AIMS
Recently, favourable procedural 30-day and one-year outcomes with the Diamondback 360 Orbital Atherectomy System (OAS) in the treatment of severely calcified lesions have been reported. The purpose of this study was to assess the therapeutic mechanism and efficacy of the OAS with optical coherence tomography (OCT) imaging.

METHODS AND RESULTS
This was an observational imaging study in 18 patients with complex calcified coro-nary artery lesions who underwent percutaneous coronary intervention with the OAS. Pre-OAS and post-OAS OCT analyses demonstrated that the minimum lumen area (MLA) increased from 2.07±0.66 mm2 to 2.38±0.68 mm2 with a lumen volume increase of 9.68±17.22 mm3 in the ablated segment with a length of 30.7±13.1 mm. The maximal vessel injury (dissection) involved the intima in 39% and the media in 6% of the study population. To eliminate the influence of post-OAS vasoconstriction, the ablation area was measured with the interpolated original lumen surface by comparing the endoluminal border of the pre-OAS image. The ablation area at the maximal ablated cross-section was 0.55±0.41 mm2, and the ablation volume by OAS was 2.68±2.80 mm3.

CONCLUSIONS
OAS effectively ablated coronary calcified tissue with some degree of intimal dissection. OCT imaging can be used to assess the total ablation volume after orbital atherectomy.


The past decade has witnessed the modern advances of high-throughput technology and rapid growth of research capacity in producing large-scale biological data, both of which were concomitant with an exponential growth of biomedical literature. This wealth of scholarly knowledge is of significant importance for researchers in making scientific discoveries and healthcare professionals in managing health-related matters. However, the acquisition of such information is becoming increasingly difficult due to its large volume and rapid growth. In response, the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) is continuously making changes to its PubMed Web service for improvement. Meanwhile, different entities have devoted themselves to developing Web tools for helping users quickly and efficiently search and retrieve relevant publications. These practices, together with maturity in the field of text mining, have led to an increase in the number and quality of various Web tools that provide comparable literature search service to PubMed. In this study, we review 28 such tools, highlight their respective innovations, compare them to the PubMed system and one another, and discuss directions for future development. Furthermore, we have built a website dedicated to tracking existing systems and future advances in the field of biomedical literature search. Taken together, our work serves information seekers in choosing tools for their needs and service providers and developers in keeping current in the field. Database URL: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/CBBresearch/Lu/search


The Effects of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) pieces and different storage conditions on fatty acids profile and some quality factors in three types of commercial oils, namely sunflower oil, canola oil, and blended oil containing sunflower oil, soy bean oil, and cottonseed oil were studied. Fatty acid profile and quality factors such as peroxide value, free fatty acids, and iodine value and induction period before and after storage of samples at 25 and 45°C for 20 and 60 days in the presence or absence of PET pieces were investigated. Results showed that the amount of polyunsaturated fatty acids like linoleic acid was decreased slightly and the amount of monounsaturated and saturated fatty acids like oleic acid and palmitic acid, respectively, was marginally increased. Thus, it was concluded that the stability of vegetable oils is dependent on the type of oil and its initial physical and chemical properties, time and temperature of storage and the type of employed packaging material (PET and glass). This study showed that storing oils at low temperatures (T<25 °C) may be recommended in order to extend the shelf life and maintenance quality of commercial oils which are packaged in PET containers.


Recent observations from profiles of temperature and salinity in the Algerian Sea showed that salt finger mixing can significantly warm and salinify the deep waters within a period of 2 years, thereby contributing to the erosion of deep water properties formed during winter convection episodes. In this study, heat, salt, and buoyancy fluxes associated with thermohaline staircases are estimated using microstructure observations from four locations of the Western Mediterranean Sea: The Tyrrhenian Sea, the Algerian Sea, the Sardino-Balearic Sea, and the Ligurian Sea. Those fluxes are compared to the rare estimates found in the Mediterranean Sea. Microstructure data show that the temperature variance dissipation rate is one to three orders of magnitude larger in the strong steps that separate weakly stratified layers than in the layers, while the turbulent kinetic energy dissipation rate remains usually weak both in steps and layers. In the steps, the turbulent eddy diffusivity of salt is on average twice as large as that of temperature. The buoyancy flux ratio decreases with the density ratio. It is found that staircases induce a downward heat transfer rate of 46 to 103 × 109 W over the whole western basin, and a downward salt transfer rate of 4.5 to 10.3 × 103 kg s–1 between 1000 and 2000 m. This heat convergence is 2–5 times as large as the western Mediterranean geothermal heat flux in this depth range. Over the whole western basin, heat and salt convergences from salt-fingering staircases are 50% to 100% of those generated by mechanical mixing. Finally, it is found that heat and salt convergences from geothermal heating, salt-fingering and mechanical mixing can balance a deep water upwelling of 0.4 × 106 m3 s–1.


Within a rational framework, a decision-maker selects actions based on the reward-maximisation principle, i.e., acquiring the highest amount of reward with the lowest cost. Action selection can be divided into two dimensions: (i) selecting an action among several alternatives, and (ii) choosing the response vigor, i.e., how fast the selected action should be executed. Previous works have addressed the computational substrates of such a selection process under the assumption that outcome values are stationary and do not change during the course of a session. This assumption does not hold when the motivational drive of the decision-maker is variable, because it leads to changes in the values of the outcomes, e.g., satiety decreases the value of the outcome. Here, we utilize an optimal control framework and derive the optimal choice and response vigor under different experimental conditions. The results imply that, in contrast to previous suggestions, even under conditions that the values of the outcomes are changing during the session, the optimal response rate in an instrumental conditioning experiment is a constant response rate rather than decreasing. Furthermore, we prove that the uncertainty of the decision-maker about the duration of the session explains the commonly observed decrease in response rates within a session. We also show that when the environment consists of multiple outcomes, the model explains probability matching as well as maximisation choice strategies. These results, therefore, provide a quantitative analysis of optimal choice and response vigor under variable motivational drive, and provide predictions for future testing.


Resorcinol-formaldehyde based polymer hydrogels with various graphene oxide (GO) content were synthesized using Na2CO3 as catalyst at pH=6 conditions. After supercritical drying they were converted to carbon aerogels in nitrogen atmosphere. The heat treatment not only pyrolysed the polymer gel, but also reduced GO. The GO added varied within 0-14% related to the mass of resorcinol which resulted in the reinforcement of the polymer matrix. The texture of the polymer and the carbon aerogels were characterized and compared in the nanoscale using SEM and TEM imaging, X-ray diffraction (XRD) and low temperature nitrogen adsorption measurements. The transition from polymer to carbon state was studied by thermogravimetry. In agreement with reference works in the GO range studied the morphology was not affected by the GO content either in the polymer or in the carbon form. The direct current (DC) conductivity however linearly increased with the added GO and already 10 % doubled the conductivity of the plain carbon aerogel.


We present a unique and transparent approach for incorporating social influence effects into global integrated assessment models used to analyse climate change mitigation. We draw conceptually on Rogers (2003) diffusion of innovations, introducing heterogeneous and interconnected consumers who vary in their aversion to new technologies. Focussing on vehicle choice, we conduct novel empirical research to parameterise consumer risk aversion and how this is shaped by social and cultural influences. We find robust evidence for social influence effects, and variation between countries as a function of cultural differences. We then formulate an approach to modelling social influence which is implementable in both simulation and optimisation-type models. We use two global integrated assessment models (IMAGE and MESSAGE) to analyse four scenarios that introduce social influence and cultural differences between regions. These scenarios allow us to explore the interactions between consumer preferences and social influence. We find that incorporating social influence effects into global models accelerates the early deployment of electric vehicles and stimulates more widespread deployment across adopter groups. Incorporating cultural variation leads to significant differences in deployment between culturally divergent regions such as the USA and China. Our analysis significantly extends the ability of global integrated assessment models to provide policy-relevant analysis grounded in real world processes.


Space vector pulsewidth modulation (SVPWM) based three-phase voltage source inverters provide a widely used interface between electric grids and wind turbine systems. PI controllers, predictive algorithms and real-time sampling techniques are often used to overcome the shortcomings of SVPWM. These techniques depend highly on accurate measurements of inverter voltages and currents, thus making sensors the key elements in the control process. Among these sensors, the dc link voltage (Vdc) sensor is critical: if it sends out a signal with a significant error, the output current will be distorted. The Authors have developed a combination of PI and predictive methods, using them simultaneously to control a three-phase grid-connected inverter. Under this new control scheme, the PI controller is given a new task of monitoring and controlling Vdc. As a result, the output current of the inverter is of high quality, and more importantly, Vdc can be double checked for its correctness of measurements. When the Vdc sensor fails or its signals are corrupted, the Vdc PI controller will become a Vdc controller, adding an extra protective function for the reliable operation of wind turbine inverters.


To enhance board oversight, since 2002 US legislation has required listed companies to have a majority independent board. This paper uses this legislative change to examine the relation between board independence and audit fees. To provide a clean estimate of this relation, we adopt a difference-in-difference approach using a sample matched on client firm characteristics. We find that greater board independence is insignificantly associated with a change in audit fees when client firms operate in a weak information environment. When the information environment is strong, greater board independence is associated with an increase in audit fees. Our results are consistent with a nascent theory emphasising information asymmetry and provide insight into the effectiveness of the mandated board independence in relation to audit quality.


This research presents the findings from an experiment that investigated to what extent decision makers suffer from optimism bias when escalating a commitment to failing projects; 345 individuals, involved in project decision making, participated in the experiment. A new form of optimism bias, namely post-project optimism bias, is defined. Post-project optimism bias is an overly optimistic belief that a project will deliver better business benefits than what was planned or that can be proven. It is further confirmed that both post-project and in-project optimism biases have significant effects on the escalation of commitment to failing projects.


In this paper, we propose an improved new methodology in energy conformation problems for finding optimum energy values. First, we construct the Bezier surfaces near local minimizers based on the data obtained from Density Functional Theory (DFT) calculations. Second, we blend the constructed surfaces in order to obtain a single smooth model. Finally, we apply the global optimization algorithm to find two torsion angles those make the energy of the molecule minimum.


Patients with radicular low back pain (radicular LBP, sciatica) frequently describe their pain as "shooting" or "radiating". The dictionary meaning of these words implies rapid movement, and indeed, many sufferers report feeling pain moving rapidly from the lower back or buttock into the leg. But others do not. Moreover, the sensation of movement is paradoxical; it is neither predicted nor accounted for by current ideas about the pathophysiology of radicular LBP. We have employed a structured questionnaire to evaluate the sensory qualities associated with "shooting" and "radiating" in 155 patients, 98 with radicular LBP and 57 with trigeminal neuralgia (TN), a second chronic pain condition in which shooting/radiating are experienced. Results indicated a spectrum of different sensations in different people. While many sciatica patients reported rapid downward movement of their pain, even more reported downward expansion of the area of pain, some reported upward movement and for some there was no spatial dynamic at all. The velocity of movement or expansion was also variable. By cross-referencing sensations experienced in the sciatica and TN cohorts with known signal processing modes in the somatosensory system, we propose testable hypotheses concerning the pathophysiology of the various vectorial sensations reported, their direction and velocity, and the structures in which they are generated. Systematic evaluation of qualitative features of "shooting" and "radiating" pain at the time of diagnosis can shed light on the pain mechanism in the individual patient and perhaps contribute to a better therapeutic outcomes.


45 pancreatic biopsies from patients with insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (IDDM), obtained in the process of surgical treatment were studied. A different degree of the Langerhans islands and morphological changes in B-cells was noted. The presence of endocrine-like cells in the acini and among the cells of the inter-acinar duct is of great interest. The granules of these cells were insulin-positive when studied immunohistochemically this permitting one to consider them as B-cells. Further study of these cells will allow to deepen the knowledge about the mechanism of IDDM development and to improve the methods of treatment.


Many natural language processing tasks, e.g., coreference resolution and semantic role labeling, require selecting text spans and making decisions about them. A typical approach to such tasks is to score all possible spans and greedily select spans for task-specific downstream processing. This approach, however, does not incorporate any inductive bias about what sort of spans ought to be selected, e.g., that selected spans tend to be syntactic constituents. In this paper, we propose a novel grammar-based structured span selection model which learns to make use of the partial span-level annotation provided for such problems. Compared to previous approaches, our approach gets rid of the heuristic greedy span selection scheme, allowing us to model the downstream task on an optimal set of spans. We evaluate our model on two popular span prediction tasks: coreference resolution and semantic role labeling; and show improvements on both.


THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN SCHOOL COUNSELOR LEADERSHIP PRACTICES AND COMPREHENSIVE PROGRAM IMPLEMENTATION by Erin Chase McCarty Mason Reform initiatives in education since the introduction of No Child Left Behind (NCLB) call for all educators to develop strategies to increase student achievement and improve school climate. School counselors are charged by their professional organizations to act as agents of change in their schools and to demonstrate the effectiveness of their programs. To garner support for school counseling programs that cultivate positive results for students and schools, school counselors need to adopt a leadership mindset. The purpose of this exploratory study was to assess leadership practices of school counselors, and to analyze the relationships between demographics, experience, training, work setting, school counseling program implementation and leadership practices. This study addresses the need for understanding the way school counselor leadership promotes school counseling programs that contribute to positive student outcomes. Participants in this study were recruited through convenience sampling from a state school counseling association and completed a research packet including a demographic survey and two instruments, The Leadership Practices Inventory (LPI), Self Instrument, 3 rd edition by Kouzes and Posner (2003) and The School Counseling Program Implementation Scale (SCPIS) by Carey & Elsner (2006). Correlation analyses were used to describe relationships of demographic, training and work setting variables with leadership practices and program implementation. Analysis of variance examined mean differences and regression analyses assessed predictive qualities of identified relationships between the independent and dependent variables. Variables of age, experience, preparation and school setting were correlated with leadership practices and program implementation. Age, experience, size of school population and professional licensure predicted leadership practices of school counselors. Experience predicted comprehensive program implementation. Results revealed statistically significant positive relationships between school counselor leadership practices and comprehensive program implementation. Model the Way (MTW) and Enable Others to Act (EOA) leadership practices predicted the level of school counseling program implementation. THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN SCHOOL COUNSELOR LEADERSHIP PRACTICES AND COMPREHENSIVE PROGRAM IMPLEMENTATION by Erin Chase McCarty Mason


OBJECTIVES
Respiratory complications are most common cause of morbidity/mortality in patients with cervical spinal cord injury (cSCI) due to respiratory muscle weakness and lower diaphragm position resulting in limited availability of inspiration, reduced thorax mobility and limited forced expiration. Differences in respiratory dysfunctions (RDs) in patients with motor complete versus incomplete cSCI were assessed.

DESIGN
Prospective longitudinal study, serial measurement.

SETTING
University hospital and ambulatory departments.

METHODS
Twenty two patients with acute cSCI were recruited. Neurological level of injury and severity according to ISNCSCI were used as criteria for recruitment. Patients were divided into two groups - motor complete and incomplete. Standardized pulmonary function tests (PFT) were used - spirometry and respiratory muscle strength (RMS) measurement. Motor score of key muscles assessments for upper (UEMS) and lower (LEMS) limbs were used. Tests were performed in 5 measurement sessions starting on (medians) 14.5 days (M1), then 6.7 weeks, 3.2 months, 6.3 months and 1.0 year (M5).

RESULTS
Significant differences in measurement sessions M2-M5 between groups in forced vital capacity (FVC), forced expiratory volume in 1 second (FEV1), expiratory reserve volume (ERV), maximal static inspiratory/expiratory pressures (MIP, MEP) and UEMS were proved. Consequently, prominent differences in courses of particular parameters were found. No intergroup changes in UEMS were found during study.

CONCLUSIONS
Obvious differences in parameters of spirometry, respiratory muscles and limb muscles strength between motor complete and incomplete group were found. Carefull monitoring of RDs by functional assessments (i.e., PFT and UEMS/LEMS tests) within one year after SCI seems to be clinically important.


The Late Ordovician Cabonne Group lies in the southern portion of the Molong Volcanic
Belt in central western NSW. It broadly comprises an extensive lava-dominated package
of high-K calc alkaline mafic volcanics (Blayney Volcanics) overlain by a package of
shoshonitic lavas and intrusives (Forest Reefs Volcanics).
Regional aeromagnetic and structural data suggest that thrust style faulting may have
caused the extensive lithological repetition observed within the Cabonne Group.
Volcanic facies mapping, combined with geochemical sampling, has provided a basis for
re-interpretation of areas within the Cabonne Group. Facies mapping has demonstrated a
number of possible stratigraphic correlations, including a possible link between limestones
present at and surrounding Browns Creek with limestones within the Weemalla Formation
at the base of the Forest Reefs Volcanics.
Geochemical and petrological data define a temporal change in magmatic affinities within
the Ordovician volcanics of the Molong Volcanic Belt. This change in magmatism from
high Kin the Blayney Volcanics to shoshonitic in the Forest Reefs Volcanics is broadly
coincident with the late Middle Ordovician limestone interval at the base of the Forest
Reefs Volcanics.
This broad lithochemical stratigraphy provides a framework for comparisons with the
Ordovician Junee-Narromine volcanic belt located 100 km to the west, where a similar
temporal transition exists from high-Kin the Nelungaloo Volcanics to shoshonitic in the
overlying Goonumbla Volcanics.
The Ordovician volcanics from the Molong belt are also similar to the early to midMiocene
calc-alkaline to shoshonitic suites from Fiji. On the basis of these similarities, the
transition from high-K to shoshonitic volcanism is likely to be the result of fragmentation
of a mature oceanic island arc as a result of a major tectonic disturbance as marked by the
late Middle Ordovician limestones.


A polymeric hydrogel containing a photoinduced electron transfer (PET) based probe for Zn(II) has been formulated into the wells of a 96-well plate. Upon addition of Zn(II) ions to selected wells, the fluorescence of the gel was observed to increase in a concentration dependent manner in the 0.25–1.75 mM range. The millimolar binding constant observed for this probe is higher than that reported for other Zn(II) probes in the literature and offers the possibility to determine the concentration of this ion in environments where the Zn(II) concentration is high. The combination of the multi-well plate set-up with fluorescence detection offers the possibility of high-throughput screening using low sample volumes in a timely manner. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first reported example of a polymeric hydrogel sensor for zinc with capability for use in fluorescence multi-well plate assay.


Computer modeling provides a quantitative approach to a better understanding of actual carbonate cyclic sequences. To model carbonate cycles, the authors can use water-depth-dependent sedimentation rate for each facies, an initial lag time, linear subsidence, tidal range, and period and amplitude of sea-level oscillation about a horizontal datum. Tidal-flat-capped cycles up to a few meters thick result from low-amplitude sea-level oscillation of a few meters and short lag times. Nonerosive caps reflect sea-level lowering being balanced by subsidence, and basinward migration of the shoreline not exceeding tidal-flat progradation rate. When higher amplitude sea-level oscillations occur, the tidal flats are abandoned on the inner shelf during sea-level fall, because seaward movement of the strandline outpaces progradation rate of flats. Increased amplitude also results in sea-level falling faster than flats can subside, so that disconformities with thick vadose profiles develop. High-amplitude (100 m or more) oscillations result in incipient drowning of platforms and juxtaposition of deep-water facies against shallow-water facies within cycles. Sea level falls before the platform can build to the sea-level highstand, and the shoreline migrates much more rapidly than tidal flats can prograde; thus, cycles are disconformity-bounded and lack tidal-flat caps. 10 references.


PURPOSE
After National Cancer Institute of Canada trial MA.17 demonstrated benefits with letrozole after 5 years of tamoxifen, oncologists needed to identify and offer therapy to patients in community follow-up who were eligible for extended adjuvant hormone therapy. In British Columbia (BC), letters about extended letrozole therapy were sent to eligible BC women, their primary care physicians (PCPs), and their oncologists. We evaluated the effectiveness of this communication strategy.

PATIENTS AND METHODS
Eight hundred eighty-five women with stage I-III breast cancer who completed 4 to 6 years of tamoxifen in 2004 with no documented recurrence were sent letters describing extended adjuvant letrozole in February 2005. Treatment uptake and characteristics for women who did or did not receive a subsequent letrozole prescription were described.

RESULTS
Among 838 eligible women, 305 (36%) received a letrozole prescription before April 2006. More women in the letrozole cohort had tumors larger than 2.0 cm (44.2% v 30.8%); node-positive disease (52.5% v 22.5%); prior radiotherapy (71.1% v 58.5%); and prior chemotherapy (51.5% v 20.8%; all P <or= .001). Among women younger than 70 years with node-positive disease, 65% received letrozole (122 of 188). Most prescribing physicians were oncologists (57.0%) or PCPs (30.8%). A significant increase in letrozole prescriptions was observed after the letter mail-out.

CONCLUSION
In this population-based setting, extended adjuvant letrozole was more common among younger women with higher risk disease and more prior therapy but underutilized overall. The reasons for extended therapy underutilization and the role of the letter mail-out strategy in informing breast cancer survivors of new available treatments in other health systems warrant further study.


This work investigates the problem of robust D-stability analysis for uncertain discrete singular systems with state delay and structured uncertainties. Sufficient conditions are developed to ensure that, when the nominal discrete singular delay system is regular, causal and all its finite poles are located within a specified disk, the uncertain system still preserves all these properties when structured uncertainties are added into the nominal system. A computationally simple approach is proposed and a numerical example is given to demonstrate the application of the proposed method.


The present qualitative action research study aims at describing and analyzing the promotion of critical literacy (CL) in an EFL class through high school students' social experiences. Project-based learning was selected to create the instructional design, which presents the implementation of three-cycled project with ninth graders. This project combines students' interests and needs identified from a needs analysis conducted based on Pineda's (2000) three step model and on curricular objectives of EFL from a public school in Bogota, Colombia. The results show it is possible to include students' experiences in foreign language classes and by reflecting on them in class, in English, it is possible to promote critical literacy, especially when students are agents and active participants into shaping of their own learning. The project concludes with the idea that teachers are presented with the opportunity of changing the traditional methods of learning a language and also that it is necessary to use the immediate knowledge of young students because it is what they are more interested about and where their knowledge of the world comes from.


We performed time-resolved characterization of plasma-photocatalytic removal of nitric oxide (NO) in a ceramic foam packing double dielectric barrier discharge reactor using mid-infrared laser absorption spectroscopy. Non-thermal plasma (NTP) was generated in the porous ceramic foam coated with mesoporous TiO2 thin film. Real-time NO monitoring was performed using a quantum cascade laser at 5.26 µm combined with a custom-designed multipass gas cell, leading to a sub-ppm detection limit at 0.1 s measurement time. By analyzing the feed gas of 90 ppm NO/1% O2 balanced in N2, the plasma treatment without TiO2 photocatalyst had no effect on NO removal when the discharge power was below 45 W. In comparison, the NTP-TiO2 system achieved an efficiency of 49% for NO removal even at the relatively low discharge power of 18 W. The synergy between NTP and TiO2 photocatalyst effectively promotes the NO removal at low plasma discharge powers. However, we also observed a negative effect of TiO2 photocatalyst on NO removal at a relatively high discharge power of 135 W.


Stimulated by the Boston house price data, in this paper, we propose a semiparametric spatial dynamic model, which extends the ordinary spatial autoregressive models to accommodate the effects of some covariates associated with the house price. A profile likelihood based estimation procedure is proposed. The asymptotic normality of the proposed estimators are derived. We also investigate how to identify the parametric/nonparametric components in the proposed semiparametric model. We show how many unknown parameters an unknown bivariate function amounts to, and propose an AIC/BIC of nonparametric version for model selection. Simulation studies are conducted to examine the performance of the proposed methods. The simulation results show our methods work very well. We finally apply the proposed methods to analyze the Boston house price data, which leads to some interesting findings


It is not uncommon to read about hacker attacks in the newspaper today. The hackers are targeting governments and enterprises, and motives vary. It may be political or economic reasons, or just to gain reputation. News about smaller systems is, unsurprisingly, not as common. Does this mean that security is less relevant of smaller systems? This report investigates the threat model of smaller web applications, to answer that very question.Different attacks are described in the detail needed for explaining their threat but the intention is not to teach the reader to write secure code. The report does, however, provide the reader with a rich source of references for that purpose. After describing some of the worst threats, the general cloud threat model is analyzed. This is followed by a practical analysis of a cloud system, and the report is closed with general strategies for countering threats.The severe destruction that a successful attack may cause and the high prevalence of those attacks motivates some security practices to be performed whenever software is produced. Attacks against smaller companies are more common now than ever before


Redescribed is an ahermatypic coral fauna from the Middle Miocene (Badenian) deposits (NN5 and NN6 Zones) exposed in the Korytnica Basin on the southern slopes of the Holy Cross Mountains, Central Poland. The fauna contains 14 species representing 12 genera and subgenera (of 14 species, 6 are new records in the Korytnica Clays). Using data obtained from observations of Recent corals, ecological requirements of the following genera from the Korytnica Clays have been presented: Stephanophyllia, Caryophyllia, Acanthocyathus, Tethocyathus, Paracyathus, Polycyathus, Ceratotrochus, Ceratotrochus (Edwardsotrochus) , Peponocyat!Jus, Flabellum, Balanophyllia and Dendrophyllia. A possibility of redeposition of coral fauna in some localities is discussed. Ahermatypic fauna from some other sites is interpreted as autochthonic, and a deep sublittoral zone is suggested as the life environment of these corals.


A range of system-design strategies that can be used to support portability and the ways in which these strategies have been employed by past and present systems are examined. The strategies are grouped into three categories: (1) strategies that maintain identical execution-time interfaces by porting system components that form the interface, (2) strategies that maintain identical or nearly identical interfaces for different system components by adhering to appropriate standards, and (3) strategies that assist in the adaptation of programs to a target environment. The principal emphasis is on operating-system issues. User interface portability, dynamic portability in a network, and international exchange of programs are briefly considered.<<ETX>>


The purpose of this paper is to introduce an emerging teaching method, the inverted classroom, to agricultural economists. The reader will learn the pros and cons of this method and the tools needed to create an inverted course. Data on student perceptions of the inverted classroom is presented, as well as an estimate of the relationship between student perceptions and student performance in an inverted classroom. The surveyed students responded positively to the inverted classroom concept; however it is unclear whether this method improved student learning outcomes compared to a traditional lecture classroom and there is very little evidence linking student perceptions to student performance.


It has been recently discovered that new genes can originate de novo from noncoding DNA, and several biological traits including expression or sequence composition form a continuum from noncoding sequences to conserved genes. In this article, using yeast genes I test whether the integration of new genes into cellular networks and their structural maturation shows such a continuum by analyzing their changes with gene age. I show that 1) The number of regulatory, protein–protein, and genetic interactions increases continuously with gene age, although with very different rates. New regulatory interactions emerge rapidly within a few million years, while the number of protein–protein and genetic interactions increases slowly, with a rate of 2–2.25 × 10−8/year and 4.8 × 10−8/year, respectively. 2) Gene essentiality evolves relatively quickly: the youngest essential genes appear in proto-genes ∼14 MY old. 3) In contrast to interactions, the secondary structure of proteins and their robustness to mutations indicate that new genes face a bottleneck in their evolution: proto-genes are characterized by high β-strand content, high aggregation propensity, and low robustness against mutations, while conserved genes are characterized by lower strand content and higher stability, most likely due to the higher probability of gene loss among young genes and accumulation of neutral mutations.


An elabrate study on the structrural and mechanical properties of the five-element FeNiCrCuCo high-entropy alloys is carried out by first-principles calculation within the density-functional theory. The combination application of plane-wave pseudopotentials and alchemical pseudoatom methods is realized to imitate the random elemental lattice occupation in the alloys. The dependence of composition variation to the crystallographic and thermodynamic properties of FeNiCrCuCo alloys in simple BCC and FCC lattices are investigated. The key role of chromium in strengthening the inter-atomic cohesion and stabilizing the lattice structure of HEAs is suggested.


The article considers the probability of the intensity of the erosion process and the prerequisites for its mitigation and control. The results of the research prove that soil erosion is based on natural and anthropogenic factors. The main objectives of the study were to determine the amount and level of development of worn and erosion-prone soils in the foothills of the country, where it is very difficult to develop on the slope soils of Upper Shirvani. Therefore, in this connection, the tasks are solved, taking into account the requirements of preserving the ecological situation in the example of the Shamakhi district of the Upper Shirvan zone of the Republic of Azerbaijan, where the areas of its potential danger are identified and the preconditions for its prevention are given.


Many animals and plants have evolved elaborate water-repellent microstructures on their surface, which often play important roles in their ecological adaptation. Here, we report a unique type of water-repellent structure on a plant surface, which develops as an insect-induced plant morphology in a social context. Some social aphids form galls on their host plant, in which they produce large amounts of hydrophobic wax. Excreted honeydew is coated by the powdery wax to form 'honeydew balls', which are actively disposed by soldier nymphs through an opening on their gall. These activities are enabled by a highly water-repellent inner gall surface, and we discovered that this surface is covered with dense trichomes that are not found on normal plant surfaces. The trichomes are coated by fine particles of the insect-produced wax, thereby realizing a high water repellency with a cooperative interaction between aphids and plants. The plant leaves on which the gall is formed often exhibit patchy areas with dense trichomes, representing an ectopic expression of the insect-induced plant morphology. In the pouch-shaped closed galls of a related social aphid species, by contrast, the inner surface was not covered with trichomes. Our findings provide a convincing example of how the extended phenotype of an animal, expressed in a plant, plays a pivotal role in maintaining sociality.


On December 3, 2012, the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit handed the government yet another setback in its quest to stem the deleterious public health effects of aggressive pharmaceutical marketing. United States v. Caronia involved a First Amendment challenge to a pharmaceutical sales representatives' criminal misdemeanor prosecution for promoting the narcolepsy drug Xyrem for multiple off-label uses by making oral statements about uses of the drug not approved by the Food and Drug Administration ("FDA") during sales calls to a physician's office. On the basis of evidence about his statements presented at trial, the representative, Alfred Caronia, was convicted of conspiracy to introduce a misbranded drug into interstate commerce. In a 2-1 decision, the Second Circuit held that the government had prosecuted Caronia because he engaged in constitutionally protected commercial speech, in violation of his First Amendment rights. In this Article, we review the implications of the Caronia decision for the FDA's ability to regulate off-label promotion and set it in the context of other major court decisions concerning the scope of First Amendment protection for commercial speech concerning pharmaceuticals. After summarizing the statutory and regulatory framework governing off-label promotional communications, we review relevant precedent and the Caronia decision. Considering both the Caronia case and other precedents, we then consider what avenues remain for FDA regulation of off-label promotion by pharmaceutical manufacturers. We discuss five potential strategies. The first three revolve around key technical issues arising from Caronia: ensuring that prosecutions are based on written rather than oral statements, emphasizing that speech is being used as evidence of intent, and focusing on the false or misleading nature of the promotional materials. The fourth involves a frontal challenge to the Second Circuit panel's decision in Caronia — we suggest ways in which the government could make a stronger case that its regulatory framework for off-label promotion satisfies the criteria of the Central Hudson test. Finally, we consider alternative regulatory regimes for off-label promotion, such as limited approvals of off-label indications paired with limits on prescribing and accelerated supplemental FDA approval for promotion of unapproved uses. These options may be useful if the government has to intervene to prevent the substantial public health risks of unfettered off-label promotion that may emerge in a post-Caronia world.


Identification and characterization of proteins involved in salt tolerance are imperative for revealing its genetic mechanisms. In this study, ionic and proteomic responses of a Tibetan wild barley XZ16 and a well‐known salt‐tolerant barley cv. CM72 were analyzed using inductively coupled plasma‐optical emission spectrometer, 2DE, and MALDI‐TOF/TOF MS techniques to determine salt‐induced differences in element and protein profiles between the two genotypes. In total, 41 differentially expressed proteins were identified in roots and leaves, and they were associated with ion homeostasis, cell redox homeostasis, metabolic process, and photosynthesis. Under salinity stress, calmodulin, Na/K transporters, and H+‐ATPases were involved in establishment of ion homeostasis for barley plants. Moreover, ribulose‐1,5‐bisphosphate carboxylase/oxygenase activase and oxygen‐evolving enhancer proteins were significantly upregulated under salinity stress, indicating the great impact of salinity on photosynthesis. In comparison with CM72, XZ16 had greater relative dry weight and lower Na accumulation in the shoots under salinity stress. A higher expression of HvNHX1 in the roots, and some specific proteins responsible for ion homeostasis and cell redox homeostasis, was also found in XZ16 exposed to salt stress. The current results showed that Tibetan wild barley XZ16 and cultivated barley cultivar CM72 differ in the mechanism of salt tolerance.


Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer deaths worldwide, with smoking as the main risk factor. The use of low-dose computed tomography (LDCT) as a screening method has shown a 20% lung cancer specific mortality benefit; however, widespread implementation is estimated to add $1.3–$2.0 billion in annual national health care expenditures. Blood-based microRNAs (miRNAs) have been investigated in detail and found to be potentially useful biomarkers indicating the presence of lung cancer, especially when used as a companion test to LDCT. Testing for miRNAs and circulating tumor DNA (ct-DNA) in the blood are anticipated to become more affordable in the near future, and therefore these potentially sensitive methods could serve as first-line screening modalities prior to obtaining LDCT and definitive diagnostic tests for lung cancer. Furthermore, miRNAs may shed light not only on the tumor burden, but also perhaps on tumor aggressiveness, histology, treatment response and the patient's overall survival. In the near future, analysis of ct-DNA may reveal somatic mutations beyond EGFR, tumor burden and the presence of occult progression of disease. In theory, these biomarkers may also help oncologists to elucidate the tumor response to radiotherapy, and in the future, may assist the radiation oncologist in making data-driven treatment decisions and providing patients with quantitative information regarding their treatment response.


We develop a model of GDP growth under which regime changes are triggered stochastically by an observable tension index, constructed as the geometric sum of deviations of actual GDP growth from a corresponding sustainable rate. Within expansionary regimes, the tension index tends to increase, which heightens the probability of a regime change. Given a regime change, the process becomes reversed, and the tension index begins to decline along a newly established path. Linking the behavior of the tension index to GDP growth enables us to capture floor and ceiling effects. © 2005 President and Fellows of Harvard College and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.


The corrosion inhibition of mild steel in molar hydrochloric acid solution by: N1-(2-nitrophenyl)ethane-1,2- diamine (M1) and N1-(2-nitrophenyl)propane-1,3-diamine(M2) has been investigated using gravimetric, potentiodynamic polarization (PP) and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) measurements. The influences of inhibitor concentration and solution temperature were investigated. The percentage inhibition efficiency, IE% increased for increasing concentrations and achieved for M1 and M2 96.18% and 94.91% respectively for 10-3M at 298K. The associated activation energy of corrosion process and standard free adsorption energies have been determined. These compounds were adsorbed on the mild steel surface according to Langmuir isotherm adsorption model. Some thermodynamic functions of adsorption and dissolution process were calculated and discussed.


As ubiquitous technology is increasingly mediating our relationships with the world and others, we argue that the sublime is struggling to find room in product design primarily aimed at commercial and transactional goals such as speed and efficiency. We suggest a new category of products to promote deeper and more meaningful experiences, specifically those offering liminality, transcendence, and personal transformation. This paper introduces a conceptual framework and three-step design approach looking at narrative participation in design through abstractions to promote, hold and deepen more complex emotions. We explore implications from a theoretical point of view and suggest product examples for how the model might be applied in practice.


In this brief paper we revisit the Fisher information content of cosmological power spectra or two-point functions of Gaussian fields in order to comment on the assumption of Gaussian estimators and the use of parameter-dependent covariance matrices for parameter inference in the context of precision cosmology. Even though the assumption of a Gaussian likelihood is motivated by the central limit theorem, we discuss that it leads to Fisher information content that violates the Cram\'er-Rao bound if used consistently, owing to independent but artificial information from the parameter-dependent covariance matrix. At any fixed multipole, this artificial term is shown to become dominant in the case of a large number of correlated fields. While the distribution of the estimators does indeed tend to a Gaussian with a large number of modes, it is shown, however, that its Fisher information content does not, in the sense that their covariance matrix never carries independent information content, precisely because of the non-Gaussian shape of the distribution. In this light, we discuss the use of parameter-dependent covariance matrices with Gaussian likelihoods for parameter inference from two-point statistics. As a rule of thumb, Gaussian likelihoods should always be used with a covariance matrix fixed in parameter space, since only this guarantees that conservative information content is assigned to the observables, and at the same time prevents biases appearing.


ABSTRACT
 Realizing the growing importance of universities in Knowledge Transfer and innovation-centric entrepreneurship, the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) actively encourages government-funded universities in Hong Kong to work with the market and industry, as well as wider society to stimulate innovation and entrepreneurship. This article aims to examine the changing university governance in Hong Kong particularly when universities go beyond the academia to work with industries and businesses to promote innovation-centric entrepreneurialism. It begins with a conceptual framework for analyzing multiple sectoral collaborations for entrepreneurship with a focus on the role of universities. It will discuss how the HKSAR copes with the main challenges of university governance by adopting policies and measures to creating a hybridized ecosystem so as to embrace cross-sectoral collaborations. The article concludes by critical reflections on changing university governance in Hong Kong when responding to the quest for entrepreneurial universities.


The geometry of real head has been modeled using MRI data set, and the electrical properties of head have been analyzed based on EIT using FEM method. The results show that surface potential distributions will vary with the change of conductivity inside head, and the variation will arrive at its maximum when the bone conductivity is changed. EIT system with 16 electrodes is able to reconstruct and display the approximation of the electrical conductivity of the head using the back-projection method by measuring the surface voltages of head. The data collection, processing and image reconstruction are performed using a computerized system. It is stable, convenient, in real time, and easy extendable.


The aim of the research was to determine the prevalence of C. trachomatis (C.t.) conjunctivitis and urogenital infections coexistence in adults. The study was carried out on 222 patients (109 women and 113 men) with clinical signs of conjunctivitis. Conjunctival swabs were taken from all patients for evaluation and urogenital swabs as well as blood from the patients with confirmed infection. Direct diagnostics of chlamydial infections involved IF and LCR methods while serologic diagnostics (specific IgG antibodies) used EIA and indirect IF methods. The control group for conjunctival swabs included 52 volunteers who did not have any ophthalmological symptoms while for the serological tests the control group consisted of 103 blood donors. Ocular C.t. infection was diagnosed in 42 out of 222 (18.9%) patients with conjunctivitis symptoms and in 2 out of 52 (3.8%) patients of the control group. Chlamydial conjunctivitis was mostly (70%) found in young people (18-30 yrs) and it was twice more common in women. It was usually bilateral and chronic. Urogenital C.t. infection was diagnosed in 24 out of 42 (57.1%) patients and it was more common in men (14 patients) than in women (10 patients). Only 4 out of 42 (9.5%) patients suffered from any urogenital symptoms. Specific IgG antibodies were found in the serum of 29 out of 42 (69%) patients with chlamydial conjunctivitis and only in 6 out of 103 (5.8%) patients of the control group. The diagnostics of the ocular infections, which are resistant to routine treatment, should involve the consideration of etiological role of C.t. Due to common urogenital chlamydial infection coexistence both sexual partners should be diagnosed and treated.


This study investigated stable-isotope ratio evidence of weaning for the late Anglo-Saxon population of Raunds Furnells, Northamptonshire, UK. δ(15)N and δ(13)C values in rib collagen were obtained for individuals of different ages to assess the weaning age of infants within the population. A peak in δ(15) N values at about 2-year-old, followed by a decline in δ(15) N values until age three, indicates a change in diet at that age. This change in nitrogen isotope ratios corresponds with the mortality profile from the site, as well as with archaeological and documentary evidence on attitudes towards juveniles in the Anglo-Saxon period. The pattern of δ(13) C values was less clear. Comparison of the predicted age of weaning to published data from sites dating from the Iron Age to the 19th century in Britain reveals a pattern of changing weaning practices over time, with increasingly earlier commencement and shorter periods of complementary feeding in more recent periods. Such a change has implications for the interpretation of socioeconomic changes during this period of British history, since earlier weaning is associated with decreased birth spacing, and could thus have contributed to population growth.


In Hungary, the second half of the 19th century was the time for the wide spread of public education and the initiation of compulsory school attendance. This led to the emergence of a new role in the society, that of elementary school teacher. In my research, I was keen to examine the characteristics of the teacher figure formed in the minds of the contemporaries,as well as the traditional idea about being a teacher, and the traces of the new conceptualframework in this modernising and professionalized occupation. I conducted a metaphor analysis on texts of 1898 and 1906 – the years of the 25-year jubilee and the death of a particular teacher – and found that instead of modernising, they depicted the well-known heroes of ancient myths. Eulogizing people portrayed the teacher in various sacrale roles, such as 'the apostle of Christ', 'an evangelistic man' who 'was building the realm of God'and a mourning person even stated that 'He is not here. He was resurrected!'.


Abstract. In this paper, we compare column-averaged dry-air mole fractions of water
vapor ( XH2O ) retrievals from the COllaborative Carbon Column
Observing Network (COCCON) with retrievals from two co-located high-resolution
Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectrometers as references at two boreal
sites, Kiruna, Sweden, and Sodankyla, Finland, from 6 March 2017 to
20 September 2019. In the framework of the Network for the Detection
of Atmospheric Composition Change (NDACC), an FTIR spectrometer is operated at
Kiruna. The H2O product derived from these observations has been
generated with the MUlti-platform remote Sensing of Isotopologues
for investigating the Cycle of Atmospheric water (MUSICA) processor. In
Sodankyla, a Total Carbon Column Observing Network (TCCON) spectrometer
is operated, and the official XH2O data as provided by TCCON are used
for this study. The datasets are in good overall agreement, with COCCON data
showing a wet bias of ( 49.20±58.61 ) ppm (( 3.33±3.37 ) %,
 R2=0.9992 ) compared with MUSICA NDACC and ( 56.32±45.63 ) ppm
(( 3.44±1.77 ) %, R2=0.9997 ) compared with TCCON. Furthermore, the a priori H2O volume mixing ratio (VMR) profiles (MAP) used as a priori information in the TCCON retrievals (also adopted for COCCON
retrievals) are evaluated with respect to radiosonde (Vaisala RS41) profiles
at Sodankyla. The MAP and radiosonde profiles show similar shapes and a
good linear correlation of integrated XH2O , indicating that MAP is a
reasonable approximation of the true atmospheric state and an appropriate
choice for the scaling retrieval methods as applied by COCCON and TCCON.
COCCON shows a reduced dry bias ( −14.96  %) in comparison with TCCON ( −19.08  %) with respect to radiosonde XH2O . Finally, we investigate the quality of satellite data at high latitudes. For
this purpose, the COCCON XH2O is compared with retrievals from the
Infrared Atmospheric Sounding Interferometer (IASI) generated with the
MUSICA processor (MUSICA IASI) and with retrievals from the TROPOspheric
Monitoring Instrument (TROPOMI). Both paired datasets generally show good
agreement and similar correlations at the two sites. COCCON measures 4.64 % less XH2O at Kiruna and 3.36 % less at Sodankyla with respect to MUSICA IASI, whereas COCCON measures 9.71 % more XH2O at Kiruna and 7.75 % more at Sodankyla compared with TROPOMI. Our study supports the assumption that COCCON also delivers a
well-characterized XH2O data product. This emphasizes that this approach might complement the TCCON network with respect to satellite validation efforts. This is the first published study where COCCON XH2O has been compared with MUSICA NDACC and TCCON retrievals and has been used for MUSICA IASI and TROPOMI validation.


Problem of tsunami risks evaluation, assessment and mitigation is here addressed. Modern computational technologies are able to calculate accurately tsunami wave propagation over the deep ocean provided that initial displacement (perturbation of the sea bed at tsunami source) is known. Modern deep ocean tsunameters provide direct measurement of the passing tsunami wave in the real time mode, which help to estimate initial displacement parameters right after the tsunami wave is recorded at one of the deep ocean buoys. Therefore, fast tsunami propagation code that can calculate tsunami evolution from estimated model source becomes critical for timely evacuation decision for many coastal communities in case of a strong tsunami. In this paper we discuss a part of MOST (Method of Splitting Tsunami) software package, which has been accepted by the USA National Ocean and Atmosphere Administration as the basic tool to calculate tsunami wave propagation and to evaluate of inundation parameters. Our main objectives are to speed up the existing sequential program, and to adapt this program for shared memory systems (OpenMP), CELL BE architecture and GPU. For caring out this research we use SMP server and a system build on IBM CELL BE CPU. We also use NVIDIA Tesla C1060 board which acts as co-processor for CPU. Optimization of the existing parallel and sequential code for the task of tsunami wave propagation modeling as well as an adaptation of this code for GPU and CELL BE processor is discussed. The obtained results are up to 170 times performance gain for one time step. These are very promising.


Web 2.0 has become very widely to develop many web-based systems. Web 2.0 tools have changed the nature of web-based applications especially those are used for communication purposes. The Forums, Wikis, Blogs, Social Networking, Video Sharing and other Web 2.0 tools are used to communicate web users with each other in effective way for many purposes. In Universiti Technologi Malaysia (UTM), the communication process between postgraduate students and School of Graduate Studies (SPS) is done by Face-to-Face, phone, fax, Email and post. There are many communication problems encountered by the postgraduate students before and after they registered as students. This project was conducted to propose a Student-University Communication Media model using the Web 2.0 and use it to develop a prototype of Web 2.0-based Student-University Communication Media Portal. The Object Oriented Approach was used to develop the prototype of Web 2.0-based Student-University Communication Media Portal. Eventually, the prototype was implemented and tested. However, the organizational strategy of implementing the prototype by SPS was formulated. The User Acceptance Testing was conducted by thirty users with more than 95% of them satisfied with the developed portal and confirmed that it is easy to use, functional and useful.


Background Patients receiving enteral nutrition (EN) suffer several kinds of complications such as gastrointestinal disorders, lung aspiration, tube dislodgement, tube clogging, hyperglycaemia and electrolytic alterations. The pharmacist's key role is to ensure the best nutrition and to solve and prevent problems related to drug administration by this route. Purpose To analyse hospital pharmacist interventions (HPIs) in patients fed with EN through feeding tubes. Materials and Methods Prospective study from 1 July 2011 to 30 June 2012 in a 350-bed hospital. Twice a week a hospital pharmacist monitored patients fed through feeding tubes. HPIs were classified in four types: Type 1: EN formula recommendation (to increase nutritional support, to recommend another kind of formula, to modify the regimen); Type 2: to recommend flushing feeding tubes with water; Type 3: to suggest replacing PVC nasogastric tubes (NTs) with silicone NTs; Type 4: to adjust pharmacotherapy (EN-drug interactions and drug incompatibilities). The pharmacist reported all HPIs to physicians. Results A total of 132 patients were monitored, with 94 HPIs: Type 1: 45 (47.9%) (37 (82.3%) to increase nutritional input, 2 (4.4%) regimen modification and 6 (13.3%) new formula recommendations), Type 2: 11 (11.7%); Type 3: 3 (3.2%); Type 4: 35 (37.2%) (12 (34.3%) substitutions of omeprazole capsules for omeprazole oral solution, 10 (28.6%) lactulose for lactitol, 9 (25.7%) delayed-release tablets for immediate-release tablets, 4 (11.4%) others). Conclusions HPIs contributed to improved pharmacotherapy and suitability of the EN formula in most of the patients with feeding tubes. Designing an EN multidisciplinary care plan improves patients' treatment and health outcomes. No conflict of interest.


In resource limited, large scale underwater sensor networks, cooperative communication over multiple hops offers opportunities to save power. Intermediate nodes between source and destination act as cooperative relays. Herein, protocols coupled with space-time block code (STBC) strategies are proposed and analyzed for distributed cooperative communication. Amplify-and-forward-type protocols are considered, in which intermediate relays do not attempt to decode the information. The Alamouti-based cooperative scheme proposed by Hua (2003) for flat-fading channels is generalized to work in the presence of multipath, thus addressing a main characteristic of underwater acoustic channels. A time-reversal distributed space-time block code (TR-DSTBC) is proposed, which extends the dual-antenna TR-STBC (time-reversal space-time block code) approach from Lindskog and Paulraj (2000) to a cooperative communication scenario for signaling in multipath. It is first shown that, just as in the dual-antenna STBC case, TR along with the orthogonality of the DSTBC essentially allows for decoupling of the vector intersymbol interference (ISI) detection problem into separate scalar problems, and thus yields strong performance (compared with single-hop communication) and with substantially reduced complexity over nonorthogonal schemes. Furthermore, a performance analysis of the proposed scheme is carried out to provide insight on the performance gains, which are further confirmed via numerical results based on computer simulations and field data experiments.


Three hundred and nineteen ,Guanximiyou, pummelo (Citrus grandis) orchards from Pinghe county, the southern region of Fujian province, China, were selected for this study. The objectives were to determine (i) the soil and leafnutrient status, (ii) the relationships between leaf mineral elements and the corresponding soil elements, and (iii) the relationships between fruit quality and mineral nutrients. The results showed that soil acidification was a major problem in these orchards, with an average pH of 4.34. Soil acidification affected the availability of soil N, P, Ca, Mg, S, B, Cu and Zn and the levels of organic matter (OM) and cation exchange capacity (CEC), thus inducing soil and leaf nutrient imbalance. Indeed, severe nutrient imbalance existed in these orchard soils. 77.4% and 65.8% of soils were sub-optimum in exchangeable Mg and Ca, while 96.6% and 82.1% of soils were super-optimum in available S and P, respectively. Besides, severe nutrient deficiencies and excesses co-existed in leaves. 46.8% and 35.6% of leaves were deficient in N and Mg, while 74.8% and 70.4% of leaves were excess in B and Cu, respectively. Regressive analysis showed that leaf content of mineral elements was poorly related with the available content of the corresponding soil elements, respectively. In some orchards, severe juice sac granulation, an important factor affecting fruit quality, was observed. Regressive analysis indicated that Mg, S, Cu and Mn played a role in juice sac granulation of fruits. In conclusion, soil acidification might lead to severe soil nutrient imbalance, thus inducing leaf nutrient imbalance, eventually impairing fruit quality parameters such sac granulation.


The status of teaching and recognising and rewarding teaching are major national policy issues and, given the lack of a national teaching excellence award scheme (TEA) in Scotland, there is a particular Scottish dimension to this issue. A recent UK-wide survey of HE staff showed that there is still a widely held perception that teaching is not afforded the same status or valued to the same extent as research in promotion decisions and other reward and recognition institutional mechanisms (HEA/GENIE CETL, 2009).

This paper presents the findings of a short survey to gain insights into the extent and nature of TEAs in Scottish higher education. Although there is no national TEA scheme in Scotland, a number of Scottish institutions have developed their own intra-institutional schemes. This small-scale study aimed to explore:

• how widespread TEAs currently are in Scotland
• how they are being administered
• what criteria are being used to make these awards

A short survey was distributed to the Educational Developers community in Scotland and we present here the findings from that survey and then explore what these mean for Scottish HE with the hope of encouraging debate about rewarding teaching in the Scottish sector.


The focus of the research is to analyse a huge phenomenon, largely attested in the later imperial sources, but still not studied in detail: the fines to be paid in pounds of gold or silver by members of the imperial bureaucracy (especially the iudex, that is the governor of a province, and his officium). The massive use of this penalty (which lasted for many centuries, at least from Constantine up to Justinian, and still used by Theoderic in the West) raises many questions. On one hand, the punishment itself (a certain number of pounds of gold or silver) was not specific for the members of the bureaucracy alone; instead, it was used to fine common citizens, too. But the considerable iteration with which officials are fined in imperial constitutions urges a specific analysis. On the other hand, this particular punishment was, obviously, not imposed by emperors alone, since it is attested that high officials imposed pecuniary penalties like these as an act of their wide magisterial coercitio. First chapter A "quantitative" study has been conducted on the information offered by the juridical sources (the Theodosian and Justinian Codes, as well as post-theodosian and Justinian's Novels – as a whole, more than 250 constitutions) together with a comprehensive analysis of the obtained data (Table 1-4). Second chapter It brings into focus the juridical definition of the penalty itself. The constitutions, almost invariably, speak of multa/multare, and it has been investigated how this term has been used in Late Antiquity, coming to the conclusion that the phenomenon is to be considered part of the traditional category of the so called multae ex lege. Third chapter A very important aspect has been the definition of the subjects of the fines in the constitutions who, as we said, were not only members of the imperial bureaucracy. The results are presented in tables (1-9), and they stress that the majority of the fines were imposed on the officium, both as a single and in conjunction with its superior officer (a fact that has been described as doppelte Strafklausel), and on the iudex, i. e., the governor of a province. Fines imposed on other officials and on common citizens have been taken into account, too. The fact that the officium is very often burdened with a more sever penalty than his superior officer suggests further examinations on his "personification", as an independent organ, different from the members of the staff themselves. It was a permanent figure and, as such, it was its duty to advise and urge the superior officer to follow the course of law. It was assumed that the officium had to know laws, customs and procedures far better than its "temporary" superior officer. Fourth chapter Once established the nature of the penalty and the subjects concerned, we concentrated upon the offences, in order to lay the foundations for a possible corpus of the breaches of the law by members of the imperial bureaucracy. The attempt of systematize these offences made by K. L. Noethlichs in the early 80s of the last century by means of an extensive use of modern categories of administrative science (in particular, the ALR, Allgemeines Landrecht fur die Preusischen Staaten, promulgated in 1794) presents a flaw: its dogmatic point of view. Therefore, different slants are here offered, so as to give an alternative attempt of systematize the offences in a openly diacronic perspective. The typical traditional crimes are very rare, while the biggest part of the offences seem to amount to a "new" penal code, for the wrongs are specifically committed by officiales. The kinds of wrongs that are to be found in these constitutions are linked with the responsabilities and duties of the members of the bureaucracy. Fifth chapter Lastly, the fundamental lines of the circulation of gold in Late Antiquity have been drawn, eminently the importance of the weighing of gold coins (a libra was credited for 72 solidi by an imperial law, C. Th. 13.6.13 = C. 10.72.5). Appendix This section supplies texts, translations and a useful scheme (underlying the offender, the violation and the amount of the fine expressed in pounds of gold or silver) of every analized constitution.


Invited Paper Forty years ago Colin Renfrew declared that "every archaeological problem starts as a problem in geoarchaeology" (Renfrew, 1976 p. 2). With this assertion in mind, this paper draws upon the findings from field research in two sectors of the Nile Valley of Northern Sudan dedicated to the exploration of human-environment interactions during the middle and late Holocene. This part of the Nile corridor contains a rich cultural record and an exceptionally well preserved Holocene fluvial archive. A distinctive feature of these records is the variety of evidence for interaction between desert and river over a range of spatial and temporal scales. This interaction presented both challenges and opportunities for its ancient inhabitants. This paper will present evidence for large-scale landscape changes driven by shifts in global climate. It will also show how we have integrated the archaeological and geological records in the Northern Dongola Reach and at Amara West - where long-term field projects led by archaeologists from the British Museum have recognised the importance of a sustained commitment to interdisciplinary research to achieve a fully integrated geoarchaeological approach across a range of scales. The former project is a large-scale landscape survey with multiple sites across an 80 km reach of the Nile whilst the latter has a strong focus on a single New Kingdom town site and changes in its environmental setting. By combining multiple archaeological and geological datasets - and pioneering the use of OSL dating and strontium isotope analysis in the Desert Nile - we have developed a new understanding of human responses to Holocene climate and landscape change in this region. Renfrew, C. (1976) Archaeology and the earth sciences. In: D.A. Davidson and M.I. Shackley (eds) Geoarchaeology: Earth Science and the Past, Duckworth, London, 1-5.


BACKGROUND
Chronic granulomatous disease (CGD) is due to defective nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate oxidase activity and characterized by recurrent infections with a limited spectrum of bacteria and fungi as well as inflammatory complications. To understand the impact of common severe infections in CGD, we examined the records of 268 patients followed at a single center over 4 decades.

METHODS
All patients had confirmed diagnoses of CGD, and genotype was determined where possible. Medical records were excerpted into a standard format. Microbiologic analyses were restricted to Staphylococcus, Burkholderia, Serratia, Nocardia, and Aspergillus.

RESULTS
Aspergillus incidence was estimated at 2.6 cases per 100 patient-years; Burkholderia, 1.06 per 100 patient-years; Nocardia, 0.81 per 100 patient-years; Serratia, 0.98 per 100 patient-years, and severe Staphylococcus infection, 1.44 per 100 patient-years. Lung infection occurred in 87% of patients, whereas liver abscess occurred in 32%. Aspergillus incidence was 55% in the lower superoxide-producing quartiles (quartiles 1 and 2) but only 41% in the higher quartiles (rate ratio, <0.0001). Aspergillus and Serratia were somewhat more common in lower superoxide producing gp91phox deficiency. The median age at death has increased from 15.53 years before 1990 to 28.12 years in the last decade. Fungal infection carried a higher risk of mortality than bacterial infection and was the most common cause of death (55%). Gastrointestinal complications were not associated with either infection or mortality.

CONCLUSIONS
Fungal infections remain a major determinant of survival in CGD. X-linked patients generally had more severe disease, and this was generally in those with lower residual superoxide production. Survival in CGD has increased over the years, but infections are still major causes of morbidity and mortality.


The tailoring of surface properties of metal oxide nanoparticles is highly important to exploit their benefits in an optimal way for diverse applications. For example, in polymer matrix nanocomposites one of the most critical aspects is the interaction of the particles with thematrix, which is determined by the chemistry of the particle surface and can be adjusted by attachment of organic ligands. Whilst many empirical solutions have been presented for specific combinations of particles and matrix, generalized approaches are not available yet. As a versatile and arbitrary method to permanently modify the surface of metal oxide nanoparticles, we present a two-step approach and prove its applicability for the versatile adjustment of surface properties of two types of nanoparticles.


Abstract. Digital Elevation Model (DEM) is an important topographic product and essential demand for many applications. Traditional methods for creating DEM are very costly and time consuming because of land surveying. In time, Photogrammetry has become one of the major methods to generate DEM. Recently, airborne Light Detection and Ranging (LIDAR) system has become a powerful way to produce a DEM due to advantage of collecting three-dimensional information very effectively over a large area by means of precision and time. Airborne LIDAR system collects information not only from land surface but also from every object between plane and terrain that can reflect the laser beam. So filtering out nonground points from raw point clouds is the major step of DEM generation. There are many filtering algorithm due to several factors that affect the filtering prosedures. The performanses of these filters change based on the topographic features of area.One of these algorithm is called Triangular Irregular Network (TIN). In this study the TIN algorithm is used to filter Lidar point cloud that are collected from two different sites. While one of these sites is a rural area, the other site is an urban area; therefore these sites have different topographic features. In addition, the reference DEMs are available for these sites. In order to test the performance of TIN algorithm, the Lidar point clouds are filtered and used to generate DEM for the sites. Finally, the generated DEM are compared with the reference DEM for each site. The comparison results show that the TIN filtering algorithm perform more effectively in urban area than rural area in terms of correlations with reference DEMs.


In this work the solution of a class of capital investment problems is considered within the framework of mathematical programming. Upon the basis of the net present value criterion, the problems in question are mainly characterized by the fact that the cost of capital is defined as a non-decreasing function of the investment requirements. Capital rationing and some cases of technological dependence are also included, this approach leading to zero-one non-linear programming problems, for which specifically designed solution procedures supported by a general branch and bound development are presented. In the context of both this development and the relevant mathematical properties of the previously mentioned zero-one programs, a generalized zero-one model is also discussed. Finally,a variant of the scheme, connected with the search sequencing of optimal solutions, is presented as an alternative in which reduced storage limitations are encountered.


Herein, we report the impact of chromium doping on the physical properties, electronic band structure and photovoltaic characteristics of their corresponding devices based on dye-sensitized solar cells (DSCs). Different DSCs with various compositions of the photoanode electrodes are fabricated to study their optical, structural, conduction band edge, donor density, depth of trap states and photoelectrochemical properties using X-ray diffraction (XRD), diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (DRS), field-emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM), Mott–Schottky capacitance analysis, chemical capacitance and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) measurements. For such studies, the Cr-doped TiO2 films, with different Cr : Ti atomic ratios of 0.1–5% and a particle size in the range 15–30 nm, are synthesized by a facile hydrothermal process. We find that on introduction of Cr3+ into the TiO2 lattice, the films exhibit small band gap, an upward shift in the conduction and valence band edges, and a low donor density. The results show that the Cr-doped TiO2 electrodes have a lower recombination rate, a superior electron lifetime and a higher open circuit voltage than pristine TiO2. However, these electrodes show a poor dye adsorption due to the surface defects of Ti3+ and the charge transport characteristics, resulting in a low short-circuit current. Furthermore, doping of TiO2 with chromium may induce a high density of empty trap states with a deep position, leading to an entrapment of the charge carriers, a drop in electron conductivity and, therefore, an inferior photovoltaic performance of the solar cells.


— This study aimed at detecting fake information relating to COVID-19 using Naïve Bayes. The advent of social media which is made available through the internet provides platforms on which news can be disseminated and reach a large number of audiences in seconds. This opportunity comes with its challenges, of which one major one is the possibility of spreading fake news quickly. Detection of fake news is a binary classification problem that is handled with machine learning techniques that learn on their own. Naive Bayes is one of the well-known machine learning classifiers that is used in resolving text classification problems. This algorithm is applicable regardless of the number of inputs. It was used in this work to build a model which can distinguish fake news from real ones. For the moderately-sized COVID-19 dataset, an accuracy of 96.7 percent was achieved. With a very large dataset Multimodal, Naïve Bayes will perform better.


Abstract. In order to meet the demand of high position accuracy, many methods have been developed for measuring the thread profile features of ball screws. However, most of these efforts are limited to measuring a small number of ball screw features and therefore less efficient. In this study, an automatic, non-contact measuring system for the thread profile of a ball screw was developed. It is capable of measuring most common features of the ball screw thread profile and can measure ball screws of different sizes and lengths. The main part of the system is the light curtain which has a high-resolution line-scan CCD camera to measure the projected outer contour of the target. Data points from the thread profile of a ball screw were collected by the measuring system and data pre-processing was performed. Then, the proposed method was used to calculate the most important geometric parameters and errors of the thread profile. The accuracy of the measuring system was verified by testing and evaluating four sets of ball screws from different manufacturers.


Science and Technology in the World of the Future. Arthur B. Bronwell. John Wiley, New York, 1970. 394 pp. Illustrated. £5.75. This book provides a broad outlook on the future of science and engineering in 17 articles by 16 authors, each prominent in his own field, the editor being Dean of Engineering at the University of Connecticut. He states in his preface: "It is quite axiomatic that a society that cannot see its future may not have much of a future." On this and similar grounds is based the importance of learning what the future may hold for everyone in the many directions indicated by these writers. To take one example, John R. Pierce forecasts the future of electrical communication based largely on experiments that have already been made using high microwave frequencies, those above 10 gigahertz, plus the picture-phone already demonstrated at the New York World's Fair in 1964 and 1965, the Touch-Tone phone now on the way, satellite communications already with us and the potentialities of lasers as yet largely undeveloped. The other fields that are treated are equally interesting: the challenge of the oceans; the mysteries of the planets and the cosmos; the elementary(?) nuclear particles; energy for a restless world; biomedical engineering; cities of the future; architecture as ultra invisible reality; materials for tomorrow; transportation in this century; computers; science futures with science and technology in perspective; Congress and science policy; plus two articles by the Editor on the creative society, and peace, war and technology. A comprehensive selection of subjects. Undoubtedly sciences and technologies are tending to intertwine and this tendency may act increasingly as a deterrent to new technology. Several writers want to stop the further progress of science and Prince Philip has suggested that science has had its honeymoon: such views may become important when the world has now to consider the question of pollution. Yet, who would wish to stop basic research described in H. Guyford Stever's first article as an elusive vision that unlocks the future? Would the world really wish to be without the five following innovations: magnetic ferrites; the videotape recorder; the oral contraceptive pill; the electron microscope; and matrix isolation, the last a technique with applications to rapidly moving gas streams? The answer is certainly NO. As to what new things may be discovered in the near future, no man knows. Many hints and forecasts, some to become facts and others to be doubtless found misleading, are described in these informative and readable essays, and, it might be added, much more realistic than science fiction since a great many of them will become science facts in the near future.—j. L. NAYLER.


PULSE was created by six students who recently graduated from Supinfocom Rubika, a 3D animation school. During the last year of the five-year program, they had the chance to work exclusively on a short film, about 7 minutes long in full CG. The original idea was found during the 4th year at school, and they developed the idea at this point. The production itself began in September 2017 and ended in June 2018.


In this thesis, we are interested in the modelling of queueing networks with finite buffers and with general service time distributions. Queueing networks models have shown to be very useful tools to evaluate the performance of complex systems in many application fields (manufacturing, communication networks, traffic flow, etc.). In order to analyze such networks, the original distributions are most often transformed into tractable distributions, so that the Markov theory can then be applied. Our main originality lies in this step of the modelling process. We propose to discretize the original distributions by probability mass fitting (PMF). The PMF discretization is simple: the probability masses on regular intervals are computed and aggregated on a single value in the corresponding interval. PMF has the advantage to be simple, refinable, and to conserve the shape of the distribution. Moreover, we show that it does not require more phases, and thus more computational effort, than concurrent methods. From the distributions transformed by PMF, the evolution of the system can then be modelled by a discrete Markov chain, and the performance of the system can be evaluated from the chain. This global modelling method leads to various interesting results. First, we propose two methodologies leading to bounds on the cycle time of the system. In particular, a tight lower bound on the cycle time can be computed. Second, probability mass fitting leads to accurate approximation of the performance measures (cycle time, work-in-progress, flow time, etc.). Together with the bounds, the approximations allow to get a good grasp on the exact measure with certainty. Third, the cycle time distribution can be computed in the discretized time and shows to be a good approximation of the original cycle time distribution. The distribution provides more information on the behavior of the system, compared to the isolated expectation (to which other methods are limited). Finally, in order to be able to analyze larger networks, the decomposition technique can be applied after PMF. We show that the accuracy of the performance evaluation is still good, and that the ability of PMF to accurately estimate the distributions brings an improvement in the application of the decomposition. In conclusion, we believe that probability mass fitting can be considered as a valuable alternative in order to build tractable distributions for the analytical modelling of queueing networks.


Abstract. Plant species differ in degrees of silicon (Si) uptake and accumulation, and may differentially influence biogeochemical cycles of Si, possibly in interaction with other environmental factors. Here, we report how patterns of Si cycling by vegetation differ with species composition, elevation and bedrock types for species-rich tropical forests on Mt. Kinabalu, Borneo. We used eight forest monitoring plots established in 1995 at four altitudes (700, 1700, 2700 and 3100 m above sea level) on two geological substrates (Si-rich acidic sedimentary and less Si-rich ultrabasic igneous rock), where tree species composition, abundance, biomass and litterfall had been monitored. For live leaves of 71 dominant tree species (total relative basal area > 60 % in each plot) and leaf litter collected in traps, Si concentration was determined after alkaline extraction. Si availability in the upper 10 cm of mineral soil was determined as Si dissolved to water after shaking overnight. Tree species with high leaf Si concentrations occurred mostly in the lowest elevation plots. The community-mean Si concentration in live leaves, as well as Si concentration in leaf litter, decreased with increasing elevation. The estimated annual flux of leaf litter mass and Si also decreased with increasing elevation. Leaf and litter Si concentrations showed no difference between the two bedrock types without interaction with elevation. Due to large turnovers of species composition with elevation and bedrock types, most species occurred only in one plot. For 11 species that occurred at two or three plots, only one species showed a weakly significant difference in leaf Si concentration between bedrock types. Surface soil Si availability was greater at lower elevation plots and differed with bedrock types only at 1700 m. This pattern was consistent with a hypothesis that Si input via litter in the form of plant opal, rather than bedrock types, should influence the soluble Si in the upper soil horizons. These results suggest that Si cycling by vegetation is more active in lower elevation forests regardless of bedrock types, most likely because Si accumulating species are more abundant in lowland tropical forests.


Programmers often consult an online Q&A forum such as Stack Overflow to learn new APIs. This paper presents an empirical study on the prevalence and severity of API misuse on Stack Overflow. To reduce manual assessment effort, we design ExampleCheck, an API usage mining framework that extracts patterns from over 380K Java repositories on GitHub and subsequently reports potential API usage violations in Stack Overflow posts. We analyze 217,818 Stack Overflow posts using ExampleCheck and find that 31% may have potential API usage violations that could produce unexpected behavior such as program crashes and resource leaks. Such API misuse is caused by three main reasons—missing control constructs, missing or incorrect order of API calls, and incorrect guard conditions. Even the posts that are accepted as correct answers or upvoted by other programmers are not necessarily more reliable than other posts in terms of API misuse. This study result calls for a new approach to augment Stack Overflow with alternative API usage details that are not typically shown in curated examples.


Abstract Callmander, M. W., P. B. Phillipson, T. Deroin & L. Gautier (ed.) (2013). Notes on the flora of Madagascar, 27–29. Candollea 68: 61–71. In English, English and French abstracts. Ongoing research on Madagascar's flora is revealing numerous taxonomic novelties and nomenclatural inconsistencies, and providing new data on species distribution. This is the sixth set of notes in a series that aims to provide the botanical community working on the flora of Madagascar an opportunity to publish short communications on these topics. This issue comprises three notes. — Note 27. An earlier name for Lindernia andringitrae Eb. Fischer (Linderniaceae), by Mats Thulin. Lindernia andringitrae Eb. Fischer was published in 1995 as a new name for Craterostigma cerastioides Bonati (non Lindernia cerastioides T. Yamaz.). However, the synonym Craterostigma perrieri Bonati provides an earlier epithet and the new combination: Lindernia perrieri (Bonati) Thulin is therefore proposed. An update of the distribution of this narrow endemic of the Andringitra Massif is also provided. — Note 28. An earlier name for Nesaea pubescens Koehne (Lythraceae), by Paul E. Berry & Hans-Joachim Esser. While attempting to account for all Euphorbia L. names published from Madagascar, the authors re-examined type material of Euphorbia hildebrandtii Baill. and determined that it was conspecific with Nesaea pubescens Koehne, in Lythraceae. Since Baillon's name has priority, it requires a new combination under Nesaea Kunth, namely Nesaea hildebrandtii (Baill.) P. E. Berry. — Note 29. A clarification of B.C. Seeman's Malagasy species of Colea Meisn. (Bignoniaceae), by Peter B. Phillipson & Martin W. Callmander. Berthold Carl Seeman described two species of Colea Meisn. from Madagascar based on multiple collections including a mixed gathering made by Louis-Hyacinthe Boivin comprising species belonging to different families. In this note, the authors resolve the typification and the identity of the corresponding type material of Colea purpurescens Seem. and Colea hispidissima Seem. Flowers of Colea hispidissima Seem. pertain to the genus Vitex L. (Lamiaceae) and the authors therefore formally designate this as the lectotype, and they also chose an epitype for this species and establish the necessary new combination Vitex hispidissima (Seem.) Callm. & Phillipson.


Scopus-database publications containing the keyword 'big data' have skyrocketed from 30 (2009) to almost 16,000 (2019). This trend reveals this field's importance across disciplines and contexts. Previous works have analysed the emergence and characteristics of scientific research on 'big data' but need updating. We undertook a bibliometric analysis of over 73,000 such 2009–2019 publications. This data helped to identify the primary trends, subjects, networks and institutions publishing on big data worldwide and explain the relations and differences between scientific communities working on this subject in central and peripheral countries. Furthermore, this research highlights Chinese researchers' and institutions' prominence in this field alongside the influence of American contributions, which are most frequently cited. The emergence of dynamic poles of scientific production in middle-income countries in Asia, Africa and South America are also studied. Despite the dynamism of the field, about 2% of the articles account for 40% of the field's citations, while 42% have no citations. Originating in computer science and engineering, big data research is increasingly becoming interdisciplinary. Keyword trends over time also show a shift from technical and prospective concerns towards (1) methodological and practical issues and (2) the development of AI and machine learning techniques. These indicators present differences between countries with varying geo-economic conditions. Collaboration networks have rapidly grown with the US and China as the main nodes and European countries as intermediaries in the circulation of this topic. Although still rare, there are some signs of South-South collaboration between Latin America, Africa and Asia.


Fast-homeware, akin to fast-fashion, is an emerging sector which this study argues is largely underresearched. Similar to other sectors of the textile industry, fast-homeware has a devastating impact on the environment and is in dire need of study. In turn, this would prevent fast-homeware from becoming normalised and entrenched into consumer psyche. "43% of consumers like their favourite fashion retailer to offer a wide range of products" (Mintel Group Ltd., 2018) and as seen in many UK fast-fashion stores, this now includes homeware. Consumers primarily care "about price, quality and value" (Bucic et al. 2012), above sustainability or ethicality, and coincides with the over-saturation of fast-homeware at cheap, affordable prices. Through focus groups, the intention of this study is to explore consumers understanding of ethicality and sustainability in relation to homeware. Moreover, this study explores consumer responses to other fast-homeware related areas, internet, social-media, and the housing market. In particular, the consumers who had taken part represent three different generations. This is fundamental as too much focus is given to younger generations creating problems such as fast-fashion or fast-homeware. Regardless of how the textiles industry conducted itself fifty or sixty years prior, all generations interact with its current form. All generations have a responsibility to ensure they are practicing sustainable/ethical consumerism. This study is particularly pertinent as there are no found, comparable studies in this area. Further still, there was very little literature that alluded to fast-homeware, instead the majority of academic research concentrates on fast-fashion. In turn, this potentially makes this study the first to research into the sector of fast-homeware and identifying as a current and growing issue. The research highlighted many areas of further research, amongst those were some key findings that will be briefly established here. Participants did not consume homeware in accordance with how sustainable or ethical it was, instead 'value for money' was the central theme of consumer behaviour. Furthermore, there is a gap in consumer knowledge in all generations interviewed. Whilst literature has focused on the Millennial generation consumption, it has overlooked other generational consumer behaviour and attitude. Finally, this research discusses the link between fast-homeware and social media influence, finding an inherent connection through both their target demographics. Short term beneficiaries of this research include be other academics who wish to research into an untapped, unexplored, and current field. In the long term, benefits of this research extend to consumers of homeware and the environmental state of the planet.


Ti-29Nb-13Zr-2Cr, Ti-29Nb-15Zr-1.5Fe, Ti-29Nb-10Zr-0.5Si, Ti-29Nb-10Zr-0.5Cr-0.5Fe and Ti-29Nb-18Zr-2Cr-0.5Si were newly designed for dental applications. These alloys were designed based on Ti-29Nb-13Ta-4.6Zr (TNTZ), replacing relatively high melting point element, Ta, with beta stabilizing elements such as Cr, Fe and Si, which would lower the melting point of the alloy. Their melting points, mechanical properties, and cytotoxicity were investigated in this study. The following results were obtained. Melting points of designed alloys decrease about 50 to 370 K as compared with that of TNTZ, and Ti-29Nb-13Zr-2Cr has the lowest melting point around 2050 K. Vickers hardness of the surface of each designed alloy cast into modified magnesia based investment material is in the range of 400HV to 500HV, which is lower than that of TNTZ (around 560HV). Balances of the strength and the ductility of Ti-29Nb-13Zr-2Cr, Ti-29Nb-15Zr-1.5Fe and Ti-29Nb-10Zr-0.5Cr-0.5Fe are nearly equal to those of TNTZ. Cell viability of each designed alloy is excellent.


The landscape of the population in the United States is diversifying, as are the individu‐ als who have a diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder. Autism spectrum disorder now affects one of out every 68 children. Although the diagnostic criteria do not differ, there are differences in time of diagnosis, treatment and acceptability of the diagnosis in vari‐ ous cultures, which is important for clinicians to understand. One approach to autism intervention is applied behavior analysis (ABA), which seeks to intervene on socially significant behavior. In addition, to using an approach such as ABA, which emphasis social significance, individuals may also use a cultural broker. The cultural broker can help to bridge the gap between parties and promote more effective treatment experience and thus help to ensure a more culturally sensitive approach to intervention.


There is a strong demand for an input switch in switched-capacitor circuits, covering rail-to-rail signal swing when low power-supply voltages are used. This brief proposes a novel clock-boosting scheme. The generated clock voltages of this new circuit are applied to a regular CMOS transmission gate to implement a simple and robust sampling switch when the supply voltages are very low. In this new approach, during the sampling phase, the gate-voltage of an nMOS switch is boosted up to V/sub dd/+k/spl middot/V/sub dd/, and the gate voltage of a pMOS switch is lowered to V/sub gnd/-k/spl middot/V/sub dd/, where k can be made programmable, and is usually smaller than 1. This allows sampling of the full signal swing, even when supply voltages are lower than |V/sub th/,p|+V/sub th/,n without applying extreme stress to the gate oxide of a transistor.