At the river catchments, different strategies at the whole or different parts of the basin can be applied for water resources management. One of these strategies is optimal water allocation and crop pattern. In this study, an optimization model for water allocation and cropping pattern is presented based on the cooperative game theory. To measure the performance of the developed model, the cultivated area of Ordibehesht Canal in the Doroodzan irrigation network has been studied. First, using a fuzzy model and considering the fuzzy coefficients values in the objective function and constraints, the optimal crop pattern and allocated water has been determined for each crop. Second, benefits of stakeholder's coalitions have been determined by developing a cooperative game model and based on the structure and properties of the irrigation water distribution network and water rights of each part. Then, the total net benefit has been reallocated to the different stakeholder in a rational and equitable way using Least Core games. The results show that by allocating more water to the sectors with more potential production, more profits are generated and water productivity increases. For example when players cooperate together and form the grand coalition, the net benefit increases from 8.906 billion Tomans to 9.724 billion Tomans that show an increase in the economic productivity of water.


Digitisation of signals at RF imposes severe noise and linearity constraints. Furthermore, the drive towards integration with deep submicron CMOS process aggravates the difficulties in high frequency mixed signal circuit design. This paper first summarises the challenges in system and circuit facing GHz IF complex sampling. It then proposes a charge sampling receiver architecture which combines MEMS filter and complex FIR sampling filter in order to achieve high IF digitization suitable for multi-standard cellular applications. The architecture is validated through system behavioural models emulating deep submicron MOS characteristics. It can be shown that with existing MEMS filter technology and advanced standard CMOS process, it is possible to realise a reconfigurable high IF SDR receiver. A circuit version of integrated MEMS filter and sampling filter in CMOS is in the works to validate the proposed system.


During the entire life cycle of a vehicle, from design, manufacture, usage to final recovery, there exist very complex materials, energy and information flow as well as the interactions among different stages. To better understand this closed loop, it's important and significant to model the whole loop from a system engineering point of view. This work proposed a unified modeling method based on enhanced IDEF0. By taking materials flow, information flow, energy flow as well as the interactions among processes into account, a holistic hierarchical model for the entire life cycle of vehicles was established in this work, which helps to provide a novel way of understanding the recovery infrastructure, identifying the key issues to be tackled, and further finding the opportunities to improve it.


The authors propose new wavelength-insensitive directional couplers (WINCs) with series-tapered waveguides in the coupling region. The wavelength-insensitive characteristics are investigated with respect to the geometric symmetry of the series-tapered coupling structure. An approximate analysis of three types of WINC is made using simple transmission matrix multiplication. These new WINC's were fabricated based on silica-based planar lightwave circuits (PLCs) on silicon substrates. The experimental results for the wavelength-insensitive responses of the series-tapered coupler, which was designed in detail with the beam propagation method (BPM), are in good agreement with the calculated results. The novel wavelength-insensitive characteristics of these couplers are also demonstrated for the first time. >


The erosion resistance of cohesive soils is defined by a comparison of shear strength tests with field observations under specific flow conditions. Samples are obtained by pushing 1.9 in.-by-4 in., thin-walled tubes into undisturbed soils along channel boundaries. Coefficients of permeability are obtained. While still saturated, unconfined compression strength tests are made. Field observations and tests showed that the degree of erosion resistance and shear strength are positively related. Dry density, plasticity index, and percentage of soil finer than 5 microns show a moderate to high correlation with shear strength, individually and in multiple regression analysis, but fail to explain a majority of the variations. Permeability is better related with the coefficient of correlation r = -0.78. This variable also reflects the condition that slowly permeable cohesive soils that lose strength by saturation are better able to resist erosion from long duration flows. Shear stresses are symbolized by the product of channel slope, hydraulic radius, specific weight of water, and average velocity, and termed tractive power. This product and the unconfined compressive strength are used to define the boundary between channels that are observed to be stable or eroding.


Background
In-bed, supine cycle ergometry as a part of early rehabilitation in the intensive care unit (ICU) appears to be safe, feasible, and beneficial, but no standardized protocol exists. A standardized protocol may help guide use of cycle ergometry in the ICU.

Objective
This study investigated whether a standardized protocol for in-bed cycling is safe and feasible, results in cycling for a longer duration, and achieves a higher resistance.

Design
A quality improvement (QI) project was conducted.

Methods
A 35-minute in-bed cycling protocol was implemented in a single medical intensive care unit (MICU) over a 7-month quality improvement (QI) period compared to pre-existing, prospectively collected data from an 18-month pre-QI period.

Results
One hundred and six MICU patients received 260 cycling sessions in the QI period vs. 178 MICU patients receiving 498 sessions in the pre-QI period. The protocol was used in 249 (96%) of cycling sessions. The QI group cycled for longer median (IQR) duration (35 [25-35] vs. 25 [18-30] minutes, P < .001) and more frequently achieved a resistance level greater than gear 0 (47% vs. 17% of sessions, P < .001). There were 4 (1.5%) transient physiologic abnormalities during the QI period, and 1 (0.2%) during the pre-QI period ( P = .031).

Limitations
Patient outcomes were not evaluated to understand if the protocol has clinical benefits.

Conclusions
Use of a protocolized approach for in-bed cycling appears safe and feasible, results in cycling for longer duration, and achieved higher resistance.


The vertebral column consists of repeating units of ossified vertebrae that are adjoined by fibrocartilagenous intervertebral discs. These structures form from the embryonic notochord and somitic mesoderm. In humans, congenital malformations of the vertebral column include scoliosis, kyphosis, spina bifida, and Klippel Feil syndrome. In adulthood, a common malady affecting the vertebral column includes disc degeneration and associated back pain. Indeed, recent reports estimate that low back pain is the number one cause of disability worldwide. Our review provides an overview of the molecular mechanisms underlying vertebral column morphogenesis and intervertebral disc development and maintenance, with an emphasis on what has been gleaned from recent genetic studies in mice. The aim of this review is to provide a developmental framework through which vertebral column formation can be understood so that ultimately, research scientists and clinicians alike can restore disc health with appropriately designed gene and cell‐based therapies. WIREs Dev Biol 2017, 6:e283. doi: 10.1002/wdev.283


Stop thinking that the universe is best described by Boolean order operations, consider the world of biocomputing. The idea in exploring the multidimensional characteristics of biocomputing systems involves multilevel protein logic interaction with hybrid digital systems (bio/digital/analog systems). In the protein biocomputing world, all models are multilevel and nonlinear exponential in nature. These biocomputing systems are linearized by boundary limited frequency, time response and dimensional ranges. The protein model and its correct development is probably the most difficult aspect for biocomputing issues. Previous protein models were not dealing with 2 and 3 dimensional models, while the current protein models are now faced with high frequency design, due to the emergence of bio-nanodevices. These future biocomputing devices will be chemical sensors, fluidic computer systems, optical switches, nanoactuators, self-repairing polymorphic computing systems, cognitive processors and biorobotics


Data mining has become an important and active area of research because of theoretical challenges and practical applications associated with the problem of discovering interesting and previously unknown knowledge from very large real world database. These databases contain potential gold mine of valuable information, but it is beyond human ability to analyze massive amount of data and elicit meaningful patterns by using conventional techniques. In this study, DNA sequence was analyzed to locate promoter which is a regulatory region of DNA located upstream of a gene, providing a control point for regulated gene transcription. In this study, some supervised learning algorithms such as artificial neural network (ANN), RULES-3 and newly developed keREM-IREM rule induction algorithms were used to analyse to DNA sequence. In the experiments different option of keREM, RULES-3 and ANN were used, and according to the empirical comparisons, the algorithms appeared to be comparable to well-known algorithms in terms of the accuracy of the extracted rule in classifying unseen data.


Little is known of the actualities or possibilities of corporate social reporting in Thailand. This study aims to move towards an appreciation of this neglected but important area. This survey focuses on the annual reports of Thai companies, and thereby contributes to a tradition of related prior empirical work upon corporate social accounting practices which has to date largely focused upon English‐speaking and Western contexts. Its concern is to gain insights into and to critically appraise various dimensions of these annual reports, so as to construct a critique of corporate social disclosure in Thailand. Pursuing a critical perspective sensitive to the context of Thailand, it is concluded that the various aspects of the Thai accounting disclosure that are analysed are disabling, and more generally that the Thai practices explored fall short of their potential to function as enabling communication.


Intelligent behavior depends on the brain's ability to anticipate future events. However, the learning rules that enable neurons to predict and fire ahead of sensory inputs remain largely unknown. We propose a plasticity rule based on predictive processing, where the neuron learns a low-rank model of the synaptic input dynamics in its membrane potential. Neurons thereby amplifies those synapses that maximally predict other synaptic inputs based on their temporal relations, which provides a solution to an optimization problem that can be implemented at the single-neuron level using only local information. Consequently, neurons learn sequences over long timescales and shift their spikes towards the first inputs in a sequence. We show that this mechanism can explain the development of anticipatory motion signaling and recall in the visual system. Furthermore, we demonstrate that the learning rule gives rise to several experimentally observed STDP (spike-timing-dependent plasticity) mechanisms. These findings suggest prediction as a guiding principle to orchestrate learning and synaptic plasticity in single neurons.


An abstract operator theory is developed on operators of the form AH(t) := eitHAe-itH, t ∈ ℝ, with H a self-adjoint operator and A a linear operator on a Hilbert space (in the context of quantum mechanics, AH(t) is called the Heisenberg operator of A with respect to H). The following aspects are discussed: (i) integral equations for AH(t) for a general class of A; (ii) a sufficient condition for D(A), the domain of A, to be left invariant by e-itH for all t ∈ ℝ; (iii) a mathematically rigorous formulation of the Heisenberg equation of motion in quantum mechanics and the uniqueness of its solutions; (iv) invariant domains in the case where H is an abstract version of Schrodinger and Dirac operators; (v) applications to Schrodinger operators with matrix-valued potentials and Dirac operators.


RATIONALE Remote spirometry measures performed by means of handheld spirometers connected to smartphone applications have gained increased attention as a convenient data collection technique for patients. Additionally, this method provides more frequent data than clinical visits and allows researchers to control for data variability (diurnal variation, seasonal/environmental changes) by increasing statistical degrees of freedom. Moreover, remote and clinic spirometry data was shown to be comparable in patients with asthma and COPD. The need for remote assessments became more acute during the COVID-19 pandemic when healthcare professionals were urged to keep clinic visits to an absolute minimum to minimize the risk of infection to patients. However, a concern about remote spirometry modality is related to patient compliance remains valid: will patients perform spirometry maneuvers remotely while unsupervised? METHODS We analyzed remote spirometry compliance data from 2 clinical trials of patients with mild to moderate asthma conducted in the US and 1 in the UK. The former were single centers studies of 28-day duration and recruited 32 subjects. The latter was a multicenter study which recruited 39 subjects for 5-6 months;however only the first 28-day treatment data was analyzed to match the timeframe of the other studies. The study subjects received both experimental and standard of care treatments. All study subjects were instructed to perform pulmonary function tests at home twice daily, received a handheld spirometer, a dedicated smart phone along with training how to perform spirometry maneuvers remotely. All studies deployed mobile spirometer devices that synchronize with the smartphone application. Patients were asked to contribute spirometry data at predefined time windows (morning and evening). Compliance rates were calculated as a percentage of pulmonary function tests comprising a minimum of 2 complete maneuvers twice daily versus twice days on study. RESULTS The twice daily data compliance across three studies was 88.9%, the compliance for performing spirometry maneuvers within the specified time windows was 85% and compliance for no missing day during the study period was 83%. Additionally, we analyzed the number of compliant subjects over time across all studies: the number of compliant subjects did not decline over the period of 28 days. Moreover, the compliance analysis stratified by the time of the day and weekday/weekend demonstrated no difference in compliance. CONCLUSIONS Our results demonstrate good compliance for remote spirometry data collection for 28-day period indicating that remote spirometry data collection is feasible in the multi-center clinical trials recruiting asthma patients. .


Understanding whether metabolic factors are predictive of weight gain is important for developing strategies for prevention of weight gain. Recent research has shown that sleeping and resting energy expenditure are not predictive of weight gain. However, exercise endurance, muscular strength, (31)P MRS muscle metabolic economy, and maximum oxygen uptake are independently related to weight gain. Activity-related energy expenditure and the time spent in physical activity are also related to weight gain, with low physical activity explaining approximately 77% of weight gain at 1 year. In addition, weight maintainers spend 80 minutes per day, whereas weight gainers spend less than 20 minutes per day in physical activity equivalent to an intensity of about 4 METS. It is proposed that strength, aerobic fitness, and physical activity are important factors for reducing the rate of weight gain. Although further research is required, these results are suggestive that weight maintenance programs will be more successful if some relatively high-intensity training is included to complement large amounts of low to moderate intense physical activity.


Author(s): Brown-Heft, Tobias Levi | Advisor(s): Palmstrom, Chris J | Abstract: Commercially viable spintronic devices require magnetic contacts with high electrical conductivity, high spin polarization, low Gilbert damping, and perpendicular magnetic anisotropy. The contact must also be amenable to thin film growth techniques to allow device scalability. Until now, this combination of properties had yet to be obtained in a single material. The exquisite control over crystal growth conditions and elemental composition imparted by molecular beam epitaxy can be leveraged to tune magnetic and electronic material properties closer to the ideal set desired by device researchers.Ferromagnetic metals composed of elements with low atomic weight are commonly used for spintronics, but the industry standard CoFeB does not possess high spin polarization, and its perpendicular magnetic anisotropy depends on film thickness, limiting its versatility. On the other hand, Heusler compounds are a class of over 1000 ternary intermetallic materials with highly variable magnetic and electronic properties. The Heusler compound Co2MnSi is well known as a half-metal with 100% spin polarization at the Fermi level, making it an ideal source of spin-polarized current. However, Co2MnSi does not possess perpendicular magnetic anisotropy. In this work, the magnetic anisotropy of Heusler compounds is engineered by breaking their cubic crystal symmetry. This can be accomplished by growing tetragonal crystal structures with the unique axis aligned out-of-plane, or by engineering superlattices composed of alternating layers of dissimilar Heusler compounds. In both cases, the resulting perpendicular magnetic anisotropy does not depend on film thickness, making the materials attractive for a broad range of spintronic device applications. Additionally, the Heusler compound superlattices studied here are composed of Co2MnAl and Fe2MnAl, which combine their electronic structures to produce 95% spin polarization as measured by spin-resolved photoemission spectroscopy. This combines two important magnetic properties never before seen in a single material system. The growth, structural, electronic and magnetic properties of the engineered films will be presented.Finally, Co2TiGe is explored as a candidate of an exotic class of topological materials known as Weyl semimetals. These systems possess a unique band structure that arises due to broken time-reversal symmetry resulting from the internal magnetization. Electrons with energy and momentum near so-called Weyl points have zero effective mass and a discrete chiral charge, making them analogous to the elusive Weyl fermion. The signatures of Weyl semimetallicity in Co2TiGe are probed using magnetotransport and synchrotron-based angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy.


Ten allogeneic bone marrow transplant (BMT) recipients with hepatic venoocclusive disease (VOD) were treated with recombinant human tissue plasminogen activator (rt-PA). Two of them subsequently underwent orthotopic liver transplantation (OLT). One additional patient with VOD underwent OLT without prior rt-PA treatment. Treatment with rt-PA was started a median of 14 (1--35) days after BMT. The dose of rt-PA given to adults was 10-50 mg i.v. and that given to children was 3-10 mg i.v. Treatment was given for 2-4 days. In three patients, the dose was administered over a longer period or it was repeated. Four patients responded to rt-PA therapy and six did not. Eight patients suffered from hemorrhages, one intracranial and three gastrointestinal. Four patients required blood transfusions. Four had minor subcutaneous hemorrhages and/or epistaxis. One patient died of intracranial hemorrhage and five from hepatic and/or multiorgan failure. Two patients treated with rt-PA, 10 mg/day for 4 days, are alive; one is alive and well 3 months after BMT, the other has relapsed after 7 months. The three patients undergoing OLT died of chronic hepatic failure, cerebral edema, and pneumonia. Our experience suggests that rt-PA should not be administered in high doses and that the treatment should not be given over a longer period, because of the risk of severe hemorrhages.


: In spite of enormous taxonomic, structural and functional diversity of plant-microbe interactions, they are characterized by a historical succession which allows us to consider different forms of symbioses as the components of an evolutionary continuum. Their ancestral form is represented by arbuscular mycorrhiza (AM) which originated at the outset of terrestrial flora evolution and constituted a key factor for the land colonization by plants. In the course of AM evolution the plant acquired a basal set of genes for regulating the performance of microbes which colonize the root tissues. Later, these genes were repeatedly reorganized to meet the involvement of novel mutualistic symbionts (N2-fixing bacteria, ectomycorrhizal fungi, endophytes and epiphytes) and pathogens into the symbiotic interactions. Form the microbial side, the evolutionary succession of mutualism and antagonism is restricted to the defensive symbioses formed by plants with the ergot fungi, Clavibacter, Bacillus and Pseudomonas bacteria. Involvement of the similar systems for symbiotic interactions may be related to convergent evolution in the distant microorganisms (adaptation to the conservative host defense/regulatory factors), to molecular mimicry (imitation of the mechanisms of interaction used by the more ancient symbionts) or to the horizontal gene transfer. The hypotheses of the successive substitution of symbionts is suggested to address the relationships between AM and N2-fixing nodular symbioses in dicotyledons plants. AM formation is considered as a source of preadaptations responsible for the substitution of glomalean fungi which occupied the plant symbiotic compartments by the actinomycetes Frankia (in Rosid I plants) which were exchanged for the more competitive root nodule bacteria (in legumes). The development of nutritional symbioses with microbes is considered as an ancestral function of plant roots which were later supplemented or substituted with the function of assimilating the soil nutrients.


The appropriate justification for using a diagnostic or therapeutic intervention is that it provides benefit to patients, society, or both. For decades, indwelling arterial catheters have been used very commonly in patients in the ICU, despite a complete absence of data addressing whether they confer any such benefits. Both of the main uses of arterial catheters, BP monitoring and blood sampling for laboratory testing, can be done without these invasive devices. Prominent among complications of arterial catheters are bloodstream infections and arterial thrombosis. To my knowledge, only a single observational study has assessed a patient-centered outcome related to arterial catheter use, and it found no evidence that they reduce hospital mortality in any patient subgroup. Given the potential dangers, widespread use, and uncertainty about consequences of arterial catheter use in ICUs, equipoise exists and randomized trials are needed. Multiple studies in different, well-characterized, patient subgroups are needed to clarify whether arterial catheters influence outcomes. These studies should assess the range of relevant outcomes, including mortality, medical resource use, patient comfort, complications, and costs.


Orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) has been recently established for several systems such as HiperLAN/2 and Digital video/audio broadcasting, due the easy implementation of the modulator/demodulator and the equalizer. Moreover, also increasing interest is currently being put on multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) channels, based on the use of antenna arrays at both the transmitter and the receiver. Here, we propose two joint beamforming strategies of low computational load for systems combining OFDM and MIMO. The ultimate objective is the maximization of the signal-to-noise and interference ratio (SNIR) over the carriers subject to a total transmit power constraint. Specifically, the maximization of the harmonic SNIR mean and the minimum SNIR over the subcarriers are proposed. The asymptotic behavior of the proposed methods is analyzed to provide a complete comparative and general view of the most relevant and already known transmit power allocation strategies. Finally, a theoretical analysis of the performance degradation of these techniques is carried out for the case in which the channel state information (CSI) is not perfect. Monte Carlo simulation results for the system bit-error rate and performance degradation with imperfect CSI are provided.


The effect of nicotine and tobacco consumption on brain acetyl cholinesterase and serum alkaline phosphatase in rats was studied.

Rats were divided into three groups and the first group was fed rat chow and water ad libitum and an oral administration of 2ml of 0.1%(v/v) nicotine per 100g body weight of rats per day. The second group of rats was fed 0.5% (w/w) tobacco rat chow with water and while the third group was fed rat chow with water ad libitum for 30 days.

The rats were sacrificed by decapitation after starving them overnight, blood was collected by cardiac puncture and their brains were quickly excised. The specific activities of the brain AChE and serum alkaline phosphatase were determined.

Results of the study showed that the specific activity of brain AChE in the nicotine - fed rats and in tobacco - fed rats were significantly higher than in the control. Data indicate that nicotine and tobacco consumption may have excitatory effect on brain AChE activity and serum alkaline phosphatase. However, nicotine consumption produced a more pronounced excitatory effect that in tobacco when fed to rats. Our findings suggest that nicotine and tobacco consumption affect the regulation of brain functions medicated by the cholinergic neurotransmission. Nigerian Quarterly Journal of Hospital Medicine Vol. 9, No. 2 (June 1999) pp. 153-157


We constructed eight new cut sets of lattice interval value Fuzzy sets and a new operation between lattice interval and cut sets of lattice interval value Fuzzy set. We also established two decomposition theorems and two representation theorems of the new lattice interval value Fuzzy sets.


A naturalistic sample of N = 17 trainee therapists treating N = 30 patients in a psychodynamic doctoral training program was evaluated from a discovery-oriented perspective, inspired by the task analytic work of Jeremy D. Safran. A number of research results support the efficacy of integrative treatments, such as Safran's metatherapeutic approach to working with patient–therapist intersubjective experience (Safran & Muran, 2000), highlighting therapist responsiveness to patient needs rather than strict adherence to manualized protocols as predictors of overall outcome (e.g., Katz et al., 2019; Owen & Hilsenroth, 2014). This study of early treatment sessions tested competing hypotheses that the trainee therapists would either demonstrate therapeutic processes consistent with the program's psychodynamic training model or evidence of the "smuggling hypothesis" (Ablon & Jones, 1998), a psychodynamic therapist's tendency to borrow prototypical cognitive–behavioral processes and interventions found in a naturalistic sample of experienced self-identified psychodynamic clinicians (Ablon, Levy, & Katzenstein, 2006). Results using the Psychotherapy Process Q-Set (Jones, 2000) suggested that treatment-as-usual for the sample of trainees was more consistent with a cognitive–behavioral therapy ideal prototype, supporting the latter prediction. Trainee therapists also demonstrated the ability to help their patients reduce self-reported symptoms within the first 3 months of psychotherapy and alliance significantly predicated reliable change, consistent with the broader psychotherapy research literature. Implications of the findings for psychotherapy training are discussed.


In this talk, we will discuss the data pipeline at Twitter that collects, aggregates and processes large volumes of data in real time and also how it fits in the broader data infrastructure ecosystem. We will also discuss challenges we have faced and lessons we have learned while building this infrastructure at Twitter.


The "tailed" molecules of Electrophorus (electric eel) acetylcholinesterase aggregate under conditions of low ionic strength. These aggregates have been studied by sedimentation analysis and high- resolution electron microscopy. They consist of bundles of at least half a dozen molecules, the tails of which are packed side by side, to form the core of the structure. Although aggregation is normally fully reversible, aggregates were irreversibly stabilized by methylene blue- sensitized photo-oxidation. This process was shown to consist of a singlet oxygen oxidation reaction and probably involves methionine or histidine residues. It did not modify the structural or hydrodynamic characteristics of the aggregates.


Background Obesity and diabetes mellitus are associated with an increased risk of pancreatic cancer. These associations may be secondary to consequences of peripheral insulin resistance, pancreatic β-cell dysfunction, or hyperglycemia itself. Hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) is a measure of hyperglycemia, whereas plasma insulin and proinsulin are markers of peripheral insulin resistance, and the proinsulin to insulin ratio marks pancreatic β-cell dysfunction. Methods This was a prospective, nested case-control study of 449 case patients and 982 control subjects with prediagnostic blood samples and no diabetes history from five prospective US cohorts followed through 2008. Two or three control subjects were matched to each case patient by year of birth, cohort, smoking, and fasting status. Pancreatic cancer risk was assessed by prediagnostic HbA1c, insulin, proinsulin, and proinsulin to insulin ratio with multivariable-adjusted logistic regression. All P values were two-sided. Results The highest vs lowest quintiles of HbA1c, insulin, and proinsulin were associated with with an increased risk for pancreatic cancer (odds ratio [OR] = 1.79; 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.17 to 2.72, Ptrend = .04 for HbA1c; OR = 1.57; 95% CI = 1.08 to 2.30; Ptrend = .002 for insulin; and OR = 2.22; 95% CI = 1.50 to 3.29; Ptrend .29). In cancers developing 10 or more years after blood collection, the associations with insulin and proinsulin became stronger (highest vs lowest quintile, OR = 2.77; 95% CI = 1.28 to 5.99 for insulin and OR = 3.60; 95% CI = 1.68 to 7.72 for proinsulin). In mutually adjusted models including HbA1c, insulin, and proinsulin, only proinsulin remained statistically significant ( highest vs lowest quintile, OR = 2.55; 95% CI = 1.54 to 4.21; Ptrend < .001). Conclusions Among participants from five large prospective cohorts, circulating markers of peripheral insulin resistance, rather than hyperglycemia or pancreatic β-cell dysfunction, were independently associated with pancreatic cancer risk.


Introduction. In almost all diseases of the gastrointestinal tract, the inflammatory process plays an important pathogenetic role and affects the course of the disease and the determination of treatment tactics. The most physiological way to prevent and treat inflammatory diseases of the gastrointestinal tract, of course, is dietary nutrition. Purpose: To study the anti- inflammatory effect of a specialized product specialized therapeutic and dietary prophylaxis nutrition «Vegetable soup with oatmeal herbs» based on a study of clinical and laboratory parameters and dynamics of inflammatory mark-ers. Materials and methods. group the comparison group were 14 and 10 patients with gastrointestinal diseases, respectively. Only patients of the main group received a specialized product «Vegetable Soup with herbs and oatmeal». All participants were assessed the dynamics of clinical blood analysis indicators (hemoglobin, white blood cells, red blood cells, leukocyte formula indicators) and the dynamics of proteinogram indicators (total protein and protein fractions-albumins and globulins) and C-reactive protein (CRP). Results. The anti-inflammatory effect after administration of the specialized product occurs in 14 days and is expressed in a reliable reduction of leukocytosis, blood sedimentation rate (BSR), CRP. After 2 months after the start of the product intake, the BSR values decreased significantly by 35%, the CRP by 51% from the baseline and the leukocyte content decreased by 14.5%. Against the background of a dietotherapy in 14 days levels α 1-глобулина, α 2-глобулина and γ -globulin began to decrease, and in 2 months level α 1-globulins decreased by 40% of initial level to the reference values. The level of α 2-globulins and γ -globulin also decreased significantly, while the albumin concentration in the blood increased significantly. In the comparison group, changes in these parameters did not reach a reliable degree of significance. Conclusions: the specialized product «Vegetable Soup with herbs and oatmeal» has an anti-inflammatory effect, characterized by a decrease in anti-inflammatory laboratory parameters, which manifests itself after 14 days of administration, can be recom-mended for inclusion in the diets of patients with gastrointestinal diseases during exacerbation and during remissions as well.


The advent of hydraulic fracturing lead to a dramatic increase in US oil production. Due to regulatory, shipping and processing constraints, this sudden surge in domestic drilling caused an unprecedented divergence in crude acquisition costs across US refineries. We take advantage of this exogenous shock to input costs to study the nature of competition and the incidence of cost changes in this important industry. We begin by estimating the extent to which US refining's divergence from global crude markets was passed on to consumers. Using rich microdata, we are able to decompose the effects of firm-specific, market-specific and industry-wide cost shocks on refined product prices. We show that this distinction has important economic and econometric significance, and discuss the implications for prospective policy which would put a price on carbon emissions. The implications of these results for perennial questions about competition in the refining industry are also discussed.


The VLSI design of a single-chip CCD Signal Processor (CCDSP) for digital still cameras (DSC) is presented. The image information captured from a 4lOk-pixel color CCD can be separated into luminance and chrominance parts and then processed. Many signal processing functions such as: the digital gamma correction, the edge enhancement, the color correction, the fadekontrast control and the false color suppression are included. In addition, the CCDSP can also support the analog NTSC TV output and the digital CCIR601 video output to allow the image be viewed through TV monitor and stored in a memory card.


ABSTRACT The concentration of heavy-minerals by storm wave erosion of dune/beach ridges and of light minerals from wind-winnowing the beach surface were observed on the beach of Sapelo Island, Georgia from fall 1971 through the spring of 1973. The observations support earlier proposals of others that such processes are largely responsible for extensive heavy-mineral concentrations found on both modern and ancient strandlines throughout the world. In addition serial observations along with sample data indicate that the period of most efficient heavy-mineral concentration on the Sapelo Island beach occurs during moderate surf energy levels attending storm wane. High velocity eolian winnowing during low tide periods is all important complementary effect. The processes of heavy-mineral concentration in the backshore of Sapelo Island during the recent cycle of shoreline retrogradation may be related to those affective in the development of some southeast U.S. heavy-mineral ore-bodies. Similarities include evidence of a predominantly progradational barrier construction with cyclic periods of retrogradation.


Modern immersive virtual reality (IVR) often uses embodied controllers for interacting with virtual objects. However, it is not clear how we should conceptualise these interactions. They could be considered either gestures, as there is no interaction with a physical object; or as actions, given that there is object manipulation, even if it is virtual. This distinction is important, as literature has shown that in the physical world, action-enabled and gesture-enabled learning produce distinct cognitive outcomes. This study attempts to understand whether sensorimotor-embodied interactions with objects in IVR can cognitively be considered as actions or gestures. It does this by comparing verb-learning outcomes between two conditions: (1) where participants move the controllers without touching virtual objects (gesture condition); and (2) where participants move the controllers and manipulate virtual objects (action condition). We found that (1) users can have cognitively distinct outcomes in IVR based on whether the interactions are actions or gestures, with actions providing stronger memorisation outcomes; and (2) embodied controller actions in IVR behave more similarly to physical world actions in terms of verb memorization benefits.


This article discusses the relationship between equal protection jurisprudence and environmental justice in the United States, particularly in relation to environmental decision-making on the siting of frequently unwelcome environmental amenities such as hazardous waste disposal sites. The article explores the current mismatch between equal protection jurisprudence and recent discoveries in the behavioural sciences about the nature of human decision-making and the origins of racial and economic bias. It discusses the extent to which these discoveries should and could be incorporated into decision-making related to environmental burdens and the changes that will be necessary to make United States jurisprudence in this area compliant with international norms on human rights as far as discrimination and environmental protection are concerned.


The World Wide Web is still a new technology. In higher internationalization sectors, firms are not only expected to adopt new technologies quickly, but also do so in a simultaneous manner across countries. Nonetheless, the food industry is a lower internationalization sector, meaning that adoption of new technologies (such as the web) may be taking place at a slower pace. We check the overall hypothesis that the Greek food firms are lagging behind their counterparts in other Western countries with respect to their web presence. We investigate this hypothesis by comparing and contrasting the functionality, usability, efficiency and reliability of the web sites of 119 food and 56 beverage Greek and 98 overseas food companies. Our hypothesis is confirmed.


This paper studies whether migration policy, besides managing a country's population size, is a suitable tool to influence immigrants' labour market outcomes. To do so, it uses a migration policy change that occurred in Australia in the late 1990s and data collected by the Longitudinal Survey of Migrants to Australia. The statistical techniques employed in the empirical analysis consistently reveal that the policy change has no detectable impact on the employment rate, wages, over-education, occupational downgrading, and (self-reported) use of skills for male immigrants, who account for about 75% of the sample, while they have a modest short-term positive impact on female immigrants. These results support the view that migration policy is an ineffective policy tool to influence migrants' labour market outcomes. However, the economic relevance of making an effective use of migrants' skills provides scope for close coordination between immigration and employment policy to ensure that efforts in attracting foreign talent are not dissipated by labour market frictions and other inefficiencies.


Plant parasitic nematode infection of crops can be highly detrimental to agricultural production. Since the discovery that plant roots release chemicals that attract the infective stage of plant parasitic nematodes some 80 years ago, significant progress in identifying the signaling molecules has occurred only relatively recently. Here, we review the literature on chemical ecological studies of two major plant parasitic nematode groups: root knot nematodes in the genus Meloidogyne and cyst nematodes in the genus Globodera because of the negative impact their parasitism has on farming systems in Africa. We then highlight perspectives for future directions for their management.


Saving, the fraction of national income that is not spent on current consumption, has long been widely regarded as a key factor in economic growth.' The saving rate along with the incremental capital-output ratio determine the growth rate of the economy in the Harrod-Domar Model framework. The critical role of saving in capital accumulation and economic development is also recognised in the "two-gap" and classical growth models. For capital accumulation to result in sustained growth, it must be supported by adequate domestic/national savings. This has been clearly demonstrated by the extra-ordinary performance of the East Asian economies. While there have been brief periods of significant inflow of external financial resources to some developing countries in the past, foreign savings cannot be expected to provide a sustainable basis for financing domestic investment. Raising national saving rate is particularly essential to developing countries with a heavy debt service burden and limited capacity to obtain loans in foreign capital markets. The 1995 Mexican crisis showed, among other things, that low domestic savings can raise the probability of sudden capital outflows, and sharpen their negative consequences. In a financially integrated world, high national/domestic savings contribute to macro economic stability which is itself a powerful growth factor. Indeed, any macro economic adjustment programmes oriented to the resumption of long-run growth invariably emphasise the need to expand domestic savings.


The use of central venous catheters (CVCs) has become fairly commonplace within both the hospital and community setting. The removal of these devices is often a task performed without much teaching and the procedure to follow is passed on from one nurse to another with little or no research on which to base actions. This article describes the potential complications associated with CVC removal and methods to prevent them. It will also give the nurse research-based procedures to follow when removing the various types of CVC. These written procedures should be used as a training guideline only. Practical training and supervision until competent is still required.


Hunger strike is a regularly reported problem in prison. Although clinical situations are rarely severe, hospitalisation is often considered. In consequence, it is not only physicians working in prisons, but also hospital medical teams who face challenges related to hunger strike, involving somatic, psychological, legal and human rights aspects. Furthermore, deontological rules must be strictly respected when delivering care, particularly in prison setting. Starvation involves metabolic changes and can cause severe, and sometimes even irreversible or fatal complications. Moreover, the phase of re-alimentation should not be trivialised, as re-feeding syndrome is a potentially fatal phenomenon. This article provides guidance for monitoring and management of patients on hunger strike.


This article explores the communicative relationship between civic organizations and young citizens as a clue to understanding the potential for youth re-engagement through digital communication. It develops a framework of two 'civic information styles' that contrasts the expectations of information in the mass media era with those emerging today, and proposes that one source of contemporary disconnect may be that many civic groups remain entrenched in a mass media information paradigm—and so fail to communicate in ways that resonate with young people. Existing literature suggests that recently created, online organizations will be most likely to embrace a newer, more youth-friendly communication style; those organizations working within the formal political realm may be most reticent. A study of 60 organizations' communications through Facebook mainly confirms these expectations, but low levels of youth-friendly communications across the sample raise doubts about the likelihood of a civil society resurgence through social media.


A combination of synchrotron radiation (SR) micro X-ray fluorescence (μ-XRF) and XRF mode X-ray absorption near edge structure (XANES) measurements at the Cr K-edge already allowed us to establish that the photo-reduction of chromates to Cr(III) compounds is the cause of darkening of chrome yellow pigments (PbCr1−xSxO4, 0 ≤ x ≤ 0.8) in a number of paintings by Vincent van Gogh and in corresponding artificially aged paint models. A silicon drift detector (SDD) was employed to record the Cr-K XRF radiation in these X-ray micro beam-based measurements. However, in view of the limited count rate capabilities and collection solid angle of a single device, μ-XRF and μ-XANES employing single element SDDs (or similar) are primarily suited for collection of spectral data from individual points. Additionally, collection of XRF maps via point-by-point scanning with relatively long dwell times per point is possible but is usually confined to small areas. The development of the 384 silicon-diode array Maia XRF detector has provided valuable solutions in terms of data acquisition rate, allowing for full spectral (FS) XANES imaging in XRF mode, i.e., where spectroscopic information is available at each pixel in the scanned map. In this paper, the possibilities of SR Cr K-edge FS-XANES imaging in XRF mode using the Maia detector are examined as a new data collection strategy to study the speciation and distribution of alteration products of lead chromate-based pigments in painting materials. The results collected from two micro-samples taken from two Van Gogh paintings and an aged paint model show the possibility to perform FS-XANES imaging in practical time frames (from several minutes to a few hours) by scanning regions of sample sizes of the same order (more than 500 μm). The sensitivity and capabilities of FS-XANES imaging in providing representative chemical speciation information at the microscale (spatial resolution from ∼2 to 0.6 μm) over the entire scanned area are demonstrated by the identification of Cr(OH)3, Cr(III) sulfates and/or Cr(III) organometallic compounds in the corresponding phase maps, as alteration products. Comparable Cr-speciation results were obtained by performing equivalent higher spatial resolution SR μ-XRF/single-point μ-XANES analysis using a more conventional SDD from smaller regions of interest of each sample. Thus, large-area XRF mode FS-XANES imaging (Maia detector) is here proposed as a valuable and complementary data collection strategy in relation to "zoomed-in" high-resolution μ-XRF mapping and single-point μ-XANES analysis (SDD).


This dissertation examines significant events in the process of state formation in Namibia and provides an insight into the role played by various actors involved in shaping the evolution of Namibia as a state, such as the Namibians, their liberation movement SWAPO, successive colonizing powers (Germany and South Africa), OAU, the Frontline States, the international community, and particularly the United Nations. It is argued that the international actors' role in the process of state formation in Namibia was driven by their desire to ensure their continued influence in Namibia for their own benefit. Self-interest of the West in Namibia was driven by the geopolitical imperatives of the cold war, and preserving western economic interests. In Namibia, which was a settler colony, self-interest also gained a racial dimension as the West sought to protect the interests of white settlers. The case is made that impetus to resolve the Namibian question had to await a number of streams coming together - the disintegration of the Soviet Union changed the complexion of geopolitics; deeper involvement of the Cubans in Angola threatened South Africa; Constitutional Principles put forward by the Western Five (U.S.A., the United Kingdom, Germany, Canada, and France) ensured continued protection of the economic interests of the West and the protection of the interests of the settlers; and success of Namibians' struggle at the international fora and on the battlefield catalyzed the coming together of various streams. This constellation of events ensured Namibia's independence in 1990. The study also examines how Namibians sought to build a reconciled society out of ethnically and racially stratified, diverse and often antagonistic groups. This process was begun with the drafting of the constitution by the Constituent Assembly. The first government's initiatives to promote democracy and a policy of reconciliation, to improve the life condition of the previously disadvantaged groups through affirmative action, to encourage good governance, to promote a culture of human rights, and to build state institutions to support these policies have also been examined with a view to determining the nature of the state that evolved in Namibia. Finally, the study carries out a democratic audit of Namibia using Swedish normative tools.


Learning a generalizable and comprehensive similarity metric to depict the semantic discrepancies between images is the foundation of many computer vision tasks. While existing methods approach this goal by learning an ensemble of embeddings with diverse objectives, the backbone network still receives a mix of all the training signals. Differently, we propose a deep factorized metric learning (DFML) method to factorize the training signal and employ different samples to train various components of the backbone network. We factorize the network to different sub-blocks and devise a learnable router to adaptively allocate the training samples to each sub-block with the objective to capture the most information. The metric model trained by DFML capture different characteristics with different sub-blocks and constitutes a generalizable metric when using all the sub-blocks. The proposed DFML achieves state-of-the-art performance on all three benchmarks for deep metric learning including CUB-200-20ll, Cars196, and Stanford Online Products. We also generalize DFML to the image classification task on ImageNet-1K and observe consistent improvement in accuracy/computation trade-off. Specifically, we improve the performance of ViT-B on ImageNet (+0.2% accuracy) with less computation load (-24% FLOPs).11Code is available at: https://github.com/wangck20/DFML.


Nonorthogonal multiple access (NOMA) is a promising technique which outperforms the traditional multiple access schemes in many aspects. It uses superposition coding (SC) to share the available resources among the users and adopts successive interference cancelation (SIC) for multiuser detection (MUD). Detection is performed in power domain where fairness can be supported through appropriate power allocation. Since power domain NOMA utilizes SC at the transmitter and SIC at the receiver, users cannot achieve equal rates and experience higher interference. In this paper, a novel NOMA scheme is proposed for multinumerology orthogonal frequency division multiplexing system, that is, different subcarrier spacings. The scheme uses the nature of mixed numerology systems to reduce the constraints associated with the MUD operation. This scheme not only enhances the fairness among the users but improves the bit error rate performance as well. Although the proposed scheme is less spectrally efficient than conventional NOMA schemes, it is still more spectrally efficient than orthogonal multiple access schemes.


In Saxon times Southampton was a small trading port, today it is a regional shopping centre. It has seen many changes over the years for example, the opening of West Quay which has enhanced the shopping experience, the Blitz that destroyed much of the city centre. The viability of the city has been dependent on a number of factors, its merit as a port, war, its popularity as a tourist destination, and the council's willingness to change. This paper tracks the major changes in Southampton and considers how these have impinged on the Southampton shopper's experience. It examines the growth of the retail offer from Saxon times. The information in earlier times is patchy, but the Regency period is rich in descriptive data due to the city's popularity with the London Set. From c1850 data in the form of census, directories and newspapers have been consulted. It is not however just the retail outlets that make a city a destination of choice, it is the other features, cultural aspects, facilities, and transport links. These aspects are also explored in order to determine the compete offer that was available to the consumer throughout the time period. From offering unique craft products and rare items from abroad it has turned into a clone town. Southampton is due to see the opening of IKEA in spring 2009, and although this may increase visitors to the edge of the city the problem still remains, how does Southampton offer the customer a unique experience that gave its past success.


In this article distribution of monthly phosphorus loads flowing out of two agricultural catchments which are located in different physiographic conditions of Lower Silesia was analysed. Loads of phosphorus runoff from the catchment located in the piedmont part of Lower Silesia in each month rarely exceed 0.10 kg P ∙ ha-1. The size of annual load is determined by loads obtained in two months of early spring. Much lower loads obtained for lowland catchment, located near Wroclaw. Values calculated for each month rarely exceed the value of 0.01 kg P ∙ ha-1. Culmination of loads bringing away is a bit more extended in a time compared to the catchment located on Sudety Mts. Foreland. Much higher loads are observed during the period from January to April – this period has a major impact on the size of phosphorus load that flows out from this catchment during whole hydrological year. The obtained results clearly indicate that the threat of watercourses and water reservoirs supply in phosphorus compounds from agricultural land is periodic and it is particularly high during early spring. Phosphorus load flowing out from the analyzed catchments is very diverse. From facility located on Sudety Foothill in hydrological year, during research period, flowed away average 0.81 kg P ∙ ha-1. Significantly lower values were obtained for second facility and it was average 0.15 kg P ∙ ha-1 during a year. The size of load discharged during a year is largely determined by amount of phosphorus load flowing out during winter half of the year (from XI to IV). In case of foothill catchment in this period flowed out average 0.56 kg P ∙ ha-1, which presents 69% of annual load and in lowland catchment this percentage was even slightly higher and was 73%.


The observed high abundance of algae and cyanobacteria on Guam's coral reefs raises concern regarding a possible shift from coral- to algal-dominated communities. Possible increased nutrient supply to macroalgae and cyanobacteria via the watershed due to anthropogenic distur- bance could be a partial cause. In this study, 2 outdoor microcosm experiments are used to test the effects of iron, nitrate and phosphate on 3 species of algae (Halimeda incrassata, Padina tenuis and Dictyota bartayresiana) and 3 species of cyanobacteria (Tolypothrix sp., Schizothrix sp. and Lyngbya majuscula) from Cocos Lagoon, Guam. The 6 species were cultured together sewn to an artificial sub- strate for 9 d with either nitrate- (∼6 µM), phosphate- (∼1 µM), iron- (∼0.5 µM) enriched or control (ambient nutrients) conditions. Overall gram-specific growth was greatest for L. majuscula, which grew at 9 times the rate of the other species. Algae did not show statistically significant nutrient lim- itation, although results with D. bartayresiana and P. tenuis suggested iron and nitrate limited growth in the first and second experiment, respectively. Two species of cyanobacteria showed phosphate lim- itation. The growth of L. majuscula was enhanced with phosphate enrichment, whereas the release of hormogonia by Tolypothrix sp., not the growth of the colonies themselves, may also have been enhanced. Patterns of Tolypothrix sp. hormogonia release also suggested possible direct competition between algae and cyanobacteria; the hormogonia aggregated upon some species but not others. The results of this study suggest that L. majuscula may have more efficient growth and/or nutrient uptake mechanisms compared to the other species, and that it is capable of increased growth in response to phosphate in the water column.


To understand mechanisms that govern the productivity and quality of frontline employees (FLEs), this study (1) provides a conceptual distinction between frontline productivity and quality, (2) proposes an extended role theory–based model for mapping the influence of key antecedents and consequences of FLE productivity and quality, and (3) examines the effects of coping resources—boss support and task control—in helping employees cope with the inherent productivity–quality tension in frontline jobs. Using data from 159 customer service and 147 bill collection representatives, the author examines proposed hypotheses through multiple-group path analysis. The results indicate support for the distinction between productivity and quality. Moreover, with increasing burnout levels, FLEs are found to maintain their productivity levels while their quality deteriorates directly. Relative to boss support, task control emerges as a more powerful resource in aiding FLEs in coping with role tension. Key implications for theory and practice regarding FLE management and effectiveness are discussed.


As a way of enhancing the mechanical properties of photopolymer‐based parts produced by layered manufacturing (LM) techniques, the use of short glass‐fibre reinforcements has been recently explored in the literature. This paper proposes a novel methodology that utilizes a modified rule‐of‐mixtures model for the prediction of the mechanical properties of such layered composites. The prediction process employs empirical data on (i) the fibre‐matrix interface, (ii) the fibres' geometrical arrangement within the specimens (i.e. fibre‐orientation distribution), and (iii) the fibre‐length distribution. The effects of the fibre‐orientation and fibre‐length distributions are accounted for in the prediction model by the fibre‐length‐correction and orientation‐efficiency factors. Comparison of extensive experimental results and model‐based predictions of mechanical properties of layered composites demonstrated the effectiveness of the proposed estimation methodology.


Hollow structured mesoporous materials have attracted great interest in recent years. We present a new glucose biosensor based on dual function hollow structured mesoporous Prussian Blue (PB) mesocrystals (HMPB). HMPB serve as both a scaffold carrier matrix to immobilize the enzyme glucose oxidase (GOx-HMPB) on the electrode and as a redox mediator to H2O2, the by-product of GOx catalyzed glucose reaction. The Barrett–Joyner–Halenda (BJH) calculation based on nitrogen adsorption isotherm measurement indicates a ∼20 nm mesoporous outer shell and a ∼60 nm hollow cavity of HMPB that provide a large area (258 m2 g−1) for GOx loading. The larger surface area of HMPB compared to solid PB makes it much easier to reduce the HMPB at lower applied potential (0.130 V). The HMPB display enhanced sensitivity towards glucose detection due to increased GOx loading and increased catalytic sites of HMPB with the linear detection range from 0.05 to 7.3 mM, a limit of detection of 0.04 mM (S/N = 3) and a fast response time (within 6 s). The detected glucose level in human serum samples is in good agreement with the data from hospital clinical measurements. The data demonstrate that the HMPB mesocrystals acted effectively as both a redox mediator to H2O2 and a good enzyme carrier, suggesting that the strategy can be applied to other electroactive hollow mesoporous materials to prepare simplified biosensors for a wide range of clinical applications.


Background and purpose: Excessive use of peripheral intravenous catheters (PICs) is associated with greater numbers of complications and higher costs, while patient characteristics and indications associated with idle catheters in emergency wards are rarely reported. Methods: In total, 400 patients who received an empiric PIC in the emergency ward were assigned to either a necessary or idle catheter group according to the inclusion criteria. Their characteristics, presentations, and indications for a PIC were analyzed. Results: Among all catheters, 45% were idle. We found that patients presenting with fever (odds ratio (OR): 8.31), leukocytosis (OR: 1.55), and diarrhea (OR: 10.07) were more likely to have an idle catheter. Patients who received a PIC for electrolyte disturbances also had more idle catheters than those with other indications. Conclusions: We found that nearly half of empiric PICs were idle in our study. Considering the excessive costs, complications, and injuries from PICs, we suggest judicious use of PICs when there are less-invasive and more-effective alternatives.


Examination of the pupil offers an objective evaluation of visual function as well as the vegetative pathways to the eye. In spite of technological advances and substantial progress in many areas, the routine pupil examination with a conventional light source has undergone no significant changes in the last 100 years. This work proposes the development of an effective and objective method and a portable device to test the direct and consensual pupillary reflex. The first results demonstrate the success of a new device construction and new methodology to record the reflex with differ stimulus, in a situation of complete seal of light.


Recent studies in the decision making efforts in the area of public healthcare systems have been tremendously inspired and influenced by the entry of ontology. Ontology driven systems results in the effective implementation of healthcare strategies for the policy makers. The central source of knowledge is the ontology containing all the relevant domain concepts such as locations, diseases, environments and their domain sensitive inter-relationships which is the prime objective, concern and the motivation behind this paper. The paper further focuses on the development of a semantic knowledge-base for public healthcare system. This paper describes the approach and methodologies in bringing out a novel conceptual theme in establishing a firm linkage between three different ontologies related to diseases, places and environments in one integrated platform. This platform correlates the real-time mechanisms prevailing within the semantic knowledgebase and establishing their inter-relationships for the first time in India. This is hoped to formulate a strong foundation for establishing a much awaited basic need for a meaningful healthcare decision making system in the country. Introduction through a wide range of best practices facilitate the adoption of this approach for better appreciation, understanding and long term outcomes in the area. The methods and approach illustrated in the paper relate to health mapping methods, reusability of health applications, and interoperability issues based on mapping of the data attributes with ontology concepts in generating semantic integrated data driving an inference engine for user-interfaced semantic queries.


Purpose: The study aims to analyze the extent in which a bank is trying to provide the best service to survive in the long term and what is demanded from it to be the best banking company, by examining the increase of loyalty and Words of Mouth (WOM) of customers through brand image, service quality and customers satisfaction. Design/methodology/approach: This study is based on the answers of 130 respondents from the PT. Bank Rakyat Indonesia. The used method to colect data is the distribution of a questionnaire using a scale from 1-10. For the data analysis was used the Structural Equation Modeling with AMOS version 21 to test the causality of 8 research hypotheses. Findings: The results of this study indicate that there is a positive effect between the quality of service and customer satisfaction, loyalty and WOM, while the brand image has no effect on satisfaction, loyalty and WOM. The result of this research shows that the indirect effect of service quality variable on loyalty is better than that of WOM. Practical implications: The findings suggested that the Bank BRI marketers should be more persistent in publically communicating the bank's products which are offered to customers and prospective customers. Originality/value: This study examined the effect of brand image, service, customer service in order to increase customer satisfaction, loyalty, and WOM at the largest bank in Indonesia.


Speech technology applications for major languages are becoming widely available, but for many other languages there is no commercial interest in developing speech technology. As the lack of technology and applications will threaten the existence of these languages, it is important to study how to create speech recognizers with minimal effort and low resources. As a test case, we have developed a Large Vocabulary Continuous Speech Recognizer for Northern Sámi, an Finno-Ugric language that has little resources for speech technology available. Using only limited audio data, 2.5 hours, and the Northern Sámi Wikipedia for the language model we achieved 7.6% Letter Error Rate (LER). With a language model based on a higher quality language corpus we achieved 4.2% LER. To put this in perspective we also trained systems in other, better-resourced, Finno-Ugric languages (Finnish and Estonian) with the same amount of data and compared those to state-of-the-art systems in those languages.


Texture evolution in the MDF processed ZK60 along forging axis was investigated by advanced neutron diffraction. Texture analysis was related to the deformation mechanism. Results showed that basal planes deformation was dominated and accommodated by non-basal and twinning. Gradient texture indicated an inhomogeneous distribution of imposed strains along forging direction. This could be related to the non-precise MDF processing.


The idea of political union of a democratic Europe must be founded upon its cultural dimension. Poetry is a very important dimension of European civilization and an essential exercise of creative freedom for approximating individual human beings and countries. The topic of this paper will be the presence of Portuguese contemporary poetry at the Struga Poetry Evenings (SPE), an international poetry festival started in 1962. The SPE has a very significant role in reception and promoting the other literatures and cultures to the Macedonian authors and readership. The selection of Portuguese contemporary poetry at the SPE included several books: 1. The poetry of Vasco Graça Moura, the «Golden Wreath» Winner at the SPE (2004); 2. The selected poems of Casimiro de Brito (2006); 3. One anthology of the Portuguese contemporary poetry (2001). The literary translation has a very important mission: every Encounter with the Other creates a dialogue, but it also means Self-knowledge. This poetic «joint-venture» of Macedonia and Portugal (both with republican traditions in constructing the collective memory and history) through the SPE could be a good symbol: it does contribute to a long tradition of uniting the world through the word of the poets.


This article compares the daily stock market liquidity of single-listed and cross-listed American Depositary Receipts (ADRs). Single-listed ADRs trade in U.S. exchanges; however, their underlying stock is not listed in their home market. Contrary to cross-listed ADRs, if a single-listed ADR program closes, investors are left with illiquid and unlisted ordinary shares, which may affect their ADR shares' liquidity. Using three measures of market liquidity—percentage spread, dollar volume, and price impact—we find no statistical difference between single-listed and cross-listed ADRs' daily average liquidity, a result that holds irrespective of liquidity measure and of whether ADRs are grouped by geographical region or country. Given the high concentration of Chinese ADRs, we conducted the same analysis for these ADRs and obtained the same results.


We present a novel source of disagreement grounded in decision theory: ambiguity aversion. We show that ambiguity aversion generates endogenous disagreement between a firm's insider and outside shareholders, creating a new rationale for corporate governance systems. In our paper, optimal corporate governance depends on both firm characteristics and the composition of the outsiders' overall portfolio. A strong governance system is desirable when the value of the firm's assets in place, relative to the growth opportunity, is sufficiently small or is sufficiently large, suggesting a corporate governance life cycle. In addition, more diversified outsiders (such as generalist mutual funds) prefer stronger governance, while outsiders with a portfolio heavily invested in the same asset class as the firm (such as venture capitalists or private equity investors) are more willing to tolerate a weak governance system, where the portfolio companies' insiders have more leeway in determining corporate policies. Finally, we find that ambiguity aversion introduces a direct link between the strength of the corporate governance system and firm transparency, whereby firms with weaker governance should also optimally be more opaque.


A market conformity tool, based on technological meat quality parameters, was developed within the Q-PorkChains project, to be included in a global sustainability evaluation of pig farming systems. The specific objective of the market conformity tool was to define a scoring system based on the suitability of meat to elaborate the main pork products, according to their market shares based on industry requirements, in different pig farming systems. The tool was based on carcass and meat quality parameters that are commonly used for the assessment of technological quality, which provide representative and repeatable data and are easily measurable. They were the following: cold carcass weight; lean meat percentage; minimum subcutaneous back fat depth at m. gluteus medius level, 45 postmortem and ultimate pH (measured at 24-h postmortem) in m. longissimus lumborum and semimembranosus; meat colour; drip losses and intramuscular fat content in a m. longissimus sample. Five categories of pork products produced at large scale in Europe were considered in the study: fresh meat, cooked products, dry products, specialties and other meat products. For each of the studied farming systems, the technological meat quality requirements, as well as the market shares for each product category within farming system, were obtained from the literature and personal communications from experts. The tool resulted in an overall conformity score that enabled to discriminate among systems according to the degree of matching of the achieved carcass and meat quality with the requirements of the targeted market. In order to improve feasibility, the tool was simplified by selecting ultimate pH at m. longissimus or semimembranosus, minimum fat thickness measured at the left half carcass over m. gluteus medius and intramuscular fat content in a m. longissimus sample as iceberg indicators. The overall suitability scores calculated by using both the complete and the reduced tools presented good correlation and the results obtained were similar. The tool could be considered as robust enough to discriminate among different systems, since it was tested in a wide range of them. It also can be used to detect improvement opportunities to enhance sustainability of pig farming systems. The final objective of the study was achieved, since the market suitability tool could be used in an integrated sustainability analysis of pig farming systems.


The conventional life cycle of dies and moulds is not eco-efficient, which shows great potential for the application of remanufacturing. It is of great importance to establish life evaluation technology for remanufacturers to predict the remaining service life of dies and moulds. The main contribution of this thesis is the development of key technologies for life evaluation of dies and moulds after remanufacturing through a thorough review of remanufacture related activities within the die and mould industry.
It is proposed that evaluation of remaining service life of dies and moulds after remanufacturing is carried out using finite element modelling. It involves determination of residual stresses induced by repair welding, working conditions for the future operation and life model of die material.
Specifically, the thesis is firstly focused on the design of representative die geometry. The geometry is optimized based on the effect of thermal loading and the effect of residual stress due to laser welding.
Secondly, fatigue life model was established by conducting thermal fatigue tests and finite element modelling as well. Induction heating based test method was adopted for its capacity of achieving similar thermal shock effects. An energy based life model was derived by taking into account test period.
The laser weld characteristics were studied using a sequential experimental design combining orthogonal method and uniform design. Radial Basis Function neutral networks were used to obtain regression models of weld performances for enabling process optimization. Heat source models were also calibrated by achieving sufficient agreement between numerical and experimental weld profiles.
Lastly, the effect of residual stress on the fatigue life model was identified and the life model was updated. With close agreement between corresponding coefficients from two curve fittings, the corrected model is proved to be reliable for evaluating remaining useful life of remanufactured dies/moulds.


HACCP is the abbreviation for the English phrase "Hazard Analysis Critical Control Points". In order to obtain high – quality and safe products, capable of meeting the consumer's demands and complying with the food safety standards, certain risk-prevention and control methods should be applied (Bonsi R.,2001). In the horticultural products' processing company, the application of a HACCP system allows the identification of the key-elements of the technological process. The system analyses the hazard related to the product and the process, indicating the critical control points to the hygienic quality of the product.. Starting with the fact that the raw materials come from the farms, there are major concerns regarding the microbiological aspects, the level of pesticides and other chemical contaminants, the maintenance of hygiene during harvesting, the handling, the processing, the storage, and commercialisation (Aversano, 2006). In order to prevent or reduce the above-mentioned hazards, the big specialised companies and small producers must apply HACCP prevention methods, not methods based on the final product control (which may affect consumer's health and may lead to important economic loss). Therefore, this paper contains a HACCP study, characteristic for horticultural processed products and explains the main steps in order to prevent or control the significant hazards for food safety, as presented in the HACCP plan.


Effects of Diesel on Fresh water fish (Clarias gariepinus) was carried out in the Fish Pathology Laboratory of the Department of Fisheries and Aquaculture, University of Calabar, Nigeria. About 200 fish were purchased from the University Fish farm, acclimated for 48h in the laboratory. The diesel used in this experiment was obtained from the University of Calabar power generating unit. Experiment was conducted in plastic containers of 10l capacity, each containing 10 fish and 5l of diesel in different concentrations (0.25, 0.37, 0.50 and 0.75g/l). The control tanks had similar number of fish and same volume of water without diesel. The tests and control tanks were replicated three times under same laboratory conditions. The duration of the experiment was 96h with hourly observations for abnormal fish behavior and mortality. Erratic swimming behavior, fast opercula movement and hanging on the water column and weakness were observed in test tanks only whereas fish in the control were calm and normal. Mortality of fish (3, 5, 7 and10) occurred in the test concentrations respectively within the duration of the experiment. Histopathology of gills of affected fish showed damaged gill lamellae, similar changes were not observed in the histological sections of the control fish. Mortality data obtained were analyzed graphically by plotting % fish mortality against log concentrations of diesel. The concentration of diesel in which 50% fish mortality (LC50) occurred was 0.37g/l. The results of the experiment led to the conclusion that diesel at different concentrations has deleterious effects on fresh water fish (C. gariepinus) and could cause mortality on repeated exposure to the organisms at higher concentrations. Fresh or used diesel should not be discarded into the environment to safeguard freshwater fish and other organisms. Further study on the effects of diesel on the food chain is recommended.


ABSTRACT The Asian elephant's foraging strategy in its natural habitat and in cultivation was studied in southern India during 1981–83. Though elephants consumed at least 112 plant species in the study area, about 85% of their diet consisted of only 25 species from the order Malvales and the families Leguminosae, Palmae, Cyperaceae and Gramineae. Alteration between a predominantly browse diet during the dry season with a grass diet during the early wet season was related to the seasonally changing protein content of grasses. Crop raiding, which was sporadic during the dry season, gradually increased with more area being cultivated with the onset of rains. Raiding frequency reached a peak during October-December, with some villages being raided almost every night, when finger millet (Eleusine coracana) was cultivated by most farmers. The monthly frequency of raiding was related to the seasonal movement of elephant herds and to the size of the enclave. Of their total annual food requirement, adult bull elephants derived an estimated 9.3% and family herds 1.7% in quantity from cultivated land. Cultivated cereal and millet crops provided significantly more protein, calcium and sodium than the wild grasses. Ultimately, crop raiding can be thought of as an extension of the elephant's optimal foraging strategy.


Leading wool suppliers such as Australia began marketing organic wool to counter a decades-long decline in the world wool market. Given the challenge of adopting certified organic practices for wool production in certain parts of the world including the United States, consumer demand for organic wool products relative to alternative production attributes is assessed to explore the feasibility of certifying these attributes. An Internet survey found that most US consumers preferred wool to acrylic; distinguished wool products by origin; valued organic certification less than combined environmental sustainability and animal welfare claims; and lowered their valuation for wool products in response to the information provided on wool attributes.


The aim of this article is to cast a light on the nature of the mysteries of Mithras in central Italy, focusing on the administrative division of Roman Etruria. The Regio VII in fact, despite not being the richest Italian area in terms of Mithraic findings, has nevertheless emerged as a privileged territory to observe different aspects of the cult, due to the great variety of its artefacts.
 Hence, starting from the material evidence and from its distribution across the region, the social classes that took part in the worship of Mithras are identified. Consequently, the active role played by public officials in promoting the spread of the mysteries is discussed, as well as the cult diffusion among the lower classes, and the interest demonstrated by the aristocratic elites from the Middle/Late Empire.
 The conclusion will examine the last phases of the cult in Etruria, showing how the Mithraic mysteries ended following diverse modalities during the first decades of the 5th century AD, sometimes because of violent acts of destruction, and sometimes in a peaceful manner.


Relief surface formation as a result of light irradiation is one important property of chalcogenide glasses which gives rise of number of applications. Understanding the nature of the process is an essential step towards optimization of the relief images obtained. This work depicts the mechanisms for surface relief grating formation in Ge-Se thin films exposed to diffracted light. A dependence on the period of the illumination source is revealed, which correlates with the composition of the thin film material. Raman spectroscopy, Energy Dispersive Spectroscopy (EDS), and Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM) were used to analyze the films. The results point towards a dual effect of light irradiation leading to mass transport and structural changes, which results in a surface relief formation. Copyright © VBRI Press.


Coronary artery disease (CAD) is a disease of major concern worldwide. It is the main cause of mortality in many societies and improving the understanding about the CAD mechanism, progression and treatment, is necessary. Recent discovery of genetic factors underlying CAD has improved our knowledge of the disease in support of well-known traditional risk factors. Genotype-environment interaction is known as the main risk factor. Loci on many different chromosomes have been identified as a risk factors that increase CAD susceptibility. Here we performed a comprehensive literature review pinpointing hotspot loci involved in CAD pathogenicity. The 9p21.3 locus is the most common region associated with CAD and its specific structure and function have been remarkable in many studies. Moreover, the variations in the 9p21.3 locus have been implicated in CAD patients in different populations around the world. According to conclusions from this the 9p21.3 locus can be the first point of focus in etiology investigations of CAD patients.


A phase-field-based hybrid model that combines the lattice Boltzmann method with the finite difference method is proposed for simulating immiscible thermocapillary flows with variable fluid-property ratios. Using a phase field methodology, an interfacial force formula is analytically derived to model the interfacial tension force and the Marangoni stress. We present an improved lattice Boltzmann equation (LBE) method to capture the interface between different phases and solve the pressure and velocity fields, which can recover the correct Cahn-Hilliard equation (CHE) and Navier-Stokes equations. The LBE method allows not only use of variable mobility in the CHE, but also simulation of multiphase flows with high density ratio because a stable discretization scheme is used for calculating the derivative terms in forcing terms. An additional convection-diffusion equation is solved by the finite difference method for spatial discretization and the Runge-Kutta method for time marching to obtain the temperature field, which is coupled to the interfacial tension through an equation of state. The model is first validated against analytical solutions for the thermocapillary driven convection in two superimposed fluids at negligibly small Reynolds and Marangoni numbers. It is then used to simulate thermocapillary migration of a three-dimensional deformable droplet and bubble at various Marangoni numbers and density ratios, and satisfactory agreement is obtained between numerical results and theoretical predictions.


Abstract Crop monitoring for adult corn rootworms, Diabrotica virgifera virgifera LeConte and Diabrotica barberi Smith and Lawrence, remains the best means to assess fields at risk from this pest if replanted to corn, Zea mays (L.). Improvements in sampling methodology, including the development of a sequential sampling plan, have reduced the minimum sampling time required to make a management decision to 20 min or less per field per visit. However, many growers and crop consultants still find this time commitment a constraint to repeated scouting. A common currently used sampling method involves systematically covering most of the field following a "W" pattern. The feasibility of replacing the current sampling pattern with a simpler and less time-consuming transect (straight line) pattern was assessed. When sampling methods were compared, computer simulations demonstrated that treatment decisions based on transect sampling would have an acceptably low error rate averaging 10% over a range of realistic corn rootworm densities (0–2 adults per plant). This error rate represented a decrease in accuracy of <1% compared with systematic sampling. Field trials using transect, systematic, and random sampling in each field were used to compare the categorization of adult corn rootworm densities into "above" or "below" threshold with a sequential sampling plan. Efficiency measured in time to reach a decision, number of corn plants evaluated, and time divided by plants observed were compared between sampling methods. The three methods did not differ significantly in the number of plants evaluated or in the categorization of corn rootworm populations. Transect sampling resulted in a significantly shorter time divided by plants observed (38 s), than either systematic (78 s), or random sampling methods (166 s). Based on these results transect sampling reduces sampling time 51% compared with systematic sampling and thus could be used to reduce total sampling times substantially.


: Here, we investigate PVT solutions based on multi-constellation receivers and dedicated augmentation networks allowing to determine the track on which a train is operating with a very high safety Integrity level. Because the time needed to accomplish this task has a relevant impact on the rail traffic management performance and, therefore, it is considered a key performance indicator by rail infrastructure managers, a double frequency solution is investigated. Particularly, we focus our attention on the advantages of relative positioning solutions, based on Double-Difference Wide-Laning Carrier Phase measurement combination, exploiting the fact that the train location is completely determined by its mileage due to the track constraint, to speed up track discrimination. No ambiguity fix is required at this scope. Here, a detailed description of the overall processing and achievable performance is given. Performance assessment is provided by means of Monte Carlo simulations based on observations recorded on field campaigns. # 2018 The Authors. Navigation published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. on behalf of Institute of Navigation.


Flat slabs are commonly used in buildings due to their easiness of construction and economy. In order to keep these advantages, columns are usually not continuous through the slabs in multi-storey buildings. In these cases, the slabs are subjected to large compressive stresses at the support area of the columns, which can exceed the uniaxial compressive strength of the concrete of the slab. This critical zone is in addition subjected to large shear forces and bending moments due to the loads applied on the slab. This leads to a series of potential failure modes: crushing of the concrete of the slab between columns, flexural failures or punching shear failures. Most research has previously focused on the influence of bending of the slab on the column strength. However, no works have provided in-depth investigation of the strength of the slab when large column loads are applied. In this research, an extensive experimental program has shown that the stresses applied at the support area of the columns can be significantly larger than the uniaxial compressive strength of concrete. The test results have clearly shown that no special confinement or load transfer devices are required between columns for most cases (moderate column loads). In addition, two phenomena have been observed. The first one is a reduction on the flexural strength as column loads are applied. The second corresponds to a significant increase on the punching shear strength and deformation capacity with column loading. Existing theoretical approaches for flat slab behaviour and strength are shown not to be directly applicable for slabs subjected to large column loading. In this research, the principles of two general theories (the theory of plasticity and the critical shear crack theory) are thus used to investigate such cases. The theory of plasticity allows calculating a plastic failure envelope accounting for bending and column loading, whereas the critical shear crack theory, which in this work as been further investigated theoretically, is used to derive a failure criterion accounting for punching shear failure in presence of column loading. The results for both theories are finally presented in terms of a single interaction diagram between column loading and slab loading (bending and shear of the slab). The theoretical approaches require however the help of rather refined numerical tools for estimating the strength of a flat slab. In order to use the theoretical approaches for design, a simplified approach has been developed, allowing to calculate the strength as well as the deformation capacity of flat slabs. These tools were implemented in a design method for slab-column joints in multi-storey building. This design approach allows to derive simplified interaction diagrams that can be compared with the loading history of the structural element analysed.


Mathematical models were presented for both the
traverse and elevation gun drive systems of a modern main
battle tank. The models were based upon the generation of
torque, through the gun drive gearboxes, arising from
collision engagement of the mating gears, and included a
full description of the non-linear effects of both backlash
and friction. [Continues.]


Learn about child growth and development, nutrition, physical development, and communication skills and to foster the cognitive, physical, social, and creative development of young children.


Financial inclusion is the provision of financial services at affordable costs to sections of underprivileged and low-income segments of society. Failure to constantly redesign strategies that help the commercial banks adapt to changing business environment may lead to a strategic mismatch between what they offer and what markets demands.  The study objective was to assess technological banking innovations and financial inclusion by commercial banks in Nairobi County Kenya. The study was anchored on the theory of financial intermediation, diffusion of innovation theory and Silber's Constraint theory of Innovation. A descriptive research design and a positivism philosophy were used because the conceptual hypotheses were drawn from existing theories and identified knowledge gaps as founded on the research design. Multiple regression model was employed in this study. For the purpose of this investigation, the target population included all the 42 registered commercial banks operating in Nairobi County, Kenya in the year 2016. Purposive sampling technique was used to determine the sample size. Thirteen (13) selected banks that had successfully implemented technological banking innovations in Nairobi County were purposively sampled for the study. Both primary and secondary data was used in this study. Primary data was collected using questionnaires. Secondary data on mobile bank transactions and mobile phone subscriptions in the banks for the period between 2011 and 2016 was obtained from Central Bank of Kenya, Kenya National Bureau of Statistics and the Banking survey manuals. Questionnaires were administered to randomly selected respondents. The confirmatory test for multicollinearity was done using the Variance Inflation Factor. Data was analyzed using correlation, Goodness of Fit, analysis of variance, F statistic/significance of the study variables and regression of coefficients which were used to draw inferences on the relationship between the study variables. Data was presented using tables and figures. Results of the study indicated that the predictor variables; mobile banking, agency banking, electronic banking outlets and internet banking have an influence on financial inclusion. Correlation results also indicated that mobile banking, agency banking, electronic banking outlets and internet banking were positively associated with financial inclusion. Additionally, the regression findings indicated that mobile banking, agency banking and electronic banking outlets were statistically significant predictors of financial inclusion. However, Internet banking had a significance level of 0.586 which is higher than the conventional threshold of 0.05 which rendered the variable as statistically insignificant in prediction of financial inclusion. The findings concluded that mobile banking, agency banking, electronic banking outlets and internet banking have an influence on financial inclusion with the technological innovations being well adopted by the customers in the respective banks .The study recommended that the banks' management should make use of these research findings to come up with innovative approaches of improving financial inclusion while maintaining the existing ones in the conduct of their business so as reach more clients with their products and services.


The selection of minks for behaviour in two directions (aggressive and domesticated one) brought about the correlative changes in function of sexual system. The sexual maturing of domesticated mink controlled by vaginal smears began more earlier. The fertility of domesticated mink with signs of earlier oestrus was larger than one in the same females with later maturing. Such correlation was absent in the aggressive females. In ovary of the aggressive mink the number of follicles of all types was decreased in comparison with those of the control and tame type of females. The HCG treatment in doses of 50 U and 100 U brought about the stimulation of folliculogenesis with the sharp increasing in a number of well developed vesicular and atretic follicles in all groups of females. Such shifts of folliculogenesis were directly proportional to the treated doses in control and tame type females and inversely proportional to the treated doses in aggressive females.


A series of pseudopeptidic compounds have been assayed as organocatalyts for the conversion of CO2 into organic carbonates through a cooperative multifunctional mechanism. Conformationally constrained pseudopeptidic macrocycles 3a and 3b have been revealed to be excellent synzymes for this purpose, being able to provide a suitable preorganization of the different functional elements and reaction components to activate the CO2 molecule and stabilize the different anionic intermediates involved, through a series of cooperative supramolecular interactions. As a result, remarkable catalytic efficiencies are found at low CO2 pressures and moderate temperatures, with TON and TOF values surpassing those reported for other organocatalytic supramolecular systems under similar conditions. The process works well for monosubstituted epoxides. The involvement of the different structural elements has been analyzed in detail and preliminary studies show the potential for recovery and reuse of these catalytic systems.


I give a biological account of epistemic normativity. My account explains the sense in which it is true that belief is subject to a standard of correctness, and reduces epistemic norms to there being doxastic strategies which guide how best to meet that standard. Additionally, I give an explanation of the mistakes we make in our epistemic discourse, understood as either taking epistemic properties and norms to be sui generis and irreducible, and/or as failing to recognise the reductive base of epistemic normativity. This explanation will appeal to the claim that the beliefs which constitute our epistemic discourse are false but adaptive, and are the outcome of a non-truth-tracking process. The opponents of my position are philosophers who take epistemic normativity not to be reducible in this way, and to involve sui generis properties and norms governing belief. The aim of the paper is to show that epistemic normativity can be explained by appeal to the biological functions of our mechanisms of belief-production.


This report comprises a description of a case study which includes four dyadic relationships between logistics service providers (LSPs) and shippers. The case study has been conducted during the Vinnova‐financed research project "Competitive Business Models to meet Future Demands on Sustainable Logistics Systems" and focus in the report is on environmental (or green) work in relationships between LSPs and shippers. More specifically, the purpose of the report is to increase the understanding of such work in relationships between LSPs and shippers. Before the cases are described, the process of selecting the cases as well as collecting the data will be elaborated on.