We examined the relationship between drug use by young adolescents and two indicators of illness, frequency of illness and numbers of days absent from school owing to illness. Data were from a general health survey of all eighth grade students enrolled in public schools in two rural Maryland counties. A total of 745 students completed a self-administered questionnaire during school hours in January 1984. Information was obtained on a variety of sociodemographic characteristics and on the students' use of tobacco, alcohol, and marijuana. Correlational analyses were used to examine the relationships among cigarette smoking, beer or wine drinking, whiskey or hard liquor drinking, and marijuana use. Logistic regression was used to model the effects of drug use behaviors on the likelihood of being absent from school 3 or more days, adjusting for the student's age, sex, race, parents' education, illness frequency, and concerns about learning problems in school. We found substantial covariation among the use of cigarettes, alcohol, and marijuana. After adjusting for the background variables of illness, frequency, and learning problems, we found that students who are frequent cigarette smokers experienced a 2.6 risk of school absenteeism. Other drug use behaviors were not associated significantly with increased risk of missing school. Findings are discussed within the context of health-related consequences of drug use.


The purpose of this article is to apply concepts of socio-technical systems thinking (STS), enriched with concepts from more recent organisation theory, to analyse a case of participatory design of core manufacturing processes in a company. The redesign process considered transformation of operational logistics of the installation phase, which is a complex and costly phase. The focus is a test of the concept of minimal critical specification, applied as a principle for work process redesign. In the process under study, managers, supervisors and worker representatives at all levels and functions directly affected took part in the process of redesigning the material flow system and the corresponding control system at the operational level, and the design was put into operation by the company. After a year of operation, the new design was modestly favourably assessed by the organisation. The case shows the possibility and implementation of a new organisation, and the findings demonstrate how manifold relevant participant knowledge may be incorporated into a workable redesign process. The findings cannot be generalised on the basis of this one case, but we will argue that the case serves as a demonstrator project for the model tested.


A three-dimensional dandelion-shaped TiO2/multi-layer graphene compound (TiO2/MLG) composed of TiO2(B) fibrils and anatase pappus structures has been synthesized as a potential anode material for Li storage. Electron microscopy indicates that the composite contains triphase boundaries between anatase, TiO2(B) and graphene, which are responsible for the enhancement of energy storage and the decrease of electrode polarization. Cyclic voltammetric investigations indicate that both Li+ insertion and pseudocapacitance contribute to charge storage. Ultrahigh specific capacities of 243 and 182 mA h g−1 have been obtained at 0.1 and 1 A g−1, respectively. Moreover, the excellent capacity retention can reach 99.6% after 100 cycles with almost 100% coulombic efficiency at 0.1 A g−1. The importance of the triphase boundary in enhancing the storage of charge and transport of Li+ is demonstrated.


We propose an information-theoretic knowledge distillation approach for the compression of generative adversarial networks, which aims to maximize the mutual information between teacher and student networks via a variational optimization based on an energy-based model. Because the direct computation of the mutual information in continuous domains is intractable, our approach alternatively optimizes the student network by maximizing the variational lower bound of the mutual information. To achieve a tight lower bound, we introduce an energy-based model relying on a deep neural network to represent a flexible variational distribution that deals with high-dimensional images and consider spatial dependencies between pixels, effectively. Since the proposed method is a generic optimization algorithm, it can be conveniently incorporated into arbitrary generative adversarial networks and even dense prediction networks, e.g., image enhancement models. We demonstrate that the proposed algorithm achieves outstanding performance in model compression of generative adversarial networks consistently when combined with several existing models.


Background Global withdrawal of serotype-2 oral poliovirus vaccine (OPV2) took place in April 2016. This marked a milestone in global polio eradication and was a public health intervention of unprecedented scale, affecting 155 countries. Achieving high levels of serotype-2 population immunity before OPV2 withdrawal was critical to avoid subsequent outbreaks of serotype-2 vaccine-derived polioviruses (VDPV2s). Methods and Findings In August 2015, we estimated vaccine-induced population immunity against serotype-2 poliomyelitis for 1 January 2004–30 June 2015 and produced forecasts for April 2016 by district in Nigeria and Pakistan. Population immunity was estimated from the vaccination histories of children <36 mo old identified with non-polio acute flaccid paralysis (AFP) reported through polio surveillance, information on immunisation activities with different oral poliovirus vaccine (OPV) formulations, and serotype-specific estimates of the efficacy of these OPVs against poliomyelitis. District immunity estimates were spatio-temporally smoothed using a Bayesian hierarchical framework. Coverage estimates for immunisation activities were also obtained, allowing for heterogeneity within and among districts. Forward projections of immunity, based on these estimates and planned immunisation activities, were produced through to April 2016 using a cohort model. Estimated population immunity was negatively correlated with the probability of VDPV2 poliomyelitis being reported in a district. In Nigeria and Pakistan, declines in immunity during 2008–2009 and 2012–2013, respectively, were associated with outbreaks of VDPV2. Immunity has since improved in both countries as a result of increased use of trivalent OPV, and projections generally indicated sustained or improved immunity in April 2016, such that the majority of districts (99% [95% uncertainty interval 97%–100%] in Nigeria and 84% [95% uncertainty interval 77%–91%] in Pakistan) had >70% population immunity among children <36 mo old. Districts with lower immunity were clustered in northeastern Nigeria and northwestern Pakistan. The accuracy of immunity estimates was limited by the small numbers of non-polio AFP cases in some districts, which was reflected by large uncertainty intervals. Forecasted improvements in immunity for April 2016 were robust to the uncertainty in estimates of baseline immunity (January–June 2015), vaccine coverage, and vaccine efficacy. Conclusions Immunity against serotype-2 poliomyelitis was forecasted to improve in April 2016 compared to the first half of 2015 in Nigeria and Pakistan. These analyses informed the endorsement of OPV2 withdrawal in April 2016 by the WHO Strategic Advisory Group of Experts on Immunization.


A lappet hook is a component of ring frame of a textile machine during a factory. The lappet hook imparts twist to the yarn. The lappet hook facilitates to wind the yarn on the winder. High contact pressure (up to thirty five N/square mm)is generated between the thread and surface of lappet hook throughout winding, mainly owing to force. This pressure results in degradation of internal surface of the hook that considerably affects its operating life. the target of this study was to reinforce the working lifetime of the hook so as to decrease the idle time needed to reinstate the lappet seize on the spindle sporadically throughout spinning. The target was dole out by means that of thermal spray coatings, wherever the result of the coatings on the extent of damage and therefore the wear characteristics of the rings were examined. Detonation gun sprayed coatings, particularly WC-Co, was compared in this study on MSEN8 of the lappet hook. The target was dole out by means that of arduous coatings, wherever the result of the coatings on the extent of damage and therefore the wear characteristics of the lappet hook were examined. The study compared thermal spray coatings; particularly D-GUN sprayed WC-Co on MSEN8. Wear tests were performed on Pin-On-Disc equipment victimization ASTM G99 normal for the uncoated and coated samples of high tensile steel. The results of coating experimental wear knowledge generated, of the worn samples is employed to investigate the damage behavior of coated yet as uncoated high tensile steel. The results show that WC-Co coatings have been with success deposited on MSEN8 grade of high tensile steel by Detonation Spray method. The coated MSEN8 has shown considerably less wear loss as compared to reveal MSEN8. The cumulative volume loss for detonation sprayed coatings will increase with increase in load. The WC-Co coating has undergone minimum wear. The WC-Co-En14B coating-substrate combination has shown minimum wear.


In a phase-change memory (PCM), the overreset phenomenon, namely, the resistance decrease at pulse amplitudes well beyond the reset current, may affect the resistance window and the device noise margin. We characterized overreset states in PCM devices by electrical testing and electron microscopy. Our analysis shows that overreset programmed cell presents changes in the electronic band structure of the amorphous phase, with no degradation in the programmed amorphous volume.


Indian alcoholic beverage industry is one of the biggest alcohol industries across the globe only behind from two major countries such as China and Russia. With population of 1.3 billion India is one of the largest consumer markets across the globe. Growing demand for alcoholic beverages in India is mainly due to therich young population base and growing consumption of alcohol by the young generation. It is also demographically one of the youngest with around 50% of its population below the age of 25 and around 65% below the age of 35, this will add fuel to the rapid growth of alcoholic beverages market. The majority of alcohol volume is consumed by people between the ages of 18 and 40. Goldstein Research analyst forecast the India alcoholic beverages market to grow at a CAGR of 7.4% during the forecast period 2016-2024. Further, the market is anticipated to reach USD 39.7 billion by the end of forecast period as alcohol consumption is growing in urban areas of the country.


The effect of L-histidinol (LHL) on the acute nephrotoxicity produced by cisplatin (CDDP; 6 mg/kg, i.v.) was investigated in the rat. Intraperitoneal administration of LHL (100 mg/kg x 5 doses, 2 h apart) starting 2 h prior to CDDP single injection produced significant protection of renal function. The attenuation of nephrotoxicity was evidenced by significant reductions in serum urea and creatinine concentrations, decreased polyuria, reduction in body weight loss, marked reduction in urinary fractional sodium excretion and glutathione-S-transferase (GST) activity, and increased urine/serum creatinine ratio as well as increased creatinine clearance. LHL significantly ameliorated the toxic renal biochemical changes induced by CDDP. Renal lipid peroxides, glutathione levels and GST activity showed a marked tendency towards the normal values. Accumulation of platinum in renal tissues was significantly decreased in the presence of LHL. It is concluded that LHL can act as a nephroprotectant, and it is suggested that it would have beneficial effects on the kidney in clinical settings.


The effect of chamber pressure on the temperature and the velocity of the plasma sprayed particles was measured quantitatively through the chamber window. As the chamber pressure increases, the plasma flame shortens. At the same time, the particle slows down and the particle temperature increases. The multivariate analysis among the spray parameters and the measured values reveal that the particle temperature and the particle velocity can be controlled individually as a function of the chamber pressure and the spray distance. The zirconia coatings were fabricated by controlling the particle temperature and velocity at the impinging upon the substrate individually. Increase of the particle temperature increased the deposition efficiency, the density and the hardness of the coating. On the other hand, increase of the particle velocity up to a certain value also increased them, but the excessive velocity decreased them. Because the shortened dwelling time prevented the powder core from melting, even if the surface was sufficiently heated.


A lupus-like syndrome involving chronic urticaria with cutaneous vasculitis, systemic symptoms, hypocomplementemia with preferential depletion of C1q, and low m.w. (7S) C1q-precipitins has recently been defined. The C1q-precipitin activity (C1q-p) seems to represent a diagnostic marker of the disease, but its chemical nature is not yet clear. We have partially purified and characterized C1q-p from the serum of two patients with this syndrome and compared its activity with the C1q-precipitating activity of aggregated human gamma-globulin (AHGG) anti-C1q antibodies, and several polynucleotides including DNA and polyinosinic acid. C1q-p was found to partition with IgG during precipitation by ammonium sulfate and low ionic strength buffer as well as during column chromatography on DEAE-cellulose and G-200 Sephadex. Like AHGG, but in complete contrast to the polynucleotides, the C1q-precipitating activity of C1q-p was sensitive to pepsin, trypsin, and acidic conditions, but unaffected by DNAse or RNAse; the C1q-precipitating activity of anti-C1q antibody was not diminished by any of these procedures. Thus, C1q-p consists of gamma-migrating protein of low m.w., and its C1q-precipitating activity is indistinguishable from that of AHGG. These results are consistent with the concept that C1q-p is comprised, at least in part, of IgG that binds C1q via the Fc portion of the molecule.


Objective: To obtain values for normal maximal expiratory pressure (MEP) in adolescent subjects (age 17-21yrs) of Tripura and to correlate the normal values of MEP with different anthropometric and respiratory parameters of the subject.Materials and Methods: Seventy (70) male and sixty seven (67) female subjects were included in the study through a randomized method of sampling. The height, weight, chest circumference, mid upper arm circumference, hip and waist circumference, blood pressure, heart rate, forced vital capacity (FVC), forced expired volume in 1 second (FEV1), peak expiratory flow rate (PEFR) were recorded in the subject. Maximal expiratory pressure was recorded by using a modified Black's apparatus. Results: MEP recorded in adolescent subjects from Tripura was comparable with those recorded in previous study for the similar age group. MEP correlated significantly with Age, Body weight, BMI, Chest expansion, and FEV1 of the subjects. Conclusion: The results of the study can be used to predict respiratory muscle strength in adolescent subjects. Methodology employed in the study will serve as a means for simple assessment of respiratory muscle strength of the subjects with lung disorder and also aid in planning the treatment strategy.


Improved culture of the African catfish (Clarias gariepinus) is important to addressing the increasing demand for fish especially in the developing countries. Hence, the present study evaluated the growth performance, survival and feed conversion ratio (FCR) of C. gariepinus larvae fed with locally formulated diet of low crude protein. The treatments consisted of crude protein (CP) contents of 35%, 30%, 25% and control (28 %). The fish larvae (average weight, 0.03±0.01 g and length, 20.0±0.01 mm) were stocked in glass aquaria at 7 fish/L, and reared at room temperature for 6 weeks. The fish larvae were sampled weekly for length-weight measurements. Prior to sampling, Water analysis was done for temperature, ammonia (NH3) and pH. Fish larvae fed on the test diets exhibited significantly higher length and weight, specific growth rate (SGR), and survival than those fed with control diet (p < 0.005). Specifically, C. gariepinus larvae fed 35% CP diet exhibited better growth performance and feed utilization, and relatively higher survival rate than those fed 30% CP or 25% CP. These findings demonstrate that African catfish larvae can be reared with low CP diets and hence cheaper for small holder fish farmers. The present findings contribute towards the success and realization of the improved production of C. gariepinus larvae, which is essential for successful aquaculture development in developing countries.


Breccias formed by early diagenetic dissolution of halite occur within the laminated Middle Miocene (Badenian) gypsum of southern Poland. The solution-collapse origin of the breccias is proved by the flat basal contact, the uneven top surface or their gradual transition into the overlying strata, the traces of halite within the breccias or in the adjacent strata, and the common micro scale effects of collapse over the dissolved halite crystals. The dissolution took place within soft, water saturated and not fully consolidated, laminated gypsum, and led not only to the brecciation but to the complicated soft-sediment deformations as well. The dissolution produced the residual thin-grained gypsum or clay deposits within the halite-bearing horizons and, in many cases, the zone of the collapse breccias above. The most characteristic collapse breccias are composed of fragments or blocks of the laminated gypsum, practically without any matrix or cement. The horizontal flow or creep of slurry residual gypsum could take place directly on the sea bottom.


Pre-processing is nothing without scattering. If your spectra are from good aqueous solutions with only fully dissolved particles, there is no light scattering, and as such, pre-processing is not necessary. However, and this is important, scatter could also be defined as unwanted variation in your data with a different source than light scatter. Sometimes it is possible to remove these unwanted variations from your data through pre-processing methods designed to remove scatter. In this paper I would like to take you into my world of pre-processing. Through three different examples I will discuss and tell what kind of information the pre-processing can tell the user about the data, as well as some common pitfalls.


A novel microarray value imputation method, HICCUP1, is presented. HICCUP improves upon existing value imputation methods in the several ways. (1) By judiciously integrating heterogeneous microarray datasets using hierarchical clustering, HICCUP overcomes the limitation of using only single dataset with limited number of samples; (2) Unlike local or global value imputation methods, by mining association rules, HICCUP selects appropriate subsets of the most relevant samples for better value imputation; and (3) by exploiting relationship among the sample space (e.g., cancer vs. non-cancer samples), HICCUP improves the accuracy of value imputation. Experiments with a real prostate cancer microarray dataset verify that HICCUP outperforms existing approaches.


The standard isotropic correlations are widely used in the research of no-locality of quantum physics. We prove that any multipartite no-signaling correlation can be transformed into standard isotropic form through a randomization procedure, which does not change Svetlichny's genuine multipartite correlation. For the tripartite correlations, each part with two inputs and two outcomes, we explicitly give the protocol and the proof of its validity. We then generalize the protocol to deal with the case of an N-partite.


~2 microglobulin is the light polypeptide chain of the human leucocyte antigen (HLA) system and is found on the surface of all normal human cells in vivo. We have studied ~2 microglobulin on the surface of 23 ?utane~us malignancies and 22 premalignant or benign skin tumours by the immunoperoxidase immunoenzime bridge technique. All benign skin tumours (basal cell papellomas, keratoacanthomas) showed ~2 expression on the cell membranes and all malignant tumours (squamous carcinomas,


The application of bone scaffolding in bone therapy is an alternative solution developed in bone tissue engineering technology to avoid bone donors' scarcity. The main requirement for a material that can be used as a scaffold is that it is biocompatible. Hydroxyapatite is a calcium phosphate ceramic that is often used as the primary material for scaffolding because it has good biocompatibility properties. However, like most ceramics, hydroxyapatite has low mechanical properties. In this study, we synthesized hydroxyapatite from cockleshell waste. To improve hydroxyapatite's mechanical properties (hardness), we added silica from tin tailings to hydroxyapatite. Through the analysis of the x-ray diffraction (XRD) pattern, it was found that hydroxyapatite was successfully synthesized from cockleshell using the co-precipitation method. Analysis of the diffraction pattern of tin tailings also shows that most of the crystals comprising tin tailings sand are silica in the ?-quartz phase. The addition of silica to hydroxyapatite followed by compaction and sintering at a temperature of 800 ? did not produce a new crystal phase. The addition still has a diffraction pattern consisting of a combined XRD pattern of hydroxyapatite and silica. Based on the hardness test using the Vickers hardness method, it is known that the addition of silica can increase the hardness of hydroxyapatite.


The objective was to characterize the profile of adolescence pregnancy and its clinical and obstetric events. Descriptive, cross-sectional study, with quantitative approach, developed in a tertiary hospital in Fortaleza, CE, Brazil, with one hundred adolescent mothers, through interviews and registers from the medical records, from February to May, 2011. Data were analyzed by Statistical Package for the Social Science software, version 17.0. The majority lived with a partner who earned up to one minimum wage, had low education and unpaid occupational activity. Most of them also reported early sexual activity, and were primiparas. All of them had complete prenatal care, with an average number of 5.91 consultations. The percentage of uncomplicated births of newborns was 48.9%, being prematurity the most frequent (56.3%). It is necessary to have more encouragement to young mothers attending postnatal consultation and family planning, and to have access and learning contraceptive matters, making prevention to early pregnancy more effective.


Medical treatment facilities are the most important service provided by the state to its citizens. In Bangladesh, people face negligence in receiving medical treatment for many reasons. One of the reasons is that, the citizens of Bangladesh cannot claim medical treatment facilities as their fundamental right. Until now, the Constitution of the People's Republic of Bangladesh (hereinafter stated as the Constitution of Bangladesh) has inserted the medical care facilities as fundamental state policy which cannot be enforced by existing law. People can have few methods to remedy this situation and the insufficiency of the law can even lead to death due to negligence on part of doctors, nurses or hospital authorities and pathologists or pathology centers. Thus, a strong legal protection is necessary for saving the people of Bangladesh from medical negligence.


The design of molecular sensors plays a very important role within nanotechnology and especially in the development of different devices for biomedical applications. Biosensors can be classified according to various criteria such as the type of interaction established between the recognition element and the analyte or the type of signal detection from the analyte (transduction). When Raman spectroscopy is used as an optical transduction technique the variations in the Raman signal due to the physical or chemical interaction between the analyte and the recognition element has to be detected. Therefore any significant improvement in the amplification of the optical sensor signal represents a breakthrough in the design of molecular sensors. In this sense, Surface-Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy (SERS) involves an enormous enhancement of the Raman signal from a molecule in the vicinity of a metal surface. The main objective of this work is to evaluate the effect of a monolayer of graphene oxide (GO) on the distribution of metal nanoparticles (NPs) and on the global SERS enhancement of paminothiophenol (pATP) and 4-mercaptobenzoic acid (4MBA) adsorbed on this substrate. These aromatic bifunctional molecules are able to interact to metal NPs and also they offer the possibility to link with biomolecules. Additionally by decorating Au or Ag NPs on graphene sheets, a coupled EM effect caused by the aggregation of the NPs and strong electronic interactions between Au or Ag NPs and the graphene sheets are considered to be responsible for the significantly enhanced Raman signal of the analytes [1-2]. Since there are increasing needs for methods to conduct reproducible and sensitive Raman measurements, Grapheneenhanced Raman Scattering (GERS) is emerging as an important method [3].


The prevalence rate of diabetes was determined for 5398 living college alumnae (2622 former college athletes and 2776 nonathletes) from data on medical history, athletic training, and diet. For all ages, the prevalence rate among the former athletes was 0.57% (15/2622) and among the nonathletes was 1.3% (37/2776). The former college athletes and the nonathletes had similar percentages in family history of diabetes, i.e., 12.0 and 13.5%, respectively. For cases occurring at age ≥20 yr (thus assessing the effects of college athletic training), 0.5% (13/2622) of the former college athletes had diabetes compared to 1.2% (32/2776) of the nonathletes; the relative risk is 2.24 [95% confidence limits (CL), 1.19 and 4.74, respectively]. Omitting cases of gestational diabetes, the relative risk of diabetes in nonathletes versus athletes is 3.41 (95% CL, 1.33 and 8.70). The percentages of former athletes and nonathletes that are insulin-using, non-insulin-using, and gestational diabetics did not differ significantly. The athletes were leaner than the nonathletes at all ages up to 70 yr. Of the former college athletes, 82% had been on precollege teams, compared to 25% of the college nonathletes; 74% of the former athletes were exercising regularly, compared to 57% of the nonathletes. We conclude that long-term athletic training is associated with a lower risk of the development Of diabetes.


Using firm-level data from the 1986 Census of Manufactures of Taiwan, we examine the links between technical efficiency and firm investments in technology and exports. Stochastic production frontier techniques are used to estimate the technical efficiency of firms by investments in technology as well as by export orientation. Our results indicate that accounting for firm investments in technology is critical in explaining the strong export-productivity link in the extant literature. For the group of large, high technology firms, the differences in the mean efficiencies between exporters and non-exporters are not significantly different than zero in all nine industries under study. However, for the large number of small firms that make no formal investments in technology. exporters are significantly closer to the production frontier than their counterparts that sell in the domestic market.


The study was designed to identify the types of the visual semiotic signs used by different stakeholders who design and prepare billboards on HIV/ADIS to provide mainly the residents of Bahir Dar and Gondar towns with varied information about the epidemic. Besides, it was conducted to tap on the most commonly used visual semiotic signs and the kernel messages represented by these signs during the representational processes of the realities as regards to HIV/AIDS. Consequently, all the 26 HIV/AIDS visual semiotic signs were collected from 22 working billboards that were put up in the main high ways of Bahir Dar and Gondar towns during March, 2011 and analysed qualitatively using Pierce's model. The major results of the study showed that it was wholly the visual iconic signs which were used to represent a range of messages as regards to the HIV/AIDS puzzle unlike the indexical and symbolic signs which were the missed opportunities. There also appeared to be some knowledge gap among stakeholders in HIV/ADIS visual semiotic sign communication systems concerning the actual applications of the visual semiotic signs: indexes and symbols were not considered to transfer the intended messages.


In this letter, we present the design and the detailed analysis of a novel antenna based on the monopole element for multiband mobile handsets. The proposed antenna is a hex-band antenna that covers the 800/900/1800/1900, 2100, and the 2400 bands. The antenna is folded in 3-D providing a compact form to enable its implementation internally without compromising its performance. It is optimized through extensive numerical simulations and experimental prototyping. Different design parameters are identified and their effects on the antenna performance is presented. The antenna performance is shown through the simulated and measured return loss as well as the simulated radiation patterns and efficiency. Its total volume is only 1.6 cm3 . The results show good return loss, radiation patterns, and efficiency performance.


This chapter looks at how planners attempt to enable imagination in cities. It defines planning as those practices aiming at organizing the tension between the production of new imaginaries of cities and the existent context of institutionalized imaginaries, encapsulated in systems of rules, codes, physical artifacts, and existing meanings of place. The main argument is that the emerging repertoire of imaginative planning practices, broadly categorized under the approach of the "urban living laboratory", reproduce three problematic logics of imaginary production: the orientation to experimentation, the instrumental design of processes, and the artificial spatial and temporal isolation of imagination from existing institutions. These practices are seen as both the result and source of an emerging market of commodified future-building. This is represented in the profiling of future-building agencies and services, which are primarily concerned with substantiating a future as a product of a process, a substance, or goal. In conclusion, this chapter suggests that these approaches to imagination inevitably frustrate imagination, turning it into a crafted task of addressing problems "here and now", and that they fail to capture the long-term urgency of radically rethinking urban socio-economic processes.


The usage of multiple antennas, both at transmitters and receivers (MIMO), has been identified as an optimal solution to the system design of wireless networks, mostly due to their major benefits and advantages. However, the usage of MIMO techniques in wireless systems can increase the hardware complexity and the energy requirements.
In order to achieve maximum system performance in parallel with simplified implementation, we designed MIMO systems using parasitic antenna array ESPAR (Electrically Steerable Parasitic Array Radiator). The ESPAR antenna is a single-feed-port array antenna composed of one active element and multiple parasitic elements terminated by either switched lumped circuits or variable reactors (weights). The ESPAR antenna elements are placed very close to each other because a strong coupling between antenna elements is required. The required radiation pattern can be achieved with appropriate adjustment of the parasitic elements' weights. ESPAR antennas can be a solution for mobile terminals applications, which require small and low cost antennas.
Several antenna types can be proposed using ESPAR antennas:
- Parasitic antenna using four identical 3-element ESPAR, using dipoles λ/2.
- 5-element ESPAR using monopole antennas
- Parasitic antenna consisting of two identical 5-element ESPAR slighted rotated by angle φ.
- Parasitic antennas using microstrip patch antennas.
After designing and simulating the above antennas, it is concluded that the required radiation pattern can be succeeded with appropriate adjustment of the parasitic elements' weights.


Each year, thousands of open-top loads are shipped across North America over the Class I railroad network. Many of these loads are high-value, high-risk shipments, presenting considerable operational challenges for the carriers due to special handling requirements. Shipments that extend beyond a standard geometric envelope, denoted by various "plates" in the Association of American Railroads (AAR) Open Top Loading Rules (OTLR), are considered to be over dimensional, or High-Wide Loads (HWLs). Historically, railroad mechanical personnel have measured HWLs manually using a tape measure, plumb line, level, and various homemade devices. Measurement methodologies and philosophies can vary widely among mechanical inspectors. As a result, railroads have recently sought out new technologies to standardize the measurement process, resulting in greater safety, efficiency, accuracy and documentation. Taking the lead in this effort, Norfolk Southern Corp. (NS), BNSF Railway and Union Pacific Railroad have all worked closely with InfraMeasure, Inc. in their development of a patent pending, portable, laser-based measurement system known as SafeLoad®. This paper documents the development of this technology, including the completion of successful repeatability tests and the training of dozens of car inspectors from multiple railroads on the use of the system.In 2014, laser-based measurement technology was deployed across the entire NS network and was also used extensively by Union Pacific Railroad. In addition, BNSF and other Class I railroads began testing with the thought of implementing in the near future. Repeatability tests performed among newly trained employees indicated high levels of precision, with field measurements deviating by no more than 0.25 inches among various inspectors. Additional field testing confirmed a reduction in labor time and personnel required to measure HWLs by as much as one half while significantly improving measurement accuracy and reducing fall related risks by eliminating the need to climb on HWLs. In addition to these immediate benefits, the early stages of implementation have highlighted a potential long-term need for standardized measurement training within the industry. Anticipating the growing knowledge gap left by attrition, railroad mechanical departments are placing greater emphasis on training new car inspectors to assume the safety critical task of HWL measurement. This paper explores the current state of HWL measurement in the US railroad industry and identifies potential solutions, using technology, to further standardize both the practice of measuring HWLs and the training of new inspectors.Copyright © 2015 by ASME


A new palladium-catalyzed method for the synthesis of benzofurans by reaction of 2-hydroxystyrenes and iodobenzenes via a C-H activation/oxidation tandem reaction has been unprecedentedly discovered. By using this strategy, the overall synthetic efficiency of the synthesis of decursivine and its analogues was indeed improved. Preliminary mechanistic studies shed light into the possible mechanisms.


ABSTRACT The caravan park sub-sector of the Australian tourism accommodation industry provides at least half of the national tourism bed capacity, and in 2009 generated over A$1.1 billion in annual takings. However, the number of parks and park capacity is in decline nationally while both international and domestic demand for the drive-tourism experience is growing. This sets a trend towards an accommodation facilities shortage for the caravanning sector and exposes its vulnerability. This paper uses a case study of caravan parks in the Tweed Shire, New South Wales, Australia, to examine the life-cycle pattern of these parks as a discrete unit of tourist area development and to consider the sector's future. The sector's history is framed within Butler's (Canadian Geographer 24(1): 5–12 (1980)) concept of the tourist area life cycle (TALC). The historical data demonstrate the urban and market change that has occurred around and within caravan parks of this coastal region over almost two centuries. The pattern of caravan park development and evolution conformed to the involvement, exploration, development, consolidation and stagnation stages of the TALC. In 2011, caravan parks in the Tweed region were at a critical tipping point with potential for either decline or rejuvenation.


Acoustic emission monitoring was completed on a painted aerospace grade steel landing gear component undergoing fatigue loading until rupture. A post-test linear location analysis of the collected signals revealed eleven groups where high activity (greater than 2000 hits) occurred within a defined location, three of which corresponded in location to the position of fracture and final rupture of the specimen. Feature data, such as amplitude, rise-time, energy etc. were used to describe the identified signals in each group. A dimension reduction through principal component analysis of the feature data of all groups was performed. Results showed that high amplitude signals associated with four groups of signals arising from noise could be separated from the fracture groups. However four groups not associated with noise or the known positions of the fracture groups were not separable from the signals attributed to fractures. The paint layer of the specimen was removed and a magnetic particle investigation was completed that showed these four groups coincided with regions of additional fracture in the component.


especial risk from the use of cardiazol. Such evidence in anv particular case is provided by the presence of failure either of congestive or anginal type, or, in the absence of these severe signs, by diminished exercise tolerance. In certain cases also typical cardiographic changes may be observed. Now in only one of Dr. Good's cases was, apparently, electrocardiography carried out, while in only one (Case 3) is there any hint of the exercise tolerance. Still more important, this latter omission makes it impossible for him to tell us whether the exercise tolerance improved or deteriorated after the exhibition of cardiazol; and surely this should be the focal point of the whole investigation. Dr. Good admits that he had the temerity to use cardiazol in Case 3, which showed frank failure of anginal type, while he was " restrained in only one case-a heart case in which c6mpensation was poorly established." In a scientific investigation of this type the ill-founded conception of " compensation" would be better replaced by a simple scientific statement of exercise tolerance and the presence or absence of failure. Case 3 is actually of peculiar interest because the exercise tolerance appears to have greatly increased as a result of cardiazol therapy, and recently Bourne and Wittkower showed that " in true angina of effort, relief of underlying anxiety by psychological treatment results in improvement or loss of cardiac pain." It would be of interest to know the nature of the mental symptoms in this case. Such important observations as those recorded deserve the benefit of precise analysis, and it cannot seriously be maintained that " weak heart sounds " or even thickened radial arteries are, by themselves, satisfactory evidence of myocardial defect. Dr. Good comes perilously near to assessing his cardiac cases, as Lewis has said, "on a count of murmurs."-I am, etc.,


Larval, or tadpole-stage Xenopus laevis frogs are a popular research model for developmental biology and disease studies. Existing euthanasia guidance documents offer recommendations for both eggs and adult stages, yet do not specifically address the larval stage. Data evaluating effective euthanasia methods for groups of X. laevis tadpoles would therefore be useful. The goal of the current study was to evaluate the efficacy of various immersion euthanasia procedures on tadpoles:tricaine methanesulfonate (MS222) at 6 g/L, eugenol at 800 μL/L and rapid chilling (2 to 4 °C). We also evaluated tadpoles at various developmental stages (NF stages 46, 47 and 49). Tadpoles (n = 70) were exposed to euthanasia solution for 15 min, andcontrols (n = 40) were placed in housing tank water for 15 min. All animals were then placed in recovery tanks containing housing tank water for 4 h to confirm irreversibility of each agent. Cessation of the heartbeat was assessed at the end of euthanasia solution exposure and at each hour thereafter. We found that immersion in a 6 g/L solution of MS222 resulted in 100% euthanasia of all larval stages tested. Conversely, eugenol produced variable euthanasia rates that were affected by both age group and batches of stock solutions. Rapid chilling was completely ineffective as a euthanasia method in our study. Based on our findings, we recommend MS222 as an effective and practical means of euthanizing large numbers of X. laevis tadpoles.


Ion channels are proteins that are located in the membranes of cells and are capable of conducting ions through the membrane. An ion channel is not always 'open' for transport. The ion channel molecule may reside in several configurations, some of which correspond to an open channel and others to a closed channel. The transitions of the channel between the different configurational states have a random nature. Markov processes are often used to describe this randomness. In practice, there often exist a number of candidate Markov models. The objective of this paper is the selection of a Markov model from a finite collection of such models. We propose a Bayesian setting in which the model indicator itself is viewed as a random variable, and we develop a reversible jump Markov chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) algorithm in order to generate a sample from the posterior distribution of the model indicator given the data of a single-channel recording. A hidden Markov model is used to incorporate the correlated noise in recordings and the effects of filters that are present in the experimental set-up. The reversible jump MCMC sampler is applied to both simulated and recorded data sets. © 2003 ISI/BS.


There has been a drastic growth of research in Generative Adversarial Nets (GANs) in the past few years. Proposed in 2014, GAN has been applied to various applications such as computer vision and natural language processing, and achieves impressive performance. Among the many applications of GAN, image synthesis is the most well-studied one, and research in this area has already demonstrated the great potential of using GAN in image synthesis. In this paper, we provide a taxonomy of methods used in image synthesis, review different models for text-to-image synthesis and image-to-image translation, and discuss some evaluation metrics as well as possible future research directions in image synthesis with GAN.


We develop projections of participation and use for 17 nature-based outdoor recreation activities through 2060 for the Northern United States. Similar to the 2010 Resources Planning Act (RPA) assessment, this report develops recreation projections under futures wherein population growth, socioeconomic conditions, land use changes, and climate are allowed to change over time. Findings indicate that outdoor recreation will likely remain a key part of the region's future social and economic fabric. The number of participants in 14 of the 17 recreation activities is projected to increase over the next five decades. In about two-thirds of 17 activities, the participation rate will likely decrease, but population growth would ensure increases in the number of adult participants. Some climate futures could lead to participant decreases for certain activities. Hunting, snowmobiling, and undeveloped skiing appear to be the only activities for which a decrease in participants is likely. Total days of participation would generally follow the pattern of participant numbers. With the exceptions of hunting, visiting primitive areas, and whitewater activities, snowmobiling, undeveloped skiing, total days are expected to increase for the remaining 14 activities, some less so than others because of climate differences.


Traditional finance theories assume that investors only evaluate risk and expected returns when making investment decisions. More recent behavioral finance theories, however, argue that for many investors there is more to investing than only evaluating risk and returns. Examples hereof are investors who only invest in domestic companies or companies that operate in a social responsible way. This thesis examines the (personal) needs and behavior of individual investors in The Netherlands and confirms behavioral finance's view. The respondents of our online investment survey indicate that besides financial needs, they also strive to satisfy more socially oriented needs through investing. These investors like to identify themselves with other investors and enjoy participating in investment-related conversations. Moreover, these investors consider investing to be a nice free time activity. This thesis also investigates the effects of striving to satisfy these different needs on the decision-making behavior of these investors. It is found that investors for whom socially oriented needs are important, also attribute more value to the opinion of others about their investment decisions and also request more information from these others before making their own decisions. Finally, using (multi-agent) computer simulations, this thesis investigates the effect of micro-level investor interactions on macro-level stock market dynamics. The trading and interaction rules of the simulated population of investors in this computer simulation are based on the empirical survey data. The simulation experiments showed that e.g., stock markets with a greater proportion of socially oriented investors display a greater volatility. In this respect, the research on which this thesis reports also contributes to identifying possible causes of recent stock market hypes and crashes, such as the late 1990's Internet hype.


In a dramatic crisis context, Lisbon reveals itself as an attractive and dynamic city of alternative bustling creativity. Trying to understand this paradox, I analyse two successful "alternative cultural spaces": Lx Factory and Pensao Amor. Urban strategies are discussed in order to understand the growth process of these spaces, as well as different activities, cultural approaches, aesthetical and architectural choices. Social interactions with the communities around are also explored.


Pattani Province The helmet wearing rate is low. Influencing factors is not enforcing the law of the police department. This is quite contrary to the security policy that emphasized the opening of the helmet and the intensive examination of the helmet when passing the checkpoint. As a result, wearing a helmet is in a weak situation. But the need for students and people who always use motorcycles still need to protect their heads not to have any accidents, loss of life and the increase in the number of disabled people that will affect families with disabilities Objective: To increase the number of helmets wearing and to cover with the consciousness of motorcyclists. To bring Islamic Al-hadith AlQuran Bible and uses it as a way of living and culture of the area. Al-Hadith uses the identity, way of life and culture of the area together with all network partners. Extend the bilingual guide from school to all school levels continuously and sustainably. Methods: 1. Utilize the Youth Safety Club RSC in Samakki school to publish functions and principles of wearing helmets by bilingual media manuals and road safety chapters with target group and collect data then analyze, evaluate, and summarize problems. 2. Set a clear target group that includes 1208 students from Samakki School, 6 locations of Tadeeka School for 442 students, Primary schools under the jurisdiction of the Office of Pattani Provincial Primary Education Area 1 for 5 locations with total of 736 students 3. Integration with Hussein, religious leaders wearing Qutbah for the purpose of road safety and use it in reading the Qutb on Friday prayers and publicize to local people through 3 mosques for 750 people. Results: From the survey, the statistics of students wearing helmets increased from 30% to 55%, teachers, and educational personnel from 50% to 85%, parents who drop students and communities from 20% to 44%. There is a leader in network party Tadika Mosque School, Traffic Mobility/Helmet Banks/Model schools using the bilingual guide 'Safety Helmets'. Targeted groups raise awareness of the importance of wearing helmets. Reviews and Summary/Recommendations: Doctrine along with bilingual guide Helmet Use Media It is very important to keep moving and continue to engage in order to stop the loss of lives and disabilities as well as to protect heads of motorcycle riders.


Objective To report the long-term effectiveness of a community-based burn prevention program for children under the age of 5. The outcome is reported in terms of changes in burn injury rates/severity and short-term hospital care costs. Design Prospective intervention study in Harstad. Trondheim (reference for 6 years). Methods The variables were selected according to the Nordic system. Burn data collection started 15 May 1985. The first 19.5 months of the study provided baseline. A mix of passive and active interventions were used, including the promotion of the purchase and installation of cooker safeguards, the lowering of tap water thermostat setting to 55°C in homes and the promotion of increased parental vigilance in putative burn risk situations.1 Results From baseline to the first 6 years of the intervention period, the mean burn injury rate decreased 51.5 % in Harstad (p<0.05). During the first 6 years of study 230 bed-days and multiple operations were consumed. During the last 16 years of the study, no burns requiring surgical interventions were recorded for the intervention population. However, two refugee children were admitted (in 2002 and 2006) in need of split skin transplantations. Discussion and Conclusion When assessing the effectiveness of the local interventions, one has to consider secular trend. Trondheim rates remained stable for the 6 years of available data (1987–92). A report from Haukeland University Hospital, Bergen suggests that the secular trend for serious burns in children has remained stable in Norway from 1984 to 2004.2 A prevention program for burns in young children can be effective long-term using a community-based injury prevention program. Local data are useful for detecting target groups and altering interventions when needed.


Transcranial magnetic stimulation techniques allow for an in-depth investigation into the neural mechanisms that underpin human behavior. To date, the use of TMS to study human movement, has been limited by the challenges related to precisely timing the delivery of TMS to features of the unfolding movement and, also, by accurately characterizing kinematics and kinetics. To overcome these technical challenges, TMS delivery and acquisition systems should be integrated with an online motion tracking system. The present manuscript details technical innovations that integrate multiple acquisition systems to facilitate and advance the use of TMS to study human movement. Using commercially available software and hardware systems, a step-by-step approach to both the hardware assembly and the software scripts necessary to perform TMS studies triggered by specific features of a movement is provided. The approach is focused on the study of upper limb, planar, multi-joint reaching movements. However, the same integrative system is amenable to a multitude of sophisticated studies of human motor control.


In recent years, China has been faced with an ever decreasing quality of their atmospheric environment. This paper focuses on the work of the Chinese government in combating air pollution and preventing smog. This paper also outlines the effects of airborne particulate matter on economy and health. The purpose is the global audiences will have a comprehensive understanding of the breadth and range of work of the Chinese government in context of environmental protection, haze prevention and control, and sustainable development.


The aim of the article is to introduce the concept of personality and character which is based on the activity theory approach by A.N. Leontiev. The introductory part of the work gives a short history of characterology whose analysis reveals apparent uncertainty in understanding the subject matters of character psychology and personality psychology. They are directly (character) or indirectly (personality) confined to a person's psychic individuality. However, the specific content of this individuality appears to be so broad and various that characterology starts losing its clear contours while personality does not find any generally accepted definition. In the framework of the developed concept, personality is regarded as a structure of life meanings while character is seen as an instrumental level which accepts life meanings for performance and implements them in human actions. Nonidentity of the two studied formations is shown: they are different in terms of content, function in human psychics, units of structure, general construction and genesis. Some examples are given based on the data of ethnic psychology. They show how a sense formation which is the same for different nations is realized through unequal characterological techniques. On the other hand, a few sense formations can be expressed by a single action or stereotype. In conclusion problems of correlation between personality and character and the source of their generation are discussed.


Astrocytes have a higher antioxidant potential in comparison to neurons. Pathways associated with this selective advantage include the transcriptional regulation of antioxidant enzymes via the action of the Cap'n'Collar transcription factor Nrf2 at the antioxidant response element (ARE). Here we show that Nrf2 overexpression can reengineer neurons to express this glial pathway and enhance antioxidant gene expression. However, Nrf2-mediated protection from oxidative stress is conferred primarily by glia in mixed cultures. The antioxidant properties of Nrf2-overexpressing glia are more pronounced than those of neurons, and a relatively small number of these glia (< 1% of total cell number added) could protect fully cocultured naive neurons from oxidative glutamate toxicity associated with glutathione (GSH) depletion. Microarray and biochemical analyses indicate a coordinated upregulation of enzymes involved in GSH biosynthesis (xCT cystine antiporter, γ-glutamylcysteine synthetase, and GSH synthase), use (glutathioneS-transferase and glutathione reductase), and export (multidrug resistance protein 1) with Nrf2 overexpression, leading to an increase in both media and intracellular GSH. Selective inhibition of glial GSH synthesis and the supplementation of media GSH indicated that an Nrf2-dependent increase in glial GSH synthesis was both necessary and sufficient for the protection of neurons, respectively. Neuroprotection was not limited to overexpression of Nrf2, because activation of endogenous glial Nrf2 by the small molecule ARE inducer,tert-butylhydroquinone, also protected against oxidative glutamate toxicity.


The Silk Road pattern (SRP) is a leading mode of Eurasian atmospheric variability in boreal summer. It remains challenging for many models to predict the temporal phase of the SRP. This study investigates whether the forcing mechanism of the SRP can explain SRP prediction difficulty. Rossby‐wave sources (RWS) associated with the SRP are first identified in a reanalysis. An idealised barotropic model is then used to test wave propagation from all identified RWS, to isolate the relevant forcing locations of the SRP, namely the RWS hotspots. In addition to previous findings, a new hotspot in the central North Pacific is located, which can force the SRP by westward dispersion of a zonally elongated Rossby wave. Furthermore, a new mechanism of the Indian summer monsoon in forcing the SRP is discovered. Results also suggest that Rossby‐wave propagation by itself only explains a small fraction of the SRP amplitude, consistent with baroclinic energy conversion from the mean state, which has previously been shown to be vital for SRP growth—not represented in the idealised model. Seasonal hindcasts from the Pusan National University (PNU) coupled general circulation model are also analysed. The hindcasts can predict the SRP spatially but not temporally. Within a seasonal timescale, the hindcast develops an upper‐level mean‐state wind bias compared with the reanalysis, which is shown by the barotropic model to affect RWS hotspot locations of the SRP. While the reanalysis SRP is associated with North Atlantic sea‐surface temperature (SST) anomalies, the hindcast SRP is associated with tropical Pacific SST. Wind biases in the North Atlantic jet exit, subtropical western Pacific, and tropical Pacific are found to alter wave propagation from the North Atlantic and the North and tropical Pacific, respectively, and can explain the association of the SRP with different SSTs in the reanalysis and hindcast. This sensitivity of hotspots to mean‐state winds is proposed to reduce SRP prediction skill.


1. The type of locomotory activity which can be displayed by an intact leech depends upon the presence or absence of particular patterns of exteroceptive stimulation reaching the nerve cord via the suckers or ventral surface of the body. If such peripheral patterns be present, the animal can walk but cannot swim, if such patterns be absent the animal can swim but cannot walk. 2. The frequency of the ambulatory rhythm is normally determined by the rhythmical adhesion of the suckers. Adhesion can only occur when a sucker is in the protruded position. 3. The protrusion of the suckers is dependent upon the isotonic contraction of the body muscles. The posterior sucker is not protruded during isometric contraction of the longitudinal muscles. It invariably occurs when these muscles contract isotonically. Fixation of the posterior sucker induces active relaxation of the longitudinal muscles. Protrusion of the anterior sucker is dependent upon contraction of the circular muscles. 4. If the isotonic contraction of the longitudinal muscles is impeded by an external resistance the ambulatory rhythm is reduced in frequency; in extreme cases, the rhythm ceases and is replaced by a very powerful and prolonged contraction of the longitudinal muscles. These phenomena are attributed to the activity of stretch receptors whose presence is inferred from the electrical activity set up in the sensory and motor fibres of the segmental nerves. It is suggested that the normal ambulatory rhythm is best regarded as a closed chain of peripheral reflexes. 5. The transmission of the waves of longitudinal and circular contraction along the body, during ambulation, is shown to be independent of the integrity of considerable regions of the somatic musculature. 6. Decapitated leeches only exhibit an ambulatory rhythm in response to strong stimulation. The loss of muscular tone characteristic of an animal deprived of the suboesophageal ganglion is associated with a marked reduction in the arhythmical electrical discharges detectable in the segmental nerves of an isolated nervous system subsequent to removal of the suboesophageal ganglion. 7. Both intact and decapitated preparations swim readily when released from all tactile stimuli. The frequency of the swimming rhythm is affected by changes in the viscosity of the medium and by tension applied longitudinally to the body. The rhythm can be accelerated or suppressed by appropriate exteroceptive stimulation. 8. The whole nerve cord exhibits a marked electrical rhythm so long as it is in organic connexion with a limited region of the body displaying mechanical swimming movements; the frequencies of the mechanical and electrical rhythms are identical. 9. No electrical rhythm, comparable to that which might be expected to be characteristic of ambulation or swimming, has been detected in the isolated central nervous system.


ABSTRACT Why did some European countries choose migrant labour to expand their labour force in the decades that followed World War II, while others opted for measures to expand female employment via welfare expansion? The paper argues that gender norms and the political strength of the left were important structuring factors in these choices. Female employment required a substantial expansion of state intervention (e.g. childcare; paid maternity leave). Meanwhile, migrant recruitment required minimal public investments, at least in the short term, and preserved traditional gender roles. Using the contrasting cases of Sweden and Switzerland, the article argues that the combination of a weak left (labour unions and social democratic parties) and conservative gender norms fostered the massive expansion of foreign labour and a late development of female labour force participation in Switzerland. In contrast, more progressive gender norms and a strong labour movement put an early end to guest worker programmes in Sweden, and paved the way for policies to promote female labour force participation.


Diarrhea is a common pediatric problem. Careful attention to hygiene in diapered children in group settings can help prevent the problem. The proper presentation of stool specimens to the lab will facilitate the diagnosis. Correct electrolyte, glucose, and water solutions, followed by appropriate introduction of solid foods, will speed recovery.


Studies aiming to identify susceptibility genes for schizophrenia and other complex psychiatric disorders are faced with the confounds of subjective clinical criteria, commonly occurring phenocopies, significant between-subject variability of candidate traits, and the likelihood of allelic and locus heterogeneity that has been shown to define the genetics of other complex human brain and somatic disorders. Additionally, research aimed at identification of the molecular origins of schizophrenia must also deal with the confounding nature of the human brain. Unlike organs with a few common cellular phenotypes, transcriptomes, and proteomes, individual neurons are often distinct from one another in all of these respects. In this review, we present recent work testing the assumption that studies of genetic susceptibility in complex polygenic disorders such as schizophrenia might be enhanced by the identification of intermediate phenotypes related to more fundamental aspects of brain development and function. Progress in the identification of meaningful intermediate phenotypes in schizophrenia has been made possible by the advent of newer methods in cognitive neuroscience and neuroimaging, and the use of combined multimodal techniques.


Abstract Northern spotted owls (Strix occidentalis caurina) are known to be associated with late-successional forests in the Pacific Northwest of the United States, but the effects of habitat on their demographic performance are relatively unknown. We developed statistical models relating owl survival and productivity to forest cover types within the Roseburg Study Area in the Oregon Coast Range of Oregon, USA. We further combined these demographic parameters using a Leslie-type matrix to obtain an estimate of habitat fitness potential for each owl territory (n = 94). We used mark–recapture methods to develop models for survival and linear mixed models for productivity. We measured forest composition and landscape patterns at 3 landscape scales centered on nest and activity sites within owl territories using an aerial photo-based map and a Geographic Information System (GIS). We also considered additional covariates such as age, sex, and presence of barred owls (Strix varia), and seasonal climate variables (temperature and precipitation) in our models. We used Akaike's Information Criterion (AIC) to rank and compare models. Survival had a quadratic relationship with the amount of late- and mid-seral forests within 1,500 m of nesting centers. Survival also was influenced by the amount of precipitation during the nesting season. Only 16% of the variability in survival was accounted for by our best model, but 85% of this was due to the habitat variable. Reproductive rates fluctuated biennially and were positively related to the amount of edge between late- and mid-seral forests and other habitat classes. Reproductive rates also were influenced by parent age, amount of precipitation during nesting season, and presence of barred owls. Our best model accounted for 84% of the variability in productivity, but only 3% of that was due to the habitat variable. Estimates of habitat fitness potential (which may range from 0 to infinity) for the 94 territories ranged from 0.74 to 1.15 (x̄ = 1.05, SE = 0.07). All but 1 territory had 95% confidence intervals overlapping 1.0, indicating a potentially stable population based on habitat pattern. Our results seem to indicate that while mid- and late-seral forests are important to owls, a mixture of these forest types with younger forest and nonforest may be best for owl survival and reproduction. Our results are consistent with those of researchers in northern California, USA, who used similar methods in their analyses. However, we believe that given the low variability in survival and productivity attributed to habitat, further study is needed to confirm our conclusions before they can be used to guide forest management actions for spotted owls.


Bangladesh is ranked as the "5th most at-risk country" in the world in terms of disasters with a world risk index of 20.22% in the World Risk Report 2012. Coast and island flooding induced by extreme storms and cyclones born in the Northern Indian Ocean passing through the funnel shaped shallow northern Bay of Bengal are the most dangerous natural hazards in the area. Additionally, remarkable geomorphological change of the lower GBM active delta and relative Sea Level Rise (SLR) have drawn special attention to the environmental scientists and respective managers for the alarming more intense and more frequent upcoming climate change vulnerabilities.The Lower Meghna River Estuary (LMRE) is an extremely dynamic estuarine system with dramatic geomorphological changes of the offshore islands. The erosion and accretion rates are remarkably high and the islands are reducing their original sizes. As populations flock to the coast and offshore islands at threat from erosions, storm inundation and sea level rise, intensive studies must be carried out on the vulnerability of these coastal regions.
Sandwip Island, located at the confluence of the Lower Meghna River Estuary, shaped and characterized by both tidal actions of the Bay of Bengal and river streams of the Meghna, was chosen as the only international case study site outside Europe in the framework of the Risc-KIT FP7 European project (http://www.risckit.eu/). The project aims to develop tools and methods to reduce risk and increase resilience of coastal areas. The toolkit will be implemented for each case study.
The present works aims to describe the state of the art of knowledge on the island covering geomorphology, sediment characteristics, hydrodynamics and socioeconomics. Community perceptions and indigenous coping strategies aspects of the island are included in a coastal vulnerability perspective to be useful in further research, development of effective preparedness, management and actions plan. To reach this goal, an attempt was taken to find out the answers to the following questions: 1) what is the status of geomorphological changes? 2) What are the sediment characteristics of the erosion-accretion prone shorelines? 3) What is the status of the sea level rise relative to the island 4) What is the total vulnerability/hazard ranking by local perceptions? 5) How much has the land use changed due to erosion and associated hazards ? and finally 6) What strategic changes should be taken?
The research questions were answered using topographic surveys, lab based sediment analysis, tide gauge data analysis, erosion-accretion mapping and development of high resolution DEM and TIN using Remote Sensing and GIS-based tools and techniques and questionnaire survey results interpreted with national disaster management plans.
The study found that the island is more physically prone to coastal erosion, coupling with storm surges and sea level rise making it more vulnerable in future. The erosion rate considering both shoreline and area changes is much more intense exceeding accretion in the silty clay sedimentary parts and the sea level rise trend is alarming in comparison with other nearby coastal areas in Bangladesh.Tidal data analysis for Sandwip shows semi-diurnal components higher in amplitude than Chittagong. Diurnal amplitudes are comparable and phases are generally higher for Sandwip with a 47 minute delay than Chittagong. The DEM demands more intensive bathymetric information that should be used for more accurate hydrometeorological models for the low elevated island, where as the island is almost flat with the average topography is only 5 meter above MSL and the north-western part is slightly higher than the south-western part as observed in the TIN justified by Topographic survey. The physical assets have been declining stressing on the socioeconomy of the community as found by the social survey as well as land use satellite mapping.
So, a relatively high earthen embankment encircling the island, a crossdam connecting north side of the island to mainland is immediately needed to protect the community from erosion as well as relative sea level rise and storm surge inundation hazards. A site specific hydrometeorological warning should be developed and announcement dissemination should be maintained in the local language. Development of roads and transportation system and the health training should be enhanced to make people more aware and adaptive with the associate disasters.


Low college enrollment rates among low-income students may stem from a combination of credit constraints, low academic skill, and low-quality schools. Recent Massachusetts data allow the first use of school district fixed effects in the analysis of credit constraints, leading to four findings. First, low-income students in Massachusetts have lower intended college enrollment rates than higher income students but also have dramatically lower skills and attend lower-quality school districts. Second, inclusion of skill controls greatly reduces but does not eliminate this intended enrollment gap. Third, inclusion of school district fixed effects has little further impact, with low-income students eight percentage points less likely to intend enrollment than higher income students of the same skill and from the same school district. Fourth, medium- and high-skilled low-income students appear the most constrained. State governments could use the methods employed here to target financial aid more efficiently.


Abstract— The 'natural purification' of water, processes by which pathogenic organisms disappear from contaminated waters, is of great importance regarding water resources. The relative importance of the various processes which remove undesirable organisms is yet to be determined. Wastewater was exposed to sunlight by placing 120 m/samples in UV transparent or absorptive cylindrical vessels which were then placed in a 50/ container filled with water from a lagoon system, thus simulating actual exposure conditions in the lagoon system. Samples were exposed to natural sunlight for 3 days and received different wavelengths of sunlight, depending upon the presence of predetermined filters. The dynamics of the coliform population was observed. It was noted that coliform bacteria demonstrated a significant growth potential when held in darkness or during the night. An entire day of full unfiltered sunlight was a potent bacteriocidal agent, reducing coliform survival to less than 0.01% of the initial value. Removing the shorter wavelengths (Λ. < 325 nm) by optical filters or by the optical properties of the wastewater itself still left components of sunlight capable of killing coliforms. Our studies support the concept that solar UV radiation makes a substantial contribution to the natural purification of water.


Our investigative question for this experiment is: why is the clay shaped differently in cooler climates than in warmer climates? We hypothesize that clay with a larger surface area to volume ratio loses heat faster than clay with a smaller surface area to volume ratio. To test our hypothesis, we will measure temperature and compare the small rectangular cube of clay (control group) to the large rectangular cube of clay (experimental group). We will measure the volume (mL) and surface area (cm^2) of both the small and large rectangular cube of clay, heat both of the cubes for 10 minutes and compare the rate of cooling (for one minute) between the different sizes of clay. By heating two different sizes at the same time, it allows us to compare 2 data sets on one graph. The results of our experiment show that the larger specimen, with a smaller surface area to volume ratio, lost heat more rapidly than the smaller specimen, with a larger surface area to volume ratio.


The operational efficiency of a transportation system is greatly limited by incidents which result in great economic losses. In this research a framework for deployment of ITS applications is developed that will ensure effective management of incidents. The study focuses on improving safety of the access controlled highways using such deployments. A decision making methodology called ELECTRE I is used for selecting the best deployment strategy. The different alternative strategies are evaluated using new software tools such as ITS Deployment Analysis System (IDAS) in conjunction with spatial analysis and Highway Capacity Manual procedures to develop an overall benefits evaluation strategy that synthesizes both operational and economic benefits of different incident management strategies.


A defining characteristic of societies is the ability of their members to perform tasks efficiently. Many proposed mechanisms by which these tasks are performed focus on jobs that can be accomplished by many individuals working independently. However most research neglects those jobs that require coordination among individuals to effectively execute the task. Thermoregulatory fanning behavior in worker honeybees (Apis mellifera L.) requires that coordination. Honeybees respond to increasing environmental temperatures by fanning to circulate the air in their hives and cool the colony down, as temperatures exceeding 36°C causes larval death. The goal of my dissertation is to explore the environmental, social, and physiological mechanisms that regulate this critical response. To explore fanning behavior, I developed an assay where I manipulate the environmental and social contexts to measure behavioral differences. My research shows that honeybees respond more readily to increasing temperatures when they are a part of a group, and are not likely to fan when alone. Additionally, when single honeybees are heated with a larva, they are more likely to fan than honeybees are heated alone. In both of these social contexts, I found that tactile cues are critical for the fanning response to occur; if honeybees are prevented from touching larvae or other adults, they are less likely to fan. I then manipulated the environmental context by altering the rates at which we heated groups of honeybees. I found that honeybees in groups cue in on rate of temperature change by responding faster to more quickly increasing temperatures. Finally, physiologically, I found that octopamine and tyramine play a role in regulating the fanning response. I found that fanners had lower brain concentrations of both octopamine and tyramine, and that honeybees treated with octopamine and tyramine together had a dampened fanning respond. The fanning response is critical for the survival of a colony. Furthermore, fanning is an excellent model system by which to explore the additive effects of individual and group responses to a changing environment. My research elucidates several mechanisms that control the fanning response. My dissertation increases our knowledge about honeybee behavior and expands upon our knowledge of division of labor in social insect societies.


Aim: To assess seroprevalence of antibodies to hepatitis E virus (HEV) in healthy blood donors and hepatitis B, C patients. Methods: 450 subjects consisted of 200 blood donors in Tehran blood transfusion center, 100 subjects with hepatitis C and 150 subjects with hepatitis B infection enrolled in this study. The A549 cell line was grown in mixed medium. Cells were infected with hepatitis E virus that was purified from stool sample of a patient confirmed for hepatitis E infection by reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) method. Supernatant of infected cells was used as positive control in our RT- PCR assay. Results: In a total of 450 subjects, 33 (7.3%) had positive anti-HEV by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Anti-HEV was seen in (9/200) 4.5%, (7/100) 7%, and (17/150) 11.3% of healthy blood donors, hepatitis C, and hepatitis B subjects, respectively. Difference between two groups was statistically significance (P = 0.028). Difference between frequency of anti-HEV in hepatitis B in relation to healthy blood donors was significant (P = 0.014). Conclusions: HEV infection is more common in subjects with hepatitis B. Keywords: Hepatitis E virus, Seroprevalence, Transmission, Iran doi: 10.3329/blj.v1i1.2623 Bangladesh Liver Journal Vol.1(1) 2009 p.34-37


Police is the backbone of law enforcement agencies that is becoming a hub of immense stress and frustration due to the prevailing situationin Pakistan. Thus, this research was carried out to unveil the underlying stressors in the police department and to explore if these stressors are encroaching and invading their family lives and affecting them in any way. A quantitative research was carried out for this purpose. Two questionnaires were used in this research; police stress questionnaire and Index of family relations. 150 police officers recruited in ANF police stations in Rawalpindi were approached for the research purpose. The results of the study showed a strong correlation between operational Stress and family distress in police officers (r=0.33 and p<.001). Simple regression analysis showed that operational stress is a strong indicator of family distress in police officers (beta=-.030, p<0.01). This research indicates the existence of occupational stress in police officials that can lead to high family distress. As police job is dangerous and stressful in nature this aspect cannot be eradicated therefore the need of the hour is to introduce useful interventions for controlling and managing these stressors. This can help identify the elements of occupational stress and family distress and educate the police departments on how to overcome and manage such huge amounts of stress and distress among their employees.


Fish migrations into the streams of seasonally-flooded depressions (or dambos) that cover the central plateaus of Africa are a well-known phenomenon to scientists and lay people alike. However, the factors causing seasonal migrations are poorly understood and most scientific references to them are anecdotal, lacking rigorous description. Fish migrations in two dambos in Zimbabwe were investigated during the 1999/2000 rainy season, by electrofishing and using traps. The fish fell into two categories: those that used the dambo, and those that remained in the main river. At the beginning of the rainy season Barbus paludinosus, B. lineomaculatus, Clarias gariepinus and Tilapia sparrmanii moved from the perennial river into the small dambo streams and spawned there, then moved back to the perennial river, leaving their young in the dambo, which acted as a nursery area. Barbus spp. were the most numerous migrants and they moved mainly during daylight hours. Other fish species present in the system included Opsaridium zambezense, Leptoglanis rotundiceps, Chiloglanis neumanni, Labeobarbus marequensis, Labeo cylindricus, Oreochromis mossambicus, Tilapia rendalli, Marcusenius macrolepidotus and Micropterus salmoides. These did not enter the dambo streams but remained in the perennial river. Later in the season, larger juveniles of all the migratory species that had entered the dambo moved downstream into the perennial river, but the smaller juveniles remained in the dambo until the next rainy season, demonstrating that downstream movement is ontogenetically cued.


The taxonomy of the bacteria symbiotically associated with the insect-pathogenic nematodes Neoaplectana and Heterorhabditis was examined. The bacteria studied were isolated from 33 populations obtained from Australasia, Europe, and the United States. The symbionts of all species of Neoaplectana and Heterorhabditis examined were members of the genus Xenorhabdus, but they differed in several respects from the description of the genus Xenorhabdus, including the guanine-plus-cytosine content of the deoxyriboneucleic acid and the production of acid from carbohydrates. All bacteria isolated from Heterorhabditis spp. were identified as members of Xenorhabdus luminescens. The bacteria isolated from one Neoaplectana species were similar and were distinguishable from the bacteria isolated from other Neoaplectana species. The following three subspecies of Xenorhabdus nematophilus are proposed: Xenorhabdus nematophilus subsp. nematophilus (bacteria symbiotic with Neoaplectana feltiae [= Neoaplectana carpocapsae]; type strain ATCC 19061), Xenorhabdus nematophilus subsp. bovienii (bacteria symbiotic with Neoaplectana bibionis; type strain, UQM 2210T), and Xenorhabdus nematophilus subsp. poinarii (bacteria symbiotic with Neoaplectana glaseri; type strain, UQM 2216). These subspecies vary in host nematode, pigmentation, maximum temperature for growth, responses to tests for phenylalanine deaminase by secondary-form isolates and for lipase (Tween 80 test) and lecithinase by primary-form isolates, and coloration of primary-form isolates on MacConkey agar and media containing bromthymol blue.


: We studied the kinetics of formaldehyde dissociation from hydroxymethylated amino groups of nitrous bases on native DNA. Compared with monomers, the rate constant of formaldehyde dissociation from such bases integrate in the double helix proved to be 20 times smaller for adenine and 4 times smaller for cytidine within the temperature range of 15 to 40 degrees C. The kinetic pattern suggests that the dissociation of formaldehyde from hydroxymethylated amino groups does not occur in the direction of the base plane nor through a full fluctuational opening of base pairs. It is presumed that formaldehyde dissociation from modified amino groups is due to softer fluctuational changes which however, make it possible for formaldehyde to attack amino groups perpendicularly to the base plane.


The presented work investigates the impacts of various liquid fuels and alcohols including methanol, ethanol, toluene, hexane, benzene, isooctane and gasoline on a spark ignition (SI) engine's performance and combustion products. A verified mathematical model with empirical data has been utilised to indicate the various fuel type impacts on the emission outputs and combustion specifications of a SI engine. An artificial neural network (ANN) model for the system is also presented to show that the system can be approximated more densely compared to numeric methods with the advantage of less computational complexity.


Purpose
This qualitative research aims to explore staff perspectives on working effectively with people with intellectual disability who are in contact with the criminal justice system.

Design/methodology/approach
Taking a case study approach, staff working for a third sector community organisation were interviewed about the components of effective work with their customers. The staff supported people engaged in the Community Justice Program.

Findings
Staff consistently described relationship building as the most important part of their work. There were three components to relationship building: the process of relationship building, the elements of a high-quality staff–customer relationship and the staff skills needed to develop a good relationship.

Originality/value
This paper makes two contributions to the literature. First, it focuses our attention on a third sector organisation supporting people in contact with the justice system as opposed to a formal criminal justice agency. Second, the paper seeks to understand the processes and skills staff deploy to build a high-quality relationship with criminal justice-involved people with intellectual disability.


This paper provides a brief overview of stuttering followed by a synopsis of current approaches to treat stuttering in children and adults. Treatment is discussed in terms of multifactorial, operant, speech restructuring, and anxiolytic approaches. Multifactorial and operant treatments are designed for young children who stutter. Both of these approaches involve parent training and differ primarily in their focus on reducing demands on the child (multifactorial) or in their use of response contingent stimulation (operant conditioning). Speech restructuring and anxiolytic approaches are used with adults who stutter. Speech restructuring approaches focus on the mechanics of speech production, and anxiolytic treatments tend to focus on the symptoms and social and vocational challenges of stuttering. The evidence base for these different approaches is outlined. Response contingent therapy (for children) and speech restructuring therapy (for adults) have the most robust empirical evidence base. Multifactorial treatments for children and stuttering management approaches for adults are popular but are based on theoretical models of stuttering; the evidence base is not robust and tends to be inferred from work in areas such as cognitive behavior therapy and desensitization. Comprehensive, or holistic, approaches to treating stuttering are also discussed. Comprehensive approaches for treating stuttering in adults address both improved speech fluency and stuttering management.


A study of 400 Hz sound focusing and ducting effects in a packet of curved nonlinear internal waves in shallow water is presented. Sound propagation roughly along the crests of the waves is simulated with a three-dimensional parabolic equation computational code, and the results are compared to measured propagation along fixed 3 and 6 km source/receiver paths. The measurements were made on the shelf of the South China Sea northeast of Tung-Sha Island. Construction of the time-varying three-dimensional sound-speed fields used in the modeling simulations was guided by environmental data collected concurrently with the acoustic data. Computed three-dimensional propagation results compare well with field observations. The simulations allow identification of time-dependent sound forward scattering and ducting processes within the curved internal gravity waves. Strong acoustic intensity enhancement was observed during passage of high-amplitude nonlinear waves over the source/receiver paths, and is replicated in the model. The waves were typical of the region (35 m vertical displacement). Two types of ducting are found in the model, which occur asynchronously. One type is three-dimensional modal trapping in deep ducts within the wave crests (shallow thermocline zones). The second type is surface ducting within the wave troughs (deep thermocline zones).


This paper focuses on the connection between an inclusive idea of citizenship and the real concept of democracy. A good definition of democracy stresses the basic principle of autonomy, and an adequate notion of autonomy implies the double face of it: the public and the personal one. Hannah Arendt's reflection on statelessness plays a paradigmatic role in this political and philosophical perspective on citizenship. Through Arendt's analysis, the article tries to show the essential nature of the relationship between democracy and inclusive citizenship.


IV drug users and the spread of HIV infections follows the transportation routes of heroin and cocaine distribution and localizes in areas of production and refinement. 80 countries report IV drug use. The major routes are out of the "Golden Triangle" in southeast Asia, along the "Balkan Route" from the middle east to western Europe, and from the Andes to Atlantic ports in Brazil. Modernization has contributed to easier access for drug entry into regions. Economic dislocation may provide people with incentives to engage in lucrative distribution and manufacture of drugs. The new appearance of drug use in some countries and the spread of IV drug users into other countries presents a complex and difficult task. At present there are insufficient means to control IV drug use. Punitive laws, which are usually the first effort to control IV drug use, have not been found to be effective in prevention. The result of punitive laws is usually an increase in drug prices, which may lead to switching to IV drug use. HIV infection, which is spread through shared drug injection equipment, has been reported in over 50 countries. HIV enters the IV drug user community through "bridge persons" who contracted HIV through homosexual/bisexual means and share the same injection equipment. HIV transmission occurs also because IV drug user travel, i.e., 20% of IV drug users in a WHO study in 14 cities said shared needles were used outside the home city within the previous 2 years. Drug users have indicated a willingness to engage in prevention, however, the difficulties in providing a public health approach to HIV prevention are exacerbated by political factors. Punitive approaches are preferred and many political leaders deny the presence of HIV and IV drug use problems in their communities. Some place limitations on legal distribution of sterile injection equipment. The hope is that HIV prevention approaches will be accepted as the best alternative. These approaches should avoid stigmatization and treat IV drug users as competent individuals who are capable of changing risk behavior.


Advances in medical science and technology, combined with the primary goal of medical care to restore or maintain health as far as possible, often result in the transition from active to palliative care being blurred. Treatment choices are limited in advanced disease; but paradoxically, which therapy to choose is becoming an increasingly complex decision (Weissman, 2004). The role of chemotherapy in this phase remains a controversial subject, but data are emerging to show that an increasing number of patients nearing the end of life are receiving chemotherapy (Matsuyama et al, 2006), and there is a mounting body of evidence for its use in symptom palliation (Cullen, 2003; Bowcock et al, 2004; Davis, 2005). Therefore, the traditional view that medical oncology and palliative care are two distinct disciplines may need to be modified.


The objective of this study was to evaluate aspects of the validity and reliability of the Client-Clinician Assessment Protocol (C-CAP) Part I. C-CAP data for 103 people aging with disabilities in need of home modification services were analyzed using the Rasch rating scale model. The C-CAP Part I consists of a client self-report of ability in daily life tasks comprising three scales (independence, difficulty, and safety). The analysis demonstrated support for internal scale validity, person response validity, and person separation reliability of the C-CAP Part I, although the results differed among the three scales. The results of this study indicated that the C-CAP Part I has psychometric strengths and limitations. The instrument has the potential to be used in the home environment with people who are aging with disabilities. The C-CAP could complement already existing tools that are used to assess functioning in activities of daily living, especially regarding the focus on the clients' self-report of difficulty and safety in daily life at home and in the community.


Intracellular purine turnover is mainly oriented to preserving the level of triphosphate nucleotides, fundamental molecules in vital cell functions that, when released outside cells, act as receptor signals. Conversely, high levels of purine bases and uric acid are found in the extracellular milieu, even in resting conditions. These compounds could derive from nucleosides/bases that, having escaped to cell reuptake, are metabolized by extracellular enzymes similar to the cytosolic ones. Focusing on purine nucleoside phosphorylase (PNP) that catalyzes the reversible phosphorolysis of purine (deoxy)‐nucleosides/bases, we found that it is constitutively released from cultured rat C6 glioma cells into the medium, and has a molecular weight and enzyme activity similar to the cytosolic enzyme. Cell exposure to 10 μM ATP or guanosine triphosphate (GTP) increased the extracellular amount of all corresponding purines without modifying the levels/activity of released PNP, whereas selective activation of ATP P2Y1 or adenosine A2A metabotropic receptors increased PNP release and purine base formation. The reduction to 1% in oxygen supply (2 h) to cells decreased the levels of released PNP, leading to an increased presence of extracellular nucleosides and to a reduced formation of xanthine and uric acid. Conversely, 2 h cell re‐oxygenation enhanced the extracellular amounts of both PNP and purine bases. Thus, hypoxia and re‐oxygenation modulated in opposite manner the PNP release/activity and, thereby, the extracellular formation of purine metabolism end‐products. In conclusion, extracellular PNP and likely other enzymes deputed to purine base metabolism are released from cells, contributing to the purinergic system homeostasis and exhibiting an important pathophysiological role.


Abstract Vehicle-driving in real traffic can be considered as a human-machine system involving not only the attribute of the vehicle movement but also the human visual perception, cognition and motion of the driver. The study of driving behaviours, therefore, would integrate information related to driver psychology, vehicle dynamics and road information in order to tackle research questions concerning driving safety. This paper describes a conceptual framework and an integrated GIS data model of a visual-motor coordination model (VMCM) to investigate drivers' driving behaviour via the combination of vision tracking and vehicle positioning. The eye tracker recorded eye fixations and duration on video images to exhibit the driver's visual search pattern and the traffic scenes. Real-time kinematic (RTK) post-processing of multi-GNSS (global navigation satellite system) tracking generated the vehicle movement trajectory at centimeter-level accuracy, which encompasses precise lateral positioning and speed control parameters of driving behaviours. The eye fixation data were then geocoded and linked to the vehicle movement trajectory to represent the VMCM on the GIS platform. An implementation prototype of the framework and the VMCM for a study of older drivers is presented in this paper. The spatial-temporal visualisation and statistical analysis based on the VMCM data-set allow for a greater insight into the inherent variability of older drivers' visual search and motor behaviours. The research framework has demonstrated a discriminant and ecologically valid approach in driving behaviour assessment, which can also be used in studies for other cohort populations with modified driving scenarios or experiment designs.


Ethernet is going to play a major role in automotive communications, thus representing a significant paradigm shift in automotive networking. Ethernet technology will allow for multiple in-vehicle systems (such as, multimedia/infotainment, camera-based advanced driver assistance and on-board diagnostics) to simultaneously access information over a single unshielded twisted pair cable. The leading technology for automotive applications is the IEEE Audio Video Bridging (AVB), which offers several advantages, such as open specification, multiple sources of electronic components, high bandwidth, the compliance with the challenging EMC/EMI automotive requirements, and significant savings on cabling costs, thickness and weight. This paper surveys the state of the art on Ethernet-based automotive communications and especially on the IEEE AVB, with a particular focus on the way to provide support to the so-called scheduled traffic, that is a class of time-sensitive traffic (e.g., control traffic) that is transmitted according to a time schedule.


Learning astronomy involves significant spatial reasoning, such as learning to describe Earth-based phenomena and understanding space-based explanations for those phenomena as well as using the relevant size and scale information to interpret these frames of reference. This study examines daily celestial motion (DCM) as one case of how children learn to move between frames of reference in astronomy wherein one explains Earth-based descriptions of the Sun's, Moon's, and stars' apparent motion using the Earth's daily rotation. We analysed interviews with 8–9-year-old students (N = 99) who participated in one of four instructional conditions emphasizing: the space-based perspective; the Earth-based perspective in the planetarium; constructing explanations for the Earth-based observations; and a combination of the planetarium plus constructing explanations in the classroom. We used an embodied cognition framework to analyse outcomes while also considering challenges learners face due to the high cognitive demands of spatial reasoning. Results support the hypothesis that instruction should engage students in learning both the Earth-based observations and space-based explanations, as focusing on a single frame of reference resulted in less sophisticated explanations; however, few students were able to construct a fully scientific explanation after instruction.