Central Luconia is a geological province of the Sarawak Basin, offshore northwest Borneo, characterized by extensive development of Miocene to Holocene carbonate buildups. The buildups are up to 2-km (1-mi) thick and reveal complex seismic geomorphologies including out-building, in-building, carbonate-siliciclastic intercalations, and coalescence of neighboring carbonate bodies. Intermittent carbonate and siliciclastic deposition is interpreted to have been governed by frequently oscillating sea level and variable siliciclastic input. Location of the buildups with respect to deltaic facies and the seismic expressions of marginal carbonate strata, locally known as wings, are used here to classify carbonate seismic geomorphologies. Buildups encompassed by deltaic topsets are said to reside onshelf and are flanked by marginal carbonate deposits conformable with the onlapping siliciclastics and interpreted as thin carbonate platforms deposited in situ over prominent erosional unconformities and flooding surfaces. Such marginal facies are described on the basis of their appearance as open wings. In contrast, buildups downlapped by prodelta foresets or bottomsets, or those draped by pelagic sediments, are said to reside offshelf and are characterized by high relief, steeply dipping marginal carbonate strata discordant with respect to the relatively flat-lying platform carbonates as well as the onlapping siliciclastics. These marginal strata have an appearance of closed wings and are interpreted as slope aprons composed of carbonate material derived from the productive platform tops and deposited off-platform in deeper water. Carbonate geometries range from contracting-upward pinnacles to expanding-upward platforms in onshelf settings, whereas buildups located offshelf have mostly contracting-upward or aggrading morphologies. Buildups deposited onshelf have generally maintained a similar height of depositional slopes as they evolved, reflecting rates of background siliciclastic deposition approximating those of carbonate growth. In contrast, depositional slopes of offshelf buildups have become progressively higher, owing to limited siliciclastic input. Observations presented here on carbonate geomorphology and adjacent siliciclastic stratigraphy provide important clues for the understanding of the geology of the province. Because carbonates and siliciclastics intercalate frequently, siliciclastic biostratigraphy can be used to precisely date and correlate geographically remote carbonate-reservoir intervals and intrareservoir depositional and diagenetic events such as marine transgressive or exposure surfaces or karst networks. Conversely, basin paleobathymetry can be measured by the size of carbonate clinoforms and the thickness of buildups established over flooded siliciclastic surfaces. Deposition of low-relief carbonate platforms over siliciclastic substrates indicates shallow-marine conditions, as opposed to the prevalent notion of kilometer-scale paleobathymetry. These interpretations have important implications for understanding of the sedimentology and lithology of the ambient basinal siliciclastics, with fundamental applications to hydrocarbon exploration.


State estimation in electrical distribution systems (EDSs) is an analyzing tool for estimating the state of it for close monitoring and controlling by distribution management system (DMS). In this paper, RESs integrated EDS's state is estimated using the distribution system state estimation (DSSE) model. DSSE is formulated as optimization problem involving an objective function which is to be minimized subjected to equality and inequality constraints which describe the practical considerations of real time EDS. For minimizing the objective function of DSSE model, Artificial Bee Colony (ABC) algorithm is used to estimate load and Renewable Energy Sources (RESs) output. The performance of the proposed work is evaluated on IEEE 33 and IEEE 70 bus test systems using MATLAB working platform. The results are compared with other evolutionary optimization algorithms for a test system, in which ABC proves to be effective and efficient for the DSE.


Extracellular matrix (ECM)-based tissue engineering scaffolds have an essential role in promoting tissue regeneration. Nerve tissue engineering aims at facilitating the repair of permanent damage to the peripheral and central nervous systems, which are difficult to heal. For this purpose, a variety of biomaterials are being developed consisting of numerous synthetic and/or natural polymers to provide axonal reinnervation and to direct the growth of axons. Here, we present a novel protocol that enables to fabricate a 3-dimensional (3D) decellularized scaffold derived from the bovine spinal cord (BSC) ECM (3D-dCBS) for neural tissue engineering applications. In this protocol, a viscous ECM-derived gel from BSC is prepared, molded, and chemically crosslinked with EDC/NHS (3D-CBS) before decellularization process. Decellularization of 3D-CBS is performed with 1% SDS to attain 3D-dCBS. As compared with other available methods, our protocol is a novel decellularization method that preserves a more significant part of the ECM. We believe that the mentioned protocol has the potential to produce a bioengineered scaffold from spinal cord tissue with desired geometry for regenerative medicine applications related to neural tissue engineering.


: An initial event in gram-negative bacteremia is activation of the complement cascade with production of C5a. C5a, in turn, acts as a chemotactic stimulus for leukocytic aggregation and, in conjunction with bacterial products, stimulates the release of oxygen free radicals from leukocytes. We have hypothesized that these oxygen free radicals (.O2-, superoxide anion; .OH, hydroxyl radical; H2O2, hydrogen peroxide) contribute to the characteristic myocardial dysfunction of endotoxin shock, Isolated canine cardiac sarcoplasmic reticulum (SR) was used as a subcellular determinant of mechanical function. SR was incubated for 20 min at 37 degrees C in the presence of phorbol myristate acetate activated leukocytes (A-L) and calcium uptake and Ca2+-adenosine triphosphatase (ATPase) activities were measured. Activated leukocytes significantly depressed SR Ca2+ uptake rates (C = 1.12 +/- 0.05 mumol CA2+/mg-min; A-L = 0.73 +/- 0.05). The addition of catalase (CAT; 10 micrograms/ml) or superoxide dismutase (SOD: 10 micrograms/ml) plus CAT reversed the inhibition of SR Ca2+ uptake. SOD further depressed SR Ca2+ uptake (+SOD = 0.55 +/0 0.04 mumol Ca2+/mg-min). Mannitol had no effect. SR ATPase activity was inhibited with A-L (C = 1.41 +/- 0.04 mumol Pi/mg-min; A-L = 0.84 +/- 0.09). Neither mannitol, nor SOD nor CAT alone had any effect on the depression of SR ATPase activity. SOD plus CAT reversed the ATPase depression induced by A-L. It is concluded that phorbol myristate acetate activated leukocytes via free radical-mediated mechanisms can directly affect function and activity of the excitation-contraction coupling system of cardiac muscle. Free radical scavengers identified hydrogen peroxide as a major mediator of depressed Ca2+ uptake rates. In conjunction with the superoxide anion, hydrogen peroxide contributes to the depressed ATPase activity.


Geoengineering could be taken by the public as a way of dealing with climate change without reducing greenhouse gas emissions. This paper presents the results of survey experiments testing whether hearing about solar radiation management (SRM) affects people's support for taxing polluting energy and/or their trust in climate science. For a nationally representative sample of respondents in Britain, I found that receiving a brief introduction to SRM had no impact on most people's willingness to pay taxes, nor on their trust in climate science. Hearing about this form of geoengineering therefore appears unlikely to erode support for emissions reductions. Specifically for political conservatives asked first about paying taxes, moreover, hearing about SRM increased trust in climate science. These and other results of the experiments also provide partial support for the theory that conservatives' lower trust in climate science generally stems from their aversion to regulatory action by the state.


Climate warming has been linked to an apparent general decrease in body sizes of ectotherms, both across and within taxa, especially in aquatic systems. Smaller body size in warmer geographical regions has also been widely observed. Since body size is a fundamental determinant of many biological attributes, climate‐warming‐related changes in size could ripple across multiple levels of ecological organization. Some recent studies have questioned the ubiquity of temperature–size rules, however, and certain widespread and abundant taxa, such as diatoms, may be important exceptions. We tested the hypothesis that diatoms are smaller at warmer temperatures using a system of geothermally heated streams. There was no consistent relationship between size and temperature at either the population or community level. These field data provide important counterexamples to both James' and Bergmann's temperature–size rules, respectively, undermining the widely held assumption that warming favours the small. This study provides compelling new evidence that diatoms are an important exception to temperature–size rules for three reasons: (i) we use many more species than prior work; (ii) we examine both community and species levels of organization simultaneously; (iii) we work in a natural system with a wide temperature gradient but minimal variation in other factors, to achieve robust tests of hypotheses without relying on laboratory setups, which have limited realism. In addition, we show that interspecific effects were a bigger contributor to whole‐community size differences, and are probably more ecologically important than more commonly studied intraspecific effects. These findings highlight the need for multispecies approaches in future studies of climate warming and body size.


The sparing/recycling effect of a highly purified, high molecular weight fraction of catechin oligomers (procyanidins) from Vitis vinifera seeds on alpha-tocopherol was studied in both homogeneous solution and in heterogeneous phase (phosphatidylcholine liposomes and red blood cells). By HPLC and electron spin resonance (ESR) spectroscopy we evidenced that tocopheroxyl radical, induced by reaction of alpha-tocopherol with the stable radical DPPH (2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl) is recycled by procyanidins. In addition procyanidins significantly and dose-dependently spare vitamin E from consumption (HPLC monitoring) during the autooxidation phase of the HO-induced peroxidation of phosphatidylcholine, by 23% at the lowest concentration (0.5 microM) and by 65.5% at 3 microM. In this membrane model the combination of 0.5 microM procyanidins and 2 microM alpha-tocopherol results in a marked delay in the appearance of conjugated dienes in respect to the single antioxidants (synergistic interaction), while catechin showed to be active only at 5 microM. In red blood cells oxidatively stressed by UVB exposure, procyanidins at 0.1-1.0 microM prevent vitamin E loss, markedly decrease membrane lipid peroxidation, linearly related to the concentration of vitamin E in the membranes, and significantly delay the onset of hemolysis (catechin protects between 5 and 10 microM).


A comprehensive genetic and optimisation of the growth conditions study of fifteen Pleurotus
species and strains from Belgian Coordinated Collections of Microrganisms/ Mycotheque de
l' Universite Catholique de Louvain (Agro) Industrial Fungi and Yeasts Collection was
carried out. The optimal environmental conditions for the Pleurotus strains were determined
by establishing variability in growth response and primordium development on agar media
over a range of growth parameters: osmotic potential (− 0.5 MPa to − 5.0 MPa), temperature
(5 to 40 °C) and pH (2 to 12). The maximum growth rates and the optimum conditions for
growth varied for the different strains. A Pleurotus ostreatus strain able to grow and fruit at
elevated temperatures (25 °C) was identified that has potential for cultivation in the tropics.
Nine strains were identified with high growth rates. Primordia were produced at low pH (4 to
6), at suboptimal growth temperatures (£ 25 °C), and under moderate water stress (−0.5 to
−3.5 MPa). An investigation into the effect of micro-solute concentration changes on the
growth response of the Pleurotus species was carried out on agar media using microconcentrations
of polyethylene glycol (PEG) 6000, potassium chloride (KCl) and sodium
chloride (NaCl). The solutes at micro-concentrations ranging from 0.35 g l-1 to 1.00 g l-1 for
PEG 6000, 1.50 g l-1 to 3.85 g l-1 for KCl and 0.60 g l-1 to 1.54 g l-1 for NaCl produced a two
to three fold increase in the growth rate of the Pleurotus strains, which has potential
application in oyster mushrooms (Pleurotus species) spawn production and cultivation. The
optimum micro concentrations of combined KCl and NaCl solutes of 2.70 g l-1 KCl: 1.08 g l-1
NaCl or 3.85 g l-1 KCl: 1.54 g l-1 NaCl at 20 °C; and 1.50 g l-1 KCl: 0.60 g l-1 NaCl or 2.70 g l-
1 KCl: 1.08 g l-1 NaCl for both 25 °C and 30 °C; of PEG 6000 of 0.90 g l-1 (20 °C) and 0.65 g
l-1 (25 and 30 °C) were identified. Development of alternative spawn substrate protocols was
done by varying the boiling, soaking periods for the substrates (maize [Zea mays] grain,
maize cobs, pumpkin seeds [Cucurbita sp.] and bean seeds [Phaseolus vulgaris]). Maize
grain, pumpkin seeds and maize cobs with a water content of 35 to 39 %, 41 to 47 % and 64
% respectively have potential use as alternative substrates to wheat (Triticum aestivum) grain
in Pleurotus species spawn production. The feasibility of creating novel media formulations
for culturing Pleurotus strains was investigated by developing various whole wheat grain and
crushed wheat grain mixtures. The novel media formulations of 1:3 (w/v) to 1:5 (whole wheat
grain: distilled water) and 1:3 to 1:15 (crushed wheat grain: distilled water) were determined
to be optimal for use as low-cost alternative media for culturing Pleurotus species for spawn
production and cultivation purposes. An investigation in the use of Tyndallisation as a means
of sterilising the growth media for spawn production was carried out by modifying primarily
the boiling times and number of days of incubation. Tyndallisation of 30 minutes boiling
daily for three days (wide-mouthed bottles) and 5 minutes boiling for four days (narrowmouthed
bottles) were optimal for production of Pleurotus species spawn. Alternative single
substrates and substrate mixtures (1:1) were determined by growth and basidiome production
on thatch grass (Agropyron sp.), banana fronds (Musa sapientum), wheat straw, sage
(Coleochloa setifera); banana + sage, banana + grass, banana + wheat straw and sage + grass.
Grass and sage were the best substrates singly and in combination with banana. Biological
efficiencies greater than 140 % were obtained. Positive and negative synergistic effects on
primordium development dependant on the strain and substrate mixture were noted. Genetic
variability of Pleurotus species and strains was investigated by sequencing the internal
transcribed spacer (ITS) region of ribosomal DNA. The 15 Pleurotus strains separated into
four clusters. The internal transcribed spacer sequences analysis suggested that strain 31674
was misidentified as P. sajor-caju instead of P. ostreatus. The value of noting the history of
the strain in phylogenetic analysis was proposed. This study recommends BCCM/MUCL
strain 31017 (P. sajor-caju) for spawn production and cultivation processes due to having the
characteristics of high growth rate, high biological efficiency, prolific primordial formation
and moderate xerotolerance which are highly desirable for spawn production and cultivation
processes.


The aim of this article is to investigate stakeholders' perceptions as regards the integration of CLIL and museum education and outline the main methodological implications. Lately, Italian museums have started offering CLIL learning programmes aimed at school groups. However, there is very little research on the affordances, issues and practical implications of integrating CLIL and museum-based pedagogies. To help fill this gap, an action research project was initiated, which involved university experts, museum staff and upper secondary teachers and students. This study focuses on the museum staff's interview data, and reveals that successful design of CLIL museum programmes depends on different elements, such as a shared vision for CLIL and strong school-museum collaboration.


Over the past decade, Wolfgang Streeck has emerged as one of the most prominent voices in the debate on the crisis of democratic capitalism. This article provides a critical appraisal of Streeck's recent writings in light of his wider intellectual trajectory, tracing the evolutions and continuities in his work over time; highlighting its important contributions to our understanding of the present crisis; and presenting a fourfold critique of his latest book on the end of capitalism. The main argument is that Streeck's work, while very valuable for its elucidation of the dynamics behind the demise of social democracy, ultimately remains plagued by a corporatist residue that keeps him from drawing his increasingly radical critique of capitalism to its logical conclusions. As a result, Streeck's embrace of an exceedingly catastrophist worldview, devoid of any emancipatory potential, has tempted him to veer dangerously close to the welfare chauvinism of the nationalist right.


Data related to the egg capsules of the thorny skate, Raja radiata, gathered in 1947-72 from various parts of the Northwest Atlantic, were analyzed. The development of the capsule is described in relation to the shell gland and the passageofthe egg and albumen into the capsule. The egg was present in the capsule when the latter was seven-tenths or more complete. Albumen was always present once the capsule was developed enough to hold it. Occasional complete capsules were without eggs or possessed unusually small eggs. The right capsule was typically extruded first. Capsules in various stages of development were observed to occur generally throughout the area investigated and in all months of the year. The size of the capsule and the volumes of the contained egg and albumen increased with increase in fish length and consequently were greater in skates from areas where sexual maturity began at greater lengths than in areas where sexual maturity occurred at smaller lengths.


High-Level Synthesis (HLS) has been widely recognized as an efficient compilation process targeting FPGAs for algorithm evaluation and product prototyping. However, the massively parallel memory access demands and the extremely expensive cost of single-bank memory with multi-port have impeded loop pipelining performance. Thus, based on an alternative multi-bank memory architecture, a joint approach that employs memory-aware force directed scheduling and multi-cycle memory partitioning is formally proposed to achieve legitimate pipelining kernel and valid bank mapping with less resource consumption and optimal pipelining performance. The experimental results over a variety of benchmarks show that our approach can achieve the optimal pipelining performance and meanwhile reduce the number of multiple independent memory banks by 55.1% on average, compared with the state-of-the-art approaches.


Coal fired power generation should be amalgamated with efficiency improvement technology of electric-power production and treatment technology of greenhouse gas in green economic era. The efficiency of fossil power plant can be achieved by increment of temperature and pressure of steam, and the performance improvement of the components. The improvement of temperature and pressure of live steam can be supported by the materials with high temperature strength and the excellent resistance to oxidation. Specially, verified materials have to be used in large quantities for both repair and replacement of steam facing components. The efficiency of newly constructed Pulverized Coal – Thermal Power Plant[PC-TPP] is higher than 42% at Ultra Super Critical[USC] conditions of 250~300 bar and 600~610oC. Recently, material technology has been developed to build PC-TPP of the steam condition of advanced USC with more than 46% efficiency. However, it is expected to have problems to economically manufacture in large quantities. Therefore, the paper explains the current the state of the art of materials technologies and the issues with the steam.


Were Ottoman autonomous provinces nation-states in the making or signs of a semicolonial and irredeemably weak empire? Or, were they evidence of alternative arrangements of imperial sovereignty? By taking a long view of Ottoman history and examining "exceptional" provinces such as the Khedivate of Egypt, the Sharifate of Mecca, and the mutasarrifiya of Mt. Lebanon, this reflection seeks to recast new and reorganized configurations of administrative power in the nineteenth century as part of a broad repertoire of Ottoman autonomy. In lieu of characterizing these territories as flawed or imperfect sovereignties, we question the utility of these terms and argue that arrangements often referred to as exceptions were normative and central to the empire's survival. Drawing on our work on international law, autonomy, pilgrimage, and migration, we consider how Egypt and the Hijaz—two provinces that are often treated as exceptionally exceptional—serve as productive sites to examine how Ottomans engaged with the international legal order and posed alternative visions of authority that informed not only the end of the empire but also its afterlife.


Mushroom poisoning does not occur very often but in autumn the incidence increases. The seriousness of symptoms in some cases justifies the revision of this issue just the event of one family cases occurred recently in our environment. In this paper we are presenting two cases of intoxication by Lepiota bruneoincarnata in two patients of the same family who suffers visceral involvement with a hepatic strike down and death in one of the patients. The rarity, and seriousness of symptoms together with the similarity with intoxication by Amanita phalloides seem very interesting to us to be published.


"By reading only six hours a day", says Marianne Dashwood, outlining her plan of future application to her sister Elinor in Sense and Sensibility, "I shall gain in the course of a twelve-month a great deal of instruction which I now feel myself to want." She adds: "Our own library is too well known to me, to be resorted to for any thing beyond mere amusement. But there are many works well worth reading at the Park; and there are others of more modern production which I know I can borrow of Colonel Brandon" (301). We know, to some extent, what was in the Dashwoods' own library – volumes of Cowper, Scott and Thomson are mentioned. But what might Marianne have borrowed at Barton Park and Delaford? Which publications would Colonel Brandon have considered most appropriate for her project of self-improvement? Elinor considers Marianne's plan excessive, but what would have been a more realistic amount of time for her to spend reading each day, and where might she have done it?


Mokvist, F. 2014. The Far-Red Limit of Photosynthesis. Digital Comprehensive Summaries of Uppsala Dissertations from the Faculty of Science and Technology 1108. 77 pp. Uppsala: Acta Universitatis Upsaliensis. ISBN 978-91-554-8835-2. The photosynthetic process has the unique ability to capture energy from sunlight and accumulate that energy in sugars and starch. This thesis deals with the light driven part of photosynthesis. The aim has been to investigate how the light-absorbing protein complexes Photosystem I (PS I) and Photosystem II (PS II), react upon illumination of light with lower energy (far-red light; 700-850 nm) than the absorption peak at respective primary donor, P700 and P680. The results were unexpected. At 295 K, we showed that both PS I and PS II were able to perform photochemistry with light up to 130 nm above its respective primary donor absorption maxima. As such, it was found that the primary donors' action spectra extended approximately 80 nm further out into the red-region of the spectrum than previously reported. The ability to perform photochemistry with far-red light was conserved at cryogenic temperatures (< 77 K) in both photosystems. By performing EPR measurements on various photosystem preparations, under different illumination conditions the origin of the effect was localized to their respective reaction center. It is also likely that underlying mechanism is analogous for PS I and PS II, given the similarities in spatial coordination of the reaction center pigments. For PS II, the results obtained allowed us to suggest a model involving a previously unknown electron transfer pathway. This model is based upon the conclusion that the primary cation from primary charge separation induced by far-red light resides primarily on ChlD1 in P680. This is in contrast to the cation being located on PD1, as has been suggested as for visible light illumination. The property to drive photochemistry with far-red wavelengths implies a hither to unknown absorption band, probably originating from the pigments that compose P700 and P680. The results presented here might clarify how the pigments inside P680 are coupled and also how the complex charge separation processes within the first picoseconds that initiate photosynthetic reactions occur.


Deep pretrained transformer networks are effective at various ranking tasks, such as question answering and ad-hoc document ranking. However, their computational expenses deem them cost-prohibitive in practice. Our proposed approach, called PreTTR (Precomputing Transformer Term Representations), considerably reduces the query-time latency of deep transformer networks (up to a 42x speedup on web document ranking) making these networks more practical to use in a real-time ranking scenario. Specifically, we precompute part of the document term representations at indexing time (without a query), and merge them with the query representation at query time to compute the final ranking score. Due to the large size of the token representations, we also propose an effective approach to reduce the storage requirement by training a compression layer to match attention scores. Our compression technique reduces the storage required up to 95% and it can be applied without a substantial degradation in ranking performance.


A new surrogate-assisted optimization formulation for groundwater remediation design was developed. A stationary Eulerian travel time model was used in lieu of a conservative solute transport model. The decision variables of the management model are well locations and their flow rates. The objective function adjusts the residence time distribution between all pairs of injection-production wells in the remediation system. This goal is achieved by using the Lorenz coefficient as an effective metric to rank the relative efficiency of many remediation policies. A discrete adjoint solver was developed to provide the sensitivity of the objective function with respect to changes in decision variables. The quality management model was checked with simple solutions and then applied to hypothetical two- and three-dimensional test problems. The performance of the simulation-optimization approach was evaluated by comparing the initial and optimal remediation designs using an advective-dispersive solute transport simulator. This study shows that optimal designs simultaneously delay solute transport breakthrough at pumping wells and improve the sweep efficiency leading to smaller cleanup times. Well placement optimization in heterogeneous porous media was found to be more important than well rate optimization. Additionally, optimal designs based on two-dimensional models were found to be more optimistic suggesting a direct use of three-dimensional models in a simulation-optimization framework. The computational budget was drastically reduced because the proposed surrogate-based quality management model is generally cheaper than one single solute transport simulation. The introduced model could be used as a fast, but first-order, approximation method to estimate pump-and-treat capital remediation costs. The results show that physically based low-fidelity surrogate models are promising computational approaches to harness the power of quality management models for complex applications with practical relevance.


Ocean and coastal ecosystems provide many critical ecosystem services that support human health and well‐being including providing food, storm protection, and carbon sequestration. Environmental stressors acting individually or concurrently and synergistically are reducing the ability of coastal ecosystems to provide key ecosystem services that may result in decreases in human health and well‐being. We outline some impacts to human health and well‐being that may result from the effects on coastal and ocean ecosystem services of five example stressors: rising temperatures, nutrient enrichment, ocean acidification, habitat destruction and the concomitant loss of biodiversity, and extreme weather events. We conclude with suggestions for research and related actions to improve our understanding and management of coastal ecosystems. These include the need for natural and biomedical/public health scientists, and their respective professional organizations, to work together to increase understanding of the connections between healthy and degraded coastal and marine ecosystems and human health, and for policy and decision‐makers to account for these impacts when considering trade‐offs among management alternatives.


Recently there has been a broad discussion with regards to Corporate Social Responsibility, its general purpose, and how it is publicly disclosed. The responsibilities for the engagement in CSR activities have been primarily vested with the CEO of organizations. Previous studies suggested an existing link between CEO's CSR Engagement and TBL Performance. The dissertation aimed to explore the relationship between the CEO's CSR Engagement and TBL Performance and to investigate the role of a decentralized organizational structure in this relation. A quantitative research approach in the form of archival data was carried out to measure CEO CSR Engagement and Decentralization of the 50 largest German stock-listed corporations by analyzing annual financial reports. Also, to measure total TBL Performance, media disclosure of the 50 largest German stock-listed corporations in the German newspaper Handelsblatt was analyzed. The results of the study showed that increased levels of the aspect Stakeholder Responsibility (a component of CEO CSR Engagement) positively impacted TBL Performance. Also, the study results indicated that a low level of Decentralization positively moderated the relationship between the aspect External Risk and Engagement (a component of CEO CSR Engagement) and TBL Performance. The dissertation extends already existing CEO leadership literature and measures organizational sustainability performance based on the concept of the Triple Bottom Line. Also, the application of organizational structure of Decentralization as a moderator between CEO CSR Engagement and TBL Performance contributes to already existing literature. By applying factor analysis to the CEO CSR related aspects to objectify the gathered data, this dissertation contributes methodologically.


Abstract Phase transitions in Al2O3 between corundum Rh2O3(II)-type and CaIrO3-type (post-perovskitetype) phases were examined at high pressure and high temperature in a laser-heated diamond-anvil cell (DAC) based on in situ X-ray diffraction measurements. The locations of corundum-Rh2O3(II) and Rh2O3(II)-CaIrO3 boundaries were precisely determined by conducting both forward and backward reaction experiments. The results demonstrate that corundum undergoes a phase transition to Rh2O3(II)-type structure above 106 GPa at 1800 K with a negative Clapeyron slope of -6.5 ± 1.5 MPa/K, generally consistent with earlier experimental and theoretical works. The Rh2O3(II)-type phase further transforms into CaIrO3-type above 170 GPa at 2300 K, indicating the transition pressure much higher than earlier experimental work but in agreement with reported GGA calculations. The Clapeyron slope of this phase transition was found to be high negative (-20 ± 5 MPa/K).


In the past few years, SAR Interferometry specially InSAR and D-InSAR were extensively used for deformation monitoring related applications. Due to temporal and spatial decorrelation in dense vegetated areas, effectiveness of InSAR and D-InSAR observations were always under scrutiny. Multi-temporal InSAR methods are developed in recent times to retrieve the deformation signal from pixels with different scattering characteristics. Presently, two classes of multi-temporal InSAR algorithms are available- Persistent Scatterer (PS) and Small Baseline (SB) methods. This paper discusses the Stanford Method for Persistent Scatterer (StaMPS) based PS-InSAR and the Small Baselines Subset (SBAS) techniques to estimate the surface deformation in Tehri dam reservoir region in Uttarkhand, India. Both PS-InSAR and SBAS approaches used sixteen ENVISAT ASAR C-Band images for generating single master and multiple master interferograms stack respectively and their StaMPS processing resulted in time series 1D-Line of Sight (LOS) mean velocity maps which are indicative of deformation in terms of movement towards and away from the satellites. From 1D LOS velocity maps, localization of landslide is evident along the reservoir rim area which was also investigated in the previous studies. Both PS-InSAR and SBAS effectively extract measurement pixels in the study region, and the general results provided by both approaches show a similar deformation pattern along the Tehri reservoir region. Further, we conclude that StaMPS based PS-InSAR method performs better in terms of extracting more number of measurement pixels and in the estimation of mean Line of Sight (LOS) velocity as compared to SBAS method. It is also proposed to take up a few major landslides area in Uttarakhand for slope stability assessment.


This paper describes the relationship between epidemiology and other desciplines including medical and social sciences both of which are expanding in scope. As a discipline, epidemiology is not only growing in scope as well but also developing new techniques of establishing facts about disease causation and interventions demonstrating how prevention programmes could be carried out for the benefit of communities from the burden of disease. Further, the effects of epidemiological findings in the developed North on the control of diseases and the lack of this in the poor South is described. The need for interdisciplinary approach in finding disease prevention solutions is emphasized.


Symbolic methods are often considered the state-of-the-art technique for validating digital circuits. Due to their complexity and unpredictable run-time behavior, however, their potential is currently limited to small-to-medium circuits. Logic simulation privileges capacity, it is nicely scalable, flexible, and it has a predictable run-time behavior. For this reason, it is the common choice for validating large circuits. Simulation, however, typically visits only a small fraction of the state space. The discovery of bugs heavily relies on the expertise of the designer of the test stimuli. In this paper we consider a symbolic simulation approach to the validation problem. Our objective is to trade-off between formal and numerical methods in order to simulate a circuit with a "very large number" of input combinations and sequences in parallel. We demonstrate larger capacity with respect to symbolic techniques and better efficiency with respect to cycle-based simulation. We show that it is possible to symbolically simulate very large trace sets in parallel (over 100 symbolic inputs) for the largest ISCAS benchmark circuits, using 96 Mbytes of memory.


Forest landscape restoration (FLR) considers forests as integrated social, environmental and economic landscapes, and emphasizes the production of multiple benefits from forests and participatory engagement of stakeholders in FLR planning and implementation. To help inform application of the FLR approach in upland northern Thailand, this study reviews the political and historical context of forest and land management, and the role of smallholders in forest landscape management and restoration in upland northern Thailand. Data were collected through a literature review, interviews with 26 key stakeholders, and three case studies. Overall, Thai policies on socioeconomics, forests, land use, and agriculture are designed to minimize smallholders' impact on natural resources, although more participatory processes for land and forest management (e.g. community forests) have been gaining some traction. To enhance the potential for FLR success, collaboration processes among upland forest stakeholders (government, NGOs, industry, ethnic minority smallholders, lowland smallholders) must be advanced, such as through innovative communication strategies, integration of knowledge systems, and most importantly, by recognizing smallholders as legitimate users of upland forests.


In this paper I use the Malmö Longitudinal Data set and calculate actual lifetime
earnings for the 1928 cohort of Malmö men. I compare distributions of, and the
educational wage premiums for, annual and lifetime earnings. The distribution of
lifetime earnings is found to be less than the average annual distribution, but not for
each separate annual estimate. When comparing annual and lifetime wage premiums,
the significance for the lower levels of education tend to disappear. The annual wage
premiums seem to be overestimated compared to the lifetime premiums, except for
academic studies which are under-estimated annually.


OBJECTIVE
To compare the measurements of body temperature with the tympanic infrared thermometer and the digital rectal thermometer.

DESIGN
Prospective, comparative.

SETTING
Beatrix Hospital, Gorinchem, the Netherlands.

PATIENTS AND METHODS
A total of 2057 almost simultaneous measurements of rectal and tympanic temperature were performed in 164 patients in 9 different wards.

RESULTS
The mean difference between the two methods was 0.45 degree C with a standard deviation of 0.57 degree C. The tympanic temperature was lower than the rectal temperature. The differences ranged from -1.5 to 3.6 degrees C. The correlation coefficient was 0.69. If a rectal temperature > 37.8 degrees C was applied as the criterion of fever, the diagnosis was not made in 175/291 measuring moments (60%) with the tympanic thermometer. If a tympanic temperature > 37.8 degrees C was applied as the criterion of fever, the rectal thermometer failed to show fever in 16/132 measuring moments (12%).

CONCLUSION
The low sensitivity of the tympanic measurement to establish fever renders the tympanic infrared thermometer unsuitable for use as a fever thermometer.


Ladinian (Middle Triassic) strata of the Balaton Highland (west–central Hungary) comprise interbedded marine carbonate and volcaniclastic rocks. The sediments are noted for their rich ammonoid faunas, which allow detailed biostratigraphic subdivision and correlation. For the first time, isotopic dating of the tuff layers was carried out to calibrate the age of ammonoid zones and subzones. Four successive horizons were dated from the Felsouu"örs section, a candidate stratotype for the base of the Ladinian stage. Within the Reitzi Zone, which is interpreted here as the basal Ladinian unit, the following biostratigraphically tightly constrained U–Pb zircon ages were obtained: Felsoeoersensis Subzone 241.1 ± 0.5 Ma; Liepoldti Subzone 241.2 ± 0.4 Ma; Reitzi Subzone 240.5 ± 0.5 and 240.4 ± 0.4 Ma. A redeposited tuff from the Gredleri Zone at Litér yielded an additional U–Pb age of 238.7 ± 0.6 Ma. The new isotopic ages are in agreement with published U–Pb dates from the Southern Alps. Together, they allow estimation of the start of the Ladinian at 241.5 Ma and of the end of the stage at 237 Ma. A duration of <5 Ma for the stage strengthens the argument that cyclicity of the Ladinian Latemar platform (Southern Alps) is not exclusively of Milankovitch origin but forcing with shorter, sub-Milankovitch periods was also involved. The Ladinian, which started 10 Ma after the latest-Permian mass extinction, was a time of radiation and rapid evolutionary turnover, hence empirically established ammonoid biozones are of short duration, averaging 0.75 Ma.


Background: Non communicable diseases is a chronic disease that is not spread from person to person. Public knowledge about type of non communicable disease is quite good, but generally they don't understand about effect of non communicable disease risk factors, impacts and consider non communicable disease due to genetic factors, disease of older or rich people. This research to describe the fi ndings of non communicable diseases and health seeking behavior for these types of disease. Method: This study is a qualitative study used ethnographic methods. The research location at Sulaho village, Lasusua sub district, North Kolaka regency. Informants selected with snowball sampling methods. Participant observation and indepth interviews supported with documentation as data collection methods. Analysis of qualitative data with domain analysis, taxonomic analysis, komponensial analysis and analysis of the cultural theme supported with triangulation of sources and data collection methods. Results: Non communicable disease founded at Sulaho were cases of hypertension, stroke, diseases caused by workplace accidents and iodine defi ciency disorders (IDD). Informan knows name of diseases, but they did not know good knowledge of caused, impact and prevention of it. Traditional healer (sanro) is still the main reference before went to the health worker when someone sick, this indicates that people still have the will to take advantage of health care of health seeking behaviour. Conclusion: Traditional healer (sanro) generally become the main reference for health seeking behaviour of non communicable diseases before someone went to the health workers. Recommendation: Health workers has to be practice to approach the community through community leaders or kinship based.


During the year 2000-2001, P. multocida isolated from natural outbreaks of fowl cholera were subjected to somatic serotyping for the first time in Pakistan. Serotyping was carried out by the gel-diffusion precipitin test. P. multocida serotype 1 predominated with the percentage of 47.62, followed by serotype 3(28.57%), 4(14.29%) and 12(09.52%). All the serotypes found highly virulent with 100% mortality after challenge by serotype 1 and 3, 80% by serotype 4 and 60% by serotype 12.


When you bite into a tomato, what exactly are you eating? Join us for a tour of tomatoes, as we learn about the building blocks of food, known as biomolecules. Our tour explores the thousands of biomolecules in food, many of which play important roles in nutrition and health. An examination of tomatoes from various farms tells us that not all tomatoes have the same biomolecules. Lots of things affect the amounts and types of biomolecules in tomatoes, including their genetics, where and how they are grown, and even how they are stored and cooked. Our tour ends with a peek into a lab where scientists work on a global project to map all the biomolecules in foods. Welcome to an exciting frontier of science, where discoveries can lead to big improvements in the health of people and the planet.


Persistence in college among African American students continues to remain low compared to persistence among White students. Often, the focus in examining this issue has been on institution-wide retention efforts, which can ignore socio-cultural elements that can influence the decisions of individual students to persist at an institution; however, persistence may rely on a combination of institutional factors and socio-cultural elements. The purpose of this article is to present findings from a research project that highlight institutional factors and socio-cultural elements that influence the persistence of African American students at a predominantly White institution. The findings from focus groups with African American students suggest that they persist despite a "cold" campus climate and ongoing experiences with racism and prejudice at Southern State University [pseudonym].


The research presented in this thesis has focussed on exploring buyer- supplier
relationships from a human perspective. To date, researchers across the globe have
studied buyer-supplier relationships and endeavoured to find means to try to make
them better. This has led to many new relationship development programmes initiated
by companies and new concepts introduced by academics for the betterment of buyersupplier
relationships. The focus of academics has been in trying to study buyersupplier
relationships from various factors, viz. power, opportunistic behaviour,
unethical behaviour, partnerships, collaborations, etc. All these endeavours have
focussed on using technology or business processes in order to streamline operations
and create environments, which would foster partnerships or collaborations. One
aspect not usually given prominence in these studies has been the presence of humans
in the relationship as representatives of the transacting companies. Giving this more
focus, the researcher feels that organisational culture plays a very strong role in the
way organisations operate, and when two organisations transact with each other the
individual culture is bound to play a role in the way the transaction is conducted. The
individual culture of the organisation also depends upon the humans in the
organisation.
Since, the focus of the research was on exploring the buyer-supplier relationships
from a human perspective, the research sought this perspective from people working
in purchasing or sales functions in different companies. The information was collected
by conducting "Phenomenological Interviews" with focus on "critical incidents"
affecting the relationship. The information was analysed for themes which led to the
need to study buyer-supplier relationships from two perspectives: 1) game-like
behaviour, 2) discretion, humans have in the relationship. The presence of game-like
behaviour and humans in the relationship led the researcher to study the concepts of
"Transactional Analysis" and check for the feasibility to transfer the concepts from a
therapeutic setting to buyer- supplier relationships. The research has been successful in exploring issues affecting buyer-supplier
relationships. A methodology for aligning supply chains by taking into account
human issues has been proposed. The methodology comprises a relationship
framework that is used for studying buyer-supplier relationships on a macro- level
based on the levels of satisfaction the entities have with each other. Since high levels
of dissatisfaction lead to various change- inducing transactions or game-like
behaviour between the entities, the framework identifies the status of the relationship,
and can be used to gauge what's going to happen to it, once the transaction is over.
The concepts of Transactional Analysis and the tools associated with it, viz. Drama
Triangle analysis and structural modelling are useful in studying the dynamics of the
transactions from the human perspective and also from a psychological perspective.


The objective of the present study was to use hollow microneedles for enhancing the transdermal delivery of Bovine Serum Albumin (MW~66,000 Da)-Fluorescein Isothiocyanate (BSA-FITC) conjugate, a hydrophilic large molecular compound. BSA-FITC was successfully loaded into the lower epidermis as well as the superficial dermis of the skin of neonatal pig by a hollow microneedle. The higher the volume of BSA-FITC solution injected, the higher the amount and the faster the BSA-FITC release rate from skin. These release profiles of BSA-FITC solution were expressed by Fick's law of diffusion. These results suggest the utilization of hollow microneedle to enhance transdermal delivery of protein and provide useful information for designing an effective hollow microneedle system.


By examining particular cases of belief perseverance following the undermining of their original evidentiary grounds, this paper considers two theories of rational belief revision: foundation and coherence. Gilbert Harman has argued for coherence over foundationalism on the grounds that the foundations theory absurdly deems most of our beliefs to be not rationally held. A consequence of the unacceptability of foundationalism is that belief perseverance is rational. This paper defends the intuitive judgement that belief perseverance is irrational by offering a competing explanation of what goes on in cases like the debriefing paradigm which does not rely upon foundationalist principles but instead shows that such cases are properly viewed as instances of positive undermining of the sort described by the coherence theory.


Wavefront shaping is a technique that uses spatial light modulators to conjugate the phase of light incident on a rough surface, such that the light will refocus after reflection. This refocusing effect is called reflective inverse diffusion. There currently are two different approaches used to achieve reflective inverse diffusion: iterative methods and matrix methods. Iterative methods find one phase mask which allows for reflected light to be focused at a single, specific position, with results that are immediately available and continuously improving. Matrix methods calculate the complex matrix which describes the rough surface and allows for reflected light to be focused at many positions after reflection and at multiple spots simultaneously. However, matrix methods are susceptible to decreased performance in a noisy system, and their results are not immediately available. This thesis provides an alternative to the current paradigm of choosing between iterative methods and matrix methods by showing that beam steering can be integrated into existing iterative methods, giving them the multiple-spot capabilities of matrix methods. For a focal plane system, a genetic algorithm not previously used for reflective inverse diffusion is used to find a phase mask that focuses light to one point. Circular shifts are then applied to the phase mask that create phase tilts at the rough surface and steer the reflected spot at the cost of decreased enhancement with a larger shift.


Background: Increasing numbers of long jumpers with lower limb amputations choose to take off from their prosthetic limb. It is not yet known what difference in technique, if any, this requires, or which is more advantageous. Objectives: To investigate kinematic differences in long jump technique in athletes with a unilateral transtibial ampution (TT) who take off from their prosthetic limb versus those who take off from their intact limb. Study Design: Naturalistic, field-based, observational; independent group, nonparametric comparison. Methods: Two-dimensional sagittal plane kinematic analysis was performed on all athletes competing in the men's Paralympic TT long jump finals. Five athletes took off from their prosthetic limb (TOprosth) and five from their intact limb (TOintact). Results: No differences were seen between the two groups in terms of jump distance, approach speed or vertical velocity at touch down. While in contact with the take-off board, the two groups gained a similar amount of vertical velocity. However, the TOprosth group appeared to conserve horizontal velocity by using the prosthesis as a 'springboard', minimizing the large hip and knee range of motion displayed by the TOintact group and athletes in previous studies. Conclusions: While differences in technique were observed, no difference was found for jump distance. Clinical relevance Athletes choosing to take-off from their prosthetic limb in long jump require a different technique to those who choose to take-off from their intact limb. Knowledge of the correct technique can help reduce excessive training which can lead to injury, particularly in the residual limb.


Recent discoveries of dinosaur fossils in Riodeva led us to carry out a systematic study of the geology of the area. The calcareous-siliciclastic facies rich in fossil bones are attributed to the Villar del Arzobispo Formation (Tithonian-Berriasian). These transitional facies have been divided into three different units; A) Marine-influenced siliceous-calcareous deposits, spanning 50 m., conformable over the underlying calcareous Jurassic marine unit, B) A 170 m detritical alluvial unit, including more than 35 recorded dinosaur sites (Royo-Torres y Cobos, 2004), and C) A 15-0 m detritical-calcareous unit unconformable below the erosive overlying formation (Arenas y Arcillas del Collado Formation). We also suggest a chronological explanation for taxonomical divergences between dinosaur sites previously attributed to Arenas y Arcillas del Collado formation.


Tests for successful surgical results for refractory palmar hyperhidrosis in the past usually involve starch test, plethysmograpy, and direct measurement of skin temperature. However, these tests are either inconvenient, inadequate or unable to be used during operation. Authors have used IR thermography during percutaneous radiofrequency sympathectomy to verify its usefulness as guide for evaluating the successful results. A total of 14 patients with persistent palmar hyperhidrosis were included. Average age was 28.2 years (range 21-36 years). Average duration of symptom was 24 months. All procedures were percutaneously performed under local anesthetics. Procedures include position the patient in prone position and introduction of three 21-guage RF TIC needles with 10 mm bared tip electrode to T2 and T3 ganglion in each side under C-arm guidance. After obtaining correct placement of electrode, a series of three lesions at each level with 90 °C for 120s were done. Successful lesioning was confirmed by from marked widening of pulse amplitude with an increase in hand skin temperature (>2 °C) by thermographic examination during operation. Average follow up period was 14.4 months. All patients tolerated the procedure and responded immediately to have dryness sensation of hands, most of which remained for rest of follow up period. Twelve patients (85.7%) reported as having about 80% of initial responses and one patient about 60% at 12 months postoperatively. Another patient who lost about 30-40% of initial response had undergone second procedure 3 months later with similar success. There were no complications related to the procedures and there were no rebound phenomenon. With regards to the role of intraoperative thermography in determining the successful results, it seems to provide clear-cut information whether these patients received proper treatments for future successful outcome. Thus, authors believe IR thermogrpahic examination is simple, feasible way of demonstration of completeness of sympathectomy in object way during surgical procedure that can be used as a guide for successful outcome.


Homeland security missions executed in near-Earth environments are often time consuming, labor intensive and possibly dangerous. Aerial robots performing tasks such as bomb detection, search-and-rescue and reconnaissance could be used to conserve resources and minimize risk to personnel. Flying in environments which are heavily populated with obstacles yields many challenges. Little data exists to guide the design of vehicles and sensor suites operating in these environments. This paper explores the challenges encountered implementing several different sensing technolgies in near-Earth environments. The results of applying these technologies to control a robotic blimp are presented to direct future work.


The Sliced-Wasserstein distance (SW) is a computationally efficient and theoretically grounded alternative to the Wasserstein distance. Yet, the literature on its statistical properties -- or, more accurately, its generalization properties -- with respect to the distribution of slices, beyond the uniform measure, is scarce. To bring new contributions to this line of research, we leverage the PAC-Bayesian theory and a central observation that SW may be interpreted as an average risk, the quantity PAC-Bayesian bounds have been designed to characterize. We provide three types of results: i) PAC-Bayesian generalization bounds that hold on what we refer as adaptive Sliced-Wasserstein distances, i.e. SW defined with respect to arbitrary distributions of slices (among which data-dependent distributions), ii) a principled procedure to learn the distribution of slices that yields maximally discriminative SW, by optimizing our theoretical bounds, and iii) empirical illustrations of our theoretical findings.


Introduction. Depression is a mental illness widespread in the population and is the most common mental disorder. There has been an increase in number of depression diagnoses among the wider population in the past few years. Aim. The aim of the study was to gain knowledge regarding the attitudes towards depression and to measure the occurrence of depression symptoms among open populations of Polish and British people. Materials and methods. The study was conducted from March to May 2015 by posting an electronic survey on a social network in Polish and English language. 143 completed questionnaires were obtained. The method of diagnostic survey was used in this study. The research tools was a survey created by the authors and the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI). Results. Every third respondent acknowledged that they have a sufficient knowledge of depression. Based on BDI results, 75% of Poles and 39% of British did not show any signs of depression. Conclusions. The British understand the term "depression" correctly more often than Poles. The inhabitants of Poland and Great Britain take a positive attitude towards people with depression. The British have depressive symptoms more frequently than Poles. Nationality and age do not affect the severity of depressive symptoms in both groups.


Lester R. Brown, whom the Washington Post praised as "one of the world's most influential thinkers," built his understanding of global environmental issues from the ground up. Brown spent his childhood working on the family's small farm. His entrepreneurial skills surfaced early. Even while excelling in school, he launched with his younger brother a tomato-growing operation that by 1958 was producing 1.5 million pounds of tomatoes. Later, at the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Brown emphasized the need for systemic thinking. In 1963 he did the first global food supply and demand projections to the end of the century. While on a brief assignment in India in 1965, he pieced together the clues that led him to sound the alarm on an impending famine there. His urgent warning to the U.S. and Indian governments set in motion the largest food rescue effort in history, helping to save millions of lives. This experience led India to adopt new agricultural practices, which he helped to shape. Brown went on to advise governments internationally and to found the Worldwatch and Earth Policy institutes, two major nonprofit environmental research organizations. Both brilliant and articulate, through his many books he has brought to the fore the interconnections among such issues as overpopulation, climate change, and water shortages and their effect on food security. His 1995 book, Who Will Feed China?, led to a broad restructuring of China's agricultural policy. Never one to focus only on the problem, Brown always proposes pragmatic, employable solutions to stave off the unfolding ecological crises that endanger our future.


In the oyster Crassostrea gigas, a successive hermaphrodite, Cg-Foxl2, an ortholog of Foxl2, is suspected to be involved in vitellogenesis or female sex determination. The existence of a natural antisense transcript (NAT) of this factor has been suspected in gonads but needs to be confirmed to better understand the early events of the gonadic differentiation. The occurrence of this NAT was studied by orientation-specific RT-PCR. The NAT and its mRNA expressions were investigated during the development and in adults by real-time PCR and in situ hybridization. The presence of stable in vivo RNA-RNA duplexes was also explored by RNase protection-based approach. This work is the first evidence of characterization of a NAT in the gonads of mollusks and Lophotrochozoa. This NAT named Cg-Foxl2os is supposed to be polyadenylated and forms RNA-RNA duplexes with its mRNA. Cg-Foxl2os is significantly more expressed than Cg-Foxl2 in 2-month-old spats and in mature males. It is co-localized with the mRNA in the cytoplasm of spermatogonia and spermatocytes. The results of this study demonstrate the existence of a NAT of Cg-Foxl2 in the gonads of C. gigas. It may regulate its mRNA expression through formation of cytoplasmic RNA-RNA duplexes during the oyster gonadic differentiation.


This paper presents Hybrid Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) Genetic Algorithm (GA) approaches for the document clustering problem. To obtain an optimal solution using Genetic Algorithm, operation such as selection, reproduction, and mutation procedures are used to generate for the next generations. In this case, it is possible to obtain local solution because chromosomes or individuals which have only a close similarity can converge. In standard PSO the non-oscillatory route can quickly cause a particle to stagnate and also it may prematurely converge on suboptimal solutions that are not even guaranteed to local optimal solution. This work proposes hybrid models that enhance the search process by applying GA operations on stagnated particles and chromosomes. GA will be combined with PSO for improving the diversity, and the convergence toward the preferred solution for the document clustering problem. The approach efficiency is verified and tested using a set of document corpus. Our results indicate that the approaches are feasible alternative to solve document clustering problems.


The authors summarize results of 25-year selective cytogenetic monitoring of the priority groups in different periods after the Chernobyl accident. The increase in intensity of somatic chromosome mutagenesis in exposed individuals as a result of both targeted and non-targeted radiation-induced cytogenetic effects has been confirmed including delayed, transmissible, hidden chromosome instability and the bystander effect.


Cache replacement strategy is the core for a distributed high-speed caching system, and effects the cache hit rate and utilization of a limited cache space directly. Many reports show that there are temporal and spatial local changes in access patterns of geospatial data, and there are popular hot spots which change over time. Therefore, the key issue for cache replacement strategy for geospatial data is to get a combination method which considers both temporal local changes and spatial local changes in access patterns, and balance the relationship between the changes. And the cache replacement strategy should fit the distribution and changes of hotspot. This paper proposes a cache replacement strategy based on access pattern which have access spatiotemporal localities. Firstly, the strategy builds a method to express the access frequency and the time interval for geospatial data access based on a least-recently-used replacement (LRU) algorithm and its data structure; secondly, considering both the spatial correlation between geospatial data access and the caching location for geospatial data, it builds access sequences based on a LRU stack, which reflect the spatiotemporal locality changes in access pattern. Finally, for achieving the aim of balancing the temporal locality and spatial locality changes in access patterns, the strategy chooses the replacement objects based on the length of access sequences and the cost of caching resource consumption. Experimental results reveal that the proposed cache replacement strategy is able to improve the cache hit rate while achieving a good response performance and higher system throughput. Therefore, it can be applied to handle the intensity of networked GISs data access requests in a cloud-based environment.


Abstract. The study of cold or obscured, red astrophysical sources can significantly benefit from adaptive optics (AO) systems employing infrared (IR) wavefront sensors. One particular area is the study of exoplanets around M-dwarf stars and planet formation within protoplanetary disks in star-forming regions. Such objects are faint at visible wavelengths but bright enough in the IR to be used as a natural guide star for the AO system. Doing the wavefront sensing at IR wavelengths enables high-resolution AO correction for such science cases, with the potential to reach the contrasts required for direct imaging of exoplanets. To this end, a new near-infrared pyramid wavefront sensor (PyWFS) has been added to the Keck II AO system, extending the performance of the facility AO system for the study of faint red objects. We present the Keck II PyWFS, which represents a number of firsts, including the first PyWFS installed on a segmented telescope and the first use of an IR PyWFS on a 10-m class telescope. We discuss the scientific and technological advantages offered by IR wavefront sensing and present the design and commissioning of the Keck PyWFS. In particular, we report on the performance of the Selex Avalanche Photodiode for HgCdTe InfraRed Array detector used for the PyWFS and highlight the novelty of this wavefront sensor in terms of the performance for faint red objects and the improvement in contrast. The system has been commissioned for science with the vortex coronagraph in the NIRC2 IR science instrument and is being commissioned alongside a new fiber injection unit for NIRSPEC. We present the first science verification of the system—to facilitate the study of exoplanets around M-type stars.


In this paper we present an overview of the unfold/fold proof method, a method for proving theorems about programs, based on program transformation. As a metalanguage for specifying programs and program properties we adopt constraint logic programming CLP, and we present a set of transformation rules including the familiar unfolding and folding rules which preserve the semantics of CLP programs. Then, we show how program transformation strategies can be used, similarly to theorem proving tactics, for guiding the application of the transformation rules and inferring the properties to be proved. We work out three examples: i the proof of predicate equivalences, applied to the verification of equality between CCS processes, ii the proof of first order formulas via an extension of the quantifier elimination method, and iii the proof of temporal properties of infinite state concurrent systems, by using a transformation strategy that performs program specialization.


It is no doubt that the contamination of water, air and soil has worsened, and this occurs as a result of the increase in population. However, the need for remediation technologies has to be seriously considered. Phytoremediation is one of the remediation techniques with a relatively slow procedure and low efficiency. This review covers some of the biological, chemical, physical, physico-chemical and genetic methods, which were applied in parallel with phytoremediation, in an attempt to help increase the efficiency in the remediation of air, soil and water. These include lowering the pH and increasing the electrode potential (Eh), as well as using chelating agents and micro-organisms (arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) and plant growth promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR)).Among the introduced methods, an appropriate application of the PGPRs is one of the most useful and environmentally friendly techniques which is currently considered as a useful process in phytoremediation. As a result of the discovering of these new methods, multi-approaches have been executed for a faster and higher removal rate of the contaminants, with a consequent increase in the efficiency of phytoremediation, as compared to single techniques.


This data set was created to map and analyze demographic rates of many common plant species in the shortgrass steppe of North America under grazed and ungrazed conditions. Twenty-four permanent 1-m2 quadrats were established as part of the Shortgrass Steppe Long Term Ecological Research project in six grazed and ungrazed study sites on the Central Plains Experimental Range in Nunn, Colorado, USA. We used a pantograph to record the location and shape of individual plants annually from 1997 to 2010. These data make it possible to determine the fate of individual plants using a Geographic Information System and spatial analysis techniques. The data provide unique opportunities to test the interactive effects of grazing and climate variables on demographic rates, plant–plant interactions, and population and community dynamics. We provide the following data and data formats: (1) the digitized maps in shapefile format; (2) a tabular representation of centroid or point location (x, y coordinates), and basal cover (m2) for plants mapped as polygons; (3) quadrat information including location (longitude and latitude), elevation, and livestock grazing treatment and history; (4) detailed information on stocking rates during the period of quadrat sampling; (5) daily temperature and precipitation values; (6) a species list including the total records for each species, plant growth forms, and longevity; and (7) an inventory of the years each quadrat was sampled.


Recently, a new approach for isolation of open faults in integrated circuits (ICs) was developed. It is based on mapping the radio-frequency (RF) magnetic field produced by the defective part fed with RF probing current, giving the name to Space Domain Reflectometry (SDR). SDR is a noncontact and nondestructive technique to localize open defects in package substrates, interconnections and semiconductor devices. It provides 2D failure isolation capability with defect localization resolution down to 50 microns. It is also capable of scanning long traces in Si. This paper describes the principles of the SDR and its application for the localization of open and high resistance defects. It then discusses some analysis methods for application optimization, and gives examples of test samples as well as case studies from actual failures.


In recent years, a number of lightweight programs have been deployed in critical domains, such as in smart contracts based on blockchain technology. Therefore, the security and reliability of such programs should be guaranteed by the most credible technology. Higher-order logic theorem proving is one of the most reliable technologies for verifying the properties of programs. However, programs may be developed by different high-level programming languages, and a general, extensible, and reusable formal memory (GERM) framework that can simultaneously support different formal verification specifications, particularly at the code level, is presently unavailable for verifying the properties of programs. Therefore, the present work proposes a GERM framework to fill this gap. The framework simulates physical memory hardware structure, including a low-level formal memory space, and provides a set of simple, nonintrusive application programming interfaces and assistant tools using Coq that can support different formal verification specifications simultaneously. The proposed GERM framework is independent and customizable, and was verified entirely in Coq. We also present an extension of Curry-Howard isomorphism, denoted as execution-verification isomorphism (EVI), which combines symbolic execution and theorem proving for increasing the degree of automation in higher-order logic theorem proving assistant tools. We also implement a toy functional programming language in a generalized algebraic datatypes style and a formal interpreter in Coq based on the GERM framework. These implementations are then employed to demonstrate the application of EVI to a simple code segment.


Abstract The flexible mid-sized machine of JFT-2M has contributed to the understanding of the physics of improved confinement and the control of improved discharges using some innovative techniques. The improved confinement modes achieved during additional heating on JFT-2M were H-mode in both divertor and limiter configurations, improved L-mode, counter-neutral-beam injection, and pellet-injected H-mode. These improved modes are characterized by two improvements: (a) H-mode that has sharp density and temperature gradients at the edge and (b) other modes that have peaked density, temperature, and toroidal rotation profiles near the center. The improvement of pellet-injected H-mode achieved by central fueling was a combination of H-mode and core improvement with peaked profiles. The discovery of limiter H-mode had an impact on the physics understanding of H-mode and showed the formation of a transport barrier at a place without discontinuity of the magnetic field line topology. The appearance of edge-localized modes (ELMs) by applying ergodic fields was investigated, and it was clarified that n ≥ 4 helical components were effective in producing ELMs. Scrape-off-layer biasing had the effect of compressing neutrals at the divertor region. It would be understood that compressed neutrals at the divertor region might increase banana ion loss through charge exchange and increase the negative radial electric field inside the separatrix. This situation would reduce the H-mode power threshold. High-recycling-steady (HRS) H-mode could be reproducibly obtained by boronization using tri-methyl-boron. It was found that HRS appears at a pedestal collisionality of νe* > 1.


The digital world, its advertising machinery and the popular media are pushing women back into traditional roles and once again creating a "superior" hypermacho expert male. Women must look critically at who is in charge of the new technology and challenge the gender codes that can work against them. In this path-breaking book, Melanie Stewart Millar explores power relations in the digital world and asks us to question what is really going on. How is technology shaping our future? What is the role of women within digital culture? What is the corporate agenda? How is it influencing women's work? Provocative and incisive, "Cracking the Gender Code" questions how the gains women have made through feminism over the last decades are being eroded. It looks specifically at how the articles and images of Wired, the magazine of the digital generation, are detrimental to women - a discourse that may be establishing the underlying ideology of a far-reaching communications industry. Stewart Millar argues that simply being computer literate or knowing how to use the Net is not good enough. Women need to demystify the technology and crack the gender code to participate equally in the cyber world of the future.


This paper defends the position that judicial reliance on legislative history violates the constitutional norm against congressional self-delegation. Contrary to that position, Professor Jonathon Siegel argues that, because a statute's legislative history already exists at the time of the statute's passage, a court's treating legislative history as authoritative is the same as giving effect to a statute that validly incorporates pre-existing materials by reference. To illustrate this point, Professor Siegel introduces, as a thought experiment, a hypothetical Interpretation of Statutes Act. The Act provides that the legislative history of every future statute will be automatically incorporated into the statute by reference, without express adoption. Siegel argues that, because legislatures are permitted to incorporate, by reference, pre-enactment legislative history into statutes, such an Act would be constitutional. Disagreeing with that conclusion, this paper argues that the hypothetical Interpretation of Statutes Act would only formalize an unconstitutional delegation of power. The essay explains that the hypothetical statutory arrangement allows members of Congress to subvert the aims of bicameralism and presentment. In particular, legislators would be able to vote for a statute without taking full responsibility for legislative history that resulted from factional logrolling. The paper concludes that the resulting separation of legislator responsibility from legislative result (viz. the statutory text) enables Congress to enact binding statutory details through a process other than the one prescribed by the Constitution.


Peroxisome inheritance and differentiation For normal tissue structure and function, cells exert strict control over growth versus differentiation. Poor wound healing and aging can result from too little proliferation. Conversely, the development of cancer can involve excessive cell growth. Asare et al. looked for regulators that balance proliferation and differentiation in the epidermis (see the Perspective by Gruneberg and Barr). They observed differences in the transcript profile of epidermal progenitors, their differentiating progeny, and epidermal cancers. Epidermal progenitors that were deficient in the peroxisome-associate protein Pex11b did not segregate peroxisomes properly among dividing cells. This led to a delay in mitosis that perturbed polarized divisions. These events skewed daughter cell fate and resulted in a defective skin barrier. Thus, peroxisome inheritance appears to play a role in normal mitosis and cell differentiation. Science, this issue 10.1126/science.aah4701; see also p. 459 Organelle inheritance functions in mitosis and balances growth and differentiation during tissue morphogenesis. INTRODUCTION Adult tissues must balance growth and differentiation to develop and maintain homeostasis. Excessive differentiation can lead to aging and poor wound healing. Too much growth is observed in hyperproliferative disorders and cancers. How tissue imbalances arise in disease states is poorly understood. Skin is an excellent system for understanding the importance of this balance. Essential for keeping harmful microbes out and retaining body fluids, the skin barrier is maintained by an inner layer of proliferative basal progenitors, which generate a constant outward flux of terminally differentiating cells. It is known that when epidermal progenitors accumulate mutations that will give rise to malignancy, they change their program of gene expression. However, the extent to which cancer progression involves a gain of proliferation versus a loss of differentiation is unclear. A detailed molecular knowledge of how normal basal epidermal progenitors transition from a proliferative, undifferentiated state to a terminally differentiated state allows us to investigate how this process goes awry in a tumorigenic state. We use a genetic screen to identify which of the gene changes that occur in both early cell commitment and cancer are integral to maintaining the balance between growth and differentiation. RATIONALE Epithelial cancers are among the most prevalent and life-threatening cancers worldwide. Despite intensive research, the mechanisms by which these cancers evade regulatory systems working to balance differentiation and proliferation remain poorly understood. To provide new insights into how malignancies arise and how this might be exploited in advancing cancer therapeutics, we tackled this problem in the developing skin where these regulatory systems are established. RESULTS To understand how the balance between growth and differentiation is controlled, we first devised a strategy to transcriptionally profile epidermal stem cells and their terminally differentiating progeny. Using this method, we defined the earliest molecular events associated with the commitment of epidermal progenitors to their differentiation program. Of the many changes that occur, we focused on the cohort of genes that are also mutated in human epithelial cancers. To sift through which of these genes are functional drivers in cancers and how they perturb homeostasis, we conducted an in vivo epidermal RNA interference (RNAi) screen to identify candidates that are selectively enriched or depleted in proliferative progenitors relative to their differentiating progeny. We focused on PEX11b, a protein associated with peroxisomes, organelles involved in fatty acid and energy metabolism. PEX11b deficiency compromised epidermal terminal differentiation and barrier formation. Without PEX11b, peroxisomes functioned but failed to localize and therefore segregate properly during mitosis. Probing deeper, we discovered that in normal cells, peroxisomes take on stereotyped positions during mitosis. However, after depletion of PEX11b, peroxisomes failed to localize. Localization was directly coupled to mitotic progression, and when peroxisomes were mislocalized, a mitotic delay occurred. During this delay, spindles rotated uncontrollably, subsequently leading to perturbed polarized divisions and skewed daughter fates. Using a recently developed light-activated organelle repositioning technique to ectopically move peroxisomes, we found that altering peroxisomal localization in a PEX11b-independent manner also causes mitotic alterations. CONCLUSION Through transcriptional profiling and RNAi screening, we defined molecular targets associated with either increased proliferation or differentiation. One such target, the peroxisome membrane protein PEX11b, was required for epidermal development. The imbalance in epidermal differentiation that resulted from PEX11b deficiency and peroxisome mislocalization in mitosis was caused by an inability of basal stem cells to orient their spindle perpendicularly relative to the underlying basement membrane. For a stratified epithelium, where spindle orientation plays a critical role in establishing tissue architecture and homeostasis, this defect had dire consequences. Our findings unveil a role for organelle inheritance in mitosis, spindle attachment and alignment, and the choice of daughter progenitors to differentiate or remain stem-like. Screening for genes that perturb the growth/differentiation balance in skin. Proliferative epidermal progenitors (blue) generate differentiating suprabasal layers (orange). After RNA sequencing, the subset of genes differentially expressed and altered in cancers were screened in vivo for those perturbing growth/differentiation. Focusing on Pex11b-RNAi, we found that during mitosis, metaphase peroxisomes (green) normally localized around spindle poles, but with diminished PEX11b, peroxisomes were disorganized, causing spindle alignment defects and mitotic delay, leading to failed terminal differentiation. Balancing growth and differentiation is essential to tissue morphogenesis and homeostasis. How imbalances arise in disease states is poorly understood. To address this issue, we identified transcripts differentially expressed in mouse basal epidermal progenitors versus their differentiating progeny and those altered in cancers. We used an in vivo RNA interference screen to unveil candidates that altered the equilibrium between the basal proliferative layer and suprabasal differentiating layers forming the skin barrier. We found that epidermal progenitors deficient in the peroxisome-associated protein Pex11b failed to segregate peroxisomes properly and entered a mitotic delay that perturbed polarized divisions and skewed daughter fates. Together, our findings unveil a role for organelle inheritance in mitosis, spindle alignment, and the choice of daughter progenitors to differentiate or remain stem-like.


In order to improve the shrinkage resistance of wool fabrics, a new method that combine ionic liquid and chitosan was researched in this paper. Wool fabric was first pretreated with 1 - butyl - 3 - methyl bromination imidazole([Bmim]Br), and subsequently was treated with chitosan. Pretreatment temperature and time, and chitosan concentration of post-treatment were studied in this paper. Results showed that wool fabrics treated with [Bmim]Br at 80°C for 2 hours and post-treated in 1.0% chitosan acetic acid solution exhibit good shrinkage resistance. In addition, SEM images of ionic liquid treated wool fiber indicates that the scales have been destroyed, and the surface is covered with a layer of film after post-treated with chitosan.


Abstract. This is the first of two papers that documents the creation of the New European Wind Atlas (NEWA). It describes the sensitivity analysis and evaluation procedures that formed the basis for choosing the final setup of the mesoscale model simulations of the wind atlas. An optimal combination of model setup and parameterisations was found for simulating the climatology of the wind field at turbine-relevant heights with the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model. Initial WRF model sensitivity experiments compared the wind climate generated by using two commonly used planetary boundary layer schemes and were carried out over several regions in Europe. They confirmed that the largest differences in annual mean wind speed at 100 m above ground level mostly coincide with areas of high surface roughness length and not with the location of the domains or maximum wind speed. Then an ensemble of more than 50 simulations with different setups for a single year was carried out for one domain covering Northern Europe, for which tall mast observations were available. Many different parameters were varied across the simulations, for example, model version, forcing data, various physical parameterisations and the size of the model domain. These simulations showed that although virtually every parameter change affects the results in some way, significant changes on the wind climate in the boundary layer are mostly due to using different physical parameterisations, especially the planetary boundary layer scheme, the representation of the land surface, and the prescribed surface roughness length. Also, the setup of the simulations, such as the integration length and the domain size can considerably influence the results. The degree of similarity between winds simulated by the WRF ensemble members and the observations was assessed using a suite of metrics, including the Earth Mover's Distance (EMD), a statistic that measures the distance between two probability distributions. The EMD was used to diagnose the performance of each ensemble member using the full wind speed distribution, which is important for wind resource assessment. The most realistic ensemble members were identified to determine the most suitable configuration to be used in the final production run, which is fully described and evaluated in the second part of this study.


Advanced micro-architectural features such as caches and branch prediction mechanisms supporting speculative execution are becoming commonplace within modern microprocessors. For developers of real-time systems, these mechanisms present predictability problems. Previous work has demonstrated accurate analysis for instruction caches, data caches, and branch prediction mechanisms are possible. However, the integration of these individual analysis methods is difficult to do without large increases in computational complexity or the introduction of pessimism regarding the worst-case execution time (WCET) estimate. In this paper, we discuss how a previously published analysis method for branch predictors can be integrated with instruction pipeline analysis.


In RUGBY TALES, Lawrence Dallaglio recalls with affection and razor-sharp humour, the behind-the-scenes stories that have previously only been shared within the world of international rugby, together with some classics from his rugby-playing colleagues and mates. There's the one about the 2003 World Cup winner who curtseyed to the queen and another featuring the rugby legend who was affronted by the suggestion that he had been out on the town until 3 a.m. days before a crucial match. 'Don't you look at me,' he cried indignantly, 'I got in at six.' Featuring big games, bigger personalities, quick-fire banter and the odd pint or two, these are the best of the best from the legends of the dressing room, pitch and pub.


AFM is used to study tooth surfaces (enamel and cementum) in order to compare the pattern of particle distribution and demineralization process in the two dissimilar tooth hard tissues. Our approach is focusing mainly on the qualitative observations of tooth surface morphology and quantitatively measuring the early stages of mineral loss. The native enamel presented globular particles tightly packed. After polishing the aprismatic layer, the particles observed were relatively larger and more organized than ones in the outmost enamel surface. The cementum had small grains arranged in some degree of ordered packing with varying crystallite orientations. After different time treatment with citric acid solution, all the sample surfaces became more irregular and had the deeper grooves. The maximum mineral loss was greatest for the cementum sample and lowest for the native enamel. The demineralization difference between the enamel and cementum shows the structure and component play important roles in the morphological changes of demineralization. These demonstrate that the microstructure and demineralized difference between enamel and cementum obtained with AFM are complementary to the usual SEM images and TEM data. AFM is suitable for measuring early stages of tooth surface demineralization.


In this paper a dynamic analysis of transnational shells is presented. The general linear shell theory is used in conjunction with additional shallow and curved plate approximations. In order to apply some type of extended Levy solution, the shell is assumed to be limited by a rectangular plan form, with two opposite edges simply supported (gable boundary conditions). First, the shells free vibrations are studied in the usual way, obtaining for each Fourier term the natural frequencies as solutions of a transcendental equation. However, solving these equations arises enormous computational difficulties. This paper deals specifically with this problem, trying to reduce its dimension by a discretization procedure. In the shell dynamic characteristics, namely the mass. The shell mass is lumped along a family of coordinate lines. Therefore, the natural frequencies for each harmonic term can be found from the solution of a typical matrix eigenvalues problem and standard numerical techniques can be applied. The shell response to forced vibrations, particularly to earthquake excitation, can be determined by using conventional procedure either in the time or in the frequency domain. Finally, extending the above procedure, any system of translational shells under dynamic loading can be studied. Then, by using matrix methods, a general computer program is written and applied to some illustrative examples. Numerical results has been obtained in two cases: circular cylindrical shell and box girder bridge.


Sufism is Islam's main mystical tradition. There are Sufi orders in almost all Muslim countries around the world, but not all Sufis accept the same beliefs and practices. Mystical Islam offers an introduction that encompasses the full history and richness of the Sufi spiritual tradition over fourteen centuries of Islam. This accessible work covers the origins of Sufism and early influences, particularly from Christianity; the rise of the great Sufi organizations; the thought of Sufism's main theorist and systemizer, Ibn Arabi; Rumi and the Whirling Dervishes; relations with Shi'ism in Iran; Sufism in the heyday of the great empires in Iran, India, and Turkey; and relations with Turkey and Egypt during the nineteenth century as well as Sufi practices in the twentieth century. In a new afterword, the author reflects on recent scholarship and offers fresh perspectives on this fascinating tradition of belief and devotion.


This paper has been developed from research carried out within the 'Learning as Work' project, an ESRC funded multi-sector study in the UK (2003 – 2008)i. It discusses some initial findings from case study research which is focusing on the effects of contractual changes on the learning opportunities, working lives and career expectations experienced by contract research staff within Higher Education (HE) in the United Kingdom. The paper draws on a series of in-depth face-to-face interviews carried out with senior managers, contract research staff (CRS), principal investigators and other key staff members across three faculties, spanning both the 'hard' and 'soft' sciences, in one research intensive university. These are suggesting that it is unhelpful to consider CRS as an homogenous group. Factors relating to the historical relationship between research and career trajectories in contrasting disciplines; the requirements of diverse funding sources; changing expectations regarding 'work-life balance'; the wider labour market context, as well as the nature of specific departments in terms of management style, priorities and culture, were all relevant to the lived experiences and perceptions of our sample.


The aim of the first part of this thesis was to determine the optimal feeding strategy after pancreatoduodenectomy. The available nutritional guidelines give conflicting recommendations and are all based on studies after major gastrointestinal surgery for cancer in general. We systematically reviewed the available literature regarding five different feeding strategies after pancreatoduodenectomy; oral diet, enteral nutrition via either a nasoenteral-, gastrojejunostomy or jejunostomy tube and total parenteral nutrition. Based on the available literature there seemed to be no evidence to support routine enteral or parenteral nutrition after pancreatoduodenectomy. In addition, our retrospective cohort study demonstrated that each feeding strategy including enteral or parenteral nutrition is associated with specific complications such as tube dislodgement, bowel strangulation and infections. Based on these findings we concluded that early oral feeding may be the preferred routine feeding strategy after pancreatoduodenectomy and designed an observational cohort study to evaluate whether a change in the routine feeding strategy from nasoenteral tube feeding to early oral feeding improved clinical outcomes. No negative impact of early oral feeding on postoperative morbidity was seen, while the time to resumption of adequate oral intake and length of hospital stay significantly decreased. This led us to conclude that early oral feeding with on-demand tube feeding is the feeding strategy of choice after pancreatoduodenectomy. Our study in patients at high risk of requiring postoperative tube feeding (i.e. with preoperative symptoms of gastric outlet obstruction (i.e. vomiting, dysphagia, nausea, loss of appetite and postprandial complaints) also showed no benefits of routine tube feeding.
Up to 50 percent of patients within an oral feeding strategy ultimately require postoperative tube feeding via a nasoenteral feeding tube on-demand, because they do not tolerate oral feeding. Nasoenteral feeding tubes are typically placed endoscopically by gastroenterologists, which is bothersome for both patients and caregivers. In the second part of this thesis we aimed to investigate whether the task of nasoenteral feeding tube placement can be shifted from gastroenterologists at endoscopy departments to nurses at the patient's bedside through the use of an electromagnetic guided tube placement system. We systematically reviewed the literature regarding nasoenteral feeding tube placement and reviewed our own retrospective data and concluded that bedside electromagnetic guided placement did not differ from endoscopic placement regarding feasibility and safety in critically ill or surgical patients with an unaltered upper gastrointestinal anatomy. Our subsequent prospective pilot study in patients with an altered anatomy after pancreatoduodenectomy demonstrated decreased success rates for both electromagnetic guided and endoscopic feeding tube placement. In the CORE trial, a multicenter randomized controlled trial, we aimed to determine non-inferiority of electromagnetic guided placement in terms of efficacy and to objectify the suggested advantages (e.g. logistics, patient discomfort and costs) compared with endoscopic placement of nasoenteral feeding tubes in surgical patients. Our results established non-inferiority of electromagnetic guided placement in terms of reinsertions and demonstrated logistical advantages and reduced overall healthcare costs, which led us to conclude that electromagnetic guidance may be considered the preferred technique for nasoenteral feeding tube placement.


How do we explore history in a new way? Current digitization and archival methods do not have the richness and versatility necessary for researching cultural heritage. In this paper, the role of augmented reality in cultural heritage research is investigated. Then, a formative study is described and analyzed to gain an understanding of the workflow, desired insights and reported pain points that scholars face when working with cultural heritage collections. Finally, the findings from this study are used to propose design concepts for an augmented reality prototype for searching within a collection of artifacts and visualizing selected artifacts. In conclusion, possible directions for the potential of augmented reality in cultural heritage are discussed.