A tomographic method, using algebraic reconstruction methods, has been examined for verification of the integrity of spent nuclear fuel. Computer simulations were performed where fuel rods have been removed, i.e. water filled, or replaced with fuel-like material. Various geometric patterns of re-moved or replaced rods have been examined both for BWR and PWR fuel. Two gamma energies, 662 keV from 137Cs and 1274 keV from 154Eu, have been used in the simulations. It is shown that the higher energy was favourable due to its higher penetrability. Various measurement strategies have been examined especially concerning the number of measurements and the level of statistical noise. The simulations point at the possibility of detecting tampering of a fuel assembly on a single rod level. The replacement with fresh fuel or fuel-like material lead to more confident detection of the manipulation comparing to the case where rods have been replaced with water.


Estuaries serve as nursery grounds for many marine fish species. However increasing human activities within estuaries and surrounding areas lead to significant habitat loss for the juveniles and decrease the quality of the remaining habitats. This study is based on the data of 470 beam trawls from surveys that were conducted in 13 French estuaries for the purpose of the European Water Framework Directive. It aimed at testing the effects of anthropogenic disturbances on the nursery function of estuaries. With a multispecific approach based on ecological guilds, two fish metrics, abundance and species richness of Marine Juvenile migrant fishes, were used as proxies for the estuarine nursery function. Indices of heavy metal and organic contaminations were used to estimate anthropogenic disturbances impacting these estuaries. Fish metrics were described with statistical models that took into account: (a) sampling protocol, (b) estuarine features and (c) contamination. The results of these models showed that the fish metrics highly depend on the sampling protocol, and especially type of gear, depth and salinity, which highlights the necessity of considering such metrics at the sampling (trawl haul) scale. Densities and species richness of Marine Juvenile fishes appeared to be strongly and negatively correlated to contamination indices. These results are consistent with the hypothesis that human disturbances impact the nursery function of estuaries. Finally, the densities of Marine Juvenile migrant species appeared as a potential robust and useful fish indicator for the assessment of the ecological status of estuaries within the Water Framework Directive.


D.S.C.H. Shostakovich on DVD-ROM. Colchester, England: Chandos Multimedia CT-IAN 50001/CHAN 55001, 2000. [Requires IBM PC with 266MHz Pentium or higher with Windows 95/98/ME or higher, or Macintosh Power PC with MacOS 7.5 or higher; Quick Time 4.0 (included) or higher; 32MB RAM; 8X or faster DVD-ROM drive; 10MB of available hard-disc space; SVGA monitor/display card with 800x600-bit color (Mac 32K colors); 16-bit sound card and speakers, Mouse; and 28.8kbps modem or higher for Web links. $48.] The first of the six principal sites I visited on D.S.C.H. Shostakovich, the initial volume in Chandos's multimedia "Cultural Heritage Series," was the "Film Archive," which offers thirty-three clips of footage relating to Dmitry Shostakovich and/or his works between 1934 and 1974. There is a lot of very rare and fascinating material here, including a conversation (with subtitles) between Shostakovich and impresario Vladimir Nemirovich-Danchenko during a 1933 rehearsal for the composer's second opera, Lady Macbeth of Mtsansk, followed by a scene from the first Moscow performance of that opera. Near the end, this section offers scenes in color, taken from a Russian documentary on Shostakovich, from a rehearsal in 1974 of the composer's first opera, The Nose. Initially we see fragments of the rehearsal with such figures as conductor Gennady Rozhdestvensky, who brought this scathing, avant-garde work back to the stage after it had lain buried for more than forty years, the composer's son Maxim, and Shostakovich himself. But the clip ends with an extended section of the opera during which the film's director suddenly cuts to and holds a close-up of the attentive composer, whose usually placid, somewhat scowly faced demeanor suddenly--and very movingly--gives way to a long grin as he takes obvious delight in the antics of his own creation. One needs no more than a single moment such as this to justify the existence of this CD-ROM. But there are other jewels as well. As one other example, a clip of Shostakovich performing the finale of his First Piano Concerto, around the same time as Lady Macbeth, reveals pianism so relentlessly driven that one wonders at times whether the film is running at the proper speed. Even more stunning, however, is the second clip, labeled "Bazar: Fragments from a Cartoon-film by M. Tsekhanovsky with Music by D. Shostakovich." There's a much larger story here, which can be learned only by reading the Russian of the title card, which indicates that this fragment in fact comes from an unfinished cartoon opera, in black and white, based on Pushkin's satirical tale "The Tale of the Priest and His Servant Balda [or Blockhead]." Shostakovich began working on this with the animator Mikhail Tsekhanovsky in 1933, ultimately producing fifteen pieces that became his op. 36, dated 1936. I had never dreamed that any of this film survived, much less with Shostakovich's score. But the brilliance, in the two-and-one-half-minute fragment offered here, of Tsekhanovsky's multi-plane, highly rhythmic animation, which features quite grotesque drawings of characters and animals, combined with Shostakovich's often shrill and hysterical music, have made me more than eager to track clown whatever else might rema in of this aborted masterpiece, which film historian Jay Leyda suggests (Kino: A History of the Russian and Soviet Film [New York: Collier Books, 1960], 809) might have changed the course of animation in the Soviet Union had it been finished. And therein lies one of the major problems I have with this multimedia project. A work such as The Tale of the Priest represents major unexplored territory in Shostakovich's oeuvre, and one would think that anyone interested enough in the composer to explore the many offerings on this CD-ROM would like to know as much as possible about this unique cartoon opera, including how much of it survives. (I, for one, would gladly trade most of the political speeches also included in the "Film Archive" for even one extra minute of the cartoon, presuming more exists. …


The University Library System (ULS), University of Pittsburgh began its e-journal publishing program in 2007 and in five years has quickly grown to publish 34 peer-reviewed scholarly research journals. In this chapter, we will describe the rationale for and the genesis of this program to publish new original content, explain how the program evolved, and give insight into what direction it is likely to take in the future.

The ULS has built an extensive digital publishing program over the past two decades. Beginning with digitization projects to reformat the ULS' unique collections, the program now includes well over 100,000 digital objects in over 100 thematic digital collections including photographs, manuscripts, maps, books, journal articles, electronic theses and dissertations, government documents, and other gray literature such as working papers, white papers, and technical reports.

The development of the ULS publishing program was driven by a strong and enduring institutional commitment to Open Access to scholarly information. The organization has placed strategic emphasis on leadership in transforming the patterns of scholarly communication and supporting researchers not only in discovering and accessing scholarly information, but in the production and sharing of new knowledge and the creation of original scholarly research.
In pursuit of these goals, the ULS has developed a suite of specific tools and techniques to build a highly cost-efficient e-journal publishing program. The ULS provides its publishing partners with a hardware and software platform and associated electronic publishing services using the open source Open Journal Systems (OJS) software developed by the Public Knowledge Project. This platform allows for richly customizable management of all stages of editorial workflow. In addition, OJS sports a number of reader tools to enhance content discovery and use, including multilingual support for both online interfaces and content in many languages, persistent URLs, RSS feeds, tools for bookmarking and sharing articles through social networking sites, full-text searching, and compliance with the Open Archives Initiative Protocol for Metadata Harvesting.

Additional services offered by the ULS include consultation on editorial workflow management, software configuration, graphic design services, initial training, online usage statistics, review of all new published issues for metadata quality, and ongoing systems support. The ULS also provides ISSN registration, assigns DOIs, and assists in promotional efforts to establish the journal. Digital preservation is facilitated through LOCKSS. Steps to start up a new scholarly journal are covered. We will also describe common pitfalls to avoid and techniques that help with clear communications and management of mutual expectations between publisher and publishing partners. Quality control is discussed, including careful selection of partners, conducting peer reviews, maintaining academic quality, advising on publishing best practices, and measuring impact.

With each passing year and each acquisitions budget cycle, research libraries have more to gain by becoming publishers. By publishing new Open Access content, libraries can not only help meet the most fundamental needs of the researchers they support, but they can simultaneously help transform today's inflationary cost model for serials. The publication model described in this paper can serve as a guide for libraries wishing to implement similar programs.


IEEE 802.11 wireless network standard has become one of the most used wireless networking technologies for smart devices as it offers mobility support and low cost deployment. However, these devices deeply rely on the energy provided by their batteries, which results in limited running time. IEEE 802.11 network standard provides stations with carrier sense multiple access with collision avoidance for the medium access. Yet it results in stations to consume an important amount of power. Therefore, minimizing WiFi‐based energy consumption in smart devices has been received substantial attention in both academia and industry. Accordingly, this paper proposes a novel beacon‐based energy‐efficient collision‐free medium access control protocol for any type of IEEE 802.11 stations, regardless of being stationary or mobile, or having different amount of traffic flow, transmission rates, or traffic types. The proposed scheme is valid for all types of low or wide bandwidth, single or multiuser multiple‐input multiple‐output WLAN channels, such as IEEE 802.11a\b\g\n\ac. In the proposed scheme, energy saving is achieved, enabling stations to transmit on the right time and maintaining stations in the doze state during a predetermined sleep_time interval after each successful frame transmission, by making use of modified control and management frames of the standard IEEE 802.11 protocol. The proposed scheme reduces the probability of collisions and may allow stations to enter the collision‐free state, regardless of the number of stations on the channel and their traffic types. Widespread simulations have been executed to validate the efficiency of the proposed method. The results demonstrate that the proposed method significantly increases overall throughput and reduces power consumption of stations over IEEE 802.11 WLANs.


Background: PMA2020 is a survey platform with resident enumerators using mobile phones. Instead of collecting full birth history, total fertility rates (TFR) have been measured with a limited number of questions on recent births. Employing new approaches provides opportunities to test and advance survey methods. Objective: This study aims to assess the quality of fertility data in PMA2020 surveys, focusing on bias introduced from the questionnaire and completeness and distribution of birth month and year, and to estimate TFR adjusted for identified data quality issues. Methods: To assess underestimation from the questionnaire, we simulated births that would be counted using the PMA2020 questionnaires compared to births identified from full birth history. We analyzed the latest Demographic and Health Surveys in ten countries where PMA2020 surveys have been implemented. We assessed the level of reporting completeness for birth month and year and heaping of birth month, analyzing 39 PMA2020 surveys. Finally, TFR were calculated and adjusted for biases introduced from the questionnaire and heaping in birth month. Results: Simple questions introduced minor bias from undercounting multiple births, which was expected and correctable. Meanwhile, incomplete reporting of birth month was relatively high, and the default value of January in data collection software systematically moved births with missing months out of the reference period. On average across the 39 surveys, TFR increased by 1.6% and 2.4%, adjusted for undercounted multiple births and heaping on January, respectively. Contribution: This study emphasizes the importance of enumerator training and provides critical insight in software programming in surveys using mobile technologies.


A viscous-inviscid interaction model for predicting jet entrainment effects on axisymmetric, nozzle afterbodies at subsonic speeds is presented. The model is based on a displacement thickness correction to the inviscid jet boundary that accounts for mixing-induced streamline deflections in the inviscid region. The displacement correction is shown to be related to the local mass entrainment rate and, for thin mixing layers, the model is shown to be analogous to displacement models used in conventional boundary-layer interaction theory. A method is presented for computing the entrainment rate by an overlaid mixing layer model that accounts for the nonsimilar behavior and pressure gradients occurring in the near field region. An iterative scheme for coupling the model to analyses for the external inviscid flow, the external boundary layer, and the inviscid jet exhaust is also given. Results are presented that illustrate the qualitative behavior of the entrainment interaction under various flow conditions and that demonstrate the validity of the model by comparisons with experiment.


An important characteristic of the current international setting is the crisis of the structure in existence, rather than the emergence of a new order. The rise of new interests and demands, as well as the speed of the transformation make the current understanding of global governance more complex. Brazil, like other medium powers, has an interest in institutionalised multilateralism as a means of increasing its bargaining capacity and hindering the unilateralism of major powers, without being antagonistic to them. It is attempting to increase its weight in traditional international bodies, which provide the grounding for international legitimacy, as well as in new informal arrangements. While this strategy could lead to the establishment of a new hierarchy that brings in countries of growing relative importance, it has put the weight of regional integration into another perspective in Brazilian foreign policy.


Influenced by the fitness and running boom in the last three decades, athletic footwear established from simple shoes to a high tech product. New designs, manufacturing techniques and materials were introduced into the construction of technical athletic shoes. This development was further influenced by biomechanical and orthopedic research which supported the establishment of functional concepts and designs. Functional factors (comfort, performance and injury prevention) and also less-functional factors (e.g. price, fashion, and durability) are relevant for the design of athletic footwear.
Millions of people are involved in court activities, running and jogging activities. From the runners, it is reported that between 37-56% are injured during the period of one year. Pre injuries, excessive training volume, training mistakes, excessive impact forces, excessive pronation or excessive knee joint moments (adduction-abduction moments, external rotation moments) have been proposed as major reasons for the development of overuse injuries. Footwear and sport surface were assumed to influence impact forces, foot pronation and knee joint moments. Ankle sprains are one the most frequent acute injuries in sports related activities. It was speculated that appropriate footwear is capable to reduce the risk of over-supination and injuries of the ankle joint complex. Concepts of "impact cushioning" and "motion control" were developed, and strategies were studied to reduce potentially the impact forces and foot pronation through appropriate athletic footwear, shoe inserts, and sport surface designs. However, results of recent studies challenged the proposed association between impact forces, foot pronation, and running injuries.
A critically review of injury frequency, injury location and severeness of injuries does not support that the developed technical strategies have been adequate to decrease the risk of injuries in sports through footwear. Probably the concepts did not fit at all or the basic consideration to decrease the amplitude of forces applied to the biological structures or to align the skeleton are principally wrong and thus failed. One can speculate that the purpose of footwear to control foot motion, to align the skeleton and to modify the forces acting of the biological structures should be the improper strategy to decrease the frequency of sport related injuries and/or to enhance performance.
One can also speculate that a deviation from a preferred or natural joint motion, muscle activation and thus force application through footwear may not be benefit able for the joint health and lower extremity performance potential.


Purpose

This paper aims to discuss a comprehensive survey on fuzzy-based clustering techniques. The determination of an appropriate sensor node as a cluster head straightforwardly affects a network's lifetime. Clustering often possesses some uncertainties in determining suitable sensor nodes as a cluster head. Owing to various variables, selection of a suitable node as a cluster head is a perplexing decision. Fuzzy logic is capable of handling uncertainties and improving decision-making processes even with insufficient information. Then, state-of-the-art research in the field of clustering techniques has been reviewed.

Design/methodology/approach

The literature is presented in a tabular form with merits and limitations of each technique. Furthermore, the various techniques are compared graphically and classified in a tabular form and the flowcharts of important algorithms are presented with pseudocodes.

Findings

This paper comprehends the importance and distinction of different fuzzy-based clustering methods which are further supportive in designing more efficient clustering protocols.

Originality/value

This paper fulfills the need of a review paper in the field of fuzzy-based clustering techniques because no other paper has reviewed all the fuzzy-based clustering techniques. Furthermore, none of them has presented literature in a tabular form or presented flowcharts with pseudocodes of important techniques.


This report summarises existing work on the Devonian source rocks and migrated oils in the Orcadian Basin. It aims to clarify the current literature with regards to the contribution of Devonian source rocks to proven hydrocarbon accumulations within the basin by providing a comprehensive summary of;
 the quality and maturity of the lacustrine source rocks;
 the evidence for Devonian oils in hydrocarbon fields, discoveries, shows and stains;
 perceived risks for Devonian-sourced plays.
Good quality oil-prone lacustrine source rocks are present in the Devonian both on- and offshore, and are believed to have co-sourced the three Inner Moray Firth oil fields – Beatrice, Lybster and Jacky. Thus an understanding of the distribution and burial history of the Devonian source rocks could be important in the search for new hydrocarbon discoveries in the region. The complex pre-, syn- and post-rift tectonic history has given rise to significant local variability in both the thickness of the Devonian section and the present-day thermal maturity. Offshore, determination of the extent of the Middle Devonian Orcadian Lake, the main source rock interval, is constrained by only a limited number of well penetrations of the Devonian interval centred on Quadrants 12 & 13, although an oil-correlation study by Robertson Research International (2001) suggested that Devonian source rocks may be developed as far east as Quadrant 15 and may therefore be more widespread than previously thought.
Studies have shown that Devonian-sourced oils have some key characteristics meaning they can confidently be differentiated from Jurassic-sourced oils. In particular, the presence of carotane and gammacerane (which can both be indicative of hyper-saline depositional environments), the absence of C28-bisnorhopane (commonly found within Jurassic sourced oils), the relatively light carbon isotope ratios and depletion of C27 steranes are distinguishing features when contrasted to Upper Jurassic to Middle Jurassic sourced hydrocarbons.
Basin modelling studies suggest that onshore, the Devonian source rock experienced early hydrocarbon generation, reaching mid-late oil window thermal maturity by the Late Palaeozoic. Offshore, the preferred model is for Mesozoic generation with the onset of oil generation from the Devonian lacustrine source rocks in the Beatrice Field kitchen area in the Early Cretaceous, negating the need to invoke long-range migration from mature Jurassic mudstones to charge the Beatrice structure.
This report was completed before the Palaeozoic Project organic geochemistry work on the Orcadian area (Vane et al., 2016), to inform the scope of work on that study. As such, it does not integrate the results of the Palaeozoic organic geochemistry study. This report contains citations of donated proprietary and commercial reports.


THE effects on mental processes of the exposure of the human central nervous system to irradiation has not been investigated extensively because of the potentially hazardous and irreversible results on living human tissue. The available information on this subject has had to be extrapolated from experimental laboratory studies on infrahuman animals or gleaned from the accidental exposure of man or from the analysis of the symptoms of the survivors irradiated at Nagasaki and Hiroshima. More recently it has also been possible to obtain some information on this subject from the performance of patients with advanced neoplastic disease who have been treated with whole body radiation. The latter source of data is the only planned type of investigation of radiation effect on human beings that is feasible at present and, hence, any information available by this means cannot fail to add to our inadequate knowledge


Protostellar discs may become massive enough to fragment producing secondary low-mass objects: planets, brown dwarfs and low-mass stars. We study the effect of radiative feedback from such newly-formed secondary objects using radiative hydrodynamic simulations. We compare the results of simulations without any radiative feedback from secondary objects with those where two types of radiative feedback are considered: (i) continuous, and (ii) episodic. We find that: (i) continuous radiative feedback stabilizes the disc and suppresses further fragmentation, reducing the number secondary objects formed; (ii) episodic feedback from secondary objects heats and stabilises the disc when the outburst occurs, but shortly after the outburst stops, the disc becomes unstable and fragments again. However, fewer secondary objects are formed compared to the the case without radiative feedback. We also find that the mass growth of secondary objects is mildly suppressed due to the effect of their radiative feedback. However, their mass growth also depends on where they form in the disc and on their subsequent interactions, such that their final masses are not drastically different from the case without radiative feedback. We find that the masses of secondary objects formed by disc fragmentation are from a few MJ to a few 0.1 M0. Planets formed by fragmentation
tend to be ejected from the disc. We conclude that planetary-mass objects on wide orbits (wide-
orbit planets) are unlikely to form by disc fragmentation. Nevertheless, disc fragmentation may be a significant source of free-floating planets and brown dwarfs.


This study sought to assess the prevalence of intimate partner violence (IPV) victimization and to examine the sex-stratified associations between IPV and suicidal ideation in South Korea. This study used nationally representative longitudinal survey data from 2011 to 2020 of the Korean Welfare Panel Study of 9732 married adults at baseline. Participants were annually asked about IPV experiences of verbal abuse, physical threat, or physical assault over the past year in 2011–2019. Suicidal ideation in the past year was assessed in the following year 2012–2020 of IPV experiences. Using multilevel logistic regression models, we examined the associations between IPV and suicidal ideation among married adults. The prevalence of verbal abuse, physical threat, and physical assault was respectively 19.8%, 3.0%, and 1.4% in females (n = 5056); and 18.8%, 2.7%, and 1.0% in males (n = 4676). After adjusting for potential confounders (e.g., lifetime suicidal ideation and random effects of individuals and households) in the same year when participants had IPV experiences, all types of IPV experiences were statistically associated with suicidal ideation in the following year among both females and males, except for physical threat among males. We found a statistically significant association between physical threat and suicidal ideation among females (adjusted odds ratio: 2.22, 95% confidence interval: 1.62, 3.04), whereas no association was observed among males. Our findings suggest that public health interventions related to suicidal behaviors that can be attributable to experiencing IPV are necessary among both females and males in South Korea.


The purpose of the Taking Design Thinking to Schools Research Project was to extend the knowledge base that contributes to an improved understanding of the role of design thinking in K-12 classrooms. The ethnographic qualitative study focused on the implementation of an interdisciplinary design curriculum by a team of university instructors in a public charter school. Three questions framed the study. How did students express their understanding of design thinking classroom activities? How did affective elements impact design thinking in the classroom environment? How is design thinking connected to academic standards and content learning in the classroom?


Proton Accelerator (PA) Project is at a stage of development, working towards a Technical Design Report under the roof of a larger‐scale Turkish Accelerator Center (TAC) Project. The project is supported by the Turkish State Planning Organization. The PA facility will be constructed in a series of stages including a 3 MeV test stand, a 55 MeV linac which can be extended to 100+ MeV, and then a full 1–3 GeV proton synchrotron or superconducting linac. In this article, science applications, overview, and current status of the PA Project will be given.


We describe the identification and expression of a petE gene in Synechococcus sp. PCC 7942, a cyanobacterium previously thought to lack plastocyanin. The petE gene is a 420-bp open reading frame that encodes a protein 70 to 75% similar to plastocyanins from other cyanobacteria. Synechococcus possesses a single genomic copy of petE located immediately upstream of the clpB gene. It is transcribed as a single mRNA (550 bases) and, in contrast to most other photobionts, the level of petE expression in Synechococcus is unaffected by variable copper concentrations during acclimated growth. Inactivation of petE does not prevent photoautotrophic growth, but does induce a dramatic increase in mRNA for the alternative electron carrier cytochrome c6. Despite this adjustment, loss of plastocyanin results in slower growth, lower photosystem I content, and a decreased maximum capacity for photosynthetic electron transport. The mutant is also more susceptible to chilling-induced photoinhibition during a shift from 37 to 25[deg]C, at which temperature its inherently lower photosynthetic capacity exacerbates the normal slowing of electron transfer reactions at low temperatures. Under similar conditions, the amount of petE message in the wild type decreases by 50% in the 1st h, but then increases dramatically to almost three times the 37[deg]C level by 9 h.


Distributed generation (DG) has recently drawn the interest to meet the increased load demand with minimum investment. But cohesive operation of these DG sources, in a grid-connected environment, gives rise to several issues during abnormal conditions of the utility system. This paper addresses the detection method of one such crucial event which is "islanding". A short length window based Mahalanobis Distance method has been proposed in this paper to detect islanding. A trade-off between computational time and accuracy has been maintained to make it reliable and acceptable. In this method, network parameters such as rate of change of frequency (ROCOF), rate of change of voltage (ROCOV), rate of change of real power (ROCOP) and rate of change of reactive power (ROCOQ) have been extracted from the voltage and current signal. Standard Deviations of the network features have been used as parameters for islanding and non-islanding events. These parameters have been classified with the proposed Mahalanobis Distance method incorporating short length window. The proposed method has been simulated in a test distribution system and it has been compared with Support Vector Machine (SVM), and Feed-forward Multi-layer Neural Network (FFML NN) classifiers to show its reliability and acceptability.


Electrochemical performances of Li-rich layered cathode material Li1.2Ni0.13Co0.13Mn0.54O2 (LNCMO) are improved by modification of lithium-ion conducting Li1.3Al0.3Ti1.7(PO4)3 (LATP). The sintering temperature and the amount of LATP are optimized to improve the electrochemical performance of LNCMO. With 2 wt% LATP modification treatment at 550 °C, the LNCMO exhibits remarkably enhanced cyclic and rate performances and more stable voltage plateaus. A capacity of 209 mA h g−1 at 0.2C and 86.3% capacity retention over 100 cycles are attained. Impedance analysis shows lower charge transfer impedance for the modified LNCMO. The LATP modification layer can promote Li-ion mobility and protect the active materials from side reactions at the cathode/electrolyte interface, and hence greatly improve the electrochemical performance.


In this paper, aluminum panels were used to improve the seismic behavior of the braced steel frames. One of the methods used to improve the seismic behavior of structures is the use of vertical links as energy dissipation systems. Aluminum has a low yielding stress and it yields faster than steel which results in a significant ductility. The investigation method was simulation by ABAQUS software. The steel frames with 1, 4, 8 and 12 stories were modeled by four different bracing systems and two types of rectangular and square aluminum panels. The results of using aluminum panels were compared with Easy Going Steel (EGS) through the structure capacity curves. The results indicate that using the aluminum panel as vertical link in braced steel frames made significant energy dissipation.


Thermosensitive scaffold was suggested for the partial replacement of nucleus in degenerated intervertebral disc with a minimally invasive surgical procedure. Biocompatible and thermosensitive scaffolds were prepared by coupling reaction of Pluronic with chitosan and it was inserted in degenerative spinal motion segments. To confirm the regeneration of degenerative discs and subsequent structural stability, cell proliferation and morphological changes were evaluated using relaxation time, quantity of DNA and histological examination. As a result, inserted group showed higher relaxation time, reduced the decrement of DNA contents, and accumulated GAG amount. The results confirmed the potential of thermosensitive scaffolds and minimally invasive surgical procedure for the regeneration of degenerative discs.


Perfluorinated carboxylic acids (PFCAs) are widespread environmental pollutants for which human exposure has been documented. PFCAs at high doses were known regulate xenobiotic transporters partly through PPARα and CAR in rodent models. Less is known regarding how various PFCAs at a lower concentration modulate transporters for endogenous substrates such as amino acids in human hepatocytes. Such studies are of particular importance because amino acids are involved in chemical detoxification and their transport system may serve as promising therapeutic targets for structurally similar xenobiotics. The focus of this study was to further elucidate how PFCAs modulate transporters involved in intermediary metabolism and xenobiotic biotransformation. We tested the hepatic transcriptomic response of HepaRG cells exposed to 45  M PFOA, PFNA, or PFDA in triplicates for 24 h (vehicle: 0.1% DMSO), as well as the prototypical ligands for PPARα (WY-14643, 45 µM) and CAR (CITCO, 2 µM). PFCAs with increasing carbon chain lengths (C8-C10) regulated more liver genes, with amino acid metabolism and transport ranked among the top enriched pathways and PFDA ranked as the most potent PFCA tested. Genes encoding amino acid transporters, which are essential for protein synthesis, were novel inducible targets by all 3 PFCAs, suggesting a potentially protective mechanism to reduce further toxic insults. None of the transporter regulations appeared to be through PPARα or CAR but potential involvement of Nrf2 is noted for all 3 PFCAs. In conclusion, PFCAs with increasing carbon chain lengths up-regulate amino acid transporters and modulate xenobiotic transporters to limit further toxic exposures in HepaRG


Objective : To investigate the (1) incidence of anxiety and (2) association of anxiety with disease duration, depression, and age in an outpatient Multiple Sclerosis (MS) Center. Background : The incidence of anxiety varies in the literature but is estimated to affect 44.5% of people with MS. Anxiety can be a predictor of poor Quality of Life, especially relevant in progressive illnesses, such as MS. Though research has shown that patients newly diagnosed experience higher anxiety levels, the relationship between anxiety and disease duration is unclear. Since anxiety can be comorbid with depression in MS populations, it is relevant to establish its association in this setting. Finally, though anxiety usually increases in older age, research for this relationship in MS populations is inconclusive. Design/Methods : The commonly used Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale, was distributed once to patients with MS over a 3 month period to assess anxiety and depression scores. MS disease duration and age were confirmed by neurologists. Results : Out of 160 patients with MS who completed the HADS, 19% reported abnormal anxiety, 14% reported borderline cases of anxiety, and 67% did not report anxiety. After following up on significant correlations, depression and younger age were related to higher anxiety levels, (R2=.35, F (4,144)=19.26, p <0.001). The standardized partial regression coefficients indicated 2 statistically significant predictors, depression ( I² =.55, p =<.001) and age ( I² =-.25, p =<.001). Discussion : 33% of patients reported symptoms of anxiety, emphasizing the need to focus on treating anxiety, specifically, early in their disease course. Clinicians may also want to recognize that elevated depression scores predicted anxiety. Lastly, in our cohort, the younger population reported higher anxiety, demonstrating that progressive illnesses may affect anxiety levels in younger populations more. Since approximately one third of patients with MS expressed anxiety symptoms, it is important to incorporate this into treatment plans.


Secnidazole, a 5-nitroimidazole, is a drug used in the treatment against protozoa, and several bacterial infections. This study purpose was to develop and validate a UV spectrophotometric method to determine secnidazole in pharmaceutical tablet dosage forms once there is no method reported in the pharmacopoeia yet. The quantification was performed using methanol as solvent at 325 nm (maximum wavelength) and three kinds of products marketed in Brazil (reference, generic and similar tablets) containing 1g of secnidazole. The method obeyed Beer's law in the concentration range of 4 20 μgmL respectively. The method was validated according to the International Conference on Harmonization (ICH) and Brazil National Health Surveillance Agency (ANVISA) guidelines, showing accuracy, precision, selectivity, robustness and linearity. Tests such as weight range, friability, disintegration, hardness and dissolution were carried out to check tablets' quality and all the trials showed to be in accordance with the general test guidelines of the Brazilian Pharmacopoeia. The dissolution test was carried out and the developed method was applied. The method developed is suitable for the estimation of secnidazole in tablets without any interference from the excipients and can be used for routine in quality control. Still, it's a simple, fast and low cost method.


Aerobic heterotrophic bacteria inhabiting microbial mats play an important role in carbon-cycling, yet information about their identity is scarce. We used the most probable number technique combined with denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE) to identify apparent numerically important populations of aerobic heterotrophic bacteria in a hypersaline microbial mat. At high dilutions, populations related to the genera Rhodobacter and Roseobacter and to the genera Marinobacter and Halomonas dominated glycolate and yeast extract-amended enrichment cultures respectively. Three selected isolates of aerobic heterotrophic bacteria were obtained from glycolate- amended enrichments and found to relate phylogenetically to species of the genus Roseobacter. These strains were found to grow, in addition to glycolate, on several other photosynthetic compounds known to be produced by cyanobacteria suggesting that they specialize in mineralizing photosynthetic excretion products. Our study demonstrates that aerobic heterotrophs, which are phy- logenetically affiliated to genera such as Rhodobacter, Roseobacter, Marinobacter and Halomonas, are important in hypersaline microbial mats, and that their specific in situ role in the carbon cycle needs to be further investigated.


Al-Firdaws al-ʿaqlī (The Noetic Paradise) is an anonymous patristic treatise on spiritual life, which, as far as currently known, is lost in the original Greek and preserved only in Arabic. The purpose of the present contribution is to explore two of the principal sources of the Firdaws: the Macarian Homilies and the writings of St. Maximus the Confessor. This source-critical examination is a crucial preliminary step towards contextualizing the Firdaws and determining more precisely the location and time of its composition.


Black shank disease of tobacco, caused by the oomycete Phytophthora nicotianae, is a major threat to production in the United States and tobacco-producing areas worldwide. In a statewide survey of North Carolina, the rapid shift from race 0 to race 1 was documented. Collected pathogen isolates were characterized phenotypically for mating type and mefenoxam sensitivity, and genotypically by comparing sequences from three cytoplasmic and two nuclear regions. Both the A1 and A2 mating types were found throughout the state. When both mating types were recovered from the same field, pairings of isolates yielded viable oospores, indicating for the first time the potential for sexual sporulation by P. nicotianae in natural populations. Because the loss of complete resistance required a renewed use of the fungicide mefenoxam, a subset of the survey isolates was screened for sensitivity to the fungicide. All isolates were sensitive, with a mean effective concentration to inhibit 50% of hyphal growth of 0.4 μg/ml that was similar across mating types and races. Molecular characterization of 226 isolates revealed that the pathogen exists as multiple clonal types within the state. Genetic diversity among the pathogen population and the potential for sexual recombination may help explain the ability of the pathogen to rapidly adapt to host resistance genes.


This research addresses the implementation of the new Israeli English curriculum based on the CEFR and its introduction to lead-teachers, teacher-mentors and teacher-educators defined as 'expert' according to Israel's Professional Standards Document (Ministry of Education 2019). To create reciprocal study and interaction with the curriculum document while disseminating it to EFL teachers throughout the country, these experts were led to conduct a multilevel interactive discourse, characterized by the ripple effect metaphor within Professional Learning Communities (henceforth PLCs). Examination of this interactive discourse within the PLC framework reflects the incorporation of a unique application design that draws on EFL curriculum implementation as a national policy and concurrently provides insight into the delivery of the curriculum designed to elicit critical meditative conversations. While applying a PLC setting, we demonstrate collaborative dialogues and knowledge construction by participant 'experts' as they learn the curriculum through social interaction, activating conceptual curriculum language as a mediational tool and verbalizing or 'languaging' the meaning making process (Swain 2006; Watanabe and Swain 2007). Thus, we ascertain that the expert-teachers' knowledge of the curriculum is constructed within the PLC structure as they explore methods to mediate the curriculum. To capture the scope of the interaction and delineate this knowledge construction, we collected, transcribed and analyzed asynchronous logs written by each participant, and four collaboratively written (socially constructed) group logs which together form the source of the current qualitative study.


ABSTRACT Epistemic invariantism, or invariantism for short, is the position that the proposition expressed by knowledge sentences does not vary with the epistemic standard of the context in which these sentences can be used. At least one of the major challenges for invariantism is to explain our intuitions about scenarios such as the so-called bank cases. These cases elicit intuitions to the effect that the truth-value of knowledge sentences varies with the epistemic standard of the context in which these sentences can be used. In this paper, I will defend invariantism against this challenge by advocating the following, somewhat deflationary account of the bank case intuitions: Readers of the bank cases assign different truth-values to the knowledge claims in the bank cases because they interpret these scenarios such that the epistemic position of the subject in question differs between the high and the low standards case. To substantiate this account, I will argue, first, that the bank cases are underspecified even with respect to features that should uncontroversially be relevant for the epistemic position of the subject in question. Second, I will argue that readers of the bank cases will fill in these features differently in the low and the high standards case. In particular, I will argue that there is a variety of reasons to think that the fact that an error-possibility is mentioned in the high standards case will lead readers to assume that this error-possibility is supposed to be likely in the high standards case.


Abstract We study a real data set of 7,894,947 patients who received service from the University of Michigan Health System (UMHS) from January 1, 2003 to December 31, 2008 using regression analysis to understand the dynamics of patient volume. Our objective is to find out patterns from time series of patient volume during economic crisis. We propose a contribution adjusted formula to understand the dynamics of a heterogeneous customer population. We find that the trend of patient volume for a health system is positively correlated to the trend of the underlying adjusted resident population and to the GDP rates and negatively correlated to annual unemployment rate. We also find that the percent change of patient volume in a health system depends on the threshold level curves of resident population and unemployment rate with nonlinear behavior. Our multiple regression model with quadratic response surface explains 98.9% of the variation. Moreover, the multiple regression model having lag 1 with interaction term explains 96.5% of the variation. Furthermore, we propose several models having dummy variables using localities for patient groups. Overall, our results suggest that people use more health services when they have enough income, job and health insurance.


In this paper we analyze a system for brittle delamination between two visco-elastic bodies, also subject to inertia, which can be interpreted as a model for dynamic fracture. The rate-independent flow rule for the delamination parameter is coupled with the momentum balance for the displacement, including inertia. This model features a nonsmooth constraint ensuring the continuity of the displacements outside the crack set, which is marked by the support of the delamination parameter. A weak solvability concept, generalizing the notion of energetic solution for rate-independent systems to the present mixed rate-dependent/rate-independent frame, is proposed. Via refined variational convergence techniques, existence of solutions is proved by passing to the limit in approximating systems which regularize the nonsmooth constraint by conditions for adhesive contact. The presence of the inertial term requires the design of suitable recovery spaces small enough to provide compactness but large enough to recover the information on the crack set in the limit.


The Greek agora, or market place, was where citizens met to discuss and debate topics of importance. The agora has been resurrected in electronic form, giving voice to many. Like the agora of old this largely unmediated forum provides important new avenues for debate. Examined here is the use of World Wide Web technology in fostering and sustaining ethical debates within and between professional communities.


In this paper, hand gesture recognition is presented by exploiting 3D localization using a depolarizing chipless RF identification (RFID) tag held in hand in front of a monostatic radar. The chipless RFID tag is localized by utilizing the backscattered phase and multilateration. Based on the location of the tag in 3D, it is possible to detect different gestures made with the hand. Six simple gestures are presented to illustrate the principle. These hand gestures are recognized by doing the free space measurements in office environment: a) $x$ line; b) $y$ line; c) $z$ line; d) xy circle; e) xz circle; and f) xyz helix. The system is capable to recognize hand gestures with good accuracy and hand speed.


An Ad hoc network is the network with no fixed infrastructure. There is no central administrator so any node can come and move in and outside of the network in a dynamic manner. This makes it more dynamic and complex which makes it more prone to attacks. They can attack either active or passive. Some effects of malicious nodes are Denial of service, Routing table overflow, Impersonation, Energy consumption, Information disclosure etc. A black hole attack node attracts all packets by falsely claiming a fresh route to the destination node and absorbs them without forwarding them to destination. In this paper a mechanism based on FUZZY LOGIC is proposed to detect the black hole attack in MANET with AODV protocol. An introduction of black hole in MANET with NS2 (2.35) is done, after applying the detection technique result reflects the performance. This paper is intended for audience having prior knowledge about network routing protocols and its related quantitative performance metrics.


Type 1 diabetes (T1D) is defined by the destruction of insulin-producing cells. Islet transplantation can restore glucose homeostasis and prevent serious hypoglycemic events; however, long-term graft survival is low. Oxidative stress can mediate islet transplantation rejection and suppressing oxidative stress with nanothin islet encapsulation materials comprised of alternating layers of tannic acid (TA), an immunomodulatory antioxidant, and poly(N-vinylpyrrolidone) (PVPON), a scaffold polymer, may allow for improved graft survival without systemic immunosuppression. We hypothesize that (PVPON/TA)-encapsulation of islets will prolong graft function following allotransplantation into immunocompetent recipients without utilizing systemic immunosuppression. Allogeneic transplantation of encapsulated C57BL/6 islets into diabetic non-obese diabetic (NOD) mice (n=12) significantly delayed graft failure by more than 90 days compared to controls and significantly reduced free radical-adduct formation produced by neutrophils and macrophages at the graft site. Gene expression displayed a 5- and 20-fold increase of anti-inflammatory genes Retnla and Arg1, respectively, and 3-fold reductions in Ccl5, Cxcl10, Prf1, and Grzmb mRNA accumulation in (PVPON/TA) versus control grafts. Flow cytometry analysis of encapsulated grafts contained fewer numbers of infiltrating dendritic cells and CD8 T cells and reduced frequencies of CCL5+, CXCR3+, MHC-II+ macrophages and perforin+ CD8 T cells by 3-fold compared to controls. Encapsulated grafts also reduced the frequencies of TNF+ and MHC-II+ dendritic cells by 2-fold. Additionally, encapsulation increased the frequency of arginase-1+ and CD206+ alternatively-activated macrophages 4-fold, suggesting that (PVPON/TA)-encapsulation may be a promising technique to prolong clinical islet graft function by skewing macrophage phenotypes and suppressing cytotoxic T cell effector responses in the absence of systemic immunosuppression. Disclosure J. Barra: None. V. Kozlovskaya: None. E. Kharlampieva: None. H.M. Tse: None. Funding National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (R01DK099550); JDRF (SRA-2016-270-S-B, JDRF 2-SRA-2019-692-S-B); National Science Foundation (NSF-DMR 1608728); National Institute of General Medical Sciences (T32GM008111)


This paper reports results from a contingent valuation based public good experiment conducted in the African nation of Botswana. In a sample of university students, we find evidence that stated willingness to contribute to a public good in a hypothetical setting is higher than actual contribution levels. However, results from regression analysis suggest that this is true only in the second round of the experiment, when participants making actual contributions have learned to significantly lower their contribution levels. As globalization expands markets, and economies such as Botswana's continue to modernize, there is a growing need to understand how hypothetical bias will influence the valuation of public goods.


The population tends to consume foods that in addition to their nutritional values can offer some benefits to their health. There are many epidemiological evidences and research studies in animal models suggesting that diet plays an important role in breast cancer prevention or progression. This review summarized some of the relevant researches about nutrition and cancer during the last years, especially in breast cancer. The analysis of probiotics and fermented products containing lactic acid bacteria in cancer prevention and/or treatment was especially discussed. It was observed that a balance of fatty acids similar to those of traditional Mediterranean diet, the consumption of fruits and vegetables, dietary fiber intake, vitamin supplementation are, along with the intake of probiotic products, the most extensivelystudied by the negative association to breast cancer risk. The consumption of probiotics and fermented products containing lactic acid bacteria was associated to reduce breast cancer risk in some epidemiological studies. The use of animal models showed the modulation of the host's immune response as one of the important effects associated to the benefices observed with most probiotics. However; future assays in human are very important before the medical community can accept the addition of probiotic or fermented milks containing lactic acid bacteria as supplements for cancer patients.


This paper presents a preliminary study of the multimodal discourse on masculinity constituted in contemporary British men's magazines' perfume advertising pages. In particular, this contribution intends to delineate what might be taken to be appropriate research directions for further empirical investigations on the discursive construction of masculinity in a genre of multimodal nature where images feature more prominently than language. Through a methodological integration of Kress and van Leeuwen's (1996) social semiotics framework and Fairclough's (1995b) CDA methodology for the examination of media discourse, the present study aims to shape the hypothesis that the discursive construction of masculinity carried out in these perfume advertisements – embedded into the sociocultural matrix accounting for its emergence – is multimodally articulated, thereby attempting to fix some analytical categories for any further empirical investigations necessary for providing specific results about the discursive construction of the masculine in this genre. In so doing, this piece does not claim any 'results' as such – which would have certainly demanded an examination of a wider corpus – but makes explicit certain hypotheses for further corpus-based research.


Closed-form expressions for buffered interconnect delay approximation have been around for some time. However, previous approaches assume that buffers are free to be placed anywhere. In practice, designs frequently have large blocks that make the ideal buffer-insertion solution unrealizable. The theory of Otten (ACM/IEEE Intl. Symp. Physical Design, p. 104, 1998) is extended to show how one can model the blocks into a simple delay-estimation technique that applies to both two-pin and multipin nets. Even though the formula uses one buffer type, it shows remarkable accuracy in predicting delay when compared to an optimal realizable buffer-insertion solution. Potential applications include wire planning, timing analysis during floorplanning, or global routing. The authors' experiments show that their approach accurately predicts delay when compared to constructing a realizable buffer insertion with multiple buffer types


In this survey, several model of tree transducers are investigated with respect to properties that are relevant in machine translation. These properties include: suitable expressiveness, symmetry, preservation of regularity, and closure under composition. For three tree transducer models, top-down tree transducers, extended top-down tree transducers, and extended multi bottom-up tree transducers, the relevant results are presented in an informal and illustrative manner. The aim of the survey is provide a synopsis that illustrates how theory (tree transducers) and practice (machine translation) interact on this particular example. Additional details can be found in the original results that are referenced throughout the text.


We give a sufficient condition for detecting the entanglement resource for perfect multiqubit teleportation. The criterion involves only local measurements on some complementary observables and can be experimentally implemented. It is also a necessary condition for full separability of multiqubit states. Moreover, by proving the optimality of teleportation witnesses, we solve the open problem in Phys. Rev. A 86, 032315 (2012).


Most research on controlled atmosphere storage (CA) and modified atmosphere packaging (MA) places emphasis on optimal gas concentrations, defined as the concentrations where quality change of a product almost ceases without introduction of tissue disorders. They depend on the tolerance of products to low O2 concentrations [O2], often, in the range of 1–4␘2. Tolerance to these conditions appears to depend on both morphological and metabolic adaptations that are both species and tissue specific (Ratcliffe, 1995). During O2 limitation, energy metabolism switches from respiration to fermentation leading to disorders like necrotic and discoloured tissues, off odours and off tastes (Kader et al., 1989), suggesting that they have a direct relationship. Kader (1986) stated that decarboxylation of pyruvate to acetaldehyde through to ethanol results in the development of off-flavours and tissue breakdown. In fact [O2] is often considered to be optimal when respiration rates are reduced without development of fermentation (Banks et al., 1993). Therefore, traditionally, research on CA has been focused on avoiding fermentation. There have been three concepts; the Extinction Point (EP, Blackman, 1928), the Anaerobic Compensation point (ACP, Boersig et al., 1988) and the Respiration Quotient Breakpoint (RQB, Gran and Beaudry, 1993). All are related to fermentation rates. The EP is the highest [O2] with no anaerobic metabolism, measured as ethanol or acetaldehyde production. However, ethanol is now detected as a normal constituent of apples and many other fruits held under aerobic conditions (Boersig et al., 1988; Ke et al., 1990, 1993; Colelli et al., 1991, Nanos et al., 1992), so that the EP is therefore an untenable concept (Boersig et al., 1988). The ACP, the [O2] at which CO2 production is minimal, can be explained as the [O2] where an increase in anaerobic CO2 production compensates for the decrease in aerobic CO2 production. This implies anaerobic metabolism at higher [O2] than the ACP. The RQB is the [O2] where the RQ increases when [O2] is further lowered. The ACP and the RQB are not directly related to fermentation rates but are derived from gas exchange rates. Both the ACP and the RQB accept a certain increase in fermentation rate, measured as an increased CO2 production or RQ. With fermentation active at supposed optimal concentrations, and even in normal air, it is unclear whether there is an [O2] which precludes fermentation. Therefore occurrence of fermentation itself cannot be a criterion for selecting optimal storage concentrations. Throughout the years two possible explanations arose for the correlation between increased fermentation and tissue disorders: (1), a toxic effect of fermentative metabolites; (2), insufficient energy production to cover energy demands. We will discuss the physiological relevance and implications for storage procedures. Toxic effect of fermentative metabolites: Fermentative metabolites are often considered to be the cause of storage disorders with which they are often associated. Many metabolic studies of the survival of plant tissues in the absence of oxygen are focused on the possible toxicity of the main fermentation end-products, lactic acid, acetaldehyde and ethanol (Perata and Alpi, 1993; Ricard et al., 1994). Lactic acid - In many plants, formation of lactate precedes ethanol production. Davies et al. (1974) therefore proposed a regulatory role for lactate during the shift from oxidative to fermentative pathways, through decreasing cell pH and thereby increasing ADH activity. Different researchers, however, have found that the production of lactate is not well matched with the initial fall in the cytoplasmatic pH (Ratcliffe, 1995). Also the occurrence of lactic fermentation prior to the induction of alcoholic fermentation is not universally present in plants (Perata and Alpi, 1993). Nonetheless, the regulation of cytosolic pH is considered to be the


Aim: The aim of this research was to examine the quality of life of patients with temporary or permanent colostomy regarding age, gender, marital status and time spent with an ostomy. Materials and Methods: The study involved 41 members of the Ostomy ILCO Clubs in Slavonski Brod and Osijek as respondents. The standard version of the "Quality of Life Questionnaire for a Patient with an Ostomy" was used as the research instrument. Results: The mean value of the overall scale was 5.4. The respondents rated the physical well-being the highest, a median of 5.9 (interquartile range 4.6 to 7.2), and social well-being the lowest, median 5.0 (interquartile range 4.1 to 6). Women gave higher marks for physical, social and spiritual well-being, and overall for the scale median of 5.5 (interquartile range 4.9 to 6.1), but with no significant differences compared to men. Married respondents ranked psychological, social and spiritual well-being higher, with a median of 5.4 (interquartile range 4.7 to 6.0), but with no significant differences compared to those who live alone. Physical, psychological and spiritual well- being is somewhatlower in patients under the age of 65, and social well-being is lower in subjects aged 66 - 75, the median of 4.7 (interquartile range 3.6 to 5.6). Correlation between the subscales pertaining to quality of life of the respondents with regard to their age and with regard to living alone (single, divorced or widowed) is significant in terms of the physical (Spearman coefficient of correlation = 0.945, p < 0.001), mental (Spearman coefficient of correlation = 0.943, p = 0.005), social (Spearman's correlation coefficient = 0.829, p = 0.042) and spiritual well-being (Spearman coefficient of correlation = 0.886, p = 0.019). Conclusion: Quality of life of patients with an ostomy is satisfactory. There are differences in quality of life regarding age, gender, marital status and time spent with an ostomy. There is also a connection between the subscales "quality of life regarding age" and "quality of life regarding marital status" of patients with colostomy. Keywords : colostomy; quality of life


Agile software development projects rely on the diversity of team members' expertise. This expertise, however, is not adequate on its own: it is important to leverage available expertise through expertise coordination. Expertise coordination requires team members to rely on each other for recognizing who has particular expertise, when and where they are needed, and how to access the expertise effectively. Agile teams also need to rely on outside expertise such as user experience designers, architects, and database administrators. This thesis presents a theory of expertise coordination in Agile Software Development projects. We employed semi-structured interviews, observations, and document analysis in a Grounded Theory study involving 48 Agile practitioners and external specialists. This study discovered three main categories of expertise coordination: processes of expertise coordination, strategies of managing external expertise, and management roles in supporting expertise coordination. The theory provides a new insight into how Agile teams coordinate internal and external expertise, how they utilize external specialists and outsourcers' expertise, and how management can support expertise coordination.


SUMMARY: Cuticular extracts of Acyrthosiphon pisum, the pea aphid, stimulated the formation of germ-tubes of ballistospores of aggressive strains of Conidiobolus obscurus, but showed no influence on those of non-aggressive strains. Aggressive strains were separated into two groups: (a) those stimulated by both (i) water- or alcohol-soluble cuticular extracts originating from honeydew and (ii) lipidic extracts of the cuticle, and (b) those stimulated by (ii) only. The hydrocarbon and polar fractions of the cuticular lipids were the most active. These results obtained with C. obscurus are compared to the effect of cuticular compounds on spore germination in other entomopathogenic fungi.


Study Design. Neck-pain and control group comparative analysis of conventional and virtual reality (VR)-based assessment of cervical range of motion (CROM). Objectives. To use a tracker-based VR system to compare CROM of individuals suffering from chronic neck pain with CROM of asymptomatic individuals; to compare VR system results with those obtained during conventional assessment; to present the diagnostic value of CROM measures obtained by both assessments; and to demonstrate the effect of a single VR session on CROM. Summary of Background Data. Neck pain is a common musculoskeletal complaint with a reported annual prevalence of 30% to 50%. In the absence of a gold standard for CROM assessment, a variety of assessment devices and methodologies exist. Common to these methodologies, assessment of CROM is carried out by instructing subjects to move their head as far as possible. However, these elicited movements do not necessarily replicate functional movements which occur spontaneously in response to multiple stimuli. To achieve a more functional approach to cervical motion assessment, we have recently developed a VR environment in which electromagnetic tracking is used to monitor cervical motion while participants are involved in a simple yet engaging gaming scenario. Methods. CROM measures were collected from 25 symptomatic and 42 asymptomatic individuals using VR and conventional assessments. Analysis of variance was used to determine differences between groups and assessment methods. Logistic regression analysis, using a single predictor, compared the diagnostic ability of both methods. Results. Results obtained by both methods demonstrated significant CROM limitations in the symptomatic group. The VR measures showed greater CROM and sensitivity while conventional measures showed greater specificity. A single session exposure to VR resulted in a significant increase in CROM. Conclusion. Neck pain is significantly associated with reduced CROM as demonstrated by both VR and conventional assessment methods. The VR method provides assessment of functional CROM and can be used for CROM enhancement. Assessment by VR has greater sensitivity than conventional assessment and can be used for the detection of true symptomatic individuals.


s 14th World Congress on Disaster and Emergency Medicine s91 cautions for infection such as changing gloves were simulated. The simulated total time to vaccinate 1,000 patients was just under four hours. Ambulance standby was arranged in case of actual illness of volunteers and in case screening uncovered any illness that would require immediate access to medical care. Security for clinic volunteers, healthcare workers, and vaccines also was simulated. Security was asked to screen for press credentials and direct all media to the designated public information officer (PIO) and to limit access to and protect the medical privacy of vaccine recipients. There was actual coverage of the simulation by local media. With these results regarding the required number of healthcare workers and required time to vaccinate 1,000 patients, numbers can be estimated for any size population depending on clinic operation hours of 12,16, or 24 hours of operation. The number of healthcare workers required can be estimated depending on 8 or 12hour shifts.


This paper presents a 28-GHz monolithic quadrature voltage-controlled oscillator (QVCO) realized in a preproduction 0.4-/spl mu/m SiGe bipolar technology with 85-GHz transit frequency. QVCOs efficiently drive quadrature modulators and demodulators in receivers or transmitters. At 28.9 GHz, the circuit provides -14.7 dBm of output power and phase noise of -84.2 dBc/Hz at a 1-MHz offset. The two output signals are in quadrature with phase error of about 5/spl deg/. Tuning of the QVCO may be done in the frequency range from 24.8 to 28.9 GHz with nearly constant output power. The circuit consumes 25.8 mA from the 5 V voltage supply.


The underwater suspended pipeline was investigated for the dynamic instability which is applied at the problem for the oscillation f the pipe-line part by inverted pendulum. The connection point of pendulum was received as ve rtical moving point by harmonic law. For definition of the dynamical equation it is used the analogy of the Mathieu equation. For solution it is used Ince-Strut diagram. As numerical example it was used the pipeline behavior at the project between Turkey and North Cyprus at the East Mediterranean Sea.


Introduction The two week wait (2WW) referral leads to significant burden on outpatient clinics. This delays appointments for patients that may not fit the 2WW criteria. Only 5% of patients referred as 2WW will have an upper GI malignancy and it may not be necessary for all these patients to be reviewed urgently in clinic. Previously at our hospital, most upper GI 2WW referrals were booked an OGD (performed by any available endoscopist) in addition to a clinic appointment on receipt of the referral. In order to streamline the service, in January 2013 patients were triaged to either an OGD or a clinic appointment. The index OGD's are now done on consultant's list (Gastroenterologist and Upper GI Surgeon) with a clinical assessment at their OGD appointment. Further management is protocol based and dependant upon the assessment and OGD findings. The aim of this study was to determine if this change in practice is effective and safe. Methods Patients referred as a 2WW in January and February 2012 were compared to those referred in January, February, August and September 2013. Only patients triaged directly to OGD were included (77/143 (54%) in 2012 and 180/291 (62%) in 2013). 14 patients were excluded from further analysis due to non-attendance. Results Total cancer detection for all referrals was 8% in 2012 and 9% in 2013. In patients selected for a direct OGD referral, 7 upper GI cancers were diagnosed in 2012 and 14 in 2013. After the OGD, 4 (5%) patients in 2012 were immediately discharged back to the GP, compared to 33 (20%) in 2013 (p = 0.003). Of those attending clinic post OGD, 9 patients (13%) were given a routine appointment in 2012 compared to 50 (37%) in 2013 (p = 0.0002). Comparing the two years, there was a 32% reduction in the requirement of urgent outpatient appointments (83% had urgent OPD in 2012 compared to 51% in 2013, p = 0.0001). Of those discharged in 2013, 85% had documentation of the current symptoms at time of OGD and in 94%, treatment advice was provided to the GP. One patient was discharged after an OGD showing grade B oesophagitis and symptom improvement with PPI. Unfortunately, a re-referral 8 weeks later for worsening symptoms found oesophageal cancer on OGD. Conclusion The introduction of consultant assessment as a first contact for all OGD 2WW referrals has led to a significant reduction in the requirement of urgent outpatient clinic appointments by one third. Waiting times for all clinic referrals have reduced significantly, amounting to 54% reduction in the number of patients waiting more than 9 weeks for a first appointment. Cancer detection is comparable to the previous model of care. Patients with ongoing symptoms at the time of endoscopy need follow up. In hindsight the missed cancer should have had an oesophageal biopsy, but this is clinical judgement and we do not believe the new service accounted for this delay. Disclosure of Interest None Declared.


Nowadays, as the Internet grows rapidly, the copyright laws are not effective anymore, since a lot of copyrighted products (picture, audio, video, document, etc.) are available as digital data. Any unauthorized parties able to produce identical copies of digital data without degrading the original contents and to distribute the copies over the network. This condition has led to a strong demand for reliable and secure distribution of digital data over networks. Such a technique developed to overcome this problem is digital watermarking. Digital watermarking is a process in digital domain, which embeds a watermark into a copyrighted digital data, to protect its value, so that it cannot be used by unauthorized parties.

This paper is intended to give an overview on digital watermarking. First, three application fields of watermarking are described and illustrated with some scenarios, namely watermarking for copyright protection, watermarking for copy protection, and watermarking for image authentication. Then watermarking techniques are discussed, starting from the basic watermarking procedure, followed by review of some watermarking techniques. And later, some attacks and obstacles to watermarking are highlighted.

In conclusion, digital watermarking technology plays important role in content protection issues. Attacks and obstacles are also had to be faced by this technology. The main obstacle is that there is no standard available for watermarking techniques. Without any specific standard, it is difficult to determine how robust a watermarking technique should be.


Knowledge management to facilitate the creation, storage, transfer, and application of knowledge in organizations has received wide attention in practice and research in the past several years. Often cited as a significant challenge in knowledge management practices is the issue of organizational culture. Although many studies raise the issue of organizational culture's influence on knowledge management success, few investigate the way in which this influence manifests itself. This paper aims to explore how organizational culture influences knowledge management practices. Using a case study method, we examine the cultural values and knowledge management approaches within a large global information services company and one of its knowledge communities. The findings highlight the influence of culture on the use of knowledge management technologies and the outcomes of such use.


Resumen This study investigated the temporal distribution of the defining characteristics Response to Dysfunctional Ventilatory Weaning. Aimed to describe the conformation of the chronological distribution of the defining characteristics of this diagnostic in ventilated patients during the prolonged interruption of mechanical ventilation and verify the existence of a prevailing weather pattern. This is a descriptive study and exploratory quantitative approach. The subjects were adult clients admitted for clinical reasons in the Intensive Care Unit, Hospital Pro-Cardiac under prolonged mechanical ventilation and who were being weaned. With the results was obtained to confirm the hypothesis of a temporal distribution prevailing in the observed sample. It was possible to distinguish the main intervals of observation / demonstration of the defining characteristics, namely: early, intermediate and late. Regarding the management of the weaning process could be given some contributions to better assessments of protocol.


The increasing occurrence of herbicide resistance, along with no new herbicide modes of action developed in over 30 yr, have increased the need for nonherbicidal weed management strategies and tactics. Harvest weed seed control (HWSC) practices have been successfully adopted in Australia to manage problematic weeds. For HWSC to be effective, a high proportion of weed seeds must be retained on the plant at crop maturity. This 2-yr (2014, 2015) study evaluated seed shatter of wild oat, green foxtail, wild mustard, and cleavers in both an early (field pea) and late (spring wheat) maturity crop in field experiments at Scott, Saskatchewan. Seed shatter was assessed using shatter trays collected once a week during crop ripening stage, as well as at two crop maturation or harvest stages (swathing, direct-combining). Seed shatter differed among weed species, but was similar between crops at maturity: ca. 30% for wild oat, 5% for cleavers, < 2% for wild mustard, and < 1% for green foxtail. Overall, seed shatter of wild oat occurred sooner and at greater levels during the growing season compared with the other weed species. Viability of both shattered and plant-retained seeds was relatively high for all species. The small amount of seed shatter of cleavers, wild mustard, and green foxtail suggests that these species may be suitable candidates for HWSC. Due to the amount and timing of wild oat seed shatter, HWSC may not reduce population abundance of this grassy weed. Nomenclature: Cleavers, Galium spp. (false cleavers, G. spurium L. GALSP; and catchweed bedstraw, G. aparine L. GALAP); green foxtail, Setaria viridis (L.) Beauv. SETVI; wild mustard, Sinapis arvensis L. SINAR; wild oat, Avena fatua L. AVEFA; field pea, Pisum sativum L.; spring wheat, Triticum aestivum L.


The pattern and frequency of insertions that enable transposable elements to remain active in a population are poorly understood. The retrotransposable element R2 exclusively inserts into the 28S rRNA genes where it establishes long-term, stable relationships with its animal hosts. Previous studies with laboratory stocks of Drosophila simulans have suggested that control over R2 retrotransposition resides within the rDNA loci. In this report, we sampled 180 rDNA loci of animals collected from two natural populations of D. simulans. The two populations were found to have similar patterns of R2 activity. About half of the rDNA loci supported no or very low levels of R2 transcripts with no evidence of R2 retrotransposition. The remaining half of the rDNA loci had levels of R2 transcripts that varied in a continuous manner over almost a 100-fold range and did support new retrotransposition events. Structural analysis of the rDNA loci in 18 lines that spanned the range of R2 transcript levels in these populations revealed that R2 number and rDNA locus size varied 2-fold; however, R2 activity was not readily correlated with either of these parameters. Instead R2 activity was best correlated with the distribution of elements within the rDNA locus. Loci with no activity had larger contiguous blocks of rDNA units free of R2-insertions. These data suggest a model in which frequent recombination within the rDNA locus continually redistributes R2-inserted units resulting in changing levels of R2 activity within individual loci and persistent R2 activity within the population.


Innovations in the current interconnected world of organizations have lead to a focus on business models as a fundamental statement of direction and identity. Although industry transformations generally emanate from technological changes, recent examples suggest they may also be due to the introduction of new business models. In the past, different types of airline business models could be clearly separated from each other. However, this has changed in recent years partly due to the concentration process and partly to reaction caused by competitive pressure. At least it can be concluded that in future the distinction of different business models will remain less clear. To advance the use of business models as a concept, it is essential to be able to compare and perform analyses to identify the business models that may have the highest potential. This can essentially contribute to understanding the synergies and incompatibilities in the case of two airlines that are going in for a merger. This is illustrated by the example of Swiss Air-Lufthansa merger analysis.The idea is to develop quantitative methods and tools for comparing and analyzing Aeronautical/Airline business models. The paper identifies available methods of comparing airline business models and lays the ground work for a quantitative model of comparing airline business models. This can be a useful tool for business model analysis when two airlines are merged.


1,N(2)-Etheno(epsilon)guanine (epsilon) is formed in DNA as a result of exposure to certain vinyl monomers (e.g., vinyl chloride) or from lipid peroxidation. This lesion has been shown to be mutagenic in bacteria and mammalian cells. 1,N(2)-epsilon-G has been shown to block several model replicative DNA polymerases (pols), with limited bypass. Recently, an archebacterial DNA pol, Sulfolobus solfataricus Dpo4, has been shown to copy past 1,N(2)-epsilon-G. In this study, we examined the abilities of recombinant, full-length human pol delta and three human translesion DNA pols to copy past 1,N(2)-epsilon-G. The replicative pol, pol delta, was completely blocked. Pols iota and kappa showed similar rates of incorporation of dTTP and dCTP. Pol eta was clearly the most active of these pols in copying past 1,N(2)-epsilon-G, incorporating in the order dGTP > dATP > dCTP, regardless of whether the base 5' of 1,N(2)-epsilon-G in the template was C or T. Pol eta also had the highest error frequency opposite 1,N(2)-epsilon-G. Analysis of the extended products of the pol eta reactions by mass spectrometry indicated only two products, both of which had G incorporated opposite 1,N(2)-epsilon-G and all other base pairing being normal (i.e., G:C and A:T). One-half of the products contained an additional A at the 3'-end, presumably arising from a noninformational blunt end addition or possibly a slipped insertion mechanism at the end of the primer-template replication process. In summary, the most efficient of the four human DNA pols was pol eta, which appeared to insert G opposite 1,N(2)-epsilon-G and then copy correctly. This pattern differs with the same oligonucleotide sequences and 1,N(2)-epsilon-G observed using Dpo4, emphasizing the importance of pols in mutagenesis events.


Approximately one in six people with consumer credit debt suffer moderate to severe 'financial distress', experiencing financial difficulties or other issues such as mental health problems from the strain of repaying their debts. A challenge for regulators (and firms) is how to design affordability rules which minimise financial distress by limiting access to credit to those who cannot afford to repay, without such rules excessively restricting affordable credit access or imposing processes which unnecessarily increase the costs of borrowing.
This paper provides theoretical and practical evidence to help develop more effective affordability rules. We find it is possible to detect particular groups of consumers who have a high risk of suffering forms of financial distress. There are, however, some important limitations to these rules.
In the absence of adequate affordability rules, consumers can suffer potentially avoidable financial distress. There are strong, economic reasons for this. Lenders are incentivised to offer credit to applicants where it is expected to be profitable, irrespective of the risk of financial distress to the applicant. Consumers may take out such credit if they do not realise they are at a high risk of financial distress. The greater the ability to accurately discriminate between high and low risk applicants, the higher the likelihood that firms' affordability rules will prevent financial distress by avoiding lending to those at high risk.
Using data on 2.4 million applications for high-cost short-term credit (payday) loans, we examine the ability to predict financial distress. We construct measures of financial distress from detailed credit reference agency (CRA) data. While much financial distress cannot be predicted, high credit risk applicants are at a substantially higher risk of the observable, objective measures of financial distress we measure in this paper, relative to other applicants. Applicants who have outstanding consumer credit debts near or above their annual net individual income (known as the DTI ratio) also have a significantly higher risk of suffering financial distress.
We find substantial differences in the total value of outstanding debts recorded on two different CRAs for the same individuals, at the same points-in-time. We also conclude that data used by lenders for predicting financial distress are unlikely to accurately estimate incomes and expenditures for some applicants. This limits the ability of lenders to predict financial distress and decide which consumers not to lend to.


The localized electrochemical characteristics of the anodic metal within a zinc/steel couple immersed in seawater was investigated using an Wire Beam Electrode(WBE) composed of 9 zinc wire sensors together with 112 mild steel ones. The results showed that potential and current density distributions of zinc wires were inhomogeneous; main anodic area transferred from the zinc wires adjacent to steel wires to those farther away from zinc/steel interface gradually; besides, some zinc wires behaved as secondary cathodes. This electrochemical inhomogeneity of zinc might mainly be ascribed to the dissimilar distance between zinc and mild steel wire sensors, and their surface electrochemical state as well.


Microbially available phosphorus (MAP) is the labile phosphorus that is readily assimilated by microorganisms, which is linearly correlated to bacterial re-growth in drinking water in some regions. The conventional MAP bioassay for drinking water was originally developed by Markku based on the growth potential of Pseudomonas fluorescens P17 (P17). However, the bioassay bears some demerits, such as time-consuming and labor-intensive enumeration. For convenience, an alternative method based on a similar principle was developed to assess the content of MAP in drinking water, in which natural microbial consortium was used as inoculum instead of pure culture P17, cell number was counted using flow cytometry (FCM), and cultivation at 30 °C was adopted. Natural microbial consortium is able to efficiently utilize organic phosphorus and exhibit high sensitivity since more cells are produced per μg P utilized. FCM is a rapid method to count all bacteria growing in drinking water. With incubation temperature increasing up to 30 °C, there is a shorter test period (64 h), excellent sensitivity and better utilization efficiency for organic phosphorus. The results show that the developed bioassay is sensitive, time-saving and easily operated.


Computing technology is evolving rapidly, which requires immediate terminology creation in the Arabic language to cope with such an evolution. Technical loanwords form a big part of modern Arabic terminology and they are spreading rapidly within the language. This research investigates the extent to which the Arabic neologization mechanism of taʿrīb (lexical borrowing) is used in computing terminology creation in comparison with the mechanisms of ishtiqāq (derivation), majāz (semantic extension) and tarkīb (compounding). In addition, it assesses the impact and importance of taʿrīb as a computing terminology creation mechanism in Arabic. This research is based on a corpus of specialised dictionaries and specialised literature. The aforementioned mechanisms are used to various degrees in Arabic in the creation of computing terminology, and are used interchangeably to produce equivalents of single foreign terms, which has caused confusion in the use of the language. The extent of the use of taʿrīb in computing terminology creation, and its impact on, and importance to Arabic as a computing terminology creation mechanism is determined based on two criteria. First, a comparison of the extent of use of the aforementioned mechanisms based on three selected corpora of dictionaries and magazines of Arabic technical computing terminology is presented. Second, an assessment of the lexicographical treatments of the computing terms coined by the aforementioned mechanisms is offered, with special consideration of the terms coined by taʿrīb as the main mechanism under discussion. The findings show that taʿrīb is by far the most used Arabic word formation mechanism in terms of computing terminology creation, followed by tarkīb, ishtiqāq and majāz. In addition, it has been concluded that taʿrīb clearly has a major impact on, and is of great importance to Arabic in computing terminology creation.


Background: The maternal insulin-like growth factor (IGF) system is considered to be involved in fetal growth regulation. However, available data linking this system to fetal growth are contradictory and incomplete. Aims: To measure components of the IGF system before, during and after pregnancy in healthy women and to relate these results, and their changes during pregnancy, to fetal weight (gestational week 31) and birth weight. Methods: Serum concentrations of IGF-I, IGF-II, IGF-binding protein (IGFBP)-1, IGFBP-3 and IGFBP-3 protease activity were assessed in 23 women before conception, at weeks 8, 14, 20, 32 and 35 of pregnancy and 2 weeks postpartum. The data were analyzed using simple and multiple linear regression. Results: One third of the variability in fetal weight was explained by IGF-I in combination with IGFBP-3 protease activity, both assessed at gestational week 32 (p = 0.013). Birth weight was negatively correlated (r = –0.43 to –0.59) with IGFBP-1 at gestational week 20 (p = 0.041), 32 (p = 0.012) and 35 (p = 0.003). Conclusion: We propose there is a finely tuned balance among the components of the IGF system, providing a means for fetal growth regulation.


To study the seismic failure effect of subgrade, the field investigation and analysis of seismic failure of the subgrade are conducted. six seismic failure modes of the subgrade are proposed, (1) shallow surface sliding of slope, (2) development of slip surface within the body of subgrade, (3) development of slip surface reaching the foundation, (4) overall sliding of sloping subgrade, (5) slumping, and (6) desification. Meanwhile, the investigation shows that seismic subsidence rate and wave-like deformation amplitude rise with the increase of seismic intensity, the degree of subgrade damage is closely related to the characteristics of route selection. The research has analyzed the seismic damage mechanism of the subgrade, explores a new concept of seismic design based on allowable deformation proposed by Ikuo Towhata.


Urban sprawl has been a continuous trend for several decades. It is of public interest to improve knowledge on costs and possible benefits of urban sprawl, especially in a policy context where questions arise about the opportunity to densify the town centres. What is more cost-effective between urban densification and urban sprawl? What are the benefits expected from public expenses? The article reviews previous studies and summarizes the main conclusions. This review identifies the most commonly used indicators and methods of analysis. However the studies came to divergentconclusions. Therefore, this article goes on to present conclusions of two new case studies which focused on the impact of urban development on Local Public Budgets. The method used consists of a cross analysis of socio-economic and public finance data from 1999 to 2006. Although limited to only two case studies, the main conclusion validates some of the previous studies and gives them a new perspective on territorial and financing processes.


Mass cytometry enables the measurement of up to 50 features on single cell. This has catalyzed a shift toward multidimensional data analysis methods, rather than the manual gating strategies as traditionally for in flow cytometry data. This shift means that data scientists are involved in the analysis process to an increasing degree. As the data is analyzed in a more unbiased fashion, where noisy or uninformative observations are not easily excluded, a deeper knowledge of the origin, noise, and modalities of the data is therefore needed to embark on useful data analysis. In this primer, we introduce the idiosyncrasies of mass cytometry data with a focus on the technical properties of how data generated with the CyTOF® system, and the characteristics of protein expression in the cells of the hematopoietic continuum, specifically targeted toward data scientists. We also provide a comprehensive online repository of scripts, tutorials, and example data. © 2018 International Society for Advancement of Cytometry


Differences of opinion are a natural and vital part of monetary policy making by committee. With the appropriate stance for monetary policy both unobservable and uncertain, individual policymakers need to synthesise a wide range of information, including the views of other committee members. Using a novel measure of views that we construct from text analysis of the Bank of England Monetary Policy Committee's minutes and speeches, we show that both individual economic assessments and broader committee views are important in explaining individual voting. But in periods of high uncertainty both become more volatile and carry less weight in votes, consistent with the predictions of a simple voting model embedding a signal extraction problem. There is no increase in the dispersion of economic assessments in periods of uncertainty, nor in the mean dissent rate. Thus we show that interpreting the voting record as a reflection of policy uncertainty is unreliable, and highlight the value of individual committee members' communications — such as speeches — for conveying differences in view.


The purpose of this study was to review higher education in Nigeria from 1960-1985 with emphasis on curriculum development, to identify the changes that took place during that period, and to utilize those changes to evaluate the current state of Nigerian higher education. In order to fulfill the purpose of this study, answers were sought for six research questions.
Chapter 1 includes a statement of the problem, purpose of this study, research questions, background, and significance of the study. Chapter 2 presents information on the methods of gathering and analyzing data. Chapter 3 is a review of the background literature. Chapter 4 presents information on higher education and curriculum development 1960-1985, and Chapter 5 covers the Nigeria National Curriculum Conference of 1969. The findings, conclusions, and recommendations of the study are presented in Chapter 6.


An important task in urban sensing applications is to accurately localize moving and vibrating targets in the presence of significant background clutter. A dual-frequency CW radar, which estimates the range of a target based on the phase difference between two closely spaced frequencies, has been shown to be a cost-effective approach for range estimation of a moving target. Previous work has shown that the use of Fourier transform and time-frequency analysis techniques provides an estimate of Doppler signature and enhanced signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), thereby enabling the range estimation of moving targets and significantly improving the estimation accuracy. In this paper, we consider the combined use of these technologies with a synthetic aperture array for the localization of inanimate moving targets. The synthetic array aperture provides the capability of high-resolution spatial localization of inanimate moving targets, as well as determining the orientation of the rotation or vibration.


Difference and Dispersion is the fourth in a series of annual research papers produced by doctoral students from The Graduate School of Education, The University of Queensland, following their presentation at the School's annual Postgraduate Research Conference in Education.

The work featured herein celebrates the diversity of cultural and disciplinary backgrounds of education researchers who come from as far afield as Germany, Hong Kong, China, Nigeria, Russia, Singapore, Thailand and of course different parts of Australia. In keeping with a postmodern epistemology, 'difference' and 'dispersion' are key themes in apprehending the multiplicity of their research topics, methodologies, methods and speaking/writing positions.

From widely differing contexts and situations, these writers address the consequences, implications and possibilities for education at the beginning of the third millennium. Their interest ranges from location-specific issues in schools and classrooms, change in learning contexts and processes, educational discourses and relations of power in diverse geographical settings, and the differing articulations of the local and the global in situated policy contexts.

Conceived and developed in a spirit of ongoing dialogue with and insight to alternative views and visions of education and society, this edited collection exemplifies the quality in diversity and the high levels of scholarship and supervision at one of Australia's finest Graduate Schools of Education.


Natural and other disasters, such as Hurricane Katrina, can impair, contaminate, or destroy public water systems, including treatment facilities and distribution systems. Costs of addressing such damage can be substantial, while the potential public health and safety consequences of lost or impaired water supplies necessitate rapid responses. Natural and other disasters also can have calamitous impacts on other water infrastructure facilities, such as wastewater treatment plants and flood control systems. To help address such emergencies, Congress has authorized programs over the years that can provide emergency assistance to repair and restore drinking water, wastewater, and related water infrastructure systems and facilities. This report offers information on federal programs that can provide emergency drinking water, wastewater, and related assistance. These include the Public Assistance grant program (Federal Emergency Management Agency), Emergency and Imminent Community Water Assistance Grant Program and Emergency Watershed Protection Program (U.S. Department of Agriculture), Drinking Water Emergency Assistance (Environmental Protection Agency), and flood control and coastal emergency response (Department of Defense, Army Corps of Engineers). This report will be updated to reflect developments. (For a review of other federal water assistance programs, see CRS Report RL30478, Federally Supported Water Supply and Wastewater Treatment Programs.)