Our objective was to measure chemical composition and anatomy of 5 Megathyrsus maximus (syn. Panicum maximum) genotypes, when grown in combination with eucalypts in a silvopastoral system. Cultivars Massai, Mombaça, BRS Tamani, Tanzânia and intraspecific hybrid accession PM44 were evaluated in full sun and a silvopastoral system at 5 different distances from eucalyptus tree rows. The experimental design was a randomized block in split plot with 2 replications. Plots corresponded with genotypes and subplots with sampling points within the system. Total forage and leaf biomass as well as nutritive value und tissue proportions were evaluated. Our results showed a decrease in biomass as radiation incidence decreased. Forage biomass was greatest in BRS Tamani and Mombaça and lowest in PM44. There was a significant interaction between sampling points and genotype for nutritive value variables, such as crude protein, in vitro digestibility of organic matter, cellulose, hemicellulose and lignin-S, while tissue proportions were not affected by the interaction between sampling points and genotypes. Genotype had more pronounced effects on chemical composition and anatomical characteristics than did sampling points. The leaves of Mombaça were the longest and had greatest total cross-sectional area, and this genotype showed greater proportions of sclerenchyma and vascular tissues than other cultivars and the lowest proportion of mesophyll. The greatest proportion of parenchyma bundle sheaths was also found in Mombaça leaves. Genotypes PM44 and Tanzânia had the lowest proportions of sclerenchyma, and PM44 and BRS Tamani had the lowest proportions of vascular tissues. On the other hand, PM44 and Tanzânia had the greatest proportions of mesophyll. BRS Tamani was comparable with the most used cultivars, Mombaça and Tanzânia, and had forage quality slightly superior to that of Mombaça. Tropical grasses growing under shade can potentially produce less forage but with better nutritive value, in terms of chemical composition and tissue proportions, than grasses grown under full sun. However, as the degree of shading in silvopastoral systems does not occur uniformly across the whole area, the improved nutritive value would not be uniform and may not be very prominent overall.


This study explores the impact of the intensity of countries' digital transformation on the performance of 3961 global companies in the Information Technology sector in 2020. We analyse the impact of e-government index, e-participation index, and cybersecurity commitment on firms' performance (enterprise value, book value per share, and cash flow from operation per share) using OLS regression. A structural equation modelling was further employed to explain the mediating role of cybersecurity commitment. Results suggest that e-government has a positive linkage with cybersecurity commitment and performance. However, there is preliminary evidence that cybersecurity measures initiated by e-government will drive performance. The e-participation index has a positive association with cybersecurity commitment and a heterogeneous impact on performance, suggesting the need to differentiate between development and participation. Finally, results highlight the pivotal role of e-government and cybersecurity commitment in boosting the profitability of companies and supporting the influence of the surrounding technological environment on companies' performance.


Solutions of D = 7 maximal gauged supergravity are constructed with metrics that are a product of an n-dimensional anti-de Sitter (AdS) space, with n = 2, 3, 4, 5, and certain Einstein manifolds. The gauge fields have the same form as in the recently constructed solutions describing the near-horizon limits of M5-branes wrapping supersymmetric cycles. The new solutions do not preserve any supersymmetry and can be uplifted to obtain new solutions of D = 11 supergravity, which are warped and twisted products of the D = 7 metric with a squashed four-sphere. Some aspects of the stability of the solutions are discussed.


In deriving a regression model analysts often have to use variable
selection, despite of problems introduced by data- dependent model
building. Resampling approaches are proposed to handle some of the critical
issues. In order to assess and compare several strategies, we will conduct a
simulation study with 15 predictors and a complex correlation structure in
the linear regression model. Using sample sizes of 100 and 400 and estimates of
the residual variance corresponding to R2 of 0.50 and 0.71, we consider 4 scenarios with varying amount of information.
We also consider two examples with 24 and 13 predictors, respectively. We will
discuss the value of cross-validation, shrinkage and backward
elimination (BE) with varying significance level. We will assess whether 2-step
approaches using global or parameterwise shrinkage (PWSF) can improve selected models and will compare results to
models derived with the LASSO procedure. Beside of MSE we will use model
sparsity and further criteria for model assessment. The amount of information
in the data has an influence on the selected models and the comparison of the
procedures. None of the approaches was best in all scenarios. The
performance of backward elimination with a suitably chosen significance level
was not worse compared to the LASSO and BE models selected were much sparser,
an important advantage for interpretation and transportability. Compared to
global shrinkage, PWSF had better performance. Provided that the amount of
information is not too small, we conclude that BE followed by PWSF is a suitable
approach when variable selection is a key part of data analysis.


We describe Croton calcareus Riina & Mateo-Ram. sp. nov., a new species in Croton section Cyclostigma (dragon's blood trees) from the state of Chiapas (Mexico). This species is a small tree growing in dry forest on calcareous substrates. Both morphological and molecular data support C. calcareus sp. nov. as a new species closely related to C. redolens , another dry forest taxon from northern Venezuela. We provide illustrations, a distribution map and suggestions for species conservation status. The new species along with Croton draco are the only known representatives of C.  section Cyclostigma occurring in Mexico.


Abstract The distribution of exposure to biomechanical and organisational job stressors (BOJS) and associations with employment withdrawal (antenatal leave, unemployment) was examined in a case-control study of 1114 pregnant workers in California. We performed descriptive and multivariate logistic and multinomial regression analyses. At pregnancy onset, 57% were exposed to one or more biomechanical stressors, including frequent bending, heavy lifting and prolonged standing. One-third were simultaneously exposed to BOJS. Exposure to biomechanical stressors declined as pregnancy progressed and cessation often (41%) coincided with employment withdrawal (antenatal leave and unemployment). In multivariate modelling, whether we adjusted for or considered organisational stressors as coincident exposures, results showed that pregnant workers exposed to biomechanical stressors had increased employment withdrawal compared to the unexposed. Work schedule accommodations moderate this association. Paid antenatal leave, available to few US women, was an important strategy for mitigating exposure to BOJS. Implications for science and policy are discussed. Practitioner Summary: This case-control study showed that exposure to biomechanical stressors decline throughout pregnancy. Antenatal leave was an important strategy used for mitigating exposure among sampled California women with access to paid benefits. Employment withdrawal among workers exposed to BJOS may be reduced by proactive administrative and engineering efforts applied early in pregnancy.


The West African Dwarf goat is indigenous to Southeastern Nigeria and is raised by many families under small·scale and intensive management systems. Results showed that the average households kept 6 goats, but that expansion was limited by hour and feed procurement problems. Both males and females owned goats but males dominated goat marketing. Women have recently become goat meat retailers. Although the prospects for large scale goat production appeared bleak, those for women producers integrating vertically forward into marketing appeared favourable. Keywords: Southeastern Nigeria; Goat Production; Goat Marketing


This paper presents an approach for real-time car parking occupancy detection that uses a Convolutional Neural Network (CNN) classifier running on-board of a smart camera with limited resources. Experiments show that our technique is very effective and robust to light condition changes, presence of shadows, and partial occlusions. The detection is reliable, even when tests are performed using images captured from a viewpoint different than the viewpoint used for training. In addition, it also demonstrates its robustness when training and tests are executed on different parking lots. We have tested and compared our solution against state of the art techniques, using a reference benchmark for parking occupancy detection. We have also produced and made publicly available an additional dataset that contains images of the parking lot taken from different viewpoints and in different days with different light conditions. The dataset captures occlusion and shadows that might disturb the classification of the parking spaces status.


Increasing power densities and changing component design have brought about the need for accurate measurement of die junction temperature. While many junction temperature measurement techniques exist it is difficult to compare their relative performance. To validate the accuracy of various direct and indirect test methods, the operating junction temperature of board-mounted SO-16 and plastic quad flat packs (PQFP)-160 components has been recorded using standard thermal test die. Numerical analysis was also used to predict junction temperature and component temperature gradients. The performance of each technique was evaluated for accuracy, ease of use and relevance to real applications, Once accuracy had been validated, two indirect measurement techniques were applied simultaneously to identify the magnitude of localized hot-spots generated by nonuniform power dissipation on the PQFP die.


Research has demonstrated that living in a deprived neighborhood contributes to the occurrence and development of poor health. Furthermore evidence shows that social networks are fundamental resources in preventing poor mental health. Neighborhood relationships and networks are vital for sustaining and improving quality of life. However, to determine potentials for public health action, the health impact of various types of network resources need to be explored and the association between socioeconomic position and self-rated health needs to be analysed to determine whether it is partially explained by social network resources. This is the main aim of this article. Cross-sectional data from one deprived neighborhood located in Denmark were collected in 2008 and 2013 using a postal health survey. The target group was defined as adults older than 16 years. In 2008, 408 residents participated in the survey, and 405 residents participated in 2013. Our main explanatory variables were indicators of socioeconomic positions and social network resources. The analyses were conducted using univariate and bivariate analyses and multiple logistic regressions. The results showed that there was a significant decrease in respondents being involuntarily alone during the period from 2008 to 2013. An impact of the association between disposable income and self-rated health was found, showing that low income residents with a better social network also have slightly higher odds of having good self-rated health compared with residents with higher income. This investigation is the first Danish study that repeats a health survey in the same neighborhood to measure possible improvement in health among residents. More longitudinal research is needed in the future to explore the complex relationship between social network resources, social capital and health in neighborhoods.


Melasma, previously known as chloasma, is a commonly acquired hypermelanosis characterized by symmetric, reticulated, hyperpigmentations of sun-exposed areas of the skin, particularly the face. Melasma has a higher prevalence in women and patients of darker skin tones, although it can occur in all skin types. The dyspigmentation caused by melasma often has a negative psychosocial impact on those affected with the condition as demonstrated by patient-reported anhedonia, decreased self-esteem, dissatisfactory mood, and impairment in social and occupational functioning. 1 The pathogenesis of melasma is still unclear, however various factors have been implicated and well supported such as ultraviolet radiation exposure, genetic predisposition, and hormonal influences. 2 Due to the incomplete understanding of its pathogenesis and the high recurrence rate, melasma remains a difficult disorder to manage resulting in physician frustration and patient dissatisfaction. Nevertheless, several topical, oral, and procedural treatment options are available with varying mechanisms of action addressing the multifactorial nature of the disorder. The purpose of this article is to provide a framework for dermatologists to use to approach and clinically manage this common, yet therapeutically challenging, condition.


Enhancing the solar energy storage and power delivery afforded by emerging molten salt-based technologies requires a fundamental understanding of the complex interplay between structure and dynamics of the ions in the high-temperature media. Here we report results from a comprehensive study integrating synchrotron X-ray scattering experiments, ab initio molecular dynamics simulations and rate theory concepts to investigate the behavior of dilute Cr3+ metal ions in a molten KCl–MgCl2 salt. Our analysis of experimental results assisted by a hybrid transition state-Marcus theory model reveals unexpected clustering of chromium species leading to the formation of persistent octahedral Cr–Cr dimers in the high-temperature low Cr3+ concentration melt. Furthermore, our integrated approach shows that dynamical processes in the molten salt system are primarily governed by the charge density of the constituent ions, with Cr3+ exhibiting the slowest short-time dynamics. These findings challenge several assumptions regarding specific ionic interactions and transport in molten salts, where aggregation of dilute species is not statistically expected, particularly at high temperature.


The comparative study of the monthly distribution of characteristics indicating the levels of contamination with Sh. sonnei and Sh. flexneri separately, as well as the seasonal dynamics of the corresponding antibodies, in the years with high and low morbidity levels has been made with the use the indirect hemagglutination test. The possibility of using these characteristics for the evaluation of the activity of the epidemic process in dysentery caused by Sh. sonnei is shown.


Oxygen (O2) free radicals are a potential teratologic threat to the foetal tissues and are known to be involved in the pathophysiology of common human pregnancy disorders such as miscarriage and pre-eclampsia. During the first two months of human gestation, the placenta surrounds the whole gestational sac, the villi contain only a few capillaries located mainly within the centre of the mesenchymal core, the trophoblastic layer is twice the thickness it will be in the second trimester, the foetal red cells are nucleated and the exocoelomic cavity (ECC) occupies most of the space inside the gestational sac. The ECC contains no oxygen transport system, but anti-oxidant molecules that may provide additional protection to the embryo from oxidative damage are present. Ultrasound and anatomical studies have also demonstrated that the intervillous circulation starts in the periphery of the placenta at around 9 weeks of gestation, and that it becomes continuous and diffuse in the entire placenta only after 12 weeks. Overall, these anatomical features provide indirect evidence that the architecture of the human first trimester gestational sac limits foetal exposure to O2 to what is strictly necessary for its development. These results are in agreement with the concept that the placenta and foetus develop in a physiologically low O2 environment and that its metabolism must be essentially anaerobic. Because of these anatomical arrangements, different nutritional pathways to those operating during most of pregnancy must serve the first-trimester foetus. Up to 9 weeks of gestation, foetal nutrition appears to depend on uterine glandular secretions that are delivered into the intervillous space, supplemented by maternal plasma proteins and other molecules that may percolate through the trophoblastic shell. These molecules diffuse through, or are transported by, the trophoblast of the villi and the chorionic plate into the ECC. From here they are absorbed by the secondary yolk sac (SYS), in which the extraembryonic circulation is probably first established. At the end of the first trimester, the SYS and two-thirds of the placental mass degenerate, and the ECC is progressively obliterated by the enlarging amniotic cavity. The trophoblastic plugs occluding the utero-placental arteries are gradually dislocated, allowing maternal blood to flow into the intervillous space, and the uterine glands involute. These major anatomical transformations modify considerably the spatial relationships between the maternal tissues and the developing embryo, and, consequently, the materno-embryonic exchange pathways. Overall the comparison of morphological features with physiological findings reveals that the architecture of the human first trimester gestational sac is designed to limit foetal exposure to oxygen to that which is strictly necessary for its development, and that during early pregnancy alternative nutritional pathways are in use.


This presentation discusses the results of a research on the use of dialogic teaching to promote new learning experiences, with specific consideration for respect of cultural differences and promotion of intercultural dialogue.
The learning activities observed are part of the SHARMED (Shared Memories and Dialogue) project, funded by the Erasmus+ programme of the European Union and coordinated by the University of Modena and Reggio Emilia (Italy) in partnership with University of Suffolk (UK) and University of Jena (Germany). The presenter, recently transferred to the University of Northampton, is the lead of activities in the UK.
SHARMED provides opportunities for primary and secondary school children (16 classrooms in each country) to collect photographs connected to their memories, comparing dialogically memories of personal and cultural roots in the classrooms, in collaboration with an adult expert in the use of facilitation, to enhance dialogic intercultural learning.
The methodology of SHARMED is centred around Project-Based Workshops (PBWs), applying dialogic teaching to engage children in extended narratives originating from their photographs. As storytellers, migrant-background learners are given a voice, towards their inclusion in the educational context.
Dialogic teaching is based on the acknowledgment that children are active participants in constructing social practices (James, Jenks & Prout,1998; Baraldi & Iervese, 2014, and requires facilitation of interaction, with the adult facilitator as organiser of participation and mutual learning (Holdsworth, 2005), creating conditions in which all participants can contribute, mutually encouraging each other to participate actively (Mercer & Littleton, 2007).
This presentation concerns the implementation of SHARMED in Early Years settings and Junior Primary Schools in England, led by SHARMED-UK team and associates.
Data consists in videotaped PBWs, analyzed using Conversation Analysis (Sacks, Schegloff & Jefferson, 1974; Mehan, 1979; Margutti, 2006; Farini, 2012) to investigate how narratives around photographs develop, focusing on the interrelation between dialogic teaching and children's participation. The aims of SHARMED project were presented to teachers/practitioners, parents and children in dedicated meetings. Informed consent sheets including information about the use of data and right to withdrawn were provided and discussed (BERA, 2011)
SHARMED aims to implement facilitation to promote storytelling of personal experiences and cultural backgrounds, and the discussion of these narratives in the classrooms.
The presentation argues that supporting children as autonomous contributors through facilitation empowers them to take an active role coordinating interactions. Dialogic teaching enhances children's agency (Bjerke, 2011), therefore promoting their own (and adult's) intercultural learning. Facilitation is considered the most effective methodology to empower children as storytellers, towards the transformation of the classroom in a space of intercultural dialogue.


Pratylenchus delattrei Luc, 1958 is one of the important plant parasitic nematodes in Tamilnadu, particularly on Crossandra, an ornamental crop which is cultivated,in several parts of the State. The observations made on the effect of higher levels of nematode population on plant growth and their effect on major and minor elements, carbohydrate level in the leaves and free sugars, amino acids, peroxidase and B-glucosidase activity and phenolic content of roots are presented in the paper. The plants inoculated with 1000 and 5000 nematodes at the time of planting exhibited foliage discolouration and chlorotic symptoms in 35–40 days and 20–27 days respectively. Reduction in shoot length, shoot weight, root length and root weight and the total number of roots in the infected plants (22.7–47.1, 80.0–95.4; 65.1–93.1, 84.9–97.8 and 69.1–92.6 per cent respectively) was also noticed. The plants treated with 5000 nematodes failed to produce the flower spikes, while those inoculated with 1000 nematodes produced 1.7 spikes and 25 flowers per plant in contrast to 9 spikes and a total 104 flowers developed in healthy plants. The leaves of the nematode infected plants exhibited deficiency in nitrogen (22.4–59.0% and increase in phosphorus and potassium (11.5–45.4 and 70.0–137.3%). Among the micronutrient elements, increase in zinc (8.8 and 42.5 per cent) and copper (66.0 and 108 percent) and decrease in the iron (12.0 and 24.0 per cent) and manganese (24.2 and 36.8 per cent) content were noticed in the leaves. A reduction of 30 and 15 per cent in the carbohydrate was also noted. The details on total free sugars, the total amino acid and the orthodihydroxy and total phenolic contents of the nematode inoculated plant roots are also furnished.


The Hidden Valley fault is exposed in Canyon Lake Gorge (central Texas) and cuts the Cretaceous Glen Rose Formation. This exposure provides an opportunity to explore the relationship between deformation mechanisms and fault displacement along 830 m (2723 ft) of a normal fault typical of those in carbonate reservoirs and aquifers around the world. The fault zone has five domains: gently deformed footwall damage zone, intensely deformed footwall damage zone, fault core, intensely deformed hanging-wall damage zone, and gently deformed hanging-wall damage zone. Footwall deformation is more intense and laterally extensive than hanging-wall deformation, and the intensely deformed hanging-wall damage zone is narrow and locally absent. The fault core contains thin clay-rich gouge or smear in most places but is locally represented by only a slickensided surface between limestone layers. The 55- to 63-m (180–207-ft) fault throw across a 43- to 98-m (141- to 322-ft)-wide fault zone is accommodated by slip along the fault core, layer tilting (synthetic dip development) in footwall and hanging-wall damage zones, and distributed faulting in footwall and hanging-wall damage zones. Total offset across the fault overestimates actual stratigraphic offset by 8 to 12 m (26–39 ft) or about 14 to 21%. In our interpretation, the Hidden Valley fault zone records both early extensional folding of the Glen Rose Formation and subsequent normal faulting that propagated downward from the overlying competent Edwards Group. The damage zone width is thus established before fault breakthrough.


The influence of the formulation process/pathway on the generation of electrostatic complexes made from polyelectrolyte-neutral copolymers and oppositely charged nanocolloids is investigated in this work. Under strong driving forces like electrostatic interaction and/or hydrogen bonding, the key factor controlling the polydispersity and the final size of the complexes is the competition between the reaction time of the components and the homogenization time of the mixed solution. The latter depends on the mixing pathway and was investigated in a previous publication by tuning the mixing order and/or speed (Qi, L.; Fresnais, J.; Berret, J.-F.; Castaing, J.-C.; Grillo, I.; Chapel, J.-P. J. Phys. Chem. C 2010, 114 (30), 12870−12877). The former depends on the initial concentration of the individual stock solutions and the strength of the interaction and is investigated here on a system composed of anionic cerium oxide functional nanoparticles (CeO2-PAA) and cationic charged−neutral diblock copolymers (PTEA11K-b-PAM30K) or homopolyelectrolytes (PDADMAC100K). The electrostatic interaction was screened off completely by adding a large amount of salts. Desalting kinetics was then controlled by slowly decreasing the ionic strength from Ib ≈ 0.5 M, the minimum ionic strength to totally prevent the complexation of the two components, to lower values where the electrostatically screened system undergoes an (abrupt) transition between an unassociated and a clustered state. Neutron scattering data evidenced differences in the nanostructure of complexes formed by either dilution or simple mixing. Furthermore, adsorption optical reflectometry experiments showed the impact of these different formulation processes on the wettability and antifouling properties of treated silica and polystyrene model surfaces. Better controlled mixing processes were put forward at the end to improve the productivity and reproducibility of the complexes generation. In particular, a microfluidic chip coupled with dynamic light scattering was used to better control the hydrodynamics of the complexation process.


Relationships between the physical properties of seed and their germination capacity and energy is an important consideration for separating seeds of the highest or lowest quality. The objective of this study was to determine the correlations between the selected aerodynamic, geometric, frictional and mass parameters of cultivated radish (Raphanus sativus L.) seeds and their germination capacity for the purpose of improving seed quality. The parameters were determined for graded and discarded radish seeds and impurities were separated by a gravity separator. A germination test was performed, its results were verified every 12 hours, and the germination rate index was determined. A statistical analysis revealed that germinated and non-germinated seeds from the graded fraction did not differ significantly. In the discarded fraction, germinated seeds were characterized by higher terminal velocity (by approx. 10%), thickness (by approx. 9%) and mass (by approx. 26%) in comparison with non-germinated seeds. Significant positive correlations were noted between the germination time vs terminal velocity and mass of discarded seeds. Thus, the separation of radish seeds should take place in two stages using a gravity separator and a pneumatic separator. A vertical stream of air with the speed of approx. 8 m s -1 allows recovery of around 37% of discarded seeds that contain approx. 86% of healthy germs. The resulting seed mixture is characterized by greater germination energy and capacity than the seed fraction graded on a gravity separator only.


The crystal structures of two very close, but distinct complex minerals of the lead sulfosalt group have been solved: sterryite, Cu(Ag,Cu)(3)Pb(19)(Sb,As)(22)(As-As)S(56), and parasterryite, Ag(4)Pb(20)(Sb,As)(24)S(58). They are analyzed and compared according to modular analysis. The fundamental building block is a complex column centred on a Pb(6)S(12) triangular prismatic core, with two additional long and short arms. The main chemical and topological differences relate to the short arm, which induces a relative a/4 shift (~2 Å along the elongation parameter) of the constitutive rod layers, as illustrated by distinct cell settings within the same space group (P2(1)/n and P2(1)/c, respectively). Selection of the shortest (i.e. strongest) (Sb,As)-S bonds permitted to enhance the polymeric organization of (Sb,As) atoms with triangular pyramidal coordination. These two quasi-homeotypic structures are expanded derivatives of owyheeite, Ag(3)Pb(10)Sb(11)S(28). The hierarchy of organization levels from zero- to three-dimensional entities is subordinated to building operators, which appear as the driving force for the construction of such complex structures. Minor cations (Ag, Cu) or the As-As pair in sterryite secure the final locking, which favours the formation of one or the other compound.


Why do so many students mismatch when choosing a college? A plausible hypothesis is a lack of information about the likelihood of admission. This study contributes to the literature on mismatch by testing whether public university automatic admissions policies mitigate academic undermatch and promote academic overmatch by providing some students with admissions certainty. Focusing on the interaction of admissions certainty and race/ethnicity, our results support the hypothesis that a priori admissions information can vastly improve minority access to college quality by encouraging eligible students to apply to, and more importantly, enroll in more challenging institutions.


Socioeconomic and production system characteristics of a sample of Oklahoma sheep producers were employed to examine the decision to use or not use an electronic market for slaughter lambs. Producer attributes that influence electronic market use were identified with qualitative choice models. The results help identify characteristics of electronic markets which influence their success. The findings also have implications about educational opportunities for cooperative extension.


The Korea Augmentation Satellite System (KASS) is the future SBAS of the Republic of Korea. It is developed by the Korea Aerospace research Institute (KARI) for the government of the Republic of Korea, and Thales Alenia Space is the industry prime contractor of this development. The function of the KASS is to decompose all possible range error sources and to distribute corrections and/or alerts to its users by means of geostationary satellites. The KASS Processing Station (KPS) is the component of KASS in charge of computing the orbit, clock and ionosphere correction and alert information (below 'Navigation Overlay Frame', NOF) using data from a set of reference stations. The KPS is composed of two independent elements: the Processing Set (PS) and the Check Set (CS). The first element is responsible of computing the complete navigation context for the GNSS constellation (orbits and clock) and the ionosphere model, then to prepare and send the NOF to be broadcast to the users. The second element acts as a super user by applying the NOF to the GPS messages checking that this is consistent with an independent set of measurement to control and insure the integrity. The KPS-PS component plays a key role in the KASS performance achievement where the APV-1 service level is required. To feed the KPS, the KASS has specific KASS Reference Station (KRS) located on the Rep. of Korea land masses. Compared to other SBAS, this leads to a very concentrated station network. This particularity makes a specific algorithm adaptation of the KPS-PS necessary, as compared to the EGNOS solution, to provide the desired APV-1 performance. These adaptations regard both orbit determination and all the more ionosphere corrections due to the very low number of Ionosphere Grid Points (IPG) that need be modeled and monitored. To cope with these KASS specificities, Thales Alenia Space has designed, developed and qualified a new complete real time navigation algorithm chain that provides MOPS-compliant NOF messages. The ionosphere model is different from the EGNOS one that favors a local analysis counter to a global approach as the TRIN model [2] used in EGNOS. This new algorithm chain provides the specified APV-1 performance, particularly in the case of strong ionosphere activity, with a very good level of integrity margin. This paper presents the overall KASS system architecture as well as the results obtained using this new algorithm chain under different ionosphere contexts. The APV-1 service availability level is presented and the maximum of safety index on each monitored IGP and satellite is discussed.


In this paper I will engage with a broad range of literature that provides us with many signals and evidence of an emerging and significant paradigm shift in human evolution. In doing so, I will offer the concept of transmodernity as an umbrella term that connotes the emerging socio-cultural, economic, political and philosophical shift. My research across boundaries of many different fields such as critical economics, philosophy, subaltern and postcolonial studies, social anthropology and psychology, cultural studies, political science and social activism literature will illustrate how an integrated approach and dialogue is urgently needed, indeed more than ever before. Different authors use a variety of terms to capture what can essentially be described as the synchronised phenomenon of emerging higher collective consciousness— transmodernity paradigm (Ghisi); transmodern philosophy of political liberation (Dussel); Hegelian dialectical triad of thesis, antithesis and synthesis (Magda); the reflective/living- systems paradigm (Elgin); the partnership model of caring economics (Eisler); the relational global consciousness of biosphere politics (Rifkin); love ethics (hooks); the circularity paradigm of interdependence (Steinem). With a reference to a variety of authors I will argue that the reason we do not hear much about this movement is because it is not centralised and coordinated under a single unifying name. 'Transmodernity' ropes together many concepts/tenets of other writings that do not necessarily use the same term, but I chose it in order to communicate the overall idea of the emerging paradigm shift as the next cultural and material development in human history. I have opted to use the concept as a medium to convey humanity's unified synchronicity, which is part of a transformation that can be claimed to be 'the new renaissance' of human history.


This study was carried to identify level of electronic readiness in museums by assessing the uses of electronic readiness provision in museum services, and also to determine the factors responsible for ineffective use of electronic readiness in museums. Descriptive survey research was used for this study. Total enumeration sampling technique was adopted for the sampling procedure. This was chosen because of the small number of number of population of professional museum staff involved which is put at 784 as at 2012. Questionnaires were distributed to museum professionals at 16 museums, located in the South-West and North –Central geo-political zones of Nigeria to collect for the study. Questionnaires administered, the data collected were analysed with the use of statistics depicting the mean and standard deviation. Findings indicated the highest availability of e-readiness resources by respondents was the use of computer (Mean =2.55) and followed by use of e-mail (Mean =2.53), museum website (Mean=2.23), internet (Mean=2.20), the least was CD-Rom (mean =1.62) respectively. The overall result indicated that computer is the most available e-readiness resources use in museums. It was recommended that the country's museums must be computerised

 Key words: Electronic readiness, museums online, software for museums, national commission for museums and monuments, electronic resources, information communication technology.


Availability of newer technologies such as conferencing tools and higher bandwidth that enables multimedia presentations has resulted in the offering of more online courses and degree programs. Recent statistics (Koeppel, 1999) reveal that the number and diversity of online programming by many institutions has significantly increased over the last few years. Attempts to carefully scrutinize and evaluate online instruction should also increase. The online and face-to-face pedagogy for different subject matters at different educational levels need a careful comparison. Analysis of data collected for this study reveals that at least as good as face-to-face pedagogy can be maintained in online instruction at the graduate level if certain conditions are met. This study does not support the finding (Goldberg, 1997) that students who have access to both face-to-face and online instruction achieve a higher level of performance.


An overlapping generation model of the effects of financial deregulation is developed. The results indicate that deregulation will produce an exogenous short-run fall in saving, some of which will be recouped over time, while increasing the sensitivity of saving to wealth, current income, real interest rates and demographic factors. Empirical tests using regional saving data for the United Kingdom are reported, and found to generally accord with the theoretical model. It is estimated that deregulation caused an autonomous fall of 2 1/4% in the personal saving rate of the United Kingdom over the 1980s.


This paper will present a methodology used to investigate how project managers in Australia exchange knowledge while managing projects. The personal drivers, the workplace environment, and tools and techniques used to facilitate this knowledge exchange process were explored based on a literature review and through action research. An action research methodology was selected to study project managers in a social setting. Action research is defined as an "emergent methodology [where] method and data and interpretation and action develop simultaneously, and from cycle to cycle" [1]. The research sample included multiple project managers with a minimum of ten years project management experience who were employed full time as project managers in Australia. The project managers worked on projects across a variety of industries and held either a formal qualification or a recognised professional certificate in project management. The sample size was based on work undertaken by Kotter [2] in the late 1990's when observing how managers and leaders worked. The research method included convergent interviews, in situ observations and collaboration with the project managers to reflect on how they exchanged knowledge. This form of data collection included three 'interventions' where meetings with the project managers occurred and the consequences were reflected upon before a re-planning process took place. The interventions were designed to understand the personal and workplace context in which the project managers exchanged knowledge and the tools and techniques used in this process. To ensure validity and a level of rigour in the research method, quality strategies were adopted which included the formation of an external reference group. This group included representatives from project management industry associations, academia and practitioners that were either experienced in project management or the academic rigour required for research. Through using action research to understand how project managers exchange knowledge, the researcher interprets the facts through their own experiences which contradict the search for knowledge which traditionally has been based on science [3].


This dissertation uses the methods of interpretive social science to explore the multidimensional nature of the stem cell controversy, its competing epistemologies, and types of resolution and policy closure that have been sought in the United States and the European Union. It provides a comparative perspective on the social dynamics of public involvement in stem cell research and evaluates efforts by governments and bioethics advisory bodies to integrate dialogue and deliberation in science policy and decision making. The analysis highlights the agenda-setting and framing roles of the print and electronic news media in the public discourse over stem cells and human cloning, including their ability to validate conflicting knowledge claims about stem cell science and frame uncertainty about its clinical promise.

I argue that stem cell policy debates are deeply embedded in particular socio-political and cultural contexts, and therefore regulatory responses to the societal challenges arising from this biomedical innovation have largely been shaped by non-epistemic factors (considerations external to science and its epistemologies). In the US, the issue of human embryonic stem cell research was right from the outset framed in terms of the contentious politics of abortion, became caught up in America's culture wars, and the funding policy debate revived salient political themes of earlier controversies over abortion and fetal transplantation research. By contrast, efforts by EU policymakers to develop a framework for the ethical governance of stem cell technologies and their applications in regenerative medicine were intertwined with fundamental questions of EU federalism, common European cultural values, and the traditional consensus-oriented politics. I claim that in both cases the moral and policy dilemma was brought to a conclusion by non-epistemic procedural closure. By sealing off the debate through legislative and administrative procedures, policymakers have failed to achieve a morally justifiable resolution of the issues central to the stem cell controversy either through the method of consensus closure or on the basis of epistemic (knowledge-based) factors.


Abstract. Large amounts of spatial data are hold in relational databases. Spatial data in the relational databases must be converted to RDF for semantic web applications. Spatial data is an important key factor for creating spatial RDF data. Linked Data is the most preferred way by users to publish and share data in the relational databases on the Web. In order to define the semantics of the data, links are provided to vocabularies (ontologies or other external web resources) that are common conceptualizations for a domain. Linking data of resource vocabulary with globally published concepts of domain resources combines different data sources and datasets, makes data more understandable, discoverable and usable, improves data interoperability and integration, provides automatic reasoning and prevents data duplication. The need to convert relational data to RDF is coming in sight due to semantic expressiveness of Semantic Web Technologies. One of the important key factors of Semantic Web is ontologies. Ontology means "explicit specification of a conceptualization". The semantics of spatial data relies on ontologies. Linking of spatial data from relational databases to the web data sources is not an easy task for sharing machine-readable interlinked data on the Web. Tim Berners-Lee, the inventor of the World Wide Web and the advocate of Semantic Web and Linked Data, layed down the Linked Data design principles. Based on these rules, firstly, spatial data in the relational databases must be converted to RDF with the use of supporting tools. Secondly, spatial RDF data must be linked to upper level-domain ontologies and related web data sources. Thirdly, external data sources (ontologies and web data sources) must be determined and spatial RDF data must be linked related data sources. Finally, spatial linked data must be published on the web. The main contribution of this study is to determine requirements for finding RDF links and put forward the deficiencies for creating or publishing linked spatial data. To achieve this objective, this study researches existing approaches, conversion tools and web data sources for relational data conversion to the spatial RDF. In this paper, we have investigated current state of spatial RDF data, standards, open source platforms (particularly D2RQ, Geometry2RDF, TripleGeo, GeoTriples, Ontop, etc.) and the Web Data Sources. Moreover, the process of spatial data conversion to the RDF and how to link it to the web data sources is described. The implementation of linking spatial RDF data to the web data sources is demonstrated with an example use case. Road data has been linked to the one of the related popular web data sources, DBPedia. SILK, a tool for discovering relationships between data items within different Linked Data sources, is used as a link discovery framework. Also, we evaluated other link discovery tools e.g. LIMES, Silk and results are compared to carry out matching/linking task. As a result, linked road data is shared and represented as an information resource on the web and enriched with definitions of related different resources. By this way, road datasets are also linked by the related classes, individuals, spatial relations and properties they cover such as, construction date, road length, coordinates, etc.


The presence of free fatty acids interferes with the conversion of plant oils to biodiesel. Four strong and weak base resins were evaluated for the removal of free fatty acids (FFA) from oil. Amberlite FPA 51 showed the highest adsorption capacity of FFA. A resin concentration above 3% could enable a higher percentage FFA adsorption. The adsorption process fitted a pseudo‐first‐order kinetic model and achieved equilibrium in approximately 8 h. A full factorial design was used to optimize the resin and FFA concentrations at a fixed temperature (40 °C). A ratio of resin to fatty acid concentrations above 1.875 was sufficient for 70% adsorption and the amount adsorbed continued to increase with further added resin. A two‐step washing of resin using hexane and ethanol recovered approximately 67.55% ± 4.05% of the initially added fatty acid. The resin that was used was regenerated with 5% NaOH and re‐used for a minimum of three consecutive cycles. However, the adsorption capacity diminished to 75% of the initial cycle in cycles 2 and 3. Thus, the work presents a resin‐based process for deacidification of oil to reduce fatty acid content of oil for biodiesel production. © 2021 Society of Chemical Industry and John Wiley & Sons, Ltd


Nerve growth factor (NGF) is a target-derived neurotrophic protein that promotes the survival and growth of developing sympathetic and sensory neurons. We have examined NGF receptor gene expression in these neurons after NGF administration. Northern blot and in situ hybridization analyses demonstrated that NGF given systemically to neonatal rats increased levels of NGF receptor mRNA in sympathetic neurons within the superior cervical ganglion. This increase was accompanied by a differential regulation of genes associated with neurotransmitter phenotype; tyrosine hydroxylase mRNA was increased, but neuropeptide Y mRNA was not. NGF receptor mRNA levels were also increased in L4-L5 dorsal root ganglia, although this mRNA was not expressed uniformly in sensory neurons of control or NGF-treated animals. Levels of T alpha 1 alpha-tubulin mRNA, a marker of neuronal growth, also increased. In contrast to developing neurons, systemic NGF did not increase NGF receptor mRNA in nonneuronal cells of the sciatic nerve. To determine if NGF regulated NGF receptor gene expression at the transcriptional level, we examined PC12 cells. NGF treatment for 6 h increased NGF receptor mRNA fourfold; this increase was inhibited by cycloheximide. Nuclear run-off transcription assays demonstrated that the increase in steady-state NGF receptor mRNA levels was mediated at the transcriptional level. In contrast, although NGF treatment increased steady-state tyrosine hydroxylase mRNA levels, this effect was not blocked by cycloheximide, and was not due to increased transcription. These data raise the possibility that transcriptional regulation of NGF receptor gene expression by target-derived NGF could be a molecular mechanism for potentiating NGF's effects on neurons during developmental periods of neuronal competition and cell death.


Objective: To describe the clinical characteristics and psychiatric correlates of the Ganser syndrome following mild traumatic brain injury (TBI). Method: A retrospective chart review of patients with mild TBI assessed in a tertiary care outpatient clinic. Results: Of 513 patients reviewed in a 1 year period, four subjects with a diagnosis of Ganser syndrome, with the hallmark syndrome of approximate answers ('vorbeigehen') were identified. In three of these patients, symptoms of Acute Stress Disorder (ASD) and/or Post-traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) were found. Only one patient was pursuing litigation. Conclusions: While no epidemiologic conclusions can be drawn from the data, clinicians should, nevertheless, be alert to the possibility of patients presenting with Ganser syndrome following TBI. The findings are discussed in the light of data linking the syndrome to dissociative and post-traumatic stress related disorders.


In the serum of healthy mice a factor was found inhibiting the in vivo effect of T-suppressors of autoreactive T-lymphocytes (TSart1) induced in mice by tick-borne encephalitis (TBE) virus, Langat virus, dengue virus type 2 (D2) and attenuated strain 17D of yellow fever virus. Activity of the serum factor (s) was demonstrated providing that the TSart1 had H-2 antigens completely or partially identical with the H-2 antigens of serum donors. The activity was not connected with destruction of TSart1. The factor (s) did not inhibit the in vivo activity of TBE virus-induced T-suppressors directed to the effectors of graft versus host reaction (GVHR) in allogeneic mice. These suppressors differed from TSart1 in their distribution in the organs of immune system. As suggested, the serum factor (s) inhibiting TSart1 may be involved in pathogenesis of virus infections and in regulation of virus-induced autoimmune processes.


[ANGLES] Real-time detection and extraction of visual features in wireless sensor networks is a challenging task due to its computational complexity and the limited processing power of the nodes. A promising approach is to distribute the workload to other nodes of the network by delegating the processing of different regions of the image to different nodes. In this work a solution to optimally schedule the loads assigned to each node is implemented on a real visual sensor network testbed. To minimize the time required to process an image, the size of the subareas assigned to the cooperators are calculated by solving a linear programming problem taking into account the transmission and processing speed of the nodes and the spatial distribution of the visual features. In order to minimize the global workload, an optimal detection threshold is predicted such that only the most significant features are extracted. The solution is implemented on a visual sensor network testbed consisting of BeagleBone Black computers capable of communicating over IEEE 802.11. The capabilities of the testbed are also extended by adapting a reliable transmission protocol based on UDP capable of multicast transmission. The performance of the implemented algorithms is evaluated on the testbed.


Lipid Profile in Depressive Disorders with Melancholic and Atypical Features Objective: The studier in which the relationship between serum lipid profile and depression was examined had revealed controversial results. The purpose of the present study was to explore the relationship between serum lipid and lipoprotein levels and depressive disorders with atypical and melancholic features. Method: The study consisted of 39 depressive patients and 20 healthy controls. The depressive patients were divided into two groups, depressive disorders with atypical features and melancholic features. The patients were assessed by Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV and then, Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HDRS) was administered to all patients. Fasting serum total cholesterol (TC), triglyceride (TG), high density lipoprotein (HDL), low density lipoprotein (LDL) and very low density lipoprotein (VLDL) levels were measured at 08.00-09.00 a.m. TK/HDL, LDL/HDL and body mass index (BMI) was calculated for all subjects. Result: The patient groups and control group were matched for sex, age and BMI. We did not find any statistically significant difference in serum TC, HDL, LDL, VLDL, TG levels and TK/HDL and LDL/HDL among groups (P>0.05). There was also no correlation between serum lipid and lipoprotein levels and sex in patients and control groups. Conclusion: Our results did not support the hypotheses that lipid profile was a biological marker to distunguish depressive disorder with melancholic features from atypical features, and that there may be a gender difference between lipid concentrations and major depression.


The pH dependence of complex formation of trypsin with multilamellar vesicles (MLV) of soybean lipids has been investigated. The lipids were characterized by the same phospholipid composition, but the content of other lipids differed. Decrease of pH or introduction of negatively charged components into the lipid samples increased trypsin content in the protein-lipid complexes. This suggests electrostatic interaction between the protein and soybean lipids. The dependence of trypsin activity in the complexes with MLV on their concentration and on the presence of an ionic detergent was studied. Trypsin-MLV interaction did not result in complete inactivation of the protein molecules. Moreover, the effects of dilution and addition of ionic detergent on trypsin activity were additive. Using a fluorescence technique, complex formation with MLV was found to stabilize trypsin molecules, preventing their autolysis.


Pituitary gland dysfunction and its contribution to menarcheal delay in sickle cell anaemia patients was investigated. Ten SS patients mean age 17.5 years who had not achieved menarche were recruited and 10 each of AS and AA controls, mean ages 17.4 and 17.7 years were used as controls to study the effect of the heterozygous state. Dynamic studies with LHRH and TRH were performed for 60 minutes and LH, FSH, PRL and TSH assays were done. Median basal values were significantly lower in the SS patients compared with the AS and AA controls for LH, FSH and PRL. LH: 3.0; 7.1; 7.7 U/L, FSH: 2.1: 4.3: 5.1 U/L. PRL: 94.5; 590; 390 U/L, respectively. The median basal TSH values did not show any significant difference between the SS subjects (7.3 U/L) and the AS and AA controls (5.4 U/L) and 5.6 U/L, respectively. The readily releasable pool also showed the same pattern for LH, FSH and PRL as the basal values while the SS subjects had higher median TSH releasable pool values that were significantly different from those of the AA controls. From the prolactin responses three subjects demonstrated maturational delay in menarcheal achievement while seven demonstrated isolated gonadotrophin deficiency. It is concluded that SS patients with delayed menarche have a hypothalamopituitary axis dysfunction that gives rise to delay in menarcheal achievement and metabolic adaptations to stress of illness. The heterozygous state did not delay menarcheal onset.


Dopamine agonist (DA) treatment is the first choice treatment of prolactinomas. Optic chiasm prolapse with secondary visual deterioration is an unusual and rare complication of DA treatment. A 40-year-old man with giant prolactinoma was successfully treated by cabergoline. After 14 months, he presented with a visual impairment with no ophthalmologic anomalies that could explain this worsening. The pituitary magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) revealed an important shrinkage of prolactinoma with a prolapse and a central atrophy of optic chiasm secondary to the adenoma shrinkage. This case highlights the need of regular assessment of visual field all along cabergoline treatment of macroprolactinomas despite initial improvement or even normalization of visual field, to promptly identify an optic chiasm prolapse and avoid the optic chiasm atrophy. J Endocrinol Metab. 2021;11(2):52-55 doi: https://doi.org/10.14740/jem730


As the use of computers has grown, so too has concern about the amount of power they consume. Data centers, for example, are limited in scalability as they struggle with soaring energy costs from many large companies relying on fast, reliable, and round-the-clock computing services. On large-scale computing clusters, like data centers, even a small drop in power consumption can have large effects. Across computing contexts, reducing power consumed by computers has become a major focus. In this paper, we present a new approach for mapping software design to power consumption and present empirical results of the approach on different software implementations. In particular, we compare the power profiles of software using design patterns against software not using design patterns as a way to explore how high-level design decisions affect an application's energy usage. We show how mappings between software design and power consumption profiles can provide software designers and developers with useful information about the power behavior of the software they are developing. The goal is for software engineers to use this information in designing and developing more energy efficient solutions.


The performance of electrocoagulation using iron electrodes for the removal of hexavalent chromium from synthetic aqueous solutions and actual industrial electroplating wastewater was studied. Parameters affecting the electrocoagulation process, such as initial pH, applied current density, initial metal ion concentration, COD and time of electroprocessing were investigated. The optimum pH was found to be in the range 4-8. Initial chromium concentrations of 200 – 800 mg L -1 did not influence its removal rate. Higher concentrations were reduced significantly in relatively less time than lower concentrations. Increased current density accelerated the electrocoagulation process, however, on cost of higher energy consumption. Results revealed that best removal was achieved at a current density 40 mA cm -2 . The electrocoagulation process was successfully applied to the treatment of an electroplating wastewater sample. Its Cr (VI) ion concentration and COD were effectively reduced under the admissible limits in 50 minutes of electroprocessing.


Sediment accumulation rates have been calculated for the Llobregat Delta and compared to eustasy, climate and land use. Radiometric ages show slow (less than 1 mm/yr) sediment accumulations between 12180±60 BP (14565±715 cal BP) and ~4100 BP (4500 cal BP) and faster rates (12 to 25 mm/yr) younger than ~4100 BP (4500 cal BP). Within this trend of increasing sediment accumulation rates are two peaks of high sediment accumulation; one occurring during the Visigoth period (VI-VIII century) to Upper Medieval Age (X-XIV century) and the second during the economic recuperation (XVIII century). The initial slow sediment accumulation rate is attributed to high rates of accommodation produced by the rapid Holocene transgression and little sediment supply. Following a slower rate of creation of
accommodation space, sediment started to accumulate at the mouth of the river and prograde on the shallow shelf. The pulses in sediment accumulation coincide with and are interpreted to increasing pressure anthropomorphic activity together with peaks of aridity.


Russian researchers from the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology (MIPT), the Technological Institute for Superhard and Novel Carbon Materials (TISNCM), and the National University of Science and Technology MISIS have optimized the design of a nuclear battery generating power from the beta decay of nickel-63, a radioactive isotope. Their new battery prototype packs about 3,300 milliwatt-hours of energy per gram, which is more than in any other nuclear battery based on nickel-63, and 10 times more than the specific energy of commercial chemical cells. The paper was published in the journal Diamond and Related Materials.


With the rapidly development of distance learning and the XML (Extensible Markup Language) technology, metadata becomes an important item in an e-learning system. Today, many distance learning standards such as SCORM, AICC CMI, IEEE LTSC Learning Object Meta-data (LOM), and IMS Learning Resource Metadata XML Binding Specification, use metadata to tag learning materials, shareable content objects, and learning resources. However, most metadata is used to define learning materials and test problems. Few metadata is dedicated for assessment in learning. In this paper, we proposed an assessment metadata model for e-learning operations. With the support from the assessment metadata, we can collect information at the question cognition level, Item Difficulty Index, Item Discrimination Index, questionnaire style, and question style. The assessment analysis model provides individual questions, summary of test results, and analytical suggestions. The suggestions and results can tell teachers why a question is not suitable and how to correct it. Teachers can see the test result analysis and fix some problematic questions. With the cognition level analysis, teachers can correct their cognition level to avoid missing items in teaching. The mechanism developed also suggests to an e-learning system, to adaptive learning content and test to individual learners, as well as provides good advice to the teachers.


Progress in HIV (human immunodeficiency virus) prevention interventions has been made in recent years. These developments have raised questions concerning the impact and optimal combination of biomedical and behavioral interventions. Agent-based models offer a way to compare intervention combinations that could not be readily accomplished with large scale prevention trials because of cost and logistical considerations. An agent-based model is a community of individuals whose behavior and interactions are simulated according to well- defined rules. We describe two agent-based social network models and methods of calibration to sexual contact parameters relevant to MSM (men who have sex with men) in South Africa: a model with static partnerships and a novel model featuring self-reinforcing partnership edges. We only have sexual contact summary statistics (i.e. coarse network statistics) and these models are calibrated to replicate these statistics. A calibration approach was developed using recent advances in multi-objective optimization and applied to the self-reinforcing model.We use these models to evaluate the varying impact of HIV prevention combinations by simulating community-randomized trials across realistic values of several parameters: ART (anti-retroviral therapy) uptake, PREP (pre-exposure prophylaxis) uptake, HIV testing uptake, and CAI (condomless anal intercourse) reduction. For the static partnership agent-based model, we create a statistical model to describe quantitatively the effects of these parameters and variation. For the self-reinforcing model we model sensitivity across several key parameters. We develop sample size and power formula for community randomized trials that incorporate estimates of variation and effect sizes determined from the agent-based model. We find that traditional sample size approaches that rely on binomial (or Poisson) models are inadequate and can lead to underpowered studies. In our studies of variation and effect sizes, we identified important sensitivities to the network contact structure. We conclude that agent-based models offer a useful tool in the design of HIV prevention trials.


During the twentieth century the Mexican government invested in the creation and promotion of a national culture more aggressively than any other state in the western hemisphere. Fragments of a Golden Age provides a comprehensive cultural history of the vibrant Mexico that emerged after 1940. Agreeing that the politics of culture and its production, dissemination, and reception constitute one of the keys to understanding this period of Mexican history, the volume's contributors—historians, popular writers, anthropologists, artists, and cultural critics—weigh in on a wealth of topics from music, tourism, television, and sports to theatre, unions, art, and magazines.

Each essay in its own way addresses the fragmentation of a cultural consensus that prevailed during the "golden age" of post–revolutionary prosperity, a time when the state was still successfully bolstering its power with narratives of modernization and shared community. Combining detailed case studies—both urban and rural—with larger discussions of political, economic, and cultural phenomena, the contributors take on such topics as the golden age of Mexican cinema, the death of Pedro Infante as a political spectacle, the 1951 "caravan of hunger," professional wrestling, rock music, and soap operas.

Fragments of a Golden Age will fill a particular gap for students of modern Mexico, Latin American studies, cultural studies, political economy, and twentieth century history, as well as to others concerned with rethinking the cultural dimensions of nationalism, imperialism, and modernization.

Contributors. Steven J. Bachelor, Quetzil E. Castaneda, Seth Fein, Alison Greene, Omar Hernandez, Jis & Trino, Gilbert M. Joseph, Heather Levi, Ruben Martinez, Emile McAnany, John Mraz, Jeffrey M. Pilcher, Elena Poniatowska, Anne Rubenstein, Alex Saragoza, Arthur Schmidt, Mary Kay Vaughan, Eric Zolov


Based on earlier experiences of the colour mismatch phenomenon we investigated the colour matching with two types of visual experiments. First we confirmed the phenomenon with a white colour matching experiment using narrow band and broadband light sources illuminating white reflection patches. Secondly we made a colour matching experiment with more saturated colour stimuli. During both experiments the observers had the task to set the colour stimuli coming from the test side to that coming from the reference side of the arrangement. Using spectroradiometric measurement data we calculated chromaticities using the CIE standard colour matching functions and using a slightly modified set of CMFs kindly received from Dr. Wold. The calulations showed that using the modified colour matching functions the calculated colour differences will be smaller. This result is true in both matching situations. After the second series we came to the conclusion that the value of calculated colour difference is the function of the blue amount in the radiation.


This paper presents a distributed power quality monitoring system that allows analyzing all steady and non-steady state phenomena related to power quality. The system is flexible and open to changes and improvements. The monitoring system is presented with reference to its distributed architecture, describing the several remote measurement substations that are based both on commercial and advanced high performance devices. On-field measurements conducted on low voltage sub-networks are reported for some of the main power quality phenomena. Statistical analysis results are reported to highlight the system performances with the different occurrence frequency of disturbances.


: At present traffic management is a big challenge and plays a vital role in moving the vehicles from one corner of the city to the other. This system not only controls the traffic signals but also it reduces violating traffic rules and accidents. Here when the red light signal is ON there will be a servomotor which pops up barricade from ground level. It applies one special condition in the road by placing a barricade before the zebra crossing which will stop the vehicles when the signal red light is ON. The barricade will automatically pops up on the vehicle stopping mark, when the signal leaves it pops down to the ground. For ambulance, it is having a special feature that there will be an RFID tag which can sense about its arrival. For this reason the RFID reader is fixed to road. During the red signal, when the ambulance needs to pass at that time RFID reads the tag and changes red light to green light in traffic signal through GSM where RFID reader card number is stored in control system. So the barricade will pop down to ground and the other three ways are stopped with red signal light so that the ambulance can easily pass through the way by these one can save someone's life. This project work is carried out by using IOT technology. Servomotor.


Most U.S. farmers prepare their soil for seeding and weed and pest control through tillage—plowing operations that disturb the soil. Tillage practices affect soil carbon, water pollution, and farmers' energy and pesticide use, and therefore data on tillage can be valuable for understanding the practice's role in reaching climate and other environmental goals. In order to help policymakers and other interested parties better understand U.S. tillage practices and, especially, those practices' potential contribution to climate-change efforts, ERS researchers compiled data from the Agricultural Resource Management Survey and the National Resources Inventory-Conservation Effects Assessment Project's Cropland Survey. The data show that approximately 35.5 percent of U.S. cropland planted to eight major crops, or 88 million acres, had no tillage operations in 2009.


This paper reports the rationale, methodology, and findings of SIAP's Philadelphia Area Artists Survey 2004. SIAP undertook the survey as a first step toward the documentation and understanding of the region's artists and their social networks. The study had four objectives: to address a gap in the literature by doing an empirical study of the social networks of artists; to document the informal dimensions of artists' networking in metropolitan Philadelphia; to test methodologies to identify the universe of artists in the region and analyze their network strategies; and, finally, to advance SIAP's understanding of the role of the artist in the contemporary city. The report documents two types of networking activity: networks that are part of everyday professional life, including nuts and bolts as well as inspiration for the creative process; and networks to get work, that is, projects or positions (over a 12-month period) that tap their capacity as an artist. The picture of social networks presented in this paper differs from the image based on the organization-centered perspective that has dominated policy research. An artist-centered view redraws boundaries of the cultural sector and recasts definitions of informal vs. formal and internal vs. external networks. The findings begin to address the empirical shortfall in research and offer new perspectives on the nature and function of artists' social networks. Disciplines Arts and Humanities | Social Statistics | Sociology Comments SIAP's methodology for the artist-network survey was based on respondent-driven sampling (RDS), originally developed by Douglas Heckathorn at Cornell University for research on intravenous drug-users and other 'hidden population" groups for which there is no reliable data for more conventional sampling strategies. Joan Jeffri and colleagues used RDS strategy in their 2003 study of jazz musicians (Changing the Beat: A Study of the Worklife of Jazz Musicians) for the National Endowment for the Arts. Jeffri's comparison of samples drawn from union membership and using RDS makes a strong case that RDS is the preferred method for studying populations like artists for whom there is no clear sampling frame. SIAP's companion working paper—Gauging the Informal Arts Sector, Metropolitan Philadelphia, 2004—provides a full discussion of its use of RDS methodology and success in generating a representative sample of Philadelphia's "hidden population" of artists. SIAP's Dynamics of Culture research was undertaken from 2003 to 2005 with support by the Rockefeller Foundation. This working paper is available at ScholarlyCommons: https://repository.upenn.edu/siap_dynamics/6


We analyzed the microstructure and degree of mineralization of the subchondral trabecular bone in hip osteoarthritis (OA) using synchrotron radiation computed tomography (SRCT) to identify the relationship between bone structure and bone turnover. Subchondral bone samples were extracted from femoral heads of 10 terminal‐staged hip OA patients. The SRCT scan was performed at 30 keV energy and 5.9 µm voxel size. Trabecular bone structure, bone cyst volume, and the degree of trabecular bone mineralization were measured, and correlations between bone structure and the degree of mineralization were analyzed. In addition, the trabecular bone was divided into the area immediately surrounding the bone cyst and the remaining area, and they were compared. The average cyst volume fraction in the whole region was 31.8%, and the bone volume fraction in the bone region was 55.6%. Cyst volume was the only structural parameter that had a significant correlation with the degree of mineralization. The degree of mineralization was diminished when the bone cyst was larger (r = −0.81, p = 0.004). The trabecular bone immediately surrounding the bone cyst had a lower degree of mineralization when compared with the remaining trabecular bone (p = 0.008). In the bone sclerosis of OA subchondral bone, there are many large and small bone cysts, which are expected to play a significant part in the high bone turnover of OA. © 2012 American Society for Bone and Mineral Research.


Yams are important items of diet throughout the Caribbean Region and, among them, the cultivars of the species, Dioscorea alata L. and D. esculenta (Lour.) Burkill are particularly important in the Eastern and Southern Caribbean, although the latter is so to a lesser extent. With a growing period of approximately nine months and a corresponding dormancy period, these cultivars are produced on an annual basis like clockwork, providing food yams for approximately three months of the year, the period of availability coinciding with the period of dormancy as the latter marks the natural period of storage of the tuber. Consequently, the breakage of dormancy marks the beginning of the end of natural storage as the emerging sprouts signal the onset of the next growing period. This coincides with the start of the rainy season and the yam is adapted to existing climatic conditions that provide the ideal environment for both plant establishment and tuber growth. Cultivars of the two species bear no reproductive seed and therefore, are completely dependent on vegetative means for perpetuation. Any adverse development during storage or early growth that prevents sprouting or tuber initiation and growth, results in the permanent loss of the affected material and potentially threatens loss of the specific cultivar. Hence, climate change events such as shifts in the onset of the rainy season, extension of the dry period and incidences of severe weather associated with excessive flooding that can result in death of roots and developing tubers, pose real risks to the persistence of the cultivars of D. alata and D. esculenta that are produced in the Caribbean Region. In order to counteract these effects, what is needed is the manipulation of the growth cycle to allow for year-round production so that the changes that have been observed with respect to climatic and weather patterns will not result in a loss of planting material and, by extension, loss of germplasm. It is well-established that the growth cycle is under hormonal control and that the key to year-round production is the breaking of the physiological lock on the growth cycle that is responsible for the seasonal production by which these species are characterized. There have been many attempts by researchers in the past to achieve this, but without success until relatively recently. Most attempts have explored the use of natural and synthetic plant growth regulators. Further, past attempts have focussed on the breakage of natural dormancy and induction of early sprouting, but instead, the success reported here, was achieved by delaying sprouting to beyond the period of natural dormancy in a novel approach that eliminates the use of growth regulators and other chemicals. This paper reports how reduced temperature storage has been used successfully to break the physiologically controlled growth cycle in cultivars of D. alata and D. esculenta, producing yams all year long by delaying the breakage of dormancy, ensuring not only an extension of the availability of yam tubers for food but also availability of viable planting material throughout the year. It was found that tubers can be stored successfully for an entire cycle, so that tubers from the previous year can meet tubers of the current year's harvest providing a buffer against crop loss from any adverse biotic or climatic event. The effects on sprouting patterns are described. The use of reduced temperature storage for this purpose has not been reported and this account serves to fill an important gap in documented yam dormancy research.


The contributions of African scholars living in Africa to world knowledge heritage are limited when compared with their counterparts elsewhere. Many scholars have adduced diverse reasons for this state of affairs, including the scattered and uncoordinated nature of their contributions, the low impact level of their publishing outlets which limits the visibility of such contributions, poor infrastructure for the utilization of information technologies, and low level of collaboration between and among scholars across the continent. More importantly, there is little or no collaboration among libraries and librarians for the purpose of information sharing. To address these gaps, a description of the collaboration between the librarians and systems librarians of the University of Lagos, Nigeria and their counterparts in the University of Ghana, Legon, Ghana is presented. A focal point of the collaboration is the sharing of experience about digitization projects and institutional repositories (IR) of the two universities. Issues discussed range from the formulation of take-off plans and strategy for digitization of library holdings, the management of the IR, and information sharing. A sequential evidence-based experience from the two universities that have successfully deployed their IR informed this analysis. Experiences of other libraries outside Africa are also found very useful. The article ends on a note of recommendation of a framework for collaboration among librarians and libraries in Africa.


Pancreatitis is a serious complication in the postoperative period which has been associated with a high mortality rate. The incidence of postoperative pancreatitis is uncertain, although it has been considered to be infrequent. The recent appearance of a number of reports raises some questions as to its rarity. 3-5,9,15,16 The experience of the pavilion service of The New York Hospital has been reviewed to study the clinical features of postoperative pancreatitis and to assess factors that seem to contribute to a fatal outcome. Clinical Material Pancreatitis occurred in 52 patients who had been subjected to a variety of surgical procedures from 1939-1960. Thirty-one patients were women, and 21 were men. Their average age was 52 years. The operations that preceded the onset of pancreatitis have been listed in Table 1. The development of this complication was encountered in 40 patients after intra-abdominal procedures and in seven patients after procedures upon


In this work, we present a new dataset to advance the state-of-the-art in fruit detection, segmentation, and counting in orchard environments. While there has been significant recent interest in solving these problems, the lack of a unified dataset has made it difficult to compare results. We hope to enable direct comparisons by providing a large variety of high-resolution images acquired in orchards, together with human annotations of the fruit on trees. The fruits are labeled using polygonal masks for each object instance to aid in precise object detection, localization, and segmentation. Additionally, we provide data for patch-based counting of clustered fruits. Our dataset contains over 41'0000 annotated object instances in 1000 images. We present a detailed overview of the dataset together with baseline performance analysis for bounding box detection, segmentation, and fruit counting as well as representative results for yield estimation. We make this dataset publicly available and host a CodaLab challenge to encourage a comparison of results on a common dataset. To download the data and learn more about the MinneApple dataset, please see the project website: http://rsn.cs.umn.edu/index.php/MinneApple. Up to date information is available online.


The lack of academic religious studies in India has several causes: the choice of the secular University of London as model for the first universities in India in 1857, the secular constitution, the secularist approach of the first prime minister of India, Jawaharlal Nehru, and the explosive relation between major faith traditions. However, with the waning of the Indian secularist framework and the continued power and influence of Hindutva ideology, there is a need to discuss different models for religious studies in India. In this article, the point of departure is Banaras Hindu University (BHU), one of the few universities in India that has religious studies, but also a faculty of Hindu theology. The focus is on the history of BHU and the recommendations of several educational commission from the 1930s to the 60s, with a note on recent attempts at BHU of renewing value education. The aim is to highlight one alternative for developing religious studies in India, whose primary goal is the formation of good citizens enabled by a set of universal human values instantiated in local traditions.


Objective: This study aimed to describe food and nutrient intake for low-income, urban African American children and adolescents, to highlight the need for further nutrition intervention programs and appropriate tools to address overweight and obesity. Methods: This was a cross-sectional study using interviewer-administered single 24-hour dietary recalls. Participants were low-income African American boys and girls aged 5–16 years or their caregivers in Baltimore City. Frequency of food consumption and dietary intakes were analyzed by gender and age groups. Results: Eighty-one participants were included for analysis. Mean daily energy intakes exceeded Dietary Reference Intakes (DRIs) from 10% to 71% across all gender-age groups: 2304 kcal for children aged 5–8 years; 2429 kcal and 2732 kcal for boys and girls aged 9–13 years, respectively; and 3339 kcal and 2846 kcal for boys and girls aged 14–16 years, respectively. The most frequently reported consumed foods were sweetened drinks, chips, candies, and milk across all age groups. The majority of participants (79–100%) did not meet the DRIs for dietary fiber and vitamin E across all gender-age groups. Milk accounted for 14%, 17%, and 21% of energy, fat, and protein intake, respectively, among children 5–8 years of age, while pizza was the top source of energy, fat, and protein (11%, 13%, and 18%, respectively) among 14-to 16-year-old adolescents. Sweetened drinks and sweetened juices were major sources of sugar, contributing 33% for 5–8 year olds, 29% for 9–13 year olds, and 35% for 14–16 year olds. Conclusions: Mean daily energy intake exceeded dietary recommendations across all gender-age groups. This study has provided previously unavailable information on diet and highlights foods to be targeted in nutrition intervention programs.


PURPOSE
To investigate longitudinal changes in global and regional brain volume in patients 1 year after mild traumatic brain injury (MTBI) and to correlate such changes with clinical and neurocognitive metrics.

MATERIALS AND METHODS
This institutional review board-approved study was HIPAA compliant. Twenty-eight patients with MTBI (with 19 followed up at 1 year) with posttraumatic symptoms after injury and 22 matched control subjects (with 12 followed up at 1 year) were enrolled. Automated segmentation of brain regions to compute regional gray matter (GM) and white matter (WM) volumes was performed by using three-dimensional T1-weighted 3.0-T magnetic resonance imaging, and results were correlated with clinical metrics. Pearson and Spearman rank correlation coefficients were computed between longitudinal brain volume and neurocognitive scores, as well as clinical metrics, over the course of the follow-up period.

RESULTS
One year after MTBI, there was measurable global brain atrophy, larger than that in control subjects. The anterior cingulate WM bilaterally and the left cingulate gyrus isthmus WM, as well as the right precuneal GM, showed significant decreases in regional volume in patients with MTBI over the 1st year after injury (corrected P < .05); this was confirmed by means of cross-sectional comparison with data in control subjects (corrected P < .05). Left and right rostral anterior cingulum WM volume loss correlated with changes in neurocognitive measures of memory (r = 0.65, P = .005) and attention (r = 0.60, P = .01). At 1-year follow-up, WM volume in the left cingulate gyrus isthmus correlated with clinical scores of anxiety (Spearman rank correlation r = -0.68, P = .007) and postconcussive symptoms (Spearman rank correlation r = -0.65, P = .01).

CONCLUSION
These observations demonstrate structural changes to the brain 1 year after injury after a single concussive episode. Regional brain atrophy is not exclusive to moderate and severe traumatic brain injury but may be seen after mild injury. In particular, the anterior part of the cingulum and the cingulate gyrus isthmus, as well as the precuneal GM, may be distinctively vulnerable 1 year after MTBI.


Background: Horse racing is a weight category sport in which jockeys must chronically maintain a low body mass to compete, over a protracted season. The need to relentlessly align body mass with racing limits appears to encourage the use of short-term and potentially dangerous acute weight loss strategies. The purpose of this study was to investigate and assess the dietary habits of Irish Jockeys using established methods as well as incorporating novel sensing technologies.

Methods: The primary aim was achieved through two separate but related studies. Study one: Dietary intake was assessed in 18 professional Irish Jockeys (11 Flat and 7 National Hunt) over a typical racing week, using a standard 7-day food diary. Study Two: There are limitations associated with the traditional methods of dietary assessment therefore a new innovative method of dietary assessment using novel sensing technologies, the Microsoft SenseCam, a wearable camera, was evaluated. The SenseCam was worn by 17 trainee jockeys in tandem with keeping a standard 1-day food diary to increase the accuracy of the dietary assessment. For the purposes of comparison, the study was then broadened to two further populations, elite Gaelic footballers and a group of healthy active University Students to evaluate potential differences across populations.

Results: In study one the dietary analysis showed mean daily energy intake (1803±564 kcal) was low in both Flat and National Hunt groups alike and appeared to provide insufficient availability of energy for sustainment of usual daily and metabolic processes. Carbohydrate intake (3.7 ±1.3g.kg-1) was below recommendations for athletes, whilst protein levels (1.3 ± 0.5. kg-1) were within recommended amounts for athletes. In general the levels fell short of the recommendations for athletes partaking in weight category sports. Jockeys consumed well below (0-2) the recommended five daily servings of fruit and vegetables set by the World Health Organization. Study two showed that by using the SenseCam in tandem with the 1-day food diary a more accurate dietary assessment could be gleaned. Mean total calorie intake using the food diary alone compared to the combination of the food diary and SenseCam were 2349±827.9 vs 2631±893.4 kcal, 2600±521.9 vs 3191±770.2 kcal and 2237±318.5 vs 2487±404.6 kcal for the trainee jockeys, Gaelic footballers and University students respectively. This represented a difference of 10.7% (p≤0.001); 17.7% (p≤0.001); and 10.1% (p≤0.01) among measurements methods for trainee jockeys, Gaelic footballers, and university students, respectively. The SenseCam allowed the dietitian to pick up on foods consumed but not documented in the food diary. It also allowed identification of brand types and portions size making the overall dietary assessment more accurate.

Conclusions: Results from this research suggest that due to the chronically energy restricted lifestyle associated which Irish professional jockey, this may place them at risk of compromised long term health. By using novel sensing technologies it may be possible to more accurately assess dietary intake in this population, in order to assist in the education and provision of more accurate dietary advice in the future.


Four experiments were conducted to replicate and expand upon A. G. Greenwald, S. C. Draine, and R. L. Abrams's (1996) demonstration that unconsciously perceived priming words can influence judgments of other words. The present experiments manipulated 2 types of relationships between priming and target stimuli: (a) whether priming and target stimuli possess a preexisting semantic relationship (an affective relationship in Experiments 1, 2, and 4; an associative relationship in Experiment 3; and an animacy relationship in Experiment 4) and (b) whether the primes and targets produce the same response. Large priming effects were found only when the primes and targets possessed response compatibility. No residual effects for affective, animacy, or semantic relatedness were observed. Although these results strongly support the conclusion that word meaning can be unconsciously activated, they do not support the claim that the unconscious perception effects obtained in Greenwald et al.'s (1996) paradigm are caused by automatic spreading activation of word meaning. Instead, the results reported here are consistent with a claim that unconsciously perceived words automatically trigger response tendencies that facilitate or interfere with target responding.


Aim: To evaluate the prevalence and causes of low vision and blindness in an urban south Indian population. Settings and Design: Population-based cross-sectional study. Exactly 3850 subjects aged 40 years and above from Chennai city were examined at a dedicated facility in the base hospital. Materials and Methods: All subjects had a complete ophthalmic examination that included best-corrected visual acuity. Low vision and blindness were defined using World Health Organization (WHO) criteria. The influence of age, gender, literacy, and occupation was assessed using multiple logistic regression. Statistical Analysis: Chi-square test, t-test, and multivariate analysis were used. Results: Of the 4800 enumerated subjects, 3850 subjects (1710 males, 2140 females) were examined (response rate, 80.2%). The prevalence of blindness was 0.85% (95% CI 0.6–1.1%) and was positively associated with age and illiteracy. Cataract was the leading cause (57.6%) and glaucoma was the second cause (16.7%) for blindness. The prevalence of low vision was 2.9% (95% CI 2.4–3.4%) and visual impairment (blindness + low vision) was 3.8% (95% CI 3.2–4.4%). The primary causes for low vision were refractive errors (68%) and cataract (22%). Conclusions: In this urban population based study, cataract was the leading cause for blindness and refractive error was the main reason for low vision.


Virtual and augmented reality technologies are increasingly used in a wide range of applications. Such technologies employ a Head Mounted Display (HMD) that typically includes an eye-facing camera and is used for eye tracking. As some of these applications require accessing or transmitting highly sensitive private information, a trusted verification of the operator's identity is needed. We investigate the use of HMD-setup to perform verification of operator using periocular region captured from inbuilt camera. However, the uncontrolled nature of the periocular capture within the HMD results in images with a high variation in relative eye location and eye-opening due to varied interactions. Therefore, we propose a new normalization scheme to align the ocular images and then, a new reference sample selection protocol to achieve higher verification accuracy. The applicability of our proposed scheme is exemplified using two handcrafted feature extraction methods and two deep-learning strategies. We conclude by stating the feasibility of such a verification approach despite the uncontrolled nature of the captured ocular images, especially when proper alignment and sample selection strategy is employed.


PURPOSE/OBJECTIVES
To explore the experience of informal caregivers of patients with a primary brain tumor by identifying themes of the caregiving experience specific to this population.

RESEARCH APPROACH
Qualitative study employing Parse's descriptive exploratory method.

SETTING
National Cancer Institute-designated comprehensive cancer center in a major city in the southern United States.

PARTICIPANTS
20 patients with primary brain tumors and their caregivers.

METHODOLOGIC APPROACH
Data collection involved a tape-recorded dialogue with caregivers using Story Theory. Patient and caregiver demographic information was collected.

MAIN RESEARCH VARIABLES
Concepts of commitment, expectation management, role negotiation, self-care, new insight, and role support.

FINDINGS
Caregivers of patients with primary brain tumors used the energy sources identified by the Model of Informal Caregiving Dynamics. Commitment is sustained through enduring patient cognitive and behavioral decline. Expectations are based on a realistic understanding of the disease trajectory and known mortality, and allow caregivers to hope for the ability to manage declining patients. Caregivers express difficulty in gauging the behavior of cognitively impaired patients. Healthcare providers support caregivers by supplying information and listening to caregivers' stories. In contrast to a similar study involving caregivers of bone marrow transplantation recipients, these caregivers reported negative perceptions.

CONCLUSIONS
Commitment, expectation management, role negotiation, self-care, new insight, and role support motivate informal caregivers of patients with primary brain tumors in a unique way.

INTERPRETATION
Healthcare providers can support the caregiving experience by validating efforts, providing information, and listening to frustrations. Additional research should explore interventions aimed at assisting caregivers.


Understanding the factors that affect continued use or discontinuance of an information system beyond initial adoption is one of the most challenging issues in information systems research. This paper combines information economics, the technology acceptance model (TAM), and diffusion of innovation theory, and analyzes barriers with respect to the continued use of information systems. The suggested model examines data collected from 284 former users enrolled in a blended distance learning university, who apparently abandoned an online assignment submission system. The findings indicate that behavioral intention to use the system was mainly influenced by its perceived ease of use, perceived usefulness, its real value, and general attitude towards new technologies. Social and institutional influence was quite low, but the major barrier to continuance was incompatibility with the assignment preparation process performed by the students, as well as the assignment checking process performed by the tutors, which discouraged continued use.