This article presents a vision of effective and pedagogically meaningful history teaching and learning in schools. Bringing to the fore the lack of attention to the philosophy of history, the article first explains the philosophical and epistemological underpinnings of history or the perspectives on the nature of historical knowledge on which the vision is based. It then elucidates what goals history education should strive for, what history should be taught, how history curriculum should be developed, what is expected of teachers in implementing history curriculum, and what qualifications history teachers should possess to effectively practice their profession. It advocates constructivist pedagogy and the disciplinary approach to school history, calling for collaboration between education faculty and historians in the preparation of history teachers.


Owing in part to the increasing global realisation that sustainable and environmentally responsible power generation is one of the most critical issues facing modern civilization, research into power generation alternatives is also on the increase. Due to its inherently low conversion efficiency, the use of low-grade heat energy for electric power generation has been largely overlooked as a serious option. new research programme has been created at the University of Canterbury which aims to show that lowgrade heat (especially from geothermal sources) can be economically used for electric power generation. The premise of the research is based on the relative advantages offered through the implementation of appropriate low temperature differential Stirling enginegenerator designs. The initial practical phase of the research is the design, construction and testing of small-scale prototypes that will operate with a temperature differential of as low as 30 K and output approximately 1 kW of electric power. Key considerations of the prototype designs are their scalability to larger power systems, and potential for commercial application. These considerations have led to the important inclusion of primarily common low-cost plastic and metal materials, and low engineering precision and technology mechanics.


Fruits and vegetables are the most important sources of phytochemicals. Phytochemicals use for both human diets and natural antimicrobial agents in food preservation. Their benefits for health are mainly due to high antioxidant activity. Antimicrobials of plant origin are known as secondary metabolites that could play a role not only individually or jointly against food‐borne pathogens but also contribute to food flavor. Phytochemicals have a strong effect on control and prevention of natural spoilage processes and growth of microorganisms, including pathogens causing food safety issues. Microorganisms are always associated with harvested plants and slaughtered animals, the basic unprocessed materials of the food industry. Since foods consumed by humans undergo several pro‐ cessing treatments, it is important to understand the effect of such treatments on the phytochemical composition of foods.


The interest on the application of the shot peening process to arrest and/or delay crack growth is rising. The main effect of the shot peening technique is to introduce a residual stress field that increases the working life of mechanical components. In this paper, it is presented the numerical simulation (FEM) of the shot peening process and the effect of introducing a residual stress field. Besides, the consequence of changing the sizes of the impacting ball is analyzed. This work also used the Crack Compliance Method (CCM) for the determination of residual stresses in beams subjected to a numerical simulation of a shot peening process. The numerical results obtained provide a quantitative demonstration of the effect of shot peening on the introduction of residual stresses by using different sizes of impacting balls and assess the efficiency of the CCM.


Nowadays, almost every person uses mobile devices to communicate with other people on a daily basis. Those mobile devices keep renewing rapidly following the latest developments in communication technologies supporting higher bandwidth and the newest services. The development of these technologies make new types of personalized context-aware services possible. A typical goal of a personalized context-aware service could be to optimize the use of capable device in the close proximity of the user in ongoing communication sessions. This would typically be useful when a user who is engaged in an audio/video conference enters a meeting room. Whilst Upon entering, all media session components until then running on the PDA are transferred from the PDA to the projector, hi-set and webcam all present in the meeting room. When the user leaves the room all media components are transferred back to the PDA. Moving parts of a multimedia session between different devices is here defined as partial session mobility. For SIP numerous methods exist to enable partial session mobility both refer- and invite-based. None of those methods does support the ability to initiate partial session mobility from within the network, and especially not in combination with partial session mobility initiated by the user. Because of a number of advantages in the invite-based method, this method is taken as basis for the developement a method that supports both network initiated partial session mobility and user initiated partial session mobility.


2µm lasers have numerous applications in areas such as Lidar and medicine often requiring output powers in the region of >10W. There are several problems to consider when attempting to power scale diode pumped Tm:YAG lasers to these high power levels at room temperature. The laser resonator design must cope with the strongly-aberrated, thermally induced lens which results from intense end-pumping, maintaining good beam quality. High power lasers also suffer strong thermally-induced birefringence in laser media such as YAG. This causes large depolarisation losses for polarised lasers and can cause significant reductions in output power and efficiency. The low stimulated emission cross-section and quasi-three-level nature of Tm:YAG renders the performance particularly sensitive to these thermally-induced losses


The study of the short-term effects and health impact of air pollution is carrier out by the ERPURS regional surveillance program which utilizes hospitalization data obtained from the French hospital information system (PMSI) to determine these links. This system does not permit the distinction between emergency hospital admissions from scheduled ones, which cannot be related to short term changes in air pollution levels. This study examines how scheduled admissions affect the quality of the health indicators used to estimate air pollution effects. This indicator is compared to three new emergency hospitalisation indicators reconstructed based on data from the public hospitals in Paris, partly from the PMSI data and partly with data from an on-line emergency network that regroups all of the computerized emergency services. According to the pathology, scheduled admissions present a difficulty which affects the capacity to highlight the weakest risks with any precision.


Auger analysis was performed using a high resolution scanning auger electron microscope and auger electron spectroscopy. Elemental auger contour maps for corroded sulphide inclusions in stainless steel were presented. It was found that the copper enriched-manganese sulphide inclusions were uniformly corroded, which might be due to CU2S deposition on the surface of corroding inclusions. In contrast, manganese sulphide inclusions containing less copper were non-uniformly attacked, resulting in the formation of deep microcrevices at their edges.


In July 2006, the Reserve Bank commenced implementation of changes to its liquidity management regime. Under the existing regime, there had been increasing evidence of insufficient liquidity in the banking system at various times and some inefficiencies in the way in which it was provided. Under the new regime, there has been a significant increase in the level of cash left in the payment system overnight. This article details the motivation for the changes and the key features of the new regime and provides some initial observations of their impact. The article notes that the implementation of the new regime, which occurred over a four-month period, has been largely uneventful and that there have been few signs of stress since the Reserve Bank liquefied the system.


atients with ischemic stroke (IS) or transient ischemic attack (TIA) are at high risk of recurrent stroke, and a considerable proportion of these recurrent events occur during the first few days after the index stroke or TIA. Antiplatelet therapy reduces the risk of vascular events in high-risk patients by ≈22% on average, as shown by a meta-analysis of 195 trials with different treatment durations. 5 Therefore, current guidelines recommend antiplatelet therapy, including aspirin, clopidogrel, or aspirin plus dipyridamole, for prevention of stroke recurrence and other vascular events in these patients. 6–8 For example, the 2008 National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) guideline recommends the use of aspirin alone for the treatment of acute IS and TIA. 8 Aspirin plus dipyridamole is the only dual antiplatelet therapy recommended by current guidelines. In the coronary circulation, the use of dual or triple anti-platelet agents is the standard practice for acute coronary syndrome (ACS). 9 However, dual antiplatelet therapies, expect for the combination of aspirin and dipyridamole, Background—Emerging studies suggest that early administration of dual antiplatelet therapy may be better than monotherapy for prevention of early recurrent stroke and cardiovascular outcomes in acute ischemic stroke and transient ischemic attack (TIA). We performed a meta-analysis of randomized, controlled trials evaluating dual versus mono antiplatelet therapy for acute noncardioembolic ischemic stroke or TIA. Methods and Results—We assessed randomized, controlled trials investigating dual versus mono antiplatelet therapy published up to November 2012 and the CHANCE trial (Clopidogrel in High-risk patients with Acute Non-disabling Cerebrovascular Events), for efficacy and safety outcomes in adult patients with acute noncardioembolic ischemic stroke or TIA with treatment initiated within 3 days of ictus. In total, 14 studies of 9012 patients were included in the systematic review and meta-analysis. Dual antiplatelet therapy significantly reduced risk of stroke recurrence (risk ratio, 0.69; 95% confidence interval, 0.60–0.80; P<0.001) and the composite outcome of stroke, TIA, acute coronary syndrome, and all death (risk ratio, 0.71; 95% confidence interval, 0.63–0.81; P<0.001) when compared with monotherapy, and nonsignificantly increased risk of major bleeding (risk ratio, 1.35; 95% confidence interval, 0.70–2.59, P=0.37). Analyses restricted to the CHANCE Trial or the 7 double-blind randomized, controlled trials showed similar results. Conclusions—For patients with acute noncardioembolic ischemic stroke or TIA, dual therapy was more effective than monotherapy in reducing risks of early recurrent stroke. The results of the CHANCE study are consistent with previous studies done in other parts …


Cell cycle regulators cdc27 and securin participate in control of the mitotic checkpoint and survey the mitotic spindle to maintain chromosomal integrity. This is achieved by their functions in metaphase–anaphase transition, DNA damage repair, enhancement of mitotic arrest and apoptosis. We report on the roles of cdc27 and securin in aneuploidy and prognosis of breast cancer. The study comprises 429 breast cancer patients with up to 22 years of follow‐up. DNA content was determined by image cytometry, and immunopositivity for cdc27 and securin was based on tissue microarrays. An inverse association between cdc27 and securin expression was observed in both image cytometric and immunohistochemical analyses. Low cdc27 and high securin expression identified patients with significant difference in disease outcome. Cdc27 and securin immunoexpression identified patients at risk of early cancer death within five years from diagnosis. In multivariate analysis, the combination of cdc27 and securin immunohistochemistry was the strongest predictor of cancer death after lymph node status. We demonstrate, for the first time in human breast cancer, the prognostic value of cdc27 and securin immunohistochemistry. Cdc27 and securin appear promising biomarkers for applications in predicting disease progression, prognostication of individual patients and potential in anti‐mitotic drug development.


The kinetics of ligand substitution reaction of binuclear nickel (II) chelate, Ni2L,Where L is EGTA ((ethylenedioxy) diethylenedinitrilo tetraacetic acid) with cyanide ion has been investigated spectrophotometrically. The reaction conditions are pH=11.0+ 0.1,I=0.1M (NaClO4) and temp.=25+0.10c.The formation of Ni(CN)42is first order in Ni2L and first order in cyanide in a large range of cyanide concentration. However ,at low cyanide concentration i.e.,below 10-3 M,the reaction becomes zero order in cyanide. These results indicate the presence of a slow dissociation step in which Ni2L dissociates to give NiL2-n and Ni2+(aquo) at low cyanide concentration and a cyanide assisted rapid dissociation of Ni2L to produce NiL(CN) 22-n-x and Ni2+(aquo)at higher cyanide concentration. These species react with excess cyanide finally producing Ni(CN)42-.A five step mechanism has been proposed and the rate determining step has been identified. In this present paper, we studied the effect of pH on the reaction of cyanide ion with Ni2EGTA.


SUMMARY Intact acetylcholine receptors have been purified on a novel affinity resin from three electric fish endemic to Australian waters. Their binding properties and morphology are compared with those of their northern hemisphere homolog, Torpedo marmorata. All four exhibit apparent dissociation constants, Kd, in the nanomolar range for the snake neurotoxin α-bungarotoxin and have a distinctive rosette-like appearance when viewed in negative stain under the electron microscope. Furthermore, these rosettes are paired, indicating that acetylcholine receptors from southern ocean electric fish exist as dimers, in the same fashion as their northern hemisphere counterparts. The cDNAs of the receptor's four subunits were sequenced from Hypnos monopterigium and the northern hemisphere counterpart, Torpedo marmorata, while cDNAs from only two subunits,α and δ, were able to be sequenced from Narcine tasmaniensis. The penultimate amino acid in the δ subunit of each of the newly sequenced fish species is a cysteine residue. Its conservation suggests that the mechanism for the observed dimerization of acetylcholine receptors is disulfide bond formation between the δ subunit of adjacent receptors, analogous to acetylcholine receptor dimers observed in other electric fish. It appears that this mechanism for receptor clustering is unique to acetylcholine receptors packed and organized in the specialized organs of electric fish. Alignment of the deduced protein sequences with the equivalent sequences from Torpedo californica and humans reveals a high degree of homology.


While the conditions of production give some guidance to what factor groupings are desirable ceteris paribus, they do not determine the boundaries of a neoclassical firm (a legal entity with a residual claimant). Indeed, they could just as well be related to other groupings, such as geographical clusters like SiliconValley. Our second paper, "The Exchange Commons" by Jonathan Liebenau (London School of Economics) describes organizational systems such as property rights, residual claims, contracting, and governance that determine vertical integration. He treats these institutions as common pool resources. For example, when agents make a complex exchange, there is some organizational capital bundled in the exchange. That organizational capital is to a large degree nonrivalrous and nonexcludable, but as transactions become more numerous or more complex, the organizational capital can become "congested" in the sense that overall quality diminishes. This is just like overgrazing of an agricultural commons. The way to fix this problem is to alter the excludability of the organizational capital by vertical integration.


Similar to what happens between humans in the real world, in open multi-agent systems distributed over the Internet, such as online social networks or wiki technologies, agents often form coalitions by agreeing to act as a whole in order to achieve certain common goals. However, agent coalitions are not always a desirable feature of a system, as malicious or corrupt agents may collaborate in order to subvert or attack the system. In this paper, we consider the problem of hidden coalitions, whose existence and the purposes they aim to achieve are not known to the system, and which carry out so-called underhand attacks. We give a first approach to hidden coalitions by introducing a deterministic method that blocks the actions of potentially dangerous agents, i.e. possibly belonging to such coalitions. We also give a non-deterministic version of this method that blocks the smallest set of potentially dangerous agents. We calculate the computational cost of our two blocking methods, and prove their soundness and completeness.


In this book, Akos Bertalan Apatoczky offers a complete reconstruction of the Chinese-Mongol vocabulary of the 17th century Chinese military work called Lulongsai lue (盧龍塞略), a bilingual Sino-Mongol glossary without critical reconstruction until now.


Ellipses are a meta-linguistic notation for denoting terms the size of which are specified by a meta-variable that ranges over the natural numbers. In this work, we present a systematic approach for encoding such meta-expressions in the \^I-calculus, without ellipses: Terms that are parameterized by meta-variables are replaced with corresponding \^I-abstractions over actual variables. We call such \^I-terms arity-generic. Concrete terms, for particular choices of the parameterizing variable are obtained by applying an arity-generic \^I-term to the corresponding numeral, obviating the need to use ellipses. For example, to find the multiple fixed points of n equations, n different \^I-terms are needed, every one of which is indexed by two meta-variables, and defined using three levels of ellipses. A single arity-generic \^I-abstraction that takes two Church numerals, one for the number of fixed-point equations, and one for their arity, replaces all these multiple fixed-point combinators. We show how to define arity-generic generalizations of two historical fixed-point combinators, the first by Curry, and the second by Turing, for defining multiple fixed points. These historical fixed-point combinators are related by a construction due to B\~Ahm: We show that likewise, their arity-generic generalizations are related by an arity-generic generalization of B\~Ahm's construction. We further demonstrate this approach to arity-generic \^I-definability with additional \^I-terms that create, project, extend, reverse, and map over ordered n-tuples, as well as an arity-generic generator for one-point bases.


Reactive arthritis ReA is still an incompletely understood rheumatic disorder whose immunopathogeny involves several mechanisms. There is an association with Class-I histocompatibility antigens HLA-B27 and history of previous gastrointestinal or genitourinary infections. The molecular mimicry between bacterial and self antigens suggests the possibility of cross reactivity as a disease mechanism. The infection pandemics by the human immunodeficiency virus HIV changed the profile of the occurrence of a number of rheumatic diseases including ReA which appears to be more frequent more severe and refractory to the usual treatment for retrovirus-infected patients. The intensity of articular and extra-articular manifestations of ReA often makes the use of immunosuppressant drugs in these patients necessary. Due to the immunosuppression resulting from the retrovirosis itself the treatment becomes a dilemma for rheumatologists. HIV seems to play a role in the main ReA immunopathogenesis mechanisms either acting as direct arthritogenic agent or causing an immune dysfunction in the CD4 T lymphocytes T CD8 relationship leading to the deregulation in the production of cytokines or in advanced immunosuppression stages predisposing to infection by other arthritogenic pathogens. The use of highly active anti-retroviral therapy HAART has changed the profile of rheumatic events and the immunopathogeny of the HIV ReA association. The understanding of the basic ReA immunopathogenic mechanisms in HIV-infected patients is vital in the attempt of elucidating many still existing questions.


This study explored the effects of the use of laboratory activities on students' attitudes and retention in a community college preparatory mathematics course. It also examined whether the use of numerical, analytical, and graphical methods of solution in preparatory classes would affect student retention in the succeeding algebra course. The study took place on two campuses of a metropolitan community college. Faculty on each campus taught a four-hour college preparatory mathematics course with a required one-hour laboratory component. At one campus, commercially produced puzzles, group activities, experiments, and data collection activities were used in the laboratory hour; at the other campus, a faculty-produced packet of activities that included skill worksheets and some group activities were used. At the end of the semester, students' attitudes about mathematics and their mathematical abilities were measured. Performance on a 20-question test measured to what extent the material was retained by the students. Findings included: the addition of the one-hour lab to the math class increased course retention rates; no differences were found in retention rates or student attitudes toward mathematics between the students that used the different types of laboratory materials; and the use of laboratory activities in the preparatory mathematics course improved retention rates in the subsequent algebra course. Five appendices are attached. (CAK) ******************************************************************************** Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made from the original document. ******************************************************************************** A STUDY OF STUDENT RETENTION AND ATTITUDES IN A COMMUNITY COLLEGE PREPARATORY MATHEMATICS COURSE


CLEOPATRA (Cloud Experiment Oberpfaffenhofen and Transports) is described. This field program was performed in southern Germany 50 km north of the Alpine foothills, an area of known enhanced thunderstorm activity. The general goal is to quantify elements of the hydrological cycle on a regional scale in dependence upon precipitation events and the vegetation state. Embedded goals are to describe the mechanisms that force organizations of deep convective systems, to compare theories and observations of atmospheric depositions, and to test and compare observational methods from ground, aircraft, and space. The observational setup, including 10 research aircraft, four radar systems, and different ground-based networks, was operational from 11 May until 31 July 1992 to cover an essential period of the growing season.


Uganda is phasing out its public extension system and replacing it with a 'private service provider advisory' system. However, there is no evidence that the new extension system will be more effective than the one currently being phased out. This paper reports on a case study conducted in Mukono District to assess the new system's effectiveness in engendering grassroots participation and control of the extension agenda. Data on the process of identifying farmers' needs was collected through observation of the enterprise priority-setting and selection meetings. In addition, 120 farmers were surveyed for their perceptions of the new system. The paper discusses how the farmers' needs were identified and prioritised for delivery of extension services under the new system, and what farmers felt about it. The paper also highlights problems experienced in translating the system's lofty objectives into reality, and draws lessons for the new system as it covers more districts.


Background: Perinatal asphyxia/ischemia is an interruption in the availability of oxygen supply to the myocardium. We sought to assess myocardial function among asphyxiated and non-asphyxiated neonates using echocardiography. Methods: The present case-control study was undertaken at the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) of a tertiary care hospital. Neonates with asphyxia who were admitted to the NICU were included in the study. The diagnosis of asphyxia was established on the basis of the APGAR score at 1 and 5 minutes. Myocardial function was assessed in terms of serum cardiac troponin I (CTnI) and different echocardiographic parameters such as MMode, Doppler flow parameters, and tissue Doppler imaging. Results: Thirty asphyxiated (the case group) and 30 non-asphyxiated (the control group) term neonates were enrolled in the study. The asphyxia group had significantly lower (P < 0.001) 1and 5-minute APGAR scores than the controls. The asphyxia group had a higher serum CTnI value. The differences between the 2 groups concerning M-Mode parameters in the first 12 hours of life were statistically significant (P < 0.001). The case and control groups were also statistically significantly different regarding left atrial pressure at 48 hours following birth, calculated as a ratio of E/e' (P < 0.001). The differences between the 2 study groups at 24 hours after birth as regards tissue Doppler parameters, including left ventricular ejection time and left ventricular Tei index, were also statistically significant (P < 0.001). The case and control groups also showed statistically meaningful differences concerning right ventricular ejection period/ ejection time at 24 hours after birth (P < 0.002). Conclusions: It can be concluded that the myocardial function assessment using CTnI and different echocardiographic techniques is the most sensitive and specific method in the detection of ischemic cardiac injury in asphyxiated newborns. (Iranian Heart Journal 2021; 22(1): 91-99)


Media plays a crucial role in reshaping societal attitudes and behaviors towards individuals with mental illness. It contributes to improved rights of people living with mental health conditions and access to care services. However, in Ethiopia, mental health advocacy faces obstacles such as deep-rooted misconceptions, fear, and discrimination about mental illness, as well limited engagement of stakeholders and language barriers. Both mainstream and social media play a large role in disseminating mental health topics in Ethiopia. However, they need organized initiatives and efforts in order to be successful in promoting mental health awareness to the public. Implementing a comprehensive strategy comprising public awareness campaigns, policy advocacy, community engagement, stakeholder collaboration, responsible reporting, and increased coverage of mental health topics is crucial. The World Health Organization also emphasizes the role of health ministries in supporting mental health advocacy efforts. By promoting education, challenging stigmas, and improving access to mental health services, media advocacy can contribute to creating a more informed and supportive society for individuals with mental illness in Ethiopia.


Background: Ophthalmia neonatorum (ON) also known as neonatal conjunctivitis is inflammation of the conjunctiva caused by aseptic or septic factors. It commonly affects newborns usually within the first month of life. This study aimed to determine the prevalence and socio-demographic characteristics of ON in Calabar, Nigeria.
Methods: We retrieved all the clinical case notes with diagnosis of ON from the Neonatal Unit of University of Calabar Teaching Hospital (UCTH), Calabar, Nigeria, during 1st January 2012-31st December, 2014. The extracted information included age at presentation, gender, socio-demographic characteristics, conducted investigations, treatment, and outcome. Data was analyzed using SPSS, version 20.
Results: Out of a total of 3198 admissions, 34 (1.1%) had ON, most of whom were females (58.8%), and 21(61.8%) of the cases were admitted to the out-born neonatal unit. Eye swabs were taken from only 18 (52.9%) cases for microscopy, culture, and sensitivity prior to antibiotics initiation, from which no organism was isolated. Parents of the studied neonates were mainly from low and middle socioeconomic classes.
Conclusion: Determination of organisms responsible for ON is of paramount importance. Therefore, hospital delivery and maternal education on this condition should be considered as priorities. In addition, clinicians are suggested to take regular eye swabs for microbiological investigations prior to initiation of treatment.


Ross, J. K., Diwell, A. E., Marsh, J., Monro, J. L., and Barker, D. J. P. (1978).Thorax,33, 3-9. Wessex cardiac surgery follow-up survey: the quality of life after operation. Two hundred consecutive adult patients in all diagnostic categories who had undergone open-heart surgery at the Wessex Regional Cardio-Thoracic Centre were assessed for the subsequent 20 months. They were interviewed, using a standard questionnaire, at the time of referral for surgery and at 2, 8, and 20 months after operation. The questionnaire elicited information on physical activity, employment, dependence on others, leisure activities, mood, and sexual relationships. Patients under 21 were excluded, but there was no upper age limit. Sixty-six per cent were over the age of 50, and many who were close to or over retirement age were included. The results show that 20 months after operation 68% of the survivors denied limitation of normal activity compared with a preoperative figure of 12%, and that there had been a corresponding pattern in return to useful employment. Seventy-four per cent of men of employable age were back at work or capable of gainful employment, and 76% of these had returned to their usual jobs. No correlation was found between the time taken to resume work and the patient's age or diagnosis. There was an equally satisfactory trend in female employment in both full- and part-time jobs, amounting to a 16% increase on the preoperative figure. Decreased dependence upon others was readily identified as a significant gain for 73% of patients at the eight-month follow-up. Throughout the subsequent year the favourable trends in employment statistics, use of leisure time, mood, and sexual relationships point to an overall improvement in the quality of life for the majority of patients.


Neutrinos are considered to be one of the most important ingredients of collapse-driven supernovae. In the last couple of years, we have seen major progress in both numerical modelling and microphysical understanding of supernova neutrinos. The successful explosion, however, is still elusive. In the former half of this article, we give a brief overview on the current status of the theoretical understanding of the supernova mechanism. In the latter half, we present some new results on multi-dimensional aspects such as rapid rotations, strong magnetic fields and resultant anisotropic neutrino heating, to which our group is currently paying particular attention as an important element for successful explosions. We employ both statical and dynamical approaches. The gravitational waves obtained in the dynamical computations are summarized in an appendix.


A conventional constant modulus (CM) algorithm can be applied in blind equalization to recover the data symbols of 4-QAM signals. The equalized constellation is likely to be tilted and can be aligned in real-imaginary plane with a simple rotation. This approach works also with higher order QAM signals though the modulus of the symbol sequence is no longer constant. To reduce the residual equalization imperfection, Satorius and Mulligan introduced a specialized cost function for M-QAM signals and provided an iterative gradient algorithm: rectangular constellation-based blind equalization (RECBEQ). In this paper we combine the RECBEQ-type of coefficient update with modified CM recursive least-squares (RLS) algorithm. The blind equalizer is further improved with "gear-shift" priming and differential QAM encoding to resolve the phase ambiguity.


Many methods are present in literature for pan sharpening of satellite images: they permit to transfer geometric resolution of panchromatic data to multispectral ones, but the results of their application are different. To evaluate the quality of these products, visual analysis is carried out, above all on the RGB composition to detect colour distortion. To quantize the level of similarity of the pan sharpened images with them that should be achieved with effective more effective sensors, several indices are available such as: RMSE, correlation coefficients, UIQI, RASE. The principal limit of these indices consists in the terms of comparison because they compare the pan sharpened images with the original ones that are with lower resolution. To supply the unavailability of the effective dataset with the same pixel dimensions of the pan sharpened files, synthetic sensors can be introduced with lower resolution than the original ones. The correspondent degraded images can be submitted to pan sharpening process and the results can be considered performed if similar to the original multispectral dataset. In this study IKONOS synthetic sensors are introduced to compare different methods: transforming the digital numbers into the radiance of the earth surface, original images of Campania Region are degraded and then submitted to some pan sharpening approaches. The following methods are considered: multiplicative, simple mean, IHS, Fast IHS, Brovey, Weighted Brovey, Gram Schmidt, Zhang. Each resulting dataset is compared with the original multispectral one to evaluate the performance of each method.


Estimating value functions is a core component of reinforcement learning algorithms. Temporal difference (TD) learning algorithms use bootstrapping, i.e. they update the value function toward a learning target using value estimates at subsequent time-steps. Alternatively, the value function can be updated toward a learning target constructed by separately predicting successor features (SF)—a policy-dependent model—and linearly combining them with instantaneous rewards.

We focus on bootstrapping targets used when estimating value functions, and propose a new backup target, the ?-return mixture, which implicitly combines value-predictive knowledge (used by TD methods) with (successor) feature-predictive knowledge—with a parameter ? capturing how much to rely on each. We illustrate that incorporating predictive knowledge through an ??-discounted SF model makes more efficient use of sampled experience, compared to either extreme, i.e. bootstrapping entirely on the value function estimate, or bootstrapping on the product of separately estimated successor features and instantaneous reward models. We empirically show this approach leads to faster policy evaluation and better control performance, for tabular and nonlinear function approximations, indicating scalability and generality.


Sebuku Island is located in Kotabaru Regency, South Kalimantan and is known as one of the main sources of laterite iron in Indonesia. Based on its tectonic setting, Sebuku Island is located within the suture zone that connects Southwest Borneo Block (SWB) and East Java West Sulawesi Block (EJWB). Due to its tectonic setting, Sebuku Island is composed of various rocks associated with suture zone, such as ophiolite rocks. The ophiolite rocks could host mineralization that occurred in Sebuku Island. The aim of this study is to determine the characteristics of lithology and mineralization as determinants of geological processes that influence the formation of rocks and mineral deposits in Sebuku Island. This study was carried out through petrological, petrographic, ore microscopy analysis, and geochemical analysis (x-ray fluorescence). 22 rock samples from Sebuku Island were collected and the result of this research shows that the chromite host rocks are composed of serpentinized dunite and serpentinite. Chromite minerals (FeCr2O4) were found in massive forms with cataclastic, brecciated texture and disseminated with pull-apart texture. Based on observation of the polished sections, it is known that the associated mineral of chromite is magnetite which is an alteration of chromite minerals. Chromitite chemical data shows the chromite composition is Al-rich (Cr# = 0.6) and classified as podiform chromitite formed by fractional crystallization. There are two magma series of igneous rock in the study area i.e. tholeiitic series consists of ultramafic-mafic rocks and calc-alkaline consists of micro-diorite. The abundance of Al2O3 and TiO2 in chromitite shows that Al-rich chromitite has formed in Supra Subduction Zone (SSZ) and has occurred near or above the Moho-transition zone.


Automatically generating questions from text for educational purposes is an active research area in natural language processing. The automatic question generation system accompanying this dissertation is MARGE, which is a recursive acronym for: MARGE automatically reads generates and evaluates. MARGE generates questions from both individual sentences and the passage as a whole, and is the first question generation system to successfully generate meaningful questions from textual units larger than a sentence. Prior work in automatic question generation from text treats a sentence as a string of constituents to be rearranged into as many questions as allowed by English grammar rules. Consequently, such systems overgenerate and create mainly trivial questions. Further, none of these systems to date has been able to automatically determine which questions are meaningful and which are trivial. This is because the research focus has been placed on NLG at the expense of NLU. In contrast, the work presented here infuses the questions generation process with natural language understanding. From the input text, MARGE creates a meaning analysis representation for each sentence in a passage via the DeconStructure algorithm presented in this work. Questions are generated from sentence meaning analysis representations using templates. The generated questions are automatically evaluated for question quality and importance via a ranking algorithm.


Several approaches for blind estimation of reverberation time have been presented in the literature and decay rate estimation is an integral part of many, if not all, of such approaches. This paper provides both an analytical and experimental comparison, in terms of the bias and variance of three common decay rate estimators; a straight-forward linear regression approach as well as two maximum-likelihood based methods. Situations with and without interfering additive noise are considered. It is shown that the linear regression based approach is unbiased if no smoothing is applied, and that the estimation variance in the absence of noise is constantly about twice that of the maximum-likelihood based methods. It is shown that the methods that do not take possible noise into account suffer from similar estimation bias in the presence of noise. Further, a hybrid method, combining the noise robustness and low computational complexity advantages of the two different maximum-likelihood based methods, is presented.


Neural abstractive summarization has been studied in many pieces of literature and achieves great success with the aid of large corpora. However, when encountering novel tasks, one may not always benefit from transfer learning due to the domain shifting problem, and overfitting could happen without adequate labeled examples. Furthermore, the annotations of abstractive summarization are costly, which often demand domain knowledge to ensure the ground-truth quality. Thus, there are growing appeals for Low-Resource Abstractive Summarization, which aims to leverage past experience to improve the performance with limited labeled examples of target corpus. In this paper, we propose to utilize two knowledge-rich sources to tackle this problem, which are large pre-trained models and diverse existing corpora. The former can provide the primary ability to tackle summarization tasks; the latter can help discover common syntactic or semantic information to improve the generalization ability. We conduct extensive experiments on various summarization corpora with different writing styles and forms. The results demonstrate that our approach achieves the state-of-the-art on 6 corpora in low-resource scenarios, with only 0.7% of trainable parameters compared to previous work.


This study investigates the occurrence of erythematous lip lesions in a captive sun bear population in Cambodia, including the progression of cheilitis to squamous cell carcinoma, and the presence of Ursid gammaherpesvirus 1. Visual assessment conducted in 2015 and 2016 recorded the prevalence and severity of lesions. Opportunistic sampling for disease testing was conducted on a subset of 39 sun bears, with histopathological examination of lip and tongue biopsies and PCR testing of oral swabs and tissue biopsies collected during health examinations. Lip lesions were similarly prevalent in 2015 (66.0%) and 2016 (68.3%). Degradation of lip lesion severity was seen between 2015 and 2016, and the odds of having lip lesions, having more severe lip lesions, and having lip lesion degradation over time, all increased with age. Cheilitis was found in all lip lesion biopsies, with histological confirmation of squamous cell carcinoma in 64.5% of cases. Single biopsies frequently showed progression from dysplasia to neoplasia. Eighteen of 31 sun bears (58.1%) had at least one sample positive for Ursid gammaherpesvirus 1. The virus was detected in sun bears with and without lip lesions, however due to case selection being strongly biased towards those showing lip lesions it was not possible to test for association between Ursid gammaherpesvirus 1 and lip squamous cell carcinoma. Given gammaherpesviruses can play a role in cancer development under certain conditions in other species, we believe further investigation into Ursid gammaherpesvirus 1 as one of a number of possible co-factors in the progression of lip lesions to squamous cell carcinoma is warranted. This study highlights the progressively neoplastic nature of this lip lesion syndrome in sun bears which has consequences for captive and re-release management. Similarly, the detection of Ursid gammaherpesvirus 1 should be considered in pre-release risk analyses, at least until data is available on the prevalence of the virus in wild sun bears.


BACKGROUND
Autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease (ADPKD) is a ciliopathy characterized by abnormal tubular epithelial proliferation and fluid secretion. Anoctamin 1 (ANO1) is a calcium-dependent chloride channel. However, how ANO1 contributes to ADPKD is largely unexplored.

METHODS
Kidney tissues from ADPKD patients, Pkd1RC/RC mice model, WT9-7 human PKD1+/- cells, and 3D culture models in vitro were used. Localization of ANO1 and cilium length were investigated by confocal immunofluorescence.

RESULTS
We found that ANO1 was consistently upregulated in human and mouse PKD kidneys. Intriguingly, ANO1 located in a vesicle-like pattern at the ciliary base but not on the ciliary surface. ANO1 deficiency enhanced ciliogenesis and the ciliary dosage of polycystin-2 in human PKD cells, and reduced cyst formation in 3D culture models. Moreover, inhibition of ANO1 abolished the activation of STAT3 and ERK pathways in PKD cells.

CONCLUSIONS
Our data indicate ANO1 is a negative regulator for both cilia length and cilia trafficking of polycystin-2 and provide mechanistic insights regarding the therapeutic potential of ANO1 pathway in ADPKD treatment.


In this report we document the ETLAnow project. ETLAnow is a model for forecasting with big data. At the moment, it predicts the unemployment rate in the EU-28 countries using Google search data. This document is subject to updates as the ETLAnow project advances.


Abstract Democratization studies now highlight potentially derailing problems such as warlike nationalism and violent ethnic conflict. In Myanmar, where ethnic tension runs deep, the risks are especially great. Political reformers should work within the framework of the military junta9s planned 2010 general election, and pay close attention to nation building.


We develop a principled approach to end-to-end learning in stochastic optimization. First, we show that the standard end-to-end learning algorithm admits a Bayesian interpretation and trains a posterior Bayes action map. Building on the insights of this analysis, we then propose new end-to-end learning algorithms for training decision maps that output solutions of empirical risk minimization and distributionally robust optimization problems, two dominant modeling paradigms in optimization under uncertainty. Numerical results for a synthetic newsvendor problem illustrate the key differences between alternative training schemes. We also investigate an economic dispatch problem based on real data to showcase the impact of the neural network architecture of the decision maps on their test performance.


Recent advances in understanding skeletal and cardiac muscle function have evolved with recognition of the active role played by the intracellular sarcoplasmic reticulum (SR) Ca2+ store in contraction. The key proteins in this store are the Ca2+ binding protein calsequestrin (CSQ), the ryanodine receptor (RyR) Ca2+ release channel and triadin and junctin (Beard et al. 2004). The CSQ–triadin–junctin–RyR complex (Fig. 1) in the SR lumen forms a 'Ca2+ transduction machine' that is central to EC coupling and to normal muscle development. Other proteins in the lumen of the SR, including the histidine rich calcium binding protein (HRC) (Suk et al. 1999), JP-45 (Anderson et al. 2003) and SRP-27 (Bleunven et al. 2008), must also contribute to control of SR intraluminal Ca2+ load, but the precise nature of their role remains undetermined. JP-45 in particular is ideally placed to communicate store load to the excitation–contraction (EC) coupling process as it binds to both CSQ and the dihydropyridine receptor (DHPR) in the surface/transverse tubule membrane. The importance of the luminal proteins has been underlined by the recent discovery that changes in Ca2+ signalling due to mutations in CSQ or to lack of its expression can result in sudden cardiac death (Viatchenko-Karpinski et al. 2004). Furthermore, studies in animal models show that changes in CSQ, junctin, triadin and HRC expression can lead to defective Ca2+ signalling. The review by Pritchard & Kranius (2009) examines the roles of junctin and HRC in Ca2+ cycling and their potential significance in heart failure. This commentary focuses on protein-protein interactions between CSQ, triadin, junctin and RyR proteins that may underlie their roles in Ca2+ cycling.

Figure 1

Illustration of the possible interactions between triadin, junctin, CSQ1 and RyR1 in the lumen of the SR


General cognitive function is a prominent human trait associated with many important life outcomes1,2, including longevity3. The substantial heritability of general cognitive function is known to be polygenic, but it has had little explication in terms of the contributing genetic variants4,5,6. Here, we combined cognitive and genetic data from the CHARGE and COGENT consortia, and UK Biobank (total N=280,360). We found 9,714 genome-wide significant SNPs (P<5 × 10−8) in 99 independent loci. Most showed clear evidence of functional importance. Among many novel genes associated with general cognitive function were SGCZ, ATXN1, MAPT, AUTS2, and P2RY6. Within the novel genetic loci were variants associated with neurodegenerative disorders, neurodevelopmental disorders, physical and psychiatric illnesses, brain structure, and BMI. Gene-based analyses found 536 genes significantly associated with general cognitive function; many were highly expressed in the brain, and associated with neurogenesis and dendrite gene sets. Genetic association results predicted up to 4% of general cognitive function variance in independent samples. There was significant genetic overlap between general cognitive function and information processing speed, as well as many health variables including longevity.


Most humans use visual imagination to understand and reason about language, but models such as BERT reason about language using knowledge acquired during text-only pretraining. In this work, we investigate whether vision-and-language pretraining can improve performance on text-only tasks that involve implicit visual reasoning, focusing primarily on zero-shot probing methods. We propose a suite of visual language understanding (VLU) tasks for probing the visual reasoning abilities of text encoder models, as well as various non-visual natural language understanding (NLU) tasks for comparison. We also contribute a novel zero-shot knowledge probing method, Stroop probing, for applying models such as CLIP to text-only tasks without needing a prediction head such as the masked language modelling head of models like BERT. We show that SOTA multimodally trained text encoders outperform unimodally trained text encoders on the VLU tasks while being under-performed by them on the NLU tasks, lending new context to previously mixed results regarding the NLU capabilities of multimodal models. We conclude that exposure to images during pretraining affords inherent visual reasoning knowledge that is reflected in language-only tasks that require implicit visual reasoning. Our findings bear importance in the broader context of multimodal learning, providing principled guidelines for the choice of text encoders used in such contexts11Our code will be made available at https://isbertblind.github.io/.


On September 18, 1873, the announcement of Jay Cooke and Company's bankruptcy sent Wall Street to a panic, and the country to a long, harsh depression. Americans interpreted this economic crisis in the light of the acrimonious financial debates born of the Civil War—the money question chief among them. The consequences transformed American politics. Ideologically ill-equipped to devise cohesive economic policies, political parties split dangerously along sectional lines (between the Northeast and the Midwest). Particularly divided over President U.S. Grant's veto of the 1874 Inflation Bill, the Republican Party decisively lost the 1874 congressional elections. As a Democratic majority in the House spelled the doom of Reconstruction, the ongoing divisions of both parties on economic issues triggered a political realignment. The dramatic 1876 elections epitomized a new political landscape that would last for twenty years: high instability in power at the national level and what has been described as the "politics of inertia." Therefore, by closely following the ramifications of the 1873 panic, this article proposes an explanation of how an economic crisis transformed into a pivotal political event.


Cocoa (Theobroma cacao) is a food product used worldwide and a key raw material for chocolate manufacturing. Cocoa possesses bioactive compounds such as methylxanthines, flavonoids, procyanidins, and related molecules with medicinal or health-promoting properties. Cocoa shell and pod husk have been proposed as a by-product with several interesting bioactivities, and the gummy residue or glue (a sticky, gluey by-product known as "mucilage" in Spanish) is used to produce liquors and is eaten as a food in Perú. However, little is known about the chemical composition and bioactivity of flours made from Peruvian cocoa ecotype wastes such as those from the vein and pod husk of the fruits. This study aimed to characterize the in vitro antioxidant properties and nutritional values of flours made from the waste from a special ecotype of cocoa (CCN-51). The chemical fingerprinting was performed using UHPLC–HESI orbitrap mass spectrometry and allowed the detection of 51 compounds. GC-FID was used for the determination of individual fatty acid contents, and the antioxidant activity was assessed by several assays (DPPH, FRAP, and ABTS). The flours obtained were composed of a good amount of dietary fiber, carbohydrates, and minerals, as well as several bioactive polyphenolic compounds, fatty acids, and amino acids with nutraceutical properties, making the flours a rich and promising food as well as a good source for the preparation of functional foods or nutraceuticals.


Easy-to-achieve interventions to promote healthy longevity are desired to diminish the incidence and severity of infections, as well as associated disability upon recovery. The dietary supplement palmitoylethanolamide (PEA) exerts anti-inflammatory and neuroprotective properties. Here, we investigated the effect of prophylactic PEA on the early immune response, clinical course, and survival of old and neutropenic mice after intracerebral E. coli K1 infection.

Nineteen-month-old wild type mice were treated intraperitoneally with two doses of either 0.1 mg PEA/kg in 250 µl vehicle solution (n = 25) or with 250 µl vehicle solution only as controls (n = 25), 12 h and 30 min prior to intracerebral E. coli K1 infection. Survival time, bacterial loads in cerebellum, blood, spleen, liver, and microglia counts, microglia activation scores as well as meningeal inflammation scores in the brain were evaluated. We measured the levels of IL-1β, IL-6, MIP-1α, and CXCL1 in cerebellum and spleen in PEA- and vehicle-treated animals 24 h after infection.
Additionally, eight healthy mice were infected and treated with vehicle solution to investigate microglia morphology in healthy old mice. Furthermore, young neutropenic mice were treated with two doses of either 0.1 mg PEA/kg or 1 mg PEA/kg in 250 µl vehicle solution (n = 44) or with 250 µl vehicle solution only as controls (n = 29), 12 h and 30 min prior to intracerebral E. coli K1 infection.

In the absence of antibiotic therapy, the median survival time of PEA-pre-treated infected mice was prolonged by 18 h compared to mice of the vehicle-pre-treated infected group (P = 0.031). PEA prophylaxis delayed the onset of clinical symptoms (P = 0.037). This protective effect was associated with lower bacterial loads in the spleen, liver, and blood compared to those of vehicle-injected animals (P ≤ 0.037). PEA-pre-treated animals showed diminished levels of pro-inflammatory cytokines and chemokines in spleen 24 h after infection. In the brain, prophylactic PEA tended to reduce bacterial titers and attenuated microglial activation in aged infected animals (P =0.042).
There was no significant effect of prophylactic PEA in neutropenic mice on the survival time, lethality or bacterial loads.

Our findings suggest that prophylactic PEA can counteract infection associated detrimental responses in old animals. Accordingly, PEA treatment slowed the onset of infection symptoms and prolonged the survival of old infected mice. In a clinical setting, prophylactic administration of PEA might extend the potential therapeutic window where antibiotic therapy can be initiated to rescue elderly patients.


1. Acridine orange metachromasia was used to determine the distribution of simian rotavirus double-stranded RNA in cultured MA-104 cells 0 to 72 h post-infection. Correlations were made among time of detection and amount of viral antigens, virus yield and the ultrastructural aspects of infected cells. 2. RNAase-resistant cytoplasmic metachromasia appeared 48 h post-infection, 36 h after the initial detection of viral antigens or infectious virions and 24 h after the appearance of the cytopathic effect. 3. Acridine orange staining is thus useful for monitoring the progress of rotaviral infection in cell cultures due to its simplicity and low cost, in spite of its lower sensitivity compared to other techniques evaluated.


Elevated levels of free fatty acids have been suggested as the main factors contributing to the development of non-alcoholic steatohepatitis. This study conducted network meta-analysis using the QIAGEN Ingenuity Pathway Analysis (IPA) to examine the roles of saturated fatty acids (SFAs) and n-3 unsaturated fatty acids (UFAs) in the activation of Hepatic Fibrosis Signaling Pathway and collagen accumulation. Our analysis identified the shortest paths from palmitic acid (PA), a SFA, to the Hepatic Fibrosis Signaling Pathway, and found that elevated level of PA may increase the activities of transcription factors, such as CEBPβ, JUN/FOS, NFκB, and PPARγ, cytokines/chemokines/growth factors, such as TNF, IL1, CCL2, CCN2, LEP, and TGFβ1, oxidative stress mediators, such as NOX, and fibrinolysis regulators, such as SERPINE1, which may in turn activate the Hepatic Fibrosis Signaling Pathway. Our analysis also identified the shortest paths from PA to collagen accumulation and found that elevated level of PA may increase the activities of signaling mediators, such as ERK1/2, cytokines/chemokines/growth factors, such as TNF, IL6, CCL2, CCN2, LEP, and TGFβ1, which may in turn increase the accumulation of collagens. In contrast, the increased levels of n-3 UFAs inhibited the activities of PDGFA, PDGFB, TNF, IL1, and CCL2. Our analysis also identified seven PAand liver fibrosis-associated molecules mapped to the shortest paths from PA to Hepatic Fibrosis Signaling Pathway and from PA to collagens. Mapping of these seven molecules, TNF, IL1A, CCL2, TGFβ1, CCN2, LEP, and SERPINE1, to the Hepatic Fibrosis Signaling Pathway showed that these molecules may lead to proinflammatory response in the liver, J Food Sci Nutr Res 2021; 4 (4): 286-301 DOI: 10.26502/jfsnr.2642-11000081 Journal of Food Science and Nutrition Research Vol. 4 No. 4 December 2021. [ISSN 2642-1100] 287 reduced ECM degradation, and enhanced ECM accumulation. Our studies shed light on the molecular mechanisms by which PA contributes to liver fibrosis and the key mediating molecules that may be used for further research and therapeutic intervention.


Selective assembly is an effective approach for improving the quality of a product that is composed of two mating components, when the quality characteristic of the product is the clearance between the mating components. In this approach, the components are sorted into several groups according to their dimensions, and the product is assembled by randomly selecting mating components from corresponding groups. A number of previous studies focused on equal width partitioning schemes, in which the dimensional distributions of the two components are partitioned so that all groups have equal widths. When there is a large difference between the variances of the two component dimensions, equal width partitioning will result in a large number of surplus components due to differences between the numbers of components in corresponding groups. Some authors have proposed a method of manufacturing the component with smaller variance at three shifted means to cope with this difficulty. In the present paper, an optimal manufacturing mean design that minimises the number of surplus components is derived. It is shown that the use of the optimal design considerably reduces the number of surplus components compared with using another previously proposed manufacturing mean design and the no-shift design.


The study was aimed to get data on kind of processing and acceptance level of local soybean products in rural and urban areas in Java Island. The study locations were South Jakarta (Province of DKI Jakarta); Serang and Tangerang (Province of Banten); Bekasi, Bogor and Bandung (Province of West Java); Purwokerto, Semarang and Solo (Province of Central Java); Yogyakarta (Province of D.I.Yogyakarta); Malang, Jember and Surabaya (Province of East Java). The study was a part of a grand study on processing, acceptance, and consumption pattern of local soybean products at various socio-economic level of households in Java Island in 2005.  The data were obtained by interviewing and observing 2080 households (consisted of 1280 households in urban and 800 households in rural areas) selected randomly. Soybean products that mostly found in the market and consumed by households of Indonesian people, particularly in Java Island, were tempe, tauco, soy-sauce, tofu, tofu-flower, soy-sprout, and oncom.  The mostly ways to process the soy products were stir-frying, deep-frying, toasting, boiling, and 'bacem'.  Besides, there were also some soy products that consumed directly at a household level after factorized processing, namely as soy-sauce and soy-milk. The average time used to process the soy-products varied, depended on the way of processing and  number of the product processed.  Stir-frying, especially for tempe, tofu, and tauge, was a frequent way done by poor and rich households, both in urban and rural areas.  The products that mostly processed by frying in rural household was tempe, tofu and soybean, meanwhile in urban areas were only tempe and tofu.  The everage time used by urban households to fry the soy-products was shorter than time used by rural households. It was found that more than 90% of households in rural and urban areas stated "like" and "like very much" tempe, tofu, and soy-sauce.  However, the acceptance level of household on tauco, soy-milk, and soy-flower was still low, namely less than 50%.


Solving Complex Problems, an IBI prize–winning module, challenges students to use their knowledge creatively in order to design solutions. Before he became America's first de facto science adviser and before he helped lay the foundation for the National Science Foundation, Vannevar Bush was a professor of Electrical Engineering and, eventually, dean of Engineering and vice president at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). In those capacities, he came in contact with some of the nation's best and brightest minds in their formative years. But after two decades in such a rarified academic environment, Bush had become disenchanted by the increasing specialization of undergraduate curricula in science and engineering in America (1). He felt that education in these fields placed too much emphasis on information transferral from teacher to student and too little on deep understanding and intellectual synthesis by the student. Bush was among the first to anticipate that massive amounts of information would someday be universally and readily available to all, such that our ability to communicate knowledge through classes would become far less important than our ability to inspire students to do something creative, and valuable, with it.


Inherited genetic variation impacts local gene expression and DNA methylation in humans. Expression and methylation quantitative trait loci (cis-eQTLs and cis-mQTLs) often occur at the same genomic location, suggesting a common causal variant and shared mechanism. Using DNA and RNA from peripheral blood of Bangladeshi individuals, we use "co-localization" methods to identify 3,695 eQTL-mQTL pairs that are likely to share a causal variant. Using partial correlation analysis and mediation analysis, we identify >500 pairs with evidence of a causal relationships between expression and methylation (i.e., shared mechanism) with many additional pairs that we are underpowered to detect. These co-localized pairs are enriched for SNPs showing opposite effects on expression and methylation, although a many affect multiple CpGs in opposite directions. Evidence of shared SNP-age interaction also supports shared mechanisms for two eQTL-mQTL pairs. This work demonstrates the pervasiveness of co-regulated expression and methylation traits in the human genome. This approach can be applied to other types of molecular QTLs to enhance our understanding of regulatory mechanisms.


Recent scientific evidence shows that genetic diversity must be maintained, managed, and monitored to protect biodiversity and nature's contributions to people. Three genetic diversity indicators, two of which do not require DNA‐based assessment, have been proposed for reporting to the Convention on Biological Diversity and other conservation and policy initiatives. These indicators allow an approximation of the status and trends of genetic diversity to inform policy, using existing demographic and geographic information. Application of these indicators has been initiated and here we describe ongoing efforts in calculating these indicators with examples. We specifically describe a project underway to apply these indicators in nine countries, provide example calculations, address concerns of policy makers and implementation challenges, and describe a roadmap for further development and deployment, incorporating feedback from the broader community. We also present guidance documents and data collection tools for calculating indicators. We demonstrate that Parties can successfully and cost‐effectively report these genetic diversity indicators with existing biodiversity observation data, and, in doing so, better conserve the Earth's biodiversity.


Posttranslational processing in the biosynthesis of the egg-laying hormone (ELH) by the bag cell neurons of Aplysia californica was studied. The precursor (pro-ELH) to ELH was found to be resistant to solubilization in denaturant-free media throughout its lifetime. Its principle products show a similar insolubility for 3 h, but two of these, ca. 6,000 daltons, subsequently become readily recoverable in the low-speed supernatant of a homogenate of the cells. The remaining product shows no change in solubility characteristics. From studies employing ultracentrifugation and examination of axoplasmic transport, the solubility shift for the lower molecular weight products is interpreted to represent the liberation of secretory vesicles into the cytoplasm from larger membranous associations. This event is accompanied by, but does appear to be dependent upon, a 15% reduction in the molecular weight of one of the products. These findings are considered in the light of the extensively studied posttranslational processing regimen for the production of insulin in the pancreatic beta cell.


The brittleness index (BI) is an important parameter for coal-bed methane (CBM) reservoir fracturing characterization. Most published studies have relied on petrophysical and well-log data to estimate the geomechanical properties of reservoir rocks. The major drawback of such methods is the lack of control away from well locations. Therefore, we have developed a method of combining BI calculation from well logs with that inverted from 3D seismic data to overcome the limitation. A real example is given here to indicate the workflow. A traditional amplitude-variation-with-offset (AVO) inversion was conducted first. BI for the CBM reservoir was then calculated from the Lamé constants inverted from prestack seismic data through a traditional AVO inversion method. We build an initial low-frequency model based on the well-log data. Comparison of the seismic inverted BI at the target reservoir and BI extracted from the well-log data showed satisfactory results. This method has been proved to be efficient and effective enough at identifying BI sweet spots in CBM reservoirs.


This study investigated a system-wide change strategy in a South African school district, which sought to build the leadership capacity of principals and district officials to improve instruction. The three-year venture was called the Leadership for Learning Programme (LLP). A distinctive feature of the LLP was that it was based on a partnership between two universities, a local one with understanding of the local context of schools, and an international institution, which brought international expertise, experience and repute/branding. Both universities had a shared vision to contribute to the ailing South African school landscape by using leadership development to leverage change. The LLP was implemented in a single school district, where the overall learner performance was unsatisfactory. A qualitative approach was used to research this change intervention. One of the main findings was that collaboration between principals collectively and district officials, as well as among principals, was lacking. It is recommended that collaborative structures such as professional learning communities, networks and teams are established to reduce isolation and fragmented work practices in the school district. This may speed up system-wide change towards improved learner performance. Keywords : educational leadership; intervention; leadership development; partnership; principal; school district; systemic change; systems theory; system-wide change


Lignins are aromatic heteropolymers that arise from oxidative coupling of lignin precursors, including lignin monomers (p-coumaryl, coniferyl, and sinapyl alcohols), oligomers, and polymers. Whereas plant peroxidases have been shown to catalyze oxidative coupling of monolignols, the oxidation activity of well-studied plant peroxidases, such as horseradish peroxidase C (HRP-C) and AtPrx53, are quite low for sinapyl alcohol. This characteristic difference has led to controversy regarding the oxidation mechanism of sinapyl alcohol and lignin oligomers and polymers by plant peroxidases. The present study explored the oxidation activities of three plant peroxidases, AtPrx2, AtPrx25, and AtPrx71, which have been already shown to be involved in lignification in the Arabidopsis stem. Recombinant proteins of these peroxidases (rAtPrxs) were produced in Escherichia coli as inclusion bodies and successfully refolded to yield their active forms. rAtPrx2, rAtPrx25, and rAtPrx71 were found to oxidize two syringyl compounds (2,6-dimethoxyphenol and syringaldazine), which were employed here as model monolignol compounds, with higher specific activities than HRP-C and rAtPrx53. Interestingly, rAtPrx2 and rAtPrx71 oxidized syringyl compounds more efficiently than guaiacol. Moreover, assays with ferrocytochrome c as a substrate showed that AtPrx2, AtPrx25, and AtPrx71 possessed the ability to oxidize large molecules. This characteristic may originate in a protein radical. These results suggest that the plant peroxidases responsible for lignin polymerization are able to directly oxidize all lignin precursors.


When a sample of recreators is drawn from the general population using a survey, many in the sample will not recreate at a recreation site of interest. This study focuses on nonparticipation in recreation demand modeling and the use of modified count-data models. We clarify the meaning of the single-hurdle Poisson (SHP) model and derive the double-hurdle Poisson (DHP) model. The latter is contrasted with the SHP and we show the DHP is consistent with Johnson and Kotz's zero-modified Poisson model.


We report on an experiment linking microwave brightness temperatures and emissivities to the dynamics of in situ measured water content. The bare plot of 14/spl times/20 m was instrumented with two ground-based radiometers (1.4 and 11.4 GHz, respectively) and in situ time domain reflectometer (TDR) and temperature probes installed at five depths in three soil profiles. All data were recorded every 30 min from May to July 2002. The measured brightness temperature dynamics is a superposition of three patterns. The largest variations were caused by the changes in water content due to precipitation and the subsequent drying process. During dry periods, we observed daily oscillations of brightness temperature. Calculating effective soil temperatures based on the in situ measured temperature profiles revealed that these oscillations were partially due to changes in water content in the very topsoil. This effect was especially pronounced for the 11.4-GHz measurements, indicating that the very surface experienced the strongest changes in water content. At 1.4 GHz and horizontal polarization, the brightness temperature measurements turned out to be very sensitive to sun reflection at the ground. This reflection was visible through exceptionally high brightness temperature values at distinct times of the day. We observed pronounced hysteresis loops when comparing the emissivities of the two radiometers or the radiometric signals with the water content measured in situ at 2-cm depth. Such loops could be seen for the daily wetting and drying cycles as well as in the longer term drying and wetting behavior. This demonstrates that the gradient of the water content in the topsoil is a dynamic property depending on various time scales. These gradients affected the measurements of radiometers and TDR probes to different degrees and at different times. Despite an almost smooth surface, slight changes in the surface structure during the experiment caused a substantial variability with respect to the relationships between water content and emissivity for both radiometers. This is an indication that surface structures smaller than the wavelength may exert important effects on the emissivity of a bare soil.


Nonlinear optical microscopy allows for rapid high-resolution microscopy with image contrast generated from the intrinsic properties of the sample. Established modalities, such as multiphoton excited fluorescence and second/third-harmonic generation, can be combined with other nonlinear techniques, such as coherent Raman spectroscopy, which typically allow chemical imaging of a single resonant vibrational mode of a sample. Here, we utilize a single ultrafast laser source to obtain broadband coherent Raman spectra on a microscope, together with other nonlinear microscopy approaches on the same instrument. We demonstrate that the coherent Raman modality allows broadband measurement (>1000 cm-1), with high spectral resolution (<5 cm-1), with a rapid spectral acquisition rate (3-12 kHz). This enables Raman hyperspectral imaging of kilo-pixel images at >11 frames per second.


The Internet and social networks, currently considered a generic asset for most social groups, have become increasingly popular as they are easy to use and help to create and maintain relationships. However, there are still some age groups in which the use of the Internet and social networks is still in its early stages. More specifically, we are referring to people over the age of 64, who are the most affected by the generational and digital gap when it comes to the use of new technologies. This study looks into the perceived level of Internet and social network penetration and knowledge within this segment of the population, in addition to identifying their usage habits and access barriers. To do that, we have carried out a cross-sectional ad-hoc survey through stratified, proportional sampling and probabilistic allocation to a group of 390 individuals registered in the municipality of Murcia. Survey results coincide with former studies as they confirm the low penetration of these computational platforms amongst senior citizens. Results also show the interest of this age group to get training and information with the aim to start using them. Thus, public administrations need to address this situation by implementing policies intended to favor ICT integration into the daily lives of people over the age of 64.


Perennial grasses are often seeded after disturbances to provide ecosystem services and prevent invasive plant dominance. However, there is widespread disagreement over the use of native compared to introduced grasses. In Wyoming big sagebrush (Artemisia tridentata Nutt. ssp. wyomingensis Beetle & A. Young) communities, introduced wheatgrasses are often seeded after wildfires because they are less expensive, more available, and establish better than widely available native species. However, locally sourced native bunchgrasses, which likely have adaptations to local conditions, have not been compared to introduced wheatgrasses. We compared drill‐seeding locally sourced native bunchgrasses and introduced wheatgrasses after wildfire in frigid Wyoming big sagebrush communities for 3 years. Seeded native and introduced bunchgrasses both increased bunchgrass abundance and cover, even though precipitation was below average the first year post‐seeding. Seeding introduced wheatgrasses, however, increased bunchgrass cover and abundance more than seeding native bunchgrasses. Seeding introduced wheatgrasses also limited exotic annual grass abundance and cover, but seeding locally sourced native bunchgrasses did not. Native bunchgrasses are slow growing, thus may limit exotic annual grasses in time. Alternatively, additional treatments, such as exotic annual grass control, may be needed to improve their success. The establishment of seeded native bunchgrasses in Wyoming big sagebrush in a below‐average precipitation year is a promising result and suggests further research to improve seeded native vegetation success is warranted. The greater establishment of introduced wheatgrasses and their ability to limit exotic annual grasses suggests that successful introduced species may serve as a model for guiding trait selection in native species.


The aim of this study was to thematically explore the relationship between crime scene behaviors and background characteristics of offenders who commit sexual offenses against female victims aged 60 years or more. Research and understanding of offense behaviors in this area is extremely limited; therefore, the study sought to provide a preliminary understanding and multivariate model of offense behaviors in cases where older female adults were sexually abused. Twenty-seven crime scene behaviors from 143 rape or attempted rape cases of an older adult victim were analyzed; frequency data were computed to provide base rate information, and Smallest Space Analysis provided a visual representation of the co-occurrence of crime scene behaviors. Three distinct dominant themes were identified, in which 56% of offenses displayed themes of Involvement (22%), Control (17%), and Hostility (16%). The relationship between each dominant theme and selected background characteristics was then analyzed. For example, offenders displaying an Involvement theme were found to be significantly less likely to have prior convictions. Significance was also found in the relationship between dominant themes and a "theft and kindred offence other" preconviction background characteristic. The findings demonstrate offending behavior can be separated into three distinct themes, providing an explanation of offender subtypes and supporting previous models found in other types of sexual offending. Applications for law enforcement agencies regarding identified themes and links with likely offender background characteristics are highlighted. Limitations and future research avenues are discussed.


The site occupation behavior of Al in Ni3V phase with a DO22 structure in Ni75AlxV25-x alloy was studied using the microscopic phase-field model which is based on the microscopic diffusion equations. Attribute to the coordination geometry effects, the concentration of Al are non-equal on the two non-equivalent Ni sites, and Al prefers to occupy the NiⅠ sites. However, the Al does not prefer to occupy both of the two Ni sites, because the Al concentration on V site is intermediately between that on NiⅠ and NiⅡ site. The calculated ordering energies suggest that the site preference of alloying elements are all energetic favorable.


Abstract This study evaluated the spatial and temporal changes in beach morphology by analyzing the grain size distribution and the effect of the hydrodynamic conditions on the beach showing shoreline instability. Ten transects, from which morphological and hydrodynamic parameters were measured, were selected along the Nyali-Bamburi shoreline perpendicular to the shore. Morphological parameters such as beach orientation, beach width, and beach slopes were determined and sediment samples obtained during low tide. Wave energy was calculated from wave heights measured at the breaker point using a graduated staff, whereas swash and backwash velocities were determined at midbeach during high tide. Sediment samples were dried and sieved using an automatic shaker for grain size analysis using the graphical method. The study showed that beach morphology was rapidly changing with time along the shoreline. The changes were mostly attributed to wave and sediment characteristics. It was also established that steep-sloping beaches were associated with strong wave energy and coarse sediments, whereas gently-sloping beaches were of fine, well-sorted, and positively-skewed sediments, with relatively less strong waves. Steep beaches seem to be relatively short in width. There was a remarkable retreat of the shoreline.


ABSTRACT The interferon (IFN) response is the first line of defense against viral infections, and the majority of viruses have developed different strategies to counteract IFN responses in order to ensure their survival in an infected host. In this study, the abilities to inhibit IFN signaling of two closely related West Nile viruses, the New York 99 strain (NY99) and Kunjin virus (KUN), strain MRM61C, were analyzed using reporter plasmid assays, as well as immunofluorescence and Western blot analyses. We have demonstrated that infections with both NY99 and KUN, as well as transient or stable transfections with their replicon RNAs, inhibited the signaling of both alpha/beta IFN (IFN-α/β) and gamma IFN (IFN-γ) by blocking the phosphorylation of STAT1 and its translocation to the nucleus. In addition, the phosphorylation of STAT2 and its translocation to the nucleus were also blocked by KUN, NY99, and their replicons in response to treatment with IFN-α. IFN-α signaling and STAT2 translocation to the nucleus was inhibited when the KUN nonstructural proteins NS2A, NS2B, NS3, NS4A, and NS4B, but not NS1 and NS5, were expressed individually from the pcDNA3 vector. The results clearly demonstrate that both NY99 and KUN inhibit IFN signaling by preventing STAT1 and STAT2 phosphorylation and identify nonstructural proteins responsible for this inhibition.


Background/Aim: Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) infection is one of the most common chronic infections in the world. The prevalence of H. pylori is high in Saudi Arabia, but there are no studies in children on the accuracy of invasive and noninvasive methods to diagnose H. pylori infection. The aim of this study was to evaluate the accuracy of six methods for diagnosis of H. pylori infection; four invasive [rapid urease test (RUT), histology, antral nodularity (AD), and biopsy culture (BC)] and two noninvasive methods [serologic test and stool antigen test (SAT)]. Patients and Methods: A prospective cross-sectional study was performed among symptomatic children in National Guard hospitals who underwent esophagogastroduodenoscopy from 2010 to 2013. The gold standard diagnosis of H. pylori was positive tissue culture. If the culture was unsuccessful or not done, concordant-positive results for histology and RUT were considered to indicate a positive H. pylori. The variables analyzed as diagnostic methods included RUT, BC, histology, AD, serologic test, and SAT. Results: A total of 303 children were included in the study. The overall prevalence of H. pylori infection was 49.8%. Most diagnostic tests showed high specificity and moderate-to-low sensitivity when compared to the gold standard test. Sensitivity of AD, SAT, and RUT to detect H. pylori were 62% (95% CI: 0.51–0.74), 69% (95% CI: 0.58–0.79), and 87% (95% CI: 0.79–0.95), respectively (P value 0.040, 0.0023, and <0.0001, respectively). RUT showed the lowest specificity, 65% (95% CI: 0.58–0.71) in contrast to BC and histology which showed moderate-to-high specificities of 88% (95% CI: 0.82–0.95) and 89% (95% CI: 0.82–0.95), respectively (P <0.0001). Conclusion: RUT is a valuable diagnostic method for identifying H. pylori with the highest sensitivity compared to AD and SAT. All diagnostic tests showed moderate-to-high specificities but BC and histology showed the highest specificity.


A new compound of corrosion inhibitor namely 2-(2-hydroxyethyl)-6-phenylpyridazin-3(2H)-one (GP1) was synthesized and its inhibiting action on the corrosion of mild steel in 1.0 M hydrochloric acid at 308 K was investigated by various corrosion monitoring techniques. A preliminary screening of the inhibition efficiency was carried out using weight loss measurements. Potentiodynamic polarization and AC impedance methods have been used. Potentiodynamic polarization studies showed that this pyridazin derivative was mixed type inhibitor. The effect of temperature on the corrosion behaviour of mild steel in 1.0 M HCl with the addition of this compound was studied in the temperature range from 308-343K. The adsorption of this inhibitor on mild steel surface from hydrochloric acid obeyed the Langmuir adsorption isotherm.


Male burying beetles attract females using a pheromonal signal and can provide parental care and a food resource, vertebrate carrion, for their developing offspring. But males attempt to attract females even when they have no carrion. We examined the factors that influence male behavior directed toward finding or attracting mates in both field-caught and laboratory-reared Nicrophorus orbicollis, a North American burying beetle. We investigated whether male behavior differed based on both intrinsic (size) and extrinsic (resources held) differences among males. Further, we examined repeatability of individual behaviors and the effect of holding or lacking resources on these repeatabilities. Field-caught and laboratory-reared individuals differed in overall activity but not in their behavioral repertoire, making studies of laboratory-reared males relevant. The behavior of individual males was very consistent within a condition, but plastic between resource conditions. The frequency of calling (adopting a posture that indicates pheromone release to attract females) depended on male size when males did not hold resources, but this relationship disappeared when males held resources. Without carrion, smaller males called more frequently than did larger males. When holding carrion, smaller males reduced their calling, whereas larger males significantly increased the frequency with which they attempted to attract females and reduced the amount of time they spent searching. Thus, calling behavior of males was conditional on not only intrinsic and extrinsic factors, but also an interaction between them. We suggest that the changes in calling represent alternative tactics based on the costs and benefits of attracting both potential mates and competitors, which differ for males of different sizes.


Hypertension and its complications are common in primigravida mother. Hypertension in pregnancy is still largely unknown & it still stands a public health problem. The present study aimed to determine the effectiveness of structured teaching programmed on pregnancy induced hypertension among primigravida mothers attending antenatal clinic (ANC) in IMS & SUM hospital, Bhubaneswar, Odisha, India. A pre experimental study was conducted over period of one month in the department of Obstetrics & Gynecology in the above hospital. A total of 50 pregnant women with Pregnancy Induced Hypertension (PIH) were enrolled in the study. The pretest and posttest structured Performa was prepared & they were interviewed to collect necessary information such as background data and knowledge regarding PIH. The mean of posttest (27.25) knowledge was found to be significantly higher than the pretest (13.96) knowledge score with a mean difference of 13.29 as evident from 't' value of 2.035 for df, 49 at <0.05 level of significance. Pregnancy induced hypertension is a common medical problem associated with pregnancy. Its incidence and related mortality are high due to lack of adequate antenatal care. Maternal and perinatal outcomes were found to be better in women who attended regular ANC. Educating primigravida will help create awareness among the public.


With patch-based approaches, it is aimed to tackle the factors such as illumination, pose changes and partial occlusions that are faced in real world applications and complicates the face recognition problem. For patch-based face recognition systems to work robustly, patch locations should correspond to similar image content. In this paper, we propose two patch localiza- tion schemes for patch-based face recognition in order to make patch locations to correspond to same area in all of the face images and the image contents of the patches as close as pos- sible. Our experimental results show that with either of the lo- calization schemes, higher recognition results are obtained es- pecially on the partially occluded face images with scarves or sunglasses.


We present a flexible multichannel resource allocation mechanism for 60 GHz radio-over-fiber local access networks. The proposed mechanism is based on the structure of medium-transparent MAC, which is capable of allocating capacity dynamically over both optical and wireless media. A frequency band dedicated to the control channel is assigned to reduce the negative effects of the fiber delay in the high-speed 60 GHz radio-over-fiber system. Moreover, multiple channels are used to transmit data for end users according to their requirements.


Heavy-duty vehicles traveling in platoons consume fuel at a reduced rate. In this paper, we attempt to maximize this benefit by introducing local controllers throughout a road network to facilitate platoon formations with minimal information. By knowing a vehicle's position, speed, and destination, the local controller can quickly decide how its speed should be possibly adjusted to platoon with others in the near future. We solve this optimal control and routing problem exactly for small numbers of vehicles, and present a fast heuristic algorithm for real-time use. We then implement such a distributed control system through a large-scale simulation of the German autobahn road network containing thousands of vehicles. The simulation shows fuel savings from 1-9%, with savings exceeding 5% when only a few thousand vehicles participate in the system. We assume no vehicles will travel more than the time required for their shortest paths for the majority of the paper. We conclude the results by analyzing how a relaxation of this assumption can further reduce fuel use.


The first part of this dissertation is devoted to the study of an asymmetric [3+2] cycloaddition sequence developed in our laboratory. The cycloaddition sequence used a sulfonamide-based homoenolate equivalent which was cyclocondensed with a cyclic enone. The stereochemistry of the final product was fixed during the first step, the Michael addition to the enone. Our study focused thus on the Michael addition of sulfonamides to enones. We have synthesized a series of chiral and achiral sulfonamides. We then studied the regiochemistry and the stereochemistry of the addition of the anions derived from these sulfonamides to cyclohexenone. The presence of a heteroatom at the (gamma)-carbon of the sulfonamide was crucial for the regiochemical outcome of the reaction. The substituent on the sulfonamide also influenced the facial selectivity of the reaction with chiral sulfonamides, but had no influence on the diastereoselectivity with achiral sulfonamides. The sequence had been applied to various cyclenones. We were also able to apply the method to an acyclic enone with good enantioselectivities. However the method could not be applied to other Michael acceptors. Another part of the present work was devoted to search a new catalytic asymmetric cyclopentannulation sequence. Two different approaches were studied. Phase-transfer catalysis seemed the most appropriate strategy for our objective. We soon realized that sulfur-stabilized nucleophiles could not be used under these conditions. Ketals derived from 3-nitropropanal were thus chosen as potential annulation agents. The racemic version was quite efficient and could be applied to less active acceptors such as unsaturated lactams and lactones. Unfortunately we were not able to realize the reaction with good enantioselectivities. However two new catalysts, obtained by the reaction of cinchonine with 1- and 2-methylnaphthyl chloride, emerged as interesting candidates for the phase-transfer reactions. Organocatalysis was our second approach. The use of rubidium prolinate or the use of proline in the presence of a base proved to be very efficient and the Michael adducts could be obtained with good enantioselectivities. The Michael adducts were easily cyclized and the nitro group could be removed under mild conditions.


Drawing on exploratory research of online ethnographic records for particular types of Aboriginal bags in North America, we confront the absence of affective knowledge in museum catalogues and documentation. Although curatorial, ethnographic, and Aboriginal understandings of these items teem with affect, we find affect to be almost wholly lacking from available online records. We ask what the effects of this absence are for descendent Aboriginal communities, for museum publics, and for affect theory. We also look at an example where affect has a presence in online records, the Glenbow Museum, and consider the ways this creates opportunities for comparative and historic affective study.


Abstract A clear understanding of the tectonic framework of the Westphalian in the northern part of the southern North Sea has improved confidence during seismic interpretation and offers the possibility of finding new exploration targets within structures that have already been drilled. Two aspects of the tectonic framework are crucial. Firstly, Westphalian strata were deposited within a major foreland basin; consequently, thickness variations on a local scale are minimal. Secondly, the area was affected by a phase of rifting, known as the Saalian event, during the early Permian. This rifting event led to the formation of major E-W and NW-SE normal faults that tilt and offset Westphalian strata. The Upper Rotliegend, which lies unconformably on top of the Westphalian, was deposited during thermal sag after rifting ceased. Identifying where Westphalian reservoirs are present within structure requires careful mapping of both intra-Westphalian and base Rotliegend levels.


The effect of coupled and uncoupled bending and torsion modes on flexible twin-tail buffet is considered. This multidisciplinary problem is investigated using three sets of equations on a multi-block grid structure. The first set is the unsteady, compressible, full Navier-Stokes equations which are used for obtaining the flow-filed vector and the aerodynamic loads on the twin tails. The second set is the coupled aeroelastic equations which are used for obtaining the bending and torsional deflections of the twin tails. The third set is the grid-displacement equations which are used for updating the grid coordinates due to the tail deflections. The configuration is pitched at 30° angle of attack and the freestream Mach number and Reynolds number are 0.3 and 1.25 million, respectively. Keeping the twin tails as rigid surfaces, the problem is solved for the initial flow conditions. Next, the problem is solved for the flexible twin tails responses due to the unsteady loads produced by the vortex breakdown flow of the delta-wing leading-edge vortex cores. The configuration is investigated for the effect of coupled and uncoupled bending and torsion modes using two different separation distances of the twin-tail; the inboard and the outboard positions.


This research project explored an Aboriginal nonprofit health organization's strategic responses to institutional pressures using concepts from neo-institutional and resource dependency theories. The case study method was adopted, and participant observation and interviews were the main data collection techniques utilized. The study revealed an organization that contended with legitimacy issues from a variety of stakeholders. Organizational responses to these pressures involved the adoption of business practices, while attempting to maintain Aboriginal values and culture. Leadership was identified as a key variable that influenced the structural and strategic responses of the organization. Through this research I concluded that when utilized in a complementary manner, institutional theory and resource dependency theory offer insightful explanations about the adoption of business-like structures and strategies in a nonprofit organization. This research project closes with practical recommendations concerning the ways that nonprofit organizations are structured and operate, and a discussion of policy implications and future research.


Background: Depression epidemic is likely to follow the COVID pandemic. Depression is treatable if compliance is good. The study was aimed at identifying risk factors of poor antidepressant compliance during a pandemic. Materials and Methods: Sixty-four poor compliers of antidepressants during COVID period were compared with equal number of poor compliers of pre-COVID period on sociodemographic and clinical characteristics. The retrospective study was designed in a way to eliminate biases due to usual patient, social, or clinical factors. The hypothesis was that there would be some factors of antidepressant poor compliance exclusive to pandemic and these factors would be beyond the usual factors. Results: Majority (n = 43, 67%) of COVID period poor compliers were family members of employees. Subjects who came for prescription refill (n = 17, 27%) than consultation were poor compliant during COVID period. COVID period poor compliers (n = 6, 9%) were admitted less compared to pre-COVID counterparts (n = 15, 23%). COVID period subjects had mood symptoms predominant depression (n = 44, 69%) than physical symptoms (n = 20, 31%). The presence of death wish or suicidal ideas was significant (n = 16, 25%) in COVID period. Poor compliers of pandemic (n = 26, 41%) had more psychosocial stress (P < 0.05). Conclusion: The study did find some exclusive factors apart from doctor–patient relationship for good compliance. Depressive patients who perceive improvement in mood symptoms are poor compliers during pandemic. Compliance improves if patients find some primary purpose to come out during pandemic. Ongoing stress also reduces compliance.