Supported cobalt is one of the common catalysts used in Fischer-Tropsch synthesis (FTS). Strong electrostatic adsorption (SEA) was employed to synthesize cobalt nano particles supported on silica. Cobalt nitrate was used as the catalyst precursor and non-porous silica spheres, which were synthesized using the modified Stöber method, were used as a catalyst support. Point of zero charge (PZC) for silica was determined using equilibrium pH at high oxide loading (EpHL) method. The optimum pH was determined by measuring cobalt uptake versus pH. High cobalt uptake at basic pH and low cobalt uptake at acidic pH indicates electrostatic interaction between the cobalt complexes in the precursor solution and the hydroxyl group on the support's surface. Catalysts prepared at optimum pH were characterized using TPR, XPS and TEM. TPR shows reduction peak at high temperature (587°C) indicating strong interaction between cobalt and silica support. XPS shows presence of Co2+ species on the surface. TEM images of the Co/SiO2 at 5 wt% and 10 wt% cobalt loadings show fairly well-dispersed cobalt oxide nano particles on the spherical silica support with narrow particle size distribution. The findings suggest that SEA was deemed a suitable method to prepare supported cobalt catalysts.


The way we think about ourselves impacts greatly on our behavior. This paper describes a behavioral study and a computational model that shed new light on this important area. Participants were primed "clever" and "stupid" using a scrambled sentence task, and we measured the effect on response time and error-rate on a rule-association task. First, we observed a confirmation bias effect in that associations to being "stupid" led to a gradual decrease in performance, whereas associations to being "clever" did not. Second, we observed that the activated self-concepts selectively modified attention toward one's performance. There was an early to late double dissociation in RTs in that primed "clever" resulted in RT increase following error responses, whereas primed "stupid" resulted in RT increase following correct responses. We propose a computational model of subjects' behavior based on the logic of the experimental task that involves two processes; memory for rules and the integration of rules with subsequent visual cues. The model incorporates an adaptive decision threshold based on Bayes rule, whereby decision thresholds are increased if integration was inferred to be faulty. Fitting the computational model to experimental data confirmed our hypothesis that priming affects the memory process. This model explains both the confirmation bias and double dissociation effects and demonstrates that Bayesian inferential principles can be used to study the effect of self-concepts on behavior.


HLH54F, the Drosophila ortholog of the vertebrate basic helix-loop-helix domain-encoding genes capsulin and musculin, is expressed in the founder cells and developing muscle fibers of the longitudinal midgut muscles. These cells descend from the posterior-most portion of the mesoderm, termed the caudal visceral mesoderm (CVM), and migrate onto the trunk visceral mesoderm prior to undergoing myoblast fusion and muscle fiber formation. We show that HLH54F expression in the CVM is regulated by a combination of terminal patterning genes and snail. We generated HLH54F mutations and show that this gene is crucial for the specification, migration and survival of the CVM cells and the longitudinal midgut muscle founders. HLH54F mutant embryos, larvae, and adults lack all longitudinal midgut muscles, which causes defects in gut morphology and integrity. The function of HLH54F as a direct activator of gene expression is exemplified by our analysis of a CVM-specific enhancer from the Dorsocross locus, which requires combined inputs from HLH54F and Biniou in a feed-forward fashion. We conclude that HLH54F is the earliest specific regulator of CVM development and that it plays a pivotal role in all major aspects of development and differentiation of this largely twist-independent population of mesodermal cells.


Many statistical methods yield the probability of the observed data – or data more extreme – under the assumption that a particular hypothesis is true. This probability is commonly known as 'the' p-value. (Null Hypothesis) Significance Testing ([NH]ST) is the most prominent of these methods. The p-value has been subjected to much speculation, analysis, and criticism. We explore how well the p-value predicts what researchers presumably seek: the probability of the hypothesis being true given the evidence, and the probability of reproducing significant results. We also explore the effect of sample size on inferential accuracy, bias, and error. In a series of simulation experiments, we find that the p-value performs quite well as a heuristic cue in inductive inference, although there are identifiable limits to its usefulness. We conclude that despite its general usefulness, the p-value cannot bear the full burden of inductive inference; it is but one of several heuristic cues available to the data analyst. Depending on the inferential challenge at hand, investigators may supplement their reports with effect size estimates, Bayes factors, or other suitable statistics, to communicate what they think the data say.


During the 1990s, the Federal Reserve has pursued its twin goals of price stability and steady employment with considerable success. But despite--or perhaps because of--this success, concerns about the pace of economic and productivity growth have attracted renewed attention. Many observers ruefully note that the average pace of GDP growth has remained below rates achieved in the 1960s and that a period of rapid investment in computers and other capital equipment has had disappointingly little impact on the productivity numbers. Most of the industrial world has experienced a similar decline in trend and productivity growth, an increase in income inequality, and even slower job creation than we have seen here in the United States. Many members of the economics profession concur with The Economist that "understanding growth is surely the most urgent task in economics," and the last few years have seen a resurgence in research on the economics of growth. For these reasons, the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston devoted its fortieth economic conference, held in June 1996, to Technology and Growth, to explore what we know and clarify what we do not know about the issues. This article reviews the presentations at the conference and the themes that emerged from the ensuing discussions.


A plate model for laminates with variable stiffness materials is constructed based on the mechanics of structure genome. The modelling aims at minimizing the difference between the potential energy of original 3D model and the equivalent plate model. In this study, a line through the thickness of the plate is chosen as the structure genome, so the the analysis of the original 3D model is separated into a 1D through the thickness analysis and a 2D global plate analysis. Energy of the 3D model is expressed in terms of 3D strains, obtained from continuum mechanics, and energy of the equivalent plate model is expressed in terms of 2D membrane strains and curvatures of the reference surface as well as the warping functions. Warping functions are solved in terms of 2D strains and are used for deriving the constitutive relation as well as recovering the local fields. Several numerical examples are studied to verify the presented theory.


This paper addresses two issues arising from the changing pattern of doctorate production in American universities in last forty years. First, there has been a large increase in the number of doctorates awarded to foreign students. This leads to the concern that foreign doctorates have crowded out native doctorates especially certain groups of native doctorates such as native male and minorities. Second, graduate programs are increasingly becoming "feminine," and some academic fields have already witnessed a ratcheting process toward female. This gives rise to concern about gender segregation among academic fields. Using data on the number of doctorates awarded in all academic fields from 1966 to 2002, this study examines the crowding-out effect and the tipping effect systematically. In science and engineering fields, there is no evidence of crowdingout between foreign doctorates and native doctorates. Outside of science and engineering, there is a strong negative correlation between the number of foreign doctorates and native male doctorates; however, nonscience education accounts for almost all the negative association, suggesting the inappropriateness of aggregating fields in examining the crowding-out effect. Male students, especially native male students, exhibit strong "women-avoiding" behaviors in selecting academic fields of doctoral study, suggesting that native male students opt out of, instead of being crowded out of fields with a high proportion of female doctorates. As the gender composition of college graduates has started to stabilize in recent years, it is unlikely that those fields that already have a high proportion of female doctorates will be tipping toward all female.


Graph-based structures are being increasingly used to model data and relations among data in a number of fields. Graph-based databases are becoming more popular as a means to better represent such data. Graph traversal is a key component in graph algorithms such as reachability and graph matching. Since the scale of data stored and queried in these databases is increasing, it is important to obtain high performing implementations of graph traversal that can efficiently utilize the processing power of modern processors. In this work, we present a scalable Breadth-First Search Traversal algorithm for modern multi-socket, multi-core CPUs. Our algorithm uses lock- and atomic-free operations on a cache-resident structure for arbitrary sized graphs to filter out expensive main memory accesses, and completely and efficiently utilizes all available bandwidth resources. We propose a work distribution approach for multi-socket platforms that ensures load-balancing while keeping cross-socket communication low. We provide a detailed analytical model that accurately projects the performance of our single- and multi-socket traversal algorithms to within 5-10% of obtained performance. Our analytical model serves as a useful tool to analyze performance bottlenecks on modern CPUs. When measured on various synthetic and real-world graphs with a wide range of graph sizes, vertex degrees and graph diameters, our implementation on a dual-socket Intel® Xeon® X5570 (Intel microarchitecture code name Nehalem) system achieves 1.5X-13.2X performance speedup over the best reported numbers. We achieve around 1 Billion traversed edges per second on a scale-free R-MAT graph with 64M vertices and 2 Billion edges on a dual-socket Nehalem system. Our optimized algorithm is useful as a building block for efficient multi-node implementations and future exascale systems, thereby allowing them to ride the trend of increasing per-node compute and bandwidth resources.


Macroporous copolymers of ethylene glycol dimethacrylate and methacrylic acid containing immobilized molecules of Alizarin red S and similar polymers imprinted by gadolinium ions were synthesized by free radical bulk polymerization method. Sorption properties of two pairs of the polymers with cross-link ratio of 85.7 and 92.6% were compared. The resulting materials were characterized by scanning electron microscopy and infrared spectroscopy. Sorption performance of the polymers synthesized toward gadolinium ions was investigated. It has been found that the maximum removal of gadolinium ions from solutions is observed at pH 6. The experimental data on gadolinium ion interaction with the sorbent surface were shown to fit Langmuir adsorption theory. Maximum gadolinium sorption capacity of nonimprinted polymers with cross-link ratio of 85.7 and 92.6% is 19.4 and 14.9 mg/g, respectively. Sorbent selectivity for rare earth ions was studied. According to the obtained results, sorbents under study reveal affinity to triple-charged ions. Tetrad effect observed in rare earth distribution patterns reflects chemical nature of sorption on such polymers.


This paper presents bibliometric profile of Journal of Documentation during the year 2005-2015, based on the year wise productivity, subfield wise article distribution, type of research documents published, geographical distribution of articles, Institutional wise productivity, citation distribution of articles degree of collaboration of authors. The study found that total 489 research documents published during the time period 2005-2015. Most number of articles published on the topic Information seeking behaviour. The study also revealed author productivity through the implementation of Lotka's Law of productivity.


BACKGROUND
The purpose of this study was to examine a level 1 trauma center's 12-year experience treating frontal sinus fractures with regards to patient demographics, management strategies, and treatment outcomes.

METHODS
An institutional review board-approved retrospective review of all facial fractures at a level 1 trauma center was performed for the years 2000 to 2012. Patient demographics, location of fractures, concomitant injuries, use of antibiotics, surgical management strategies and outcomes were collected for all frontal sinus fractures. A significance value of 5% was used.

RESULTS
There were 291 frontal sinus fractures treated at our institution. The mean age of patients was 34.4 years with a male predominance (90%). The most common mechanisms of injury were assault in 82 (28.2%) and motor vehicle accidents in 80 (27.5%). Anterior table fractures were seen in 261 patients (89.7%) and posterior table fractures were seen in 181 (62.2%). Treatment included ORIF with sinus preservation in 18 (6.2%), ORIF with sinus obliteration in 20 (6.9%), and cranialization in 18 (6.2%). Antibiotics were started on admission in 152 patients (52.2%). Fatality occurred in 9.3% of patients and complications included meningitis (1%), frontal sinusitis (1%), early wound infection (0.3%), and mucopyelocele (0.3%).

CONCLUSIONS
Frontal sinus fractures in our center are most often caused by interpersonal violence. Anterior table fractures were more common than posterior table fractures and ORIF with sinus obliteration was the most common surgical intervention. Most frontal sinus fractures at our institution (82%) were treated conservatively with no surgical intervention and we observed a low rate of long term complications.


As a result of diminution of the number of muscle fibers in patients with myopathy, the rise time of the fast negative phase of the spike potentials in the EMG becomes shorter. By using a small special purpose computer (averager) a mean action potential is obtained from which the rise time of the "spike" is determined. In normal muscles the mean value is 509 microseconds (SD 118). Myopathic muscles show a mean value of 225 microseconds (SD 76). There is a slight overlap and uncertainty between 280 and 370 microseconds. Because of the short time needed to examine the muscle for this parameter many muscles may be examined during one routine EMG.


Marketing management research has advocated for the establishment of the relationship between service features and customer loyalty in order to improve customer retention and organization performance. Despite consumer behavior theory emphasizing the importance of customer personality in consumer decision making process, establishing determinants of customer loyalty has been problematic. This study had a target population 845,000 and a sample size of 400 was selected from the population which included customers from Equity Bank, Kenya Commercial Bank, Barclays Bank and Cooperative Bank, to establish the relationship between customer personality, service features and customer loyalty in the banking sector in Homa Bay County. The study was guided by a conceptual framework involving concepts of customer loyalty and customer personality which are anchored on the theory of consumer behavior. The study used cross-sectional survey design, banks were selected using stratified sampling and the customers were picked using simple random sampling. Respondents were met at the ATM as they carry out their transactions. Data was collected using questionnaire and the reliability of the instrument was tested using split-half method while validity was tested by use of experts who were the supervisors of the researcher. Descriptive statistics, simple regression analysis, and moderated regression analysis were used to analyze data. The findings show that the independent variables service features is a significant determinants of customer loyalty among customers who had not that is service features (Fo=5.123˃Fc=3.860) after moderation (Fo=3.545˃Fc= 3.020). Among customers who had changed their banks, service features had no significant effect even after moderation with customer personality. The study concluded that customer personality has a moderating effect on the relationship between service features and customer loyalty. The study recommends that bank product managers should continuously modify their product offerings to suit their customers' personality. The study may help the bank policy makers to predict customer loyalty using the models of customer loyalty, it also contributes to the development of consumer behavior theory.


Increasing interest in renewable energy technologies has recently brought compact and cost-effective energy storage into the spotlight. A wide variety of applications could benefit from an appropriate high-energy storage medium capable of efficiently collecting and releasing electrical energy. In this work, the lithium metal battery is introduced as one of the most exciting candidates with the potential to fill this need. In chapter one, today's leading battery solution is explored and compared to the lithium metal cell, and challenges to cycle and calendar life in each system are explained. In particular, the advantages and limitations of the state-of-the-art Li-ion chemistry, including its graphite-based negative electrode, are discussed. Specific challenges to the implementation of metallic lithium - the negative electrode with the highest possible specific energy - are also presented, with the pervasive growth of catastrophic lithium dendrites being the most significant obstacle to its success. An active body of investigation into the formation of these dendritic microstructures in lithium metal cells and various strategies toward eliminating them are introduced. Finally, with support from recent research, we propose that the hard-soft, nanostructured block copolymer electrolyte, poly(styrene-block-ethylene oxide), (PS-b-PEO), represents a fundamentally new approach toward stopping lithium dendrite failure and, in so doing, realizing a metallic lithium anode as part of a stable higher-energy rechargeable battery.The second chapter presents a complete set of fundamental transport measurements on the solid electrolyte, PS-b-PEO containing the lithium bis(trifluoromethane)sulfonimide (LiTFSI) salt. The LiTFSI mutual diffusion coefficient, measured by restricted diffusion in symmetric lithium cells, is reported along with the ionic conductivity, measured by potentioelectrochemical impedance spectroscopy, for a wide range of salt concentrations at 80 °C. A comparison between these results and those for the homopolymer-PEO system are also discussed. In addition, a straightforward approach toward measuring the lithium transference number in solid electrolyte samples is reported and compared to various existing methods. The transference measurement reported herein depends on an experimental determination of the limiting current, which is undertaken for a range of salt concentrations, also in lithium symmetric cells at 80 °C.In the third chapter, the focus turns to practical batteries containing lithium metal as a negative electrode and lithium iron phosphate (LiFePO4) as a positive electrode. An extensive electrochemical characterization on batteries with these electrodes and the solid electrolyte PS-b-PEO containing LiTFSI is first reported. In cells with high specific energy, exceptional electrochemical and high-temperature stability is demonstrated over months of repeated charge and discharge cycling. Data collected at charge/discharge rates in the appropriate range for electric vehicle applications (i.e., C/2, which is defined as the current necessary to fully charge or discharge a cell in 2 hours) are compared to data collected on comparable homopolymer-based cells. In order to project ultimate cycle and calendar life limitations, coulombic and energy efficiency measurements are taken for each system, and electron micrographs demonstrate the unprecedented reversibility of the metallic lithium electrochemical reaction in all-solid-state batteries containing the block copolymer electrolyte.Finally, chapter four describes high-resolution in situ concentration mapping of dissolved LiTFSI in working lithium symmetric cells containing the same block copolymer electrolyte. By synchrotron scanning transmission X-ray microscopy (STXM), performed on all-solid-state batteries, real-time ion composition data, generated by quantitative X-ray absorption measurements, are reported under galvanostatic charge and discharge conditions. In particular, nanometer-resolution fluorine 1s absorbance data within working batteries are converted to Li+ concentration maps to elucidate the evolution of ion composition changes in cells during cycling. Furthermore, a general approach toward accurate, in situ, fundamental transport measurements, including a representative measurement of the lithium transference number for LiTFSI in PS-b-PEO, is reported. We believe this technique represents a seminal effort toward a general method of in situ, nanoscale, soft-X-ray characterization of lithium-based batteries that can be extended to the investigation of other electrolytes as well as to a wide variety of electrode materials for electrochemical systems of all types.


Author(s): Derkarabetian, Shahan | Advisor(s): Hedin, Marshal; Hayashi, Cheryl | Abstract: My dissertation research utilizes next-generation sequencing (NGS) technology and associated bioinformatics processing to answer systematic and evolutionary questions in Opiliones (harvestmen) at different taxonomic scales, focusing on the Laniatores superfamily Travunioidea and particularly the travunioid genus Sclerobunus. Opiliones are a diverse group of arachnids with over 6500 described species distributed on every continent except Antarctica. Despite relatively high diversity (e.g., more described species than mammals), harvestmen are poorly studied. This dissertation research has three main projects. The first chapter is a higher-level phylogenetics and taxonomic study of the Travunioidea, a clade of ~80 species of harvestmen distributed throughout the Holarctic. Here I utilized ultraconserved elements (UCE) for phylogenomic reconstruction using multiple types of phylogenetic reconstruction methods. Based on results, a new taxonomic classification is proposed for the Travunioidea, including the identification and diagnosis of a new family, and I reassess the phylogenetic utility of morphological characters used to differentiate and diagnose travunioid taxa. The second chapter focuses on species delimitation of the western North American travunioid genus Sclerobunus. I utilized modern integrative taxonomic methods, using both discovery-based and validation-based approaches by combining morphometrics, mitochondrial genetic data, genitalic morphology, and nuclear genetic data derived from newly developed genes based on a comparative transcriptomics approach. This research resulted in a revision of the genus including synonymy of the genus Cyptobunus, elevation of four subspecies, and the description of five new species. The third chapter is a phylogeographic analysis of Sclerobunus robustus, a species distributed throughout the southwestern United States. A hypothesis-based framework was adopted, where stable habitats (i.e., potential refugia) were identified through ecological niche modeling, and hypotheses regarding genetic patterns associated with these refugia were developed. Hypotheses were tested by using genetic data in the form of loci and SNPs derived from double-digest RAD sequencing methods. Two large refugial regions were identified and population genomic analyses supported the presence of both.


We show that the derivation of Levy statistics from a Liouville‐like approach is still an unresolved problem, even though a satisfactory derivation resting on the Generalized Central Limit Theorem (GCLT) has been obtained. We discuss a quantum relaxation that according to the supposed equivalence between decoherence theory and wave function collapses is expected to be equivalent to the characteristic function of a Levy process. We notice that this way of proceeding is equivalent to establishing a finite Kolmogorov‐Sinai (KS) entropy, and consequently, a condition compatible with the Second Principle of Thermodynamics even though the connection between this kind of entropy and the Clausius entropy is not yet known. The quantum treatment, based on density rather than the collapse‐induced symbolic sequences, conflicts with this conclusion.


ABSTRAK Of 1,242 parcels of wakaf land in Medan, 663 of them have been certified and 393 have not, and 186 of them were in the process in the National Land Board and several of them have not been registered which will possibly cause dispute. Wakaf is expected to be able to improve people's welfare, especially Moslems. Therefore, it is necessary to keep the assets of registered and unregistered wakaf land. The problems of the research were as follows: first, how about the correlation between Nazir and BWI (Indonesian Wakaf Board) of North Sumatera, related to the management of unregistered wakaf land in Medan; secondly, how about the obstacles faced by Nazir and BWI of North Sumatera in managing unregistered wakaf land; and thirdly, how about the role BWI in controlling the management of unregistered wakaf land in Medan. Keywords: Nazir, Indonesian Wakaf Board, Management of Wakaf Land


Mathematical competency and confidence can be built through scaffolding of learning tasks followed by frequent opportunities for students to test their knowledge and skills after each topic. Students who enter University STEM disciplines with inadequate mathematics backgrounds for the courses they are undertaking are often apprehensive about undergoing formal testing of their mathematical skills. Many introductory and bridging mathematics courses therefore take a portfolio based approach to continuous assessment, with students submitting completed class work but with often minimal formal testing. It is also desirable for first year students to develop self-reflective study skills appropriate for effective learning in a university environment. As part of an Essential Maths for Science unit, continuous testing of students' skills in a non-threatening and self-reflective setting was implemented. Students were given the opportunity at the end of each segment of content to undertake a review task, focussing on the skills they should be able to demonstrate at that point. These were administered in tutorial sessions and were similar in content to a topic test but students were given the opportunity to ask questions and clarification from the tutor and consult their notes. Students were otherwise encouraged to work under test conditions without any peer collaboration. The task concluded with a self-reflective Likert scale survey of each of the mathematical skills covered by the questions allowing students to rank their self-confidence with each mathematical skill. Students were also given the opportunity for open ended responses about the skills they found easiest and most difficult. Samples and results from these review and reflection tasks will be presented and the usefulness of such a testing regime discussed. Student reflection around confidence and ability provides constructive feedback for both students and teaching practitioners.


Development gaps always exist, but not all gaps are impediments to integration among nations. The challenge for ASEAN's integration is that the increasingly globalized world and current community-building process of ASEAN could turn the region into "the included" and "the non-included" unless ASEAN can find appropriate approaches to bridge in a sustainable manner the crucial development gaps among its members. Such a possibility would threaten the stability and coherence of ASEAN from within rather than from outside. The paper provides a "4-I" approach to the development gaps in ASEAN (Income, Infrastructure, Integration, and Institutional Gaps) in order to speculate possible outcomes and to draw some observations on what has to be prioritized in the community-building process. We consider focusing on regional institution-building and caring for the most vulnerable as the "new ASEAN way" of bridging the development gap and to move towards a sustainable ASEAN Community in the future


The story of Nancy Temple ("Temple") and Arthur Andersen ("Andersen") is infamous in legal ethics. Temple was the in-house lawyer that advised Andersen's employees to shred documents on the eve of the Security and Exchange Commission's ("SEC") investigation of Enron Corporation ("Enron"). Temple's advice triggered a string of events that culminated in the needless demise of America's fifth-largest accounting firm. By contrast, my Arthur Andersen story is unknown, until now that is. In late 1999, I was offered the position on Andersen's in-house staff that Temple ultimately accepted. I declined the offer, for I suspected that Andersen was not seeking an independent, legal advisor as much as a legal yes-man (or yes-woman, as the case may be). In particular, I sensed that Andersen's in-house lawyers were expected to "rubber-stamp" all transactions, regardless of ethical or legal propriety. History proved my suspicions prophetic. In this article, I posit that Andersen collapsed not because of greedy partners or unethical lawyers - though both groups undoubtedly contributed to such failure - but because Andersen had an environment in which inhouse attorneys were either unable or unwilling to render the type of professional, independent legal advice required of attorneys. Andersen seemingly expected its employees, including in-house counsel, to protect the "firm" and its clients at all costs, legal or otherwise. Temple apparently strived to meet such expectations and, by so doing, destroyed the firm. In the end, though, it was Andersen's corporate culture - and not Nancy Temple - was Andersen's "Temple of Doom."


In recent years, rainfall-induced shallow landslides have frequently occurred in Japan due by extreme weather. From the transportation infrastructure management viewpoint, warning information must be received with a time margin as preparation for road closure to ensure safety. However, it might be difficult to provide this by only monitoring the slope displacement and groundwater behavior. Some early warning information is needed for predicting slope movement and rise of groundwater table. We focus on vertical one-dimensional rainwater infiltration behavior under an unsaturated soil condition. From our previous experiment using a model slope, we found that volumetric water content is temporarily balanced and exists in an equilibrium state with infiltration of sprinkling-water from the upper direction when the rain intensity is stable. This equilibrium state was named initial quasi-saturated volumetric water content, and it was hypothesized that displacement on a model slope would not occur unless the initial quasi-saturated volumetric water content was exceeded. However, in our previous research, the soil-layer thickness of the slope was too thin to evaluate water infiltration behavior in the vertical direction at multiple sensing points. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to verify whether the hypothesis is valid when the previous model slope is enlarged. Experimental evaluation confirmed that no displacement occurred when volumetric water content was lower than the initial quasi-saturated volumetric water content. Further, it was confirmed that shear deformation due to the rise of groundwater level occurred after volumetric water content exceeds the initial quasi-saturated volumetric water content at all measurement points except at one point farthest from the slip surface. This suggests that the hypothesis does not hold true in the area where the influence of shear deformation due to slope failure is small.


A powerful trend in the past few years, accelerated by the recent COVID-19 pandemic, is the movement of social activities from in-person events to digital platforms. There is considerable debate about the limits of this virtualization. In particular, the question of whether virtual events on digital platforms can offer an effective substitute for settings that involve rich experiences such as concerts and races remains unanswered. We explore the impact of offering such virtual events on the users of the hosting platform in the context of racing. By leveraging the theme of the virtual races and users' zodiac sign as instruments, we are able to estimate the causal impact of virtualization. We find that a virtual race increases the tenure of new users by 42.8 days and the number of running records (representing their engagement) by 24.2%. In addition, we find that virtual racing can complement the offline channel by encouraging new users to participate in more offline races. Finally, further analysis reveals that social interactions enabled by the digital platform play a critical role in realizing the benefits of event virtualization.


Introduction: Chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS)/Myalgic Encephalomyelitis (ME) and fibromyalgia (FM) are both debilitating syndromes with complex polysymptomatology. Early research infers that a relationship may exist even though the diagnosis provided may influence the management trajectory. In the absence of a diagnostic test and treatment, this study aims to confirm the symptoms and their severity, which may infer a relationship and influence future research. Method: A quasi-experimental design was utilised, using Internet-based self-assessment questionnaires focusing on nine symptom areas: criteria, pain, sleep, fatigue, anxiety and depression, health-related quality of life, self-esteem and locus of control. The questionnaires used for data collection are as follows: the American Centre for Disease Control and Prevention Symptom Inventory for CFS/ME (American CDC Symptom Inventory); the American College of Rheumatology (ACR) Criteria for FM; Fibromyalgia Impact Questionnaire (FIQ); McGill Pain Questionnaire (MPQ); Multidimensional Fatigue Inventory (MFI); Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI); Health-Related Quality of Life SF-36 V2 (HRQoL SF-36 V2); Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS); Multidimensional Health Locus of Control (MHLOC) and the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale (RSES). Setting and participants: Participants were recruited from two distinct community groups, namely CFS/ME (n = 101) and FM (n = 107). Participants were male and female aged 17 (CFS/ME mean age 45.5 years; FM mean age 47.2 years). Results: All participants in the CFS/ME and FM groups satisfied the requirements of their individual criteria. Results confirmed that both groups experienced the debilitating symptoms measured, with the exception of anxiety and depression, impacting on their quality of life. Results suggest a relationship between CFS/ME and FM, indicating the requirement for future research.


Abstract Policies of the developed world continue to affect the domestic as well as foreign policies of China and India in the post‐Cold War period. The US war against terrorism in Afghanistan has drawn China closer to the US. This has set new parameters for Sino‐Indian relationship. Economic reasons dominated the relations among nations in the 1990s, but the scare of terrorism has forged a global coalition and middle powers have few options to choose independent policies.


The paper presents a clinical case demonstrating the necessity for scarce dental implants surgery in tissues affected by multiply surgical and radiological procedures. The patient underwent 13 interventions, 4 reconstructive procedures and 3 courses of radiotherapy resulting in extensive facial defect. An orthopedic construction was fixed in a defect on mechanically stable single-stage implants with screw-retained orthopedic platform and trans-zygomatic implants on the contralateral side. The method is based on virtual diagnostics and choice of materials for 3D-prototyping of a framework to fill the defect and serve as supportive element for fixation and stabilization of obturator and facial mask.


Messaging applications are increasingly making use of end-to-end
security mechanisms to ensure that messages are only accessible to the
communicating endpoints, and not to any servers involved in delivering
messages. Establishing keys to provide such protections is challenging
for group chat settings, in which more than two clients need to agree
on a key but may not be online at the same time. In this document, we
specify a key establishment protocol that provides efficient
asynchronous group key establishment with forward secrecy and post-
compromise security for groups in size ranging from two to thousands.


The exhumed Himalayan midcrustal core exposed in the Likhu Khola region of east-central Nepal includes upper-greenschist- to upper-amphibolite-grade metamorphic rocks that record pervasive, top-to-the-south sense deformation. Metamorphic temperature estimates are within error across the mapped area ranging from 772 ± 37 °C in the structurally lower, southern part of the study area to 853 ± 58 °C in the structurally higher, northern area. Estimated metamorphic pressures are relatively constant at lower structural levels, but they decrease from 11.8 ± 1.4 kbar to a minimum of 6.5 ± 1.3 kbar up structural section. The decrease in pressures coincides with an abrupt change in pressure estimates up structural section that is interpreted to mark a tectonometamorphic discontinuity that separates two domains with distinct structural, thermal, and metamorphic histories. In situ laser-ablation split-stream monazite U-Th/Pb and rare earth element (REE) petrochronology outlines dates ranging from ca. 27.8 Ma to 15.1 Ma in the hanging wall of the interpreted discontinuity; monazite REE data indicate the spread in ages is the result of a protracted metamorphic history and late-stage anatexis. Metamorphic and petrochronologic data from the Likhu Khola are consistent with a kinematic model in which material structurally above the discontinuity was metamorphosed in the deep hinterland of the orogen and was subsequently incorporated into the foreland of the orogen. The transition from hinterland- to foreland-style processes was marked by a shift to discrete deformation and the development of the discontinuity. Movement across the discontinuity is interpreted to have driven metamorphism and deformation of the rocks structurally below at or after 15 Ma. Discontinuities similar to that identified in this study are being identified and described across the orogen, indicating they are important, orogenwide features.


The article examines women's local government representation following amalgamation to form a super-sized city authority, Auckland, which covers a third of New Zealand's population. Using a gender perspective, it analyses the promise implicit in amalgamation rhetoric that democratic gaps in representation, including the gender gap, would diminish. It examines the question of whether size has made a difference. Prior to local government amalgamation, women's representation had not significantly increased over a period of seven election cycles. Women's descriptive and substantive representation are examined at national and city levels and the gendered implications of local government reform are considered from the perspectives of female elected representatives at councillor and local board levels. Evidence shows that local government reform has yet to be the catalyst for improving women's descriptive and substantive representation, although there are tentative signs of entry-level improvement at community board level which raise the prospect of a pipeline effect. Interviews with elected female representatives after amalgamation show that while they do not identify themselves as speaking for women, they see themselves as women speaking for their communities and doing it better than men. The results suggest the influence of gender backlash politics and also confirm the need to think about the performance of elected women as more than 'articulated' representation.


Desiccant-based air handling units allow significant reductions in greenhouse gas emissions and energy savings with respect to conventional air conditioning systems. Benefits are maximized when they interact with renewable energy technologies, such as solar collectors. Due to the high requirements of humidifiers, water consumption is a major issue for desiccant cooling technology. Therefore, a water consumption analysis should be also performed.In this work, experimental tests and data derived from scientific and technical literature are used to implement a model of a solar desiccant cooling system, considering three different solar caption technologies (air, flat plate and evacuated collectors). Simulations were then performed to compare the energy, environmental and economic performance and water consumption of the system with those of a desiccant-based unit in which regeneration thermal energy is supplied by a natural gas boiler, and with a conventional air handling device. A trade-off solution is chosen, consisting of 16 m2 of flat-plate solar collectors. This solution allows to obtain, with respect to the reference system, a reduction of primary energy consumption and of the equivalent CO2 emissions of 24.2% and 27.1%, respectively, with an acceptable pay-back time of 4.81 years, and a water consumption very similar to that of the reference system.


Obtaining an objective assessment of pain is an important challenge for clinicians. The purpose of this study is to examine the connections between subjective reports of pain and measureable biosignals of human speech prosody, as a step towards coping with this challenge. Patients reporting pain were voice-recorded to attain reports on different levels of pain. Recording was done in the patients' natural environment at the medical center. Features were extracted from the voice-recordings, including features that were exclusively developed for this study. A machine-learning based classification process was performed in order to distinguish between samples with "no significant pain" and with "significant pain" reported. This classification process distinguished well between the two categories. Moreover, features developed during this study improved classification results in comparison to classification based solely on knownfeatures. Results indicate that there is evidence of a connection between measureable biosignal parameters of speech and the simultaneous self-reported pain level. This finding might be useful for developing future methods to more objective assessment of pain.


The central theme of this research is the internationalization of education, focusing on the experience of students engaged in academic exchange programs. Our goal was to investigate the implications of participation in international academic exchanges in the process of qualifying students. Thus, this research followed the line of other studies carried out, opting to focus its analysis of the issue of internationalization of higher education institutions in a Brazilian university, in this case the University of Fortaleza (UNIFOR), which participates in academic exchange programs with international education institutions. In short, the data collected showed that the difficulties encountered by exchange students from Brazil and abroad were related to communication, since most students are not considered fluent in the language of the country of arrival. Significant differences were noted in the education system. Differences were considered beneficial for both academics and professionals. In the perception of Brazilians, the teacher-student relationship is characterized by formalism. Familiarity with local culture was common to Brazilians and foreigners. The experience of participating in the exchange was considered excellent and good for all students.


Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) has been considered as one of the most promising techniques to reduce anthropogenic CO2 emissions in the atmosphere. As an alternative to replace the traditional technology of aqueous amine scrubbing, solid adsorbents looping technology (SALT) has attracted growing attention. Among various solid adsorbent materials, carbon-based materials with unique properties such as wide availability, relatively low cost, highly porous structure ease of regeneration, and stable cyclic performance, have been considered as promising candidates at both low pressure and moderate to high partial pressure. In this PhD research, activated carbon spheres derived from two different precursors, which are phenolic resin and coal-tar pitch, have been prepared and modified with potassium intercalation to improve CO2 capture performance for post combustion carbon capture. The project aims to investigate the factors that affect CO2 adsorption performance for post combustion carbon capture.
Firstly, series of spherical activated carbon beads (with a uniform diameter of ca. 0.6-0.8 mm) derived from phenolic resin have been developed and characterised. The results show that the surface polarity can be enhanced by potassium intercalation. The intercalation of potassium significantly increased the CO2 capacity of the AC beads by a factor of up to 2 at 0.15 bar while the effects of the treatment on their mechanical strength and morphological features were negligible at KOH/AC mass ratios of 0.3 and below. The factors other than adsorption that affect the performance of phenolic resin derived carbon spheres were also investigated in terms of adsorption kinetics, cyclic performance, heat of adsorption, the effect of moisture, and regeneration heat.
Secondly, coal tar pitch derived activated carbons, with uniform spherical diameter of 1-2 mm were synthesised via two different activation approaches, which is firstly an initial steam activation followed by KOH activation, and secondly one-step KOH activation, both with mild KOH/carbon mass ratios. Samples prepared with one-step KOH activation method had shown a better microporous structure and a higher CO2 adsorption capacity. Owing to the narrow micropores and K-doping, the samples demonstrated outstanding CO2 capacities at relatively low CO2 partial pressure. Multicycle stability was examined over 50 cycles of adsorption and desorption, and both samples present excellent adsorption kinetics and regeneration ability. Finally, the volumetric CO2 uptake of best performing samples were also calculated and compared with other candidates.
Based on our previous results, further investigation towards the influence of precursor materials and correlation between microporosity pore size ranging from 0.4 nm to 2 nm and CO2 uptakes have been carried out. Future work on how to improve the CO2 sorption performances of the studied materials has been proposed.


The advantages and disadvantages between the pressing binder of hardmetal in existence are analyzed. A new type of binder named QSD is introduced and a series of properties are studied. The experiments show that QSD has been tested to dissolve in alcohol. The materials of hardmetal are milled in alcohol mixed with QSD, achieving a molecule dispersing slurry. The slurry adapts to spray drying with low viscidity. The mixture of the hardmetal prepared by QSD is fine, and soft with good flowability. They are capable of pressing complex form of products that couldn't be formed with PEG, paraffin wax binder by comparing the experiments. The compacting force has reduced 20% compared to PEG.. The pressing products are effectively less vices of delamination and crack due to the low brittleness and high weight of compact. The products made by QSD fit continuous sintering and there are few remainder carbon in the sintered products. Microstructural observation reveals that the Co particle distributes homogeneously in the WC particle with the pressing binder QSD. So QSD is one kind of considerably ideal cemented carbide binder that combines the advantages of PEG, SBS.


The sense of prosthesis embodiment, or the feeling that the device has been incorporated into a user's body image, may be enhanced by emerging technology such as invasive electrical stimulation for sensory feedback. In turn, prosthesis embodiment may be linked to increased prosthesis use and improved functional outcomes. We describe the development of a tool to assay artificial hand embodiment in a quantitative way in people with intact limbs, and characterize its operation. The system delivers temporally coordinated visual and tactile stimuli at a programmable latency while recording limb temperature. When programmed to deliver visual and tactile stimuli synchronously, recorded latency between the two was 33 ± 24 ms in the final pilot subject. This system enables standardized assays of the conditions necessary for prosthesis embodiment.


Compared polyvinyl alcohol with citric acid as complexing agent, nanocrystalline nickel-zinc ferrite thin films were prepared by sol-gel method and dip-coating process under different temperature. The phase composition, morphology, magnetic properties and electromagnetic properties of nanocrystalline nickel-zinc ferrite thin films were studied by X-ray diffractometer (XRD), field emission scanning electron microscope (FESEM), vibrating sample magnetometer (VSM) and vector network analyzer. The results show polyvinyl alcohol is the proper complexing agent for the preparation of nanocrystalline nickel-zinc ferrite thin films, which is stacked with sheet crystals and average diameter of about 20nm. The maximum saturation magnetization, the remanence magnetization and the coercivity of prepared nickel-zinc ferrite thin films are 39.38 emu/g, 11.47emu/g and 182.82 Oe, respectively. Through studying the microwave-absorbing properties of thin films, the maximal absorption quantity is determined at 9.2 GHz.


The year 2008 will long be remembered as a year when corn based ethanol has seen tremendous change. The Energy Independence and Security Act, which passed in late 2007, gave a huge boost to the industry as it mandated an increase in biofuel production and use. In 2008, the industry witnessed record high prices on corn and crude oil. Ultimately, a big ethanol and distiller's grain company--Vera Sun Energy-- filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy leaving farmers with contracts wondering what will happen next. South Dakota is a major corn growing and ethanol producing state and this article assesses the relative magnitude of corn based ethanol on the local economy in terms of distribution of ethanol plants and corn disappearance ratios.


A composite of graphene oxide supported by ZnO nanoparticles (GO-ZnO nanocomposites) was prepared through a simple chemical approach. The lamellar graphite oxide sheets in this composite were exfoliated and decorated randomly by ZnO nanoparticles with a mean size of 20 nm. In addition, the photocatalytic experiments exhibit that the GO-ZnO nanocomposites have a good photocatalytic activity on degradation of methylene blue under UV light irradiation. This method provides a facile and straightforward approach to deposit ZnO nanoparticles onto the graphene oxide sheets and may be readily extended to the preparation of other classes of hybrids based on GO sheets for technological applications.


The ease with which haemoglobin releases oxygen to the tissues is controlled by erythrocytic 2,3-diphosphoglycerate (2,3-DPG) such that an increase in the concentration of 2,3-DPG decreases oxygen affinity and vice versa. This review article describes the synthesis and breakdown of 2,3-DPG in the Embden-Meyerof pathway in red cells and briefly explains the molecular basis for its effect on oxygen affinity. Interaction of the effects of pH, Pco2, temperature and 2,3-DPG on the oxyhaemoglobin dissociation curve are discussed. The role of 2,3-DPG in the intraerythrocytic adaptation to various types of hypoxaemia is described. The increased oxygen affinity of blood stored in acid-citrate-dextrose (ACD) solution has been shown to be due to the decrease in the concentration of 2,3-DPG which occurs during storage. Methods of maintaining the concentration of 2,3-DPG in stored blood are described. The clinical implication of transfusion of elderly people, anaemic or pregnant patients with ACD stored blood to anaesthetically and surgically acceptable haemoglobin concentrations are discussed. Hypophosphataemia in association with parenteral feeding reduces 2,3-DPG concentration and so increases oxygen affinity. Since post-operative use of intravenous fluids such as dextrose or dextrose/saline also lead to hypophosphataemia, the addition of inorganic phosphorus to routine post-operative intravenous fluid may be advisable. Disorders of acid-base balance effect oxygen affinity not only by the direct effect of pH on the oxyhaemoglobin dissociation curve but by its control of 2,3-DPG metabolism. Management of acid-base disorders and pre-operative aklalinization of patients with sickle cell disease whould take account of this. It is known that anaesthesia alters the position of the oxyhaemoglobin dissociation curve, but it is thought that this is independent of any effects which anaesthetic agents may have on 2,3-DPG concentration. In vitro manipulation of 2,3-DPG concentration with steroids has already been carried out. Elucidation of the role of 2,3-DPG in the control of oxygen affinity may ultimately lead to iatrogenic manipulation of oxygen affinity in vivo.


This book reviews the history, current state of knowledge, and different research approaches and techniques of studies on the interactions between humans and plants in an important area of agriculture and ongoing plant domestication: Mesoamerica. Leading scholars and key research groups in Mexico discuss essential topics as well as contributions from international research groups that have conducted studies on ethnobotany and domestication of plants in the region. Such a convocation will produce an interesting discussion about future investigation and conservation of regional human cultures, genetic resources, and cultural and ecological processes that are critical for global sustainability


This paper argues that beliefs about human nature are central for animal ethics as beliefs about animal nature ground human treatment of animals. It shows that what constitutes animal nature is a contested question, and that animals have long been considered inferior to humans in Western thought. In Judaeo-Christian ethics, God gave humans dominion over animals. This exacerbated the long-established prejudice in Western culture in favour of rationality as the defining characteristic of human beings. Rene Descartes was influential in arguing that animals were but machines that moved and made sounds but had no feelings. In such a context it was easy to portray animals as quasi-clockwork animated robots — 'furry clocks'. Jeremy Bentham first advocated the direct inclusion of animals in our ethical thinking, introducing the concept of sentience, or the capacity to feel pleasure and pain, as the central criterion. Peter Singer's work is in this tradition. He also popularised the notion of speciesism — a bias in favour of one's own species. Now, Martha Nussbaum has introduced a new approach, the capabilities approach, a Quality of Life approach which lists ten capabilities, nine of which apply to animals as part of their nature. It applies to the whole range of animals (and throughout this paper the term 'animals' refers to sentient animals unless otherwise specified) — companion animals, farm production animals, animals in zoos, rodeos, museums and laboratories. Her work is the main focus of this paper. It is argued, therefore, that the capabilities approach contributes to understanding the relation of notions of animal nature to animal welfare, and what a good life for animals entails.


This study aimed to test cinobufacini therapeutic potential for pancreatic cancer, verify its potential molecular mechanism, and evaluate the cinobufacini impact on pancreatic cancer microenvironment. First, the effect of cinobufacini-treated pancreatic stellate cells (PSCs) supernatant on the value-added ability of pancreatic cancer (PCCs) was tested. The results show that cinobufacini can effectively reduce the ability of PSCs supernatant to promote the value-added PCCs. Further results show that cinobufacini can effectively reduce the concentration of TGFβ in the supernatant of PSCs. Subsequently, the impact of cinobufacini on the transcription and translation levels of key genes in the TGFβ/Smads pathway was examined. The results showed that the impact of cinobufacini on the transcription levels of Smad2, Smad3, and Smad7 was in a concentration-dependent manner, while the transcriptional activity of collagen I mRNA was decreased with the increase of cinobufacini concentration. The results of protein expression showed that cinobufacini could upregulate the expression of inhibitory protein Smad7, inhibit the phosphorylation level of p-Smad2/3, and then suppress the expression of type I collagen (collagen I). On the one hand, this study shows that cinobufacini can inhibit the promotion of PSCs on the proliferation of PCCs. On the other hand, cinobufacini can upregulate the expression of the inhibitory molecule, Smad7, through the TGFβ/Smads pathway and reduce the phosphorylation level of p-Smad2/3, thereby inhibiting the expression of collagen I and pancreatic fibrosis. cinobufacin can inhibit the proliferation of SW1900 cells by blocking the TGFβ/Smads pathway of pancreatic stellate cells. These results provide a clinical basis for the treatment of pancreatic cancer.


Purpose of review In the evaluation of patients with interstitial lung diseases (ILD), treatment decisions made by clinicians, including referral for lung transplant, are based on disease severity assessment. It is crucial to quantify disease severity and numerous attempts were made to find a reliable prognostic assessment method. Recent findings Research focused on which severity thresholds should be used to identify patients at higher risk of death and, more recently, on prognostic composite physiologic indices and staging systems, which compared with single variables offer a number of advantages. Composite indices, such as the composite physiologic index, provide a more accurate overall estimate of disease severity and account for confounding coexisting disease process, such as pulmonary hypertension and emphysema. In idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis clinical measures have been integrated in the GAP model that strongly correlates with disease severity and mortality. Recently, the GAP model derived for idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) has been successfully applied to non-IPF fibrotic ILD. Summary The heterogeneity in ILDs related to both disease and patient-specific factors, for many years, has impeded progress in the development of a reliable method to quantify disease severity. In the last decade, novel composite physiologic indices and staging systems have been shown to accurately reflect disease severity and reliably predict survival. Moreover, the recent finding of one informative staging system applicable to different subgroups of ILD patients has the potential to radically transform both clinical practice and research strategy in the near future of ILD.


A real-time implementation method for the most general morphological system, the so-called grayscale function processing (FP) system is presented. The proposed method is an extension of our previous works (1993, 1995) using the matrix representation of the FP system with a basis matrix (BM) and a block basis matrix (BBM) composed of grayscale structuring elements (GSE). In order to further improve the computational efficiency of the basis matrix representation, we propose recursive algorithms based on the observation of the BM and BBM. The efficiency of the proposed algorithms is gained by avoiding redundant steps in computing overlapping local maximum or minimum operations. It is shown that, with the proposed scheme, both opening and closing can be determined in real time by 2N-2 additions and 2N-2 comparisons, and OC and CO by 4N-4 additions and 4N-4 comparisons, when the size of the GSE is equal to N. It is also shown that the proposed recursive opening and closing require only 3N-3 memory elements.


In the small town of Gytheion in southern Laconia two marble blocks were found, containing the regulations for a trust fund from the year 42 AD (IG V.1 1208; SEG 13.258). The text will be presented with new emendations and an English translation. In my commentary I present the general background of the donor, Phaenia Aromation, and concentrate on a discussion of juridical problems that the text poses. A detailed analysis of the procedural prescriptions forms the centre of this paper.


In previous research, many scholars concern to study hermeneutic in Al-Qur'an such as justice, peace, equality etc. Text in Al-Qur'an always connected with social part. Term tauhid in Al-Qur'an has many meanings from clasical to contemporary meanings. The reader has differences in understanding. Because of that text has completely content and possible that there are a lot of approaching which is inter-multidisipliner. One of them is using gender approaching an analizing it is done Indonesia mufasir it self. Siti Musdah mulia try to give new colour in interprete Al-Qur'an. He share shifting paradigm analize,etimology term tauhid, and implication of spirit  equality.


A readable account of both the history of the construction of the Twin Towers and the life of the people who work there. The Twin Towers of the World Trade Center are more than office buildings. They are symbols of America, just as the Eiffel Tower and Big Ben represent their countries. Commissioned in 1962 and completed in 1976, these edifices are still the tallest man-made structures in New York City. Indeed, the builders intended the towers to make a statement about the importance of the Port of New York and New Jersey. The complex rises like Emerald City, with fountains and sculpture from what was once a dilapidated area of half-abandoned stores. Folklorist Angus Gillespie takes us on a tour that goes back in time and continues to the present day. He recounts the political maneuvering necessary to get the State of New Jersey to agree to situate the project at its present location. Deftly presenting portraits of the men responsible for mooring the World Trade Center at its present location, Gillespie provides ample evidence that the World Trade Center backers were "second to none in self promotion." Twin Towers also demonstrates how engineers prepared the site and solved complex problems (wind patterns, elevator placement, ground-water complications) in order to erect the towers, each with 110 stories. And he discusses the contrast between the architectural community's almost universal disdain for the towers' design and the public's enthusiastic acceptance of the buildings as a symbol of New York. There is more to the Twin Towers than its architecture, however. People give this complex life, purpose, vibrancy, Gillespie points out. The World Trade Center houses more than 400 businesses and organizations from some 60 different countries engaged in a broad range of international business activities. Through his numerous first-hand interviews conducted with the people who daily work there, Gillespie vividly portrays the world of bankers, shippers, freight forwarders, and traders. With skill and insight, he captures what happens during a normal 24-hour day in the Twin Towers, starting with early morning food deliveries and ending with the patrols of nighttime security guards. Twin Towers is both a fitting tribute and careful analysis of one of the most resonating symbols in American culture.


Egypt's 2011 uprising was notable for two significant, seemingly contradictory features. It was understood by most participants as 'revolution', yet, many of its diverse visions of change and forms of mobilisation were marked by language of law and ideas of legality. This juridified praxis of revolution led many observers to conclude that it was lacking in radical visions and other quintessential revolutionary elements. Against such conclusions which draw on prevalent ideas of revolution to dismiss the Egyptian case out of hand, this thesis seeks to focus further on the Egyptian revolution as an important case study for examining the implications of when law and revolution come together. In a context in which law is envisioned as a means and a domain of revolutionary struggle, the thesis asks, what are the implications of when legal processes and spaces are engaged with and reimagined by participants who act according not to dominant legal culture but their revolutionary visions and utopian sense of possibility.
I take as the starting point of analysis, not the established (Western) concept of revolution often 'applied' when studying new revolutions, but the praxis of revolution in Egypt and its important political history. I do so while emphasising the performative character of revolution as a concept, and what is at stake politically in the different ways it is imagined and enacted. Examining the praxis of revolution in Egypt, it will be suggested that there was a palpable focus on processes of collective actions in the here-and-now, with an emphasis on prefiguring radically different forms of social relations and political culture. Taking this into account, the thesis studies the juridified praxis of revolution on the basis of its broadly shared utopian vision and prefigurative method to argue that this could help better understand the Egyptian revolution and the politics of law therein. In doing so, the thesis focuses on the role of activist lawyers as an important part of the Egyptian revolution and on their struggle against the regime's counter-revolutionary forms of legal intimidation. Examining, through interviews and observations, some of the everyday as well as broader aspects of their work, I will suggest that it can be understood as prefigurative legal praxis. Inspired by the visions of the revolution, theirs is a process-oriented form of legal support driven by an emphasis on solidarity and continuity in the here-and-now. At the same time, it is a utopian form of legal practice which, while aware of its grounded experience of the legal system to the contrary, insists on reimagining and acting prefiguratively within legal-institutional processes and spaces as if they were otherwise. Ultimately, the thesis concludes that studying the praxis of activist lawyers and the broader juridification of revolution in Egypt from the perspective of their utopian-prefigurative features could provide a necessary addition to the current scholarship on law and revolution in general and activist lawyers in particular.


This paper summarizes the thermal math model correlation effort for the Fast Affordable Science and Technology SATellite (FASTSAT-HSV01), which was designed, built and tested by NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) and multiple partners. The satellite launched in November 2010 on a Minotaur IV rocket from the Kodiak Launch Complex in Kodiak, Alaska. It carried three Earth science experiments and two technology demonstrations into a low Earth circular orbit with an inclination of 72deg and an altitude of 650 kilometers. The mission has been successful to date with science experiment activities still taking place daily. The thermal control system on this spacecraft was a passive design relying on thermo-optical properties and six heaters placed on specific components. Flight temperature data is being recorded every minute from the 48 Resistance Temperature Devices (RTDs) onboard the satellite structure and many of its avionics boxes. An effort has been made to correlate the thermal math model to the flight temperature data using Cullimore and Ring's Thermal Desktop and by obtaining Earth and Sun vector data from the Attitude Control System (ACS) team to create an "as-flown" orbit. Several model parameters were studied during this task to understand the spacecraft's sensitivity to these changes. Many "lessons learned" have been noted from this activity that will be directly applicable to future small satellite programs.


Objective: To examine the efficacy of two preparatory interventions on one mile run performance in 90 high school long distance runners. Method: After participants had completed a one mile baseline run, they were randomly assigned to participate in either one of two interventions (brief yoga exercises, motivational shouting exercises) or a no intervention control condition. Experimental conditions were implemented one week after the baseline run about 20 minutes before a second one mile trial. Results: Participants assigned to the motivational intervention improved their running performance significantly more than those assigned to the other two conditions. Although the magnitude of the effect was small, participants assigned to yoga exercises showed significant improvements in running performance relative to control condition participants. Consumer satisfaction ratings indicated that participants who were assigned to the motivational and yoga exercise groups liked their interventions more than those assigned to the control group. Conclusion: Motivational and yoga interventions designed to improve long distance running performance were equally acceptable to the participants, but the former had a greater effect.


The simulation and theoretical or numerical predictive modeling of the development and growth of biological tissues mainly in the case of bone is a complicated task. As a result, many and various knowledge tools required (experimental, theoretical and numerical) are not yet mastered and even discovered. We will cite here some techniques and methods as well as results specific to the multi-scale numerical modeling methodology, and multiphysics using finite element coupling with neural network computation of biological tissues applied to the predictive behavior of cortical bone based of the microstructure of their local constituents and their reconstruction according to local mechanobiology. It follows that additional work is necessary to give more precision on the different models, the considered approaches show their potential utility to understand this behavior in terms of biological evolutions as well as the subsequent use in medical applications.


An analytical approach and a PC software based solution are presented to a project management problem, in which multiple resources must be allocated to perform both routine tasks and a set of projects with varying levels of priority. The performance of a priority-based decision rule was tested on this project management problem. The model was able to provide division-level management with an effective tool for staff workload planning and program management. A sequential, iterative approach is developed and used to test and evaluate alternative PC commercial software on a set of projects and evolving criteria. A PC commercial software package, with associated heuristics, is demonstrated to provide useful results to multiproject staff scheduling problems in an actual organization. >


Virtual colonoscopy provides a safe, non-invasive approach to screening colonic polyps using medical imaging and computer graphics technologies, where computer aided or automated detection plays an important role. For model-based detection using geometrical features, the entire colonic lumen must be delineated first. A critical step to obtain a cleansed colonic lumen relies on bowel preparation. The authors have been developing an electronic colon-cleansing technology which minimizes the difficulties associated with the bowel preparation using low-residue diet and contrast solutions, and removes the tagged colonic materials electronically from the abdominal image by image-segmentation methods. In this work, the authors focused on the model description and method evaluation using volunteer studies. Both subjective and objective criteria were employed in the evaluation. The objective criteria measure whether the electronic cleansing results could meet the requirements of the detection model of geometrical features, while the subjective criteria evaluate whether the entire colonic lumen could be obtained. The results showed that the electronic cleansing technology could extract a clean colonic lumen if the volunteer follows the bowel preparation instructions. The objective validation demonstrated that the error due to partial volume effect can be minimized to a low level and the segmentation method showed a high reproducibility and repeatability. This work provides the evidence that the routine physical colon-washing procedure could be eliminated for automated polyp detection by virtual colonoscopy.


Abstract. This paper presents the capabilities of detecting relevant geometry of railway track for monitoring purposes from static terrestrial laser scanning (TLS) systems at platform level. The quality of the scans from a phased based scanner (Scanner A) and a hybrid timeof- flight scanner (Scanner B) are compared by fitting different sections of the track profile to its matching standardised rail model. The various sections of track investigated are able to fit to the model with an RMS of less than 3 mm. Both scanners show that once obvious noise and artefacts have been removed from the data, the most confident fit of the point cloud to the model is the section closest to the scanner position. The results of the fit highlight the potential to use this method as a bespoke track monitoring tool during major redevelopment projects where traditional methods, such as robotic total stations, results in missed information, for example due to passing trains or knocked prisms and must account for offset target locations to compute track parameters.


Various environmental and regulatory changes, such as climate change mitigation strategies and market regulation, have increased the complexity of the challenges which cities, utilities, and real estate owners face. Thus, cities and their utilities are confronted with various problems: How, and at which costs can ambitious climate change mitigation goals be reached? How can urban planning be developed while simultaneously tackling climate change? How can the long-term economic and environmental performance of the building stock be optimized? How to plan electricity, gas, and thermal networks to suit future energy demand and the existing urban topology? These problems are usually addressed individually and independently from each other using instruments that lack an interdisciplinary approach. Data collections are often done "ad hoc" and not from a systemic point of view, resulting in datasets that are often incomplete, incoherent, and with different structures that make them difficult to merge. The paper describes the Carbon Resource Energy and Adaption Toolbox Europe (CREATE), a comprehensive modelling and data toolbox that can overcome these shortcomings. This toolbox has been developed to include elements that are specially conceived for various use cases of different decision makers (and their service providers): urban planners, energy utilities, network operators, building portfolio owners, building code designers, construction authorities, energy and climate policy makers. CREATE has three main elements: • Expert BSM: GIS-based scenario analysis tool for urban and utility energy planners, providing evaluation and management of energy demand, emissions, renewable energy resources, and other parameters. • Basic Web BSM: Simplified web-based spatial data information, monitoring and visualization tool for smaller municipalities and utilities. • Portfolio BSM: A portfolio assessment tool for real estate portfolio owners and manager to analyse the status quo of their portfolio and the possibility to develop short- and long-term strategies in terms of economic, energy and carbon performance. As such CREATE enables engagement between the various decision-making levels and bodies of cities and municipalities as well as (energy) utilities and building portfolio owners or real estate site developers.


Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a disease common in many northern-climate countries with Canada having 28% higher MS numbers on a population basis than second place Denmark.  Optical Neuritis (ON) is known to affect the properties of the visual pathways in the brain, is often a precursor to MS, and has been suggested as a system model for MS pathology. We have investigated possible resting state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rs-fMRI) markers to track ON recovery or progression to MS.  To obtain the necessary rs-fMRI temporal resolution requires discrete Fourier transform (DFT) reconstruction applied to 2D truncated (finite length) frequency domain MRI data sets followed by a 2D DFT-based correlation analysis across a time sequence of images to identify image regions that are connected through the brain's optical pathways.  Another DFT-based transfer function determination identifies pathways impacted by ON; permitting differentiation between normal volunteers and ON patients. Windowing or low-pass filtering is required to remove ringing distortions from these five DFT application stages, but leads to lower fMRI spatial resolution and an undesirable loss in ON marker accuracy. Recently we have theoretically identified a Fourier shift manipulation (FSM) preprocessing stage that avoids the unnecessary loss of resolution that occurs with the use of global windowing during DFT application.  We have previously demonstrated how applying FSM to data improves 1D DFT-based analysis under certain experimental MR-relevant situations. In this paper we extend the FSM approach to demonstrate an improvement in the 2D resolution of rs-fMRI images generated from truncated MRI k-space data.


To overcome the disadvantages of getting into local optimum of the Ant Colony Optimization, this paper proposes a dynamic adaptive ant algorithm based on permutation. To avoid algorithms getting into stagnation in their anaphase, the lower bound of pheromones is set as a nonzero constant. According to the quality of the solutions ants get in the ant colony, the best part of the ants is selected to release pheromones in a defined amount in terms of the quality of the solutions so as to enhance ants' capability of searching for optimum solutions in anaphase. The algorithm adopts a more intelligent selection rule of behavior , so the ants can adjust the balance coefficient between exploration and development dynamically in the searching process to effectively inhibit precocity phenomenon in the process of convergence,and improve the searching capability of the algorithm.


An accurate measurement of general price inflation is an essential prerequisite for sound economic analysis and prudent policy-making. Numerous hedonic regression studies (predominately focusing on computers) have suggested that due to significant product quality changes over time, driven onward by technical progress, national statistical agencies are not compiling and releasing unbiased price-trend estimates. This paper argues, however, that the estimation method commonly applied in hedonic studies is an unsatisfactory one. Therefore, an alternative estimation procedure is introduced. Utilizing this novel technique, a quality-adjusted twelve-year pricetrend for laser printers (1992 to 2003) is estimated and compared with the officially published price-trend.


Over the last century, fresh water and cooling demand have been increased tremendously due to improved living standard, industrial and economic development. The conventional air-conditioning and refrigeration processes consume 15% of total global electricity and it is expected to increase any fold due to harsh weather conditions. In terms of fresh water supplies, the current 38 billion m3 per year desalination capacity is projected to increase to 54 billion m3 per year by 2030, 40% more compared to 2016. The current business as usual trend of cooling and desalination is not sustainable due to high energy consumption and CO2 emissions.In contrast, the adsorption (AD) cycle operate at low-grade waste heat or renewable energy and produce fresh water and cooling simultaneously. The major bottleneck of conventional thermally driven AD cycle is its large foot print and capital cost due to complex packed bed arrangements. We proposed pressure swing adsorption cycle (PSAD) that can utilize low-pressure steam (2-5 bar) for regeneration using thermal vapor compressor (TVC). The proposed system has best thermodynamic synergy with CCGT plants where low-pressure bleed steam can be utilized more efficiently to produce cooling and water. In this paper, a preliminary experimental investigation on PSAD has been presented. It is successfully demonstrated that 2 bar primary steam can regenerate silica gel at less then 0.5 kPa through TVC with compression ratio 3-4 and entrainment ratio around 1-1.5. The discharge steam can be re-utilized to operate the desalination cycle, maximizing the bleed steam exergy. The proposed system will not only reduce footprint but also CAPEX and OPEX due to simple design and operation.Over the last century, fresh water and cooling demand have been increased tremendously due to improved living standard, industrial and economic development. The conventional air-conditioning and refrigeration processes consume 15% of total global electricity and it is expected to increase any fold due to harsh weather conditions. In terms of fresh water supplies, the current 38 billion m3 per year desalination capacity is projected to increase to 54 billion m3 per year by 2030, 40% more compared to 2016. The current business as usual trend of cooling and desalination is not sustainable due to high energy consumption and CO2 emissions.In contrast, the adsorption (AD) cycle operate at low-grade waste heat or renewable energy and produce fresh water and cooling simultaneously. The major bottleneck of conventional thermally driven AD cycle is its large foot print and capital cost due to complex packed bed arrangements. We proposed pressure swing adsorption cycle (PSAD) that can utilize low-pressure steam (2-5...


BACKGROUND
Controversy exists about whether abortion or childbirth is associated with greater psychological risks. We compared psychiatric admission rates of women in time periods from 90 days to 4 years after either abortion or childbirth.

METHODS
We used California Medicaid (Medi-Cal) records of women aged 13-49 years at the time of either abortion or childbirth during 1989. Only women who had no psychiatric admissions or pregnancy events during the year before the target pregnancy event were included (n = 56 741). Psychiatric admissions were examined using logistic regression analyses, controlling for age and months of eligibility for Medi-Cal services.

RESULTS
Overall, women who had had an abortion had a significantly higher relative risk of psychiatric admission compared with women who had delivered for every time period examined. Significant differences by major diagnostic categories were found for adjustment reactions (odds ratio [OR] 2.1, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.1-4.1), single-episode (OR 1.9, 95% CI 1.3-2.9) and recurrent depressive psychosis (OR 2.1, 95% CI 1.3-3.5), and bipolar disorder (OR 3.0, 95% CI 1.5-6.0). Significant differences were also observed when the results were stratified by age.

INTERPRETATION
Subsequent psychiatric admissions are more common among low-income women who have an induced abortion than among those who carry a pregnancy to term, both in the short and longer term.


Graph neural architecture search has shown great potentials for automatically designing graph neural network (GNN) architectures for graph classification tasks. However, when there is a distribution shift between training and test graphs, the existing approaches fail to deal with the problem of adapting to unknown test graph structures since they only search for a fixed architecture for all graphs. To solve this problem, we propose a novel Graph neuRal Architecture Customization with disEntangled Self-supervised learning (GRACES) model which is able to generalize under distribution shifts through tailoring a customized GNN architecture suitable for each graph instance with unknown distribution. Specifically, we design a self-supervised disentangled graph encoder to characterize invariant factors hidden in diverse graph structures. Then, we propose a prototype based architecture self-customization strategy to generate the most suitable GNN architecture weights in a continuous space for each graph instance. We further propose a customized super-network to share weights among different architectures for the sake of efficient training. Extensive experiments on both synthetic and real-world datasets demonstrate that our proposed GRACES model can adapt to diverse graph structures and achieve state-of-the-art performance for graph classification tasks under distribution shifts.


OBJECTIVE
To compare visual acuity, optic disc appearance, and transient pattern reversal visual evoked potentials as markers of possible visual dysfunction in children with syndromic craniosynostosis.

METHODS
Serial visual acuity, optic disc appearance, and pattern reversal visual evoked potential data were recorded in 8 patients with syndromic craniosynostosis before and after cranial vault expansion. The pattern reversal visual evoked potentials were analyzed using linear regression modeling, applied to the N80 to P100 amplitude.

RESULTS
Serial optic disc appearances were available for all 8 patients and visual acuities for 7 patients. The visual acuity deteriorated in only 1 patient, improved in 4, and fluctuated in 2, before surgery. Of the 8 patients, 3 showed no papilledema in either eye at any time, 3 showed progressive bilateral swelling before surgery, and 2 exhibited only unilateral disc swelling. In all 8 patients, there was a trend for the N80 to P100 amplitude to decrease before surgery and to increase, in all but 2 patients, after surgery.

CONCLUSIONS
This study suggests that neither optic disc appearance nor visual acuity assessment alone is a reliable marker of potential visual dysfunction in children with syndromic craniosynostosis. It also suggests that the pattern reversal visual evoked potential can provide early evidence of visual dysfunction before vault expansion surgery in these children; this dysfunction may recover postoperatively.


High temperature beta-phase in titanium and zirconium alloy systems decomposes through an eutectoid reaction into a Ti- and Zr-rich a-solid solution and an intermetallic compound. The present paper reports the layer growth kinetics of the b-solid solution phase in elemental diffusion couples of titanium and zirconium. The growth kinetics obeys a parabolic growth law. However, the temperature dependence of the growth rate constant shows a bimodal behavior. The Arrhenius plot of the growth rate constant, which is linear at the start, becomes curved at lower temperature ranges. The deviation from the Arrhenius plot of the growth rate constant is related to the curvature in the solvus line of the b-solid solution. A theoretical model for the reaction diffusion responsible for the growth of b-solid solution is presented. The growth rate of b-phase is described by the equation 2 2 . . W k D C t b = = b D x , where k is a growth rate constant and Wb is the thickness of the b-phase formed over a period of time t, Db is the interdiffusion coefficient for the b-phase, DC is concentration range of b-phase and x is a parameter which is a function of the miscibility gaps in the phase diagram on the either side of the b-phase. The above equation provides a satisfactory description of the various aspect of the phenomenon of the growth of b-phase in Ti-and Zr-alloy systems.


A 64-year old man with systolic heart failure and on chronic dose of digoxin, chronic kidney disease stage 3, was brought to ED after 2 episodes of syncope. He was hypotensive to 84/57 mm of Hg. The physical examination was unremarkable, but he was lethargic and feeling nauseated. EKG showed a regular rhythm, with a widened QRS complex in a sine-wave configuration with no visible P waves. The T waves were fused with the widened QRS complexes (Figure 1) to form the sine-wave pattern, concerning for severe hyperkalemia. The patient's serum potassium level was 9.4 mmol per liter. Following medications were administered in ED; Calcium Gluconate, Digoxin immune Fab, insulin therapy, followed by urgent hemodialysis. Serial EKGs showed progressive narrowing of the QRS complex. On day 3 of admission, EKG revealed atrial fibrillation with slow ventricular response and left bundle-branch pattern (Figure 2).
Hyperkalemia destabilizes the cardiac membrane leading to electrocardiographic changes, initially with peaked T waves and PR prolongation. Severe elevations in potassium level results in loss of P wave and QRS widening, with sine-wave pattern observed in this case. It can lead to malignant arrhythmias if not treated promptly. At the time of discharge, digoxin was discontinued and follow-up in outpatient showed reversible ischemia on nuclear stress test.


The. expansion of Protected Areas systems-is urgently needed to ensure that further biodiversity losses, do not occur. The need to evaluate,the effectiveness of protected, area management has become well recognized over the past ten years, as we have seen that declaration, of protected areas does not always result in their adequate protection. Assessments have been carried out for different purposes, differing in methodology, geographic and topical scope. In order to assist in the harmonization and application of different systems through the WCPA Framework, the IUCN-WCPA is carrying out a global review of management effectiveness assessments. This study has located assessments of over 4600 protected areas, in 84 countries more than 40 different evaluation methodologies. In Brazil, a total of 273 protected areas were assessed in 10 different studies, which identified a wide range of common threats. Strengthening the management of existing protected areas and, creating an array of new protected areas are essential for conserving biodiversity. Implementing regular management effectiveness evaluation studies, and using their results to improve will be a critical part of this strengthening in Brazil and across the globe.


Abstract Investigations of food digestibility are important in nutritional studies of herbivores, but accurate assessments in the field are usually difficult and time consuming. This study explored the possibility of predicting digestibility and metabolisability of organic matter from the chemical composition and retention time of food in barnacle geese Branta leucopsis. Captive birds were used in indoor trials to allow accurate assessments of digestion in terms of energy, organic matter and nutritional components. Retention times were estimated from dropping rates which were recorded by an electronic device. The regression models that best explained the variation in apparent digestibility and metabolisability of organic matter incorporated the proportion of cell walls in the food (acid detergent fibre had a negative effect) and the retention time (longer retention had a positive effect). To test the predictive power of the regression model, we performed seven field trials with captive barnacle geese on Festuca rubra salt marshes. The regression model proved reliable except when salt concentrations in the food were high following inundation by spring tides. The results obtained from this study further demonstrated its value in estimating the individual digestibility of each plant species in mixed diets. This is illustrated with reference to a study of food selection by brent geese Branta bernicla.


Abstract. Representing the number and mass of cloud and aerosol particles independently in a climate, weather prediction or air quality model is important in order to simulate aerosol direct and indirect effects on radiation balance. Here we introduce the first configuration of the UK Met Office Unified Model in which both cloud and aerosol particles have "double-moment" representations with prognostic number and mass. The GLObal Model of Aerosol Processes (GLOMAP) aerosol microphysics scheme, already used in the Hadley Centre Global Environmental Model version 3 (HadGEM3) climate configuration, is coupled to the Cloud AeroSol Interacting Microphysics (CASIM) cloud microphysics scheme. We demonstrate the performance of the new configuration in high-resolution simulations of a case study defined from the CLARIFY aircraft campaign in 2017 near Ascension Island in the tropical southern Atlantic. We improve the physical basis of the activation scheme by representing the effect of
existing cloud droplets on the activation of new aerosol, and we also discuss the effect of unresolved vertical velocities. We show that neglect of these two competing effects in previous studies led to compensating errors but realistic droplet concentrations. While these changes lead only to a modest improvement in model performance, they reinforce our confidence in the ability of the model microphysics code to simulate the aerosol–cloud microphysical interactions it was designed to represent. Capturing these interactions accurately is critical to simulating aerosol effects on climate.


Acquired evasive resistance is a major limitation of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) treatment with the tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI) sorafenib. Recent findings suggest that resistance to sorafenib may have a reversible phenotype. In addition, loss of responsiveness has been proposed to be due to a gradual decrease in sorafenib plasma levels in patients. Here, the possible mechanisms underlying reversible sorafenib resistance were investigated using a Hep3B-hCG orthotopic human xenograft model of locally advanced HCC. Tissue and plasma sorafenib and metabolite levels, downstream antitumor targets, and toxicity were assessed during standard and dose-escalated sorafenib treatment. Drug levels were found to decline significantly over time in mice treated with 30 mg/kg sorafenib, coinciding with the onset of resistance but a greater magnitude of change was observed in tissues compared with plasma. Skin rash also correlated with drug levels and tended to decrease in severity over time. Drug level changes appeared to be partially tumor dependent involving induction of tumoral CYP3A4 metabolism, with host pretreatment alone unable to generate resistance. Escalation from 30 to 60 mg/kg sorafenib improved antitumor efficacy but worsened survival due to excessive body weight loss. Microvessel density was inhibited by sorafenib treatment but remained suppressed over time and dose increase. In conclusion, tumor CYP3A4 induction by sorafenib is a novel mechanism to account for variability in systemic drug levels; however, declining systemic sorafenib levels may only be a minor resistance mechanism. Escalating the dose may be an effective treatment strategy, provided toxicity can be controlled.


With the benefit of hindsight, presenting the Treaty of Versailles as an example of 'peace through law' might seem like a provocation. And yet, the extreme variety and innovativeness of international procedural and substantial 'experiments' attempted as a result of the Treaty of Versailles and the other Paris Peace Treaties of 1919–1920 remain striking even today. While many of these 'experiments' had a lasting impact on international law and dispute settlement after the Second World War, and considerably broadened the very idea of 'peace through law', they have often disappeared from collective memories.
Relying on both legal and historical research, this book provides a global overview of how the Paris Peace Treaties impacted on dispute resolution in the interwar period, both substantially and procedurally. The book's accounts of several all-but-forgotten international tribunals and their case law include references to archival records and photographic illustrations.


Kinetic aspects of metal release were investigated to understand the effects of synthetic chelating agents (EDTA, EDDS and NTA) and low molecular weight (LMW) organic acids (oxalic and citric acids) on the release kinetics of Cr, Cu and As in chromated copper arsenate (CCA)-contaminated soil, as well as their uptake by maize (Zea mays L.). The results showed that the release of metals from soil was better described by parabolic diffusion, power function or simple Elovich model than by the first- and second-order models, indicating a heterogeneous diffusion of metals. Synthetic chelating agents afforded a higher release of Cu than that of LMW organic acids, whereas citric acid was the most effective chelating agent for Cr and As release. The most effective treatments for stimulating metal uptake in plant shoots were EDDS for Cu, EDTA for Cr, and citric acid for As, as indicated by the removal efficiencies of 0.046%, 0.036%, and 0.004%, respectively. However, Zea mays is not an attractive species for chelate-enhanced phytoremediation of CCA-contaminated soils due to its low phytoextraction rate, even in the presence of chelating agents and ligands.


New Urbanism is a comprehensive town planning approach that combats sprawl by planning towns based on traditional town planning methods. The Charter of the New Urbanism lists several principles based on historic preservation and revitalization, however numerous historic towns are in need of revitalization and are being overlooked while greenfield communities are being planned on the metropolitan fringe. The principles of New Urbanism need to be applied to historic communities; by adaptively reusing extant structures and only adding new development when needed the historic integrity and sense of place found in many historic communities would continue on.