Bimodal associations of basalt and rhyolite of Upper Ordovician age which were erupted in a submarine environment occur within the Caledonian orogenic belt of South Britain at Parys Mountain (Anglesey), in Snowdonia (North Wales) and at Avoca (SE Ireland). The volcanic rocks have experienced hydrothermal alteration and low-grade metamorphism, and therefore immobile elements (e.g. Ti, Zr, Nb, Y) have been used to identify the original geochemical characteristics. The basalts have characters transitional between volcanic 'arc' and 'within plate' types consistent with eruption on an extensional part of an active continental margin. Two groups of rhyolites have been identified. A low-Zr group (Zr<500ppm), represented at all three locations, is interpreted as originally of high-K, subalkaline type. A high-Zr group (Zr>500ppm), represented at Snowdonia and Avoca, is interpreted as originally being peralkaline in composition; their high Zr/Nb ratios (>10) are typical of peralkaline rhyolites erupted above subduction zones. The bimodal nature of the associations and the peralkaline character of some rhyolites indicates magma production in a complex tectonic setting, transitional between an active continental margin/island arc and an extensional environment. Associated sulphide mineralization is volcanogenic and probably syn-sedimentary. High-level, rhyolitic magma chambers are thought to have driven convection of the hydrothermal fluids from which the sulphides precipitated.


© 2018, Emerald Publishing Limited. Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to cover issues raised in the author's plenary address to the Journal of Accounting and Organizational Network Conference held in Melbourne in November 2017. This called for accountants, whether professionals in practice or in academia, to broaden their vision of accounting and accountability beyond the financial accountability of organisations, and serving corporate and capital market interests, to consider how it can help achieve sustainable development goals. Design/methodology/approach: The discussion is based on personal experience, cognate literature and policies of major global institutions. Findings: Whilst the need for financial reporting will remain, there is a pressing need for reporting to measure, monitor and make accountable organisations' obligations to help achieve sustainable development goals established by global institutions such as the United Nations. Areas of importance discussed are accounting for human rights, mitigation of climate change, securing decent work, increasing accountability – especially civil society democratic participation – and a greater and more equal partnership with stakeholders and developing countries to address their needs. Research limitations/implications: The paper is a personal polemic intended to provoke reflection and reform amongst accountants. Practical implications: The paper outlines the areas where accounting could and has addressed human rights and sustainability issues. Social implications: The social implications are vast, for they extend to major issues concerning the preserving the planet, its species, humankind and enhanced democratic processes for civil society and developing countries. Originality/value: The paper reinforces the need for policy reforms advocated by social and environmental accounting researchers.


Background : Headache is one of the most common problems that bring patients to doctors' offices. Many physicians order neuroimaging studies after taking the history of the patient and performing a physical examination. These neuroimaging studies are often requested due to the probable existence of an intracranial lesion. However, at times they are requested to allay the fears of patients or even doctors. Most of these studies are normal and the question arises whether there is any indication for requesting neuroimaging studies for a patient with an isolated headache. Methods : We studied 146 patients with headache who had been referred for CT scan to the imaging center of Imam Khomeini Hospital during 2004-2005 . For each patient, a questionnaire, including the medical history and accompanying neurological symptoms, was filled out and CT scan results were gathered. Results : The mean of age of the patients was 37.8 years, and 69% were female. Only 10 patients (6.8%) had a brain lesion in the CT scan. Accompanying neurological symptoms were more frequent in patients with abnormal rather than normal CT scans. There was a meaningful correlation between abnormal CT scan and paresthesia, ptosis, paresia, diplopia, visual loss, convulsion, vomiting and vertigo . A statistical correlation existed between gender and positive CT scan. Conclusions: Many patients with headache have normal brain CT scan results. Thus, better criteria are warranted for requesting neuroimaging including accurate patient history and neurological examination in order to prevent unnecessary radiation exposure. MRI instead of CT scan would be a better first step toward the evaluation of the possible existence of brain lesions.


The 8th International conference on Food science and Technology hosted by Allied Academies took place in Dubai, UAE during June 5-6, 2019. It was hosted by Allied Academies and generous response was obtained from editorial board members of our supporting journals as well as from eminent Food Science researcher and young student community. The Conference was initiated with a warm opening ceremony video. The proceedings went through interactive panel discussion and sessions which was headed by Honourable Moderator from India for the Conference. Food Technology 2019 played an important role in promoting multidisciplinary interactions between Nutrition and Health to enhance research in Food Science. The program covered current and emerging research innovations in the field of Food Science.
We are obliged to the various delegates from companies and institutes who actively took part in the discussions. We thank everyone the organizing committee members and editorial board of Food technology 2019 for their gracious presence and continuous support throughout the proceeding of the conference.

Food Science 2019 was marked with multiple sessions, keynote presentations and panel discussions. We received active participation and generous response from organizing committee members, scientists, young and brilliant researchers, business delegates and talented communities who made this Conference as one of the most successful and productive events in 2019 from AAC.

The event was carried through various sessions, in which the discussions were made on the following major scientific tracks Food Science & Chemistry
·         Food Technology
·         Food biotechnology
·         Food Adulteration
·         Nutrition and Functional food
·         Food Chemistry
·         Food Toxicology
·         Food Nanotechnology
·         Balanced Diet
·         Food Processing and Packaging Technology
·         Nutrition and Public Health
·         Quality Management
·         Application of Food Technology
·         Advancement in Food technology
·         Global Food Security
·         Case Reports on Food Technology

The features of the gathering were the edifying keynote addresses from:
·         Paola Cane | Mia Solutions | Italy
·         Jyoti D Vora | Ramnarain Ruia College | India
·         Annette C Bentley | American Celiac Society | USA
·         Masahiro Onuma | Trisguide Ltd | Japan
·         Tamika (Campbell) Sims | Food Technology Communications International Food Information Council | USA
·         Claude Billeaud | Association for Pediatric Education in Europe, Germany
·         Karen E Burke | Mount Sinai Medical Centre | USA
·         Mike Murphy | Saffron Wellness | United Kingdom
·         Gerald C Hsu | EclaireMD Foundation | USA
·         Nichelle A Mullins | Charter Oak Health Centre | USA


In this paper, an active phase shifter that features a frequency independent transmission phase response over a wideband frequency ranging from 2 GHz to 4 GHz is designed based on Non-Foster elements. The main objective of this study is to get a phase in transmission slightly tunable around 180° while having low insertion loss and minimum return loss in the considered band. The active phase shifter (PS) topology requires negative capacitances that are obtained by using Negative Impedance Converter (NIC) circuits, which convert load impedance into a negative impedance. However, it is shown that the actual realization of NIC from cross-coupled pair (XCP) with FETs leads to undesired parasitic resistance that has a significant effect on the performance of the phase shifter. Therefore, the negative capacitance used in the PS are built up by cascading two different topologies of XCP circuit that compensates the residual resistance of each other. Moreover, one of the XCP topology is also internally modified to decrease furthermore this resistive part at the implementation level.


Abstract: AAC NRG097, a hard red spring wheat (Triticum aestivum L.), was developed at the Swift Current Research and Development Centre of Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, in Swift Current, SK. AAC NRG097 has grain yield and time to maturity within the range of the checks, a semidwarf stature, and heavier seed mass than the checks. It expressed resistance to prevalent races of both leaf rust and common bunt, while expressing an intermediate level of resistance to Fusarium head blight. It received registration no. 7567 from the Variety Registration Office, Plant Production Division, Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) on 24 July 2014. AAC NRG097 was granted Plant Breeders' Rights Certificate no. 5089 by the Plant Breeders' Rights Office, CFIA on 7 Aug. 2015. It is eligible for grades of Canada Western Special Purpose.


Background and aims The evaluation of thrombotic and pregnancy risks associated with antiphospholipid antibodies (aPLs) in individual patients is challenging. Our objective was to identify potential clinical and epidemiological predictors of thrombosis and pregnancy morbidities in a large Chinese antiphospholipid syndrome (APS) cohort. Methods This cohort included 177 consecutive APS patients and 146 asymptomatic aPLs control patients who attended the rheumatology clinic at People's Hospital of Beijing University Health Science Centre. All APS patients fulfilled the 2006 revised criteria APS. All control patients had at least one persistent positive aPLs without any other criteria APS manifestations. When assessing risk factors associated with pregnancy morbidities, only reproductive age (age <45) female controls were used. Chi-squared or Fisher's exact test univariate analysis and multivariable logistic regression analyses were used to assess association between different clinical and epidemiological risk factors and clinical manifestations. Results Of the 177 APS patients, 134 (75.7%) were women with a mean age of 43. 5 (S.D. 16). When comparing to controls, risk factors associated with thromboembolic events included: Raynaud's phenomenon (odds ratio (OR)=2.371, 95% Confidence interval (CI) 1.039–5.637, p=0.0462), hypertension (OR=1.829, 95% CI 1.114–3.05, p=0.022), and smoking (OR=3.941, 95% CI 1.816–8.799, p=0.0004). Age, hyperlipidemia, diabetes, hypocomplementemia, and thrombocytopenia did not demonstrate significant association with thrombosis. None of the analysed clinical characteristics showed significant association with pregnancy morbidities. A high frequency of thrombocytopenia and hypocomplementemia were observed in both APS patients and control patients with persistent +aPLs. Conclusions Smoking, Raynaud's phenomenon, and hypertension are potential predictors of thromboembolic events in +aPLs Chinese patients.


*These authors contributed equally to this work Background: Esophageal cancer (EC) is one of the aggressive gastrointestinal malignancies. It has been reported that microRNAs (miRNAs) play key roles during the tumorigenesis of EC. To identify novel potential targets for EC, differential expressed miRNAs (DEG) between EC and adjacent normal tissues were analyzed with bioinformatics tool. Methods: The differential expression of miRNAs between EC and adjacent normal tissues was analyzed. CCK-8 and Ki67 staining were used to detect the cell proliferation. Flow cytometry was performed to test the cell apoptosis. The correlation between miR-7-5p and KLF4 was detected by dual-luciferase report assay. Gene and protein expression in EC cells or in tissues were measured by qRT-PCR and Western blot, respectively. Cell migration and invasion were detected with transwell assay. Xenograft mice model was established to investigate the role of miR-7-5p in EC tumorigenesis in vivo. Results: MiR-7-5p was found to be negatively correlated with the survival rate of patient with EC. In addition, downregulation of miR-7-5p significantly inhibited the growth and invasion of EC cells. Meanwhile, miR-7-5p directly targeted KLF4 in EC cells. Moreover, downregulation of miR-7-5p inhibited the tumorigenesis of EC via inactivating MAPK signaling pathway in vivo. Conclusion: Downregulation of miR-7-5p notably suppressed the progression of EC via targeting KLF4. Thus, miR-7-5p might serve as a new target for the treatment of EC.


Biomaterials that can physically control the fate of stem cells are critical for the application of in situ tissue engineering. However, the mechanisms underlying this phenomenon remain unclear. In this study, cellulose and silk composite substrates, known to induce physically the chondrogenic differentiation of human mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs), were regenerated to fabricate two-dimensional film surfaces. MSCs were grown on these surfaces in the presence of chemicals that interfere with the biochemical and mechanical signalling pathwys of MSCs. The data shows that preventing substrate surface elasticity transmission results in significant downregulation of chondrogenic gene expression. Interference with the classical, chondrogenic Smad2/3 Phosphorylation pathway does not impact the chondrogenic capacity of the substrates. The results highlight the importance of the substrate mechanical elasticity on chondrogenic MSCs and its independence of known chondrogenic biochemical pathways.


BACKGROUND
The usefulness of surgery in the treatment of gallbladder cancer has not been clearly established. The benefits of chemo and radiotherapy are similarly dubious.

AIM
To report the pathological findings in patients subjected to surgical reinterventions for gallbladder cancer.

PATIENTS AND METHODS
We report 54 patients with gallbladder cancer that were subjected to a second surgical intervention for resection of liver segments IVb and V and lymph nodes corresponding to the liver hilar, portal, peripancreatic, celiac artery and periaortic territories. Thirteen of these patients were subjected to preoperative chemo-radiotherapy (4500 Gy and 5-fluouracil 500 mg/m2).

RESULTS
Lymph node metastases were found in 25 and 38%, and liver metastases in 25 and 28% of patients with or without chemo-radiotherapy respectively. The most frequent pathological findings attributed to radiation in the liver were fatty infiltration in 75% of cases, vascular transformation in 83% of cases and minimal periportal lymphocyte infiltration in 40% of cases. Lymph nodes were atrophic in 67% of cases and had foci of cortical necrosis in 46% of cases. Three cases had regional lymph node and liver metastases. Most tumor cells were viable.

CONCLUSIONS
No differences in the number of lymph node or liver metastases were observed between patients with and without chemo-radiotherapy. No effect of the treatment on residual tumor was observed either.


The crisis in the world's fisheries is attributed to excessive fishing pressure, long-term mismanagement, increased population growth, development and improvement of fishing technologies, uncertainty in global fisheries catch data, economic incentives and subsidies, and increasing demand for fish meal. For the coastal fisheries of developing countries, the problem is aggravated by coastal habitat degradation, widespread poverty in coastal communities, inshore encroachment of commercial fishing vessels, use of illegal and destructive fishing methods, resource use conflicts, pollution from uplands, and weak institutional arrangements. In response to these problems and in the hope of reversing their negative effects, fisheries management strategies have emerged for tropical coastal fisheries during at least the past 30 years. In fisheries, it is crucial to determine the outcomes of management strategies, especially when public money has to be accounted for. However, efforts to assess their impacts or measure progress are usually directed towards a single disciplinary approach, which fails to consider the multi-dimensionality of tropical fisheries including concomitant multi-level and conflicting goals and objectives. This article explores the utility of a multi-criteria type of evaluation as a potential analytical approach in impact evaluation for tropical fisheries management. The general framework of a multi-criteria evaluation method is a two-dimensional matrix composed of different choice possibilities including the set of criteria and indicators that will serve as bases in assessing these choice possibilities. The literature presents various criteria and indicators in fisheries management evaluation, the kinds and number of which would depend on stated goals and objectives of fisheries and the availability of resources to acquire the information. The type of measurement, i.e., quantitative or qualitative, and the weighing of criteria and indicators are crucial in the evaluation process because they determine the multi-criteria aggregation approach to be used. Moreover, the participation of stakeholders and coastal resource users is crucial in complementing scientific information, in developing acceptable solutions, and in reducing conflicts and distrust in the evaluation and decision-making process. While many aggregation models in multi-criteria analysis in natural resource management exist, this article limits its review to only six models: the analytic hierarchy process, the weighted sum model, the ordination technique, concordance analysis, the regime method and Evamix; which are viewed to be applicable to the structure of decision-making in tropical fisheries management. This article also examines the performance of some of these models through a case study that determines the impacts of fisheries management strategies in San Miguel Bay, Philippines. The review reveals the following: (1) among the aggregation approaches, the analytic hierarchy process and ordination technique had the highest number of applications in fisheries while none was found for concordance analysis, the regime method or Evamix; (2) the application of hybrid models in multi-criteria analysis is increasing and found to be effective in many environmental decision problems including fisheries; (3) the application of multi-criteria decision models to fisheries management is relatively scarce during the last 10 years; only 26 papers were found in peer-reviewed journals; and (4) in the choice of model, its technical assumptions and limitations, its appropriateness for a specific decision-making problem, and its ability to handle the situation correctly vis-à-vis contextual, technical and political concerns should be considered.


In this paper a method for estimating the damage location in beam and plate structures is presented. A plexiglas cantilever beam and a plexiglas plate with one fixed boundary condition are tested experimentally. The dynamic response of the structures is analyzed using one and twodimensional continuous wavelet transforms of the structural mode shapes. The location of the crack is indicated by a peak in the spatial variation of the transformed response. The proposed wavelet analysis can effectively identify the crack position without knowledge of either the structure characteristics or its mathematical model. The practical application of the technique for civil engineering structures requires only the response of the structure.


Interactive virtual environments used in conjunction with haptic displays are often staticviewpoint scenes that contain a mixture of static and dynamic virtual objects. The immersive realism of these environments is often limited by the graphical rendering system, typically OpenGL or Direct3D. In order to present more realistic scenes for haptic interaction without requiring additional modeling complexity, we have developed a technique for co-locating a prerendered, raytraced scene with objects rendered graphically and haptically in real-time. We describe the depth-buffering and perspective techniques that were necessary to achieve colocation among representations, and we demonstrate real-time haptic interaction with a scene rendered using photon-mapping.


Purpose: To describe a clinical case of corneoscleral xanthogranuloma, a rare manifestation of juvenile xanthogranuloma, and xanthoma disseminatum, which responded well to chemotherapy. Methods: Interventional case report and literature search. Results: A 9-year-old female patient with a disseminated disease showed complete regression of her corneoscleral xanthogranuloma with methotrexate and azathioprine therapy. Conclusion: Since they are potentially blinding, corneoscleral xanthogranulomas are commonly surgically excised. While surgical resection has been widely advocated in the literature, immunosuppressive therapy alone may be a pertinent management line of corneoscleral xanthogranuloma, especially with systemic involvement.


In a mixed reality (MR) environment that combines the physical objects with the virtual environments, users' feelings are immersed in the virtual world, while their bodies remain in the physical world. Compared to the purely physical environments, such characteristic has led to some special needs for users' long-term immersion. However, the deficiency needs that we have to face for long-term immersion still need further research. In this paper, we apply the theory of Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs (MHN) to guide the design of MR systems for long-term immersion. Taking the normal biological rhythm of human beings as the basic unit (24 hours), we propose the fundamental needs for long-term immersion in VEs through combining the theory of MHN with the special needs of virtual reality (VR). In order to verify whether those needs can satisfy users' long-term immersion, we design an MR office system for basic operations based on the theory of MHN. A long-term exposure experiment (duration of 8 hours) is designed to evaluate those needs by comparing the results with a physical work environment after a short-term preliminary study. The physiological and psychological effects are tested in both two environments and the deficiency needs for short-term immersion and long-term immersion are also compared. The results showed that the design based on the theory of MHN can support users' long-term immersion, which means that it can be a guideline for long-term use of MR systems.


As a mediator between lipid metabolism dysfunction, oxidative stress and inflammation, oxidized low-density lipoprotein (oxLDL) is a promising therapeutical target in a wide range of metabolic diseases. In mice, pneumococcal immunization increases anti-phosphorylcholine and oxLDL antibody levels, and reduces atherosclerosis, non-alcoholic steatohepatitis and Niemann–Pick disease burden. These findings suggest that pneumococcal vaccination may be a useful preventive and therapeutical strategy in metabolic disease patients. In this pilot clinical trial, our aim was to determine whether the administration of a pneumococcal vaccine increases anti-phosphorylcholine and anti-oxLDL antibody levels in metabolic disease patients. The following patients were enrolled: four patients with familial partial lipodystrophy (all women, mean age 32 years old); three familial hypercholesterolemia patients (one girl, two boys; mean age 13 years); and two Niemann–Pick type B (NP-B) patients (two men, mean age 37.5 years old). Participants received one active dose of a 13-valent conjugated pneumococcal vaccine (Prevenar 13) and were followed-up for four weeks. Four weeks after Prevenar 13 vaccination, no differences were observed in patients' levels of anti-oxLDL IgM or IgG antibodies. In addition, we observed a reduction in anti-phosphorylcholine (anti-PC) IgM antibody levels, whereas no differences were observed in anti-PC IgG antibody titers. These findings indicate that Prevenar 13 vaccination does not induce an immune response against oxLDL in patients with metabolic diseases. Therefore, Prevenar 13 is not suited to target the metabolic disruptor and pro-inflammatory mediator oxLDL in patients.


Immunoglobulin E (IgE) is an important immunoglobulin related to allergic reactions and some diseases such as atopic dermatitis, allergic asthma, etc. Sensitive and rapid detection of IgE is desired for disease diagnosis and therapeutics. Taking advantage of a binding-induced pyrene excimer, we developed a sensitive fluorescent aptamer switch for IgE sensing by using a pyrene-labeled aptamer. The aptamer having four base pairs at the stem was labeled with a single pyrene molecule at the 3′ end and 5' end and used as an affinity probe. The binding of IgE brought the pyrene moiety at each terminal of the aptamer into proximity, generating an excimer and showing a distinct fluorescence peak. The measurement of the fluorescence peak of the excimer allowed the sensitive detection of IgE. We optimized the experimental conditions such as temperature, incubation time, and metal cations. The detection limit for IgE was about 1.6 nM. This assay displayed good specificity and allowed for the detection of IgE spiked in a diluted human serum sample. This fluorescent aptamer sensor has potential for its application in rapid sensing of IgE.


We explore a new Bayesian model for probabilistic grammars, a family of distributions over discrete structures that includes hidden Markov models and probabilistic context-free grammars. Our model extends the correlated topic model framework to probabilistic grammars, exploiting the logistic normal distribution as a prior over the grammar parameters. We derive a variational EM algorithm for that model, and then experiment with the task of unsupervised grammar induction for natural language dependency parsing. We show that our model achieves superior results over previous models that use different priors.


This essay explores U.S. national security interests on the World War I home-front from 1917-1921 in Newport, Rhode Island when Assistant Secretary of the Navy Franklin D. Roosevelt's covert operatives attempted to restrict same-sex acts through methods of entrapment. It argues that World War I provided government officials new opportunities to expand security concerns as it policed and punished gender and sexual non-conformity well before the Cold War.


By analyzing the time evolution of artificial plasma cloud in the high altitude of atmospheric environment, we found that there are two zones, an exponential attenuation zone and a linearly attenuating zone, existing in the spatial distribution of electron density of the artificial plasma clouds. The plasma generator's particle flux density only contributes to the exponential attenuation zone, and has no effect on the linear attenuation zone. The average electron density in the linear attenuation zone is about 10-5 of neutral particle density, and can diffuse over a wider area. The conclusion will supply some valuable references to the research of electromagnetic wave and artificial plasma interaction, the plasma invisibleness research of missile and special aerocraft, and the design of artificial plasma source.


Deregulation in cell proliferation, oxidative status, antiapoptosis and survival are involved in development of cancer. The cellular signaling cascades mediated by Phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K) with their ability to stimulate cell proliferation and suppress apoptosis, has been considered to play key role in tumor initiation, promotion, and progression. Therefore, use of inhibitors or antioxidants like natural flavonoids could be promising strategy to target PI3K pathway for suppression of carcinogenic process. The present study was aimed to investigate the anti-cancer activity of quercetin, a natural flavonoid and PI-103, a synthetic inhibitor in transplantable murine T-cell lymphoma. Cytotoxicity, apoptotic potential, cell survival, cell proliferation as well as antioxidant defense are evaluated in ascite cells of murine T-cell lymphoma in vivo and in primary culture. Significant decline in level of AKT1, PKCα, COX 2 as well as regulatory domain of PI3K (p85α), AKT1 and Bad, suggested implication of quercetin in regression of lymphoma by down regulation of cell proliferation and survival. Improvement of active PKCδ, p53, active caspase 3, 9 and cleaved PARP supported its cell apoptotic mechanism in cancer prevention. Additionally, decreased ROS level and LDH A activity contributes to reduced survival of cancer cells. Inhibition of p110α by PI-103 resulted in suppression of phospho-AKT and p85α level in primary culture. Modulation of various molecular targets including PI3K/AKT signaling by quercetin and PI-103 in vitro and in vivo tumor models suggests the importance and contribution of antioxidant quercetin in the prevention of cancer. Citation Format: Akhilendra Kumar Maurya, Manjula Vinayak. Decline in the growth of murine T-cell lymphoma via modulation of PI3K signaling pathway: Key role of quercetin and PI-103. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the AACR Special Conference: Targeting the PI3K-mTOR Network in Cancer; Sep 14-17, 2014; Philadelphia, PA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Mol Cancer Ther 2015;14(7 Suppl):Abstract nr A07.


UNC5Hs (UNC5H1-4) are netrin 1 receptors that are involved in axonal guidance and neuronal migration. They are dependence receptors that mediate apoptosis in the absence of netrin 1. UNC5H2-induced apoptosis depends on the interaction of the death domain at the C-terminus with the DAP-kinase death domain and caspase cleavage near the transmembrane region. Here, the crystal structure of the mouse UNC5H2 death domain has been determined at 2.1 A resolution. The domain adopts a six-helix bundle fold, which is similar to those of the other members of the death-domain superfamily. The UNC5H2 death domain is a dimer in the crystal and in solution. This homodimerized structure may represent the structure of the death domain when netrin 1 binds to the UNC5H2 receptor. Homodimerization of UNC5H2 may block the access of caspase to the cleavage site. In the death-domain dimer, residues in alpha3 and the 3(10)-helix preceding alpha3 and the residues in alpha4 make significant contacts, mainly by hydrophobic and van der Waals interactions.


Foodborne pathogens are a major public health burden in the United States, leading to 9.4 million illnesses annually. Since 1996, a national laboratory-based surveillance program, PulseNet, has used molecular subtyping and serotyping methods with the aim to reduce the burden of foodborne illness through early detection of emerging outbreaks. PulseNet affiliated laboratories have used pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) and immunoassays to subtype and serotype bacterial isolates. Widespread use of serotyping and PFGE for foodborne illness surveillance over the years has resulted in the accumulation of a wealth of routine surveillance and outbreak epidemiological data. This valuable source of data has been used to understand seasonal frequency, geographic distribution, demographic information, exposure information, disease severity, and source of foodborne isolates. In 2019, PulseNet adopted whole genome sequencing (WGS) at a national scale to replace PFGE with higher-resolution methods such as the core genome multilocus sequence typing. Consequently, PulseNet's recent shift to genome-based subtyping methods has rendered the vast collection of historic surveillance data associated with serogroups and PFGE patterns potentially unusable. The goal of this study was to develop a bioinformatics method to associate the WGS data that are currently used by PulseNet for bacterial pathogen subtyping to previously characterized serogroup and PFGE patterns. Previous efforts to associate WGS to PFGE patterns relied on predicting DNA molecular weight based on restriction site analysis. However, these approaches failed owing to the non-uniform usage of genomic restriction sites by PFGE restriction enzymes. We developed a machine learning approach to classify isolates to their most probable serogroup and PFGE pattern, based on comparisons of genomic k-mer signatures. We applied our WGS classification method to 5,970 Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli (STEC) isolates collected as part of PulseNet's routine foodborne surveillance activities between 2003 and 2018. Our machine learning classifier is able to associate STEC WGS to higher-level serogroups with very high accuracy and lower-level PFGE patterns with somewhat lower accuracy. Taken together, these classifications support the ability of public health investigators to associate currently generated WGS data with historical epidemiological knowledge linked to serogroups and PFGE patterns in support of outbreak surveillance for food safety and public health.


Previous research has shown that indigenous students in Australia do not enjoy equal educational outcomes with other Australians. This secondary analysis of PISA 2006 confirmed that this continues to be the case in science literacy for secondary students. However, the analysis also revealed that indigenous Australian students held interest in science equal to that of their non‐indigenous peers, and that observed variations in science literacy performance were most strongly explained by variations in reading literacy. These findings hold important implications for teachers, teacher educators, policy‐makers, and researchers. Firstly, acknowledging and publicly valuing indigenous Australian science knowledge through rethinking school science curriculum seems an important approach to engaging indigenous students and improving their literacy in science. Secondly, appropriate professional learning for practising teachers and the incorporation of indigenous knowing in science methods training in teacher preparation seems warranted. Additionally, we offer a number of questions for further reflection and research that would benefit our understanding of ways forward in closing the science literacy gap for indigenous students. Whilst this research remains firmly situated within the Australian educational context, we at the same time believe that the findings and implications offered here hold value for science education practitioners and researchers in other countries with similar populations striving to achieve science literacy for all.


We introduce a new equivalence checking method based on abstract BDDs (aBDDs). The basic idea is the following: given an abstraction function, aBDDs reduce the size of BDDs by merging nodes that have the same abstract value. An aBDD has bounded size and can be constructed without constructing the original BDD. We show that this method of equivalence checking is always sound. It is complete for an important class of arithmetic circuits that includes integer multiplication. We also suggest heuristics for findings suitable abstraction functions based on the structure of the circuit. The efficiency of this technique is illustrated by experiments on ISCAS'85 benchmark circuits.


The world-in-miniature metaphor (WIM) allows users to select, manipulate, and navigate efficiently in virtual environments. In addition to the first-person perspective offered by typical virtual reality (VR) applications, the WIM offers a second dynamic viewpoint through a hand-held miniature copy of the environment. In this paper we explore different strategies to allow the user to interact with the miniature replica at multiple levels of scale. Unlike competing approaches, we support complex indoor environments by explicitly handling occlusion. We discuss algorithms for selecting the part of the scene to be included in the replica, and for providing a clear view of the region of interest. Key elements of our approach include an algorithm to recompute the active region from a subdivision of the scene into cells, and a view-dependent algorithm to cull occluding geometry. Our cutaway algorithm is based on a small set of slicing planes roughly oriented along the main occluding surfaces, along with depthbased revealing for nonplanar geometry. We present the results of a user study showing that our technique clearly outperforms competing approaches on spatial tasks performed in densely occluded scenes.


Due to the increasing penetration of distributed generation and new high-power consumption loads - such as electric vehicles (EVs) - distribution system operators (DSO) are facing new grid security challenges. DSOs have historically dealt with such issues by making investments in grid reinforcement. However, an alternative solution, enabled by the expected roll-out of smart meters and high penetration of flexible loads, would be the increased use of flexibility services. Flexible loads, with EVs at their forefront, can modulate their consumption or even inject power back to the grid depending on current grid conditions. In return, flexibility provision should be remunerated accordingly. In this paper, the authors are interested in making an accurate description of the flexibility services at the distribution level which could be provided by EVs as well as their requirements, e.g. location, activation time and duration. Market design recommendations for enhancing the provision of DSO grid services by EVs are derived from the conducted analysis.


Novel HGMS filters have been used to separate dextran-iron labeled human blood and bone marrow cells. Tetrameric antibody complexes for CD8 and CD34 were used for the magnetic labeling. Normalized wire array and process parameters were used to describe the recovery experimental result. Purity was examined using nonmagnetic collision mechanisms. Additional construction details of the filters are given to what has been published previously. A number of experiments with different separation conditions are described which may be of use for difficult biological separation applications.


FFT literature has been mostly concerned with minimizing the number of floating-point operations performed by an algorithm. Unfortunately, on present-day microprocessors this measure is far less important than it used to be, and interactions with the processor pipeline and the memory hierarchy have a larger impact on performance. Consequently, one must know the details of a computer architecture in order to design a fast algorithm. In this paper, we propose an adaptive FFT program that tunes the computation automatically for any particular hardware. We compared our program, called FFTW, with over 40 implementations of the FFT on 7 machines. Our tests show that FFTW's self-optimizing approach usually yields significantly better performance than all other publicly available software. FFTW also compares favorably with machine-specific, vendor-optimized libraries.


Education, research, and implementation activities of universities necessitate access to information in the most accurate and fastest manner in today's conditions. In this regard; Members of Ankara University have to access scientific information through the most contemporary information and communication technology in the electronic environment, primarily through the global internet system. Each scientific database has specific standard characteristics. These properties gain importance in terms of the correctness and speed of access to the data contained in the database. The sources of scientific information that the members of Ankara University will need are presented in the electronic environment using the most contemporary information and communication technologies. This article aims to determine the information needs of the members of Ankara University and to determine the information access and the use of information by identifying the information access model for researching the educational facilities and the necessary infrastructure and technical support so that the maximum benefit can be obtained from the electronic library. Aims at realizing their application by determining the information model and content for this purpose.


Many international students are currently pursuing their post-secondary studies in Malaysia. At the beginning of each study programme in Malaysian universities, international students typically attend EAP courses for a better performance on campus. However, it is believed that these courses do not satisfactorily meet the EFL international students' needs, and this is probably because such courses do not take into consideration a comprehensive need analysis. This survey is one of the forerunning efforts to find out what tasks of English writing and speaking skills are actually needed by EFL international students in order to improve their ability of English as these two skills have been reported to be the most essential ones in academic settings. To this end, a Need Analysis questionnaire was employed to examine EFL international students' needs over productive skills. The questionnaire was sent to respondents via email and 60 post-secondary students responded and returned the questionnaire. The data analysis revealed that the majority of the participants considered speaking as the most important language skill that they needed to improve. Also, they reported that Explaining Ideas, Giving a Presentation, Giving Reasons, and Discussing in Meetings ranked on top of their speaking needs. In addition, the most needed writing tasks in EAP classes included Taking Lecture Notes and Writing Journal Papers/Articles. Moreover, gender was found to be significant in determining speaking tasks needed by EFL international students. Finally, PhD students reported to have different speaking needs compared to students studying Master and Bachelor programmes. Findings of this study are majorly congruent with other studies on international students' needs in academic settings, which can be of worth for the current EAP/ESP courses offered in Malaysia for EFL international students.


Tobacco cyst nematode (Globodera tabacum solanacearum) isolates were collected from 11 locations in Virginia, 3 in North Carolina, and 1 in Maryland. Isolates from each location were maintained and increased on flue-cured tobacco, Nicotiana tabacum cv K326. Plants of flue-cured tobacco cultivars K326 (susceptible) and NC567 (resistant) were each inoculated with 6,000 G. t. solanacearum eggs/plant. Tests were conducted over one (6 weeks) or two (14 weeks) generations of the nematode. Shoot and root weights and the number of nematodes present within a 1-g subsample of feeder roots were recorded at completion of the tests. Nematode counts were categorized by nematode life stage (vermiform, swollen, pyriform, and adult). Although significant differences in nematode development were detected among isolates, differences were not consistent across experiments. Results indicate similar virulence among G. t. solanacearum isolates on resistant and susceptible flue-cured tobacco cultivars. Therefore, plant breeders may effectively use a single G. t. solanacearum isolate when screening tobacco germplasm for resistance.


This book gives a detailed survey of the main results on bent functions over finite fields, presents a systematic overview of their generalizations, variations and applications, considers open problems in classification and systematization of bent functions, and discusses proofs of several results. This book uniquely provides a necessary comprehensive coverage of bent functions. It serves as a useful reference for researchers in discrete mathematics, coding and cryptography. Students and professors in mathematics and computer science will also find the content valuable, especially those interested in mathematical foundations of cryptography. It can be used as a supplementary text for university courses on discrete mathematics, Boolean functions, or cryptography, and is appropriate for both basic classes for under-graduate students and advanced courses for specialists in cryptography and mathematics.


textabstractThe mobile phone has become part of our everyday lives with astonishing
speed. Over four billion people now have access to mobile phones, and this
number keeps increasing. Mobile media technologies shape how we
communicate with each other, and relate to the world. This raises
questions about their influence on identity. Medium-specific properties
and user-practices challenge the idea that we understand ourselves through
stories. It is proposed that the notion of play sheds new light on how
technologies shape identities. The mobile phone mediates identities on
four play levels: we play on the mobile, with the mobile, through the
mobile, and at the same time we are played by the mobile. Mobile media
bring new freedom of movement. Yet at the same time they constrict us. In
this dialectic we become moving circles.


Acknowledgments Abbreviations PART I. INTRODUCTION Chapter 1. Introduction 1. Research Questions 2. Research Method 3. Delimitation of Topic 4. Switzerland 5. Aim and Content PART II. DOCTRINAL ASPECTS Chapter 2. Protection of Property 1. Historical and Philosophical Background 1.1. Ancient Authors 1.1.1. Greek Philosophers 1.1.2. Romans 1.2. Medieval Period 1.3. Modern Era 1.3.1. Natural Law Theory: Grotius, Pufendorf and Locke 1.3.2. Scottish Enlightenment: Hume and Smith 1.3.3. Kant and Hegel 1.3.4. Socialist Theories: Proudhon and Marx 1.3.5. Contemporary Theories: Rawls and Nozick 1.3.6. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights 2. Article 1 of Protocol I to the ECHR 2.1. History of Article 1 of Protocol I to the ECHR 2.1.1. Preparatory Work by the European Movement 2.1.2. Drafting Process 2.1.3. Adoption of the ECHR 2.1.4. Drafting Process in View of Protocol I to the ECHR Intersentia Contents 2.2. Content of Article 1 of Protocol I to the ECHR 3. Appraisal Chapter 3. Protection of Legitimate Expectations 1. Content of the Concept 2. Underlying Principles 2.1. Rule of Law, Legal Certainty, Good Faith and Basic Rights: Germany 2.2. Fairness, Reliance and Estoppel: United Kingdom 2.3. Legal Certainty and Vested Rights: European Union 2.4. Additional Arguments 2.4.1. Venire Contra Factum Proprium and Culpa in Contrahendo 2.4.2. Basic Rights 2.4.3. Structural Principles 2.4.4. Reliance Theory and Autonomy 2.4.5. Utilitarian Arguments 2.4.6. Good Administration and Trust in Government 3. Opposing Principles 3.1. Non-Fettering Doctrine and Flexibility 3.2. Legality 3.3. Others 4. Conditions for the Protection of Legitimate Expectations 4.1. Basis 4.1.1. Public Authority Involved 4.1.2. Form 4.1.3. Addressees 4.1.4. Nature 4.2. Confidence 4.3. External Manifestation 4.4. Balancing of Interests 5. Nature of Protection 6. Appraisal Chapter 4. The ECtHR's Doctrine of Legitimate Expectations: Status Quo 1. Property as Reference Point 1.1. The ECtHR's Definition of 'Possession' 1.1.1. Rights in Rem 1.1.2. Rights in Personam 1.2.3. Intellectual Property 1.2. Evaluation 2. Legitimate Expectations: Status Quo 2.1. The ECtHR's Definition of 'Legitimate Expectation' 2.2. Evaluation of the Doctrine in Literature 2.2.1. Claims, Assets and Legitimate Expectations 2.2.2. Foreseeability of Change 2.2.3. Legitimacy and Fair Balance 2.2.4. Reasonably Justified Reliance 3. Appraisal PART III. ANALYSIS Chapter 5. Basis for Legitimate Expectations 1. Judicial Decisions 1.1. Author of Decision. 1.2. Content of Decision 1.3. Final and Enforceable Judicial Decisions 1.3.1. Final Decisions Not Deciding the Claim 1.3.2. Sufficiently Established Claims 1.3.3. Example: Judgment Debts 1.3.4. Non-Enforcement or Quashing. 1.4. Non-Final Judicial Decisions and Pending Claims 1.4.1. Non-Final Decisions 1.4.2. Pending Claims 1.5. Combination with Other Bases 1.6. Summary 2. Administrative and Parliamentary Decisions 3. Case-Law 3.1. Source 3.2. Content 3.3. Combination with Other Bases 3.4. Summary 4. Legal Provisions 4.1. Applicability Ratione Temporis 4.2. Applicability Ratione Personae et Materiae 4.3. Statutory Conditions 4.4. Author 4.5. Content 4.6. Unclear Legal Provisions 4.7. Legal Principles 4.8. Combination with Other Bases 4.9. Summary 5. Registers and Zoning Plans Intersentia Contents 6. Actions and Actual Conduct of the Authorities 6.1. Type of Authority 6.2. Content 6.2.1. Recognition 6.2.2. Treatment 6.2.3. Payment of Taxes and Other Contributions 6.2.4. Agreements and Contracts 6.2.5. Positive Measures6.2.6. Future Conduct 6.3. Tolerance 6.3.1. Illegal Situations and Adverse Possession 6.3.2. Knowledge, Passivity and Duration 6.3.3. Uncertainty 6.4. Ultra Vires and Deficient Acts 6.5. Combination with Other Bases 6.6. Summary 7. Agreements and Contracts Between Private Parties 8. Appraisal Chapter 6. Confidence, Detriment and Fair Balance. 1. Confidence 1.1. Knowledge 1.1.1. Foreseeability of Change 1.1.2. Good Faith 1.2. Conduct of Parties 1.3. Uncertainty 2. External Manifestation 2.1. Material Detriment 2.2. Moral Detriment 3. Balancing of Interests 4. Nature of Protection 5. Appraisal Chapter 7. Functions and Differentiations. 1. Implications for Claims and 'Assets' 1.1. Two-Stage Approach 1.2. Nature of the Claim 1.3. Connection Between 'Assets' and Legitimate Expectations 1.4. Omission of Reference to the Doctrine of Legitimate Expectations Contents 2. Implications for the Definition of 'Possession' 3. Implications for the Fair Balance Test 4. Implications in Other Contexts Under P1 - 1 5. Legitimate Expectations and Other Concepts 5.1. Use of Legitimate Expectations with Other ECHR Articles 5.2. Legitimate Expectations Under P1 - 1 and Article 6 x1 ECHR 5.2.1. Scope of Application of P1 - 1 and Article 6 x1 ECHR 5.2.2. Connection of Complaints Under P1 - 1 and Article 6 x1 ECHR. 5.2.3. Article 6 x1 ECHR as a Basis 5.2.4. Legitimate Expectations Under Article 6 x1 ECHR. 5.2.5. Summary 5.3. Relationship Between Legitimate Expectations and Vested Rights 5.4. Relationship Between Legitimate Expectations and Judgment Debts 6. Appraisal Chapter 8. Insufficient Basis and Other Shortcomings 1. Rights not Provided by P1 - 1 2. Hope 2.1. Difference Between a Hope and a Legitimate Expectation 2.2. Examples 2.3. Keeping a Hope Alive by the Authorities 2.4. Summary 3. Insufficient Basis for a Legitimate Expectation 3.1. Non-Fulfilment of Necessary Conditions 3.1.1. Competence to Decide 3.1.2. Conditional Claim 3.1.3. Disputable Conditions 3.1.4. Interference Pendente Conditione 3.1.5. Summary 3.2. No Final and Enforceable Decisions 3.3. No Legal Provision or Case-Law 3.4. Interpretation and Application of Domestic Law 3.5. Non-Official Acts and Political Statements 3.6. Genuine Dispute or Arguable Claim 4. Lack of Sufficient Evidence 5. Determination of Sufficiently Established Claim Not Necessary 6. Appraisal PART IV. SWITZERLAND AND P1 - Chapter 9. Switzerland, P1 - 1 and the Protection of Legitimate Expectations 1. Non-Ratification of Protocol I by Switzerland 2. Protection of Property under the ECHR 3. Protection of Legitimate Expectations under the ECHR 4. Protection of Property in Switzerland 4.1. Property as a Basic Right 4.2. Notion of Property. 5. Protection of Legitimate Expectations in Switzerland 6. Changes to be Expected After the Ratification of Protocol I PART V. CONCLUSION Chapter 10. Conclusion 1. Definition 1.1. Hy pothesis in Kopecky v. Slovakia 1.1.1. Basis 1.1.2. Confidence 1.1.3. Detriment 1.2. Functions 1.3. Underlying Principles 1.4. Impact on the Definition of 'Possession' 2. Inconsistencies 2.1. Formal Inconsistencies 2.2. Content-Related Inconsistencies 3. Future Improvements 3.1. Necessity of Differentiations and Precise Formulations 3.2. Necessity of Clear Content Annex I. Annex II Bibliography List of Materials Table of Cases


To ensure decoupling between publishers and subscribers, most publish-subscribe systems route notifications through intermediate message brokers. A byproduct of this practice is that notifications often follow suboptimal paths that are much longer than a direct path. Hence, in this paper, we propose a publish-subscribe architecture called GeoRendezvous which aims to reduce the latency experienced by end clients in the delivery of notifications. We base our system on a position-based distributed hash table (DHT) that supports rendezvous points where the interests of publishers and subscribers match. Leveraging from previous work, we replicate the rendezvous points to give multiple choices of paths to the subscribers. We show that in this way, the subscriber is able to achieve latencies comparable to a direct publisher-subscriber path without breaking the decoupling assumptions of the publish-subscribe model. Additionally, we show that scalability is one of the most prominent features of GeoRendezvous, as the number of rendezvous points scales with the network size.


Plants as a source of bioactive chemicals have been known since very long time, and thus it is a rational strategy to develop phytochemical studies on the Indonesian plants and tested the isolated chemicals on a various biological systems. Since 1999, the author, as a part the Group of Natural Products Chemistry, Institut Teknologi Bandung, has actively wotk on a number of Indonesian plant families, including Lauraceae, Moraceae, Dipterocarpaceae, Zingiberaceae, and Euphorbiaceae, aiming to find new biologically active chemicals from nature. In this presentation, studies on Macaranga species (Euphorbiaceae) will be presented, hightlighting the results from six species of the genus, namely M. gigantea, M. lowii, M. pruinosa, M. recurvata, M. rhizinoides, and M. trichocarpa. Samples of the plants to be extracted were the leaves, and extraction was done either with acetone or methanol. Fractionation was carried out by vacuum liquid chromatography eluted by a gradient solvent system of n-hexaneEtOAc. Purification of the metabolites was done mainly with radial chromatography eluted with various solvent systems. Twenty seven flavonoid and stibene derivatives were isolated and identified, seventeen of which were new compounds. These compounds are substituted with isoprenyl, geranyl, farnesyl, and an iregular sesquiterpenyl group with a cyclobutane skeleton. In the presentation, several selected NMR spectra of the compounds will be described. On biological evaluation against murine leukemia P-388 cells by MTT assay these compounds showed varying cytotoxicities, with the highest active compounds was an isoprenylated dihydroflavanone isolated from M. recurvata. In conclusion, Macaranga is a unique source of flavonoid and stilbene derivatives, some of them have potential for biological activities. Keeping that Indonesia is one of the center of Macaranga's diversity, pytochemical and biological research on this plant should be continued.


In this age of personalized medicine, genetic and genomic testing is expected to become instrumental in health care delivery, but little is known about its actual implementation in clinical practice. Methods. We surveyed Duke faculty and healthcare providers to examine the extent of genetic and genomic testing adoption. We assessed providers' use of genetic and genomic testing options and indications in clinical practice, providers' awareness of pharmacogenetic applications, and providers' opinions on returning research-generated genetic test results to participants. Most clinician respondents currently use family history routinely in their clinical practice, but only 18 percent of clinicians use pharmacogenetics. Only two respondents correctly identified the number of drug package inserts with pharmacogenetic indications. We also found strong support for the return of genetic research results to participants. Our results demonstrate that while Duke healthcare providers are enthusiastic about genomic technologies, use of genomic tools outside of research has been limited. Respondents favor return of research-based genetic results to participants, but clinicians lack knowledge about pharmacogenetic applications. We identified challenges faced by this institution when implementing genetic and genomic testing into patient care that should inform a policy and education agenda to improve provider support and clinician-researcher partnerships.


Using content analysis, this research focused on how three Canadian rural community newspapers over eighteen years, from different regions, communicated content about the shift from the old economy to the new economy during the period of neo-liberal policy adoption and the growth of globalization. We learned that local news coverage in the three rural communities, although present, provided superficial coverage of the changes that were occurring during the years of study. Therefore, the information that could have generated enough information to help address priorities for the community was mostly absent. The data demonstrated that while newspapers can act both as an asset or a liability and can increase capacity and Entrepreneurial Social Infrastructure (ESI), they are being underutilized.

Keywords: capacity, community mobilization, community newspapers, new rural economy, rural change


We examine the relationship between early cognitive development, socioeconomic status (SES), child health, and parenting quality in a developing country. We use a sample of more than 3,000 predominantly poor preschool-aged children from Ecuador, and analyze determinants of their scores on a widely used test of language ability. We find that household wealth and parental education are associated with higher scores, and that these associations are larger among older children. Child health and measures of parenting quality are associated with test performance, and account for a fraction, although not the majority, of the association between SES and cognitive development.


&NA; Preparing to recertify (or certify for the first time) is an arduous process for which there is never enough time to practice and test one's knowledge. The Quick Recertification Series is one way PAs who are preparing to take the exam can meet their informational needs. In a condensed review format, the QRS addresses critical topics included on the exam. It also provides practice questions, answers, and their explanations. Successful completion of the NCCPA examination requires a variety of tactics. The QRS offers one more to add to your test‐taking armamentarium.


In recent years, PM, which is one of the most important indoor air pollutants, has attracted a great deal of attention. PM is mainly generated by occupant activities. In particular, cooking and smoking are occupant activities that have the greatest effect on the indoor PM concentrations. The objective of this study is to analyse indoior PM concentration and occupant behavior of Korean residential buildings. PM concentration increased rapidly in a short time during the cooking process. In addition, it was confirmed that the cooking-generated PM diffuse rapidly and contributed to increasing the PM concentration in the living room. In the cooking process, the range-hood was operated most of the time, but the PM diffused into the living room. Therefore, there is a need for additional ventilation method to prevent diffusion of cooking-generated PM.


This article aims to analyze how fatherhood is performed on Instagram by examining the domains of involvement. Parental roles and behaviors have changed in the last years and are currently a relevant social and scientific topic. The way that fatherhood is performed is also a frequent subject on social media, spreading the ideal of a new fatherhood and portraying the father as committed to childcare duties. The hashtag "fatherhood" was used to identify posts on Instagram representing father involvement. A final sample of 121 posts was identified. Results depicted three main domains in fatherhood's online representations of involvement: (1) child caregiving; (2) fathers as a source of the child's affection; and (3) fathers involved in play, committed to the child's interests and offering new opportunities of stimulation. The display of fatherhood as a role requiring dedication and effort also emerged, but to a lesser extent. Nevertheless, only positive emotions were shared, depicting pleasure in the performed role, and communicating an ideal and self-enhancing profile. Moreover, posts seemed to disseminate an ideal of fatherhood rather than raise questions or discuss the challenges related to it. Findings uncover how media social representations of fatherhood are still an unfinished process, failing to capture diversity and challenges in contemporary families.


Background: India being a developing country has tremendous demand of physical infrastructure and construction work as a result there is a raising demand of construction workers. Workers in construction industry are mainly migratory and employed on contract or subcontract basis. These workers face temporary relationship between employer and employee, uncertainty in working hours, contracting and subcontracting system, lack of basic continuous employment, lack basic amenities, and inadequacy in welfare schemes. Objective: To estimate the prevalence of respiratory and dermatological symptoms among migratory construction workers. Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted in Manipal, Karnataka, among 340 male migratory construction workers. A standard modified questionnaire was used as a tool by the interviewer and the physical examination of the workers was done by a physician. The statistical analysis was done using Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) version 15.0. Result: Eighty percent of the workers belong to the age group of 18–30 years. The mean age of the workers was 26 ± 8.2 years. Most (43.8%) of the workers are from West Bengal followed by those from Bihar and Jharkhand. The rates of prevalence of respiratory and dermatological symptoms were 33.2% and 36.2%, respectively. Conclusion: The migrant construction workers suffer from a high proportion of respiratory and dermatological problems.


We present here an in situ cascade polycondensation-coupling ring-opening polymerization (PROP) method for the facile synthesis of polyesters with relatively high molecular weights that are hard to synthesize by traditional condensation polymerization methods. The method was developed during our studies on the melt polymerization of three poly(trimethylene terephthalate) (PTT) analogues with different lateral alkyl chains at the β-position of 1,3-propanediol, i.e., poly(2-methyl-1,3-propylene terephthalate) (PMPT), poly(neopentylene terephthalate) (PNT) and poly(2-methyl-2-propyl-1,3-propylene terephthalate) (PMPPT), from their corresponding cyclic oligoesters using diol initiators. Kinetic studies suggest that the systems follow the ring-opening polymerization mechanism at the early stages to form diol end-functionalized polyesters, while, subsequently, condensation polymerization starts between the polyesters at high monomer conversion regions. Inspired by the "domino reaction" concept in organic chemistry, the above in situ cascade polymerization process is attributed to a "domino polymerization" method. The structure–property relationship of these polyesters was investigated. It shows that the introduction of alkyl chains on the lateral side of propanediol segments increases the polyesters' Tg by improving the chain stiffness, as those with higher modulus exhibit higher Tg, yet the gas barrier properties decrease with more or longer alkyl chains introduced. Our PROP method affords a facile way to synthesize polyesters and copolyesters with functional groups for potential application in materials science.


Attaining tenure is a goal of every faculty member. Indeed, at the beginning of every faculty member's career, there is concern regarding the process of earning tenure. Many factors enter into the tenure decision, but most universities place weight on three primary factors: teaching effectiveness, research activity, and demonstration of service to the university and beyond. The relative importance of these three factors varies, but most universities expect "satisfactory" performance in all three areas. One of the historical reasons for faculty tenure is to protect academic freedom. Once tenure was attained, a faculty member's academic freedom was considered safe. Recent developments in academia, however, are challenging the safety of both tenure and academic freedom. Some universities have implemented a post-tenure review process that subjects a faculty member to continuing, periodic review. Some argue that this process impedes a faculty member's academic freedom. Since the university is considered "locked" into an agreement to retain a tenured faculty member, the faculty member has been under little obligation for further development, except for a self-imposed or professional obligation. The rationale behind post-tenure review is to demand a continuing responsibility of a faculty member to participate in faculty growth. The paper will gather and analyze accounting faculty perceptions regarding post-tenure.


: The hybrid plasmid RP4::D3112 becomes unstable in Escherichia coli K-12 cells under certain growth conditions. The deletion mutants of this plasmid are formed at a high frequency. All the deletions selected have a specific feature: they start in the left end, at the point of joining of plasmid and phage DNA, and remove different portions of the phage genome. The deletion mutants have been used for genetic mapping of D3112. We have localized the repressor gene cI (0-1.3 kb), 3 early genes (1.3-14.2 kb) and two groups of late genes (14.2-29.9 and 29.9-38 kb). Electron microscope studies of RP4::D3112 DNA and its deletion derivatives have shown that integration of D3112 genome in RP4 occurs through the ends of the genome, without permutations. It appears that bacterial nucleotide sequences joined to DNA from mature D3112 particles, to the right end of D3112 genome, are lost. Thus, transposable phages D3112 of Pseudomonas aeruginosa and E. coli Mu phage have some similarities in the genome organization and in the way of their integration into the host DNA.


Treatment of patients by products a viticulture (raisins, grape juice, dry red wine) simultaneously with traditional resort procedures was studied. Essential optimization of psycho-physic state of all examined groups was found. The level of increase of investigated parameters depend on a kind of products a viticulture and initial level of investigated parameters. The largest level of optimization of psycho-emotional state was revealed at the prescription dry vine. It was increased on 91.2% in relation to a background level. Age factor didn't influence on extent of increasing of optimization level.


The identification of this clinical entity and effective management play a significant role in the outcome of pregnancy, both for the mother and the fetus hence reducing maternal and perinatal mortality. To determine the Fetal and Maternal outcome in Pregnancy Induced Hypertension compared with matched normal controls specifically with regard to age, common symptoms, signs, amniotic fluid index, Doppler, delivery details and neonatal outcome. A retrospective case control study was conducted for one year period (2007/01 to 2008/01) and relevant information were obtained from consecutive consenting mothers who were admitted and managed at ward 03 and ward 15. Measurement of blood pressure was standardized and matched with a controlled group.Statistical analysis was performed with chi-square test, regression analysis and McNemar test within the Statistical Package For Social Sciences Software. The age of mothers ranged from 16 to 40 years. The mean age was 30.1 years (SD = 4.9 years). The highest proportion (35.6%) of mothers was in 31 –35 year age group. The smallest proportion (4.0%) of mothers were in 16 – 20 year age group. Majority (38.6%) of the mothers were primigravidae. Of the hypertensives 50.5% had BMI over 25 kg/m 2. The majority (66.3%) of the patients have developed PIH between 33 weeks to 37+6 weeks. The occurrence of late hypertension is significant with a correlation coefficient (r) of = 0.45, p<0.001.) Nearly 20% of the cases were asymptomatic. The occurrence of classical symptoms like headache, oedema, visual disturbances and epigastric pain were very significant (p< 0.001) among the severe hypertensives. There was no significant relationship between the AFI and EFW in both groups of mothers before 38 weeks of gestation (r = 0.43 P = 0.16, r = 0.35, P = 0.09). There was a significant relationship between the AFI and EFW after 38 weeks' gestation (r = 0.61; P = 0.03). A positive relationship between the AFI and EFW was noted late in gestation. There were significant abnormalities in the Doppler indices seen in PIH (p <0.01) although the sample was too small. The identification of this clinical entity and effective management play a significant role in the outcome of pregnancy, both for the mother and the fetus hence reducing maternal and perinatal mortality.


The significance of language in clinical practice first emerged with the Anna O. case, a study by Freud. Lacan went on to support Freud's findings. Through the Back to Freud movement, Lacan proved language to be crucial from theoretical and clinical perspectives. According to Lacan, the name of the father in the language used by the mother functions as a signifier for the mother's desire. It corresponds to the first repression and enters the symbolic register. It refers to Lacan's famous statement 'Unconscious is structured like a language'. As such, in his theory, Lacan actively uses the concepts of signifier, signified, metaphor and metonymy and offers new interpretations of these concepts. Therefore, to study the unconscious, working with language is the main method. However, because of repression, the unconscious can only be studied through the traces it shows in language. In this article, traces of the unconscious in language are explained using clinical examples. Clarifications are provided as to how traces of the unconscious can be studied analytically.


Constituting a part of odd electrons that are excluded from the covalent bonding, effectively unpaired electrons are posed by the singlet instability of the single-determinant broken spin-symmetry unrestricted Hartree–Fock (UBS HF) SCF solution. The correct determination of the total number of effectively unpaired electrons ND and its fraction on each NDA atom is well provided by the UBS HF solution. The NDA value is offered to be a quantifier of atomic chemical susceptibility (or equivalently, reactivity) thus highlighting targets that are the most favorable for addition reactions of any type. The approach is illustrated for two families involving fragments of arm-chair (n,n) and zigzag (m,0) single-walled nanotubes different by the length and end structure. Short and long tubes as well as tubes with capped end and open end, in the latter case, both hydrogen terminated and empty, are considered. Algorithms of the quantitative description of any length tubes are suggested. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Int J Quantum Chem, 2010


: After formation of the primary palate, human facial morphology develops rapidly and by 10-12 weeks pc the face has characteristics that appear typically human. The objective of this study was to review major growth movements and developmental changes in craniofacial tissues between 7 and 12 weeks pc. During this period (20 - 80 mm CR length), the upper and lower facial regions grow forward rapidly to achieve relationships to the cranial base that are similar to those present later prenatally and postnatally. Initial ossification of facial bones is present but the primary cartilages form the continuous craniofacial skeleton through the entire period. Rapid directional growth of the cartilaginous components between 7 and 10 weeks appears to be important to development of the typically human facial appearance prior to the formation of the continuous bony skeleton. The effects of altered primary cartilage growth on bony skeletal patterns were examined in experimental animal studies in which embryonic rats were exposed to teratogens. Reduction in the length of Meckel's cartilage or alteration in the shape of the cartilage was found to affect the size and shape of the bony mandible that developed later. Therefore, growth movements of the chondrocranium and Meckel's cartilage appear to play an important role in spatial relocation of developing facial bones during formation of craniofacial morphology. The results suggest that significant alterations in growth during this period when the primary cartilages form the continuous skeleton may produce significant irreversible effects on later prenatal and postnatal craniofacial morphology.


The Paleozoic limestone of Kinta Valley formed a narrow deformed strip between the Late Triassic Early Jurassic batholiths of the northern Peninsular Malaysia. Because of the advanced stage of karstification, it is difficult to understand the deformation events that affected the limestone. We use outcrop remote sensing mapping, outcrop examples and hand specimens to unravel the tectonic evolution from syn-sedimentary to Recent events. We identify (i.) an early extensional event marked by very penetrative micro-normal faults, possibly due to compaction underneath the sea bottom, which occurred when bedding was still horizontal, (ii.) an early compression indicated by a set of conjugate originally strike-slip faults, (iii.) a well-marked compression with thrusts and tight folds which tilted the previously formed structures, (iv.) ductile high temperature (HT) normal shear located near the contact with the granites, and (v.) late extensional event marked by subsequent large normal faults. We interpret the evolution as intra-basin extension during Permian-Triassic times followed by a continuum of high strain coeval with the late stages of granite emplacement including compression and gravitational extension on the edge of the intrusion. The late extension is undated but may be linked to the Tertiary basins formation of Malaysia or the Late Miocene to Quaternary uplift.


This paper provides a computable general equilibrium analysis of the medium to long-run impact of FDI inflows on poverty and income distribution in Bolivia. The CGE analysis addresses several important transmission channels which have been neglected in the empirical literature by (i) investigating the impact of FDI inflows on incomes of urban and rural households; (ii) taking into account informal activities; and (iii) differentiating between various segments of the urban workforce, whereas previous studies are typically confined to the dichotomy between white-collar and blue-collar workers in manufacturing industries. The simulation results suggest that FDI inflows add to Bolivia's investment ratio, enhance economic growth, and reduce poverty. However, the income distribution typically becomes more unequal. In particular, FDI widens income disparities between urban and rural areas Our results point to two levers through which the Bolivian government may promote growth-enhancing and poverty-alleviating effects of FDI. First, it seems important to overcome labor market segmentation. Second, complementary public investment in infrastructure may help remove bottlenecks in the absorptive capacity of the economy that tend to limit productive employment of the poor. Yet, simulated policy reforms or alternative productivity scenarios are hardly effective in reducing the divide between urban and rural areas.


This study examined the prevalence of indicators of disability or potential disability among preschool-aged children enrolled in the Early Head Start Research and Evaluation Longitudinal Follow-Up. Three categories of indicators were established: received Part B services, developmental risk, and biological risk. The majority of participating children (62%) were classified into at least one category. Children living in poverty from birth through preschool and of minority status were among those most likely to be classified; these children were likely to have received a variety of services. The majority of children who received Part C services (79.8%) received Part B services as preschoolers, but 33% of the children with a developmental risk identified before age 3 continued to have a developmental risk during preschool yet did not receive specialized services. Results highlight the importance of understanding the relations among child and family characteristics and service receipt to inform policy and practice.


The repertoire of reactions in the mechanistically diverse enolase superfamily is the result of divergent evolution that conserved enolization of a carboxylate anion substrate but allowed different overall reactions using different substrates. Details of the pathways for the natural evolutionary process are unknown, but the events reasonably involve (1) incremental increases in the level of the "new" reaction that would provide a selective advantage and (2) an accompanying loss of the "old" reaction catalyzed by the progenitor. In an effort to better understand the molecular processes of divergent evolution, the D297G mutant of the l-Ala-d/l-Glu epimerase (AEE) from Escherichia coli was designed so that it could bind the substrate for the o-succinylbenzoate synthase (OSBS) reaction and, as a result, catalyze that reaction [Schmidt, D. M. Z., Mundorff, E. C., Dojka, M., Bermudez, E., Ness, J. E., Govindarajan, S., Babbitt, P. C., Minshull, J., and Gerlt, J. A. (2003) Biochemistry 42, 8387-8393]. The AEE progenitor did not catalyze the OSBS reaction, but the D297G mutant catalyzed a low level of the OSBS reaction (k(cat), 0.013 s(-)(1); K(m), 1.8 mM; k(cat)/K(m), 7.4 M(-)(1) s(-)(1)) that was sufficient to permit anaerobic growth by an OSBS-deficient strain of E. coli; the level of the progenitor's natural AEE reaction was significantly diminished. Using random mutagenesis and an anaerobic metabolic selection, we now have identified the I19F substitution as an additional mutation that enhances both growth of the OSBS-deficient strain and the kinetic constants for the OSBS reaction (k(cat), 0.031 s(-)(1); K(m), 0.34 mM; k(cat)/K(m), 90 M(-)(1) s(-)(1)). Several other substitutions for Ile 19 also enhanced the level of the OSBS reaction. All of the substitutions substantially decreased the level of the AEE reaction from that possessed by the D297G progenitor. The changes in the kinetic constants for both the OSBS and AEE reactions are attributed to a readjustment of substrate specificity so that the substrate for the OSBS reaction is more productively presented to the conserved acid/base catalysts in the active site. These observations support our hypothesis that evolution of "new" functions in the enolase superfamily can occur simply by changes in specificity-determining residues.


Developing efficient evolutionary algorithms attracts many researchers due to the existence of optimization problems in numerous real-world applications. A new differential evolution algorithm, sTDE-dR, is proposed to improve the search quality, avoid premature convergence, and stagnation. The population is clustered in multiple tribes and utilizes an ensemble of different mutation and crossover strategies. In this algorithm, a competitive success-based scheme is introduced to determine the life cycle of each tribe and its participation ratio for the next generation. In each tribe, a different adaptive scheme is used to control the scaling factor and crossover rate. The mean success of each subgroup is used to calculate the ratio of its participation for the next generation. This guarantees that successful tribes with the best adaptive schemes are only the ones that guide the search toward the optimal solution. The population size is dynamically reduced using a dynamic reduction method. Comprehensive comparison of the proposed heuristic over a challenging set of benchmarks from the CEC2014 real parameter single objective competition against several state-of-the-art algorithms is performed. The results affirm robustness of the proposed approach compared to other state-of-the-art algorithms.


During the first years of life, children rapidly learn to process speech from a continuous acoustic signal, and soon become able to understand and produce the sounds, words and structure of their native language. Children growing up in a bilingual environment face an additional challenge: they must simultaneously discover and separate their bilingual input into individual (yet potentially overlapping) systems, with independent sound units, vocabularies and grammars, without knowing a priori how many languages are spoken in their environment. In spite of this, language acquisition in young bilinguals follows, to an extent, a similar time-line as in monolinguals. Understanding how children come to discover the presence of two languages in their input, and to what extent they are able to keep them apart, are to this day crucial questions to the field of childhood bilingualism. In this thesis we focus on these two questions by exploring how perceptual and environmental properties of the input can help or hinder the discovery and lexical development of two languages, and whether the phonological representations formed by young bilinguals are language-specific. In order to investigate these questions, we take a multidisciplinary approach, using both empirical and computational techniques,
which can provide different insights on the task of early language separation.

In the first part of this dissertation we examine the problem of discovering two languages in the input from an acoustic perspective. Based on a large body of research on language discrimination abilities in newborns and infants, and inspired by previous modelling work, we aim to provide a computational account of infant perception of multilingual speech. Borrowing a state-of-the-art system from speech technologies, we conducted a series of computational experiments that can help us understand what kind of representations young infants form when hearing different languages, and how different factors may shape their perception of language distance.
In the second part, we investigate several environmental aspects of bilingual exposure. Previous research on quantitative and qualitative properties of bilingual input had shown strong influences of each language's relative amount of exposure on infants' lexical development, but diverging results were reported regarding the impact of the separation of the two languages in their environment. We used a home diary method to investigate the co-existence of two languages in young bilinguals' input, and explore how this and other environmental factors may influence their vocabulary acquisition.
Finally, in the last part of this dissertation, we consider bilingual preschoolers' perception of language-specific phonological rules. Unlike other properties of young bilinguals' phonological systems, their acquisition and separation of phonological rules has barely been explored, with the only prior evidence coming from production studies. We conducted a behavioral experiment using a touchpad videogame to test French-English bilinguals' cross-linguistic perception of phonological assimilations.
Overall, this thesis contributes new insights to the question of language separation and acquisition in early bilingualism, with multiple perspectives for future research on this topic.


Stabilized dissipated energy is an effective parameter on the fatigue life of shape memory alloys (SMAs). In this study, a formula is proposed to directly evaluate the stabilized dissipated energy for different values of the maximum and minimum applied stresses, as well as the loading frequency, under cyclic tensile loadings. To this aim, a one-dimensional fully coupled thermomechanical constitutive model and a cycle-dependent phase diagram are employed to predict the uniaxial stress-strain response of an SMA in a specified cycle, including the stabilized one, with no need of obtaining the responses of the previous cycles. An enhanced phase diagram in which different slopes are defined for the start and finish of a backward transformation strip is also proposed to enable the capture of gradual transformations in a CuAlBe shape memory alloy. It is shown that the present approach is capable of reproducing the experimental responses of CuAlBe specimens under cyclic tensile loadings. An explicit formula is further presented to predict the fatigue life of CuAlBe as a function of the maximum and minimum applied stresses as well as the loading frequency. Fatigue tests are also carried out, and this formula is verified against the empirically predicted number of cycles for failure.


Abstract Among children, infections with soil-transmitted helminths (STH) can cause anemia, impaired growth, and absence from school. Sustainable control of STH infection requires that appropriate latrines be integrated with health-promotion education. We report a pilot study of the effects of a combined latrine-education intervention in Central Java, Indonesia. The participants were 99 children (3–13 years old) in two villages (intervention and control) south of Semarang city. Stool samples were collected from the children and were examined for the presence of helminth eggs. After baseline data were collected, latrines were constructed and health education was given in the intervention village. Then, in both villages, all children who had STH infection at baseline were given 400 mg of albendazole. Eight months later, follow-up stool samples were collected and examined. In both villages, 20% of the children had STH infection at baseline. At follow-up, the incidence of STH infection was much lower in the intervention village than in the control village (4.0% vs. 20.4%; p<0.02). The results of this small pilot study give some confidence that a scaled-up study involving many more children and cluster-randomization of the intervention will be feasible and could provide more conclusive evidence of the intervention's effectiveness.


The transition curves are important geometrical elements for the design process of roads. The most frequently used curves are spiral curves. So far other curves have been of smaller importance, because of larger expenditure associated with computation of rigging data. Now it is however no more a disadvantage, because the computer-aided design makes it possible to use also complicated geometrical solutions. This work contains an overview of the new solutions of transition curves. It concerns so-called general transition curves, which describe the whole curvilinear transition between the two straight-line sections by means of only one equation. Thus they can form an alternative for traditional geometrical forms, which are to be understood as 1 st transition curve - circular arc -2nd transition curve or 1 st transition curve - 2nd transition curve.


The wealth of site-selective structural information on CO2 speciation, obtained by spectroscopic techniques, is often hampered by the lack of easy-to-control synthetic routes. Herein, an alternative experimental protocol that relies on the high sensitivity of 13 C chemical shift anisotropy (CSA) tensors to proton transfer, is presented to unambiguously distinguish between ionic/charged and neutral CO2 species, formed upon adsorption of 13 CO2 in amine-modified porous materials. Control of the surface amine spacing was achieved through the use of amine protecting groups during functionalisation prior to CO2 adsorption. This approach enabled the formation of either "isolated" or "paired" carbamate/carbamic acid species, providing a first experimental NMR proof towards the identification of both aggregation states. Computer modelling of surface CO2 -amine adducts assisted the solid-state NMR assignments and validated various hydrogen-bond arrangements occurring upon formation of isolated/aggregated carbamic acid and alkylammonium carbamate ion species. This work extends the understanding of chemisorbed CO2 structures formed at pore surfaces and reveals structural insight about the protonation source responsible for the proton-transfer mechanism in such aggregates.


A review of diagnostics of low-current low-pressure discharges is given with an aim to illustrate how such discharges are used to determine swarm parameters and also how such data may be applied to model and understand the discharges. We have revised how comprehensive modelling of breakdown has led to agreement between binary collision data and the data that may be inferred from the breakdown (Paschen) curves by including processes such as space charge (current) effect on the local field in front of the cathode, photoemission, heavy particle gas phase ionization and backdiffusion. It is also discussed how modelling of Volt-Ampere characteristics in addition to Paschen curves is necessary to establish models of secondary electron emission and how these models may be applied in high current discharges. Finally we show how space time resolved anatomy of the breakdown can lead to understanding of the physics of the initial stages of gas breakdown and formation of Townsend regime, glow and abnormal glow discharges.


Effects of an aromatic tripeptide, L-Lys-L-Phe-L-Tyr and its related dipeptides on the excitability of two identifiable giant neurones (the TAN, tonically autoactive neurone and the PON, periodically oscillating neurone) in the suboesophageal ganglia of the African giant snail, Achatina fulica Férussac, were examined. Of 33 substances examined, three aromatic oligopeptides showed a marked inhibitory effect on the TAN excitability. The critical concentrations of these substances in bath application were: L-Lys-LPhe-L-Tyr (6.6 x 10(-6) approximately 2.2 x 10(-5) M), L-Phe-L-Tyr (9.1 x 10(-6) approximately 3.0 x 10(-5) M) and L-Phe-L-Trp (2.4 x 10(-5) approximately 7.3 x 10(-5) M). The microdrop application (100 micron in diameter) of a solution of the three inhibitory oligopeptides on the TAN surface hyperpolarized the TAN membrane potential and eliminated the spike discharges, in both the physiological and the chloride-free (replaced with acetate) conditions. The current-voltage relationships (I-V curve) of the TAN neuromembrane were measured by the injection of a transmembrane triangular current. The TAN I-V curve measured in the presence of L-Lys-L-Phe-L-Tyr or L-Phe-L-Trp was almost concordant to that of the normal state, if the two I-V curves were superimposed using the firing level as the reference point. The same three aromatic oligopeptides also showed an inhibitory effect on the PON excitability. The critical concentrations needed to produce the effects were much higher than those in the case of the TAN.


Unit testing is often made more difficult by the heavy use of classes as namespaces and the proliferation of static methods to encapsulate configuration code. We have analyzed the use of 120 static methods from 96 projects by categorizing them according to their responsibilities. We find that most static methods support a hodgepodge of mixed responsibilities, held together only by their common need to be globally visible. Tight coupling between instances and their classes breaks encapsulation, and, together with the global visibility of static methods, complicates testing. By making dependency injection a feature of the programming language, we can get rid of static methods altogether. We employ the following semantic changes: (1) Replace every occurrence of a global with an access to an instance variable; (2) Let that instance variable be automatically injected into the object when it is instantiated. We present Seuss, a prototype that implements this change of semantics in Smalltalk. We show how Seuss eliminates the need to use class methods for non-reflective purposes, reduces the need for creational design patterns such as Abstract Factory and simplifies configuration code, particularly for unit tests. We present benchmarks showing that Seuss introduces a 34 % additional memory cost, and runs at 53 % speed, without any optimizations.


: The purposes of this study were (1) to determine the relative motions of the upper limb segments during the execution of the softball windmill pitch (2) to attempt to determine the effect of these motions on the performance of the skill. High speed motion picture film was used to calculate the kinematic parameters of the pitching arm segments during the pitch. Four highly-skilled pitchers were used as subjects. Each performed at least ten trials of the pitch, which were recorded by two motion picture cameras. The two trials with the fastest ball velocity for each of the four subjects were analyzed from a sagittal aspect only. The resulting kinematic analysis indicated that there was a definite proximal-to-distal sequence of these motions, with decelerations occurring in the proximal segments prior to release of the ball. It was concluded that one of the critical factors in highly-skilled performance of ballistic skills is the ability to decelerate such segments, which likely require very strong eccentric contractions of antagonistic muscle groups.


One of the well-known methods for improving the lateral stability of a vehicle is to utilize an active steering controller. Common active steering systems use feedback signals from a yaw rate sensor and side-slip angle estimation. However, in some driving conditions, skilled drivers can prevent vehicle rollover using the steering angle of the vehicle. Hence, the effect of an active front-steering controller on the roll angle of the vehicle is studied in this paper. For this study, a three-degree-of-freedom linear model of a vehicle which has the lateral motion, the yaw motion and the roll motion as the degrees of freedom is derived. The effectiveness of the active steering controller on the roll stability of the vehicle is examined by simulations in a wide range of longitudinal velocities of the vehicle using a linear quadratic regulator controller. The results obtained indicate that the active steering controller increases the roll stability of the vehicle only at low vehicle speeds and also that consideration of the roll degree of freedom in the design of the active steering controller is not effective at high vehicle speeds. Therefore a two-degree-of-freedom bicycle model is sufficient for active steering controller design. Another part of this paper is dedicated to designing a practical active steering controller for a vehicle with time-varying and uncertain parameters. In fact, designing a controller which guarantees the stability of the vehicle with simultaneous uncertainties in the cornering stiffnesses of the tyres and in the time-varying velocity is the main goal of this paper. Another important advantage of the proposed controller is its simplicity and static structure. In fact, this controller design is carried out offline and can be implemented for use in a real vehicle. This simple and powerful controller is a robust linear quadratic regulator controller. For designing a robust linear quadratic regulator controller, a polytopic model of the two-degree-of-freedom vehicle is obtained, which considers the uncertainty in the parameters. In addition, a linear matrix inequality is used to design a linear quadratic regulator controller for an uncertain or parameter-varying system. Finally, the performance of the designed robust linear quadratic regulator controller was studied by simulating the vehicle responses in some manoeuvres. A sport utility vehicle model is used for simulation purposes. This non-linear vehicle model has eight degrees of freedom and its tyres are assumed to be both linear and non-linear. The performance of the robust linear quadratic regulator controller was studied for vehicles with both linear and non-linear Pacejka tyres. The proposed controller guarantees robust stability of the closed-loop system in the presence of 50% variation in the vehicle speed and 20% uncertainty in the stiffnesses of the tyres.


The compression behaviour, shear strength characteristics, and material properties of dense slurries and soft settled beds of natural fine-grained sediments were studied experimentally. Slurries of varying initial density, initial height, and pore fluid salinity were settled one-dimensionally, by self-weight, in the laboratory. Settling behaviour was studied in terms of slurry appearance, particle segregation, height of surface versus time, sediment surface and element settlement rates, and the redistribution of sediment with respect to height and time. Consolidation behaviour was studied in terms of sediment compressibility and pore fluid flow. Shear strength was examined "in situ" and elated to the parameters effective stress and specific volume. Instruments and techniques were developed to facilitate the measurement of low effective stresses, low strengths, and high specific volumes. A small scale sediment sampler was developed and used in an attempt to study the arrangement of particles within soft sensitive beds. The experimental results revealed numerous fundamental reasons why theoretical models of settling and consolidation are unsatisfactory when applied to dense flocculated slurries and beds of high specific volume, respectively. For the sediment studied, well-defined compressibility and shear strength relationships were observed. Pore fluid flow relationships were non-unique at high specific volumes. The compression behaviour of slurries was found to have a rational basis in terms of electrochemical forces and degrees of particle association. The experimental results are relevant to engineering practice. Recommendations are made regarding future research.