validate a risk stratification system, widely used as the EuroSCORE (ES), in our institution. Material and methods: We retrospectively analyzed the records of patients undergoing CC consecutively between January 2006 and November 2008. The ES was calculated retrospectively based on data from medical records. Mortality was considered until the time of discharge. In all patients, the ES was calculated by logistic and additive. To study the validity of the model, we analyzed their ability to calibration and discrimination through the goodness of fit test of Hosmer and Lemeshow and area under Results: 153 patients were included, mean age 64.1 ± 9.5 years, 77.8% men. The CRM was 60.8%, 24.8% and 14.4% valvular surgery combined (bypass + valve). Overall mortality was 3.9%. The area under the curve of the logistic model was 0.87 and the Hosmer Lemeshow test was 0.84. The area under the curve of the additive model was 0.86 and the Hosmer Lemeshow test was p = 0.89. A score greater than 7 points is additive had a sensitivity of 66% and 91,5% specificity for predicting hospital mortality. Conclusion: The ES is a useful model and can be used to estimate the risk of hospital mortality in CC in the city of Cordoba.


of third ventricle (Group 2). Abnormal cerebral findings in group 2 were always identified at the first neurosonogram, usually within midgestation, and were subsequently confirmed by magnetic resonance. In group 1, ventriculomegaly improved during pregnancy and eventually disappeared at birth in 11/16. In one case ventriculomegaly worsened and the infant albeit developing normally is now under consideration for neurosurgery. In all the other cases, diagnostic imaging and neurodevelopment appeared normal after birth. Of the 4 fetuses in group 2, 2 were terminated and autopsy confirmed the postnatal findings, 1 is affected by cortical maldevelopment and cerebral palsy, one with dilatation of third ventricle is developing normally at 14 months. Conclusions: Expert neurosonography and/or MR allow to identify subtle cerebral findings that have prognostic value in seemingly isolated mild cerebral ventriculomegaly. In this group of fetuses, there was no overt advantage of MR over ultrasound. Abnormal findings were usually detected prior to fetal viability.


SIR, We read with interest the report by Kelsey et al of successful desensitisation to allopurinol.' We have recently treated a patient with massive tophaceous deposits, but no attacks of acute crystal synovitis, using this regimen, with useful lowering of uric acid and regression of tophi. The patient had chronic renal impairment which rendered alternative hypouricaemic therapy ineffective.2 The patient, a 73 year old woman, was found to have nodal osteoarthrosis and hypertension in 1969; the serum urate at this time was 0-4 mmol/l. In 1963 after hip replacement she was referred for a rheumatological opinion with symptoms of median nerve compression, almost certainly due to walking stick pressure, and was found to have large tophaceous deposits in her fingers. She had a history of several years congestive cardiac failure treated with diuretics. When subsequently admitted for median nerve decompression her uric acid was 0-8 mmol/l, urea 24-4 mnmol/l, and creatinine 185 xmoL/l. Treatment with allopurinol 300 mg/day was started. Over the next two weeks she was unwell with malaise, gastrointestinal upset and subsequently developed a pruritic macular rash over the trunk and limbs. Her uric acid had fallen to 0-44 mmol/l, but the renal function was unchanged. Allopurinol was stopped, and her rash and other symptoms resolved. A further attempt to initiate allopurinol at 100 mg/day resulted in a prompt recurrence of the rash. Over the next two years azapropazone and probenecid were tried without benefit, indeed her hyperuricaemia and tophi slowly enlarged and became increasingly painful. In 1986 she was admitted for management of an infected foot ulcer aggravated by subcutaneous tophi and peripheral oedema. Investigation showed uric acid 0-51 mmolVl, urea 18*8 mmol/l, creatinine 155 gImoUl. Attempts to control the oedema with increased diuretic therapy promptly increased her uric acid and caused the tophi to enlarge and ulcerate. It was decided to make a further attempt to reinstigate allopurinol, using the desensitisation regimen of Meyrier.3 This was completed without any recurrence of side effects, and she was eventually maintained on 200 mg/day. On this regimen her uric acid fell to 0-46 mmolll and her tophi healed and have regressed markedly; her renal function is stable. As Kelsey et al point out,' the significant incidence of adverse reactions with allopurinol limits its use. Such reactions are more common in patients with renal impairment, possibly because of greater accumulation of the allopurinol metabolite oxypurinol.4 It is possible that the initial adverse reaction in our patient was in part due to the high initial dose of allopurinol, and this illustrates the importance of starting the drug in low doses in the presence of renal impairment. Our case, however, also shows that should such a reaction recur on a low dose rechallenge, the patient can still be successfully desensitised to the drug. As the source of stock preparations of allopurinol held by the hospital pharmacy differed in 1986 from 1983 we cannot exclude the possibility that there could be a difference in excipients to account for the absence of drug sensitivity in 1986. We agree that this regimen, though not without precedent,' is a useful measure and deserves wider application when non-lifethreatening sensitivity to allopurinol has occurred. It is particularly relevant in the context of renal impairment when other hypouricaemic agents usually prove ineffective.


Food insecurity (FI), or the uncertain or limited availability of nutritious food, disproportionately affects lower income and minority populations. To determine the prevalence and impact of food insecurity in non-Hispanic African American (AA) patients with diabetes (DM) in an urban safety-net diabetes clinic, we conducted a prospective, comprehensive analysis using validated surveys measuring FI severity, education, mental health, and socioeconomic factors. Parameters of glycemic control and DM complications were collected from the electronic medical record. Factors contributing to food insecurity and clinical outcomes were compared by food security status. Among 243 AA patients surveyed, 53% of patients had FI. More FI patients had low income and gaps in insurance. FI patients also had worse self-reported physical and mental health, more complications of DM, and more hypoglycemia. Despite having more complications and hypoglycemia, there were no significant differences in glycemic control (HbA1c 8.7% ± 2.5 vs. 8.7% ± 2.3, p=0.88) or insulin use (75% vs. 74%, p=0.92) between patients with and without FI. Our results indicate that FI affects over half of inner-city AA patients with DM and is associated with higher rates of diabetic complications, hypoglycemia and a lower quality of life. FI represents a common and significant challenge in treating low-income AA patients with DM. Disclosure K.L. Flint: None. G. Davis: None. L. Peng: None. S.H. Campbell: None. G.E. Umpierrez: Advisory Panel; Self; Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals, Inc., Janssen Pharmaceuticals, Inc. Research Support; Self; AstraZeneca, Merck & Co., Inc., Novo Nordisk Inc., Sanofi US.


We agree with the WHO and United Nations agencies that elimination of female genital alteration is a desirable goal in those communities where the practice is tied to discrimination and oppression of women.1 To the extent that any practice subjugates or endangers women, of course, its elimination is desirable. As practising physicians, we are appalled by mutilating procedures that kill and maim young women, that impair their ability to have a healthy sexual relationship, and that make childbirth dangerous. Where we disagree, respectfully, is in tactic. Indeed, in most circumstances, respect, collaboration and compromise are more effective in achieving change than censure and condemnation.2

Therefore, …


: The effects of dietary fats level (0 and 7% tallow) and monensin (0 and 33 mg/kg of diet) were investigated in lambs at ambient temperatures of -11.9 and 12.9 C. Twenty-four nonfistulated and 16 fistulated lambs with an average weight of 73 kg and fleece length of 8 cm were randomly assigned to each fat and monensin level (6 nonfistulated and 4 fistulated lambs per treatment) in a 2 x 2 factorial arrangement of diets. There were no main treatment effects on organic matter or crude protein digestibility, though ether extract digestibility was higher on the high-fat diets (P less than 0.001) and at 12.9 C (P less than 0.05). Fat decreased (P less than 0.05) molar proportions of ruminal acetate and increased propionate. Monensin increased (P less than 0.001) propionate and decreased (P less than 0.05) butyrate. Propionate was 26% higher at -11.9 C. Respiration rate tended to be higher on the high-fat diets and was doubled (P less than 0.001) and the warm temperature (12.9 C). There were no main treatment effects on rectal temperature. Heart rate was increased (P less than 0.05) by 12% on the high-fat diets. Cold temperature exposure significantly increased free fatty acids, thyroxine, protein-bound iodine and phosphorus, and decreased plasma urea nitrogen in jugular blood. Free fatty acid and triglyceride concentrations were higher (P less than 0.05) on the high-fat diets. There were no main treatment effects on either glucose or calcium levels. These results show that dietary fat level and monensin did not consistently influence the sensitivity of full-fleeced lambs to the effects of cold-temperature exposure.


Abstract Using the lenses and theoretical frameworks provided by social science, this article highlights some of the central debates concerning higher education governance, within a perspective that privileges the relation between the state and the citizen as mediated by the institution of the university. The article begins by interrogating the meaning of governance, focusing on demographic, ideological, economic and cultural factors that have an impact not only on the pervasiveness of governance as a focus for research and debate, but also on the way it is defined. Key trends in – and emerging models as well as instruments of – higher education governance are identified, laying bare some of the local, regional and global forces that are shaping higher education practices. Opting for 'critical' over 'liberal' models of the university, the article argues for forms of governance that nurture public intellectuals who challenge and disrupt the reproduction of power. Universities can thus both serve and scrutinize the society they form part of and that supports them, becoming laboratories for democracy that model, in miniature, the kinds of social relations that ought to prevail beyond the confines of the campus.


In this work experiments on horizontal hydrogen jet releases from a 2.815 dm³ volume tank to the ambience are described. For the main experimental series, tank, valve and release line were cooled down to a temperature of approx. 80 K in a bath of liquid nitrogen. As a reference, similar experiments were also performed with the uncooled tank at ambient temperature. The releases were carried out through four nozzles with different circular orifice diameters from 0.5 to 4 mm and started from initial tank pressures from 0.5 to 20 MPa (rel.). During the releases pressures and temperatures inside the vessel as well as inside the release line were measured. Outside the nozzle further temperature and hydrogen concentration measurements were performed along and besides the jet axis. The electrostatic field built-up in the jet was monitored using two field meters in different distances from the release nozzle and optical observation via photo and video-cameras was performed for the visualization of the H2-jet via the BOS-method. The experiments were performed in the frame of the EU-funded project PRESHLY, in which several tests of this program were selected for a comparative computational study, the results of which will also be presented at this conference. So, on the one hand the paper gives a comprehensive description of the facility, on the other hands it also describes the experimental procedure and the main findings.


The terpene synthase gene family contributes to variations in cannabis metabolite profiles. Cannabis (Cannabis sativa) resin is the foundation of a multibillion dollar medicinal and recreational plant bioproducts industry. Major components of the cannabis resin are the cannabinoids and terpenes. Variations of cannabis terpene profiles contribute much to the different flavor and fragrance phenotypes that affect consumer preferences. A major problem in the cannabis industry is the lack of proper metabolic characterization of many of the existing cultivars, combined with sometimes incorrect cultivar labeling. We characterized foliar terpene profiles of plants grown from 32 seed sources and found large variation both within and between sets of plants labeled as the same cultivar. We selected five plants representing different cultivars with contrasting terpene profiles for clonal propagation, floral metabolite profiling, and trichome-specific transcriptome sequencing. Sequence analysis of these five cultivars and the reference genome of cv Purple Kush revealed a total of 33 different cannabis terpene synthase (CsTPS) genes, as well as variations of the CsTPS gene family and differential expression of terpenoid and cannabinoid pathway genes between cultivars. Our annotation of the cv Purple Kush reference genome identified 19 complete CsTPS gene models, and tandem arrays of isoprenoid and cannabinoid biosynthetic genes. An updated phylogeny of the CsTPS gene family showed three cannabis-specific clades, including a clade of sesquiterpene synthases within the TPS-b subfamily that typically contains mostly monoterpene synthases. The CsTPSs described and functionally characterized here include 13 that had not been previously characterized and that collectively explain a diverse range of cannabis terpenes.


Purpose: To determine add power (AP) and amplitude of accommodation (AA) in a sample of Iranian population and its relationship with refractive errors Methods: This cross-sectional study enrolled people of 35-70 years old by simple random sampling. Exclusion criteria were myopia or hyperopia over 6 diopter (D) and astigmatism more than 0.75 D. Those with a history of eye disorders and taking certain medicines that affect on vision were excluded. After correcting refractive errors, distance and near visual acuity (VA) and APs were determined considering subject's age and AA at a distance of 33 cm. The AA was measured using a Royal Air Force (RAF) rule with push up method. Results: Of 422 participants, 205 (48.6%) were males with a mean age of 50.2±8.8 years old, mean AP of 1.57±0.82 D, and average AA of 3.48±2.5 D. For each year of age, AP raised 0.1 D and AA decreased to 0.23 D (p<0.001). The need for AP occurs when AA was less than 6 D. Conclusion: The results of this study showed the distributions of AP and AA in a sample of Iranian population. The AA in this study was mid-range in comparison with other studies. It was found that females became presbyopic earlier than males and hyperopes became presbyopic earlier than emmetropes and myopes. These results pointed out that decreasing in AA less than 6 D requires AP.


Severe surface flow reduction is exacerbating the impacts of the existing stressors on aquatic ecosystems in southern Australia. River regulation via the creation of instream barriers such as dams and weirs is known to have wide ranging impacts on aquatic ecosystems and mitigating these barriers can greatly benefit aquatic fauna, particularly freshwater fishes. Given the continued reduction in surface flows and aging of barrier infrastructure, there will be an increasing need to assess, prioritise and decommission such structures particularly in southern Australia. Whilst considerable attention has been given to barrier mitigation and prioritisation in eastern Australia, there is less information on how barriers impact the ecosystems in the often intermittent rivers across southern Australia; particularly with regard to the relationship between barriers and refuge pools. There is also limited information on the impacts of complete barrier removal as opposed to barrier retrofitting and there is no consistent process for identifying and prioritising barriers for mitigation or removal across southern Australia. The current project aimed to review the global literature on the impacts of barriers and the processes that exist for prioritising their removal. It then aimed to develop and trial a process for instream barrier prioritisation tailored specifically for systems in southern Australian.
Mitigation of instream barriers through the construction of fishways has been increasingly undertaken in Australia and internationally to reconnect fish communities however, whilst often partially effective, they are limited in terms of fully reconnecting fish communities and are also costly. Complete removal of barriers has therefore increasingly been undertaken particularly in the United States and Europe to completely reconnect river reaches. Both strong advocacy and opposition can exist to instream barrier removal projects and it is vital to have broad stakeholder involvement; particularly at a local level.
Artificial instream barriers can also actually create important refuge habitats that may increase in significance particularly as surface flow reductions continue in southern Australia. However, spatial information on refuge pools across southern Australia is limited as are their relative ecological significance. Barrier prioritisation processes in Australia have usually utilised score and ranking systems but little regard has been given to optimising multiple barrier mitigations. The barrier identification and prioritisation process we developed is a stepwise protocol that is underpinned by broad stakeholder involvement and can be applied on multiple scales from single rivers to multiple catchments. It identifies existing information on barriers and aquatic fauna and also confirms barrier and refuge information using a cost-effective surveying protocol. It includes a score and ranking system that weights both the positive and potential negative impacts of removing instream barriers and incorporates information on species diversity, habitat availability, and spatial information on barriers and refuges.
The process was trialled in three catchments in south-western Australia. Information on potential barrier locations and fish distributions was obtained by accessing GIS and distributional databases and undertaking local landholder surveys. The rapid aerial survey technique was found to be highly effective at confirming GIS information and identifying new barriers. The score and ranking system revealed that the least modified catchment had the highest scoring barriers. The information contained in this review will be of considerable interest to managers of fluvial ecosystems in temperate Australia and the prioritisation process will be a valuable and easily implemented tool in identifying and mitigating the impacts of in-stream barriers in southern Australia in a drying climate.