The numerical model for analysis of fire behavior of the spatial pre-stressed steel structure is established based on the software Marc. Analysis of thermal response and structural response of a suspended pre-stressed steel reticulated lattice shell are computed for the key nodes of the structure. For comparison, the air temperatures near the key nodes are also calculated based on the practical formula of large space air temperature rise. The different location of fire source is considered for analysis of response temperature, displacements and stresses of the nodes of the pre-stressed lattice shell. It is shown that the air temperatures obtained from the practical formula was always higher than the response temperatures of the nodes of the lattice shell during a quite long time after a fire takes place. The results show that the displacement of the node near the center of the gymnasium in fire is close to that of the node right above the inner cable, and the displacement of the node right above the outer cable is much less than the result of the center node.


PURPOSE
Intrafractional tumor motion introduces significant dose uncertainty for radiotherapy. Using the portal imaging during IMRT delivery will provide a real-time beam-eye-view (BEV) tumor motion observation. We have developed a gradient-based gold seed fiducial detection algorithm for MV portal imaging. The purpose of this study is to investigate the use of the algorithm for prostate motion monitoring during external beam IMRT treatment by using a moving phantom with cine-EPID imaging.

METHODS
A pelvic phantom mounted on a moving stage was used to mimic prostate patient during IMRT treatment. IMRT fields were delivered to the pelvic phantom with a gold fiducial (1x5 mm) on the Varian Trilogy. Cine-EPID images were acquired using Varian aSi1000 EPID system with the following settings: continuous mode, 3 averages per image, image size 1024×768 with resolution 0.392mm per pixel, EPID at 140cm SID (source-imager-distance).

RESULTS
Twenty IMRT fields were delivered and about 250 EPID images were acquired while the pelvic phantom was moving in a sinusoidal pattern. Gold seed fiducial was visible in about 40% of EPID images but was blocked by MLC in the remaining images. A gradient-based algorithm was able to detect the fiducial successfully and recorded the fiducial location at different time.

CONCLUSION
Intrafractional tumor motion is a clinical concern which cause dosimetric uncertainty delivered to patients. By using cine-EPID imaging during IMRT delivery combined with an automatic fiducial detection algorithm, beam-eye-view tumor motion can be observed and recorded which may be used for on-treatment tumor motion management. This moving phantom study showed the real-time BEV monitoring of prostate motion during beam delivery is feasible and may be clinical practical.


We investigate the mesh colors method for per-face parameterization for texture-mapping of geometry, implemented in the game engine Frostbite 3, for the purpose of evaluating the method compared to traditional texture-mapping in a real-time application. Traditional UV-mapping often causes discontinuities which commonly results in visible seams in the end results. If any change is done to the vertex positions or the topology a remapping of the UV-map has to be done. Mesh colors aims to avoid these problems by skipping the transformation to 2D space as in UV-mapping, and associating color samples directly with the geometry of a mesh. The implementation was done in Frostbite 3 in C++ and HLSL shader code, and rendered with the DirectX graphics API. The results show that mesh colors is a viable alternative in a real-time renderer. Though not as fast as regular UV-mapped textures due to lack of hardware accelerated filtering operations, mesh colors is a realistic alternative for special cases where regular texture-mapping would be cumbersome to work with or produce sub-par results. Possible areas of future research are efficient data structures suitable to handle data insertion dynamically, compression of mesh colors data, and mesh colors in the context of mesh LOD generation.


Bologna, Civico Museo Bibliografico Musicale, Codex Q 18 (olim 143) preserves various genres. Frottole and laude, many with complete texts, occupy the first nineteen folios; the remainder of the manuscript consists of approximately seventy textless pieces, one a 5, some a 3, the majority a 4. More than half of these textless pieces have not been found in any contemporary source. None of the pieces in the manuscript bears an attribution, although from concordant readings 45 pieces can be attributed to, among others, Isaac, Josquin, Compere, Tromboncino, Brumel, Cara, Caron, Busnois, and Agricola. The last third of the manuscript was copied by Giovanni Spataro (ca. 1458-1541), the famous and influential theorist, teacher, choirmaster, and composer, who around 1500 was in the employ of the youngest son of the Bentivoglio, the ruling family of Bologna. Watermarks, scribal features, and repertory establish with near certainty that the manuscript originated as a unit in Bologna between the years 1502 and 1505. The majority of compositions in Q 18 are at least suitable for instrumental performance. It seems likely that the manuscript was compiled with instrumental performance in mind. Bologna boasted at least two groups capable of performing these pieces: one, the civic wind ensemble called the Concerto palatino della Signoria, and the other, noble and bourgeois amateur musicians who were known to have performed alongside professionals. Both the position of these two groups within the context of musical patronage under the Bentivoglio family and the place of Bologna in northern musical culture are illuminated by means of newly recovered documents and through the repertory of Q 18.


ABSTRACT Varicella-zoster virus (VZV) open reading frame 17 (ORF17) is homologous to herpes simplex virus (HSV) UL41, which encodes the viral host shutoff protein (vhs). HSV vhs induces degradation of mRNA and rapid shutoff of host protein synthesis. An antibody to ORF17 protein detected a 46-kDa protein in VZV-infected cells. While HSV vhs is located in virions, VZV ORF17 protein was not detectable in virions. ORF17 protein induced RNA cleavage, but to a substantially lesser extent than HSV-1 vhs. Expression of ORF17 protein did not inhibit expression from a β-galactosidase reporter plasmid, while HSV type 1 vhs abolished reporter expression. Two VZV ORF17 deletion mutants were constructed to examine the role of ORF17 in virus replication. While the ORF17 VZV mutants grew to peak titers that were similar to those of the parental virus at 33°C, the ORF17 mutants grew to 20- to 35-fold-lower titers than parental virus at 37°C. ORF62 protein was distributed in a different pattern in the nuclei and cytoplasm of cells infected with an ORF17 deletion mutant at 37°C compared to 33°C. Inoculation of cotton rats with the ORF17 deletion mutant resulted in a level of latent infection similar to that produced by inoculation with the parental virus. The importance of ORF17 protein for viral replication at 37°C but not at 33°C suggests that this protein may facilitate the growth of virus in certain tissues in vivo.


This report contains the result of a research programme on four invasive aquatic macrophytes,
Cabomba caroliniana (Fanwort), Hydrocotyle ranunculoides (Floating pennywort) , Myriophyllum
aquaticum (Parrott's feather) and Ludwigia grandiflora (Water primrose). The collaborative project
was intended to generate a prototype decision support system for optimising control measures for
these species, considered to be the four most troublesome invasive alien aquatic weeds at present
in the UK and NL. A further reason for selecting these species is that they are widely sold in the
horticultural trade and are therefore the number of invaded sites is likely to increase in the short
term.
C. caroliniana, was selected as a representative of the Myriophyllids growth form, representing 35%
of the import volume of aquarium plants in The Netherlands. In 2009 it is found at three sites in The
Netherlands, posing serious problems at one. It has been present at two sites in the UK recent past
and was collected from one site again in autumn 2011.
H. ranunculoides, was selected as a representative of the Stratiotids s.l. growth form, is at present
the most troublesome invasive alien aquatic weed in the United Kingdom and The Netherlands, and
is showing increased distribution in neighbouring countries, including Belgium and Germany as well
as in Australia, Uganda and Zimbabwe.
A second representative of the Stratiotids s.l. growth form, L. grandiflora, has proven to have a
severe detrimental ecological impact in France and is gaining importance in The Netherlands. In the
UK promising management strategies have already been developed using and the infestation in the
wild has responded well to rapid application fo control measures.
The third representative of the Stratiotids s.l growth form is M. aquaticum. This species has been
sold extensively by the aquatic nursery trade as an ornamental species for domestic ponds. It is now
present in many natural lowland static water sites in the UK. The species is still very popular in The
Netherlands, and the number of occurrences is increasing.
The project was divided into several work packages in order to prioritise the order in which data were
derived and used in the project. The first stage was to collect all published data on the individual
species, in order to gain information on various physiological parameters of the species to put into
the model CHARISMA, a model that predicts biomass of a species given both physiological and
environmental data. We found that although the species were relatively common in the UK and the
Netherlands, data on physiology were not widely available and we had to estimate some of the more
important model parameters to get a realistic output. This is an area of possible experimental error
and can only be corrected by actual field and laboratory measurements on net photosynthetic rate,
light compensation point, biomass production related to nutrient availability and other indices,
including shoot to root ratios, leaf area indices etc.. The literature survey also provided information
on the native range of the species from which we were able to derive optimum environmental
conditions for growth in Europe and the effect of any management techniques already in use. The
literature survey also produced information on the main reproductive strategies, either by vegetative
means such as fragmentation, or by seed production, or a combination of both. Most species have
very effective reproductive strategies using vegetative fragmentation and seed production in both
countries was considered to be relatively unimportant.
Stage two of the project involved an assessment of the areas at risk of colonisation by the four
species in both countries. For the Netherlands it was assumed that if the site of an occurrence
shared both physical and chemical characteristics, then it should be classed as at risk. The low
altitudes and low slopes of most watercourses in the Netherlands create a situation in which the
whole country can be considered at risk. For the UK, we used the elevation data for known
occurrence and plotted an area at risk based on this altitude plus 100m, to account for any unknown sites. This produced different maps for each species as some had been found at higher altitudes
than others. We do not consider this to be as accurate as possible and the integration of
temperature data, especially a day degree index could improve the prediction of at risk areas for
each species in the UK. This is an important topic for inclusion in future work.
The third area of work was to assess current methods of control and to develop or optimise new
techniques. This was carried out in conjunction between all four project partners. Considerable
improvements in the management of C. caroliniana were made during this project and have been
implemented by water boards in the Netherlands. A consistent approach to management of H.
ranunculoides has been adopted in this project and the approaches to management of the two other
species have been shown to be effective in the current regulatory conditions.
The spatially explicit model CHARISMA was developed for two native macrophytes species in the
Netherlands and was used in this project to model growth and biomass accumulation of the four nonnative
invasive macrophyte species. Some of the input parameters used in the original model were
not valid for the new species, and estimates or adjustments had to be made. However, for three out
of four of the new species, the predictions of biomass and dominance were quite accurate and the
model could be developed for these species without excessive modification. The only species that
did not comply well with the model was C. caroliniana, but only in the degree of overwintering
biomass required for dominance in the following season. This is probably due to a lack of any data
for physiological characteristics of this species in winter in Europe and this data gap should be
addressed for this species and others in order to accurately model the behaviour of other species in
European conditions.
The main objective of this project was to produce a draft Decision Support System that could be
used by field operatives and office based managers to identify the species accurately, and to enable
a rapid risk assessment to be made in the field that could be reported in a consistent manner,
enabling a rapid response to be made against the species with the aim of preventing further spread
and eventually eradication the species from the affected watercourse. In order to make the response
to aquatic non-native species consistent and proportionate a pictorial field and office guide has been
produced that provides descriptive photographs of characteristic features, areas at risk, typical
habitat types, and available management techniques. We have deliberately left out costs of
management as these vary within each country and certainly between countries. In addition, each
species chapter will be made available at www.declaim.eu . The DSS was submitted to the Non
Native Species Secretariat in the UK for comment before being used by managers. In the
Netherlands the DSS was submitted to representatives of various water boards that are actively
involved in trials to control invasive macrophytes. The comments received were positive and helpful
and led to developments in the current version.


Pyramidal neurons in the piriform cortex from olfactory-discrimination-trained rats have reduced postburst afterhyperpolarization (AHP), for 3 days after learning, and are thus more excitable during this period. Such AHP reduction is caused by decreased conductance of one or more of the calcium-dependent potassium currents, I(AHP) and sI(AHP), that mediate the medium and slow AHPs. In this study, we examined which potassium current is reduced by learning and how the effect of noradrenalin (NE) on neuronal excitability is modified by such reduction. The small conductance (SK) channels inhibitor, apamin, that selectively blocks I(A)(HP), reduced the AHP in neurons from trained, naïve, and pseudotrained rats to a similar extent, thus maintaining the difference in AHP amplitude between neurons from trained rats and controls. In addition, the protein expression level of the SK1, SK2, and SK3 channels was also similar in all groups. NE, which was shown to enhance I(AHP) while suppressing (S)I(AHP), reduced the AHP in neurons from controls but enhanced the AHP in neurons from trained rats. Our data show that learning-induced enhancement of neuronal excitability is not the result of reduction in the I(AHP) current. Thus it is probably mediated by reduction in conductance of the other calcium-dependent potassium current, sI(AHP). Consequently, the effect of NE on neuronal excitability is reversed. We propose that the change in the effect of NE after learning may act to counterbalance learning-induced hyperexcitability and preserve the piriform cortex ability to subserve olfactory learning.


Social work literature has mainly focused upon females and gay males. A search was undertaken of general references to heterosexual males in published social-work authored articles and appearing in book reviews and publishers' ads in two prominent social work journals during the last decade. The conclusion reached was that heterosexual males are seldom discussed and when they are discussed they are portrayed in a very biased manner. It is believed that social workers do not receive necessary preparation for understanding and working with heterosexual males, especially from minority and immigrant groups, who are facing emotional, physical, interpersonal, and family problems. A stereotypic view of heterosexual males is both unfair and untrue, and precludes necessary attention in the classroom and in practice to their normative needs and special problems. ********** "Social work has been a woman's profession. The vast majority of social workers have been and are women" (Weick, 2000, p. 395). Indeed, this is true. However, social work clients are not only females. Despite this, social work literature is female-oriented and provides a negative view of heterosexual males. Such a conclusion has been reached by an antecedent exploratory effort that assessed the titles of articles, book reviews, and publishers' ads appearing since 1990 in the National Association of Social Work (NASW) journal, Social Work, and the Council on Social Work Education (CSWE) publication, Journal of Social Work Education. When a title referred to male, female, or gender, the content of the book or journal article was assessed. It was learned that when males are discussed they were, in the main, discussed as gays or if heterosexuals, discussed in negative ways (such as abusers or absent fathers). Thus, it is believed that social work literature is biased and results in social work students and practitioners often being unaware of the various potential problems facing heterosexual males over their life cycle, such as interpersonal conflicts of adolescent boys, periods of transition to adulthood, fatherhood, marriage or divorce, aging, illness, immigration, widowerhood, employment, unemployment, and retirement, among many others. Social work practitioners may be unprepared to provide sensitive and effective interventions to assist such males facing both normative and unique problems. Included are culturally diverse groups of males, such as immigrants and refugees. The males of concern are not the criminals, abusers, or deviants one can read about in the newspaper. They, rather, are males who face normative developmental, familial, interpersonal and intergenerational, economic, spiritual, and emotional challenges; those who can benefit from social work involvement. This article emanates not out of an anti-feminist, promasculine orientation; rather, it results from social work values mandating the equitable and non-discriminatory concern for any individual or group in need. Nor does this article challenge contentions made by critics of "androcentrist" knowledge. "The social sciences were developed for the most part by a homogeneous group of white, middle-class, Western men who pursued their search for knowledge by building on shared assumptions and observations" (Figueira-McDonough, 1998, p. 5). However, we ought not dismiss or overlook the needs of heterosexual males in contemporary society as a result of past power inequities. That would replace one past injustice with another in the present. For example, the Preface of a text on practice knowledge for females (Figueira-McDonought, Netting, & Nichols-Casebolt, 1998) states: "This is a book that grew out of a shared uneasiness about the invisibility of women at the core of the curriculum [and] the `after thought' given to women's issues in our classes ..." (p. xiii). One could make a similar statement with regard to heterosexual males in society. …


Some aspects of the functional significance of sleep are considered. These involve studies on (i) the dynamics of electrical activity in the neo- and archi-paleocortical structures of the brain in the sleep-wakefulness cycle, (ii) the effect of selective deprivation of different sleep phases on the sleep-wakefulness cycle, (iii) effect of stimulating synchronizing and desynchronizing systems on the sleep-wakefulness cycle, and (iv) the dynamics of emotional tension in the sleep-wakefulness cycle. Analysis of our findings and their comparison with those reported in the literature support a hypothesis that every phase in the sleep-wakefulness cycle operates in two directions; it withdraws the factors formed in the previous phase which are potentially aimed at disturbing brain homeostasis; and, at the same time, it forms new antihomeostatic factors, withdrawal of which requires the triggering and work of a subsequent phase. The triggering links of the systems regulating each phase are very sensitive to the factors formed in the preceding phase. Therefore, in normal conditions the anti-homeostatic factors fail to attain a critical level of disturbance of homeostasis of the brain, since the threshold for their activation is far lower than the critical level of homeostatic disturbance. Activation of the triggering links of the paradoxical phase and wakefulness seems to be mediated through the same anti-homeostatic factors formed in the orthodox phase. However, the threshold for activation of the paradoxical phase is lower than that of wakefulness. As a consequence, the orthodox phase readily passes into the paradoxical. The latter, effectively reducing the antihomeostatic factors formed in the orthodox phase, prevents the onset of undue awakening that would have been undesirable because there would have been insufficient time for inactivation of the anti-homeostatic factors formed during wakefulness.


Cross ties are a constant focus of track maintenance programs as railroads continually strive for improvement. Cross ties are not the most expensive track structure component, yet their performance plays a vital role. Traditionally the wood cross tie has been the predominant cross tie of choice, however, increasing economic, environmental, and performance pressures have led railroads to look for alternatives. In 1999 the Burlington Northern and Santa Fe Railroad (BNSF) expressed a strong interest in finding an alternate material cross tie that would be compatible with, and could be interspersed with, wood ties in existing wood tie track. They wanted a cost competitive cross tie that could be used in their standard maintenance programs. This paper discusses the concrete Maintenance Replacement Tie (MRT) developed by RCTI in the USA and Rocla Sleepers in Australia.


Amyloidosis is a rare but devastating condition caused by deposition of misfolded proteins as aggregates in the extracellular tissues of the body, leading to impairment of organ function. Correct identification of the causal amyloid protein is absolutely crucial for clinical management in order to avoid misdiagnosis and inappropriate, potentially harmful treatment, to assess prognosis and to offer genetic counselling if relevant. This review summarises the current evidence on which the diagnosis and subtyping of amyloidosis is based, outlines the limitations of various diagnostic techniques, particularly in an Australian and New Zealand context, and discusses optimal strategies for the diagnostic approach to these patients. After decades of little progress in the last century, multiple myeloma survival has improved significantly in the last 15 years. This improvement has been built on better understanding of disease biology and pathogenesis which has led to a requirement to thoroughly evaluate patients and their disease. While serum and urine protein electrophoresis and the skeletal survey remain cornerstones of myeloma assessment, newer techniques including serum free light chain assays, bone marrow flow cytometry, cytogenetics and genomic analysis, as well as newer bone imaging modalities have moved into standard practice. Recent consensus statements outlining the approach to diagnosis and monitoring of myeloma will be reviewed.


The neuropeptide somatostatin (SOM) is widely expressed in rodent brain and somatostatin-IRES-Cre (SOM-cre) mouse strains are increasingly used to unravel the physiology of SOM-containing neurons. However, while knock-in targeting strategy greatly improves Cre-Lox system accuracy, recent reports have shown that genomic insertion of Cre construct per se can markedly affect physiological function. We show that Cre transgene insertion into the 3′UTR of the somatostatin gene leads to the selective and massive depletion of endogenous SOM in all tested brain regions. It also strongly impacts SOM-related neuroendocrine responses in a similar manner to what has been reported for SST KO mice: increased corticosterone levels after 30-min restraint stress, decreased amplitude and regularity of ultradian growth hormone secretory patterns accompanied by changes in sexually dimorphic liver gene expression (serpina1, Cyp2b9, Cyp2a4, Cyp2d9, and Cyp7b1). In addition to demonstrating the need for examination of the consequences of Cre transgenesis, these results also reveal how this SOM-cre strain may be a useful tool in studying the functional consequences of moderate to low SOM levels as reported in neurological and psychiatric disorders.


The themes of medieval literature had a profound effect on the works that would follow in later generations regardless of the writer's recognition of this influence, and one can see the way Poe leaves traces of the popular medieval motif of the "Maimed King" in his short story, "The Fall of the House of Usher." This thematic device, which predates the medieval period, gained prominence in the tales of King Arthur and the Grail Quest. Although there is no clear indication that Poe intentionally set out to create a gothic rendition of this traditional theme, that does not discount the possibility of "Usher" having been conditioned in some respect by this medieval notion. Through implementing a close reading of the story and comparing it to a framework of this conception of the "Maimed King," this paper points out a number of striking similarities between the two, as well as demonstrates the far-reaching influence of medievalism in one of nineteenth-century America's preeminent fiction writers, Edgar Allan Poe.


The object of this paper is to look at the extent and nature of the uses of analogy during the first century following the so-called scientific revolution. Using the research tool provided by JSTOR we systematically analyze the uses of analog and its cognates (analogies, analogous, etc.) in the Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London for the period 16651780. In addition to giving the possibility of evaluating quantitatively the proportion of papers explicitly using analogies, this approach makes it possible to go beyond the maybe idiosyncratic cases of Descartes, Kepler, Galileo, and other much studied giants of the so-called Scientific Revolution. As a result a classification of types of uses is proposed. Relations between types of analogies and research fields are also established. In this paper we are less interested in discussing the real nature or essence or even the cognitive limitations of analogical thinking than in describing its various uses and different meanings as they changed over the course of a century.


Escherichia coli O157:H7, Salmonella typhimurium and Staphylococcus. aureus are of great concern to the food industry, especially in foods stored under refrigerated conditions where, unlike most food-borne pathogens are able to multiply. This investigation was conducted to study the inhibitory effect of some spice extracts namely onion and garlic commonly used in food industry on the growth of these pathogens. Two different concentrations (1 and 4%) of the spice extracts were used on food model (minced meat) stored at 5oC for 14 days. The results revealed that concentration of 1% of onion extract was less inhibitory than 4%. However, with garlic extract, high inhibitory was observed for the two concentrations. Staphylococcus aureus showed less sensitivity towards onion extract inhibition, however, the three tested pathogenic microorganisms were significantly inhibited by garlic extract. The study demonstrates that onion and garlic extracts can be used as natural antimicrobial agents by incorporating them in food products.


The insulin-like growth factors (IGFs) and their cognate receptors and binding proteins (IGFBPs) play a central role in the endocrine regulation of growth and development in mammals. The IGFs are found in serum and other biological fluids complexed to a family of six (IGFBP-1 to -6). The current dogma is that these IGFBPs bind IGFs, but not insulin, with high affinity, thereby modulating the biological actions of the IGFs. It was believed that these IGFBPs function as classical carrier proteins to transport IGFs and extend their half-lives in circulation, and regulate the mitogenic effects of IGFs at the cellular level (IGF-dependent action of IGFBPs). The last 5 years have seen several new developments in our understanding of IGFBPs: 1) IGFBPs appear to be capable of exerting biological actions in an IGF-independent manner; 2) a new concept of an IGFBP superfamily has emerged from the identification of low-affinity binders of IGFs; and 3) IGFBPs appear to bind insulin and, in some cases, modulate insulin receptor activation. This growing body of evidence indicates that IGFBPs may play more active roles in growth regulation and each IGFBP might have its own, yet to be elucidated, biological actions, beyond its ability to regulate IGF actions (IGF-independent action of IGFBPs). Undoubtedly, these findings provide more diverse and exciting directions for our future research on IGFBPs and better understanding of IGF-IGFBP physiology.


Application of pressure cycling technology and Sequential Windowed Acquisition of all THeoretical mass spectrometry allows quantifying the degree of intra-tumor heterogeneity of protein expression in prostate tumors. The data show that protein intra-tumor heterogeneity, if not characterized, may distort protein biomarker suitability in tumor tissues. It remains unclear to what extent tumor heterogeneity impacts on protein biomarker discovery. Here, we quantified proteome intra-tissue heterogeneity (ITH) based on a multi-region analysis of prostate tissues using pressure cycling technology and Sequential Windowed Acquisition of all THeoretical fragment ion mass spectrometry. We quantified 6,873 proteins and analyzed the ITH of 3,700 proteins. The level of ITH varied depending on proteins and tissue types. Benign tissues exhibited more complex ITH patterns than malignant tissues. Spatial variability of 10 prostate biomarkers was validated by immunohistochemistry in an independent cohort (n = 83) using tissue microarrays. Prostate-specific antigen was preferentially variable in benign prostatic hyperplasia, whereas growth/differentiation factor 15 substantially varied in prostate adenocarcinomas. Furthermore, we found that DNA repair pathways exhibited a high degree of variability in tumorous tissues, which may contribute to the genetic heterogeneity of tumors. This study conceptually adds a new perspective to protein biomarker discovery: it suggests that recent technological progress should be exploited to quantify and account for spatial proteome variation to complement biomarker identification and utilization.


Cellulose nanofibrils isolated from natural resources such as wood show strong mechanical properties, high thermal stability, optical transparency, and easy functionalization, which are important for fabricating high-performance electronic devices. Here, we successfully developed a strategy to achieve conductive AgNW–CNF fibers by the wet-spinning of renewable cellulose nanofibrils (CNFs) and silver nanowires (AgNWs) from a single spinneret. The loading of AgNWs has a significant influence on the morphology of CNF–AgNW fibers. Hollow CNF–AgNW fibers formed at AgNW loading ratios of 30–40 wt%. The CNF–AgNW hollow fibers containing 40 wt% AgNWs achieved a high electrical conductivity of 6.8 × 105 S m−1. Because of their high flexibility and good mechanical properties, the CNF–AgNW fibers can be easily woven or integrated with other commercially available fibers to form textile structures. In addition, the fibers worked well as mechanical elastic conductors for the construction of a soft circuit.


Abstract
Realizing gender equality and parenthood still seems to be a contradictory endeavour. In consequence, family policies in Europe focus on paternal involvement and increasing women's participation in the labour market. Nevertheless, consequences of gender pay gap on family arrangements still set limits to these policies.

This chapter reveals results of qualitative research on paternal leave practices and fathers' involvement in the family in Austria. The empirical data set includes 36 guided interviews with fathers on paternal leave, 12 with female partners, 16 with human resources managers and 14 follow-up questionings with part-time working men and women. The research investigates effects of long-term leave arrangements on the distribution of family work, gainful employment and individual interests.

Mainly best practice models in undoing gender in family and work arrangements are explored. Subsequently, a high proportion of good earning fathers and couples with tertiary education are represented in the sample. Nevertheless, quantitative studies in Austria confirm higher proportions of fathers aged 40 plus on paternal leave. They take this decision mainly as a 'tribute to the family', once or twice in a life-time.

However, long-term care data on work-family-life balancing currently do not show significant changes in gendered patterns. By contrast, gender disparities are still reproduced in the labour market. Theoretically, the chapter shows the impact of gender studies, feminist theories and sociology of the family on realizing gender equality in private and public spheres. It outlines recommendations for family policy makers and for readers interested in relations between realizing work–life balance and gender budgeting.


Emerging markets have received wide attention from investors around the globe because of their return potential and risk diversification. This research examines the selection and timing performance of Canadian mutual funds which invest in fixed-income and equity securities in emerging markets. We use (un)conditional twoand five-factor benchmark models that accommodate the dynamics of returns in emerging markets. We also adopt the cross-sectional bootstrap methodology to distinguish between 'skill' and 'luck' for individual funds. All the tests are conducted using a comprehensive data set of bond and equity emerging funds over the period of 1989-2011. The risk-adjusted measures of performance are estimated using the least squares method with the Newey-West adjustment for standard errors that are robust to conditional heteroskedasticity and autocorrelation. The performance statistics of the emerging funds before (after) management-related costs are insignificantly positive (significantly negative). They are sensitive to the chosen benchmark model and conditional information improves selection performance. The timing statistics are largely insignificant throughout the sample period and are not sensitive to the benchmark model. Evidence of timing and selecting abilities is obtained in a small number of funds which is not sensitive to the fees structure. We also find evidence that a majority of individual funds provide zero (very few provide positive) abnormal return before fees and a significantly negative return after fees. At the negative end of the tail of performance distribution, our resampling tests fail to reject the role of bad luck in the poor performance of funds and we conclude that most of them are merely 'unlucky'.


In this paper, we propose a novel approach for bird part localization, targeting fine-grained categories with wide variations in appearance due to different poses (including aspect and orientation) and subcategories. As it is challenging to represent such variations across a large set of diverse samples with tractable parametric models, we turn to individual exemplars. Specifically, we extend the exemplar-based models in [4] by enforcing pose and subcategory consistency at the parts. During training, we build pose-specific detectors scoring part poses across subcategories, and subcategory-specific detectors scoring part appearance across poses. At the testing stage, likely exemplars are matched to the image, suggesting part locations whose pose and subcategory consistency are well-supported by the image cues. From these hypotheses, part configuration can be predicted with very high accuracy. Experimental results demonstrate significant performance gains from our method on an extensive dataset: CUB-200-2011 [30], for both localization and classification tasks.


AIM: To study the role of active programmed cell death induced by Vibrio cholerae antigens in alteration of peritoneal macrophages of experimental animals. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Apoptosis was assessed by cytofluorometric analysis with propidium iodide using cytofluorometer "Coulter" as well as on characteristic morphological changes of cells in stained histological preparations. RESULTS: Performed experiments carried out by both methods provide evidence that V. cholerae and its antigens (cholera toxin, neuraminidase, chitinase, and lypopolysaccharide) cause apoptosis of mice peritoneal macrophages, which leads to their alteration. CONCLUSION: Our results demonstrate that programmed cell death of phagocytes is one of the causes of cytotoxic effect of V.cholerae and its antigens. Performed experiments show the role of apoptosis of macrophages in formation of postimmunization immunosuppression after vaccination against cholera.


We construct and calculate static immunization bounds for hedging a single swap liability with two bonds in order to control the interest rate risk of these fixed income securities. These bounds are based on two kinds of duration and convexity measures, namely the traditional Fisher-Weil measures and the more recent stochastic measures of duration and convexity associated to affine models of the term structure of interest rates (e.g. the Vasicek and Cox-Ingersoll-Ross models). The immunization bounds are described for arbitrary portfolios that have deterministic future cash-flows with vanishing present value and can hitherto be used in this more general setting.


The aim of this paper is the investigation of the gate stack properties of submicron MOSFETs integrated in silicon on nothing technology and the identification of traps responsible for the current fluctuations by random telegraph signal (RTS) technique and low frequency technique. We show that the analysis of devices having random discrete fluctuations in the drain current, the analysis of the RTS noise parameters (amplitude, high and low state durations, activation energy, capture cross section) as a function of bias voltage and temperature, allows us to characterize the traps located in the interface (HfO2-SiO2)/Si. The conventional technique consists of statistical treatment of the RTS time-domain data. The study of RTS noise in submicron SON MOS transistors offers the opportunity of studying the trapping/detrapping behavior of a single interface trap. Furthermore, it has convincingly been shown that this discrete switching of the drain current between a high and a low state is the basic feature responsible for l/fγ flicker noise in MOSFETs transistors.


The premature aging disease Hutchinson-Gilford Progeria Syndrome (HGPS) is caused by a mutant lamin A (LADelta50). Nuclei in cells expressing LADelta50 are abnormally shaped and display a loss of heterochromatin. To determine the mechanisms responsible for the loss of heterochromatin, epigenetic marks regulating either facultative or constitutive heterochromatin were examined. In cells from a female HGPS patient, histone H3 trimethylated on lysine 27 (H3K27me3), a mark for facultative heterochromatin, is lost on the inactive X chromosome (Xi). The methyltransferase responsible for this mark, EZH2, is also down-regulated. These alterations are detectable before the changes in nuclear shape that are considered to be the pathological hallmarks of HGPS cells. The results also show a down-regulation of the pericentric constitutive heterochromatin mark, histone H3 trimethylated on lysine 9, and an altered association of this mark with heterochromatin protein 1alpha (Hp1alpha) and the CREST antigen. This loss of constitutive heterochromatin is accompanied by an up-regulation of pericentric satellite III repeat transcripts. In contrast to these decreases in histone H3 methylation states, there is an increase in the trimethylation of histone H4K20, an epigenetic mark for constitutive heterochromatin. Expression of LADelta50 in normal cells induces changes in histone methylation patterns similar to those seen in HGPS cells. The epigenetic changes described most likely represent molecular mechanisms responsible for the rapid progression of premature aging in HGPS patients.


Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is the most common autoimmune disease worldwide. Epigenetic alternations of microRNAs (miRNAs) can contribute to its pathogenesis and progression. As the first line therapy with DMARDs is not always successful, other drugs and therapeutic targets should be applied. This study aims to measure the expression level of plasma miRNAs in RA patients treated with olokizumab and to evaluate their potential as prognostic biomarkers. The expression of 9 miRNAs was quantified in 103 RA patients before treatment and at weeks 12 and 24 of olokizumab therapy by reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) assay and analyzed in groups of responders and non-responders. Almost all miRNAs changed their expression during therapy. The ROC curve analysis of the most prominent of them together with consequent univariate and multivariate regression analysis revealed statistically significant associations with the olokizumab therapy efficiency scores for miR-26b, miR-29, miR-451, and miR-522. Therefore, these miRNAs might be a potential therapeutic response biomarker.


Galvanized steel sheets with a lap joint were welded by a laser-arc hybrid process. The hybrid system consisted of 2kW LD or YAG laser oscillator and frequency-modulated DC pulsed MAG welding machine. In this experiment, the arc traveled on the specimens, following the laser beam with the interval of 2 mm. The results showed that the hybrid process had some advantages, such as deep penetration depth, high welding speed and high gap-tolerance, in comparison with the conventional MAG welding. Observations from a high-speed digital video-camera suggested that the zinc and iron vapors induced by laser beam irradiation stabilized the arc plasma. Effects of the incidence angle between a welding head and a specimen on the weld bead formations were also discussed. As a result, the welding speed of 2.0 m/min was achieved at 1.0 mm of gap length condition when the incidence angle was 50 degree.


Five cases of renal autotransplantation for renovascular hypertension in children are described. Hypertension in these cases was managed temporarily with medications until the patients grew to a size that made an operative procedure feasible. Following operation the blood pressure returned to normal in three patients without any antihypertensive medication during the period of follow-up (8 months to 6 years). In the other two patients, small doses of antihypertensive medications still were needed, despite correction of the stenosis. The results of this series demonstrate that autotransplantation is a safe and effective procedure in childhood renovascular hypertension in contrast to other forms of vascular reconstruction, which carry a high rate of failure in this age group.


ABSTRACT Affordable technology facilitates an immediate documentation of sound and space that encourages collective artistic expression modeled after track- or song-remixing websites. Students in a newly proposed music composition course must capture and generate original sounds, and then upload them to a separate class drive for other students to reuse. New creative work consists entirely of these reused sounds. The author discusses the use of remixed sound collages in an open access format and considers the positive influence of legal file exchange and remixing in educational musical practice.


Data on mortality of Norwegian Seventh-Day Adventists are examined for the period 1960-1977. The authors note an increase in longevity of four years for males and two years for females over the Norwegian population as a whole. The reasons for these differentials are sought in variations in health and life-style. (summary in ENG) (ANNOTATION)


This text offers nurse educators a comprehensive conceptual and practical introduction to student-centered pedagogies and their classroom and clinical applications. The book examines the complexities of teaching and learning nursing, explains the theoretical foundations of student-centered learning, describes various methods and models for student-centered learning in nursing, and explores the issues and challenges of constructing nursing curricula and implementing student-centered pedagogies. Practical examples of learning activities are presented throughout the book in chapter boxes.


How the ionosphere gains influence In Earth's upper atmosphere, the reconnection of magnetic field lines converts latent magnetic energy into the thermal and kinetic energy of plasma flows. But reconnection appears to produce faster flows before midnight compared with after. To find out why, Lotko et al. simulated this energy exchange. Challenging common assumptions about our space weather environment, they conclude that the ionosphere plays an active role when coupled to the magnetosphere in driving the behavior of the magnetotail. Science, this issue p. 184 Asymmetric plasma flows on the night side of Earth are regulated by magnetosphere-ionosphere coupling. Observed distributions of high-speed plasma flows at distances of 10 to 30 Earth radii (RE) in Earth's magnetotail neutral sheet are highly skewed toward the premidnight sector. The flows are a product of the magnetic reconnection process that converts magnetic energy stored in the magnetotail into plasma kinetic and thermal energy. We show, using global numerical simulations, that the electrodynamic interaction between Earth's magnetosphere and ionosphere produces an asymmetry consistent with observed distributions in nightside reconnection and plasmasheet flows and in accompanying ionospheric convection. The primary causal agent is the meridional gradient in the ionospheric Hall conductance which, through the Cowling effect, regulates the distribution of electrical currents flowing within and between the ionosphere and magnetotail.


Electrochemical synthesis of two different series of sulfonamides has been performed using the same precursors, 4-(4-nitrophenyl)urazole and arylsulfinic acids, by controlling the potential during electrolysis. Electrochemical reduction of 4-(4-nitrophenyl)urazole has been studied in the presence of arylsulfinic acids. The results indicate that via a paired electrosynthesis 4-(4-nitrophenyl)urazole is reduced at the surface of the cathode. The reductively generated 4-(4-aminophenyl)urazole is subsequently oxidized at the surface of anode. The electro-oxidatively generated 4-(4-aminophenyl)-3H-1,2,4-triazole-3,5(4H)-dione participates in a Michael-type addition reaction with arylsulfinic acids to form the corresponding sulfonamide derivatives. Potassium ferrocyanide was added to the electrolysis cell to prevent oxidation of 4-(4-nitrophenyl)urazole and to improve the yield of the products. Cathodically generated 4-(4-aminophenyl)urazole is oxidized by both direct (at the surface of anode) and indirect (using a ferricyanide/ferrocyanide redox mediator) electron transfer. The other part has been devoted to direct electrochemical oxidation of 4-(4-nitrophenyl)urazole in the presence of arylsulfinic acids in a divided cell leading to the synthesis of the second series of sulfonamides. Furthermore, electrochemical oxidation of 4-cyclohexylurazole has been investigated in the presence of arylsulfinic acids, and the mechanism of the chemical reaction coupled with electron transfer has been discussed by cyclic voltammetry, controlled-potential coulometry, double-step chronoamperometry and double-step chronocoulometry. All synthesized products were obtained in good yields using an environmentally friendly method and green solvents. The synthesized sulfonamides were tested for antimicrobial activity against E. coli PTCC1330, P. aeruginosa PTCC 1310, S. aureus PTCC 1337, Salmonella Typhi PTCC 1709, Aspergillus niger PTCC 5012, and Candida albicans PTCC5027. The compounds were mostly effective on fungi. The results confirmed that two derivatives are highly effective on all of the tested indicator microorganisms.


The available mechanisms for the production of electrons in the three regions of the ionosphere are discussed with special reference to the question whether it is possible to account for the observed electron densities without supposing that the sun emits far more energy in the remote ultra-violet spectrum than would be emitted by a black body at 6000°. The contributions to electron densities made by metastable states of atoms and molecules are examined. It is concluded that the observed electron densities may be accounted for without requiring high solar energy in the ultra-violet if the effective recombination coefficient in the F2 region is 10-11, The F2 region is attributed to the ionization of atomic oxygen, and the E region to the ionization of molecular oxygen. The electrons forming the F1 region are supposed to be provided by metastable N2 or by NO.


Measurements of the vertical-path atmospheric modulation transfer function (MTF) have been completed at both desert and mountain locations for daytime and nighttime conditions. The average atmospheric MTF characterized by the parameter r0 is found to be virtually identical, 34 mm, for both the desert and the mountain locations during the day, whereas a ratio of 1.7 is observed at night, 47 mm versus 82 mm, respectively. Relative peaks in r0 for both the mountain and the desert sites corresponding to the daily air-surface temperature crossover periods are observed. By collecting data at both 2 and 8 m above the desert surface, the effects of tower height are investigated.


Sir, A recent paper in Public Health Nutrition reviewed the breast-feeding situation in Africa. Although this review raised many important points, we disagree with its main message, that `the outlook for breast-feeding in African mothers in general is one of gloom'. The authors' opinion is that the rate and the duration of breast-feeding are declining in Africa, but their opinion is mostly based on small and not nationally representative surveys. A recent review of all available Demographic and Health Surveys fromAfrica, conductedbyoneofus, doesnot support this opinion. As a matter of fact, the median duration of breast-feeding increased in two thirds of fifteen African countries fromall regionswhere datawere available. Furthermore, the rate of exclusive breast-feeding, a practice which is not common in African countries, is also increasing in eleven of the fifteen countries. Giving other liquids to infants in addition to breastmilk, as well as introducing solid foods before 4 months, are widespread practices, as the authors rightly point out, but they are traditional and do not threaten prolonged breast-feeding as it is currently practised in most sub-Saharan countries. The authors quote a review stating that `considerable responsibility' in the early cessation of breast-feeding `was attributed to the inadequacies of health services'. Although it is true that health professionals are overburdened and probably would need more training for the promotion of breast-feeding, there is evidence that the positive trends in breast-feeding are, at least in part, a result of their consistent promotion efforts. Although no large-scale evaluation of national promotion programmes is available, some indicators of breast-feeding practices are in favour of a significant impact of promotion. For instance, the rate of initiation of breast-feeding within the first day increased in eight of nine countries with recent data. In some cases, increases were very substantial (30% in Cameroon and Madagascar). The fact that this positive trend in early initiation was larger in the urban sector, where mothers are more exposed to promotion efforts than in rural areas, further supports our point. The title of the section `Danger of breast-feeding beyond infancy' is misleading. We are aware that many cross-sectional studies from developing countries showed a relationship between prolonged breast-feeding and malnutrition, but this association was probably due to reverse causality, mothers of malnourished children choosing to wean their child later. Walker and Adam fail to mention that the majority of prospective studies demonstrate that breast-feeding beyond infancy is associated with faster growth in weight and/or length. Besides, in this section, they report a study as having been conducted in Boston, USA, while it actually took place in Sudan (by researchers affiliated with the Harvard School of Public Health in Boston). We agree that the AIDS epidemic is a major challenge to breast-feeding, because of the risk of transmission of the virus through breastmilk. Although numerous studies document this risk, the study by Coutsoudis et al. is the only one that considers the risk associated with exclusive breast-feeding. In fact, the study showed that the risk was similar to that of not breast-feeding. Thus, the risk of transmission through breastmilk, when the infant is breastfed optimally, i.e. exclusively, is not yet known with certainty*. This is an important issue in terms of feeding strategies for infants of HIV-positive mothers because infants' risk of death from infectious diseases is high in the absence of breast-feeding. In most African countries, breast-feeding is still considered an important part of the traditional culture and is actively supported and promoted by community members. This strong attachment to breast-feeding is further illustrated by the observation of Coutsoudis et al. that two-thirds of the HIV-positive mothers chose to breastfeed their newborn child even though they had been informed of the risk of transmission of HIV through breastmilk. We do not deny that breast-feeding may be under pressure in the more economically privileged South Africa (although we are not aware of any nationally representative survey), but fortunately South Africa is not representative of sub-Saharan Africa as a whole. In conclusion, breast-feeding is strongly rooted in all African cultures, and we are confident that the outlook for breast-feeding is not as bleak as Walker and Adam view it. Nevertheless, for the first time, trust in the benefits of breastmilk is being challenged because breast-feeding by HIV-positive mothers carries a health risk for infants. Research is urgently needed to determine the risk of transmission associated with exclusive breast-feeding and to find ways of preventing the transmission of HIV through breastmilk. Public Health Nutrition: 4(4), 929±932


The psychological preparation plays a particularly important role, being meant to group the player's resources and skills that allow him to process the information, select the answers and apply his tactic thinking, according to the game plan and game strategy formulated by the coach. The planning of the mental preparation is enforced by concretely establishing the objectives, actions, achievement means, responsible factors, related duties and by a current and periodical control of the results. The aim of this paper is to reflect the importance of psychological preparation in football by presenting the objectives pursued the three main groups of psychological processes and the ways and means psychological preparation can be achieved.


The late 20th and early 21st centuries have seen a turn to the self and a 'frantic search for identity' (Bauman 2001:152). This 21st century self is located within a therapeutic culture that is encroaching more and more into our everyday lives. We are encouraged to both work on and improve our selves and to search for, uncover and make contact with our authentic, true, 'innerselves', that will result in a self that is both happy and successful. Those unable or unwilling to do so are encouraged to identify the cause within their own personal histories, often seen to be childhood trauma/sexual abuse. This paper draws on an ESRC funded research project looking at women who identified such a cause and their engagement with narratives of childhood sexual abuse (CSA). Much of the CSA recovery literature engages with both a 'static' and a 'makeable' self but also relies on a form of multiple-selves. Readers are encouraged to identify an inner personality or 'inner-child', but it is a relatively short step from identifying one inner-child to identifying a multiplicity of inner-children or personalities. In this paper I argue that contemporary narrative frameworks of childhood trauma such as CSA allow for, and might even encourage, the creation of one or more inner-personalities (sometimes hundreds) who are thought to share a traumatic past. Whilst these personalities might offer women new ways to 'perform the self', it not only risks constructing them as psychologically unstable and/or damaged, but ultimately delimits their possibilities.


In this paper we present a single case study of a clinical approach that addresses the needs of parents and their children in psychotherapy. The approach begins by addressing the child's and parent's concerns separately at first by establishing strong therapeutic alliances with each, and then proceeds to address the concerns of the parent-child dyad. The basic premise is that the therapeutic alliance is the central element to successful outcomes in psychotherapy. The nature of alliance-building and its associated methods and techniques have been extensively considered for adult therapy. However, there is considerably less written on the therapeutic alliance with children and adolescents in the context of family interventions. We briefly examine some theoretical dimensions and applications of the therapeutic alliance in psychotherapy with children/adolescents and their parents. A three-phase alliance-building psychotherapy strategy, founded on the idea that each therapeutic relationship warrants an effective working alliance, is proposed. The case of a single mother and her adolescent daughter is employed to illustrate the strategy.


Most manufacturers are not involved with direct sales to consumers and sell their products through dealers and distributors. Determining the optimal location and number of dealerships to provide a service or product is one of the most important stages of firm's planning and is of utmost importance. The available location choice models are based on simplified assumptions such as linear city and one or two firms. The main objective of this paper is theoretical modeling of dealerships location and expansion of location choice models in such a way that its assumptions are closer to reality and could provide the necessary conditions for selection of optimal number of dealerships and optimal distribution of their location. For this purpose, Chen and Riordan (2007) and Lijesen and Reggiani (2013) models are used. The results indicate that the optimum number of dealers is a function of the number of streets, reserve price of consumers for each unit of goods, transport costs, the number of consumers located on every street and costs for creation dealership. Based on the results, if the costs for creation dealership are relatively high and transport costs is relatively low, then monopolist will agree for creation of a dealer on the city center and several dealers in the margins. In contrast, if the number of consumers located on every street is relatively small and number of streets is relatively high, then the monopolist will create a dealer in the city center.


Philippine technocracy during the martial law period (1972–1986) has been depicted in most of the literature as "apolitical." This article argues that this depiction was not applicable to the pre–martial law period (1965–1972) when the Marcos administration's technocrats, who went on to become the chief economic planners during the martial law period, exhibited "political sensitiveness" in economic policy making. This sensitivity helped pave the way for them to become part of the policy-making elite in the country and the Marcos leadership's appendage in confronting intraelite squabbles. Keywords: technocracy • policy making • Marcos presidency •Cesar Virata • Placido Mapa Jr.


power is proportionate to the degree of tuberculin immunity obtained. This process of immunizing the system against tubercle is in principle not different from the prophylactic inoculations against other diseases, save that we are dealing with a much more powerful toxin, and more care is therefore necessary in giving it. Its very potency, however, better lends itself to stimiulating the body cells to antibody formation and therefore to a more lasting endurance thereof. Indeed, in the present state of our knowledge, it is difficult to see what other method can or will be emploved for this purpose, so like is it'to Nature's own metlhod. In conclusion I am tempted to say something about tuberculin prophylaxis. If tuberculin can help a patient to throw off the disease by the raising of his body resistance, why should it not be possible to raise adequately the resistance of anyone who has only the tuberculous diatlhesis before he is attacked? Indeed, it is sometimes difficult to tell where diathesis ends and the disease begins. I am of opinion that herein lies the greatest value of tuberculin, in that it will be found to prevent the onset of tuberculosis in the same way that immunizations are secured against other diseases. I have noticed how well, sickly, pretuberculous children tolerate tuberculin and improve in. health. Some years, however, will probably have to elapse before reliable conclusions can be drawn from these cases in saying how long this artificial immunity lasts. I do not wish to give the impression that every case does wvell or that the tuberculin course is always smooth sailing. It is often full of difficulties and set-backs, according to the complicatinig circumstances of the patient's life, and the physician lias to exercise the utmost care in overcoming these opposing forces. It must be confessed that in not a few cases lie fails. Nevertheless, when it can be given, there is, in my opinion, iiothing to equal it in value. It seems to make the body put up a better fight and to hold more stubbornly the front line against the advance of tuberculous disease than anythinlg else.-I am, etc., County Offlces, Dorchester, June 28th. H. C. MANNING.


The lost decade has provided us a number of lessons. One of them is the limit of standard macroeconomics. This paper attempts to show that uncertainty plays a much more important role in the macroeconomy than most economists recognize. Once the economy is caught in an uncertainty trap, the effectiveness of standard policy necessarily weakens. The zero-interest rate may well be a consequence of an uncertainty trap. In fact, whether or not the economy is caught in such an uncertainty trap distinguishes "depression" from the normal cyclical "recession." The significance of demand-creating innovation is another point I emphasize in this paper. In my view, a lack of demand-creating innovation is a part of explanation of the lost decade. At the same time, this paper offers prospects for the future of the Japanese economy.


Objectives: Flexible bronchoscopy with exfoliative cytology is an important tool for the diagnosis of pulmonary fungal infections. The question of colonization versus true fungal infection is of critical importance. Study Design: A 5-year retrospective analysis of all cases of pulmonary fungal infection diagnosed using exfoliative cytology was performed. Clinical, radiological, bronchoscopy and histopathology findings were recorded. Results: A total of 69 cases of mycoses were retrieved. The most common fungal organism identified was Aspergillus followed by Candida and Pneumocystis. Most cases of Aspergillus and Candida in cytological specimens presented as a pulmonary mass or endobronchial growth and were diagnosed as carcinomas in biopsy specimens, thus representing colonization. All cases of Pneumocystis with bilateral ground glass infiltrates and cryptococcosis with parenchymal mass lesion in radiology represented true infection. Histoplasma was identified in pleural fluid from a known case of lung carcinoma. Conclusion: Aspergillus and Candida species are the most common fungal organisms. Most of these represent colonization of malignant growths. However, true fungal infections may also present as mass lesions and may masquerade malignancy clinically. Fluid cytological examination is an important diagnostic modality for pulmonary mycoses; however, it is important to correlate results with clinical, bronchoscopy and biopsy findings for accurate diagnosis and appropriate management.


Schizophrenia is a disorder affecting millions of individuals, with a prevalence rate over one percent. Although the diagnosis of schizophrenia has a high heritability, identification of individual risk variants has been difficult, due to their small individual effects on the diagnosis. Identification of useful endophenotypes - that is, features more sensitive to genetic effects than the diagnosis itself - should aid in detecting genetic variants that contribute to the disorder. The current study examined negative symptoms as a possible endophenotype for schizophrenia. Specifically, the study examined the genetic correlations between the Scale for the Assessment of Negative Symptoms (SANS) and schizophrenia among multigenerational, multiplex schizophrenia families. To examine diagnostic specificity, major depressive disorder and substance abuse were also tested for genetic correlations with negative symptoms. The total sample (493) included 43 families, 90 schizophrenia patients, 359 of their relatives, and 44 controls. The majority of SANS scales were significantly heritable (average h2 = 0.48). Results suggested that even among relatives without any diagnoses, the prevalence of negative symptoms increased significantly with the degree of genetic relationship to schizophrenia (average RG = 0.76) but not depression or substance abuse. This suggests the potential utility of negative symptoms as a candidate endophenotype with some diagnostic specificity in studies seeking to identify genetic risk variants contributing to schizophrenia.


To further enhance the accuracy of a micro milling process, an effective error measurement method and error compensation method are necessary. An on-machine vision-based error measurement method integrating image re-constructive technology, camera pixel correction, and model comparison algorithm to provide the capability of non-contact measurement for micro-machined workpiece error was developed. With use of Canny Edge Detection algorithm and camera pixel calibration, the edge of the contour of a machined workpiece can be identified and used to re-construct the actual shape of the workpiece. The actual shape will then be compared to the theoretical shape of the workpiece. To prove the feasibility of the proposed methods and system, experiments were conducted. The results have shown the success of enhacing machining accuracy for a micro milling process.


Introduction: Prostate cancer (PrC) is the fifth most common malignancy worldwide and the second most common malignancy in men. Currently, robotic-assisted laparoscopic radical prostatectomy (RARP) has become a popular treatment for localised PrC treatment worldwide. We aimed to assess the learning curve of RARP in our institution. Methods: A total of 391 patients who underwent RARP in our clinic between February 2009 and April 2013 were included in the study. We retrospectively evaluated patient data that were recorded prospectively. The demographic, perioperative, postoperative functional, and oncological results of six surgeons' patient groups (n=72, n=110, n=103, n=38, n=36, and n=32) and three consecutive series formed by dividing the patient groups of the three surgeons with the highest volume of cases were analysed. Results: There was no significant difference between patient groups with regard to age, American Society of Anesthesiologists score, preoperative International Prostate Symptom Score, International Index of Erectile Function (IIEF) score, number of previously performed operations, prostate-specific antigen levels, clinical stage, biopsy pathology, pathological stage, positive surgical margin (PSM) rate, biochemical recurrence (BCR) rate, potency, and continence rate at postoperative Month 12. When we assessed the three consecutive series of the three highest-volume surgeons we found that, over time, operation time (OT) decreased significantly (p<0.001), blood transfusion rate decreased significantly (p=0.015), estimated blood loss (EBL) decreased (p>0.05), and median IIEF score at 12 months improved significantly (p<0.001) in the series of Surgeon 1; OT decreased significantly (p<0.001), EBL decreased (p>0.05), and median IIEF score at 12 months improved significantly (p=0.01) in the series of Surgeon 2; OT decreased significantly (p<0.001), EBL decreased significantly (p<0.001), and PSM rate decreased and median IIEF scores at 12 months improved (p>0.05 for both) in the series of Surgeon 3. The overall complication rate was 11.7% and 34% of these complications were major ones. The overall blood transfusion rate was 2%. The overall PSM rate was 20.4% (9.3% for pT2 tumours and 44% for pT3 tumours). The overall rate of BCR was 9.4%. Conclusion: In our clinical experience, OT, EBL, and blood transfusion rate seem to decrease during the learning curve of RARP.


An investigation of postural sway and bodyweight distribution in standing was carried out using the Nottingham Balance Platform (NBP). The aims were to provide normative data for subsequent studies on stroke patients and to show the effect of age and sex on these variables. Male and female volunteers were recruited from hospital workers, hospital visitors and members of a local community centre. Each subject was assessed using the N BP, a limb load monitor based on load cells and a microcomputer. Weight distribution was expressed as the balance coefficient, which is the mean proportion of body weight on the left leg calculated over 30 seconds. Postural sway was calculated from the deviation from that mean and expressed as the sway coefficient. The 403 volunteers included 269 women and 134 men, age range 18-87 years (mean 50). There was a significant difference between the sexes for both postural sway (p < 0.05) and weight distribution (p < 0.01) and significant correlations between age and postural sway (p < 0.001) and age and weight distribution (p < 0.001). The results provided baseline data allowing for age and sex differences for further studies with stroke patients.


As in a number of other countries, the educational systems of Denmark, Norway and Sweden are experiencing expansion and change. These reforms have meant many changes and new challenges for the teachers, especially with reference to their work outside the classroom (or the gym). In Sweden, for example, teachers are expected to collaborate in order to give national syllabi a more concrete and local form, which in turn demands a common professional language. In this essay, our aim is to cast a pedagogic and somewhat didactic light on the subject by 1) giving a short and descriptive picture of some aspects of PE in Scandinavia's nine-year compulsory schools, with a main focus on Sweden, and by 2) identifying and discussing some of the educational challenges facing the subject today, also mainly from a Swedish perspective.


Abstract Aliza Shvarts first came to widespread attention when her Untitled [Senior Thesis] (2008), consisting of a yearlong performance of self-induced miscarriages, was declared a "fiction" by Yale University and censored from public exhibition. That controversial work was on view for the first time in New York as part of her 2020 exhibition Purported at Art in General. It frames the areas of inquiry she has continued to explore: how the body means and matters and how the subject consents and dissents. In this in-depth conversation, Emily Apter and Aliza Shvarts discuss the exhibition and a wide range of topics relevant to contemporary feminist practice and thought: the genealogy of citation; the uses of theory; speech action; rape kits; nonconsensual collaboration; queer kinship; and memes.


Abstract The widespread reforms of Turkish public administration and the machinery of government from 2000s onwards resulted in a gradual delegation of certain state's functions to local and non-state actors, through a gradual rescaling of the policy-making systems and a remarkable hybridization of governance logics. The relevant literature focuses largely on the rising role and importance of involving non-state actors rather than state officials in policy-making processes. The paper explains how the scope and the method of public agents' influence adapt to the current context of so-called neoliberalization of public administration in Turkey. The paper discusses in detail provincial governors with regard to their relatively 'disguised' power in social and economic policies through new hybrid mechanisms.


Thanks to the recent advances in processing speed, data acquisition and storage, machine learning (ML) is penetrating every facet of our lives, and transforming research in many areas in a fundamental manner. Wireless communications is another success story – ubiquitous in our lives, from handheld devices to wearables, smart homes, and automobiles. While recent years have seen a flurry of research activity in exploiting ML tools for various wireless communication problems, the impact of these techniques in practical communication systems and standards is yet to be seen. In this paper, we review some of the major promises and challenges of ML in wireless communication systems, focusing mainly on the physical layer. We present some of the most striking recent accomplishments that ML techniques have achieved with respect to classical approaches, and point to promising research directions where ML is likely to make the biggest impact in the near future. We also highlight the complementary problem of designing physical layer techniques to enable distributed ML at the wireless network edge, which further emphasizes the need to understand and connect ML with fundamental concepts in wireless communications.


Background
Endobronchial ultrasound-guided transbronchial needle aspiration (EBUS-TBNA) has a high diagnostic yield and low complication rate. Whilst it has been included in international guidelines for the diagnosis and staging of lung cancer, current results are mostly based on EBUS experts performing EBUS-TBNA in centres of excellence. The impact of simulation training on diagnostic yield, complications, scope damage and repair cost in a real-world teaching hospital is unclear.

Methods
A review of our hospital EBUS-TBNA registry from August 2008 to December 2016 was performed. A positive diagnosis was defined as a confirmed histological or microbiological diagnosis based on EBUS sampling. Complications were classified as major or minor according to the British Thoracic Society guidelines. In addition, we assessed the cost of repairs for scope damage before and after simulation training was implemented. Using CUSUM analysis, the learning curves of individual trainees and the institution were plotted.

Results
There were 608 EBUS-TBNA procedures included in the study. The number of procedures performed by trainees who underwent conventional training was 331 and those who underwent simulation training performed 277 procedures. Diagnostic yield for trainees without simulation training was 88.2% vs. 84.5% for trainees with simulation training (P=0.179). There was no statistical difference in the diagnostic yield between the groups of trainees (OR: 0.781, 95% CI: 0.418-1.460, P=0.438) after adjusting for risk factors. There was an increase in overall complications from 13.6% to 16.6% (OR: 2.247, 95% CI: 1.297-3.891, P=0.004) after introduction of the simulation training, but a trend to decrease in major complications 3.6% to 0.7% (P=0.112). The cost for scope repairs for the trainees without simulation training was SGD 413.88 per procedure vs. SGD 182.79 per procedure for the trainees with simulation training, with the mean difference being SGD 231.09 per procedure (95% CI: 178.40-640.60, P=0.268). CUSUM analysis showed an increasing learning curve for the trainees with simulation training after an initial competency period.

Conclusions
There was no statistical difference in diagnostic yield from EBUS-TBNA and cost of scope damage after simulation training was introduced into our training program. Interestingly, there was an increase in minor complications. CUSUM analysis can provide additional information on institutional learning curves. The value of simulation training in EBUS-TBNA remains uncertain.


Background: Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is a common psychiatric disorder among children and adolescents. This disorder causes difficulties in academic, behavioral, emotional, social and family performance. Stimulants show robust efficacy and a good safety profile in children with this disorder, but a significant percent of ADHD children do not respond adequately or cannot tolerate the associated adverse effects with stimulants. Such difficulties highlight the need for alternative safe and effective medications in the treatment of this disorder. This open-label study assessed the effectiveness of reboxetine, a selective norepinephrine reuptake inhibitor, in children and adolescents with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Methods: Fifteen child and adolescent outpatients, aged 7 to 16 (Mean± SD=9.72±2.71) years, diagnosed with ADHD were enrolled in a six open-label study with reboxetine 4-6 mg/d. The principal measure of the outcome was the teacher and parent Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder Rating Scale (ADHD Rating Scale). Patients were assessed by a child psychiatrist at baseline, 2, 4 and 6 weeks of the medication started. Side effects questionnaire was used to detect side effects of reboxetine. Repeated measures Analysis of variance (ANOVA) was done for comparison of Teacher and Parent ADHD Rating Scale scores during the intervention. Results: Twelve of 15 (80%) participants completed the treatment protocol. A significant decrease in ADHD symptoms on teacher (p=0.04) and parent (p=0.003) ADHD rating scale was noted. Adverse effects were mild to moderate in severity. The most common adverse effects were drowsiness/sedation and appetite decrease. Conclusion: The results of the current study suggest the effectiveness of reboxetine in the treatment of ADHD in children and adolescents. Double-blind, placebo-controlled studies and larger sample size with long duration of intervention are indicated to rigorously test the efficacy of reboxetine in ADHD. It is important that future studies complete our knowledge about safety and side effects of reboxetine.


Conventional beam orientation optimization (BOO) algorithms for IMRT assume that the same set of beam angles is used for all treatment fractions. In this paper we present a BOO formulation based on group sparsity that simultaneously optimizes non-coplanar beam angles for all fractions, yielding a fraction-variant (FV) treatment plan. Beam angles are selected by solving a multi-fraction fluence map optimization problem involving 500-700 candidate beams per fraction, with an additional group sparsity term that encourages most candidate beams to be inactive. The optimization problem is solved using the fast iterative shrinkage-thresholding algorithm. Our FV BOO algorithm is used to create five-fraction treatment plans for digital phantom, prostate, and lung cases as well as a 30-fraction plan for a head and neck case. A homogeneous PTV dose coverage is maintained in all fractions. The treatment plans are compared with fraction-invariant plans that use a fixed set of beam angles for all fractions. The FV plans reduced OAR mean dose and D2 values on average by 3.3% and 3.8% of the prescription dose, respectively. Notably, mean OAR dose was reduced by 14.3% of prescription dose (rectum), 11.6% (penile bulb), 10.7% (seminal vesicle), 5.5% (right femur), 3.5% (bladder), 4.0% (normal left lung), 15.5% (cochleas), and 5.2% (chiasm). D2 was reduced by 14.9% of prescription dose (right femur), 8.2% (penile bulb), 12.7% (proximal bronchus), 4.1% (normal left lung), 15.2% (cochleas), 10.1% (orbits), 9.1% (chiasm), 8.7% (brainstem), and 7.1% (parotids). Meanwhile, PTV homogeneity defined as D95/D5 improved from .92 to .95 (digital phantom), from .95 to .98 (prostate case), and from .94 to .97 (lung case), and remained constant for the head and neck case. Moreover, the FV plans are dosimetrically similar to conventional plans that use twice as many beams per fraction. Thus, FV BOO offers the potential to reduce delivery time for non-coplanar IMRT.


The policy environment facing the EU dairy industry continues to undergo considerable change under WTO and CAP reform. Movement away from supply management by the EU and a more liberal global agricultural trading system will involve greater price volatility for dairy commodities. It is anticipated that EU dairy prices will more closely align with world prices. World prices are both lower and more volatile than EU prices and it is further assumed that this increased volatility will be transmitted to EU prices. Price volatility is a concern for a number of reasons as it adds challenges for business planning, debt repayment, and, in some cases, solvency. Representative EU and world butter and SMP (Skim Milk Powder) prices are considered and using the ARMA and GARCH framework their volatility is quantified.


Adhesion between asphalt-aggregate and cohesion within asphalt mastic has a significant effect on the performance of asphalt mixtures. Conventional testing methods and studies normally only focus on one of the damage modes (adhesion or cohesion), although in real asphalt mixtures (asphalt-aggregate system), these two failure modes can happen together depending on the material and loading conditions. The objective of this paper was to characterize the interface bonding characteristics of the asphalt-aggregate system using the thin-film interface test and the fracture property parameter, critical state energy density (CSED), and identify the key factors that could affect the interface bonding characteristics. The thin-film interface test simulated a more realistic bonding condition and monitored the damage between thin-film asphalt and aggregate. Experimental results showed that the effects of temperature and loading rate on the interface bonding characteristics were significant. The time-temperature superposition principle is found to work in both the linear viscoelastic range (dynamic modulus test) and the damage domain (interface bonding fracture test). Binder type, degree of aging, and types of aggregates all played an important role in the bonding performance for an asphalt-aggregate system.


Model for predictive analysis of the quantity of heat absorbed by oxalic acid solution during leaching of iron oxide ore has been derived. It was observed that the validity of the model is rooted in the expression (lnQ)/N = √T where both sides of the relationship are correspondingly almost equal. The model was found to depend on the value of the final solution temperature measured during the experiment. The respective deviation of the model-predicted Q values from the corresponding experimental values was found to be less than 21% which is quite within the acceptable range of deviation limit of experimental results. The positive values of heat absorbed as obtained from experiment and model indicate and agree that the leaching process is endothermic in nature.


Tumor thrombus in the portal vein is refractory to therapy and a serious negative prognostic factor in hepatocellular carcinoma. We describe herein the case of a patient in whom an expandable metallic stent was successfully employed to treat portal vein tumor thrombus by restoring blood flow. An expandable metallic stent was implanted in a patient with severe main portal vein stenosis caused by tumor thrombus protruding from the left portal vein branch. Immediately after stent placement, the stenotic lesion was effectively dilated, the portal blood flow restored, and portal hypertension relieved. Angiography, computed tomography, and doppler ultrasonography done 2 months after the stent placement revealed continued patency of the portal vein. Thus, intraportal placement of an expandable metallic stent appears to be an effective treatment for major portal vein tumor


Human interests often conflict with those of wildlife. In the coastal zone humans often exploit shellfish populations that would otherwise provide food for populations of shorebirds (Charadrii). There has been considerable debate on the consequences of shellfishing for the survival of shorebirds, and conversely the effects of shorebird predation on the shellfish stocks remaining for human exploitation. Until now, it has been difficult to determine the impact of current shellfishery practices on birdsor to investigate how possible alternative policies would affect their survival and numbers. One long-running contentious issue has been how to manage mussel Mytilus edulis and cockle Cerastoderma edule shellfisheries in a way that has least effect on a co-dependent shorebird, the oystercatcher Haematopus ostralegus, which also consumes these shellfish. This study used a behaviour-based model to explore the effects that the present-day management regimes of a mussel (Exe estuary, UK) and a cockle (Burryinlet, UK) fishery have on the survival and numbers of overwintering oystercatchers. It also explored how alternative regimes might affect the birds. The model includes depletion and disturbance as two possibly detrimental effects of shellfishing and some of the longer-term effects on shellfish stocks. Importantly, model birds respond to shellfishing in the same ways as real birds. They increase the time spent feeding at low tide and feed in fields and upshore areas at other times. When shellfishing removes the larger prey, birds eat more smaller prey. The results suggest that, currently, neither shellfishery causes oystercatcher mortality to be higher than it would otherwise be in the absence of shellfishing; at present intensities, shellfishing does not significantly affect the birds. However, they also show that changes in management practices, such as increasing fishing effort, reducing the minimum size of shellfish collected or increasing the daily quota, can greatly affect oystercatcher mortality and population size, and that the detrimental effect of shellfishing can be greatly increased by periods of cold weather or when prey are unusually scarce. By providing quantitative predictions of bird survival and numbers of a range of alternative shellfishery management regimes, the model can guide management policy in these and other estuaries.


Turbulent mixing and combustion are investigated in a gaseous shear layer formed between two streams: one containing a low concentration of hydrogen in nitrogen and the other containing a low concentration of fluorine in nitrogen. The resulting temperature field is measured simultaneously at eight points across the width of the layer using fast-response cold-wire thermometry. The results show the presence of large, hot structures separated by tongues of cool fluid that enter the layer from either side. The usual bell-shaped mean-temperature profiles therefore result from a duty cycle whereby a fixed probe sees alternating hot and cool fluid, which results in the local mean. The adiabatic flame temperature is not achieved in the mean, at any location across the layer. For fixed velocities, it is found that, in general, two different mean-temperature profiles result from a given pair of reactant compositions if the sides of the layer on which they are carried are exchanged ('flipped'). This finding is a direct consequence of the asymmetric entrainment of fluid into the layer. Results are compared with the predictions of Konrad and discussed in the context of the Broadwell–Breidenthal model. By comparison with the liquid result of Breidenthal, the amount of product formed in the layer at high Reynolds number is found to be dependent upon the Schmidt number. Results for a helium–nitrogen layer are discussed briefly.


The Joint Commission's new set of rehabilitation standards is applicable only if the organization provides rehabilitation services as described in their scope of service. Admission to home care services requires an assessment of the patient's functional status that may in turn lead to the need for referral for rehabilitation services. A thorough review of the standards integrating the information in this article can help home care managers to understand and comply with the rehabilitation standard and identify how a surveyor may review an agency for compliance. These new standards can guide organizations in providing the quality oversight necessary to achieve goals that reflect positive patient outcomes.


Jatropha curcas L. biodiesel (methyl esters) was successfully synthesized from esterified Jatropha curcas L. oil (JCO) via transesterification process using an oscillatory flow reactor (OFR). Alkaline catalysts were used in this process, and the effects of operating variables such as molar ratio, reaction temperature, reaction time, and the percentage of catalyst loading were investigated. The reactions were carried out under atmospheric pressure. The reaction temperatures were varied between 50 to 70 °C. The effects of two alkaline catalysts namely potassium hydroxide (KOH) and sodium hydroxide (NaOH) and molar ratio of methanol to JCO on reaction yield were investigated. The optimum conditions for batch mode in the presence of KOH catalyst were as follows: reaction temperature at 65 °C, reaction time at 30 min, molar ratio at 6:1, and catalyst amount at 1.0% w/w. The maximum reaction conversion attainable using batch process was at 99%. The design of the OFR was carried out based on the principle of maintaining geometric and dynamic similarity of various dimensionless groups. This was followed by the application of other empirical design correlations specific to the oscillatory flow system. Using the designed OFR, the transesterification of JCO was accomplished in the presence of KOH and NaOH catalysts at the optimal conditions of 60 °C, molar ratio at 6:1, reaction time of 15 min and oscillation frequency of 6 Hz. The maximum conversion obtained was 99.7% and 90% for KOH and NaOH catalysts, respectively. The OFR performed better than the batch reactor due to its advantages in achieving a perfect superimposed mixing of fluids by forcing the upstream into the baffles area, thus a shorter time was required to complete the reaction. One of the major problems associated with the use of biodiesel, especially prepared from palm oil, is its poor low temperature flow property. Jatropha curcas L. biodiesel, however, has a good low temperature property, comparable to conventional biodiesel feedstock such as rapeseed oil. This is due to the fatty acid composition of JCO which is rich in oleic and linoleic acids. From the results of analysis done on the Jatropha curcas L. biodiesel, the pour point and the cloud point of the biodiesel were -10 °C and -6 °C, respectively. This indicates that the oil is suitable for winter grade biodiesel. Other quality tests also showed that the Jatropha curcas L. biodiesel meets the majority of the quality standards of both EN 14214 and ASTM D6751. In addition, the kinetics study on transesterification of JCO with methanol had established that the kinetics were governed by two stepwise and irreversible elementary reactions and conformed to follow the first order reaction model. The rate constants for the formation of intermediate diglycerides and the final product Jatropha curcas L. methyl esters (biodiesel) were determined at various temperatures. The values of kTG ranged from 0.12 to 0.17 and the values of kDG ranged from 0.13 and 0.20. The activation energies for stepwise reaction in transesterification of JCO with methanol ranged from 6.55 to 11.18 kcal/mol. Simulation of three stepwise reversible reactions in the transesterification process was also carried out using MATLAB®. The results from the simulation indicated that the reaction rate constants were affected significantly by reaction temperature. At higher temperature, the rate constant for forward reactions (kf) increased markedly with temperature while for the reverse reactions, the rate constant (kr) was less affected by the temperature. This is evidenced by the smaller kr values compared to kf values. Based on the statistical analysis, the results showed good correlations with the experimental data based on SSE, RMSE and Chi-square (χ2) values. The proposed model for kinetics of reversible transesterification process fitted well with the experimental data.


With the increasing integration in consumer electronic products, complex mixed signals circuits have been developed for RF systems on chip. Digital blocks generate parasitic signals, which may affect sensitive sections, especially through substrate. This paper presents a measurement structure designed to characterize the signals injected into the substrate. Measurements of digital blocks designed with various layout options will allow to find a better layout methodology to improve isolation between design blocks in a 65nm CMOS technology.


The proliferation and enhanced stringency of food-safety standards represent potential barriers to producers in developing countries seeking to expand their trade in high value crops. Yet, they may also represent a catalyst for the upgrading and modernisation of production systems, which can help reduce hidden environmental and health costs. The specific objectives of this paper are to: (1) estimate the effect of EU private standards on pesticide related incidence of acute poisoning symptoms and its associated cost-of-illness and (2) explore impact of private standards on improved crop management practices as proxy for environmental benefits. To attain the objectives, a theoretical non-separable farm household model is used as a starting point. Based on the optimal health demand functions derived from the model's first-order condition, an empirical model is formulated and estimated. Farm level data were collected between August 2005 and September 2006 via a cross-sectional survey of 449 households of Kenyan export vegetable producers. Results show that adoption of production standards like GlobalGAP significantly reduces pesticide ascribed incidence of acute poisoning symptoms and its associated costof-illness. Ceteris paribus, farmer's who adopt standards experience 78 % lesser incidence of acute illness and spent about 50 % less on restoring their health compared to non-adopter farmers. Although the health costs examined in this study are limited to treatments related to a few acute health impairments (which could be just a small part of the total health cost), they still account for about 86.4 % of the mean household pesticide expenditure per cropping season for non-adopters and 39.6 % for adopters. Likewise adoption of standards has a significant positive impact on environmental outcomes corroborating the view that standards induce changes in farm production systems in developing countries. Improved pesticide management practices entail less pesticide intoxication by farmers and farm workers, improved environment and efficiency gain. Generally this study strongly indicates that adoption of private standards can play a positive role, providing the catalyst and incentives for the adoption of safer and more sustainable production practice.


This paper analyzes the TCP performance in an 802.11 based multi-hop ad hoc network. The analysis is unique because it tries to quantify the throughput of a TCP flow after considering the interaction between TCP's congestion window size and 802.11's MAC (medium access control) contention window size. The analysis results in formulae to compute the throughput of a single TCP flow for an n-hop string topology under the ideal situation where there is no packet loss in the network. The analytical results have been validated by benchmarking against simulation results from ns-2. The outcome of the analysis is useful when ad hoc networks are adopted as an extension to the Internet because TCP is the prevalent transport protocol for reliable data transmissions in the Internet.