Unplanned disruptions of rail transit networks have been studied extensively. Planned disruptions for works essentially are different mainly because of their longer duration, which allows passengers to build alternative route choice strategies. The literature on this topic remains scarce. In this study, a novel methodology was proposed to enable operators to evaluate different disruption management schemes and to obtain explicit estimations of travel times, passenger comfort flows, and levels of service. Statistical tools were used to evaluate the different strategies. The methodology is illustrated here through a large-scale application to a real line disruption in Paris. The disruption took place in July 2015 as the result of network maintenance work and affected Line A of Réseau Express Régional, a major suburban railway line that provides more than 1 million trips on a typical working day. Study results indicated that the disruption would have significantly increased the generalized cost (GC) of passengers if no action had been taken. The operator's disruption management scheme included bus bridging and increases in service frequency on alternative routes. Evaluation showed that this plan restored the average GC across the whole network. Passengers who initially used the disrupted line experienced increased GC when they used the longer, alternative routes. Passengers who initially used those alternative routes experienced lower GC as a result of the increase in service frequency. Finally, capacity problems were observed on the buses that ensured a bridge across the disrupted link.


The transformation of hepatic stellate cells (HSCs) into myofibroblasts is the defining pathobiology in non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH). Here we show that key NASH factors induce IL-11, which drives an autocrine and ERK-dependent activation loop to initiate and maintain HSC-to-myofibroblast transformation, causing liver fibrosis. IL-11 is upregulated in NASH and Il11ra1-deleted mice are strongly protected from liver fibrosis, inflammation and steatosis in murine NASH. Therapeutic inhibition of IL11RA or IL-11 with novel neutralizing antibodies robustly inhibits NASH pathology in preclinical models and reverses established liver fibrosis by promoting HSC senescence and favourable matrix remodelling. When given early in NASH, IL-11 inhibition prevents liver inflammation and steatosis, reverses severe hepatocyte damage and reduces hepatic immune cells and TGFβ1 levels. Our findings show an unappreciated and central role for IL-11 in HSCs and prioritise IL-11 signalling as a new therapeutic target in NASH while revealing an unexpected pro-inflammatory function for IL-11 in stromal immunity.


The effectiveness of development activities in water and other sectors can be improved through a broad-based analysis of livelihoods and the factors that influence them, including the wider 'vulnerability context' in which people live. It is also important to ascertain the role that water resources play in combination with other 'assets' to support economic and human activities. A research study was carried out between December 2009 and April 2010. Its aim was to assess the impact made by the water supply and sanitation programmes implemented by Zvishavane Water Project and World Vision Zimbabwe in Chivi District of Zimbabwe since 2005. Wards 7, 9 and 15 were studied. Ward 9 and 15 had water supply and sanitation programmes, while Ward 7 had no water supply and sanitation programme since the IRWSSP. This allowed comparison of livelihoods between the wards which had programmes and that which did not. The impact was assessed in terms of design, functionality, usage and livelihoods. The design, functionality and usage were assessed using design criteria obtained from literature,
while the Sustainable Livelihoods Framework (SLF) was used to assess impact made on the livelihoods of the rural poor.

The methods used to collect data were household survey, in which 90 households were interviewed per ward in the three wards. Focus group discussions with men, women, youths and water point committees in each ward were done as well as field visits and observations. Key informant interviews were done with staff from Agricultural Extension
(AGRITEX), District Development Staff (DDF), Ministry of Health and the Rural District Council (RDC). Six school headmasters were interviewed to ascertain the impact made by the programmes and diarrheal and cholera disease prevalent records were obtained from three health centres.

The results obtained show that Wards 9 and 15 had a better choice of water technologies (Elephant Pump and Windlass respectively and B-type bush pump for both), which were low cost and therefore better designs than Ward 7, which only had the B-type bush pump.
Functionality and usage was high in the three wards. Impact has been made by water supply and sanitation programmes implemented by ZWP and WVZ in Ward 9 and 15 compared to Ward 7 which has not had a programme. The physical, natural and human capitals were more supported by water supply and sanitation programmes, than the social
and financial capitals.

It was concluded that the design of water and sanitation facilities influences functionality and use of the facilities. This subsequently affects the impact made by the facilities. The financial and social capitals are not rooted firmly in water supply and sanitation
programmes, unlike the physical, natural and human capitals. The study therefore recommends that NGOs should implement, with support from Government, more of low cost technologies, which communities can look after using locally available materials as this will ensure sustainability and therefore sustained impact. Extensive geological
surveys should be done before water point development to ensure that wells have a greater depth and therefore yield more. This will enable use of water for productive purposes which encourage continued functionality of water points, thereby ensuring sustainable impact.


This thesis examines four parts of production and inventory models for buyer-supplier in the supply chain under deterministic conditions. The main objective is to find optimal lot-sizing decisions and inventory policies which derive from the classical inventory and Net Present Value (NPV) framework. Firstly, we study the production and inventory models from the classical framework to identify how to value the holding cost for buyer and supplier in the average profit or cost functions. Secondly, we propose the inventory model derived from the NPV framework to identify the incorrect model from the classical framework. It makes a clear distinction between physical inventory and opportunity costs and the supplier's reward is identified as a lost term in the supplier's profit function which it has been proved that the corrected supplier's profit function does lead to a channel. Thirdly, we developed the quantity discount model derived from the NPV framework to help the supplier increase profits under constant demand. It is found that price discounts often lead to a solution very close to the joint optimal policy for buyer and supplier. Fourthly, four different VMI models are developed which derive from the NPV framework for single-supplier and single buyer under deterministic conditions. The experimental results show that the VMI+ Policy can guarantee to achieve the perfect channel coordination and gives the highest supply chain profit more than other VMI approaches and the classical framework.


Background: Up to 60% of women and children living in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) are anaemic. Food fortification and iron supplementation are the most common measures employed to combat anaemia. However, these are not effective treatments for anaemias caused by non-nutritional factors. Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) mainly in Europeans and Asians have identified single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) within the hepcidin and iron regulatory genes that are associated with the risk of anaemia. Several of these SNPs are in the TMPRSS6 gene, which encodes matriptase-2, a protein that regulates the expression of hepcidin. This thesis examined the impact of SNPs in the iron regulatory genes previously reported in non-African populations, on the risk of anaemia and on impaired oral iron absorption in Africans. Methods: First, the literature was searched for genetic variants identified in the hepcidin and iron regulatory genes, that are associated with low iron status. Second, we investigated the effects of common TMPRSS6 and transferrin (TF) SNPs on iron status in a cohort of healthy individuals from rural Gambia (n=1315). Third, a recallby- genotype (RbG) study was conducted to investigate the impact of carrying single or multiple alleles at the common TMPRSS6 SNPs on oral iron absorption in healthy individuals from rural Gambia. Results: TMPRSS6 rs855791, rs4820268 and rs2235321, and TF rs3811647 are the most common SNPs that associated with low iron status. We did not find effects of any of the TMPRSS6 SNPs on the risk of anaemia. However, we found that TMPRSS6 rs2235321 was associated with serum hepcidin concentration, with a more substantial effect on individuals with low haemoglobin or ferritin. Also, TF rs3811647 had a significant influence on transferrin and its binding capacity, with a single allele effect of 8-12%. In the RbG study, we did not find any effect of the three TMPRSS6 SNPs on oral iron absorption. However, we found that each of the TMPRSS6 SNPs affects hepcidin, with carriers of major alleles having higher hepcidin compared to minor allele carriers. Also, we found that heterozygotes at both rs2235321 and rs855791 did not alter their hepcidin concentration after an oral iron dose, whereas, individuals in all the other genotype groups did. Conclusions: This thesis confirms the previously observed association between the TF rs3811647 and transferrin in other Africans and Europeans replicates in West Africans. However, we could not demonstrate that the previous associations between TMPRSS6 gene variants and iron status, exist in West Africans. This lack of replication might be due to the high genetic diversity that exists in African populations. We identified an effect of TMPRSS6 rs2235321 on serum hepcidin concentration. In the RbG study, the three TMPRSS6 SNPs studied influenced serum hepcidin levels but not oral iron absorption in healthy individuals. This finding suggests that there might be an alternate pathway of iron regulation independent of hepcidin at the enterocytes. These findings highlight the need to conduct more research on genetic determinants of iron status in African populations. Investigating more genetic markers and in different populations may provide a clearer insight into the role of genetic risk factors on iron deficiency and anaemia in African populations. Identifying the role of genetic risk factors of iron status may pave the way for the formulation of population specific anaemia control measures.


Propensity score matching is a useful tool to analyze observational data in clinical investigations, but it is often executed in an overly simplistic manner, failing to use the data in the best possible way. This review discusses current best practices in propensity score matching, outlining the method's essential steps, including appropriate post-matching balance assessments and sensitivity analyses. These steps are summarized as eight key traits of a propensity matched study. Further, this review illustrates these traits through a case study examining the impact of access site in percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) procedures on bleeding complications. Through propensity score matching, we find that bleeding occurs significantly less often with radial access procedures, though many other outcomes show no significant difference by access site, a finding that mirrors the results of randomized controlled trials. Lack of attention to methodological principles can result in results that are not biologically plausible.


DNA exhibits remarkable potential as a data storage solution due to its impressive storage density and long-term stability, stemming from its inherent biomolecular structure. However, developing this novel medium comes with its own set of challenges, particularly in addressing errors arising from storage and biological manipulations. These challenges are further conditioned by the structural constraints of DNA sequences and cost considerations. In response to these limitations, we have pioneered a novel compression scheme and a cutting-edge Multiple Description Coding (MDC) technique utilizing neural networks for DNA data storage. Our MDC method introduces an innovative approach to encoding data into DNA, specifically designed to withstand errors effectively. Notably, our new compression scheme overperforms classic image compression methods for DNA-data storage. Furthermore, our approach exhibits superiority over conventional MDC methods reliant on auto-encoders. Its distinctive strengths lie in its ability to bypass the need for extensive model training and its enhanced adaptability for fine-tuning redundancy levels. Experimental results demonstrate that our solution competes favorably with the latest DNA data storage methods in the field, offering superior compression rates and robust noise resilience.


Adolescence is a period during which a person develops the attitudes and beliefs necessary for meaningful engagement in society. The adolescent begins to build his own identity in preparation for adulthood, and in the process, he is confronted with numerous questions and decisions that are a part of the adolescent experience. Whereas parenting styles plays a major role in shaping the personality of the adolescents. Hence the study was under taken to fi nd the relationship between parenting styles and adolescents personality factors. Exploratory research design was adopted to select the respondents. A total respondents were180 parents (either of father/ mother 90) and adolescents (90) aged 12-21 years. Adolescents and parents were selected randomly from schools and colleges located at Guntur district of Andhra Pradesh. Data was collected through personal interview method. Firstly, students are instructed to fi ll the general information form and to assess the personality factors, Big fi ve personality test by Goldberg (1992) was used. Whereas, parenting style four factor questionnaire by Shyny and Omana (2017). V.G. was adopted to fi nd parenting styles adopted by parents. Data was analyzed through frequency, percentage, and correlation were used. The results from the study revealed that authoritative parenting style was adopted by majority of the adolescents' parents and it had relationship with adolescent's personality factors. Authoritarian, permissive and uninvolved parenting styles had negative infl uence on personality factors of adolescents.


Tyron Goldschmidt has recently published a non-paper in which he claims to demonstrate the causal power of absences. His non-paper is, precisely, an empty page. The non-paper is ingenious and at first "glance" the "reader" might think that the absence of words on the page does prove that negative beings can literally cause states such as surprise or disappointment. Closer analysis, however, shows that Goldschmidt's clever non-paper not only lacks words but also lacks causal power. Serious metaphysical problems pile up if we suppose otherwise.


Introduction The need for housing adapted to the needs of elderly people will increase during the forthcoming years due to the increase of the proportion of elderly people from 2020 and onwards. This need cannot be resolved by means of a single limited initiative. Description of situation Most elderly people live in houses, farms and apartments which have to be adapted to disabilities. There is an increasing interest in senior housing which is intended for people over a certain age. For very old and frail people who feel anxious and insecure in their present accommodation ask for a new type of housing—sheltered housing. Here, the residents should have access to communal premises with the option of meals, staff and activities. There is a lack of residential care homes. This is a form of housing for elderly people who live there permanently and suffer from dementia or multiple illnesses. They are in need of social and health care round the clock. Conclusion The interplay between the design of the physical environment and social and medical thinking in health and social care for the elderly needs to be improved and more interdisciplinary research on housing for the elderly has to be initiated.


The high-pressure torsion (HPT) process is a severe plastic deformation (SPD) technique which imposes exceptionally high strains to produce extremely small grain sizes in bulk materials. In this paper, the HPT process was carried out on an Fe-10Ni-7Mn (wt.%) martensitic steel up to 20 revolutions at a rotation speed of 1 rpm under a pressure of 6.0 GPa at room temperature. The effects of the HPT process on the microstructure evolution and mechanical properties of the alloy were investigated by X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis, electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD), micro-hardness measurement and conventional tensile testing. The XRD analysis revealed no changes in the detected phases after deformation. A significant refinement in grain size from 200 m in the initial microstructure to around 230 nm after HPT was observed by EBSD. Although based on a rigid body assumption the imposed strain is linearly proportional to the distance from the center in HPT-processed disks, after 20 revolutions a uniform micro-hardness increment up to ~650 Hv was achieved. Moreover, the tensile strength of the alloy increased from ~800 MPa in the solution annealed condition to about 2300 MPa after the HPT process with a total tensile strain of 4%. Experimental results indicated that the HPT process leads to improvement of the tensile strength with a reasonable ductility due to the significant refinement of the microstructure.


In this study, authors show that maximum excess temperature on a heat generating cylindrical solid domain can be minimized with numerically optimized rectangular cavities and T-shaped fins. The effect of the cavities and the fins on overall thermal resistances were compared while their volume fraction in a unit volume element is fixed. Furthermore, the designs correspond to the minimum thermal resistance were uncovered for two types of flows; parallel and cross-flow. The governing equations of the heat transfer and the fluid flow were solved simultaneously in order to show the effects of design on the flow characteristics and the thermal performance. Two-dimensional solution domain was used to uncover the thermal performance in cross-flow case because the flow direction is perpendicular to the heat transfer surface area of the heat generating domain. However, three-dimensional domain was used in parallel flow case because the fluid flows along the outer surface of the heat generating domain. For the cross-flow case, the results show that T-shaped assembly of fins with longer stem and shorter tributaries correspond to the lower peak temperature. In addition, the results also show that there is an optimal cavity shape that minimizes the peak temperature. This optimal shape becomes thinner when the number of the cavities increase. In parallel flow case, fins with thicker and shorter stem and longer tributaries correspond to the minimum excess temperature. In addition, the longer and thinner cavities increase the thermal performance in parallel flow case.


PURPOSE
Autosomal recessive corneal plana (RCP) is a rare corneal anomaly with unknown pathogenesis and a high incidence in Finland. The aim was to examine corneal sensitivity and the morphology of different corneal layers and subbasal nerves in RCP patients.

METHODS
Three patients with a diagnosed autosomal recessive cornea plana were examined. Corneal sensitivity to different modalities of stimulation was tested in four corneas using noncontact esthesiometry. Tissue morphology of three corneas was evaluated, and in two corneas thickness of corneal layers was measured using in vivo confocal microscopy.

RESULTS
Corneas of RCP patients appear to have mechanosensory, polymodal, and cold-sensitive nerve terminals. RCP patients had normal sensation thresholds for chemical, heat, and cold stimulation but a high threshold for mechanical stimulation. Their capacity to discriminate increasing intensities of stimulus was reduced, except for cold stimuli. Thickness of the epithelial layer was reduced, whereas total corneal and stromal thicknesses were slightly reduced or close to normal values. In all cases Bowman's layer was absent. Subbasal nerves had abnormal branching patterns. The arrangement of anterior keratocytes was altered, showing clustered and irregularly shaped nuclei. Increased backscattering of light in confocal microscopy through focusing (CMTF) profiles was observed throughout the stroma. Epithelial and endothelial cells appeared to be regular in shape.

CONCLUSIONS
The present study revealed qualitative and quantitative alterations in corneal sensitivity, cellular morphology, and the thickness of corneal layers in RCP patients.


Abstract Taking issue with how associations between technical prowess or entrepreneurship and masculinity tend to be taken for granted or are seen as stemming from natural or intrinsic gender differences, over the last two decades feminist scholars have developed theoretical approaches to understand the gendering of professions and abilities as the performative outcome of particular cultures and histories. We build on these insights to explore how associations between masculinities, technology and entrepreneurship shape ideas and practices of small-scale water provision in Maputo. Our findings show how activities (i.e. technical craftsmanship, hard physical work) or abilities (i.e. risk-taking, innovativeness) regarded as masculine tend to be considered the defining features of the profession. This shapes how men and women make sense of and talk about their work, each of them tactically emphasizing and performing those aspects best fitting their gender. Our detailed documentation of men's and women's everyday involvements in water provisioning challenges the existence of sharp boundaries and distinctions between genders and professional responsibilities. It shows that water provisioning requires many other types of work and skills and male and female household members collaborate and share their work. The strong normative-cultural associations between gender and water provisioning lead to a distinct under-recognition of women's importance as water providers. We conclude that strategies to effectively support small-scale water businesses while creating more space and power for women involved in the business require the explicit recognition and re-conceptualization of water provisioning as a household business.


Holographic microwave imaging is an innovative method to image biological objects based on their dielectric properties, which has the advantages of high spatial resolution. However, the image reconstruction method is always a critical issue in holographic microwave imaging. This research aims to investigate the feasibility and effectiveness of applying compressive sensing (CS) technique to the holographic microwave imaging for small dielectric object detection. This paper presents a compressive sensing holographic microwave random array imaging (CS-HMRAI) method for imaging of dielectric objects. A numerical system consists of various dielectric models and imaging processing model are developed to evaluate the proposed approach. The split Bregman (SB) and orthogonal matching pursuit (OMP) algorithms are applied to HMRAI for evaluation of small inclusions embedded in dielectric objects. Various experiments are conducted to identify lesions using the proposed CS-HMRAI method and results are compared with HMRAI and HMRAI via OMP methods. Both simulation and experimental results demonstrate that CS-HMRAI via SB can produce high-quality images and detect arbitrarily shaped small inclusions with random sizes and locations by using significantly fewer sensors and scanning times than the HMRAI and CS-HMRAI via OMP approaches. The proposed approach has the potential for further investigation for breast tumor detection in a fast and cost-effective manner.


"Like synergism the power of both (students and faculty) together (with librarians) is stronger than either alone or by itself" – Leisha Elmore, MD, MPHS, Class of 2013


The diet of greater mouse-eared bats (Myotis myotis) was investigated by analysis of 900 droppings taken from 8 different bat colonies in western Poland. Three taxonomic orders (Coleoptera, Lepidoptera, and Diptera) and representatives of 2 other groups of arthropods (Chilopoda: Lithobiidae and Arachnida: Araneae) were identified in the droppings. Coleoptera was the most abundant prey found in fecal samples in all seasons. Study sites differed significantly in the composition of prey, which probably reflects the local foraging conditions for M. myotis.


Since the prognosis of patients with pancreatic cancer is very poor and there is a lack of treatment methods, this study is performed to investigate the function of PITX2 in pancreatic stellate cells (PSCs) in the progression of pancreatic cancer. Scientific hypotheses are proposed according to bioinformatics analysis and tissue microarray analysis. Stable knockdown of PITX2 in PSCs is achieved through lentiviral infection. The relative expressions of PITX2, α-SMA, vimentin, CTNNB1, AXIN1 and LEF1 are measured in wild-type PSCs and PITX2-knockdown PSCs. Proliferative capacity is measured by EdU assay. After coculture with PSCs, the proliferation, invasion and migration capacity of pancreatic cancer cells are tested. EMT and Wnt/β-catenin downstream genes of pancreatic cancer cells are investigated to reveal the potential mechanism. Bioinformatics analysis reveals that the PITX2 gene is highly expressed in stromal cells in pancreatic cancer and is correlated with squamous-type PDAC. Analysis of PDAC tissue microarray further demonstrates that high PITX2 level in stromal cells is correlated with poor prognosis in PDAC. After stable knockdown of PITX2 in PSCs, the relative protein levels of α-SMA, vimentin, CTNNB1, AXIN1 and LEF1 are decreased, and the proliferative capacity of PSCs is also decreased. After coculture with PSCs, in which PITX2 expression is downregulated, the proliferation, invasion and migration capacities of pancreatic cancer cells are inhibited. Thus, our results show that PITX2-silenced PSCs inhibit the growth, migration and invasion of pancreatic cancer cells via reduced EMT and Wnt/β-catenin signaling.


As more and more children enroll in managed care, states have responded to concerns expressed by their constituents by passing legislation and developing credentialing requirements to assist families with children in receiving appropriate care from managed care plans. Although most of the legislation and credentialing requirements apply to the population generally, a few provisions apply specifically to children. The legislation and credentialing requirements attempt to improve both access to medical care and the quality of care by enacting access-to-care and quality-of-care provisions, reducing the financial incentives for providers to offer inappropriate care, and providing families with more information about their choices and opportunities to redress their grievances. Although there is no empirical evidence, analysis of similar types of legislation suggests that certain approaches will be more successful than others; one obvious indicator of success is the ability of the regulatory agency to develop clear, unambiguous, enforceable rules. Existing legislation varies widely across states in terms of the issues addressed and the specificity of the laws. For the most part, this legislation has been piecemeal, addressing specific issues as they arise. In the long run, state legislatures may not have the time or the expertise to regulate the managed care industry, and other regulatory bodies may be better equipped to address concerns about managed care. If utilized, however, existing regulatory bodies, which historically monitored fee-for-service medicine, will need to be redesigned to monitor managed care.


The spreading of a liquid on another is often encountered in several instances including oil spills, coating and is also of industrial relevance for example in pharmaceuticals and petrochemicals. In this study the spreading of oil drops on aqueous solutions containing cationic, anionic and non-ionic surfactants over a wide range of surfactant concentrations is investigated. The spreading behavior quantified by measuring the time evolution of the projected area of the oil lens reveals the occurrence of a maximum, which is strongly dependent on the concentration of the surfactant in the aqueous solution. Our experiments show that this dependence is different at concentrations above and below the critical micelle concentration (CMC) of the surfactant and can be captured by two straight lines of different slopes. Interestingly, these two straight lines intersect at a concentration that coincides with the CMC of the surfactants in solution. We find that this behavior is universal as shown by performing experiments with different types of surfactants, their purity and other system variables. Thus, we propose a method to unambiguously determine the CMC of surfactant solutions compared to the conventional techniques. The proposed method is simple, versatile and applicable for the determination of CMC of both ionic and non-ionic surfactants.


Nanotechnology deals with matter at dimensions within 1–100 nm, with such material displaying a wide range of applications in industry, medicine and environmental remediation. Futuristic approaches for the green synthesis of nanomaterials (NMs) and nanoparticles (NPs) via modification to control their size and shape can enhance their qualities for future applications. The new horizon of opportunities and potential for innovation together with the impact of recent advances in nanotechnology research have led to the recognition of these materials for application in environmental remediation. Diverse microorganisms, microbially synthesized compounds and plant extracts-mediated biosynthesized NMs/NPs have significant relevance in remediation. Biological nanofactories yield NPs that are considered more cost-effective and environmentally friendly than conventional chemical methods. Nanoremediation incorporates NMs, NPs, nanomembranes and nanopowders for detection as well as for the removal of toxic metals and organic compounds from the environment. Various processes of adsorption, transformation, photocatalysis and catalytic reduction have been achieved by various inorganic and organic nanoscale materials for the removal of toxic metals and organic compounds. Nanobiosensors have also been utilized to detect heavy metals and persistent organic pollutants and could be commercialized for their application in environment sampling. This review summarizes the different types of biologically synthesized NMs/NPs together with their mechanisms for the biosensing and remediation of environmental pollutants.


The aim of this study was to investigate the bee fauna foraging on Thymus longicaulis flowers. Samplings were conducted walking along a transect during the T. longicaulis blooming period (April–June). A total of 547 bee specimens, belonging to 40 different species, were recorded during the survey. Apis mellifera and Bombus terrestris were the most abundant visitors that foraged on thyme. Pollen grains collected on the bodies of the bees suggest that these pollinators may play an important role in the pollination of this plant.


Much of the performance still to be gained in proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs) in use today is available from improvements to the cathode, traditionally made from unsupported or carbon-supported platinum. The search for improved cathode electrocatalysts has resulted in the development of platinum alloys which if tailored to the desired stack operating conditions can double the activity for oxygen reduction. Recently, advances have been made in cathode design which have raised performance levels in PEMFCs. The new electrocatalysts and cathode designs have increased electrical efficiency and power densities to the PEMFC stack, needed for commercial use. Improvements have also been achieved at the anode, by developments in platinum-ruthenium anodes for carbon monoxide and cell reversal tolerance. In this first paper, new cathode materials and designs are discussed; a second paper to be published in the April issue will look at anode advances.


: This information on best practice examines the evidence on effective interventions for use with undernourished older patients in hospital. It is based on an evidence synthesis of research published by Blackwell Publishing Asia and conducted by the Australian Centre for Evidence Based Nutrition and Dietetics (Vanderkroft et al 2007). The article has been reproduced with the permission of the Joanna Briggs Institute (JBI). The primary references are available online at: www.blackwell-synergy.com and to members of the JBI via the website: www.joannabriggs.edu.au.


Federated learning is a distributed, privacy-aware learning scenario which trains a single model on data belonging to several clients. Each client trains a local model on its data and the local models are then aggregated by a central party. Current federated learning methods struggle in cases with heterogeneous client-side data distributions which can quickly lead to divergent local models and a collapse in performance. Careful hyper-parameter tuning is particularly important in these cases but traditional automated hyper-parameter tuning methods would require several training trials which is often impractical in a federated learning setting. We describe a two-pronged solution to the issues of robustness and hyper-parameter tuning in federated learning settings. We propose a novel representation matching scheme that reduces the divergence of local models by ensuring the feature representations in the global (aggregate) model can be derived from the locally learned representations. We also propose an online hyper-parameter tuning scheme which uses an online version of the REINFORCE algorithm to find a hyper-parameter distribution that maximizes the expected improvements in training loss. We show on several benchmarks that our two-part scheme of local representation matching and global adaptive hyper-parameters significantly improves performance and training robustness.


The reported complication rate from T-tube infusion of sodium cholate for dissolution of retained biliary stones is low. Among 84 patients reported in the English-language literature, and 10 additional cases of our own, there have been no deaths, an incidence of liver enzyme elevation in 7%, fever in 5%, cholangitis in 2%, and pancreatitis in 2%. Recently, we have infused 100mM sodium cholate at 30 cc/hr into patients through transhepatic biliary stents in an effort to rid the intrahepatic biliary tree of retained stones and biliary sludge. Appropriate precautions were taken to prevent increased biliary pressures by the insetion of a 30 cm manometer into the perfusion system. During four transhepatic infusions in three patients, all experienced nausea and vomiting, and two of the three patients developed diarrhea and abdominal pain. Liver enzymes became elevated during all four infusions, and two of the three patients became septic and died shortly after their infusions. Experimental work in animals suggests that intrahepatic sodium cholate infusion results in injury to the ductal epithelium and predisposes patients to bactermia and sepsis. Even though T-tube infusion of sodium cholate into the common bile duct is well tolerated, direct infusion into the intrahepatic biliary tree through a transhepatic tube is not and carries a high risk of sepsis and death.


Nowadays, dynamic testing tools have significantly expedited the discovery of bugs in the Linux kernel. When unveiling kernel bugs, they automatically generate reports, specifying the errors the Linux encounters. The error in the report implies the possible exploitability of the corresponding kernel bug. As a result, many security analysts use the manifested error to infer a bug's exploitability and thus prioritize their exploit development effort. However, using the error in the report, security researchers might underestimate a bug's exploitability. The error exhibited in the report may depend upon how the bug is triggered. Through different paths or under different contexts, a bug may manifest various error behaviors implying very different exploitation potentials. This work proposes a new kernel fuzzing technique to explore all the possible error behaviors that a kernel bug might bring about. Unlike conventional kernel fuzzing techniques concentrating on kernel code coverage, our fuzzing technique is more directed towards the buggy code fragment. It introduces an object-driven kernel fuzzing technique to explore various contexts and paths to trigger the reported bug, making the bug manifest various error behaviors. With the newly demonstrated errors, security researchers could better infer a bug's possible exploitability. To evaluate our proposed technique's effectiveness, efficiency, and impact, we implement our fuzzing technique as a tool GREBE and apply it to 60 real-world Linux kernel bugs. On average, GREBE could manifest 2+ additional error behaviors for each of the kernel bugs. For 26 kernel bugs, GREBE discovers higher exploitation potential. We report to kernel vendors some of the bugs – the exploitability of which was wrongly assessed and the corresponding patch has not yet been carefully applied – resulting in their rapid patch adoption.


A novel Brillouin optical time-domain analysis (BOTDA) system is proposed using intensity-modulated optical orthogonal frequency division multiplexing probe signal and direct detection (IM-DD-OOFDM) without frequency sweep operation. The influence of peak to average power ratio (PAPR) of OFDM probe signal on the recovery of Brillouin gain spectrum (BGS) is analyzed in theory and experiment. The complex BGS is reconstructed by channel estimation algorithm and Brillouin frequency shift (BFS) is located by curve fitting of intensity spectrum. The IM-DD-OOFDM BOTDA is demonstrated experimentally with 25m spatial resolution over 2 km standard single mode fiber.


A new neural network model is introduced in this paper. The aim of the proposed Sierpinski neural networks is to provide a simple and biologically plausible neural network architecture that produces emergent complex spatio-temporal patterns through the activity of the output neurons of the network. Such networks can play an important role in the analysis and understanding of complex dynamic activity observed at various levels of biological neural systems. The proposed Sierpinski neural networks are described in detail and their functioning is analysed mathematicaly to show that they indeed produce Sierpinski triangles as the spatio-temporal activity patterns of their output neurons. The paper briefly discusses generalizations of the proposed neural networks, aspects of their biologically plausible realization, and their implication to the understanding of the role of biological neural chaos.


Background: O-GlcNAcylation is a posttranslational modification associated with various physiological and pathophysiological processes including diabetes, cancer, neurodegeneration and inflammation. However, the biological mechanisms underlying the role of specific O-GlcNAc sites and their link to phenotypes remain largely unexplored due to lack of suitable in vivo models. TGF-β activated kinase-1 binding protein-1 (TAB1) is a scaffolding protein required for TGF-β activated kinase-1 (TAK1) mediated signalling. A single O-GlcNAc site has been identified on human TAB1 that modulates TAK1-mediated cytokine release in cells. Methods: Here, we report the generation of the Tab1 S393A mouse model using a constitutive knock-in strategy. The Tab1 S393A mice carry a Ser393Ala (S393A) mutation that leads to loss of O-GlcNAcylation site on TAB1. Results: We did not observe any obvious phenotype in Tab1 S393A mice. Loss of O-GlcNAcylation on TAB1 has no consequences on TAB1 protein level or on TAB1-TAK1 interaction. Conclusions: The homozygous Tab1 S393A mice are viable and develop with no obvious abnormalities, providing a powerful tool to further investigate the role of O-GlcNAc on TAB1 in the inflammatory response in the context of a whole organism.


textabstractβ-thalassemia and sickle cell disease are major human genetic health problem in many
parts of the world. Available treatments are not satisfactory as none of them exhibit the
optimal combination of safety, efficiency and convenience of use that would make them
applicable to most hemoglobinopathy patients, especially to those who lack access to modern
medical facilities. The observation that induction of γ-globin gene expression ameliorates the
disease phenotype led to the proposal to induce γ-globin gene expression for the treatment of
these diseases. Screening of a small molecule libraries (186000 compounds) has been done
but new reagents with a higher HbF inducing effect and reduced cytotoxicity than those
already known (butyrates, HU) were not found. Despite all the attempts made during the last
30 years, it is still not known how the γ-globin genes are switched off after birth, e.g. whether
it is absence of activating factors or presence of suppressing factors or combination of both
that leads to the down regulation of the γ-globin genes in the adult. There is only very limited
information about the factors that are bound to the γ-globin promoters in vivo, certainly in its
repressed state. It is likely that factors other than those described in the literature (at the
start of this work) are essential for the suppression process. We therefore wanted to develop
new strategies that specifically target fetal gene activation without cytotoxicity, widespread
epigenetic alterations or difficult to manage side effects through the identification of the
relevant transcription factors acting at the promoter.
To this end we designed a strategy to isolate and identify protein factors bound in vivo
to the suppressed human γ-globin gene promoter and to study their effect on γ-globin
regulation (chapter 3). This targeted, in vivo single gene promoter chromatin purification has
been carried out for the first time and is a completely novel strategy. To optimize such a
purification protocol, different parameters have been tested including the use of various
purification tags, reagents, buffers, etcetera (presented in chapter2).
An alternative approach would be to identify target molecules within pathways that are
involved in γ-globin gene expression. These pathways can be studied in the context of high
and low HbF expressing β-thalassemia and sickle cell disease patients (chapter 4). There are
many reports describing the induction of different HbF levels in response to hydroxyurea
treatments in patients. We therefore wanted to understand the mechanism by which HU
induces γ-globin in patients using expression analysis between so-called 'responder' and 'nonresponder'
patients, i.e. between those showing high γ-globin production versus low γ-globin
production. The results of this study are presented in chapter4.
Finally in chapter 5 we present a novel set of genetic markers that is associated with
increased γ-gobin expression in β-thalassemia patients followed by a discussion of future
prospects in Chapter 6.


Machine virtualisation is a key technology for server consolidation and on-demand server provisioning. To support this trend, it is essential to improve the performance of virtualisation software and enable the efficient running of many virtual machines. We present a virtualisation system that can dynamically extend the real memory of its guest virtual machines. We describe an implementation of dynamic memory extension for Linux guests running on the IBM zVM virtualisation environment. Our implementation utilises device drivers for accessing dynamic memory extensions. We show that this capability can improve utilisation and performance of the Linux guests in our virtualisation environment.


In recent years, the striking gender imbalance in the physical sciences has been a topic for much debate. National bodies and professional societies in the astronomical and space sciences are now taking active steps to understand and address this imbalance. In order to begin this process in the Australian Space Research community, we must first understand the current state of play. In this work, we therefore present a short 'snapshot' of the current gender balance in our community, as observed at the 15th Australian Space Research Conference.

We find that, at this year's conference, male attendees outnumbered female attendees by a ratio of 3:1 (24% female). This gender balance was repeated in the distribution of conference talks and plenary presentations (25 and 22% female, respectively). Of the thirteen posters presented at the conference, twelve were presented by men (92%), a pattern repeated in the awards for the best student presentations (seven male recipients vs one female). The program and organising committees for the meeting fairly represented the gender balance of the conference attendees (28% and 30% female, respectively). These figures provide a baseline for monitoring future progress in increasing the participation of women in the field. They also suggest that the real barrier is not speaking, but in enabling conference attendance and retaining female scientists through their careers – in other words, addressing and repairing the 'leaky pipeline'.


In this paper we analyze the performance of a downlink single user multi-cellular multiple inputs single output (MISO) system using the Alamouti code. We derive, for the first time, an analytical expression of the cumulative distribution function of the output signal to interference plus noise ratio (SINR) or equivalently the outage probability in flat Rayleigh fading. The system is considered interference limited. Two assumptions are considered: equal received power and unequal received power from the interfering base stations. In the first case, a closed-form expression for the outage probability is derived. In the second case, from an approximation of the interference power distribution the outage probability expression is obtained.


Against a background of greater competition, market saturation and falling margins over the past decade UK banks have sought greater efficiencies in credit and risk assessment procedures, especially with personal lending products. In the same way they have attempted to reduce costs associated with the monitoring and collection of bad debts. Failure to monitor debt recoveries adequately, however, can lead to further pressure on profits. This paper uses a case study approach to outline key strategies adopted by two major banks in respect of formal insolvency, the 'tip' of a considerable debt recovery 'iceberg'. The paper illustrates the reactions and changing administrative practices of banks, as unsecured creditors, and draws on empirical research that has charted the effect of the Insolvency Act 1986 as regards individual debtors. The collection of bad debts presents banks with risks, heightened by adverse selection and moral hazard problems greater than those applicable to credit risk assessment. However, while the 'downside risk' equates with the debt write-off plus transaction costs the 'upside potential' has elements of both tangible and intangible benefit. The paper goes on to review specific centralization and outsourcing policies against the critical risks in insolvency. It also suggests that the bargaining power of major creditors, including banks, is increased through these activities, to the possible detriment of smaller creditors and of debtors.


We optically characterized colloidal gold nanoparticles using polarized light scattering which is utilized to investigate both optical anisotropy and aspect ratio of the particle and to observe particle's rotational dynamics. By monitoring time-trace of the polarized scattering from a particle, we could observe rotational dynamics as fluctuations in the measured anisotropy. With typical particle dimension of 97 nm, the maximum anisotropy was measured experimentally to be 0.1 to 0.5, and with comparison to our analytical model, this range is equivalent to an aspect ratio range of 1 to 1.3, which reveals that the colloidals are predominately spherical as predicted by transmission electron microscope (TEM) images analysis. Our method has the advantage to be simple, easy to implement, and can yield access to different projections of the particle due to its rotation. Polarized light scattering can be an ultrasensitive measure for biosensing applications.


There are major gaps in the understanding of how genetic variation is generated in the asexual pathogen Verticillium dahliae. On the one hand, V. dahliae is a haploid organism that reproduces clonally. On the other hand, single-nucleotide polymorphisms and chromosomal rearrangements were found between V. dahliae strains. Lineage-specific (LS) regions comprising about 5% of the genome are highly variable between V. dahliae strains. Nonetheless, it is unknown whether horizontal gene transfer plays a major role in generating genetic variation in V. dahliae. Here, we analyzed a previously sequenced V. dahliae population of nine strains from various geographical locations and hosts. We found highly homologous elements in LS regions of each strain; LS regions of V. dahliae strain JR2 are much richer in highly homologous elements than the core genome. In addition, we discovered, in LS regions of JR2, several structural forms of nonhomologous recombination, and two or three homologous sequence types of each form, with almost each sequence type present in an LS region of another strain. A large section of one of the forms is known to be horizontally transferred between V. dahliae strains. We unexpectedly found that 350 kilobases of dynamic LS regions were much more conserved than the core genome between V. dahliae and a closely related species (V. albo-atrum), suggesting that these LS regions were horizontally transferred recently. Our results support the view that genetic variation in LS regions is generated by horizontal transfer between strains, and by chromosomal reshuffling reported previously.


The paper is devoted to the determination of the subject of economic sociology. The author analyzes the problem of the boundaries of economic theory and economic sociology. The basic foundations of economic sociology are disclosed in the paper. The author suggests the ways of constructing the models of economic-sociological man. The term of action strategy is defined and discussed.


T(4), the main product of thyroid secretion, is a critical signal in plasma that mediates the TSH-negative feedback mechanism. As a prohormone, T(4) must be converted to T(3) to acquire biological activity; thus, type 2 iodothyronine deiodinase (D2) is expected to play a critical role in this feedback mechanism. However, the mechanistic details of this pathway are still missing because, counterintuitively, D2 activity is rapidly lost in the presence of T(4) by a ubiquitin-proteasomal mechanism. In the present study, we demonstrate that D2 and TSH are coexpressed in rat pituitary thyrotrophs and that hypothyroidism increases D2 expression in these cells. Studies using two murine-derived thyrotroph cells, TtT-97 and TalphaT1, demonstrate high expression of D2 in thyrotrophs and confirm its sensitivity to negative regulation by T(4)-induced proteasomal degradation of this enzyme. Despite this, expression of the Dio2 gene in TalphaT1 cells is higher than their T(4)-induced D2 ubiquitinating capacity. As a result, D2 activity and net T(3) production in these cells are sustained, even at free T(4) concentrations that are severalfold above the physiological range. In this system, free T(4) concentrations and net D2-mediated T(3) production correlated negatively with TSHbeta gene expression. These results resolve the apparent paradox between the homeostatic regulation of D2 and its role in mediating the critical mechanism by which T(4) triggers the TSH-negative feedback.


The publication in 1526 of a modestly-priced pocket edition of the New Testament in English was arguably the most important single event in the history of the English Reformation. This volume is a complete reprint of William Tyndale's pioneering translation of the New Testament from Greek into English. Produced at the same size as the original edition, it presents Tyndale's words in the original spelling. It has been transcribed and edited by Dr W.R. Cooper, and has an introduction by David Daniell, author of a biography of Tyndale and Chairman of the Tyndale Society. William Tyndale's influence has been as wide as Shakespeare's . Between 1525 and 1535 he gave us our English Bible, translating the whole of the New Testament and half of the Old Testament. His pocket-sized Bibles were smuggled into England, ruthlessly sought out by the Church, confiscated and destroyed. Tyndale himself was condemned as a heretic, strangled and burned outside Brussels in 1536.


ABSTRACT In this paper, we conceptualize EU policy-making as a vital field of professionalization and depict the emergence and various dimensions of an area of professional work nowadays labelled 'EU Affairs'. Thus, we argue that the EU constitutes more than just a supranational layer of decision-making, but is at the same time a pertinent and influential producer of expert knowledge and sets the stage for the emergence of specialized job profiles, professional careers, and working contexts. While usually acting 'in the shadow' and 'in the back doors' of EU policy-making, specialized groups of professionals make use of recognized expert knowledge. Drawing on social field theory and current approaches to professionalism and professionalization, the paper scrutinizes the transnational scope of EU Affairs professionalism in a topological manner by distinguishing different arenas and types of professional involvement in EU Affairs. In this way, we aim to go beyond prevailing bureaucracy- and governance-centred views on EU policy-making, and establish a broader and more differentiated image of the people who actually deal with EU Affairs, ranging from the major locations of EU policy-making far into the EU member states and even beyond.


We studied the correlation between expression of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF), and their receptors with vascularity, metastasis, and proliferative index of human colon cancers. Immunohistochemical analyses using antibodies against VEGF, bFGF, their receptors (KDR, flt-1, bek, and/7g), factor VIII, and proliferating cell nuclear antigen were carried out on archival specimens of 52 human colon carcinomas and 10 adenomas. Vessels were quantitated by light microscopy (x200), and the intensity of staining for VEGF and bFGF was assessed on a scale of 0-3+. The presence or absence of immunostaining for KDR, flt-1, bek, andflg was evaluated in endothelial cells, and proliferation was determined by counting the number of pro liferating cell nuclear antigen-positive cells per 500 tumor cells. Expres sion of VEGF and KDR was higher in metastatic than in nonmetastatic neoplasms and directly correlated with the extent of neovascularization and the degree of proliferation, whereas expression of bFGF, flt-1, bek, and flg did not differ among tumor types. Vessel counts were greater in metastatic tumors than in nonmetastatic tumors. These findings support the hypothesis that VEGF is an important angiogenic factor in primary and metastatic human colon cancer. VEGF expression and vessel counts may aid in predicting patients at risk for metastasis from colon cancer.


Cortical collecting ducts (CCDs) isolated from acid-loaded rabbits and perfused in vitro absorb HCO3-, whereas CCDs from normal animals secrete HCO3-. We have previously shown that CCDs incubated in vitro for 3 h at pH 6.9 show a reduction in net (baseline and stimulated) HCO3- secretion. In this study we ascertained the minimum duration of an acidic stimulus necessary to induce adaptive changes in stimulated HCO3- secretion (determined in the absence of basolateral Cl-) and the roles of protein synthesis and cytoskeletal function in this process. CCDs incubated in acid (pH 6.8, HCO3- 6 mM) for 1 h followed by incubation at pH 7.4 (HCO3- 25 mM) for 2 h showed a 41% reduction in stimulated HCO3- secretion (P < 0.001), similar to that observed after 3 h of incubation at pH 6.8. However, this incubation protocol failed to enhance stimulated HCO3- absorption (determined in the absence of luminal Cl-). Addition of 10 microM anisomycin, a reversible inhibitor of protein synthesis, throughout the entire period of incubation (1 h at pH 6.8 plus 2 h at pH 7.4) blocked adaptive reduction in HCO3- secretion, as did exposure to anisomycin only during the initial 1 h of acid incubation. In contrast, anisomycin application during the 2-h incubation at pH 7.4 failed to block this adaptation of HCO3- secretion. Application of 4 microM actinomycin D, an inhibitor of DNA transcription, during the acid incubation also prevented the adaptive response, as did application during the total or during the 2-h pH 7.4 incubation period of 0.2 microM cytochalasin D, an inhibitor of actin filament function.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)


3T3-L1 fibroblasts have limited enzymatic capacity to oxidize valine. Enzymes expressed in these cells allow efficient oxidation of only the first carbon of this branched chain amino acid. The pathway is effectively truncated at the level of 3-hydroxyisobutyrate because of very low expression of two enzymes required for the complete pathway, 3-hydroxyisobutyrate dehydrogenase and methylmalonate semialdehyde dehydrogenase. These two enzymes, as well as the branched chain alpha-ketoacid dehydrogenase, are markedly induced upon differentiation of 3T3-L1 fibroblasts into adipocytes. Flux through the first two decarboxylation steps of valine catabolism is increased dramatically after differentiation, particularly through the step catalyzed by methylmalonate semialdehyde dehydrogenase. Activation of the distal portion of the valine catabolic pathway correlates with significant increases in enzyme protein and mRNA levels for 3-hydroxyisobutyrate dehydrogenase and methylmalonate semialdehyde dehydrogenase, and this establishes the pathway in 3T3-L1 adipocytes for utilization of valine carbon for lipogenesis. The induction profiles of 3-hydroxyisobutyrate dehydrogenase and methylmalonate semialdehyde dehydrogenase are very similar, suggesting coordinate regulation of the expression of these two valine pathway-specific enzymes. Induction of valine catabolism in 3T3-L1 cells is solely differentiation dependent, suggesting regulation by the same factors that govern differentiation of 3T3-L1 fibroblasts into adipocytes.


Much has been said about the assistance which a computer could give to the logical process of diagnosis. Not enough has been said to emphasize that it is not a logical process only, but that the process is utterly dependent on human logic and utterly dependent on adequate and differentiated information. Advance in the precision of diagnosis requires not only the introduction of more medical science but also the proper application of information science. As a result of a neglect of these fundamental truths, false hopes have been raised among the naive, unnecessary resentment has been caused among those who know, even if instinctively, that advance cannot be without real effort, and free ammunition has been issued to those who would like things to remain as they are -comfortably uncomplicated. What do we mean by information science ? In short it means using the theory of probability (formalized logic) to squeeze the last ounce out of the available information, or to indicate the area in which information is insufficient. The preface to the present volume-a textbook long overdue-puts this in another way, a simple practical way, when the author states, "Uncertainty about the correlation of signs, symptoms, and diseases makes medical diagnosis a matter of probability." He separates the issues to be dealt with in the following fashion. He states that the physician finds himself with an increasing volume of medical information, but even so the information is often incomplete. In these conditions of uncertainty he has to make decisions about diagnosis and treatment. Supplying more information does not in itself decrease the uncertainty. Better techniques (with computer assistance) and better analysis of the function of the physician are required. Computer developments have been directed to the analysis of relationships between symptoms and diagnosis (clustering methods and taxonomy), and better information processing (reduction of human conservatism). By studying the role of the physician as decision-maker it is possible to construct computer programmes to simulate what he does, but not to replace human judgement. TVk probabilistic analysis, to which particular reference is made, leans heavily on Bayesian statistical inference-a formal optimal rule about how revisions of opinions about probabilities should be made in the light of new information. This must naturally embrace accommodation to observer error, and a whole chapter is devoted to this. Hypothesis testing, signal detection, and decision processes are discussed against a medical background. The reader need not be frightened by all this unfamiliar mathematical theory, since the author is exceptionally lucid and takes us step by step through the basic local processes and even through modern notation. The treatmenr of the subject is intensely practical, with copious real-life examples, so that to the clinician recognizable landmarks appear everywhere. We are led to think clearly about diagnostic criteria, and the use of flow charts and decision trees (simple diagrams) helps us to see the diagnostic process dearly. The process is taken to pieces before our eyes in a most illuminating way. Clustering techniques and numerical taxonomy lose their apparent mystery. The book is an excellent publication dearly printed, well indexed, and with comprehensive references on all aspects. It is very good value for the money. It comes just at the right time to restore a little sanity to our experiments in information systems.


This article explores similarities and differences in Botswana and Zimbabwe elementary school principals' understanding of what inclusive education involves. Using a cross-site case study research design, fifteen principals in the two countries' urban, semi-urban and rural areas were interviewed while naturalistic observations were also carried out at each school. Findings indicate no differences between the two countries as the principals were familiar with the concept of inclusive education and were favourable towards including learners with disabilities. However the increased visibility of students with disabilities in primary schools seems to overshadow other learners with various vulnerabilities. Inclusion seemed to present more complex challenges for the rural principals. Infrastructure in underresourced rural and semi-urban schools was said to be denying children with disabilities access to learning. The principals, whether urban or rural, preferred to include learners with mild disabling conditions for whom they still expected greater social than academic inclusion.


For 2001-2003 yrs period laparoscopic prosthesis hernioplasty was performed in 127 patients. Oblique reducible inguinoscrotal hernia had constituted the main nosological form of the disease. Peculiarities of preoperative preparation, anesthesiological support, operative procedures, complications postoperative management and medicinal securing of patients, immediate and late follow-up results of their surgical treatment were lighted on. The advantages of laparoscopic prosthesis hernioplasty were proved, such as the recurrence frequency lowering, social-economic efficacy, associated with reduction of the patients stationary stay, their labour rehabilitation and the recurrence absence.


MiR-511 is embedded in intron region 5 of the CD206/MRC1 gene, expressed by macrophage and dendritic cell populations. In this study, we aimed to investigate the effect of MiR-511 deficiency on intestinal inflammation in a murine T cell transfer colitis model.

 A double MiR-511- and Rag-1 (knockout) KO mouse was generated and a T cell transfer colitis was induced by intraperitoneal injection of naïve T cells from donor WT mice. Since these mice lack mature T and B cells, first signs of inflammation appeared at week 3 after T cell injection. An endoscopy score was obtained to determine inflammation at week 3 and 5, respectively. The experiment was terminated at week 5 and severity of inflammation was assessed on the basis of weight loss, colon weight/length ratio, histology score, spleen weight and disease activity index. In addition, flow cytometry was performed for analysing immune cell populations (monocyte, macrophages, dendritic cells, neutrophils) in the colons of both control and colitis groups and T cells in the spleens of colitis group, respectively.

 Following the induction of T cell transfer colitis, colon weight/length ratio, spleen weight and endoscopic score were significantly increased in the double KO mice compared to Rag-1 KO control mice. A higher histology score and disease activity index in the double KO with no change in weight loss compared to Rag-1 KO control mice was observed. A significant increase in monocyte population in the colons of double KO was seen and increased numbers of monocytes was also observed in the double KO control group with no inflammation. Also, a higher influx of T cells in the double KO mice with a significant increase in Foxp3 and IL4 population was observed in the group with colitis.

 MiR-511 deficiency aggravates intestinal inflammation compared to Rag-1 KO control mice. Also, a higher presence of monocyte as well as T cell populations were observed in these mice. Together these data show that MiR-511 is involved in the regulation of intestinal health. Future research will focus on underlying mechanisms.


This article describes the challenges of regulating and monitoring traceability and certification systems, and of ensuring the safety and authenticity of foodstuffs imported into Europe, particularly focusing on palm oils. Several measures have been implemented within palm oil supply chains to ensure that traceability can be monitored. However, these supply chains can be highly complex and, more often than not, full traceability is not achievable for stakeholders who only have access to existing systems. In Europe, measures for authenticity of palm oils are not presently as robust as those for other vegetable oils, which means that sometimes unsafe and inauthentic palm oils, often already incorporated into other products, can make their way onto supermarket shelves for unsuspecting consumers. Such instances are usually rare and are normally detected before products are purchased by consumers. Nevertheless, it is still the case that the addition of illegal and potentially harmful additives to palm oils destined for export to Europe is a regular occurrence, alerts for which can be found on the Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed (RASFF) portal. As the European Union has committed to only accept authenticated "sustainably sourced" palm oils, it is even more important to ensure that such imported oils are really from the declared source, preferably via proven analytical methods. This makes it more important that accurate and robust techniques are developed and implemented for verifying the provenance and authenticity of palm oils and their downstream products. Here, we review the underlying regulatory framework relating to traceability and authentication and assess some new and emerging chemically-based technologies that should contribute to improving the monitoring of palm oil and other vegetable oil supply chains in Europe and elsewhere.


This paper presents the modeling and simulation results of active noise control (ANC) in a small room using the wave-based approach defined by particle velocities and sound pressure within the defined boundary conditions. The ANC system excitation is a single-frequency noise with an adaptive feedforward configuration. The Finite Difference Time Domain (FDTD) algorithm is used to model the room acoustics due to a boxed loudspeaker of single frequency. A control system based on the filtered-x least mean-squared (FxLMS) algorithm is utilized to synthesize a cancelling noise using a secondary loudspeaker. The single channel system is modified into a multichannel system and genetic algorithm (GA) is used to optimize the sensors and actuators placements simultaneously. Numerical results are plotted to demonstrate the performance of the control system. These show that the numerical modelling technique can be used to combine room acoustic simulation and FxLMS adaptive control. This provides a way for the optimum placement of the microphones and loudspeakers before being used in a practical complex enclosure.


This collection of original articles-8 years in the making-shines a bright light on recent advances in financial econometrics. From a survey of mathematical and statistical tools for understanding nonlinear Markov processes to an exploration of the time-series evolution of the risk-return tradeoff for stock market investment, noted scholars Yacine A t-Sahalia and Lars Peter Hansen benchmark the current state of knowledge while contributors build a framework for its growth. Whether in the presence of statistical uncertainty or the proven advantages and limitations of value at risk models, readers will discover that they can set few constraints on the value of this long-awaited volume. * Presents a broad survey of current research-from local characterizations of the Markov process dynamics to financial market trading activity* Contributors include Nobel Laureate Robert Engle and leading econometricians* Offers a clarity of method and explanation unavailable in other financial econometrics collections


Oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma (OPSCC) is an increasing health problem in the developing and developed world. In recent years, there have been major changes in the treatment paradigms for OPSCC. This is because of a number of reasons: the understanding and discovery of a new viral etiology (the human papillomavirus [HPV]), changes in practice patterns owing to advances in radiotherapy, and then an organ preservation strategy with the increased use of chemotherapy. Next came the development of new surgical technologies and the emergence of a new treatment modality, immunotherapy. In this article, we discuss the evolution of OPSCC treatments, starting with the traditional tobacco era. Treatment paradigms then evolved during the organ preservation era, the HPV era, and the minimally invasive surgery era. We are currently in the immunotherapy era, with a number of new drugs becoming available both on trial and by approval for use in the clinical setting for head and neck cancer patients. We discuss a number of trials and the reasons behind attempts at both treatment escalation and treatment de-escalation.


Exposure of plants to UV-B radiation (280–320 nm) results in changes in expression of a large number of genes. Before UV-B radiation or light of other wavelengths can give rise to a cellular response, it has to be perceived by some kind of receptor, and the information transduced via a signalling pathway to the target molecules, be it proteins in the cytoplasm or the genetic material in the nucleus. The perception of low levels of UV-B probably occurs via a UV-B photoreceptor followed by several different signalling pathways. These pathways include second messengers such as calcium, kinases and the catalytic formation of reactive oxygen species. High levels of UV-B, on the other hand, probably cause cellular damage and oxidative stress, thus activating a general stress signal transduction pathway which leads to a response similar to that which occurs after pathogen attack and other stresses. Some of the genes identified so far as being regulated by UV-B encode proteins involved in the biosynthesis of protective pigments, DNA repair and antioxidative enzymes, photosynthetic genes, cell cycle genes, and stress genes induced by other types of stimuli (i.e. pathogenesis-related proteins and senescence-induced genes). In the light of the information obtained on components necessary for UV-B-induced changes in gene expression, we propose in this mini-review a working model for UV-B perception and signal transduction. This model also takes into account dosage differences for the observations, which imply a separation into UV-B-specific and more general stress signal transduction.


The controlled object of boiler combustion system in power plant is a complex system with nonlinear, timing change, large lagging and multi-variable coupling, and does not have precise mathematical model, so it is difficult to obtain the satisfactory control effect adopting the traditional PID control. Advanced control strategies are adopted to improve the performance of the boiler combustion control system, and it has been more and more the concern of the majority of electricity production enterprises. Internal model control is a very practical control method, and its main characteristic is simple structure, intuitive design and few online adjustment parameter, and easy adjustment policy. And it is especially particularly significant to improve the control effect of large delay system. The internal model control system is used in power station boiler combustion system, it can effectively solve the large delay, large inertia and other shortcomings, but there is the contradiction between the fast response and robustness in internal model control system. The fuzzy immune control has advantages, such as, fast response, fast stable and good robust, etc. The fuzzy immune control is introduced into internal model control system, this paper designs fuzzy immune internal model controller, which integrates speed and robustness of the internal model control. The fuzzy immune internal model control is applied to combustion control system, and we compare it with ordinary internal model control method. The simulation result shows that fuzzy immune internal model control can greatly improve the characteristics of the control system with time delay. And this effectiveness of the fuzzy immune internal model controller has been verified.


This paper deals with issues related to specialized and informal human resource training programs in the area of elderly's health, based on the National Elderly's Health Policy. It points out the obstacles and recommendations made by the Second World Assembly on Aging.


A low-complexity multiplierless design of a half-band recursive digital filter is presented. The filter structure is realized as a bireciprocal lattice wave digital filter. The filter coefficients are represented in a canonic signed-digit code with only two nonzero digits, and thus each filter coefficient can be implemented with only a single adder or subtracter. A fifth-order elliptic filter section is presented which requires only nine adders and five delays. Thus, a cascade of three or four of these fifth-order building blocks could be implemented on a single VLSI chip to obtain a high-performance half-band filter. >


This paper presents the political, socio-economic, spatial and demographic aspects for the changing administrative status of districts/counties in Turkey in the last two decades (1990s and 2000s) with respect to urbanization and development levels. There has been a rapid increase in the number of provinces in Turkey recently. Fourteen districts/counties have been announced as new provinces in years between 1989 and 1999. There were attempts and applications for the other 129 districts, till the present day to become a "province". In fact, attempts and requests to become a province for districts create pressures on policy makers, central government bureaucrats and members of the Parliament and prevent adequate formulation of urbanization and administrative subdivision. In this study, it is aimed to take a picture of the urbanization levels of districts by using the multivariate statistical analysis and to develop some proposals for the applications of changing the administrative status of settlements as well.


We present pure-transformer based models for video classification, drawing upon the recent success of such models in image classification. Our model extracts spatiotemporal tokens from the input video, which are then encoded by a series of transformer layers. In order to handle the long sequences of tokens encountered in video, we propose several, efficient variants of our model which factorise the spatial- and temporal-dimensions of the input. Although transformer-based models are known to only be effective when large training datasets are available, we show how we can effectively regularise the model during training and leverage pretrained image models to be able to train on comparatively small datasets. We conduct thorough ablation studies, and achieve state-of-the-art results on multiple video classification benchmarks including Kinetics 400 and 600, Epic Kitchens, Something-Something v2 and Moments in Time, outperforming prior methods based on deep 3D convolutional networks.


▪ Abstract This review deals with the making and breaking of governments in "minority legislatures" in which no political party controls a majority of seats. It looks at both a priori and empirical approaches to analyzing government formation, at the application of both cooperative and noncooperative game-theoretic models, and at the impact of both office-seeking and policy-seeking assumptions about the motivations of politicians. Substantive themes covered include the partisan composition of both minority and majority cabinets, the allocation of cabinet portfolios between parties, and the duration of cabinets in minority legislatures. The way forward in this field is identified in terms of the need for more dynamic models that see government formation as a complex system within the broader context of party competition as a whole, and for models that take fundamental account of intraparty politics in their description of the strategic behavior of political parties.


One of the challenges posed by calorimeters in high-energy physics experiments is digitizing wide dynamic range charge signals at high rate to a specified precision. One response to this challenge is the development of the QIE (charge integrator and encoder) concept. A QIE chip divides the input signal into multiple ranges, with each range integrating a scaled fraction of the signal. The range integrators are offset so that for any given signal magnitude, only one range will be selected as valid. The selected range integrator output is digitized to form a mantissa, and a digital code associated with that range forms an exponent. The resulting modified floating-point output format gives approximately constant measurement precision over a wide dynamic range. Floating-point converter designs are usually tailored for a specific application. A general description of the QIE concept shows how parameters are chosen to suit the application. The design of a mixed-signal chip that has been produced for a specific experiment is presented.


The theoretical springboard for this article is the PEW Charitable Trust's report "Who Should Teach: Quality Counts 2000" [Special issue] Education Week (January, 2000). Volume XIX, Number 18. The article asserts that a Doctor of Arts (D.A.) Degree, as developed by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching to improve postsecondary education teaching, should now be employed to improve teacher education. To do so would serve as an important innovation to transform teacher preparation and enhance the teaching profession. A description of the teaching doctorate is presented with the focus on relevance of the D.A. for advanced secondary education teacher preparation. Finally, an interpretation of what the new D.A. "teacher-scholar" means to the recruitment and retention of the best and brightest into the profession of public schooling and how doctoral preparation can advance a resurgence of the notion of teachers being society's "public intellectuals" is explored. ********** Educational leaders, politicians, and policy analysts are seeking alternative means to effectively reform teacher preparation. There is an increasing urgency regarding the shortage of teachers to serve growing student populations. The problem is grounded in some obvious facts: (1) Fewer persons are choosing to pursue a career in the teaching profession, (2) those who do choose the profession are abandoning the field at an alarming rate, and, (3) for many the most challenging issue, the professional integrity of many entering the classroom through alternative routes is under critical scrutiny. (Edwards and Chromioter, 2000; Hammond-Darling, 1999; McNergeney and Herbert, 1997). The establishment of a specific doctorate for teacher education is a segment of the problem that has not been fully explored. Advanced doctoral preparation of teachers is a unique proposal. The Carnegie Foundation developed the Doctor of Arts (D.A) degree for the Advancement of Teaching, as "the teaching doctorate." The primary objective was to to improve postsecondary pedagogy. The D.A is currently in place at Ball State, Idaho State, St. John's University, University of Mississippi, George Mason University, University of North Dakota, Middle Tennessee State University, Clark University, and SUNY, but unfamiliar to most in teacher education. Will the some of the future's best and brightest of American society enter the teaching profession? Is there a means to keep good teachers in the classroom? How can we effectively enhance the professionalization of teachers? These questions constitute a triadic quandary of recruitment, retention and professionalization and are a complex challenge for educational leadership. We assert that the D.A. should be explored as a new policy in higher education in the movement to transform the teaching profession. The Doctor of Arts in Teacher Education, in concert with other worthwhile proposals, has the potential collectively to transform the teaching profession. The Policy Issue: Who Should Teach? The recent high profile report: Who Should Teach?: Quality Counts 2000 ([Special Issue]. Education Week. Volume XIX, Number 18) documented that there is a national crisis regarding the increasing shortage of teachers. Our nation will need more than 2.2 million more teachers over the next decade. To address the problem, educational policies analysts have have followed two primary reform movements: (1) The first movement is the "quantitative" policy reform, and (2) the second movement is the "qualitative" policy reform. The objective of both of these movements have degrees of merit. Quantitative Policy Reform: These educationists focus on the growing urgency regarding the shortage of teachers in the classroom and the immediate results on public schooling arising from this crisis. Quantitative reformists have focused on liberal alternative "supply-side" strategies geared toward expanding the recruitment base to include persons without conventional teacher preparation. …


Aneuploid is ubiquitous in multiple myeloma (MM), and 4 cytogenetic subcategories are recognized: hypodiploid (associated with a shorter survival), pseudodiploid, hyperdiploid, and near-tetraploid MM. The hypodiploid, pseudodiploid, and near-tetraploid karyotypes can be referred to as the nonhyperdiploid MM. Immunoglobulin heavy-chain (IgH) translocations are seen in 60% of patients. We studied the relation between aneuploidy and IgH translocations in MM. Eighty patients with MM and abnormal metaphases were studied by means of interphase fluorescent in situ hybridization (FISH) to detect IgH translocations. We also studied a second cohort of 199 patients (Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group [ECOG]) for IgH translocations, chromosome 13 monosomy/deletions (Delta13), and ploidy by DNA content. Mayo Clinic patients with abnormal karyotypes and FISH-detected IgH translocation were more likely to be nonhyperdiploid (89% versus 39%, P <.0001). Remarkably, 88% of tested patients with hypodiploidy (16 of 18) and 90% of tested patients with tetraploidy (9 of 10) had an IgH translocation. ECOG patients with IgH translocations were more likely to have nonhyperdiploid MM by DNA content (68% versus 21%, P <.001). This association was seen predominantly in patients with recurrent chromosome partners to the IgH translocation (11q13, 4p16, and 16q23). The classification of MM into hyperdiploidy and nonhyperdiploidy is dictated largely by the recurrent (primary) IgH translocations in the latter.


The study on assessment of the men's participation in family planning service in Rwanda was conducted in Kayonza District-Rwanda from Dec 2014 to Nov. 2015.The study was done in Kanyonza because men of this district do not participate in family planning services and this leads to land misuse and poverty hence poor sanitary services and environmental sustainability. The survey was conducted by visiting the total of 197 households grouped in Community health workers (41), group of people engaged in family planning (68), group of people not engaged in family planning (66) and group of vasectomized men (22) in which include the local family planning officers (3). The collected data by using various tools such as questionnaire and interview, were analyzed and presented in figures and tables using the Microsoft excel and SPSS 16.0 Windows© program The importance of family planning is to reduce social problems in the family and ability to support the family and also improve life style of the family (100%). The advantages of family planning are to limit the number of pregnancy (100%). The contribution of men in Family planning is to participate in family planning in service directly and even in decision making about family planning (100%). The method preferred is depo provera injection method. The main challenge revealed facing the men's participation in family planning is lack of information (100%). In Rwanda, family planning has been recognized as strategy for poverty reduction and development of the country. By integrating men's participation in family planning services and that the family planning strategy being supported by government and different partners family planning will become the strong pillar of development of the country.


This thesis discuss the design and the implementation of an FPGA-Based
Network Processor for scientific computing, like Lattice Quantum ChromoDinamycs
(LQCD) and fluid-dynamics applications based on Lattice Boltzmann
Methods (LBM). State-of-the-art programs in this (and other similar)
applications have a large degree of available parallelism, that can be easily
exploited on massively parallel systems, provided the underlying communication
network has not only high-bandwidth but also low-latency.
I have designed in details, built and tested in hardware, firmware and
software an implementation of a Network Processor, tailored for the most
recent families of multi-core processors. The implementation has been developed
on an FPGA device to easily interface the logic of NWP with the CPU
I/O sub-system.
In this work I have assessed several ways to move data between the main
memory of the CPU and the I/O sub-system to exploit high data throughput
and low latency, enabling the use of "Programmed Input Output" (PIO),
"Direct Memory Access" (DMA) and "Write Combining" memory-settings.
On the software side, I developed and test a device driver for the Linux
operating system to access the NWP device, as well as a system library to
efficiently access the network device from user-applications.
This thesis demonstrates the feasibility of a network infrastructure that
saturates the maximum bandwidth of the I/O sub-systems available on recent
CPUs, and reduces communication latencies to values very close to those
needed by the processor to move data across the chip boundary.


Abstract This study reports on experimental results concerning methyl-tert-butyl-ether (MTBE, C5H12O) adsorption from water into the pores of siliceous zeolite ferrierite (FER) by combining powder X-ray diffraction analyses and chromatography techniques. Rietveld structure refinement (Immm space group) highlighted the presence of two crystallographically independent MTBE sites located in the 10-ring channel parallel to the [001] direction (MTBE1) and in the ferrierite cage (MTBE2), respectively. On the whole, Rietveld refinement revealed clearly the incorporation of ~1.8 MTBE molecules per unit cell, in very good agreement with the weight loss given by thermogravimetric analyses, and saturation capacity as determined by adsorption isotherms. Rapid kinetics combined with good adsorption suggests that FER can be used beneficially as an adsorbent medium in removing this emerging organic contaminant from water.


While the organisation of cortical areas into clusters permits the segregated processing of information of different modality, the large number of connections involves that sensory information is highly accessible to all cortical areas, regardless of its modal origin. A detailed analysis of the corticocortical communication substrate has revealed the central role of the cortical hubs, by facilitating the communication between the different sensory modalities (Zamora-López et al., 2009). Whether the cortical hubs act as passive transmitters of information , or they perform a more active function is a relevant question that we try to answer in the present paper. We start by summarising principles of complex network analysis and information theory in Section " Materials and Methods ". Section " Topological Capacity of Integration " contains a thorough application of graph theoretical measures which reveal that the cortical hubs form an additional module, expressed as a higher hierarchical level. In Section " Functional Capacity of Integration " , we challenge the intuitively assigned integrative properties of this central module by means of dynamical and information theoretical measures. On the one hand, we fi nd that only simultaneous lesion of particular hubs leads to a dynamical segregation of the sensory modules (visual, auditory, somatosensory-motor and frontolimbic). On the other hand, the same hubs form a dynamical cluster after simultaneous excitation of primary sensory areas, a clear sign of their integrative capacities. We fi rst introduce basic concepts of graph theory. A network is an abstract manner to represent different aspects of a real system, providing it with a form (topology) which can be mathematically


OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the impact over a year of a systematic, structured intervention with smokers, called the Smokers' Aid Project (SAP), at a primary care centre in Barcelona. DESIGN: Observational study with a descriptive intervention. SETTING: Urban primary care centre. PATIENTS AND OTHERS PARTICIPANTS: Between April, 1990, and March, 1991, every adult (over 15) who smoked more than one cigarette a day was counselled verbally and/or in writing. The different replies were placed into eight groups and a personal follow-up was made for each category. The groups were: winner, reduction, alone, with help, doubtful, backslider, negative and pending. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: There was a follow-up on 178 people. Among those monitored, the initial cigarette average was 15.0 (SD 11.4) and the final, 12.45 (SD 11.45). The response was favorable (winner or reduction) in 35.4%, with 10.6% showing a favorable attitude (alone and with help) and 16.3% showing a negative response. A follow-up programme of 7.5 months (SD 3.5) was implemented, with an average of 1.82 (SD 1.05) interventions for each individual. CONCLUSIONS: Programmes of systematic help to the smoker appear to provide more favorable responses than isolated counselling. The SAP can be put into practice within our Primary Care system, although effectiveness will have to be assessed over longer-term follow-ups.


Several methods for generation of three dimensional surface shapes from variable resolution video moire contours are described. In a classical moire system, a physical grating is projected on a target and also used to view the target. The moire contours are generated in the plane of the viewing grating. An unambiguous surface shape can then be computed by processing a set of moire images where the grating, target, or both are moved. By using an interferometer to generate and project variable pitch gratings and video technology to generate the moire contours, a 3-D surface can be scanned at different resolutions and used on a wide range of object sizes. The elimination of the physical grating also leads to surface generation techniques that do not use moving parts, increasing reliability. From these video moire contours, it is possible to uniquely reconstruct the 3-D surface, making the distinction between concave and convex surfaces. In one technique, a computer is used to mix digitized images of distorted gratings projected on the object with computer generated gratings, creating the moire patterns. By shifting one grating, it is possible to reconstruct the surface without having to move the object being scanned.


Abstract. Hygroscopic growth factors of organic surrogate compounds representing biomass burning and mixed organic–inorganic aerosol particles exhibit variability during dehydration experiments depending on their chemical composition, which we observed using a hygroscopicity tandem differential mobility analyzer (HTDMA). We observed that levoglucosan and humic acid aerosol particles release water upon dehumidification in the range from 90 to 5 % relative humidity (RH). However, 4-Hydroxybenzoic acid aerosol particles remain in the solid state upon dehumidification and exhibit a small shrinking in size at higher RH compared to the dry size. For example, the measured growth factor of 4-hyroxybenzoic acid aerosol particles is  ∼  0.96 at 90 % RH. The measurements were accompanied by RH-dependent thermodynamic equilibrium calculations using the Aerosol Inorganic–Organic Mixtures Functional groups Activity Coefficients (AIOMFAC) model and Extended Aerosol Inorganics Model (E-AIM), the Zdanovskii–Stokes–Robinson (ZSR) relation, and a fitted hygroscopicity expression. We observed several effects of organic components on the hygroscopicity behavior of mixtures containing ammonium sulfate (AS) in relation to the different mass fractions of organic compounds: (1) a shift of efflorescence relative humidity (ERH) of ammonium sulfate to higher RH due to the presence of 25 wt % levoglucosan in the mixture. (2) There is a distinct efflorescence transition at 25 % RH for mixtures consisting of 25 wt % of 4-hydroxybenzoic acid compared to the ERH at 35 % for organic-free AS particles. (3) There is indication for a liquid-to-solid phase transition of 4-hydroxybenzoic acid in the mixed particles during dehydration. (4) A humic acid component shows no significant effect on the efflorescence of AS in mixed aerosol particles. In addition, consideration of a composition-dependent degree of dissolution of crystallization AS (solid–liquid equilibrium) in the AIOMFAC and E-AIM models leads to a relatively good agreement between models and observed growth factors, as well as ERH of AS in the mixed system. The use of the ZSR relation leads to good agreement with measured diameter growth factors of aerosol particles containing humic acid and ammonium sulfate. Lastly, two distinct mixtures of organic surrogate compounds, including levoglucosan, 4-hydroxybenzoic acid, and humic acid, were used to represent the average water-soluble organic carbon (WSOC) fractions observed during the wet and dry seasons in the central Amazon Basin. A comparison of the organic fraction's hygroscopicity parameter for the simple mixtures, e.g., κ ≈  0.12 to 0.15 for the wet-season mixture in the 90 to 40 % RH range, shows good agreement with field data for the wet season in the Amazon Basin (WSOC κ ≈ 0.14±0.06 at 90 % RH). This suggests that laboratory-generated mixtures containing organic surrogate compounds and ammonium sulfate can be used to mimic, in a simplified manner, the chemical composition of ambient aerosols from the Amazon Basin for the purpose of RH-dependent hygroscopicity studies.


Though directly an assessment of the 2003 White Paper on higher education in England and Wales, this paper offers analysis and strategic conclusions that apply to all advanced countries. After introductory discussion, successive sections weigh up current arrangements (generally unfavourably), assess the White Paper strategy (generally favourably), and discuss the follow-up actions necessary to ensure that the strategy works. A concluding section stresses political leadership, portrays two contrasting futures, and summarises broader lessons for policy design.