The aim of this prospective randomized, double-blind study was to investigate the effects of pressure controlled and volume controlled ventilation on mucociliary clearance under general anaesthesia maintained with total intravenous anaesthesia. After approval by the Ethics Committee, 60 patients scheduled for tympanoplasty or tympanomasteidectomy under general anaesthesia were enrolled in the study. In Group I (n=30), the lungs of the patients were ventilated using volume-controlled mode with 8 ml/kg tidal volume. In Group II (n=30) pressure controlled ventilation mode was used with 10 cm H2O pressure support. Mucociliary clearance was assessed by in vivo saccharine transit time in preoperative and postoperative periods. The groups showed no significant differences regarding age, height, body mass index, peak and plateau airway pressures. Saccharine transit time values did not differ significantly between the groups. In conclusion, volume-controlled and pressure-controlled ventilation modes have no significant impact on nasal saccharine transit time.


Ethanol affects the function of neurotransmitter systems, resulting in neuroadaptations that alter neural excitability. Adenosine is one such receptor system that is changed by ethanol exposure. The current review is focused on the A(1) and the A(2A) receptor subtypes in the context of ethanol-related neuroadaptations and ethanol withdrawal because these subtypes (i) are activated by basal levels of adenosine, (ii) have been most well-studied for their role in neuroprotection and ethanol-related phenomena, and (iii) are the primary site of action for caffeine in the brain, a substance commonly ingested with ethanol. It is clear that alterations in adenosinergic signaling mediate many of the effects of acute ethanol administration, particularly with regard to motor function and sedation. Further, prolonged ethanol exposure has been shown to produce adaptations in the cell surface expression or function of both A(1) and the A(2A) receptor subtypes, effects that likely promote neuronal excitability during ethanol withdrawal. As a whole, these findings demonstrate a significant role for ethanol-induced adaptations in adenosine receptor signaling that likely influence neuronal function, viability, and relapse to ethanol intake following abstinence.


Textile 100 % acrylic fabrics have been used in tapestry for a long time. One of the drawbacks of this type of fabrics is its great flammability. Textile fabrics are coated with flame retardant in order to reduce the flammability. We present some results concerning the use of commercial products (Flame-Out, Borax (Na 2 B 4 O 5 (OH) 4 •8H 2 O), and Hexametaphosphate of Sodium (Na1 6 P 14 O 43 ) as flame retardants for textile 100 % acrylic fabrics. The flame retardant capabilities, mechanical properties and structural characteristics of the textile fabrics before and after the use of these products were investigated throughout the special textile methods for inflammability and mechanical resistibility as well as infra-red spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction and scanning electronic microscopy. After the use of the flame retardants the mechanical properties of the fabrics were improved or at least remained the same as compared to fabrics without any treatment. The use of Borax / Hexametaphosphate from Sodium /Water results in the essential increase of combustion retardation time about 2 minutes as compared with 8 seconds for untreated fabrics.


A new classification algorithm based on combination of two independent kernel density estimators per class is proposed. Each estimator is characterized by a different bandwidth parameter. Combination of the estimators corresponds to viewing the data with different "resolutions". The intuition behind the method is that combining different views on the data yields a better insight into the data structure; therefore, it leads to a better classification result. The bandwidth parameters are adjusted automatically by the L-BFGS-B algorithm to minimize the cross-validation classification error. Results of experiments on benchmark data sets confirm the algorithm's applicability.


This paper proposes a new maximum a posteriori (MAP) based super-resolution (SR) image reconstruction method targeting edges and textures in images. Unlike conventional MAP based SR image reconstruction methods a spatially varying image prior is employed which is updated according to the frequency content of the reconstructed image at each iteration at different locations. Two alternative methods based on discrete cosine transforms (DCT) and Gabor filters are proposed for determining the image prior. The proposed method is validated through simulations and real experiments which clearly demonstrates significant visual improvements especially on edges and textures compared to state-of-the-art SR methods.


— This paper presents a new heuristic algorithm for the classical symmetric traveling salesman problem (TSP). The idea of the algorithm is to cut a TSP tour into overlapped blocks and then each block is improved separately. It is conjectured that the chance of improving a good solution by moving a node to a position far away from its original one is small. By doing intensive search in each block, it is possible to further improve a TSP tour that cannot be improved by other local search methods. To test the performance of the proposed algorithm, computational experiments are carried out based on benchmark problem instances. The computational results show that algorithm proposed in this paper is efficient for solving the TSPs.


This Introduction attempts to offer a different model for the discipline from that currently represented. It seeks to describe the form and function of the Hebrew Bible in its role as sacred scripture for Israel. It argues the case that the biblical literature has not been correctly understood or interpreted because its role as religious literature has not been correctly assessed.


Summer heat extremes in the UK pose a risk to health (amongst other sectors) and this is exacerbated by localised socio-economic factors that contribute to vulnerability. Here, regional climate model simulations from the UK Climate Projections are used to assess how different elements of extreme heat will vary across the UK in the future under global mean surface temperature warming levels of +1.5 °C, +2.0 °C and +3.0 °C above pre-industrial. Heat stress metrics incorporating daily maximum and minimum temperature, temperature variability and vapour pressure are included. These show qualitatively similar spatial patterns for the recent past, with the most pronounced heat hazards found in south-eastern regions of the UK. Projected heat hazard changes across the UK are not homogeneous, with southern regions (e.g. Greater London, South East) showing greater increases in maximum temperatures and northern regions (e.g. Scotland and Northern Ireland) showing greater increases in humidity. With +3.0 °C warming, the relative change in combined heat hazards is found to be greatest in the south-western UK, however, in absolute terms, south-eastern regions will still experience the greatest hazards. When combined with socio-economic factors, hotspots of high heat stress risk emerge in parts of London, the Midlands and eastern England along with southern and eastern coastal regions. Weighting of different heat risk factors is subjective and to this end we have developed and made available an interactive app which allows users to assess sensitivities and uncertainties in the projected UK heat risk.


The term "revolution" accurately describes what happened in the 1970s in the realm of environmental regulation. The way we started looking at things in the 1970s really was a dramatic change from the way we looked at them previously. In fact, a look in the Oxford English Dictionary will reveal how much has changed even in our use of the word "environment." (1) Its first uses came in the nineteenth century, as people began discussing Darwinian theory about how environment affects evolution. There the word meant "habitat"--something relatively local in which particular species live, and which they must either adapt to or migrate from to survive. (2) It was not until well into the twentieth century that broader meanings developed. Under the label of "environmental psychology," (3) people began talking about influences on human beings, but that sense was still somewhat focused. They meant the family, the home, the neighborhood in which people grow up. I think the earliest references to "environment" on a very large scale came in discussions in or about the Soviet Union. People spoke of eliminating crime and changing human nature by controlling the "human environment." (4) But even there, they meant only the one-sixth of the earth that was the Soviet Union. It is not until the 1970s that we find terms like "environmental advocate" and "environmental engineer," where the use of "environment" signifies the whole natural world. (5) The first conference that the United Nations sponsored on the environment was in 1972, and its title was "The Conference on the Human Environment" (6)--implying the whole world could be seen as one connected "environment." There is something inherently, let us say, Promethean about this: We need to control the whole world because everything is related to everything, and therefore everything is part of one, all-encompassing environment. My first point is that if we think about environment this way, we are going to make ourselves and everyone else crazy, and we are going to have a very difficult time recognizing the rights of individuals to do things differently because our regulatory outlook will be totalistic. I want to talk briefly about the Clean Water Act (7) because I think it is a good illustration of this problem. The statute is from the early 1970s. Congress did not then think it could regulate all bodies of water in the country and so enacted a statute covering only "navigable waters." (8) But the EPA has interpreted this jurisdiction in ways that have become increasingly extreme and draconian. (9) Even though the Supreme Court has repeatedly emphasized limits, (10) the EPA and the Army Corps of Engineers continue to think in this totalistic way: Everything is connected to everything. The environment is a vast encompassing network. The whole world is at stake. And so you cannot build your own house on your own land because that would be selfish. (11) The first case to address the scope of "navigable waters" was United States v. Riverside Bayview Homes (12) in 1985. At that time, the Supreme Court was still in a somewhat accommodating mood, so it held that in the Clean Water Act, "navigable waters of the United States" (13) could be read to refer not just to navigable waters, but also to adjacent bodies, which could flow into navigable waters. (14) Fifteen years later, there was Solid Waste Agency v. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. (15) In that case, the Army Corps of Engineers tried to stop a group of ten Chicago suburbs from building a solid-waste disposal site. The site was about ten miles from any kind of flowing water, but it had been a quarry. So after heavy rains, water would sometimes accumulate in it, creating a small artificial pond. (16) The federal government argued that the site was subject to regulation because it supported vegetation, and migratory birds stopped there. (17) The Supreme Court rejected this argument, holding that the pond was in no sense navigable water. …


In current industrial PLC programming there are a wide variety of logic control design methodologies in use. These languages include: ladder diagrams, function block diagrams, sequential function charts, and flow charts. At the same time, driven by a desire for verifiability, academics are developing additional methodologies, such as modular finite state machines and Petri nets. Using these languages important properties of programs can be verified and some code can be generated automatically. However, in the development of recent programming languages almost no mention has been made of the human factor, which becomes important when an existing program is modified, debugged, or incorporated into a new program. To begin addressing this issue, we present three ways to measure the complexity of a logic program (time to develop, direct measurements, and accessibility measures) and measure similar programs written in three logic control design methodologies (ladder diagrams, Petri nets and modular finite state machines). The goal of this paper is not to provide definitive answers regarding the suitability of a language for a particular purpose, but rather to explore the factors that may affect such decisions in the future.


3D stacked die packages are especially common today. With thinner chip and multi-layer, it requires higher reliability of such a package design. Besides this, with the increasing rigid requirements for prohibiting lead (Pb) and also the trend of green electronics, higher reflow temperature is required. All mentioned above pose a challenge towards the development of the stacked die package. And in this paper, the author presents a hygrothermal and analysis of a 4-layer stacked die package, with emphasis on the thermal induced stress and moisture diffusion characteristic. First, according to the JEDEC standard, the moisture diffusion characteristic under different conditions is investigated. Second, the thermal induced stress during reflow time is studied. Results show that the substrate and bottom adhesive endure large thermal stress and strain while have higher moisture diffusion rate. Both of the hazards will reduce the capability of the whole device, even cause the 'popcorn' cracking. Such results also indicate why the reliability of the bottom layers is relatively low in manufacture.


Your task: Write an analytical essay on a topic or event during the 1960's. Use the information that you have gathered to develop a CLEAR ARGUMENT (thesis) and then use specific evidence for support. Use this LibGuide to help! War, Policy, and Antiwar sentiments


Today, virtual prototypes are often employed for software development early in the design flow. There, high simulation speed may support fast development. So, the acceleration of virtual prototype simulation is important in the early phases of design. To accelerate virtual prototypes, complex prototype simulation can be prevented by exploiting model-specific knowledge. We replace complex event-driven interaction with execution of predefined traces. In particular, we show that, for many dataflow-dominated application models, such accelerating traces may be efficiently determined. Trace determination is based on a novel symbolic search technique. We show that virtual prototypes exploiting such traces may lead to a significant simulation time reduction. The benefits are quantified for the prototype of a SystemC/TLM network packet filter, where traces result in up to 30% simulation acceleration.


Flange is a common part in engineering, and it is tedious to build the 3D models of flanges repeatedly. Nowadays 3D modeling softwares are widely used in many engineering fields such as mining machinery, transportation and petrochemical. In practical engineering, it is necessary to compute the reliability of a flange. For these reasons a reliability design system of flange was developed with VC and Protoolkit. In this system, we only need to input several parameters to build a flange model and to compute its reliability. Also it is easy to determine the key sizes of a flange with an appointed reliability. The application of the software shown that using the software can improve the work efficiency and decrease the labor intensity of designers.


Despite evidence from several bird, fish and mammal species that listeners can discriminate between the vocalizations of familiar and unfamiliar adult conspecifics, direct links between discriminatory abilities and fitness benefits have been difficult to identify. In free-ranging populations of African lions (Panthera leo), females with cubs face a substantial threat from one particular category of unfamiliar individuals: infanticidal males. Here we use playback experiments to demonstrate that females with cubs can distinguish immediately between roars from their own resident males (the fathers of the cubs) and those from unfamiliar, potentially infanticidal males. Although they remain relaxed when played roars from resident males, they immediately become agitated on hearing unfamiliar males and retreat rapidly with their cubs if the latter have reached about 4.5 months of age. These responses are not simply a function of the roarers being unfamiliar, for when played the roars of unfamiliar females, females with cubs consistently approach the loudspeaker. Furthermore, females often move towards the cubs in response to playbacks of unfamiliar males but not in response to playbacks of unfamiliar females or resident males. Our results suggest how females with cubs might, by quickly detecting and categorizing unfamiliar intruders within their territory, protect their cubs from infanticidal males and expel intruding females. Distinguishing between individuals on the basis of their vocal characteristics could therefore confer direct fitness benefits on discriminating lionesses.


The angling season for non-migratory brown trout, in the Environment Agency (EA) North West Region, runs from March 15th to September 30th. Each year, large numbers of farm reared brown trout are stocked into the rivers of the North West Region's Central Area. In 1994, approximately 20,000 brown trout were introduced into the River systems of the Lune, Wyre and Ribble by local angling clubs and fishery owners. Most of these fish were stocked at a length greater than that defined by local byelaws as the takeable size (200mm). Introductions are made to supplement the existing wild brown trout populations within the river and increase
the probability of an angler catching a fish. Stocking with fish of a sufficient length allows the successful angler to remove the catch for their own use. In this way, stretches of the rivers are effectively managed as "put and take" fisheries for brown trout.
A number of brown trout fingerlings are also introduced each year by angling clubs and fishery owners. These are stocked with the expectation that the fish will survive in the river to grow, over-winter, and eventually attain a takable size with an increased degree of "wildness". The
lower cost of fingerlings, as opposed to trout of a takable length, makes their introduction more attractive to angling clubs since a greater number can be stocked for a given cost.
Although the practise of stocking brown trout has occurred for many years in the Central Area, there is little information of its success in terms of increasing anglers catches, or the survival offish introduced. This study was initiated to determine the recapture rates by angling
of brown trout following their introduction into a river fishery. The information gained from this study can then be used to give guidance to angling clubs and fishery owners on the optimal strategies for stocking fish.


Shimojo, Simion, Shimojo and Scheier (2003) provided preliminary evidence that eye movements have an active role in preference formation. In their study, subjects were presented with two faces and chose which was more attractive. By manipulating how long subjects were able to look at each face after an eye movement, Shimojo et al. (2003) showed that faces presented for a longer duration were more likely to be chosen as more attractive. However, a recent study from Nittono and Wada (2009) showed that an eye movement may not be necessary for this effect, as novel graphic patterns presented in the centre of the screen (thus requiring no eye movements) for longer durations were also more likely to be preferred. The purpose of the current study was to further investigate whether eye movements do have an active role in preference formation. The present study used the same paradigm as Shimojo et al.'s (2003) study. Subjects in Experiment 1 were presented with images of two real faces, alternatively (one for 900ms, one for 300ms) for six repetitions. There were 3 independent experimental conditions. One group were required to make eye movements to laterally presented faces and judge attractiveness (lateral attractiveness condition), a second were not required to make eye movements to centrally presented faces and judge attractiveness (central attractiveness condition). The third were required to make eye movements to laterally presented faces and judge roundness (lateral roundness condition). The findings indicated that subjects were more likely to choose the longer presented faces in the lateral attractiveness and central attractiveness conditions, but not the lateral roundness conditions. Experiment 2 was similar to Experiment 1 with the exception of the type of stimuli, which consisted of computer generated faces (CGFs). Subjects were more likely to choose the longer presented CGF in the lateral attractiveness, central attractiveness and lateral roundness conditions. The findings of the present study were not in line with Shimojo et al.'s (2003) previous findings, who found that faces presented for a longer duration were only preferred in the lateral attractiveness condition of their study. It is possible that the faces that are presented for the longer duration in the current paradigm are preferred due to the increase in exposure duration irrespective of an eye movement (as per the findings from Nittono and Wada, 2009). As it is unclear as to whether eye movements play an active role in preference formation, the findings of the present study have not been able to contribute to computational models of decision making.


The paper operates on two different but related levels. As its empirical focus it takes the recent shift in the terrain of conflict over handgun control. Following the lead of Morton Grove, Illinois, a number of communities have taken the initiative in banning handguns within their jurisdiction. This has prompted a response at the State level to standardize controls and limit local communities' abilities to regulate the quality of life. The role of the National Rifle Association, which has funded various legislative efforts, is explored. At a more general level, these contests are interpreted via state theory; local ordinances may constitute a tension within the state apparatus, and they make the locality consequently vulnerable to attempts by the state to impose uniformity upon the juridical system. The paper concludes by uniting the empirical and discursive themes, and provides an assessment of the implications of these cases.


Ferroelectric domain walls exhibit a number of new functionalities that are not present in their host material. One of these functional characteristics is electrical conductivity that may lead to future device applications. Although progress has been made, the intrinsic conductivity of BiFeO3 domain walls is still elusive. Here, the intrinsic conductivity of 71° and 109° domain walls is reported by probing the local conductance over a cross section of the BiFeO3/TbScO3 (001) heterostructure. Through a combination of conductive atomic force microscopy, high‐resolution electron energy loss spectroscopy, and phase‐field simulations, it is found that the 71° domain wall has an inherently charged nature, while the 109° domain wall is close to neutral. Hence, the intrinsic conductivity of the 71° domain walls is an order of magnitude larger than that of the 109° domain walls associated with bound‐charge‐induced bandgap lowering. Furthermore, the interaction of adjacent 71° domain walls and domain wall curvature leads to a variation of the charge distribution inside the walls, and causes a discontinuity of potential in the [110]p direction, which results in an alternative conductivity of the neighboring 71° domain walls, and a low conductivity of the 71° domain walls when measurement is taken from the film top surface.


We present a qualitative study of mobile communication via WeChat in Southern China, focusing on the rapid proliferation of emoji and stickers and the lessening dependence on text. We use interview and observation data from 30 participants to investigate how rural, small town, and urban Chinese adults creatively and innovatively balance the use of emoji, stickers, and text in their mobile communication practices. We also discuss design implications of our research for the field of HCI, offering ways of leveraging the non-textual communication practices that we uncover, in scenarios where purely text-based communication may not suffice.


The applicability of a knowledge-based system for resource management in the context of information centers (ICs) is discussed. The Information Center Expert (ICE) system has been developed to support the consultation process of IC personnel. The system determines the (software) resource requirements of the end users and makes appropriate recommendations. ICE further aids the management of IC software resources by keeping track of user consultations and the recommendations made. Issues of knowledge requirements, acquisition and representation and implementation of ICE are discussed. An evaluation of ICEs which focused on maintainability and transportability was conducted at two corporate locations and a university setting. Based on the informal feedback, the implications of this approach for future research are discussed. >


Purpose: Adopting a socio-ecological perspective, this study assessed the influence of social status and social economic status on adolescent intrinsic motivation for physical activity. A social network measure of social status was employed which permits analysis of both popularity and relatedness. It was predicted that higher social status would predict higher levels of self-determined motivation (intrinsic) for physical activity, that increasing age and social status would moderate this relationship and that boys with higher social status would show higher levels of intrinsic motivation for physical activity.

Methods: One hundred and nine (59 males and 50 females) participants aged 11 years 1 month to 16 years 9 months (M=13 years 5 months) were recruited from schools across the South East of the UK. They completed measures of social economic status, self-determined motivation (BREQ-2) towards physical activity participation and ratings of school peer's social status (generating popularity and relatedness scores).

Results: Hierarchical multiple regression showed that males displayed higher self-determined motivation towards physical activity participation than females; social status was not a significant predictor. Age, gender and social economic status did not predict motivation for physical activity. Social status, specifically popularity, did however correlate with participation for the older participants aged 15 years 2 months to 16 years 9 months. Qualitative, visual interpretation of the social networks of popularity and relatedness showed a mixed influence on motivation across individuals. For example, females with higher and lower popularity and relatedness had higher and lower self-determined motivation respectively to participate in physical activity.
Conclusions: In partial support of a socio-ecological framework, age related to increased participation in physical activity. The mixed individual findings regarding the influence of popularity and relatedness in relation to age and social economic status on self-determined motivation to participate in physical activity suggest the importance of assessing the interplay of multiple socio-ecological factors using inclusive social network analysis on an individual basis in relation to understanding and promoting intrinsic rather than regulated motivation towards physical activity.


We attempt to quantify the possible gains that can be achieved by examining a rate-distortion competition between a conventional and a compressive sampling solution to data rate reduction. Simple approximate expression are developed for the minimum bit rate required to obtain the best achievable average performance from the compressive sensing system and the performance that would be achieved if that rate requirement was met. An example of a signal that contains a small number of phasors in Gaussian white noise is used to validate these results and to compare the degradation in performance of the 2 systems when lower bit rates than those required by the theory are employed.


High-voltage electric transmission tower may collapse under the strong earthquake and studies on the collapse mechanism, routine and capacity of transmission tower-line system are important for the structural design of tower. In this paper, a progressive collapse analytical procedure for the system is proposed based on the finite element method (FEM). During this procedure, the mass of the elements is still retained rather than removal after elements lose the load-bearing capacity. The proposed procedure is coded using the user subroutine VUMAT and then implemented in the advanced finite element program ABAQUS. A three-dimensional finite element model for the system of three towers and four-span lines is created. By using the coded subroutine, the collapse analysis of the tower-line system under the strong earthquake is performed. Collapse processes along longitudinal and lateral direction are studied, respectively. Furthermore, the influences of ultimate strain and strain rate effect of materials on the collapse mode and capacity are studied. The results indicate that the collapse analysis of the tower-line system by using the proposed procedure can provide collapse mode and vulnerable points for use in seismic performance and retrofit evaluation of structure. It is found from the numerical modeling that the influences of ground motion and ultimate strain on the collapse modes are apparent. The collapse-resistant capacity of system increases remarkably with the increase of ultimate strain and influences of strain rate on collapse routine and capacity are tiny in analytical results.


Title: Surgical management of abdominal incisional hernia with mesh placement: short- term experience of the University Hospital Yalgado Ouedraogo Introduction: The incisional hernia repair has several variants depending on the implantation site of the mesh. It may be intraperitoneal, preperitoneal, pre-mucosal or pre-musculoskeletal. Objective: The aim of the work was to report at short term the experience of the general and digestive surgery service of the Yalgado Ouedraogo University Hospital Center for the surgical management of abdominal incisional hernia with mesh placement in retro-muscular prefascial Patients and methods: This was a cross-sectional and descriptive study with a review of the files and a survey of 17 patients operated on for voluminous abdominal incisional hernia (diameter greater than 10 cm) from September 1, 2014 to August 31, 2015. Results: The mean duration of hospitalization was 7 days with extremes of 4 and 15 days. The dressings lasted on average 7 days with extremes of 4 and 15 days. The suction drains remained in place on average 8.56 days with extremes of 5 and 14 days and the mean duration of the abdominal wall contusion was 24.5 days with extremes of 10 and 40 days. The early postoperative complications were minor: 8 seromas, 1 hematomas, 1 superficial infection of the wall. Patients were followed for an average duration of 9.47 months with extremes of 4 and 14 months. The complications during this period were: 3 minor residual pain (limited to the scar) and 1 recurrence. Thirteen patients (76.5%) were satisfied with the intervention. Mortality was zero. Conclusion: Short time complications related to the surgical management of abdominal incisional hernia with mesh placement in retro-muscular prefascial in CHUYO are mainly minor.


We propose a simple and efficient means of combining evolutionary programming (EP) and the genetic algorithm (GA) for a more efficient evolutionary optimization in electromagnetics. The resulting hybrid algorithm takes advantage of the convergence behavior of the GA and EP during different stages of evolution to efficiently march toward the global solution. We have applied the hybrid method to several multi-modal test functions as well as to various unconstrained and constrained antenna and microwave optimization problems. We have found that the proposed method works very well for a given problem, if EP and the GA perform well for that problem individually. Examples presented in this paper include optimization of a twenty dimensional Auckley function and the gain optimization of a six-element Yagi array. Other examples involving antenna arrays and frequency selective surfaces are also given.


Ionic liquids (ILs) can be used to sustainably convert lignocellulosic feedstocks into renewable bio-based materials and chemicals. To improve the prospects of commercialization, it is essential to investigate the fate of lignocellulosic biomass during IL-based processing and develop tools for designing and optimizing this "green" technology. In situ characterization during pretreatment and dissolution processes have shown that ILs reduced the inherent recalcitrance of lignocellulosic biomass via swelling of cellulose bundles and formation of fissures in the secondary cell wall layers. It subsequently enhanced the penetration of ILs into the plant cell wall leading to depolymerization and solubilization of matrix polysaccharides, mainly hemicellulose via deacetylation. Lignin also underwent dehydration or reduction reactions, depending on the IL type, with different mechanisms leading to the cleavage of inter-unit linkages. Following this process, the accessibility to cellulose microfibrils increased and induced delamination. Complementary X-ray diffraction analyses have elucidated that ILs also reduced cellulose crystallinity and altered cellulose polymorphs. High throughput in situ analyses, namely bright-field optical microscopy, nuclear magnetic resonance and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopies, have aided in monitoring the degree of swelling and chemical structural changes in lignocellulosic biomass during IL-based processing. Development of novel in situ analytical tools like IL-based gel permeation chromatography and rheometry will further shed light on molecular level changes in lignocellulose. Thus, an overall understanding of physico-chemical changes underwent by lignocellulosic biomass will help develop tools for monitoring and improving IL-based engineering of renewable materials and chemicals.


When considering what makes the human being uniquely human, or how it "images God" within the created order, Søren Kierkegaard does not turn to Genesis 1:27, the privileged passage of the Western theological tradition. He turns instead to Matthew 6, a passage in which the reader is instructed to "consider the lilies of the field and the birds of the air." In several rounds of "upbuilding discourses" on this passage, Kierkegaard develops an "apophatic" approach to the imago Dei. The imaging of God that the human being is called to enact does not consist in any self-possessed capability, nor does it set the human being at the top of a hierar chically ordered creation. Rather, the human being images God only when it "becomes nothing" through an unconditional affirmation of existence that lets go of the need to posit a "tomorrow."


The theory initiated by Lighthill (1952) for the purpose of estimating the sound radiated from a turbulent fluid flow is extended to deal with both the transonic and supersonic ranges of eddy convection speed. The sound is that which would be produced by a distribution of convected acoustic quadrupoles whose instantaneous strength per unit volume is given by a turbulence stress tensor, T{j. At low subsonic speeds the radiated intensity increases with the eighth power of velocity although quadrupole convection augments this basic dependence by a factor 11 — cos | ~5, where M is the eddy convection Mach number and Q the angular position of an observation point measured from the direction of eddy motion. At supersonic speeds the augmentation factor becomes singular whenever the eddy approaches the observation point at sonic velocity, Mcos At that condition a quadrupole degenerates into its constituent simple sources, for each quadrupole element moves with the acoustic wave front it generates and cancelling contributions from opposing sources, so essential in determining quadrupole behaviour, cannot combine but are heard independently. This simple-source radiation is likened to a type of eddy Mach wave whose strength increases with the cube of a typical flow velocity. When quadrupoles approach the observer with supersonic speed sound is heard in reverse time, but is once again of a quadrupole nature and the general low-speed result is again applicable. The limiting high-speed form of the convection augmentation factor is | Mcos 6|-5 which combines with the basic eighth power velocity law to yield the result that radiation intensity increases only as the cube of velocity at high supersonic speed. The mathematical theory is developed in some detail and supported by more physical arguments, and the paper is concluded by a section where some relevant experimental evidence is discussed.


Abstract This study sought to determine whether the cannabis constituent cannabidiol attenuates the development of morphine reward in the conditioned place preference paradigm. Separate groups of mice received either saline or morphine in combination with one of four doses of cannabidiol using three sets of drug/no-drug conditioning trials. After drug-place conditioning, morphine mice displayed robust place preference that was attenuated by 10 mg/kg cannabidiol. Further, when administered alone, this dose of cannabidiol was void of rewarding and aversive properties. The finding that cannabidiol blocks opioid reward suggests that this compound may be useful in addiction treatment settings.


Abstract : Active surveillance (AS) is an option for men with low risk prostate cancer in order to reduce over treatment, but few men choose it because current prognostic indicators are imperfect. The objectives of this research are to test whether pThoc1 can improve the assignment of prostate cancer patients to therapy. We have made significant progress on the goals articulated in the Statement of Work. IRB/HRPO approval has been obtained for construction and use of new TMAs (PI Mohler and Goodrich). The TMAs from PCaP have been obtained (PI Mohler and Goodrich). Pathology analysis of 1146 patient specimens is complete and construction of TMAs initiated (PI Mohler). Optimization of TMA staining is complete and staining of TMAs initiated (PI Goodrich). IRB/HRPO approval for active surveillance specimens has been obtained (PI Mohler, Goodrich). Enrollment of prostate cancer patients on active surveillance is ongoing (PI Mohler). ELISA assays for measuring pThoc1 and pThoc1 autoantibodies have been successfully developed (PI Goodrich). Analysis of serum samples from a mouse model of prostate cancer has been performed, establishing feasibility (PI Goodrich). IRB/HRPO approval for serum samples has been obtained (PI Mohler, Goodrich). All preparative, optimization, and regulatory approval work has thus been completed, setting the stage for data gathering in year 2 of the grant. Over treatment complicates the clinical management of prostate cancer. Improving the ability to distinguish aggressive from indolent disease is recognized as an unmet need by the 2013 PCRP Overarching Challenges. Identifying pThoc1 as a biomarker that can help meet this need will have significant impact.


AbstractValue delivery is basically the main purpose of construction, and in fact it is not the physical construction in itself that a client buys but the attributes or value the building provides. This value delivery is undertaken in a complex endeavour of collaboration. Throughout a building project value is in focus both implicit and explicit. Often challenges or direct problems arise during the process, which may be due to an incongruent perception of value. A survey was conducted among practitioners of the Danish building industry, aiming at investigating whether or not practitioners perceive value differently. The survey revealed that the practitioners had a diverse understanding of how to perceive value in a building project. This is problematic for the efficiency and effectiveness of building projects. Value is the underlying concept of emerging methods and concepts such as Lean Construction, Value Management and Partnering. When a homogeneous understanding of value does not exist, the full potent...


It is interesting for our discourse to focus on Israel, and observe in the same country three realities usually found in two or more different countries. In Israel, the Arabic language is legally admitted as an official language, ; is the target language for the Arab schools; it is spoken by Arabic speakers; in theory, we expect to find it as a foreign language in the curricula of Jewish schools. Effectively the Arabic language in Israel is: -legally admitted as an official language; -the target language of Arab schools; -widely and informally spoken by Arabic native speakers; -in theory, offered by the curricula of Jewish schools. Israel, where Arabic is both mother tongue and foreign language, has not yet decided how to spread and master the competence of this key-language, nor has set clear criteria for the crucial choice between standard or spoken Arabic. A research carried out by Ibrahim and Peretz (Ibrahim, Peretz 2005) was based on the triangulation standard Arabic- spoken Arabic – Hebrew. With reference to the vehicle of transferring for meanings, it was observed that spoken Arabic works better and faster than standard Arabic and Hebrew, during the processing of input. All this proves the need to intentionally teach colloquial Arabic and assign to it priority for being 'the language in use', which detains a strongest communicative power. The Israeli education system remains based on the acquisition of skills in standard Arabic only. It is proved that standard Arabic it is not enough for developing the necessary competence in our students, in Israel as well as in Europe.


Reliability is a major concern in multiprocessors. Dynamic Reliability Management (DRM) aims at trading off processor performance with lifetime. The state-of-the-art publications study only the theory supported by simulation. This paper presents the first complete software implementation, working on a real hardware, of a low-overhead, Android-compatible workload-aware DRM Governor for mobile multiprocessors. We discuss the design challenges and the run-time overhead involved. We show the effectiveness of our governor in guaranteeing the predefined target lifetime and show that it achieves up to 100% of lifetime improvement with respect to traditional governors, while providing comparable performance for critical applications.


During the past decade, social mechanisms and mechanism-based explanations have received considerable attention in the social sciences as well as in the philosophy of science. This article critically reviews the most important philosophical and social science contributions to the mechanism approach. The first part discusses the idea of mechanism-based explanation from the point of view of philosophy of science and relates it to causation and to the covering-law account of explanation. The second part focuses on how the idea of mechanisms has been used in the social sciences. The final part discusses recent developments in analytical sociology, covering the nature of sociological explananda, the role of theory of action in mechanism-based explanations, Merton's idea of middle-range theory, and the role of agent-based simulations in the development of mechanism-based explanations.


OF DISSERTATION THE HEALTH CONSEQUENCES AND HEALTHCARE-SEEKING STRATEGIES FOR SOUTH AMERICAN IMMIGRANT CAREWORKERS IN GENOA, ITALY This research on healthcare strategies of home-based, low-wage, immigrant careworkers contributes to the ways medical anthropology, migration studies and social science understand human-economy-family care relationships and health and carework as commodities in today's global economy. It reveals the consequences for workers as they defray the costs of care for the Italian government and contribute to their home economies. This research was conducted in Genoa, Italy, which has the largest percentage of people over the age of 70 in any city of its size in the world and a tradition of sending and receiving immigrant workers. The main question was: Under the circumstances of providing labor-intensive, in-home supportive services, how do immigrant workers respond to their own health needs? The researcher collected data from interviews with 50 careworkers, 25 professionals who provide services to the careworkers, and 23 administrators in the health system, government agencies, labor unions, and the Catholic Church. The careworkers interviewed were women from South America, as they do most of the carework jobs in this city. Long-term participant observation and interview data were analyzed to: 1) produce empirical data on health concerns of and healthcare resource use by migrant careworkers; and 2) investigate the relationships between health concerns, living/working conditions, and healthcare resource use of transnational immigrants in the informal economy. The data showed that the Catholic Church promoted immigrants as able workers, aided their elderly parishioners, and provided necessary mental health support to careworkers who experienced stress. The data also revealed that the health care system of Italy functioned well to address the physical health concerns of immigrant careworkers. The relationship between the client and the worker was important for the general well-being of the worker and her ability to maintain her general health, have time for medical appointments, socialize outside of the workplace, and attend community events. This study examined: strategies for using health resources; responses of the Italian medical system personnel to anti-immigrant legislation; use of non-State resources to meet health needs; the health consequences of caring for an elderly person in the private home; and ways to address these health consequences.


The present paper describes atmospheric experimental tests of a new Ansaldo Energia full scale burner which was designed to burn fuels byproduct of steel making processes (mixtures of Blast-Furnace Gas (BFG) and Coke-Oven Gas (COG)), characterized by very low heating values (LHV∼2–3.5 MJ/kg) and very low stoichiometric air/fuel ratios (∼0.5–1 kg/kg). In particular, flame stability and blow-out margins were assessed for different burner variants and fuel compositions such as pure BFG, blends of BFG with increasing content of COG, and also a synthetic mixture of natural gas, hydrogen and nitrogen (NG/H2/N2). Except for pressure, all burner inlet conditions were simulated as in the actual gas turbine engine. The best performing burner among those tested demonstrated an excellent burning stability behavior over a wide operating range and stably burned pure BFG without any supplementary fuel. Furthermore, considering that in most operating concepts gas turbine engines for Ultra-Low BTU applications require a back-up fuel (such as oil, propane or natural gas) to ignite and ramp up or to perform load-rejections, the present atmospheric tests also assessed maneuvers to switch from natural gas operation to syngas operation. Also in this type of dual-fuel operation the burner demonstrated a wide flame stability range.


In ad hoc and sensor networks, spatial communication constraints have a tremendous influence on many aspects of network performance. The network behavior becomes easily unpredictable with an increasing number of nodes and connections. Therefore, simulation is the evaluation method of choice for ad hoc and sensor networks. Simulations of wireless networks, however, encounter two challenges: First, computation and time constraints lead to the use of "small" values for simulation parameters. Researchers then tend to simply extrapolate these results for larger values. Second, the simulation model is an abstraction of the real world, often not including the effects of borders and obstacles. The contribution of this work is a technique to deal with both challenges, namely a mechanism to correct "small size" simulations to make them amenable to extrapolation via a correction that adds the border effects to the simulation results. The system model used is based on static networks and the unit disc graph assumption.


Abstract The aim of this study was to investigate differences in self-reported behaviours among youth football (i.e. European soccer) coaches from pre- to post-season, and additionally, their evaluative reactions to participation in the Norwegian arm of the Empowering Coaching™ Training Programme (ECTP). A total of 193 coaches (174 males; 19 females; M = 41.99; SD = 6.32) completed a questionnaire concerning their use of empowering and disempowering behaviours at the beginning and end of the sport season. Moreover, 12 of these coaches (10 males; 2 females; M = 41.67; SD = 5.68) were interviewed at the end of the sport season using semi-structured interviews. Whereas coaches' empowering and disempowering behaviours did not differ from pre- to post-season, post-season interviews showed that participation in the ECTP led coaches to reflect on their coaching practises, facilitating an increased focus on enabling autonomy and involvement for the athletes and more attention paid to the athletes' feelings of mastery.


Type VI CRISPR enzymes have recently been identified as programmable RNA-guided, RNA-targeting Cas proteins with nuclease activity that allow for specific and robust target gene knock-down without altering the genome. However, we currently lack information about optimal Cas13 guide RNA designs for high target RNA knock-down efficacy. To close this gap, we conducted four massively-parallel Cas13 screens targeting the mRNA of a destabilized green fluorescent protein (GFP) transgene and CD46, CD55 and CD71 cell surface proteins in human cells. In total, we measured the activity of 24,460 guide RNA including 6,469 perfect match guide RNAs and a diverse set of guide RNA variants and permutations with mismatches relative to the target sequences. We find that guide RNAs show high diversity in knock-down efficiency driven by crRNA-specific features as well as target site context. Moreover, while single mismatches generally reduce knock-down to a modest degree, we identify a critical region spanning spacer nucleotides 15 – 21 that is largely intolerant to target site mismatches. We developed a computational model to identify guide RNAs with high knock-down efficacy. We confirmed the model's generalizability across a large number of endogenous target mRNAs and show that Cas13 can be used in forward genetic pooled CRISPR-screens to identify essential genes. Using this model, we provide a resource of optimized Cas13 guide RNAs to target all protein-coding transcripts in the human genome, enabling transcriptome-wide forward genetic screens.


A unique chemosensor for Ag ions was created by coupling an anthracene signaling unit onto an amine-terminated glass slide. Chemical dye (Orange II) was applied to establish the exposed amine groups on the surface, because the coupling reaction is dependent on the amount of the exposed amine groups. The assembled layer had a surface that was not flat but, instead, had an embossed shape, on the microscale; the surface roughness was greater than that of the original glass, because of the morphology of the rare glass. The quenching effect of the synthesized chemosensor is notable in Ag aqueous solution, despite concentrations on the parts per billion (ppb) scale. When several Ag ions were provided for the chemosensor, the morphology of the chemosensor was considerably changed, which made the contact angles change. All the states of the chemosensor in the surface were characterized using atomic force microscopy (AFM) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The bowing effect and binding state, in regard to the...


A fuzzy c-means based adaptive clustering algorithm is proposed for the fuzzy segmentation of 3D MR brain images, which are typically corrupted by noise and intensity non-uniformity (INU) artifact. The proposed algorithm enforces the spatial continuity constraint to account for the spatial correlations between image voxels, resulting in the suppression of noise and classification ambiguity. The INU artifact is compensated for by the introduction of a pseudo-3D bias field, which is modeled as a stack of smooth B-spline surfaces with continuity enforced across slices. The efficacy of the proposed algorithm is demonstrated experimentally using both simulated and real MR images.


Background/aim The aim of the study is to identify predictors of treatment success with combined transforaminal epidural steroid injection (TFESI) and dorsal root ganglion pulsed radiofrequency (DRG-PRF) in patients with lumbar radicular pain (LRP) associated with lumbar disc herniation. Materials and methods The study included 48 patients with herniation-related LRP who underwent TFESI and DRG-PRF treatment between November 1, 2020 and April 30, 2021. Patient age, sex, symptom duration, history of lumbar surgery, and numeric rating scale (NRS) pain scores before and at 10 days, 1 month, and 3 months after treatment were evaluated retrospectively. Treatment success was defined as ≥50% improvement or a 4-point decrease in NRS score at 3 months. Results Twenty-nine female and 19 male patients with a mean age of 51.54 ± 13.31 years were analyzed. The median symptom duration was 6 (interquartile range: 8.50) months. Symptom duration did not affect treatment success (p = 0.105). History of spinal surgery was more common among patients with failed treatment but was not statistically associated with treatment success. A 1-unit increase in pre-treatment NRS score was associated with 72% lower odds of treatment success (p = 0.022), while a 1-unit increase in NRS score on post-treatment day 10 compared to the pre-treatment value was associated with 95% lower odds of treatment success (p = 0.008). Conclusion Symptom duration and history of spinal surgery were not predictive of treatment success with combined TFESI and DRG-PRF for herniation-related LRP. However, the 3-month prognosis was significantly better for patients with a marked reduction in NRS score at 10 days.


Nowadays mass media operate, transform and limit information thus becoming the main mechanism of influence in the modern society. State-of-the-art information technologies are used in order to increase the efficiency of government strategies. They help to turn the audience into an object of manipulation. Many theories studying mass media are focused on the influence the media has on its viewer or reader. Development of satellite television and some other media types that have almost unlimited coverage has increased the opportunities of cultural and information expansion. Mass media is extremely necessary during social development, because without its activity it is impossible to evaluate political consciousness, value system and purposes of all levels of the population and to gain public support of social changes. Nowadays there are two basic theoretical models of studying mass media political influence. The first one studies the influence of mass communications on individual behavior and social life in general. The second one has been developing for the last 30 years under the influence of cultural anthropology, structural theories, semiotics and other cross-disciplinary scientific fields. It was focused on perceiving the connections between "texts", individuals and big social groups. In this article we study "influence studying" model and "text analysis" model. Keywords: mass media, manipulation, mediacracy, media theories. JEL Classifications: O38; Z13


Developers and users of high-performance distributed systems often observe performance problems such as unexpectedly low throughput or high latency. Determining the source of the performance problems requires detailed end-to-end instrumentation of all components, including the applications, operating systems, hosts, and networks. However, one must be very careful to design the instrumentation to have extremely low overhead, and not affect the system being monitored. In this paper we present a very light-weight instrumentation system that can be dynamically activated to unobtrusively collect and aggregate detailed end-to-end monitoring information from distributed applications. We also show how emerging "web services" can be used to facilitate remote interaction with this system.


The preparation of biominerals based on CO2 fixation and regulatory effect of organic macromolecules has attracted more and more interests in recent years, inspired by the increase in technological interests in bio-inspired materials science and fabrication of useful products via an environmentally friendly process. In this paper, submicronic CaCO3 particles with ellipsoidal morphology were synthesized using compressed or supercritical CO2 with sodium salt of carboxymethyl cellulose (NaCMC) as a template. By regulating some experimental parameters, including the concentration and molecular weight of NaCMC, as well as the CO2 pressure and temperature, the morphology and size of the CaCO3 particles could be effectively controlled. Besides, in contrast to the effective results of another additive, Polyacrylic Acid (PAA), our research suggested that the morphology of the synthesized particles was strongly related to the flexibility of the polymer chains, namely, the relatively rigid chains induce the formation of ellipsoidal particles while the more flexible chains would result in the spherical ones. In addition, amorphous calcium carbonate was traced as an intermediate phase during the crystallization process. Based on the experimental results, we discussed the formation mechanism of such particles: the polymer chains serve as the skeletons, then the ions attach along the chains to grow. The final morphology of CaCO3 aggregates is tailored by the flexibility of the polymer chain, while the size of the particles is related with the chain length of the polymer. In comparison with the traditional mineralization methods, here we provide a highly efficient and versatile approach to integrate the fixation of CO2 and the regulating effect of different polymer chains, to produce submicroscopic CaCO3 particles and further control their morphology and size distribution. Such an approach is facile and of potential importance as an environmentally benign industrial route to synthesize biomaterials, and it may also serve to shed light on the study of the mechanism of biomimetic mineralization.


According to the characteristics of aerospace product, the model representation and storage of the rigid part and cable harness is proposed. The Dendritic Correlative Model of Mixed Assembly of Rigid and Flexible Parts (DCMMA-RFP) is introduced based on the hierarchical model and graph model. The assembly model which realizes the lightweight storage can clearly represent the hierarchy relation and assembly process of aerospace products. The assembly modeling process in the virtual assembly environment is detailed described. Finally the effectiveness of DCMMA-RFP is verified by an example.


When someone experiences a stroke, their brain performance is affected as critical blood supply is cut off, thus resulting in loss of function as the neurons die. It was once believed that if you damaged or injured your brain it could not self-repair. However, as the field of science advances this theory is being challenged. We now know there are discrete regions of the nervous system that can replace cells that are lost or damaged. One example is the tissue that is responsible for our sense of smell, called the olfactory epithelium. When the olfactory epithelium repairs itself through cell replacement, its function is likewise restored. This is how we are able to maintain a memory of the smells we have encountered over our lifetime. By applying regenerative mechanisms from the olfactory epithelium to the brain, functional recovery following a stroke may allow people to regain partial brain function and cognition. By studying the olfactory epithelium in chicken embryos, our goal is to identify the cells that are capable of cell replacement, termed regeneration. We use antibodies, like those found in your immune system, to apply fluorescent tags specifically to the cells thought to regenerate. A laser confocal microscope is used to visualize the cells labeled with fluorescent tags and produces a digital image that allows one to determine the location and abundance of the labeled cells. This research will contribute to the overall understanding of embryonic development in the olfactory epithelium and the long-term goal of identifying how neural tissue can regenerate to replace lost neurons.
Faculty Mentor: Barbara Murdoch


The action of iturin A on non-growingcells of Saccharomycescerevisiae was tested. This antibiotic gave important modifications in the membranepermeability which permitted nucleotides, proteins, polysaccharides and lipids to escape from cells. The lipid content of cells was strongly disturbed; the level of phospholipids, essentially phosphatidylcholine, decreased while the level of fatty acids increased. A part of these fatty acids were extruded from yeast cells. The role of iturin A in these modifications was discussed.


Abstract Dehiscence depths were measured in vivo during surgical treatment of 113 teeth with gingival recession in 27 subjects. The average dehiscence depth determined was 5.43 mm with an average recession depth of 2.67 mm. Statistical evidence of a correlation between recession depth and dehiscence depth (average distance between lowest point of recession and dehiscence = 2.8 mm) leaves 16 affected teeth (n= 113) with a distance of 4 mm or more (up to a maximum of 7.5 mm) between the gingival margin and the alveolar crest (facial) unaccounted for. The significance of these deviations from mean values in the etiology and prognosis of recessions is discussed.


Abstract During the summers of 1981 and 1982, we studied resource partitioning by stocked lake trout Salvelinus namaycush, brown trout Salmo trutta, and chinook salmon Oncorhynchus tshawytscha by fishing vertical gill nets at six distances from shore in south-central Lake Ontario. The nets were set at depths of approximately 15–45 m (nearshore stations, <4 km offshore) and more than 55 m (offshore stations, 4–24 km offshore). Salmonids were concentrated near shore, where they partitioned available habitat and, thus, food resources. Horizontal habitat was partitioned with respect to distance from shore; vertical habitat was partitioned in relation to temperature and the thermocline. Salmonids foraged for the most available prey items within their habitat. Overlaps in both food use and horizontal habitat use were inversely related to overlap in use of vertical habitat. There was increased habitat separation between sexes for those species caught farther from shore, At the salmonid stocking and prey density ...


Spatially separated monoculture grasses and legumes within the same paddock (SS) may help alleviate constraints to the widespread adoption of legumes in pastures. A grazing study conducted during the winter―spring seasons of 2008 (steers, initial body weight [BW] = 236 ± 24 kg) and 2009 (heifers, initial BW = 245 ± 40 kg) at Raymond, MS, evaluated four forage systems (FS) at two stocking rates (SR; 3 or 6 animals ha ―1 ). Using 'Marshall' annual ryegrass (Lolium multiflorum Lam.) and 'Durana' white clover (Trifolium repens L.), FS treatments were SS, monoculture grass (MG), monoculture legume (ML), and a binary mixture of grass and legume (MIX). Herbage mass was similar among FS at the high SR (1.9 Mg ha ―1 ), but herbage mass at low SR was greater in MG, MIX, and the grass component of SS than ML and the legume component of SS (2.9 vs. 2.0 Mg ha ―1 ). Among legume plots, SR did not affect herbage mass (1.9 Mg ha ―1 ), but on grass plots, herbage mass was greater at low than high SR (2.9 vs. 2.0 Mg ha ―1 ). Herbage accumulation was greater on grass than on legume plots (32 vs.13 kg ha ―1 d ―1 ), but there was no difference among FS within these two forage species. Low SR had greater herbage accumulation (27 kg ha- 1 d ―1 ) than high SR (21 kg ha- 1 d ―1 ). Average daily gain was greater on SS (1.12 kg) than on ML (0.97 kg), but neither was different from MG (1.08 kg) or MIX (1.00 kg), and greater on low SR than on high SR (1.09 vs. 0.99 kg). These results suggest that a SS system may be an option to enhance adoption of legumes in pastures.


This study is an empirical investigation of insurance claims management among selected insurance companies in Nigeria. For this purpose, the researchers have been able to review critically the significant contribution of the claims processing in the management of insurance firms' claims. This study conducted in Lagos metropolis, employed a descriptive survey design using random sampling technique and thus gathered data through the use of structured questionnaire. The sample population consisted of 127 respondents made up of claims managers and other members of staff within the surveyed companies. One sample T-test was adopted in the analysis of collected data. Empirical assessment reveal that the various claims handling processing have significant effects in the claims management processes of insurance companies. The findings from study confirm the significance of the various claims handling processing in claims management of insurance companies in Nigeria. It therefore recommends that claims manager should put forward strategic plans to ensuring that insurance claims complaint files are properly kept, monitored and handled for needs that may warrant its usefulness in the future. Also, state-of-the-art training mechanism should be put in place to enhance and improve the working pattern of a claim officer which invariably might affect the organizational efficiency of insurance companies and lastly, Government should harmonize their resources and technical knowhow with the Nigerian insurance industry in ensuring that insurance claims are well designed to curtail fraudulent claims experienced in the past.


Abstract NLO active 2-aminopyridinium 4-aminobenzoate (APAB) single crystals were successfully grown by the standard slow evaporation technique. The crystallinity of the grown crystals was analyzed through X-ray diffraction (XRD) measurements. Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopic studies were also performed for the identification of different modes present in the compound. The UV-Vis absorption and transmittance spectra were recorded for the grown crystal and the optical band gap was calculated. Birefringence and etching studies were also carried out. The dielectric study showed that the dielectric constant decreased with an increase in frequency. The photoconductivity study revealed its positive photoconducting nature. Theoretical HOMO LUMO investigations were also made for the crystal. The relative SHG efficiency of the material was investigated by the Kurtz and Perry powder technique. The phase matching property of the crystal was studied through the SHG dependence of average particle sizes.


Purpose: This study aimed to: (a) compare the physical activity (PA) levels (i.e., moderate-to-vigorous PA [MVPA] and total PA [TPA]) of preschoolers in 3 different early-learning environments (center-based childcare, home-based childcare, and full-day kindergarten [FDK]); and (b) assess which characteristics (e.g., play equipment, policies, etc.) of these settings influenced preschoolers' PA. Method: Twenty-seven facilities (9 centers, 10 homes, and 8 FDK) participated in this study. Participants (aged 2.5–5 years; n = 297) were fitted with Actical™ accelerometers for 5 consecutive days during childcare/school hours to assess their PA. The Environment and Policy Assessment and Observation (EPAO) tool was used to objectively examine the PA environment of all participating facilities. Finally, demographic questionnaires were administered to preschoolers' parents/guardians. Results: Preschoolers in FDK accumulated significantly more MVPA (p < .05; 3.33 min/hr) than those in center- (1.58 min/hr) and home-based (1.75 min/hr) childcare, and they accumulated significantly more TPA (p < .05; 20.31 min/hr) than those in center-based childcare (18.36 min/hr). For FDK, the Active Opportunities, Sedentary Opportunities, Sedentary Environment, and Fixed Play Environment subscales of the EPAO significantly impacted both MVPA and TPA. For center-based childcare, only the Sedentary Environment subscale was found to impact MVPA and TPA. No subscales influenced children's MVPA or TPA in home-based childcare. Conclusions: This research underscores the need to encourage/support preschoolers' active behaviors in early-learning settings, particularly for those in center- and home-based childcare. Furthermore, this article highlights environmental and staff characteristics on which future PA programming should focus.


At around 1900, Lake Hornborga in southern Sweden was considered to be one of the best breeding lakes for waterbirds in the country. In subsequent years, the area was drained and lake water levels reduced to avoid flooding and obtain land for farming. By 1950, the remaining lake and wetland area (34 km2) had become a swamp, totally overgrown with reed beds and bushes. The Swedish Environmental Protection Agency initiated a lake restoration project during the 1960s and 1970s and by 1995 the site had been restored to a shallow lake. Greylag Geese Anser anser started using the lake for breeding and moulting shortly thereafter, and it has attracted increasing numbers of moult migrants over the last 15 years, with 28,000 moulting geese counted in 2015. Neck-banding and collar resightings during 2004–2007 showed that the lake attracted geese not only from south Sweden and Denmark but also from eastern continental Europe (e.g. Poland) to moult. Seventy-two Greylag Geese marked at a study area in Scania, southwest Sweden, have been seen moulting at Lake Hornborgasjon, whereas geese from this area formerly moulted mainly in Flevoland in the Netherlands and later in Denmark. Individual birds from other areas were also shown to have changed their moulting sites in recent years.


Purpose and meaning of the physical world can be re-assigned and re-made by individuals as they go rather than being pre-fixed by people who came before them. But this mindset is more rare than it should be if we want an empowered population full of creative powerful beings. So can we make special tools that by design help people to put into practice the mindset and actionable behavior that: The World is a Construction Kit? We can, and in fact people have already done so with some existing tools which I will present. Then, I will present several new digital construction kits with a focus on two, Drawdio and Makey Makey, that are designed to focus attention on the world as the construction kit. Rather than combining kit-parts that come in a box, participants take pieces of the world they live in and re-purpose and re-combine these everyday objects from their life. I formalize this type of construction kit, explaining how it takes the constructive aspect of a traditional wooden block, and the worldtransforming multiplicative aspect of the traditional looking glass lens, to make a block-and-lens-in-one, which I call a Constructive Lens. I consider traditional construction kits like LEGO, or kits that aren't necessarily thought of as "construction kits" per se, like Painting Kits: Brush/Paint/Canvas, and show how to transform these traditional construction kits, which offer their own pre-fixed components, to the realm where the world, that is the everyday objects in one's life, is instead acting as the components of the kit. The ultimate goal of the thesis is to show how we can we make tools and activities, "Constructive Lenses," that, by design, catalyze: re-seeing (lens) the everyday world as something we can re-make (block) The thesis approaches this goal through a rich narrative with thick description of design studies and case studies, intended to experientially model the process of motivating, making, and deploying Constructive Lenses to hundreds of thousands of people. Thesis Supervisor: Mitchel Resnick Title: LEGO Papert Professor of Media Arts and Sciences


Dynamic windows based on the reversible electrodeposition of metals are a promising alternative to those utilizing electrochromic materials. In this manuscript, we develop 25 cm2 dynamic windows based on the reversible electrodeposition of Cu and Bi from aqueous gel electrolytes that switch with a contrast ratio of ∼80% in one minute. Although the aqueous electrolyte promotes rapid and uniform metal electrodeposition, its narrow operable temperature range limits practical implementation of the devices. To overcome this issue, we employ additives that prevent electrolyte freezing while still allowing for reversible metal electrodeposition. With properly-selected antifreezes that do not bind strongly to metal ions, the windows switch reversibly at temperatures down to −40 °C. The enhanced thermal stability of these systems is necessary for the practical implementation of metal-based dynamic windows.


The study cncerns  that took place in Madrid in March 1766 which made history and are know as the Esquilache riots or as "the revolt of the long capes and broadbrimmed hats". The article is based not only on the well-known sources but also on some newly found facts that were not previusly published. Those facts come from there confessions of the bystanders of the rebels and are the from of letters (the reproduction of the original can be found at the end of this thesis) which are kept in Biblioteca de Catalunya in Barcelona. The aim of the end of the article is to prove that the Esquilache Riots did not conorm to pattern of the traditional city rebellions during the ara of the ancien regime. It is necessery to consider this rebellion in the context of similiar ones that plane in France during the XVI and XVII centuries as well as the French Revolution. It has similarites to both, which  can be seen on the two opposining sides: both the royality and the society. The rebellion demonstrated that  the crisis was caused by the rule system under the region of Charles III (1759-1788). This crisis triggered the political transformation of Spain which led the liberal society of the second half of XIX century. The rebellion arose due to both the deciline of Spain and the general desire for change. The evidence of this change was visible in the  way of thinking and acting of both the  subjecta and the king and his managment. "Motion de Esquilache" conveyed the inefficiency of the old structures of the country faced with the growing discontent and spiration of people wanting to speak about their situation. This conflict was not as radical as the one in France in 1789 but it was for the conditions in Spain at that time. The  author of the articleobserves  similiar precursories leading up to the riot in Madrid as seen before the french revolution. The author also corrects sme of the popular but not always true opinions about the essence and course of this riot.


- In radio frequency identification (RFID) systems, the detection range and read rates will suffer from interference among high power reading devices. This problem grows severely and degrades system performance in dense RFID networks. In this paper, we investigate a suite of feasible power control schemes to ensure overall coverage area of the system while maintaining a desired read rate. The power control scheme and MAC protocol dynamically adjusts the RFID reader power output in response to the interference level seen locally during tag reading for an acceptable signal-to-noise ratio (SNR). We present novel distributed adaptive power control (DAPC) and probabilistic power control (PPC) as two possible solutions. A generic UHF wireless testbed is built using UMR/SLU GEN4-SSN for implementng the protocol. Simulation and hardware results are included.


Ecosystem change is predicted to become more prevalent with climate change. Widespread dieback of cushion plants and bryophytes in alpine fellfield on Macquarie Island may represent such change. Loss of the keystone endemic cushion plant, Azorella macquariensis, was so severe that it has been declared critically endangered. We document the dieback and its extent. Due to the rapidity of the event, we sought to infer causes by testing two mechanistic hypotheses: (i) that extensive dieback was due to a pathogen and (ii) that dieback was a consequence of a change in climate that induced stress in several susceptible species. We searched for pathogens using both conventional and next-generation sequencing techniques. We examined plant functional morphology in conjunction with a long-term climate record of plant-relevant climate parameters to determine whether environmental conditions had become inimical for A. macquariensis. Dieback was found across the entire range of A. macquariensis. A survey found 88% of 115 stratified/ random sites contained affected cushions and 84% contained dead bryophytes. Within-site dieback increased over time. No conclusive evidence that A. macquariensis deaths were caused by a definitive disease-causing pathogen emerged. However, the presence of bacterial, fungal and oomycete taxa, some potentially pathogenic, suggested that stressed cushions could become susceptible to infection. The primary cause of collapse is suspected failure of A. macquariensis and other fellfield species to withstand recent decadal changes in summer water availability. Increased wind speed, sunshine hours and evapotranspiration resulted in accumulated deficits of plant available water spanning 17 years (1992-2008). High vulnerability to interrupted water supply was consistent with functional morphology of A. macquariensis, and climate change has altered the species' environment from wet and misty to one subject to periods of drying. Synthesis and applications. With alpine fellfield dieback baseline data on Macquarie Island established, future monitoring will determine whether this event represents a transient, decadal-level change in the ecosystem or the initiation of a climate-related, transformation away from an Azorella-dominated fellfield ecosystem. That mechanisms driving ecosystem collapse were complex and multiple stressors appeared to be impacting cumulatively may be relevant to other locations. With alpine fellfield dieback baseline data on Macquarie Island established, future monitoring will determine whether this event represents a transient, decadal-level change in the ecosystem or the initiation of a climate-related, transformation away from an Azorella-dominated fellfield ecosystem. That mechanisms driving ecosystem collapse were complex and multiple stressors appeared to be impacting cumulatively may be relevant to other locations.


Meteoroids largely disintegrate during their entry into the atmosphere, contributing significantly to the input of cosmic material to Earth. Yet, their atmospheric entry is not well understood. Experimental studies on meteoroid material degradation in high-enthalpy facilities are scarce and when the material is recovered after testing, it rarely provides sufficient quantitative data for the validation of simulation tools. In this work, we investigate the thermo-chemical degradation mechanism of a meteorite in a high-enthalpy ground facility able to reproduce atmospheric entry conditions. A testing methodology involving measurement techniques previously used for the characterization of thermal protection systems for spacecraft is adapted for the investigation of ablation of alkali basalt (employed here as meteorite analog) and ordinary chondrite samples. Both materials are exposed to a cold-wall stagnation point heat flux of 1.2 MW m−2. Numerous local pockets that formed on the surface of the samples by the emergence of gas bubbles reveal the frothing phenomenon characteristic of material degradation. Time-resolved optical emission spectroscopy data of ablated species allow us to identify the main radiating atoms and ions of potassium, calcium, magnesium, and iron. Surface temperature measurements provide maximum values of 2280 K for the basalt and 2360 K for the chondrite samples. We also develop a material response model by solving the heat conduction equation and accounting for evaporation and oxidation reaction processes in a 1D Cartesian domain. The simulation results are in good agreement with the data collected during the experiments, highlighting the importance of iron oxidation to the material degradation.


Accurately tailored support such as advice or assistance can increase user satisfaction from interactions with smart devices; however, in order to achieve high accuracy, the device must obtain and exploit private user data and thus confidential user information might be jeopardized. We provide an analysis of this privacy–accuracy trade-off. We assume two positive correlations: a user's utility from a device is positively correlated with the user's privacy risk and also with the quality of the advice or assistance offered by the device. The extent of the privacy risk is unknown to the user. Thus, privacy concerned users might choose not to interact with devices they deem as unsafe. We suggest that at the first period of usage, the device should choose not to employ the full capability of its advice or assistance capabilities, since this may intimidate users from adopting it. Using three analytical propositions, we further offer an optimal policy for smart device exploitation of private data for the purpose of interactions with users.


The lesser noddy (Anous tenuirostris), also known as the sooty noddy, is a seabird in the family Laridae. The lesser noddy occurs
 on islands in the tropical and subtropical Indian Ocean. The present report of the three records showed that it is a first recorded
 observation of lesser noddy in East coast of Pulicat Lake Bird Sanctuary in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. The present observation of East
 coast from the month of August and October 2018 from Kanyakumari and Chennai shows that more number of lesser noddies
 were migrating the East coasts for foraging. Further surveys from the East and West coastlines in the month of April to October
 non breeding season of lesser noddy is highly warranted to understating their foraging behaviors as well as migrating structure of
 lesser noddy in the coastlines of southern Indian regions.


FoxA transcription factors play major roles in organ-specific gene expression, regulating, for example, glucagon expression in the pancreas, GLUT2 expression in the liver, and tyrosine hydroxylase expression in dopaminergic neurons. Organ-specific gene regulation by FoxA proteins is achieved through cooperative regulation with a broad array of transcription factors with more limited expression domains. Fork head (Fkh), the sole Drosophila FoxA family member, is required for the development of multiple distinct organs, yet little is known regarding how Fkh regulates tissue-specific gene expression. Here, we characterize Sage, a bHLH transcription factor expressed exclusively in the Drosophila salivary gland (SG). We show that Sage is required for late SG survival and normal tube morphology. We find that many Sage targets, identified by microarray analysis, encode SG-specific secreted cargo, transmembrane proteins, and the enzymes that modify these proteins. We show that both Sage and Fkh are required for the expression of Sage target genes, and that co-expression of Sage and Fkh is sufficient to drive target gene expression in multiple cell types. Sage and Fkh drive expression of the bZip transcription factor Senseless (Sens), which boosts expression of Sage-Fkh targets, and Sage, Fkh and Sens colocalize on SG chromosomes. Importantly, expression of Sage-Fkh target genes appears to simply add to the tissue-specific gene expression programs already established in other cell types, and Sage and Fkh cannot alter the fate of most embryonic cell types even when expressed early and continuously.


Traditional data mining usually deals with data from a single domain. In the big data era, we face a diversity of datasets from different sources in different domains. These datasets consist of multiple modalities, each of which has a different representation, distribution, scale, and density. How to unlock the power of knowledge from multiple disparate (but potentially connected) datasets is paramount in big data research, essentially distinguishing big data from traditional data mining tasks. This calls for advanced techniques that can fuse knowledge from various datasets organically in a machine learning and data mining task. This paper summarizes the data fusion methodologies, classifying them into three categories: stage-based, feature level-based, and semantic meaning-based data fusion methods. The last category of data fusion methods is further divided into four groups: multi-view learning-based, similarity-based, probabilistic dependency-based, and transfer learning-based methods. These methods focus on knowledge fusion rather than schema mapping and data merging, significantly distinguishing between cross-domain data fusion and traditional data fusion studied in the database community. This paper does not only introduce high-level principles of each category of methods, but also give examples in which these techniques are used to handle real big data problems. In addition, this paper positions existing works in a framework, exploring the relationship and difference between different data fusion methods. This paper will help a wide range of communities find a solution for data fusion in big data projects.


Author(s): Shoji, Takeshi | Advisor(s): Karagozian, Ann R | Abstract: This dissertation describes an experimental exploration of structural and mixing characteristics of the unforced as well as forced jet in crossflow (JICF). For unforced experiments, variable jet-to-crossflow density ratios (0.35≤S≤1.00) and momentum flux ratios (5≤J≤41) were explored, for three alternative injectors with a fixed jet Reynolds number (Rej=1900). For forced jet experiments, an equidensity jet emanating from two alternative flush nozzles (Rej=1900; Rej=1500) were explored. The interplay between scalar and velocity fields for the JICF was studied using simultaneous PLIF/stereo PIV measurements in the jet's centerplane. POD analysis showed a transition from convective to absolutely instability in the upstream shear layer as J was reduced, consistent with hotwire measurements. Local strain rates were extracted from both PLIF and PIV data via the Howarth transformation. Mixing characterization with variable mixing scale lengths was explored via centerplane PLIF images. Mixing associated with stirring as well as molecular mixing could be distinguished, apparent especially in vortical structures for flush pipe injection. Sinusoidal forcing of the convectively unstable JICF demonstrated that relatively low amplitude forcing affected jet structures and mixing, especially close to the fundamental frequency. For the absolutely unstable JICF, a much higher forcing amplitude was required to alter jet characteristics, consistent with lock-in, leading to enhanced molecular mixing. Single-pulse square wave forcing created deeply-penetrating vortical structures for specific stroke ratios (L/D), even for the absolutely unstable JICF. L/D producing the greatest jet spread and penetration decreased with decreasing J, but L/D for optimal molecular mixing corresponded to different values and trends in J. Double-pulse square wave excitation, with two variable pulses within each temporal period, enabled the jet's nearfield vortex rings to interact and collide, with attendant effect on molecular mixing.


We revisit available tide gauge data along the coasts of Australia, and we are able to demonstrate that the rate may vary between 0.1 and 1.5 mm/ year, and that there is an absence of acceleration over the last decades. With a database of 16 stations covering only the last 17 years, the National Tidal Centre claims that sea level is rising at a rate of 5.4 mm/year.We here analyse partly longer-term records fromthe same 16 sites as those used by theAustralian Baseline Sea LevelMonitoring Project (ABSLMP) and partly 70 other sites; i.e. a database of 86 stations covering a much longer time period. This database gives a mean trend in the order of 1.5 mm/year. Therefore, we challenge both the rate of sea level rise presented by the National Tidal Centre in Australia and the general claim of acceleration over the last decades.


The Ordovician intraoceanic Macquarie Arc terrane is faulted against coeval, quartz‐rich turbidites of the Adaminaby Group within the Lachlan Orogen of eastern Australia. Debates exist concerning the polarity of subduction beneath the Macquarie Arc and the nature of its emplacement, given it is juxtaposed against the Adaminaby Group to both the west and east. We present new provenance and zircon analyses of the Triangle Formation, which consists of interleaved quartz‐rich passive margin sandstones and island arc volcaniclastic rocks. In contrast, the structurally underlying Adaminaby Group contains no volcaniclastic detritus and displays a strong passive margin affinity. One sample from the Triangle Formation yielded a youngest zircon age of 456 ± 16 Ma indicating a subtle Macquarie Arc signature among an overwhelmingly Neoproterozoic and older Gondwanan provenance. The Adaminaby Group yielded a youngest zircon age of 481 ± 6 Ma and a strong Gondwanan zircon signature. We compared these results with volcaniclastic rocks from the Weemalla Formation stratigraphically higher in the Macquarie Arc, which yielded a distinctly unimodal zircon age of 451 ± 8 Ma, which is indistinguishable from the youngest zircon in the Triangle Formation. We suggest the Triangle Formation represents trench fill material sourced predominantly from the Gondwana margin but including some younger Macquarie Arc detritus. This constrains the initiation of this arc‐continent collision to between 448 and 462 Ma (Late Ordovician).


The experimental induction of altered states of consciousness (ASC) constitutes a research opportunity to relate changes in phenomenological states to underlying biophysical mechanisms. A variety of pharmacological and non-pharmacological methods were reported to induce consciousness alterations in humans, ranging from the consumption of psychoactive drugs to special breathing techniques or sensory deprivation. Within psychological experiments, the subjective experiences of ASCs are typically quantified with retrospective questionnaires. Here, we introduce a database, termed the Altered States Database (ASDB), comprised of questionnaire data extracted from original research articles. The database contains data from articles published in MEDLINE-listed journals from experimentally induced altered states that were assessed with a specified set of standardized questionnaires. The dataset at hand will allow direct comparisons of the psychological effects of different induction methods as well as meta-analyses to establish induction method specific dose-response relationships.


The idea of gasifying (reforming) a fraction of a light crude oil in the reservoir, was conceived originally by Davidson and Yule (1) . This involved "stringing" a series of downhole gasification (DHG) units along either a horizontal producer well or vertical producer well, or along some other suitable well arrangement. Although catalytic steam reforming of naphtha practiced on a large scale has been extensively researched, such understanding is largely restricted to much lower pressures than those investigated in the present study. We present results obtained using a small, "pilot-scale" DHG unit, or reforming reactor, operated at up to 100 bar pressure. The feed to this unit was a light naphtha fraction cut from Statfjord crude oil. The effect of pressure, catalyst loading, steam to hydrocarbon ratio and gasifier temperature were investigated. Essentially, the conversion to inert gases, principally hydrogen and carbon dioxide, at high pressure was sufficiently high to make the process technically feasible in depleted light oil reservoirs. Furthermore, the economics of this novel enhanced oil recovery process, which also produces (and stores) hydrogen, appear to be very favourable. However, the experiments, which were conducted under pilot-scale conditions using a single-tube reactor unit, were not of sufficient duration time to test the long-term effects on catalyst activity owing to carbon fouling and sulphur poisoning. These factors (at least carbon deposition) can be controlled as demonstrated in the experiments by adjusting the steam-to-hydrocarbon ratio and the depth of naphtha-cut taken from the crude oil. These aspects of the process are to be further investigated in a Phase 2 project.


A possibility of formation of breaks in DNA chains under the influence of visible laser radiation (lambda = 532 nm) on DNA--dye-intercalator complexes has been demonstrated theoretically and corraborated experimentally. The most probable mechanisms of the induction of breaks in DNA chains are discussed. Theoretical estimates and the experiments have been performed on complexes of DNA of lambda-phage with acridine orange dye (AO) under irradiation of these complexes by picosecond (tau p = 30 ps) pulses of second harmonic YAG:Nd laser. A strong effect of the formation of double-strand breaks is observed at light intensity of some GW/sm2 and dose of several hundred pulses.


Oocyte loss, either directly through attrition (germ cell death) or indirectly through follicular atresia (somatic or granulosa cell death), is a fundamental event associated with defining the time of normal or premature reproductive senescence in females. Although apoptosis has been reported to function as the underlying mechanism responsible for death of both germ cells and somatic cells in the ovary, the final molecular steps which commit ovarian cells to death have not been fully elucidated. To examine if death repressor activity of the bcl-2 gene product is important for germ cell survival, we conducted studies using a Bcl-2 loss-of-function (bcl-2 -/-) transgenic mouse model. Histological analyses revealed that ovaries collected from bcl-2 -/- mice possessed numerous aberrantly formed primordial follicle-like structures containing a single layer of granulosa cells without an oocyte. Additionally, the total number of primordial follicles present which contained a healthy oocyte was markedly reduced in bcl-2 -/- mice as compared to heterozygote (bcl-2 -/+) or wild-type (bcl-2 +/+) mice, suggesting that expression of the bcl-2 death repressor gene is critical for endowment of a normal complement of germ cells and primordial follicles in the mammalian ovary.


Clinical and laboratory indices of intoxication and hemorheology disorders that arise during acute viral infection in children have been studied. It is established for the first time that reamberine is capable of reducing the plasma and blood viscosity and can be used in the program of infusion therapy of high blood viscosity syndrome in children with acute respiratory viral infections. One of the positive mechanisms of reamberin clinical performance is its positive impact on microcirculation and hemorheology. Thus, reamberin can be considered as a means of pathogenetic therapy in acute period of infectious toxicosis during acute respiratory viral infections in children.


Background: Skin cancer is one of the most preventable forms of cancer yet for certain types of skin cancers, it can be fatal if it goes untreated. While ultraviolet radiation is the main cause of skin cancer, there are several other risk factors, including sunburn history, smoking, environmental pollutants, family history, personal history, and skin color. Practicing sun protection behaviors and receiving regular skin cancer screenings can prevent the cancer from ever developing. This study examines the demographic and socioeconomic status risk factors for skin cancer. Methods: The Health Information National Trends Survey data was used from 2005. Using this secondary dataset, chi-square analysis was performed to determine the prevalence of skin cancer within the demographic categories of age and race/ethnicity as well as socioeconomic status indicators educational attainment, annual household income, employment status, and marital status. Univariate and multivariate analyses were performed to determine the correlations of the variables with skin cancer. A p-value of 0.05 and a 95% confidence interval were maintained throughout the analyses to determine any statistical significance. Results: Of the 3,804 respondents who answered the question related to cancer diagnosis, 226 indicated they had a positive skin cancer diagnosis, which was 5.94% of the total sample. Skin cancer and increased age were consistently associated (χ2 (2) = 171.5, p<.001). The skin cancer peak prevalence was for all those respondents aged 65 and older. Higher educational attainment and higher annual household income were associated with greater likelihood of skin cancer. Conclusions: This study revealed that skin cancer is significantly associated with increased age, higher educational attainment, and higher annual household income. Implementing consistent screening practices and targeted behavioral interventions are important areas for health focus in the future. TABLE OF CONTENTS PAGE APPROVAL PAGE ii DEDICATION PAGE iii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS iv