Local air delivery, heating, and cooling combined with local space partition and confinement (called semi-open space or SOS) have the potential to provide microenvironment that is tailored to the individual preference of the occupants, and hence increase the percentage of satisfied occupancy from currently 80% to near 100%. This research investigates the use of a micro-environmental control system (μX) and semi-open space (SOS) to efficiently provide the desired thermal comfort and air quality conditions for individual occupants while the ambient air temperature set-points were relaxed for reducing the overall energy consumption of the building. A computational fluid dynamics (CFD) model was developed and validated. The model in combination with the results from full-scale chamber experiments was used to evaluate the performance of proposed cooling/heating delivery system and the role of the SOS. During summer time, a cooler air was supplied locally. It was found that the cooling performance increased more by increasing the supply air flow rate than reducing the supply air temperature when the total cooling power is constant, and the cooling performance of the Air Terminal Devices (ATDs) was highly dependent on the shooting angle. The cooling efficiency increased dramatically with the supply air temperature. Also, both the CFD model simulation and experimental work has demonstrated that the heat loss by the manikin was sensitive to the distance between the diffuser and the manikin. However, this effect was also related to the clothing material on the manikin. During the winter time, the idea of heating a person with only a warm air jet was shown to be not efficient, but the confinement box was able to improve the heating performance by two to three times. A more ergonomically-friendly warming foot mat with a reflective box was very effective to restore people's thermal comfort when the ambient space air was maintained at a lower temperature set-point for energy saving. The existence of the cubicle, as an SOS, significantly changed the airflow pattern in the office, and hence the thermal environment and air quality distribution. The cubicle could "protect" the occupants from the background air flow by reducing the average velocity as well as increasing the average temperature in the occupied space. The openness of the cubicle weakened the "protection" of the cubicle depending on the opening's orientation and size. The "protection" may not be favored regarding thermal comfort and air quality when the emission is inside the cubicle, but it should be encouraged when the emission is outside the cubicle. The combination of the μX with the SOS can create an independent micro-environment regarding thermal comfort and air quality as well as maintain the privacy of the occupant. As a secondary goal, the ability of the CFD model to adequately predict the local heat transfer from the human body and its limitation were also investigated. The case without the μX compared better with the experiment than the case with the μX from the heat transfer point of view. The effect of the clothing material could be properly represented by a constant temperature difference or as a layer of thermal resistance. Moreover, it was found the fidelity of the surface temperature control for the manikin affected the validation of the CFD model. The concept of SOS was defined for the first time in this study and SOS's role in shaping the microenvironment with and without local heat, cooling and ventilation were investigated both numerically and experimentally. The detailed CFD model developed has accurate representation of the effects of the manikin's geometry and the effect of clothing thermal resistance on the boundary conditions for the CFD simulation, which can be used for the investigation of effects of air velocity, temperature, room air flow pattern and clothing on the local and overall average heat loss from human bodies and the resulting thermal comfort of the building occupants under various internal room and partition configurations.


In soil survey there is no pedotransfer function available to estimate sum-of-bases (SBs) for the range of soils that occur in the United States. The objectives of this study were to develop a SBs model using the k-nearest neighbor (k-NN) approach and validate this model against an independent dataset. The nearest-neighbor approach passively stores the development (or reference) dataset until the time of application, and then the dataset is searched for the 10 (k) most similar soils to that of the target soil, based on selected attributes (i.e., OC, cation exchange, pH, extractable acidity). The reference dataset was developed from the National Cooperative Soil Survey characterization database in Lincoln, Nebraska. Taxonomic order is used as strata within the reference dataset. The overall model prediction error (or RMSEp) was 2.104 cmol (+) kg-1 with a ME of -0.15 cmol (+) kg-1. Among the soil order groups, the RMSEp ranged from 1.169 to 5.943 cmol (+) kg-1, with the Histosols order having the largest RMSEp. Because of the underrepresentation of organic layers (compared to mineral layers) in the reference database, prediction errors tend to be higher. The overall low prediction errors suggest that the four properties (i.e., cation-exchange, pH, extractable acidity, and organic carbon) were effective in finding the nearest soils (to the target soil) in the reference dataset. In soil survey, the k-NN SBs model provides an efficient and reasonably accurate tool for estimating sum of bases (up to 100% base saturation) when measured data are not available for soils of the US.


This article analyses the social costs of gambling sector in Lithuania. The aim of the research is to evaluate the change of gambling sector's gambling gross revenue according to the established right to submit a request to self-exclude from gambling since May 1, 2017. The scientific problem of the research is how to define and evaluate gambling sector's social costs. The analysis is conducted by evaluating dependency connection between gambling sector's gambling gross revenue and gross domestic product taking into account the changing quantity of requests to self-exclude from gambling and current economic situation in Lithuania. The following methods are used for analysis: graphical analysis, paired correlation analysis and linear regression analysis. First of all, the conception of the social cost of gambling is being analysed in the article. Then using previously specified methods the relationship between gambling sector's gambling gross revenue and gross domestic product in the country is evaluated. Using a linear regression equation, the model, showing how gambling gross revenue of gambling sector was expected to change in response to changes in the country's gross domestic product is obtained. According to gambling gross revenue for 2017-2019 the model reveals that gambling sector revenue, considering the change in gross domestic product, had a higher growth potential and the right to submit a request to self-exclude from gambling established in 2017 may have had a serious effect on slowing down the growth of gambling revenue.


Marine renewable energy (MRE) is still an emerging technology. As such, there is still a lack of mature standards and guidance for the development and testing of these devices. The sector covers a wide range of disciplines, so there is a need for more comprehensive guidance to cover these. This paper builds on a study undertaken in the MaRINET2 project to summarise recommendations and guidance for testing MRE devices and components, by reviewing the recently published guidance. Perceived gaps in the guidance are then discussed, expanding on the previous study. Results from an industry survey are also used to help quantify and validate these gaps. The main themes identified can be summarised as: the development progression from concept to commercialisation, including more complex environmental conditions in testing, accurately modelling and quantifying the power generated, including grid integration, plus modelling and testing of novel moorings and foundation solutions. A pathway to a standardised approach to MRE testing is presented, building on recommendations learnt from the MaRINET2 round-robin testing, showing how these recommendations are being incorporated into the guidance and ultimately feeding into the development of international standards for the marine renewable energy sector.


ABSTRACT Introduction: Cholangiocarcinomas (CCAs) are biliary epithelial tumors with rising incidence over the past 3 decades. Early diagnosis of CCAs remains a significant challenge and the majority of patients present at an advanced stage. CCAs are heterogeneous tumors and currently available standard systemic therapy options are of limited effectiveness. Immune checkpoint inhibition (ICI) has transformed cancer therapy across a spectrum of malignancies. However, the response rate to ICI has been relatively disappointing in CCAs owing to its desmoplastic tumor microenvironment (TME). Areas covered: Tumor microenvironment of CCAs consists of innate and adaptive cells, stromal cells, and extracellular components (cytokines, chemokines, exosomes, etc.). This intricate microenvironment has multiple immunosuppressive elements that promote tumor cell survival and therapeutic resistance. Accordingly, there is a need for the development of effective therapeutic strategies that target the TME. Herein, we review the components of the CCA TME, and potential therapies targeting the CCA TME. Expert opinion: CCAs are desmoplastic tumors with a dense tumor microenvironment. An enhanced understanding of the various components of the CCA TME is essential in the effort to develop novel biomarkers for patient stratification as well as combination therapeutic strategies that target the tumor plus the TME.


This 1989 collection of papers marks the development of empirical application of the search approach to labor economics - an approach which arose as a theoretical development of the 1960s and led to numerous insights in the 1970s. The search approach naturally incorporates uncertainty in the economic model, making up some of the early work in what is now called 'the economics of information'. Included are econometric issues such as estimation and specification of search models for wages and unemployment duration, continuous time models of turnover, and identification of structural parameters. Applications to policy questions including Unemployment Insurance and wage subsidy programs are given, and data collection issues are discussed within the search framework.


3D surface-multiple elimination (SRME) is a powerful method for complex 3D multiple attenuation. However, since standard 3D marine acquisition geometries are very coarsely sampled across line, interpolation of the pre-stack input data is often required. To reduce the high costs associated to this operation, we propose an analysis tool useful to determine the optimal SRME processing parameters. By using multiple ray-paths modeling, we extracted two attributes which both help to select areas where 2D SRME would likely fail and an application of 3D SRME is preferable for good prediction of multiples. Moreover, when 3D SRME is selected, the locations of downward reflection points (DRP) of the multiples and the aperture of the Fresnel zones around the DRP for the multiple contributions summation allow to reduce the survey area to be interpolated, achieving also a better control of aliasing. The reliability and accuracy of the proposed analysis tool is tested through application to a real marine data set.


To study the mechanisms of deformation hardening and flow localization of radioactive materials, a noncontact "digital marker extensometry" technique has been employed. It allows researchers to easily define plasticity parameters and true stresses in experiments where highly radioactive miniature specimens are used. The engineering and "true stress-true local strain" relationships of irradiated metal polycrystals during plastic flow and hardening have been investigated experimentally after irradiation in two reactors in Kazakhstan. The true curves were obtained for copper, nickel, iron, molybdenum, as well as for the Russian stainless steels 08Cr16Ni11Mo3 and 12Cr18Ni10Ti. Describing these curves using the equation σi =σ0 + kei demonstrates that the concept of ultimate stress in highly irradiated materials is an artifact arising from flow localization and is not fully informative of the operating hardening mechanisms.


Growth hormone (GH) exerts profound anabolic actions during postnatal skeletal development, in part, through stimulating the production of insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1) in liver and skeletal tissues. To examine the requirement for the GH receptor (GHR) in osteoblast function in bone, we used Cre-LoxP methods to disrupt the GHR from osteoblasts, both in vitro and in vivo. Disruption of GHR from primary calvarial osteoblasts in vitro abolished GH-induced signaling, as assessed by JAK2/STAT5 phosphorylation, and abrogated GH-induced proliferative and anti-apoptotic actions. Osteoblasts lacking GHR exhibited reduced IGF-1-induced Erk and Akt phosphorylation and attenuated IGF-1-induced proliferation and anti-apoptotic action. In addition, differentiation was modestly impaired in osteoblasts lacking GHR, as demonstrated by reduced alkaline phosphatase staining and calcium deposition. In order to determine the requirement for the GHR in bone in vivo, we generated mice lacking the GHR specifically in osteoblasts (ΔGHR), which were born at the expected Mendelian frequency, had a normal life span and were of normal size. Three week-old, female ΔGHR mice had significantly reduced osteoblast numbers, consistent with the in vitro data. By six weeks of age however, female ΔGHR mice demonstrated a marked increase in osteoblasts, although mineralization was impaired; a phenotype similar to that observed previously in mice lacking IGF-1R specifically in osteoblasts. The most striking phenotype occurred in male mice however, where disruption of the GHR from osteoblasts resulted in a "feminization" of bone geometry in 16 week-old mice, as observed by μCT. These results demonstrate that the GHR is required for normal postnatal bone development in both sexes. GH appears to serve a primary function in modulating local IGF-1 action. However, the changes in bone geometry observed in male ΔGHR mice suggest that, in addition to facilitating IGF-1 action, GH may function to a greater extent than previously appreciated in establishing the sexual dimorphism of the skeleton.


Land use and land cover change (LULCC) is among the most apparent natural landscape processes impacted by anthropogenic activities, particularly in fast-growing regions. In India, at present, due to the impacts of anthropogenic climate change, supplemented by the fast pace of developmental activities, the areas providing the highest agricultural yields are facing the threat of either extinction or change in land use. This study assesses the LULCC in the fastest-changing landscape region of the Indian state of Bihar, District Muzaffarpur. This district is known for its litchi cultivation, which, over the last few years, has been observed to be increasing in acreage at the behest of a decrease in natural vegetation. In this study, we aim to assess the past, present and future changes in LULC of the Muzaffarpur district using support vector classification and CA-ANN (cellular automata-artificial neural network) algorithms. For assessing the present and past LULC of the study area, we used Landsat Satellite data for 1990, 2000, 2010, and 2020. It was observed that between 1990 and 2020, the area under vegetation, wetlands, water body, and fallow land decreased by 44.28%, 34.82%, 25.56%, and 5.63%, respectively. At the same time, the area under built-up, litchi plantation, and cropland increased by 1451.30%, 181.91%, and 5.66%, respectively. Extensive ground truthing was carried out to assess the accuracy of the LULC for 2020, whereas historical google earth images were used for 1990, 2000, and 2010, through the use of overall accuracy and kappa coefficient indices. The kappa coefficients for the final LULC for the years 1990, 2000, 2010, and 2020 were 0.79, 0.75, 0.87, and 0.85, respectively. For forecasting the future LULC, first, the LULC of 1990 and 2010 were used to predict the landscape for 2020 using the CA-ANN model. After calibrating and validating the CA-ANN outputs, LULC for 2030 and 2050 were generated. The generated future LULC scenarios were validated using kappa index statistics by comparing the forecast outcomes with the original LULC data for 2020. It was observed that in both 2030 and 2050, built-up and vegetation would be the major transitioning LULC. In 2030 and 2050, built-up will increase by 13.15% and 108.69%, respectively, compared to its area in 2020; whereas vegetation is expected to decrease by 14.30% in 2030 and 32.84% in 2050 compared to its area in 2020. Overall, this study depicted a decline in the natural landscape and a sudden increase in the built-up and cash-crop area. If such trends continue, the future scenario of LULC will also demonstrate the same pattern. This study will help formulate better land use management policy in the study area, and the overall state of Bihar, which is considered to be the poorest state of India and the most vulnerable to natural calamities. It also demonstrates the ability of the CA-ANN model to forecast future events and comprehend spatiotemporal LULC dynamics.


An all-acrylic-based 1x2 plastic optical fiber (POF) coupler has been designed and manufactured. The optical device is based on a simple 1x2 Y-branch coupler design with a middle high index contrast waveguide taper and splitting ratio of 50:50. Device modeling has been performed using non-sequential ray tracing with an insertion loss of 4.68 dB. Machining of the optical device has been performed using EGX400 desktop engraver system. 1 mm milling tool size with machine spindle speed of 15,000 rpm has been utilized. A simple optimization on the milling process prior to machining improved the coupling surfaces between the POF fibers and the waveguide taper. POF fibers are inserted into the engraved u-grooves and are passively aligned to the waveguide taper. The measured insertion loss is 7.5 dB and with a splitting ratio of 50:50.


Abstract The European Union's support for farming in'less favoured areas' (LFAs) is currently implemented in the United Kingdom through headage payments for cattle and sheep, although reforms to the system are under way. These payments have caused environmental concern, since, although formally social in nature, they are implicated in processes of agricultural intensification and management practices that reduce ecosystem integrity and landscape interest. In this paper, we examine the extent to which enhancement of the policy mix could take such concerns into account. Initially, we review the evidence of environmental change, also taking into account afforestation and increasing recreational demands on the hills and uplands. An analysis of the environmental perspective is interwoven with current economic, cultural and social difficulties, based on summaries of farmer attitudes drawn from a range of inquiries. We then examine options proposed for change, particularly the conversion of the Hill Livestock Compensatory Allowances headage payments to an area-based compensation, and greater cross-compliance with environmental preconditions. We conclude that scope exists for improved integration of social support for farming with measures to conserve and enhance the environment in hill and upland areas. However, more coherent policies that encompass marketing to pro-ecological, pro-social consumers, education and research, community and infrastructure could strike a more effective balance in attaining objectives for farming and society as a whole, by according a pivotal role to organic farming as a standard for low-input agriculture. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.


Microstructure formation under the applied strain for the alloys with different shear modulus and anisotropy were studied using the phase-field simulation. The uniaxial morphology depends on the magnitude of applied strain, the ratio of shear modulus and ratio of anisotropy between the precipitates and matrix. However, the morphology orientation depends not only on the sign and direction of applied strain, but also on the ratio of anisotropy and the ratio of shear modulus between the precipitates and matrix. The simulation results are helpful for the materials microstructure design and control by the combination of internal elastic stress and the applied strain.


With the evolution of technology the system becomes large and complex. The probability of faults to occur in the system also increases with the size of the system. It is almost impossible to make the system fault free thus Fault Management System (FMS) is required to make the system fault tolerant which keeps the system operational even in the presence of transient fault and recover the system. The FMS is quite complex and sophisticated for large systems and it requires smart technique to verify FMS. Fault injection technique is emerging technique to verify the system robustness and its fault tolerance. There are various types of fault injection techniques and each type has its own characteristics. In this thesis, Ericsson's Digital Unit of Radio Base Station (RBS) is used as target system. This research work involves the study of RBS hardware, software and also various fault injection techniques. Previously each module of FMS is tested in lab separately. With this new approach the complete FMS is tested in lab while system being operational. Based on this investigation, Hybrid FI technique is proposed and implemented to verify its feasibility. This technique requires change in target's hardware and fault injector software. Experiment is performed on RBS connected to client via network. The result of an experiment is compiled in the end of this report. This research work concludes that the FMS can be verified with FI technique. This technique not only reduces the verification time but also increase the reliability of the system by increasing the fault coverage.


Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to draw upon social information processing theory and its purpose is twofold. First, it aims to examine the relationship among five brand personality traits (responsibility, activity, simplicity, emotionality and aggressiveness) as to brand equity created on social media in the banking industry of Latvia. Second, it aims to unveil the indirect effects of brand personality on brand loyalty, treating brand equity as a mediating variable.

Design/methodology/approach
A questionnaire was designed and a survey method was employed in line with the above-mentioned purposes. Data were collected from 404 customers who followed retail banks on social media. A series of hypotheses were developed and tested using structural equation modeling.

Findings
The results show that aggressiveness, followed by responsibility and activeness, form positive brand equity on social media. In contrast, emotionality and simplicity do not contribute to the brand equity of banks on social media. The results also reveal that brand equity positively impacts brand loyalty and partially mediates brand personality and brand loyalty relationship. The theoretical model is thus validated and can be used in future research.

Research limitations/implications
The current study is cross-sectional and has a limited sample size and representativeness. Nevertheless, the results of the present study bring valuable implications for marketing managers who value the role of social media in creating long-term company–customer relationships.

Originality/value
Over the past 20 years, the literature has been dominated by studies that mainly focus on the definition of brand personality and its traits. Unlike the aforementioned efforts, the current study brings new insight into the subject by focusing on brand personality created on social media and linking it to the actual consumer outcomes and exploring the mediating role of brand equity in the banking industry of Latvia.


The class III fusion protein glycoprotein B (gB) drives membrane fusion during entry and spread of herpesviruses. To mediate fusion, gB requires activation by the conserved gH/gL complex by a poorly defined mechanism. ABSTRACT Herpesvirus entry and spread requires fusion of viral and host cell membranes, which is mediated by the conserved surface glycoprotein B (gB). Upon activation, gB undergoes a major conformational change and transits from a metastable prefusion to a stable postfusion conformation. Although gB is a structural homolog of low-pH-triggered class III fusogens, its fusion activity depends strictly on the presence of the conserved regulatory gH/gL complex and nonconserved receptor binding proteins, which ensure that fusion occurs at the right time and space. How gB maintains its prefusion conformation and how gB fusogenicity is controlled remain poorly understood. Here, we report the isolation and characterization of a naturally selected pseudorabies virus (PrV) gB able to mediate efficient gH/gL-independent virus-cell and cell-cell fusion. We found that the control exerted on gB by the accompanying viral proteins is mediated via its cytosolic domain (CTD). Whereas gB variants lacking the CTD are inactive, a single mutation of a conserved asparagine residue in an alpha-helical motif of the ectodomain recently shown to be at the core of the gB prefusion trimer compensated for CTD absence and uncoupled gB from regulatory viral proteins, resulting in a hyperfusion phenotype. This phenotype was transferred to gB homologs from different alphaherpesvirus genera. Overall, our data propose a model in which the central helix acts as a molecular switch for the gB pre-to-postfusion transition by conveying the structural status of the endo- to the ectodomain, thereby governing their cross talk for fusion activation, providing a new paradigm for herpesvirus fusion regulation. IMPORTANCE The class III fusion protein glycoprotein B (gB) drives membrane fusion during entry and spread of herpesviruses. To mediate fusion, gB requires activation by the conserved gH/gL complex by a poorly defined mechanism. A detailed molecular-level understanding of herpesvirus membrane fusion is of fundamental virological interest and has considerable potential for the development of new therapeutics blocking herpesvirus cell invasion and spread. Using in vitro evolution and targeted mutagenesis of three different animal alphaherpesviruses, we identified a single conserved amino acid in a regulatory helix in the center of the gB ectodomain that enables efficient gH/gL-independent entry and plays a crucial role in the pre-to-postfusion transition of gB. Our results propose that the central helix is a key regulatory element involved in the intrastructural signal transduction between the endo- and ectodomain for fusion activation. This study expands our understanding of herpesvirus membrane fusion and uncovers potential targets for therapeutic interventions.


A theoretical analysis of the search process for a fixed sequence in a frame is performed. An exact formula for the maximum reframe time (time necessary to achieve the synchronization) is derived. The analysis is based upon the bifix structure of the inserted synchronization signal. The results are applied to STM-1 signals.


Fractional dierential equations play an important role in science and technology. Many problems can be cast using both fractional time and spatial derivatives. In order to accurately simulate natural phenomena using this technology one needs ne spatial and temporal discretizations. This leads to large-scale linear systems or matrix equations, especially whenever more than one space dimension is considered. The discretization of fractional dierential equations typically involves dense matrices with a Toeplitz structure. We combine the fast evaluation of Toeplitz matrices and their circulant preconditioners with state-of-the-art linear matrix equation solvers to eciently solve these problems, both in terms of CPU time and memory requirements. Numerical experiments on typical dierential problems with fractional derivatives in both space and time showing the eectiveness of the approaches are reported.


Knowledge distillation often involves how to define and transfer knowledge from teacher to student effectively. Although recent self-supervised contrastive knowledge achieves the best performance, forcing the network to learn such knowledge may damage the representation learning of the original class recognition task. We therefore adopt an alternative self-supervised augmented task to guide the network to learn the joint distribution of the original recognition task and self-supervised auxiliary task. It is demonstrated as a richer knowledge to improve the representation power without losing the normal classification capability. Moreover, it is incomplete that previous methods only transfer the probabilistic knowledge between the final layers. We propose to append several auxiliary classifiers to hierarchical intermediate feature maps to generate diverse self-supervised knowledge and perform the one-to-one transfer to teach the student network thoroughly. Our method significantly surpasses the previous SOTA SSKD with an average improvement of 2.56% on CIFAR-100 and an improvement of 0.77% on ImageNet across widely used network pairs. Codes are available at https://github.com/winycg/HSAKD.


The volatility of aggregate economic activity in the United States decreased markedly in the mid eighties. The decrease involved several components of GDP and has been linked to a more stable economic environment, identified by smaller shocks and more effective policy, and a diverse set of innovations related to inventory management as well as financial markets. We document a negative relation between the volatility of GDP and some of its components and one such financial development: the emergence of mortgage-backed securities. We also document that this relationship changed sign, from negative to positive, in the early 2000's.


We demonstrate that a porous film of silica nanoparticles emits a bright visible luminescence associated with defects stabilized by oxygen chemisorption at oxygen-deficient center sites. Time-resolved spectra excited by a tunable laser allow us to distinguish the luminescence at 1.99 eV, characteristic of the nonbridging oxygen hole center (NBOHC) (≡Si–O)3Si–O•, and a fast and a slow emission: the first (lifetime τ ≈ 25 ns) is peaked at 2.27 eV with an excitation spectrum centered at 5.5 eV; the second (τ ≈ 7.5 μs) is peaked at 2.41 eV and is excited around 3.2 and 5.2 eV. Reaction in an air atmosphere leads to the disappearance of the NBOHC luminescence and of the fast band, whereas the slow one remains stable. On the basis of the comparison with previous experimental and computational works, we discuss the role of the silanone Si═O and of the dioxasilyrane Si(O2) as the emitting defects.


A soluble Plasmodium falciparum antigen that specifically stimulates gammadelta T cells has been found associated predominantly with schizonts rather than ring forms, trophozoites, or gametocytes. This schizont-associated antigen (SAA) is resistant to protease digestion, is anionic at pH 8.5, is heat- and pH-resistant, and contains a phosphate group(s) that is crucial for biologic activity. Partially purified SAA induced proliferative responses and interferon-gamma production by gammadelta T cells. These stimulatory effects were greatly enhanced by monocyte-derived cytokines, interleukin (IL)-10, IL-12, and IL-1beta, but not by tumor necrosis factor-alpha. Taken together, these results suggest that concurrent stimulation of gammadelta T cells by SAA and by cytokines released from activated monocytes (IL-10, IL-12, IL-1beta) may represent the major mechanism underlying the selective activation of gammadelta T cells that is consistently observed in clinical cases of P. falciparum infection.


This handsome book features 63 paintings, sculptures, and drawings from The Muriel Kallis Steinberg Newman Collection, which was recently given to The Metropolitan Museum of Art, where it will be exhibited beginning in September 2007. Long recognized for its preeminent Abstract Expressionist works, the collection includes major canvases by the great painters of the movement, among them De Kooning, Pollock, and Rothko, and sculptures by David Smith. Also featured are Morris Louis, Noland, Oldenburg, and other Americans of the succeeding generation as well as a selection of works by early European modernists such as Arp, Giacometti, Leger, and Miro. With color illustrations throughout, the book features texts by 22 leading scholars, including David Anfam, Diane Kelder, and Richard Shiff.


Abstract : The disproportionate incidence and mortality of prostate cancer (CaP) among African Americans (AA) in comparison to Caucasian American (CA) are not well understood. It is believed that high circulating androgens reported in AA men may account for such racial disparities. It has been shown that metastatic tumors maintain functional androgen receptor signaling, suggesting that local (intracrine) androgens may contribute to the outgrowth of castration-adapted tumors under androgen deprivation therapy (ADT). Evidence exists for direct correlation between increased obesity and body-mass-index (BMI), which is significantly higher in AA-men, and the risk for aggressive CaP. Active steroidogenic pathways are active in adipocytes and adipose-derived mesenchymal stem cells (ASCs) are often recruited to tumor-stroma. Our goal will be to exploit the tumor-tropism of normal ASCs to deliver androgen inactivating genes to tumor microenvironments and enable an effective treatment strategy against CRPC. This will be achieved by: (a) investigate if intracrine production of testosterone by osteotropic ASCAA modulates growth and metastatic potential of CaP cells under ADT in vitro and in vivo; (b) determine if -HSD-expressing osteotropic ASCCont will nullify the ADMSCAA-mediated CaP cell growth and metastasis in vitro; and (c) examine the efficacy of therapeutically engineered ASCCont to target and inhibit CaP tumor growth under CRPC in vivo. The proposed work will be innovative, because it capitalizes on an adjuvant approach for ADT by tumor-site specific inactivation of androgens. Considering the aggressive nature CaP, the outcome of our study is expected to have a positive impact on establishing preventive and/or therapeutic intervention strategies to reduce or circumvent PC, especially among AA-men.


Faults often separate materials with different elastic properties. Nonuniform slip on such faults induces a change in normal stress. That suggests the possibility of self-sustained slip pulses [Weertman, 1980] propagating at the generalized Rayleigh wave speed even with a Coulomb constitutive law (i.e., with a constant coefficient of friction) and a remote driving shear stress that is arbitrarily less than the corresponding frictional strength. Following Andrews and Ben-Zion [1997] (ABZ), we study numerically, with a two-dimensional (2-D) plane strain geometry, the propagation of ruptures along such a dissimilar material interface. However, this problem has been shown to be ill-posed for a wide range of elastic material contrasts [Renardy, 1992; Martins and Simoes, 1995; Adams, 1995]. Ranjith and Rice [2000] (RR) showed that when the generalized Rayleigh speed exists, as is the case for the material contrast studied by ABZ, the problem is ill-posed for all values of the coefficient of friction, f, whereas when it does not exist, the problem is ill-posed only for f greater than a critical value. We illustrate the ill-posedness by showing that in the unstable range the numerical solutions do not converge through grid size reduction. By contrast, convergence is achieved in the stable range but, not unexpectedly, only dying pulses are then observed. RR showed that among other regularization procedures, use of an experimentally based law [Prakash and Clifton, 1993; Prakash, 1998], in which the shear strength in response to an abrupt change in normal stress evolves continuously with time or slip toward the corresponding Coulomb strength, provides a regularization. (Classical slip weakening or rate- and state-dependent constitutive laws having the same kind of abrupt response as Coulomb friction also do not regularize the problem.) Convergence through grid size reduction is then achieved in the otherwise ill-posed range. For sufficiently rapid shear strength evolution, self-sustained pulses are observed. When the generalized Ray-leigh wave speed exists, they propagate essentially at that velocity and, in consistence with Weertman's [1980] analysis, the propagation occurs only in one direction, which is that of slip in the more compliant medium. When the generalized Rayleigh wave speed does not exist, similar self-sustained pulses propagate at about the slower S wave speed and in the same direction. RR also suggested that for sufficiently high coefficient of friction, another kind of (less unstable) self-sustained pulses, propagating at a velocity close to the slower P wave speed and in the opposite direction, could also exist. We numerically verify that prediction.


This paper presents a synchronous control approach to swarms of mobile robots in switching between formations. According to the desired formation, a synchronization control goal is derived, based on which the position synchronization error is defined as differential position errors between very pair of two neighboring robots. A decentralized trajectory tracking controller is then developed with feedback of both position and synchronization errors, formed with a combination of feedforward and feedback controls. It is proven that this tracking controller can asymptotically converge both position and synchronization errors to zero. Simulations are performed on a group of twenty fully-actuated mobile robots in a switching task between different ellipse curves. The simulation results demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed synchronous control design for the formation control.


Fluid magnetic abrasivetool is a kind of suspension, which is composed of soft magnetic particles, surfactants, base liquid and so on so forth, so it can have strong magnetorheological characteristics and grinding characteristics. The stability of magnetorheological fluid is one of the most important indicator to evaluate the quality of magnetorheological fluid. Sodium hexametaphosphate and PAA have perfect function to maintain dispersionstability and retrogradation, adding nano-silica can improve the retrogradation of magnetic abrasivetool, which can modify redispersibility of magnetic abrasivetool.


Drawing on self-determination theory, we proposed and tested a cross-level model of how perceived creativity-oriented high-performance work systems (HPWS) influence customer satisfaction. Data were obtained from frontline employees (FLEs), their managers, and branch records of two organizations (retail bank and cosmetics) in Lithuania. Results of multilevel structural equation modeling analyses revealed partial support for our model. Although perceived creativity-oriented HPWS related to creative performance at the individual level, this effect was mediated solely by need satisfaction and not by creative process engagement nor by a serial mediation of both variables as we hypothesized. However, as we did hypothesize, average branch creative performance related to branch customer satisfaction. We interpret our findings as underscoring the utility of perceived creativity-oriented HPWS in fostering FLEs' creative performance and ultimately, customer satisfaction.


A stratigraphic interval of 1846 feet belonging to the Lower and Middle Bird Spring Group and ranging from Lower Morrowan to Lower Missourian has been investigated petrographically in order to unravel the cyclic sedimentation of this miogeosynclinal limestone sequence. More than 2095 samples collected at an average interval of 10 inches were divided into eleven microfacies, given here in order of decreasing relative depth of deposition or increasing energy level: an almost pure calcisiltite (microfacies 0), a calcisiltite with scattered sand-size organic debris (microfacies 1), a calcisiltite with abundant scattered sand-size organic debris (microfacies 2), a grain-supported biocalcarenite with calcisiltite matrix (microfacies 3), a grain-supported biocalcarenite with clear calcite cement (microfacies 4), and a grain-supported oolitic biocalcarenite with clear calcite cement (microfacies 5). Microfacies designated as 0a, 1a, 2a, 3a and 4a are the detrital quartz-rich equivalents of microfacies 0 to 4 and include rocks with more than 10 percent of detrital quartz. The following microscopic parameters were measured: frequency and clasticity of crinoid fragments, oolites, pellets (fecal, lithic and algal coated) and detrital quartz; frequency of debris of brachiopods and bryozoans, ostracodes, calcispheres, arenaceous benthonic foraminifers and pyrite. These data, together with symbols representing many other minor components were plotted alongside the columnar section as variation curves showing the stratigraphic behavior of the parameters. A combination of these measurements with the above textural classification of the microfacies led to the drafting of a relative bathymetric curve (expressing in this environment also the energy level) which represents the final interpretation of the oscillations in energy level and related water depth during deposition. A total of 78 complete cycles were recognized. They are variants of 3 fundamental ideal cycles (or statistically most frequent successions of microfacies) established on the basis of the average values of all the measured parameters. Two of these ideal cycles characterize the Morrowan which consists of 46 cycles with features expressing a gradual transgression. A massive inflow of fine detrital quartz coincides with the deepest phase of the transgression. The third type of ideal cycle is typical of the Atokan-DesMoinesian-Missourian interval which consists of 32 cycles with features indicating a gradual regression. Therefore the investigated sequence is a complete major geological cycle of transgression and regression.


The author observed 477 patients with sub- and decompensated stenosis of the pylorus of ulcer etiology; 11 out of them developed a severe complication--chloroprivic tetany which resulted from repeated abundant vomiting in emaciated patients and was followed by an acute total dehydration of the body, decrease of chlorides, oliguria and azotemia. Some problems concerning the prevention and the treatment of this severe complication of peptic ulcer are described.


We developed an airflow control unit for small chambers for uniformly controlling airflow on the surface of tested building material in the small chambers. We will present the mass transfer rate on the surface of tested building materials corresponding to an actual building in order to exactly evaluate the performance of the reduced amount and concentration of released chemical materials with the small chambers. We measured the airflow velocity on the surface of building materials in the small chamber with the developed airflow control unit and the fan speed for airflow control. We reviewed the distribution of water vapor concentration in the small chamber by means of CFD (Computational Fluid Dynamics) and estimated the mass transfer rate on the surface of building material to confirm test reliability.


Clinical data annotation has been one of the major obstacles for applying machine learning approaches in clinical NLP. Open-source tools such as NegBio and CheXpert are usually designed on data from specific institutions, which limit their applications to other institutions due to the differences in writing style, structure, language use as well as label definition. In this paper, we propose a new weak supervision annotation framework with two improvements compared to existing annotation frameworks: 1) we propose to select representative samples for efficient manual annotation; 2) we propose to auto-annotate the remaining samples, both leveraging on a self-trained sentence encoder. This framework also provides a function for identifying inconsistent annotation errors. The utility of our proposed weak supervision annotation framework is applicable to any given data annotation task, and it provides an efficient form of sample selection and data auto-annotation with better classification results for real applications.


Using the random coding argument, in this paper, we derive the effective cutoff rate R E of multiple-input-multiple-output (MIMO) space-time (ST) codes in Rayleigh fast-fading channels with imperfect channel state information at the receiver (CSIR). In contrast to conventional cutoff rate analysis, where the codeword length N is infinity and the frame error probability Pf is implicitly zero, we loosen the definition to include the more realistic case of finite N and finite P f. Using the tight upper and lower bounds on the pairwise error probability (PEP) in the work of Li and Kam, we are able to derive in turn tight lower and upper bounds on the cutoff rate of MIMO ST coding systems. The results are very general and can be applied to any linear modulation scheme, like M-ary phase-shift keying (MPSK) and M-ary quadrature-amplitude modulation (MQAM). Numerically, we found that for the two-transmit and two-receive antenna configuration, the nonasymptotic segments of our cutoff rate upper bounds for four, 16, and 64 MQAM actually coincide with the ergodic capacity curve. Furthermore, we found that the performance of the Smart-Greedy codes proposed in the seminal work of Tarokh falls within the range predicted by our cutoff rate bounds. Finally, we show in this paper that for MIMO systems employing pilot-symbol-assisted channel estimation, the asymptotic cutoff rate no longer linearly increases with the number of transmit antennas. Instead, for a normalized fade rate of fD and a signal constellation of size M, the maximum effective cutoff rate is (8f D)-1log2 M, which is achieved when the number of transmit antennas is the integer closest to 1/(4f D) . The result suggests that with a large antenna array and high user mobility, a more bandwidth-efficient channel-estimation strategy is desired.


We present an analysis of the articles published in the Journal of Management Studies since its inception to assess to what extent JMS has: maintained its leading international ranking; maintained its founding mission as a broad based management journal; and remained a broad based management journal compared to other general management journals. In terms of its impact factor and citations despite reaching a low point in 2001, we find that JMS today ranks higher than it has ever done throughout its 50-year history. From our content analysis covering the life-cycle of JMS, we find four areas have been the most frequently represented, although their relative importance varies between decades: Organizational Management/Behaviour, Strategy, Human Resource Management, and General Management, accounting for 67 per cent of articles published over the period. JMS has strengthened its international author distribution through the increase in authors from the EU especially; the period 2000–04 which saw the predominance of UK authors was an anomaly. There are marked differences between type of article and author country of origin. Our comparative analysis of the word networks between the journals JMS, AMJ, ASQ, and HRM shows that over each decade the papers in the first three normally form a single cluster, indicating that the words used in the papers in the different journals are similar, while papers from HRM often form an outlining group. Notably, in the early 2000s papers in JMS form a distinct cluster, with papers from HRM paralleling the anomaly identified in the content analysis. Overall, JMS has regained its distinctiveness as a broad-based international management journal, not favouring any particular theoretical or empirical approach.


The population of Sharjah, although racially mixed, consists of predominantly Arabs, or Asians recently arrived from the Indian Subcontinent. The spectrum of disease is very different from a typical UK practice and exhibits a marked lack of the so-called 'diseases of civilization'. Of local interest is skeletal and dental fluorosis.


Aim: To demonstrate the influence of geography in the distribution of plane crashesMethod: Information about plane crashes from existing literature from journal publications, public health releases, and internet search was analyzed.Results: Plane crashes are events related to the operation of the aircraft, taking place from the time the passenger boarded the plane with the intention to carry out a flight till all the persons has left the aircraft and during which, some of the person have been fatally or heavily injured, the aircraft have been destroyed or damaged and the aircraft is lost or is at a completely inaccessible place. The first fatal aviation accident was the crash of a Roziere balloon near Wimereux, France, on June 15, 1785, killing the balloon's inventor, Jean-Francois Pilâtre de Rozier, and the other occupant, Pierre. There have been several questions on the major causes of plane crashes. Over the years, it was discovered that geography has a major role to play in such plane crashes. Human geography deals with the study of people and their communities, cultures, economies, and interactions with the environment by studying their relations with and across space and place. Physical geography deals with the study of processes and patterns in the natural environment like the atmosphere, hydrosphere, biosphere, and geosphere. The search for the missing link solely relies on geographical causes of plane crash and possible ways to address such situations.Conclusion: There are several reports on plane crashes across the globe that was caused by geography related conditions such as weather in the form of fogs, ice, lightning strikes and microbursts. This weather related causes of plane crashes are predominant in some certain parts of the world which makes such areas very prone to crashes. Myriads of plane crashes have been reported more in Asian countries drawing a possible link with the weather conditions in the middle East.


Tripolar referencing is typically used in nerve cuff electrode recordings due to its ability to maximize the signal-to-noise ratio of contacts at the centre, but this may not be the optimal choice for a multi-contact nerve cuff consisting of contacts in off-centre rings. We conducted a simulation study to compare the effects of 3 different reference types on the recording selectivity of a multi-contact nerve cuff: the tripolar reference (TPR), common average reference (CAR), and multiple tripolar references based on consecutive groups of 3 rings (cTPR). For this purpose, we introduce a novel measure called the contact information metric (CIM). Selectivity was tested in 2 noise settings, one in which white Gaussian noise was added inside the nerve cuff electrode and the other in which electromyogram (EMG) noise was added outside the nerve cuff electrode. The mean CIMs values calculated for the best 8 contacts were 3.42±6.25, 2.70±3.37, and 3.65±1.90 for the TPR, the CAR and the cTPR, respectively, in the case of EMG noise added outside the nerve cuff electrode. This study shows that the use of cTPR reference is the optimal choice for selectivity when using a multi-contact nerve cuff electrode which contains off-centre rings.


Background Many of the processes affecting genetic diversity act on local populations. However, studies of plant nucleotide diversity have largely ignored local sampling, making it difficult to infer the demographic history of populations and to assess the importance of local adaptation. Arabidopsis lyrata, a self-incompatible, perennial species with a circumpolar distribution, is an excellent model system in which to study the roles of demographic history and local adaptation in patterning genetic variation. Principal Findings We studied nucleotide diversity in six natural populations of Arabidopsis lyrata, using 77 loci sampled from 140 chromosomes. The six populations were highly differentiated, with a median FST of 0.52, and structure analysis revealed no evidence of admixed individuals. Average within-population diversity varied among populations, with the highest diversity found in a German population; this population harbors 3-fold higher levels of silent diversity than worldwide samples of A. thaliana. All A. lyrata populations also yielded positive values of Tajima's D. We estimated a demographic model for these populations, finding evidence of population divergence over the past 19,000 to 47,000 years involving non-equilibrium demographic events that reduced the effective size of most populations. Finally, we used the inferred demographic model to perform an initial test for local adaptation and identified several genes, including the flowering time gene FCA and a disease resistance locus, as candidates for local adaptation events. Conclusions Our results underscore the importance of population-specific, non-equilibrium demographic processes in patterning diversity within A. lyrata. Moreover, our extensive dataset provides an important resource for future molecular population genetic studies of local adaptation in A. lyrata.


At present, most Mamdani fuzzy controllers must be designed and analyzed individually using the trial-and-error approach coupled with computer simulation. This is largely due to the lack of knowledge on the structural relationship between the fuzzy controllers and conventional controllers, making effective and systematic utilization of analytical analysis and design tools in control system theory very difficult. The author attempts to partially resolve these issues. The Mamdani fuzzy controllers covered are general; they use arbitrary continuous input fuzzy sets, arbitrary fuzzy rules, arbitrary inference methods, either Zadeh or the product fuzzy logic AND operator, singleton output fuzzy sets and the centroid defuzzifier. The author has established conditions for these fuzzy controllers as nonlinear state feedback controllers with variable gains, which he calls fuzzy state feedback controllers for terminological convenience. The necessary and sufficient condition on the fuzzy controllers using Zadeh fuzzy logic AND operator is that the input fuzzy sets must be linear or piecewise linear (e.g., trapezoidal or triangular). This condition, however, becomes only a necessary one for the controllers using the product fuzzy logic AND operator. These structural conditions have enabled the development of a necessary and sufficient local stability condition that can be used not only for stability determination, but also for practically designing stable fuzzy state feedback control systems even when the system models are mathematically unknown.


Equating is a family of statistical models and methods that are used to adjust scores on two or more versions of a test, so that the scores from different tests may be used interchangeably. In this paper we present the R package SNSequate which implements both standard and nonstandard statistical models and methods for test equating. The package construction was motivated by the need of having a modular, simple, yet comprehensive, and general software that carries out traditional and new equating methods. SNSequate currently implements the traditional mean, linear and equipercentile equating methods, as well as the mean-mean, mean-sigma, Haebara and Stocking-Lord item response theory linking methods. It also supports the newest methods such as local equating, kernel equating, and item response theory parameter linking methods based on asymmetric item characteristic functions. Practical examples are given to illustrate the capabilities of the software. A list of other programs for equating is presented, highlighting the main differences between them. Future directions for the package are also discussed.


This article draws on research at an eco/feminist peace camp set up to facilitate blockades against clear-cut logging in coastal temperate rainforest in Clayoquot Sound on Vancouver Island, British Columbia, in Canada in the early 1990s. The camp was said to be based on feminist principles and sometimes these were even articulated as eco/feminist principles. The slippage between these terms provides a focus for my discussion. Specifically the article explores the apparent paradox of the sheer vitality of this eco/feminist activism, and in particular its insistence on international connections, in contrast to the widely circulating accounts of the end of feminism, and especially the end of global sisterhood, which emerged in the early 1990s. Thus this article is also necessarily about how recent histories of eco/feminism, including tensions between theory and activism, are narrated. I take as a departure point references to the work of Vandana Shiva and the Chipko movement which circulated in accounts of the camp, and explore ways in which eco/feminists might read such utterances as more than evidence of a naive and problematic universalism. I situate eco/feminism's internationalism genealogically in feminism and eco/feminism and read this as a counter-narrative to the ending of global sisterhood. Through paying attention to various movements, back and forth, between Clayoquot and Chipko, Canada and India, and drawing on Anna Tsing's notion of 'friction', I offer an account of what has been at stake in disavowals of the possibility of reading Chipko as eco/feminist, and suggest the importance of a more generous reading of eco/feminists' attention to the Chipko movement.


Background and objectives Insulin resistance of the brain is a specific form of type2-diabetes mellitus (T2DM) and the active insulin-signaling pathway plays a neuroprotective role against damaging conditions and Alzheimer's progression. The present study identifies the mediated emerging effects of the Nigella sativa oil (NSO) on the memory enhancing process, its anti-oxidative, acetylcholinestrase (AChE) inhibition, anti-brain insulin resistance and anti-amyloidogenic activities. In addition, the possible role of some anti-diabetic drugs in the neuro-protection processes and their effect in combination with NSO and/or the insulin receptor inhibitor IOMe-AG538 were investigated. Methods T2DM-induced rats were orally and daily administrated 2.0 ml NSO, 100 mg metformin (MT), 0.8 mg glimepiride (GI) and different combinations (100 mg MT & 2.0 ml NSO, 0.8 mg GI & 2.0 ml NSO and 2.0 ml NSO & intraperitoneal injection of 1/100 LD50 of IOMe-AG538) per kg body weight for 21 days. Results A significant increase in the brain lipid peroxidation and decrease in the antioxidant status with peripheral and central production of pro-inflammatory mediators were observed in diabetes-induced rats. The brain AChE was activated and associated with diminished brain glucose level and cholinergic function. In addition, the brain insulin resistance and the attenuated insulin signaling pathway (p-IRS/ p-AKT/p-GSK-3β) were accompanied by an augmentation in GSK-3β level, which in turn may contribute in the extensive alterations of Tau phosphorylation along with changes in PP2A level. Furthermore, neuronal loss and elevation in Aβ-42 plaque formation were observed due to a low IDE formation and an increased expression of p53, BACE1 and APP with diminished ADAM10, SIRT1 and BDNF levels. The expression profile of AD-related miRNAs in sera and brain tissues displayed its neuro-protection role. The treatment of diabetes-induced rats with NSO and the anti-diabetic drugs alone and/or in combination have the potential to suppress the oxidative stress, the pro-inflammatory mediators and amyloidogenic pathway. Moreover, it lowers the insulin receptor inhibitory effect of IOMe-AG538 and modifies the insulin-signaling pathway. Therefore, it prevents the neurotoxicity, amyloid plaque formation and Tau hyper-phosphorylation and restores AD-related miRNA normal levels. Conclusion These data suggest that NSO or its combined treatments with anti-diabetic drugs have a possible benefit as disease modifying agents for the insulin resistance in the brain through enhancing brain insulin signaling pathway.


H3 autoreceptors provide feedback control of neurotransmitter synthesis in histaminergic neurons, but the transduction pathways involved are poorly understood. In rat brain cortical slices, histamine synthesis can be stimulated by depolarization and inhibited by H3 agonists. We show that histamine synthesis stimulation by depolarization with 30 mM K+ requires extracellular calcium entry, mostly through N-type channels, and subsequent activation of calcium/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase type II. In vitro, this kinase phosphorylated and activated histidine decarboxylase, the histamine-synthesizing enzyme. Inhibition of depolarization-stimulated histamine synthesis by the histamine H3 receptor agonist imetit was impaired by preincubation with pertussis toxin and by the presence of a myristoylated peptide (myristoyl-N-QEHAQEPERQYMHIGTMVE-FAYALVGK) blocking the actions of G-protein βγ subunits. The stimulation of another Gi/o-coupled receptor, adenosine A1, also decreased depolarization-stimulated histamine synthesis. In contrast, protein kinase A activation, which is also repressed by H3 receptors, elicited a depolarization- and calcium/calmodulin-independent stimulation of histamine synthesis. Protein kinase A was able also to phosphorylate and activate histidine decarboxylase in vitro. These results show how depolarization activates histamine synthesis in nerve endings and demonstrate that both pathways modulating neurotransmitter synthesis are controlled by H3 autoreceptors.


We present a simple and intuitive framework for duality of locally compacts groups, which is not based on the Haar measure. This is a map, functorial on a non-degenerate subcategory, on the category of coinvolutive Hopf $C^*$-algebras, and a similar map on the category of coinvolutive Hopf-von Neumann algebras. In the $C^*$-version, this functor sends $C_0(G)$ to $C^*(G)$ and vice versa, for every locally compact group $G$. As opposed to preceding approaches, there is an explicit description of commutative and co-commutative algebras in the range of this map (without assumption of being isomorphic to their bidual): these algebras have the form $C_0(G)$ or $C^*(G)$ respectively, where $G$ is a locally compact group. The von Neumann version of the functor puts into duality, in the group case, the enveloping von Neumann algebras of the algebras above: $C_0(G)^{**}$ and $C^*(G)^{**}$.


Introduction In Sri Lanka, nursing education is moving from diploma nursing certificate to a university bachelor degree. In this transitional stage, the development of an evidence based national level framework for undergraduate nursing education is a crucially important step to improve nursing education and nursing service in Sri Lanka. The overall purpose of this PhD research study was to develop an evidence-based national framework for undergraduate nursing education in Sri Lanka. Method My PhD research study has involved conducting critical reviews of literature, two systematic reviews, developing a draft conceptual framework, testing its appropriateness and feasibility with key stakeholders via focus group discussions in Sri Lanka, and formulating the final national framework for nursing education in Sri Lanka. Results The systematic reviews revealed that the evidence regarding the effectiveness and appropriateness of undergraduate nursing curricula is notably weak and direct transfer of the curriculum model from one country to another is not appropriate without first assessing the cultural context of both countries. The conceptual framework, which was developed using the finding of systematic reviews and literature reviews, consists of widely recognized nursing concepts in international and local contexts. However, some concepts cannot be directly applicable because of cultural and economic impediments. Discussion This study identified several factors that shape the approach to nursing education in Sri Lanka. These factors include: Western influence; Sri Lanka's cultural influence; the current healthcare system and demand for healthcare; nursing systems and regulation; medical dominance; financial support; and Sri Lanka's education system. All of these factors influence the conceptualization of nursing and educational strategies needed to effectively and appropriately prepare nurses in Sri Lanka. This study proposes seven recommendations to support the implementation of the study findings into practice in Sri Lanka.


This article focuses on the analysis of verb-second (V2) requirements in light of evidence that the clausal left periphery contains a series of functional projections in a fixed hierarchy (Rizzi 1997; Beninca & Poletto 2004; among many others). I discuss previous approaches to V2, the bottleneck effect and stacked head theories, and argue that they are generally unable to account for a variety of "relaxed" V2 systems that allow V3 or V4 in some contexts. I propose a new analysis of variation in the strictness of V2 in terms of the feature scattering hypothesis (Giorgi & Pianesi 1996); languages can vary in the number of functional category features that are bundled on individual heads. This allows a straightforward account for the attested typology of relaxed V2 systems, and a new explanation for cross-linguistic variation in the instantiation of functional projections.


Despite being identified nearly a century ago, the diffusion absorption refrigeration (DAR) cycle has received relatively little attention. One of the strongest attractions of the DAR cycle lies in the fact that it is thermally driven and does not require high value work. This makes it a prime candidate for harnessing low-grade heat from solar collectors, or the waste heat from stationary generators, to produce cooling. However, to realize the benefits of the DAR cycle, there is a need to develop an improved understanding of how design parameters influence its performance. In this vein, this work developed a new, validated, parametric model that can be used by designers and practitioners to examine the performance of the DAR cycle for a range of operating conditions. The results showed that the cycle's performance was particularly sensitive to several factors: the rate of heat added and the temperature of the generator, the effectiveness of the gas and solution heat exchangers, the mass flowrate of the refrigerant and the type of the working fluid. It was shown that it can deliver good performance at low generator temperatures if the refrigerant mass fraction in the strong solution is made as high as possible. Moreover, it was shown that a H2O–LiBr working pair could be useful for achieving cooling at low generator temperatures.


The changes of glucocorticoid receptor (GR) during the heat shock response have been studied using a human osteosarcoma cell line (HOS-8603) as the model. The expression of the heat shock protein 70 (hsp70) mRNA in HOS-8603 cells has been enhanced markedly after a heat treatment at 43 ℃ for 30 min. A mild thermal pretreatment (42℃ for 1 h) protects the HOS-8603 cells against a subsequent heat challenge (46℃). This induced thermotolerance is reflected by the increase of cell viability of HOS-8603 cells. The GR binding activity in HOS-8603 cells decreased rapidly after the heat treatment at 43℃; only 42. 61% of controls were detected 60 min after the heat treatment. However, there was no significant change in the dissociation constant value (Kd). These results indicate that the heat shock induce not only the heat shock mRNA expression, but also the rapid reduction in GR binding activity, suggesting that there might be a functional relationship between GR action and the heat shock response.


I like surprises! Incredibly naive, I expected this to be a methods book detailing in a professional and precise fashion all the tricks necessary to use keratinocytes for modern cell and molecular biologic studies. Instead, I found that there were two books: one that detailed methods I pined for ( Keratinocyte Methods ) and another that presented a scholarly approach toward the major conceptual problems and issues in keratinocyte biology ( The Keratinocyte Handbook ). The editors, all acknowledged leaders in keratinocyte cell and molecular biology, have rounded up many of the usual suspects plus some new ones as contributors. The result is a landmark production that will benefit all those working with the epidermis, its appendages, and epidermal diseases. The editors made a brilliant strategic decision by not combining the strengths of each book into a single volume. The how-to book, a short laboratory cookbook (with all the best and tastiest connotations of


This article analyzes the way that political actors, advocate lawyers, and European administrators leveraged the designations political prisoner, political refugee, and prohibited immigrant to claim rights for inhabitants of the UN trust territories of French Cameroon and British Cameroons in the 1950s. Incarcerated activists identified themselves as political prisoners as they claimed that their human rights were upheld by international legal norms outlined in UN documents such as the Charter, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and the Trusteeship Agreements, which bound administering authorities to uphold these principles. Having imposed politics onto the prison, Cameroonian nationalists who escaped repression in French Cameroon by fleeing to British territory politicized their exile as they claimed refugee status in British Cameroons, a territory they viewed as belonging to the nation they envisioned. In so doing, Cameroonian nationalists revealed embryonic refugee law to be more aspirational than universally applicable—but nonetheless laid claim to its protections in ways that did, in some cases, sway the courts. The focus on the legal cases of political prisoners and refugees shows how Cameroonian nationalists viewed the rights that international law established or promised as legitimizing their anti-colonial revolutionary state-building project. With the advocate lawyers who represented them, legally minded Cameroonian nationalists acted, defended, and claimed as though the trusteeship system had universalized a decolonized international law. Contributing to emerging scholarship on the relation of international law to global inequality in the decolonizing age, this article gives an account of a decolonizing worldmaking at the grassroots, where, through discrete legal cases, actors practiced articulating anti-colonial revolution with international law, contesting it and shaping it to their aspirations.


ABSTRACT Some platforms such as EDpuzzle, PlayPosit and HiHaHo, were developed to support interactive video-based learning. These programs enabled teachers to provide interactive ways to enhance students' active engagement and participation with prerecorded video learning materials. However, little research has been done to investigate students' intentions to use such video learning. In this study, a hypothesized model incorporated "perceived enjoyment" and "perceived attractiveness" into a Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) to explore the factors that influence elementary school students' intentions to use interactive video learning supported by EDpuzzle. Data collected from 151 sixth-grade pupils at two elementary schools in North Taiwan via a questionnaire were tested against a hypothesized model by using structural equation modeling. Overall, this model predicted a 68.2% variance in behavioral intentions, and 76.4% of the students would have positive attitudes toward using EDpuzzle. The results indicated that perceived attractiveness and perceived enjoyment were determinants that should be considered in explaining elementary school students' behavioral intentions of using EDpuzzle. Some valuable implications were discussed for researchers, practitioners and educators in understanding the determinants that could influence students to use interactive video learning in an elementary education setting.


Social good embodies ideals that are at the heart of the social work profession and promotes its values and goals. Several trends have converged in recent years to create a sense of urgency around social good and to bring together grassroots organizations, global leaders, businesses, and individual social entrepreneurs who are interested in finding creative solutions to the greatest challenges of our society. These trends include mass immigration, uncertain economic future, human rights abuses, food shortages, and inadequate responses to natural and human-caused disasters. They have brought fresh energy to the focus on the need for innovative solutions to large-scale, or macro, social causes that have traditionally been important for the social work profession and are now part of the Grand Challenges for the profession. Social good refers to services or products that promote human well-being on a large scale. These services or products include health care, education, clean water, and causes such as equality and women's rights. The quest to promote social good around the world can bring together physical and virtual communities that unite around a cause or an idea, discoursing globally and instantaneously, and translating into coordinated actions such as protests or petition drives (prime examples are Black Lives Matter and #OscarSoWhite). Social good is a term that coalesces many movements around the world, is featured in corporate websites, and unites different sectors of society— government, nonprofit, grassroots, and business. Although the term social good is widely used across a variety of disciplines, it is currently underdeveloped both in research and in practice. The social work profession is uniquely positioned to lead the development of a scientific agenda, evidence-based practices, and educational programs aimed at promoting social good. Social good unites ideals that are rooted in the profession's longstanding social justice tradition and are particularly relevant to today's turbulent and divisive political and economic climate. Social good has the potential for reconnecting the social work profession to its roots in social change and innovation, as articulated in the work of Nobel laureate Jane Addams, and to its future ambitions as represented by the grand challenges. As a research topic, social good is ripe for further refinement—especially in terms of construct operationalization, study design, and measurement. A preliminary conceptual model that was developed using a review of the current social good academic literature, a webbased review of social good initiatives, and informant interviews, inspires this call for papers. The conceptual model proposes that social good is comprised of three anchor themes—(a) environmental justice and sustainability, (b) social inclusion, and (c) peace, harmony, and collaboration. These three themes are universal elements of social good. These anchor themes provide the basis for discussing and developing a new definition of social good. Second, social good requires global, multilevel thinking and a variety of perspectives, values, and disciplines. Promoting social good requires the engagement of collaborative and nontraditional systems of change. Third, levering innovative technology enables the use of novel and unconventional approaches when designing and executing solutions for achieving social good. The goal of this special issue is to elicit the manuscripts that help define the concept of social good, describe ways of engaging diverse and nontraditional systems in the promotion of social good, and identify innovative technologies that can be used to develop social good–oriented solutions. We are interested in the manuscripts that speak to these issues broadly as well as the manuscripts that focus on the unique roles and responsibilities of the social work profession. In particular, this special issue seeks scholarly work along the following suggested topics:


Adult female hypogonadal mice, in whom hypogonadism is secondary to a genetic deficiency in hypothalamic gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH), are infertile. Mating, pregnancy, and delivery of healthy litters were achieved after transplantation of normal fetal preoptic area tissue, a major site of GnRH-containing cell bodies, into the third ventricle of adult female hypogonadal mice. Immunocytochemistry revealed GnRH-containing neurons in the grafts and GnRH-containing processes extending to the lateral median eminence of the host brains.


Theorists have speculated that primary psychopathy (or Factor 1 affective-interpersonal features) is prominently heritable whereas secondary psychopathy (or Factor 2 social deviance) is more environmentally determined. We tested this differential heritability hypothesis using a large adolescent twin sample. Trait-based proxies of primary and secondary psychopathic tendencies were assessed using Multidimensional Personality Questionnaire (MPQ) estimates of Fearless Dominance and Impulsive Antisociality, respectively. The environmental contexts of family, school, peers, and stressful life events were assessed using multiple raters and methods. Consistent with prior research, MPQ Impulsive Antisociality was robustly associated with each environmental risk factor, and these associations were significantly greater than those for MPQ Fearless Dominance. However, MPQ Fearless Dominance and Impulsive Antisociality exhibited similar heritability, and genetic effects mediated the associations between MPQ Impulsive Antisociality and the environmental measures. Results were largely consistent across male and female twins. We conclude that gene-environment correlations rather than main effects of genes and environments account for the differential environmental correlates of primary and secondary psychopathy.


Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has been recently emerged with various manifestations, mainly on respiratory system. However, other organs might also be involved. Acute kidney injury has been reported as a complication with high variability and controversial results. We aimed to define the frequency of AKI as well as two specific renal biomarkers including BUN and serum Cr among individuals suffering from COVID-19 infection. We investigated Medline/PubMed, Scopus, and Google Scholar databases until 16th April 2020 and included all relevant peer-reviewed published studies without any language limitations. We further categorized patients according to their clinical status into severe, non-severe, and death groups. 18 records on 4528 individuals were assessed. The mean age of individuals were 52.5 ± 24.4 years (males: 55.6%). Prevalence of AKI was 4% (95% CI: 2% to 8%) and was significantly lower among non-severe patients in comparison to deceased ones (1%, 95% CI: 0% to 4%, vs. 31%, 95% CI: 19% to 47%). BUN mean was 5.14 mmol/L (95% CI: 4.60 to 5.69). Non-severe patients had remarkably lower means of BUN compared to deceased or those with severe infection (4.25 mmol/L, 95% Cl: 3.70 to 4.79, vs. 8.9 mmol/L, 95% CI: 7.94 to 9.86, vs. 6.63 mmol/L, 95% Cl: 5.62 to 7.65; respectively). The mean serum Cr was 71.60 mmol/L (95% Cl: 67.56 to 75.64). Our findings suggest that COVID-19 does not seem to involve renal system extensively and other possible mechanisms might be further investigated in this regard.


Due to ecological and economic challenges there is a rising demand on closely-tolerated complex functional components. Regarding short process chains and improved mechanical properties conventional forming processes are often limited. A promising approach to meet these requirements can be seen in the combination of traditional sheet and bulk metal forming processes, to form sheet metals out of the sheet plane with typical bulk forming operations. The challenge of applying conventional bulk forming operations on sheet metal is the interaction between regions of high and low deformation, which is largely unknown in literature. To analyze this topic fundamentally, a process combination of deep drawing and upsetting is developed for manufacturing tooth-like elements at pre-drawn cups. To fully understand material flow out of the sheet plane into the tooth cavity and to identify and qualify process factors depending on the functional elements´ geometry and friction, a single upsetting stage forming a simplified model of the blank is virtually analyzed with finite-element simulation. By inhibiting the forming history of the pre-drawn blank, the upsetting process can be investigated without interactions with a previous deep drawing operation.


Most of auto-body members are composed of stamping parts. These parts have the non-uniform thickness and plastic work hardening distribution during the forming process. This paper is concerned with the side impact analysis of ULSAB-AVC model according to the US-SINCAP in order to compare the crashworthiness between the model with and without considering the forming effect. The forming effect is calculated by one-step forming analysis for several members. The crashworthiness is investigated by comparing the deformed shape of the cabin room, the energy absorption characteristics and the intrusion velocity of a car. The result of the crash analysis demonstrates that the crash mode, the loadcarrying capacity and energy absorption can be affected by the forming effect. It is noted that the design of an autobody should be carried out considering the forming effect for accurate assessment of crashworthiness.


Aim: Recent events surrounding postmortem practices have necessitated several changes in the way necropsies are conducted both within the medicolegal and hospital settings. These changes have resulted in a striking reduction in the frequency of brain retention for neuropathological examination. Aberdeen Royal Infirmary, responding quickly to rising concerns among bereaved relatives regarding organ retention, instituted a change in practice regarding the examination of brains at necropsy as early as 2001. The new protocol involved subjecting the brain to rapid fixation using combined immersion and perfusion techniques. This allows return of the organ to the body without unreasonable delay to the funeral. In this article, we present the results of a retrospective audit comparing the efficacy of the new method against the conventional fixation protocol. Methods: An equal number of postmortem brains were selected randomly from the year 1998 (following the usual fixation protocol), and from the year 2001 (following the new method). A three tier scoring system was devised to assess section and staining quality, and a single observer scored all the cases. Results: No statistical difference was noted in the quality of sections prepared by rapid fixation those by conventional fixation. Furthermore, the rapid method was more frequently adequate for diagnosis (considering scores of 2 and 3 together) than the conventional method. Conclusion: Rapid fixation offers a viable alternative for detailed examination of brains at necropsy, without necessarily prolonging the retention of the organ.


Previous studies demonstrated an accumulation of "idiogenic osmoles" in the brain with chronic salt loading. Amino acids are known to constitute a portion of these solutes, but the balance of the solutes has yet to be fully characterized. In the present study, 1H-nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy and biochemical assays of rat brain were used to identify and quantify changes in organic solutes in two different animal models of hypernatremia: hypertonic salt loading and water deprivation. Five days of salt loading increased plasma sodium concentration (PNa) to 165 meq/l and 3 days of water deprivation increased PNa to 151 meq/l, compared with 141 meq/l in controls. Amino acids, methylamines, and polyols were all significantly higher in salt-loaded animals compared with controls. Specifically, higher contents of glutamine (+65%), glutamate (+27%), myo-inositol (+36%), phosphocreatine + creatine (PCr + Cr) (32%), glycerophosphorylcholine (GPC) (+75%), and choline (+114%) were observed. Sorbitol and betaine, osmolytes known to accumulate in the hypertonic inner medulla, were present in low amounts in the brain and were unchanged with salt loading. In contrast to the results with salt loading, no accumulation of brain organic solutes was detected after 3 days of water deprivation. Based on these findings, we propose that amino acids, methylamines, and polyols function as osmoregulatory solutes in the brains of salt-loaded rats in a manner similar to that observed in other biological systems, whereas 3 days of water deprivation is an insufficient stimulus for their accumulation.


We estimate reduced form models to discern the effect of state regulation of the quality of center and family day care. Specifically, we consider the effects of the number of mandated inspections, limits on group size and staff/child ratio, and staff training requirements on equilibrium price and hours of care and the quality of care as measured by the actual staff/child ratio. The specification of the reduced form model is derived from an eight equation market model for wages and work hours, type of child care chosen, price and hours of care and a set of hedonic equations for the characteristics of care. The results indicate strongly that child care regulations do affect equilibrium price, hours of care, and staff/child ratios. Child care regulations are binding. In equilibrium, only regulations regarding staff training appear to have consistently desirable effects. Such regulations decrease equilibrium price and hours of care and increase the staff/child ratio for both centers and family day care. Regulations of group size and the staff/child ratio have significant effects, but the welfare implications of the effects are more ambiguous. Tax deductions and subsidies for child care have similarly ambiguous welfare effects. For example, households that take a tax deduction for child care pay higher prices for care, consume more hours of care and consume higher quality day care.


Die cast structural components for the automotive industry gain more and more importance as they highly contribute to a weight reduction of cars and thus to a reduced fuel consumption as well as CO2- emission. So today very often die cast aluminium A-, B- or C-pillar, shock towers, or door components replace traditional steel parts. These structural components are often characterised by large dimensions and complicated design. Die casting dies for structural components have to fulfil highest requirements with respect to toughness, high-temperature strength, and thermal fatigue resistance. Often the traditionally used hot-work tool steels like 1.2343 (AISI H 11), 1.2344 (H 13), or 1.2367 cannot fulfil these requirements. Kind & Co. has developed three special hot-work tool steels with significantly improved properties: TQ 1, HP 1, and HTR. The report will not only give a survey on the properties of these steels but also on practical experience gained with these grades. A proper heat treatment is essential for the performance of the dies. Kind & Co has recently set up one of the largest and most modern vacuum hardening furnaces in the world which focuses on these large die casting dies. The report will also show up the contribution of a modern heat treatment facility to an economic die casting process of high-class structural components.


Citizens' mobility brings great challenges to the cities and smart city's initiatives. This study main goal is to disclosure the current situation of the metropolitan area of Lisbon regarding smart mobility and multimodal mobility systems. The methodological approach of this study consist of collect data from citizens of the metropolitan area of Lisbon, through a survey. We report here empirical study results on citizen awareness of information systems solutions, and their level of usage in their daily lives. Our study results demonstrated the citizens of the metropolitan area of Lisbon are highly unhappy with the available mobility systems and use mainly the private car as transport mode and the importance of multimodal mobility systems were confirmed.


Abstract Introduction: Obesity and type 2 diabetes are leading causes of cardiovascular morbidity and mortality most commonly through accelerated atherosclerotic disease. Researchers have recognised clearly that there is a cardiac pathological process that is over and beyond any damage secondary to accelerated atherosclerosis or associated hypertension. There has been much research into the histological, genetic and functional changes that may underpin these specific processes; these demonstrate structural hypertrophic and fibrotic changes accompanied by changes in energy metabolism, nervous control, contractile performance and electrical conduction. To date, there is very little in the way of comparative study between animal diabetes and obesity models or of cardiac gene expression in the human type 2 diabetes phenotype, which in many individuals comprises both diabetes and obesity. Aim: To investigate cardiac genetic expression of proteins and ion channels in obesity and diabetes to identify changes underpinning the pathological processes and to characterise features common to both conditions, specifically features that may affect contractile performance and secondly, changes that may lead to increased arrhythmogenesis. Methods: A streptozocin rat model of type 1 diabetes was compared with a high fat diet rat model of obesity and finally a human group with type 2 diabetes to understand the gene expression changes in the left ventricle characterising the obesity and diabetic cardiomyopathy. Gene expression of left ventricle tissue was measured using qPCR and compared to a control group; followed by mathematical modelling to predict changes in the cardiac action potential. This was used to investigate specific changes to each condition and common changes between the groups to identify if there was a common genotype and action potential phenotype. In addition, echocardiography, the standard ECG and the signal averaged ECG were used to assess the human study group for early signs of cardiac dysfunction related to diabetes. Results: All three groups had gene expression changes likely to lead to action potential prolongation and higher rates of arrhythmias, with ERG (Human Ether Related a Go-Go) mRNA reduced in all 3 study groups responsible for IK,r. AP modelling, suggested that the likely functional change of the gene expression alterations would be to cause AP prolongation and in the human study, early-after depolarizations at the endocardial level. As part of the confirmatory process for one of the more unexpected gene changes, up-regulation in HCN4 gene expression in the obese rats was associated with a significant increase in HCN4 protein immunofluorescence in the ventricles. In addition, the human type 2 diabetes group had evidence of reduced ventricular contractile function, atrial changes and strain rate changes suggestive of myocardial fibrosis. No significant alterations were noted in the signal averaged ECG between groups but as has been seen in other studies, QT prolongation was found in the type 2 diabetes group. Conclusion: Diabetes and obesity lead to changes in cardiac gene expression that when modelled will prolong the action potential, possibly as a compensatory mechanism to maintain contractile function at the expense of an arrhythmogenic phenotype.


Objectives: The purpose of this investigation was to evaluate the substantivity of chlorhexidine (CHX) within the root canal system and to assess how long the CHX remains antimicrobially effective. Materials and Methods: Sixty freshly extracted intact human lower premolars with single root were collected, stored, and disinfected. The roots were divided randomly into two treatment groups: experimental (n = 30) and control (n = 30). Experimental samples (n = 30) were treated with 2% CHX and control samples (n = 30) were treated with sterile saline for 10 min. The samples were obturated with AH 26 sealer and gutta percha using lateral condensation technique. Each group was further randomly divided into three separate subgroups and stored in sterile saline for 1 week, 3 weeks, and 6 weeks. After the respective storage periods, all specimens were halved, and canal dentin was ground out with a peeso reamer. To determine whether the CHX from the dentin samples remained antimicrobial, the extracts from the experimental and control groups were mixed with the culture of Enterococcus faecalis. Results: Results were analyzed using one-way analysis of variance and Duncan's multiple range test, which showed statistically significant difference between the control and experimental groups with ultraviolet spectrophotometer for all storage periods but only till 3 weeks with antimicrobial tests. Conclusion: It can be concluded from this study that CHX is retained in the root canal in antimicrobial effective amounts for up to 3 weeks.


As new proposals aim to sequence ever larger collection of humans, it is critical to have a quantitative framework to evaluate the statistical power of these projects. We developed a new algorithm, UnseenEst, and applied it to the exomes of 60,706 individuals to estimate the frequency distribution of all protein-coding variants, including rare variants that have not been observed yet in the current cohorts. Our results quantified the number of new variants that we expect to identify as sequencing cohorts reach hundreds of thousands of individuals. With 500K individuals, we find that we expect to capture 7.5% of all possible loss-of-function variants and 12% of all possible missense variants. We also estimate that 2,900 genes have loss-of-function frequency of less than 10-5 in healthy humans, consistent with very strong intolerance to gene inactivation.


The coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has undeniably influenced the global economy and environment. Major victims of the COVID-19 outbreak are Micro and Small Enterprises (MSEs), especially in developing countries, mainly because of limited use of digital technologies. This paper employs a literature review and personal insights to provide COVID-19 pandemic digitization lessons for sustainable development of MSEs from a technology for social good perspective. We develop a framework to support post COVID- 19 digital transformation for sustainable development of MSEs. We find that digital payments, especially mobile money, should be a critical digital transformation priority for MSEs. Also, institutions must sup- port MSE resources and capabilities to adopt digital transformation for business continuity, and sustainable production and consumption. Our study suggests that MSE managers and other stakeholders rethink their business strategies, incorporating crisis scenarios and business continuity plans to sustain customers virtually to enhance sustainable development. We also propose further research areas to improve the suc- cessful digital transformation of MSEs post COVID-19. © 2021 Institution of Chemical Engineers. Published


The use of steam pasteurization (SPS400TM; Frigoscandia, Bellevue, WA) as a viable commercial-scale intervention method to treat pre-rigor beef carcasses uniformly hasbeen evaluated for temperatures from 180E to 201 ÌŠF. Effectiveness at lower temperatures(minimum atmospheric temperature of 170 ÌŠF) has not been evaluated. Previous studies of steam pasteurization used excision sampling. However, the USDA-FSIS has suggested use of nondestructive sampling of chilled beef carcasses for generic Escherichia coli, so we compared excision and sponge sampling in a commercial slaughter facility. Twenty-eight beef carcasses were monitored to determine the effectiveness of steam pasteurization and to compare the two sampling methods. Total aerobic mesophilic bacteria, E. coli, and coliform counts were all reduced (P≤0.01) by steam pasteurization. Sponge sampling of carcasses for E. coli. provided lower recovery (P≤0.01) than excision sampling. None of 28 carcasses tested positive by sponge sampling; however, six of the same microbial carcasses were positive (0.39-23.6 CFU/cm2) by excision sampling immediately adjacent to the sponged area. The SPS 400TM steam pasteurization unit, operating at a minimum atmospheric temperature of 170 ÌŠF reduced (P≤0.01) all bacterial populations on prerigor beef carcasses. Excision data, compared to previous commercial evaluations of the SPS 400TM at a slightly higher operating atmospheric temperature, provided comparable total reductions, but a few more E. coli survived at 170 F.


Many web sites provide free services to users. The revenue for these sites is dependent on the advertisements they place on their web pages. For these firms, therefore, the optimal placing of advertisements on their web pages becomes a critical issue. In a given planning horizon, we assume that the number of advertisements available for placement on a web site is greater than the available space. The site, therefore, needs to determine the optimal allocation of advertisement space. We develop a hybrid genetic algorithm (GA) that uses problem specific knowledge during the evolution of solutions to solve this problem. Our initial computational results show that the hybrid GA performs exceptionally well in the sense that it provides optimal or near optimal solutions for a variety of problems.