Thermodynamically Consistent Algorithms for the Solution of Phase-Field Models Philippe Antoine Vignal Atherton Phase-field models are emerging as a promising strategy to simulate interfacial phenomena. Rather than tracking interfaces explicitly as done in sharp interface descriptions, these models use a diffuse order parameter to monitor interfaces implicitly. This implicit description, as well as solid physical and mathematical footings, allow phase-field models to overcome problems found by predecessors. Nonetheless, the method has significant drawbacks. The phase-field framework relies on the solution of high-order, nonlinear partial differential equations. Solving these equations entails a considerable computational cost, so finding efficient strategies to handle them is important. Also, standard discretization strategies can many times lead to incorrect solutions. This happens because, for numerical solutions to phase-field equations to be valid, physical conditions such as mass conservation and free energy monotonicity need to be guaranteed. In this work, we focus on the development of thermodynamically consistent algorithms for time integration of phase-field models. The first part of this thesis focuses on an energy-stable numerical strategy de5 veloped for the phase-field crystal equation. This model was put forward to model microstructure evolution. The algorithm developed conserves, guarantees energy stability and is second order accurate in time. The second part of the thesis presents two numerical schemes that generalize literature regarding energy-stable methods for conserved and non-conserved phase-field models. The time discretization strategies can conserve mass if needed, are energy-stable, and second order accurate in time. We also develop an adaptive time-stepping strategy, which can be applied to any second-order accurate scheme. This time-adaptive strategy relies on a backward approximation to give an accurate error estimator. The spatial discretization, in both parts, relies on a mixed finite element formulation and isogeometric analysis. The codes are available online and implemented in PetIGA, a high-performance isogeometric analysis framework.


A parallel transient simulation technique for multiphysics circuits is presented. The technique develops partitions utilizing the inherent delay present within a circuit and between physical domains. A state-variable-based circuit delay element is presented, which implements the coupling between two spatially or temporally isolated circuit partitions. A parallel delay-based iterative approach for interfacing delay-partitioned subcircuits is applied, which achieves the reasonable accuracy of nonparallel circuit simulation if both incorporate the same interblock delay. The partitioned subcircuits are distributed to different cores of a shared-memory multicore processor and solved in parallel. A multithreaded implementation of the methodology using OpenMP is presented. Examples showing superlinear speedup compared to unpartitioned single-core simulation using the direct method are presented. This paper also discusses the impact of load balancing and absolute delay on simulation speedup.


The 2009 presidential elections forever changed the face of politics in Iran. What were at first protests against the election's results led to become demonstrations defying many fundamentals on which the Islamic Republic system of Iran is based. This movement, which is called the green movement, uses online communities like Twitter, Facebook and YouTube for news coverage and organization. Studying these communities in order to understand the structure and organization of the green movement is crucial because it provides an insight into anthropological and sociological characteristics of modern social movements. Social network analysis is a perfect tool for studying these concepts. In this paper, the prominent features of the social network related to the Green Movement are derived and analyzed.


Surface roughness is a significant aspect of the surface integrity concept. It is efficient to predict the surface roughness in advance by a prediction model. In this study, artificial neural network is used to model the surface roughness in turning of free machining steel 1215. The inputs considered in the prediction ANN model were cutting speed, feed rate and depth of cut, and the output was Ra. Several feed-forward neural networks with different architectures were compared in terms of prediction accuracy, and then the best prediction model, a 3-4-1-1 ANN was capable of predicting Ra with a mean squared error 5.46%, was presented.


The current aspect of any novel drug delivery system is to deliver a drug to specific site for better pharmacological effect as well as better control over the disease condition. The site specificity which demands more attention is brain, spinal and other localised sites like, bladder. The targeted drug delivery to cancerous cell of different organs of the body has reached to its molecular level. The attempt has been made in this review to give an insight into the treatment of genitourinary condition. These conditions require very large dose of medication due to poor absorption and loss of drug due to metabolism. The local effect of drug can be achieved using intravesicular drug delivery system. The physiology of the biological barriers, i.e. urothelium of bladder poses major challenge in the development of intravesicular drug delivery system. This review is prepared with an intension to address all these issue in detail and approaches to overcome barrier for drug delivery to bladder. The role of nanotechnology leads to minimal invasive procedure for bladder, prostate and other surrounding organs for more precise drug delivery has also been discussed in detail.


People with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) experience impairments in social communication, which may affect their ability to develop social skills necessary for successful employment. It is unclear which types of interventions have been used to teach specific work-related social skills to people with ASD and what the overall effectiveness of those interventions has been. This article reviewed the literature on interventions targeting improvement in work-related social skills of people with ASD. Database searches yielded 1,140 articles; 14 articles met inclusion criteria. Interventions that incorporated several common elements (e.g., modeling, rehearsals, feedback) or used visually-based, technological approaches resulted in improved work-related social skills. However, high-quality research is needed, as is research that occurs in competitive, integrated workplace settings.


This paper seeks to contribute towards a more explicit and candid discussion of the methodologies of discourse analysis within critical geopolitics. Proposing a classification along the three core dimensions of context (proximate or distal), analytic form (post-/structuralist or interpretive-explanatory) and political stance (involved or detached), it examines the ways in which critical geopolitics scholarship has understood and made use of discourse analysis. Subsequently, the paper introduces the poststructuralist discourse theory of Laclau and Mouffe, arguing that it is particularly suitable to address a number of key emerging concerns on the agenda of critical geopolitics.


MetaSeek is an image metasearch engine developed to explore the querying of large, distributed, online visual information systems. The current implementation integrates user feedback into a performance-ranking mechanism. MetaSeek selects and queries the target image search engines according to their success under similar query conditions in previous searches. The current implementation keeps track of each target engine's performance by integrating user feedback for each visual query into a performance database. We begin with a review of the issues in content-based visual query, then describe the current MetaSeek implementation. We present the results of experiments that evaluated the implementation in comparison to a previous version of the system and a baseline engine that randomly selects the individual search engines to query. We conclude by summarizing open issues for future research.


Different pedagogies employed in English language teaching (ELT) show varying degrees of use of first language (L1) and second language (L2). The choice is between teaching L2 through L2, teaching L2 through L1, or teaching using a mix of the two. Communicative language teaching (CLT) is a second language teaching approach that aims to create opportunities for the productive use of L2 in the classroom. CLT has been officially implemented in the Saudi Arabian context since 2004, where the use of L2 in the classroom is now encouraged. However, it is important to consider how well teachers' beliefs align with the specified use of L2 or L1 in the classroom. Importantly, this alignment is not generally taken into account, and so there is potential for resistance to this official pedagogy among teachers. This paper aims to explore the impact of Saudi teachers' reported beliefs on the use of L2 in CLT in observed practice. The methodology this paper employs is a systematic review of the related studies from 2014 to 2019 that examine teachers' beliefs and their alignment with their actual practice in the Saudi Arabian education setting. The results of this review of the studies show that SA teachers believe Arabic is still useful in the typical Saudi Arabian classroom where CLT has been officially adopted.


This topic was chosen in response to the devastation caused to Cathedral Square, Christchurch, New Zealand following earthquakes in 2010 and 2011. Working amongst the demolition bought to attention questions about how to re-conceive the square within the rebuilt city. In particular, it raised questions as to how a central square could be better integrated and experienced as a contemporary addition to Christchurch city. This thesis seeks to investigate the ways in which central squares can be better integrated with the contemporary city and how New Urbanist design principles can contribute toward this union. The research principally focuses on the physical and spatial integration of the square with the contemporary city. A drawing-based analysis of select precedent case studies helped to determine early on that overall integration of the contemporary square could be attributed to several interdependent criteria. The detailed studies are supplemented further with literature-based research that narrowed the criteria to five integrative properties. These are: identity, scale and proportion, use, connectivity and natural landscape. These were synthesised, in part, from the integrative New Urbanist movement and the emerging integrative side of the more contemporary Post Urbanist movement. The literature-based research revealed that a more inclusive approach toward New Urbanist and Post Urbanist design methodologies may also produce a more integrated and contemporary square. Three design case studies, using the redesign of Cathedral Square, were undertaken to test this hypothesis. The case studies found that overall, integration was reliant on a harmonious balance between the five integrative properties, concluding that squares can be better integrated with the contemporary city. Further testing of the third concept, which embraced an allied New Urbanist / Post Urbanist approach to design, found that New Urbanism was limited in its contribution toward the integration of the square.


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We examine financial analysts' views on corporate financial reporting issues by means of a survey among 306 analysts and interviews among 21 analysts and compare their views with that of CFOs. Since CFOs believe that meeting or beating analysts' forecasts and managing earnings to achieve this benchmark can enhance firm value, examining analysts' perspectives on these actions improves our understanding on whether CFOs' beliefs are rational or heuristic. Our findings suggest that CFOs' beliefs tend to be rational regarding their focus on earnings and their views on earnings management and smoothing. The main reason is that analysts have difficulty in unraveling certain types of earnings management in a specific firm even though they anticipate earnings management in general. Yet, CFOs are heuristic in their optimism about the consequences of managing earnings, which potentially has negative implications for the value of their firm.


INTRODUCTION: Osteoporotic fractures are common during osteoporotic states. Piper sarmentosum extract is known to possess antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties. OBJECTIVES: To observe the radiological changes in fracture calluses following administration of a Piper sarmentosum extract during an estrogen-deficient state. METHODS: A total of 24 female Sprague-Dawley rats (200-250 g) were randomly divided into 4 groups: (i) the sham-operated group; (ii) the ovariectomized-control group; (iii) the ovariectomized + estrogen-replacement therapy (ovariectomized-control + estrogen replacement therapy) group, which was supplemented with estrogen (100 µg/kg/day); and (iv) the ovariectomized + Piper sarmentosum (ovariectomized + Piper sarmentosum) group, which was supplemented with a water-based Piper sarmentosum extract (125 mg/kg). Six weeks after an ovariectomy, the right femora were fractured at the mid-diaphysis, and a K-wire was inserted. Each group of rats received their respective treatment for 6 weeks. Following sacrifice, the right femora were subjected to radiological assessment. RESULTS: The mean axial callus volume was significantly higher in the ovariectomized-control group (68.2±11.74 mm3) than in the sham-operated, estrogen-replacement-therapy and Piper sarmentosum groups (20.4±4.05, 22.4±4.14 and 17.5±3.68 mm3, respectively). The median callus scores for the sham-operated, estrogen-replacement-therapy and Piper sarmentosum groups had median (range, minimum - maximum value) as 1.0 (0 - 2), 1.0 (1 - 2) and 1.0 (1 - 2), respectively, which were significantly lower than the ovariectomized-control group score of 2.0 (2 - 3). The median fracture scores for the sham-operated, estrogen-replacement-therapy and Piper sarmentosum groups were 3.0 (3 - 4), 3.0 (2 - 3) and 3.0 (2 - 3), respectively, which were significantly higher than the ovariectomized-control group score of 2.0 (1 - 2) (p<0.05). CONCLUSION: The Piper sarmentosum extract improved fracture healing, as assessed by the reduced callus volumes and reduced callus scores. This extract is beneficial for fractures in osteoporotic states.


With water providing a highly favored solution environment for industrial processes (and in biological processes), it is interesting to develop water-based electrolysis processes for the synthesis and conversion of organic and biomass-based molecules. Molecules with low solubility in aqueous media can be dispersed/solubilized (i) by physical dispersion tools (e.g., milling, power ultrasound, or high-shear ultraturrax processing), (ii) in some cases by pressurization/supersaturation (e.g., for gases), (iii) by adding cosolvents or "carriers" such as chremophor EL, or (iv) by adding surfactants to generate micelles, microemulsions, and/or stabilized biphasic conditions. This Account examines and compares methodologies to bring the dispersed or multiphase system into contact with an electrode. Both the microscopic process based on individual particle impact and the overall electro-organic transformation are of interest. Distinct mechanistic cases for multiphase redox processes are considered. Most traditional electro-organic transformations are performed in homogeneous solution with reagents, products, electrolyte, and possibly mediators or redox catalysts all in the same (usually organic) solution phase. This may lead to challenges in the product separation step and in the reuse of solvents and electrolytes. When aqueous electrolyte media are used, reagents and products (or even the electrolyte) may be present as microdroplets or nanoparticles. Redox transformations then occur during interfacial "collisions" under multiphase conditions or within a reaction layer when a redox mediator is present. Benefits of this approach can be (i) the use of a highly conducting aqueous electrolyte, (ii) simple separation of products and reuse of the electrolyte, (iii) phase-transfer conditions in redox catalysis, (iv) new reaction pathways, and (v) improved sustainability. In some cases, a surface phase or phase boundary processes can lead to interesting changes in reaction pathways. Controlling the reaction zone within the multiphase redox system poses a challenge, and methods based on microchannel flow reactors have been developed to provide a higher degree of control. However, detrimental effects in microchannel systems are also observed, in particular for limited current densities (which can be very low in microchannel multiphase flow) or in the development of technical solutions for scale-up of multiphase redox transformations. This Account describes physical approaches (and reactor designs) to bring multiphase redox systems into effective contact with the electrode surface as well as cases of important electro-organic multiphase transformations. Mechanistic cases considered are "impacts" by microdroplets or particles at the electrode, effects of dissolved intermediates or redox mediators, and effects of dissolved redox catalysts. These mechanistic cases are discussed for important multiphase transformations for gaseous, liquid, and solid dispersed phases. Processes based on mesoporous membranes and hydrogen-permeable palladium membranes are discussed.


This study presents an evaluation of the top performers in the Carbon Disclosure Project Nordic 260, 2012 report and their risk and return during the first quarter 2011 to first quarter 2013. The chosen companies are based in the performance score presented in the report and as far as possible the top 10 companies from sectors proven to have harder to meet regulations in the field. These where chosen to each represent a portfolio which were tested to their corresponding benchmark Nordic index.Our approach is of quantitative nature and the data is based on the daily return and 30 day volatility from the chosen companies and indexes. The research is built on a deductive approach and will test previous research in the field to our findings.The result lead to the conclusion that a weak positive relation can be found to a higher return in top performers but at the cost of higher risk measured in volatility. A statistical significance to the result were missing, but the paper rather support the positive return in line with previous research in the field. As only the environmental values of Carbon Disclosure were used, the contribution show that these values has a similar effect as all ESG factors.


This paper presents methods and tools for binary code analysis that have been developed in ISP RAS and their applications in fields of algorithm and data format recovery. The analysis subject is executable code of various general purpose CPU architectures. The analysis is carried out in lack of source code, debug records, and without specific OS version requirements. The approach consists of collecting a detailed machine instruction level execution trace; method for successive presentation level increase; extraction of code belonging to the algorithm followed by structuring of both code and data formats it processes. Important results have been achieved: an intermediate representation has been developed, that allows for carrying out most of the preliminary processing tasks and algorithm code extraction without having to focus on specifics of a given machine; and a method and software tool have been developed for automated recovery of network message and file formats. The tools have been incorporated into a unified analysis platform that supports their combined use. The architecture behind the platform is also described in the paper. Examples of its application to real programs are given.


Abstract The first part of this paper presents the rationale and mechanisms by which web-based learning was implemented into a 1st year core module in Sport and Exercise at the University of Teesside (UK). After disappointing student feedback in regard to its usage in the first year of implementation, the second part of this paper describes some of the changes made to the module in order to increase student participation. These changes appeared to have the desired effect the following year. Although too many changes were made to pinpoint the exact reason causing this shift in student learning behavior, it is suggested that freeing up more learning time within the schedule could have had the most dramatic effect. These findings should have relevance to those responsible for teaching on large compulsory first year modules but may also have wider implications for anyone considering web-based resources to support their programs of study. Rationale From a pedagogical perspective web-based learning has many advantages over traditional techniques (Barnett et al., 1996). It has the potential to provide one-to-one teaching on a grand scale and allows students to work at their own pace in a fairly realistic and interactive way. The possibilities of fostering a deep-approach to learning in a safe environment are an attractive proposition and web-based learning is therefore undergoing considerable expansion in most higher education institutes. The University of Teesside is no exception. Amongst other priorities, the University plans to provide 33% of its modules via the web by 2003 (Learning, Teaching and Assessment Strategy, University of Teesside, 1999-2003). The module described in this study is entitled `Gross Anatomy and Kinesiology' and is the flagship for web-based learning in the Sport and Exercise Subject Group at the University of Teesside. Sport and Exercise Science is comprised of three major disciplines; Psychology (the study of behavior and cognition), Physiology (the study of biological functioning of the body) and Kinesiology (the study of human motion). The multi-disciplinary nature and increased awareness of sport science support work in the UK has led to a huge rise in the popularity of such programs. Accordingly, the provision of Sport and Exercise degree programs has increased rapidly from 1 in 1980 to over 300 in 2000. Each year the Sport and Exercise Subject Group at Teesside has an intake of over 150 students. In accordance with Teesside's policy as the "Opportunity University", which actively promotes widening participation, inclusive admissions policies, and regional regeneration, this ensures that for the `Gross Anatomy and Kinesiology' module we have high student numbers of very diverse backgrounds. The most important outcome of this module is that students are able to describe scientifically the movements of joints in terms of muscle contractions, ligament stability, and skeletal geometry. Thus, a large proportion of the material covered is anatomy. For several reasons, not least its pictorial nature and the cost of maintaining dissection laboratories, web-provision is becoming a popular learning resource in this subject area to improve the quality of teaching and learning (Nageswaren et al., 2000). In addition, undergraduate modules such as Gross Anatomy and Kinesiology must develop generic skills that appeal to potential employers, a term Dearing (1997) describes as `graduateness'. Therefore it is hoped that through web-based learning the students' experiences, confidence and attitudes towards computers will be positively influenced (Levine and Donsita-Schmidt, 1997). Much of the research (e.g. Nuha et al., 2000) in this field has focused previously on the development of web-based materials and the technological advances which can be incorporated to present visually stimulating and interactive text. However, to be truly meaningful to the quality of the student learning experience, the focus must turn to the evaluation of these teaching and learning strategies (Laurillard, 1993). …


INTRODUCTION . Overactive Bladder Syndrome (OAB) is characterized by urgency to urinate, which may be accompanied by increased frequency, nocturia and incontinence. Although nocturia is a common symptom in the setting of sleep apnea-hypopnea syndrome (OSA), the association between OAB and OSA is not well known. The aim of this study was to analyze the presence of OAB in female patients diagnosed from OSA. METHODS . Seventy-two consecutive female patients referred for polysomnography (PSG) for suspected OSA were included. All patients fulfilled the spanish validated version of the "Bladder Control Self-Assessment Questionnarie" (B-SAQ). The B-SAQ consists of 2 subscales: "symptoms", consisting of 4 items (urgency, frequency, nocturia and incontinence) and "discomfort" in which it is established the degree of distress associated with symptoms (from 0 to 3). RESULTS . The scores of "Symptoms" and "Discomfort" were significantly higher in patients who were diagnosed OSA. Patients with OSA scored significantly higher for symptoms of urgency, nocturia and incontinence and 4 items of "Discomfort". The AHI was significantly correlated with the score of "Symptoms" (r = 0.297, p= 0.013) and that of "Discomfort" (r= 0.258, p= 0.03). There was no significant correlation between the BMI and the B-SAQ. CONCLUSIONS . Obstructive sleep apnea is associated with overactive bladder syndrome in women. The Bladder Control Self-Assessment Questionnarie is a valid instrument to assess overactive bladder in patients with OSA.


The microstructure of a material influences the characteristics of a component such as its strength and stiffness. A previously described laser ultrasonic technique known as spatially resolved acoustic spectroscopy (SRAS) can image surface microstructure, using the local surface acoustic wave (SAW) velocity as a contrast mechanism. The technique is robust and tolerant of acoustic aberrations. Compared to other existing methods such as electron backscattered diffraction, SRAS is completely non-contact, non-destructive (as samples do not need to be polished and sectioned), fast, and is capable of inspecting very large components. The SAW velocity, propagating in multiple directions, can in theory be used to determine the crystallographic orientation of grains. SRAS can be implemented by using a fixed grating period with a broadband laser excitation source; the velocity is determined by analysing the measured frequency spectrum. Experimental results acquired using this "frequency spectrum SRAS" (f-SRAS) method are presented. The instrumentation has been improved such that velocity data can be acquired at 1000 points per second. The results are illustrated as velocity maps of material microstructure in two orthogonal directions. We compare velocities measured in multiple propagation direction with those predicted by the numerical model, for several cubic crystals of known orientations.


1. Background Early methods for the purification of lipid-rich plasma membrane domains largely relied on their insolubility in Triton X-110 (or some other non-ionic detergent) relative to that of the bulk plasma membrane or that of all the other subcellular membranes. Sometimes detergent was added to the whole homogenate or more frequently a partially-purified plasma membrane fraction was first isolated before treating with detergent. Smart et al [1] however pointed out that, while use of a non-ionic detergent did permit the isolation of a lipid-rich membrane domain, that some characteristic caveolar proteins can be lost in the procedure. These workers therefore developed a method that avoids the use of Triton X-100. After isolation of a plasma membrane fraction from either human skin fibroblasts or MA104 cells, the caveolae are released by sonication in a standard cell homogenization medium. The first part of the isolation procedure is a flotation through a continuous iodixanol gradient (0-20%); this gradient is essentially a resolving gradient in which the caveolinrich vesicles are concentrated in the top third of the gradient, while the predominantly caveolin-poor vesicles band in denser regions. A second discontinuous gradient is essentially a concentration gradient to band the caveolin-rich vesicles sharply at an interface.


Language exhibits hierarchical structure, but recent work using a subject-verb agreement diagnostic argued that state-of-the-art language models, LSTMs, fail to learn long-range syntax sensitive dependencies. Using the same diagnostic, we show that, in fact, LSTMs do succeed in learning such dependencies—provided they have enough capacity. We then explore whether models that have access to explicit syntactic information learn agreement more effectively, and how the way in which this structural information is incorporated into the model impacts performance. We find that the mere presence of syntactic information does not improve accuracy, but when model architecture is determined by syntax, number agreement is improved. Further, we find that the choice of how syntactic structure is built affects how well number agreement is learned: top-down construction outperforms left-corner and bottom-up variants in capturing non-local structural dependencies.


Abstract A number of governmental and nongovernmental organizations have made significant efforts to encourage the development of artificial intelligence in line with a series of aspirational concepts such as transparency, interpretability, explainability, and accountability. The difficulty at present, however, is that these concepts exist at a fairly abstract level, whereas in order for them to have the tangible effects desired they need to become more concrete and specific. This article undertakes precisely this process of concretisation, mapping how the different concepts interrelate and what in particular they each require in order to move from being high-level aspirations to detailed and enforceable requirements. We argue that the key concept in this process is accountability, since unless an entity can be held accountable for compliance with the other concepts, and indeed more generally, those concepts cannot do the work required of them. There is a variety of taxonomies of accountability in the literature. However, at the core of each account appears to be a sense of "answerability"; a need to explain or to give an account. It is this ability to call an entity to account which provides the impetus for each of the other concepts and helps us to understand what they must each require.


Abstract. Digital elevation models (DEMs) serve as a basis for various geomorphological applications, such as, landform mapping, natural hazard assessment, and landslide characterisation. The inter-comparison of DEMs can be used to provide estimates of topographic change, for example, volume changes. Sentinel-1 synthetic aperture radar (SAR) data can be used to generate multitemporal topographic datasets using interferometric SAR (InSAR). Such analyses are often conducted using commercial software; however, a well-structured workflow based on free and open-source software (FOSS) increases the applicability and transferability of the DEM generation method and can facilitate the use of multi-temporal topographic analysis within the Earth Sciences. In this study, we aim to develop an open-source-based workflow for the generation of multi-temporal DEMs from Sentinel-1 data, and to explore their potential for landslide volume estimation using FOSS. We implemented this semi-automated and transferable workflow bundled in the open-source Python package "SliDEM", which relies on SNAP, SNAPHU, and several other open-source software for geospatial and geomorphological applications, all distributed within a Docker image. Two major landslides in Austria and Norway were selected to test, evaluate, and validate the workflow in terms of reliability, performance, reproducibility, and transferability. Even if the quality of the Sentinel-1-based DEMs varies among the study areas, the preliminary results are promising. However, there is a need for improvement and thorough analysis of the causes of elevation errors. A comprehensive evaluation of the influence of the perpendicular and temporal baselines, topography, land use/land cover, and other environmental conditions can be systematically assessed within the "SliDEM" workflow.


The recent demolition of the Capouillet house which sheltered the Institute of Botany of the ULB is the occasion to evoke the successive holders of the courses of plant biology at the Faculty of Medicine. Some of them were famous botanists who, as pioneers, renewed their field with dynamism and competence.


Finite state transducers over semigroups are regarded as a formal model of sequential reactive programs that operate in the interaction with the environment. At receiving a piece of data a program performs a sequence of actions and displays the current result. Such programs usually arise at implementation of computer drivers, on-line algorithms, control procedures. In many cases verification of such programs can be reduced to minimization and equivalence checking problems for finite state transducers. Minimization of a transducer over a semigroup is performed in three stages. At first the greatest common left-divisors are computed for all states of the transducer, next the transducer is brought to a reduced form by pulling all such divisors "upstream", and finally a minimization algorithm for finite state automata is applied to the reduced transducer.


ABSTRACT Objective: To explore how health care professionals who work with individuals with TBI address issues related to the assessment and treatment of sexuality after TBI. Methods: A survey composed of 53 questions was developed to evaluate professional training, assessment of sexuality in individuals with TBI and attitudes towards sexuality. The sample consisted of 324 self-identified TBI health care professionals. Results: Ninety seven per cent of participants believed that sexuality should be discussed during rehabilitation; however, 36% reported talking about it. Seventy nine per cent reported that their patients have asked about sexuality after TBI, with 60% feeling calm and competent addressing the topic. The main reason for not discussing the topic was that patients do not ask for information (42%). Assessment (87%) and treatment of sexuality (82%) in individuals with TBI are considered a part of their professional responsibility. Conclusion: Despite recognition of the importance of addressing the topic and the belief of it being their professional responsibility, many professionals reported lack of training. Working to increase comfort with the topic and providing comprehensive education on treating sexuality may be beneficial.


This article analyzes the history and development of Tibetan medicine in exile from the perspective of the pervasive Tibetan exile narrative of preservation and loss. Through combined ethnographic and historical data, it shows how the preservation of traditional Tibetan medical knowledge in exile entails a process of a fundamental reinvention of its nature, not only rendering it modern but also (re)investing it with considerable hegemonic power. As Tibetan medicine in exile has come to stand for the nation as envisioned by the Tibetan government-in-exile, its preservation is imbued with a significance that far exceeds the medical realm. Indeed, despite a well-established discourse of preservation and loss that implies a precarious state of weakness, Tibetan medical knowledge functions (along with Tibetan Buddhism) as an important means to preserve a weakened but still existing and real Tibetan cultural hegemony in exile. Thus, while common rhetoric assumes a triumph of modern science and a gradual loss of traditional knowledge, the case of Tibetan medicine shows that we need to take the latter seriously as an important apparatus of power even today.


The photodegradation of irradiated thin films of poly (para-methylstyrene) with 265 nm radiations in the presence of airand as a function of irradiation time has been studied using UV-VIS, fluorescence and FT-IR Spectroscopic techniques. The influence of phthalate and terephthalate plasticizers on stability of poly (para-methylstyrene) towards irradiations was also investigated. Blending with phthalate plasticizers was found to cause a higher efficiency of photodegradation than that obtained in doping with terephthalate plasticizers. The intensity of absorption was also found to increase with time of irradiation and in change in the shape of the spectra at longer wavelength, thus indicating a possibility of photodegradation of polymer chains. The analysis of the FT-IR spectra of the irradiated and non-irradiated samples, shows a predominant absorption associated with carbonyl compounds with 1740 cm-1. In addition, the observed increase in the intensities of the carbonyl and hydroxyl regions of the FT-IR spectra, have provided an evidence for the photodegradation as well as photo-oxidation of polymeric chains. The presence of the plasticizer in the polymer backbone was found to accelerate the photodegradation of polymeric chains.


The diurnal day/night cycle presently is a great challenge for the harvest of solar energy rendering suitable energy storage schemes inevitable. In the described experiments a Cu(I) 4H-imidazolate complex is efficiently photoreduced in the presence of a sacrificial donor. The obtained two-electron reduced species is stored for more than 14 hours in the dark. In a dark reaction, the stored photoredox equivalents can be transferred to an electron acceptor while the starting Cu(I) complex is almost completely regained. Repetition of the photoreduction/reoxidation revealed a photoreduction efficiency of 72% after four cycles.


Alcoholism is becoming one of the most serious issues in Korea. The purpose of this review article was to understand the present status of the treatment system for alcoholism in Korea compared to the United States and to suggest its developmental direction in Korea. Current modalities of alcoholism treatment in Korea including withdrawal treatment, pharmacotherapy, and psychosocial treatment are available according to Korean evidence-based treatment guidelines. Benzodiazepines and supportive care including vitamin and nutritional support are mainly used to treat alcohol withdrawal in Korea. Naltrexone and acamprosate are the drugs of first choice to treat chronic alcoholism. Psychosocial treatment methods such as individual psychotherapy, group psychotherapy, family therapy, cognitive behavior therapy, cue exposure therapy, 12-step facilitation therapy, self-help group therapy, and community-based treatment have been carried out to treat chronic alcoholism in Korea. However, current alcohol treatment system in Korea is not integrative compared to that in the United States. To establish the treatment system, it is important to set up an independent governmental administration on alcohol abuse, to secure experts on alcoholism, and to conduct outpatient alcoholism treatment programs and facilities in an open system including some form of continuing care.


Background: Reducing the incidence and negative consequences of concussion among youth athletes is a public health priority. In 2010, Massachusetts passed legislation aimed at addressing the issue of concussions in school athletics. We sought to understand local-level implementation decisions of the Massachusetts concussion law. Methods: A qualitative multiple-case study approach was utilized. Semi-structured interviews with school-employed actors associated with the law's implementation were used for analysis. Interview data were subjected to a conventional content analysis. Results: A total of 19 participants from 5 schools were interviewed. Schools were purposefully selected from communities varying in socioeconomic status and population. Participants included 5 athletic directors, 5 coaches, 4 athletic trainers, 4 school nurses, and 1 health and wellness coordinator. Eight themes emerged regarding specific ways schools have implemented the law. Six themes emerged regarding factors influencing implementation. Conclusions: All cases employ neurocognitive testing as a means to assess concussions, place decision-making authority in athletic trainers' hands, and use a 30-minute online video to disseminate concussion education. Employing athletic trainers could pose challenges to school districts with limited financial capacity, as financial assistance from the state is not provided under the law. The validity of neurocognitive testing and the effectiveness of online concussion training need further study. Cooperation from student athletes, their parents, and physicians is necessary for full implementation of the law.


Abstract. The circulation of the stratosphere, also known as the Brewer-Dobson circulation, transports water vapor and ozone, with implications for radiative forcing and climate. This circulation is typically quantified from model output by calculating the tropical upwelling vertical velocity in the residual circulation framework, and it is estimated from observations by using time series of tropical water vapor to infer a vertical velocity. Recent theory has introduced a method to calculate the global mean diabatic circulation strength through isentropes from satellite measurements of long-lived tracers. In this paper, we explore this global diabatic circulation as it relates to the residual circulation vertical velocity, stratospheric water vapor, and ozone at interannual timescales. We use a comprehensive climate model, three reanalysis data products, and satellite ozone data. The different metrics for the circulation have different properties, especially with regards to the vertical autocorrelation. In the model, the different residual circulation metrics agree closely and are well correlated with the global diabatic circulation, except in the lowermost stratosphere. In the reanalysis products however, there are more differences throughout, indicating the dynamical inconsistencies of these products. The vertical velocity derived from the time series of water vapor in the tropics is significantly correlated with the diabatic circulation, but this relationship is not as strong as that between the diabatic circulation and the residual circulation vertical velocity. We find that the diabatic circulation in the lower to middle stratosphere (up to 500 K) is correlated with the total column ozone in the high latitudes and in the tropics. The upper level circulation is also correlated with the total column ozone, primarily in the subtropics, and we show that this is due to the correlation of both the circulation and the ozone with upper level temperatures.


The objective was to quantify the variation of stress intensity factor to weld root flaw sizes in steel frame connections. Finite-element analyses were used to study fracture toughness in welded beam-column connections. Investigations of fracture behavior mainly focused on the standard pre-Northridge connection geometry. Finite element analysis was performed using the ANSYS computer program. Stress intensity factor was calculated through a J-integral approach. The parametric study was conducted to quantify elastic fracture demands as a function of beam geometries. Results show that stress intensity factor is not uniform and is the largest in the middle of beam flange. The breadth of beam flange has primary effect on ratio of equivalent stress intensity factors to average. The ratio is nearly linear with the increase of the breadth, and it increases with the increase of breadth of beam flange.


Young adult and older readers' eye movements were recorded as they read sentences containing target words that varied in frequency or predictability. In addition, half of the sentences were printed in a font that was easy to read (Times New Roman) and the other half were printed in a font that was more difficult to read (Old English). Word frequency, word predictability, and font difficulty effects were apparent in the eye movement data of both groups of readers. In the fixation time data, the pattern of results was the same, but the older readers had larger frequency and predictability effects than the younger readers. The older readers skipped words more often than the younger readers (as indicated by their skipping rate on selected target words), but they made more regressions back to the target words and more regressions overall. The E-Z Reader model was used as a platform to evaluate the results, and simulations using the model suggest that lexical processing is slowed in older readers and that, possibly as a result of this, they adopt a more risky reading strategy.


The present work aims to study the hydrogen embrittlement process in API 5L X60 and API 5L X80 steels. The tests were performed using two kinds of hydrogen sources to work with two conditions of hydrogen damage: environmental hydrogen embrittlement and internal hydrogen embrittlement. The mechanical behavior of API 5L X60 and API 5L X80 steels in tensile tests, with and without hydrogen, were studied. Under environmental hydrogen embrittlement conditions, the API 5L X60 steel presented a softening process observed by the decrease in yield strength and increase in its deformation. The API 5L X80 steel was more susceptible to the phenomenon due the deformation decrease of hydrogenated samples. In notched samples, both steels were susceptible to embrittlement as shown by the decrease in elongation. Under internal hydrogen embrittlement conditions, in both steels the changes in deformation were significant and can be attributed to changes in the hydrogen trapping due to the hydrogenation process used, the chemical composition and microstructure. It was observed that the fracture surface morphology of hydrogenated samples of both steels was ductile by microvoids coalescence, and that the distribution of dimples per unit area was higher in the API 5L X60 steel. It can be concluded, as reported in the literature, that the reversible hydrogen trapping observable in environmental hydrogen embrittlement is more damaging than irreversible hydrogen trapping, observable in internal hydrogen embrittlement.


As social scientists of water, we need to keep evaluating the analytical tools we use. Through the example of floods, we here develop a critique of one of those tools, the hydrosocial cycle framework, in order to expand our conceptualizations of water. The hydrosocial cycle is a re‐elaboration of the classical hydrological cycle which explicitly politicizes and denaturalizes the study of hydrological systems. In political ecology, such a conceptual framework has been pivotal to the understanding of how water circulates in society through a complex web of power relations, economic structures, and processes that are at the same time spatial and historical. But when we deploy this concept to examine floods, a number of limitations emerge. In this article, we formulate three specific theses which focus on those limitations: (a) an overemphasis on society, (b) a lack of attention to ecology and, more generally the relationships between water and other nonhuman elements and processes, and (c) a heuristic overreliance on the metaphors of flow and cycle. In developing these three theses, we discern alternative paths of analysis to conceptualize floodwaters at a time when these events increasingly constitute a significant threat to humans and nonhumans alike. Our hope is that this critique will also contribute to broader interdisciplinary debates about water and society.


The learning model analogy in linguistics was the similarities between the forms which became the basis of other forms. Analogy was one of the morphology processes, where there was a formulation of the new words from the existed word. Analogy was done because from something that has been compared and its comparation has the same function and role. By doing analogy, a person could explain something which was abstract or complicated to be something that easy to be understood (inductive and logic analogy). Multicultural was a term that used to describe someone's point of view about the life on this earth, or the policy which focused on different culture acceptance, citizen, system, culture, customs, and politics they have. At least, main thing that need to be planted by them was done by teacher or lecturer, will be disturb by the literature management, finding information, practice the dialogue, and create a creative outside and multicultural. This study was qualitative research, which had to test the language learning model affectivity. The objective of this study was to create creative multicultural learning method. In order to reach the objective, the method used in this study was research and development system from Gall and Borg (2003). The specific target of this research was the learning method, analogy. For all the students of Bahasa Indonesia study program in some university in Palembang with this specification : (1) the objective of learning based on curriculum 2013; (2). Could be done with or without the lecturer; and (3 ) could develop creative learning for students. Based on the method , (1) teaching and learning observation in quasy experiment classroom. (2) selecting short story to be a material for teaching; (3). Learning model composition; (4) learning models tested; (5). Result evaluation; and (6). Learning model revision


Software tools have become a major and necessary part of the world of the working engineer. In fact, courses in electrical circuits involve the use of an ever increasing array of software tools. Word, Excel, Power Point, PSpice, and MATLAB represent some of the most commonly used programs. It is extremely important to integrate these together into what is called an integrated design environment. In addition to organizing them into an easy-to-use environment, the information generation by their use must also be captured and captured in an intelligent manner. This knowledge capturing integrated design environment, or KCIDE, becomes a working platform that students can readily use. Besides, the software follows a six-step procedure in solving circuit problems, which gives students a reference framework for problem solving. The development and utilization of the KCIDE software platform are explained. The design and implementation of the KCIDE software are also discussed. In addition, all the basic concepts can be expanded into the more complex world of the working engineer where laboratory results can also be integrated. Future extensions and advanced features of KCIDE that are being developed are also introduced. An additional benefit to using such a platform is that it makes assessment a much easier task. It is intended that the KCIDE software will be made available to all conference attendees who wish to have it.


This study targets the public schools sector in Denmark, considering a case study of an 11,900 m 2 School in Odense, and reporting the overall process of energy modeling, performance simulation and assessment of renovation measures. A holistic model was developed and calibrated using measured energy data. Various energy renovation measures and packages were investigated employing a holistic approach and considering the technical, economic and environmental impacts. A deep energy renovation package was recommended lifting the school energy rating to comply with the BR15 Danish building regulations, reducing energy consumption by 54.2% with an annual primary energy consumption of 65.5 kWh/m 2 .


The reason of conducting this research is that there is no reliable study measures entrepreneurial orientation (EO) at government entities. EO among commercial organisations is widely addressed in previous research and literature due the intense market competition where this type of organisations should invigorate and accelerate EO to lead markets. Nevertheless, there is quite small number of research works that examine EO among semi-governmental organisations. However, those research works are not sophisticated enough to measure the impact of adopting and implementing EO within governmental organisations. The four principles of EO, which are innovation, autonomy, risk-taking and pro-activeness are applied to examine the extent of implications among governmental sectors and impact of EO on an organisation's performance. Continually, organisations' performance is been identified by three elements. These are stimulating internal environmental effectiveness, ability to achieve the organisation's goals and individual ability for self-development. The research is applied among Saudi governmental sectors in Tabuk City. Measurement items and instruments adopted from previous studies. Then, the exploratory factor analysis performed to determine applicability of EO factors among governmental sectors. Exploratory factor analysis proves that some factors, such as innovation and autonomy have a significant reason to be applied. The research results show that innovation has an impact on the internal environment to stimulate internal environmental effectiveness. However, the research could not find any link between innovation, ability to achieve organisation's goals and individual ability for self-development. On the other hand, the internal environment's effectiveness and ability to achieve an organisation's goals can be increased if there is quite good margin of autonomy. Furthermore, whenever risk-taking attitude is high, individual development ability is clearly high as well. Finally, pro-activeness has a slight link with ability to achieve organisation's goals.


In this paper (Part II), a control strategy for a single-phase series-connected inverter with the microgrid is proposed to interface ac loads not only to regulate the load voltage under voltage disturbances, but also to control the load power drawn from the microgrid. The inverter compensating voltage works in such a way that, irrespective of any type of disturbances in the microgrid voltage (such as sag, swell, or harmonic distortions), the load voltage is maintained at its rated voltage level with low total harmonic distortion (THD) in voltage. The proposed control strategy also facilitates a specific amount of active power flow (from renewable energy source) to the load irrespective of the microgrid voltage condition. The rest of the load power is supplied by the microgrid. To facilitate this control strategy, a spatial repetitive controller (SRC) is proposed and implemented in microgrid phase (θ) domain to make the controller independent of the microgrid frequency. The proposed controller ensures dynamic stability of the system even if there is a sudden change in the microgrid frequency. Detailed experimental results are presented to show the efficacy of the proposed series inverter system along with the controller under different operating conditions.


The primary objective of any electric utility company in the new competitive environment is to increase the market value of the services by providing the right amount of reliability, and at the same time, lower its costs for operation, maintenance and construction of new facilities in order to provide lower rates for customers. The electric utility company will strive to achieve this objective via many different means, one of which is to defer the capital distribution facility requirements in favor of a distributed generation (DG) solution by an independent power producer (IPP) to meet the growing customer load demand. In this case, the distribution capital investment deferral credit received by the IPP will be dependent on the incremental system reliability improvement rendered by the DG solution. In other words, the size, location and the reliability of the DG will be based on the comparable incremental reliability provided by the distribution solution under considerations. This paper presents a reliability model for determining the DG equivalence to a distribution facility for use in distribution system planning studies in the new competitive environment.


Association rule mining is a time consuming process due to involving both data intensive and computation intensive nature. In order to mine large volume of data and to enhance the scalability and performance of existing sequential association rule mining algorithms, parallel and distributed algorithms are developed. These traditional parallel and distributed algorithms are based on homogeneous platform and are not lucrative for heterogeneous platform such as grid and cloud. This requires design of new algorithms which address the issues of good data set partition and distribution, load balancing strategy, optimization of communication and synchronization technique among processors in such heterogeneous system. Grid and cloud are the emerging platform for distributed data processing and various association rule mining algorithms have been proposed on such platforms. This survey article integrates the brief architectural aspect of distributed system, various recent approaches of grid based and cloud based association rule mining algorithms with comparative perception. We differentiate between approaches of association rule mining algorithms developed on these architectures on the basis of data locality, programming paradigm, fault tolerance, communication cost, partition and distribution of data sets. Although it is not complete in order to cover all algorithms, yet it can be very useful for the new researchers working in the direction of distributed association rule mining algorithms.


This report summarises the work done in 7 FP project EWENT, its first work package.
D1 deliverable introduces a review of extreme weather phenomena and identifies
their impacts and consequences on European transport system. All modes of transport
are covered. Two main methods are used. First, there is an extensive literature
review on extreme weather events and their impacts and consequences. Well over
150 scientific and professional references are studied and listed. This is followed by a
review of media reported cases, almost 200 of them. With the help of these two
methods and material they provide, critical threshold values for most relevant weather
phenomena that affect different transport modes are listed. The phenomena have
impacts and consequences which result in deterioration in the service level of transportation
system. A dozen different impact mechanisms are charted and annexed to
this report. Finally, brief summary of results is drawn, including a first-impressiondiscussion
on strategic implications. Precipitation in all its forms (water, snow, hail)
seems to dominate the harmful impacts. Road transport system seems to be the most
vulnerable of modes.


In recent years, the demand of interest in functional electrical stimulation (FES) is increasing due to the applications especially on spinal cord injury (SCI) patients. Numerous studies have been done to regain mobility function and for health benefits especially due to FES control development for the paralyzed person. In this paper, the existing general framework modeling methods have been reviewed and the new modeling framework approach has been discussed. In general modeling and simulation can greatly facilitate to test and tune various FES control strategies. In fact, the modeling of musculoskeletal properties in people with SCI is significantly challenging for researchers due to the complexity of the system. The complexities are due to the complex structural anatomy, complicated movement and dynamics, as well as indeterminate muscle function. Although there are some models have been developed, the complexities of the system resulting mathematical representation that have a large number of parameters which make the model identification process even more difficult. Therefore, a new approach of modeling has been presented which is comparatively less burdened compared with mathematical representations. Hence this musculoskeletal model can be used for FES control system development.


Acute respiratory compromise describes a deterioration in respiratory function with a high likelihood of rapid progression to respiratory failure and death. Identifying patients at risk for respiratory compromise coupled with monitoring of patients who have developed respiratory compromise might allow earlier interventions to prevent or mitigate further decompensation. The National Association for the Medical Direction of Respiratory Care (NAMDRC) organized a workshop meeting with representation from many national societies to address the unmet needs of respiratory compromise from a clinical practice perspective. Respiratory compromise may arise de novo or may complicate preexisting lung disease. The group identified distinct subsets of respiratory compromise that present similar opportunities for early detection and useful intervention to prevent respiratory failure. The subtypes were characterized by the pathophysiological mechanisms they had in common: impaired control of breathing, impaired airway protection, parenchymal lung disease, increased airway resistance, hydrostatic pulmonary edema, and right-ventricular failure. Classification of acutely ill respiratory patients into one or more of these categories may help in selecting the screening and monitoring strategies that are most appropriate for the patient's particular pathophysiology. Standardized screening and monitoring practices for patients with similar mechanisms of deterioration may enhance the ability to predict respiratory failure early and prevent its occurrence.


The paper looks at the problem of uneven economic development in terms of processes of globalisation and integration and analyses current issues and prospects. The problem is analysed retrospectively to estimate the reasons of global unevenness. The findings are used to determine the current situation on the global economic arena and answer the question why some countries are rich and others are poor. It is stressed that that legacy of colonialism in the world is the primary reason of uneven economic development. Yet, the industrial revolutions, globalisation and regionalisation of trade had an impact on the current division of the world into "North and South".


ABSTRACT Background: The construct of physical literacy is gaining traction internationally and yet measurement of physical literacy is in its infancy. This paper describes the development of a pictorial child report scale of perceived physical literacy based on the comprehensive Australian Physical Literacy Framework, which includes 30 elements within four domains (physical, psychological, cognitive and social). Methods: An expert reference committee with academic and industry representatives from physical education, sport and education was formed to provide input to each stage of the process. Qualitative research methods were used to (a) determine a character that was gender neutral, not representative of a particular race or ethnicity and appealing to children, and (b) the content (i.e. relationship between item images, wording and format with the intended construct) and response processes (i.e. interpretation of items) of the Physical Literacy in Children Questionnaire (PL-C Quest). A total of 17 children aged 4–12 years were interviewed as part of the study. Results: A 'bunny' character was preferred by children. Overall, children interpreted most images as intended by the researchers, and, in many cases, without having to hear the words that went with the images. Some of the image scenarios were amended and redrawn according to the suggestions received from children and the expert reference group. Discussion: This study has provided qualitative evidence based on the content of the PL-C Quest elements and domains, on the ways respondents understand, and interpret the items. This is the first step towards the development and testing of a pictorial instrument to comprehensively measure children's self-perceived physical literacy.


This perspective article reviews recent advances in the study of important catalytic reactions on gold electrodes. The paper discusses both oxidation and reduction reactions: the oxidation of carbon monoxide and alcohols as well as the oxygen reduction reaction on gold electrodes and also a brief discussion of other interesting reactions on gold electrodes such as the amine borane oxidation and the CO2 reduction. A common theme in electrocatalysis on gold is the sensitive dependence of various reaction rates on pH and gold surface structure. The electrocatalysis of redox reactions on gold is highly pH dependent, often preferring alkaline media, due to the prominent role of negatively charged reaction intermediates related to the fact that gold does not bind the neutral intermediates strongly enough. Gold also tends to be a selective catalyst, again due to its weak adsorption properties, as on gold the reaction often stops when a difficult bond breaking or making event will be the necessary next step.


Public Sociology features a wide-ranging discussion of the controversial model of a social science that reaches out to non-academic audiences, including both average citizens and policymakers. This approach has been greeted with enthusiasm by supporters, and with skepticism and anxiety among critics. Both perspectives are well represented in this volume. Some of the critical voices question whether public sociology is even a good idea. Others dissent, arguing for a strong program in professional sociology as an alternative. Still others express concern that public sociology promotes a liberal-left political agenda, despite its nonpartisan pretensions. Some elements of the model are queried, such as "critical sociology." Others are supportive--discussing personal experiences, the benefits of an engaged social science, and how it could take social science into a broader, global marketplace. Following an introduction by the editor, the contributions include: David Boyns and Jesse Fletcher, "Public Relations, Disciplinary Identity, and the Strong Program in Professional Sociology," Jonathan H. Turner, "Is Public Sociology Such a Good Idea?" Steven Brint, "Guide to the Perplexed," Vincent Jeffries, "Piritim A. Sorokin's Integralism and Public Sociology," Norella M. Putney, Dawn E. Alley, and Vern L. Bengston, "Social Gerontology as Public Sociology in Action," Edna Bonacich, "Working with the Labor Movement: A Personal Journey in Organic Public Sociology," Christopher Chase-Dunn, "Globabl Public Social Science," Neil McLauglin, Lisa Kowalchuk, and Kerry Turcotte, "Why Sociology Does Not Need to be Saved," Michael Burawoy, "Third-Wave Sociology and the End of Pure Science," Patricia Madoo Lengerman and Jill Niebrugge-Brantley, "Back to the Future: Settlement Sociology, 1885i?1/2-1930," Sean McMahon, "From the Platform: Public Sociology in the Speeches of Edward A. Ross," Chet Ballard, "The Origin and Early History of the Association for Humanist Sociology," and Robert Prus, "The Intellectual Canons of Public Sociology."


The enzymatic delineation of the mucopolysaccharidoses has revealed that certain syndromes, although phenotypically distinct, share the same enzymatic defect. Patients with the classic Hurler and Scheie syndromes or other phenotypic variations of these two disorders have a deficiency of alpha-L-iduronidase. We are reporting a patient with alpha-L-iduronidase deficiency whose phenotypic abnormalities did not resemble either the Hurler or Scheie syndrome and who may have had either the Hurler-Scheie genetic compound described by McKusick or an allelic disorder. Our patient was a 25-year-old woman whose initial presentation was due to acute paranoia and who was subsequently found to have many morphologic, neurologic, radiographic, and neuropathologic findings consistent with a mucopolysaccharide disorder. To our knowledge, complete neuropathologic findings have not been previously described in this hybrid group of patients. A distinctive feature of this patient's illness is that the underlying disorder was not clinically apparent until adulthood, but presented with sever bony abnormalities of the skull and deposition of mucopolysaccharides in the meninges.


Importance Atrial fibrillation is a potent risk factor for stroke, but whether the burden of atrial fibrillation in patients with paroxysmal atrial fibrillation independently influences the risk of thromboembolism remains controversial. Objective To determine if the burden of atrial fibrillation characterized using noninvasive, continuous ambulatory monitoring is associated with the risk of ischemic stroke or arterial thromboembolism in adults with paroxysmal atrial fibrillation. Design, Setting, and Participants This retrospective cohort study conducted from October 2011 and October 2016 at 2 large integrated health care delivery systems used an extended continuous cardiac monitoring system to identify adults who were found to have paroxysmal atrial fibrillation on 14-day continuous ambulatory electrocardiographic monitoring. Exposures The burden of atrial fibrillation was defined as the percentage of analyzable wear time in atrial fibrillation or flutter during the up to 14-day monitoring period. Main Outcomes and Measures Ischemic stroke and other arterial thromboembolic events occurring while patients were not taking anticoagulation were identified through November 2016 using electronic medical records and were validated by manual review. We evaluated the association of the burden of atrial fibrillation with thromboembolism while not taking anticoagulation after adjusting for the Anticoagulation and Risk Factors in Atrial Fibrillation (ATRIA) or CHA2DS2-VASc stroke risk scores. Results Among 1965 adults with paroxysmal atrial fibrillation, the mean (SD) age was 69 (11.8) years, 880 (45%) were women, 496 (25%) were persons of color, the median ATRIA stroke risk score was 4 (interquartile range [IQR], 2-7), and the median CHA2DS2-VASc score was 3 (IQR, 1-4). The median burden of atrial fibrillation was 4.4% (IQR ,1.1%-17.23%). Patients with a higher burden of atrial fibrillation were less likely to be women or of Hispanic ethnicity, but had more prior cardioversion attempts compared with those who had a lower burden. After adjusting for either ATRIA or CHA2DS2-VASc stroke risk scores, the highest tertile of atrial fibrillation burden (≥11.4%) was associated with a more than 3-fold higher adjusted rate of thromboembolism while not taking anticoagulants (adjusted hazard ratios, 3.13 [95% CI, 1.50-6.56] and 3.16 [95% CI, 1.51-6.62], respectively) compared with the combined lower 2 tertiles of atrial fibrillation burden. Results were consistent across demographic and clinical subgroups. Conclusions and Relevance A greater burden of atrial fibrillation is associated with a higher risk of ischemic stroke independent of known stroke risk factors in adults with paroxysmal atrial fibrillation.


General practice pp 1038, 1043, 1048, 1053

Set against what we already know about nurses working alongside general practitioners, 1 the four trials of nursing in primary care in this week's BMJ give us a better idea of what the future of primary care might look like.2–5 Most people seeking a rapid response to their symptoms or concerns accept practice nurses or nurse practitioners in front line roles, although a substantial minority continue to prefer a doctor's opinion after experiencing nursing attention.2

On average, nurses have longer consultations, arrange more investigations and follow up, provide more information, and give more satisfaction than general practitioners. Primary care nurses are not cheaper than general practitioners, 3 but they are as safe in managing self limiting illnesses.

Nurses undertaking triage assessments by telephone with computer decision support may reduce the number of visits to general practitioners, hospital use, and costs.5 The trials do not tell us anything about the medicalisation of …


In this paper, we propose a new distributed event-trigger consensus protocol for linear multiagent systems with external disturbances. Two consensus problems are considered: one is a leader-follower case and the other is a nonleader case. Different from the existing results, our proposed scheme enables each agent to decide when to transmit its state signals to its neighbors such that continuous communication between neighboring agents is avoided. Clearly, this can largely decrease the communication burden of the whole communication network. Besides, since the control signal for each agent is discontinuous because of the event-triggering mechanism, the existence of a solution for the closed-loop system in the classical sense may not be guaranteed. To solve this problem, we employ a nonsmooth analysis technique including differential inclusion and Filippov solution. Through nonsmooth Lyapunov analysis, it is shown that uniformly bounded consensus results are derived and the bound of the consensus error is adjustable by choosing suitable design parameters.


The effects of different Sn or Se content on the corrosion behavior of lead-Sn or Pb-Sn_Se alloy in sulfuric acid solutions were investigated by metallurgical microscope, SEM, and weight loss tests. It was found that the addition Sn acts as grain coarser, but Se acts as grain refiner and Pb-Sn-Se alloys feature smaller grains. SEM for the corrosion layer indicated that the intergranular corrosion occurs on the surface of alloys with high Sn content (>1.wt%), but the general corrosion occurs on the surface of Pb-Sn alloys with low Sn content (<1.wt%) and all Pb-Sn-Se alloys. And The structure of corrosion layer and the eroded degree are relative to the height of the strap alloys above the plate. And the 1cm strap alloy above the plate was cathodically protected and almost no corrosion problems appeared. The corrosion rate of alloys containing Se is lower than Pb-Sn binary alloys. And the higher of Se content, the lower of corrosion rate. The results demonstrated that Pb-Sn-Se alloys show the potential for application as the negative strap in VRLA batteries.


(91)Zr (I = 5/2) solid-state NMR (SSNMR) spectra of the zirconocene compounds, Cp(2)ZrCl(2), Cp*(2)ZrCl(2) (1), Cp(2)ZrBr(2) (2), (Me(3)SiC(5)H(4))(2)ZrBr(2) (3), O(Me(2)SiC(5)H(4))(2)ZrBr(2) (4), (1,3-C(5)H(3))(SiMe(2)OSiMe(2))(2)(1,3-C(5)H(3))ZrBr(2) (5), Ind(2)ZrCl(2) (6), Cp(2)ZrMeCl (7), Cp(2)ZrMe(2) (8), and [Cp(2)ZrMe][MeB(C(6)F(5))(3)] (9) have been acquired. Static (91)Zr SSNMR spectra have been acquired for all complexes at magnetic fields of 9.4 and 21.1 T. Cp(2)ZrCl(2) and complexes 1 to 5 possess relatively narrow central transition powder patterns which allows for magic-angle spinning (MAS) (91)Zr solid-state NMR spectra to be acquired at a moderate field strength of 9.4 T. Complexes 6 to 9 possess ultrawideline central transition SSNMR spectra necessitating piece-wise acquisition techniques. From the static and MAS (91)Zr SSNMR spectra, it is possible to measure (91)Zr electric field gradient (EFG) and chemical shift (CS) tensor parameters, as well as the Euler angles which describe their relative orientation. Basis sets and methods for the accurate quantum chemical calculation of (91)Zr EFG and CS tensors have been identified. The origin of the observed EFG and CS tensor parameters are further investigated by visualization of the EFG and CS tensor orientations within the molecular frames. Correlations between the observed and calculated NMR tensor parameters and molecular symmetry and structure are made. All of these observations suggest that (91)Zr SSNMR spectroscopy can be utilized to probe the molecular structure of a variety of homogeneous and heterogeneous olefin polymerization catalysts.


Manuscript type: Research paper Research aims: This study aims to compare the performance of meanvariance and single-index models in creating the optimal portfolio. Design/Methodology/Approach: This study creates optimal portfolios using the mean-variance and single-index models with daily stock return data of 38 companies listed on the LQ45 index, IDX Composite index and Bank Indonesia's 7-Day (Reverse) Repo Rate from January 1, 2012 to December 31, 2019. The two models are compared using the Sharpe ratio. Research findings: The result shows that the single-index model dominates the Indonesian Stock Exchange (IDX), more so than the meanvariance model. BBCA has the highest proportion for both mean-variance and single-index portfolios. Theoretical contribution/Originality: This study compares two popular portfolio models in the Indonesian stock market. Practitioner/Policy implication: This study helps investors to create optimal portfolios using a model that is more suited to the IDX. Research limitation/Implication: This study creates the optimal portfolio without differentiating risk preferences (i.e., risk averse, risk moderate and risk taker). In addition, this research only uses daily return data and does not compare it with weekly and monthly data.


In the present work, the density, ρ, refractive index, nD, and dynamic viscosity, η, for four binary solutions containing ionic liquids [Cnmim]X (Cnmim = 1-alkyl-3-methylimidazolium; n = 6, 8; X = Cl, Br) and ethylene glycol (EG) were investigated at temperatures of 288.15–333.15 K and at ambient pressure. In addition, the excess molar volume, VmE, was calculated and correlated using the Redlich-Kister polynomial equation. The temperature effect on the density of the binary systems studied was expressed by a linear two-parameter equation. The variation in density, refractive index, and viscosity with the composition was described by polynomial equations. The influence of carbon chain-length and the anion of the ionic liquids, and the influence of the temperature on the physicochemical properties of the binary systems can be explained by comparison of the experimental results.


Despite the widely recognised importance of lifelong learning, there are mixed results on its causal economic impact. The purpose of this paper is to investigate how economic conditions change the composition of participants in non-formal lifelong learning and whether the business cycle is relevant for the impact of non-formal lifelong learning on employability.,Non-linear decomposition techniques and matching estimators based on multidimensional covariates are applied to the Spanish sample of the European Adult Education Survey. The analysis controls for background, human capital and personal traits and draws a distinction between unemployed and employed workers.,The results show major differences in the volume and composition of participants before and during the Great Recession. In addition, there is a business cycle dependence of the effectiveness of non-formal lifelong learning that varies with the individual labour market situation. While lifelong learning proves more effective for the unemployed in recessions, for the employed the impact is greater in expansions.,The paper provides new evidence on the scant results of the moderating effect of the business cycle on the impact of lifelong learning. The analysis is not restricted to training implemented within public programmes, but rather extends to any kind of non-formal lifelong learning undertaken by unemployed and employed workers. In this sense, the analysis provides information about the optimal moment to invest in lifelong learning from both the policymaker and individual as well as firm perspective.


Many claim that international labor standards are a remedy to address poor working conditions and low wages in developing countries. Others have argued that efforts to impose a '' living wage" or improve working conditions in developing countries can lead to higher labor costs, which could in turn hurt the very workers these movements seek to protect by relegating these workers to even worse jobs or no jobs at all. Many labor rights activists have turned to public relations campaigns and boycotts that target multinational companies in order to pressure them to improve the conditions of their workers. In the 1990s, Indonesia—home to dozens of Nike, Reebok, and Adidas subcontractors—was a primary target for these activists. At the same time, the Indonesian government—prompted by the U.S. government—greatly increased its minimum wage. These two different interventions led to a doubling of wages for unskilled workers in Indonesia. While the minimum wage increases did lead to employment losses, this article reports on a study that shows that employment remained steady in textiles and apparel, indicating that anti-sweatshop activism in Indonesia was a "win-win" situation.


Evolutionary algorithms have proven to be robust tools in data processing for modeling dynamic, non-linear and complex processes due to their flexible mathematical structure to yield optimal results even with imprecise, ambiguity and noise at its input. The study is a soft-computing heuristic-based, hybrid approach that aims to provide computational intelligence via solving optimization task. The hybrid will become a veritable algorithm for computing dynamic and discrete states for multipoint search in CSPs tasks with application areas to include image and video analysis, network design and construction, communication, simulation, multiprocessor load balancing, OS task scheduling/resource allocation, parallel processing, power generation, medicine, economics, security/military, fault diagnosis and recovery, forecasting and predictions, data mining, signal processing, cloud and clustering computing to mention a few. The hybrid algorithm: (a) via particle swarm optimization, places a number of simple agents or particles in space so that each can evaluate the objective, fitness function. Thus, each particle determines its movement around the space by combining some aspects of its own current and best locations with those of other members of the swarm, along with some random perturbation. The next iteration occurs after all the particles have moved to their new locations with updated velocities and the entire swarm will tend to move closer to optimal, and then (b) via genetic algorithm (GA), it defines the swarm of particle via three (3) operators (selection, crossover and mutation) to result in unique values. Crossover and mutation factors will prevent the particle best (pbest) from entrapment at local minima and study contributes in its design of a hybrid PSOGA model for implementation of an N-Queen classical CSP task to provide computational intelligence.


This thesis focuses on the perceptions of the Turkish Republican elites towards Arabs between 1930 and 1940. Although relations with the Arab world have attracted the interest of scholars starting with the 1980s, the literature is quite weak regarding the early Republican period. In an attempt to fill this gap, this thesis looks at the Ulus, semi-official newspaper of the ruling Republican People's Party at the time, to reveal both diplomatic and cultural relations between Turks and Arabs. There are three main findings of the thesis. First, as reflected by the Ulus, Turkey did not neglect the diplomatic relations as it is mostly argued. Second, peaceful relations in the diplomatic arena did not translate into cultural or identity level feelings towards the Arabs. Arabic identity was instrumentalized in order to reinforce the modern, secular and Western Turkish identity that the Republican elites wanted to create. Third, Republican elites made use of domestic affairs, successes and failures, of the Arab countries in advantage of the Kemalist regime of Turkey. Failures of the Arab countries suggested the relative success of the Kemalist regime, which was modern, secular and Western oriented. In case of successes of the Arab countries, Turkey was shown as the role model for these Arab countries. This thesis is important in the sense that it brings more nuanced analysis of the relations at the time and reveals the perceptions of the Republican elites towards Arabs through the stereotypes they used.


Abstract : Some of the most important anopheline vectors of malaria in the neotropical faunal region are members of the subgenus Nyssorhynchus. In the Argyritarsis Section of Anophles (Nyssorhynchus) there are 18 available specific names. This revision recognizes 8 of these nominal taxa as valid biological species, based on the study on 7,659 specimens. Species are described and illustrated, and their systematics, bionomics, medical importance and distribution discussed. Keys to sections of the subgenus Nyssorhynchus and to groups and species of the Argyritarsis Section are included. The Argyritarsis Section is divided into the Argyritarsis and Albitarsis Groups. The Argyritarsis Group is separated into 4 distinct subgroups: the Argyritarsis Subgroup comprises of 2 species, and the monotypic Darlingi, Lanei, and Pictipennis Subgroups. The Albitarsis Group is separated into 2 distinct subgroups, the Albitarsis Subgroup composed of 2 species, albitarsis and marajoara, and the monotypic Braziliensis Subgroup. Both subgroups exhibit a number of apomorphic characters, but braziliensis appears to possess fewer and is symplesiomorphic for several characters of the Argyritarsis Group. Anopheles marajoara and sawyeri are resurrected from synonymy with albitarsis and argyritarsis respectively, to specific rank. Anopheles domesticus is transfered from a subspecies of albitarsis to synonmy with marajoara. Anopheles allopha is treated as a nomen dubium. Keywords: Reprints; Taxonomy; Mosquitoes; Disease vectors.


We first investigate spectral properties of the Neumann–Poincaré (NP) operator for the Lamé system of elasto-statics. We show that the elasto-static NP operator can be symmetrized in the same way as that for the Laplace operator. We then show that even if elasto-static NP operator is not compact even on smooth domains, it is polynomially compact and its spectrum on two-dimensional smooth domains consists of eigenvalues that accumulate to two different points determined by the Lamé constants. We then derive explicitly eigenvalues and eigenfunctions on discs and ellipses. Using these resonances occurring at eigenvalues is considered. We also show on ellipses that cloaking by anomalous localized resonance takes place at accumulation points of eigenvalues.


This paper presents the results of a simple information content study between the Advanced Microwave Sounding Unit/Microwave Humidity Sounder (AMSU/MHS) and the Advanced Technology Microwave Sounder (ATMS). When a single field of view is considered for both instruments, the AMSU/MHS generally outperforms the ATMS for temperature and moisture information due to its better noise performance. However, when footprint matching is employed to use oversampled ATMS observations, the ATMS consistently shows improvement in temperature and moisture information over the AMSU/MHS.


This paper develops a broad conceptualization of what could be called a political ecology of difference. The paper builds on trends in political ecology, pol- itics of place, and cultural analyses of modern conceptions of nature, rights and the individual to outline an integrated framework for thinking about difference from the perspective of economic, ecological, and cultural distributions conflicts. The argument is illustrated with a case study from the Pacific rainforest region of Colombia, particularly the political ecology developed by the region's social move- ment of black communities; the paper concludes with implications of the frame- work for thinking about the cultural politics of dominant institutions and their potential transformation along the lines of a politics of difference.


: The demand of high gain and wideband compact antenna designs are gaining importance to fulfil the need of 5G communication systems. This has opened the doors for the researchers to explore 5G antennas incorporating metamaterials as they can meet the requirement of high gain and wideband compact antennas. Overview of various metamaterial-based antenna designs including Electromagnetic Band Gap (EBG), artificial Magnetic Conductor (AMC), Frequency Selective Surface (FSS) and Partially Reflective Surface (PRS) are discussed in the paper. The paper primarily focuses on bibliometric survey of various types of 5G metamaterial antennas in terms of number of documents published, leading universities actively involved in the related research, distribution of documents in different areas, major contribution of authors and leading journal publishing the documents. Scopus database from 1 st September 2014 till date is used to carry out this bibliometric survey. The statistical data presented in this paper can provide the prerequisite for the researchers to work in this area.


The oil palm industry has many positive benefits, particularly as a key source of livelihoods for rural dwellers, but it also has negative impacts on the society and environment. For instance, poorly planned oil palm cultivation can increase the rate of natural forest loss, and contribute to unfair labour conditions on plantations and processing mills. It is therefore important for sustainable oil palm project initiators to understand the environmental and social effects of the industry, to be able to design appropriate interventions. Using a survey method, questionnaires were administered to different stakeholders in selected oil palm plantations and processing mills to generate both qualitative and quantitative data for assessing the social and environmental impacts of the industry. The environmental and social impact assessment was done within the framework and guidelines of the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO). The assessment also applied a holistic approach by diagnosing the direct, indirect and sector-wide cumulative impacts. It was found that, in most cases, the social and environmental indicators assessed from the respondents do not comply with the guidelines of national legislation and the Ghana interpretation of the RSPO principles. It is prudent for sustainable oil palm projects to provide opportunities for plantation and mills owners and workers to acquire, and share knowledge on the effects of their activities on the society and environment. Project interventions must be formulated to mitigate negative impacts of the activities of production and processing to ensure sustainability of the oil palm industry.

 Key words: Environmental, oil palm, mitigation measures, sustainable palm oil, plantations.


It is currently established that one of the paramount concerns in the built environment is the energy efficiency of new and existing UK dwellings, respective to the unfavourable impacts posed to climate change. The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy in the United Kingdom have reported that the UK's highest recording temperatures have transpired in the years since 2002. With over 90% of England homes currently in use of high carbon systems for space heating and domestic hot water. Contributing to increased atmospheric carbon emissions in the dependency on fossil fuel burning; alluding to human-produced atmospheric temperature increase. To help tackle these issues in the residential sector, the capacity of zero-energy technologies has been introduced. Zero-energy implementation has potential to revolutionise the power system, with on-site power generation at the forefront of this. This paper will explore the influence of zero-energy implementation on two UK residential dwellings of disparate locations, using Integrated Environmental Solutions Virtual Environment (IESVE) by focusing on renewable on-site micro-generation systems. The ASHRAE climate zones of Edinburgh and London Gatwick has been selected to examine the performance of the building over varied regional climates of disparate locations. The selected design variables were finally implemented in combination for building simulation in IESVE and compared with a basic model dwelling. The processed simulation results showed a reduction in the buildings energy consumption of 43.4538MWh (71%) for Edinburgh and 33.9929MWh (64%) for London respective to the baseline model. The greatest savings in mitigation of UK climate change can be evaluated in relation to reduction of carbon emissions, which were 7880kgCO2 (46%) and 5423kgCO2 (36%) respectively.


In this paper, we consider interval probability as a unifying concept for uncertainty and Choquet integrals with resect to a capacity functional. By using interval probability, we will define an interval-valued capacity functional and Choquet integral with respect to an interval-valued capacity functional. Furthermore, we investigate Choquet weak convergence of interval-valued capacity functionals of random sets.


This study aimed at determining the prevalence of ovarian torsion in postmenopausal women in Nigeria. For this purpose, a histopathology data pool was maintained for 30 years among the Igbos, a large ethnic group in Nigeria from where postmenopausal women diagnosed with ovarian torsion were extracted for classification. The data concerned 69 cases. All were presented with acute abdominal pain. None was malignant. The patients were aged between 47 and 65 years (mean 55.5 years); their parity ranged from 1 to 8 (average 5); the size of the specimens ranged from 6 to 20 cm (average 9.5 cm); and the right/left involvement was in the ratio of 3:2. It was concluded that there are well-acknowledged risk factors for ovarian torsion even in postmenopausal women presenting with acute abdominal pain. Consequently, even in a developing country, there is need for clinical awareness of this important entity.

 Key words: Ovary, torsion, menopause, Nigeria.


A Discrete Artificial Bee Colony (DABC) is presented for joint symbol detection at the receiver in a multidevice Space-Time Block Code (STBC) Mutli-Input Multi-Output (MIMO) communication system. Exhaustive search (maximum likelihood detection) for finding an optimal detection has a computational complexity that increases exponentially with the number of mobile devices, transmit antennas per mobile device, and the number of bits per symbol. ABC is a new population-based, swarm-based Evolutionary Algorithms (EA) presented for multivariable numerical functions and has shown good performance compared to other mainstream EAs for problems in continuous domain. This algorithm simulates the intelligent foraging behavior of honeybee swarms. An enhanced discrete version of the ABC algorithmis presented and applied to the joint symbol detection problem to find a nearly optimal solution in real time. The results of multiple independent simulation runs indicate the effectiveness of DABC with other well-known algorithms previously proposed for joint symbol detection such as the near-optimal sphere decoding, minimum mean square error, zero forcing, and semidefinite relaxation, along with other EAs such as genetic algorithm, estimation of distributions algorithm, and the more novel biogeography-based optimization algorithm.


An understanding of the factors that control the time trends of persistent organic pollutants (POPs) in the environment is required to evaluate the effectiveness of emission reductions and to predict future exposure. Using a regional contaminant fate model, CoZMo-POP 2, and a generic bell-shaped emission profile, we simulated time trends of hypothetical chemicals with a range of POP-like partitioning and degradation properties in different compartments of a generic warm temperate environment, with the objective of identifying the processes that may prevent the reversibility of environmental contamination with POPs after the end of primary emissions. Evaporation from soil and water can prevent complete reversibility of POP contamination of the atmosphere after the end of emissions. However, under the selected conditions, only for organic chemicals within a narrow range of volatility, that is, a logarithm of the octanol air equilibrium partition coefficient between 7 and 8, and with atmospheric degradation half-lives in excess of a few month can evaporation from environmental reservoirs sustain atmospheric levels that are within an order of magnitude of those resulting from primary emissions. HCB and α-HCH fulfill these criteria, which may explain, why their atmospheric concentrations have remained relatively high decades after their main primary emissions have been largely eliminated. Soil-to-water transfer is found responsible for the lack of reversibility of POP contamination of the aqueous environment after the end of emissions, whereas reversal of water-sediment exchange, although possible, is unlikely to contribute significantly. Differences in the reversibility of contamination in air and water suggests the possibility of changes in the relative importance of various exposure pathways after the end of primary emissions, namely an increase in the importance of the aquatic food chain relative to the agricultural one, especially if the former has a benthic component. Since simulated time trends were strongly dependent on degradation half-lives, partitioning properties and selected environmental input parameters, it should not be surprising, that different field studies often generate highly divergent time trends.


In a data sample of approximately 1.3 fb(-1) collected with the D0 detector between 2002 and 2006, the orbitally excited charm state D-s1(+/-)(2536) has been observed with a measured mass of 2535.7 +/- 0.6(stat) +/- 0.5(syst) MeV/c(2) via the decay mode B-s(0) -> D-s1(-)(2536)mu(+)nu X-mu. A first measurement is made of the branching ratio product Br((b) over bar -> D-s1(-)(2536)mu(+)nu X-mu) x Br(D-s1(-) -> D*K--(S)0). Assuming that D-s1(-)(2536) production in semileptonic decay is entirely from B-s(0), an extraction of the semileptonic branching ratio Br(B-s(0) -> D-s1(-)(2536)mu(+)nu X-mu) is made.


In the framework of the POSEIDON Project, a network of open sea oceanographic buoys equipped with meteorological and oceanographic sensors has been operational in the Aegean Sea since 1998. The analysis of upper-ocean physical data (currents at 3m, temperature and salinity at 3-40m depths) collected during the last 2 years from the stations of the North Aegean basin indicates a strong temporal variability of flow field and hydrological characteristics in both synoptic and seasonal time scales. The northern part of the basin is mainly influenced by the Black Sea Water outflow and the mesoscale variability of the corresponding thermohaline fronts, while the southern stations are influenced by the general circulation of the Aegean Sea with strong modulations caused by the seasonally varying atmospheric forcing.