12 microsatellite markers from 4 chromosomes were chosen to analyze the effect on 5 milk production traits (including fat, lactoprotein, lactose, dry matter content and somatic cell number) of 150 cows from a 6-male-line Simmental breeding core group. Results showed that the 12 microsatellite markers were highly polymorphic and their PIC (polymorphism information contents) were over 0.60, and the marker with the highest PIC (0.85) was ILST093. The heterozygosities were among 0.64 and 0.86. Effects of 12 microsatellite loci on milk production traits were analyzed. Results showed that ILST093 had a significant effect on somatic cell number (P<0.05). Effects of BMS711 on fat ratio and of BMS1905 on lactose both reached a significant level (P<0.05), BM6438 on milk production traits had no significant effect.


Many automobile accidents involving pedestrians in city driving at roundabouts, intersections, and crossings are related to blind spots caused by A-pillars—vertical posts that straddle the windshield and tie the car's body to the roof. Designers have addressed such problems by changing A-pillars' geometry to improve drivers' forward field of view (FoV). Other high-tech solutions include implementing cameras with integrated displays and proximity sensors to enhance drivers' situational awareness. However, these solutions can be expensive and still do not significantly improve the obstruction caused by the A-pillar. There is a need for assessing concept variants and alternate solutions during preliminary design to assess A-pillar vision obstruction. This paper proposes a proof-of-concept proactive ergonomics framework that integrates generative design (GD) and digital human modeling (DHM) to quantify A-pillar obstruction. Overall, this research demonstrates how the proposed framework provides a rapid and rough ergonomics strategy by enabling designers to assess design attributes early in design proactively. We utilized the proposed framework in a generic case study that compares the concept pillar designs and current conventional pillars regarding their performance in reducing vision obstructions.


This study explored the teaching processes in mathematics education for adults and how they are shaped by certain social and institutional forces. Teaching processes included the selection and ordering of content to be taught; the choice of such techniques as lectures or groupwork; the expectations, procedures and norms of the classroom; and the complex web of interactions between teachers and learners, and between learners themselves. The study addressed three broad questions: (1) What happens in adult mathematics classrooms? (2) What do these phenomena mean for those involved as teachers or learners? and (3) In what ways do certain factors beyond the teachers' control affect teaching processes? The theoretical framework linked macro and micro approaches to the study of teaching, and offered an analytical perspective that showed how teachers' thoughts and actions can be influenced and circumscribed by external factors. Further, it provided a framework for an analysis of the ways in which teaching processes were viewed, described, chosen, developed, and constrained by certain "frame" factors. The study was based in a typical setting for adult mathematics education: a community college providing a range of ABE-level mathematics courses for adults. Three introductory-level courses were selected and data collected from teachers and students in these courses, as well as material that related to the teaching and learning of mathematics within the college. The study used a variety of data collection methods in addition to document collection: surveys of teachers' and adult learners' attitudes, repeated semi-structured interviews with teachers and learners, and extensive ethnographic observations in several mathematics classes. 111 The teaching of mathematics was dominated by the transmission of facts and procedures, and largely consisted of repetitious activities and tests. Teachers were pivotal in the classroom, making all the decisions that related in any way to mathematics education. They rigidly followed the set textbooks, allowing them to determine both the content and the process of mathematics education. Teachers claimed that they wished to develop motivation and responsibility for learning in their adult students, yet provided few practical opportunities for such development to occur. Few attempts were made to encourage students, or to check whether they understood what they were being asked to do. Mathematical problems were often repetitious and largely irrelevant to adult students' daily lives. Finally, teachers "piloted" students through problem-solving situations, via a series of simple questions, designed to elicit a specific "correct" method of solution, and a single correct calculation. One major consequence of these predominant patterns was that the overall approach to mathematics education was seen as appropriate, valid, and successful. The notion of success, however, can be questioned. In sum, mathematics teaching can best be understood as situationally constrained choice. Within their classrooms, teachers have some autonomy to act yet their actions are influenced by certain external factors. These influences act as frames, bounding and constraining classroom teaching processes and forcing teachers to adopt a conservative approach towards education. As a result, the cumulative effects of all of frame factors reproduced the status quo and ensured that the form and provision of mathematics education remained essentially unchanged.


Abstract The evidence we have on chronic poverty and the fortunes of the poorest people suggests that a significant proportion of the poor, between one-quarter and one-half, are chronically poor in low- and lower-middle-income countries. Using the limited available data covering the last 20 years, this paper examines whether those who were poor in the 1990s could plausibly still be poor today, despite international and national efforts to eradicate poverty. The data on poverty dynamics are restricted to only a few countries, so this paper also explores the changing fortunes of the poorest quintile of the population between the 1990s and the 2000s from 33 Demographic and Health Surveys, concluding that significantly greater benefits (and fewer losses) from development across a range of indicators have gone to the second and third quintiles. This evidence shows that the poorest quintile have indeed lost out: they have not seen the same total amount of benefits as accrued by other wealth groups. The poorest have also lost more land and marry earlier in relative terms. Policies to equalize the benefits of development are wide ranging and often context specific. Many of them are not amenable to international goals and targets and they require positive political change and supportive change in social values. The main action to achieve greater equality is at the national level, and national policy makers need better and especially longitudinal data and analysis, particularly on wages and urban populations, if policies for the poorest are to improve significantly. The post-2015 framework needs to emphasise support for positive actions at national level and be sparing about imposing international goals and targets. While the MDGs focus on critical areas of policy, which should not be lost sight of, the one new goal which could draw attention to the plight of the poorest would be about equality/inequality in its various forms. While the political feasibility of such a goal is in doubt, a second best solution would be to develop equity/equality indicators across any other goals and targets, and then pay a lot of attention to them post 2015.


Chronic disease and opioid-related hospitalizations in the United States are increasing. We analyzed nationally representative data on patients aged 18 years or older from the 2011–2015 National Inpatient Sample to assess the association between opioid-related hospitalization and chronic diseases. We found that most patients with opioid-related hospitalization were white, aged 35–54 years, in urban hospitals, and had 2 or more comorbid conditions. Patients with 2 or more chronic conditions accounted for more than 90% of opioid-related hospitalizations in all years. The results suggest a need for targeted interventions to prevent opioid misuse in patients with multiple chronic conditions.


This paper first sets out a framework for understanding network neutrality, by organizing the various issues raised in the course of the network neutrality debate. Secondly, recent US legal and regulatory initiatives are briefly reviewed. Thirdly, the situation under EU law is surveyed. Finally, the conclusion compares the two regulatory responses and considers how the global network neutrality debate could unfold. In the short term, ISPs must take measures to deal with imbalances and congestion on their networks. Beyond that, in the longer term, ISPs are looking to introduce differentiated Quality of Service (QoS) offerings, so as to turn their services to a two-sided platform. The most fundamental policy concern within 'network neutrality' is whether differentiated QoS should be allowed at all. Economic arguments point to benefits, as well as potential risks. However, depending on how it is implemented, differentiated QoS could lead to market fragmentation, where largely standardized IP-based offerings would be replaced by primarily national platforms. Market power concerns also arise, most significantly at the ISP level. Vis-a-vis users, the ability of users to switch to another ISP acts as a brake on any abuse on the part of the ISP. Vis-a-vis content providers, the ISP is in a position similar to that of a terminating operator, but this analogy is imperfect. There is a widespread concern in the literature that an ISP with market power could integrate vertically and then engage into discrimination against, or even blocking of traffic from, non-affiliated content providers. In its Open Internet Order of December 2010, the US FCC found that differentiated QoS is undesirable, towards content providers except if it can be brought within an exception (reasonable network management, specialized services). Mobile ISPs also have greater leeway to discriminate than fixed ISPs. Despite its efforts to rely on economic analysis, the FCC is mired in technological categories. In the EU, the European Commission has adopted a different policy line so far, whereby the introduction of differentiated QoS is possible, within some safeguards and subject to the application of EU competition law. The Commission relies on economic analysis and remains technology neutral, in line with EU communications policy. At the global level, it must be expected that different local market situations and policy preferences will lead to divergence on network neutrality. While divergence is not harmful as such, in the case of network neutrality spillovers could arise, and global market fragmentation could occur.


CEA-Irfu developed a new device, called MINOS (MagIc Numbers Off Stability), to improve both the luminosity and the sensitivity of proton-induced knockout reactions experiments performing in-beam spectroscopy of very exotic nuclei produced at fragmentation facilities (such as RIBF at RIKEN in Japan and in the future at FAIR in Germany). Its innovative approach is that it uses a compact annular 300 mm long Time Projection Chamber (TPC) surrounding a thick cylindrical liquid hydrogen target. The TPC reconstructs the recoiled proton tracks in order to locate the interaction vertex inside the target, allowing a proper Doppler correction to emitted gamma rays measured in a dedicated detector. A bulk-micromegas, segmented in 4608 x 2 mm pads, is used to readout the TPC which is filled with an AriC4H10(3%)-CF4(15%) gas mixture. The electronics is composed of 20 analog front-end cards. Each of these is read out by a newly designed digital board, called the Feminos, which is compatible with the AFTER and AGET chips. The internal and external TPC field cages are made of 2 mm thick Rohacell cylinders on which are glued 50 microns thick Kapton foils printed with 381 copper strips. The MINOS device is described, with a focus on the design choices and performances of the TPC characterized in laboratory with cosmic rays. We report on a recent in-beam validation of the TPC at HIMAC (Japan) where a better than 6 mm FWHM vertex resolution was obtained with a 180 and 350 MeV/u Ne ion-beam impinging on two 0.5 mm thick CH2 targets.


Weak electromagnetic radiation (36 GHz, 100 MicroW/cm2) was used to study its effect on learning and memory of larvae and imago of the grain beetle Tenebrio molitor. The insects were learned to choose the direction in a T-maze. The retention was tested a month later. They were exposed to weak electromagnetic radiation before or after the learning experiments. Previous exposure to weak electromagnetic radiation stimulated learning of both larvae and imago. The effect depended on the developmental stage of the larvae. It was considerably stronger in larvae exposed to weak electromagnetic radiation immediately after their molting. It was better in the first half of the instar than in the second half. It is suggested that the effect of weak electromagnetic radiation can correlate with the function of hormones of metamorphosis.


The European Union and its member states are investing in ambitious programmes for 'better regulation' and targets of regulatory quality. This book lifts the veil of excessively optimistic propositions covering the whole better regulation agenda. It provides an innovative conceptual framework to handle the political complexity of regulatory governance. It approaches better regulation as an emerging public policy, with its own political context, actors, problems, rules of interaction, instruments, activities and impacts. Focusing on the key tools of impact assessment, consultation, simplification, and access to legislation, the authors provide fresh empirical evidence on the progress made in the member states and in Brussels, drawing on an extensive research project and an original survey of directors of better regulation programmes in Europe. Radaelli and De Francesco show how indicators define, measure, and appraise better regulation policy, linking measures to policy processes in which the stakeholders learn by monitoring.


ABSTRACT Dendritic cells (DC) are potent antigen-presenting cells that hold promise as cell-based therapeutic vaccines for infectious diseases and cancer. Ideally, DC would be engineered to express autologous viral or tumor antigens to ensure the presentation of relevant antigens to host T cells in vivo; however, expression of wild-type viral genes in primary cell lines can be problematic. Nucleofection is an effective means of delivering transgenes to primary cell lines, but its use in transfecting DNA or mRNA into DC has not been widely investigated. We show that nucleofection is a superior means of transfecting human and monkey monocyte-derived DC with DNA and mRNA compared to lipofection and conventional electroporation. However, the delivery of DNA and mRNA had significantly different outcomes in transfected DC. DC nucleofected with DNA encoding green fluorescent protein (GFP) had poor antigen expression and viability and were refractory to maturation with CD40 ligand. In contrast, >90% of DC expressed uniform and high levels of GFP from 3 h to 96 h postnucleofection with mRNA while maintaining a normal maturation response to CD40 ligation. Monkey DC nucleofected with wild-type, non-codon-optimized mRNA encoding simian immunodeficiency virus Gag stimulated robust antigen-specific effector T-cell responses at 24 h and 48 h postnucleofection, reflecting sustained antigen presentation in transfected DC, whereas no detectable T-cell response was noted when DC were nucleofected with DNA encoding the same Gag sequence. These data indicate that mRNA nucleofection may be an optimal means of transfecting DC with autologous tumor or viral antigen for DC-based immunotherapy.


During 2006-2008, Indonesia has been experiencing depreciation of IDR against world currency US$. The situation was triggered by global crisis October 2008, and IDR currency plunged. Furthermore, 17 textile/shoes industries publicly listed in ISX have been severely hit by depreciation of IDR The "Huge Loss of Bottom Line" in 2008 was recorded (IDR 617 billions) more than half of trillion IDR. To be curious the most of industry are manufacturer-exporter. Year 2007, national textile industry overwhelmingly reports the export sales of US$ 10.05 billion and the raw material import was US$ 2.04 billions. By these facts, Income contribution from textile/shoes industries sector was US$ 8.01 billion and became a mile stone of the achievement. Depreciation of IDR currency is an advantage to the exporter as product become cheaper for foreign buyer while import goods costly to foreign seller. The aim of this research is to describe the impact of FX on the bottom line of the Textile/Shoes Industries listed in ISX during 2006-2008, a period when the profit performance has been fallen sharply in line with the depreciation of IDR currency. By using the mathematical regression equation is surprisingly proven that FX adversely impact to the "bottom line" of the industry. The equation model selected Net Income as dependent variable while Operating Profit, Financial Charges and FX (Forex) as the independent variable. From the outcome of the research, the dilemma between operation and financial leverage is revealed. Depreciation IDR was negatively reduced the "bottom line" this was mainly due to higher FX loss. By the end of December 2008, 17 shoes/textile industries have been suffered a huge loss of FX, and recorded FX Loss (IDR 564 billions), in connection with "high financial leverage denominated in US$ currency". The snapshot of balance sheet position is called "Net Short Asset to US $". Only 5 Industries were making money among 17 industries during 2008. Only one company had already "hedged" their exposure to FX. Only one company who reported profit show "debt to equity ratio" is much lower than average industry (US Textile Manufacturing) However, under the operational expectation, the depreciation of IDR currency encourage better performance of "export oriented company". This is the dilemma that textile/shoes industries have been exposed to financial risk in one side and on the other side operational risk (competitiveness). Keywords: net short asset to US$, financial leverage and financial risk, operational risk, foreign exchange loss, depreciation of IDR.


Aim of the study – To develop and evaluate an interprofessional simulated ward environment workshop for pre-clinical medical and nursing students enhancing collaborative team working and basic clinical skills in preparation for clinical placements. Background Health professional education providers are challenged to provide innovative educational approaches to train health professionals who on qualifying, can work collaboratively to meet the challenges of an increasingly complex health arena. Interprofessional simulation is a rare event within undergraduate programmes despite being advocated by both the GMC (2009) and the NMC (2010), the professional bodies governing the standards of education provision in the UK. The development of a simulation suite on site, predominantly used for postgraduate training, identified an opportunity to develop interprofessional simulation for undergraduate students. Methodology A three bedded simulated ward was designed, incorporating scenarios representative of common acute clinical presentations. Participants were nursing and medical students in their 1st and 2nd year respectively. Common learning outcomes were identified across both curricula. An action research approach was taken. Focus groups were conducted to explore the views of both students and faculty on the effectiveness of this educational approach and identify issues for consideration for planning the next cycle of research. Data was also collected from observational notes, video recordings of the simulation, and debriefing sessions. Data was analysed using thematic analysis. Results/outcomes Participants evaluated the workshop extremely positively. Participants felt it had increased their understanding and appreciation of other health professionals' roles, with increasing collaboration and teamwork. Increase in knowledge, skills and confidence in preparation for ward placements were also demonstrated. Conclusions and recommendations Interprofessional simulation is an enjoyable and effective learning strategy which is underpinned by established educational theories. Opportunities should be offered to students early in their programmes to exploit the potencies this approach offers. Inherent problems were identified in relation to timetabling and resources. References General Medical Council. Tomorrow's Doctors': Outcomes and standards for Undergraduate Medical Education, 2009 Nursing and Midwifery Council. Standards to support learning and assessment in practice. London: NMC, 2010


Zika virus is a mosquito-transmitted flavivirus that causes devastating fetal outcomes in the context of maternal infection during pregnancy. An important target for drugs combatting Zika virus pathogenicity is NS2B-NS3 protease, which plays an essential role in hydrolysis and maturation of the flavivirus polyprotein. We identify hydroxychloroquine, a drug that already has approved uses in pregnancy, as a possible inhibitor of NS2B-NS3 protease by using a Food and Drug Administration-approved drug library, molecular docking, and molecular dynamics simulations. Further, to gain insight into its inhibitory potential toward NS2B-NS3 protease, we performed enzyme kinetic studies, which revealed that hydroxychloroquine inhibits protease activity with an inhibition constant (Ki) of 92.34 ± 11.91 μM. Additionally, hydroxychloroquine significantly decreases Zika virus infection in placental cells.


The main purposes of this study are 1) to define what gap year travel is, to research 2) what gappers (i.e. gap year participants) learn (i.e. the outcomes of gap year travel learning) and 3) how they learn (i.e. the processes of gap year travel learning). This is in order to investigate the effects of gap year travel experiences on personal development and selfgrowth.
This study examines the phenomenon of gap year travel and its relationships with the concepts of mobility, identity, youth transition and individual learning using literature from tourism, youth studies and learning theory. It acknowledges the importance of understanding
the complexity of the transition from childhood-to-adulthood and from school-to-work in a dynamic and multicultural world, especially for young gappers who choose to embark on gap year travel.
Using a research design based on in-depth semi-structured interviews, data were collected from 27 young gappers of age 17-30 years in the South East of England in Spring
2009. The findings suggests that gap year travel is a form of mobility that helps young people manage the transition from their childhood to their adulthood and ease their transition from school to Higher Education or between employment. Gap year travel does so by allowing the participants space, time and freedom which often contrasts with circumstances for them back home and offering a space where learning is allowed to occur and influence the gappers' personal and sometimes professional development in some cases.
This study provides three main contributions. First, the study starts by clarifying the definition of gap year travel for the purpose of the research using definitions made by other scholars and the findings of a preliminary study. Using this definition, the study proceeded to
research the outcomes and process of gap year travel learning. Second, the main outcomes of gap year travel learning revealed by the research are self understanding, relationship building and life management. It was found that the gappers felt they had become more confident,
independent, responsible and open-minded as a result of their trips. Furthermore, the findings suggest that the gappers learned how to manage their time, finances and well-being, as well as learning how to build awareness of and foundations for their relationships with others, i.e.
their family, friends and other gappers, as well as but to a lesser extent locals. While reflecting on their past and present experiences, gappers also spoke about the effect gap year travel had on how they saw their future, e.g. their academic studies, career and lifestyle.
The experiential and transformative dimensions of Gap Year Travel Learning are revealed through the application of Experiential Learning Theory (Kolb, 1984) and
Transformative Learning Theory (Mezirow, 1991) to analyse the gappers' learning. As far as the processes of learning are concerned, the stages and steps suggested by Kolb (1984) and Mezirow (1991) are applicable to gap year travel learning, although some important variations do occur. Finally, the third main contribution this study offers in this regard is a model of the gap year travel learning. The model illustrates six main steps of gap year travel learning: I) experiencing; 2) internal dialoguing (self-reflecting); 3) external dialoguing
(discussing with others); 4) abstracting; 5) changing; 6) adapting. These various stages in the process are further organized as two learning cycles of gap year travel: gap year travel learning cycle I (experiencing, self-reflecting and discussing with others) and gap year travel learning cycle 2 (abstracting, changing and adapting). A much simplified form of the model
of gap year travel learning process is also offered for practitioner use, Le.: 'action; dialogue; cognition, adjustment'.
In essence, this study asserts that the gap year travel experience and the associated process of gap year travel learning can enhance learning in ways that contribute to the gappers' career, academic and life development during an important transitional stage of their lives. Findings of this study could be useful to gappers themselves, the parents of the gappers, gap year travel companies, educational institutions (high school institutions and higher education institutions), and companies hiring or employing gapers or ex-gappers.


ABSTRACT CIPRIANI, L.E., FERRI, S., LAMI, G and PRANZINI, E., 2011. Human Impact on Shoreline Evolution Along the Follonica Gulf (Southern Tuscany): How Tourism May Kill the Goose That Lays the Golden Eggs. In: Micallef, A. (ed.), MCRR3-2010 Conference Proceedings, Journal of Coastal Research, Special Issue, No. 61, pp. 290–294. Grosseto, Tuscany, Italy, ISSN 0749-0208. Follonica Gulf beach is subject to widespread low-rate erosion, which started in the 19th Century due to river diversion for coastal marsh reclamation. Once rivers were re-directed to the coast; land subsidence induced by water extraction sustained erosion. From 1954 to 1984 mean shoreline retreat was approximately 9 m. In the 1960's, development of coastal tourism villages increased beach use and the need for house protection from storms. Detached breakwaters were built, trapping sand from adjacent coastal sectors. This induced shoreline progradation in protected sectors creating a wider beach, but unprotected coastal sectors experienced severe erosion. Stakeholders requested additional protection: the most developed area was gradually protected by detached breakwaters up to complete closure. Comparing the 2005 and 1954 shoreline positions, we see that out of the total length of approximately 21 km of coastline 8 km are accreting; less than 1 km is stable and over 12 km are eroding. Recently, a marina was built on the eastern margin of the study area; however wave diffraction at breakwater tip induced longshore transport and entrance siltation at the cost of western neighbouring beaches. Tourism industry stakeholders, whose economy is based on beach width and quality, were responsible for such coastal degradation, but now cooperate with local and regional administrations, accepting reduction in the use of hard defences - although shoreline realignment will end up penalising someone. Some detached breakwaters have been lowered to 50 cm below mean sea level, whereas others will undergo similar reshaping in the near future. The two oldest sets of coastal defence are now under study, in order to find solutions for a gradual return to more natural conditions. Changes to the marina configuration are being designed to prevent siltation, reaching a new equilibrium for the adjacent beach. We now realise that money spent for shore protection in some sectors would have maintained the 1950's shoreline position along the whole Gulf using beach nourishment, with no landscape deterioration.


In this paper, we identify the practical issues that deter the adoption of software transactional memory (STM) for speculation in real applications. These issues include dealing with excessive instrumentation added by naive identification of potential shared accesses, functions that may be called from both transactional and non-transactional contexts, and calls to functions for which the source is unavailable. We address these challenges and provide an approach for developing speculatively-executed code in C/C++ that offers superior programmability and performance. Our contributions consist of a set of programming constructs for writing speculatively-executed code and a compiler that translates code annotated with these constructs into speculatively-executable code that uses STM runtime libraries. Our approach uses annotations that simply mark the boundaries of the code that is to be executed speculatively and supports calling precompiled (e.g., C standard library) and irreversible (e.g., I/O operations and system calls) functions from within transactions. We employ a series of important optimizations for reducing the overhead of speculative execution, including: placement of read/write barriers only for accesses that actually can cause a data race; elimination of redundant read/write barriers by caching shared variables; and eliminating unnecessary search in the write buffer. We evaluate the programmability of our constructs and the performance of our compiler implementation using eight STAMP benchmarks and two real applications-the Velvet genomic assembler and the ITI decision tree constructor. Compared to Intel's STM compiler, our approach requires 91% fewer constructs to be inserted by the programmer, yet it achieves 20.8% better performance.


Contemporary Issues Facing the Criminalization of Polygamy. According to ushûl al-fiqh, any act that disadvantages others is considered sinful. This is based on the principle that avoiding causing such disadvantages (mafsadât) is considered better than seeking advantages for oneself. Therefore, on the grounds that polygamy causes more disadvantages to wives and or children that it does advantages to those people, it can be categorised as a sinful act. In the fiqh context, polygamy is a jarîmah ta'zîr crime. But this is undermined by a lack of consensus about whether polygamy should be criminalised at all. Meanwhile, in the context of positive law in Indonesia, while the practice of polygamy is restricted the criminal sanctions for violating these restrictions are not clear. This article argues that polygamy is criminal both in terms of fiqh and positive law' However, in order for it to be properly stamped out, positive law needs to ensure that there are clear sanctions in place that directly correspond to acts of polygamy, such that the practice can be effectively criminalized.


OBJECTIVE
To describe a new vaginal approach for the repair of cystoceles, reinforced with a tension-free polypropylene mesh.

METHODS
The vaginal procedure consisted of a complete dissection of the cystocele and a thorough entry from the vesicovaginal space under the inferior pubic ramus into the retropubic space. The polypropylene mesh (GyneMesh(TM), Gynecare, Ethicon France) was placed from the retropubic space to the inferior part of the bladder in a tension-free fashion.

RESULTS
Forty-eight consecutive women with grade 3-4 cystoceles underwent this procedure between October 1999 and September 2001. Mean age was 63.9 years (41-85). Mean follow-up is 18 months (8-32). The success rate was 97.9%. There were a total of four vaginal erosions of the mesh (8.3%). There were no postoperative infections of the mesh.

CONCLUSION
The vaginal repair of severe cystocele reinforced with a tension-free polypropylene mesh is a simple and reproducible technique, with high success rate and low morbidity.


Background There are numerous but conflicting data regarding gender differences in outcomes following percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). Furthermore, gender differences in clinical outcomes with acute myocardial infarction (AMI) following PCI in Asian population remain uncertain because of the under-representation of Asian in previous trials. Methods A total of 13, 104 AMI patients from Korea Acute Myocardial Infarction Registry-National Institute of Health (KAMIR-NIH) between November 2011 and December 2015 were classified into male (n = 8021, 75.9%) and female (n = 2547, 24.1%). We compared the demographic, clinical and angiographic characteristics, 30-days and 1-year major adverse cardiac and cerebrovascular events (MACCE) in women with those in men after AMI by using propensity score (PS) matching. Results Compared with men, women were older, had more comorbidities and more often presented with non-ST segment elevation myocardial infarction (NSTEMI) and reduced left ventricular systolic function. Over the median follow-up of 363 days, gender differences in both 30-days and 1-year MACCE as well as thrombolysis in myocardial infarction minor bleeding risk were not observed in the PS matched population (30-days MACCE: 5.3% vs. 4.7%, log-rank P = 0.494, HR = 1.126, 95% CI: 0.800-1.585; 1-year MACCE: 9.3% vs. 9.0%, log-rank P = 0.803, HR = 1.032, 95% CI: 0.802-1.328; TIMI minor bleeding: 4.9% vs. 3.9%, log-rank P= 0.215, HR = 1.255, 95% CI: 0.869-1.814). Conclusions Among Korean AMI population undergoing contemporary PCI, women, as compared with men, had different clinical and angiographic characteristics but showed similar 30-days and 1-year clinical outcomes. The risk of bleeding after PCI was comparable between men and women during one-year follow up.


Fabrication of hybrid composite of nickel oxide (NiO) combined with oil palm empty fruit bunch (OPEFB) reinforced with polycaprolactone (PCL) has been done by using thermal Haake blending machine, which ensured mixture homogeneity. All hybrid composites' characterizations were carried out using X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared spectrometry, differential thermogravimetry, thermogravimetric analysis, and scanning electron microscopy. The results showed that the XRD profile patterns of the composites clearly changed as the filler loading amount was increased. Fourier transform infrared spectra illustrated a slight change in the frequencies and positions of the peaks after adding NiO, indicating that some interactions occurred between C=O and O–H or among the fiber, NiO, and PCL. The microwave electromagnetic properties, such as reflection loss (dB), relative complex permittivity (ε r = (Formula presented.) –j (Formula presented.)), and permeability ((Formula presented.) −j (Formula presented.)) were calculated at various microwave frequencies in the X-band (8–12 GHz) range. It was observed that the thermal stability, magnetic, and dielectric properties of NiO:OPEFB:PCL composites were modified significantly with NiO addition. This enables the new hybrid composites to be used as engineering materials in the microwave applications.


A novel chitinase gene of tobacco was isolated and characterized by DNA sequence analysis of a genomic clone and a cDNA clone. Comparative sequence analysis of both clones showed an identity of 94%. The proteins encoded by these sequences do not correspond to any of the previously characterized plant chitinases of classes I-IV and are designated as class V chitinases. Comparison of the chitinase class V peptide sequence with sequences in the Swiss Protein databank revealed significant sequence similarity with bacterial exo-chitinases from Bacillus circulans, Serratia marcescens and Streptomyces plicatus. It was demonstrated that class V chitinase gene expression is induced after treatment of tobacco with different forms of stress, like TMV-infection, ethylene treatment, wounding or ultraviolet irradiation. Two related chitinase class V proteins of 41 and 43 kDa were purified from Samsun NN tobacco leaves inoculated with tobacco mosaic virus. The proteins were purified by Chelating Superose chromatography and gel filtration. In vitro assays demonstrated that class V chitinases have endo-chitinase activity and exhibit antifungal activity toward Trichoderma viride and Alternaria radicina. In addition, it was shown that class V chitinase acts synergistically with tobacco class I beta-1,3-glucanase against Fusarium solani germlings.


: Eighty-two reproductive-aged patients who had early miscarriages of infectious genesis were examined. Group I comprised 56 women who had a history of one spontaneous miscarriage; Group 2 included 26 patients with a history of 2 spontaneous miscarriages or more. The examination used a set of diagnostic tools for the identification of genital infections and histological, histochemical, and statistical studies. Group 2 patients were ascertained to have more frequently infectious inflammatory genital diseases. In the women of both groups, chronic endometritis of mainly Ureaplasma, Mycoplasma, and viral etiologies was recorded in 100% of cases while that of mixed etiology was observed in 57%. Moreover, the signs of endometrial stromal fibrosis and atrophy, receptor apparatus lesion, and suppressed tissue protective immune reactions were significantly more evident in Group 2 patients.


Dementia has become the focus of attention of health care professionals' worldwide. The objective of the study was to find out the proportion of dementia among older patients as well as to identify the socio-demographic characteristics of patients with dementia attending National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), Sher-E-Bangla Nagar, Dhaka, Bangladesh. This was a cross sectional study conducted in NIMH during the period from 1st November 2014 to 30th April 2015. For this purpose, 78 elderly patients aged e"60 years attending both in outpatient and inpatient departments of NIMH, satisfying inclusion and exclusion criteria were selected by convenient sampling technique. Data were collected by face-to-face interview using semi-structured questionnaire. Cognitive impairment was assessed by Bengali version of Mini Mental State Examination (MMSE) and dementia was diagnosed according to Diagnostic and Statistical Manual for Mental Disorders, 5th edition (DSM-5). The results showed that most of the patients (51.3%) were in between the ages of 60 to 64 years with male predominance (56.4%). The mean (± SD) age of the patients was 66.84 (±5.49) years. Among the patients 43.6 % came from urban area, 39.7% from the family with monthly income within 30001-45000 Bangladeshi taka (BDT) and 53.9% had family members in between 4 to 6. Among them 61.5% patients were married, 43.6% were retired from service, 32.1% studied up to primary level and 62.8% had caregivers. Most of them (88.5%) scored between 24-30 in Mini Mental State Examination (MMSE) and only 5.1% respondents had dementia. This study has provided baseline information about the proportion of dementia among elderly patients in Bangladesh that can be used in future studies. Bang J Psychiatry June 2015; 29(1): 5-9


The concepts of ?shared invention? and ?competitive innovation? have sometimes been used in areas such as the economics and management of inventions and innovations, the industrial economy and the history of technologies. Analyzing the available literature, this article will offer a new approach to these concepts and their interrelationships. The concept of shared invention will be defined as a set of knowledge of the actors gathered in shared intelligences and social dynamics developing the coherence of these inventions and the reinvention of old techniques. The concept of competitive innovation will be defined by associations of experiences of certain actors motivated by social dynamics promoting competition and seeking to complement existing inventions by building their competitive forces. To be coherent, these shared inventions and these competitive innovations will also be defined by trajectories that allow us to go beyond their singularities in order to effectively achieve these sharing and competitions. JEL Codes: O3, L, A10


This paper introduces baselines for the Multimodal Emotion Recognition Challenge (MEC) 2017, which is a part of the first Asian Conference on Affective Computing and Intelligent Interaction (ACII Asia) 2018. The aim of MEC 2017 is to improve the performance of emotion recognition in real-world conditions. The Chinese Natural Audio-Visual Emotion Database (CHEAVD) 2.0 is utilized as the challenge database, which is an extension of CHEAVD as released in MEC 2016. MEC 2017 has three sub-challenges and 31 teams participate in either all or part of them. 27 teams, 16 teams and 17 teams participate in audio (only), video (only) and multimodal emotion recognition sub-challenges, respectively. Baseline scores of the audio (only) and the video (only) sub-challenges are generated from Support Vector Machines (SVM) where audio features and video features are considered separately. In the multimodal sub-challenge, feature-level fusion and decision-level fusion are both utilized. The baselines of the audio (only), the video (only) and the multimodal sub-challenges are 39.2%, 21.7% and 35.7% in macro average precision.


The temporal structure, or complexity, of torque output is thought to reflect the adaptability of motor control and has important implications for system function, with high values endowing greater adaptability in response to alterations in task demand. The aim of this thesis was to investigate the effect of neuromuscular fatigue on the complexity of isometric muscle torque output. It was hypothesised that neuromuscular fatigue would lead to a reduction in the complexity of muscle torque output, as measured by approximate entropy (ApEn), sample entropy (SampEn) and the detrended fluctuation analysis (DFA) ? scaling exponent. The first experimental study (Chapter 4) demonstrated that muscle torque complexity was significantly reduced during both maximal and submaximal intermittent fatiguing contractions, with the values at task failure indicative of increasingly Brownian noise (DFA ? > 1.50). It was subsequently shown in the second study (Chapter 5) that this reduction in complexity occurred exclusively during contractions performed above the critical torque. It was next demonstrated, in the third study (Chapter 6), that pre-existing fatigue significantly reduced torque complexity and time to task failure, but still resulted in consistent values of complexity at task failure regardless of the time taken to reach that point. In the fourth study (Chapter 7) caffeine ingestion was found to slow the rate of reduction in torque complexity with fatigue, seemingly through both central and peripheral mechanisms. Finally, in the fifth study (Chapter 8) eccentric exercise decreased the complexity of torque output, with values only recovering to baseline levels after 24 hours recovery, in comparison to only 10 minutes recovery following isometric exercise. These results demonstrate that torque complexity is significantly perturbed by neuromuscular fatigue. This thesis has thus provided substantial evidence that the complexity of motor control during force production becomes less complex, and that muscles become less adaptable, with neuromuscular fatigue.


Lung disease caused by nontuberculous mycobacteria (NTM) is an emerging infectious disease of global significance. Epidemiologic studies have shown the Hawaiian Islands have the highest prevalence of NTM lung infections in the United States. However, potential environmental reservoirs and species diversity have not been characterized. In this cross-sectional study, we describe molecular and phylogenetic comparisons of NTM isolated from 172 household plumbing biofilms and soil samples from 62 non-patient households and 15 respiratory specimens. Although non-uniform geographic sampling and availability of patient information were limitations, Mycobacterium chimaera was found to be the dominant species in both environmental and respiratory specimens. In contrast to previous studies from the continental U.S., no Mycobacterium avium was identified. Mycobacterium intracellulare was found only in respiratory specimens and a soil sample. We conclude that Hawai'i's household water sources contain a unique composition of Mycobacterium avium complex (MAC), increasing our appreciation of NTM organisms of pulmonary importance in tropical environments.


When Samuel Robert Rickman Owens was born on April 10, 1918, he was the ninth of the eleven children of Steven John Owens and Frances Elvira Alexander Owens. His sister, Flora Helen Owens Winkelmes, was the Owens' second child—born April 28, 1906. Helen's letter to her brother, "Sammy," was written on October 23, 1945. It is clear from the context of the letter that this was fairly soon after Samuel Owens' return to the United States after being held as a prisoner of war at Fukouaka—a Japanese prisoner camp. With Owens having been a P.O.W. since 1942, the sentiment expressed in Helen's letter reflects that of a family member that has been waiting years for their soldier to return safely to American soil. Helen's letter to her brother was originally addressed in black ink to the Oakland Navy Hospital in San Francisco, California. This is crossed out with blue ink, and redirected to Parris Island, South Carolina. From the handwriting, it is unclear whether Helen made this change herself. The envelope is postmarked in Savannah, Georgia, where Helen lived, on October 23, 1945 and was postmarked by the U.S. Navy on November 3, 1945.


Taking care and maintenance of a healthy population is the Strategy of each country. Information and communication technologies in the health care system have led to many changes in order to improve the quality of health care services to patients, rational spending time and reduce costs. In the booming field of IT research, the reach of drug delivery, information on grouping of similar drugs has been lacking. The wealth distribution and drug affordability at a certain demographic has been interlinked and proposed in this paper. Looking at the demographic we analyze and group the drugs based on target action and link this to the wealth and the people to medicine ratio, which can be accomplished via data mining and web mining. The data thus mined will be analysed and made available to public and commercial purpose for their further knowledge and benefit.


The need in the scientific community to simulate or emulate various specific network scenarios has spawned the work of numerous software tools to cope with the demand. Unfortunately, most of the simulators have a steep learning curve (from installation to finally generating an experiment) and most protocols tested stay in them, and they are never implemented in real world OS's. Emulators are closer to reality, but still lack the versatility to easily implement certain characteristics, that researchers need in order to validate their experiments. Dockemu was made with the previous in mind, which its first iteration generated a good acceptance in the research community. The combination of up to date technologies like Docker and NS3, made the implementation of simple and complex scenarios easier for researchers. In this second iteration of Dockmu, we present a more streamlined code and installation process, among with the latest development of Docker containers, that left out LXC's (Linux Containers) and now provide their own container version. We provide some tests cases in different hardware and we finalize with our perspective to provide a Cloud based tool and efforts to minimize the learning curve through an interactive GUI.


Abstract With the growing environmental awareness, people are concerned about the air pollution issues because these issues not only cause adverse environmental effects but also damage human's health conditions. Most of previous studies estimating the shadow prices of emissions mainly focused on stationary sources (e.g. coal-fired power plants) rather than mobile sources; however, traffic is one of critical emission sources. This paper uses convex nonparametric least squares (CNLS) and stochastic semi-nonparametric envelopment of data (StoNED) to estimate the shadow prices of PM2.5 and NOx for eleven transportation modes in seven air quality areas in Taiwan in 2013. We find that their shadow prices for two-stroke and four-stroke scooters are indifferent, and infer that it is unnecessary to develop different emissions policies for these transportation modes. However, the shadow prices for gas-fuelled vehicles which are relatively high and thus we suggest mandating advanced emissions technology or retrofits, or subsidies for electric vehicle replacements of this transportation mode. The significant distinctions in the corresponding shadow prices of PM2.5 and NOx we find for eleven transportation modes in Taiwan's seven air quality areas indicate that policy-makers and regulators consider a variety of mitigation approaches.


This is the third in a series of short books on probability theory and random processes for biomedical engineers. This book focuses on standard probability distributions commonly encountered in biomedical engineering. The exponential, Poisson and Gaussian distributions are introduced, as well as important approximations to the Bernoulli PMF and Gaussian CDF. Many important properties of jointly Gaussian random variables are presented. The primary subjects of the final chapter are methods for determining the probability distribution of a function of a random variable. We first evaluate the probability distribution of a function of one random variable using the CDF and then the PDF. Next, the probability distribution for a single random variable is determined from a function of two random variables using the CDF. Then, the joint probability distribution is found from a function of two random variables using the joint PDF and the CDF. The aim of all three books is as an introduction to p obability theory. The audience includes students, engineers and researchers presenting applications of this theory to a wide variety of problems—as well as pursuing these topics at a more advanced level. The theory material is presented in a logical manner—developing special mathematical skills as needed. The mathematical background required of the reader is basic knowledge of differential calculus. Pertinent biomedical engineering examples are throughout the text. Drill problems, straightforward exercises designed to reinforce concepts and develop problem solution skills, follow most sections.


Complete ND2 and partial ND4 and cytochrome b mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) sequences were analysed to evaluate the phylogeographic patterns of common garter snakes (Thamnophis sirtalis) in western North America. This species is widely distributed throughout North America, and exhibits extensive phenotypic variation in the westernmost part of its range. The overall phylogeographic pattern based on mtDNA sequences is concordant with results from studies of other species in this region, implicating historical vicariant processes during the Pleistocene and indicating bottleneck effects of recent dispersal into postglacial habitat. Indeed, the topology is statistically consistent with the hypothesis of both southern (Great Basin and California) and northern (Haida Gwaii) refugia. Specifically, we identified genetic breaks among three major clades: Northwest Coastal populations, Intermountain populations, and all California populations. The California clade contained the only other well‐supported branching patterns detected; relationships among populations within the two northern clades were indistinguishable. These molecular splits contrast sharply with all prior geographical analyses of phenotypic variation in T. sirtalis in this region. Our results suggest that the extensive phenotypic variation in western T. sirtalis has been shaped more by local evolutionary forces than by shared common ancestry. Consequently, we consider all morphologically based subspecies designations of T. sirtalis in this region invalid because they do not reflect reciprocal monophyly of the mtDNA sequences.


Group B rotaviruses (GBRs) are associated with episodes of acute diarrhea in humans and a variety of animal species. To date, these agents have not been well adapted to growth in tissue culture, and evaluation of human sera for antibodies directed against GBRs has been hindered by the inability to obtain standardized and highly purified preparations of GBR antigens. In order to evaluate the reactivities of antisera with a highly specific antigen, we prepared a full-length cDNA clone of gene 8 of the IDIR strain of GBR. This clone was transcribed with T7 RNA polymerase, and the resulting RNA was translated in vitro with rabbit erythrocyte lysates. The polypeptide expressed from IDIR gene 8 was specifically precipitated by antibody directed against IDIR but not by antibody directed against ADRV (adult diarrhea rotavirus) or bovine strains of GBR. Subsequent immunoprecipitation reactions confirmed the presence of anti-IDIR antibodies among the U.S. population. Of 129 human serum specimens, 3 specifically immunoprecipitated the IDIR gene 8 polypeptide.


Neuronal antibodies found in the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) of patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) may be locally produced, or may enter through a damaged blood-brain barrier. We measured CSF serum/albumin and IgG ratios, oligoclonal banding, and paired CSF/serum neuronal antibody in 36 patients and 98 controls. Only 14% of SLE CSF contained neuronal antibodies; 80% of these had clinically overt neuropsychiatric manifestations. None of 73 patients with noninflammatory central nervous system (CNS) disease had CSF-neuronal antibodies, compared with 8/61 with SLE or related inflammatory CNS disorders (p less than .001). In SLE, CSF neuronal antibodies were accompanied by high titer serum neuronal antibodies (p less than 0.03) or abnormal Q-albumin and occurred only when serum neuronal antibodies were present. CSF-neuronal antibodies appear to be related to immune-inflammatory CNS disease, especially SLE, and may traverse a damaged blood-brain barrier.


A study has been made of the ability of IgM and IgG to initiate ADCC by normal human peripheral blood lymphocytes (PBL) in a 51Cr release assay with sheep erythrocytes as target cells. The immunochemical purity of the IgM and IgG preparations was confirmed by ion-exchange and affinity chromatography. Passage of the IgM over DEAE-cellulose removed its C-dependent hemolytic as well as ADCC activity, whereas no activity was removed from IgM by passage over a Sepharose 4B-Protein A column. The opposite was observed with IgG; DEAE-cellulose removed no activity and the protein A column effectively depleted IgG activity in both C-dependent hemolysis and ADCC. The IgM-induced ADCC was compared to IgG-induced ADCC on the basis of kinetics, dose-response, and effector-target cell ratios required. In addition, it was shown that preincubation of lymphocytes facilitated IgM-induced ADCC but had little effect on IgG-induced ADCC. When preincubated PBL were used as effector cells the following was found: The time requirements for induction of cellular cytotoxicity by IgM and IgG were similar when the antibodies were used at concentrations near their hemolytic end point titers. Dose-response curves of IgM and IgG indicated that lymphocytes were induced to be cytotoxic more efficiently by IgM when the antibody classes were compared on the basis of molecules/target cell required to produce 50% lysis. The effector-target cell ratio producing optimal lysis in the assay was the same for both classes of antibody. In contrast, the cytotoxicity produced by freshly isolated PBL against IgM-sensitized target cells was significantly lower than against IgG-sensitized target cells in all comparisons.


Liquid metal cooled reactors are envisaged to play an important role in the future of nuclear energy production because of their possibility to use natural resources efficiently and to reduce the volume and lifetime of nuclear waste. Typically, sodium and lead(-alloys) are envisaged as coolants for such reactors. Obviously, in the development of these reactors, thermal-hydraulics is recognized as a key (safety) challenge. This paper will present recent developments and initiatives with respect to liquid metal cooled reactor thermal-hydraulics. The initiatives to be discussed encompass liquid metal heat transfer, fuel assembly thermal-hydraulics, pool thermal-hydraulics, and system thermal-hydraulics. With respect to liquid metal heat transfer, the purpose is to start from the most promising routes and develop and validate a model which can simultaneously deal with different flow regimes (natural, mixed, and forced convection). 7415 NURETH-16, Chicago, IL, August 30-September 4, 2015 4 Considering fuel assemblies, the aim will be to take the next steps in liquid metal fast reactor fuel assembly modelling, mainly focusing on validation and evaluation of accidental conditions. With respect to pool thermal-hydraulics, the purpose will be to develop and validate sufficiently accurate methods to model the coolant behavior in a liquid metal reactor pool. When considering the system scale, similarly, the purpose will be to validate and improve system thermal-hydraulics models, but also to further develop and validate multi-scale approaches.


Castings on transit railcars often have complicated geometry. Varying thicknesses and limited space for shooting are difficult for radiographic testing of such castings. To reach the high-quality requirements of the density, accuracy, contrast, and sharpness of the films, a series of experiment were performed on one casting with complicated geometry to compare different results from different shooting methodologies.Films with different ISO speeds are suitable for different wall thickness while their detection ranges overlap with each other. By adopting multiple film techniques, radiographic quality is enhanced when inspecting complicated castings geometries. The utilization of lead intensifying screen contributes to improve the image quality of the radiograph, so that the absorption of different sections is equalized and the prescribed quality level and density requirements are met. Latitude of film is improved by selecting appropriate voltage. Source-to-film distance is increased in order to minimize geometric unsharpness and ensure overall uniformity. Lead foil screens are utilized as a filter in front of films to absorb scattered radiation. In addition, back scatter radiation is reduced by placing lead plates behind the cassette. Large focal spot size is adopted. Short time of exposure is preferentially selected for the purpose of reducing the active time of scattered radiation. Moreover, the selection of other associated processing parameters helps to lessen the adverse effects caused by complicated casting geometries.The results of these experiments show that the quantities of films and inspection cost can be reduced, efficiency of inspection can be improved; missing detection in complicated areas can be effectively avoided; the detection capability is increased and reliability of inspection results is ensured. In conclusion, the multiple film technique is a satisfactory methodology for radiographic testing of steel castings with complicated geometry.Copyright © 2014 by ASME


Dr. Margaret H. D. Smith: We have been using adrenal steroids in the treatment of tuberculosis in children. We have a relatively small number of cases, not enough to set up a controlled, randomized, case study. We decided a couple of years ago, when we embarked on this study, to treat consecutive cases for certain indications, and see where we got, hoping to find out in the first place whether steroids seemed to do good or whether they seemed to do harm; in the second place, if they did seem to do good, to try and find out what sort of treatment dosage, what treatment schedule, and so forth, might be indicated. We thought then that, if we actually ended up with some sort of positive experience and data, that perhaps we might, under other circumstances, be able to do a properly controlled study. Our observations on the use of steroids in the treatment of tuberculosis have really been patterned on the experience of various European investigators, who started us on our way.
 I am not going to say very much about the use of steroids in tuberculous meningitis because that is an indication for the use of steroids which is fairly generally accepted. I think that the data which have been gathered in Italy, in South Africa, and in many other parts of the world, as well as in the few cases that we have had occasion to treat here, make one realize that steroids are a very valuable adjunct in the treatment of tuberculous meningitis.


In this paper, we analyse the evolution of the task content of jobs in India between 1983 and 2011. Following standard literature, we calculated five task intensities by combining NSS data with O-Net data at the 3-digit level of occupational classification. We find that, in line with global trend, non-routine cognitive analytical as well as non-routine cognitive interactive task intensity of jobs has increased in India, while manual task intensities have declined. However, unlike in the US and Europe, the routine cognitive task content has not declined. Our analysis further shows that technology seems to be a major factor behind the evolution of non-routine cognitive analytical and interactive tasks in India whereas structural change and change in the supply of labour has shaped manual task contents.


Investigating your technology law needs may save you money and headaches down the lines. IT professionals are dealing more with outside vendors and consultants. In these transactions, it is vital to protect your intellectual property (IP). One of the best ways to do this is to use the appropriate "legalese". Poorly written nondisclosure agreements (NDAs), contracts, memorandums of understanding, and other legal documents can sink a business. Large corporations usually have sizable legal staffs to protect their interests. It's the smaller firms that need the most help. If you are making technology decisions at smaller companies, be aware that: (i) any dealings you enter into without legal representation automatically put you at a disadvantage, and will appear to the opposing parties as a sign of weakness; (ii) protecting technology today can substantially increase its future value-for example, the value of America Online is greatly enhanced by its recognizable trademark; (iii) some law firms will work at reduced rates if they believe in your technology and you agree to retain their services in the future (after you hit the big time). The article gives advice on how to select an appropriate lawyer.


Cooperative Amanah is one of the enterprises engaged in services. The occurrence of errors also allows occurs when making financial reports that lack of accuracy of reports generated and the delay in the search for the required data. Amanah Cooperative require once the existence of an accounting application that support and provide ease in processing financial data and make informed business decisions quickly and accurately. To the authors make the final project on the processing of financial transactions using Zahir Accounting 5.1, as Zahir Accounting 5.1 is not just a mere report provider device and easy to use without having to learn accounting theory directly. By using the application program Zahir Accounting 5.1, it can reduce errors that may occur in the processing of financial data.
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Keywords: accounting applications, cooperative, financial reporting, zahir accounting


Although cougars (Puma concolor) were extirpated from much of midwestern North America around 1900, hard evidence of cougar presence has increased and populations have become established in the upper portions of the Midwest during the past 20 years. Recent occurrences of cougars in the Midwest are likely due to dispersal of subadult cougars into the region from established western populations, and may be indicative of further recolonization and range expansion. We compiled confirmed locations of cougars (i.e., via carcasses, tracks, photos, video, and DNA evidence) collected during 1990–2008 in 14 states and provinces of midwestern North America. We separated our study area into 2 regions (east and west), calculated number and types of confirmations, and assessed trends in confirmations during the study period. We recorded 178 cougar confirmations in the Midwest and the number of confirmations increased during the study period (r = 0.79, P ≤ 0.001). Confirmations by state or province ranged from 1 (Kansas, Michigan, and Ontario) to 67 (Nebraska). Carcasses were the most prevalent confirmation type (n = 56). Seventy-six percent of known-sex carcass confirmations were males, consistent with predominantly male-biased dispersal in cougars. More confirmations (P = 0.05) were recorded in the western region than the eastern region . Seventy-nine percent of cougar confirmations occurred within 50 km of highly suitable habitat (i.e., forest areas with steep terrain and low road and human densities). Given the number of cougar confirmations, the increasing frequency of occurrences, and that long-distance dispersal has been documented via radiocollared individuals, our research suggests that cougars are continuing to recolonize midwestern North America. © 2012 The Wildlife Society.


Although it is generally accepted that social support plays a role in the maintenance of psychological well-being, there has been relatively little direct investigation of the role that social support may play in affecting post-injury depressive symptoms and mediating the effects of traumatic brain injury (TBI). Consequently, social support was selected as the framework within which to investigate possible indicators of depression in adults with severe TBI and their carers. The authors were interested in the degree of association between social support and the criterion variable of depression in the context of demographic and disability-related variables that have been identified as significant correlates of depression. Thirty-five adults with severe TBI (PTA > 7 days) and their primary carers participated in the study. Time post-injury ranged from 3.5-10 years and all the participants were living in the community. Fifty-seven per cent of the adults with TBI and 60% of their carers were classified as showing significant symptoms of depression. As hypothesized, social support contributed significantly to the prediction of depression. In particular, strong-tie support appeared to be an important indicator of well-being for both the participants with TBI and their carers.


ABSTRACT Background: It has been suggested that current frontline posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) treatments are not effective for the treatment of moral injury and that individuals who have experienced morally injurious events may respond differently to treatment than those who have not. However, these claims have yet to be empirically tested. Objective: This study evaluated the rates of morally injurious event exposure and morally injurious index trauma and their impact on PTSD (PCL-5) and depression symptom (PHQ-9) reductions during intensive PTSD treatment. Method: Data from 161 USA military combat service members and veterans (91.3% male; mean age = 39.94 years) who participated in a 3-week Cognitive Processing Therapy (CPT)-based intensive PTSD treatment programme (ITP) was utilized. Morally injurious event exposure was established via the Moral Injury Event Scale (MIES). Index traumas were also coded by the treating clinician. Linear mixed effects regression analyses were conducted to examine if differences in average effects or trends over the course of treatment existed between veterans with morally injurious event exposure or index trauma and those without. Results: Rates of morally injurious event exposure in this treatment sample were high (59.0%-75.2%). Morally injurious event exposure and the type of index trauma did not predict changes in symptom outcomes from the ITP and veterans reported large reductions in PTSD (d = 1.35–1.96) and depression symptoms (d = 0.95–1.24) from pre- to post-treatment. Non-inferiority analyses also demonstrated equivalence across those with and without morally injurious event exposure and index events. There were no significant gender differences. Conclusions: The present study suggests that PTSD and depression in military veterans with morally injurious event exposure histories may be successfully treated via a 3-week CPT-based ITP. HIGHLIGHTS • Treatment-seeking veterans reported high rates of morally injurious experiences.• Morally injurious experiences were not associated with intensive PTSD treatment outcomes.• Veterans who did and did not experience morally injurious experiences reported large symptom reductions.


Elastic modulus of air plasma sprayed (APSed) YSZ (; ZrO2 stabilized by 8 wt. pct. Y2O3) top coat specimen, which is frequently used for thermal barrier coating (TBC) system for advanced gas turbines, was measured by employing the macro-, micro-, and nano-indentation methods. The elastic modulus was measured, following the Oliver-Pharr method. It was shown that the elastic modulus of the YSZ, as well as the microstructure, was significantly influenced by the spraying conditions employed. Especially the size of ceramic powders used was found to have the most pronounced effect. It was also shown that the elastic modulus revealed significant size effect: that is, there were significant differences in elastic modulus measured by the instruments on the macro-, micro-, and nano-levels. This size effect was discussed, correlating with some relating phenomena: crackings, sink-in, pile-up and spalling; as well as with the characteristic microstructures of the sprayed top coat.


In this paper, the influence of ordered structure effects (OSE) on crystallization behaviors of β-nucleated isotactic polypropylene/graphene oxide (β-iPP/GO) composites with different thermal histories, which crystallized at a slow cooling rate (called SLOW), fast cooling rate (called FAST) and medium cooling rate (called MED), respectively, was studied by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and wide-angle X-ray diffraction (WAXD). The ordered structure status of three samples before crystallization measurement was controlled by tuning the fusion temperature Tf and melting time tm. The results showed that for all samples, OSE would occur in an appropriate Tf region (Region II). The OSE efficiency of MED was the highest, while that of SLOW were the lowest. It was also found that the crystallinity and crystalline perfection of SLOW were the highest, while those of FAST were the lowest. The effects of the melting time tm on the OSE were also investigated. At Tf = 172 °C, the OSE efficiency of FAST reached the maximum at tm = 5 min, while that of SLOW reached the maximum at tm = 20 min. It was indicated that the OSE efficiency was affected by thermal history, and it could be improved by selecting the appropriate tm. Related mechanisms concerning the roles of thermal history on the OSE behavior were proposed based on the results of DSC and in situ SAXS.


Nephropathy, interstitial pneumopathy, and renal and lung fibrosis are major complications of bone marrow transplantation (BMT). This study evaluated the antifibrotic property of an angiotensin II (A2) type-1 receptor blocker (L-159,809) and compared it with those of Captopril and Enalapril, two angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors, in a rat model of BMT. Male WAG/Rij/MCW rats received a preparative regimen of 60 mg/kg body wt of cytoxan (i.p., Days 9 and 8) and 18.5 Gy of total body irradiation (TBI) in six twice daily fractions (Days 2, 1, and 0) followed immediately (Day 0) by BMT. Modifiers were given in drinking water from Day 10 until autopsy, 8 weeks after BMT. Rats treated with TBI plus cytoxan alone developed severe nephropathy. Trichrome staining showed marked collagen deposition in glomeruli, renal interstitium, and renal arteries and arterioles (especially in their adventitia). Collagen deposition and renal damage were markedly reduced by the three modifiers. Of the three, L-158,809-treated rats had slightly thinner vessels and slightly less collagen than nonirradiated normal controls. The study shows the effectiveness of these drugs in the protection of the renal parenchyma from the development of radiation-induced fibrosis. It also indicates a role for angiotensin II in the modulation of collagen synthesis.


OF THE THESIS EFFECT OF INTERLAYERS ON MECHANICAL PROPERTIES AND INTERFACIAL STRESS TRANSFER OF 2D LAYERED GRAPHENE-POLYMER NANOCOMPOSITES Graphene, a monolayer of sp-hybridized carbon atoms arranged in a two-dimensional (2D) lattice, is one of the most important 2D nanomaterials and has attracted tremendous attentions due to its unique geometric characteristics and exceptional mechanical properties. One of the most promising applications of this 2D nanomaterial is in polymer nanocomposites, in which the ultra-stiff, ultra-thin graphene layers function as reinforcement fillers. However, two significant questions remain to be answered: (1) whether the mechanical behaviors of 2D graphene reinforced nanocomposites can be analyzed by the convention composite theory, which is developed primarily for onedimensional (1D) fiber-type of fillers, and (2) what are the effects of the "interlayers" in those 2D, ultra-thin, layered fillers on mechanical properties of the nanocomposites. Composites with both aligned and random-distributed graphene are analyzed using Tandon-Weng and Halpin-Tsai models. For composites reinforced with multi-layered graphene, the presence of soft "interlayers" needs to be considered. These layered graphene are treated as the "effective" reinforcement fillers and the moduli of such structures can be predicted by the Arridge model. Finally, the efficiency of reinforcement by 2D, layered graphene in polymer matrix is examined by using the finite element method. The accuracy of the finite element method is verified with the conventional Shear-Lag theory on a monolayer graphene. The distributions of interfacial shear strain are computed for composites reinforced with various layered graphene.


Summary:  Photosensitivity can be assessed in laboratory conditions with different methods. The most common procedure is intermittent photic stimulation (IPS), whose effectiveness in detecting photosensitivity depends largely on methodologic aspects. Although IPS is a widespread and routinely used procedure in EEG laboratories, only recently has a standardization of the IPS method been proposed. Furthermore, other modalities of visual stimulation, including pattern stimulation and low‐luminance visual stimulation (LLVS), have proven their usefulness in detecting photosensitivity. We provide an overview of the methodologic aspects and clinical implications of these procedures, resulting from recent consensus meetings, and the diagnostic usefulness of the LLVS technique in photosensitive individuals whose seizures are triggered particularly by television images. Finally, we briefly illustrate the potential of advanced neurophysiological (magnetoencephalography and high‐density EEG) and functional imaging techniques in the investigation of the pathophysiologic mechanisms underlying photosensitivity.


We have isolated two etoposide (VP16)-resistant cell lines, KB/VP-1 and KB/VP-2, from human cancer KB cells after stepwise exposure to increasing doses of VP16. KB/VP-1 and KB/VP-2 showed 30and 50fold higher resistance to VP16 and also 20and 30-fold higher resistance to teniposide than the parent cell line. Furthermore, both resistant cell lines showed more than 2-fold cross-resistance to Adriamycin and daunomycin than KB cells. The levels of accumulation and outward transport of radioactive VP16 were similar in KB/VP-1, KB/VP-2, and KB. The activity of nuclear extracts of DNA topoisomerase II for both KB/VP-1 and KB/VP-2 assayed by decatenation of kinetoplast DNA was consist ently similar to that of KB. However, in both immunoblot assay with specific anti-topoisomerase II antibody and Northern blot analysis with specific human DNA topoisomerase II complementary DNA, cellular levels of topoisomerase II in both resistant cell lines were less than onetenth the level in KB. The cellular levels of DNA topoisomerase I, however, were similar between the mutants and their parent. A quanti tative precipitation assay of covalent DNA-topoisomerase II complexes showed greatly reduced VP16-induced cleavages of 3'-32P-DNA by nu clear extracts of KB/VP-1 or KB/VP-2 cells in comparison with KB cells. The relative specific phosphorylation of DNA topoisomerase II was about 14to 18-fold higher in the mutants than in the parental cells. Phosphoamino acid analysis of DNA topoisomerase II showed that serine was the phosphorylated amino acid in all three cell lines, KB, KB/VP-1, and KB/VP-2. These data suggest that reduced expression of DNA-topoisom erase II might account for the acquired VP16 resistance and reduced VIM(»-indiimicleavages of DNA-topoisomerase II complexes in both VP16-resistant variants.


Summary The aim of this article is to explore in what respects Thomas Hobbes may be regarded as foundational in international thought. It is evident that in contemporary international relations theory he has become emblematic of a realist tradition, but as David Armitage suggests this was not always the case. I want to suggest that it is only in a very limited sense that he may be regarded as a foundational thinker in international relations, and for reasons very different from those for which he has become infamous. In the early histories of international thought Hobbes is a cameo figure completely eclipsed by Grotius. In early histories of political literature, the classic jurists were often acknowledged for their remarkable contributions to international relations, but Hobbes is referred to exclusively as a philosopher of a positvist ethics and absolute sovereignty. It is among the jurists themselves that Hobbes is believed to have made important conceptual moves which set the problems for international thought for the next three centuries. He conflates natural law and the law of nations, arguing that they differ only in their subjects—the former individuals, the latter nations or states. This entailed transforming the sovereign into an artificial man, not in the Roman Law sense of an entity capable of suing and being sued; rather, as a subject not party to a contract, but created by a contract among individuals who confer upon it authority. This subject is not constrained by the contractors, but is, as individuals were in the state of nature, constrained by the equivalent of natural law, the law of nations in the international context. Throughout, the methodological implications are drawn for modern historians of political thought and political philosophers who venture to theorise about international relations.


An updated offline search for a neutrino counterpart to gravitational-wave events detected
during the second observing run of advanced-LIGO and Virgo (adv-LIGO/Virgo) has been performed with the
ANTARES data. The results of this study looking for a prompt neutrino emission within $\pm$500s around the time of the GW alerts are presented.

Meanwhile, the adv-LIGO/Virgo detectors started taking data again on April 2019 for a new scientific run (O3) with enhanced sensitivities. The ANTARES collaboration is actively participating in the follow-up of the gravitational wave public alerts. Preliminary results of the offline follow-up will be discussed
for the most relevant gravitational-wave events which are believed to be potential candidates
for neutrino emission.


Apoptosis is a crucial process in multicellular organisms in sculpting them, especially during embryogenesis. In addition, apoptosis is responsible for the clearance of harmful or damaged cells which can otherwise be detrimental to the organism. The Bcl-2 family proteins are key players in the regulation of the intrinsic pathway of the apoptotic machinery. This family consists of three subfamilies with B-cell CLL/lymphoma 2 (Bcl-2) protein itself representing anti-apoptotic members, the Bcl-2-associated X protein (Bax), and pro-apoptotic BH3-only signaling proteins. The interplay between pro- and anti-apoptotic proteins on the mitochondrial membranes is central to the balance between the life and death decision of whether the membrane should be permeabilized or not. The cytosolic Bax protein can upon cellular stress translocate to the mitochondrial membrane where it can either carry out its action of forming homo-oligomers that cause outer membrane permeabilization or be inhibited there by the anti-apoptotic membrane protein Bcl-2. Upon mitochondrial outer membrane permeabilization (MOMP) apoptogenic factors leak out from the intermembrane space (IMS) of the mitochondria, leading to caspase activation and ultimately cell death. A common stress signal initiating apoptosis is an increased formation of reactive oxygen species (ROS in the mitochondria, who can cause oxidative damage to lipid membranes. This membrane damage presumably influences the lipid landscape and the membrane features and hence the interactions of the Bcl-2 family proteins with each other and the mitochondrial outer membrane (MOM). To investigate the significance of membrane oxidation on the behavior of the Bcl-2 family proteins, especially Bax, synthetically produced oxidized phospholipids (OxPls) were incorporated in MOM-mimicking vesicles. Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy and circular dichroism (CD) spectroscopy revealed a major perturbation in membrane organization in the presence of OxPls. These changes in membrane properties increase the affinity of Bax to its target membrane and enable its partial penetration and formation of pores, as fluorescence leakage assays confirmed. However, in the absence of BH3-only proteins these pores are not sufficiently large for the release of apopototic factors such as cytochrome C (CytC). To understand the inhibition of Bax by the full-length Bcl-2 protein, suitable detergent solubilizing conditions were carefully chosen to enable the measurement of their direct binding to each other outside the membrane, by an antimycin A2 fluorescence assay. The observed protein-protein interaction was confirmed by surface plasmon resonance (SPR). An established protocol for the reconstitution of Bcl-2 into stable proteoliposomes now paves the way for structural studies of this key protein, in its membrane environment near physiological conditions; information essential for understanding its function, on a molecular level, and its potential as a cancer drug target.


Douglas Everett made major contributions to the study of thermodynamics, and in particular to acid-base equilibria, porous media, physical adsorption of gases on solids, adsorption from solution and colloid stabilization. He was also instrumental in setting up in Bristol University a highly acclaimed Research School in Surface and Colloid Science.


Natural gas hydrates form under high pressure and low-temperature environments common in deepwater off-shore petroleum production operations. Once hydrates form, they can agglomerate and deposit resulting in solid plugs within the piping system, which could require extensive downtime for remediation and recommission of the systems. Hydrate plug formation is difficult to characterize because of the challenging environments in which they form, the lack of instrumentation for such environments, and the fast reaction time compared to other blocking mechanisms. This study explores the use of X-ray flow visualization, including X-ray radiography and X-ray computed tomography, to help characterize hydrate formation in a laboratory setting. A structure II hydrate was formed in a concentric cylinder mixing tank where a mixture of distilled water and cyclopentane was stirred in the inner tank while the outer tank was cooled. As the tank cooled, the distilled water-cyclopentane mixture converted to hydrate, which was captured with X-ray radiographic videos. Once formed, X-ray computed tomography images were acquired to gather 3D reconstructed images of the hydrate with and without liquid present in the mixing tank. It was shown that X-ray imaging could provide a qualitative assessment of hydrate formation. Quantitative measures were challenging because of the limited contrast between the hydrate and liquid region.


Objective: Serial registered MRI provides a reproducible technique for detecting progressive cerebral atrophy in vivo and was used to determine if there were differences between the rates of cerebral atrophy in AD and frontotemporal dementia (FTD). Methods: Eighty-four patients with dementia (54 AD and 30 FTD) and 27 age-matched control subjects each had at least two volumetric MR scans. Serial scans were positionally matched (registered), and brain volume loss was determined by calculation of the brain boundary shift integral. Results: There was a difference between the rates of whole-brain atrophy in patients (mean annual volume loss 2.7% of total brain volume) and in control subjects (mean annual volume loss 0.5%). AD and FTD were associated with different rates of atrophy (mean annual losses 2.4 and 3.2%). The range of atrophy rates in the FTD group (0.3 to 8.0%) greatly exceeded that in the AD group (0.5 to 4.7%). Frontal-variant FTD was associated with a wider range of atrophy rates than temporal-variant FTD. Analysis of regional brain atrophy rates revealed that there was widespread symmetrically distributed cerebral volume loss in AD, whereas in frontal FTD there was greater atrophy anteriorly and in temporal FTD the atrophy rate was greatest in the left anterior cerebral cortex. Conclusions: Both AD and FTD patients had increased rates of brain atrophy. Whereas the patients with AD were associated with a relatively restricted spread of atrophy rates, the greater spread of rates observed in the patients with FTD may reflect the heterogeneity of disease in FTD, with differences observed between frontal and temporal FTD. Increased rates of whole-brain atrophy did not discriminate AD from FTD, but analysis of regional atrophy rates revealed marked differences between patient groups.


Ethics in Health Administration translates the principles and practice of ethics into usable information for application to the real world of health care administration. Based on a model that centers on the administrators' role in practice-based ethics, this text also recognizes influences that impact their ethics in decision making. Fictional cases based on real world events help to emphasize chapter content and make it interesting for the learner. Each chapter contains at least two cases for class discussion, as well as references and websites. The Second Edition is a thorough revision that includes urther clarification of terms, new cases, new information on patient-centered care, new information on disaster planning, new material on the culture of compassion, updated instructor resources, and more.


In recent years, geological reconnaissance has been augmented by sophisticated terrane data-gathering techniques which have been categorized as remote sensors. Remote sensing, which can be defined simply as reconnaissance at a distance, is hardly a new concept. Remote sensing techniques utilizing the aerial camera or magnetometer are well known to the petroleum geologist. Several airborne devices are now available to supplement the aerial camera for the detection of natural resources, and a multisensor approach to terrane reconnaissance should allow exploitation of the entire electromagnetic spectrum. Ranging from the very short wavelengths at which gamma rays are emitted, to the comparatively long wavelengths at which radar operates, multisensor terrane data from the sam area allow extrapolation of geologic information not available with a single sensor. Those remote sensing techniques that appear to have immediate potential for petroleum exploration include: (1) scanning infrared systems which detect thermal variations between adjacent features, (2) spectrophotography which permits simultaneous recording of narrow-band regions ranging from the visible to near-infrared, and (3) side-scanning radar systems which will operate in the microwave region of the spectrum. Imaging radar perhaps will be the sensor that captures the imagination of the exploration geologist because of the synoptic presentation of regional geologic structures and the penetration capability which has been forecast for long-wavelength systems. Although investigation of the geologic potential of this new family of remote sensors is in its infancy, it is apparent that no single sensor will provide a panacea for petroleum exploration; however, these new data sources will certainly both complement and supplement existing geological reconnaissance methods. End_of_Article - Last_Page 216------------


This study aims to produce numerical solutions of one-dimensional advection-diffusion equation using a sixth-order compact difference scheme in space and a fourth-order Runge-Kutta scheme in time. The suggested scheme here has been seen to be very accurate and a relatively flexible solution approach in solving the contaminant transport equation for . For the solution of the present equation, the combined technique has been used instead of conventional solution techniques. The accuracy and validity of the numerical model are verified through the presented results and the literature. The computed results showed that the use of the current method in the simulation is very applicable for the solution of the advection-diffusion equation. The present technique is seen to be a very reliable alternative to existing techniques for these kinds of applications.


The emergence of COVID-19 pandemic has engaged the scientific community around the globe in the rapid development of effective therapeutics and vaccines. Owing to its crucial role in the invasion of the host cell, spike (S) glycoprotein is one of the major targets in these studies. The S1 subunit of the S protein (S1 protein) accommodates the receptor-binding domain, which enables the initial binding of the virus to the host cell. Being a heavily glycosylated protein, numerous studies have investigated its glycan composition. However, none of the studies have explored the isomeric glycan distribution of this protein. Furthermore, this isomeric glycan distribution has never been compared to that in S1 proteins of other coronaviruses, severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 1 and Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus, which were responsible for past epidemics. This study explores the uncharted territory of the isomeric glycan distribution in the coronaviruses' S1 protein using liquid chromatography coupled to tandem mass spectrometry. We believe that our data would facilitate future investigations to study the role of isomeric glycans in coronavirus viral pathogenesis.


--0ysphagia in infants and children is usually only one part of a broad spectrum of complex medical, health, and developmental problems. As etiologies vary, so do prognoses. Increased survival rates of infants in recent years have been accompanied by an increased prevalence of neurologic, cardiorespiratory, and structural impairments that can affect nutritional status and feeding function. Knowledge of anatomy, physiology, and normal development of feeding skills is basic to the assessment and management of pediatric dysphagia.


In order to fulfill its obligations in conjunction with the proposed Jnsticeburg Reservoir project, the City of Lubbock, Texas, is considering the purchase of 2,240 acres in Garza County to serve as wildlife mitigation lands. Prior to the City's final decision to acquire the land, an archeological survey was conducted. The ca. 1,000 acres of incised canyonland and upland margin and ca. 215 acres of selected upland rises were intensively surveyed, while the remaining 1,025 acres of upland flat and low-lying areas were spot checked. Subsurface geomorphic investigations (i.e., backhoe trenching) of the uplands were also conducted. The survey resulted in the documentation of 1 historic and 32 prehistoric archeological sites (1 previously recorded). Of these, the historic site is recommended as eligible for listing on the National Register of Historic Places, and eight prehistoric sites are of unknown eligibility. These nine sites will need special management considerations to prevent impacts from wildlife mitigation use of the land. Historic use of the project area is associated with late nineteenth/early twentieth-century cattle ranching, while all of the prehistoric occupations that can be temporally defined are late Archaic or Late Prehistoric. Most of the cultural activity is clustered around three major freshwater spring complexes. There appears to have been intensive use of these areas during the late Holocene but only ephemeral prehistoric use of the uplands more than 0.5 km away from the springs and stream channels. Geomorphic evidence indicates that extensive root-plow disturbance occurred in many upland areas, but well-preserved archeological deposits are present in portions of the eroded upland margin. Three unique upland depositional environments (playas with associated dunes, channels, and pond deposits) have the potential for preserving buried cultural remains of considerable antiquity as well as providing paleo-environmental data which is lacking at this time.


A body placed at the second Lagrangian point of many host planets would not experience directly incident solar radiation; however, re-emissions from the host planet would impact the satellite. This paper looks into the time taken for the satellite to reach the temperature required for liquid water. Various host planets are considered and the radius of the satellite varied to examine the effect on the heating time. The paper finds that while a satellite around Earth would provide the longest habitable period, the time frame to reach a suitable temperature is the greatest. A satellite placed around a hot Jupiter would reach habitability the fastest.


In this paper, a probabilistic framework based on Fokker-Planck-Kolmogorov (FPK) approach has been applied to simulate triaxial cyclic constitutive behavior of uncertain soils. The framework builds upon previous work of the writers, and it has been extended for cyclic probabilistic simulation of triaxial undrained behavior of soils. von Mises elastic-perfectly plastic material model is considered. It is shown that by using probabilistic framework, some of the most important aspects of soil behavior under cyclic loading can be captured even with a simple elastic-perfectly plastic constitutive model. Keywords—Elasto-plasticity, uncertainty, soils, Fokker-Planck equation, Fourier Spectral method, Finite Difference method.


In an attempt to identify trans-acting factors involved in replication origin function, we have characterized the RAR3 and RAR5 genes, identified by mutations which increase the mitotic stability of artificial chromosomes whose replication is dependent on the activity of weak ARS elements. Sequence analysis has shown that the RAR3 gene is identical to GAL11/SPT13, which encodes a putative transcription factor involved in the expression of a wide range of genes. Change-of-function mutations that truncate the RAR3 protein appear to be required to enhance chromosome stability. In contrast, loss of the RAR5 protein results in enhanced chromosome stability, as if the protein is an inhibitor of ARS function. The RAR5 gene encodes the 175 kDa DNA strand transfer protein beta, an activity that can promote the transfer of a strand from a double-stranded DNA molecule to a complementary single strand. This observation implies that a presumed recombination activity can affect eukaryotic chromosomal replication.


Conductors are typically presumed to possess the physical, interpretative control in choral performance. Questioning that presumption, this article explores how student conductors might be encouraged to engage physically with the musical sound – and sounding bodies – of a choir. It argues that singers' vocal performance directly and fruitfully impacts on a conductor's gestural leadership. Borrowing techniques from established physical/movement-based performance and theatre, it explores how conductors might act as the embodied nexus of the poietic and esthesic dimensions of interpretation (Nattiez, 1990), thus collaboratively constructing a performance. To frame the discussion, a conceptualisation of the overlap between body and voice is set out. This conceptualisation emerged during the development of vocal-physical performance projects (2015-16) and was subsequently developed into a broader philosophical orientation. Focusing on issues of embodiment and empathy, this orientation is enlisted to re-examine choral conducting training practices. The influence of these explorations on Daniel Galbreath's choral conducting teaching is outlined. Additional action-research with theatre practitioner and teacher Gavin Thatcher is then detailed to demonstrate further developments and disruptions to Galbreath's practice. As a result, a conducting training practice emerges from these practical enquiries that exploits performers' mutual, direct physical contact via sound.