The opinion that academic spin-out firms face greater difficulties to gain financial support from venture capital firms, is a well-spread "fact" among both practitioners and policymakers and is also supported by some research results reported in the scientific literature.We can find several possible reasons for this, many of them being mentioned and investigated in previous research. One stream of research focus on the high risks involved in new ventures with origin in academic research (Wright et al, 2006), one being the technological nature of academic new ventures and is founded in the uncertainties that the new technology will fail to fulfil the promised features. Another is often called the market risk, and focuses on the difficulties for the new venture to find a market which is big enough to develop the new venture into a viable business. A third risk is the mismatch between the state of development of the venture and the expectations and resources provided by support actors, one of which being venture capitalists (Lindstrom & Olofsson, 200X). By this type of risk we mainly mean the lack of commercial skills in the venture team on the one hand, and the low grade of commercial development of the venture project on the other.We can also identify a fourth category of risks, or problems, involved in academic spinoffs which are of a slightly different character than the previous. Here we are more concerned with individual or person-to-person level aspects of the relations between the academic venture team and their outside financiers, but also on attitudes – on both sides – towards the counterpart in a new venture project relation.


1. Stress fractures of the femoral neck in twenty-five patients are described. 2. Two distinct radiological types, compression fractures and transverse fractures, are described. A clinical distinction cannot be made in the early stages. 3. The importance of the early differential diagnosis between the two types is emphasised because the transverse stress fracture of the femoral neck will become displaced. 4. The morbidity after a displaced transverse fracture of the femoral neck can be severe.


AIM
To investigate relationships between first-line managers' ratings of structural and psychological empowerment, and the subordinates' ratings of structural empowerment, as well as their ratings of the managers' leadership-management performance.

BACKGROUND
Work situations in elderly care are complex. To date, few studies have used a longitudinal, correlational and multilevel design to study the working life of subordinates and managers.

METHOD
In five Swedish municipalities, questionnaires were answered twice during 2010-12 by 56 first-line managers and 769 subordinates working in nursing homes or home-help services.

RESULTS
First-line managers' empowerment at Time 1 partially predicted subordinate's structural empowerment and ratings of their managers' leadership-management performance at Time 2. Changes over time partially revealed that the more access managers had to structural empowerment, i.e. increase over time, the higher the ratings were for structural empowerment and managerial leadership-management performance among subordinates.

CONCLUSIONS
Findings strengthen research and theoretical suggestions linking first-line managers' structural empowerment to their subordinates' structural empowerment and ratings of their manager's leadership-management performance.

IMPLICATIONS FOR NURSING MANAGEMENT
Managers with high access to structural empowerment are more likely to provide subordinates access to structural empowerment.


In this paper, the dynamics of elementary cellular automaton (ECA) rule 73 is investigated under the framework of the bi-infinite symbolic sequence space. This paper provides a rigorous mathematical analysis for the evolution of symbol sequences in some subsystems of rule 73. ECA rule 73, a member of Wolfram's class III and Chua's complex Bernoulli-shift rules, defines many more subsystems with rich and complicated dynamical properties such as topologically mixing, topologically transitivity and positive topological entropy, and henceforth the dynamical system generated by the global map of the rule is chaotic in the sense of both Devaney and Li-Yorke.


This article attempts to examine the socio-economic polices of the BJP (Bhartiya Janata Party) government in India. More than two years have passed since BJP came to power in India under the leadership of Mr. Modi. I think it would be interesting to analyse its economic policies. The BJP is the political front of the RSS (Rastriya Sevak Sangh) and most of the BJP leaders including the Prime Minister Mr. Modi have been members of the RSS. Both organisations are fully committed to the ideology of Hindutva, which is deep rooted in hate against religious minorities, particularly Muslims and Christians.

It is important to study India's development because of its huge population, market-size and multi-religious, and diverse communities, which would have global impact


This paper describes an online learning resource for rheumatology that was designed for a wide constituency of users including primarily undergraduate medical students and health professionals. Although the online resources afford an informal learning environment, the site was pedagogically designed to comply with the general recommendations of the Standing Committee on Training and Education of EULAR (European League Against Rheumatism) for a rheumatology core curriculum. Any Internet user may freely browse the site content with optional registration providing access to adaptive features that personalize the user's view, for example, providing a reading history and targeted support based on scores from completed case studies. The site has now been available since early 2003, and an online survey of site registrants indicates that well structured pedagogical materials that reflect a learners' dominant 'community of practice' appear to be a successful aid to informal learning.


Experience may be a leader's best teacher--but there's a hitch. Two people can have identical experiences, but one blossoms while the other is depleted. The same can be said for any pair of fired CEOs, unsuccessful political candidates, or rookie supervisors. In Crucibles of Leadership, Robert J. Thomas concludes that what matters most is what one makes of experience, particularly the traumatic and often unplanned crucible events that challenge one's identity as a leader. What distinguishes leaders who grow through a crucible experience? Their approach to learning. Like accomplished athletes or artists, they practice as strenuously as they perform. And because the line between performance and practice is often hard to discern, they learn how to practice while they perform. But theirs is no ordinary practice. It's a regimen tailored to individual aspirations, motivations, and learning styles--a Personal Learning Strategy. Building on insightful and moving stories told by accomplished leaders, Thomas offers probing self-assessments and innovative tools designed to help you develop your own Personal Learning Strategy. Provocative and original, with examples drawn from business and politics as well as from the inner workings of the Mormon Church and the Hell's Angels, Thomas's book will revolutionize the way you think about leadership and learning.


The Detection and Relative Damage Quantification Indicator (DRQ) was presented previously as a reliable damage detection indicator when used with Operational Deflection Shapes (ODS). The DRQ was computed from the Response Vector Assurance Criterion (RVAC) between the damaged and the initial ODS and the resulting value proved to be a good indicator of the presence of damage. The use of the ODS implies that the loads applied to the structure with and without damage are either known or, at least, the same. If the forces are not deterministic but still ergodic, the power spectrum could be used to evaluate the ODS, but still the above conditions hold, in a statistical sense. When a structure is subjected to ambient excitation, those conditions can hardly be assured. The loads may vary quite significantly and the ODS changes may be due to those changes instead of the presence of damage. To avoid this handicap, the authors explore here the use of the Transmissibility functions. If properly defined, the Transmissibility is invariant with respect to the amplitude of the loads. Since the Displacement Transmissibility is load invariant, a picked set of responses can be measured in service and used to predict another set; the result will then be correlated to the actual values using the RVAC and the DRQ will be computed. Numerical and experimental examples illustrate the proposed technique.


Because the ethical choices of medicine become more and more complex each year, the Pennsylvania Medical Society Commission on Bioethics in 1992 sponsored a survey to assess the need for a statewide ethics network. This article discusses the results of that survey.


: Bridge is an infrastructure that has an important role in economic activities of the community. Throughout its service period, a bridge experiences various problems due to environmental factors and traffic loads. This study is focused on investigating the conditions of concrete bridge infrastructure in Surakarta, Indonesia based on fuzzy expert system method developed with Octave open source software as tool. This study is conducted by building a fuzzy expert system application based on bridge members' conditions to obtain overall level performance of the bridge. In general, this research is divided into three parts. Firstly, to conduct surveys of several bridges conditions as sample data for application. Secondly, to build a model of fuzzy membership function and fuzzy inference engine for each type of bridge condition. Thirdly, to develop an application of fuzzy expert system based on the model developed with Octave. The result of the research can be used in an expert system application to determine the condition level of the bridges.


Organic π-conjugated small molecules and polymers, owing to their light weight, solution processability, mechanical flexibility, and large synthetic variety of finely tunable structures and properties, are promising semiconducting materials for a new generation of optoelectronic devices such as light-emitting diodes (LEDs), field-effect transistors (FETs), photovoltaic devices and sensors. A vast library of π-conjugated systems have been synthesized through conventional tools of coupling (e.g. Suzuki coupling, Stille coupling) and have been used in the fabrication of organic optoelectronic devices. In recent years an emerging synthetic technique called direct C–H arylation has been extensively studied as a facile, atom-efficient and environmentally benign pathway for the synthesis of conjugated polymers and small molecules. C–C bond formation between two heteroaryls can be carried out via the activation of C–H bonds in a transition-metal catalytic cycle, thereby overcoming additional pre-functionalization steps involving toxic reagents. Direct arylation has been applied to a broad range of monomers and its reaction conditions have been optimized to produce defect-free polymers as well as small molecules that exhibit performances comparable with those made from conventional reactions. In this review, we summarize the recent progress in the synthesis of conjugated small molecules, linear polymers and porous polymers by direct C–H arylation. In particular, small molecules and linear polymers based on benzothiadiazole (BT), diketopyrrolopyrrole (DPP), napththalenediimide (NDI), isoindigo (IG), thienoisoindigo (TIIG) and thienothiadiazole (TTD) are discussed in detail. Device performances of some representative polymers synthesized via direct arylation polymerization (DAP) in FETs and bulk heterojunction solar cells are summarized. We finally discuss the present challenges and perspectives of DAP towards future "greener" and more industrially scalable synthesis of π-conjugated semiconducting polymers for a variety of applications.


The inhibitor of cyclin-dependent kinase 4, CDKN2 (also known as p16INK4 or MTS-1, multiple tumor suppressor gene 1), has been mapped to 9p21. The gene has been shown to be deleted or mutated in high frequency in human melanoma cell lines and familial melanoma patients, suggesting that it could be a melanoma suppressor gene. How these observations are related to tumorigenicity and metastasis of human melanoma is not clear however. To test the role of CDKN2 in human melanoma metastasis, 14 human melanoma cell lines with different metastatic abilities in nude mice were analysed for possible abnormalities in the CDKN2 gene. Homozygous deletions that resulted in a lack of gene expression were found in six of 14 cell lines tested. SSCP-direct sequencing revealed point mutations in three other cell lines. One cell line displayed CC to TT transitions which constitute a hallmark of ultraviolet-induced DNA damage. Overall, abnormalities in the CDKN2 gene were found in nine of 14 (64%) cell lines tested. Homozygous deletion and lack of gene expression were found in several low tumorigenic and nonmetastatic melanoma lines, whereas other metastatic cells did not exhibit abnormalities in the CDKN2 gene. These data suggest that the absence of normal CDKN2 does not confer growth advantage to melanoma cells in vivo and that the production of metastasis by human melanoma cells can occur in the absence of CDKN2 gene abnormalities.


Collocations, interpreting, native-like, foreign language acquisition
Third year BA students of Dutch at Károli University followed a one semester long interpreting course. During their oral exam they had an interpreting task from Hungarian to Dutch. In my research I wanted to answer two questions: firstly, to what extent do students use collocations while performing an interpreting task; secondly to what extent is their use of collocations native-like? Based on the recorded data we can see that students often realize that they should use a collocation but cannot always retrieve the right one. Grammatical constructions in the students' native language, in our case Hungarian, play also a role in the choice of collocations.


This letter presents a voltage-controlled oscillator (VCO) with low phase-noise performance by applying tunable field-plate (FP) voltage on 0.15-mum-gate-length GaAs pseudomorphic high-electron-mobility transistors (pHEMTs). In this letter, the FP metal between gate and drain terminals was connected to a single pad and was controlled by an extra voltage supplier (VFP). Owing to the depth modulation of FP-induced depletion region at various FP voltages, the device flicker noise was also improved by applying negative VFP. This technique is convenient to be applied in standard pHEMT fabrication and particularly attractive for reducing the phase noise of VCO design without extra power consumption. A tunable phase-noise inductor-capacitor feedback 21-GHz VCO was demonstrated. The measured phase noise of this novel design is -95 dBc/Hz at an offset frequency of 1 MHz, and this value can be improved to -99.6 dBc/Hz at VFP of -5.5 V. The core dc-power consumption of this circuit is 30.8 mW.


A new strategy for monitoring the condition of adjustable speed induction machine drive systems is presented in this paper. The main concept of the new method is to use the inverter to perform off-line tests for quality assessment of the vulnerable components in the inverter, cable, and induction motor automatically whenever the motor is stopped. This new approach is suitable for monitoring system components that deteriorate gradually to failure, if the degradation is observable. Off-line test methods for monitoring the quality of the 1) dc-link aluminum electrolytic capacitor; 2) electrical connections; 3) cable and stator winding insulation; 4) stator core; and 5) rotor bar are presented along with a summary of the failure mechanism and existing test methods. It will be shown that the new strategy can be implemented with minimal hardware requirements, and that it has many advantages over existing off-line and on-line tests. An experimental study performed under simulated fault conditions for each component shows that the method provides a reliable and sensitive indication of drive system problems for reliable, efficient, and safe operation.


Reliance on documentary identification such as computer records, identification cards, and official papers is an essential feature of life in today's advanced industrial societies. This paper examines the history and use of six of the most common personal documents in the United States: Social Security cards, driver's licenses, credit cards, birth certificates, passports, and bank books. The increasing use and importance of such documents reflects the growth of new relationships between individuals and large, centralized organizations. These new relationships entail mass surveillance and social control, and result in increasing demands by organizations for personal data. We look at the strengths and weaknesses of these surveillance systems and the prospects of still greater social control in the future.


Cold stress is one of the major abiotic stresses limiting the productivity and the geographical distribution of many important crops. To gain a better understanding of cold stress responses in tobacco ( Nicotiana tabacum ), we carried out a comparative proteomic analysis. Five-week-old tobacco seedlings were treated at 4°C for 4 h. Cold treatment resulted in stress phenotypes of smoothing and shallowing leaves and increased relative electrolyte leakage. The expression changes of total proteins in tobacco leaves were examined using two-dimensional electrophoresis. Quantitative image analysis revealed a total of 101 protein spots that changed their intensities significantly, 21 protein spots were down-regulated, eight were up-regulated after the cold treatment, 50 protein spots only expressed in the control sample, while 22 protein spots were only present in the cold treatment sample. Mass spectrometry analysis allowed the identification of 73 differentially expressed proteins, including well known and novel cold-responsive proteins. The identified proteins are involved in several processes such as photosynthesis, protein processing, redox homeostasis, ribonucleic acid (RNA) processing, signal transduction, translation, cell division/cycle, and metabolisms of carbon and energy. Several types of proteins showed enhanced degradation during chilling stress, especially the photosynthetic proteins. Gene expression analysis of 25 different proteins by reverse transcriptase- polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) showed that the messenger RNA (mRNA) levels of 18 genes correlated well with the protein levels. In conclusion, our study provides new insights into cold stress responses in tobacco and needs to be further studied in future. Key words : Proteomics, cold stress, tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum).


Attenuation of visual activity in the superficial layers (SLs), stratum griseum superficiale and stratum opticum, of the superior colliculus during saccades may contribute to reducing perceptual blur during saccades and also may help prevent subsequent unwanted saccades. GABAergic neurons in the intermediate, premotor, layer (SGI), stratum griseum intermedium, send an inhibitory input to SL. This pathway provided the basis for a model proposing that the SGI premotor cells that project to brainstem gaze centers and discharge before saccades also activate neighboring GABAergic neurons that suppress saccade-induced visual activity in SL. The in vitro method allowed us to test this model. We made whole-cell patch-clamp recordings in collicular slices from either rats or GAD67–GFP knock-in mice, in which GABAergic neurons could be identified by their expression of green fluorescence protein (GFP). Antidromic electrical stimulation of SGI premotor cells was produced by applying pulse currents in which their axons congregate after exiting the superior colliculus. The stimulation evoked monosynaptic EPSCs in SGI GABAergic neurons that project to SL, as would be predicted if these neurons receive excitatory input from the premotor cells. Second, IPSCs were evoked in SL neurons, some of which project to the visual thalamus. These IPSCs were polysynaptically mediated by the GABAergic neurons that were excited by the antidromically activated SGI neurons. These results support the hypothesis that collaterals of premotor neuron axons excite GABAergic neurons that inhibit SL visuosensory cells.


Thermal comfort sensation can be depending on driving condition of air conditioner and it is divided into two stages. The initial stage the reaching time up to the comfortable condition for human. Secondly, in the middle stage, the acquired comfortable condition is sustaining during the operating time. On the other hand, these comfortable conditions can be described as the index of CSV(Comfort Sensation Vote).


The heterogeneity of prorennin was studied by chromatography on DEAE-cellulose and microgranular DEAE-cellulose columns, as well as by polyacrylamide-gel electrophoresis. Prorennin prepared by alum treatment, salting-out and chromatography was resolved into three components by a compound gradient of sodium phosphate on microgranular DEAE-cellulose. Polyacrylamide-gel electrophoresis confirmed the chromatographic results, but crystalline rennin was shown to consist of four bands. When prorennin was isolated directly by chromatography, four zymogen components were resolved on microgranular DEAE-cellulose with a modified compound gradient of sodium phosphate. Polyacrylamide-gel electrophoresis confirmed the existence of four multiple forms of prorennin as well as homogeneity of the chromatographic fractions.


Acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) will celebrate in 2017, his golden fiftieth anniversary since his first description by Ashbaugh and colleagues in 1967 (1). This long period of time has permitted many advances in pathophysiological concepts as the emerging role of ventilator-induced lung injury (VILI) (2). Unfortunately, relevant interventions allowing a better outcome are still scarce and include the use of low tidal volume (TV) ventilation (3) for all ARDS patients and the use of systematic prone positioning (4) and early short term neuromuscular blocking agents (5) for the most severe forms of ARDS. To better classify, to design high quality clinical trials and in order to stratify treatments and outcomes, a new definition so called the Berlin definition was published in 2012 (6). The LUNG SAFE study (7) is a global word wide epidemiological study of the burden of ARDS across the five continents. Beside the still crude 40% in hospital mortality of the disease, the LUNG SAFE study has under lightened the misrecognition and under recognition of the syndrome leading to potential inadequate treatments. Therefore, Dr. Laffey and colleagues performed a secondary analysis (8) of potentially modifiable factors contributing to outcome from the LUNG SAFE study whose aims were, first to identify management's factors associated such as ventilator-related parameters and second to investigate the role of non modifiable factors such as demographic characteristics, severity of illness and the variables associated with decisions of withholding or withdrawing treatments.


Gene co-expression networks are relevant to functional and clinical translation of schizophrenia (SCZ) risk genes. We hypothesized that SCZ risk genes may converge into coexpression pathways which may be associated with gene regulation mechanisms and with response to treatment in patients with SCZ. We identified gene co-expression networks in two prefrontal cortex post-mortem RNA sequencing datasets (total N=688) and replicated them in four more datasets (total N=227). We identified and replicated (all p-values<.001) a single module enriched for SCZ risk loci (13 risk genes in 10 loci). In silico screening of potential regulators of the SCZ risk module via bioinformatic analyses identified two transcription factors and three miRNAs associated with the risk module. To translate post-mortem information into clinical phenotypes, we identified polymorphisms predicting co-expression and combined them to obtain an index approximating module co-expression (Polygenic Co-expression Index: PCI). The PCI-co-expression association was successfully replicated in two independent brain transcriptome datasets (total N=131; all p-values<.05). Finally, we tested the association between the PCI and short-term treatment response in two independent samples of patients with SCZ treated with olanzapine (total N=167). The PCI was associated with treatment response in the positive symptom domain in both clinical cohorts (all p-values<.05). In summary, our findings in a large sample of human post-mortem prefrontal cortex show that coexpression of a set of genes enriched for schizophrenia risk genes is relevant to treatment response. This co-expression pathway may be co-regulated by transcription factors and miRNA associated with it.


We suggest a simple method to study the mechanical behaviour of nanocrystalline (nc) samples in compression-torsion mode. High applied pressure prevents the fracture of sample, and quantitative parameters of sample response during torsion test can be compared with developed microstructure. Here we present and discuss the results of systematic investigation of mechanical behaviour of nc Pd with a mean grain size of 12 nm in a wide range of shear strains (0<γ<200) and at strain rates γ& = 3 10-1 s-1 and 3 10-2 s-1. We show that in the studied shear strain range the notable changes in the microstructure, namely a strain induced grain growth occurs, and that controls the relevant deformation mechanisms. For lower strains when the grain size is still small enough, the plastic flow governs by twinning and probably grain boundary sliding. The flow stresses are lower as compared with the later stages of deformation, when the grain size becomes larger and deformation is controlled exceptionally by dislocation glide. Finally, a steady stage is achieved, when the grain size, dislocation density and flow stress are saturated.


ABSTRACT Following their assembly, herpesvirus capsids exit the nucleus by budding at the inner nuclear membrane. Two highly conserved viral proteins are required for this process, pUL31 and pUL34. In this report, we demonstrate that the pUL31 component of the pseudorabies virus nuclear egress complex is a conditional capsid-binding protein that is unmasked in the absence of pUL34. The interaction between pUL31 and capsids was confirmed through fluorescence microscopy and Western blot analysis of purified intranuclear capsids. Three viral proteins were tested for their abilities to mediate the pUL31-capsid interaction: the minor capsid protein pUL25, the portal protein pUL6, and the terminase subunit pUL33. Despite the requirement for each protein in nuclear egress, none of these viral proteins were required for the pUL31-capsid interaction. These findings provide the first formal evidence that a herpesvirus nuclear egress complex interacts with capsids and have implications for how DNA-containing capsids are selectively targeted for nuclear egress.


CONTEXT
Thionamides have various side effects.

OBJECTIVE
The effectiveness of potassium iodide (KI) was evaluated in hyperthyroid patients who experienced side effects to thionamides.

DESIGN AND SETTING
An observational study was conducted at an academic medical center.

PATIENTS
Among 1388 patients with Graves' hyperthyroidism treated with thionamides, 204 (14.7%) exhibited side effects, and 44 were treated with KI and followed for 17.6 (median; range, 8.6-28.4) years.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES
The primary endpoint was the initial response to KI, and the secondary endpoint was the long-term prognosis.

RESULTS
The conditions of 29 (65.9%) of the 44 patients were well controlled with KI alone (10-400 mg/d) (A group), and 17 (38.6%) patients went into remission after 7.4 (1.9-23.0) years. The conditions of 15 (34.1%) patients were not controlled with KI alone (B group), even at a high dose (100-750 mg/d), but seven patients (15.9%) were controlled with a combination of KI and low-dose thionamides, resulting in remission after 7.2 (2.8-10.8) years. The initial parameters did not predict the response to KI or long-term prognosis. However, remission occurred in 70.8% of the patients treated with less than 200 mg of KI, compared with 35.0% of the patients who required 200 mg or more of KI (P < .05).

CONCLUSIONS
Among hyperthyroid patients with thionamide-associated side effects, KI therapy was effective in two-thirds of cases, and about 40% of the patients experienced remission after KI therapy alone. The chance of remission was small among the patients refractory to KI.


Wheat (Triticum aestivum) is a major crop around the globe and different techniques are being used for its productivity enhancement. Germplasm evaluation to improve crop productivity mainly depends on accurate phenotyping and selection of genotypes with a high frequency of superior alleles related to the trait of interest. Therefore, applying functional kompetitive allele-specific PCR (KASP) markers for drought-related genes is essential to characterise the genotypes for developing future climate-resilient wheat crop. In this study, eight functional KASP markers and nine morphological traits were employed to evaluate the 40 wheat genotypes for drought tolerance. Morphological traits showed significant variation (P≤0.05) among the genotypes, except tiller count (TC), fresh root weight (FRW) and dry root weight (DRW). PCA biplot showed that 63.3% phenotypic variation was explained by the first two PCs under control treatment, while 70.8% variation was explained under drought treatment. It also indicated that root length (RL) and primary root (PR) have considerable variations among the genotypes under both treatments and are positively associated with each other. Hence, the findings of this study suggested that both these traits could be used as a selection criterion to classify the drought-tolerant wheat genotypes. KASP genotyping accompanied by morphological data revealed that genotypes Markaz, Bhakar Star, China 2, Aas and Chakwal-50 performed better under drought stress. These outperforming genotypes could be used as parents in developing drought-tolerant wheat genotypes. Hence, KASP genotyping assay for functional genes or significant haplotypes and phenotypic evaluation are prerequisites for a modern breeding program.


BACKGROUND
Significant interindividual variability exists following maternal alcohol consumption; not all children born to alcoholic women manifest the symptoms associated with foetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD).

OBJECTIVE
To investigate the potential role of the placenta as a source of variability by determining if interindividual variability exists in the binding of acetaldehyde to human placenta.

METHODS
Acetaldehyde was added to ten different human placental homogenates and subjected to equilibrium dialysis. Homogenates of placentae obtained from guinea pigs chronically exposed to ethanol throughout gestation were also dialysed in the presence of acetaldehyde to look for alterations in binding after chronic alcohol exposure. Nonlinear least-squares regression analysis was used to characterize the binding system involved.

RESULTS
It was found that the amount of acetaldehyde bound to human placentae varied by as much as 3-fold among placentae. The binding profile of acetaldehyde was characterized as a two site binding system (Ka(1)=9.8 x 10(5)+/-0.7 x 10(5)l/mol, N(1)=1.1 x 10(-8)+/-0.7 x 10(-8)mol/g tissue; Ka(2)=1.6 x 10(4)+/-0.9 x 10(4)l/mol, N(2)=1.7 x 10(-7)+/-0.4 x 10(-7)mol/g tissue). Chronic alcohol exposure had no effect on the degree of acetaldehyde binding.

CONCLUSION
This previously unidentified source of variability may partially explain why some foetuses are adversely affected by prenatal alcohol exposure while others are not.


The growing sales of private labels (PLs) pose significant challenges for national brands (NBs) around the world. A major question is whether consumers continue to be willing to pay a price premium for NBs over PLs. Using consumer survey data from 22,623 respondents from 23 countries in Asia, Europe, and the Americas across, on average, 63 consumer packaged goods categories per country, this article studies how marketing and manufacturing factors affect the price premium a consumer is willing to pay for an NB over a PL. These effects are mediated by consumer perceptions of the quality of NBs in relation to PLs. Although the results do not bode well for NBs in the sense that willingness to pay decreases as PLs mature, the authors offer several managerial recommendations to counter this trend. In countries in which PLs are more mature, the route to success is to go back to manufacturing basics. In PL development countries, there is a stronger role for marketing to enhance the willingness to pay for NBs.


Regional development coupled with economic growth requires support for the use of renewable energy to support sustainable management of natural resources and the environment. Furthermore, economic growth towards industrialization has an impact on increasing energy consumption. This study aims to analyze: (1) Economic growth work as a determinant of the use of renewable energy in supporting regional development; (2) The direct and indirect effects of economic growth, the effectiveness of natural resource utilization, and the use of renewable energy on improving the quality of the environment and the sustainability of regional development; (3) Formulating an economic growth model based on the use of renewable energy, natural resource management and sustainable regional development. This study uses a qualitative and quantitative approach sequentially. Data obtained through observation, in-depth interviews, surveys, and documentation. The results showed that economic growth followed by the use, of new and renewable energy had an impact on increasing the productivity of economic enterprises and a positive contribution to improving the quality of the environment. Gowa Regency's future development orientation is oriented towards optimizing the regional economic base sectors, increasing the contribution of the strategic economic sector, effective use of natural resources, strengthening human resource capacity, ensuring the availability and distribution of energy services, increasing regional revenues, and optimizing sources of income new. Furthermore, future economic growth is oriented towards increasing people's incomes, opening new jobs, equitable development, and improving people's welfare. This study recommends that the use of renewable energy is an important aspect that needs to be considered in the formulation of development policies towards economic growth, natural resource management and sustainable regional development of the Gowa Regency South Sulawesi, Indonesia.


Cowan and Ritchie (1935) found no example in their post-mortem series of 101 cases of chronic mitral valvular disease, but Farber and Hubbard (1933) report three out of fourteen cases of foetal endomyocarditis. In Maud Abbott's (1931) series of 1,000 cases of congenital heart disease twenty-three were present, of which only six could be classified as the primary lesion, the remainder complicating other grosser defects. Analysing these six cases, Maud Abbott found the average age to be five-and-a-half years and the oldest twenty-seven years. The commonest associated anomaly was a patent ductus arteriosis with hypoplasia of the aorta. Cyanosis was variable and dyspnoea a common symptom; clubbing was detected only in one, but delayed development in four out of the six cases. The physical signs were variable, the commonest being an apical systolic murmur. In only one case was the full picture of thrill and pre-systolic murmur detected. Death was commonly of sudden onset and post-mortem examination revealed hypertrophy of the right side of the heart.


Background Emerging infectious diseases continue to pose serious threats to global public health. So far, however, few published study has addressed the need for manpower reallocation needed in hospitals when such a serious contagious outbreak occurs. Aim To quantify the demand elasticity of the major surgery types in order to guide future manpower reallocation during contagious outbreaks. Materials and Methods Based on a nationwide research database in Taiwan, we extracted the monthly volumes of major surgery types for the period 1998–2003, which covered the SARS period, in order to carry out a time series analysis. The demand elasticity of each surgery type was then estimated by autoregressive integrated moving average (ARIMA) analysis. Results During the study period, the surgical volumes of most selected surgery types either increased or remained steady. We categorized these surgery types into low-, moderate- and high-elastic groups according to their demand elasticity. Appendectomy, 'open reduction of fracture with internal fixation' and 'free skin graft' were in the low demand elasticity group. Transurethral prostatectomy and extracorporeal shockwave lithotripsy (ESWL) were in the high demand elasticity group. The manpower of the departments carrying out the surgeries with low demand elasticity should be maintained during outbreaks. In contrast, departments in charge of surgeries mainly with high demand elasticity, like urology departments, may be in a position to have part of their staff reallocated. Conclusions Taking advantage of the demand variation during the SARS period in 2003, we adopted the concept of demand elasticity and used a time series approach to figure out an effective index of demand elasticity for various types of surgery that could be used as a rational reference to carry out manpower reallocation during contagious outbreak situations.


This comprehensive manual of operations for managing local history material within the administrative framework of a library covers issues of administration, acquisitions, access, and use of all formats of material. Information on continually changing areas such as preservation, copyright and other legal concerns, computer applications, and national databases is also addressed, along with public relations roles and outreach activities for local history collections. Guidelines for administration of nontraditional library material (e.g., manuscripts) will be especially helpful to librarians. Archivists will value the manual as one of continuing practical education and theoretical development as exemplified by the Society of American Archivists' Basic Manual Series and Archival Fundamental Series. Manuscript curators, students, and administrators will also benefit from this book.


Background: Today, the value of screening for frailty among older adults is undisputed; to this endeavor, care at-home professionals are the "frailty whistleblowers" of choice. Yet, they need quick at-hand tools for routine use. To this aim, this study proposes a frailty index (FI) directly derived from the interRAI-HC MDS. The FI is used to assess frailty in a panel of home service recipients to document the rate of frailty among types of users.
Methods: "fraXity" relies on a case-control design comparing community dwelling older adults receiving home care or assistance to peers who do not receive formal home services. The participants (N = 231) received the interRAI-HC at home from trained nurses. MDS data were used to derive a FI by following published guidelines. Regression modeling was used to assess group differences in the outcomes of interest.
Results: The FI was normally distributed, with a mean of 0.19 (SD 0.10), and a value of 0.46 at the 99th percentile. The effect of age was significant (B = 0.003, 95% CI = (0.001–0.005)). As compared to the control group (FI = 0.14 ± 0.07, m ± SD), the FI was higher among individuals who received assistance (B = 0.04, 95% CI = (0.02–0.07)) and care (B = 0.11, 95% CI = (0.08–0.14)). These differences were adjusted for age.
Conclusions: The results replicate demonstrations of MDS-based FI derivations and support the usefulness of a FI to distinguish different types of home service recipients. The study is a proof of concept supporting the need of a comprehensive assessment of health needs for all individuals who apply for homes services, including those admitted only for assistance. Further work is needed to evaluate the cost-benefit ratio of implementing the proposed methodology in homecare practice.
Trial Registration: ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT03883425, registered on March 20, 2019.


Producing meat-like products directly from plants instead of animals creates significant gains in production and market efficiencies. Emerging innovation in plant-based meat shows promise for revolutionizing the food system, and global growth in the plant-based meat industry has exploded over the past few years. Identifying the most important white space ideas, prioritizing the research needed to explore them, and solving related technical issues across the entire value chain—from crop development to foodservice and retail distribution—constitute the highest impact strategies for enabling plant-based meat to help supply the global demand for meat. Four areas in need of additional research and development are crop optimization specifically for plant-based meat formulations, alternative manufacturing methods, expanded production capacity, and product sensory improvements. If successfully implemented on a global scale, a food system with a much greater reliance on plant-based meat-like products has the potential to sustainably feed 9.7 billion people by 2050 and mitigate climate change and other pressing environmental problems. Furthermore, inappropriate use of antibiotics in food animals contributes to antimicrobial resistance, and it is estimated that three of four new or emerging infectious diseases in humans are transmitted from animals. Thus, modernizing meat production by reducing use of animals in the food system can decrease the risk of global public health issues such as antibiotic resistance and


The purpose of this study was to investigate the genetic effects of ADCY9 on ritodrine responses in patients with preterm labor. Five single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) of the ADYC9 gene in 163 patients in preterm labor were genotyped: rs879619, rs2601796, rs2531988, rs2531995, and rs2230739. Additionally, rs598961 of the PDE4B gene and rs1042719 of the ADRB2 gene were included for analysis. Patients with CC genotype of ADCY9 rs879619 had a 2.0-fold (95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.3, 3.2) higher hazard of time to delivery than T allele carriers. Patients with combined genotypes of CC in ADCY9 rs879619, AA in PDE4B rs598961, and GC, CC in ADRB2 rs1042719 showed a greater hazard of time to delivery than patients with other combinations (adjusted hazard ratio [AHR] 3.2; 95% CI: 1.7, 6.3), whereas patients carrying the C allele of ADCY9 rs2531995, G allele of PDE4B rs598961, and GG genotype of ADRB2 rs1042719 had a lower hazard of time to delivery than patients carrying other genotypes (AHR 0.4; 95% CI: 0.2, 0.7). Regarding ritodrine-induced adverse drug events (ADEs), height less than 160 cm and CC genotype of ADCY9 rs2531995 showed a greater risk of ADEs. The results of our study suggest that ADCY9 polymorphisms could affect the efficacy and safety of β2-adrenergic agonists.


Regional development is founded on creative and dynamic territories, where several partners collaborate to create ideal conditions to improve life living, business, job creation and regional competitiveness. Smart cities use networks to promote economic and political efficiency and to allow social, cultural and urban development. These regions present high standards respecting some indicators associated with, innovation, creativity, environment, life quality, entrepreneurial activities and support facilities. Entrepreneurial ecosystems are an important dimension for a region or city to become smart. These entrepreneurial ecosystems emerge as a compromise to foster entrepreneurship and economic development in a regional context. This chapter has two folds. Firstly, it aims to the discussion of core concepts, such as, smart city and how to define an entrepreneurial ecosystem. It also aims to its features, to understand if an entrepreneurial ecosystem is born or made and it pretends to show an example of a smart start-up city, which is the case of Lisbon.


A sound financial system has vital influence on the economic development of a country. Banking system constitutes an important component of the financial system of the country; therefore, the economic importance of banks may not be underestimated. Performance evaluation of the banking system is an effective measure and indicator to check the strength of financial system of an economy. The overall objective of the present study was to explore the influence of bank specific factors and macroeconomic factors on the performance of private sector banks in India. To examine the effect of external or macroeconomic factors, growth rate of GDP and average annual inflation rate were considered. For the analysis, seven year panel data of 20 private sector banks was analyzed using linear multiple regression model. The financial performance of banks was expressed by Return on Assets variable. Using multiple regression technique the analysis of sample data for the time period 2008-2014 revealed that except capital adequacy ratio variable all other bank specific variables (Asset Quality, Management Efficiency, Earning Quality and Liquidity) and macroeconomic variable gross domestic product had significantly influenced the financial performance of sample banks in India and inflation was statistically insignificant in case of its effect on return on assets. The implications of the study revealed that inspite of optimum capital adequacy ratio maintained by private sector banks, the other variables related with management and governance of banks had significant effect on the financial performance of the banks.


Seawater has been irradiated using a train of 70 ns flashes from a 440 nm laser source. This wavelength is on resonance with the blue absorption peak of Chlorophyll pigment associated with the photosystem of in vitro phytoplankton. The resulting fluorescence at 685 nm is instantaneously recorded during each laser pulse using a streak camera. Delayed fluorescence is observed, yielding clues about initiation of the photosynthetic process on a nanosecond time scale. Further data processing allows for determination of the functional absorption cross section, found to be 0.0095 A(2), which is the first reporting of this number for in vitro phytoplankton. Unlike other flash-pump studies of Chlorophyll, using a LED or flashlamp-based sources, the short laser pulse used here does not reveal any pulse-to-pulse hysteresis (i.e., variable fluorescence), indicating that the laser pulses used here are not able to drive the photosynthetic process to completion. This is attributed to competition from a back reaction between the photoexcited photosystem II and the intermediate electron acceptor. The significance of this work as a new type of deployable ocean fluorimeter is discussed, and it is believed the apparatus will have applications in thin-layer phytoplankton research.


The entropy measurement function is a central element of decision forest induction. The Shannon entropy and other generalized entropies such as the Renyi and Tsallis entropy are designed to fulfill the Khinchin-Shannon axioms. Whereas these axioms are appropriate for physical systems, they do not necessarily model well the artificial system of decision forest induction. In this paper, we show that when omitting two of the four axioms, every norm induces an entropy function. The remaining two axioms are sufficient to describe the requirements for an entropy function in the decision forest context. Furthermore, we introduce and analyze the p-norm-induced entropy, show relations to existing entropies and the relation to various heuristics that are commonly used for decision forest training. In experiments with classification, regression and the recently introduced Hough forests, we show how the discrete and differential form of the new entropy can be used for forest induction and how the functions can simply be fine tuned. The experiments indicate that the impact of the entropy function is limited, however can be a simple and useful post-processing step for optimizing decision forests for high performance applications.


High levels of methylmercury (MeHg) have been reported in Arctic marine biota, posing health risks to wildlife and human beings. Although MeHg concentrations of some Arctic species have been monitored for decades, the key environmental and ecological factors driving temporal trends of MeHg are largely unclear. We develop an ecosystem-based MeHg bioaccumulation model for the Beaufort Sea shelf (BSS) using the Ecotracer module of Ecopath with Ecosim, and apply the model to explore how MeHg toxicokinetics and food web trophodynamics affect bioaccumulation in the BSS food web. We show that a food web model with complex trophodynamics and relatively simple MeHg model parametrization can capture the observed biomagnification pattern of the BSS. While both benthic and pelagic production are important for transferring MeHg to fish and marine mammals, simulations suggest that benthic organisms are primarily responsible for driving the high trophic magnification factor in the BSS. We illustrate ways of combining empirical observations and modelling experiments to generate hypotheses about factors affecting food web bioaccumulation, including the MeHg elimination rate, trophodynamics, and species migration behavior. The results indicate that population dynamics rather than MeHg elimination may determine population-wide concentrations for fish and lower trophic level organisms, and cause large differences in concentrations between species at similar trophic levels. This research presents a new tool and lays the groundwork for future research to assess the pathways of global environmental changes in MeHg bioaccumulation in Arctic ecosystems in the past and the future.


Replacement of the 10-methoxy group of colchicine by amino and amino acid substituents sharply decreased its toxicity and only slightly decreased its tubulin-binding activity, and thus, gave rise to a number of weakly toxic colchicine analogs. In particular, highly active 10-(N-glycino)-10-demethoxycolchicine and 10-[N-(beta-alanino)]-10-demethoxycolchicine were prepared.


Among the absorption, distribution, metabolism, elimination, and toxicity properties (ADMET), unfavorable oral bioavailability is indeed an important reason for stopping further development of the drug candidates. Thus, predictions of oral bioavailability and bioavailability-related properties, especially intestinal absorption are areas in need of progress to aid pharmaceutical drug development. In this article, we review recent developments in the prediction of passive intestinal absorption and oral bioavailability. The advances in the datasets used for model building, the molecular descriptors, the prediction models, and the statistical modeling techniques, are summarized. Furthermore, we compared the performance of one machine learning method, support vector machines (SVM), and one traditional classification method, recursive partitioning (RP), on the predictions of passive absorption. Our comparisons demonstrate that the complex machine learning method could give better predictions than the traditional approach. Finally we discuss the current challenges that remain to be addressed.


ABSTRACT Integration of mental health services in occupational therapy practice with older adults, meaning evaluation and intervention for mental health concurrent with rehabilitation for physical disabilities, is critical to providing quality care. This approach has been suggested in the context of primary care, but should be carried out across practice settings. Although mental health conditions have detrimental effects on the well-being of elders, seniors do not commonly seek out mental health services. For elders with late life and mild depressive symptoms, medications have only modest effects creating a strong need for nonpharmacological interventions. Although there are therapists addressing mental health in conjunction with treatment for physical disabilities, this is not the norm. In this issue/opinion paper, I argue for better integration of physical and mental health services in occupational therapy practice with older adults and in the education of occupational therapy practitioners.


Background Juveniles who are exposed to a street life are at high risk for drug addiction, pregnancy, sexually transmitted infections (STI), among others due to their biological, psychological and social vulnerabilities. Methodology A survey was conducted in Guatemala City; with the purpose to determine risk behaviours and HIV and syphilis prevalence among juvenile delinquents and in family abandonment situations. A stratified consecutive sampling method was used; a tablet was used to conduct a standardised face-to-face questionnaire, and both pre-consent from legal guardians as well as assent by the minor were required. HIV and Syphilis screenings were conducted. Proportions and confidence intervals (CI 95%) adjusted for the sampling type were calculated using STATA 11.1. Results 528 participants ages 15 to 17, 72% male and 28% female were enrolled. 58% (ICR 50.1–64.9) began having sexual relations between 10 and 14 years old, 37% (ICR 29.7–44.1) used a condom at first sexual act; only 24% (ICR 18.2–29.6) and 12% (ICR 9.11–15.0) had access to free condoms and HIV tests in the past year. 81% (ICR 75.7–85.8) reported currently being sexually active, 79% (71.22–85.67) had a stable partner, 20% (13.71–28.14%) occasional partner, and 1% (0.14–1.54) commercial partner; 40% (ICR: 32.8–47.9) reported using a condom a last sexual act. Out of the women surveyed, 16% (9.75–25.19) had been pregnant at one point and 53% of these had had an abortion. 57% (50–67.7) had consumed illicit drugs; marijuana making up 93% (ICR 87.8–96.6) and cocaine made up 31% (ICR 23.7–40.1) topping the list. HIV and Syphilis prevalences were lower than 1%. Conclusions High pregnancy and illicit drug use proportions were reported, as well as low HIV and syphilis prevalences. Strengthening HIV prevention interventions, with an integral focus on reproductive sexual health adapted to this life stage and street context of this population, is necessary.


In this paper, the authors describe a method for energy management, according to minimal costs criteria over one year (month after month), of an electric utility, which has to deal with nuclear and hydroelectric power plants, sale/purchase and exchange contracts, and spot market business. The chosen method for minimizing the costs is linear programming with most variables being continuous, and a few binary ones. The results obtained allow the management of every power plant, contract and the spot market business, in order to respect the economic, physical and environmental constraints.


Atmospheric pressure (AP) operation of plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) is one of promising concepts for high quality and low cost processing. Atmospheric plasma discharge requires narrow gap configuration, which causes an inherent feature of AP PECVD. Two dimensional radial gas flows in AP PECVD induces radial variation of mass-transport and that of substrate temperature. The opposite trend of these variations would be the key consideration in the development of uniform deposition process. Another inherent feature of AP PECVD is confined plasma discharge, from which volume power density concept is derived as a key parameter for the control of deposition rate. We investigated deposition rate as a function of volume power density, gas flux, source gas partial pressure, hydrogen partial pressure, plasma source frequency, and substrate temperature; and derived a design guideline of deposition tool and process development in terms of deposition rate and uniformity.


Database Management Systems (DBMSs) that can be tailored to specific requirements offer the potential to improve reliability and maintainability and simultaneously the ability to reduce the footprint of the code base. If the requirements of an application change during runtime the DBMS should be adapted without a shutdown. Runtime-adaptation is a new and promising research direction to dynamically change the behavior of a DBMS. Especially the adaptation of the Transaction Manager (TM) states a challenge.
 In this paper, we present the session semantics of a runtime-adaptable TM. We define preliminaries and assumptions to activate the TM during sessions from a conceptual point of view. The advantages and disadvanteges of different approaches are discussed, especially regarding the occurence of ANSI SQL phenomena. From a technical point of view, we define requirements for the architecture of the TM and the DBMS that arose in our prototype.


Analysis of Long-Term Utah Temperature Trends Using Hilbert-Haung Transforms Brent H. Hargis Department of Civil Engineering, BYU Master of Science We analyzed long-term temperature trends in Utah using a relatively new signal processing method called Empirical Mode Decomposition (EMD). We evaluated the available weather records in Utah and selected 52 stations, which had records longer than 60 years, for analysis. We analyzed daily temperature data, both minimum and maximums, using the EMD method that decomposes non-stationary data (data with a trend) into periodic components and the underlying trend. Most decomposition algorithms require stationary data (no trend) with constant periods and temperature data do not meet these constraints. In addition to identifying the long-term trend, we also identified other periodic processes in the data. While the immediate goal of this research is to characterize long-term temperature trends and identify periodic processes and anomalies, these techniques can be applied to any time series data to characterize trends and identify anomalies. For example, this approach could be used to evaluate flow data in a river to separate the effects of dams or other regulatory structures from natural flow or to look at other water quality data over time to characterize the underlying trends and identify anomalies, and also identify periodic fluctuations in the data. If these periodic fluctuations can be associated with physical processes, the causes or drivers might be discovered helping to better understand the system. We used EMD to separate and analyze long-term temperature trends. This provides awareness and support to better evaluate the extremities of climate change. Using these methods we will be able to define many new aspects of nonlinear and nonstationary data. This research was successful and identified several areas in which it could be extended including data reconstruction for time periods missing data. This analysis tool can be applied to various other time series records.


This article focuses on the extent to which interactions between religious communities and the State can leave children vulnerable to physical abuse. In recent history, there have been numerous challenges to State control and authority from both new and nontraditional religious movements (Urban, 2006; Richardson & Bellanger, 2014; Doherty, 2016). In comparison, one can argue that insufficient attention has been paid to how religious groups seek to constrain or evade government authority to protect children. As part of their "monopoly of violence" (Gallaher & Froehling, 2002), governments in democratic societies are expected to protect the physical security of citizens. Despite this expectation, it is arguable that, when it comes to concerns over the bodies of minors, governing officials have been more limited and certainly more inconsistent in their actions to provide protection. This reality leads to a dangerous situation in which children's well-being is subsumed to the rights of religious communities.


controlling human factor risk is an important mean to reduce accident. The mechanism of human error behavior is analyzed in the paper, it indicates that human error is mainly caused by external conditions and the individual's own psychological, physical and other conditions; the method for establishing the mode of human factors risk control is proposed based on Newton's Third Law, the paper points that in order not to make accident, human factor risk mitigation capacity in a safety management must be equal to or more than human factor initial risk lever; On this basis, the step and method for quantifying human factor risk mitigation capacity and human factor initial risk level is introduced; Finally, quantitative equilibrium model of human factor risk control is obtained. It is a new attempt to predict the final size of human factor risk by integrating the initial risk data and risk mitigation data in the field of safety and risk management.


Background: Family-centered rounds is recognized as a best practice for hospitalized children, but it has only been possible for children whose families can physically be at the bedside during hospital rounds. The use of telehealth to bring a family member virtually to the child's bedside during rounds is a promising solution. We aim to evaluate the impact of virtual family-centered rounds in the neonatal intensive care unit on parental and neonatal outcomes. Methods: This two-arm cluster randomized controlled trial will randomize families of hospitalized infants to have the option to use telehealth for virtual rounds (intervention) or usual care (control). The intervention-arm families will also have the option to participate in rounds in-person or to not participate in rounds. All eligible infants who are admitted to this single-site neonatal intensive care unit during the study period will be included. Eligibility requires that there be an English-proficient adult parent or guardian. We will measure participant-level outcome data to test the impact on family-centered rounds attendance, parent experience, family-centered care, parent activation, parent health-related quality of life, length of stay, breastmilk feeding, and neonatal growth. Additionally, we will conduct a mixed methods implementation evaluation using the RE-AIM (Reach, Effectiveness, Adoption, Implementation, Maintenance) framework. Discussion: The findings from this trial will increase our understanding about virtual family-centered rounds in the neonatal intensive care unit. The mixed methods implementation evaluation will enhance our understanding about the contextual factors that influence the implementation and rigorous evaluation of our intervention. Trial registration: ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT05762835. Status: Not yet recruiting. First Posted: 3/10/2023; Last Update Posted: 3/10/2023.


Designing decentralized policies for wireless communication networks is a crucial problem, which has only been partially solved in the literature so far. In this paper, we propose a Decentralized Markov Decision Process (Dec-MDP) framework to analyze a wireless sensor network with multiple users which access a common wireless channel. We consider devices with energy harvesting capabilities, that aim at balancing the energy arrivals with the data departures and with the probability of colliding with other nodes. Over time, an access point triggers a SYNC slot, wherein it recomputes the optimal transmission parameters of the whole network, and distributes this information. Every node receives its own policy, which specifies how it should access the channel in the future, and, thereafter, proceeds in a fully decentralized fashion, with no interactions with other entities in the network. We propose a multi-layer Markov model, where an external MDP manages the jumps between SYNC slots, and an internal Dec-MDP computes the optimal policy in the short term. We numerically show that, because of the harvesting, stationary policies are suboptimal in energy harvesting scenarios, and the optimal trade-off lies between an orthogonal and a random access system.


Forecasts of widespread range shifts with climate change stem from assumptions that climate drives species' distributions. However, local adaptation and biotic interactions also influence range limits and thus may impact range shifts. Despite the potential importance of these factors, few studies have directly tested their effects on performance at range limits. We address how population‐level variation and biotic interactions may affect range shifts by transplanting seeds and seedlings of western North American conifers of different origin populations into different competitive neighborhoods within and beyond their elevational ranges and monitoring their performance. We find evidence that competition with neighboring trees limits performance within current ranges, but that interactions between adults and juveniles switch from competitive to facilitative at upper range limits. Local adaptation had weaker effects on performance that did not predictably vary with range position or seed origin. Our findings suggest that competitive interactions may slow species turnover within forests at lower range limits, whereas facilitative interactions may accelerate the pace of tree expansions upward near timberline.

publisher-specific, author manuscript: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/termsAndConditions#am


The role of autochthonous IFN- production was evaluated in immune reactions to Moloney murine sarcoma virus (M-MSV)-induced tumors which are characterized by spontaneous regression mainly caused by virus-specific CTL activity. A functional IFN- depletion, induced by repeated administration of mAb anti-IFN- at the site of virus inoculation, prevented tumor regression in M-MSV-injected mice. Moreover, this antibody inhibited in vitro both proliferation and differentiation of M-MSV-specific T lymphocytes obtained in bulk cultures, but not growth and lytic activity of the already differentiated virus-specific CTL clone CHM-14 stimulated with rIL-2 and relevant tumor Ag. In addition, in mice receiving mAb treatment the frequency of M-MSV-specific CTL precursors, evaluated by means of limiting dilution analysis, was strongly reduced in comparison with that of control mice injected only with virus. Because CTL secrete IFN- following antigenic stimulation, the possibility that non-T effector cells recruited by this lymphokine might mediate tumor regression was also considered. Adoptive immunotherapy experiments, performed in T cell-deficient (Tx + BM) and in sublethally irradiated mice, demonstrated that transfer of CHM-14 CTL clone, which secretes IFN-, was able to counteract M-MSV tumor growth despite the local mAb anti-IFN- treatment which may have prevented host cell recruitment. Moreover, repeated local rIFN- inoculations in Tx + BM mice did not counteract M-MSV tumor progression, thus confirming that other IFN- properties such as non-T cell recruitment, antiviral or anti-proliferative IFN- activities have little or no relevance when M-MSV-specific CTL are lacking. On the whole, these results indicate that in M-MSV-injected mice, tumor enhancement after mAb anti-IFN- treatment is principally caused by impaired differentiation of virus-specific CTL precursors.


Trade Shredding — the practice of breaking orders into smaller, multiple trades solely for the purpose of generating market data revenue — has been an ongoing object of concern, comment and controversy. In this research, we address three questions regarding the practice of trade or tape shredding. First, what market dynamics — economic and regulatory — combined to provide a climate that was amenable to and even encouraged trade shredding? Second, while there is virtually no argument that trade shredding has occurred can it be isolated; is it observable in the market data? Finally, the battle for market data revenue is considered to have been a major driver of the market data portion of Regulation NMS. But will Reg NMS' new, more complex formula succeed in eliminating this distortive practice?


A consecutive unselected series of 189 femoropopliteal bypass procedures with a modified human umbilical cord vein, the Biograft, is analysed. The distal anastomosis was above the knee in 62% and below the knee in 38% of the cases. No patient was lost to follow-up. The cumulative patency rate, according to the life-table method, is 86.4% after 1 year and 70.9% after 4 years. Data related to the location of the distal anastomosis and the patency rate are considered. Obstruction of the outflow tract, due to progressive atherosclerotic disease, was the most important cause of a failure, accounting for almost two-thirds of the cases. Biograft-related causes of failure were mainly thrombosis due to kinking in four cases with a below-knee anastomosis. Anastomotic obstruction occurred seven times. The Biograft seems to be a good arterial substitute for femoropopliteal bypass operations above and below the knee.


Sir: I counted 15 uses of the words, probably, probable, likely and unlikely, as Paddy Horner attempted to decide whether the detection of asymptomatic non-specific urethritis is still indicated in our clinics. He concluded that an evidence-based approach to the integration of new technologies into our clinical management must be adopted. I hope that he would also call for an evidence-based approach to the continued use of established practices in our clinical management. Things move on and the fact that doing something was correct 20 or more years ago does not necessarily mean that it is still correct today. I suggest that, if looking for evidence of asymptomatic urethritis were not an established practice but we sought to introduce it today, we would have some trouble getting the proposal past any ethics committee. I support Paddy Horner's proposal that research into the cost-effectiveness of detecting asymptomatic male urethritis should be commissioned, so that we can provide our patients with evidence to allow them to make an informed choice. Peter Watson Department of Genito-Urinary Medicine, Bronglais General Hospital, Aberystwyth, SY23 1ER, UK Email: firstname.lastname@example.com


On February 6, 2015, the Supreme Court of Canada unanimously declared that the Criminal Code prohibitions on physician-assisted dying (both assisted suicide and voluntary euthanasia) violate the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. They immediately suspended the declaration for 12 months thus allowing the government time to craft new legislation. This paper is a contribution to the project of meeting that deadline -- it presents draft provincial/territorial legislation. This draft legislation is based on: 1) a thorough review of existing legislation in all permissive regimes throughout the world (reviewed through a "lessons learned" lens); 2) the requirements for constitutional validity set out by the Supreme Court of Canada in Carter v. Canada (Attorney General); 3) the Final Report of the Provincial-Territorial Expert Advisory Group on Physician-Assisted Dying; and 4) other relevant case law. Specifically, medically-assisted dying includes both assisted suicide and voluntary euthanasia. Access is limited to assistance provided to individuals who have a grievous condition (including illness, disease or disability) that cannot be alleviated by means acceptable to the person and causes enduring physical or psychological suffering that is intolerable to the individual in the circumstances of his or her condition. Assisted dying is only permitted with the free and informed consent of the individual. The rights and interests of patients and health care providers are reconcile rights to and interests in both access and conscience. Procedural safeguards and a national oversight system are established.


Abstract Both scholarly and everyday understandings of transgender people tend to assume that they can only live well in urban places, yet there is little research on the transgender people actually living in rural communities. This article uses an intersectional analysis of 45 interviews conducted between 2010 and 2013 with transgender men living in the Southeast and Midwest United States to understand how some rural transgender people may not necessarily and automatically fare worse than those in cities. Indeed, these data demonstrate that a more productive question might be, which transgender people integrate into rural communities? The reported experiences of trans men suggest that the claims to sameness that are crucial to inclusion in rural communities are articulated centrally through whiteness and enacting appropriate rural working-class heterosexual masculinities. The claim to sameness allows for a measure of acceptance in rural communities under economic and demographic strain in the twenty-first century.


We previously reported that the cancer drug clinical candidate tipifarnib kills the causative agent of Chagas disease, Trypanosoma cruzi, by blocking ergosterol biosynthesis at the level of inhibition of lanosterol 14alpha-demethylase. Tipifarnib is an inhibitor of human protein farnesyltransferase. We synthesized tipifarnib analogues that no longer bind to protein farnesyltransferase and display increased potency for killing parasites. This was achieved in a structure-guided fashion by changing the substituents attached to the phenyl group at the 4-position of the quinoline ring of tipifarnib and by replacing the amino group by OMe. Several compounds that kill Trypanosoma cruzi at subnanomolar concentrations and are devoid of protein farnesyltransferase inhibition were discovered. The compounds are shown to be advantageous over other lanosterol 14alpha-demethylase inhibitors in that they show only modest potency for inhibition of human cytochrome P450 (3A4). Since tipifarnib displays high oral bioavailability and acceptable pharmacokinetic properties, the newly discovered tipifarnib analogues are ideal leads for the development of drugs to treat Chagas disease.


The capsule material of Staphylococcus aureus strain 1193/74 could be separated by precipitation with trichloroacetic acid and ethanol as well as by chromatography on DEAE-cellulose into 13 fractions. All fractions contained saccharides and uronic acids as well as amino acids and appeared in their qualitative composition rather similar. However, in quantitative composition and in chromatographic behaviour a rather high degree of heterogeneity could be observed. No clear cut separation of protein and polysaccharide material could be achieved in any fraction. It is supposed, therefore, that the capsule material does not represent merely an acidic polysaccharide, but contains certain amounts of amino acids or peptides varying in a rather wide range.


Results of treatment in a series of 60 patients undergoing mandibular reconstruction by a variety of methods are reported. Delayed reconstruction was performed, using a titanium mesh tray with cancellous bone fragments and block bone grafts removed from the iliac crest, rib, and mandible in 34 patients, with an overall success rate of 91%. Immediate reconstruction was performed with a wire mesh prosthesis containing particulate bone and composite flaps in 26 patients, with an overall success rate of 46%. Oral contamination of the graft at the time of surgery appeared to be the factor limiting the success of immediate mandibular reconstruction. Block grafts of bone were extremely reliable in reconstituting the continuity of the mandible when inserted through an extraoral approach as a delayed repair. Mandibular reconstruction was succesfully accomplished even following high-dose radiotherapy.


Structural testing of digital microfluidic biochips targets the detection of physical defects, but it does not guarantee robust execution of target bioassays or the integrity of assay outcomes. Functional testing is needed to detect fluidic malfunctions. Such tests ensure whether or not, the elementary fluidic operations, such as droplet transportation, mixing, incubation, and splitting are reliably executed on the microfluidic array. Routing test and mixing/splitting test are two important steps in functional testing. We present two procedures for optimal bidirectional routing test and accelerated mixing/splitting test. Compared to previous methods, these procedures need significantly fewer droplet manipulation steps and reduced execution time. The proposed method of functional testing in an N x N microfluidic array requires only a constant number of mixing/splitting steps. Further, the test outcome is free from boundary errors related to droplet size that may arise during mixing/splitting test.


I survey the evidence on patterns in U.S. high school graduation rates over the period 1970-2010 and report the results of new research conducted to fill in holes in the evidence. I begin by pointing out the strengths and limitations of existing data sources. I then describe six striking patterns in graduation rates. They include stagnation over the last three decades of the twentieth century, significant race-, income-, and gender-based gaps, and significant increases in graduation rates over the first decade of the twenty-first century, especially among blacks and Hispanics. I then describe the models economists use to explain the decisions of individuals to invest in schooling, and examine the extent to which the parameters of the models explain recent patterns in graduation rates. I find that increases in the nonmonetary costs of completing high school and the increasing availability of the GED credential help to explain stagnation in the face of substantial gaps between the wages of high school graduates and school dropouts. I point out that there are several hypotheses, but to date, very little evidence to explain the increases in high school graduation rates over the first decade of the twenty-first century. I conclude by reviewing the evidence on effective strategies to increase high school graduation rates, and explaining why the causal evidence is quite modest.


Purpose: Dendritic cells (DC) initiate adaptive immune responses through the uptake and presentation of antigenic material. In preclinical studies, intratumorally injected activated DCs (aDCs; DCVax-Direct) were superior to immature DCs in rejecting tumors from mice. Experimental Design: This single-arm, open-label phase I clinical trial evaluated the safety and efficacy of aDCs, administered intratumorally, in patients with solid tumors. Three dose levels (2 million, 6 million, and 15 million aDCs per injection) were tested using a standard 3 + 3 dose-escalation trial design. Feasibility, immunogenicity, changes to the tumor microenvironment after direct injection, and survival were evaluated. We also investigated cytokine production of aDCs prior to injection. Results: In total, 39 of the 40 enrolled patients were evaluable. The injections of aDCs were well tolerated with no dose-limiting toxicities. Increased lymphocyte infiltration was observed in 54% of assessed patients. Stable disease (SD; best response) at week 8 was associated with increased overall survival. Increased secretion of interleukin (IL)-8 and IL12p40 by aDCs was significantly associated with survival (P = 0.023 and 0.024, respectively). Increased TNFα levels correlated positively with SD at week 8 (P < 0.01). Conclusions: Intratumoral aDC injections were feasible and safe. Increased production of specific cytokines was correlated with SD and prolonged survival, demonstrating a link between the functional profile of aDCs prior to injection and patient outcomes. Clin Cancer Res; 24(16); 3845–56. ©2018 AACR.


We used linear programming to simulate adoption of manure disposal technologies in eastern Colorado. Manure, either raw or composted, is assumed to be applied to irrigated cropland within 20 miles of feedlots in five subregions of eastern Colorado. We constrained the application so that total N application is no more than the amount used by the crop. N, P and K contents are taken into account, but no benefits are assigned to organic matter or trace minerals and no costs are assigned to soil compaction, weed seed propagation, or inconvenience. Irrigated land within 10 miles of feedlots can easily absorb all manure generated under this scenario. Manure is found to be an economical substitute for chemical fertilizers, assuming N content to be at least 50% that of fresh manure. Composted manure is either more or less profitable than raw manure, depending on its N content. Hauling costs are lower for compost, but composting costs are between $1 and $2 per finished ton. The model does not allow for mixed application of compost and chemical fertilizers, which would increase the value of compost significantly. A feedlot waste sector that composted all feedlot manure in eastern Colorado is predicted to create between 80 and 200 additional jobs.


In this paper, we implement transmit antenna selection to enhance the energy efficiency of large scale multiple antenna systems. Two easy but effective antenna selection algorithms, Sequential Search Algorithm (SSA) and Binary Search Algorithm (BSA) are proposed to obtain the maximal energy efficiency. In addition, BER performance is determined using non-linear receivers which integrate minimum mean-square error equalization with successive interference cancellation. The simulation results show MMSE-SIC detection technique exhibit 40% better BER performance than ZF-SIC and MRC-SIC.


This article examines Nietzsche's interest in and appeal to the Romans in both his published and unpublished work. In most cases he shows little interest in specific figures from ancient Roman politics or military history, literature, or philosophy. Julius Caesar is the conspicuous exception among politicians and generals; he figures among Nietzsche's very short list of truly great human beings. In the literary and philosophical sphere, the major exceptions are Horace and Petronius, but the latter only at the end of his working life. He admires both writers, Petronius especially, and this attitude is connected in some ways with his general estimation of the Romans. His attitude to the Romans in general becomes increasingly positive, and they serve in his writing increasingly as a foil for Christianity, over the course of his career, culminating in The Antichrist.


Managed care will force you to be more efficient in hundreds of ways in your office day. Here's a proven system for meeting that challenge--a system that will pay dividends in office morale and patient satisfaction.


Assemblies of actin and its regulators underlie the dynamic morphology of all eukaryotic cells. To begin to understand how diverse regulatory proteins work together to generate actin-rich structures we tracked the assembly of actin regulators and their relative proportions in a cell-free system that generates filopodia-like structures (FLS). We found that heterogeneous mixtures of regulators could give rise to morphologically similar structures and that the FLS actin bundles exhibited simple dynamic behaviour of growth and shrinkage. To explain these observations, we combined experiment with theory, and found that stochastic fluctuations between redundant actin regulatory subcomplexes can account for the actin dynamics. Comparing the localizations of a variety of endogenous actin regulators in Drosophila embryos and distributions of filopodia lengths yielded similar conclusions of heterogenous actin regulatory complexes and filopodia lengths governed by a stochastic growth process. Our results explain how weakly-associating assemblies of regulatory proteins can produce robust functional outcomes.


Most plant reoviruses are phloem-limited, but the mechanism has remained unknown for more than half a century. Southern rice black-streaked dwarf virus (Fijivirus, Reoviridae) causes phloem-derived tumors, where its virions, genomes, and proteins accumulate, and it was used as a model to explore how its host plant limits the virus within its phloem. High-throughput volume electron microscopy revealed that only sieve plate pores and flexible gateways rather than plasmodesmata had a sufficiently large size exclusion limit (SEL) to accommodate virions and potentially serve as pathways of virion movement. The large SEL gateways were enriched within the proliferated sieve element (SE) layers of tumors. The lack of such connections out of the SE-enriched regions of tumors defined a size-dependent physical barrier to high flux transportation of virions. A working model is proposed to demonstrate the mechanism underlying limitation of virus within phloem.


Prostate Low-Dose-Rate brachytherapy (LDR) is one of the most effective treatments for localized prostate cancer. Machine Learning (ML), the application of statistics to complex computational problem solving, was applied to prostate LDR brachytherapy treatment planning. Planning time, pre-implant dosimetry, and various measures of clinical implant quality for ML plans were compared against plans created by expert brachytherapists.
The average planning time to create an ML plan was 0.84 _ 0.57 min compared to over 17.88 _ 8.76 min for an experienced brachytherapists. Dosimetry was not significantly different for ML and expert brachytherapist plans. Clinical implant quality for the ML plans were ranked as nearly equivalent to the brachytherapist treatment plans in all qualitative categories evaluated.
The results of this thesis demonstrate that it is possible to generate high quality prostate brachytherapy treatment plans with comparable quality to those of a human expert using a custom ML algorithm.


BACKGROUND
Callous-unemotional (CU) traits are a risk factor for a severe, aggressive, and persistent pattern of conduct problems (CP). This study investigated characteristics that might differentiate children with elevated CU traits with and without CP in an effort to identify factors that may reduce the risk for CP in children with limited prosocial emotions.

METHODS
Utilizing a sample of 1,366 children from Cyprus, five groups were identified for further study based on latent profile analysis: low-risk (67.2%), high-CP/low-CU (7.9%), high-CU (9.4%), moderate-CP/CU (8.4%), and high-CP/CU (7.2%). The identified groups were compared on behavioral and social measures.

RESULTS
There were significant main effects of group for: impulsivity and executive functioning; parenting; and connectedness to school. The high-CU group had significantly lower hyperactivity-impulsivity and executive functioning deficits, significantly higher self-regulation, and their mothers reported more maternal involvement and positive parenting than those in the high-CP/CU group. Also, the high-CU group showed more school connectedness than those in the high-CP/CU group.

CONCLUSIONS
These findings highlight several factors in the child and in his or her social environment that are associated with CU traits in the absence of serious CP and that may suggest targets for intervention for youth who may lack prosocial emotions.


This paper presents improvements to previous work on deriving first order Ambisonic decoders for ITU 5.1. The decoders are derived using a heuristic search method with an objective function based upon Gerzon's metatheory of auditory localization. An analysis of previously derived decoders shows that they are biased toward particular design objectives due to the nature of the multiobjective function guiding the search. This paper applies a technique called range removal to systematically and logically remove this bias that leads to improved decoder coefficients that better meet all of the objectives. A further technique known as importance is introduced that enables the logical biasing of range-removed objectives. A case study to develop a "max RE" decoder demonstrates this technique in action.


3D models provide a common ground for different representations of human bodies. In turn, robust 2D estimation has proven to be a powerful tool to obtain 3D fits in-the-wild. However, depending on the level of detail, it can be hard to impossible to acquire labeled data for training 2D estimators on large scale. We propose a hybrid approach to this problem: with an extended version of the recently introduced SMPLify method, we obtain high quality 3D body model fits for multiple human pose datasets. Human annotators solely sort good and bad fits. This procedure leads to an initial dataset, UP-3D, with rich annotations. With a comprehensive set of experiments, we show how this data can be used to train discriminative models that produce results with an unprecedented level of detail: our models predict 31 segments and 91 landmark locations on the body. Using the 91 landmark pose estimator, we present state-of-the art results for 3D human pose and shape estimation using an order of magnitude less training data and without assumptions about gender or pose in the fitting procedure. We show that UP-3D can be enhanced with these improved fits to grow in quantity and quality, which makes the system deployable on large scale. The data, code and models are available for research purposes.


Abstract:Chateaubriand's Les Quatre Stuarts (1828) is part of a long discussion of the parallels between the Stuarts and Bourbons, which were of great concern in the early nineteenth century. The fascination or specificity of these comparisons lies in the tension between a completed history and one that was still underway. When Charles X's absolutistic tendency made more reference to the revolution of 1688 and the substitution of the King, Les Quatre Stuarts, tracing the tragic drama of the Stuarts, emphasized the fundamental difference between the English and the French Restorations and, pointing to the Charter of 1814, made its conviction about the Bourbons' future resonate. (In French)


As trains are continually designed for higher speeds the problem of railcar vibration grows worse. Lateral vibrations in a train car are noticeable to passengers if the frequency contents are lower than approximately 20 Hz, and complaints of nausea are not uncommon. The passive solution of stiffening the car chassis to shift the vibrational frequencies higher results in inflated manufacturing and running costs, and opposes higher travel speeds due to increased weight. Semi-passive solutions, such as modifying the structural dynamics of the carbody by decoupling heavy underfloor equipment, do not sufficiently reduce the vibrations. However, by appending a multi-reference feedforward active vibration controller, a substantial reduction in the lateral vibration level is to be expected. Based on a dynamic computer model of a train car simulating the lateral vibration, which uses as input bogie acceleration data measured on a running train, multiple-input/single-output coherence spectra were estimated to determine a suitable set of reference signals to an active control system. A dual-reference controller implies a theoretical maximum attenuation of 28 dB at the objective frequency of 10 Hz. Control simulations are carried out using different reference signal combinations. Preliminary results indicate lateral vibration attenuation on the order of 15 dB.


This paper discusses the study on the measured harmful gases due to traffic emission in the Meru Menora Tunnel, a Malaysia highway tunnel. The hazardous gasses data would help in promoting essential ventilation system inside the tunnel for the health and safety of the users. The emission gasses concentration reading is divided into two main components comprise of Nitrogen Dioxide (NO2), and Carbon Monoxide (CO). Other than that, the visibility also been measured by using SICK sensor. The measurement has been done during normal, festive and school holiday seasons. Festive season shows the highest number of traffic and thus giving the worst air quality. Ventilation fan system can be activated based on the concentration level of gases and visibility in the tunnel.


In this paper we focus on the connection between age and language use, exploring age prediction of Twitter users based on their tweets. We discuss the construction of a fine-grained annotation effort to assign ages and life stages to Twitter users. Using this dataset, we explore age prediction in three different ways: classifying users into age categories, by life stages, and predicting their exact age. We find that an automatic system achieves better performance than humans on these tasks and that both humans and the automatic systems have difficulties predicting the age of older people. Moreover, we present a detailed analysis of variables that change with age. We find strong patterns of change, and that most changes occur at young ages.


The maintenance of transplantation tolerance induced in adult mice after short-term treatment with nonlytic monoclonal antibodies to CD4 and CD8 was investigated. CD4+ T cells from tolerant mice disabled naive lymphocytes so that they too could not reject the graft. The naive lymphocytes that had been so disabled also became tolerant and, in turn, developed the capacity to specifically disable other naive lymphocytes. This process of "infectious" tolerance explains why no further immunosuppression was needed to maintain long-term transplantation tolerance.


Gas metal arc welding is one of the most important arc welding processes used in manufacturing and repair. In this process selecting appropriate values for process variables is essential in order to decide upon metal transfer and subsequently control the heat input into the workpiece from which reliable predictions could be made about the metallurgical, mechanical properties and performance of the welded joints. In this paper, the welding dilution in gas metal arc welding of ST37 steel has been predicted by fuzzy logic. A five level five factor rotatable central composite design was used to collect the welding data and the weld dilution was modeled as a function of wire feed rate, welding voltage, nozzle-to-plate distance, welding speed and gas flow rate.


Youths in the Middle East and North Africa face the highest unemployment rates in the world. Those who are employed are pushed to accept informal sector jobs that are insecure, unsafe, and lack non-wage benefits. Precarious employment is pervasive among lower socio-economic groups, leading to the perpetuation of misery across generations. Understanding employment outcomes therefore requires a broad focus encompassing the access to decent work, the evolution in this access over time, and the initial conditions. We analyse the static nature of vulnerable employment—especially youth unemployment and informality—and workers' transitions to decent work using multinomial logistic regressions and recent Labour Market Panel Surveys for Egypt, Jordan, and Tunisia. We find growing trends of vulnerable employment, particularly for youth cohorts. Especially in Egypt and Tunisia, children of poorer and less-educated parents start out in vulnerable jobs and are unlikely to ever attain formal employment. Wealth effects follow them throughout their careers.


The objective of this work is to evaluate the microstructure of the neutron-irradiated reduced activation ferritic/martensitic (RAFM) steel EUROFER 97. For this purpose irradiation induced defects like defect clusters, dislocation loops, voids/bubbles and precipitates are identified by transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and quantified in size and volume density. Emphasis is put on analyzing the influence of the irradiation dose and neutron fluxe on the evolution of size and density of the defects at irradiation temperatures between 300 and 335 °C. A first sample irradiated to a dose of 31.8 dpa was analyzed. The irradiation was carried out in the BOR 60 fast reactor of JSC "SSC RIAR" in Dimitrovgrad, within the framework of the ARBOR-1 irradiation program. To study the dose dependence in a next step the results will be compared to quantitative data on samples irradiated to a dose of 15 dpa. The obtained quantitative data will be used for correlation of the changes in the microstructure to the changes in the mechanical properties and will serve as an input for models describing this correlation.


Concrete core samples extracted from different areas of the Mequinenza Dam (Spain) have been studied and expansive reactions affecting the structure were not found. However, expansive reactions in the concrete of certain parts located near the abutments of two galleries have been observed as a consequence of an external sulfate attack due to the sulfur compounds contained in the lignites that are present on the surrounding terrain. Secondary gypsum, ettringite, and thaumasite, as well as several sulfate efflorescence have been detected. The thaumasite formed in the degraded concrete is related to a Thaumasite Sulfate Attack (TSA). Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) and Rietveld analyses of the TSA samples would show that thaumasite could have been formed thanks to ettringite acting as nuclei or by a direct precipitation from solutions within the pores of the cement matrix.