The article to determine peculiarities of macromolecule deformation behavior under conditions of a jet-shaping head that would allow to solve the issue related to the mechanism of increasing water-jet cutting power with polymer additions. In converging polyethyleneoxide solution flow macromolecules are forced by a hydrodynamic field to rather strong stretching that causes the dynamic structure formation in solutions. There have been studied experimentally velocity fields and their gradients as well as the degree of macromolecule unrolling under pattern conditions of a jet-shaping head in poluyethyleneoxide solutions flow. In converging polymer solution flow macromolecules are forced by a hydrodynamic field to rather strong (~ 60 % and more) stretching that causes the field restructuring. The determined regularities of macromolecules behavior in the flow under conditions of a jet-shaping head and manifested in this case effects of elastic deformations have paramount importance in understanding the mechanism of «anomalously» high cutting power of water-polymer jet. The work for the first time makes it possible to explain the nature of increased water-jet cutting power with polymer additions when cutting food products. Understanding the nature of increased cutting power of water-polymer jet will make it possible to develop recommendations on choosing regimes for water-polymer jet processing of food products by cutting.


The application of biotechnology in forest plantation industry is getting more popular over the
last decades and many researches have been conducted to develop marker-assisted selection
for tree improvement programme in Malaysia. However, to date, marker assisted selection has
not yet widely implemented in Sarawak and conventional breeding would take years to select
the best characteristics in trees. Thus, this study was conducted to look into the effectiveness
in using Expressed Sequenced Tag derived Simple Sequence Repeats (EST-SSRs) marker to
estimate the distribution of genotypes and allele polymorphism of Acacia mangium superbulk
populations in Sarawak; to determine the relationship or correlation between genetic
variation of these populations to environmental and physiological factors and to determine the
genetic differentiation of the Acacia mangium superbulk populations in comparison with
other Acacia species. In this study, 93 fresh young leaf samples were collected from three
different areas, namely Similajau (Borneo Tree Seeds Seedlings Supply Sdn Bhd. (BTSSSB),
Bintulu (DAIKEN) and Kota Samarahan (UNIMAS arboretum) and total genomic DNA of
the samples were extracted using modified CTAB method. Thirteen EST-SSR markers were
chosen to determine the genetic diversity of A. mangium superbulk and fragment analysis was
conducted by using ABI PRISM® 3100 Genetic Analyzer and Genemapper™ Version 4.0
software (Applied Biosystems, USA). Statistical analysis performed using PowerMarker
software over 13 polymorphic loci revealed that the mean expected heterozygosity or He for
the three populations was 0.432 and polymorphic information content (PIC) value of 0.398,
respectively. Borneo Tree Seeds Seedlings Supply Sdn. Bhd. population showed the highest
level of genetic diversity (N = 40; He = 0.474; PIC = 0.432) compared to Daiken (N = 40; He
= 0.458; PIC = 0.429) and UNIMAS Arboretum N = 13; He = 0.364; PIC = 0.333). Mean FST
xii
ranged from 0.411 to 0.533 which indicates that the surplus of homozygotes generally occur
within these populations. This might be due to inbreeding factor or partial selfing in A.
mangium superbulk populations and Mean GST value of 0.038 further revealed that a low
gene differentiation between all populations (at 3.8%), which signifies that these populations
are genetically similar to each other. UPGMA dendogram was also constructed on the A.
mangium superbulk populations and it revealed that the three populations belong to the same
cluster, with BTSSSB and Daiken populations have the highest similarity coefficient (0.890).
Future studies should look into thebreeding patterns in Acacia plus tree populations; the effect
of silvicultural regimes in forest plantations to the genetic structure of Acacia species; and the
effect of interaction between temporal variations in outcrossing rates with temporal and
spatial variations in seedling selection towards genetic structure of Acacia species


The present study concentrates on a cooled trailing edge in a linear cascade of highpressure turbine nozzle guide vanes. The pressure side cooling features two rows of cooling holes followed by a trailing edge cutback with film cooling slots, stiffened by evenly spaced ribs in an inline configuration. The present study evaluates the reliability of steady RANS predictions in such a complex cooling system. Coolant-to-mainstream mass flow ratio values in the range of 1% to 2.8% were simulated at exit Mach number of M2is = 0.2. The computed performance of the trailing edge cooling scheme was compared to aerodynamic and thermal measurements, with the aim of understanding the coolant-mainstream interaction at the cutback slot exit. Despite the well-known limitations of the steady framework in simulating film cooling effectiveness, the modeling provided reasonable predictions of the discharge behavior of both cutback slot and cooling holes.


Circumscribing appropriate dissent against the Centre's politics through emergency legislation, politics of shaming, and violence is an integral part of the Indian state's definition of Indian unity, and is directly related to the way that unity and diversity were defined during the anti-colonial campaigns of the 1940s. Conflation of 'national unity' with fundamental homogeneity has led to the portrayal of those non-normative Indians who sought to speak and organise from their position of difference, whether it be religious, communal, linguistic, or gendered difference, as disruptive to Indian unity and threatening to the state. Even when relatively complying minority citizens have often found themselves to be targets of improvement campaigns, loyalty pledges, and active silencing; while dissenting, or at times even visible, minority citizens have routinely been marked as anti-national. This paper traces the link between outbursts of violence against minority and marginalised citizens in the contemporary period and the definition of unity propagated through the anti-colonial movement of the 1930s and 40s. Focusing on three issues, the analysis and arguments around the Communal Violence Bill at the 2011 National Integration Council meeting, the reading of the Armed Forces Special Powers Act in the wake of death of a young man from Arunachal Pradesh in 2014, and the 2016 jailing of student leader Kanhaiya Kumar, the paper argues that the adoption of majoritarian ideas of unity has continued to police the limits of what the state deems 'legitimate diversity.'


The concept of employing simple, nonautonomous satellite repeaters on geostationary hosts for civil radionavigation has been recommended by a number of authors. This paper reviews the history of the geostationary repeater concept, especially for integrity broadcast and for coverage augmentation. It indicates how a worldwide geostationary overlay is likely to be more economical than launching additional autonomous navigation satellites. Also presented are recently developed technical considerations for the geostationary overlay concept, including design parameters for the navigation package, signal and data format considerations for augmentation and integrity, and ground network concepts for generating and timing the uplink signals.

Early results of a test program being conducted with transmission of GPS-like signals via an existing L-band mobile communications satellite are reported. These results appear to validate the geostationary repeater overlay concept.


Mediation is now well-established in Australia particularly in the commercial jurisdictions of the states and territories. However it is still viewed as an unwelcome visitor by many in the legal profession and the judiciary. This is reflected in the fact that commercial mediations generally take place at the later stages of the dispute. This translates into a process that is directive, evaluative and solution focused. The legal profession is comfortable with this approach because it has a marked similarity to the adversarial litigation process. The legislated pre-litigation ADR initiatives are designed to pressure lawyers into mediating much earlier in the litigation cycle. This requires a different mediation style, one that is relationship based and facilitative with more of a focus on the soft skills of the mediator.Part of the motivation for earlier mediation is cost efficiency, but at a more fundamental level, it is a reflection of the fact that we are living in changing times especially in the commercial world. There has been a fundamental shift towards a more collaborative management style within corporations and the rise, especially recently, of the "collaborative economy" as evidenced by the Uber ride-sharing and Airbnb accommodation platforms. It is the speed of change together with the relationship complexity of modern commercial activity that will have the most impact on the slow, adversarial and expensive traditional judicial approach to resolving conflict. Early relationship-based mediation can be the pathway for commercial lawyers and the 19th century judicial processes to move into and play a respected part in the new 21st century collaborative commercial economy.The legislative directive to engage in early mediation challenges the traditional adversarial style of negotiating. The main challenges are: a. Expanding the definition of mediation to include an early pre-mediation conference with each party and their lawyer; b. The value to the process and outcome of the mediator assisting in the facilitation of discovery. This is one of the greatest challenges for mediators as lawyers are often unwilling to bring in a mediator until after discovery has been completed; c. Recognising and valuing the soft skills of the mediator. The art of influencing the parties in the early stages of the negotiation is achieved by avoiding any talk about the parties' hard positions, possible outcomes and the law. It is at the level of non-contentious pre-mediation administrative functions that mediators see parties with their guards down, often revealing their true underlying needs and desires. While legal advice is vital the decision to compromise and to say "yes" and settle is taken by the parties at the personal level, on the emotional relationship plane. Working with parties at the very beginning of their conflict will require a far more nuanced approach and style from mediators particularly the ability to work with parties in the here and now of a joint session.It will also require the ability, especially for lawyer mediators, to become comfortable with the parties emotional state and their interpersonal relationship issues. It is therefore important that mediators connect with the parties at this level very early in the litigation cycle particularly through engaging with them and their attorneys in early pre-mediation meetings. This will require mediators to move beyond hard negotiating techniques to access soft skills. Soft skills include the ability to remain present in the moment, intuition, empathy, rapport, managing the challenge of being an irritant and the use of time and space (Temporality, 'The Third', 'The Field') and Meditation/Mindfulness (Rooney and Ross).


Background In upper gastrointestinal bleeding (UGIB) patients, early risk stratification allows appropriate therapy that may be helpful for reducing morbidity and mortality. Objectives to evaluate the efficacy of red-cell distribution width (RDW) for prediction of high-risk in UGIB patients. Methods We conducted a clinical retrospective observational study based on data for UGIB patients from 2012 to 2013. The primary outcome was the high-risk UGIB, defined as those who required urgent intervention and/or 30-days mortality. RDW was categorized into four quartiles: Q1 (≤12.8%), Q2 (12.9–14.4%), Q3 (14.5–16.5%), and Q4 (≥16.6%), and multivariable analysis was performed after adjustment of multiple other risk factor. We also evaluated the efficacy of addition of RDW scores to the Pre-endoscopic Rockall Score (PRS) and the Glasgow Blatchford Score (GBS) scoring system. Results Of 360 UGIB patients, 229 (63.6%) were high risk. In multivariable analysis, Q3 and Q4 were strongly associated with high risk; odds ratio (95% Confidence Interval) was 3.144 (1.250–7.905) and 4.182 (1.483–11.790) respectively (all p < 0.05). For lower GBS score group (≤ 6), the incidence of high risk was higher in Q4 (30%) and Q3 (20%) than in Q2 (12.5%) and Q1 (11.4%). For lower PRS group (≤ 2), the incidence of high-risk was higher in Q4 (73.7%) and Q3 (57.1%) than in Q1 (35.4%). Receiver operating characteristic analysis showed higher discrimination power in PRS + RDW (Area Under Curve [AUC] = 0.749) than PRS (AUC = 0.715) alone (p = 0.036). Otherwise GBS + RDW (AUC = 0.873) did not show a significant higher discrimination power than the GBS (AUC = 0.864) alone (p = 0.098). Conclusions For UGIB patients, a high RDW (≥ 14.5%) was strongly associated with high risk UGIB. In practice, the combination of RDW with the PRS scoring indexes may increase the accuracy of risk stratification.


Simulation of neutron transport process plays an important role in nuclear reactor computation and the numerical technique becomes the focus of nuclear reactor engineering. This paper provides a neutron finite volume lattice Boltzmann method (NFV-LBM) for solving the neutron discrete velocity Boltzmann equation (NDVBE), in which the NDVBE is deduced from the neutron transport equation (NTE) and the NFV-LBM is obtained by integrating the NDVBE. The macroscopic conservation equations recovered from the NDVBE via multi-scale expansion shows that the NDVBE has higher-order accuracy than diffusion theory, and the numerical solutions of neutron transport problems reveal the flexibility and applicability of NFV-LBM. This paper may provide some alternative perspectives for solving the NTE and some new ideas for researching the relationship between the NTE and other approximations. AMS subject classifications: 60-08, 60J60, 62E17, 65C20


The parametric modeing of covariance nonstationary time series and the computation of their changing interdependency structure from the fitted model are treated. The nonstationary time series are modeled by a multivaraiate time varying autoregressive (AR) model. The time evolution of the AR parameters is expressed as linear combinations of discrete Legendre orthogonal polynomial functions of time. The model is fitted by a Householder transformation-Akaike AIC method. The computation of the instantaneous dependence, feedback and causality structure of the time series from the fitted model, is discussed. An example of the modeling and determination of instantaneous causlity in a human implanted electrode seizure event EEG is shown.


The influence of activation sequences on action potential configuration, especially in the repolarization phase, was examined in isolated canine ventricular muscles. Action potentials were recorded from the epicardial surface in the center of a preparation having nearly uniform fiber orientation (25 X 25 mm). Stimuli applied just adjacent to the recording site produced nearly centrifugal propagation. An activation sequence either parallel (longitudinal) or perpendicular (transverse) to the long axis of the muscle fibers was produced by peripheral stimulation. Action potential duration at -60 mV (APD-60 mV) during centrifugal propagation was significantly longer than that during longitudinal propagation. Further shortening of APD-60 mV was observed during transverse propagation. When a collision of longitudinal or transverse wavefronts (longitudinal or transverse collision) was produced at the action potential recording site, the shortest APD was recorded. During centrifugal propagation, action potential mapping around the stimulating electrodes revealed that APD-60 mV shortened gradually as the recording site was moved further from the stimulation site. The spatial gradient of APD was steeper in the transverse than in the longitudinal direction, causing a distortion in the repolarization sequence and the recovery of excitability near the center of the tissue. Premature stimuli applied to an area near the central stimulation site induced one-way block and circus movement of the wavefront, indicating reentry of excitation. We concluded that the activation sequence and anisotropic cellular geometry substantially affect APD, and that such a change contributes to the spatial inhomogeneity of refractoriness leading to reentrant arrhythmias.


A cross‐sectional study was conducted to determine the prevalence and characteristics of verocytotoxigenic Escherichia coli (VTEC) on 25 dairy farms each located in Waller field and Carlsen field farming areas in Trinidad. On each selected farm, faecal samples were collected from milking cows, calves and humans; rectal swabs were obtained from pet farm dogs; bulk milk was sampled as well as effluent from the milking parlour. Escherichia coli was isolated from all sources on selective media using standard methods. Isolates of E. coli were subjected to slide agglutination test using E. coli O157 antiserum, vero cell cytotoxicity assay to detect verocytotoxin (VT) and heat labile toxin (LT) production, the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) to detect VT genes, and the dry spot test to screen for E. coli O157 and non‐O157 strains. In addition, faecal samples from animal and human sources were tested for VT genes using PCR. Of a total of 933 E. coli isolates tested by the slide test, eight (0.9%) were positive for the O157 strain. The vero cell cytotoxicity assay detected VT‐producing strains of E. coli in 16.6%, 14.6%, 3.2% and 7.1% of isolates from cows, calves, farm dogs and humans respectively (P < 0.05; χ2). For LT production, the highest frequency was detected amongst isolates of E. coli from calves (10.8%) and the lowest (0.0%) amongst isolates from humans and bulk milk (P < 0.05; χ2). Of the 61 VT‐producing isolates by vero cell cytotoxicity assay tested by PCR, the VT, LT and eae genes were detected in 62.3%, 4.9% and 1.6% respectively (P < 0.05; χ2). Amongst the 45 E. coli isolates that were VT positive (vero cell) or VT‐gene positive by PCR, 2.2%, 2.2%, 4.4% and 6.7% belonged to non‐O157 strains O91, O111, O103 and O157, respectively, as determined by the Dry spot test. Detection of VTEC strains in milk and dairy animals poses a health risk to consumers of milk originating from these farms. In addition, the demonstration of VTEC strains in humans, VT gene in faecal samples and E. coli isolates as well as non‐O157 VTEC strains of E. coli are being documented for the first time in the country.


For an intermediate mass Higgs boson with SM-like couplings the LHC allows observation of a variety of decay channels in production by gluon fusion and weak boson fusion. Cross section ratios provide measurements of various ratios of Higgs couplings, with accuracies of order 15% for 100 fb −1 of data in each of the two LHC experiments. For Higgs masses above 120 GeV, minimal assumptions on the Higgs sector allow for an indirect measurement of the total Higgs boson width with an accuracy of 10 to 20%, and of the H → W W partial width with an accuracy of about 10%.


Globally, the number of tuberculosis (TB) cases continues to rise and to cause more deaths, especially in resource poor countries. The World Health Organization (WHO) strategy known as Directly Observed Treatment Short-course (DOTS) strategy has been recommended to be adopted as the gold standard health system response to fight TB in these settings, but it has faced huge constraints in its implementation because of the lack of both financial and human resources. There remains a tendency for a one size fits all, with little scope for adaptation to find local solutions to local problems. The DOTS strategy was introduced to East Timor in 1995. The nature of the culture, geography and political history of the country and its people combined with the very high burden of TB (see Chapter 1) offers an interesting opportunity for a series of inter-linked case studies examining TB control issues. These include the nature of TB control programs during the conflict and post-conflict situations and the cultural and health system barriers and enabling factors for treatment compliance in this setting. This operational research study was conducted to explore these issues and to answer some of the key research questions identified by the National TB Control Program. This thesis was based on: i). An extensive review of the literature on the issues of TB, post-conflict health service reconstruction and East Timor; ii). The findings from two qualitative research studies; and iii). The findings from two quantitative studies. The aims of the study and methodology used are discussed in greater detail in Chapter-2. vii East Timor was as sovereign nation prior to the arrival of Europeans in the 16th Century. The country was colonized by the Portuguese for more than 450 years and was under Indonesian occupation for 24 years from 1975, finally gaining its full independence in May 2002. Tuberculosis has been recognized as a problem and claimed many lives during the time of colonial and foreign occupation. It was not until 1995, however, that the local authorities and local leaders, and was called for more serious intervention. The response was positive with the establishment of DOTS pilot in some government clinics and the establishment church based TB control program. But, the programs were destroyed following the September 1999 violence by pro-Jakarta militia. Soon after that, a comprehensive national TB program was established. The history, politics, health system and TB issues in East Timor are comprehensively discussed in Chapter-3. Study–I (Chapter 4) is a descriptive epidemiological study which discusses how tuberculosis control has flourished despite chronic low tension conflict (1995-99), a brief but intense high level conflict (1999) and post-conflict reconstruction (2000-2004). The study found that, before 1999, a non-government TB control program was established in several districts and showed optimistic results. External donor funds, technical assistance and the local strategies for TB treatment compliance were key components. In 1999, conflict led to complete disruption of the program. Within four months a National TB Control Program (NTP) was established from the non-government program in collaboration with other partners. The notification rate of 108 sputum smear positive pulmonary TB cases per 100,000 populations in 2004 was the highest in the region and reflects high population coverage. The cure rate of 81% is close to achieving the WHO target. Key components of the NTP-TL which contributed to this success are: i) the inclusive nature of involving various parties in one unifying TB programs, ii) the ongoing assistance from international consultants ; iii) constant training and supervision; iv) commitment from local staff. Study-II (Chapter 5) is a stakeholder analysis designed to examine in greater detail the reasons for the successful re-establishment of the NTP during the emergency period which followed the violent of political conflict of September 1999. Twenty four participants who are currently or were previously involved in the TB program were interviewed for this study. These include TB nurses, international consultants, NTP directors, head of WHO, and senior minister of health staff. The existing local structure ix and experience, the commitment to establish an effective program and the willingness of international advisers and local counterparts to be flexible in their approach, were important factors. The major impediments, including mass population displacement, lack of infrastructure, and the competing interests of organisations working in the health sector were addressed through a cooperation, coordination and collaboration between local and international partners. The TB Program continues to operate in all districts with high notification rates, although a lack of ownership by government health workers, low compliance and high default rate remain challenges. Study-III (Chapter 6) discussed the finding of the first ethnographic study employed in the field of TB control in East Timor. Following on from the key issues identified in the two previous studies, this study was designed to understand the reason behind high default rates in an urban and a rural district. Semi structured interviews were conducted with 28 participants (22 patients and six TB nurses) and Focus Group Discussion (FGD) were conduct with community members in seven villages (three urban and four rural). The findings reveal the nurses have good knowledge about TB and high commitment to the DOTS strategy. In contrast, defaulter patients and community members possess a low level of knowledge and awareness of TB. Having good knowledge of the disease, the right interpretation of cure, and the provision of food incentives were important factors for patients to complete TB treatment. Obstacles for TB treatment completion included a preference for traditional medicine, economic difficulties and geographic remoteness. x Study-IV (Chapter 7) present the finding from the first randomized control trial conducted in East Timor. The study was designed to assess the effectiveness of food incentives to enhance TB treatment compliance. Newly diagnosed adult TB patients were randomly assigned into two groups. One group (intervention: N=139) received food and the second group (N=131) received nutritional advice (placebo). An interim analysis on 168 patients (Intervention N=83; Control N=85) is presented here. The study found; the majority of TB patients have lower socio-economic status, but have good access to TB services. The baseline Body Mass Index (BMI) was 16.8 before and 18.5 after the provision of food and anti TB treatment. The provision of anti-TB drugs has significantly alleviation most TB symptoms. Treatment success rate was 81% in the intervention group compared to 78% in the Control group [Differences: 95% CI: 3 (-9, 15)]. The food intervention however showed no impact in improvement clinical symptom, treatment outcome and treatment compliance. There are possible several explanations for the negative results for food in this study. Firstly: due to the strict selection of participants for the study, we might have ruled out most patients with certain attitudes for non-compliance with the treatment. Secondly, measurement bias might also contribute to this negative result. Perhaps the true impact of food on treatment outcome and compliance should be measured differently. We lacked the required equipment on site to measure potential immunological or biological determinants of an effect of the food intervention. Lastly, the data presented in this paper is not the complete sample enrolled in the study, according to our sample size calculation. It is possible therefore that it does not have sufficient power to represent the true finding from the study. xi The thesis concludes with overall conclusion and recommendations arising from this body of work aimed at strengthening TB control in East Timor and those TB programs operating in similar settings in other countries (Chapter 8). The key conclusions are: 1 DOTS programs, with slight modification to fit local conditions, can be successfully introduced during low tension conflict and post conflict situations; 2 Coordination, cooperation, collaboration and flexibility are key components for a successful re-establishment of TB services after major conflict; 3 TB program understanding of community perceptions of curability of TB and the provision of acceptable incentives can be key elements for patients to complete their TB treatment. Strong belief in traditional medicine and geographical remoteness can lead patients to default from their TB treatment. 4 Food incentives showed no impact in improvement treatment outcome, clinical outcome and treatment compliance in lower socio-economic class with good access to TB services in one urban setting. Repeat clinical trials in other settings, are needed to examine the impact of food to improve clinical outcome for undernourished TB patients. Alternative study designs may be more appropriate to examine the impact of food incentives in the context of the TB program management.


Most patients are very anxious when they consult their physician for hemospermia. The most frequent cause is an inflammation of the prostrate, the posterior urethra or the seminal vesides, such as chronic prostatitis or posterior urethritis. Neoplasia, tuberculosis and schistosomiasis are very rare. In approximately 40% of all cases, no obvious cause is found. With the information that follows, you will be able to reassure the patient in most cases.


High-dimensional data classification is a fundamental task in machine learning and imaging science. In this paper, we propose a two-stage multiphase semi-supervised classification method for classifying high-dimensional data and unstructured point clouds. To begin with, a fuzzy classification method such as the standard support vector machine is used to generate a warm initialization. We then apply a two-stage approach named SaT (smoothing and thresholding) to improve the classification. In the first stage, an unconstraint convex variational model is implemented to purify and smooth the initialization, followed by the second stage which is to project the smoothed partition obtained at stage one to a binary partition. These two stages can be repeated, with the latest result as a new initialization, to keep improving the classification quality. We show that the convex model of the smoothing stage has a unique solution and can be solved by a specifically designed primal-dual algorithm whose convergence is guaranteed. We test our method and compare it with the state-of-the-art methods on several benchmark data sets. The experimental results demonstrate clearly that our method is superior in both the classification accuracy and computation speed for high-dimensional data and point clouds.


Background/introduction Despite national guidelines for HIV testing, this issue can be overlooked by medical school curriculums. With one quarter of HIV in the UK remaining undiagnosed, it is important the next generation of clinicians are informed appropriately. Aim(s)/objectives Evaluate the efficacy of a TTT session introduced at a medical school. Methods A short survey assessing knowledge of HIV testing guidelines, confidence to offer testing and outcomes of TTT was developed and distributed to fifth year medical students. Results were compared for students who had completed GU/HIV modules (GU+) and those who had not (GU-) and chi-squared testing was performed. Results 100 and 119 questionnaires were returned by GU+ and GU- students (a response rate of 92.6% and 97.5%) respectively. For the 3 knowledge-based questions, GU+ students were significantly more likely to provide correct answers for 2 (p < 0.001). For the confidence questions GU+ students were significantly more likely to feel confident in offering HIV testing (p < 0.001). After TTT 92%, 98% and 62% felt more confident about when to test, how to discuss testing and more knowledgeable about testing, respectively. Most students said they would be happy to offer HIV testing in a variety of medical settings; significantly fewer reported this for an acute admissions unit (AAU) compared with antenatal clinic (79% vs 96%). Discussion/conclusion GU+ students scored significantly better for 2 of 3 knowledge questions and for both confidence questions. Most students felt more confident and knowledgeable about HIV testing after TTT. Although most students were happy to offer and conduct testing, significantly fewer were confident in AAU compared with an antenatal clinic (where opt-out testing is well-established). This may warrant further exploration and consideration of context-based teaching.


An off-the-shelf 2-ton window air conditioner having an energy efficiency ratio of 10 was used to perform a drop-in test with R-407C. Laboratory tests were performed using a parallel-cross-flow (PCF) evaporator and a counter-cross-flow (CCF) evaporator. The CCF configuration is designed to take advantage of the temperature glide of R-407C so that the warm evaporator inlet air will be in contact with the higher temperature part of the evaporator coils first. The test results indicated that, at the Air Conditioning and Refrigeration Institute-rated indoor and outdoor conditions, the cooling capacity was 8% higher and system coefficient of performance about 3.8% higher for the CCF evaporator than for the PCF evaporator. The test results also showed that the latent load for CCF was 30.6% higher than for PCF. The far better dehumidification effect provided by the CCF evaporator design is desirable for areas where the latent load is high. The experimental findings should be useful for future efforts to design a dehumidifier that uses a zeotropic refrigerant that provides a significant temperature glide. R-22 test data from a previous project are included as a reference.


This paper presents the design and simulation of a thin film microheater. This can have promising applications in bio-medical analysis, explosive detection, gas sensing, and micro-thrusters. An approach is presented to enhance the thermal uniformity of parallel microheater. The modeling of
microheater is done using glass as a substrate material. The analysis is carried out with different resistive material for the heater. To study the response of the microheater to the different supply voltage, substrate thickness, and time interval, finite element simulation is carried out with commercial FEM analysis tool- COMSOL Multiphysics 5.2a. The proposed design in Model 1 have high contact resistance and it suffers from the contact-heating problem; however, Model 2 offers an excellent thermal uniformity with a tolerance of 1°C. There is a good agreement between the simulated and the theoretical results.


Sea otter foraging along Monterey Bay beaches and at Atascadero State Beach has precluded recreational Pismo clam fisheries at six major clamming beaches. Outside the sea otter's foraging range Pismo clam stocks are yielding good catches; apparently the stringent controls on the recreational fishery is adequate to maintain the State's Pismo clam stocks. Clammer interviews at Orange and Los Angeles County beaches and at beaches near Pismo Beach and Morro Bay and in Monterey Bay revealed the clam stocks to be on a healthy, sustainable yield basis. Exceptionally
large numbers of small 1.5 to 3.5 inch Pismo clams were reported at all clam beaches surveyed north of Pt. Conception indicating good year class survival in recent years. Sea otters forage dense Pismo clam beds by moving along a "front", progressively foraging from one beach to the next, reducing the clams to low levels before moving on. Some sea otters continue to forage throughout the areas previously depleted by the larger aggregate moving northward, thus the large numbers of sublegal clams
in the 1.5 to 3.5 inch size group in these intertidal and shallow subtidal areas are not expected to reach legal size in numbers sufficient to develop a recreational fishery. In Monterey Bay about 60,000 Pismo clams were removed or killed by human activity in the April 1974 to March 1975 period. A rough estimate of the Pismo clams consumed by sea otters during this same period in Monterey Bay is over 500,000 clams. (51pp.)


Arteriovenous malformationsHereditary haemorrhagic telangiectasiaTherapy Parole chiave Malformazioni arterovenoseTelangectasia emorragica ereditariaTerapia Summary Hereditary haemorrhagic teleangiectasia (HHT) or Rendu- Osler-Weber disease is a genetic autosomal-dominant disorder characterised by the presence of vascular telangiectases in mu- cocutaneous tissues, visceral organs and the Central Nervous System. Pulmonary arteriovenous malformations have a varia- ble incidence rate ranging between 15-33%, and the safest treatment is transcatheter embolotherapy. Haemmorrhages from the gastrointestinal tract occur in 10-40% of patients with HHT localized in duodenum and colon and can be treated with endoscopy and laser coagulation, but this procedure is not ef- ficacious for vascular anomalies in small intestine since this si- te cannot be easily reached. The prevalence of cerebrovascular malformations in hereditary haemorrhagic telangiectasia pa- tients is 5-27%, and there are several types described including telangiectasias, cavernous angiomas, arteriovenous malforma- tions, and aneurysms. Cerebrovascular malformations can be treated by: neurovascular surgery, embolization, and stereotac- tic radiosurgery, but the appropriate course of action for dea- ling with asymptomatic cerebrovascular malformations is still debated. The most common symptom in HHT patients is epi- staxis, which can sometimes be so profuse that it requires mul- tiple transfusions and iron supplementation. Nose bleeds begin before 10 years of age and become more severe in later deca- des. A multitude of different treatments are available, tailored to the severity of epistaxis. These include: hormonal therapy with oestrogens, application of fibrine tissue sealant, laser coa- gulation, embolization and septal dermoplasty using Saunder's technique. Aim of this study is to review diagnostic and thera- peutic techniques, since continuous growth and danger of the- se arteriovenous malformations require early diagnosis, ade- quate treatment, prolonged follow-up and screening of the fa- mily. Riassunto


Traditionally, studies of Computer-Mediated Communication (CMC) have relied heavily on the concepts of synchronicity and asynchronicity to investigate how technological communication mediums constrain and expand language use. However, due to the new 'social turn' in CMC research which emphasises the examination of individual users' socially motivated use of CMC, it has become necessary to investigate how CMC is affected by users' perceptions of temporality. Through the analysis of 200 posts from a Japanese gay dating site, this study examines how users' desires and engagement with the site's multi-modal structure affect perceptions of how to appropriately utilise temporal language in order to elicit off-site interactions. It was found that the structure of the site somewhat privileged the immediate gratification of desires, and that users signalled their awareness of this norm through the adoption of temporal language. Furthermore, users with long-term desires utilised various temporal strategies in order to overcome the perceived social norm of immediacy. These findings suggest that users' perceptions of temporality affect their linguistic strategies more saliently than the technological medium of the site itself, highlighting the importance of engaging with social approaches to the examination of CMC.


The effect of 5-ASA and 4-ASA, drugs used for the treatment of inflammatory bowel disease, on modulation of experimental colitis and on colonic generation of interleukin-1 was evaluated. Three weeks of treatment with 5-ASA or 4-ASA (50 micrograms/kg) and one week of treatment with 5-ASA significantly decreased colonic interleukin-1 generation and the extent and severity of inflammation in a rat model of colitis induced by trinitrobenzene sulphonic acid. Colonic biopsies were obtained from patients with active ulcerative colitis and organ cultured 24 hours in the absence or presence of the following drugs: sulphasalazine, sulphapyridine, 5-ASA and 4-ASA (25-100 micrograms/ml). Interleukin-1 content in tissue cultured in the presence of 5-ASA (100 micrograms/ml) was two-thirds of its content in tissue cultured in drug free medium and its release into the medium was decreased by 50%. Sulphasalazine 50 micrograms/ml significantly decreased by 33% the tissue content but did not affect interleukin-1 release and a higher dose was not more effective. Sulphapyridine and 4-ASA in doses up to 100 micrograms/ml did not affect either interleukin-1 colonic content or its release into the culture medium. We conclude that pharmacological suppression of colonic interleukin-1 generation may be one, although not the sole mechanism to explain the therapeutic efficacy of 5-ASA in the treatment of inflammatory bowel disease.


To improve the dynamic behaviour and maneuverability of high capacity transport vehicles,
the converter dolly can be equipped with steered and braked axles. By improving the actuation
and steering strategy, the combinations performance can be increased drastically.
This thesis modified an existing steered dolly to accommodate a rapid prototpying system,
so that previously developed steering algorithms can be executed in real-time and evaluated in
a hardware-in-the-loop simulation as well as on-track testing further on. The main-outcomes
are a ready-to-use interface for algorithm development in MATLAB/Simulink that allows
to request steering angles individually for each axle and supplies feedback for all relevant
parameters (e.g. articulation angle between different units of combination, steering angle of
tractor) for their computation in real-time. On top of that a concept for requesting braking
torques from the dolly's braking system for future projects was developed. To ensure safety of
the whole combination, especially during track-tests, a supervisor system was implemented to
limit the request based on hardware limitations. Additionally an inertial measurement unit
setup was developed and implemented for use on the combination to gather suficient data
for each of the combination's independently moving units dynamic behavior during testing to
calibrate and parametrize the tested algorithms.
In the scope of this thesis the dolly was modified to conduct hardware-in-the-loop simulations.
All necessary systems to achieve this were built as prototypes for a workshop test-environment
limiting the use-case to a standing-system. Reliable track-proof solutions were developed and
commissioned for manufacturing, so that track-testing is possible soon after.


Recently, humans are more and more dependent to communication technologies (CT) in their everyday life to get services, exchange information and communicate with their relatives. Hence, many researches have been made in order to propose convenient and low-cost solutions compatible with the context of smart spaces. This paper characterizes the range of WiFi for outdoor applications in comparison with most known empirical path loss models, and analyzes its impact for smart space services like Internet of Things (IoT). The obtained range is 550m tested with a Samsung Galaxy S5 smartphone, and the comparison with empirical model showed a good difference. Hence the validity and accuracy of those models will be examined for this context, in order to develop an empirical model taking into account environmental effect during our future research. As solutions based on WiFi are generally low cost, its technical characteristics are illustrated and a wide deployment scenario based on this technology is explained on light of obtained results.


This discussion paper led to a publication in The Scandinavian Journal of Economics . Transparent decision-making processes are widely regarded as a prerequisite for the working of a representative democracy. It facilitates accountability, and citizens may suspect that decisions, if taken behind closed doors, do not promote their interests. Why else the secrecy? We provide a model of committee decision-making that explains the public's demand for transparency, and committee members' aversion to it. In line with case study evidence, we show how pressures to become transparent induce committee members to organize pre-meetings away from the public eye. Outcomes of pre-meetings are less determined, more anarchic, than those of formal meetings, but within bounds. We characterize feasible deals that are credible and will be endorsed in the formal meeting.


The international climate change negotiations in Copenhagen are only weeks away. And the crucial preparatory meeting, at which most of the real negotiations will be finalised, takes place in New York next week. Two months ago I attended a similar conference at Chatham House. Let's hope this wasn't a dress rehearsal for what's to come.

Climate change and the disparity in access to resources between the rich and the poor are the defining public health problems of the 21st century. Tackling climate change has the potential to transform the health of the rich and the poor ( Lancet 2009;373:1693-733). Most people rate good health as high on their list of wants, so knowing about the benefits to health of tackling climate change will predispose the public to support the radical action we need. The optimistic message that what is good for climate change is also good for health must be widely disseminated.

So the Chatham house conference, featuring senior negotiators from across the globe and influential members of civil society, should have been packed with health professionals, but as has so often been the case in these forums I was the only one present. As ever, the …


"In the beginning", states the author of an essay that was submitted to the Royal Patriotic Society in Stockholm in 1773, "clothes were used for two reasons: to cover the body, and to keep the body from cold and heat". With time, "and the propagation of mankind", a third reason was added: "to ornate the body" according to needs, means and function. Some "performed rougher and heavier work", others had less heavy, less rough work, and others still "were set to advise and rule" the rest. All was well. But as societies continued to grow, "Amor Sclereratus habendi" – the accursed love of possessing – took hold of mankind, and an additional two, previously unknown, reasons for the use of clothes came into being: "Pride and Self-Indulgence". Everything changed; everything once "natural" was perverted by the omnipresent desire for "all things foreign", for "more", for "tastier", for "grander".The tone is righteous, the address is condemnatory, and the rhetoric is almost Biblical, with a familiar narrative of a Genesis, an original Sin, and a Fall. The author provides a condensed outline of the sartorial practices: the basic instrumentality of dress (to cover and keep warm), but also the social aspects with the interaction between social creatures, presenting themselves and making claims through decorations, and the resulting complexity and conflicts between the regulating norms and the communicative practices at play, with people making claims and forming the self through consumption and sartorial practices.The essay was one of 70 of its kind submitted in response to the question on the "advantages and disadvantages" of a national dress posed by the Royal Patriotic Society earlier that year, inviting the public to submit their replies, promising a gold medal of 30 ducats' weight to the winner. Departing from these essays, and the rather unique insights into early modern sartorial practices that they provide, my paper focuses on the views of "correctness" and "incorrectness" in sartorial matters, and – more specifically – the different "morals" in play, structuring and governing the sartorial proposals in the essays, such as economic morals (state finances, domestic production), social morals (to dress according to station, and the fear of social confusion), religious morals (with the divine scheme, and godly versus ungodly behaviour), and national morals (with a Swedish way of things, contrasted to foreign models).


Abstract. A model able to describe all the processes involved in a debris flow can be very complex owing to the sudden changing of the material that turns from solid into liquid state. The two phases of the phenomenon are analysed separately referring to soil mechanics procedures with regard to the trigger phase, and to an equivalent fluid for the post-failure phase. The present paper is devoted to show the experimental results carried out to evaluate the behaviour assumed by a pyroclastic-derived soil during the flow. A traditional fluid tool has been utilized: a standard rotational rheometer equipped with two different geometries. The soils tested belong to deposits that cover the slopes of the Campania region, Italy, often affected by debris flows. The influence of solid concentration Cv and grain size distribution was tested: the soils were destructurated, sieved and mixed with water starting from the in situ porosity. All material mixtures showed a non-Newtonian fluid behaviour with a yield stress τy that increases with a solid volumetric concentration and decreases for an increase of sand fraction. The experimental data were fitted with standard model for fluids. A simple relation between Cv and τy was obtained. The yield stress seems to be a key parameter for describing and predicting the post-failure behaviour of debris flows. These results suggest that in the field a small change in solid fraction, due to rainfall, will cause a slight decrease of the static yield stress, readily inducing a rapid flow which will stop only when the dynamic yield stress is reached, namely on a much smoother slope. This can explain the in situ observed post-failure behaviour of debris flows, which are able to flow over very long distances even on smooth slopes.


Today's world is organized politically into nation states with sovereign national governments. But as Ralph C. Bryant explains in Turbulent Waters, the world's economic structure is outgrowing its political structure. The economic links among nations have increased more rapidly than economic activity itself. As economic integration has proceeded, borders have become more porous, differences among national economies have eroded, and the policy autonomy of national governments has been undermined. Collective-governance problems increasingly spill across national borders and thus grow in importance relative to problems of domestic governance. The evolving need for international cooperation and cross-border collective governance is likely to be the single most prominent feature of world politics and economics for at least the next half century. The progressive integration of the world economy, often called ""globalization,"" has been especially dramatic for financial activity. Cross-border financial transactions facilitate saving and investment and thereby advance the well-being of individuals. But they can also generate turbulence and instability. Most individuals are unsure whether financial globalization promotes or threatens prosperity for a majority of the world's people. Bryant explains basic concepts about financial activity and collective governance, distills their international dimensions, and enables general readers to acquire a solid grasp of the key policy issues that national governments must resolve. He provides fresh insights about what is often termed the international financial architecture. But he also casts his net far wider: the book's ambitious goal is no less than to outline a pragmatically sound vision for the evolution of international governance for the world economy and financial system.


This seventh volume in the SAGE Series on Green Society explores the environmental movement's proliferation in the field of education, from elementary school classroom efforts to the university curriculum to building sustainable campuses. Focusing on the critical role of education in building a sustainable future, approximately 150 signed entries, written by scholars and experts in a variety of disciplines, examine school and college courses in green education, the structures of educational institutions, the challenges of reducing their ecological footprint, administrative policies, green campus organizations, and student and faculty participation. Pedagogical elements in the front- and back-matter include a Reader's Guide, a Glossary of relevant terms, a Resource Guide to further readings, an Appendix of primary documents, and a thorough Index, all of which comprise an outstanding reference for academic and public libraries presented in both pring and electronic formats to enhance accessibility.


ABSTRACT Against the growing demand for the STEM labour force, the study examines labour market returns to STEM qualifications among immigrants who arrived in Germany since the 1980s. Analysing the German microcensus data for years 2015 and 2016, we demonstrate that skilled immigrants with STEM qualifications largely attain better labour market outcomes in Germany compared to immigrants without STEM qualifications, thus narrowing the gap to their native-born counterparts. Male immigrants succeed in utilizing their STEM capital better than female immigrants, but all immigrants face difficulties in translating their STEM qualifications into STEM employment. Our analyses further focus on returns to various STEM qualifications, attesting that medical qualifications are especially beneficial for Germany's female immigrants. The analysis of heterogeneous effects of STEM qualifications across major migrant groups reveals that Eastern European male immigrants make the best of their STEM qualifications, whereas among women, STEM qualified from Turkey or MENA countries are the most successful. These and other findings are discussed both from the supply and demand sides of the labour market.


This research considers amateur fashion making – ʻfolk fashion' – as a strategy for sustainability. Homemade clothes are often seen as sustainable, in comparison with the environmental and social problems associated with mass-produced ʻfast fashion'. However, this view is partly based on a simplistic and romantic view of the homemade, which has received little critical examination.

The study specifically investigates the reworking of existing garments through the use of knitbased skills, techniques and knowledge. This approach challenges the linear productionconsumption model of the mainstream fashion industry. Because re-knitting techniques must be adapted to suit the particularities of each individual garment, re-knitting provides an opportunity for amateur knitters to engage with creative design.

The research employs a workshop methodology, which combines design research with creative methods. A group of seven female amateur knitters were interviewed individually before taking part in a series of workshop sessions. The project culminated in six of the participants re-knitting items from their own wardrobes. The detailed data gathered from this group is supported by comments from a wider community of knitters, primarily gathered via an informal participatory knitting activity.

The research finds that re-knitting can be seen as an effective strategy for sustainability. It not only provides a means of extending product life, but more holistically offers an alternative means of participating in fashion, and a way of addressing the relationship between fashion and consumption.

Beyond this central finding, four key insights emerge from the research. These are the metaphor of fashion as common land; the nuanced understanding of the experience of wearing homemade clothes in contemporary British culture; evidence of the ability of amateurs to design for themselves and ways in which this can be supported; and the understanding of the factors that should be considered when trying to develop a culture of reworking.


The family Euphylliidae consists of reef-building zooxanthellate scleractinian corals distributed across the Indo-Pacific. Seven extant genera comprising a total of 22 valid species are currently recognised. Recent studies have re-organised the taxonomy of the family at the genus level based on molecular and morphological data, including a comprehensive revision of Euphyllia and the resurrection of Fimbriaphyllia. Here, three mitochondrial loci (coi, 12S rRNA, and 16S rRNA) were sequenced and morphological examinations were conducted at three scales (macro/micromorphology and microstructure of the skeleton, and polyp morphology) to study the phylogeny and taxonomy of Euphylliidae. We analysed a total of 11 valid species collected from seven Indo-Pacific localities. The monotypic genus Coeloseris, currently in Agariciidae, was also investigated since previous molecular data suggested a close relationship with the Euphylliidae. Molecular and morphological phylogenetic trees were broadly concordant in the definition of genus-level clades. All analysed genera, i.e., Ctenella, Euphyllia, Fimbriaphyllia, Galaxea, and Gyrosmilia, were reciprocally monophyletic based on molecular results. Coeloseris was nested within the family and, therefore, is formally moved into Euphylliidae. Updated morphological diagnoses are provided for each investigated genus. This study further demonstrated that a phylogenetic classification of scleractinian corals can be achieved by applying a combined morpho-molecular approach. Finally, we encourage phylogenetic and taxonomic studies of the euphylliid taxa not yet analysed molecularly, such as the monotypic genera Montigyra and Simplastrea.


Introduction and Context: Stigma associated with psychiatric disorders and few somatic disorders such as sexually transmitted diseases (STDs), tuberculosis and leprosy, adversely effects treatment seeking behavior, leads to concealment, and poor compliance with treatment. In busy outpatient departments (OPDs), the issue of stigma is likely to be overlooked. Materials and Methods: We carried out a cross-sectional study collecting data on an 8-item stigma scale from patients attending psychiatry and other OPDs of a Tertiary Care Teaching Hospital in an industrial township. Information was collected by face to face interview from 400 patients attending psychiatry OPD and 401 patients attending other OPDs. Validations of the scale were done by face, content, and construct validity. Reliability was appraised by Cronbach′s alpha and Guttmann split-half coefficients. Significant differences in answers to the 8-item questionnaire were explored by Chi-square test for individual responses and Kruskal-Wallis test for difference in total stigma score. Results: Patients attending psychiatry OPD consistently gave responses indicating a greater degree of perceived stigma than those attending OPD for somatic disorders. This difference was almost 3-4 times more on most of the items (P < 0.001). Among somatic disorders, stigma was highest (even higher than psychiatric disorders) among STDs, tuberculosis and leprosy patients among these and psychiatric disorders the score was almost 3 times more compared to other somatic disorders (P < 0.001). The scale demonstrated good face, content, and construct validity. Reliability was also very high with Cronbach′s alpha coefficient and Guttmann split-half reliability coefficient 0.932 and 0.901 indicating very good internal consistency of the 8-item scale. Conclusion: Stigma was higher among STD patients, tuberculosis, leprosy, and psychiatry patients as compared to patients suffering from somatic disorders. Assessment of stigma among these groups of patients can help in planning management and intervention to deal with stigma. This in turn can improve patient compliance.


Corn (Zea mays L.) yields less with no-till or reduced tillage than with conventional tillage on medium and fine-textured soils in Ontario, Canada. This study was undertaken to determine whether rates of N, P, or K above those normally recommended could increase the notill yields. Annual rates of 120 and 240 kg N/ha, and initial rates of 95, 475, and 1,260 kg P/ha and 95, 665, and 1,330 kg K/ha were applied to a silt loam soil (Albaquic Hapludalf) in combination with four different tillage treatments (fall moldboard plow, spring disc; fall mulch plow with heavy duty cultivator, spring disc; fall ridge; no-till). Corn was grown, harvested for grain, and stover returned to the soil over a 6-year period. Increasing N, P or K applications gave similar response patterns on each tillage treatment. There was no indication that the higher nutrient applications could overcome yield depressions associated with reduced tillage. Adequate N, P, K levels in corn tissue further substantiated an adequate nutrient supply with each tillage treatment. Resistance to penetration measurements on soil suggested that mechanical impedance might be more critical than nutrient supply in growth performance and explain the lower yields with reduced tillage. Soil tests for available P and K, combined for increments of the upper 30 cm of soil, tended to be higher with no-till than with the plow treatment.


BACKGROUND
 The use of mobile health (mHealth) technologies to improve population-level health outcomes around the world has surged in the last decade. Research supports the use of mHealth apps to improve health outcomes such as maternal and infant mortality, treatment adherence, immunization rates, and prevention of communicable diseases. However, developing countries face significant barriers to successfully implement, sustain, and expand mHealth initiatives to improve the health of vulnerable populations.

 OBJECTIVE
 We aimed to identify and synthesize barriers to the use of mHealth technologies such as text messaging (short message service [SMS]), calls, and apps to change and, where possible, improve the health behaviors and health outcomes of populations in developing countries.

 METHODS
 We followed the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses checklist. Deriving search criteria from the review's primary objective, we searched PubMed and CINAHL using an exhaustive terms search (eg, mHealth, text messaging, and developing countries, with their respective Medical Subject Headings) limited by publication date, English language, and full text. At least two authors thoroughly reviewed each article's abstract to verify the articles were germane to our objective. We then applied filters and conducted consensus meetings to confirm that the articles met the study criteria.

 RESULTS
 Review of 2224 studies resulted in a final group of 30 articles for analysis. mHealth initiatives were used extensively worldwide for applications such as maternal health, prenatal care, infant care, HIV/AIDS prevention, treatment adherence, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and health education. Studies were conducted in several developing countries in Africa, Asia, and Latin America. From each article, we recorded the specific health outcome that was improved, mHealth technology used, and barriers to the successful implementation of the intervention in a developing country. The most prominent health outcomes improved with mHealth were infectious diseases and maternal health, accounting for a combined 20/30 (67%) of the total studies in the analysis. The most frequent mHealth technology used was SMS, accounting for 18/30 (60%) of the studies. We identified 73 individual barriers and grouped them into 14 main categories. The top 3 barrier categories were infrastructure, lack of equipment, and technology gap, which together accounted for 28 individual barriers.

 CONCLUSIONS
 This systematic review shed light on the most prominent health outcomes that can be improved using mHealth technology interventions in developing countries. The barriers identified will provide leaders of future intervention projects a solid foundation for their design, thus increasing the chances for long-term success. We suggest that, to overcome the top three barriers, project leaders who wish to implement mHealth interventions must establish partnerships with local governments and nongovernmental organizations to secure funding, leadership, and the required infrastructure.


Cloud computing has become a main medium for Software as a Service (SaaS) hosting as it can provide the scalability a SaaS requires. In the composite SaaS placement process, it should consider the factors about the size of the cloud network, SaaS interactions between its components and SaaS interactions with its data components. A previous research has tackled this problem using a genetic algorithm (GA) approach. This paper proposes an ant colony optimization (ACO) approach. The ACO for the SaaS placement problem has been implemented and evaluated.


AIMS
Although routinely used, limited data are available regarding the long-term outcome after patent foramen ovale (PFO) closure using the HELEX® Occluder system. The aim of this study was therefore the examination of the acute and long-term outcome after transcatheter PFO closure using this system.

METHODS AND RESULTS
All (n=407) patients included had undergone PFO closure with the HELEX® Occluder system for secondary prevention of stroke, transient ischaemic attack (TIA) or peripheral embolism at a single centre. Primary endpoints were residual shunts at six or 12 months (assessed by transoesophageal echocardiography) and the number of neurological and other adverse events during follow-up. Device implantation was successful in 99% of patients. Complete closure at six months was achieved in 81%. During follow-up of 1,695 patient-years, 10 neurologic events occurred (four TIA, six strokes). The annual incidence of stroke was 1.2%. Other adverse events were wire frame fractures requiring no further intervention in five (1%), device-associated thrombus formation in one (0.25%), and paroxysmal atrial fibrillation in nine patients (2%).

CONCLUSIONS
PFO closure using the HELEX® Occluder system is feasible and safe. Complications and adverse events during long-term follow-up are rare. The safety profile and efficacy in prevention of recurrent events compare well to that reported with other closure devices.


The antiangiogenic activity and antitumor efficacy of a newly developed matrix metalloproteinase (MMP) inhibitor were examined. N-biphenyl sulfonyl-phenylalanine hydroxiamic acid (BPHA) potently inhibits MMP-2, -9, and -14, but not MMP-1, -3, or -7. In contrast, (-)BPHA, an enantiomer of BPHA, was inactive against all MMPs tested. Daily oral administration of 200 mg/kg BPHA, but not (-)BPHA in mice resulted in potent inhibition of tumor-induced angiogenesis, primary tumor growth, and liver metastasis. The growth inhibition activity of BPHA was 48% and 45% in a B16-BL6 melanoma and F2 hemangio-endothelioma model, respectively. BPHA also showed 42% inhibition of the liver metastasis of C-1H human colon carcinoma cells. These results indicate that selective MMP inhibition is correlated with antiangiogenic and antitumor efficacy and that the selective MMP inhibitor BPHA has therapeutic potential.


Two nitrogen atoms and a flexible carbon skeleton make N,N,N′,N′-tetramethylethylenediamine (TMEDA) an important model system to study the interplay of conformeric motions and charge delocalization. Ionization of one of the nitrogen atoms generates a localized charge that may (partially) transfer to the other nitrogen. The structural motions, conformation dependent electron lone pair interaction and charge transfer in Rydberg-excited TMEDA, where the molecular ion core closely resembles the ion, were probed by time-resolved Rydberg fingerprint spectroscopy. Excitation to the 3p Rydberg level with a 209 nm laser pulse initially created a charge-localized ion core. Rapid internal conversion to the 3s Rydberg state yielded a multitude of conformational structures, in particular structures that are close to the folded GG′G+ and GGG′+ (see text for label definitions) core structures (235 fs), and structures that are close to the extended TTT+ core structure (557 fs). The initial excitation and the internal conversion deposit about 1.89 eV of energy into the vibrational manifold, enabling a fast equilibrium between the folded and the extended structures. The forward and backward time constants were determined to be 490 fs and 621 fs, respectively. With the molecule highly vibrationally excited, the decay to 3s proceeds with a 6.77 ps time constant. Density functional theory (DFT) and ab initio calculations show evidence of strong lone pair interaction and charge delocalization in the equilibrium conformers. Importantly, DFT with self-interaction correction properly describes the binding energy of the Rydberg electron and provides excellent agreement with the experimental results.


Pathological changes in retinas of diabetics include specific morphological, biochemical, and functional ab-normalities. As biochemical manifestations of the dis- ease, increased sorbitol and decreased myo-inositol were found in retinas of experimentally diabetic ani- mals. Similar alterations in poly01 metabolism have been associated in nerves of diabetics with a reduction of Na+-K+-ATPase activity. To determine whether this association extends to the retinas of diabetic animals, we applied quantitative histochemical techniques to measure ATPase activities and the amounts of sodium and potassium in samples from nine individual layers of cryostat sections of rabbit retina. ATPase activities were determined fluorimetrically, and the ions were measured by atomic absorption with a carbon rod at-omizer. The activity of Na+-K+-ATPase was reduced in the retinal pigmented epithelium (retinal pigment epithelium) and in selected layers of the neural retina, and total sodium in the retinal pigment' epithelium layer was elevated in diabetes. The retinal pigment epithelium forms the outer component of the blood-retinal barrier and partly determines the composition of the retinal interstitial fluid. Changes in retinal pig- ment epithelium biochemistry and function might alter the intraretinal environment, predisposing neural retina or retinal blood vessels to disease. The morpholog- ically and functionally well defined retinal pigment epithelium may provide a useful model for studying the pathogenesis of diabetic


The aim of this research is to model the behaviour of recently developed high force to volume (HF2V) passive energy dissipation devices using a simple finite element (FE) model. Thus, the end result will be suitable for use in a standard FE code to enable computationally fast and efficient analysis and design. Two models are developed. First, a detailed axial model that models an experimental setup is created to validate the approach versus experimental results. Second, a computationally and geometrically simpler equivalent rotational hinge element model is presented. Both models are created in ABAQUS, a standard nonlinear FE code. The elastic, plastic and damping properties of the elements used to model the HF2V devices are based on results from a series of quasi-static force-displacement loops and velocity based tests of these HF2V devices. Comparison of the FE model results with the experimental results from a half scale steel beam-column sub-assembly are within 10% error. The rotational model matches the output of the more complex and computationally expensive axial element model. The simpler model will allow computationally efficient non-linear analysis of large structures with many degrees of freedom, while the more complex and physically accurate axial model will allow detailed analysis of joint connection architecture. Their high correlation to experimental results helps better guarantee the fidelity of the results of such investigations.


This paper describes the design and development of a phone-based remote controller for home and office automation. The circuit is designed based on the Turkish telephone standards and connected to the telephone network just like any normal telephone sets. Any tone dialing dual tone multiple frequency (DTMF) telephone set or hand-held tone dialer may be used to send commands to the control unit, and remotely control, a wide range of mains appliances in homes and offices. The designed circuit can also detect the user identification number for preventing non-authorized use of the control unit. The feedback signal informs the user about the results of the commands.


Physical design automation for the new emerging mixed-signal system-on-package (SOP) technology requires a new kind of floorplanner - it must place both active components such as digital IC, analog ICs, memory modules, MEMS, and optoelectronic modules, and embedded passive components such as capacitors, resistors and inductors in a multi-layer packaging substrate while considering various signal integrity issues. We propose a new interconnect-centric multi-layer floorplanner named MF-SOP, which is based on a multiple objective stochastic simulated annealing method. The contribution of this work is to first formulate this new kind of floorplanning problem and then to develop an effective algorithm that handles various design constraints unique to SOP. The related experiments show that the area reduction of MF-SOP compared to its 2D counterpart is on the order of O(k) and wirelength reduction is 39% average for k-layer SOP, while satisfying design constraints.


India is developing country. The main occupation is agriculture, because 70 per cent of the population is involved in this occupation. Many women in developing countries are occupied in agriculture. Women occupation in agriculture in low income countries in Asia is between 60-80 per cent. In almost, Asian countries, the number of women employed in agriculture as a percentage of the economically active population is higher. Long standing obstacles faced by rural women in terms of limited access to productive resources (Land, Credit, Inputs, Transport, Extension Services, Storage and Technical Assistance) prevent them from adopting new technologies or encoring them economies of scale. This paper examines the ways in which greater integration through agriculture impact women and men differently and ensures implications for growth. This paper finds that agriculture creates many jobs for women in agriculture sector. Jobs that bring many household resources under women control leads to greater earnings in the family. Although, women are more than ever finally employed, differences in wages earned by women and men persist in all countries. Women also have less access to productive resources specially in developing countries. Due to these reasons and women"s lower education level compel the women have a greater tendency to remain in subsistence agriculture. Professional women continue to discrimination in hiring and promotion. The impact of liberalization and globalization on women is important not only because they represent almost half of the total population, but also because they face constraints, which make them less beneficial from the liberalization. Once different impacts are ascertained well designed policy responses may aid women in taking advantage of greater openness to agriculture.Now the womens are more working than menamost of the Farming activities(80%) is done by Females so this era is called as Feminization of AgricultureaFemale face of Farming.This implies the women based empowerment by Agriculture.So "Yatra Naryestu Pujyate……………..Ramante Tatra Devtah".It means if we give equality,equityarespect to the Women then every growth is possible whis is relevant to Presence of God means happiness with growthaDevelopment.


Over the past decades content and language integrated learning (CLIL) research has predominantly focused on the language proficiency of CLIL learners. The results are very promising and show that working language skills in learners, especially reading and listening skills, can be improved through a CLIL programme. Studies focusing on subject learners are still few but they indicate that learners maintain or under certain conditions can improve their subject learning when compared to learners learning in L1. However, more recent studies have raised challenging questions concerning academic language competence which indicate that CLIL instruction may not be reaching its full potential. Unravelling the integrated approach and the inherent interrelationship of using language for progressing knowledge construction and meaning-making needs to be addressed, drawing together linguistic and pedagogic theoretical underpinnings. This article posits that CLIL can pragmatically address the growing educational malaise of functional illiteracy. We reason that progression along the knowledge pathway towards deeper subject understanding requires a greater command of secondary discourse, and mastery of subject-specific literacies. In traditional classrooms, content teachers do not usually focus on the quality of learners' disciplinary literacy and discourse. In language classrooms, subject-specific literacies are considered irrelevant. We suggest that if 'literacy' were at the centre of the learning agenda, regardless of subject disciplines, a fundamental shift towards deeper learning would occur. Therefore, the article addresses two fundamental issues: (i) the role of subject-specific or disciplinary literacies in CLIL and (ii) the iteration of a model building on the existing 4Cs framework, which maps literacy and language progression in CLIL contexts and serves as a guide for evolving classroom practices.


The effect of the pressure on the structure and stability of the D‐Galactose/D‐Glucose binding protein (GGBP) from Escherichia coli was studied by steady‐state and time‐resolved fluorescence spectroscopy, and the ability of glucose ligand to stabilize the GGBP structure was also investigated. Steady‐state fluorescence experiments showed a marked quenching of fluorescence emission of GGBP in the absence of glucose. Instead, the presence of glucose seems to stabilize the structure of GGBP at low and moderate pressure values. Time‐resolved fluorescence measurements showed that the GGBP τmean in the absence of glucose varies significantly up to 600 bar, while in the presence of the ligand it is almost unaffected by pressure increase up to 600 bar. The effect of the pressure on GGBP was also studied by molecular dynamics simulations. The simulation data support the spectroscopic results and confirm that the presence of glucose is able to contrast the negative effects of pressure on the protein structure. Taken together, the spectroscopic and computer simulation studies suggest that at pressure values up to 2000 bar the structure of GGBP in the absence of glucose remains folded, but a significant perturbation of the protein secondary structures can be detected. The binding of glucose reduces the negative effect of pressure on protein structure and confers protection from perturbation especially at moderate pressure values. Proteins 2006. © 2005 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.


As a result of the Dodd-Frank Act Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2010, derivatives regulation has become a hot topic on Wall Street and is, therefore, of much interest to law firms with financial institutions as clients. An increasing number of classes on this subject are being taught at law schools around the country, but, to date, there has been no casebook on the subject. This casebook explores the regulation of swaps, futures and options by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission and the Securities and Exchange Commission. It examines the regulatory history of derivative instruments and traces the development of modern market structures while addressing the role of the exchanges, the clearinghouses, and market participants, such as futures commission merchants, swap dealers, and hedge funds that act as commodity pool operators. Structured in a traditional format, this casebook uses cases to teach students important points of law and industry practices needed to understand the role played by derivative instruments in modern finance. The cases are accompanied by commentary from the authors expanding on the points raised in the cases.


Do physicians with many patients in a long-term care facility provide more timely follow up of their drug orders than those with only a few? We reviewed 60 charts at random in three intermediate care facilities. Physician practices fell into two distinct groups. Those with more than 17 patients followed up sooner than those with fewer than six. We recommend a "house doctor" model of care for patients whose follow up is poor.


In many organizations, productivity relies not just on individual effort but also on group morale, that is, the willingness of co-workers to help each other perform better at work. Relative performance evaluations (RPE) are known to increase individual work morale but may negatively affect group morale because they create a sense of competition among members of a reference group. In a novel experiment, I vary whether or not members of a reference group obtain relative performance information on a task that is relevant for their social image or selfimage, a general knowledge test. I measure how this affects the subsequent willingness to help the productivity of others by sharing knowledge with them at a personal cost. I find that RPE cause members of a reference group to compete as intensely as under relative pay, compared to a baseline with no relative performance information and fixed piece-rates. It also increases the perceived social distance between them. Yet, I show that even after a performance competition, individuals are willing to help the productivity of others in the group. These findings advance our understanding of how relative concerns among co-workers affect the way they work together.


Pulmonary Langerhans cell histiocytosis (PLCH) is a smokingrelated condition in which aggregates of Langerhans cells admixed with other inflammatory cells are found in lung tissue. The general view is that PLCH is a reactive condition rather than a neoplasm. However, in small series BRAF c.1799T>A (p.V600E) mutations have been identified which raise the possibility that PLCH may have features of a neoplasm after all. Because the reported cases are few in number, we undertook a multi-institute survey of BRAF mutations in adult smokers. We found BRAF V600E mutations in 57% of our cohort of 61 patients. No significant relation with age or gender and BRAF status was found. Our series confirms the presence of BRAF V600E mutations in a large proportion of PLCH patients.


The developability of some latent-image centers can be destroyed by the absorption of infra-red radiation (Herschel effect). Absorption of one quantum per center is sufficient to destroy the developability of some centers, indicating that the removal of one silver atom or F-center is sufficient to destroy the developability of such a center. Experiments have been carried out on motion-picture positive film to determine whether the developability of such centers can be restored by any of the various known methods of latensification. Experiments were also carried out to determine what effect latensification prior to the infra-red exposure has upon the Herschel effect. Both physical and direct development were employed. The degree of stabilization attained when latensification preceded infra-red exposure was calculated in terms of percent difference between the change of density of the control and of the latensified film. The degree of restoration attained when latensification followed infra-red exposure was calculated in a similar way. All latensifying agents investigated except perborate caused either partial or complete stabilization for both direct and physical development. Perborate treatment prior to infra-red exposure increased the Herschel effect. Gold and mercury produced increased infra-red sensitivity. Of the agents studied, only low intensity light and water showed any restoration for physical development. For complete direct development, no restoration was observed except for bisulfite which produced total restoration. These results indicate that, with the exception of bisulfite treatment, latensification procedures will not make developable any significant number of subimage centers which originally were smaller by one unit than the critical size necessary for initiating development.


The new concept of Industry 4.0 has been developed: it includes both Internet of Things (IoT) structure and the local networks that are still needed to carry out real-time tasks. However, forecasts of mass application of consumer IoT system have stimulated the development of new wireless technologies that may also be interesting for industry. In this paper, the LoRa technology is investigated for the implementation of industrial wireless networks suitable for sensors and actuators of the Industry 4.0 era. After a brief overview of LoRa and LoRaWAN, the paper deals with the discussion about using LoRa for industrial applications compared to traditional industrial wireless systems. With only very light modifications to the upper layer of LoRaWAN communication stack, a time slot channel hopping schema is possible. The experimental results show the feasibility of the proposed approach, which is compatible with requirements of soft real-time applications in process industry. In particular, proper time, frequency, and spreading factor planning may allow 6000 nodes accessed up to one minute cycle time.


The swelling behaviour of water sensible, chemically crosslinked polyurethanes has been examined in water and mesogenic solvents. The experimental swelling curves have been described with generally known network theories . The swelling curve in a polymer solution has been determined for the first time dependent on temperature. Additionally temperature dependent membrane-osmosis experiments on the system polyethyleneoxide/water have been performed.


Two local reactivity descriptors computed by Kohn-Sham density functional theory (DFT) are used to predict and rationalize interactions of nucleophilic molecules (exemplified by CO and H2O) with transition metal (TM) and oxide surfaces. The descriptors are the electrostatic potential, VS(r), and the local electron attachment energy, ES(r), evaluated on surfaces defined by the 0.001 e Bohr-3 isodensity contour. These descriptors have previously shown excellent abilities to predict regioselectivity and rank molecular as well as nanoparticle reactivities and interaction affinities. In this study, we generalize the descriptors to fit into the framework of periodic DFT computations. We also demonstrate their capabilities to predict local surface propensity for interaction with Lewis bases. It is shown that ES(r) and VS(r) can rationalize the interaction behavior of TM oxides and of fcc TM surfaces, including low-index, stepped and kinked surfaces spanning a wide range of interaction sites with varied coordination environments. Broad future applicability in surface science is envisaged for the descriptors, including heterogeneous catalysis and electrochemistry.


The heterogeneity of COVID-19 lies within its diverse symptoms and severity, ranging from mild to lethal. Acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) has been shown to be the leading cause of mortality in COVID-19 patients, characterized by a hyper cytokine storm. Autoimmunity is proposed to occur as a result of COVID-19, given the high similarity of the immune responses observed in COVID-19 and autoimmune diseases. Here, we investigate the level of autoimmune antibodies in COVID-19 patients with different severities. Initial screening for antinuclear antibodies (ANA) IgG revealed that 1.6% (2/126) and 4% (5/126) of ICU COVID-19 cases developed strong and moderate ANA levels, respectively. However, all the non-ICU cases (n=273) were ANA negative. The high ANA level was confirmed by immunofluorescence (IFA) and large-scale autoantibody screening by phage immunoprecipitation-sequencing (PhIP-Seq). Indeed, the majority of the samples showed "speckled" ANA pattern by microscopy, and we demonstrate that samples of ICU patients with strong and moderate ANA levels contain autoantibody specificities that predominantly targeted proteins involved in intracellular signal transduction, metabolism, apoptotic processes, and cell death; further denoting reactivity to nuclear and cytoplasmic antigens. In conclusion, our results further support the notion of routine screening for autoimmune responses in COVID-19 patients, which might help improve disease prognosis and patient management. Further, results provide compelling evidence that ANA-positive individuals should be excluded from being donors for convalescent plasma therapy in the context of Covid-19.


This self-study involves instructors of a Social Justice in Education course at a large university who engaged preservice teacher education students with assignments intended to solicit their critical self-reflection and to facilitate an awareness of themselves as sociocultural beings. Our work responds to the continued need to involve preservice teachers in experiences that foster critical consciousness and cognizance of their own socialization. For the assignments, students were first asked to describe key moments in their educational experience in the form of a multimedia submission and reflection. After a semester of critical discussions and readings, students were then asked to revisit their initial projects and critique those using course concepts. In addition, they were prompted to include plans for themselves as future social justice educators. In this article, we analyze those student submissions, and we find that many reached new conclusions about social justice topics such as race and gender, critiqued personal and social artifacts, and recognized the connections between privilege and meritocracy. Despite the limitations in class size and structure, we affirm the potential value of a multistage autobiography assignment. We also explore instances of student resistance, wherein students avoided the assigned task and our requirement for self-reflection. We conclude by offering implications for teacher education and posit considerations for future adaptions of the assignment, including the necessity to engage students in opportunities to take social action and to move beyond critique.


Electronic manufacturing services (EMS) provide electronics manufacturing services for other companies. This industry is one of the industries that require supply chain management (SCM) to optimize the operations. EMS focuses on printed circuit board fabrication, electronic design, assembly and testing. In this article, the authors propose a conceptual model by linking the relationships with customer and supplier, information and communication technology, material flows management, corporate culture, performance measurement; and SCM performance in a single study. The findings of this article would provide important implications for the management in the manufacturing companies to understand determinants that contribute to the SCM success. More importantly, based of the obtained results, these companies can enhance the SCM performance by improving the current practices/strategies through focusing on the determinants that significantly influence SCM performance.


The rational design of noble metal-free electrocatalysts holds great promise for cost-effective green hydrogen generation through water electrolysis. In this context, here, the development of a superhydrophilic bifunctional electrocatalyst that facilitates both oxygen evolution reaction (OER) and hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) in alkaline conditions is demonstrated. This is achieved through the in situ growth of hierarchical NiMoO4 @CoMoO4 ·xH2 O nanostructure on nickel foam (NF) via a two-step hydrothermal synthesis method. NiMoO4 @CoMoO4 ·xH2 O/NF facilitates OER and HER at the overpotentials of 180 and 220 mV, respectively, at the current density of 10 mA cm-2 . The NiMoO4 @CoMoO4 ·xH2 O/NF ǁ NiMoO4 @CoMoO4 ·xH2 O/NF cell can be operated at a potential of 1.60 V compared to 1.63 V displayed by the system based on the Pt/C@NFǁRuO2 @NF standard electrode pair configuration at 10 mA cm-2 for overall water splitting. The density functional theory calculations for the OER process elucidate that the lowest ΔG of NiMoO4 @CoMoO4 compared to both Ni and NiMoO4 is due to the presence of Co in the OER catalytic site and its synergistic interaction with NiMoO4 . The preparative strategy and mechanistic understanding make the windows open for the large-scale production of the robust and less expensive electrode material for the overall water electrolysis.


Fusion Estimation of Point Sets from Multiple Stations of Spherical Coordinate Instruments Utilizing Uncertainty Estimation Based on Monte Carlo Multiple instrument stations, based on spherical coordinate measurements, are often used in the measurement of large objects. A data fusion method is proposed to derive optimal estimations of the positions of the object features, measured by more than one device. First, each device has a dedicated coordinate system that is linked together through the measurement of common points. Second, the weighted mean coordinates are derived. The covariance matrix of the sensory, covering of the radial distance and the angles, is propagated to get a weight matrix. Third, a nonlinear function is minimized to determine the optimized coordinate of the points. Monte Carlo error propagation is utilized to estimate the uncertainty of the fusion points. Simulation of the fusion algorithms is performed using laser tracking and laser radar. The fusion algorithm experiments are performed using two laser tracking stations. Simulation and experiments prove that the fusion method improves the precision of the measurements of an object's location, due to incorporating the degree of uncertainty for each measurement point.


Aim—To identify the possible role of Epstein-Barr virus (EBV), in Chinese patients, in the pathogenesis of oesophageal squamous cell carcinoma. Methods—Formalin fixed, paraffin wax embedded tissues from 74 cases of oesophageal squamous cell carcinoma (28 with well differentiated, 27 with moderately differentiated and 18 with poorly differentiated carcinomas) were analysed for EBV using in situ hybridisation for EBV encoded small RNAs. Results—EBV was detected in only a few lymphocytes adjacent to the tumour epithelia in 14 (19%) cases of oesophageal carcinoma. The adjacent, non-pathological oesophageal tissue was EBV negative. Conclusions—EBV does not play a major role in the aetiology of oesophageal squamous cell carcinoma.


We investigate how the employment-based health insurance system in the U.S. a ects individuals' life-cycle health-care decisions. We take the viewpoint that health is a form of human capital that a ects workers' productivities on the job, and derive implications of employees' turnover on the incentives to undertake health investment. Our model suggests that employee turnovers lead to dynamic ine ciencies in health investment, and particularly, it suggests that employment-based health insurance system in the U.S. might lead to an ine cient low level of individual health during individuals' working ages. Moreover, we show that under-investment in health is positively related to the turnover rate of the workers' industry and increases medical expenditure in retirement. We provide empirical evidence for the predictions of the model using two data sets, the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey (MEPS) and the Health and Retirement Study (HRS). In MEPS, we nd that employers in industries with high turnover rates are much less likely to o er health insurance to their workers. When employers o er health insurance, the contracts have higher deductibles and employers' contribution to the insurance premium is lower in high turnover industries. Moreover, workers in high turnover industries have lower medical expenditure and undertake less preventive care. In HRS, instead we nd that individuals who were employed in high turnover industries have higher medical expenditure when retired. The magnitude of our estimates suggests signi cant degree of intertemporal ine ciencies in health investment in the U.S. as a result of the employmentbased health insurance system. We also evaluate and cast doubt on alternative explanations. JEL Classi cation Numbers: D84, D91, I12


The removal of radio-elements, notably uranium, from wastewaters is crucial for public health and environmental remediation. To this end, succinyl-β-cyclodextrin (SβCD) is grafted onto maghemite nanoparticles (NPs) synthesized by a polyol method. The nanocomposite was characterized well. The adsorption of U(VI) by SβCD-APTES@Fe2O3 is pH-dependent with a maximum at pH 6. Adsorption occurs mainly by complex formation and displays a very good selectivity for U(VI) compared to other cations such as Cs+, K+, Na+, Mg2+ and Al3+. The data were plotted according to Langmuir, Freundlich, Elovich, Temkin and Halsey isotherms. The Langmuir isotherm maximum adsorption capacity (qmax) is 286 mg U per g and higher than that of other reported sorbents. Moreover, Cs-corrected STEM visualizes uranium on the NP surface, which is consistent with the Halsey isotherm model for multilayer adsorption. The U(VI) adsorbed on SβCD-APTES@Fe2O3 is easily recovered by magnetic sedimentation and desorption performed in a small volume in order to concentrate the extract. The nanocomposite can be regenerated and reused at least tenfold.


Using an earnings management model in which managers manipulate information when the firm's control system fails, I introduce a measure of earnings quality, based on the notion of integral precision, that has solid theoretical foundations. A trade-off between the frequency and the magnitude of overstatements is shown: overstatements are larger when misreporting is less likely. Overall, the model generates a distribution of earnings announcements similar to its empirical analogue and provides a structural method to identify the likelihood and magnitude of misreporting by exploiting information from the moments of the distribution of reported earnings.