The purposes of this study were to identify and examine the demographic characteristics, educational background, experience levels, and duties of strength and conditioning coaches within the NCAA Division I sanctioned football programs. Questionnaires were returned by January 19, 1989, from 85 of the 100 Division I-A strength coaches and 60 of the 79 Division I-AA strength coaches surveyed. The results of the study indicated that the coaches were homogenous in demographic characteristics, educational background and experience levels. The coaches in I-A earned a salary in the $30,000 to $39,999 range. The majority of I-A coaches had National Strength and Conditioning Association certification. They served as graduate assistants for strength coaches at the college level before becoming full-time strength coaches. The I-A coaches served as full-time strength and conditioning coaches, with responsibility to condition all varsity athletic teams. The I-AA coaches earned a salary in the $20,000 to $29,999 range. The majority of I-AA coaches did not have NSCA certification. The majority of strength and conditioning coaches at the I-AA level were not full-time strength coaches. They were responsible for the strength and conditioning of the football team. The majority of strength and conditioning coaches were also football coaches. The I-A and I-AA coaches were in agreement regarding the criteria necessary to be a successful strength and conditioning coach. The coaches differed in terms of future goals. The majority of I-A strength and conditioning coaches wanted to maintain the status quo, while the majority of I-AA strength and conditioning coaches wanted to become full-time football coaches.


A complete wafer map contains information sufficient to discriminate certain prober errors, parametric errors, and point defect errors even without the full measured data set. Autocorrelation of the wafer map allows a simple automated analysis system to provide immediate feedback to the operator of known errors, allowing immediate retest in case of wafer probing errors and providing information to process engineers about possible manufacturing errors. The author provides a description of an algorithm which has proven useful in increasing measured yield and differentiating point defect errors from more traditional process errors.


The friendship paradox states that, on average, our friends have more friends than we do. In network terms, the average degree over the nodes can never exceed the average degree over the neighbours of nodes. This effect, which is a classic example of sampling bias, has attracted much attention in the social science and network science literature, with variations and extensions of the paradox being defined, tested and interpreted. Here, we show that a version of the paradox holds rigorously for eigenvector centrality: on average, our friends are more important than us. We then consider general matrix-function centrality, including Katz centrality, and give sufficient conditions for the paradox to hold. We also discuss which results can be generalized to the cases of directed and weighted edges. In this way, we add theoretical support for a field that has largely been evolving through empirical testing.


We present a general theory for determining the force (and torque) exerted on a boundary (or body) in active matter. The theory extends the description of passive Brownian colloids to self-propelled active particles and applies for all ratios of the thermal energy $k_BT$ to the swimmer's activity $k_sT_s = \zeta U_0^2\tau_R/6$, where $\zeta$ is the Stokes drag coefficient, $U_0$ is the swim speed and $\tau_R$ is the reorientation time of the active particles. The theory has a natural microscopic length scale over which concentration and orientation distributions are confined near boundaries, but the microscopic length does not appear in the force. The swim pressure emerges naturally and dominates the behavior when the boundary size is large compared to the swimmer's run length $\ell = U_0\tau_R$. The theory is used to predict the motion of bodies of all sizes immersed in active matter.


Revealing the emergence and the dynamics of collective excitations in complex matter is a subject of pivotal importance, as it provides insight into the strength and spatial distribution of interactions and correlations. At the same time, collectivity lies at the origin of several cooperative phenomena in many-body systems, which can lead to profound transformations, instabilities and, eventually, phase transitions. Mapping the interactions of the collective bosonic excitations with the fermionic particles and among themselves leads to the comprehension of the many-body problem. In this Thesis, we investigate the dynamics of collective excitations in strongly interacting and correlated systems by means of ultrafast broadband optical spectroscopy. Within this approach, a material is set out-of-equilibrium by an ultrashort laser pulse and the photoinduced changes in its optical properties are subsequently monitored with a delayed probe pulse, covering a broad spectral region in the visible or in the ultraviolet. Collective excitations can be unraveled either in the frequency domain as spectral features across the probed range or in the time domain as coherent modes triggered by the pump pulse. Studying the renormalization and temporal evolution of these collective excitations gives access to the hierarchy of low-energy phenomena occurring in the solid during its path towards the thermodynamic equilibrium. This framework is explored in a number of prototypical materials with an increasing degree of internal complexity beyond conventional band theory. Among the most remarkable results obtained in this work, we observe crosstalk phenomena between distinct electronic subsystems in MgB2, discover bound excitons coupled to the phonon bath in anatase TiO2, provide a selective and quantitative estimate of the electron-phonon coupling in La2CuO4, reveal precursor superconducting effects in NdBa2Cu3O(7-IŽ) and unravel a phonon-mediated mechanism behind the magnetic order melting in the multiferroic TbMnO3.


I arrived in Western Australia to live as a six-year-old child in 1949. The plane from Melbourne where I was born and where my father was a young up-and-coming executive with the Dunlop Rubber Company was a DC-6. With stops in Adelaide and Kalgoorlie for fuel, the journey took 12 hours. My mother thought we were going to the end of the world; my grandparents did too and our departure from Melbourne was a very tearful one at least for the adults. My mother was widely thought of among her friends as very 'brave' for agreeing to set up house in Perth. Certainly in 1949 the prospect of living in Perth, WA, was not one to excite wild envy among the eastern Australian middle class. The burghers of Melbourne thought of WA, if at all, as wilderness sand and snakes and a sea-coast bordering on quite the wrong ocean, the Indian Ocean, not the benign Pacific that they knew. God, what was next? Africa and Asia and all those sorts of places. This journal article is available in Kunapipi: http://ro.uow.edu.au/kunapipi/vol5/iss1/10


In this work, we have studied I-V characteristics of Al breakdown in 6H-, 4H- and 15R-SiC in electrical field. As a result there obtained the next original data: 1) decreasing dependence of breakdown field due to the concentration increase in the range of Na – Nd = 5x1017–1019 cm-3; 2) absence of low temperature breakdown when Na - Nd< 1017 cm-3; 3) increasing of breakdown field while temperature declines from 77K to 4.2K; 4) at 300K the breakdown field decreases and the breakdown takes place in samples with the absence of low temperature breakdown; 5) gigantic enhancement of breakdown field at F||C. 6) the theoretical analysis based on the theory of a zero radius potential supports the probability of breakdown field enhancement at F||C.


TiO2 coating films of 50-200nm thickness were prepared by the sol-gel technique using hydrolysis of titanium isopropoxide (TIP) in an attempt to study structure and surface properties of anatase at ambient temperature. The anatase phase is exhibited by the XRD peak at 2θ'=25o with orientation in (101), the crystal parameters of XRD for TiO2 thin films (50-200 nm), were varied depending on the thickness of film and substrate type. An annealing temperature and annealing time had an effect on the film surface quality and exhibit porosity and aggregates in the films. The surface of TiO2 thin film showed cluster particles through SEM and the shrinkage rate on the film increased as a result of heat treatment during annealing process. The film was uniform and homogeneous under AFM investigate. EDS have determined the stochiometric ratio of TiO2 film.


Cellular function is largely determined by posttranslational modification (PTM) of proteins that govern protein-protein interactions, protein-nucleic acid interaction, transcription, enzymatic activities, etc. Yet, identifying and determining the role of various PTM's in development and degeneration remains a daunting task. Among the many PTM's, glutamylation/deglutamylation was identified more than 30 years ago and involves the addition of glutamic acid residues branching from an encoded glutamic acid residue in an acidic region (deglutamylation is the removal of C-terminal primary sequence Glu residues or PTM Glu). Alpha tubulin was the first protein to be identified as being posttranslationally glutamylated which has since been found to regulate microtubule stability and ciliary function. However the identification of other proteins undergoing deglutamylation remains poorly defined. Using a mouse model of neurodegeneration that is deficient for a single deglutamylase, we utilized a direct comprehensive comparative proteomics approach and identified a predicted HMG box containing protein at the mitochondrion and show specific interaction of this protein with the deglutamylase. Furthermore, the affected cell type in this model shows an increase in oxidative damage of mtDNA indicating a potential role for deglutamylation in maintaining mtDNA integrity. Unlike glutamylation, phosphorylation is the most well studied PTM, however, the roles of most predicted phosphosites across the proteome have yet to be determined. Recent technological advances have dramatically improved phosphoproteomic approaches, yet the identification of critical phosphosites involved in maintaining pluripotent human ES cells has largely been underexplored. The developmental pathways controlling the maintenance of the undifferentiated state and the initiation of the earliest neurectodermal lineage were investigated using comparative total cellular phosphoproteomics. As one of the first reports of comprehensive phosphoproteomic profiling and analysis of hESCs, we have revealed a previously unknown role for JNK activity in maintaining the pluripotent state


Objective: The 2017 PhysioNet/CinC Challenge focused on automatic classification of atrial fibrillation (AF) in short ECGs. This study aimed to evaluate the use of the data and results from the challenge for detection of AF in longer ECGs, taken from three other PhysioNet datasets. Approach: The used data-driven models were based on features extracted from ECG recordings, calculated according to three solutions from the challenge. A Random Forest classifier was trained with the data from the challenge. The performance was evaluated on all non-overlapping 30 s segments in all recordings from three MIT-BIH datasets. Fifty-six models were trained using different feature sets, both before and after applying three feature reduction techniques. Main Results: Based on rhythm annotations, the AF proportion was 0.00 in the MIT-BIH Normal Sinus Rhythm (N = 46083 segments), 0.10 in the MIT-BIH Arrhythmia (N = 2880), and 0.41 in the MIT-BIH Atrial Fibrillation (N = 28104) dataset. For the best performing model, the corresponding detected proportions of AF were 0.00, 0.11 and 0.36 using all features, and 0.01, 0.10 and 0.38 when using the 15 best performing features. Significance: The results obtained on the MIT-BIH datasets indicate that the training data and solutions from the 2017 Physionet/Cinc Challenge can be useful tools for developing robust AF detectors also in longer ECG recordings, even when using a low number of carefully selected features. The use of feature selection allows significantly reducing the number of features while preserving the classification performance, which can be important when building low-complexity AF classifiers on ECG devices with constrained computational and energy resources.


We experienced a case who received a bone resection for ankylosing spinal hyperostosis through the anterior approach. He subsequently became asphyxic and suffered a cardiopulmonary arrest owing to a postoperative hematoma. His complaint before the surgery was sticking of his throat and dyspnea that continued for 3 years. X-ray films revealed an osteophyte on the anterior side of the C3-C6 vertebral bodies, and we made an anterior approach under general anesthesia. There were no problems during the surgery. After being returned to the ward without intubation, he complained that he had a catch in his throat that progressed little by little, and subsequently suffered a cardiopulmonary arrest at 5 hours after surgery. Upon revival, he had brain hypoxia. He passed away owing to malnutrition and pneumonia at 4 years after the surgery. To prevent this complication, it is important to have an understanding of this condition. We should have alerted the nurses that such a complication may occur after anterior spinal surgery. It is also important to be aware that intubation of such a case becomes difficult once the trachea has become compressed and curved because of a hematoma.


This study compares the impacts of Arctic sea ice decline on the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC) in two configurations of the Community Earth System Model (CESM) with different horizontal resolution. In a suite of model experiments we impose radiative imbalance at the ice surface, replicating a loss of sea ice cover comparable to the observed during 1979-2014, and find dramatic differences in the AMOC response between the two models. In the lower-resolution configuration, the AMOC weakens by about one third over the first 100 years, approaching a new quasi-equilibrium. By contrast, in the higher-resolution configuration, the AMOC weakens by ~10% during the first 20-30 years followed by a full recovery driven by invigorated deep water formation in the Labrador Sea and adjacent regions. We investigate these differences using a diagnostic AMOC stability indicator, which reflects the AMOC freshwater transport in and out of the basin and hence the strength of the basin-scale salt-advection feedback. This indicator suggests that the AMOC in the lower-resolution model is less stable and more sensitive to surface perturbations, as confirmed by hosing experiments mimicking Arctic freshening due to sea ice decline. Differences between the models' mean states, including the Atlantic mean surface freshwater fluxes, control the differences in AMOC stability. Our results demonstrate that the AMOC stability indicator is indeed useful for evaluating AMOC sensitivity to perturbations. Finally, we emphasize that, despite the differences in the long-term adjustment, both models simulate a multi-decadal AMOC weakening caused by Arctic sea ice decline, relevant to climate change.


Before the work of Ronald Coase, economists argued that externalities-unpriced benefits or costs-constituted the main exception to the rule that Adam Smith's invisible hand will efficiently allocate resources. Coase showed that externalities may or may not require a government solution, depending on the institutional setting of the problems and the size of transaction costs. Moreover, even in the absence of externalities, market transactions require low transaction costs. Firms exist to economize on those costs. In shifting the terms of the debate, Coase single-handedly moved economics from presuming specific roles for government action to a more neutral position requiring detailed analysis. In this article, Roy Ruffin explains Coase's contribution to understanding the role of government.


A correlative analysis was made between the neurological status of the awake patient and the internal carotid artery stump pressure in 125 consecutive patients undergoing carotid endarterectomy. There was no mortality in this series. Twenty-four patients lost consciousness immediately after carotid cross-clamping, even though stump pressures were above 50 mm Hg in more than one third of the cases. The majority (80.8%) of the patients tolerated cross-clamping (stump pressures were between 20 and 90 mm Hg). This study demonstrated the variability of cerebral tolerance relative to absolute stump pressure guidelines, such as 25 or 50 mm Hg; reliance on these values to determine the need for intraoperative shunting could lead to stroke at operation. Our experience also showed that assessment of the awake but tranquil patient continues to be the safest and most reliable guide to selective shunting during carotid endarterectomy.


Bridges are important links in the road network. Over the years, bridges have been designed to various standards as they were built in different periods. The road infrastructure grew as the country developed and the population spread out. The technology also has significantly developed resulting in better understanding of bridge structures and their behaviour. As funds availability is tightened, road authorities are facing challenges related to the implementation of optimal bridge management programs based on lifecycle cost, remaining life and bridge capacity considerations. In this context, this paper presents the Australian experience in managing bridges, and proposes a strategy to upgrade bridges on sub-networks in a proactive way in anticipation of new operational loads or legal limits being imposed. The paper also provides an example illustrating the applicability of proposed strategy.


The purpose of this paper is to research and develop a new nanofluid synthesis system that uses plasma arc as heat source to fabricate nanofluid having high suspension stability. This system uses high temperature produced by plasma arc system to cause transient vaporization to metal, which is then followed by the induction of vaporized metallic gas into the collection piping by the induction system. At the same time, it mixes thoroughly with the pre-condensed deionized water, and the mixture is then underwent a rapid cooling process. Because of low temperature, the metallic gas condenses into nanoparticles, which is finally stored in the collection tank in the form of nanofluid. This paper discusses the influence of working current towards the fabricated Al2O3 nanoparticle. Also, based on the Al2O3nanofluid having different pH values, it analyzes into the suspension stability of its Zeta potential value. Furthermore, it investigates into the absorption properties of Al2O3 nanofluid towards UV/Vis. Besides, as known from the experimental result of the fuel calorific test, when the weight concentration of the Al2O3 nanofluids that is produced by a better fabrication is 3%, it explores into its good combustion efficiency towards 92 unleaded gas.


Eight strains of Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato were tested with serum samples from persons who had Lyme borreliosis or syphilis in class-specific enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISAs). Antigens of B. burgdorferi sensu stricto, of Borrelia garinii, and of Borrelia spirochetes in group VS461 were prepared from cultured bacteria isolated from ticks, a white-footed mouse (Peromyscus leucopus), or human tissues in North America, the former Soviet Union, and Japan. Nearly all of the serum specimens that contained immunoglobulins to strain 2591, a Connecticut isolate, were also positive in antibody tests with the other seven strains. In general, all eight strains reacted similarly and were suitable as coating antigens in class-specific ELISAs. Assay sensitivities ranged from 82.6 to 100% in analyses for immunoglobulin M and G antibodies. Compared with reference antigen strain 2591, strains 231 (a tick isolate from Canada) and NCH-1 (a human skin isolate from Wisconsin) resulted in higher antibody titers in an ELISA. Syphilitic sera cross-reacted in all tests regardless of the antigen used. Key immunodominant proteins are shared among the closely related strains of B. burgdorferi sensu lato tested, but it is suspected that variations in antigen compositions among these spirochetes may sometimes affect assay performance for detecting serum antibodies.


PURPOSE
The basic oral health needs of more than 100 million Americans are not being met, which places them at an increased risk for serious oral and systemic health consequences. Primary care nursing centers, a comparatively new method of health care delivery, provide health care screening, education, and referral services to person typically underserved in the traditional health care delivery system. Primary care nursing centers were surveyed to determine to what extent they provide oral health screening, education, and referral services for clients, and to identify factors that discourage and encourage the integration of these services.

METHODS
Nurses from 158 primary care nursing centers in the United States made up the study population. Data were collected using a self-administered questionnaire. Data from 59 primary care nursing centers were analyzed using frequency distributions and measures of central tendency.

RESULTS
Almost half of the responding nurses at primary care nursing centers "almost always" screen their clients for gum infections (49%) and oral lesions (48%). Fewer teach their clients how to perform oral cancer self-examinations (20%); or educate them regarding use of athletic mouth protectors (15%), the effects of xerostomia (19%), and the benefits of fluoride (38%). The majority do not always refer clients needing treatment for dental decay (55%), gum infections (61%), missing teeth (80%), oral lesions (67%), oral pain (64%), or oral trauma (65%). Lack of referral sources (64%) and unavailability of oral health professionals to provide on site basic oral health services (63%) were the leading factors that discourage the integration of oral health services in the centers. An appreciation for the benefits of oral health (73%) and a knowledgeable clinician to perform oral health services (68%) were the leading factors that encourage the integration of oral health services into primary care nursing centers.

CONCLUSION
These data could be useful in planning, implementing, and evaluating more effective and efficient methods for channeling basic oral health services to the public. The data provide support for the collaborative efforts by dental hygienists and nurses to expand oral health services beyond the confines of the current dental care delivery system.


The ATLAS DataFlow infrastructure is responsible for the collection and conveyance of event data from the detector front-end electronics to the mass storage. Several optimized and multi-threaded applications fulfill this purpose operating over a multi-stage Gigabit Ethernet network which is the backbone of the ATLAS Trigger and Data Acquisition System. The system must be able to efficiently transport event-data with high reliability, while providing aggregated bandwidths larger than 5 GByte/s and coping with many thousands network connections. Nevertheless, routing and streaming capabilities and monitoring and data accounting functionalities are also fundamental requirements. During 2008, a few months of ATLAS cosmic data-taking and the first experience with the LHC beams provided an unprecedented test-bed for the evaluation of the performance of the ATLAS DataFlow, in terms of functionality, robustness and stability. Besides, operating the system far from its design specifications helped in exercising its flexibility and contributed in understanding its limitations. Moreover, the integration with the detector and the interfacing with the off-line data processing and management have been able to take advantage of this extended data taking-period as well. In this paper we report on the usage of the DataFlow infrastructure during the ATLAS data-taking. These results, backed-up by complementary performance tests, validate the architecture of the ATLAS DataFlow and prove that the system is robust, flexible and scalable enough to cope with the final requirements of the ATLAS experiment.


This paper introduces a bootstrap-based inference method for functions of the parameter vector in a moment (in)equality model. These functions are restricted to be linear for two-sided testing problems, but may be nonlinear for one-sided testing problems. In the most common case, this function selects a subvector of the parameter, such as a single component. The new inference method we propose controls asymptotic size uniformly over a large class of data distributions and improves upon the two existing methods that deliver uniform size control for this type of problem: projection-based and subsampling inference. Relative to projection-based procedures, our method presents three advantages: (i) it weakly dominates in terms of finite sample power, (ii) it strictly dominates in terms of asymptotic power, and (iii) it is typically less computationally demanding. Relative to subsampling, our method presents two advantages: (i) it strictly dominates in terms of asymptotic power (for reasonable choices of subsample size), and (ii) it appears to be less sensitive to the choice of its tuning parameter than subsampling is to the choice of subsample size.


This article examines the classic question of how religious diversity in a community affects church membership in a period of high growth and social change. Using panel data on local U.S. communities from 1890 to 1926, the authors estimate models specified to overcome likely artifactual problems, deal with unobserved community‐specific heterogeneity, and model state dependence. In general, the findings support the plausibility of mechanisms based on pluralistic deobjectivation and identity activation; they do not support predictions from mechanisms based on organization‐environment matching and interdenominational competition. The findings also show that the overall effect of urbanization on church participation was positive in all but the most religiously diverse communities.


This research addresses the complexities of identity development of elementary and middle school preservice literacy teachers during their teacher education program using a poststructural feminist theoretical lens. This research investigated two questions: 1) How do preservice teachers develop their identity as teachers of literacy in the midst of authoritative discourses? 2) What kinds of strategies and discourses do preservice literacy teachers use to negotiate the competing discourses of literacy during student teaching? The results indicated that the identities of the preservice literacy teachers were in transition during their teacher education program and authoritative discourses were at work constituting their subjectivities throughout this process. These discourses were heard as the preservice literacy teachers used deconstructive and reconstructive literacy discourses and strategies from their personal literacy biographies, literacy coursework, and student teaching practices. Their agency as literacy teachers was demonstrated through the strategies they used to negotiate and perform their identities during student teaching—working within and outside of the literacy structures of their cooperating teachers' classrooms. The research also indicated the power of time and space in relation with others, as a means for continued identity transformation.


Reluctance on the part of many banks to lend to small enterprise in Africa has led agencies to examine the possibility of venture capital financing. In this article various conditions are set out for successful equity financing, and caution is advised concerning investment where market signals are not favourable.


Why is there no labor party in the United States? This question has had deep implications for U.S. politics and social policy. Existing explanations use "reflection" models of parties, whereby parties reflect preexisting cleavages or institutional arrangements. But a comparison with Canada, whose political terrain was supposedly more favorable to labor parties, challenges reflection models. Newly compiled electoral data show that underlying social structures and institutions did not affect labor party support as expected: support was similar in both countries prior to the 1930s, then diverged. To explain this, I propose a modified "articulation" model of parties, emphasizing parties' role in assembling and naturalizing political coalitions within structural constraints. In both cases, ruling party responses to labor and agrarian unrest during the Great Depression determined which among a range of possible political alliances actually emerged. In the United States, FDR used the crisis to mobilize new constituencies. Rhetorical appeals to the "forgotten man" and policy reforms absorbed some farmer and labor groups into the New Deal coalition and divided and excluded others, undermining labor party support. In Canada, mainstream parties excluded farmer and labor constituencies, leaving room for the Cooperative Commonwealth Federation (CCF) to organize them into a third-party coalition.


Dinosauroid tracks are common in France. They are mainly tridactyl II-IV feet tracks, sometimes with those of hands. A lot of these latter Coelurosaurichnus grancieri Courel & Demathieu, 2000 was discovered by MG near the village of Payzac (Ardeche department) in beds belonging to the "Ensemble greso-dolomitique gris" (= EGDG) (fig. 1. 2). They are dated Carnian from palynological data [Fauconnier et al., 1996]. C. grancieri are tracks of feet and hands respectively 10 cm and 2.5 cm long (fig. 1. 3-5, 7-21; tabl. I-1, tabl. II). From the trackways characters, it was inferred that trackmakers were long legged, bipedal-quadrupedal reptiles, 1-2 m long.

New discoveries made by MG in Payzac site showed the existence of a new ichnopopulation Grallator sp. (fig. 1. 25-33 ; tabl. I. II) They are only feet tracks whose trackmakers were also long-legged but only bipedal animals, a little larger that the preceding ones. Statistical comparisons with the use of Student and Snedecor tests, discriminant analysis between C. grancieri and Grallator sp. show that these two ichnopopulations are different (CG, GP, fig. 3). Also they are well distinguished with other Carnian ichnospecies of Coelurosaurichnus of Franconie = Grallator or Atreipus (Haubold & Klein, 2000) (Aal, fig. 3) and Hettangian G. variabilis of Causses (Gv, fig. 4).

Coelurosaurichnus grancieri and Grallator sp. trackmakers were carnivorous reptiles and probably belonging to different taxa. Maybe they were only Dinosauromorpha or already theropod Dinosauria. Anyway, their presence in the lower-medium Carnian means a biodiversity for these bipedal reptiles which wwas also underlined by palichnological data from South Africa [Ellenberger, 1972] and osteological discoveries in Argentina [Bonaparte, 1993; Cuny, 1993].

Other beds bearing dinosauroid footprints were found in Ucel Formation dated Norian [Razin et al., 1996] well exposed near Corbes [Ellenberger, 1965] and the town of la Grand-Combe [Gand et al., 2000]. All these traces are Grallator, therefore II-IV feet, about 20 cm long, probably made by Ceratosauria. The ichnopopulation G. andeolensis are clearly discriminative of Carnian Coelurosaurichnus grancieri/ Grallator sp. and Rhaetian Eubrontes (fig. 4). It was found with large Sauropoda and Prosauropoda footprints. Then, in France, frequent dinosauroid footprints have been found in Gres d'Olemps F. (Causse de Rodez) in which are Eubrontes giganteus, Grallator cf. minusculus and Dilophosauripus sp. The first two are probably due to Theropods and the latter to Ornithopodia.

French palichnological data and those coming from West USA [Lockley and Hunt, 1995] suggest that the carnivorous bipedal reptiles size increases slowly but surely during Upper Triassic with a speeding up at the end of Rhaetian. But the presence of large Eubrontes, 43 cm long in Carnian beds of Australia means this is not true [Lucas, 2003]. Of course, it would be very interesting to find outside of Australia such large early Eubrontes. In France, also we have not met Brachychirotherium and Chirotherium : ichnites of Thecodonts which are still present in the Carnian-Norian of Germany and America [Haubold, 1984, 1986].


Radiographic film is an established practical tool used in the measurement of the dose distribution for radiotherapy purposes. The accuracy and reproducibility of film optical density as an indicator of dose has been associated with several factors including photon energy, processing conditions and film plane orientation. Few studies have investigated the factors causing variability in film dosimetry, due to the difficulty of separating the individual contributions. The effect that a sheet of radiographic film in a water phantom has on its response to a 6 MV photon and a cobalt-60 teletherapy beam, when orientated perpendicular and parallel to the beam central axis, is reported. Monte Carlo generated spectra were used to calculate collision kerma (Kcoll) for water and film elements. Measured and calculated results indicate a potential over-response at 25 cm depth of the order of 14 +/- 2.4% and 18 +/- 6.0% respectively for 6 MV photons and 15 +/- 3.4% and 32 +/- 4.5% respectively for a cobalt beam. For film exposed parallel as compared to perpendicular to the central axis of the beam, the calculated results suggest an explanation in terms of the predominantly forward directed secondary electrons for the measured difference in film response at depth. It is proposed that the difference in response of the parallel as compared to perpendicular exposed film be due to the predominantly 'upstream' photon interactions giving rise to energy deposition in film. The simulations indicate that the variation with depth of relative energy imparted in film and water elements correlates with the observed variation in film response with depth.


AIM: Our aim is to investigate how the chronic intraprostatic inflammation affect the course of the BPH (benign prostatic hyperplasia). PATIENTS AND METHODS: Between the dates of 2007-2011, the files of the patients who had TUR-P (transurethral resection of the prostate) and underwent open surgery were retrospectively reviewed because of BPH, and the patients were divided into two groups who were operated due to AUR (acute urinary retention) or LUTS (lower urinary tract symptoms) and the clinical data and pathology results of the two groups were com - pared i n terms of chronic intraprostatic inflam - mation. RESULTS: There were evaluable data of 130 of 150 patients. The age range of the patients was 50-88. 52 of the 130 patients due to AUR and 78 of them due to LUTS underwent surgery. While there was chronic inflammation in 59 of the 130 patients, there was not in 71. The volume of the prostate and the average age of those who had chronic prostatitis with the combination of AUR were greater compared to the LUTS. CONCLUSIONS: It seems that chronic prosta - titis is a factor which is often accompanied by BPH and affects the progression and pathology of the disease. The risk of acute urinary reten - tion is more frequent in patients with chronic in - flammation than in those who lack. In the future, related clinical trials with the relationship be - tween the intraprostatic inflammation and BPH treatment are necessary and should include more cases and longer period of follow-up for these studies.


A rapid method employing static headspace gas chromatography (HS-GC) has been developed and validated for quantitative analysis of the impact aroma compound, 2-acetyl-1-pyrroline (2AP), in grains of fragrant rice. This developed method excludes wet extraction, and the rice headspace volatiles are brought directly and automatically to GC analysis. The conditions of the static HS autosampler were optimized to achieve high recovery and sensitivity. The most effective amount of rice sample used was 1 g, which provided 51% recovery and a linear multiple headspace extraction (MHE) plot of the peak area of 2AP. The sensitivity of the method was enhanced by utilizing a megabore fused silica capillary column in conjunction with a nitrogen-phosphorus detector (NPD). Method validations performed for both static HS-GC-FID and HS-GC-NPD demonstrated linear calibration ranges of 20-10 000 (r(2) = 0.9997) and 5-8000 (r(2) = 0.9998) ng of 2AP/g of rice sample, respectively. The limits of detection for both systems were 20 and 5 ng of 2AP, and the limits of quantitation were 0.30 and 0.01 g of brown rice sample, respectively. Reproducibility calculated as intraday and interday coefficients of variation were 3.25% RSD (n = 15) and 3.92% RSD (n = 35), respectively, for SHS-GC-FID and 1.87% RSD (n = 15) and 2.85% RSD (n = 35), respectively, for SHS-GC-NPD. The method was found to be effective when applied to the evaluation of aroma quality, based on 2AP concentrations, of some fragrant rice samples.


Paracrine factors may modulate low density lipoprotein (LDL) receptor activity in hepatocytes. To study this the effect of conditioned medium prepared from a range of cell types on the binding and internalisation of 125I-LDL in Hep G2 cells was studied. Seven of the fourteen conditioned media tested, including those from P388D1, U937, porcine smooth muscle (Pc SMC) Swiss 3T3, STO, = 48 and MDCK cells, were found to increase the binding and internalisation of 125I-LDL at 37 degrees C by Hep G2 cells (P < 0.01). The largest increase in LDL receptor activity was produced by conditioned medium from Pc SMC cells and was, therefore, selected for further analysis. The Pc SMC-conditioned medium increased LDL receptor number in Hep G2 cells by three-fold but had no effect on LDL receptor activity in human skin fibroblasts. DNA synthesis and cholesterol synthesis by Hep G2 cells were inhibited by Pc SMC-conditioned medium. Preliminary characterisation of the Pc SMC-derived factor(s) suggests that it is a protein(s) of low relative molecular mass.


A double-layered periodic structure composed of shorted rings is employed to reduce the angular sensitivity of the reflection coefficient of a frequency selective surface (FSS). The angular sensitivity appears to vanish altogether for certain separation of the two layers. The configuration of the proposed cell element makes it suitable for dual orthogonal or circular polarized applications. >


Relatively little studies have investigated employee recovery from internal service failure, especially from the employees' perspective. When handling customer complaints, employees must not only deal with legitimate customer demands after a service failure, such as providing an apology, rectifying the problem, and offering compensation, but they must also manage illegitimate dysfunctional customers, who may yell, threaten, and even physically harm the employee. These negative experiences can have strong effects, and employees can exhibit higher levels of stress such as burnout and emotional labor, which have been linked to dissatisfaction, tension and anxiety, reduced performance and effectiveness, and a greater propensity to leave the firm, ultimately leading to negative financial consequences for the firm. These conditions result in internal service failure and create the need to recover employees - in other words, internal service recovery. However, little research has examined this issue so far. The purpose of the current study, therefore, is to investigate the relationship between internal service recovery and employee outcomes. A pre-test, post-test between-subjects experimental design was developed. Participants were 166 part-time students who were working full-time. The average age of the participants was 36.74 years, and 57.50% of them were female. The average length of employment was 13 years. Participants were randomly assigned to one of four groups of approximately equal size. Three of the groups were subjected to an experimental situation involving an internal service failure, while one group was not exposed to failure, thereby acting as a control group. This study contributes to the service marketing literature in several ways. First, the study extends service failure and/or recovery research by examining recovery in an employee context. Second, this study attempts to measure internal service recovery and to empirically demonstrate its relationship to employee outcomes. Third, this investigation emphasizes the managerial importance of internal service recovery. For example, understanding the nature of the relationships between internal service recovery and its consequences can improve the effectiveness and efficiency of managers" resource allocation decisions.


Introduction: Febrile neutropenia is one of the most common presentations to the emergency department. Identification and empirical antibiotic therapy improve the outcome of these patients. The objectives of the study are to collect prospective data on febrile neutropenic patients and describe their clinical profile. Materials and Methods: The study was conducted at the Emergency Department, Christian Medical College and Hospital, Vellore, from July 2017 to February 2018. After obtaining informed consent, all adult patients who presented with fever and neutropenia were included in the study. Results: Of 3778 patients with fever, 101 patients had febrile neutropenia and were included in the study. Males comprised 55.5%. Moderate neutropenia was seen in 30 patients and severe neutropenia was seen in 71 patients. Among the various comorbidities, diabetic patients were more at risk of developing febrile neutropenia (17. 82%). The common organisms isolated were Gram-negative organisms (62. 5%). Coagulase-negative staphylococci and Escherichia coli were the most common organisms. Aplastic anemia was the main diagnosis among those patients with febrile neutropenia (43.76%). The mortality of the febrile neutropenic patients was 1.98%. Overall survival was 96.04%. Conclusion: Empirical antibiotic therapy covering the most common organisms should be started early in febrile neutropenia patients.


Several mitochondrial proteins, such as adenine nucleotide translocase (ANT), aspartate/glutamate carrier, dicarboxylate carrier, and uncoupling proteins 2 and 3, are suggested to have dual transport functions. While the transport of charge (protons and anions) is characterized by an alteration in membrane conductance, investigating substrate transport is challenging. Currently, mainly radioactively labeled substrates are used, which are very expensive and require stringent precautions during their preparation and use. We present and evaluate a fluorescence-based method using Magnesium Green (MgGrTM), a Mg2+-sensitive dye suitable for measurement in liposomes. Given the different binding affinities of Mg2+ for ATP and ADP, changes in their concentrations can be detected. We obtained an ADP/ATP exchange rate of 3.49 ± 0.41 mmol/min/g of recombinant ANT1 reconstituted into unilamellar liposomes, which is comparable to values measured in mitochondria and proteoliposomes using a radioactivity assay. ADP/ATP exchange calculated from MgGrTM fluorescence solely depends on the ANT1 content in liposomes and is inhibited by the ANT-specific inhibitors, bongkrekic acid and carboxyatractyloside. The application of MgGrTM to investigate ADP/ATP exchange rates contributes to our understanding of ANT function in mitochondria and paves the way for the design of other substrate transport assays.


BACKGROUND: With the increasing number of surgeons using phacoemulsification techniques combined with sutureless scleral tunnel and clear corneal incisions for cataract surgery, the majority of patients will undergo an uncomplicated course of visual rehabilitation requiring no more than standard topical antibiotic and steroid regimen. Occasionally--even with an uneventful surgical course--postoperative complications arise. Many of these postoperative complications can be managed medically, without surgical intervention. Topical and oral glaucoma and nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory agents play an important role in the management of postoperative cataract complications. METHODS: A review of the common postoperative complications and their medical management using topical and oral pharmaceutical agents are presented. Emphasis is placed on current trends in treatment following contemporary cataract surgery. CONCLUSION: Although the complication rate is reduced with modern cataract surgery techniques, the primary care clinician should be prepared to identify and manage the most common clinical conditions. Armed with the proper knowledge of ophthalmic medications and their possible ocular and systemic interactions, optometrists can successfully manage and co-manage many postoperative cataract complications. Common postoperative complications are reviewed, along with current treatment regiments and dosage forms.


Novices and experts have struggled to evaluate the accessibility of data visualizations because there are no common shared guidelines across environments, platforms, and contexts in which data visualizations are authored. Between non‐specific standards bodies like WCAG, emerging research, and guidelines from specific communities of practice, it is hard to organize knowledge on how to evaluate accessible data visualizations. We present Chartability, a set of heuristics synthesized from these various sources which enables designers, developers, researchers, and auditors to evaluate data‐driven visualizations and interfaces for visual, motor, vestibular, neurological, and cognitive accessibility. In this paper, we outline our process of making a set of heuristics and accessibility principles for Chartability and highlight key features in the auditing process. Working with participants on real projects, we found that data practitioners with a novice level of accessibility skills were more confident and found auditing to be easier after using Chartability. Expert accessibility practitioners were eager to integrate Chartability into their own work. Reflecting on Chartability's development and the preliminary user evaluation, we discuss tradeoffs of open projects, working with high‐risk evaluations like auditing projects in the wild, and challenge future research projects at the intersection of visualization and accessibility to consider the broad intersections of disabilities.


When young learners learnt English as a foreign language, they made many mistakes or errors whether in pronunciation, spelling, grammar or vocabulary. The errors will reveal where learners are particularly likely to make incorrect generalization about the target language. The data were collected either based on the writer's experience when she was studying in junior, senior high school, and on observation to the students when she taught. To support the data, the writer also took the example of sentences about the error from the source book that she thought relevant to the problem discussed.  The writer just  discusses some of the grammatical aspects such as to be / auxiliary, pronouns, and tenses. The greater the grammatical differences between mother tongue and target language  (foreign language ), the greater the difficulty faced by learners. Keywords: Mother-tongue Interference, Young Learners, Grammar Errors


The va gene is used in commercial Burley tobacco cultivars including cv TN 86 to confer resistance to tobacco vein mottling virus (TVMV) and, to some extent, other potyviruses. A naturally occurring strain of TVMV (TVMV-S), which overcomes this resistance, was isolated from TN 86 plants. To investigate the mechanism by which TVMV-S overcomes va gene resistance, a cDNA clone encompassing the complete genome of TVMV-S was produced. Using chimeric transcripts combining regions of TVMV-S and regions of the wild-type strain (TVMV-WT) to which TN 86 is resistant, it was demonstrated that a domain within the VPg protein is responsible for overcoming va resistance in TN 86. DNA sequence analysis revealed six amino acid differences between the two strains of TVMV within this domain. Inclusion of sequences for four of the TVMV-S VPg amino acids was sufficient to confer the resistance-overcoming phenotype to all corresponding transcripts. Coinoculation experiments suggested that the resistance of TN 86 to TVMV-WT was not due to the induction of a general host defense response. The results are compatible with the hypothesis that VPg must assume an appropriate configuration in order to interact with appropriate host components and facilitate systemic virus movement.


In this letter, a direct measurement of a refractive index change in potassium gadolinium tungstate (KGW) created by a low-dose ion implantation of 1MeV hydrogen ions is reported. The characterization was performed using both microreflectivity and Raman spectroscopy measurements. The microreflectivity results show both negative and positive changes in refractive index in the damage region when measuring refractive index along different polarization axes. Micro-Raman spectroscopy analysis shows preservation of the Raman characteristics of KGW in the nondamaged crystal regions. These results show that ion implantation in KGW has a great potential for fabricating waveguide structures in Raman-based photonic devices.


The extraordinary significance of the life and work of Rene Sand lies in his central position as a mediator, promoter and coordinator of social work on an increasingly international level during the interwar-period and it can hardly be overestimated. To approach the achievements of Sand's life and work you have to work archaeologically as he does not seem to have left any traces in the literature on social history. In Germany, even within the field of social work his name is hardly known. His biographical sketch and his importance for the development of the profession of social work have fallen into oblivion.


In this correspondence, we discuss the quality of images realized by a recently proposed method of generating a high-resolution image by superimposing multiple low-resolution images projected by different projectors. We show several fundamental properties of this method: 1) the accuracy of the image realization (e.g., resolution of the realized image) is heavily affected by the structures of the images to be realized, and 2) there is a tradeoff between the image quality and the maximum brightness of the images to be realized. These are properties peculiar to multiprojector super-resolution and are in contrast with multicamera super-resolution. The results will be helpful in evaluating the usefulness of the method.


The 3-D target information can be obtained directly by the analysis of the 1-D data of the pulse laser range profile (LRP). In this paper, a new calculational method to generate and process the LRP which is based on the lidar equation is established. The LRPs of different targets are simulated by the new method, and the corresponding profile information is achieved. The effect of the some parameters including the target shape, surface material, incident pulsewidth and incident angle on the LRP is analyzed. In order to validate the theory, the relevant experiment is implemented, and the experimental data agrees well with the simulation result.


The vascular-capillary network of the dog cerebellum has been studied by means of the injection method. The capillary length in 1 mm3 of the vermis cortex averages to 520 mm in the molecular layer and 680 mm--in the granular layer. The mean diameter of the capillaries is 3 mkm. The capillary length both in the molecular and in the granular cortical layers at the fundus of sulci is 40-60% more, and the capillary diameter is 7-10% less than at the apices of the sulci.


Three billion years after the big bang (at redshift z = 2), half of the most massive galaxies were already old, quiescent systems with little to no residual star formation and extremely compact with stellar mass densities at least an order of magnitude larger than in low-redshift ellipticals, their descendants. Little is known about how they formed, but their evolved, dense stellar populations suggest formation within intense, compact starbursts 1–2 Gyr earlier (at 3 < z < 6). Simulations show that gas-rich major mergers can give rise to such starbursts, which produce dense remnants. Submillimeter-selected galaxies (SMGs) are prime examples of intense, gas-rich starbursts. With a new, representative spectroscopic sample of compact, quiescent galaxies at z = 2 and a statistically well-understood sample of SMGs, we show that z = 3–6 SMGs are consistent with being the progenitors of z = 2 quiescent galaxies, matching their formation redshifts and their distributions of sizes, stellar masses, and internal velocities. Assuming an evolutionary connection, their space densities also match if the mean duty cycle of SMG starbursts is Myr (consistent with independent estimates), which indicates that the bulk of stars in these massive galaxies were formed in a major, early surge of star formation. These results suggest a coherent picture of the formation history of the most massive galaxies in the universe, from their initial burst of violent star formation through their appearance as high stellar-density galaxy cores and to their ultimate fate as giant ellipticals.


In this research, a Universal map, which can be converted to individual maps for heterogeneous mobile robots, is proposed. A Universal map can be generated using our developed measurement robot, and it is composed of a textured 3D environment model. Therefore, every robot can use a Universal map as a common map, and it is utilized for various localization technologies such as view-based and LRF-based methods. In LRF-based localization, accurate localization is achieved using a specific map, which is generated from Universal map. In a view-based approach, localization and navigation are achieved using rendered images. The use of a Universal map enables generation of these maps automatically. The effectiveness of this approach is confirmed through experiments.


PURPOSE: To analyze the physiological and biochemical measurements before, during and after pregnancy of healthy rats. METHODS: Wistar adult females rats (n=8) were weighed and blood samples were obtained before, during and after pregnancy for biochemical determinations, chow intake, water consumption and milk production were evaluated. At day 10 postpartum, the rats were killed for weighing of organs and adipose tissues. RESULTS: The results showed increase in body weight, serum insulin and ingestion of water and chow. At day 17 pregnancy, presented normal values in the OGTT. At days 7, 14 and 20 of pregnancy, there was increase in triglyceride levels. At term pregnancy, there was weight gain due to fetal growth. In the postpartum period presented reduced blood glucose levels. The glycemic means were reduced during and after pregnancy compared to after pregnancy. The triglyceride concentrations were increased before and during pregnancy in relation to after pregnancy. The total cholesterol levels presented no changes. CONCLUSION: The use of experimental animals is suitable for evaluation of metabolic changes because the profile of answers found in this study was similar to human profile, showing the relevance of translational research to better understand the pathophysiological mechanisms and possible treatment for diseases.


This report presents the results of the bachelor assignment Ontwerpondersteuning [Engl.:'Design assistance'] which was part of the Solar Chandelier project that was set up by Demakersvan. The goal of this assignment was to translate the artistic design, that was made by Demakersvan, into a working and producible product. Different parts of the chandelier are elaborated in different ways. The design processes of those will be abstracted shortly below. The results of the assignment enable Demakersvan to build and produce the chandelier.
For the integration of the solarcells, that are cut in the form of butterflies, into the chandelier, a sandwich construction is developed to strengthen and protect the cells. The construction is based on a research on sandwich construction techniques for solarcells in general. There is analyzed which methods and techniques can be applied in the design of the sandwich construction for the butterfly-solarcells. By testing, the most applicable technique is chosen. Thereafter a technique for connecting the different solarcells is developed.
Aside from the sandwich construction, there is worked on a frame construction that can carry all the butterflies, and can therefore be the backbone of the chandelier. Digital models of such a construction are made in Solidworks and are transformed partly into real models. The results of testing and researches on possible materials and production techniques are summed up in a recommendation for the construction of the frame.
The third part of the assignment was the design of a connection and mounting of the butterflies on the frame. This part is worked out in a draft-proposal. Therefor, also digital models are made in Solidworks which were produced by rapid prototyping techniques. The models are based on tests analyzed and improved.
The results of the researches on the butterfly sandwich construction and the connection and mounting are combined in a functional prototype.


This paper addresses the problem of determining the relative position and orientation of an unmanned air vehicle with respect to a ship using three visible points of known separation. The, images of the points are obtained from an onboard infrared camera. The paper develops a numerical solution to this problem. Both simulation and flight test results are presented.


BACKGROUND
Dietary carbohydrate, fiber and sugar intake has been shown to play a role in the etiology of breast cancer, but the findings have been inconsistent and limited to developed countries with higher cancer incidence.

OBJECTIVE
To examine the association of premenopausal and postmenopausal breast cancer risk with dietary carbohydrate, fiber and sugar intake.

MATERIALS AND METHODS
This population based case-control study was conducted in Malaysia with 382 breast cancer patients and 382 controls. Food intake pattern was assessed via an interviewer-administered food frequency questionnaire. Logistic regression was used to compute odds ratios (OR) with 95% confidence intervals (CI) and a broad range of potential confounders were included in analysis.

RESULTS
A significant two fold increased risk of breast cancer among premenopausal (OR Q4 to Q1=1.93, 95%CI: 1.53-2.61, p-trend=0.001) and postmenopausal (OR Q4 to Q1=1.87, 95%CI: 1.03-2.61, p-trend=0.045) women was observed in the highest quartile of sugar. A higher intake of dietary fiber was associated with a significantly lower breast cancer risk among both premenopausal (OR Q4 to Q1=0.31, 95%CI: 0.12-0.79, p-trend=0.009) and postmenopausal (OR Q4 to Q1=0.23, 95%CI: 0.07-0.76, p-trend=0.031) women.

CONCLUSIONS
Sugar and dietary fiber intake were independently related to pre- and postmenopausal breast cancer risk. However, no association was observed for dietary carbohydrate intake.


Inexpensive cloud services, such as serverless computing, are often vulnerable to straggling nodes that increase end-to-end latency for distributed computation. We propose and implement simple yet principled approaches for straggler mitigation in serverless systems for matrix multiplication and evaluate them on several common applications from machine learning and high-performance computing. The proposed schemes are inspired by error-correcting codes and employ parallel encoding and decoding over the data stored in the cloud using serverless workers. This creates a fully distributed computing framework without using a master node to conduct encoding or decoding, which removes the computation, communication and storage bottleneck at the master. On the theory side, we establish that our proposed scheme is asymptotically optimal in terms of decoding time and provide a lower bound on the number of stragglers it can tolerate with high probability. Through extensive experiments, we show that our scheme outperforms existing schemes such as speculative execution and other coding theoretic methods by at least 25%.


This dissertation consists of three chapters on individual decision making in asset markets and subjective assessment of health status. The first chapter studies price convergence in asset markets with indefinite duration induced by existence of bankruptcy risk. By introducing increasing and decreasing fundamental value paths via experimental methodology, this chapter extends knowledge about traders' incentives in asset markets with indefinite horizons. In most cases, the data indicate significant undervaluation of assets without a buyback value under bankruptcy risk regardless of fundamental value regime. The transaction prices closely follow the fundamental value trend of the asset supported by a terminal value in both definite and indefinite time horizons with constant fundamentals. The second chapter uses cross country survey data from Turkey and the United States to analyze determinants of gender differences in self-assessed health status. Ordered logit models are estimated to quantify the effects of factors that prove important in self-rated health outcomes. While some findings on the relationship between socioeconomic status indicators and self-assessed health level match earlier results, significant gender gap remains even with controls for chronic illnesses. Hierarchical ordered probit estimation reveals that reporting thresholds are significantly affected by gender of the respondents in both countries. The last chapter explains the gender differences in self-assessed health status by providing a theoretical identification mechanism via dynamic model which allows for heterogeneity in discount factor of individuals. Theoretical implications are empirically tested and estimation results support the structural model implications. We conclude that accounting for heterogeneity in individual discount factors explains substantial portion of the gender gap in self-assessed health status.


Hydrogen (H2), a new antioxidant, was reported to reduce •OH and ONOO− selectively and inhibit certain proinflammatory mediators to product, without disturbing metabolic redox reactions or ROS involved in cell signaling. We herein aim to explore its protective effects on acute renal injury in sodium taurocholate-induced acute pancreatitis and its possible mechanisms. Rats were injected with hydrogen-rich saline (HRS group) or normal saline (SO and SAP group) through tail intravenously (6 mL/kg) and compensated subcutaneously (20 mL/kg) after successful modeling. Results showed that hydrogen-rich saline attenuated the following: (1) serum Cr and BUN, (2) pancreatic and renal pathological injuries, (3) renal MDA, (4) renal MPO, (5) serum IL-1β, IL-6, and renal TNF-α, HMGB1, and (6) tyrosine nitration, IκB degradation, and NF-κB activation in renal tissues. In addition, it increased the level of IL-10 and SOD activity in renal tissues. These results proved that hydrogen-rich saline attenuates acute renal injury in sodium taurocholate-induced acute pancreatitis, presumably because of its detoxification activity against excessive ROS, and inhibits the activation of NF-κB by affecting IκB nitration and degradation. Our findings highlight the potential value of hydrogen-rich saline as a new therapeutic method on acute renal injury in severe acute pancreatitis clinically.


This paper is concerned with incident of return migration from overseas countries and their reintegration processes, and uses Kerala as a study area where  the state with largest concentration of return migrants in the country. Kerala has been a major source of human resource for the overseas countries for the world for a long which started in the 1830s and lead thousands of Keralites to gulf destinations still continues. The paper attempts to find out the policy initiatives and its challenges for the reintegration of the return migrants in Kerala state. In the special context of return migration of workers from overseas countries due to the economic recession, new labor policies and other reasons the reintegration of the return migrants is one of the discussing issue today in Kerala as others affected countries. The state Kerala has been affected much more in the return migration and the need of the attention to this area is very important today.  There are various detailed studies which deals with magnitude and causes of return migration to Kerala in the special context of economic recession in gulf countries. But only a few of studies have in the area of policy issues in return migration. Though some studies tried to analyze the functional status of different departments working for the migrants those did not gave special attention to the issues of return migrants.  The study will bring an insight in the selected topic for the review of literature.This paper attempts to put together issues related to international migration in a global perspective and covers wide range of issues related to the reintegration of returnees to the home society , current policies, programs and argues a multilevel planning not only just for individual migrants but also the family and total community at all. The paper argues that the migration policy should have to be expanded and current policies are not sufficient according to the strength of return migrants in the State. The paper discuss there should be a need of systematic policy initiatives and planning from the governments and other departments at  the local level with support of every stakeholder, i.e., the local communities in the home society, local self governments and the migrants themselves.


At COP21 in Paris parties to the UNFCCC reiterated the goal of USD 100 billion annually in climate finance by 2020 and agreed to set a more ambitious target by 2025. A significant portion of these funds is intended to flow through the newly operational Green Climate Fund and will be dedicated to climate change adaptation in developing countries. Meanwhile, growing support for adaptation is already flowing through diverse channels. International debates continue, not only over the amount of adaptation finance, but also with regard to fund governance. In particular, developing countries are seeking greater country control through increased participation in high-level decision-making and 'direct access' to adaptation funds. This paper proposes an overview of the primary channels currently employed in the emerging adaptation finance field, with particular attention to governance characteristics relevant to international debates. This analysis suggests that while both developing-country participation in decision-making and 'direct access' to funds have increased in some cases, the vast majority of adaptation finance continues to flow through traditional development aid channels and does not respond to developing countries' concerns regarding fund governance. If adaptation finance structures are not perceived as legitimate by developing countries, a global, coordinated response to climate change may be put at risk. Further, the implications, in terms of social justice and the effectiveness of adaptation, of conducting adaptation along the lines of development are currently under-represented in the literature. Given the goal of mobilising, for adaptation and mitigation in developing countries, USD 100 billion per year by 2020, there is an urgent need for empirical research in this domain.


Philip Pullman's children's fantasy His Dark Materials is a work influenced by
Romanticism, particularly British Romanticism. The thematic concern of the work,
with building not a kingdom but a secular humanist republic of heaven where all
people are free and equal citizens, and its philosophical concern, with the dialectic
between childhood innocence and adult experience, owe much to values and norms
held and developed by Romantic writers and thinkers. His Dark Materials makes a
case for the revolutionary potential of literature, but children's fantasy specifically,
to challenge established customs and effect social change. Its republican validation
of personal liberty, egalitarianism and partnership questions the centrality of
Christian mythology, theology and ecclesiasticism in Western culture, as well as
oppressive nostalgias for childhood innocence that refuse to say anything positive
about adult experience.
While John Milton and Paradise Lost - the Romantics' foremost precursor poet and
poem - the works of William Blake, particularly Songs o f Innocence and o f
Experience, and Heinrich von Kleist's 'On the Marionette Theatre' are
acknowledged influences on His Dark Materials, there are also similarities between
the text and the political tracts of Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Thomas Paine and
William Godwin, as well as the imaginative writings of William Wordsworth,
Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Lord Byron, Percy Bysshe Shelley and John Keats.
Despite the continued growth in the number of critical essays published on
Pullman's oeuvre, relatively few scholarly monographs have been published on His
Dark Materials', furthermore, while the influence of Romanticism on His Dark
Materials is generally accepted, the extent of this influence has not been examined
in detail. Danijela Petkovic suggests that while 'it is possible to draw numerous
parallels' between His Dark Materials and 'the key Romantic texts of the nineteenth
century' to do so would necessitate going 'far beyond the scope' of scholarship to
date (2008: 97) - this dissertation illuminates some of these parallels.
This dissertation begins with an introductory chapter that states the thesis and
expounds the relationship between His Dark Materials and a revolutionary and
republican strain in Romantic writing; contextualizes the dissertation, both
theoretically and critically; and, outlines the structure of the argument in the
succeeding chapters. Chapter One, entitled 'His Dark Materials as Children's
Fantasy', argues that Pullman employs the language and generic conventions of
children's literature and fantasy to develop a story that promotes the need for
personal and social change to as wide a readership as possible. In light of his
acknowledged indebtedness to Milton, Chapter Two, entitled 'His Dark Materials,
Paradise Lost and Romantic Iconoclasm', considers both the influence o f Paradise
Lost on the thematic concern of His Dark Materials with building a republic of
4
heaven and the similarities the text shares with iconoclastic theology and theocracy
in Romantic writing. Chapter Three, entitled 'His Dark Materials and Romantic
Constructions of Childhood', examines the dialectic between childhood innocence
and adult experience in His Dark Materials, as well as the text's challenge to
oppressive nostalgias for childhood that malign maturation and subordinate children
to adults. The dissertation concludes with a chapter that offers a summation of the
arguments made to substantiate the claim that the thematic and philosophical
concerns of Pullman's text are expressed through well-established Romantic
paradigms - that His Dark Materials is written in a tradition of republican
revolution.


Flaveria (Asteraceae) is the prime model for the study of C4 photosynthesis evolution and seems to support a stepwise acquisition of the pathway through C3-C4 intermediate phenotypes, still existing in Flaveria today. Molecular phylogenies of Flaveria based on concatenated data matrices are currently used to reconstruct the complex sequence of trait shifts during C4 evolution. To assess the possible role of hybridization in C4 evolution in Flaveria, we re-analyzed transcriptome data of 17 Flaveria species to infer the extent of gene tree discordance and possible reticulation events. We found massive gene tree discordance as well as reticulation along the backbone and within clades containing C3-C4 intermediate and C4-like species. An early hybridization event between two C3 species might have triggered C4 evolution in the genus. The clade containing all C4 species plus the C4-like species F. vaginata and F. palmeri is robust but of hybrid origin involving F. angustifolia and F. sonorensis (both C3-C4 intermediate) as parental lineages. Hybridization seems to be a driver of C4 evolution in Flaveria and likely promoted the fast acquisition of C4 traits. This new insight can be used in further exploring C4 evolution and can inform C4 bioengineering efforts.


Abstract Foot‐and‐mouth disease (FMD) affects the livestock industry and socioeconomic sustainability of many African countries. The success of FMD control programs in Africa depends largely on understanding the dynamics of FMD virus (FMDV) spread. In light of the recent outbreaks of FMD that affected the North‐Western African countries in 2018 and 2019, we investigated the evolutionary phylodynamics of the causative serotype O viral strains all belonging to the East‐Africa 3 topotype (O/EA‐3). We analyzed a total of 489 sequences encoding the FMDV VP1 genome region generated from samples collected from 25 African and Western Asian countries between 1974 and 2019. Using Bayesian evolutionary models on genomic and epidemiological data, we inferred the routes of introduction and migration of the FMDV O/EA‐3 topotype at the inter‐regional scale. We inferred a mean substitution rate of 6.64 × 10−3 nt/site/year and we predicted that the most recent common ancestor for our panel of samples circulated between February 1967 and November 1973 in Yemen, likely reflecting the epidemiological situation in under sampled cattle‐exporting East African countries. Our study also reinforces the role previously described of Sudan and South Sudan as a frequent source of FMDVs spread. In particular, we identified two transboundary routes of O/EA‐3 diffusion: the first from Sudan to North‐East Africa, and from the latter into Israel and Palestine AT; a second from Sudan to Nigeria, Cameroon, and from there to further into West and North‐West Africa. This study highlights the necessity to reinforce surveillance at an inter‐regional scale in Africa and Western Asia, in particular along the identified migration routes for the implementation of efficient control measures in the fight against FMD.


The phospholipase A(2 )from Daboia russelli pulchella (DPLA(2)) is the only known member of subclass II of group IIA. The three-dimensional structure of this presynaptic neurotoxic DPLA(2) enzyme has been determined at 2.4 A resolution. The structure was determined by the molecular replacement method using the model Crotalus atrox, and refined using X-PLOR to a final R-factor of 18.8 % for all data in the resolution range 20.0 A-2.4 A. The final refined model comprises 1888 atoms from two crystallographically independent protein molecules and 160 water oxygen atoms. The overall folding of DPLA(2), with three long helices and two short antiparallel beta-strands is grossly similar to those observed for other PLA(2)s. In the present structure, the calcium binding site is empty but the conformation of the calcium binding loop is similar to those observed in the calcium bound states. Two spatially adjacent regions of residues 55-61 (a typical beta-turn I) and 83-94 (a well defined loop) are remarkably different in conformation, electrostatic characteristics and inter-segmental interactions from those found in non-neurotoxic PLA(2)s. Yet another striking structural feature in DPLA(2 )pertains to the stretch of residues 53-77, which has a series of positively charged residues protruding outwardly. The above segment is presumed to be involved in the anticoagulant activity. A unique hydrophobic patch including residues Leu17, Ala18, Ile19, Pro20, Phe106 and Leu110 is found on the surface together with an equally emphatic region of -OH groups containing residues such as Ser21, Tyr22, Ser23, Ser24, Tyr25 and Tyr28. The interactions between two molecules of DPLA(2) in the asymmetric unit are remarkably different from those observed in the standard dimers and trimers of PLA(2)s, leaving the enzyme's active site fully exposed for enzyme-substrate reactions, it makes this structure one of the most favourable examples for structure-based drug design through soaking experiments.


The paper proposes and applies statistical tests for poverty dominance that check for whether poverty comparisons can be made robustly over ranges of poverty lines and classes of poverty indices. This helps provide both normative and statistical confidence in establishing poverty rankings across distributions. The tests, which can take into account the complex sampling procedures that are typically used by statistical agencies to generate household-level surveys, are implemented using the Canadian Survey of Labour and Income Dynamics (SLID) for 1996, 1999 and 2002. Although the yearly cumulative distribution functions cross at the lower tails of the distributions, the more recent years tend to dominate earlier years for a relatively wide range of poverty lines. Failing to take into account SLID's sampling variability (as is sometimes done) can inflate significantly one's confidence in ranking poverty. Taking into account SLID's complex sampling design (as has not been done before) can also decrease substantially the range of poverty lines over which a poverty ranking can be inferred.


Essential amino acids (EAAs) are nutritional substrates that promote body protein synthesis; thus we hypothesised that their supplementation may improve circulating albumin (Alb) and haemoglobin (Hb) in rehabilitative elderly patients following hip fractures (HF). Out of the 145 HF patients originally enrolled in our study, 112 completed the protocol. These subjects were divided into two randomised groups, each containing 56 patients. For a period of two months, one group (age 81.4 ± 8.1 years; male/female 27/29) received a placebo, and the other (age 83.1 ± 7.5 years; male/female 25/31) received 4 + 4 g/day oral EAAs. At admission, the prevalence of both hypoAlb (<3.5 g/dL) and hypoHb (<13 g/dL male, <12 g/dL female) was similar in the placebo group (64.3% hypoAlb, 66% hypoHb) and the treated group of patients (73.2% hypoAlb, 67.8% hypoHb). At discharge, however, the prevalence of hypoAlb had reduced more in EAAs than in placebo subjects (31.7% in EAAs vs. 77.8% in placebo; p < 0.001). There was a 34.2% reduction of anaemia in hypoHb in EAA subjects and 18.9% in placebo subjects, but the difference was not statistically significant. Oral supplementation of EAAs improves hypoAlb and, to a lesser extent, Hb in elderly rehabilitative subjects with hip fractures. Anaemia was reduced in more than one third of patients, which, despite not being statistically significant, may be clinically relevant.


The influence of mutations in the mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) on the bioenergetic metabolism of the cell is still poorly understood. Many of the mutations in the mtDNA affect the expression of the mitochondrial genome. Investigations on cells from patients are not easy, especially as the mitochondrial DNA is heteroplasmic and this state is changed in culture. Moreover, the nuclear background and the mitochondrial haplotype may affect the behaviour of cells. Transfer of patient mitochondria to rho zero cell lines is also not optimal as these cells in general have many nuclear changes which may also affect cell behaviour. Thus, we decided to use inhibitors of mi-tochondrial genome expression, such as thiamphenicol, ethidium bromide and dideoxycytidine to investigate the bioenergetic metabolism of HeLa cells. We found that oxidative phosphorylation and glycolysis participate equally in ATP production in HeLa cells and that decreased activity of the respiratory chain leads to increased glycolysis and the reduction of cell growth. Insufficient ATP production in the oxidative phosphorylation process was not compensated by increased proliferation of the mitochondria. However, we were able to show that there are some mechanisms compensating limited expression of the mitochondrial genome within the mitochondria. Experiments with dideoxycytidine revealed that 10-fold decrease of the mtDNA copy number resulted in almost normal activity of cytochrome c oxidase. We found that mtDNA depletion is compensated mostly on the level of RNA metabolism in the mitochondria. Thus, our results are in agreement with the hypothesis that transcription initiation rather than mtDNA copy number is a rate limiting factor for expression of the mitochondrial genome.


We used deep far-infrared data from the PEP/GOODS-Herschel surveys and restframe ultraviolet photometry to study the evolution of the molecular gas mass function of normal star-forming galaxies. Computing the molecular gas mass, Mmol, by scaling star formation rates through depletion timescales, or combining infrared (IR) luminosity and obscuration properties as described in the literature, we obtained Mmol for roughly 700, z = 0.2−3.0 galaxies near the star-forming main sequence. The number density of galaxies follows a Schechter function of Mmol. The characteristic mass M ∗ is found to strongly evolve up to z ~ 1 and then flatten at earlier epochs, resembling the IR luminosity evolution of similar objects. At z ~ 1, our result is supported by an estimate based on the stellar mass function of star-forming galaxies and gas fraction scalings from the PHIBSS survey. We compared our measurements with results from current models, finding better agreement with those that are treating star formation laws directly rather than in post-processing. Integrating the mass function, we studied the evolution of the Mmol density and its density parameter Ωmol.


This paper reviews the literature on problem drug use, aiming to answer the question 'what percentages of drug users are problem drug users?' We look at the conceptualisation of problem drug use, and related concepts such as addiction and dependence. While conceptually distinct, definitions vary, and terms are often utilised interchangeably in the literature. Because of the heightened controversy and recurring moral panics (often without factual basis) related to illicit drugs as compared to the licit drugs, we focus primarily on the use of the former. We summarise previous research findings on percentages of problem drug user in general as well as for the most commonly used illicit substances more specifically. Results show that the majority of drug use is episodic, transient and generally non-problematic. The majority of people who have used various drugs in their lifetime have not done so in the past year. Only a minority become problem drug users. Appreciating the limitations of current research, further research avenues are outlined and implications for policy making are provided. If most drug use is indeed non-problematic it implies the need for policy changes with a heightened focus on the development of improved risk communications and other harm reduction strategies. There is a need to move away from the narrative of 'the problem drug user' which is in many ways still prevalent in informing policy making. Incorrect perceptions of drugs and people who use drugs should be countered by providing evidence-based, transparent and easily accessible information. This is essential to change public attitudes towards and remove stigma of people who use drugs.


We describe a theory of Whittaker models and L-functions for irreducible representations of a metaplectic covering group of GL(2). We explain how to use these L-functions to establish an arithmetical correspondence between "genuine" cuspidal representations of the metaplectic group and cuspidal representations of GL(2). When our ground field is Q, this correspondence generalizes and reformulates recent results of G. Shimura [(1973) Ann. Math. 97, 440-481]. A crucial role in our theory is played by what we call "exceptional" cusp forms-those that are completely determined by just one Fourier coefficient.


Mobile Ad Hoc network (MANET) is a collection of two or more devices, nodes or terminals with wireless communication and networking ability that can communicate with each other without the assistance of any centralized administrator, centralized control or established infrastructure. It's called infrastructureless. A network can be formed dynamically by the wireless nodes to exchange information without using any fixed existing network infrastructure. Each node plays a role of router in the MANET as it must forward the traffic to other nodes. In this paper, discuss in details the main characteristics, applications, advantages, disadvantages and challenges of Mobile Ad Hoc Networks. Several routing protocols have recently been proposed for Mobile Ad Hoc Networks, In order to facilitate communication within the network, a routing protocol is used to discover route between nodes. On other hand, also this paper provides a survey of the type of routing protocols. These protocols can be classified into three main categories: proactive(Table-Driven), Reactive (On-Demand),and Hybrid Routing Protocols.


Climate Change
How might the loss of Arctic sea ice be affecting climate outside that region? Climate change is driven by a number of interacting processes, including sea ice loss and increasing atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations, and separating their effects is not a trivial exercise. McCusker et al. used a coupled ocean-atmosphere general circulation model to unravel the impacts of sea ice loss and atmospheric carbon dioxide increases on temperature and circulation; they found that these impacts can be distinguished quite precisely, on hemispheric to regional scales. The ability to separate these effects might help us better interpret the diverse and sometimes apparently conflicting array of modeling and observational studies of Arctic climate change and its influence.

Geophys. Res. Lett. 10.1002/2017GL074327 (2017).


In the paper, the method to calculate the bending moments arising due to the process of parabolic bending of a thin metal sheet into a torso shell is offered. The problem is solved with the help of methods of differential geometry and shell theory. The possibility of manufacturing any torso product without creases and tears from a thin sheet made of plastic materials is theoretically proved. A review of experimental and theoretical works on pure bending is given. In contradistinction to the mathematical approach to bending a thin sheet into a torso shell (where the thickness of a sheet is assumed to be zero), this paper considers a technical approach taking into account the sheet thickness. It is shown that the normal stresses occurring in a thin sheet as a result of the bending can reach the yield point. On the contrary mathematical possibility to bend a sheet into a torso product, and then unbend it back into a flat position, it is shown in the paper that under certain conditions a sheet cannot be bent back to a flat sheet again due to the occurrence of plastic strains. The results of the research can be used in marine design, civil engineering, air-space industry, and other manufacturing processes.


Findings from an analysis of three vended academic electronic health records used in health science education are presented in this article. The quality assurance project examined the lexical and semantic fit and content coverage of gender, sexuality, and sexual orientation data elements within the academic electronic health records. A semantic comparative content analysis using a cognitive walkthrough was conducted as a means of comparing the ideal set of gender, sexuality, and sexual orientation data elements with those found in the three vended academic electronic health records. The results indicated a need for alignment to the research literature, expert consensus, and technical standards similar to what is expected for electronic health records used in clinical practice because of a lack of ideal state data elements. The findings align with ongoing issues with bias and disparities seen in the care of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender population and a lack of diverse, inclusive media and teaching technologies in health science education. The quality project and findings can inform academic electronic health record vendors on how they can create more inclusive systems and bring awareness to healthcare educators about the potential for implicit and explicit bias in their teaching technologies.


Wood plastic composite (WPC) is very useful new material in the modern society. Improving the interfacial bond strength between wood and plastic is the foundation of improving the properties of WPC. Ethylene vinyl acetate (EVA) was used as the coupling agent of WPC in this study. Thermo-gravimetric analysis (TGA) was employed to study the thermal stability of wood flour modified by EVA. The modulus of rupture (MOR), the modulus of elasticity (MOE), and the tensile strength of WPC were investigated to understand the effects of the vinyl acetate (VA) content and the melt index of EVA on WPC. The results show that EVA could improve the thermal stability of wood flour and the mechanical properties of WPC. The mechanical properties of WPC are increasing with VA content raise and melt index reducing.


Ingenious technological advances have been made in the surgical management of male erectile dysfunction, specifically in the form of implantable penile prostheses. These devices have also been the subject of great debate and commercial competition. Their common denominators are that each will provide an effective, enjoyable erection, they are well tolerated by patients and their partners, and the surgical success is dependent on the patient's and the partner's emotions.


The main objective of this work was to understand and mathematically characterize the cellular disposition of a tool antibody-drug conjugate (ADC), trastuzumab–valine-citrulline–monomethyl auristatin E (T-vc-MMAE). Toward this goal, three different analytical methods were developed to measure the concentrations of different ADC-related analytes in the media and cell lysate. A liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry method was developed to quantify unconjugated drug (i.e., MMAE) concentrations, a forced deconjugation method was developed to quantify total drug concentrations, and an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay method was developed to quantify total antibody (i.e., trastuzumab) concentrations. Cellular disposition studies were conducted in low-HER2–(GFP-MCF7) and high-HER2–expressing (N87) cell lines, following continuous or 2-hour exposure to MMAE and T-vc-MMAE. Similar intracellular accumulation of MMAE was observed between two cell lines following incubation with plain MMAE. However, when incubated with T-vc-MMAE, much higher intracellular exposures of unconjugated drug, total drug, and total antibody were observed in N87 cells compared with GFP-MCF7 cells. A novel single-cell disposition model was developed to simultaneously characterize in vitro pharmacokinetics of all three analytes of the ADC in the media and cellular space. The model was able to characterize all the data well and provided robust estimates of MMAE influx rate, MMAE efflux rate, and intracellular degradation rate for T-vc-MMAE. ADC internalization and degradation rates, HER2 expression, and MMAE efflux rate were found to be the key parameters responsible for intracellular exposure to MMAE, on the basis of a global sensitivity analysis. The single-cell pharmacokinetics model for ADCs presented here is expected to provide a better framework for characterizing bystander effect of ADCs.


CD spectra were obtained for eight synthetic double‐stranded DNA polymers down to at least 175 nm in the vacuum uv. Three sets of sequence isomers were studied: (a) poly[d(A‐C) · d(G‐T)] and poly[d(A‐G) · d(C‐T)], (b) poly[d(A‐C‐C) · d(G‐G‐T)] and poly[d(A‐C‐G) · d(C‐G‐T)], and (c) poly[d(A) · d(T)], poly[d(A‐T) · d(A‐T)], poly[d(A‐A‐T) · d(A‐T‐T)], and poly[d(A‐A‐T‐T) · d(A‐A‐T‐T)]. There were significant differences in the CD spectra at short wavelengths among each set of sequence isomers. The (G · C)‐containing sequences had the largest vacuum uv bands, which were positive and in the wavelength range of 180–191 nm. There were no large negative bands at longer wavelengths, consistent with the polymers all being in right‐handed conformations. Among the set of sequences containing only A · T base pairs, poly[d(A) · d(T)] had the largest vacuum uv CD band, which was at 190 nm. This CD band was not present in the spectra of the other (A · T)‐rich polymers and was absent from two first‐neighbor estimations of the poly[d(A) · d(T)] spectrum obtained from the other three sequences. We concluded that the sequence dependence of the vacuum uv spectra of the (A · T)‐rich polymers was due in part of the fact that poly[d(A) · d(T)] exists in a noncanonical B conformation.


Quality of service (QoS) is a core issue in multi-media systems. Intuitively, QoS states how good the services provided by a multimedia system are. As a rule, QoS is established through negotiation between users and service providers. The negotiation involves allocation and management of resources in order to attend a desired level of quality. Examples of such resources are peripherals, CPU, network bandwidth, data formats and synchronization levels. The process of negotiation is simple if the resources are managed by a single entity (eg. operating system) or by a set of entities supporting a common negotiation protocol. Unfortunately, in distributed multimedia systems the negotiation and management of resources are far from being simple tasks since resources are diversiied, distributed and managed by diierent entities. In order to minimize such diiculties, an agent-based architecture for QoS negotiation and management is proposed in this paper. The architecture combines xed and mobile agents that interact with the aim of establishing and maintaining certain level of QoS in a distributed multimedia system. This paper also describes a partial implementation of the proposed architecture using well accepted standards such as CORBA (Object Management Group's Common Object Request Broker Architecture), RTP (Internet's Real Time Protocol), products like Aglets Workbench (a Java based mobile agent framework from IBM) and the Orbix family from Iona.