Probiotic products containing Lactobacillus rhamnosus GR-1 have been shown to help decrease the risk of urogenital infections, delay the decline of CD4 lymphocytes in patients with human immunodeficiency virus, and survive in the intestinal tract without stimulating immune or inflammatory responses. Cereal and pseudocereal grains can act as prebiotic agents and could be an economical way of improving the nutritional value, functional qualities, and overall health benefits of probiotic products. The purpose of this study was to measure the growth and survival of L. rhamnosus GR-1 in fermented probiotic skim milk supplemented with a grain flour over a 28-day storage period. The objective was to determine if supplementation of the grain flours would have a positive effect on the microbial vitality of L. rhamnosus GR-1 in the final product and during storage. Five probiotic skim milk samples supplemented with a grain flour were prepared: oat (3% weight to volume ratio), lentil (3% w/v), rice (3% w/v), barley (3% w/v), and quinoa (3% w/v) along with one control probiotic skim milk sample. Results showed that the oat, rice, barley and quinoa flours supported the growth of L. rhamnosus GR-1 at viable levels (10 8 CFU/mL) during the first 14 days of storage; however, only skim milk supplemented with rice flour sustained the growth over the 28-day storage period. Future studies should conduct a sensory evaluation of this fermented probiotic rice flour milk as well as study rice milk inoculated with probiotics to produce a dairy-free and possible gluten-free product.


The Rise of the Taliban in Afghanistan: Mass Mobilization, Civil War, and the Future of the Region, by Neamatollah Nojumi. New York: Palgrave, 2002. xii + 231 pages. Chron. Abbrevs. Notes to p. 247. Bibl. to p. 251. Index to p. 260. $65 cloth; $18.95 paper. Afghanistan's Endless War: State Failure, Regional Politics, and the Rise of the Taliban, by Larry P. Goodson. Seattle, WA and London, UK: University of Washington Press, 2001. xv + 188 pages. Appendix to p. 193. Notes to p. 227. Gloss. to p. 236. Refs. to p. 253. Index to p. 264. $35 cloth; $22.50 paper. Reviewed by Henry S. Bradsher During the period between the end of direct Soviet involvement in Afghanistan in February 1989 and the beginning of an American military role there in October 2001, the outside world occasionally noted with dismay Taliban practices. Mostly, the country was ignored. These two books offer understandings of Afghanistan's situation in the 1990s. Both are useful; each gives a new perspective on some aspects of the country's long turmoil. But the misfortune of publishing before that turmoil had drastically changed at the end of 2001, with the changes revealing new aspects of what had been happening, limits the books' value for comprehending the overall situation between the Communist and post-Taliban periods. Although both titles promise to relate the "rise of the Taliban," neither provides a clear, comprehensive account of this point of major interest in recent Afghan history. Nojumi identifies himself as having been a mujahideen fighter against the Soviets for more than a decade (p. xii). He attempts to explain Afghan changes within a "theory of mass mobilization." This is strained, and his comparisons with mobilization in Mao's China and Gandhi's India show inadequate understanding of either country. Nojumi concludes that neither Afghan Communists nor mujahideen organizations "was able to form a political institution that represented the national interest of the Afghan people" (p. x), but his explanation is more disjointed than clear. The most valuably original part of his book is the account of internal resistance forces and their political struggles, a subject neglected by numerous books that focus on Peshawar-based resistance leaders. He describes efforts by "internal front leaders" to coordinate their activities as "one of the most significant political developments among the Afghan Mujahideen" (p. 106). However, Nojumi notes, this made Pakistani and Saudi intelligence services nervous: "After their vast involvement and investment in Afghanistan, any development out of their channel of command and control would jeopardize their interest in Afghanistan" (p. 108). The Saudis and Pakistanis worked to undermine coordination of internal commanders. Nojumi blames misjudgment by guerrilla leader Ahmad Shah Mas `ud of the political situation as the Najibullah regime collapsed in April 1992 for the failure to establish a broader-based government. Such a government might have avoided the civil war that devastated the capital and led to Taliban control. Nojumi seeks to explain how the inability of the internal forces and mujahideen to represent national interests related to Pakistan's manipulation of mujahideen politics to serve its own national purposes. Although Nojumi relates this story in disconnected bits of information, he nonetheless concludes, accurately, that: "The external interference of neighboring countries, especially Pakistan, in supporting the most fanatic elements of Afghan society suppressed the moderate and democratic political forces... Afghan local communities have not had the chance to express their will" (p. 230). And, basic to understanding the problem with some Pakistani-backed mujahideen groups and the Taliban, "Islamic fundamentalism was a politically motivated force that did not have roots in the social and cultural fabric of Afghanistan" (p. 217). An epilogue - added by Nojumi after September 11, 2001, but before the Taliban collapsed due to Pakistan's withdrawal of support - rehashes themes of the book while giving new attention to Al Qaeda's role during the Taliban period. …


The book is intended to be a text book for undergraduate, postgraduate and research workers in high-speed flow covering subsonic and supersonic flight regimes. The book contains 13 chapters. In chapter l the introduction to Mach number and flow regimes is too brief, lacks physical explanation to excite the reader for further reading. The governing equations of mass momentum and energy are treated separately instead of the unified transport equation in chapter 2. The three types of compressible flow is rather brief but interesting reading in this chapter. The thermodynamics required for subsonic and supersonic flows are treated in depth in chapter 3. The author gives a further insight into the concept of perfect gas when compared to many text books on this subject. The equation for steady irrotational homentropic flow is derived in chapter 4. By its nature, characteristics of surfaces and lines are treated in an abstract way in chapter 5. In chapter 6, as is typical of many text books, the shock relations are first set up for a normal shock and extended to oblique shocks. The steady one dimensional isotropic flow and flow with shock waves in a duct is treated in detail and in a simple way in chapter 7. The Pradte-Meyer expansion in chapter 8 is treated separately from the oblique shocks rather than starting with weak waves and showing the impossibility of oblique shocks at an expansion corner. In chapters 9 and 10, the aerofoil theory for subsonic, transonic and supersonic flow and characteristics method for steady two dimensional supersonic flow are treated briefly. Further analysis is left to the reader through exercises. In chapter 11 several cases of shock reflects, wave interactions are discussed in detail. This chapter is a useful addition to a book on high speed flow. The hodograph member is treated purely from a mathematics point of view in chapter 12 indicating very little of relevance. Chapter 13 contains the guide to high speed flows and a comprehensive list of references is useful to readers. Overall a student with an average mathematics background should be able to follow this book without difficulty. Students will find the exercise at the end of some chapters challenging. Some of the topics are covered in depth and some too briefly. However, the book does not excite a student to further a career in high speed flows as the book lacks practical and numerical examples of high speed flight. Professor S.R. Raghunathan CEng, FRAeS


Clopidogrel is an anticoagulant commonly used in the prehospital environment for the management of ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI). Some ambulance services have incorporated this into their treatment regimens; however, others hold a variety of alternative pharmacological interventions. The purpose of this study is to examine and determine the pharmacological efficacy and safety of clopidogrel in the management of patients with STEMI and assess whether ambulance services should use the drug as part of standard practice. A literature review was conducted to identify articles relating to the administration of clopidogrel in the prehospital setting. Fourteen peer-reviewed journal articles and eight clinical practice guidelines from international ambulance services were included in this review. According to this literature review, clopidogrel has been deemed safe, effective and practical for widespread use in the prehospital environment for the management of STEMI. However, some disagreement has arisen over whether clopidogrel is a more favourable anticoagulant than ticagrelor and prasugrel. Anticoagulants such as clopidogrel should be strongly considered as a standard treatment regimen in the prehospital management of STEMI across international jurisdictions.


Abstract Long understood as the key document in Britain's Cold War history, the Duncan Sandys Defence White Paper of 1957 nevertheless has a largely forgotten context: home defence. This article argues that understanding this context allows important new conclusions to be drawn concerning the drafting, presentation and the reception of the document and the deterrent strategy it expounded. It argues that the Paper failed to establish a new doctrine for civil defence which reconciled the policy with the wider deterrent strategy. In doing this, the Paper presented a muddled policy to the public: one which failed to justify the reductions in civil defence provision but which stressed the destructive power of thermonuclear weapons. This had the effect of encouraging the critics of the government's nuclear strategy to flag up the absence of adequate civil defence measures and highlight the 'admission' that there was no defence against the hydrogen bomb.


Purpose – Affordable homeownership is a policy that is often accorded a great deal of policy attention by governments of many countries. This paper aims to examine the market implications of setting a housing price to income ratio target for a market segment by the government. Design/methodology/approach – The policy requires active intervention by the government with regard to the targeted sector. The paper uses a simple model of the housing market with a homeownership affordability target to derive the market implications of such targets. Findings – In the presence of uncertainty and resource constraints, the objective of homeownership affordability is achieved for the targeted group at the expense of greater volatility in residential construction activity. When the size of the targeted sector is significant in size, there are spillover price and crowding out effects on the non-targeted housing market segment. Research limitations/implications – This results in political pressure on the government to expand homeownership affordability targets to increasing segments of the population. Housing price to income ratios tend to be fairly constant over time and across targeted groups, the housing supply is relatively price inelastic and the income elasticity of housing demand is less than one. Practical implications – The Singapore government intervenes extensively in the housing sector to ensure homeownership affordability, with a resulting homeownership rate of 91 percent for the resident population. The above hypotheses regarding the implications of setting housing price to income ratio targets are tested using the Singapore housing market. Originality/value – This paper adds to the literature by analyzing the market implications of setting homeownership affordability targets in the context of a targeted housing segment.


Motivation Horizontal gene transfer (HGT) is a major source of variability in prokaryotic genomes. Regions of Genome Plasticity (RGPs) are clusters of genes located in highly variable genomic regions. Most of them arise from HGT and correspond to Genomic Islands (GIs). The study of those regions at the species level has become increasingly difficult with the data deluge of genomes. To date no methods are available to identify GIs using hundreds of genomes to explore their diversity. Results We present here the panRGP method that predicts RGPs using pangenome graphs made of all available genomes for a given species. It allows the study of thousands of genomes in order to access the diversity of RGPs and to predict spots of insertions. It gave the best predictions when benchmarked along other GI detection tools against a reference dataset. In addition, we illustrated its use on Metagenome Assembled Genomes (MAGs) by redefining the borders of the leuX tRNA hotspot, a well studied spot of insertion in Escherichia coli. panRPG is a scalable and reliable tool to predict GIs and spots making it an ideal approach for large comparative studies. Availability The methods presented in the current work are available through the following software: https://github.com/labgem/PPanGGOLiN. Detailed results and scripts to compute the benchmark metrics are available at https://github.com/axbazin/panrgp_supdata. Contact email@example.com and email@example.com Supplementary information None.


The great Venetian sculptors of the High Renaissance, led by Tullio Lombardo (c. 1455--1532), explored a poetic and nostalgic approach to classical antiquity in their work. Their expression shares much with Mantegna, Bellini, Giorgione, and Titian in these painters' imaginative evocations of ancient history, mythology, philosophy, and poetry. Featuring a range of Tullio's work, including his sensuous and dramatic double-portrait reliefs, this book introduces the romantic qualities and beautiful craftsmanship of the sculptor and his closest followers, including his brother Antonio Lombardo, Simone Bianco, Antonio Minello, and Giammaria Mosca. Essays examine Tullio's innovations and the Venetian cultural setting where he developed them in dialogue with the northern Italian masters of Renaissance painting. Twelve works, carefully selected from this milieu, exemplify the creative approach and influ-ence of Tullio and the Lombardo workshop.


There has been a recent explosion of interest in Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Trans Perspective Psychology amongst students and academics, and this interest is predicted to continue to rise. Recent media debates on subjects such as same–sex marriage have fuelled interest in LGBTQ perspectives. This edited collection showcases the latest thinking in LGBTQ psychology. The book has 21 chapters covering subjects such as same sex parenting, outing, young LGBTQ people, sport, learning disabilities, lesbian and gay identities etc. The book has an international focus, with contributors from UK, US, Canada, Australia and New Zealand List of Contributors. Foreword by Jerry J. Bigner. 1. Introducing Out in Psychology (Victoria Clarke and Elizabeth Peel). 2. From lesbian and gay psychology to LGBTQ psychologies: A journey into the unknown (Victoria Clarke and Elizabeth Peel) 3. What comes after discourse analysis for LGBTQ psychology(Peter Hegarty). 4. Recognising race in LGBTQ psychology: Power, privilege and complicity (Damien W. Riggs). 5. Personality, individual differences and LGB psychology (Gareth Hagger Johnson). 6. Heteronormativity and the exclusion of bisexuality in psychology (Meg Barker). 7. A minority within a minority: Experiences of gay men with intellectual disabilities.(Christopher Bennett and Adrian Coyle). 8. Closet talk: The contemporary relevance of the closet in lesbian and gay interaction (Victoria Land and Celia Kitzinger) 9. Romance, rights, recognition, responsibilities and radicalism: Same-sex couples' accounts of civil partnership and marriage (Victoria Clarke, Carole Burgoyne and Maree Burns). 10. The experience of social power in the lives of trans people (Clair Clifford and Jim Orford). 11. What do they look like and are they among us? Bisexuality, (dis.closure and (Maria Gurevich, Jo Bower, Cynthia M. Mathieson and Bramilee Dhayanandhan). 12. Heterosexism at work: Diversity training, discrimination law and the limits of liberal individualism (Rosie Harding and Elizabeth Peel). 13. Out on the ball fields: Lesbians in sport (Vikki Krane and Kerrie J. Kauer). 14. Homophobia, rights and community: Contemporary issues in the lives of LGB people in the UK (Sonja J. Ellis). 15. Striving for holistic success: How lesbians come out on top (Faith Rostad and Bonita C. Long). 16. On Passing: The Interactional Organization of Appearance Attributions in the Psychiatric Assessment of Transsexual Patients (Susan A. Speer and Richard Green). 17. Alcohol and gay men: Consumption, promotion and policy responses (Jeffrey Adams, Timothy McCreanor and Virginia Braun). 18. Towards a clinical-psychological approach to address the hetero sexual concerns of intersexed women (Lih-Mei Liao). 19. Educational psychology practice with LGB youth in schools: Individual and institutional interventions (Jeremy J. Monsen and Sydney Bailey). 20. Que(e)rying the meaning of lesbian health: Individual(izing and community discourses (Sara MacBride-Stewart). 21. Transsexualism: Diagnostic dilemmas, transgender politics and the future of transgender care (Katherine Johnson). Index.


3D mapping can significantly improve GNSS positioning accuracy in dense urban areas by predicting which signals are directly
visible and which are blocked by the buildings. Many different 3D-mapping-aided (3DMA) GNSS techniques have been
demonstrated in the last few years. Some use pseudo-range measurements, whereas others use signal-to-noise ratio. Some assume
the position is already known, while others can handle large initial position uncertainties. Some compute position epoch-byepoch,
while others implement filtered solutions using measurements from multiple epochs. Finally, some approaches are
efficient enough to run in real time on a mobile device, whereas others are too computationally intensive.
Previously, UCL has demonstrated that real-time single-epoch 3DMA GNSS using both pseudo-range and signal-to-noise
measurements can reduce position errors in dense urban areas from tens of meters to a few meters. Here, we extend this to multiepoch
positioning by using a grid filter. Filtering reduces the impact of noise-like errors on the position solution, bringing a
further improvement in accuracy. This is the first time that a grid filter has been applied to 3DMA GNSS as other authors have
used a particle filter. Both filters can represent nonlinear position likelihood distributions using a set of candidate position
hypotheses. The key difference is that a particle filter's hypotheses have equal likelihood and an irregular distribution whereas
the grid filter's hypotheses are regularly distributed, forming a grid, but with unequal likelihoods. The grid-based approach better
represents the physics of the problem. Position hypothesis spacing of less than a meter brings no significant performance benefit
as the GNSS signal Fresnel zones are about this size in urban areas. Conversely, a spacing of more than 5 meters does not capture
the variation of the environment sufficiently and can lead to 3DMA GNSS failing. The grid-based approach is also compatible
with UCL's use of pre-computed building boundary files to minimize the real-time processing load. These enable satellite
visibility across an array of candidate positions to be predicted quickly simply by comparing the satellite elevation with that of
each building boundary at the corresponding azimuth.
Versions of the grid filter with different state propagation algorithms have been implemented for static, pedestrian and vehicle
applications. Using static, pedestrian and vehicle GNSS data collected in central London using a u-blox EVK 8MT receiver,
these new algorithms have been compared with single-epoch 3DMA GNSS and multi-epoch conventional GNSS using a basic
extended Kalman filter with innovation-based outlier detection. In all cases, best positioning accuracy was obtained using the
multi-epoch 3DMA GNSS algorithm. This achieved an RMS horizontal position error of 2.2m in the static tests, 3.9m in the
pedestrian tests and 4.3m in the vehicle tests. Compared with single-epoch 3DMA, this represents a factor of 2.2 improvement for the static tests, a factor of 1.55 improvement for the pedestrian tests and a factor of 1.8 improvement for the vehicle tests. For
all test scenarios, multi-epoch 3DMA GNSS was a factor of 4 more accurate than multi-epoch conventional GNSS positioning.


From 1966 to 1971 at least three art fabrication firms emerged in America: Gemini G.E.L, Lippincott Inc. and Carlson and Co. The latter two firms were solely devoted to the manufacture of large-scale public sculpture, then associated with minimalist artists such as Donald Judd and Tony Smith. The discourse surrounding the work of these artists highlighted a shift to the conception rather than the making of a work of art and also drew attention to the industrial aesthetic fostered, perhaps, by the outsourcing of labour. Rather than adopt a contemporary reading of these practices as 'collaborative', this article aims to understand the emergence of art-specific fabrication firms within the context of late capitalism in 1960s America. Thus, the shift to 'dematerialization' in art is read otherwise; that is, in relation to the deskilling of work – particularly in manufacturing industries – that took place across the twentieth century.


Abstract In this study I provide a phylogenetic hypothesis for the tribe Oryzomyini that can be used to understand the diversification and evolution of this group of rodents and to revise the current generic-level classification. Morphological and molecular data were used for these purposes in combined and separate analyses. Molecular data consisted of partial sequences (1266 bp) from the first exon of the nuclear gene encoding the interphotoreceptor retinoid binding protein (IRBP); the morphological matrix comprised 99 characters, including 16 integumental characters, 32 skull characters, 29 dental characters, 7 postcranial characters, and 10 characters from the phallus and soft-anatomy systems. I present anatomical descriptions for each character, including delineation of different states observed among oryzomyines. Results of the combined analysis were congruent with the IRBP-only dataset for oryzomyine higher-level relationships. Morphological analyses, although showing discrepancies from the combined or IRBP consensus cladograms and with low nodal support values, recovered several clades similar to the combined and IRBP analyses. Systematics of the tribe and the evolution of a few pivotal characters are discussed in light of the proposed phylogeny. Different taxonomic arrangements for species currently included in the genus Oryzomys are suggested. Finally, I evaluate evolutionary and biogeographic hypotheses that are compatible with our current knowledge on oryzomyine relationships.


Sun Life Member Services website [3] Having problems logging onto the website? Learn how to connect [4]. My Sun Life Mobile [5] Submitting a Health and Dental Claim E-Claims [6] Benefit Forms [7] Questions/Issues Regarding Claims If you have questions regarding your health and dental claims, please direct contact Sun Life and refer to our policy #82010. You can contact Sun Life by email [8] or by phone 1-800-361-6212.


Structure of the C-U mismatch pair was reported only in crystal but none in solution. Here we have studied the structure and physicochemical properties of the C-U mismatch pair in a double stranded RNA in solution. RNA oligomers r(CGACUCAGG) and r(CCUGCGUCG) form a double stranded structure with the C-U pair. The arrangement of the C-U pair derived from the model building based on nOe gives a similar structural feature to that in crystal. The modeling reveals that the amino-proton of cytidine and the keto-oxygen of uridine are located within hydrogen bonding distance, and the imino proton of uridine is exposed to bulk water. From the melting experiment which monitors chemical shifts of non-exchangeable protons, the melting of all the base-pairs including the C-U pair occurs simultaneously. This suggests the possibility where the C-U mismatch pair is stacked on the neighboring base-pairs in the double helix until the duplex is denatured to single strands.


The American Association of Poison Control Centers (AAPCC) 1995 annual survey is summarized. A decline in the total number of poison centers was noted (from 104 in 1991 to 83 in 1995). The 83 US poison centers handled 2,431, 599 human exposure cases. Certified centers (44) served 63.1% of the US population, handled 72.5% of all poison exposures handled by poison centers nationally, and achieved higher utilization rates within their regions (10.9 vs 7.4 human exposure cases handled/1,000 population). Certified centers had superior staff credentials as measured, by passing the certification examinations for specialists in poison information or board certification for medical and managing directors. Funding for poison centers in 1995 to-total $74.6 million, although this funding level was recognized to be inadequate as only 63.1% of the population was served by certified centers and utilization of poison centers was not optimal. The annual cost of covering the entire US with adequate poison control services (meeting AAPCC certification standards and with utilization at a level of 15 human exposures per thousand population) is estimated at $120 million. Funding difficulties were prevalent. Thirty-five centers indicated that closure had been a real threat at least once in the previous 5 years. Analysis of cost per human exposure case by center volume demonstrated that economies of scale were achieved when a center handled at least 20,000 to 30,000 human exposure calls/year. Increasing human exposure volume beyond 30,000/year did not lead to a reduction in the average cost per human exposure case.


Dual frequency capacitively coupled plasmas (CCPs) are widely used in (large area) etching and plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition processes. However, applications in physical vapor deposition (PVD) are still sparse due to the well-established dc magnetron cathode discharges. Nevertheless, there exist critical applications such as ferromagnetic or ceramic thin film deposition which are difficult to handle even for dc magnetron systems. For these materials systems dual frequency CCPs pose a good alternative, because for insulators charging can be avoided and for ferromagnetic materials the target thickness becomes independent of the magnetron configuration at comparable deposition rates. In this work we investigate two separate subjects. First, in dual frequency capacitive discharges a complex coupling of the applied excitation frequencies can be observed, which from a plasma parameter point of view limits the separability of ion flux (usually controlled by frequencies >60 MHz) and ion bombarding energy (usually controlled by frequency <15 MHz) onto the sputter target. By performing deposition experiments it was found that by following simple tuning guidelines a very good degree of separability is achievable. Additionally, the deposition homogeneity is not affected. Second, we correlate the growth conditions with crystalline and magnetic properties as well as the degree of O content for Fe and Ni films. Therefore, we applied different signals as a substrate bias to influence thin film growth. It was found that the crystalline and magnetic properties can be influenced for both Fe and Ni films but is more pronounced for Ni.


Integrity constraint based data repairing is an iterative process consisting of two parts: detect and group errors that violate given integrity constraints (ICs); and modify values inside each group such that the modified database satisfies those ICs. However, most existing automatic solutions treat the process of detecting and grouping errors straightforwardly (e.g., violations of functional dependencies using string equality), while putting more attention on heuristics of modifying values within each group. In this paper, we propose a revised semantics of violations  and data consistency w.r.t. a set of ICs. The revised semantics relies on string similarities, in contrast to traditional methods that use syntactic error detection using string equality. Along with the revised semantics, we also propose a new cost model to quantify the cost of data repair by considering distances between strings. We show that the revised semantics provides a significant change for better detecting and grouping errors, which in turn improves both precision and recall of the following data repairing step. We prove that finding minimum-cost repairs in the new model is NP-hard, even for a single FD. We devise efficient algorithms to find approximate repairs. In addition, we develop indices and optimization techniques to improve the efficiency. Experiments show that our approach significantly outperforms existing automatic repair algorithms in both precision and recall.


We look at a number of policies for managing a file system cache in a Web server. Traces from NCSA World Wide Web (WWW) server are used in this study. We study several caching policies for improving the overall performance of such a server and show that request response time can be improved by some of the replacement policies that take size of the request into account. It is shown that least frequently used (LFU) performs well when cache sizes are small (<16 MB) and SpacexAge replacement policy performs consistently better than LRU. We show that previously proposed cache sharing policies improve performance significantly in clustered Web servers.


The purpose of this Master Thesis has been to investigate the possibilities for a new type of noise reduction solution that could decrease the negative effects resulting from larger traffic roads. The idea has been to construct a noise barrier with a roof – like a tunnel placed on a road. The choice of material has been focused on transparent materials in order to lower visual intrusion and barrier effects. This project idea is called the Noise tunnel.After having investigated the current offer of noise solutions, it has been concluded that these solutions rarely provide a sufficient level of noise reduction – at least not when government regulations of acceptable noise levels are applied. To reach these acceptable noise levels at large traffic roads, noise barriers must be constructed at a larger scale or else the roads must be built below ground level. The Noise tunnel has therefore been investigated as an alternative noise solution. With the reduced noise levels resulting from the Noise tunnel, it will be possible to exploit new land for construction –something which would contribute to the funding of the Noise tunnel. In order to investigate the Noise tunnel in a more concrete way, a part of Nynasvagen has been studied. Nynasvagen is a large road situated south of Stockholm, and some parts of the road, as well as its surroundings, suffer from severe noise problems. Moreover, there is unexploited land available near Nynasvagen, and this could be used for constructions.The result of the investigations shows that the Noise tunnel is approximately 10 times more expensive than a noise barrier, but 10 times cheaper than decking over the road. Furthermore, it has been found that it is possible to construct the Noise tunnel with today's production methods. This conclusion is supported by both primary research and observations from similar projects conducted abroad.It has been found that the Noise Tunnel represent an alternative solution at large traffic roads in urban environments where noise problems are of concern. This thesis concludes that although there are no technical problems preventing the Noise tunnel from becoming reality, the incentives to implement it are likely to represent a greater barrier.


The phenomenon of resonant mode coupling is modeled and numerically investigated in InGaN-based multiple-quantum- well laser structures. It is shown that under resonant conditions the internal mode coupling can lead to severe distortions of both near- and far-field characteristics. Taking into account the carrier-induced change of the modal effective index for the lasing mode, we show that the resonant internal mode coupling can result in a strongly nonlinear dependence of the modal gain on injection current, with possible region of negative differential modal gain.


Photosynthetic microorganisms are important to the Earth's ecosystem, since about half of the atmospheric oxygen is produced by photosynthesis. Microalgae and photosynthetic bacteria are also utilized in a wide range of industries in photobioreactors. In order to have better control over photobioreactors under various operating conditions, it is necessary to accurately characterize the propagation of light in the reactor. Theoretical methods are able to calculate the optical properties of microorganisms through the solution of Maxwell's equations of electromagnetic wave theory. To solve Maxwell's equations, various methods can be used including Lorenz-Mie, T-Matrix, Finite-Difference Time-Domain (FDTD), and Volume Integral methods. Most theoretical methods predict the optical properties of microorganisms by Lorenz-Mie theory. Lorenz–Mie theory is applicable for homogeneous and spherical particles, homogeneous concentric spheres, or coated spheres.
 This work seeks to determine the suitability of the commonly used homogenous-sphere, coated-sphere, and heterogenous-sphere approximation by simulating the optical behavior of photosynthetic microorganism (Chlamydomonas reinhardtii) using FDTD and an accurate geometric model. Here, each of the key cell organelles will be included in the model with the appropriate optical properties specified. These results allow for a more accurate optical model to be developed while studying the effects of different growth regimes.


Purpose. Further to evidence of the successful application of cognitive skills programmes with offenders in HM prison service, the Enhanced Thinking Skills (ETS) training course is now delivered in various secure forensic hospitals, and its usefulness with an offender patient population merits examination. Our aim was to evaluate the impact of ETS using measures designed to capture change in key areas targeted by the course, and a more global measure of mental well-being.Methods. Offender patients (N = 83) referred for ETS between 2001 and 2006 via a wider groupwork service within a high security hospital were administered questionnaires before and after the training course, which was minimally adjusted to meet the needs of the patient population. Attendance rates, including 'drop-out' (completion of 10 or less sessions) were recorded. Demographics by subgroup (completers vs. non-completers), and the clinical significance of any changes endorsed by participants post-group were examined.Results. ETS completers were significantly more likely than non-completers to endorse changes in thinking style (e.g. a reduction in post-course scores). Significant differences were observed at both the group and individual level in the direction of less externalization of blame, a slight increase in tolerance of frustration, an increase in social conformity, and improvement in critical reasoning skills. Furthermore there was a reduction in the endorsement of aggressive solutions to social problems.Conclusions. These findings demonstrate a significant short-term impact of the course for mentally disordered offenders with regards change in aspects of their thinking style and enhancement of their social problem solving skills. This profile lends some support to the provision of ETS within secure hospital settings. Language: en


This study employs Vector Error Correction Model (VECM), information share and conditional information share methods to investigate price discovery in SET50 Index (cash index), SET50 Index Futures (futures index) and ThaiDex SET50 (exchange traded fund). Our findings indicate that there exists a long run relationship among three markets and a multi-market trading of derivatives markets and its underlying asset helps improve price efficiency. With respect to the degree of price formation process, SET50 Index Futures contributes most in price discovery process, followed by SET50 Index and ThaiDex SET50.


Male outmigration has been a traditional feature of rural to urban migration in India. Many of these out-migrants are married and have left their families behind. This raises the question of whether men actually abstain or seek other sexual partners. To address this question, this paper attempts to study migrants' sexual behavior and sexual health as well as their attitudes towards extramarital sex and preventive practices during sex outside marriage. Findings from the survey of 500 married male migrants suggest that migrants staying away from their families are 3.6 times more likely to indulge in extramarital sex than migrants staying with their families. The need for more information campaigns and providing recreational facilities for migrants living away from their families is suggested by the study.


Vehicle geo-localization in urban areas remains to be challenging problems. For this purpose, Global Positioning System (GPS) receiver is usually the main sensor. But, the use of GPS alone is not sufficient in many urban environments due to wave multi-path. In order to provide accurate and robust localization, GPS has so to be helped with other sensors like dead-reckoned sensors, map data, cameras or LIDAR. In this paper, a new observation of the absolute pose of the vehicle is proposed to back up GPS measurements. The proposed approach exploits a virtual 3D model managed by a 3D geographical information system (3D GIS) and a video camera. The concept is to register the acquired image to the 3D model that is geo-localized. For that, two images have to be matched: the real image and the virtual image. The real image is acquired by the on board camera and provides the real view of the scene viewed by the vehicle. The virtual image is provided by the 3D GIS. The developed method is composed of three parts. The first part consists in detecting and matching the feature points of the real image and of the virtual image. Two methods: SIFT (Scale Invariant Feature Transform) and Harris corner detector are compared. The second part concerns the position computation using POSIT algorithm and the previously matched features set. The third part concerns the data fusion using IMM-UKF (Interacting Multiple Model-Unscented Kalman Filter). The proposed approach has been tested on a real sequence and the obtained results proved the feasibility and robustness of the approach.


The present structure of the Iberia–Africa plate boundary between the Gorringe Bank and the Algerian Basin is characterized by a highly segmented geometry and diffused seismicity. Filtered Bouguer gravity data show conspicuous highs coinciding with the Gorringe Bank, the Guadalquivir–Portimao Bank, and the Ronda/Beni–Bousera massifs, reflecting the current geometry of the plate boundary segments. The Africa–Eurasia Alpine convergence produced crustal-scale thrusting in the Atlantic segments and roll-back subduction in the Ligurian–Tethys segments. Despite the growing consensus that the Gorringe and the Guadalquivir–Portimao Banks resulted from tectonic inversion of hyperextended margin structures inherited from the Early Jurassic, this heritage is more debatable for the Ronda/Beni–Bousera massifs lacking models linking the Atlantic and Mediterranean realms. On the basis of gravity analysis combined with plate reconstruction models, geological cross-sections, and recent local tomography, we infer a strong Jurassic heritage of the present-day segmentation and substantiate a comprehensive tectonic evolution model of the Iberia–Africa plate boundary since the Early Jurassic to Recent that includes the Atlantic and the Mediterranean domains.


Pakistan came into existence as the result of Muslim belief that within the Indo-Pakistan Sub-Continent there lived two distinct nations, the Hindus and the Muslims. It was understood that the Muslims would be relegated to a permanent minority group if a separate political entity such as Pakistan was not created. However, the strife for Pakistan was not led by the men of religion but the westernized intelegentia. However, once Pakistan was created the 'Ulama began to voice the opinions that Pakistan has been specifically created for the purpose of creating a State based on Islam. When the Constituent Assembly sat down to frame a constitution for Pakistan a controversy ensued within it and outside. The main questions which came under discussion were; Should Pakistan be an Islamic State based on Shari'a ? If so what is an Islamic State and vdiat political and social institutions should be created to set it up and preserve it ? How should the position of 15% non-Muslims living within the political boundaries of Pakistan be resolved and what should be their legal and social position ? What should be the qualifications and powers of the Head of the State and how should he be elected and finally what steps should be taken to ensure that no laws repugnant to Islam are enacted ? The 'Ulama such as Maulana Shabbir Ahmad 'Upsmanl, and MaulanS Abul A'la Maududi were actively involved in Politics and along with other 'Ulama began to put pressure on the Constituent Assembly to create a Constitution based on Islam. This Thesis is mainly a study of influence of the men of religion on Constitution making up to the framing of the 1956 Constitution. The first Chapter discusses the political background of the creation of Pakistan. The second Chapter comprises firstly the development of Islamic political thought and secondly the concept of Islamic state as envisaged by some of the contemporary Pakistan Authorities on Islam. The Third Chapter then endeavours to trace the influence of religion on the process of constitution making. This is followed by a Conclusion.


Surface bloom-forming species, predominantly of the Dinophyceae, have the capacity to accumulate high amounts of mycosporine-like amino acids (MAAs). The 3 dinoflagellate species (Gonyaulacales, Dinophyceae), Alexandrium tamarense (Lebour) Balech, A. catenella (Weedon et Kofoid) Balech, and A. minutum Halim, are bloom-forming toxic isolates. They are usually found form- ing blooms near the surface, hence, they are exposed to high light conditions. Using an improved HPLC methodology, 9 MAAs were separated and identified. Several forms of atypical MAAs, not pre- viously reported in the literature, were also revealed. The chromatographic behaviour of these new compounds, UV spectra, chemical properties and mass spectra indicate that they contain 2 or more common MAAs linked among themselves. These atypical MAAs were present in the 3 Alexandrium species. At the same time, the chromatographic profile of A. minutum, A. tamarense and A. catenella, showed great differences. The biochemical composition of the cells is highly variable with growth con- ditions. Hence, we also reported, for the sake of a comparative discussion, the toxin and pigment com- position of these Alexandrium isolates. The 3 species showed the same pigment pattern characteristic of peridinin-containing dinoflagellates. On the contrary, as reported previously, great variation of the toxin profiles was observed among the Alexandrium species. We conclude that, although MAAs are common among phytoplankton, the occurrence of different types of novel MAAs in the 3 Alexandrium species studied here would indicate some degree of biogeographic or ecotypic diversification.


Principles and guidelines will become more important, due to the development of accessibility policies and the harmonization with Europe in Sweden is discussed. Public policy is the body of principles that underpin the operation of legal systems in a state, which address the social, moral, and economic values that tie a society together. Accessibility policies often start at the international level. Many countries currently have different regulations for interface accessibility. In Sweden the transparency of the public sector is one of the foundations of democracy and the development of an accessible society and is manifested by a duty to publish and promote openness. Public policy and legislation play an important role in contributing to increased accessibility. Sweden is a country of negotiation and transparency, not binding legislation. Involving groups with impairments may not only provide increased accessibility but also increase innovation.


In this paper we discuss the relevance of bandwidth extension for speaker identification tasks. Mainly we want to study if it is possible to recognize voices that have been bandwith extended. For this purpose, we created two different databases (microphonic and ISDN) of speech signals that were bandwidth extended from telephone bandwidth ([300, 3400] Hz) to full bandwidth ([100, 8000] Hz). We have evaluated different parameterizations, and we have found that the MELCEPST parameterization can take advantage of the bandwidth extension algorithms in several situations.


The application of molecular markers stands out in studies on the genetic variability of animal and plant species. This tool contributes to studies on the history of some chelonian species, since it takes into consideration their longevity and the endangerment they are often exposed to. The aim of the current study is to perform a quantitative research to document and analyze the development of technological competencies based on the number of patents and scientific articles on the use of molecular markers in studies comprising chelonians. It was done using scientific articles from databases such as Science Direct, Web of Science, SCOPUS and CAPES thesis and dissertation bank, as well as patents recorded in databases such as INPI, WIPO and EPO. The results showed a larger number of scientific articles than patents. There was just one patent registration on the use of molecular markers in turtles; it was deposited in 2011 by a group of Chinese researchers. These indicators show an important scientific gap on this subject, which may be the basis of new studies aimed at better understanding and protecting this animal group.

 Key words: Molecular markers, turtles, technological prospecting.


This research is aimed to analyze the process of budget planning and implementation in The Department  of  Tourism and Creative Economy, Palu City. It is a descriptive qualitative and selects 4 (four) financial managers as its main respondents. The result indicates that the process of budget planning in The Department of Tourism anD, Renja-SKPD, KUA, PPAS, RKA-SKPD, and APBD, which are compiled into a budget implementation document/DPA. However, budget allocation for each program is disproportional and disregards the procurement standard analysis. Moreover, budget implementation has been executed based on the regulation and yet, is not supported by qualified human resources, who have knowledge of financial management. Fund disbursement is often delayed because of waiting for the provision of funds letter/SPD and there is also a delay in money supply process/GU because the financial report is not handed to the treasure on time.


In this study, the separate effects of (Ba₀.₆Sr₀.₄)TiO₃ (BST) ceramics and ZnO-TeO₂ glass additions on dielectric properties of CaCu₃Ti₄O₁₂ (CCTO) ceramics were investigated and prepared from high purity oxide powders by the conventional solid state synthesis method . For the first series, (1-x)CCTO- (x)BST (x=0,0.05, 0.1, and 0.2) composite, X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis showed the existence of BST as a secondary phase alongside CCTO. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) showed a slight decrease in grain size of doped CCTO samples. Addition of BST into CCTO caused the dielectric constant to slightly decrease but improved stability with frequency compared to the undoped sample. The decrease in dielectric constant of doped CCTO samples was suggested to be partly due to the decrease in average grain size and increase in porosity with BST addition. The dielectric loss (tan ᵹ) of CCTO reduced by the BST addition and probably due to the increase of grains boundary resistivity. The activation energy of grains boundary (Egb) showed higher values as compared to the activation energy of grains (Eg) for all samples and conforms to the internal barrier layer capacitor (IBLC) model. For the second series (1-x)CCT0-(x)( ZnO-TeO₂) (x=0,0.01, 0.03, and 0.05) glass composite, XRay diffraction investigation showed single phased CCTO for all samples without presence of any crystalline phase related to ZnO-TeO₂. Scanning electron microscope (SEM) showed the grain size of CCTO ceramics increased with increasing addition of ZnO-TeO₂ glass additive. The addition of ZnO-TeO₂ glass improved the dielectric constant of CCTO for entire frequencies probably due to the increase of grain size ofCCTO ceramics. In addition, it was found that the dielectric loss of CCTO reduced by the ZnO-TeO₂ glass addition and it was suggested to be due to the increase of grain boundary resistivity. The resistance of grains boundary (Rgb) showed higher values as compared tothe resistance of grains (Rg) for all samples and the large difference between theresistances also conforms to the IBLC model.


Many investors demand position transparency from hedge fund managers in the belief that more information is better than less. However, certain hedge fund strategies create synthetic investment positions that resemble a short put option, and these positions are not revealed by position transparency. Specifically, event-driven hedge funds and merger arbitrage hedge funds have significant exposure to volatility events. We identify and measure this short volatility exposure, providing the transparency that is lacking from position disclosure. In addition we examine ways to manage this short volatility risk.


The task of municipal problem solving has become a team sport that has spilled beyond the borders of government agencies and now engages a far more extensive network of social actors - public as well as private, non-profit and profit. Solid waste management is one of the key tasks associated with municipal authorities. It is of particular interest because of its flexibility compared to other services at the municipal level. This means the number of options for addressing solid waste management at municipal level are considered many. The Lake Victoria Basin allows a comparison of institutions and practices in the different urban centres that are found in the basin. The ultimate aim has been to advance plausible options for institutional arrangement to improve solid waste management at the benefit of the urban poor in the Lake Basin in East Africa. This dissertation is the result of five years of research work done under the PROVIDE project (working on sustainable urban infrastructures in cities of the Lake Victoria Basin, East Africa) with funding from INREF.


Chemical weathering of silicates and carbonates as well as the burial and oxidation of organic matter exert fundamental control over atmospheric chemistry on Earth over geologic timescales (Berner et al., 1983; Berner, 1990: Hilton and West, 2020; Petsch, 2014). On modern-day Earth, carbon release and sinks from mineral-based weathering (i.e., silicates and carbonates via carbonic and sulfuric acids) and biogeochemical fluxes (i.e., organic matter burial and kerogen oxidation) stand in fine balance to one another with contrasting concoctions of these under different tectonosedimentary settings (e.g., Bufe et al., 2021; Hilton and West, 2020; Blattmann et al., 2019a; Horan et al., 2019). Deglaciation likely modulated silicate and carbonate weathering resulting in enhanced (temporary) drawdown of atmospheric CO2 (e.g., Tranter, 1996; Gibbs and Kump, 1996; Munhoven and François 1996; c.f., Schachtman et al., 2019). Glaciers have been invoked as agents for accelerating chemical weathering of carbonate and silicate minerals by increasing sediment yield and creating reactive substrate with high surface area (Torres et al., 2017; Vance et al., 2009; Yu et al., 2021), with carbonate weathering constituting a source of CO2 to the atmosphere when sulfuric acid, stemming from oxidized sulfide minerals, is involved (c.f., Torres et al., 2014; Kölling et al., 2019). In the following, the idea of glaciers producing reactive substrate susceptible to chemical weathering is reviewed and explored for kerogen.


ABSTRACT Vaccination is the first line of defense against influenza virus infection, yet influenza vaccine production methods are slow, antiquated, and expensive as a means to effectively reduce the virus burden during epidemic or pandemic periods. There is a great need for alternative influenza vaccines and vaccination methods with a global scale of impact. We demonstrate here a strategy to generate influenza A virus in vivo by using bacmid DNAs. Compared to the classical reverse genetics system, the "eight-in-one" bacmids (bcmd-RGFlu) showed higher efficiency of virus rescue in various cell types. Using a transfection-based inoculation (TBI) system, intranasal delivery to DBA/2J and BALB/c mice of bcmd-RGFlu plus 293T cells led to the generation of lethal PR8 virus in vivo. A prime-boost intranasal vaccination strategy using TBI in the context of a bcmd-RGFlu carrying a temperature-sensitive H1N1 virus resulted in protection of mice against lethal challenge with the PR8 strain. Taken together, these studies provide proof of principle to highlight the potential of vaccination against influenza virus by using in vivo reverse genetics. IMPORTANCE Vaccination is the first line of defense against influenza virus infections. A major drawback in the preparation of influenza vaccines is that production relies on a heavily time-consuming process of growing the viruses in eggs. We propose a radical change in the way influenza vaccination is approached, in which a recombinant bacmid, a shuttle vector that can be propagated in both Escherichia coli and insect cells, carries an influenza virus infectious clone (bcmd-RGFlu). Using a surrogate cell system, we found that intranasal delivery of bcmd-RGFlu resulted in generation of influenza virus in mice. Furthermore, mice vaccinated with this system were protected against lethal influenza virus challenge. The study serves as a proof of principle of a potentially universal vaccine platform against influenza virus and other pathogens.


THURSDAY AFTERNOON, JANUARY 8,1998 267 MARINA, 2:OO TO 5:12 Session FF ELECTRONIC STRUCTURE Vince Harris, Chair Naval Research Laboratory, Code 6342, Washington, DC 20375


The process of robot design is a complex task and the majority of design decisions are still based on human intuition or tedious manual tuning. A more informed way of facing this task is computational design methods where design parameters are concurrently optimized with corresponding controllers. Existing approaches, however, are strongly influenced by predefined control rules or motion templates and cannot provide end-to-end solutions. In this paper, we present a design optimization framework using model-free meta reinforcement learning, and its application to the optimizing kinematics and actuator parameters of quadrupedal robots. We use meta reinforcement learning to train a locomotion policy that can quickly adapt to different designs. This policy is used to evaluate each design instance during the design optimization. We demonstrate that the policy can control robots of different designs to track random velocity commands over various rough terrains. With controlled experiments, we show that the meta policy achieves close-to-optimal performance for each design instance after adaptation. Lastly, we compare our results against a model-based baseline and show that our approach allows higher performance while not being constrained by predefined motions or gait patterns.


background:Poverty in urban area triggered new problem related with their access to health care services. Heavy burden of life in urban makes health, especially reproductive health, never become first priority for urban poor community. This study is aimed to analyzed equity of urban poor community when accessing the reproductive health care. Methods:This is descriptive study with cross sectional design applied. There were 78 women residents of Penjaringansari II Flats in Surabaya selected by simple random sampling (α=10%) as respondents. Penjaringansari II Flats was choosen because it is a slum area that residence by unskilled labours and odd employees. The need fulfillment of respondents in reproductive health care was analyzed by spider web analysis. result: Most of respondents (55.1%) were first married before 20 years old. There were 60.5% of them gave birth before 20 years old also, so it belongs to high risk pregnant women. Spider web area for health care of under age married was less than ideal age married which means that under age married urban poor experienced inequity for ANC health services. Approximately 10.3% of respondents had never use contraceptives because they fear of side effects and inhibiton of their husband. conclutions:Better equity shown in the prevention of cervical cancer. Being perceived as the poor who need assistance, free pap smear was often held by Penjaringansari II residents. Poor conditions experienced by a group not only can promote health care inequity, but also promote health care equity. recomendation:Health care equity for urban poor can be pursued through both aid schemes provided by the community or the government.


Context. Properties of magnetic field in the internetwork regions are still fairly unknown because of rather weak spectropolarimetric signals. Aims. We address the matter by using the two-dimensional (2D) inversion code, which is able to retrieve the information on smallest spatial scales up to the diffraction limit, while being less susceptible to noise than most of the previous methods used. Methods. Performance of the code and the impact of various effects on the retrieved field distribution is tested first on the realistic magneto-hydrodynamic (MHD) simulations. The best inversion scenario is then applied to the real data obtained by Spectropolarimeter (SP) on board Hinode. Results. Tests on simulations show that: (1) the best choice of node position ensures a decent retrieval of all parameters; (2) the code performs well for different configurations of magnetic field; (3) slightly different noise levels or slightly different defocus included in the spatial point spread function (PSF) produces no significant effect on the results; and (4) temporal integration shifts the field distribution to a stronger, more horizontally inclined field. Conclusions. Although the contribution of the weak field is slightly overestimated owing to noise, 2D inversions are able to recover well the overall distribution of the magnetic field strength. Application of the 2D inversion code on the Hinode SP internetwork observations reveals a monotonic field strength distribution. The mean field strength at optical depth unity is ~ 130 G. At higher layers, field strength drops as the field becomes more horizontal. Regarding the distribution of the field inclination, tests show that we cannot directly retrieve it with the observations and tools at hand, however, the obtained distributions are consistent with those expected from simulations with a quasi-isotropic field inclination after accounting for observational effects.


The creation of facial range models by 3D imaging systems has led to extensive work on 3D face recognition [19]. However, little work has been done to study the usefulness of such data for recognizing and understanding facial expressions. Psychological research shows that the shape of a human face, a highly mobile facial surface, is critical to facial expression perception. In this paper, we investigate the importance and usefulness of 3D facial geometric shapes to represent and recognize facial expressions using 3D facial expression range data. We propose a novel approach to extract primitive 3D facial expression features, and then apply the feature distribution to classify the prototypic facial expressions. In order to validate our proposed approach, we have conducted experiments for person-independent facial expression recognition using our newly created 3D facial expression database. We also demonstrate the advantages of our 3D geometric based approach over 2D texture based approaches in terms of various head poses.


Although researchers have examined the predictors and outcomes of the behavioral aspect of "hooking up," typically defined as casual, commitment-free sexual encounters, research has not yet examined the extent to which young people endorse the culture associated with hooking up. Based on the argument that there is a set of understood rules and assumptions associated with hooking up, this article describes the development of an instrument to measure college students' endorsement of the hookup culture. Results from two studies found that five factors represent endorsement of the hookup culture: (a) a belief that hooking up is harmless and best without emotional commitment, (b) a belief that hooking up is fun, (c) a belief that hooking up will enhance one's status in one's peer group, (d) a belief that hooking up allows one to assert control over one's sexuality, and (e) a belief that hooking up is a reflection of one's sexual freedom. The index also had acceptable internal reliability, and performed well on the tests of construct validity. Taken together, the results suggest that the Endorsement of the Hookup Culture Index is suitable for use by researchers interested in the social phenomenon of hooking up.


The objectives of the study were (1) to examine the livestock work pattern as farm size changes, (2) to examine the relationships among human labor, livestock work, and machinery use as family size changes, and (3) to provide empirical estimates of the impact of livestock work-milk output, measuring its opportunity cost in lost milk production. First, since most animal power is used for transportation of inputs and outputs rather than direct farm production work, machinery may not replace animal power very rapidly. Second, although the machine-to-animal power ratio increased gradually with farm size, other power inputs ratios including machine-to-human labor did not.


By varying the feed ratios of comonomers, butyl acrylate (BA), acrylic acid (AA), and methyl methacrylate (MMA), four acrylate macromolecular modifiers (AC730, AC532, AC235, and AC037) were synthesized by free radical copolymeration in ethnol. The effect of these modifiers on rheological behaviors of ultrafine CaCO3 aqueous suspensions was investigated on the basis of a series of rheological measurements. The results showed that comonomer compositions and amounts of modifiers have obvious effect on rheological behaviors of CaCO3 aqueous suspensions. In the case of AC730 and 0.2-0.4 parts of AC532, suspensions were pseudoplastic fluids, exhibiting shear thinning behavior; while in the case of AC235, AC037 and 0.6-1.4 parts of AC532, suspensions were dilatant fluids, exhibiting shear thickening behavior. Except the suspensions modified by 1.2 and 1.4 parts of AC730, the rheological data of other suspending systems could be well correlated with Herschel-Bulkley model. Optimum amounts of different modifiers were determined on the basis of rheological analysis, 0.8 parts for AC730, 0.6 parts for AC532 or AC235, and 0.4 parts for AC037.


Reliable transport of data in Wireless Sensor Networks (WSN) has become a big challenging issue for researcher community in the last few years. WSNs are currently deployed in a wide range of applications as a sensor is becoming smaller and production cost is smaller. In this paper, we look at the problem of efficient and reliable data transport in WSN. We propose a suitable solution for information delivery in both directions, in upstream (from sensor node to master node – sink) and in downstream (form master node to sensor node). Our proposal ensures a reliable data transport in both directions, with reduced traffic between sensor nodes and sink.


Design representation is a crucial part of all design activity. Representations provide a vehicle through which design ideas and decisions are explored, communicated and recorded. Since representation is so fundamental to design, it follows that a deep understanding of the nature and use of representation has the potential to improve current design practice. While there is recognition in the IS literature of the importance of representation, previous IS research has focused almost entirely on the functional aspects of representation, in particular modelling to support various methodologies or particular aspects of design such as database, object-oriented or process modelling. Since the development of an information system is a socio-technical process, this paper argues that we need to understand how representations can facilitate both the specification of the artefact, and the social aspects of design. This paper explores the use of design representation by real-world practitioners. It identifies two hitherto neglected social purposes of representation employed by designers when interacting with clients or users: selective focus, and promotion. The paper concludes by noting that as IS faces increasingly complex design challenges it is timely to examine our understanding of all aspects of design representation including its role in facilitating the social aspects of design.


Spectra of the mesospheric OH(3,1) emission have been recorded by an FTIR spectrometer at Maynooth (53.2 degrees N, 6.4 degrees W), of Ireland on all suitable nights during the period December 1992 to July 1995. A total of 370 nights observations have been obtained. Each spectrum is acquired in a five minute integration period, and has been analyzed to yield a value of rotational temperature and brightness associated with the (3,1) band. Each of these measurements has been normalized to the mean value for the particular night on which it was recorded in an effort to extract the amplitude and phase of the variations. The normalized data have been binned at half-hourly intervals for each month so as to minimize the contribution to the variations from gravity waves and short period planetary scale oscillations. Harmonic analysis has been performed to determine an amplitude and a phase of both the diurnal and semidiurnal oscillations for each month in the period under study. The results of this investigation are presented and they are compared with the predictions of the theoretical model of Forbes and Gillette.


Germany's coal-fired power plants, which provide nearly half of the nation's electricity, are posing a major challenge to its plans for an Energiewende—a shift to an energy system that will cut national greenhouse gas emissions by 80% to 95% by 2050. Many experts say achieving that goal will require the nation to phase out its coal plants—but the question of how and when that might happen has been contentious. Now, in the wake of the Paris climate pact, the debate is heating up. A prominent think tank has released a report concluding that Germany could abandon coal by 2040, and Germany's environment minister says that she will soon unveil a plan for reaching the 2050 emissions goal. Many observers expect it to include a coal exit timeline. But Germany's vice chancellor, as well as major labor and industry groups, are pushing back, fearing job losses and energy market disruptions—and predicting that a solo German move could simply shift emissions to other nations.


This investigation used a multivariate approach to examine similarities and differences between the job satisfaction, propensity to leave, and burnout of registered nurses (RNs) (n = 623) and registered nursing assistants (RNAs) (n = 231). At best, both groups were only moderately satisfied with their jobs, and there were no significant differences between the groups on the outcome measures of satisfaction, burnout or propensity to leave. However, RNs with more years of work experience reported highest job satisfaction, lowest levels of burnout, and were less likely to leave their positions. None of these variables were related to the length of time RNAs were employed. When comparative analyses were conducted by unit types, RNs in psychiatric settings were least satisfied with their jobs, more likely to leave their positions, and reported more burnout than did RNs in other settings. Implications of the study for interventions and future research are discussed.


This thesis is a study of the preparation and thermodynamic properties of magnetic colloids. First, two types of magnetic model colloids are investigated: composite colloids and single-domain nanoparticles. Thermodynamics of magnetic colloids is studied using analytical centrifugation, including a specially adapted centrifuge for measuring heavy and strongly light absorbing colloids. Magnetic composite colloids can be prepared from thermodynamically stable Pickering emulsions of 3-methacryloxypropyl trimethoxysilane (TPM) oil in water stabilized by magnetite or cobalt ferrite nanoparticles. The emulsion droplet size can be increased by the relative volume of oil, the amount of salt, and the evolution of the droplets over time. This evolution over time is due to a gradual transfer of the interfacial nanoparticles to the oil phase, which can be utilized to controllably transfer aqueous nanoparticles to the TPM oil phase by the grafting of TPM onto the surface of the nanoparticles. Magnetic nanoparticles can be prepared by various methods, which yield particles that either have good crystallinity, contain twinning defects, or have a high density of dislocations. These crystal lattice defects can have a detrimental influence on the magnetic properties of the particles. It is shown that a low geometric size polydispersity of magnetic nanoparticles does not guarantee low polydispersity of the magnetic dipole moments. To study the thermodynamics of magnetic colloids by analytical centrifugation, a LUMiFuge stability analyzer is used for the first time to measure the osmotic equation of state of concentrated dispersions of magnetic nanoparticles. The LUMiFuge is equipped with homebuilt measurement cells with glass capillaries with an internal thickness of only 50 micrometers that allow measurement of concentrated, strongly light absorbing colloidal dispersions. For sufficiently small colloids also an analytical ultracentrifuge (AUC) can be used to determine the osmotic equation of state. Homebuilt AUC centerpieces with optical path lengths as low as 50 micrometers have been realized and the results are compared with the equations of state from the LUMiFuge. Sterically stabilized magnetic iron oxide nanoparticles with a diameter of 13 nm dispersed in an apolar solvent are used as an experimental realization of the dipolar hard spheres known from theory and computer simulations. The experimental osmotic pressures of the magnetite fluids are significantly below Van 't Hoff's law due to magnetic interparticle attractions. The osmotic second virial coefficient obtained from the experimental osmotic pressures corresponds to a dipolar coupling constant in the range of 2.0-2.4. An isotropic, Van der Waals-like phase separation, if any, is expected at a value of the dipolar coupling constant of 2.5, close to our experimentally obtained value, yet no indications for such a phase transition are found. The dipolar coupling parameter obtained by analytical centrifugation is in reasonable agreement with the coupling parameter calculated from independent magnetic measurements of the nanoparticles. This agreement clearly confirms that analytical centrifugation is an accurate method to quantify interactions between colloidal particles.


A conflict exists in ultrasonic measurements between the resolution, which requires higher frequency, and the penetration depth, which requires long wavelength. The traditional pulse–echo method for sound velocity measurement fails when the sample becomes too thin to allow the separation of repeated echoes. A signal processing scheme in frequency domain is described here to maximize the resolution of broadband transducers. The Wiener optimum filtering factor is used, together with the multiple sampling average technique, for power spectrum calculation. Using a broadband 2‐MHz center frequency ultrasonic transducer, the sound velocity was successfully measured in brass shims as thin as 5% of the wavelength λ.


Purpose: A prospective study of teaching approach and challenges of presenting qualitative psychological methods to students in a Higher Education setting. A closer analysis of the perception of teaching a required method to students who may resist the validity of the method will be explored.

Background: Providing a reflexive approach to research into the challenges faced by an early career HE psychology teacher, aids in the professional development of tailored and effective support for and one's teaching practice. Applying a sense-making approach to the practice of education and its delivery, plays a significant role in the inclusion and acceptance of post-structuralist approaches to research inquiry in a higher education setting.

Methods: Personal reflection artefacts, peer observation, and verbal in vivo feedback from peers will be collected and analysed. A review of the data will be conducted over the course of the first teaching term.

Findings & Conclusions: Tentative findings may suggest that the teaching experience is not accessible via psychometric measures alone. Reflections on the approach to teaching, can provide valuable detail about a teachers' experiences of marketing the method, academic isolation, and support needs.


This paper presents a new method for the automated processing of surface electromyography (SEMG) signals, particularly suited for the detection of muscle activation timing. The method has an intermediate level of complexity between simpler (but less performing) and more complex (but in general slower) methods, and is successfully used in the development of biomedical devices for rehabilitation carried out by our group. The method proposed here is based on a statistical approach for threshold computation that is implemented without the need of maximum voluntary contraction or relaxed state, usually required to overcome the difficulty in obtaining the threshold value. The method is compared with 10 popular automated standard methods using different types of simulated signals that approximate the behavior of real SEMG signals. Both the number of activations detected and the onset time measured are analyzed. The algorithm is then applied to real SEMG signals acquired from healthy subjects. The results are finally compared with the literature values. The results show that the proposed algorithm is the best performing method when both the number of activations and the activation timing are considered. In real applications, the algorithm gives the results compatible with the well-agreed literature data.


This paper investigates the existence of trade-off relationship between unemployment and inflation in the Jordanian economy between 1984 and 2011. Each of Granger-causality test is adopted to check relationship between variables and the direction of causation. Since these techniques are sensitive to stationary, integration and co-integration of the variables ADF and PP tests is applied to test the Stationary and integration order of the series while Johansen-Juselius procedure is carried out to explore the existence of co-integration between variables. The tests reveal that the variables' series have different degrees of integration, thus, their second differenced series - which have the same degree of integration- have been used to inquire about causality between the two phenomena. The results shown no causal relationship between unemployment and inflation in Jordan during the study period which means there is no trade-off relationship between the two variables. This lends support Monetarist school of thought. One of Reasons for this could be the foreign labor, which is not involved in the unemployment rate calculation. Therefore, it may hinder the trade-off between the two variables in the short run. The study recommends that policy makers should pay attention to these findings when they tackle unemployment issue, and encourages them to conduct programs to reduce unemployment rate through creation of productive and labor-intensive projects, also replace foreign labor with local labor, while continuing to control inflation, to ensure that Jordan accomplish a desired rate of unemployment and inflation, which in turn hearten economic growth.


Over 1.5 billion people lack the skeletal muscle fast-twitch fibre protein α-actinin-3 due to homozygosity for a common null polymorphism (R577X) in the ACTN3 gene. α-Actinin-3 deficiency is detrimental to sprint performance in elite athletes and beneficial to endurance activities. In the human genome, it is very difficult to find single-gene loss-of-function variants that bear signatures of positive selection, yet intriguingly, the ACTN3 null variant has undergone strong positive selection during recent evolution, appearing to provide a survival advantage where food resources are scarce and climate is cold. We have previously demonstrated that α-actinin-3 deficiency in the Actn3 KO mouse results in a shift in fast-twitch fibres towards oxidative metabolism, which would be more "energy efficient" in famine, and beneficial to endurance performance. Prolonged exposure to cold can also induce changes in skeletal muscle similar to those observed with endurance training, and changes in Ca2+ handling by the sarcoplasmic reticulum (SR) are a key factor underlying these adaptations. On this basis, we explored the effects of α-actinin-3 deficiency on Ca2+ kinetics in single flexor digitorum brevis muscle fibres from Actn3 KO mice, using the Ca2+-sensitive dye fura-2. Compared to wild-type, fibres of Actn3 KO mice showed: (i) an increased rate of decay of the twitch transient; (ii) a fourfold increase in the rate of SR Ca2+ leak; (iii) a threefold increase in the rate of SR Ca2+ pumping; and (iv) enhanced maintenance of tetanic Ca2+ during fatigue. The SR Ca2+ pump, SERCA1, and the Ca2+-binding proteins, calsequestrin and sarcalumenin, showed markedly increased expression in muscles of KO mice. Together, these changes in Ca2+ handling in the absence of α-actinin-3 are consistent with cold acclimatisation and thermogenesis, and offer an additional explanation for the positive selection of the ACTN3 577X null allele in populations living in cold environments during recent evolution.


Abstract Integrated analysis of the ichnology, sedimentology, geochemistry, and fossil content of three trace fossil-bearing calcareous paleosols from the early Eocene Gran Salitral Formation is used to reconstruct the detailed paleoenvironmental and paleoecological setting of this insect-dominated ichnofossil association. This continental sequence, located in southwestern La Pampa province (Argentina), is composed of palustrine marls and minor lacustrine mudstones and sandstones arranged in shallowing-upward cycles. The ichnologic association is the first comprehensively described from a palustrine sequence and could be used for future comparisons with other similar assemblages. The ichnofauna is dominated by bee cells, Celliforma germanica, C. roselli, and Rosellichnus isp.; Teisseirei barattinia, an insect trace fossil that is redescribed and recorded for the first time outside its type locality; Taenidium barretti; and Skolithos linearis. The ichnologic association also includes ovoid structures, ornamented burrow fillings, and plant trace fossils (rootlets, rhizoliths, and a tree / shrub stump). Abundant freshwater (Pomacea sp.) and terrestrial gastropods (Plagiodontes spp., Bostryx sp., and Bulimulus sp.) are used to characterize the paleoenvironmental setting. The weakly developed paleosols are interpreted as Inceptisols, developed in a low-gradient lake margin periodically exposed to pedogenesis with low (probably saline) vegetation and sparse shrubs. They developed under a semi-arid and warm climate (mean annual temperature higher than 20°C). Short saline / alkaline conditions were prevalent during lake lowstands, accompanied by incipient karst development. The association of trace fossils is attributed provisionally to the Coprinisphaera ichnofacies, although its distinctive features and recurrence in time and space may deserve recognition as a separate ichnofacies.


BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES:
In India alone, 60 – 70 lakhs people sustain burns every year. Mortality due to burns is 1.4 lakhs/year. Around 70% of all injuries occur in the age group of 15 – 35 years, the most productive age group. The most logistic approach to burn wound would be a wound cover until such time the body is able to synthesize a cover of its own. In a tropical country like India, closed dressings get easily infected and open dressings get dried up soon. Collagen dressings provide the most physiological interface between the wound surface and the environment. Hence I chose to study the merits and demerits of collagen dressing over the conventional silver sulphadiazine ointment application.
METHODS:
70 patients with second degree thermal burns less than 20% TBSA, getting admitted in the General Surgery and Pediatric Surgery Departments of Coimbatore Medical College Hospital were enrolled for the study from October 2011 to October
2013. Surface area of burns was assessed by "Wallace rule of nine". The patients were selected based on inclusion and exclusion criteria and randomly assigned to silver sulphadiazine and collagen group. All patients were treated with analgesics, intravenous fluids and antibiotics. Wound washed thoroughly and dried. Both silver sulphadiazine ointment was applied and left open or collagen sheets applied.
RESULTS:
In this study thermal burns were more common in females between 21-35 years of age. Between the silver sulphadiazine and collagen group, the average pain score (over the scale of 3) on day 1 was 2.19 v/s 1.11. and on day 2 was 1.96 v/s 1.04. The average duration of wound healing was 17.48 and 13.6 days for silver sulphadiazine and collagen groups respectively. Both pain score and wound healing were found to be statistically significant (P value <.01).
The incidence of wound infection, need for split skin graft, development of contractures and hypertrophic scars were found to be low in the collagen group.
However they were found to be statistically insignificant (P>.05).
INTERPRETATION AND CONCLUSION:
Collagen application is better than silver sulphadiazine application in the management of burn wounds owing to its better pain relief, rapid wound healing, need for application of dressing only once, early ambulation and early identification of wound infection due to its translucency.


Mutations in human TBX22 cause X-linked cleft palate with anklyoglossia syndrome. The two zebrafish tbx22 splice isoforms, tbx22-1 and tbx22-2, encode proteins of 444 and 400 amino acids, respectively. Zebrafish tbx22 mRNA expression mirrors mammalian TBX22 expression and is consistent with early patterning of the vertebrate face. In zebrafish, tbx22 mRNA is strongly expressed during early pharyngeal arch development in the ventral mesenchyme, and a later expression domain is found in ectomesenchymal cells underlying the stomodeum, a bilaminar epithelial structure demarcating the early forming mouth. Therefore, tbx22 is hypothesized to be involved in craniofacial development. The objective of this work is to characterize the role of tbx22 during craniofacial development in zebrafish. Tbx22 knockdown revealed that defects in tbx22 signaling cause mild clefting, joint defects and dorsoventral patterning defects in cartilages. Quantitative PCR and in situ analysis revealed that knockdown of tbx22 also causes a dramatic decrease in expression of osr1 and gdf5. Craniofacial patterning is dependent on proper signals from endoderm, mesoderm and ectoderm. The early influence of tbx22 on signals within the ventral mesenchyme impacts the domains of several key pharynx-geal arch signals, thereby helping to regulate proper patterning of the developing jaw.


1. Gel-filtration results indicate that the major component of inhibitory-factor preparations isolated by dissociation of the troponin complex consisted of a protein of subunit weight 23000 daltons. By the same procedure a molecular weight of 18000 was obtained for the calcium-sensitizing factor. 2. The inhibitory factor is specific for the actomyosin type of ATPase and ITPase. It is effective on desensitized actomyosin, natural actomyosin and intact myofibrils. 3. For inhibition, the actomyosin ATPase must be stimulated by Mg(2+), Ca(2+) or Mn(2+). The Co(2+)-, Cd(2+)- or Zn(2+)-stimulated ATPases are not affected. 4. Biological activity is stable to treatment with dissociating agents, heat, pH11, pH1 and carboxymethylation. 5. Increasing amounts of actin, but not myosin or tropomyosin, progressively neutralize the inhibitory activity when added to desensitized actomyosin or myofibrils.


Provisioning, configuration, and management of infrastructure resources in the cloud is difficult due to diverse APIs offered by cloud providers. Because approaches for a common API are still in an early stage and may not be broadly accepted, individual artifacts can be used to interact with different providers. They require generic properties to describe the configuration of infrastructure resources and combine them with provider-specific information provided by the user. Such generic properties are determined in this thesis by looking at the infrastructure offerings of 14 different providers. The artifacts can be made available in public repositories similar to configuration management scripts originating in the DevOps community. However, trust in their good nature is a challenge because in contrast to configuration management scripts they are executed in a shared management environment. To control and restrict the actions they are performing in this shared environment, a method to confine their execution has been developed. The Linux security module Tomoyo has been chosen as a foundation for this. A policy associated with each artifact describes the artifact's permissions in detail. The artifacts are used in the context of the OASIS Topology and Orchestration Specifiction for Cloud Applications (TOSCA), an emerging standard supported by a number of industry partners. This standard allows to model a topology of resources to be provisioned at a provider. Each infrastructure resource, such as a virtual machine, gets an artifact assigned for provisioning purposes. Based on this standard, two simple tools as well as artifacts for four providers were developed. They show the viability of this artifact-driven approach.


Abstract. We provide an extensive overview of a wide range of quantum games and interactive tools that have been employed by the quantum community in recent years. We present selected tools as described by their developers, including "Hello Quantum, Hello Qiskit, Particle in a Box, Psi and Delta, QPlayLearn, Virtual Lab by Quantum Flytrap, Quantum Odyssey, ScienceAtHome, and the Virtual Quantum Optics Laboratory." In addition, we present events for quantum game development: hackathons, game jams, and semester projects. Furthermore, we discuss the Quantum Technologies Education for Everyone (QUTE4E) pilot project, which illustrates an effective integration of these interactive tools with quantum outreach and education activities. Finally, we aim at providing guidelines for incorporating quantum games and interactive tools in pedagogic materials to make quantum technologies more accessible for a wider population.


Background: The suprascapular notch is a common feature of superior border of the scapula, near the coracoid process. Superior transverse scapular ligament is a band like fibrous structure that converts the suprascapular notch into a foramen through which the suprascapular nerve passes, whereas the suprascapular vessels goes above the ligament. Some times this suprascapular notch is absent. Its absence along with different variations of superior transverse scapular ligament may results in suprascapular nerve entrapment neuropathy. This syndrome is characterized by vague pain on the posterolateral aspect of shoulder and atrophy of supraspinatus & infraspinatus muscles. The patients also complain about weakness of external rotation and abduction of arm. The knowledge about the variations along the course of the nerve is important in understanding the source of the entrapment syndrome. Aims & Objectives: To study the incidence of complete absence of suprascapular notch in Indian population & compare it with incidences in various races of world. Materials & Methods: The present study carried out on 220 (Right-108, Left-112) dried human scapulae of unknown sex and age for presence or absence of the suprascapular notch on superior border of scapula. RESULTS: Scapulae without suprascapular notch are found in 34 among 220 scapulae (15.46%), in which 15 (6.82%) belongs to right side & 19 (8.64%) to left side. Conclusion: The incidence of complete absence of suprascapular notch in our study suggest that it is not a rare finding. So, every practicing physician & surgeon should always consider its role in suprascapular nerve entrapment neuropathy.


PURPOSE: A high proportion of on-duty firefighter fatalities are thought to be associated with cardiovascular disease (CVD). However, lifestyle risk factors for CVD have not been investigated in the UK Fire & Rescue Service (FRS), but may indicate strategies for improving career longevity, health and mental well-being. METHODS: The UK FRS Health & Lifestyle Survey was developed using validated, reliable questionnaires and made accessible to all UK FRS employees (Operational and non-operational staff) over a 6 month period. Anthropometric data (and pre-diagnosed hypertension (>140/90 mmHg)) were self-reported with measures of alcohol use, smoking status and psychological well-being (depression, anxiety, stress and satisfaction with life (SWL)). High CVD risk groups were defined by overweight (25-30) and obese (>30) body mass index (BMI), regular smoking or presence of hypertension. Differences between groups in mean survey responses were identified using one-way ANOVA. RESULTS: Respondents comprised 2043 operational firefighters (mean±SD age 42±8 y, height 1.79±0.07 m, mass 86±13 kg) who reported significantly greater alcohol use scores (4.8±2.4 vs. 4.0±2.4; where >5 indicates at risk drinking behaviour), and lower SWL (18.3±7.3 vs. 17.5±7.4) than the 1096 non-operational staff (age 45±10 y, height 1.70±0.10 m, mass 76±17 kg) (p<0.05). Sixty four percent of the sample (n=2019) were in the moderate-high risk categories for BMI, 9% (n=293) were hypertensive, and 7% (n=227) were habitual smokers. In comparison to the normal BMI group, the high BMI group exhibited higher incidence of hypertension (21% vs. 4%), significantly higher waist circumference (0.97 ± 0.09 m vs. 0.79±0.07 m), alcohol use (4.7±2.7 vs. 4.2±2.3) and indicators of depression and stress (p<0.05). The hypertension group were significantly older (49±8 y vs. 43±9 y), had higher BMI (29±4 vs. 26±4) and scores for all adverse mood states (p<0.05). Non-smokers had greater SWL (16 ±8 vs. 18±7, p<0.05) and lower scores in alcohol use than smokers (5.5 vs. 4.3, p<0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Survey results suggest that the UK FRS contain a proportion of employees with modifiable risk factors for cardiovascular disease, and changing lifestyle may improve physical health, potentially leading to greater mental well-being.


The realization of integrated-optic broadband wavelength devision multiplexer for separation of 1.31µm and 1.55µm wavelength window is demonstrated based on the well known arrayed waveguide structure. Broadband characteristic with passband greater than 100nm is achieved by using low diffraction order (m = 1, 2). The number of arrayed waveguides is W = 13 and W= 7 respectively. Structure parameters especially those for the star coupler region are derived by use of the transfer-matrix formalism for layered media and the wide-angle finite difference beam propagation method. Prototypes of these structures where realised as doped silica on silicon substrate by using standard plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) and reactive ion etching (RIE) techniques. The waveguide structure is based on a 7x7µm waveguide core with refractive index difference Dn = 0.005 with reference to a 20µm buffer and cladding layer. Phosphor and Boron were used as dopands of each silica layer to achieve proper adjustment of phys ical layer properties, i.e. refractive index and transformation temperature. Codopand Boron is used to open a selective thermal postprocessing of deposited layers to overcome inhomogeneous PECVD cladding layer deposition on the RIE structured waveguide


Purpose: To analyze the relationship between drusen morphology revealed by spectral-domain optical coherence tomography (SD-OCT) and corresponding fundus autofluorescence (FAF) features of the same drusen using the Heidelberg Retina Angiograph 2 (HRA2), in patients with dry age-related macular degeneration (AMD). Methods: Dry AMD patients were imaged with SD-OCT and HRA2 on the same day. SD-OCT B scans were then precisely overlaid onto the HRA2 images, and the SD-OCT morphological characteristics of the drusen were correlated with the corresponding FAF appearance. The analyzed morphological features of the drusen included: size, status of the inner segment/outer segment (IS-OS) junctional layer above the drusen, shape of the drusen, internal reflectivity, homogeneity and presence of overlaying hyperreflective foci. The FAF characteristics of each druse were rated as hyperautofluorescent, hypoautofluorescent or normally autofluorescent. Spearman's correlation coefficient was used to analyze the correlation between the 2 primary outcomes: SD-OCT morphology of the drusen and their autofluorescent appearance. Results: 431 drusen in 32 eyes of 16 dry AMD patients were evaluated. Of the 7 morphological characteristics assessed by SD-OCT, only drusen size and the status of the IS-OS layer above the drusen were strongly correlated with the autofluorescent appearance (r = 0.78, p < 0.001, and r = 0.58, p < 0.001, respectively). The strength of correlation with other features appeared less robust: homogeneity (r = 0.38; p = 0.001), shape (r = 0.29; p = 0.004), reflectivity (r = 0.28; p = 0.004) and presence of overlaying foci (r = 0.25; p = 0.12). Conclusions: Autofluorescent changes most strongly correlate with drusen size and disruption of the IS-OS layer and may be useful as an additional functional-morphological feature by which drusen and their impact upon overlying photoreceptors may be judged.


A gene encoding the salicylate hydroxylase was cloned from the genomic DNA of Pseudomonas fluorescens SME11. The DNA fragment containing the nahG gene for the sal icylate hydroxylase was mapped with restriction endonucleases and sequenced. The DNA fragment contained an ORF of 1,305 bp encoding a polypeptide of 434 amino acid residues. The nucleotide and amino acid sequences of the salicylate hydroxylase revealed several conserved regions with those of the enzyme encoded in P. putida PpG7: The homology of the nucleotide sequence is 83% and that of amino acid sequence is 72%. We found large conserved regions of the amino acid sequence at FAD and NADH binding regions. The FAD binding site is located at the amino terminal region and a lysine residue functions as a NADH-binding site.


We describe the design of and experience with PointRight, a peer-to-peer pointer and keyboard redirection system that operates in multi-machine, multi-user environments. PointRight employs a geometric model for redirecting input across screens driven by multiple independent machines and operating systems. It was created for interactive workspaces that include large, shared displays and individual laptops, but is a general tool that supports many different configurations and modes of use. Although previous systems have provided for re-routing pointer and keyboard control, in this paper we present a more general and flexible system, along with an analysis of the types of re-binding that must be handled by any pointer redirection system This paper describes the system, the ways in which it has been used, and the lessons that have been learned from its use over the last two years.


Biofouling is ubiquitous in marine environments, and the barnacle Balanus amphitrite is one of the most recalcitrant and aggressive biofoulers in tropical waters. Several natural antifoulants that were claimed to be non-toxic have been isolated in recent years, although the mechanism by which they inhibit fouling is yet to be investigated. Poly-ether B has shown promise in the non-toxic inhibition of larval barnacle attachment. Hence, in this study, multiplex two-dimensional electrophoresis (2-DE) was applied in conjunction with mass spectrometry to investigate the effects of poly-ether B on barnacle larvae at the molecular level. The cyprid proteome response to poly-ether B treatment was analyzed at the total proteome and phosphoproteome levels, with 65 protein and 19 phosphoprotein spots found to be up- or down-regulated. The proteins were found to be related to energy-metabolism, oxidative stress, and molecular chaperones, thus indicating that poly-ether B may interfere with the redox-regulatory mechanisms governing the settlement of barnacle larvae. The results of this study demonstrate the usefulness of the proteomic technique in revealing the working mechanisms of antifouling compounds.