The genus Mesochaete Lindb. is known from tropical to temperate regions of the east coast of mainland Australia and Lord Howe Island. It includes two species, M. undulata Lindb. and M. taxiforme (Hampe) Watts & Whitel. Leaf size, leaf cell dimensions and aspects of leaf cross-sectional anatomy appear to be the most reliable morphological features to distinguish the species and new information is given in support of their retention as separate species. Incorrect statements in the Flora of Australia and other Australian treatments are rectified. As there are no previous illustrations of the sporophyte of M. taxiforme, or descriptions of the peristome and spores of either taxon, complete illustrations of the two Mesochaete species are presented with a supplementary description of the sporophyte and, where available, SEMs of peristomes and spores. One of the taxa, M. taxiforme, was represented by very little fruiting material. Consequently, only one sporophyte was sacrificed for the SEM work. Morphologically, peristomes and spores of both taxa appear almost identical.


© 2018 The International Masonry Society (IMS). Battersea Power Station was the largest brickwork building in Europe when it was completed in 1955. The building is a major London landmark. It was closed in 1983 and part of the roof has since been removed, leaving the interior exposed to the weather. The building is being redeveloped to provide a mix of office, residential and retail accommodation. Grade II* listed status protects the former power station. The external aesthetic is of architectural significance and the internal appearance considered to be industrial archaeology, both are to be largely preserved. There were concerns that upon completion the residual moisture within the masonry, and its drying out driven by the conditioning of the internal spaces, could generate problems, such as mould growth, efflorescence, condensation and frost damage. This paper describes a programme of sampling and testing to evaluate the initial moisture profile though the brickwork, and its physical and hygric properties. Findings are presented from hygrothermal simulations undertaken to investigate the risk of the various moisture related problems occurring in use. The presented outputs illustrate the predicted behaviours through moisture contents, relative humidity, and temperatures plots. The making of judgements on identified risks are explained. Further works to assess risks at specific local features are ongoing.


Cameron's coherent target decomposition (CTD) theory and the classification method that Cameron developed for operational use of his CTD are reconsidered. It is shown that Cameron's classification leads to a coarse scattering segmentation because of the large class dispersion that corresponds to a synthetic aperture radar (SAR) system with about /spl plusmn/8-dB channel imbalance. The application of Cameron's method within known SAR radiometric calibration requirements limits the utility of the classification. In addition, Cameron's classification is applied under the implicit assumption on the coherence nature of target scattering, and this might yield erroneous results within areas of noncoherent scattering. A new method, named the symmetric scattering characterization method (SSCM), is introduced to better exploit the information provided by the largest target symmetric scattering component in the context of coherent scattering. The Poincare/spl acute/ sphere is used as the basis for a more complete representation of symmetric scattering than Cameron's unit disk, thus enabling the SSCM to generate better segmentation of target symmetric scattering with much higher resolution. In order to limit the application of the SSCM to targets of coherent scattering, new methods are developed for assessment and validation of the coherent nature of point and extended target scattering.


ATP hydrolysis was used to power the enzymatic release of clathrin from coated vesicles. The 70,000-mol-wt protein, purified on the basis of its ATP-dependent ability to disassemble clathrin cages, was found to possess a clathrin-dependent ATPase activity. Hydrolysis was specific for ATP; neither dATP nor other ribonucleotide triphosphates would either substitute for ATP or inhibit the hydrolysis of ATP in the presence of clathrin cages. The ATPase activity is elicited by clathrin in the form of assembled cages, but not by clathrin trimers, the product of cage disassembly. The 70,000-mol-wt polypeptide, but not clathrin, was labeled by ATP in photochemical cross-linking, indicating that the hydrolytic site for ATP resides on the uncoating protein. Conditions of low pH or high magnesium concentration uncouple ATP hydrolysis from clathrin release, as ATP is hydrolyzed although essentially no clathrin is released. This suggests that the recognition event triggering clathrin-dependent ATP hydrolysis occurs in the absence of clathrin release, and presumably precedes such release.


Numerous studies have shown that consumers are on average willing to pay more for products at local direct markets, but tend to examine consumer preferences for goods available during the normal season. Studies which examine pricing and consumer preferences for local foods available outside of their normal season are few. One study finds that consumers would be willing to attend farmers' markets in the off-season, but does not assess their willingness to pay (WTP) for products in the off-season. A second study mentions that extending the market season may increase farmer income, but does not specifically discuss impacts to net returns resulting from price differentials. This study will assess enhanced revenue potential for out-of-season (winter, early spring, late fall) direct market sales, specifically those which can be produced through the use of season extension techniques such as high tunnels. The results of this study will provide agricultural producers with valuable information regarding potential revenue estimates which they can use to assess the financial impacts of implementing season extension techniques into their operation. Study methods include a comparison of availability and pricing for fruit and vegetable products from May through October at farmers' markets in Utah and Colorado; a survey of farmers' market managers on the potential for extending the farmers market season; a survey of growers and Extension horticulturalists on the potential products and length of season extension for fruit and vegetable crops; and finally choice experiments designed to examine consumer WTP for local fruit and vegetable products across seasons.


Information Technology (IT) within organizations has been identified as a tool for building competitive edge in the market. Rapid technological change often lead to frequent obsolescence of information technology used by organisations, therefore the frequent need for investment in information technology. Companies have therefore been at crossroads trying to decide whether to outsource information technology services or provide them inhouse. The purpose of the study therefore was to investigate the extent to which firms listed at the Nairobi Stock Exchange outsource their information Technology Services. There are forty seven companies listed in the main investment market of the Nairobi Stock Exchange. A sample size of 30% of the companies listed at the Nairobi Stock Exchange main investment market was considered in this study. Data collection was done by use of questionnaires which were administered to the Information Technology Managers. A total of sixteen questionnaires were distributed to the sixteen companies sampled from a list of companies registered at the airobi Stock Exchange. All the companies responded representing 100% response rate. Research findings revealed that all the companies outsource information technology services and it was mainly influenced by the need to focus on core business and access to expert services. Due diligence was exercised when selecting service providers and the companies entered into service level agreement to ensure performance was adhered to by the service providers. " Arising from the findings, it is suggested that a similar study should be conducted to establish the determinants of outsourcing of other noncore services other than information technology services.


Background: Multiple myeloma (MM) is a heterogeneous disease characterized by chromosomal translocation, deletion, and amplification in plasma cells, resulting in a huge heterogeneity in its outcomes. Of all these cytogenetic abnormalities, Amp1q21 is most commonly detected, which is always associated with significantly shorter progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) than normal 1q copy number status. In the era of novel agents such as bortezomib, ixazomib, lenalidomide, a head-to-head comparison of all these agents is still absent, especially in the patients with Amp1q21 alone. So, aiming to explore the optimum therapy to the patients with Amp1q21 only, we conduct this study. Patients and Methods: We searched the PubMed, the Cochrane Library, PMC and the Embase databases, and we selected all the randomized controlled trials (RCTs) in English about MM with Amp1q21 up to April, 2019. A total of 72 papers were full screened and finally 2 literatures can be included in our study. Results: Of the two studies, the one is about IRd (ixazomib, lenalidomide, dexamethasone) vs. placebo-Rd (HR, 0.781; 95% CI, 0.492-1.240), another is about VAD (vincristine, adriamycin, dexamethasone) vs. PAD (bortezomib, adriamycin, dexamethasone) (3-year survival rate: 59% vs. 83%, p=0.016). Conclusion: From this review, MM patients with Amp1q21 may somewhat benefit from ixazomib but the evidence is still stuffless. What's more, a head-to-head comparison between ixazomib and other agents among MM patients with Amp1q21 is also absent. So, we sincerely expect this review can attract some attention for the therapy of this special part of patients. This study was registered in https://www.crd.york.ac.uk/prospero/#recordDetails.


In recent years, the real estate development enterprises are facing the gradually increased government's macro-control, and the increasingly fierce market competition, so it is very imperative to timely adjust and change the enterprises' development strategies to adapt to the new development situation. With S Group as the study object, we use SWOT analysis to analyze the company's internal and external environment, study the current situation of the company and the existing problems, and clearly point out the opportunities and challenges facing the company. Finally we put forth some targeted strategic recommendations, in order to provide a reference for the development of S Group.


Gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) agonist has been used in the treatment of a wide variety of sex-hormone-related diseases, as the administration of GnRH agonist can alter the secretion of gonadotropin and sex hormones. Recently, we found that the long-acting GnRH agonist aggravated hyperthyroidism and induced painless thyroiditis. This is the first report to demonstrate the association of thyroid dysfunction with GnRH agonist injection in Korea. Here, we report three cases and emphasize the clinical importance of this aggravating factor in autoimmune thyroid disease.


Rose &McCallum, Schild (2 formulae), Scott, Shepard, Siemer, Thurnau, Weiner (2 fomulae) and Warsof). To assess the accuracy of the formulae the differences between FBW and EFW (expressed as grams, as percentage of FBW and as absolute percentage (|FBW − EFW|/FBW) were calculated. To assess whether the accuracy changes with increasing FBW a linear regression analysis was performed. Results: 193 pregnancies fulfilled the inclusion criteria with a mean FBW of 1001g. The mean differences between FBW and EFW were within 10% with the formulae from Hadlock I and III, Scott, Hadlock IV, Hadlock II and Masal (absolute percentage of FBW: 9.2%, 9.2%, 9.3%, 9.4%, 9.9% and 9.9%). Of those, EFW and FBW was within 10% of the FBW in more than 60% of the cases with the formulae from Hadlock I and III and with the Scott formula (64.2%, 61.1%, 60.6%). Linear regression showed that with the Hadlock I and III formulae the accuracy did not change with increasing fetal weight (r=0.936 and p=0.938, p<0,0001, intercept and slope not significantly different from 0 and 1). With these weight estimation formulae, the 95% limits of agreement between FBW and EFW were −19% to 19% (Hadlock I) and −17.3% to 20.1% (Hadlock III) of the FBW. Conclusion: Of the 23 commonly available weight estimation formulae, the Hadlock I (BPD-HC-AC-FL) and III (BPD-AC-FL) formulae were most accurate in estimating fetal weight in fetuses with a birth weight of 1500g or less.


(1) The German energy system transformation towards an entirely renewable supply is expected to incorporate the extensive use of green hydrogen. This carbon-free fuel allows the decarbonization of end-use sectors such as industrial high-temperature processes or heavy-duty transport that remain challenging to be covered by green electricity only. However, it remains unclear whether the current legislative framework supports green hydrogen production or is an obstacle to its rollout. (2) This work analyzes the relevant laws and ordinances regarding their implications on potential hydrogen production plant operators. (3) Due to unbundling-related constraints, potential operators from the group of electricity transport system and distribution system operators face lacking permission to operate production plants. Moreover, ownership remains forbidden for them. The same applies to natural gas transport system operators. The case is less clear for natural gas distribution system operators, where explicit regulation is missing. (4) It is finally analyzed if the production of green hydrogen is currently supported in competition with fossil hydrogen production, not only by the legal framework but also by the National Hydrogen Strategy and the Amendment of the Renewable Energies Act. It can be concluded that in recent amendments of German energy legislation, regulatory support for green hydrogen in Germany was found. The latest legislation has clarified crucial points concerning the ownership and operation of electrolyzers and the treatment of green hydrogen as a renewable energy carrier.


We present several examples of hereditary classes of finite structures satisfying the joint embedding property and the weak amalgamation property, but failing the cofinal amalgamation property. These include a continuum-sized family of classes of finite undirected graphs, as well as an example due to Pouzet with countably categorical generic limit. MSC (2010): 03C07, 03C50.


Background: Acute pain is the primary symptom of tendinopathy, and mast cells activation is a nonnegligible cause. Currently, safe and effective treatment for acute pain in tendinopathy is still lacking. This study was aimed to explore the analgesic effect of iPSC-derived mesenchymal stem cell-derived small extracellular vesicles (iMSC-sEVs) on acute pain and further investigate the underlying mechanisms in tendinopathy. Methods: A rat tendinopathy model was established and then treated with iMSC-sEVs or PBS for 4 weeks. The pathology of tendinopathy was accessed by H&E staining and immunohistochemical analysis 2 and 4 weeks after treatment. Then we measured pain-related behaviors 4 weeks after treatment. Double immunofluorescent staining on tendon sections for tryptase and PGP9.5 was conducted to assess whether iMSC-sEVs inhibit mast cells activation in tendinopathy. To further investigate the potential mechanism, RBL-2H3 cells were stimulated with substance P to mimic tendinopathy condition in vitro. The effect of iMSC-sEVs on inhibiting mast cells activation was measured by b-Hexosaminidase release assay, RT-qPCR, Toluidine blue staining and ELISA. RNA-seq was performed to analyze the related global changes and discover the underlying mechanism. Results: iMSC-sEVs effectively reduced inflammation, thereby alleviating acute pain in tendinopathy as reflected by histological analysis and pain-related behaviors. Moreover, iMSC-sEVs inhibited activated mast cell infiltration and interactions with nerve fibers in tendinopathy. In vitro study showed that the expression of proinflammatory cytokines and the degranulation of mast cells induced by substance P were reduced upon iMSC-sEVs treatment. Transcriptome analysis revealed that iMSC-sEVs treatment down-regulated the expression of genes involved in the HIF-1 signaling pathway.Conclusion: Overall, this study demonstrated that iMSC-sEVs relieved tendinopathy-related pain through inhibiting mast cells activation partly via the HIF-1 signaling pathway. These findings provide a novel treatment strategy for pain derived from tendinopathy and unravel the molecular mechanism underlying the application of iMSC-sEVs on mast cells.


Recent limnological investigations conducted on the large lakes of Indonesia provide valuable physical and ecological data for future environmental and developmental programmes, yet few studies have focused on zooplankton taxonomy. Here we describe Eucyclops troposperatus Alekseev et Yusoff n. sp. from a pond in Sumatra, and Mesocyclops jakartensis Alekseev n. sp. from a city pond in Jakarta, Java. In the pelagic zone of the lakes of Sulawesi we found only few copepod species. For the endemic cyclopoid Tropocyclops matanoensis Defaye, 2007, we propose a new subgenus, Defayeicyclops n. subg., and provide more data on the morphology as well as scanning electron microscopy and confocal laser scanning images of Tropocyclops (Defayeicyclops) matanoensis. Two other cyclopoid species were possibly introduced to Sulawesi: Mesocyclops aequatorialis similis Van de Velde, 1984 from Africa and Thermocyclops crassus (Fischer, 1853) from Eurasia. A new subspecies, Phyllodiaptomus praedictus sulawesensis Alekseev et Vaillant n. ssp. (Calanoida, Diaptomidae), is described from the plankton of lake Tondano, North Sulawesi, Indonesia. The new subspecies resembles P. blanci (de Guerne et Richard, 1896) and P. wellekensae Dumont et Reddy, 1992. Phyllodiaptomus praedictus sulawesensis appears to be endemic to Sulawesi island. The form matanensis formerly treated as a subspecies of Eodiaptomus wolterecki Brehm, 1933 is here elevated to species rank, E. matanensis Brehm, 1933. A preliminary list of the copepod species found in Sulawesi and other large islands of Indonesia now includes more than 60 species. An updated key to the Southeast Asian species of the genus Eucyclops is provided.


This article utilises a dialogical approach to explore the potential of autoethnography as a research method for counselling psychology while using the method to reflect on what it means to have influence as a researcher. We use a collaborative autoethnographical approach to explore the themes of influence, curiosity, rich insight and sincerity. We attempt to bring honesty and transparency to our collaborative dialogue about our previous work on vicarious trauma (VT) and secondary traumatic stress (STS), as well as how our themes are revealed in the different paths we have taken as counselling psychologists since our earlier collaboration. We consider what it means to influence, to be influential, and to be influenced. Through our dialogue, we try to speak with authenticity about our experiences as colleagues, counselling psychologists, scientist practitioners, and human beings. We discuss both the potential contribution of autoethnographical approaches and the challenges of using these methods, for counselling psychologists.


This article examines an underused teaching strategy - collaborative peer editing - through the lens of student learning outcomes and assessment measures. The American Bar Association ("ABA") recently proposed sweeping changes to law school accreditation standards that focus less on input measures, such as the school's facility, faculty size and budget, and more on output measures, such as the school's bar passage and employment rates. This shift will require law schools - and law professors - to articulate student learning goals and assess their achievement. To do so, law professors must find efficient techniques to assess students' performance. Peer editing presents such an opportunity. This Article shows how to leverage peer editing into an engaging teaching opportunity and in-depth assessment of student learning. When effectively designed, a comprehensive peer editing assignment considers projected outcomes and assessment, together with class dynamics, student engagement, and required training. This approach results in more practice-ready students, with improved teamwork, writing, and editing skills.Part I of this article discusses the benefits both students and professors receive from collaborative peer editing exercises and outlines the challenges of peer editing. Part II shows professors how to design an assessment-focused peer editing assignment by systematically approaching the assignment in stages: (1) planning, (2) the "pitch" and training, (3) implementation and (4) assessment. Part III urges the law school community to incorporate student-to-student feedback across the curriculum. The introduction of peer editing in all law school classes will improve students' writing and bring a team approach to the educational process. My approach focuses on legal writing but works equally for clinical and doctrinal law school classes.


Communication between the extracellular matrix and the intracellular signal transduction and cytoskeletal system is mediated by integrin receptors. α 5 β 1 -Integrin and its cognate ligand fibronectin are essential in development of mesodermal structures, myocyte differentiation, and normal cardiac development. To begin to explore the potential roles of α 5 β 1 -integrin specifically in cardiomyocytes, we used a transgenic expression strategy. We overexpressed two forms of the human α 5 -integrin in cardiomyocytes: the full-length wild-type α 5 -integrin and a putative gain-of-function mutation created by truncating the cytoplasmic domain, designated α 5-1 -integrin. Overexpression of the wild-type α 5 -integrin has no detectable adverse effects in the mouse, whereas expression of α 5-1 -integrin caused electrocardiographic abnormalities, fibrotic changes in the ventricle, and perinatal lethality. Thus physiological regulation of integrin function appears essential for maintenance of normal cardiomyocyte structure and function. This strengthens the role of inside-out signaling in regulation of integrins in vivo and suggests that integrins and associated signaling molecules are important in cardiomyocyte function.


The research leading to these results has received funding
from the European Research Council under the European
Union's Horizon 2020 Programme/ ERC Grant
Agreement BioElecPro n.637780, and from the Hardiman
Research Scholarship, NUIG.


Patients with chronic pain have impaired cognitive functions, including decision making, as shown with the Iowa gambling task (IGT). The main aim of this study was to elucidate whether patients' decision making is associated with a lack of the anticipatory skin conductance response (SCR). An increase in anticipatory SCR before making unfavorable choices is known to guide decisions in healthy controls during the IGT. Since several brain regions involved in decision making are reported to have altered morphology in patients with chronic pain, the second aim was to explore the associations between IGT performance and brain structure volumes. Eighteen patients with chronic pain of mixed etiology and 19 healthy controls matched in terms of age, sex, and education were investigated with a computerized IGT during the recording of SCR, heart rate, and blood pressure. The participants also underwent neuropsychological testing, and three-dimensional T1-weighted cerebral magnetic resonance images were obtained. Contrary to controls, patients did not generate anticipatory SCRs before making unfavorable choices, and they switched between decks of cards during the late phase of the IGT significantly more often, and this was still observed after adjusting for depression scores. None of the other autonomic measures differed during IGT performance in either group or between groups. In patients, IGT scores correlated positively with total cortical grey matter volume. In controls, there was no such association, but their IGT scores correlated with the anticipatory SCR. It may be speculated that the reduction in anticipatory SCRs makes the chronic pain patients rely more on cortical resources during decision making.


As education continues to progress schools are constantly seeking innovative ways to cultivate and enhance achievement for all students. As a result many public schools are pushing toward the inclusion model. This model includes co-taught instruction to meet the many needs of special education students. This research study was implemented to investigate the comparative effects of co-teaching versus solo-teaching on student's math achievement in elementary school. Study participants included two fourth grade classes in an elementary school, one with a regular education (solo-teaching) and the other with the same regular education teacher and a special education teacher for the co-taught class. The independent variable is the teaching arrangement (co taught class vs. a solo-taught class) as considered by the school system and the dependent variable is the math achievement as measured by Number Sense, Multiplication, and Division pre and post test units. Comparison of student math achievement between co-teaching and soloteaching showed that solo teaching was more effective than co-teaching on student's achievement in Multiplication, co-teaching was more effective on student achievement in the Number sense unit than solo-teaching, and that no statistical difference was shown between coteaching and solo teaching in their effect on student learning in the Division unit. It is concluded that both solo teaching and co-teaching were beneficial to the two different groups of students within their various learning environments. Further experimental research is needed.


The heterogeneous uptake of limonene and limonene oxide (also known as 1,8-cineole) by a range of different aqueous sulfuric acid (H2SO4) solutions (30%-80% (w)) was investigated to develop an understanding of the reactivity of biogenic organic compounds in the atmosphere towards acidic aerosols. Experiments were performed using a rotating wetted-wall reactor coupled to a single photon ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometer. The heterogeneous uptake of the compounds into H2SO4 followed first-order kinetics and the corresponding steady-state uptake coefficients (γ) were calculated for the first time. Limonene oxide was found to be more reactive than limonene towards H2SO4. Reactive uptake was observed for limonene oxide in acidic solution containing greater than 30% (w). The steady-state uptake coefficients of limonene oxide in 30%-50% (w) H2SO4 solutions at room temperature ranged from (7.100± 0.023)×10 - 5 to (8.150±0.162)×10 - 3 . Furthermore, the reactions of limonene oxide with sulfuric acid in bulk solution were investigated using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) and electron spray ionization-mass spectroscopy (ESI-MS). Analysis of the products revealed the presence of monoterpenes, terpineols, terpin hydrates, and terpin hydrate diorganosulfate from the bulk solution reaction of limonene oxide with H2SO4. The formation of significantly more hydrophobic organic compounds with lower volatilities suggested that limonene oxide is a significant precursor in the formation of atmospheric secondary organic


Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.chapman.edu/polisci_student_work Part of the Energy Policy Commons, Environmental Health and Protection Commons, Environmental Policy Commons, Environmental Studies Commons, Natural Resources and Conservation Commons, Natural Resources Management and Policy Commons, Oil, Gas, and Energy Commons, Other Environmental Sciences Commons, Political Science Commons, and the Sustainability Commons


Handbook of Clinical Drug Data, compiled and edited by three Doctors of Pharmacy, is a pocket-sized reference book of drug and drug therapy-related information, The information is presented in a variety of formats, each designed to facilitate quick retrieval and application of the information in the clinical setting. The book contains several reference tables such as conversion factors, laboratory indices, medical abbreviations, pediatric dosing formulas and an immunization schedule. The book also contains several unevaluated drug compilations, such as dialyzable drugs and poisons, drugs that discolor the feces and urine, potassium and sodium content of selected agents, and sugarless pharmaceuticals. A third group of chapters in the book consists of compilations evaluated with respect to clinical significance; examples include drugs that induce diseases, drug interactions, drugs excreted in breast milk, and pharmacogenetics. Other chapters in the book are particularly therapyoriented: phamacokinetics and biopharmaceutics, an outline of drug therapy in cardiac arrest, and, a series of 175 drug monographs representative of most therapeutic categories. Each monograph contains information on administration, dosage, contraindications and cautions, available pharmacokinetic information (i.e., biologic halflife, percent of drug excreted in the urine, therapeutic serum level), and various clinical notes considered of importance in the correct usage of the drug. Most of the information presented in the Handbook represents a distillation of material from secondary and tertiary literature resources, rather than an extensively referenced review of the primary literature. Appropriate review articles and books are usually cited in each chapter as sources for further information. This book is designed to be of utility to all health practitioners and, as such, contains information that will be of value in varying degrees to every person concerned with the use of drugs in patients.


The Larder Lake district lies along a narrow band of Timiskaming sediments which extends from Kenogami, Ontario, to beyond the Bell River in Quebec. On the Omega property, lavas and tuffs of the underlying Keewatin outcrop in the middle of this band in a sharply folded anticline overturned to the north. This anticline is broken by a thrust fault that follows the strike of the fold and along which the volcanics and sediments of the south limb have been up-thrown.Later dikes and larger masses of granite, syenite, porphyry and lamprophyre intrude the older rocks. The Omega ore is, in part, an intrusive pegmatite of granitic composition that came in along the thrust fault on the hanging wall or south side, and, in part, an irregular replacement of the country rock (generally a green dacite) both adjacent to the intrusive and in a flow or flows on the northern limb of the structure. End stage igneous activity involved the introduction of large volumes of carbonates that completely or partially altered zones of the country rock to calcium, magnesium and iron carbonates.


We report a systematical study on the molecular beam epitaxy growth and optical property of (GaAs1-xSbx/In-y Ga1-yAs)/GaAs bilayer quantum well (BQW) structures. It is shown that the growth temperature of the wells and the sequence of layer growth have significant influence on the interface quality and the subsequent photoluminescence (PL) spectra. Under optimized growth conditions, three high-quality (GaAsSb0.29/In0.4GaAs)/GaAs BQWs are successfully fabricated and a room temperature PL at 1314 nm is observed. The transition mechanism in the BQW is also discussed by photoluminescence and photoreflectance measurements. The results confirm experimentally a type-II band alignment of the interface between the GaAsSb and InGaAs layers.


Description: Written by experts in both mathematics and biology, Algebraic and Discrete Mathematical Methods for Modern Biology offers a bridge between math and biology, providing a framework for simulating, analyzing, predicting, and modulating the behavior of complex biological systems. Each chapter begins with a question from modern biology, followed by the description of certain mathematical methods and theory appropriate in the search of answers. Every topic provides a fast-track pathway through the problem by presenting the biological foundation, covering the relevant mathematical theory, and highlighting connections between them. Many of the projects and exercises embedded in each chapter utilize specialized software, providing students with much-needed familiarity and experience with computing applications, critical components of the "modern biology" skill set. This book is appropriate for mathematics courses such as finite mathematics, discrete structures, linear algebra, abstract/modern algebra, graph theory, probability, bioinformatics, statistics, biostatistics, and modeling, as well as for biology courses such as genetics, cell and molecular biology, biochemistry, ecology, and evolution.


Chemoselective autoxidation of 4-imino-1,5-dimethyl-3-(4-nitrophenyl)imidazolidin-2-one (1b) to its 5-hydroxy derivative 2 occurred in solutions of DMSO-d6, acetonitrile-d3 or refluxing ethanol. Also bis(imidazolidin-5-yl) peroxide 5 was isolated as a minor product. It crystallizes as a 1:1 mixture of R*, R* and R*, S* diastereomers, whereas the NMR spectra of the reaction solution in DMSO-d6 showed unequal amounts of the two isomers. Molecular mechanics modeling studies with the MM3 force field indicate the R*,S* diastereomer as the more stable one. The 5-unsubstituted and the 5,5-dimethyl substituted imines 1a and 1c, respectively, were found stable against autoxidation; the difference in reactivity of 1b is attributed to the single 5methyl group enhancing the population of the enamine tautomer. The 5-hydroxy-4-imino-1,5dimethylimidazolidin-2-one (2) underwent acid hydrolysis to form 5-hydroxyhydantoin 4.


This report investigates the threats to maritime security in Eastern Africa, theresponses to deal with these threats and the prospects for building maritimesecurity in the region. The report discusses three aspects of maritime security:economic security, state security, and human security. While the Somali piracy,which dominates the security agenda, is mainly an economic security problem, ithas both state and human security implications. Other illegal activities, such assmuggling of weapons and drugs, illegal fishing, waste dumping and smugglingof humans are also analysed according to these categorises. The report arguesthat paying more attention to all these activities; their underlying incentives andarea of impact, would benefit the international community's current work tobuild maritime security in Eastern Africa.


Shipping, although a crucial component of the transportation of commodities worldwide, is hardly present in the finance literature at this point. The first and foremost goal of this article is to describe and explain from an economic perspective the key features of shipping markets; the second one is to analyze the behavior of freight rates, which define the final cost of an imported commodity. The authors focus on the major index, the BDI (Baltic Dry Index), and propose some diffusion models able to capture the unique features of its trajectories, namely large swings and continuity. Their performance is exhibited on a database covering the period 1988–2010. Such spot models should facilitate the growth of the market of freight rates options, a safe hedging instrument for farmers and cooperatives that ship their grains to distant destinations.


Middle-aged, brilliant and bored, Roger Lambert is a professor of Divinity at a New England university. Firmly convinced that religious belief can only be justified by recourse to pure faith, he is dismissive when visited by a gangling student who claims, with evangelical zeal, that computer technology is on the brink of proving the existence of God. But when his unhappy wife flings herself into an affair with the younger man, and Roger's faith in his own placid life is thrown into question. With his marriage close to collapse, he finds himself increasingly drawn to his own half-niece, the nineteen-year-old Verna, in this cunning and comic exploration of religion, uncertainty and passion.


Though both writing and speaking are means of producing language, writing isgenerally accorded greater status by teachers because it is recorded and therefore morepermanent. Unlike speech, which is decided based on the actual listener, writing usuallyinvolves taking into account not the actual reader but an imagined reader. In mostacademic contexts however, students write knowing that their teacher is the reader.Therefore, such writing bears the burden of inviting bigger scrutiny by teachers who arevery particular about "correctness" and adherence to "standards". Several scholars havequestioned this insistence on "appropriateness" and "correctness" (Fairclough (1992),Clark and Ivanic (1997)) and have pointed out how social judgments about intelligenceand "educatedness" are made on the basis of "physical" aspects like handwriting,spelling and punctuation or depending on the grammaticality of sentence structures. Schools are known to uphold the notions of "correctness" and "standards". In thegrassroots-multilingual Indian context, questions need to be asked about the importanceschool English teachers place on these aspects while assessing their students" writingand about how consistent each teacher"s view of "standard" is with that of the others. The paper reports the findings of a qualitative study involving school Englishteachers" perception of "correctness" and "standard English" and the importance theylaid on spelling, punctuation, handwriting and grammatical correctness. It uses sampleanswers by learners and points out the inconsistencies and subjectivities that are foundin understanding "correctness" and "standards" and problematizes them. It alsoinvestigates the need for teachers to take into account use-related aspects like context,purpose, identity and social relations and tries to analyze if possibly more importantaspects of writing such as the choice of wording and the style of writing are neglected inthe keenness to be normative. Key words: Standards, Correctness, Grammar, ESL writing, Indian schools


Several imputation approaches using a large sample and different levels of censoring are compared and contrasted following a multiple imputation methodology. The study not only discusses these imputation approaches, but also quantifies differences in price variability before and after price imputation, evaluates the performance of each method, and estimates and compares parameters and elasticities from a complete demand system. The study's findings reveal that small variability among the mean prices from the various imputation approaches may result in relatively larger variability among the underlying parameter estimates of interest and the ultimately desired measures. This suggests that selection bias may be avoided or reduced by validating the imputation approaches and choosing the imputation method based on an analysis of the ultimately desired measures.


As the session abstract identifies, the debate over applications of semi-automated or supervised feature extraction techniques in archaeology has tended to be polarised between believers and doubters. In large part the polarisation of discussion probably stems from a lack of explicitness about how archaeological feature identification is undertaken and how the processes, whether 'automated' or 'human', of identifying patterns, shapes and features interrelate with archaeological interpretation. Furthermore, the varying contexts of these processes in multi-scaled archaeological prospection have not necessarily been defined as fully as they might. Such ambiguity is unhelpful to exploration of the potential of new techniques, and the interfaces between traditional archaeological skills/knowledge and emergent tools. It also makes definition of common purpose difficult. This paper will explore these issues, looking to address the reasons why the application of computer vision to archaeological prospection is vital, but also examining the workflows and outcomes of different approaches and processes, both manual and automated. These are important steps in addressing some key questions, including: how can we create clarity about why and when automated approaches are desirable?; what are the roles of (traditional/manual) archaeological experience and skills in designing algorithms?; and how can automated/manual approaches be used iteratively to improve archaeological detection?


Voiceband channels are frequently used for data transmission, even though they were not designed for such a use. The reason is very simple; such channels already exist. It is also clear that such channels when used for data transmission can not be used at the same time for voice transmission, and vice versa. However, there are a lot of applications where simultaneous transmission of voice and data through the existing voiceband channel is needed. In this work we propose a method for simultaneous transmission based on orthogonalization of the voice signal. A comprehensive assessment of the orthogonal voice which includes subjective measures shows that the orthogonal signal may have full intelligibility while its quality is only slightly degraded. The MOS for orthogonal voice is in the range 2.5–3.9 and depend on the data transmission parameters.


This paper presents an integrated boost DC-DC converter designed with standard CMOS technology. The chip features low input voltage operation and high efficiency over large load range (1 mA to 1 A), which makes it suitable for power management in the portable systems with low voltage power source. The prototypes were fabricated using HP/Agilent 0.5 /spl mu/m CMOS process. The experimental results verified the good functionality and performance. In addition to the boost chip design strategies and considerations, this paper also includes a discussion on switching noise issues in switching power IC circuits.


Eclosion hormone activity was found in the brain and ventral ganglia of pharate pupae of Manduca sexta . No activity was detected in the corpora cardiaca-corpora allata complex. At the time of ecdysis the store of activity dropped by 50–75% in the ventral cord whereas the hormone level in the brain remained unchanged. Also, larvae whose brains were removed at the wandering stage subsequently showed pupal ecdysis behaviour and also had essentially normal levels of hormonal activity in their blood at the start of the behaviour. It was concluded that at pupal ecdysis the hormone responsible for the initiation of the behaviour is released from the ventral nerve cord rather than from the brain.

The chemical characteristics of the pharate pupal eclosion hormone were determined. The factors from the brain and ventral nerve cord were both active in a number of adult and pupal eclosion hormone bioassays. Both showed an apparent molecular weight of 8500 daltons and an isoelectric point of about 5·0, values essentially the same as that seen for the adult form of the hormone. We concluded that pupal ecdysis and adult eclosion are triggered by the same hormone but for the former it is released from the ventral nerve cord and, for the latter, from the brain. The choice of release site may depend on whether or not the release is under circadian control.


In the present contribution, we concentrate on the process of financial liberalization in a specific context of European economic and monetary integration. We implement de facto and de jure measures of financial liberalization and find that formal aspects of financial openness generate a strongly positive impact on economic growth and its sources, productivity growth and capital accumulation. Moreover, there is evidence of a positive contribution to the process stemming from the EU membership, while no substantial effect comes from the euro adoption. Finally, we investigate the effects from financial integration on country groups within the EU.


Abstract : Tunneling in boron doped p-type silicon metal-semiconductor (MS) and metal-insulator-semiconductor (MIS) tunnel junctions has been studied at low temperatures by measuring the derivatives, dI/dV and the second derivative of I with respect to V, of the current-voltage characteristics as functions of applied bias voltage V. Junctions were prepared by evaporating metal contacts onto vacuum or air cleaved silicon surfaces. The general features of the tunneling conductance were found to be in qualitative agreement with existing theories of tunneling in semiconductors. Structure in the derivative data resulting from the interaction of tunneling electrons with silicon zone center phonons and boron local mode phonons has been observed. The optical phonon lineshapes in the most heavily doped MIS units are shown to compare well with the theoretical lineshapes in which modifications in the bulk semiconductor states arising from electron-optical phonon interactions in the semiconductor electrode have been included. The origin of the optical phonon and local mode phonon structure in samples of lower doping is not fully understood. (Author)


Since technology started to be large scale distributed, gaming experience has changed radically. After years of graphical details challenges, the attention has been shifted on how users can interact with games. Users nowadays can play and interact much more than before, considering himself/herself the chief character of the entire game scene with his physical actions. Possibilities have been increased by modern game controllers and multimodal devices. Our work follows this direction, aiming to develop an unifying interactions framework to distribute user interactions. This could enhance user possibilities, feelings and emotions, over different devices with heterogeneous different possibilities. Hence, we present a conceptual model where the type of interaction between users is subordinated not only to the available technology but primarily to their main purpose for that specific interaction. The architecture is applied to a preliminary crossplatform, multiplayer musical game.


Abstract. Airborne measurements from two consecutive days, analysed with the aid of an aerosol-adiabatic cloud parcel model, are used to study the effect of carbonaceous aerosol particles on the reflectivity of sunlight by water clouds. The measurements, including aerosol chemistry, aerosol microphysics, cloud microphysics, cloud gust velocities and cloud light extinction, were made below, in and above stratocumulus over the northwest Atlantic Ocean. On the first day, the history of the below-cloud fine particle aerosol was marine and the fine particle sulphate and organic carbon mass concentrations measured at cloud base were 2.4 μg m−3 and 0.9 μg m−3 respectively. On the second day, the below-cloud aerosol was continentally influenced and the fine particle sulphate and organic carbon mass concentrations were 2.3 μg m−3 and 2.6 μg m−3 respectively. Over the range 0.06–0.8 μm diameter, the shapes of the below-cloud size distributions were similar on both days and the number concentrations were approximately a factor of two higher on the second day. The cloud droplet number concentrations (CDNC) on the second day were approximately three times higher than the CDNC measured on the first day. Using the parcel model to separate the influence of the differences in gust velocities, we estimate from the vertically integrated cloud light scattering measurements a 6% increase in the cloud albedo principally due to the increase in the carbonaceous components on the second day. Assuming no additional absorption by this aerosol, a 6% albedo increase translates to a local daytime radiative cooling of ∼12 W m−2. This result provides observational evidence that the role of anthropogenic carbonaceous components in the cloud albedo effect can be much larger than that of anthropogenic sulphate, as some global simulations have indicated.


Abstract The diagnostic approach to deep vein thrombosis (DVT) has evolved during the last 3 decades. Contrast venography has been replaced by noninvasive tests. Compression ultrasonography (CUS) is currently the most widely used diagnostic test. Whereas CUS has a high accuracy for proximal DVT (thrombosis of the popliteal and more proximal veins), it has been shown to lack sensitivity and specificity for distal DVT. Ultrasonography can either be limited to the proximal veins and repeated within 1 week (serial limited CUS) or extended to both proximal and distal veins and performed on one occasion (single complete CUS). Both strategies are reliable diagnostic options for the management of patients with suspected DVT. The main limitation of proximal CUS is the need to repeat the test once in patients with initial negative findings. Conversely, complete CUS detects many distal DVTs for which systematic anticoagulation therapy is debatable and exposes patients to potentially unnecessary anticoagulation. Incorporation of D-dimer testing and clinical pretest probability assessment in the diagnostic algorithm is beneficial because it allows excluding DVT without the need for diagnostic imaging in about a third of patients.


SIR,-Your leading article on recognising child abuse (29 March, p 881) was not adequate in two respects. Fewer than onequarter of our child abuse cases in North-east Wiltshire are recognised solely by characteristic bums, bruises, etc. No mention was made of the absolute necessity to collate information. There are always altemative explanations for suspicious injuries to (or conditions of) young children. Adequate protection for a child can seldom be ensured, or even facilitated, on the basis of one or two injuries. The police doctor or other expert cannot very often state unequivocally that the damage was due to parental violence or other maltreatment. It is unusual that a family can be offered adequate supervision (to protect the smallest members) by relying solely on clear-cut signs pathognomic of child abuse. The single episode could well be a genuine accident or, at worst, a single snapping of parental control; but for each highly suspicious injury or accident there is likely to be a penumbra of other suggestive detail. To recognise child abuse there is a need (a) to collate information covering a period of time, this collating process including episodes of neglect and rejection and records of children (often with different surnames) from the family having been taken into care previously, etc; and (b) to collate information which involves any of the 25 or more different agencies which are wholly or partly concemed with child protection. Doctors or other professional people in this field should not allow themselves to be manoeuvred into a position in which, if they are obliged to give evidence in care order or other court proceedings, the entire legal argument hinges on the certitude that one or two "accidents" (or one or two maltreatment episodes) could have been due only to parental cruelty, where all the supporting information which has accumulated on parental unkindness or ineptitude over 'previous years, or which is known to different agencies, is bypassed or evaded. If they do, only the most blatantly and obviously starved and battered children will be protected. Your leading article also failed to mention the most easily concealed yet most dangerous parental malpractices-sustained or ferocious shaking of babies or toddlers, possibly associated with suffocatory techniques. The retinal haemorrhages alluded to could presage epilepsy, brain damage, spasticity, blunted intellect, or death-all more serious than your full page of surface injuries. J E OLIVER Burderop Hospital, Wroughton, Swindon, Wilts SN4 OQA


Abstract Objective: Monitoring of ongoing psychotherapy is of crucial importance in improving the quality of mental health care by detecting therapies being off track, which requires that the instrument used is psychometrically sound. This study investigates the psychometric properties of the Norwegian version of the Outcome Questionnaire 45.2 (OQ-45) and situates the results in an international context.Method: Data from one non-clinical sample (N = 338) and one clinical sample (N = 560) were compared to international samples investigating reliability, cut-offs, and factor structure. Results: The results show adequate reliability and concurrent validity. Conclusions: The means, clinical cut-offs, and the reliable change index vary across countries. However, the means of the OQ-45 for nonclinical samples correlate highly with external values of national well-being, indicating that the OQ-45 is a valid instrument internationally. The factor analyses in the present study do not confirm the hypothesized factor structure of the OQ-45, but are similar to the results internationally.


The difficulty of predicting the properties of paper products produced from heterogeneous sources puts several limitations, which therefore lead to severe economic losses and only a comprehensive characterization will enable their better utilization. The project "RF-CORRUG – Quality control of raw materials from recovered fibres for the production of corrugated board" under the National Strategic Reference Framework 2007–2013 ARCHIMEDES III deals with this common technical problem of the corrugated board industry. Specifically, the main objective of the project is to support the competitiveness of the corrugated board companies (mainly SMEs) by creating a software tool based on practical models that can predict packaging grade paper properties from fibre data (qualitative, quantitative, morphological) used in their production. This paper presents information on the physical and mechanical properties of recovered packaging papers used in corrugated packaging. A number of different category papers (liners, flutings) used for corrugated board production in Greece were examined. The required paper properties included grammage, porosity, bursting strength, SCT, tensile strength and tearing resistance, and were measured by internationally recognized testers and standards. The data will be used to develop predictive models based on advanced statistical methods for the properties and performance of packaging according to information of their recovered raw paper materials.


Many biological materials exhibit a hierarchical structure over more than one length scale. Understanding how hierarchy affects their mechanical properties emerges as a primary concern, since it can guide the synthesis of new materials to be tailored for specific applications. In this paper the strength and stiffness of hierarchical materials are investigated by means of a fractal approach. A new model is proposed, based both on geometric and material considerations and involving simple recursive formulas.


A method for implementing simulated annealing in parallel to speed up the execution of emission tomography (ET) image reconstruction is presented. A high degree of parallelism can be attained by using a parallel-acceptance partitioning strategy, in which perturbations to subsets of the estimate are evaluated in parallel. However because the point spread function in ET imaging systems is globally dependent, processors cannot update the current estimate independently. Consequently, processors must be synchronized each time a perturbation is accepted to avoid introducing error. This can produce excessive communications overhead, especially when the acceptance rate is high. In this paper an energy function is constructed to reduce the synchronization requirements by using a reformulation of the log-likelihood function from the expectation maximization (EM) algorithm. The approach is to change the global dependence in the energy function from the current estimate to the estimate generated during the last iteration. The synchronization requirements for guaranteed convergence are then significantly reduced from once per acceptance to once per iteration. This parallel implementation on 54 Inmos T800 transputers connected in a ring topology resulted in execution times that were almost 50 times faster than on a VAX 8600.


Ba(Mg1/3Ta2/3)O3 (BMT) powders were successfully prepared by ultrasonic spray pyrolysis from an aqueous solution of Ba, Mg and Ta. The particles characteristics of BMT nano-sized powders were studied by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD). As-prepared powder particles had a sub-micrometer size with a narrow distribution. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) observation revealed that the average size of the BMT nano-particles was around 20 nm, and that these particles were aggregated. The dielectric constant (r) of 23.2 and the Q・f of 98,300 were obtained at 1550°C by a spray pyrolysis.


This paper proposes a new rolled fingerprint construction approach incorporating a state-of-the-art nonrigid image registration method based upon a Markov random field (MRF) energy model. The proposed method finds dense correspondences between images from a rolled fingerprint sequence and warps the entire fingerprint area to synthesize a rolled fingerprint. This method can generate conceptually more accurate rolled fingerprints by preserving the geometric properties of the finger surface as opposed to ink-based rolled impressions and other existing rolled fingerprint construction methods. To verify the accuracy of the proposed method, various comparative experiments were designed to reveal differences among the rolled construction methods. The results show that the proposed method is significantly superior in various aspects compared to previous approaches.


Two-hundred fifty-six mothers and their newborns were subjected to clinical and haematological tests for the evidence of malaria. Placentae of these were examined histopathologically for malarial parasites and malarial pigment. Forty six placentae showed scanty malarial pigment ingested by monocytes. These appearances were associated with focal syncytial necrosis and proliferation of cytotrophoblastic cells. Plasmodium falciparum was found in cord blood of six cases. The mean weight of newborns born to mothers having no evidence of malarial placental infection was 2.763 kg, while mean weight of newborns belonging to infected placentae was 2.143 kg. The difference was highly significant.


Program evaluation is a critical part of program sustainability because evaluation can inform improvements and document impact. Here, 2 Minnesota organizations came together in partnership with the Somali American community to work toward a shared vision, which was to develop a new sustainable program that prepared refugee and immigrant youth for their educational and workforce futures while supporting their cultural way of being. This article shares the evaluative study of this program, which reached teens in the Somali diaspora living in Minnesota. The program team had a long-term interest in developing an evidence-based model to suit this special population; this evaluation study was viewed as a step toward becoming evidence-based. The Somali American community supported the study because they valued the program and saw its cultural relevance. The evaluation used pre- and post-program surveys to capture program impacts in 2 outcome areas: workforce preparation and higher education preparation. Results showed that youth participants made gains in their perceptions of both outcome areas. However, gains displayed were unrelated to program attendance. Limitations and recommendations for future evaluation plans are provided.


We consider an online influence maximization problem in which a decision maker selects a node among a large number of possibilities and places a piece of information at the node. The information then spreads in the network on a random set of edges. The goal of the decision maker is to reach as many nodes as possible, with the added complication that feedback is only available about the degree of the selected node. Our main result shows that such local observations can be sufficient for maximizing global influence in two broadly studied families of random graph models: stochastic block models and Chung–Lu models. With this insight, we propose a bandit algorithm that aims at maximizing local (and thus global) influence, and provide its theoretical analysis in both the subcritical and supercritical regimes of both considered models. Notably, our performance guarantees show no explicit dependence on the total number of nodes in the network, making our approach well-suited for large-scale applications.


This paper applies distributed source coding principles to three areas of video compression, leading to Witsenhausen-Wyner video coding, layered Wyner-Ziv video coding, and multiterminal video coding. Compared to H.264/AVC and H.26L-FGS video coding, the advantage of Witsenhausen-Wyner video coding and layered Wyner-Ziv video coding is error robustness when the compressed video has to be delivered over a noisy channel. The price for this added error robustness is a small loss of compression performance. In multiterminal video coding for video sensor network applications, since the encoders are not allowed to communicate with each other, the use of distributed source coding is out of necessity. We propose a generic scheme for multiterminal video coding based on Slepian-Wolf coded quantization, where we explore multiple view geometry in computer vision to generate the side information. Experimental results with two- and three-view video sequences show that our multiterminal video coder can achieve a lower sum-rate than separate H.264/AVC coding. Comparison with the standard JMVM joint encoding scheme is also provided.


The problem of position estimation in sensor networks using a combination of distance and angle information as well as pure angle information is discussed. For this purpose, a semidefinite programming relaxation based method that has been demonstrated on pure distance information is extended to solve the problem. Practical considerations such as the effect of noise and computational effort are also addressed. In particular, a random constraint selection method to minimize the number of constraints in the problem formulation is described. The performance evaluation of the technique with regard to estimation accuracy and computation time is also presented by the means of extensive simulations.


This document adopts as a final rule, with changes, a Department of Veterans affairs (VA) proposed rule concerning VA's direct transportation of persons for the purposes of examination, treatment, and care. Section 202 of the Dignified Burial and Other Veterans' Benefits Improvement Act of 2012, as amended, authorized VA to carry out a program to transport any person to or from a VA facility or VA-authorized facility, for the purpose of examination, treatment, or care. VA is authorized to carry out this program until December 31, 2016. These regulations provide guidelines for veterans and the public regarding this program, hereafter referred to as the Veterans Transportation Service (VTS).


Intravascular large B-cell lymphoma (IVLBCL) is a rare subtype of diffuse large B-cell lymphoma. Thirteen cases of IVLBCL with a median age of 56 years were analyzed retrospectively. Nonspecific symptoms such as fever and hepatosplenomegaly were the most common manifestations, and the bone marrow was usually involved in 8/13 (61.5%) cases. All tumors expressed CD20, and 12/13 (92.3%) of the tumors exhibited a nongerminal center phenotype by Hans algorithm. CD5 was expressed in 3/12 (25%) of the tumors. MYC was negative in all cases, and BCL2 was positive in 10/12 (83.3%) cases. Cytogenetic analysis revealed 5 cases that did not have rearrangements in either the MYC or the BCL2 gene. No association with Epstein-Barr virus was found. Seven of 11 patients received chemotherapy. The median survival time was 6 months. Patients with hemophagocytic syndrome had poor prognoses. Our study demonstrates that IVLBCL has a poor clinical outcome with a high frequency of bone marrow involvement and that the MYC gene may not play an important role in the poor prognosis of IVLBCL.


Finding high quality materials for the preparation of epidemiological lectures is a serious challenge for epidemiologists and public health professionals across the world. The emergence of the Internet in the early 90's offered a way to ease the access to the epidemiological lectures; however it also raised important questions about the quality of the educational lectures which are freely available on the Internet. In this research, we analyzed the quality of epidemiological lectures in the Global Health Network Supercourse lecture library. We selected a random sample of 100 lectures in the Supercourse that accumulated at least 3 reviews from the visitors of the Supercourse sites. We found 7 experts, leading researchers in the field of public health and medicine, who were also very experienced in reviewing papers for journals. These experts evaluated the same set of 100 lectures and gave us their expert opinion on their quality. Overall, the lectures were rated positively by both expert and the Supercourse reviewers. Although t-test indicated that the difference between the means was statistically significant, this difference is not meaningful due to large sample size. Kappa statistic and intraclass correlations indicated that inter rater agreement for experts and non-experts was surprisingly low (less than 0.4). We also observed HALO affect with overall score being a good predictor of other scores. Our findings were consistent with existing research in the area of peer review, demonstrating low inter rater agreement. This poor inter rater agreement was demonstrated for the first time for the Internet lectures. Our findings suggested that questionnaires assessing the quality of the Internet lectures may actually be replaced by one rating, similar to the system utilized in Amazon.com or hotel ratings. This research was significant for the field of public health because it was one of the first efforts to evaluate the quality of epidemiological lectures on the Internet. The quality of lectures on the web has rarely been assessed scientifically for epidemiological and public health lectures. Future research in this area may need to concentrate on alternatives to the peer review system.


A novel silicon-on-insulator (SOI) microdosimeter has been designed and fabricated using planar processing techniques to realise a device with a micron-scale well-defined sensitive volume. Cylindrical structures were employed to allow for an improved definition of the average chord length of the sensitive volume over that of previous elongated parallelepiped solid-state detector designs. The structures were manufactured on individual silicon mesas situated on top of a buried oxide insulating layer. The mesa design eliminated lateral charge diffusion. Two kinds of test structures were designed with sensitive region widths of 2 mum and 10 mum. In addition, an array of 900 cylindrical diodes was fabricated to increase the charge collection statistics. TCAD (Technology Computer Aided Design) modeling of the electrostatic potential and electric field profile of the cylindrical microdosimeter was carried out to obtain 3D potential and electric field profiles. The modeling revealed a radial electric field within the cylindrical-shaped sensitive volume with a 1/r dependence. While the electric field at the core of the cylindrical microdosimeter was not sufficiently high to induce avalanche signal multiplication, the higher electric field at the core should still assist in the measurement of low linear-energy transfer (LET) events.


Spinal cord stimulation (SCS) has been used for the treatment of chronic pain for almost 50 years. There have been several reports regarding to thoracic and lumbar SCS, while fewer publications have been documented for cervical SCS administration. In this article, we presented patient satisfaction after cervical SCS application in patients with chronic upper extremity pain. Three patients with cervical spinal nerve root or brachial plexus injury who reported no pain relief with the previous treatment modalities were identified. The patients were performed percutaneous cervical SCS. Cervical SCS implantation was successful in the first and the second patients, and with respect to decrease in VAS scores, analgesic drug requirements, and an increase in their quality of life, while the third patient had no pain relief. Cervical SCS may be an effective treatment option in upper extremity chronic pain syndromes as in the lower extremity pain syndromes treated with thoracolumbar SCS.


Poverty is regarded as the world epidemic disease that must be killed otherwise it will kill its victims. Poverty comes in different forms such as hunger, deprivation of social amenities by governments especially at the rural areas, inability to earn a daily living, inability to secure job opportunities which could be by government or private firms, and deliberate attempt to neglect certain section of the country either through tribe, region or religion. The study focused on tourism as a strategy for poverty reduction for rural areas in Nigeria, with emphasis on Kutigi traditional hat and fan making. Tourism is an industry that concerned itself with movement of people from one destination to another for the purpose of leisure and relaxation for a period of at least 24 hours. Tourism has diverse forms, however, the study centred on rural tourism. It is a form of mass tourism or alternative tourism which centred on rural natural destinations, handicrafts, and eco-tourism to enhance tourists' experience. The study use qualitative research and interview method to collect data for the study. Seven families, comprising of their heads were interviewed for a period of one week due to the fact that they were predominantly illiterates. The population of these traditional handicrafts range from 100 to 200 scattered among interior villages, and their monthly income is between ₦ 100, 000. 00 to ₦ 300,000.00 depending on the market demands of their products. The study therefore, found that rural tourism reduces poverty, creates employments, enhances living standard of the rural people, and develop rural areas. Keywords: Poverty, Tourism, Rural tourism, Mass tourism, Kutigi, Rural area


Behçet's disease is a multisystem disorder in which orogenital ulceration is associated with troublesome generalized uveitis, erythema nodosum, pyoderma, dermatographism, seronegative arthritis, and neurologic and cardiovascular symptoms. There is no diagnostic laboratory test; the diagnosis is based on the disorder's multisystem clinical features. A points scoring system is helpful in distinguishing it from other multisystem disorders that mimic it. It occurs most frequently in an area coinciding with the old Silk Route, between latitudes 30 degrees and 45 degrees north, in Asian and Eurasian populations, and it has an HLA-B51 affinity. The cause remains unknown, but a postulated trigger factor is a herpesvirus with cofactors that include ethnic group, human leukocyte antigen affinities, T-cell and autonomic imbalance, circulating immune complexes, autoimmunity, blood viscosity, decreased fibrinolysis, and zinc deficiency. Treatment includes administering corticosteroids, azathioprine, chlorambucil, cyclosporine, and colchicine, and fibrinolytic therapy.


Expansion of Medicaid and establishment of the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP) represent a significant success story in the national effort to guarantee health insurance for children. That success is reflected in the high rates of coverage and health care access achieved for children, including those in low-income families. But significant coverage gaps remain-gaps that have been increasing since 2016 and are likely to accelerate with the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic and the associated recession. Using National Health Interview Survey data, we found that the proportion of uninsured children was 5.5 percent in 2018. Children continue to face coverage interruptions, and Latino, adolescent, and noncitizen children continue to face elevated risks of being uninsured. Although we note the benefits of a universal, federally financed, single-payer approach to coverage, we also offer two possible reform pathways that can take place within the current multipayer system, aimed at ensuring coverage, access, continuity, and comprehensiveness to move the nation closer to the goal of providing the health care that children need to reach their full potential and to reduce racial and economic inequalities.


Abstract. The Twomey effect describes the radiative forcing associated with a change in cloud albedo due to an increase in anthropogenic aerosol emissions. It is driven by the perturbation in cloud droplet number concentration (ΔNd, ant) in liquid-water clouds and is currently understood to exert a cooling effect on climate. The Twomey effect is the key driver in the effective radiative forcing due to aerosol–cloud interactions, but rapid adjustments also contribute. These adjustments are essentially the responses of cloud fraction and liquid water path to ΔNd, ant and thus scale approximately with it. While the fundamental physics of the influence of added aerosol particles on the droplet concentration (Nd) is well described by established theory at the particle scale (micrometres), how this relationship is expressed at the large-scale (hundreds of kilometres) perturbation, ΔNd, ant, remains uncertain. The discrepancy between process understanding at particle scale and insufficient quantification at the climate-relevant large scale is caused by co-variability of aerosol particles and updraught velocity and by droplet sink processes. These operate at scales on the order of tens of metres at which only localised observations are available and at which no approach yet exists to quantify the anthropogenic perturbation. Different atmospheric models suggest diverse magnitudes of the Twomey effect even when applying the same anthropogenic aerosol emission perturbation. Thus, observational data are needed to quantify and constrain the Twomey effect. At the global scale, this means satellite data. There are four key uncertainties in determining ΔNd, ant, namely the quantification of (i) the cloud-active aerosol – the cloud condensation nuclei (CCN) concentrations at or above cloud base, (ii) Nd, (iii) the statistical approach for inferring the sensitivity of Nd to aerosol particles from the satellite data and (iv) uncertainty in the anthropogenic perturbation to CCN concentrations, which is not easily accessible from observational data. This review discusses deficiencies of current approaches for the different aspects of the problem and proposes several ways forward: in terms of CCN, retrievals of optical quantities such as aerosol optical depth suffer from a lack of vertical resolution, size and hygroscopicity information, non-direct relation to the concentration of aerosols, difficulty to quantify it within or below clouds, and the problem of insufficient sensitivity at low concentrations, in addition to retrieval errors. A future path forward can include utilising co-located polarimeter and lidar instruments, ideally including high-spectral-resolution lidar capability at two wavelengths to maximise vertically resolved size distribution information content. In terms of Nd, a key problem is the lack of operational retrievals of this quantity and the inaccuracy of the retrieval especially in broken-cloud regimes. As for the Nd-to-CCN sensitivity, key issues are the updraught distributions and the role of Nd sink processes, for which empirical assessments for specific cloud regimes are currently the best solutions. These considerations point to the conclusion that past studies using existing approaches have likely underestimated the true sensitivity and, thus, the radiative forcing due to the Twomey effect.


Abstraksi The main goal of the Indonesian bureaucratic reform that began in the collapse of the Orde Baru in 2008 was the creation of good governance and clean government. The main point of the implementation of good governance is to create public satisfaction with the service held. Lately it has become government policy that in each unit in its performance assessment, one through the Public Satisfaction Index (IKM). In DIY, there are still people who upset the post-reform public services. This research intends to explore the data in the Department of Licensing to determine the elements of public service and the appropriateness of treatment is done during this time. The research begins by collecting data followed by analysis of Data mart, and perform data mining using WEKA application with the J48 algorithm. The results of this research could form 6 Data mart. The process of data mining research license revealed the presentage of public service elements that affect the level of Correctly Class ified Instances in about 89.7476% to the IMB permit, 82.4128% to the HO permits, 89.0122% to the Business License permits, 80 517% to the TDP permits, and 93.1412% to the other permits.


Incomplete knowledge of the true dynamics and its partial observations pose a notoriously difficult problem in many scientific applications which require predictions of high-dimensional dynamical systems with physical instabilities and energy fluxes across a wide range of scales. In such cases assimilation of real data into the modeled dynamics is necessary for mitigating model error and for improving the stability and predictive skill of imperfect models. However, the practically implementable data assimilation/filtering strategies are also imperfect and not optimal due to the formidably complex nature of the underlying dynamics. Here, the connections between information theory and the filtering problem are exploited in order to establish bounds on the filter error statistics, and to systematically study the statistical accuracy of various Kalman filters with model error for estimating the dynamics of spatially extended, partially observed turbulent systems. The effects of model error on filter stability and accuracy in this high-dimensional setting are analyzed through appropriate information measures which naturally extend the common path-wise estimates of filter performance, like the mean-square error or pattern correlation, to the statistical superensemble setting that involves all possible initial conditions and all realizations of noisy observations of the truth signal. Particular emphasis is on the notion of practically achievable filter skill which requires trade-offs between different facets of filter performance; a new information criterion is introduced in this context. This information-theoretic framework for assessment of filter performance is an important complement to the path-wise approach, and it has natural generalizations to Kalman filtering with non-Gaussian statistically exactly solvable forecast models. Here, this approach is utilized to study the performance of imperfect, reduced-order filters involving Gaussian forecast models which use various spatio-temporal discretizations to approximate the dynamics of the stochastically forced advection-diffusion equation; important examples in this configuration include effects of biases due to model error in the filter estimates for the mean dynamics which are quantified through appropriate information measures.


This study applied a TwoStep cluster analysis on the 29 serious crimes reported at 1119 police stations across South Africa for the 2009/2010 financial year. Due to this high number of variables and observations, it becomes difficult to apply some statistical methods without firstly using others as precursors. Classical methods have also been found to be inefficient as they do not have the ability to handle large datasets and mixture of variables. The AIC and BIC automatically identified the three clusters of crimes. The findings may guide authorities when developing interventions tailored to better meet the needs of individual cluster of crimes. Existing plans may also be enhanced to the advantage of residents. More emphasise may be placed on crimes that pose a serious threat. The SAPS may use these findings when reporting on national crime statistics. For future studies, discriminant analysis can be applied to check the clusters' validity**.


Robot arm control is a difficult problem. Fuzzy controllers have been applied successfully to this control task. However, the definition of the rule base and the membership functions is itself a big problem. In this paper, an extension of a previously proposed algorithm based on neuro-genetic techniques is introduced and evaluated in a robot arm control problem. The extended algorithm can be used to generate a complete fuzzy rule base from scratch, and to define the number and shape of the membership functions of the output variables. However, in most control tasks, there are some rules and some membership functions that are obvious and can be defined manually. The algorithm can be used to extend this minimal set of fuzzy rules and membership functions, by adding new rules and new membership functions as needed. A neural network based algorithm can then be used to enhance the quality of the fuzzy controllers, by fine tuning the membership functions. The approach was evaluated in control tasks by using a robot emulator of a Philips Puma like robot called OSCAR. The fuzzy controllers generated showed to be very effective to control the arm. A complete graphical development system, together with the emulator and examples is available in Internet.


Interstitial solutes in body-centered cubic metals, such as oxygen in tantalum, produce Snoek effect when they are in solutions enough diluted. However, for higher concentration of these solutes, more complex relaxation process can occur, as interaction between interstitial solutes and dislocations. Anelastic relaxation measurements were carried out in polycrystalline tantalum samples, using torsion pendulum inverted, for three different experimental sample conditions: as received sample, annealed and annealed followed by a treatment in an oxygen atmosphere. These measurements have revealed the following behavior: the intensity of the internal friction peak associated to matrix-interstitial interaction Ta-O decreased between the first run and the next runs for as received condition, and this phenomenon did not occur for the other conditions. The variation of relaxation strength of Ta-O peak, with number of runs is due to a decrease of the amount of oxygen in solid solution, which can be associated with the precipitation of new phases in Ta sample and/or with the trapping of oxygen atoms by dislocations.


A circulating anticoagulant as the cause of a prolonged clotting time was described in 1906 by Weil. 1 An excellent review of this subject has recently appeared in which anticoagulants against Factors I, V, VII, VIII, IX, XI, and XII have been defined. 2 They have been reported in a variety of diseases including systemic lupus erythematosus, dysproteinemias, liver disease, and penicillin and transfusion reactions as well as generalized skin diseases. Two cases of dermatitis herpetiformis 3,4 and 2 cases of pemphigus vulgaris 5,6 were found to have an anticoagulant against an unspecified factor in the first stage of clotting. A fifth case of a vesiculobullous eruption 7 was found to have an anticoagulant against tissue thromboplastin. We wish to report a case of generalized bullous dermatitis associated with an anticoagulant against Factor VIII (antihemophilic globulin). We are unaware of any previous case report of a specific anticoagulant against Factor


Today's fast-paced economy and complex global market has made it difficult for manufacturing companies to maintain their competitive edge. Products being developed today must stand apart from others, and lead the market in the way they meet customer needs. Tools to reduce product development time have been in use for decades, but recently new tools have become available to make significant reductions in the product development cycle. Specifically, simulation tools are becoming very useful for saving time in the design-build-test phase of product development.New simulation tools that compress the product development cycle change the way design errors are found and refined. Traditional product development would create a design, prototype that design, and test it for failures, then repeat the process until the performance was acceptable. A newly developed process combines CAD, CAE, and FEA simulation tools to create an interactive feedback loop in the front part of product development to significantly reduce development time.DesignXplorer VT (DX-VT) uses CAD, CAE, and FEA to form an easy to operate virtual simulation tool that can be used by engineers and designers in multiple stages of product development. From generating innovative designs, to shedding light on how designs can be optimized for peak performance, DX-VT has tools to make product development easier. Using DX-VT in the concept design stage and throughout the CAE analysis and testing stage will give designers and engineers a complete breakdown of what design parameters need changed. I have used DX-VT to create a benchmark test of how the software can be used for product development. I have used real world virtual prototypes from Technip Inc. to evaluate the realistic applications of this software. To capture this process a best practices guide was created to be a general guide on how to efficiently use Workbench Design Modeler, Simulation, and DesignXplorer for enhancing product development. This guide was tailored to Technip Inc. and their most recent project, the Red Hawk. The best practices guide demonstrates how to use the Ansys Workbench software to simulate actual components from the Red Hawk oil rig. The guide shows all the steps and features that were required to get this real life model to solve properly. The results of this product development process will cut development time at Technip by 1000's of man hours, and help in their goal to cut design costs by $2 million per project.


We propose a combined ab initio-spin quantum Monte Carlo (QMC) approach to compute thermodynamic properties of magnetic materials by first principles. The key to the proposed approach is a mapping of the magnetic long-range system onto an effective, nearest-neighbor quantum Heisenberg model, for which the QMC approach provides a numerically exact solution. The performance of the proposed method is demonstrated for the transition metals Fe, Co, and Ni by computing magnetization shapes, specific heat capacities, and free energies. Spin-quantization effects are found to be critical, even close to ${T}_{C}$.


Objectives To assess access to adequate water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) among people with disabilities at the household and individual level. Design Cross-sectional surveys. Setting Data were included from five district-level or regional-level surveys: two in Bangladesh (Bangladesh-1, Bangladesh-2), and one each in Cameroon, Malawi and India. Participants 99 252 participants were sampled across the datasets (range: 3567–75 767), including 2494 with disabilities (93–1374). Outcome Prevalence of access to WASH at household and individual level. Data analysis Age/sex disaggregated disability prevalence estimates were calculated accounting for survey design. The Unicef/WHO Joint Monitoring Programme definitions were used to classify facilities as improved/unimproved. Multivariable logistic regression was undertaken to compare between households with/without a person with a disability, and to identify predictors of access among people with disabilities. Results There were no differences in access to improved sanitation or water sources between households with/without members with disabilities across the datasets. In Bangladesh-2, households including a person with a disability were more likely to share facilities with other households (OR 1.3, 95% CI 1.1 to 1.5). Households with people with disabilities were more likely to spend >30 min (round-trip) collecting drinking water than households without in both Cameroon (OR 1.8, 95% CI 1.0 to 3.4) and India (OR 2.3, 95% CI 1.2 to 4.7). Within households, people with disabilities reported difficulties collecting water themselves (23%–80% unable to) and accessing the same sanitation facilities as other household members, particularly without coming into contact with faeces (up to 47% in Bangladesh-2). These difficulties were most marked for people with more severe impairments. Conclusions People with disabilities may not have poorer access to WASH at the household level, but may have poorer quality of access within their households. Further programmatic work is needed to ensure WASH facilities are inclusive of people with disabilities.


Introduction Early etiologic diagnosis can help for effective treatment of PCAP as well as for elaboration of guidelines of empirical antibioticotherapy of PCAP. Objectives The aim of the study was to detect the etiological viral and bacterial agents in children with X-ray confirmed alveolar PCAP. Material and methods From May 2011 until December 2012 we prospectively enrolled 118 children with a diagnosis of X-ray confirmed alveolar PCAP admitted to hospital. Sputum cultures were taken for microbiology. Respiratory secretion samples also were analysed by multiplex real time PCR (Seeplex RT-PCR Magicplex; Seegene, Korea) for 9 viruses and 6 bacteria. A real-time PCR assay was used to identify the rhinovirus in the enterovirus / rhinovirus positive samples. Children were divided into two groups: 3 months – 4 years (1st) and 5–17 years (2nd). Results 104 children (88.1%.) were positive for at least one virus: the most frequently detected was adenovirus (33.9%.). Rhinoviruses were significantly more frequently detected in 1st group (p < 0.05). Viral co-infections with 2–7 viruses were found in 47 children (39.8%). S.pneumoniae and H.influenzae were detected using PCR more often than in microbiological cultures in 1st group. Correlation was found between adenovirus and S.pneumoniae in 1st group (p = 0.012) and between HMPV, rhinoviruses and S.pneumoniae in 2nd group (p = 0.01 and p = 0.021 respectively). Conclusions The results of the study confirmed high incidence of viral-bacterial as well as viral-viral infection in alveolar PCAP. It was found virus specific co-infection in pneumococcal PCAP in preschool and school age children.


Button battery ingestions result in significant morbidity and mortality in children—before, during, and even after removal. The injuries created by a button battery lodged in the esophagus develop rapidly and can be severe. The current of the button battery, conducted through saliva and the tissue drives a highly alkaline caustic injury, leading to liquefactive tissue necrosis. In June 2018, new guidelines were released from the National Capital Poison Center, which include the use of preoperative protective, pH-neutralizing and viscous barrier interventions with honey and/or sucralfate administered within 12 h of ingestion. In addition, the use of postremoval irrigation of the esophagus with 50–150 mL 0.25% acetic acid is done in the operating room to help neutralize the site of tissue injury. Given that anesthesiologists play an important role in the management of esophageal foreign body removal, the entire specialty needs to be aware of the supporting data behind this and general perioperative considerations for management and potential complications of button battery ingestion.


This article considers the ethical dimension of technological science (technoscience), namely, the problem of the applicability of the categories of 'good' and 'evil' to the functioning of new technologies. Aspects of evil brought about by the introduction of new technologies (i.e. lack/scarcity of resources, devaluation of human labour, ignorance of/inability to use technical tools, violations of the measure and harmony of life, etc.) are highlighted. Particular attention is paid to a new form of evil, namely artificial/technological evil. The article argues that the emergence of such evils is associated with the growing scale of human intervention in the natural course of things and with recent advances in technology. Dangers related to the uncontrolled development of technological science along many axes of human existence are analysed. The authors conclude that overcoming artificial evil is possible via a transition from a man-made to an anthropogenic (intellectual and humanistic) form of civilisation in which the achievements of technoscience serve not the self-destruction of mankind but the discovery of essential human forces.


We compare the distribution of authors of papers published in GEOPHYSICS during 1975-76 to SEC membership distribution in 10 employer classifications. Also, paper distribution is compared to membership distribution in 9 disciplines. A disproportionately large percentage (43.2) of authors are in academic institutions which employ a small percentage (5.6) of Society members. Percentage of authors in government agencies (20.6) and in service companies (5.8) also are larger than percentage of members in these two employer classifications (6.7 and 2.4, respectively). Percentage of authors in petroleum companies (19.2) and in contracting companies (2.3) are considerably less than percentage of members in these two employer classifications (50.8 and 14.6, respectively). Percentage of papers (55.6) in the four potential field disciplines (gravity, magnetic, electrical, and electromagnetic) far exceeds the percentage of SEG members (30.5) in these disciplines. By contrast, percentage of papers on the seismic metho...


ABSTRACT Recent research has indicated that learners exposed to second language words' orthographic forms of words can often use this information to make inferences about the words' phonological forms. Here we asked, do learners benefit even when the orthography is unfamiliar? We taught native English speakers minimal nonword pairs differentiated by the Arabic velar–uvular contrast (e.g., [kubu], [qubu]) and manipulated the quality of orthographic input. We found that participants were consistently unable to associate the novel phonemes with novel words. Results are discussed in terms of (a) the role of orthographic input in second language word form learning, (b) the influence of orthographic familiarity in moderating the role of orthographic input, and (c) the issue of talker variability in word learning.


The following research aims at unfolding an authentic Christian attitude to euthanasia by means of a comparative analysis of Christian bioethical thinking and practice in Russia and in the West. It seeks to establish what is euthanasia, whether it is incompatible with Christianity and, if so, what is the alternative. The first chapter explores the meaning of 'euthanasia', comparing and rethinking a number of definitions from the existing multitude. Through the psychological thicket of slogans such as "mercy killing", "personal autonomy" and "death with dignity" the core characteristic of euthanasia - deadly intention - is hardly ever seen. With some notable exceptions with regard to self-defence, just war, or capital punishment, in Christianity intending to kill has always been regarded as a grave sin of breaking the sixth commandment. The second chapter shows how Western Christian bioethics has gone from the ethics of Paul Ramsey to the ethics of Tristram Engelhardt, from balancing between justifying certain forms of intentional killing while condemning others to purifying one's heart and cultivating one's soul in order to prevent the formation of an intention to kill. The third chapter is dedicated to the development of Christian bioethics in Russia. In a country with over a millennium of Orthodox tradition there is an exceptional opportunity for the bioethical framework of Engelhardt to settle in naturally. The fourth chapter presents a number of well-publicized medical situations in Britain where choices between life and death were exercised. The analysis based on the material of the previous chapters shows most of them to be clear cases of euthanasia, while others have a recognizable potential to be described as such. The history and an ongoing story of the modem hospice movement - a living alternative to euthanasia - are the focus of the fifth and last chapter of this dissertation. Its core ability - to live with suffering - sustains the opposition to euthanasia and is essentially a Christian virtue.


The starting-point is the new conception of landscape proposed by the European Convention on Landscape (Florence, 2000): the landscape is a combination of elements, natural and not, that encircle us. In light of this new concept, the work proposes a reflection on the actual modalities of the description and interpretation of the landscape used as the first step in environmental planning. In 2002, the Lombardia region approved a law concerning the guide lines for the examination of the projects in relation with the landscape value. So it is very important to make clear what a landscape means. But the elements suggested in this law to describe the landscape do not seem to be useful in estimating its value. Taking into account the proposed methodologies of this regional law, an attempt has been made to devise one practical and flexible procedure for the evaluation of the characters of the landscape. The aim is to reach a fundamental knowledge of what a landscape is, taking into account its concrete and sensitive aspects and their possible descriptions. The methodology is based on a check-list of natural and human elements, implemented on a GIS. A database has been associated with each element. The information put into the database is organized in a way to facilitate the evaluation of the landscape, the communication of the result of the analysis and the participation of the citizens in the decisional phase. The methodology has been applied to a territory of a municipality in Northern Italy to test the good flexibility, the simplicity and the clarity of the description of the landscape image and the improvement of the quality and completeness of the check-lists.