Spatial confinement is prevalent in sedimentary rocks and can lead to changes in the chemical behavior at mineral–water interfaces. This includes both deviations in the physico-chemical properties of confined water, when compared to the bulk liquid phase, and subsequent alterations in adsorption chemistry of ions inside nano-scale mineral pores. Here we document contrasting adsorption mechanisms and differences in local coordination environments of copper (Cu2+), depending on whether the ion is adsorbed on non-porous silica surfaces, versus inside 8 nm and 4 nm pores in silica. X-ray absorption spectroscopy, flow micro-calorimetry, and batch adsorption methods together with molecular modeling are used to thoroughly describe the dependence of these adsorption processes on the pore size. We show that confinement within silica pores promotes Cu–Cu interactions and increases the formation of Cu–Cu polynuclear surface complexes. We also demonstrate that the mechanism of Cu2+ adsorption on non-porous versus porous silica is vastly different. The adsorption of Cu2+ on non-porous silica is an endothermic process, whereby Cu2+ undergoes dehydration prior to surface complexation. In contrast, adsorption within nano-scale pores is preceded by only partial dehydration, and significant formation of Cu–Cu polynuclear complexes, which leads to an overall exothermic signal. Interfacial confinement leads to dramatic changes in the adsorption mechanism and speciation, which in turn controls the fate and transport of chemical species in natural environments.


With increasing demand for modern technology in the communication systems, antenna arrays have attracted much interest in the areas of radio broadcasting, space communication, weather forecasting, radar and imaging. Antenna array with controlled low or ultralow sidelobes is of particular importance and it has been an on-going challenge for the antenna design engineers in the past few decades, as it requires a high dynamic range of excitations. Another desired feature provided by an antenna array is the ability to perform electronic beam steering and adaptive interference suppression.

These benefits can be achieved with the use of complicated feed network and expensive phase shifters and it can only found in the specialised military systems. Therefore this has motivated the research into the development of a simple and low cost system for the commercial applications.

The idea of time modulation was proposed to produce an antenna pattern with controlled low or ultralow sidelobe level, as well as achieving real time electronic beam scanning without the use of phase shifter. However, a fundamental problem of this concept is the generation of undesired harmonics or sidebands as they waste power.

This dissertation mainly focuses on the two important characteristics - pattern synthesis and multiple beams scanning of the time modulated antenna array and evaluates its potential application in the communication system.

The first main chapter of this research proposes two novel approaches to successfully suppress the sideband radiation and hence improve radiation efficiency. The following part of the study introduces a way of combining the electronic beam scanning with the controlled low or ultralow sidelobes and applies the null steering technique in the time modulated linear array. The final but most important attribute of this thesis is to propose the concept of time redundancy and evaluate the potential feasibility of employing smart antenna technology into the time modulated antenna array for a two-channel communication system, where individual adaptive beamforming can be performed to extract desired signal while suppressing interference from separate sources independently.


Purified human peripheral blood lymphocytes have been shown to develop acid hydrolase-rich granules between 24 and 48 hours after stimulation by phytohemagglutinin, prior to mitosis. This increase has been measured biochemically as a net increase in total activity of the lysosomal enzymes: acid β-glycerophosphatase, acid phenolpthalein phosphatase, and aryl sulfatase. The subcellular localization of acid hydrolytic enzyme activities has been investigated, and they have been shown to be concentrated in a large granule fraction of sucrose homogenates and to behave as if they were membrane-bounded, in that their activity could be released by lysolecithin. It has also been demonstrated by histochemical technics that stimulation of lymphocytes by antigen (PPD) and by streptolysin S, as well as by phytohemagglutinin, produced an increase in acid phosphatase activity. Chloroquine, an inhibitor of the response to phytohemagglutinin, has also been shown to inhibit the development of acid phosphatase activity. These results are interpreted to suggest that both specific and nonspecific stimulants of lymphocytes induce lysosome-like structures in premitotic cells.


The eigenvalues of an elastic body of revolution, rotating about its axis of symmetry, form a 'spectral mesh'. The nodes of the mesh in the plane 'frequency' versus 'gyroscopic parameter' correspond to the double eigenfrequencies. With the use of the perturbation theory of multiple eigenvalues, deformation of the spectral mesh caused by dissipative and nonconservative perturbations, originating from the frictional contact, is analytically described. The key role of indefinite damping and non-conservative positional forces in the development of the subcritical flutter instability is clarified. A clear mathematical description is given for the mechanism of excitation of particular modes of rotating structures in frictional contact, such as squealing disc brakes and singing wine glasses.


Gliomatosis peritonei (GP) is a rare condition that occurs almost exclusively in the setting of ovarian immature teratoma. It is characterisized by the occurrence of nodules of mature glial tissues in the peritoneum, omentum and bowel wall. The glial tissue in such cases is usually low grade although there have been cases of malignant evolution described. In general, the prognosis for GP is good. It depends chiefly on the degree of maturity of the implants. In mature GP, usually no additional chemotherapy is necessary. In immature GP, chemotherapy can induce maturation of the implants. We present a case of immature ovarian teratoma associated with low grade GP.


We utilized swept confocally aligned planar excitation (SCAPE) microscopy to measure odor-driven activity simultaneously in many (>10,000) olfactory sensory neurons distributed over large areas of intact mouse olfactory epithelium. This approach allowed us to investigate the responses to mixtures or blends of odors and their components, a more realistic stimulus than monomolecular odors. In up to 38% of responding cells, responses to a mixture of odors were different - absent, smaller or larger - than what would be expected from the sum of the individual components. Further investigation revealed instances of both antagonism and allosteric enhancement in the primary olfactory sensory neurons. All 10 of the odor compounds tested were found to act as both agonists and antagonists at different receptors. We present a hypothetical scheme for how modulation at the peripheral receptors increases the capability of the olfactory system to recognize patterns of complex odor mixtures. The widespread modulation of primary sensory receptors argues against a simple combinatorial code and should motivate a search for alternative coding strategies.


Large oil storage tank (oil tank for short) shells are vulnerable to buckling damage when suffering the seismic loads. Numerical simulation analysis was taken to estimate the effects of the weld form, number and their location to axial buckling stress of cylindrical shells, considering not only the characteristic of welding processes, but also the effects probably caused by magnitude of residual stress and deformation on elephant foot buckling to oil tanks. It is revealed that the existence of circumferential welds had obvious negative effect on axial buckling critical stress compared with the structure without welds, while the effects of weld number and location were not as much; longitudinal welds had no visible effect on axial buckling critical stress; controlling the residual stress and deformation range caused by circumferential welds should be the key point during the tanks welding process.


: Recently a number of variously motivated epistemologists have argued that knowledge is closely tied to practical matters. On the one hand, radical pragmatic encroachment is the view that facts about whether an agent has knowledge depend on practical factors and this is coupled to the view that there is an important connection between knowledge and action. On the other hand, one can argue for the less radical thesis only that there is an important connection between knowledge and practical reasoning. So, defenders of both of these views endorse the view that knowledge is the norm of practical reasoning. This thesis has recently come under heavy fire and a number of weaker proposals have been defended. In this paper counter-examples to the knowledge norm of reasoning will be presented and it will be argued that this view – and a number of related but weaker views – cannot be sustained in the face of these counter-examples. The paper concludes with a novel proposal concerning the norm of practical reasoning that is immune to the counter-examples introduced here.


This paper analyzes social choice with respect to the demarcation of land boundaries, distinguishing between physical and legal demarcation. In contrast with the influential "land administration" literature and the World Bank's policy guidelines, the analysis supports voluntary—instead of mandatory—demarcation as well as non-integrated services for land administration. Consistent with these theoretical arguments, the paper empirically verifies that demarcation conflicts play a lesser role in title-, land- and property-related litigation, which seems to increase in all these areas after physical demarcation is made mandatory. Relying on World Bank data, it also observes that linking and merging cadastres and land registries does not correlate with lower transaction costs.


A theoretical investigation of quantum-transport phenomena in mesoscopic systems is presented. In particular, a generalization to "open systems" of the well-known Semiconductor Bloch equations is proposed. Compared to the conventional Bloch theory, the presence of spatial boundary conditions manifest itself through self-energy corrections and additional source terms in the kinetic equations, which are solved by means of a generalized Monte Carlo simulation.The proposed numerical approach is applied to the study of the scattering-induced suppression of Bloch oscillations in semiconductor superlattices as well as to the analysis of quantum-transport phenomena in double-barrier structures.


We study free vibrations of a crystal plate of AT-cut quartz carrying a thin mass layer operating as a quartz crystal microbalance for mass sensing. The mass layer is imperfectly bonded to the crystal plate with its interface described by the so-called shear-slip model that allows a discontinuity of the interface displacement. The effect of mass layer in-plane shear stiffness is also considered. The equations of anisotropic elasticity are used for the crystal plate with the omission of the small elastic constant c56. The mass layer is governed by the plane-stress equations of elasticity. An analytical solution is obtained using Fourier series, from which the resonant frequencies and vibration mode shapes are calculated. The effects of the mass layer in-plane shear stiffness, imperfect interface bonding on resonant frequencies and energy trapping are examined.


This paper presents a novel scale-down hybrid-excited dual permanent magnet (PM) generator for direct-drive wind power application. Two sets of consequent-pole PMs are used in the proposed design, with one on the outer stator and the other on the middle rotor. PMs are separated by iron poles one by one, to form the magnet-iron sequences, which can provide PM excitation and flux modulating simultaneously. Since both the outer stator and middle rotor have flux modulating effect, bi-directional flux modulating can be achieved. Besides the fundamental field components, some other major field harmonics are also synchronous due to the bi-directional flux modulating effect, and these harmonics can contribute to the electromagnetic generation. Therefore, the proposed machine can achieve high torque density and suitable for direct-drive applications. Field windings are employed on the outer stator, so the air-gap field can be easily regulated by controlling the dc current. Hence, the proposed generator can maintain constant output voltage when the wind speed varies. Finite-element method coupled with genetic algorithm is used to optimize a scale-down design of the proposed generator, and its electromagnetic performances are studied in detail.


Intervehicle communication is regarded as one of the major applications of mobile ad hoc networks (MANETs). Compared to MANETs, these so-called vehicular ad hoc networks (VANETs) have special requirements in terms of node mobility and position-dependent applications, which are well met by geographic routing protocols. Functional research on geographic routing has already reached a considerable level, whereas security aspects have been vastly neglected so far. Since position dissemination is crucial for geographic routing, forged position information has severe impact regarding both performance and security. In this work, we first analyze the problems that may arise from falsified position data. Then, in order to lessen these problems, we propose detection mechanisms that are capable of recognizing nodes cheating about their location in position beacons. In contrast to other position verification approaches, our solution does not rely on special hardware or dedicated infrastructure. Evaluation based on simulations shows that our position verification system successfully discloses nodes disseminating false positions and thereby widely prevents attacks using position cheating


We present an exact method for modelling modes of general defects with infinite cladding. It handles the pathological case of highly extended modes and establishes the fundamental mode of a conventional PCF has no cut-off.


Disclosed are methods of purifying glycopeptides that are substituted with one or more substituents each comprising one or more phosphono groups that are useful as antibacterial agents. The methods include contacting a solution of the glycopeptide derivatives with a polystyrene-containing resin, eluting the resin with an aqueous solution, and isolating the purified glycopeptide derivative.


The well-established sociolinguistic literature on complimenting claims that compliments are formulaic (Manes and Wolfson 1981). The purpose of this thesis is to demonstrate that the claim is invalid, to describe an alternative approach to the study of compliments, and to draw on an extensive collection of compliments in order to show that complimenting is a diverse, interactive process. A prerequisite for such work is a means of deciding whether a given utterance is a compliment, but this issue is neglected in the literature. The conversation analytic notion of preference appeared capable of providing this criterion, but research revealed that it was too ill-defined to serve such a purpose. The thesis was, therefore, obliged to clarify the notion of preference before applying it to a study of compliments. The necessary clarification was found in the enthnomethodological roots of conversation analysis, and the thesis provides a clear and consistent means of determining whether utterances are preferred to dispreferred. The criteria used in the determination of preference are applied, in the final chapter, to the study of compliments. The results of the study contrast markedly with those of the sociolinguistic researchers, and they provide significant grounds for rejecting the claim that compliments are formulaic.


Summary Increasing applications of mobile communication services makes the challenges in location estimation as a fundamental problem in many applications. There are error sources such as multipath fading, Non Line of Sight (NLoS) propagation and multi-user interferences that deteriorate the accuracy of location estimation. To mitigate this errors two approach is feasible, statistical methods and geometric optimization algorithms. In this paper we focus on NLoS error and employ the time of arrival (ToA) for range measurement. A new location estimation is proposed based on geometric optimization approach that adopts the interior point method (IPM) for better location estimation, which is a non linear constrained optimization method. This method has a salient feature that can solve optimization problems including more inequality constraints than equality constraints. The estimation can be network or terminal based and doesn't discriminate between LoS and NLoS base stations. The proposed algorithm requires ToA measurements only from three BSs and doesn't require any priori probabilistic information. Simulations were conducted to evaluate the performance of the algorithm for different NLoS error distributions, and the results show significant improvement than previous works such as range scaling (RSA) and density clustering (DCA) algorithms and also satisfies the location accuracy demand of FCC E-911 specification.


Current research on networked multimedia applications such as distributed interactive simulations concentrates on transport issues like multicast routing and presentation and session management, including session orchestration and quality-of-service support in media delivery. Session orchestration includes mechanisms to coordinate fair and exclusive access to shared resources whose semantics do not allow for concurrent usage, in order to prevent conflicts and inconsistencies in the shared workspace. The authors discuss the current state of research with regard to such services, which they refer to as group coordination, and present a new approach that integrates group coordination with extended multicast services.


High fuel prices combined with legislative policies have increased biofuel production causing high food prices and establishing a link between energy and agricultural markets. This paper examines price relationships between agricultural food and energy commodities over the recent decade. A structural change analysis on weekly prices of crude oil, gasoline, ethanol, corn and wheat is conducted. The presence and the nature of structural breaks are empirically tested on single prices and on the price relationships. A cointegration analysis is conducted accounting for the presence of structural breaks. We find that commodity prices have experienced structural changes both at price levels and in the price relationships. The energy and food commodity prices exhibit long run relationships when structural breaks are considered. The break dates identified are in line with biofuel policy interventions and changes in policy regimes in the United States.


Purpose Over the past two decades, the minimum inhibitory concentrations (MICs) of ciprofloxacin have been steadily increasing for gram-negative bacteria. One major reason cited for this "MIC creep" is underdosing of ciprofloxacin due to a lack of understanding of its pharmacodynamic properties. The primary objective of this study was to evaluate the frequency of underdosing of ciprofloxacin in a tertiary acute care medical center based on a population pharmacokinetic model. Secondary objectives included evaluation of appropriateness of dosing based on renal function and approved product labeling. Methods Seventy-six patients were included in this single-center, retrospective study. Data collection included demographic, laboratory, and microbiology data along with details on antibiotic administration. Patient-specific predicted 24-hour area under the curve/MIC (AUC24/MIC) values were estimated using a population pharmacokinetic model with a goal predicted AUC24/MIC of at least 100 and a preferred target value of 250. Results Only 8% of the subjects obtained a predicted AUC24/MIC higher than 250, while 34% of the subjects achieved a predicted AUC24/MIC of 100 or less. The majority of patients (79%) received a total daily intravenous-equivalent dose of 800 mg, whereas only 8% of subjects received an initial total daily intravenous-equivalent dose of 1,200 mg, which is the recommended dose for most severe infections. Overall 26% of subjects were prescribed an appropriate initial dose for their estimated renal function based on infection type and severity. Conclusion Ciprofloxacin for acute infection treatment was frequently underdosed based on US Food and Drug Administration–approved labeling and estimated predicted AUC24/MIC at a tertiary acute care medical center.


The recently established diatom genus Shionodiscus is characterized as possessing a labiate process on the valve face and strutted processes with long internal and reduced, or no, external extensions. Many Thalassiosira species with these features were transferred to this new genus, as well as some with short internal, strutted process extensions. Examination of samples from the Argentine continental shelf and slope waters, and from the Beagle Channel, revealed the presence of a small centric diatom that formed an extensive bloom in slope waters during spring 2005 and 2006. Analysis by light and electron microscopy revealed high similarity to specimens previously referred as Thalassiosira bioculata var. raripora. This name was never effectively published; nevertheless, the name has been adopted and observations referring to it have been reported on several occasions. Here we trace the usage of the (nomenclaturally invalid) name Thalassiosira bioculata var. raripora in the literature, and formally describe the species as Shionodiscus gaarderae, based on our observations and comparison with previous reports. A morphological comparison of this and similar taxa is also provided. In addition, we offer an emended description of S. bioculatus var. bioculatus from Ostenfeld material sampled from the 'Färöer Island Naströ Fjord Plankton (16.9.1902)', held in the Hustedt collection. Finally, we propose the transfer of Thalassiosira rosulata to Shionodiscus.


Central Asia is one of the most exposed regions in the world to landslide hazard. The large variability of local geological materials, together with the difficulties in forecasting heavy precipitation locally and in quantifying the level of ground shaking, call for harmonized procedures to better quantify the hazard and the negative impact of slope failures across the Central Asian countries. As a first step towards a quantitative landslide hazard and risk assessment, a landslide susceptibility analysis at regional scale has been carried out, by benefitting of novel seismic hazard outcomes reached in the frame of Earthquake Model Central Asia (EMCA) project. By combining information coming from diverse potential factors, it is possible to detect areas where a potential for landslides exists. Initial results allow the identification of areas that are more susceptible to landslides with a level of accuracy greater than 70%. The presented method is, therefore, capable of supporting land planning activities at the regional scale in places where only scarce data are available.


Developing stable plasmonic materials featuring earth‐abundant compositions with continuous band structures, similar to those of typical metals, has received special research interest. Owing to their metal‐like behavior, monoclinic MoO2 nanostructures have been found to support stable and intense surface plasmon (SP) resonances. However, no progress has been made on their energy and spatial distributions over individual nanostructures, nor the origin of their possibly existing specific SP modes. Here, various MoO2 nanostructures are designed via polydopamine chemistry and managed to visualize multiple longitudinal and transversal SP modes supported by the monoclinic MoO2, along with intrinsic interband transitions, using scanning transmission electron microscopy coupled with ultrahigh‐resolution electron energy loss spectroscopy. The identified geometry‐dependent SP energies are tuned by either controlling the shape and thickness of MoO2 nanostructures through their well‐designed chemical synthesis, or by altering their length using a developed electron‐beam patterning technique. Theoretical calculations reveal that the strong plasmonic behavior of the monoclinic MoO2 is associated with the abundant delocalized electrons in the Mo d orbitals. This work not only provides a significant improvement in imaging and tailoring SPs of nonconventional metallic nanostructures, but also highlights the potential of MoO2 nanostructures for micro–nano optical and optoelectronic applications.


Elemental fractionation during laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS) analysis has been historically documented between refractory and volatile elements. In this work, however, we observed fractionation between light rare earth elements (LREEs) and heavy rare earth elements (HREEs) when using ablation strategies involving large spot sizes (>100 μm) and line scanning mode. In addition (1) ion yields decrease when using spot sizes above 100 μm; (2) (Eu/Eu*)raw positively correlates with carrier gas (He) flow rate, which provides control over the particle size distribution of the aerosol reaching the ICP; (3) (Eu/Eu*)raw shows a positive correlation with spot size, and (4) the changes in REE signal intensity, induced by the He flow rate change, roughly correlate with REE condensation temperatures. The REE fractionation is likely driven by the slight but significant difference in their condensation temperatures. Large particles may not be completely dissociated in the ICP and result in preferential evaporation of the less refractory LREEs and thus non-stoichiometric particle-ion conversion. This mechanism may also be responsible for Sm-Eu-Gd fractionation as Eu is less refractory than Sm and Gd. The extent of fractionation depends upon the particle size distribution of the aerosol, which in turn is influenced by the laser parameters and matrix. Ablation pits and lines defined by low aspect ratios produce a higher proportion of large particles than high aspect ratio ablation, as confirmed by measurements of particle size distribution in the laser induced aerosol. Therefore, low aspect ratio ablation introduces particles that cannot be decomposed and/or atomized by the ICP and thus results in exacerbated elemental fractionation. Accurate quantification of REE concentrations and Eu/Eu* requires reduction of large particle production during laser ablation. For the reference materials analyzed in this work, the 100 μm spot measurements of Eu/Eu* agreed with GeoRem preferred values within 3%. Our long-term analyses of Eu/Eu* in MPI-DING glass KL-2G and USGS glass BIR-1G were reproducible at 3% (2 RSD).


OBJECTIVE:The course of hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection after kidney transplantation is aggressive, with a high mortality rate from liver disease mainly in patients who were serum hepatitis B e antigen (HBeAg) or HBV DNA-positive before transplantation. Lamivudine has been shown to be a potent inhibitor of HBV replication. The aim of the study was to examine the efficacy and safety of lamivudine therapy in patients with chronic renal failure and chronic HBV infection.METHODS:The study population consisted of six potential candidates for kidney or combined kidney and liver transplantation aged 25–49 yr (four patients had already undergone a kidney transplantation and developed chronic rejection). All were serum HBeAg and/or HBV DNA-positive and had been maintained on hemodialysis for 3 months to 3 yr. The duration of HBV infection was 7 months to 14 yr. Serum alanine aminotransferase (ALT) levels ranged from 72 to 610 U/L (median, 158 U/L). Liver histological evaluation showed mild to moderate chronic hepatitis (n = 4) or liver cirrhosis (n = 2). None of the patients was infected with hepatitis C or D viruses. In four patients, treatment consisted of 10 mg of oral lamivudine per day. In the other two patients, a virological and biochemical response could be achieved only when the dose was increased to 40 mg/day.RESULTS:Lamivudine treatment was associated with 1) normalization of serum ALT levels and rapid disappearance of serum HBV DNA (by hybridization) (five patients, one of whom died from sepsis); 2) seroconversion: disappearance of HBeAg (three patients) and HBsAg (two patients); 3) minor side effects: abdominal pain and nausea (one patient); 4) clinically asymptomatic lamivudine resistance 8 months after treatment (one patient); and 5) successful combined kidney and liver transplantation with no evidence of recurrent HBV infection at 6–8 months postoperatively (two patients with cirrhosis).CONCLUSIONS:Lamivudine therapy is effective as an HBV replication inhibitor in patients with chronic renal failure and HBV infection. Prospective studies of lamivudine pharmacokinetics and dosing in renal failure are needed to be able to treat patients appropriately. Although our study is small and further follow-up is needed, our data suggest that lamivudine therapy may enable selected patients with chronic hepatitis B to undergo kidney or combined kidney and liver transplantation in patients with established cirrhosis.


Diodes incorporating a bilayer of an organic semiconductor and a wide bandgap metal oxide can show unipolar, non-volatile memory behavior after electroforming. The prolonged bias voltage stress induces defects in the metal oxide with an areal density exceeding 1017 m−2. We explain the electrical bistability by the coexistence of two thermodynamically stable phases at the interface between an organic semiconductor and metal oxide. One phase contains mainly ionized defects and has a low work function, while the other phase has mainly neutral defects and a high work function. In the diodes, domains of the phase with a low work function constitute current filaments. The phase composition and critical temperature are derived from a 2D Ising model as a function of chemical potential. The model predicts filamentary conduction exhibiting a negative differential resistance and nonvolatile memory behavior. The model is expected to be generally applicable to any bilayer system that shows unipolar resistive switching.


Despite recent progress, it has been difficult to prevent semantic hallucinations in generative Large Language Models. One common solution to this is augmenting LLMs with a retrieval system and making sure that the generated output is attributable to the retrieved information. Given this new added constraint, it is plausible to expect that the overall quality of the output will be affected, for example, in terms of fluency. Can scaling language models help? Here we examine the relationship between fluency and attribution in LLMs prompted with retrieved evidence in knowledge-heavy dialog settings. Our experiments were implemented with a set of auto-metrics that are aligned with human preferences. They were used to evaluate a large set of generations, produced under varying parameters of LLMs and supplied context. We show that larger models tend to do much better in both fluency and attribution, and that (naively) using top-k retrieval versus top-1 retrieval improves attribution but hurts fluency. We next propose a recipe that could allow smaller models to both close the gap with larger models and preserve the benefits of top-k retrieval while avoiding its drawbacks.


Within the last decade, a large number of viruses genetically related to human hepatitis viruses have been identified in different animal species, including monkeys. Numerous viruses related to human hepatitis A virus (HAV, Picornaviridae: Hepatovirus: Hepatovirus A) were detected in various mammalian species in 2015–2018, predominantly in bats and rodents, but also in shrews, seals and marsupials. Zoonotic hepatitis E virus (HEV, Hepeviridae: Orthohepevirus: Orthohepevirus A) genotypes have been found in wild boars, deer, camels, and rabbits, as well as in non human primates. In addition, viruses that are genetically close to HEV have been described in bats, ferrets, rodents, birds, and fish. Nevertheless, monkeys remain important laboratory animals in HAV and HEV research. The study of spontaneous and experimental infection in these animals is an invaluable source of information about the biology and pathogenesis of these viruses and continues to be an indispensable tool for vaccine and drug testing. The purpose of this literature review was to summarize and analyze published data on the circulation of HAV and HEV among wild and captive primates, as well as the results of experimental studies of HAV and HEV infections in monkeys.


Abstract Objective To assess the reliability and relative validity of a diet index score derived from a Short Food Survey (SFS). Design The thirty-eight-item SFS was designed to assess recent dietary intake of 4–11-year-olds to enable calculation of the Dietary Guideline Index for Children and Adolescents. Reliability was assessed based on two online administrations of the SFS, one week apart. Relative validity was assessed by comparing intakes derived from the SFS with those from the mean of three 24 h recalls. Intra-class correlations, Bland–Altman plots and estimated biases were assessed. Cohen's κ coefficients were used to determine the level of agreement between the two methods. Setting Adelaide, Australia. Subjects Sixty-three parents reported on their children's intake (mean age 7·1 (sd 2·1) years). Results The intra-class correlation for reliability ranged from 0·43 for dairy foods to 0·94 for beverages, and was 0·92 for total diet index score (all P < 0·01). The intra-class correlation for validity ranged from 0·04 for meat and alternatives to 0·41–0·44 for fruit, beverages and extra foods, and was 0·44 for the total diet index score. The SFS overestimated the mean diet index score by 16 %, and the bias was consistent across levels of compliance. The percentage agreement into tertiles of index scores was 84% between the administrations of the two SFS, but only 43 % when comparing the SFS with the mean of the recalls. Conclusions The SFS can provide a consistent estimate of overall compliance to dietary guidelines for children aged 4–11 years, but overestimated the total diet index score by 16 % across all levels of compliance.


The North American cornucopia is supposed to have removed the worry about nourishment from everyday concerns by 1800. However, close scrutiny of foodways, only possible at the grassroots level, uncovers a stratified society in which hunger remained a preoccupation. It also reveals the coherence of the organizing principles behind the workings of a local society. The belief that nature would inevitably foil human efforts led the population of the Hudson Valley to search for ways to achieve food security. Provisioning bore the mark of "an economy of expenditures," and vegetable and fruit gardens supplied culinary variety. They also fostered the circulation of foods and contributed to a barter economy in which foodstuffs served as a currency equivalent. Closely linked to collective work efforts that always ended with a shared meal, foodstuffs lubricated social relations. They constructed and integrated the neighborhood. Strangers found themselves excluded from such networks. Heavy ritual expenditures in kind and money proved necessary because the cooperative spirit between neighbors had its limits. The transformation of rural society in the nineteenth century not only failed to weaken, but probably reinforced, the most common function of meals: that of marking boundaries between insiders and outsiders, and hence that of inculcating social norms.


Varicella-zoster virus (VZV) establishes latency in sensory ganglia and causes herpes zoster upon reactivation. These investigations in a nonobese diabetic severe combined immunodeficient mouse-human neural cell model showed that VZV infected both neurons and glial cells and spread efficiently from cell to cell in vivo. Neural cell morphology and protein synthesis were preserved, in contrast to destruction of epithelial cells by VZV. Expression of VZV genes in neural cells was characterized by nuclear retention of the major viral transactivating protein and a block in synthesis of the predominant envelope glycoprotein. The attenuated VZV vaccine strain retained infectivity for neurons and glial cells in vivo. VZV gene expression in differentiated human neural cells in vivo differs from neural infection by herpes simplex virus, which is characterized by latency-associated transcripts, and from lytic VZV replication in skin. The chimeric nonobese diabetic severe combined immunodeficient mouse model may be useful for investigating other neurotropic human viruses.


The research subjects were sudents grade 3 junior and the children who live in orphanages, they are teenagers who are experiencing a decline in motivation to learn. The study aims to increase the motivation to learn by applying group counseling. Data collection techniques are observation and interviews. Intervention consists of four phases: the firSt or early Stage, phase II or phase transitions, Stage III or Stage cohesion and productivity and Stage IV or Stage of consolidation and termination which is the laSt Stage in the counseling group. After the intervention, the subject of understanding and solving the problems they are facing, with the completion of the problems they are facing, the high motivation to learn them back.


The aim of epidemiological monitoring is to describe, as realistically as possible, the magnitude, evolution and distribution of a disease or health problem aVecting a given population. In most instances this goal is not fully attainable, because of shortcomings of greater or lesser importance aVecting the completeness and validity of systems that may themselves vary, not only as between populations but also over time. In practice, a surveillance system can be deemed satisfactory, if it furnishes information of suYcient quality to contribute to timely and appropriate decision making for disease control purposes. AIDS case reporting systems have played a fundamental part in the fight against this disease. For some time, such systems were practically the only source of information in this epidemic and, after the introduction of HIV epidemiological surveillance activities, have continued to play an important part. Case reporting information has made it possible to: ascertain the number of persons developing AIDS; make indirect estimates of the number of HIV infected persons; and describe the most frequent transmission mechanisms in the respective areas, the characteristics of the AIDS aVected population, the geographical diVerences in the epidemic between countries and regions, and the changes in all these characteristics over time. Satisfactory performance of such functions depends on the reporting completeness. Places whose systems evince important shortfalls in completeness may well be operating on the basis of a distorted picture of the reality of the local epidemic, except of course in those cases where these shortfalls have been assessed and duly taken into account on interpreting the data. For time trend analysis purposes, it may be suYcient for the level of completeness to have remained stable over the time; in practice however, this is diYcult to demonstrate and such shortfalls in completeness may thus give rise to serious doubts as to the explanation given for shifts in AIDS incidence. Cross border and interregional comparisons of AIDS data provide external references of enormous practical use when it comes to evaluating the epidemic status of each place. Yet for this to be so, it is essential that completeness be similar for all places to be compared, and it is unlikely that this would occur save where completeness was high for all. Whatever the case however, most findings of note concerning AIDS incidence have usually been of a sizeable magnitude, meaning that small shortfalls aVecting the completeness of systems will not totally invalidate the conclusions reached. The completeness of any AIDS surveillance system— that is, the match between reported and real cases—may be adversely aVected for a number of reasons: x The severe HIV disease not fulfilling the AIDS case definition. x The under-diagnosis of AIDS cases attributable to a variety of causes, such as marginal populations, limitations on patient access to healthcare centres, atypical disease presentation, lack of diagnostic resources, death of patients, etc. x The reporting delay—that is, the time between the date of AIDS diagnosis and the date on which the case report is registered in the system. This lag, which leads to an underestimation of the number of cases in the most recent periods, is a common limitation on all AIDS reporting systems and specific methods have been developed to correct for it. x The underreporting—that is, the proportion of diagnosed AIDS cases that are never reported. The diVerence between underreporting and reporting delay is not always clear, as the mere fact that a case has not been reported to date can in no way exclude the possibility of its being reported subsequently. x In countries with a high number of healthcare centres attending to AIDS patients, the same case may be reported more than once by diVerent clinicians. Consequently, failure to detect and eliminate such duplicate reports will lead to the number of cases being overestimated. Detection of such duplicates may prove to be one of the greatest diYculties confronting AIDS surveillance systems. To ensure complete duplicate detection in countries having a large number of reporting hospitals and cases, coding systems endowed with a highly sensitive discriminatory capability or even recourse to altogether more robust identifiers, such as patient names, are therefore called for. Epidemiological surveillance of AIDS in the European region is conducted on the basis of a common case definition and consensus criteria. Nevertheless diVerential characteristics are in evidence in the respective reporting systems, both as between countries and even as between regions of the same country, with possible repercussions on completeness. Firstly, depending on AIDS incidence and the number of clinicians and centres delivering healthcare, organisation of the healthcare network serving AIDS patients evinces wide diVerences; and while this may logically entail diVerent organisational demands for surveillance purposes, it does not necessarily entail diVerences in completeness. In certain countries, AIDS reporting is mandatory, something that would presumably make for greater completeness, yet compliance cannot always be guaranteed. In contrast, some countries have attained high levels of completeness through the use of voluntary confidential reporting. There may well be other, more important factors, such as assumption of responsibility for disease reporting by clinicians, guarantees of the system's confidentiality, and non-discrimination of patients. In some regions, active surveillance systems are in place (with reporting agents being systematically contacted by the information gathering agency at regular intervals) and have registered reporting rates higher than those for passive reporting systems. Lastly, in certain areas, systematic case searching is undertaken using supplementary sources, such as death certificates or hospital databases, thereby enabling pockets of underreporting to be detected and completed. In the current context of the epidemic in developed countries, AIDS reporting systems continue to be necessary within an overall HIV and AIDS surveillance strategy. 3 With the appearance of highly active antiretroviral treatments, AIDS surveillance has to meet a new challenge, that of ascertaining and evaluating the impact of new treatments on each population, and detecting population groups in which this impact may be lower than expected. To achieve this goal, it is essential to ensure that AIDS surveillance systems maintain high and stable completeness levels over time, and to totally rule out any J Epidemiol Community Health 2001;55:7–8 7


In this paper we propose a new estimator for a model with one endogenous regressor and many instrumental variables. Our motivation comes from the recent literature on the poor properties of standard instrumental variables estimators when the instrumental variables are weakly correlated with the endogenous regressor. Our proposed estimator puts a random coefficients structure on the relation between the endogenous regressor and the instruments. The variance of the random coefficients is modelled as an unknown parameter. In addition to proposing a new estimator, our analysis yields new insights into the properties of the standard two-stage least squares (TSLS) and limited-information maximum likelihood (LIML) estimators in the case with many weak instruments. We show that in some interesting cases, TSLS and LIML can be approximated by maximizing the random effects likelihood subject to particular constraints. We show that statistics based on comparisons of the unconstrained estimates of these parameters to the implicit TSLS and LIML restrictions can be used to identify settings when standard large sample approximations to the distributions of TSLS and LIML are likely to perform poorly. We also show that with many weak instruments, LIML confidence intervals are likely to have under-coverage, even though its finite sample distribution is approximately centered at the true value of the parameter. In an application with real data and simulations around this data set, the proposed estimator performs markedly better than TSLS and LIML, both in terms of coverage rate and in terms of risk.


This thesis explores early 19th century Quakers from the perspective of the social history of religion. It examines the ways in which Quaker organisation adapted to arid facilitated economic change, and in which Quackerism and Quaker politics developed to reflect and represent the new economic and social requirements of this predominantly bourgeois and business community.

Chapter II sets out the most significant features of the 18th century background: the process of Quaker consolidation, economic and political activity, the shift to evangelicalism.

Chapter III explores the London Quaker evangelical elite around William Allen, Elizabeth Fry, Joseph John Gurney: their interconnections with the Clapham "Saints", with Dissenting evangelicals, with Whig "progressives", and with the Benthamites: their role as political lobby: their contribution to the development and dissemination of concepts of social modification in the service of industrial development, infused by religion.

Chapters IV and V examine the provincial challenge to the London Quaker establishment in the 1830s and 40s, within the arenas of pressure group politics - most notably anti-slavery - and the development of a combatant Quaker press. These chapters continue the analysis of the role of of within Quaker politics begun in Chapter III, and explore the basis for the internal conflicts and shifts between Quaker "Whiggery" and Quaker "Liberalism".

Chapters VI and VII comprise two case-studies of Quaker provincial economic, social and political activity. Chapter VI examines how Birmingham Quaker employers implemented structural change, the split within the Quaker community over the rise of Liberal politics and the challenge of Chartism. It focuses particularly on Joseph Sturge and the Complete Suffrage movement. Chapter VII analyses the varying economic and political strategies of the Pease and Backhouse dynasties in South Durham and their relationship to Quaker organisation and affiliation.

In conclusion, chapter VIII attempts to analyse the essential features of the economic, political and religious development of the Quaker community over the period, and the ways in which it reflected, contributed to and participated in the development of bourgeois Liberalism.


The goal of this dissertation is to understand the ways in which teleology structures the natural philosophy of William Harvey (1578-1657), who announced the circulation of the blood in his De motu cordis (1628). I shall incorporate new archival research, as well as the study of a number of texts that have not yet received due attention, including the Prelectiones anatomie universalis (1616-1627) and the De generatione animalium (1651). My study is divided into three parts. The first two parts focus upon on the role of two sorts of teleology. I first discuss the teleology of being, which characterizes the functioning and material organization of the parts of the body, what one would call today 'physiology and anatomy'. I then turn to examine the teleology of becoming, which characterizes the process of the generation of those parts, what one would call today 'embryological development'. The third section shifts to examining Harvey's methods in light of this conception of the subject matter. I start by articulating how, in general, Harvey conceives of anatomy not as a body of pre-existing knowledge, but rather as an active ability, combining skills of hand, eye, and mind. I then turn to look in detail at Harvey's particular methods. Harvey's methodology was an innovative reinterpretation and extension of Aristotle and Galen, mediated by certain Renaissance trends in medicine and natural philosophy. I focus specifically on how experience and experiment are used to determine final causes.


CPB 102. Introduction to Chemical and Biomedical Engineering. (3) This course introduces an approach to problem solving for engineering students. Students will apply systematic approaches to problem solving including mathematics and quantitative methods appropriate to chemical engineering and bioengineering. The course introduces computational and discipline-specific tools to assist in problem analysis, modeling, design, and hands-on learning. Students will demonstrate engineering solutions to problems in the laboratory. Students will practice their teamwork and communication skills. This course is open to all majors. Credit will be given for only one of CPB 102, CSE 102, ECE 102, MME 102, CEC 102. Prerequisite or Co-requisite: MTH 151.


The present study estimated the concentrations of heavy metals iron (Fe), nickel (Ni), cadmium (Cd), chromium (Cr), lead (Pb), copper (Cu) and zinc (Zn) in three plant species (Mentha longifolia, Apium nodiflorum, and Nasturtium officinale) at four sites. In the province of Sulaymaniyah (Darbandikhan, Khormal, Rania, and Bakra Jaw), Iraqi Kurdistan. Samples were collected on a monthly basis from April to September 2016, with three replications for each part of the plants (root, stem, and leaves). Plant samples were prepared and digested with suitable acids to detect the concentrations of these minerals and using a Flame Absorption Spectrophotometer (FAAS). The results of the study showed that all three plant species under study have a high ability to accumulate heavy metals. The results also showed that there are differences in the concentrations of heavy metals accumulated in the tissues of the plant species under study, as the order of the plant species was descending, M. longifolia ← N. officinale → A. nodiflorum, the study also showed that there are differences in the concentrations of heavy metals accumulating in the different plant parts and for all plant species. As the arrangement of the plant parts in terms of the ability of each part to accumulate heavy metals was descending in the roots - the leaves - the stems, the concentrations of heavy metals accumulated in the plant species, clear differences were recorded between the four sites under study, as the highest values were recorded in the species developing in the Joe Reel ← Rania ← Darbandikhan ← Khormal. Through the results of the current study, it was also found that there are differences between the months of the study regarding the ability of plants to accumulate heavy metals within their tissues, as the highest values of heavy metal concentrations in plants were recorded in April and May compared to the months with higher temperatures.


This article examines two inter-related issues. First, the tendency for UK skills policies to act as a substitute for other social and economic measures. Second, the problem of current conceptualisations of skills policy creating narrowly-drawn, technicist interventions that are frequently incommensurate with the scale of the problems which they purpor t to tackle. The ar ticle suggests that current policy formation processes, particularly in England, are being deployed in a manner that seeks to close off consideration of other potential avenues by which contemporary social and economic problems might be addressed. The case is made for a wider framing of both policy possibilities and avenues for relevant research to support such policy development.


Objective Blood culture collection practices that reduce contamination, such as sterile blood culture collection kits and phlebotomy teams, increase up-front costs for collecting cultures but may lead to net savings by eliminating downstream costs associated with contamination. The study objective was to compare overall hospital costs associated with 3 collection strategies: usual care, sterile kits, and phlebotomy teams. Design Cost analysis. Setting This analysis was conducted from the perspective of a hospital leadership team selecting a blood culture collection strategy for an adult emergency department (ED) with 8,000 cultures drawn annually. Methods Total hospital costs associated with 3 strategies were compared: (1) usual care, with nurses collecting cultures without a standardized protocol; (2) sterile kits, with nurses using a dedicated sterile collection kit; and (3) phlebotomy teams, with cultures collected by laboratory-based phlebotomists. In the base case, contamination rates associated with usual care, sterile kits, and phlebotomy teams were assumed to be 4.34%, 1.68%, and 1.10%, respectively. Total hospital costs included costs of collecting cultures and hospitalization costs according to culture results (negative, true positive, and contaminated). Results Compared with usual care, annual net savings using the sterile kit and phlebotomy team strategies were $483,219 and $288,980, respectively. Both strategies remained less costly than usual care across a broad range of sensitivity analyses. Conclusions EDs with high blood culture contamination rates should strongly consider evidence-based strategies to reduce contamination. In addition to improving quality, implementing a sterile collection kit or phlebotomy team strategy is likely to result in net cost savings.


Rationale: Syndecan-4 (Syn4), a cell-surface heparan sulfate proteoglycan, has been detected in the infarct region after myocardial infarction (MI), but its functional significance has not been elucidated. Objective: We examined whether and how Syn4 regulates the cardiac healing process after MI. Methods and Results: Although the heart in Syn4-deficient (Syn4−/−) mice was morphologically and functionally normal, Syn4−/− mice exhibited impaired heart function and increased mortality rate as a result of cardiac ruptures after MI. Cardiac ruptures in Syn4−/− mice were associated with reduced inflammatory reaction and impaired granulation tissue formation during the early phase of MI, as evidenced by reduced numbers of leukocytes, fibroblasts, myofibroblasts, macrophages, and capillary vessels, along with reduced extracellular matrix protein deposition in the infarct region after MI. Transforming growth factor-&bgr;1–dependent cell signaling was preserved, whereas cell migration, fibronectin-induced cell signaling, and differentiation into myofibroblasts were defective in Syn4−/− cardiac fibroblasts. We also found that Syn4 was involved in basic fibroblast growth factor–dependent endothelial cell signaling, cell proliferation, and tube formation. Finally, overexpression of the shed form of Syn4 before MI creation led to an increase in mortality due to cardiac rupture via its action as a dominant-negative inhibitor of endogenous Syn4 signaling, which suggested a protective role of Syn4 signaling in MI. Conclusions: These results suggest that Syn4 plays an important role in the inflammatory response and granulation tissue formation, thereby preventing cardiac rupture and dysfunction after MI.


Until December 31st 1997, 163 HIV/AIDS patients were treated with HAART at the Department of Infectious Diseases, Aarhus University Hospital. The patients mainly received a combination of zidovudine, lamivudine and saquinavir. They were observed for an average period of 375 days. HAART was found to increase the amount of CD4 lymphocytes in peripheral blood and decrease the number of HIV-RNA copies. Both effects were seen to be more pronounced in patients naive to antiretroviral treatment. However, 64 patients had their protease inhibitor changed during the observation period, 53% due to failure of suppression of the viral load, 25% due to adverse events and 22% due to other reasons.


In the past two decades, the literature on campus-community partnerships as core components of pedagogies of engagement has grown exponentially. In this article, the director and a longtime faculty member of Portland State University's capstone program report on interviews conducted with ten faculty-community partner pairs, gleaning insights on both the challenges of and lessons learned through partnering. This research adds to the literature through its use of relational methods that bring the voices of interviewees to readers, revealing a depth of connection across the institutional divide.


Burns can represent devastating injuries surgically, psychologically and socially. A multidisciplinary team approach to patient management is requisite to successful patient management. Burns education is currently under-represented in national undergraduate surgical curricula with a resultant graduating workforce with sub-optimal burns management knowledge. There is therefore a drive to improve burns education nationally. In order to develop burns teams to perform with skill and efficiency, it is important to develop and advance their technical and non-technical skills. Simulation has proven to be a powerful modality to augment surgical training. Recreating authentic clinical challenges is crucial in optimising simulation-based team training. The majority of such team-based simulation takes place in dedicated simulation facilities or centres which are static and can be costly.

This thesis presents eight peer-reviewed publications that chronologically represent a thematic series of publications in simulation and surgical education with an ultimate focus on burns education. The theoretical framework explores simulation strategies in light of educational theory, culminating in the development of "The Burns Suite" (TBS); a novel modality to advance the delivery of interprofessional burns education. TBS represents a low-cost, high-fidelity, portable, immersive simulation environment. It facilitates the delivery of an interprofessional realistic burn resuscitation scenario based on "advanced trauma and life support" (ALTS) and "emergency management of severe burns" (EMSB) principles. Scenarios were refined utilising expert opinion through cognitive task analyses. Participants considered TBS experience authentic due to its high psychological and social fidelity. This thesis contributes to burns surgical education by providing a better understanding of educational theory underpinning successful simulation and facilitating its interprofessional delivery via TBS. This approach can facilitate the design of future simulation scenarios that provide unique educational experiences where team members can learn with and from other specialties and professions in a safe, controlled environment. Addressing economic and practical limitations of current immersive surgical simulation is important. The low-cost approach of TBS has major implications for surgical education as a whole, particularly given increasing financial austerity.

This thesis proposes that alternative, complex, and challenging scenarios and/or procedures can be recreated within TBS, providing a diverse educational immersive simulation experience that can be extrapolated into other surgical specialities and interprofessional arenas.


Background: The number of refugees is the highest ever worldwide. Many have experienced trauma in home countries or on their escape which has mental health sequelae. Intrusive memories comprise distressing scenes of trauma which spring to mind unbidden. Development of novel scalable psychological interventions is needed urgently. Aims: We propose that brief cognitive science-driven interventions should be developed which pinpoint a focal symptom alongside a means to monitor it using behavioural techniques. The aim of the current study was to assess the feasibility and acceptability of the methodology required to develop such an intervention. Method: In this study we recruited 22 refugees (16–25 years), predominantly from Syria and residing in Sweden. Participants were asked to monitor the frequency of intrusive memories of trauma using a daily diary; rate intrusions and concentration; and complete a 1-session behavioural intervention involving Tetris game-play via smartphone. Results: Frequency of intrusive memories was high, and associated with high levels of distress and impaired concentration. Levels of engagement with study procedures were highly promising. Conclusions: The current work opens the way for developing novel cognitive behavioural approaches for traumatized refugees that are mechanistically derived, freely available and internationally scalable.


Ontology, with the excellent concept hierarchy and appropriately supporting for logic reasoning, is the basis of knowledge modeling on the Semantic Web and the effective tool for semantic retrieval. This paper pays attention to the sports information management in WWW. Firstly, based on the domain ontology model, we build the sports ontology which has the character of wide-cover and small information granularity. Then this paper present the semantic retrieval system for sports information using SPARQL query language, which realizes the intelligent retrieval at semantic level according to the relations of "synonymy of", "kind of" and "part of" between sports concepts. For the trend of exploding increase of sports information, this research has practical significance to some extent.


The assessment of angiogenesis in breast cancer is of importance as a key indicator of survival and response to therapy. Circulating vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) measurements may provide a less subjective analysis than microvessel density (MVD) or immunohistochemical analysis of VEGF expression; however, most studies have used serum, which is now known to largely reflect platelet-derived VEGF concentrations. This study examined for the first time both plasma (VEGFP) and serum (VEGFS) VEGF concentrations in 201 blood samples from preand postmenopausal healthy controls and from patients with benign breast disease, localized breast cancer, breast cancer in remission, or metastatic breast cancer and related these to other clinicopathological markers. VEGFP but not VEGFS concentrations of patients with localized disease were significantly elevated compared with normal controls ( P 5 0.016). Patients with metastatic disease had higher VEGF P and VEGFS levels than normal controls (P < 0.001, P 5 0.044 respectively), and higher VEGFP, but not VEGFS, than patients with benign disease (P5 0.009) and patients with localized disease (P5 0.004). However, the highest VEGFP and VEGFS concentrations were seen in patients in remission compared with normal controls (P < 0.001 andP 5 0.008, respectively). VEGFP concentrations in patients in remission were also higher than in patients with benign disease (P 5 0.01) or patients with localized disease (P 5 0.005). Tamoxifen treatment was significantly associated with higher circulating and platelet-derived VEGF levels. Circulating VEGF did not correlate with any clinicopathological factor, including MVD or VEGF expression. VEGF expression was significantly correlated with estrogen receptor status and inversely correlated with tumor grade. MVD correlated with tumor size. Tamoxifen-induced increases in VEGF may be important in clinical prognosis or associated pathologies.


This paper is the outcome of research collaboration between staff of the Department of Economic Research and Policy at the Bank of Tanzania and the International Growth Centre. Its objective is to develop a systematic approach to the investigation of the effectiveness of monetary transmission in low-income countries that can be applied specifically to the five EAC countries. In the vast majority of low-income countries, financing and political constraints have traditionally impaired the usefulness of fiscal policy as a short-run stabilization device. While fiscal dominance has also impaired the effectiveness of monetary policy, this situation has been changing, as many low-income countries have increased the independence of their central banks. The ability of central banks to carry out this stabilization function, however, depends on the strength and reliability of the links between the policy instruments that they control and aggregate demand – i.e., on the effectiveness of monetary transmission. Unfortunately, this effectiveness cannot be taken for granted. Using Tanzania as a case study, Peter Montiel et al. undertake a systematic exploration of this issue.


In many countries anabolic agents are successfully used to increase the rate of growth of cattle. In the past widespread use was made of cheap synthetic estrogens such as diethylstilbestrol and hexestrol. However, new legislation in certain countries has restricted the use of synthetic estrogens. This has resulted in an intensive search by industry for alternative agents. On the one hand natural steroid hormones like estradiol, testosterone and progesterone were studied, while on the other hand products like an active compound of the resorcyclic acid lactones and the synthetic anabolic steroid trenbolone acetate were developed. Administration of anabolic agents to cattle is done in three ways. (1) The agent may be fed orally by incorporation into the concentrate feed or as a simple additive top dressing. If the agent is metabolised in the rumen, oral administration may still be possible by using coated materials which avoid rumen metabolism with subsequent absorption of the steroid from the small intestine. (2) The agent may be administered as a slow release implant, e.g. trenbolone acetate or various combined preparations of an androgen and estrogen. (3) Administration by repeated injection. This latter method is often impractical. Anabolic agents are normally administered to beef cattle or culled dairy cows during the last few months of the finishing period. Maximum weight gain performance in different types of cattle requires selection of the correct anabolic agent. Increased performance in female cattle is better when an androgenic steroid is administered. However, in intact males (bulls) best performance is only obtained when an estrogen, alone or in combination with an androgen, is administered. Castrate animals (steers) do best if a smaller amount of estrogen is combined with an androgen and administered, however there is evidence that androgen alone is as effective. In summary therefore, an additional response in growth of cattle may require the presence of an estrogen, as endogenous estrogen in the female and the exogenous form in the male. Only when this condition is met will administration of androgenic anabolic steroids result in maximum benefit, often improving the effect of estrogen given on its own. Anabolic agents have some beneficial effect on appetite. They may not affect the digestive processes of the alimentary system. They have a positive effect on nitrogen retention. The liver almost certainly has a central role in the regulation of nitrogen retention. Recent experiments suggest that urea entry rates in ruminants may be lowered, thus making available more nitrogen for protein synthesis. Muscle protein synthesis is altered with changes in carcass conformation. There are some changes in fat redistribution. How all these processes are integrated is not yet known. The possibility that anabolic agents establish a new hormonal status which is favourable to growth will be discussed...


This thesis compared a group of personal photograph albums compiled by British soldiers during the First World War to a set of stereographs produced during the war and published after by the British company Realistic Travels, both from the collection of the Art Gallery of Ontario. The development of British censorship restrictions during the First World War had a profound effect on who, what, where and how individuals were able to photograph the conflict. This thesis examines how these restrictions affected stereograph photographers and soldiers as they documented the war in order to ascertain how these effects shaped the construction of each type of photographic object. By comparing and analyzing both bodies of work as they were produced in three theatres of war -- the Western Front, Gallipoli and within Britain -- we see that objects created for public and private audiences are more similar than they initially appear.


The present article describes a study that analyzed practical applications of informal online spaces in formal instruction. It was conducted in an intermediate ESL course at an American University. The concept of affinity spaces was used to guide the research. Students in the course were instructed to play the video game, Pokémon Go as an inspiration for their writing. This qualitative study examined the types of affinity space participation, the participant attitudes toward those spaces and to using video games in formal instruction. The data sources consisted of weekly gaming journals and interview transcripts. The findings showed that the participants used the affinity space to socialize with classmates and other players and to enhance their gameplay. They perceived affinity spaces and the use of the video game positively. The implications of this study include practical applications of video game affinity spaces for English language instruction and suggest further research areas. This study is worthwhile as it offers a rare look at an application of informal online practices to enhance formal language instruction.


BACKGROUND
The main acquired resistance mechanism to first- and second-generation epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) in EGFR mutant non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is the propagation of T790M clones, which can be detected in circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA).

OBJECTIVES
To analyze osimertinib outcomes according to T790M testing method.

METHODS
The study comprised 33 consecutive patients with advanced EGFR mutant NSCLC who were diagnosed with a T790M mutation after progression on first- or second-generation EGFR TKIs and treated with osimertinib. The patients were divided into groups A (diagnosed by tumor testing) and B (by ctDNA testing). Osimertinib outcomes were compared between the groups.

RESULTS
Objective response rate with osimertinib comprised 54% and 62% in groups A and B, respectively (P = 0.58). Median progression-free survival (PFS) with osimertinib was 8.9 months (95% confidence interval [95%CI] 1.8-17.5) and 9.1 months (95%Cl 5.3-12.6) in groups A and B, respectively (log-rank test 0.12, P = 0.73). Median overall survival (OS) was 13.8 months (95%CI 4.9-25.5) and 13.8 months (95%Cl 7.7-27.7) in groups A and B, respectively (log-rank test 0.09, P = 0.75). T790M testing technique did not affect PFS (hazard ratio [HR] 1.16, 95%CI 0.50-2.69, P = 0.73) or OS (HR = 1.16, 95%CI 0.45-3.01, P = 0.76). The proportion of patients diagnosed by ctDNA grew from 56% in 2015 to 67% in 2016-2017.

CONCLUSIONS
Our study provides a ctDNA validation for the purpose of T790M testing in EGFR mutant NSCLC.


Chandra observations of a complete, flux-limited sample of 38 high-redshift (1 < z < 2), low-frequency-selected (and so unbiased in orientation) 3CRR radio sources are reported. The sample includes 21 quasars (=broad-line radio galaxies) and 17 narrow-line radio galaxies (NLRGs) with matched 178 MHz radio luminosity (log LR(5 GHz) ∼44–45). The quasars have high radio core fraction, high X-ray luminosities (log LX ∼45–46), and soft X-ray hardness ratios (HR ∼−0.5) indicating low obscuration. The NLRGs have lower core fraction, lower apparent X-ray luminosities (log LX ∼43–45), and mostly hard X-ray hardness ratios (HR >0) indicating obscuration (NH ∼1022–1024 cm−2). These properties and the correlation between obscuration and radio core fraction are consistent with orientation-dependent obscuration as in unification models. About half the NLRGs have soft X-ray hardness ratios and/or a high [O iii] emission line to X-ray luminosity ratio suggesting obscuration by Compton thick (CT) material so that scattered nuclear or extended X-ray emission dominates (as in NGC 1068). The ratios of unobscured to Compton-thin (1022 cm−2 < NH(int) <1.5 × 1024 cm−2) to CT (NH(int) >1.5 × 1024 cm−2) is 2.5:1.4:1 in this high-luminosity, radio-selected sample. The obscured fraction is 0.5, higher than is typically reported for active galactic nuclei at comparable luminosities from multi-wavelength surveys (0.1–0.3). Assuming random nuclear orientation, the unobscured half-opening angle of the disk/wind/torus structure is ∼60° and the obscuring material covers 30°, ∼12° of which is CT. The multi-wavelength properties reveal that many NLRGs have intrinsic absorption 10–1000 × higher than indicated by their X-ray hardness ratios, and their true LX values are ∼10–100× larger than the hardness-ratio absorption corrections would indicate.


Operative cholangiography was routinely performed during 826 cholecystectomies carried out by one physician in a private surgical practice in rural Indiana between January 1962 and January 1973. The technique of cholangiography, which involves two injections into the gallbladder neck, avoids cystic duct cannulation and adds no more than five minutes to the operating time. Statistical data were derived from the records of 547 patients observed from one to ten years. Choledochotomy was done in 127 (23%) of these patients, yielding stones in 103 (80%) and other lesions in 19 (16%). Explorations based on abnormal roentgenographic findings yielded no stones in five patients (4% of explorations and 0.9% of roentgenograms), and stones were found in the ducts of two patients in spite of normal roentgenograms (2% and 0.4%). Totally unsuspected stones were found in nine patients (representing 7% of the duct explorations). These data are similar to those reported by others. The new technique of cholangiography via the gallbladder neck is highly recommended.


textabstractIn demographic and public health research, the population health is most
often summarized by the life expectancy at birth. Rarely is the variation
around this average indicated. This can mask important differences in the
shape of the lifespan distribution. In this thesis I aimed to undertake a
comprehensive study of the variation in human lifespans. More
specifically I set out to answer the following research questions: (1)
What is the most appropriate way to measure variation in age-at-death? (2)
What is the relationship between lifespan variation and life expectancy?
(3) How much are educational differences contributing to lifespan
variation? The data used in this thesis came from two sources: the Human
Mortality Database and the Eurothine data set. The results of this thesis
confirmed that there is no one appropriate method to measure lifespan
variation. However, indices can disagree in their sensitivity to change in
age specific mortality. In sections II and III it was shown that countries
and educational subgroups with low life expectancy also tended to have
higher lifespan variation. Although a close association existed between
the two summary measures, some countries and populations had high lifespan
variation for their life expectancy, owing to considerably higher levels
of premature mortality. In general between-group educational differences
in mortality accounted for around 1-10 percent of the total lifespan
variation in Europe. Policies should be designed to address the high
levels of premature mortality, particularly in vulnerable groups, in order
to increase the equality between individuals in their length of life.


The hazard analysis and management is vital in textile industry to avoid losing customers and wasting resources caused by the failures in production systems. Risk analysis is also very significant to decrease possible hazards and to avoid possible damage in production systems. In this study, an approach based on Failure Mode and Effects Analysis (FMEA) and Fault Tree Analysis (FTA) is proposed to analyze the  ring spinning yarn production process in a textile industry.   First, the possible hazards in the production line, yarn production system, in an integrated company operating in the textile sector are analyzed by FTA method. Then, FMEA is applied to  ring spinning yarn production process in a textile industry  to rank all possible risks corresponding to hazards in descending order with respect to both occupational health and safety. It is very important to remove all possible hazards in textile industry to decrease the number of risks related to occupational health and safety. Therefore, in total of 57 hazard root causes are determined in the yarn production department. Subsequently, the faults related to the hazard root causes are examined by FTA and then risk corresponding to these hazards are prioritized by FMEA. The results obtained from the proposed FTA-FMEA approach show that decision makers and engineers can easily decrease the number of hazards and risks with respect to both occupational health and safety in practice.


Abstract While trade in African merchandise has lagged behind that of other developing countries, services exports – notably travel and tourism – have shown remarkable growth over the past decade. This paper calculates revealed comparative advantage for 147 countries using a new measure of the Balassa index. The results indicate that 29 of the 50 African countries in the dataset reveal a comparative advantage in travel service exports. The source of this comparative advantage lies in the natural and cultural resources of African countries, and the relative advantages of air versus sea transport – validating an augmented Heckscher-Ohlin hypothesis. If African countries are to benefit from the growth in world service exports, researchers and policymakers should note the (relative) potential for African travel service exports, especially in the smaller, landlocked destinations.


Hardware/software co-design has been an area of research for a few decades. Currently co-design is utilized to create hardware coprocessors for compute intensive tasks of a system (which otherwise, performed in software, will not meet the performance goals). Design of correct hardware coprocessors with area, timing and power constraints is a time consuming task. In this paper, we present a methodology to alleviate this problem up to a certain extent. First, we show how to adopt a high-level synthesis tool in design space exploration to converge towards efficient hardware coprocessors. Second, we show, through a series of case studies that, a system-level approach, keeping platform specific optimizations in mind, can help in doing such an exploration efficiently.


Abstract Tourism research is increasingly focusing on community participation and stakeholder collaboration in tourism planning. It is argued that sustainable development outcomes require the integration of community perspectives into the planning processes, and that the views of different stakeholders must be communicated effectively to interested parties. These core issues are explored in this thesis. I draw upon advances made in participatory research in development studies and introduce these to tourism planning. The thesis also introduces participatory approaches and GIS (PAGIS) as a tool that can be blended into a framework that facilitates a better understanding of stakeholders' perceptions towards tourism, and therefore has the potential to improve community participation and stakeholder interaction in tourism planning. The case study used in this thesis is Marahau, a small community in New Zealand located at the gateway to an icon of New Zealand's tourism industry, the Abel Tasman National Park. The community has undergone rapid transformation from an agriculture-based economy to an expanding tourism destination. The recent increase in visitor numbers, tourism businesses, and permanent residents in the community have resulted in major management and planning issues concerning the future of Marahau. This research highlights the changes that tourism development has brought to the community and presents the various perceptions of stakeholders in this particular setting. The research shows that to plan for more sustainable forms of tourism development the subjective perspectives and the roles of all stakeholders need to be understood and integrated into a responsive planning framework. PAGIS can increase the number and diversity of people able to participate in decision-making. PAGIS integrates 'expert' and 'local' knowledge that can result in more responsive planning procedures to enhance tourism's potential to act as a force for more sustainable development.


We have computed Wilsonian effective action in a simple model containing scalar field with quartic self-coupling which interacts via Yukawa coupling with a Dirac fermion. The model is invariant under a chiral parity operation, which can be spontaneously broken by a vev of the scalar field. We have computed explicitly Wilsonian running of relevant parameters which makes it possible to discuss in a consistent manner the issue of fine-tuning and stability of the scalar potential. This has been compared with the typical picture based on Gell-Mann-Low running. Since Wilsonian running includes automatically integration out of heavy degrees of freedom, the running differs markedly from the Gell-Mann-Low version. However, similar behavior can be observed: scalar mass squared parameter and the quartic coupling can change sign from a positive to a negative one due to running which causes spontaneous symmetry breaking or an instability in the renormalizable part of the potential for a given range of scales. As for the issue of fine-tuning, since in the Wilsonian approach power-law terms are not subtracted, one can clearly observe the quadratic sensitivity of fine-tuning measure to the change of the cut-off scale.


The "war on drugs" in the Philippines has left a generation of Filipino orphaned children in deep grief and social disarray. Using feminist memory work as critical methodology and intervention design, this study examines accounts of 56 orphaned children and how they exercise agency embedded in the collective remembering of a traumatic past (i.e. rooted in painful memories of tokhang or community police operations) and to identify social structures that marginalize their present and future lifeworld. Findings show three overarching themes namely: (1) reclaiming stripped agency in the loss and injustice of the past, (2) holding on to crippled agency in the sadness and insecurity of the present, and (3) carrying on with agency to hope for healing and justice in a reimagined future. Insights and recommendations to critical praxis of social work in light of an ongoing drug war are further discussed which include strengthening civil societies and intersectoral collaborations, integrating specific social provisions for tokhang survivors in the creation of a national orphan policy, and using digital memorialization. Guided by enacting ethics and politics of caring for and with the marginalized, social workers working alongside expanded communities of care are called to remember love despite traumatic pains and to restore homes for orphaned children in the midst of state insecurity.


The National Credit Act 34 of 2005 (hereinafter the "NCA" or "Act") is an innovative but challenging piece of legislation. It provides for various novel approaches to debt enforcement in respect of credit agreements and has introduced debt-relief measures in respect of over-indebtedness and reckless credit that are new to South African consumer credit legislation. It is thus inevitable that in applying the provisions of the Act various issues will arise that will require interpretation and, therefore, intense scrutiny. In the recent judgment of BMW Financial Services (SA) (Pty) Ltd v Donkin, Wallis J was required to scrutinize various aspects relating to debt review and debt enforcement in order to decide the consumer's fate as influenced by the NCA (66; and see also s 130(1)(a)).


In view of the large volume and complex control circuit of current AC regulated power supply, a unipolar AC regulated power supply with chopping control compensation is designed, and the calculation method of output filter parameter of chopping circuit is given. In the system, MCU of STC12C5A62AD with 8-bit A/D input and PWM output is adopted, by which not only simple structure and control but also fast dynamic response are get; DC voltage sampling technique is adopted, so sampling frequency is up to 12.8kHz, sampling precision is high too; PWM chopping frequency is 4kHz, so capacity of filter capacitor and inductors are small, and harmonic is little. Experiment results of prototype show that the system has high precision of output voltage and greater practical value.


scholars, with contents, measurements, a statement whether it has been collated or not, and if so, by whom, a brief account of the provenance and recent history of the MS, and a bibliography chronologically arranged. Interesting colophons are also recorded in full. All this is done in a way that for neatness and clearness I have never seen surpassed. It is gratifying that there are still private collectors both able and anxious to purchase MSS either from Paris or from elsewhere. As Dr Clark has collated many of the MSS, it may be assumed that he proposes later to publish his results, to the clarification of the history of the transmission of the Greek New Testament. The facsimiles are beautifully executed and will be welcome to the palaeographer.


With increasing demands for products with nano scale patterns manufactured by nanoreplication processes such as nanoinjection molding, nanoimprinting, and etc, fabrication of molds or stamps with nano patterns has become a priority for successful manufacturing of nano patterned products. In this study, a metallic stamp with nano hole array pattern was fabricated by ultra-violet (UV) nanoimprinting process and nanoelectroforming process. For the fabrication of the original silicon master, electron-beam (E-beam) lithography and inductively coupled plasma (ICP) etching process were used. Polymeric nano pillar array pattern, called polymeric master, was replicated from the original silicon master by UV nanoimprinting process. For the successful demolding during UV nanoimprinting process, self assembled monolayer (SAM) of fluoroctatrichlorosilane (CF3 (CH2 )8 SiCl3 ) was deposited on the original silicon master. With this approach, the expensive silicon master could be reused many times as a master mold. Nickel seed layer as conductive layer was deposited onto the polymeric master using sputtering process. Nanoelectroforming process using nickel sulfamate solution (Ni(NH2 SO3 )2 ·4H2 O) was carried out to fabricate the metallic nano stamp. Metallic nano stamp which has hole array pattern with diameter of 30 nm and pitch of 50 nm was successfully fabricated by the proposed method. Nanoinjection molding of 30 nm pillar array pattern as a nano data storage media using the present metallic stamp is the subject of ongoing research.Copyright © 2008 by ASME


Diel and tidal variations in density of larval fishes were monitored over one neap and one spring tidal cycle in the mouth region of the warm temperate Gamtoos Estuary, South Africa. Data were collected over two 24h periods, using mixed method sampling with WP2 nets and a pushnet to sample both channel and margin waters. Larval fishes collected included 20 species from 12 families. Density varied with tide and diel state during the study period, with significantly higher catches recorded on the spring tide. Density of larval fishes peaked after the onset of darkness, predominantly associated with the nocturnal ebb tide. Large numbers of preflexion gobiid larvae were recorded on this tide state, this behaviour serving to facilitate movement out of the estuary for gobies that undergo a marine phase in their development. Spatial variations in larval fish distribution were also noted. Preflexion larvae were caught mainly in mid-channel waters, whilst postflexion larvae were more often encountered in the slower-flowing marginal waters. Data for a hydrodynamic model of tidal exchange of fish larvae in the estuary mouth region were collected concurrently with sampling and were used to model exchange of larval fishes over the neap and spring tidal cycle by extrapolating actual densities, using modelled tidal volume. Findings suggest that for some species, tidal exchange could escalate to millions of individuals over a single tidal cycle.


A renewable energy matrix plays a fundamental role in providing energy services ina sustainable platform and, particularly, to reduce climate change on a global basis. However,alternative energy sources usually poses extra challenges to adopters due to higher costs, mainlyin the developing and emerging countries where: 1) basic needs still remain to be covered, and 2)top technologies, such as the required in those initiatives, are likely not to be promptly available.This article aims to verify the status of the current renewable energy sources contribution tothe regular energy systems of some countries across the Latin American region as a measureto reduce the adverse impact over the average temperature and extreme climate events. LatinAmerica, despite its vast territory and considerable availability of natural resources – which couldwell place the region in a leading position in terms of alternative energy – is still in the earlystages of having the mindset and infrastructure required to respond to the current environmentalchallenges. This exploratory study compares the database of renewable energy and climatechange drivers of some Latin American countries, seeking to verify similarities and differences,as well as the possible effect of strategies and government policies, barriers and issues in thegeneration of an energy system that support the region economic growth while following the keyprinciples of sustainability. For our research, we use Multivariate Analysis based on a large set ofavailable and updated open public indicators to establish critical areas and regional progress. Themain finding is that, if not at length comparable to the leading EU countries and other advancedeconomies in the matter, some countries in the region have been presenting important advancesto date, being able to combine economic growth to friendly-environmental practices – oftena hard equation to solve – while others, on the contrary, stay behind in sustainable practices.Most importantly, at last, is the highlight of initiatives that stand out as positive examples havinghelped mitigate the environmental burden, clearly pointing towards solutions to the challenge ofhaving sustainable development inclusive practices in the Latin American region.


This paper presents one of the applications of monitoring mechanical tests carried out in Construction Materials Laboratory of Istanbul Technical University. In Turkey, as in many countries, large amount of existing buildings exposed to seismic hazard, therefore various analytical and experimental studies are being conducted to contribute to the solution of the problem. One of the new generation retrofitting techniques is to strength the structural members by using Fiber Reinforcing Polymer (FRP). This study summarize the results of monitoring of deformations short concrete column samples under the incremental compression load. In this study, result of two rectangular short columns are given. One of them was tested as a reference sample, the other sample were tested after strengthening by PET reinforced polymer composite materials. Besides conventional displacement and strain measurement systems, laser scanning method was used to get three dimensional deformed shape of sample at each selected steps.


Nowadays, there has been great interest in micro- and nano-applications. Understanding the flow and heat transfer in microscale is useful. The primary goal of this investigation is to reveal the flow behavior in microchannels. The deionized water flow in a microchannel was experimentally investigated. The pressure drops were measured under the conditions of different Reynolds numbers. The friction factors were obtained based on the experimental measurements. The friction factors deviate significantly from the conventional theory. A series of numerical simulation was also carried out to explore the mechanism of the deviation in the present paper. The numerical simulation adopting the slip boundary condition shows the numerical results coincide with the experimental results very well. The velocity slip was obtained based on the comparison with the experimental results. By introducing the slip length Ls , the velocity slip of water flow in the microchannel can be characterized. The velocity slip increases with the increase of the inlet velocity and the slip length increases with the increase of the shear rate. The linear Navier boundary condition breaks down when the shear rate reaches a critical value. A correlation between the velocity slip and the inlet velocity based on our experimental measurements and numerical results was obtained.Copyright © 2007 by ASME


Objectives Nursing homes, especially those in developing countries, are understaffed and favor physical over psychosocial care. However, leisure activities, especially those that can be run with little professional staff cost, may be highly beneficial. This study examined the effects of mentally stimulating (mahjong) and physical (Tai Chi) leisure activities on the cognitive functioning of nursing home residents. Methods 110 residents from six nursing homes in Hong Kong were randomized into three conditions: (a) mahjong, (b) Tai Chi and (c) handicrafts (placebo). Inclusion criteria were Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) ≥10 and ≤24, and suffering from at least very mild dementia (Clinical Dementia Rating (CDR) ≥0.5). Exclusion criteria were audio/visual impairment, and contraindication to do mahjong or Tai Chi. Each activity was carried out three times a week over a 3-month period. Outcome measures including MMSE, verbal memory (both immediate and delayed recall), digit memory (forward and backward), categorical fluency and CDR were collected at baseline, post-treatment (3 months), 6 months and 9 months. Results There were moderate effects of mahjong on all outcome measures except CDR up to 6 months, but no benefits for the Tai Chi group over the placebo. Conclusion Leisure activities can be highly beneficial even for older adults with significant cognitive impairment and frailty. This study provides strong evidence for the effectiveness of mahjong in maintaining cognitive abilities in this population. It can be implemented in nursing homes with minimal staff cost. While this was a time-limited intervention, regular mahjong activities should provide long-term benefits.