Fast growing computing power on commodity parallel hardware makes it both an opportunity and a challenge to use modern hardware for large-scale data management. While GPU (Graphics Processing Unit) computing is conceptually an excellent match for spatial data management which is both data and computing intensive, the complexity of multi-dimensional spatial indexing and query processing techniques has made it difficult to port existing serial algorithms to GPUs. In this study, we propose a parallel primitives based strategy for spatial data management. We present data parallel designs for polygon decomposition, quadtree construction and spatial query processing. These designs can be realized on both GPUs and multi-core CPUs as well as future generation hardware when parallel libraries that support the primitives are available. Using a large-scale geo-referenced species distribution dataset as an example, the GPU-based implementations can achieve up to 190X speedups over serial CPU implementations and 14X speedups over 16-core CPU implementations for polygon decomposition, which is the most computing intensive module in the end-to-end spatial data management solution we have provided. For quadtree constructions and spatial range/polygon query modules, which are more data intensive, the speedups over single and multi-core CPUs are up to 27X and 2X, respectively, depending on workloads. Comparing with a similar technique on polygon decomposition that is realized using a native parallel programming language, our parallel primitives based implementation is up to 3X faster on the species distribution dataset. The results may suggest that simplicity and efficiency can be achieved simultaneously using the data parallel design strategy by identifying the inherent data parallelisms in application domains.


This study of Ferrar magmatic rocks from northern Victorialand and George V Land, Antarctica, is directed towards a better understanding of the petrogenesis of the two compositionally distinct magma series present within the Mid-Jurassic Ferrar Large Igneous Province: a low-Ti series (LTS: TiO2 ~ 0.4 – 1.2 wt%) and a high-Ti series (HTS: TiO2 ~ 1.7 – 2.1 wt%). On the basis of their mineral and whole-rock chemical compositions (including rare earth elements and platinum-group elements) the differentiation history, the melt generation and magma source characteristics are evaluated. For both magma series, an identical primary magma is deduced that has been generated by high-degree partial melting of a single, refractory subcontinental lithospheric magma source. A polybaric differentiation model is developed suggesting that the two magma series experienced pre-emplacement differentiation within independent temporary magma reservoirs at different crustal depths and hence under different prevailing conditions. Based on this model, the influence of changing redox conditions and water activities on the Ferrar magma evolution is examined by equilibrium crystallisation experiments performed in internally heated pressure vessels. The comparison of the experimental results with the compositional differences analysed in the natural low-Ti and high-Ti rocks indicates that prior to final magma emplacement at upper crustal levels the HTS magma differentiated under lower pressure, lower water activity and lower oxygen fugacity than the LTS magma.


Laser-assisted electron scattering (LAES) is a fundamental three body interaction process that enables energy transfer between electrons and photons in the presence of matter. Here, we focus on the multiscattering regime of electrons generated by above-threshold ionization (ATI) of In atoms inside a high-density nanostructure, helium nanodroplets (HeN) of ∼40 Å radius. The stochastic nature of the multiscattering regime results in photoelectron spectra independent of laser polarization. Numerical simulations via tunnel-type ionization followed by applying the Kroll–Watson approximation for LAES are in agreement with experimental spectra and yield a mechanistic description of electron generation and the LAES energy modulation processes. We find a negligible influence of the electron start position inside the helium droplet on the simulated electron energy spectrum. Further, our simulations shine light on the interplay of electron time of birth, number of LAES gain/loss events, and final kinetic energy; early ionization leads to the largest number of scattering events and thereby the highest electron kinetic energy.


Introduction Over the past decade there has been increased awareness from the public on animal welfare issues related to commercial swine. More specifically, in the United States, much time and discussion has focused on housing conditions of sows during farrowing and lactation. Restricted sow movement in the traditional farrowing stall has been identified as a significant concern with growing pressure towards the elimination of this system. Recognizing changes in consumer demand and the desire to improve sow welfare by meeting her biological needs during farrowing, alternative farrowing options need to be assessed. The purpose of this factsheet is to identify alternative farrowing options and discuss the impacts of these facilities on the biological needs of the sow, piglet welfare and impact on worker safety, efficiency and labor costs.


Pneumonia is the leading cause of childhood illness and mortality worldwide. The number of children under five with pneumonia in Kisii County, Kenya, was 10% compared to the national average of 9% despite the integrated Community Case Management (iCCM) roll out. In order to identify factors associated with caregivers' access to iCCM services, a study was conducted.
Materials and Methods: Qualitative and quantitative approaches were used in this descriptive cross-sectional study. Purposive sampling was utilized to choose 10 informants while multistage and random sampling was applied to select 330 caregivers. Thematic content analysis and discourse analysis techniques were used to analyse qualitative data, while Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) version 22 was used in quantitative data.
Results: Only 33.6% of caregivers accessed iCCM for childhood pneumonia services. In 49% of cases, CHVs was the first point of contact after onset of pneumonia symptoms, with only 31.2% seeking help within 24 hours. 96% of CHVs did not follow the recommended iCCM diagnostic protocols, and only 34.8% prescribed antibiotics. Age (0.011), religion (0.007), and marital status (0.024) were significantly associated with access to iCCM. Business persons were 2.97 times (OR 2.972; CI 1.232,7.167; P= 0.015) more likely to access iCCM than farmers. Caregivers who perceived pneumonia to be severe were 3.03 more likely to access ICCM (OR 3.039;CI 1.703,5.424; P< 0.001) than opposite peers. Respondents who didn't think pandemics affected access were 10% (OR 0.119; CI .058,0.246; P<.0.001) more likely to access iCCM.
Conclusion: Access to iCCM was low and Community health volunteers (CHVs) were not the first point of care for pneumonia in children. Evidence of poor performance by CHVs in the areas of diagnosis, treatment, and the administration of antibiotics suggests that iCCM needs more monitoring and oversight.


James Bruce claims that academic tenure does not promote the common good and argues that it fails to deliver on its promise to secure academic freedom. There are at least two ways to understand this. One is that tenure is bad because what it is trying to do is bad. Another is that tenure is bad because, while it is trying to do something good, it does it ineffectively. While many critics of tenure seem to base their animosity on the former view, Bruce's criticism seems to be closer to the latter: that tenure fails to protect academic freedom, and indeed it makes things worse. While I agree that some of the effects he discusses are indeed negative, I argue that tenure is a net good and that academia would be worse without it. Aeon J. Skoble, "Academia Would Be Worse without Tenure: A Response to James E. Bruce," Journal of Markets & Morality 22, no. 1 (Spring 2019): 195-199.


Primary biopsies from 52 patients with cancer of the larynx were examined by two pathologists working independently. The malignancy of each case was graded twice with an interval of 1–1 1/2 month according to a histological scoring system elaborated by Jacobsson. The reproducibility of the system was found poor for individual prognostic purposes and no connection between histological grade and clinical course was demonstrated.


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PART I--Overview of Teaching Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Exceptional Learners Chapter 1 Introduction to Instructional Methods for Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Exceptional Learners Chapter 2 Culturally Responsive Teaching and Learning: Curriculum and Pedagogical Implications from Theory to Practice Chapter 3 Second Language Acquisition and Students with Disabilities PART II--Culturally Competent Instruction and Classroom Management Chapter 4 Instructional Models and Technology for Teaching CLDE Students Chapter 5 Assessing Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Learners Chapter 6 Methods for Behavior, Classroom, and Schoolwide Management PART III--Culturally Responsive Instructional Methods in Reading and the Content Areas Chapter 7 Helping Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Exceptional Students Learn to Read Chapter 8 Teaching Written Expression to Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Exceptional Learners Chapter 9 Supporting Learning in the Content Areas PART IV--Related Skills and Strategies Chapter 10 Collaborative Consultation and Parent Involvement Chapter 11 Teaching Study Skills and Study Strategies Chapter 12 Culturally Responsive Transition Planning and Instruction from Early Childhood to Postsecondary Life


Al Tabari's Commentary on the Qur'an is, after the Qur'an itself, one of the greatest Islamic texts. This commentary, written in the 3rd Century of Islam, is undoubtedly the most famous and most widely accepted in Islam. In his Tafsir, Tabari collected the ample material of traditional exegesis, including practically everything that was said before him on each verse of the Qur'an, and thus created a standard on which all later commentators drew. The Tafsir is still a mine of information for historical and critical research by scholars. It is also of great use to Muslims and non-Muslims interested in the Quran. This is the first translation of the Tafsir into English. The edition will be complete in five volumes, of which this is the first to appear.


We used flow cytometry of autofluorescent and Sytol3-stained marine bacteria and the uptake of tritiated leucine to assess the effects of different filter types on picoplankton abundance, community structure and bacterial activity in the filtrate. Coastal and oceanic samples from the NW and SW Mediterranean and the Atlantic coast of Galicia were size-fractionated using polycarbonate (PC), mixed cellulose esters (CE), aluminum oxide (IM) and glass fiber (GF) filters of 0.2 to 1 2 pm nominal pore size from Mferent brands. Flow cytometry of Sytol3-stained marine bactena and autofluorescent photosynthetic prokaryotes was used to analyze picoplankton abundance, size structure and community composition before and after filtration. We combined this capability with the detection of the changes in cell-specific heterotrophic activity in the filtrates. We found that the CE filters retained picoplankton better than the PC filters. The PC filters did not discriminate prokaryotes according to size as much as the GF and the CE filters did. In our hands the IM filters were no better than the CE filters. Bacterial activity in the filtrates increased in the PC and in the CE filtrates and this stimulation of bacteiial activity was more lrnportant in the less productive environments. We conclude that care must be taken when PC filters are used for generating bacteria-free water, and that the use of CE 0.22 pm filters is the best way of creating picoplankton-free water. However, the picoplankters that will go through the filters may encounter increased nutrient levels.


Synchronous and metachronous ovarian and appendiceal mucinous tumors are often the subject of diagnostic consultations in gynecologic pathology practices to address whether the tumors are independent neoplasms or related as primary and metastasis. Those with goblet cell carcinoidlike patterns have not been extensively evaluated in a large series. Clinicopathologic features of 30 cases were examined. All patients presented with signs or symptoms related to a pelvic/adnexal or abdominal mass. The ovarian tumors were bilateral in 25 of 28 cases with data on both ovaries and were typically large (mean/median: 14 cm, range: 4.5 to 24.0 cm). The appendices were often firm or thickened but usually did not have a discrete measurable tumor and were not notably enlarged; microscopically, transmural invasion was present in all of them. The ovarian and appendiceal tumors exhibited a variety of patterns of differentiation, including signet ring cell and glandular, with all displaying some goblet cell carcinoidlike patterns (nests, islands, cords, or cryptlike tubules with goblet cells); teratomatous elements were not identified in any ovarian tumors. Chromogranin was expressed in 7 of 19 ovarian tumors (mean/median: 6.3%/0%; range: 0% to 20%) and synaptophysin was expressed in 4 of 18 of these (mean/median: 7.8%/0%; range: 0% to 90%). Chromogranin was expressed in 6 of 16 appendiceal tumors (mean/median: 11.9%/0%; range: 0% to 70%) and synaptophysin was expressed in 6 of 15 of these (mean/median: 16.7%/0%; range: 0% to 90%). Follow-up was available for 25 patients: 17 died of disease at intervals ranging from 4 to 47 months (mean/median: 18/16) and 8 were alive with disease at 1 to 25 months (mean/median: 11/10); median survival was 19 months and the 1-year and 2-year survival rates were 63% and 34%, respectively. The clinicopathologic features of these ovarian tumors indicate they should be labeled as metastatic appendiceal adenocarcinomas rather than as goblet cell carcinoid tumors both to reflect their behavior and help distinguish them from the rare true primary ovarian goblet cell carcinoid tumors. As the ovarian tumors have appreciable components of signet ring cells they qualify as Krukenberg tumors. In cases in which the primary tumor is not already evident, their "goblet cell carcinoidlike" patterns should direct attention to the appendix as a possible source.


Ectopic pregnancies complicate 1-2% of pregnancies and are potentially fatal as rupture causes severe intra-peritoneal haemorrhage. Both major and minor risk factors have been known for several years. These include damage to the fallopian tubes following previous pelvic infections and tubal surgery. Being fair colored in black women has been suspected to be a risk factor in Ghana for several years despite this not being found in any literature search. A matched case controlled study conducted in Ghana to ascertain this found a highly significant association between ectopic pregnancy and fair skin complexion (p < 0.001 at 95% confidence intervals) irrespective of whether the fairness is natural or artificially induced with skin bleaching creams and soaps. The study found no association between ectopic pregnancy and previous pelvic surgery (p= 0.389), neither was there any association with lifetime sexual partners (p=0.383), previous pelvic infections (p= 0.389) or previous termination of pregnancy (p-value 0.485).


A 7 year-old twin girl with hypophosphataemic rickets was evaluated for a recent onset of mild strabismus. She was a homozygous twin sister with hypophosphataemic rickets diagnosed at the age of 2 years, with a mutation in intron 21 of the PHEX gene, which was also present in her sister. The girls' clinical histories were remarkable for an important lower limb varus that progressively improved after starting phosphate supplementation with a galenical solution (Joulies solution 1 mmol phosphate/ml) and vitamin D 1,25 OH. During the examinations, both girls were in good general condition. Physical examinations were unremarkable, except for tibial varus, bilateral fifth finger clinodactyly and bilateral syndactyly of the third and fourth foot fingers. No major head shape abnormalities were noticeable except for a high forehead. One patient presented with a slight strabismus, normal isochoric isocyclic and reactive pupils, no signs of cranial nerve deficit, and no alterations in the rest of the neurological examination. An ophthalmological evaluation showed bilateral papilloedema. A cerebral MRI scan was then performed, suspecting elevated intracranial pressure (figure 1). The same examination was performed on the asymptomatic sister which also demonstrated papilloedema with similar findings on cranial MRI too. Figure 1 Sagittal MR T1-weighted imaging shows a 12 mm cerebellar tonsillar herniation (shown by the white arrow) and bulb-medullary junction herniation. The apex of the epistropheus tooth almost reaches the occipital clivus (shown by the white line) and imprints the bulb. Questions Which is the most likely diagnosis? Craniosynostosis Pseudotumor cerebri Drusen Arnold-Chiari malformation How should these patients be managed? Acetazolamide treatment Third to fourth ventricle cystostomy Wait and see with periodical visual evoked potential follow-up Neurosurgery How should patients with X linked hypophosphataemic rickets (XLH rickets) be managed for the risk of craniosynostosis? Monitor cephalic anthropometric measures Perform a MRI scan if clinical signs of craiosynostosis or intracranial hypertension are present Perform a skull X-ray every 2 years Perform an MRI scan every 2 years Answers can be found on page 02.


Although genetic diversity within stands of trees is known to have community-level consequences, whether such effects are present at an even finer genetic scale is unknown. We examined the hypothesis that genetic variability (heterozygosity) within an individual plant would affect its dependent community, which adds a new dimension to the importance of genetic diversity. Our study contrasted foliar arthropod community diversity and microsatellite marker-derived measures of genetic diversity of cottonwood (Populus fremontii) trees that had been felled by beavers (Castor canadensis) and were resprouting, relative to adjacent standing, unfelled trees. Three patterns emerged: 1. Productivity (specific leaf area), phytochemical defenses (salicortin), and arthropod community richness, abundance, and diversity were positively correlated with the heterozygosity of individual felled trees, but not with that of unfelled trees; 2. These relationships were not explained by population substructure, genetic relatedness of the trees, or hybridization; 3. The underlying mechanism appears to be that beaver herbivory stimulates increased productivity (i.e., 2× increase from the most homozygous to the most heterozygous tree) that is the greatest in more heterozygous trees. Salicortin defenses in twigs were also expressed at higher concentrations in more heterozygous trees (i.e., 3× increase from the most homozygous to the most heterozygous tree), which suggests that this compound may dissuade further herbivory by beavers, as has been found for other mammalian herbivores. We suggest that high stress to trees as a consequence of felling reveals a heterozygosity–productivity linkage, which in turn is attractive to arthropods. Although experiments are required to demonstrate causality, these results link the genetic diversity of individual trees to community diversity, supporting the hypothesis that interactions among foundation species (beavers and trees) have community-level effects, and underscores the importance of genetic diversity for biodiversity, conservation, and restoration.


In celebration of the centenary of the first publication of the South African Journal of Chemistry, the history of the Journal is traced, with reference to the personalities involved in its development and its relationship with the South African Chemical Institute. The impact of online publishing on the format of the Journal and the ways in which the handling of submitted manuscripts have changed over time are discussed. Some statistics are presented illustrating the changing topicality of the various chemistry disciplines over time, as well as the expansion of the potential pool of authors arising from the internationalization of the scientific publishing field. Reference is also made to the quantitative measures by which the integrity and international acceptance of the Journal are judged.


During development, animals generate distinct cell populations with specific identities, functions, and morphologies. We mapped transcriptionally distinct populations across 489,686 cells from 62 stages during wild-type zebrafish embryogenesis and early larval development (3–120 hours post-fertilization). Using these data, we identified the limited catalog of gene expression programs reused across multiple tissues and their cell-type-specific adaptations. We also determined the duration each transcriptional state is present during development and suggest new long-term cycling populations. Focused analyses of non-skeletal muscle and the endoderm identified transcriptional profiles of understudied cell types and subpopulations, including the pneumatic duct, individual intestinal smooth muscle layers, spatially distinct pericyte subpopulations, and homologs of recently discovered human best4+ enterocytes. The transcriptional regulators of these populations remain unknown, so we reconstructed gene expression trajectories to suggest candidates. To enable additional discoveries, we make this comprehensive transcriptional atlas of early zebrafish development available through our website, Daniocell.


~" It is believed that surgical excision of arteriovenous malformations is the best treatment when technically feasible without causing significant damage to adjacent brain. The introduction of polymers or particulate emboli by catheter has been used either alone or as an adjunct in attempts to reduce the size of these lesions prior to surgery; however, it is seldom possible to embolize the entire malformation. The authors have used direct injection of a 50% mixture of bucrylate and iophendylate into the feeding arteries supplying the area at craniotomy, with success in three cases. The cases are described to illustrate the method.


Background The prevalence of depression in the United States is >3 times higher mid-COVID-19 versus prepandemic. Racial/ethnic differences in mindsets around depression and the potential impact of the COVID-19 pandemic are not well characterized. Objective This study aims to describe attitudes, mindsets, key drivers, and barriers related to depression pre- and mid-COVID-19 by race/ethnicity using digital conversations about depression mapped to health belief model (HBM) concepts. Methods Advanced search, data extraction, and artificial intelligence–powered tools were used to harvest, mine, and structure open-source digital conversations of US adults who engaged in conversations about depression pre- (February 1, 2019-February 29, 2020) and mid-COVID-19 pandemic (March 1, 2020-November 1, 2020) across the internet. Natural language processing, text analytics, and social data mining were used to categorize conversations that included a self-identifier into racial/ethnic groups. Conversations were mapped to HBM concepts (ie, perceived susceptibility, perceived severity, perceived benefits, perceived barriers, cues to action, and self-efficacy). Results are descriptive in nature. Results Of 2.9 and 1.3 million relevant digital conversations pre- and mid-COVID-19, race/ethnicity was determined among 1.8 million (62.2%) and 979,000 (75.3%) conversations, respectively. Pre-COVID-19, 1.3 million (72.1%) conversations about depression were analyzed among non-Hispanic Whites (NHW), 227,200 (12.6%) among Black Americans (BA), 189,200 (10.5%) among Hispanics, and 86,800 (4.8%) among Asian Americans (AS). Mid-COVID-19, a total of 736,100 (75.2%) conversations about depression were analyzed among NHW, 131,800 (13.5%) among BA, 78,300 (8.0%) among Hispanics, and 32,800 (3.3%) among AS. Conversations among all racial/ethnic groups had a negative tone, which increased pre- to mid-COVID-19; finding support from others was seen as a benefit among most groups. Hispanics had the highest rate of any racial/ethnic group of conversations showing an avoiding mindset toward their depression. Conversations related to external barriers to seeking treatment (eg, stigma, lack of support, and lack of resources) were generally more prevalent among Hispanics, BA, and AS than among NHW. Being able to benefit others and building a support system were key drivers to seeking help or treatment for all racial/ethnic groups. Conclusions There were considerable racial/ethnic differences in drivers and barriers to seeking help and treatment for depression pre- and mid-COVID-19. As expected, COVID-19 has made conversations about depression more negative and with frequent discussions of barriers to seeking care. Applying concepts of the HBM to data on digital conversation about depression allowed organization of the most frequent themes by race/ethnicity. Individuals of all groups came online to discuss their depression. These data highlight opportunities for culturally competent and targeted approaches to addressing areas amenable to change that might impact the ability of people to ask for or receive mental health help, such as the constructs that comprise the HBM.


The increase of immigrant population in developed countries (mainly in Europe and North America) together with an important increase of international travel worldwide are the two most important causes that have contributed to the introduction and diagnosis of imported/tropical infectious diseases in these countries. These factors have had an important impact in developed countries in both social and economic aspects. Imported Infectious Diseases focuses not only on describing the infections, but also in evaluating the current epidemiology, the economic and social impact and the possibility to apply immunization measures and vaccines. The main purpose of this book is to give an overview of the current most important and frequent imported infectious diseases in developed countries. The first chapter informs about the medical services that are being offered to the immigrants in the main developed countries depending on the legal situation. Following chapters describe the main surveillance systems for these kinds of diseases, mainly in Europe and North America. Finally, remaining chapters contain sections on epidemiology, pathogenesis, clinical features, diagnosis, treatment and prevention.


Allicin (diallyl thiosulfinate) is the major thiol-reactive organosulfur compound produced by garlic plants (Allium sativum) upon tissue damage. Allicin exerts its strong antimicrobial activity against bacteria and fungi via S-thioallylation of protein thiols and low molecular weight thiols. Here, we investigated the effect of allicin on SARS-CoV-2 infected Vero E6 and Calu-3 cells. Toxicity tests revealed that Calu-3 cells showed greater allicin tolerance, probably due to >4-fold higher GSH levels compared to the very sensitive Vero E6 cells. Exposure of infected Vero E6 and Calu-3 cells to biocompatible allicin doses led to a ∼60–70% decrease of viral RNA and infectious viral particles. Label-free quantitative proteomics was used to investigate the changes in the Calu-3 proteome after SARS-CoV-2 infection and the effect of allicin on the host-virus proteome. SARS-CoV-2 infection of Calu-3 cells caused a strong induction of the antiviral interferon-stimulated gene (ISG) signature, including several antiviral effectors, such as cGAS, Mx1, IFIT, IFIH, IFI16, IFI44, OAS, and ISG15, pathways of vesicular transport, tight junctions (KIF5A/B/C, OSBPL2, CLTCL1, and ARHGAP17) and ubiquitin modification (UBE2L3/5), as well as reprogramming of host metabolism, transcription and translation. Allicin treatment of infected Calu-3 cells reduced the expression of IFN signaling pathways and ISG effectors and reverted several host pathways to levels of uninfected cells. Allicin further reduced the abundance of the structural viral proteins N, M, S and ORF3 in the host-virus proteome. In conclusion, our data demonstrate the antiviral and immunomodulatory activity of biocompatible doses of allicin in SARS-CoV-2-infected cell cultures. Future drug research should be directed to exploit the thiol-reactivity of allicin derivatives with increased stability and lower human cell toxicity as antiviral lead compounds.


OBJECTIVE To study the effectiveness and safety of non-invasive positive-pressure ventilation in the management of acute respiratory failure. DESIGN Prospective study. SETTING Regional public hospital, Hong Kong. PATIENTS One hundred and eighty-nine haemodynamically stable adult Chinese patients with acute respiratory failure (119 men and 70 women; mean age, 71.2 years [range, 18-92 years]) who were treated with non-invasive positive-pressure ventilation as the primary mode of ventilatory assistance from 1 January 1996 to 31 December 1998. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES Arterial blood gas measurements, respiratory rate, airway pressures used, use of endotracheal intubation, and standardised mortality ratio. RESULTS Fifty-two patients had hypoxaemic respiratory failure (group I); 97 had hypercapnic respiratory failure (group II); and 40 had either type with advanced co-morbidities and were not planned to receive endotracheal intubation (group III). For groups I and II, the overall mean duration of non-invasive positive-pressure ventilation was 56.2 hours. Improvements in gas exchange were seen in approximately 71% of these patients, endotracheal intubation was not needed for 82%, and the standardised mortality ratio was 0.86. The hospital survival rate was approximately 93% in non-intubated patients and 41% in intubated patients. Predictors of success were reduction in respiratory rate within 6 hours (P<0.005), and (for hypercapnic respiratory failure) increased pH and reduced arterial carbon dioxide tension within 24 hours (P<0.005). Patients with pneumonia had significantly higher failure rates (P<0.05). Group III patients were older, had higher Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation II scores, and required longer ventilatory support, but their gas exchange response rate was 68%. The only complication of treatment was minor facial skin abrasions. CONCLUSION Non-invasive positive-pressure ventilation is effective in treating haemodynamically stable patients with acute respiratory failure and causes few and minor complications.


Hymenopterous parasitoids make up a significant portion of the natural enemy complex associated with the southern pine beetle (SPB). Collectively, parasitoids can affect the growth of individual SPB infestations and area populations by reducing the survival rates of developing SPB larval/pupal broods. A substantial body of information on parasitoids has been accumulated, mostly during and after research supported by the Expanded Southern Pine Beetle Research and Applications Program (ESPBRAP) during the 1970s. The parasitoids most closely associated with the SPB have been identified, and a key to larvae of the most abundant species is available. The sequence of arrival of parasitoids at infested pines relative to SPB attack and brood development has been documented. Some chemical cues by which parasitoids locate trees infested with SPB broods that are in susceptible developmental stages have been determined. However, the precise mechanism by which parasitoids locate specific hosts beneath the bark has not been described, although it is thought to involve specific olfactory cues. Factors that affect parasitoid efficacy such as host density and bark thickness have been quantified, and the overall contribution of parasitoids to natural enemy impact has been estimated and incorporated into population growth models. Parasitoids of the Southern Pine Beetle


The study examines the impact of corporate tax on profitability of Deposit Money Banks in Nigeria. The liquidity challenges faced by banks in Nigeria in the recent times and the restricted access to bank loans and facilities by firms and individuals could be linked with high corporate tax payment and this has adversely affected the economy at large. The specific objective of this study is to investigate the extent to which company income tax (CIT) affects the profit after tax (PAT) of Deposit Money Banks in Nigeria. The research adopted a causal research design and a sample of 12 banks were selected out of the currently existing 21 banks based on Authors' judgment and data availability. The secondary data on PAT (dependent variable) CIT (independent variable) used were collected from the published financial statements of banks via their websites. The panel data used in this study covers a period from 2006 to 2016. Multiple regression analysis and t-test were used to analyze the data with the aid of SPSS version 20. The regression result on the data for Access Bank Plc., Diamond Bank Plc. and GTB Plc., revealed a positive significant impact of CIT on PAT and existence of a positive relationship between PAT and CIT. While the rest of the other 9 banks showed both negative and lack of impact of CIT on PAT. The findings showed improper application of ability-to-pay theory in Nigeria. The study therefore recommends a review of the Nigerian fiscal policy and introduction of tax reforms that allow adequate tax incentives for banks especially during financial crises and to cope with liquidity challenges.


Korean listed companies adopted International financial reporting standards (IFRS) in 2011 mandatorily. The IFRS adoption modifies corporate financial reporting structure and further it can affect managers' incentive for disclosing their earnings forecasts. We investigate the association between IFRS adoption and likelihood of management earnings forecasts. From the empirical results, we find that mandatory IFRS adopted companies are less likely to issue their earnings forecasts after IFRS adoption. It implies that investors' belief about management earnings forecasts as useful information is weakened after IFRS adoption compare to pre-IFRS adoption period. Therefore, managers' incentive for providing earnings forecasts decreases. This study will contribute to academics and disclosure-related practitioners by reporting how IFRS adoption makes an influence to managers' incentive of management earnings forecasts issuance. We also believe that the empirical evidence may shed some lights on the understanding of the spillover effect of IFRS adoption to management earnings forecasts.


In 1908, the ruler of the Balinese realm of Klungkung and more than 100 members of his family and court were massacred when they marched deliberately into the fire of the Dutch colonial army. The question of what their action meant and its continued significance in contemporary Klungkung forms the basis of Margaret Wiener's anthropolological history. Wiener challenges colonial and academic claims that Klungkung had no "real" power and argues that such claims enabled colonial domination. By focusing on Balinese discourses she makes clear the choices open to Balinese, both at the time of the Dutch conquest and in its narration. At the same time, she shows how these discourses, which revolve around magical weapons acquired from invisible agents such as gods, spirits and ancestors, offer an alternative understanding of Klungkung's power. Moving between Balinese and Dutch narratives and between past and present, Wiener critiques colonial accounts by recounting Balinese memories and interpretations. Her attention to history and local situations illuminates the ways in which colonialism and orientalist scholarship have obscured the power of indigenous rulers and shows how Klungkung, once Bali's paramount realm, was relegated to a peripheral corner of the Indonesian nation-state. Both as a story and as an example of interdisciplinary scholarship, this book should interest students of colonialism, anthropology, history, religion and Southeast Asia.


In order to evaluate the effects of harvesting dates on qualitative traits of safflower genotypes, an experiment was carried out under field conditions in the agricultural faculty of Urmia University in 2009-10. Factorial experiments were based on Randomized Complete Blocks design with four replications was used under field condition. Genotypes included Isfahan landrace, Sina, IL111 and PI250536 as first factor and harvesting dates of 106, 121 and 136 days after sowing as second factor. Results of analysis of variance showed that significant interactions between cultivars and harvest dates on grain yield, oil%, protein yield, grain harvest index, oil and protein harvest indices. Also, there was among harvest date significant 1% for trate protein% and protein harvest index. Isfahan landrace in second and third and PI250536 line at third harvesting date had the highest grain yield. Sina cultivar at the first harvesting dates was allocated the highest oil%. Also, in the third harvesting date Esfahan landrace and PI250536 line had the highest oil yield. In the third harvesting date Protein % and Protein harvest index were highest range.


In the following text we will review several papers dealing with ropivacaine and labor analgesia. Because of ropivacaine's reduced toxicity and decreased incidence of motor impairment, it offers several advantages to bupivacaine when used as anesthetic for labor epidural analgesia. However the equipotency of ropivacaine compared to bupivacaine has recently been questioned and warrants further investigation.


Comparing to three-axis machines, Multi-axis machines perform more efficient and accurate machining. It has become an important tool for modern engineering industries and is widely used in aerospace, shipbuilding, automobile, plastic, mold, and optical industries. In this paper, a Universal Kinesiology modelinging developed as a feasible alternative to the accurate measures that are only used to separate machine frames. This universal modelinging is then used to check the feasibility of the two rotational joints within the kinesiology chain of three main types of Multi-axis CNC machine. This universal modelinging is very helpful applied to the design of multi-axis machine.


The progressive growth of epidermis appears to be a crucial factor in the pathogenesis of cholesteatoma. How this growth is encouraged is still not well understood. In the present study, lymphotoxin was found in human middle ear cholesteatoma tissues by the immunoperoxidase method using rabbit anti-human lymphotoxin immunoglobulin G (IgG). Lymphotoxin was localized in the epithelium and connective tissues of the cholesteatomas studied. The epithelium of normal external ear canal skin was lightly stained, but the stain was much weaker than that of the cholesteatomas. In vitro, recombinant human lymphotoxin stimulated proliferation, protein synthesis, and terminal differentiation of basal keratinocytes. These findings suggest that lymphotoxin may be one of the mediators involved in the development of cholesteatoma.


Summary form only given. There has been a lot of water pass under the bridge since the term grid computing was introduced by Foster and Kesselman in the middle of 90s. Since then the grid concept has evolved, losing its initial high-performance computing flavor. Currently there is an increasing number of researchers that looks at the grid as "A fully distributed, dynamically reconfigurable, scalable and autonomous infrastructure to provide location independent, pervasive, reliable, secure and efficient access to a coordinated set of services encapsulating and virtualizing resources (computing power, storage, instruments, data, etc.) in order to generate knowledge". This grid definition is the outcome of an internal brainstorming exercise conducted recently in the CoreGrid (http://www.coregrid.net/) Executive Committee. Moreover, several researchers envision that economics principle will guide in the future the development of grid-aware applications: an open market of services and resources will become available to the developer, who will choose to use computing time and software solutions from different vendors, sold at different prices, with different performance and QoS. In this light the great majority of complex software applications will, in the mid-long term, be dynamically built by composing services which will be available in an open market of services and resources. In this sense, the grid might be conceived as a world-wide cyber-utility populated by self-* cooperating services which interact as in a complex and gigantic software ecosystem. This will lead to a new style of application development based on software services, which will in turn need the expansion of existing practice regarding service location, standardization, semantics of services, certification, and others. After an introduction on the current European strategies on grid technologies, and on the most recent 1ST FP6 funded European projects, this talk presents the outcome of a group of independent experts convened by the European Commission with the objective to draw visions of the future for European grids, and in particular about possible evolutions of GRTDs towards service oriented knowledge utilities


Post-stroke upper limb motor improvement continues to remain sub-optimal in a significant proportion of individuals sustaining a stroke. Efforts to enhance UL motor improvement have led to the use of evidence-based interventions including virtual reality technology. The effects of interventions on motor impairments, activity limitations and participation restrictions are commonly assesses using clinical outcomes. Majority of the clinical outcomes focus on the extent of motor improvement (i.e. how much). Information on the type (i.e. how) of recovery can be obtained by using a selected few clinical outcomes and movement pattern kinematic measures. The study objective was to characterize the outcomes used to assess the effects of virtual reality interventions in terms of quantifying the extent and type of upper limb motor improvement. We reviewed the published literature on the effects of virtual reality (VR) based interventions to enhance UL motor improvements. Outcomes from the retrieved studies were initially classified under the appropriate International Classification of Functioning categories. We then categorized the outcomes into those quantifying into type or extent of motor improvement based on existing evidence. We found 100 papers that investigated the effects of virtual reality interventions to enhance post-stroke UL motor improvement. Forty two different outcome measures were used across the 100 studies. Seventeen different outcomes assessed impairments, 16 were used to measure activity limitations and 6 measured participation restrictions and the effects of contextual factors. The Fugl Meyer Assessment, Wolf Motor Function Test and Stroke Impact Scale were most commonly used across the three categories. Of the retrieved 100 studies, 48 used an outcome that considered the type of recovery. Although a smaller proportion, 17 studies included outcomes of movement patterns. The use of outcomes considering the type of recovery is steadily increasing in studies using VR for post-stroke UL rehabilitation.


Primary mucosal malignant melanomas are rare. They appear late in life and their prognosis is grave. Although there is no consensus on therapy, wide surgical resection followed by radiotherapy, chemotherapy and immunotherapy are treatment modalities. In this report we present a case of widespread primary mucosal malignant melanoma located in the pharynx. After immunotherapy (four cycles of interleukin-2 and interferon-alpha) and chemotherapy (four cycles of cisplatin and dacarbazine) has been applied as primary therapy for suppression of the mass, transoral total pharyngeal resection was performed. After surgery three cycles of immunotherapy and three cycles of chemotherapy were administered followed by radiotherapy (total dose of 6600 cGy). An additional three cycles of immunotherapy and chemotherapy were administered. Although no local recurrence was observed during the 14 months of follow-up after the completion of radiotherapy, cranial and lung metastasis were detected in the 12th month.


The characterization of squeezing phenomena as a geological hazard is of great importance because squeezing has a crucial role in the selection of the route and type of tunnels and in the characteristics of the excavation device. Tunnel squeezing is also the basis for the designation and construction of tunnelling-related structures. We present a new tunnel squeezing classification tool to predict tunnel squeezing based on two parameters: Q, the tunnelling quality index; and H, the depth of the tunnel. We used data collected from published papers to train the model; these data included 225 case histories from different countries, including Andorra, India, Iran, Japan, Nepal, Spain, Turkey and Venezuela. Validation of the model indicated that our tunnel squeezing classification tool is more accurate than the speculative and analytical methods currently in use. The proposed model will help tunnelling experts to classify tunnelling media from the point of view of squeezing hazards.


Background : Breast cancer is the most common malignancy in women, and is considered as the second causative factor in cancer mortality. E – Cadherin is a transmember glycoprotein and play a essential role in cell-cell adhesion .It seems that E-cadherin Gene expression can plays a role in suppressor of invasion and metastasistumor . The aim of this study was to evaluate the correlation of E-cadherin Gene expression with breast cancer in the women population of southern Iran. Materials and Methods: 30 patients and 30 healthy individuals as control participated in this case-control study. mRNA extracted from peripheral blood. Real Time PCR technique was used to determine the Gene expression. The statistical analysis was performed by the software SPSS and Mannwithny test . Results : The results indicated that there is no significant difference in level of E- cadherin Gene expression in patients with breast cancer and the control group (Pv>0.05). Furthermore, we found no significant correlation between the E- cadherin Gene expression with the clinicopathological factors in the patients. Conclusion : it seems that E- cadherin Gene expression, plays no important role in increasing the susceptibility of women to breast cancer in the population of southern Iran.


The synthesis, characterization and biological study of a new 3,4,5-trisubstituted isoxazolones have been reported, whereby a series of (Z)-3-methyl-4-(2-(R-phenyl)hydrazinylidene)isoxazol-5(4H)-ones were prepared by the reaction of a β-diketohydrazone with hydroxylammonium chloride. All the products were characterized using EA, UV-Vis, FT-IR, 1H-NMR, 13C-NMR spectroscopy and HMBC. The crystalline and molecular structures of three compounds were solved by X-ray diffraction methods. Density functional theory (DFT) and time-dependent DFT (TDDFT) calculations were performed to obtain a better explanation of the observed experimental behaviour of these newly synthetized compounds. Furthermore, the reports of cytotoxicity and an antiproliferative effect in human promyelocytic leukaemia cells, HL-60, was tested by the MTT reduction method, showing that most of the newly synthetized compounds had important antineoplastic activity. The most active isoxazolones were used in reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) experiments to determine the effect on the expression levels on mRNA encoding using the anti-apoptotic, Bcl 2, pro-apoptotic, Bax, and the proliferation inhibition, p21WAF-1, proteins. Therefore, it was possible to fully characterize the complete library of 15 isoxazolones and to show that most of them are antineoplastic trough an apoptotic pathway.


Characterizing the in-place conditions of rock masses commonly depends upon continuous diamond-core drilling for site investigation or resource characterization. However, because of incomplete or inconsistent core descriptions, potentially valuable information may be lost or unavailable for other users. This situation suggested the potential value of photographic core-logging manuals and descriptive codes to facilitate consistency in core description and ease in the transfer and computerization of these descriptions. To that end, this article describes the development of such manuals and codes using the U.S. eastern gas and oil shales as examples. Although the described manual was developed specifically for these rocks because of their energy-related significance, the concept and coding scheme are readily applicable to core description for all types of engineering and geological purposes.


Carbon nanotube (CNT) forests have been utilized as electrodes in supercapacitors in this work for energy storage applications. High surface area to volume ratio, good electrical conductivity, and low contact resistance to a bottom metal electrode make CNT forests attractive as electrodes in supercapacitors. Several approaches have been investigated to improve the performances such as configurations, power and energy density of CNT-based supercapacitors, including the single layer architecture by utilizing interdigitated finger electrodes, pseudo capacitors based on electroplated nickel nanoparticles, ultra-long and densified CNT forests electrodes. Vertically aligned CNT forests have been synthesized using the thermal CVD process and their sheet and contact resistances have been characterized with four distinct methods: (1) the transfer length method (TLM), (2) the contact chain method, (3) the Kelvin method, and (4) the four point probe method. Experimental results show that CNT forests of 100µm in height and 100µm in width have a sheet resistance of about 100ohm/sq;. The specific contact resistance to a current collector is 5×10E4 ohm.µm2. Consistent results from these methods have been observed and less than 0.9% resistance deviations were measured after two months of open-air storage.In the first development stage, planar supercapacitors based on CNT forests electrodes with interdigitated finger shapes have been fabricated using a combination of Mo/Al/Fe metal stack layers to achieve dense growth of CNT with low resistance. The specific capacitances of the prototype electrodes were measured to be about 1000 times higher than those made of flat metal electrodes. Furthermore, charging/discharging experiments show over 92% energy storage efficiency and robust cycling stability.In the second development stage, CNT forests with embedded nickel nanoparticles have been used as electrodes for pseudo supercapacitors. A vacuum infiltration process is used in the electroplating process for the uniform deposition of 30-200nm in diameter nickel nanoparticles within the 80µm-high CNT forests. The measured specific capacitances are up to one order of magnitude higher than those CNT forests electrodes without nickel nanoparticles. No visual morphologic change was observed on nanoparticles after 1000 cycles of cyclic voltammetry tests.In the third development stage, ultra long CNT forests were synthesized using a water-assisted CVD process. Experimental results confirmed the capacitance increments were linearly proportion to the height increase of CNT forests with good long term stability.In the fourth development stage, a two-stage, self-aligned liquid densification process has applied on CNT forest to shrink the volume of CNT forests electrodes. By combining both mechanical bending and liquid densification, the height of CNT forest shrunk from 320µm to 21µm. Experimental results show self-aligned and continuous CNT films with preserved bottom contacts to the conductive metal layer. These densified CNT forests electrodes had similar total capacitances before and after the densification process while the volumetric specific capacitance increased from 1.07F/cm3 to 10.7F/cm3 because of the volume reductions.


Retrograde pumpellyite was newly found in garnet blueschist that is Mg–rich equivalent of late Paleozoic retrograde eclogite of the Yunotani Valley in the Omi area, Hida–Gaien Belt. The pumpellyite with high Al/ (Al + Mg + Fe) occurs in pressure shadows around garnets; it is associated with secondary glaucophane, epidote, chlorite, titanite, phengite, albite, and quartz, which all characterize a retrograde blueschist–facies mineral assemblage after peak eclogite–facies mineral assemblage. This feature is comparable with retrograde pumpellyite in late Paleozoic garnet blueschist (with relict eclogite–facies mineral assemblage) in the Osayama area of the Chugoku Mountains. Equilibrium phase calculation confirmed that the pumpellyite is stable at a low temperature and pressure portion of the lawsonite–blueschist–facies. T–bulk–composition (Mg) pseudosection suggests that pumpellyite appears preferentially in high Mg/(Mg + Fe) bulk composition. The limited occurrence of retrograde pumpellyite in the Yunotani garnet blueschist and retrograde eclogite would be explained by Mg–rich bulk compositions. Also, the limited occurrence in pressure shadows around garnets suggests that the fluid trapped in the pressure shadows might have enhanced growth (or precipitation) of pumpellyite. This finding provides a strong evidence that the deeply subducted (eclogite–facies) metabasaltic rocks both in the Hida–Gaien Belt and the Chugoku Mountains were subjected to a very similar blueschist–facies overprinting locally reached the pumpellyite stability field. The 'Franciscan–type' cooling path suggests a 'steady–state' underflow of the paleo–Pacific oceanic plate in late Paleozoic at a convergent margin of the South China Craton.


Carbamazepine is an anthropogenic pharmaceutical found in wastewater effluents that is quite resistant to removal by conventional wastewater treatment processes. Hydroxyl radicalbased advanced oxidation process can transform carbamazepine into degradation products but cannot mineralize it in an economically efficient manner. This study evaluated the combination of ultraviolet plus hydrogen peroxide (UV-H2O2)-based advanced oxidation and biodegradation to enable carbamazepine removal; specifically, to determine whether the products of the advanced oxidation of carbamazepine can be further biodegraded by activated sludge microbial communities. The fate of 14C–carbamazepine was followed through benchscale advanced oxidation followed by biodegradation using liquid scintillation counting, and by liquid chromatography with either a mass spectrometric or a radiochemical detection. The results illustrate that carbamazepine oxidation products can be mineralized by activated sludge bacteria.

This outcome suggests that combining advanced oxidation with a biologically active filtration treatment step can be effective for carbamazepine removal. This same treatment strategy should be evaluated for its effectiveness with other biologically recalcitrant organic micropollutants. Advanced oxidation followed by biodegradation may be a viable option for applying tertiary wastewater treatment to achieve trace contaminant removal.

This title belongs to WERF Research Report Series .

ISBN: 9781780400426 (eBook)


In any complex interactive human-computer system, people are likely to make errors during its operation. In this paper, we describe a validation study of an existing generic model of user behaviour. The study is based on the data and conclusions from an independent prior experiment. We show that the current model does successfully capture the key concepts investigated in the experiment, particularly relating to results to do with the distinction between task and device-specific errors. However, we also highlight some apparent weaknesses in the current model with respect to initialisation errors, based on comparison with previously unpublished (and more detailed) data from the experiment. The differences between data and observed model behaviour suggest the need for new empirical research to determine what additional factors are at work. We also discuss the potential use of formal models of user behaviour in both informing, and generating further hypotheses about the causes of human error.


Barbadocladius n. gen. is erected and described in larval, pupal and adult stages for two species: B. andinus sp. nov. and B. limay sp. nov., from Andean streams. The larva is distinctive by virtue of the very large ventromental 'beard' and the anterior parapods with a 'sleeve' of hooklets in addition to apical pectinate claws. The pupa has hooklets on some tergal and sternal intersegmental membranes. The adult, reported only in teneral specimens has hairy eyes, no antennal apical strong seta, no acrostichals, bare and unmarked wings, cylindrical 4th tarsomere subequal in length to the 5th, pulvilli about half the claw length, and hypopygium with anal point, lacking a virga. Molecular phylogenetic analysis eliminates relationships directly to the Eukiefferiella complex (which also have pupal hooklets), or to the Cricotopus group (adults also with hairy eyes), suggesting instead a sister group relationship to a suite of predominantly austral genera of Orthocladiinae.


MLL, involved in many chromosomal translocations associated with acute myeloid and lymphoid leukemia, has >50 known partner genes with which it is able to form in-frame fusions. Characterizing important downstream target genes of MLL and of MLL fusion proteins may provide rational therapeutic strategies for the treatment of MLL-associated leukemia. We explored downstream target genes of the most prevalent MLL fusion protein, MLL-AF4. To this end, we developed inducible MLL-AF4 fusion cell lines in different backgrounds. Overexpression of MLL-AF4 does not lead to increased proliferation in either cell line, but rather, cell growth was slowed compared with similar cell lines inducibly expressing truncated MLL. We found that in the MLL-AF4-induced cell lines, the expression of the cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitor gene CDKN1B was dramatically changed at both the RNA and protein (p27kip1) levels. In contrast, the expression levels of CDKN1A (p21) and CDKN2A (p16) were unchanged. To explore whether CDKN1B might be a direct target of MLL and of MLL-AF4, we used chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP) assays and luciferase reporter gene assays. MLL-AF4 binds to the CDKN1B promoter in vivo and regulates CDKN1B promoter activity. Further, we confirmed CDKN1B promoter binding by ChIP in MLL-AF4 as well as in MLL-AF9 leukemia cell lines. Our results suggest that CDKN1B is a downstream target of MLL and of MLL-AF4, and that, depending on the background cell type, MLL-AF4 inhibits or activates CDKN1B expression. This finding may have implications in terms of leukemia stem cell resistance to chemotherapy in MLL-AF4 leukemias.


INTRODUCTION
The pattern of fracture, including the anatomical location and age distribution, may differ among urban and rural populations due to various factors such as the inhabitants' occupation and living environment.

METHODS
This was a retrospective multicentre study involving two urban and three rural hospitals in Malaysia. The demographic data and anatomical location of fracture of patients admitted in 2007 were collected for analysis.

RESULTS
A total of 7,973 patients were admitted for fractures between January and December 2007. The femur was the commonest fracture site that required admission in the urban population (21.9 percent), followed by the tibia-fibula (18.7 percent), while the radius-ulna was the commonest site among the rural population (22.0 percent), followed by the tibia-fibula (19.4 percent). The rates of head and pelvic fractures were comparatively higher in the urban population, while hand fractures were more common in the rural population. The higher rate of femur fracture in the urban group, especially among the elderly, may be due to the higher incidence of osteoporosis or a higher proportion of older people in the population.

CONCLUSION
The anatomical locations of common fractures differed between the urban and rural populations. A higher rate of upper limb fractures was observed in the rural areas, while femur fractures in the elderly was the main cause of fracture admission in the urban areas. The relatively high rate of hand fractures in the rural areas, especially among children and young adults, may require further investigation.


Our aim in this paper is to examine the ways in which electronic gaming machines (EGMs) redistribute resources to and from three remote towns in the Northern Territory (NT), namely Katherine, Tennant Creek and Nhulunbuy. We describe EGM expenditure levels in each town at the level of the individual venue, examine patterns of socioeconomic status within each town, explore the ways in which EGM markets are racialised through venue gate-keeping practices and spatially-based alcohol regulations, and examine the effects of resource redistribution mechanisms designed to return a proportion of EGM profits to host communities. The ability of venues to draw resources from extremely disadvantaged groups from the remote periphery is of central concern when attempting to assess the societal consequences of gambling in remote towns, both in terms of individual harm and the adequacy of resource redistribution. Existing mechanisms for resource redistribution are both selective and relatively meagre, pointing to a political and racial economy of EGM gambling that transfers resources from remote towns to sites of centralised 'white' power. We conclude that political economy in the context of remote NT towns may not be understood outside a consideration of racial economy and the way that constructed notions of race operate to legitimate existing processes of economic exploitation and resource redistribution.


Decades of research have revealed that the nuclear factor-κB (NF-κB) is an important functional transcription factor which lately is also found to be constitutively active in many cancer cells such as multiple myeloma cell lines (Annunziata, Davis et al. 2007; Demchenko, Glebov et al. 2010). The APIM-sequence, which was recently identified as a functional PCNA-interacting motif, is found in more than 200 proteins important in DNA maintenance, transcription and cell cycle regulation (Gilljam, Feyzi et al. 2009). Some of the APIM-containing proteins are suggested to act upstream of the NF-κB pathway. Overexpression of the APIM-peptide makes cells more sensitive to DNA-damaging agents likely by blocking the binding between PCNA and DNA repair/cell cycle regulatory proteins containing the APIM sequence, thereby impairing the proper cellular response to damage. We have investigated APIM-peptide's effect on NF-κB activity after exposure to lipopolysaccharides (LPS) and various DNA-damaging agents. LPS stimulation of monocytes activates NF-κB, which leads to tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α) production, which again activates NF-κB. Immunoassay demonstrated a significant decreased in production of TNF-α form in freshly isolated monocytes treated with LPS in the presence of the APIM-peptide. We suggest that the APIM-peptide is a promising inhibitor of TNF-α and possibly NF-κB activity, and that APIM-containing proteins such as MAPKs, MASTs and PI3Ks acting upstream of NF-κB signaling might be involved.


Hydrate formation in production and control lines has been a serious issue in the oil industry, especially in the deepwater offshore market. This article focuses on a compact temporary plant designed to be assembled on offshore rigs for heating and injecting high flow rate water to break hydrates.
 Hydrates are formed under determined conditions (high pressure at low temperature) in which natural gas hydrocarbon molecules are trapped in ice molecules, forming crystal structures and plugging or choking lines, causing operational problems. When preventive solutions, such as chemical inhibitors or thermal insulation, do not work, the formed hydrate must be broken or dissociated to set the lines free. One option is active heating, in which hot fluid is circulated to increase the temperature and break the hydrate ice structures. Consequently, a compact plant, with combined direct and indirect heating, was designed to deliver a customized solution for an offshore rig.
 Drill or salt water pumps were used to supply cold water at 12 bpm at 25 °C, and two steam generators were used to inject steam into the flow, mixing inline and delivering water at 49 °C at the mud tanks. This tank water was pumped through mud pumps at 12 bpm, passing through four steam heat exchangers (SHE) to deliver water at a final temperature of 90 °C. The total process used six steam generators and four SHE to heat water from 25 to 90 °C at 12 bpm.
 The compact design for the high flow rate injection plant was only possible with combined and independent processes. Direct heating by steam injection was used inline downstream from the drill water pump to preheat the water to 49 °C while feeding the mud tank. Indirect heating used four SHE downstream of the mud pump to deliver water at 90 °C at the seabed.


We present our work on the simulation of distributed memory parallel computers. We design a distributed simulator that takes as input an application written for a MIMD computer and run it on a workstation cluster with just a recompilation of the code. The hardware of the target machine is simulated so that the behavior of the application is identical to a native run on the simulated computer with virtual timings and trace file. Moreover our analysis sets up the conditions required to achieve a good speedup as a function of the number of simulation hosts, the network latency and the granularity of the application.


This work deals with the subharmonic resonance of one-third order of electrostatically actuated clamped MEMS circular plate resonators. The system consists of flexible MEMS circular plate parallel to a ground plate actuated only by AC voltage. Hard excitations due to large enough AC voltage of frequency near three-halves of the natural frequency of the MEMS plate resonator lead it into a subharmonic resonance. The partial differential equation describing the motion of the resonator is nondimensionalized and two reduced order models are developed. The first one consists of a one mode of vibration model which is solved using the Method of Multiple Scales (MMS). The frequency-amplitude response (bifurcation diagram) is predicted. Hard excitations were modeled by keeping the first term of the Taylor polynomial of the electrostatic force as a large term and the rest of them as small terms. The second model uses two modes of vibration, and it is solved through numerical integration. This produces time responses of the resonator. Both methods show a zero-amplitude steady-state stable branch for the entire range of resonant frequencies. Also, two branches, one unstable and one stable, with a saddle node bifurcation point are predicted for non-zero steady state amplitudes. One can notice that non-zero steady state amplitudes can be reached only from large enough initial amplitudes. Both methods are in agreement for amplitudes up to 0.7 of the gap. The effect of damping and voltage on the frequency response are reported. As the damping increases, the saddle-node bifurcation point and consequently the non-zero steady-state branches are shifted to larger amplitudes. As the voltage increases, the saddle-node bifurcation point and the non-zero branches are shifted to lower amplitudes and lower frequency.


Large volcanic eruptions can have a significant cooling effect on climate, which is evident in both modern and palaeo data. However, due to the difficulty of disentangling volcanic and other influences in the modern atmospheric CO2 record, and uncertainties associated with palaeo reconstructions of atmospheric CO2, the magnitude of the carbon cycle response to volcanically induced climatic changes is difficult to quantify. In this study, three Earth System Models (SIMEARTH, CLIMBER‐2, and CLIMBER LPJ) are used to simulate the effects of different magnitudes of volcanic eruption, from relatively small (e.g., Mount Pelée, 1902) to very large (e.g., the 1258 ice core event), on the coupled global climate‐carbon cycle system. These models each use different, but justifiable, parameterizations to simulate the global carbon cycle and climate. Key differences include how soil respiration and net primary productivity respond to temperature and atmospheric CO2. All models simulate global surface cooling in response to volcanic events. In response to a Mount Pinatubo‐equivalent eruption, the modelled temperature decrease is 0.3°C to 0.4°C and atmospheric CO2 decreases by 1.1 ppm to 3.4 ppm. The initial response time of climate to volcanic forcing and subsequent recovery time vary little with changes in the size of the forcing. Response times for vegetation and soil carbon are relatively consistent across forcings for each model. However, results indicate that there is significant uncertainty concerning the response of the carbon cycle to volcanic eruptions. Suggestions for future research directed at reducing this uncertainty are given.


This paper reports R-matrix calculations of electron impact excitation rates for Ni III. The calculation includes 70 LS terms corresponding to the configurations 3d 8 , 3d 7 4s, 3d 7 4p, and 3d 6 4s 2 . This expansion results in 162 fine structure levels and 13 041 transitions, including optical, infrared, and ultraviolet lines. The collision strengths, including detailed resonance structures, were integrated over a Maxwellian distribution of electron energies and the resulting effective collision strengths are given for a wide range of temperatures. A collisional-radiative equilibrium model of the Ni III ion is constructed and the strongest lines in the optical and infrared spectral regions are identified. The emissivities of these lines and emissivity line ratio diagnostics are presented.


Purpose of review Addressing patients' Do Not Resuscitate (DNR) status in the perioperative setting is important for shared patient decision-making. Although the inherently resuscitative nature of anesthesia and surgery may pose an ethical quandary for clinicians tasked with caring for the patient, anesthesiologist-led efforts need to evaluate all aspects of the DNR order and operative procedures. Recent findings Approximately 15% of patients undergoing surgical procedures have a preexisting DNR order (Margolis et al., 1995) [1]. American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) and the American College of Surgeons (ACS) do not support automatic reversal of the DNR order in the perioperative setting. Citing patient self-determination and autonomy, these societies advocate for a thoughtful discussion where a patient or legal designee may make an informed decision regarding resuscitation in the perioperative setting. Although studies have suggested increased perioperative mortality among patients with a preexisting DNR order, this data remains largely inconclusive. Summary Efforts must be made to address the DNR order in the perioperative setting. The fundamental tenets of medical ethics, nonmaleficence, beneficence, and patient autonomy can help to guide this oftentimes challenging discussion.


Robin Baker puts forward the thesis that evolution has programmed men to conquer and monopolise women while women, without even knowing they are doing it, seek the best genetic input on offer from potential sexual partners. Facts of life presented include: 10 per cent of children are not fathered by their "fathers", less than 1 per cent off a man's sperm is capable of fertilizing anything - the rest is there to fight off other men's sperm, "smart" vaginal mucus encourages some sperm but blocks others, and a woman is far more likely to conceive through a casual fling than through sex with her regular partner. Baker describes fictionalized scences and then explains the science behind the actions to demonstrate how our everyday behaviour fits into a pattern of evolution.


In this paper we present Atomic Dataflow model (ADF), a new task-based parallel programming model for C/C++ which integrates dataflow abstractions into the shared memory programming model. The ADF model provides pragma directives that allow a programmer to organize a program into a set of tasks and to explicitly define input data for each task. The task dependency information is conveyed to the ADF runtime system which constructs the dataflow task graph and builds the necessary infrastructure for dataflow execution. Additionally, the ADF model allows tasks to share data. The key idea is that computation is triggered by dataflow between tasks but that, within a task, execution occurs by making atomic updates to common mutable state. To that end, the ADF model employs transactional memory which guarantees atomicity of shared memory updates. We show examples that illustrate how the programmability of shared memory can be improved using the ADF model. Moreover, our evaluation shows that the ADF model performs well in comparison with programs parallelized using OpenMP and transactional memory.


Summary form only given. The spatial resolution of scanning near-field optical microscope (SNOM) is limited by the size of an aperture for the light transmission and ranges 50-100 nm, although 20 nm resolution has been demonstrated. Further improvement of the resolution seems problematic for the "classical" SNOM configurations because the number of photons "seeping" through an aperture is rapidly decreasing with the decrease of the aperture size. A number of new approaches to improve the resolution, such as SNOM using fluorescence resonant energy transfer (FRET) between a single fluorescence center of the tip and the sample studied have been proposed.


Shear wave velocity, V s , is one of the important input parameters in seismic response analysis of the ground. Various methods have been examined to measure the soil V s directly. Direct measurement of V s is time consuming and costly, therefore many researchers have been trying to update empirical relationships between V s and other geotechnical properties of soils such as SPT Blow count, SPT-N. In this study the existence of a statistical relationship between V s , SPT-N 60  and vertical effective stress, signa nu ´, is investigated. Data set we used in this study was gathered from geotechnical and geophysical investigations reports. The data have been extracted from more than 130 numbers of geotechnical boreholes from different parts of Mashhad city. In each borehole the V s has been measured by downhole method at two meter intervals. The SPT test also has performed at the same depth. Finally relationships were developed by regression analysis for gravels, sands and fine grain soils. The proposed relationships indicate that V s is strongly dependent on signa nu ´. In this paper the effect of fine percent also is considered on the V s estimation.


When films get thinner than about one micrometer, they become unstable in ways that affect many applications. In his Perspective, Reiter discusses results reported in the same issue by
 Herminghaus et al.
 in which a process called "spinodal dewetting" was studied as a possible source of instability. By adjusting the intermolecular interaction properties, a variety of film patterns were obtained, and these patterns were consistent with those seen in experiments of thin films. Such effects may be especially useful in situations where particular patterns need to be created.


N-partite networks are natural representations of complex multientity databases. However, processing these networks can be a highly memory and computation-intensive task, especially when positive correlation exists between the degrees of vertices from different partitions. In order to improve the scalability of this process, this paper proposes two algorithms that make use of sampling for obtaining less expensive approximate results. The first algorithm is optimal for obtaining homogeneous discovery rates with a low memory requirement, but can be very slow in cases where the combined branching factor of these networks is too large. A second algorithm that incorporates concepts from evolutionary computation aims toward dealing with this slow convergence in the case when it is more interesting to increase approximation convergence speed of elements with high feature values. This algorithm makes use of the positive correlation between "local" branching factors and the feature values. Two applications examples are demonstrated in searching for most influential authors in collections of journal articles and in analyzing most active earthquake regions from a collection of earthquake events.


Understanding whether technical change is beneficial or detrimental for employment is at the center of the policy debate, especially in phases of economic recession. So far, the effects of innovation – in its manifold declinations and intrinsic complexity – on labor demand have proven to be not unequivocal. This essay critically reviews the role of technical change in shaping employment dynamics at different levels of aggregation. First, it disentangles theoretically the role of different compensation mechanisms through which employment adjusts after an innovation is introduced. Second, it critically presents the most recent empirical evidence on the topic, with a focus on methods and limitations. Finally, it provides an attempt to conceptualize a number of stylized facts and empirical regularities on the innovation†employment nexus.


Abstract Vocal individuality has been documented in a variety of mammalian species and it has been proposed that this individuality can be used as a vocal fingerprint to monitor individuals. Here we provide and test a classification method using Mel-frequency cepstral coefficients (MFCCs) to extract features from Bornean gibbon female calls. Our method is semi-automated as it requires manual pre-processing to identify and extract calls from the original recordings. We compared two methods of MFCC feature extraction: (1) averaging across all time windows and (2) creating a standardized number of time windows for each call. We analysed 376 calls from 33 gibbon females and, using linear discriminant analysis, found that we were able to improve female identification accuracy from 95.7% with spectrogram features to 98.4% accuracy when averaging MFCCs across time windows, and 98.9% accuracy when using a standardized number of windows. We divided our data randomly into training and test data-sets, and tested the accuracy of support vector machine (SVM) predictions over 100 iterations. We found that we could predict female identity in the test data-set with a 98.8% accuracy. Using SVM on our entire data-set, we were able to predict female identity with 99.5% accuracy (validated by leave-one-out cross-validation). Lastly, we used the method presented here to classify four females recorded during three or more recording seasons using SVM with limited success. We provide evidence that MFCC feature extraction is effective for distinguishing between female Bornean gibbons, and make suggestions for future vocal fingerprinting applications.


Settlements which have developed over a long period of time inevitably reflect the environmental and historical factors which have shaped their physical and socio-economic identity. It is the purpose of this thesis to trace the influence of such factors on the development of Kirkwall and Stromness and, in addition, to examine the elements of townscape which, in view of possible economic changes within the island group, may require careful consideration if the unusual character of these burghs is not to be lost by ill-considered development. Although lying only 8 miles from the north coast of Scotland, the Orkney Islands came under Norse influence during the earliest period of major settlement. The earldom which was created in the ninth century brought about the rationalisation of agricultural holdings throughout the isles and the foundation of an administrative capital adjacent to a sheltered lagoon towards the centre of the Orkney Mainland. Under successive earls Kirkwall developed in two distinct sections : the earl's town, a development of the shoreside fishing settlement, and the Laverock or bishop's town to the south around St. Magnus Cathedral and the Bishop's Palace. With impignoration of the islands in 1468 the Norse culture was superseded by that of the Scots. By a series of charters King James III gained control of both earldom and bishopric properties and in 1486 established Kirkwall as a royal burgh. Fluctuations in the power of the Scottish earls and bishops affected the development of the Orcadian capital and produced repercussions throughout the landward areas and islands. Further burgh expansion occurred, however, during the following two centuries ; the diversification of the economy attracting immigrants from the outlying islands - a trend that continues at the present time. Improvements in land and sea communications increased Kirkwall's sphere of influence and encouraged both a consolidation of the administrative function of the burgh and the development of service industries. With such socio-economic changes residential development was forced into the surrounding farm land while the former dwellings of merchant lairds and ecclesiastics along the main street were converted to commercial premises. In contrast no urban development had occurred around Hamna Voe in the West Mainland prior to 1590. However, in the early years of the following century a few artisans seised plots of land from the bishopric on the steeply sloping ground to the west of the bay, and the trading settlement of Stromness became established. During the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries the economy flourished as a result of contacts with the 'New World' via the rice trade, the whaling ships and the Hudson's Bay Company. The increase in wealth in the community in turn attracted a considerable number of immigrants particularly from Northern Scotland and the South Isles, the maximum population being reached in 1821. Following the decline in overseas trading the economy became oriented towards home-based industry such as spinning, straw-plaiting, boat-building and fishing. The characteristic townscape of the settlement developed during this period : shore-line dwellings being constructed with their long axis to the sea, partially on individual stone wharves to maximise the use of building land and access to the harbour. During the present century many changes have been wrought both in the socio-economic structure and the townscape of the two burghs. The functions of Kirkwall and Stromness tend, at the present time, to be complementary and reflect local and National Government policies for development of what are essentially rural areas. However, economic expansion associated with the North Sea oil exploration is imminent - an expansion which may rapidly obliterate the historical character of both the burghs and submerge the Orcadian identity. It is obvious that the historical factors, mentioned in the thesis, have at various times had a considerable effect on the development of both burghs. Yet detailed studies of the present state, and particularly the townscape elements, of Kirkwall and Stromness indicate that the character of the settlements is the result not only of the periods of economic expansion but also those of economic and social decline. For this reason it is necessary to trace the influence of each factor and show how the possibly detrimental effects of further economic growth and urban renewal may be limited so that the character of the Orcadian burghs may be retained for future generations.


In order to achieve the smooth surface of diamond, several kinds of mixture oxidizing agents have been used to polish the single crystal diamond by a designed polishing apparatus. The existing of graphite and amorphous carbon has been found in the surface of diamond after polishing. The mechanochemical actions of oxidizing agents and the polishing iron plate have been proved. The mixture of oxidizing agents can decrease the polishing temperature so that the super-smooth surface of single crystal diamond can be achieved at lower temperature. The method provided is benefit not only to simplify polishing device and control the polishing process, but also to improve the removal rate and surface roughness.


Microscale tipstreaming is a hydrodynamic phenomenon capable of producing submicron sized droplets within a microfluidic device. Tipstreaming is the ejection of small drops from a liquid thread formed by interfacial tension gradients and convective transport of surfactant. To use tipstreaming in potential applications, including nanoparticle synthesis, chemical detection and separation, occlusion therapy, and others, it is necessary to understand and be able to control the thread formation process. However, there are many technical challenges restricting successful implementation of microscale tipstreaming. This thesis provides several tools and solutions to overcome these technical challenges. Modeling the tipstreaming phenomenon has allowed for prediction of conditions where tipstreaming is expected to occur for an arbitrary oil-watersurfactant system. This facilitates the use of tipstreaming to quickly estimate conditions where thread formation will be observed, reducing the need for experimentally determining the tipstreaming operating diagram. The key component of the model is the reliance on interfacial shape observations to simplify the fluid flow and surfactant transport equations. An active feedback control loop developed in this work is capable of eliminating the production of primary droplets and producing a continuous thread, and therefore a continuous droplet stream. Lastly, droplet size is characterized as a function of the surfactant concentration and liquid flow rates of the two phases leading to control over the size of the droplets being produced. Applying these tools to enhance tipstreaming is crucial in aiding its use in applications.


Abstract Prognostic factors for venous thromboembolism (VTE) recurrence following provoked VTE are largely unknown. Using the Clot Formation and Lysis (CloFAL) assay, single institutional research has shown overall improvement in acute hypercoagulability during the first 3 months postpediatric VTE, yet a rise in plasma coagulability in a subgroup of patients. We sought to define the incidence of rise in coagulability during the first 3 months post-provoked VTE, to investigate its relationship with elevated D-dimer, and to test the hypothesis that a marked rise in coagulability is independently prognostic of VTE recurrence. CloFAL and D-dimer assays were performed on plasma at 4 to 6 weeks and 3 months post-VTE in the Johns Hopkins pediatric VTE cohort and National Institutes of Health-sponsored Kids-DOTT trial. Associations of VTE recurrence with D-dimer and CloFAL assay measures were evaluated via logistic regression. Eighty-seven patients were included. Median follow-up was 1 year. Complete veno-occlusion was determined in 12% at 6 weeks. During the first 3 months post-VTE, a marked rise in coagulability was observed by CloFAL assay in 17% of patients, while D-dimer was elevated in 21%. Recurrent VTE occurred in 10% of patients. CloFAL assay, but not D-dimer, was associated with recurrence (odds ratio [OR] 5.87, 95% confidence interval [95% CI], 1.34–25.8]). After adjustment for veno-occlusion, patients with a marked rise in coagulability by CloFAL assay had a 10-fold increased risk of recurrent VTE (OR 10.33 [95% CI, 1.83–58.19]). Future work should seek to elucidate the mechanisms underlying a rise in plasma coagulability following provoked VTE and to substantiate its prognostic utility for recurrent VTE.


Business Data Services (BDS), formerly called special access services, are dedicated broadband lines offered by network providers to business customers and network providers. In a packet-based broadband network, the distinction between customer and competitor is being blurred, and with it the meaning of the wholesale/retail distinction. A new approach to pricing and regulatory oversight is needed that moves away from treating any market segment as passive purchasers of BDS services. The authors propose a simple pricing structure that is cost-causative, reflects the opportunity cost of using the network, and controls opportunistic behavior. While the main focus of the paper is on BDS services, the recommendations also hold in other networks industries.


In this paper, an efficient text classification algorithm for repeating-text information on the e-commerce site can automatically classify and sort the similar string. This algorithm will greatly increase the efficiency and accuracy of audited information. All tests show that for the number of information between 100 and 1000 the algorithm is very efficient, and the 1000 text information(strings) comparison can be controlled in two seconds. When the amount of information is over 1000, the computation time will be significantly increased. The precision can be rectified to adjust the relevant parameters of the algorithm, such as the number of the same substring in comparison results and the length of split string. For too short information, such as less than 10 words, the algorithm can be combined with the Levenshtein algorithm, in order to improve the text-search flexibility.


Parameter space exploration methods with black-box optimization have recently been shown to outperform state-of-the-art approaches in continuous control reinforcement learning domains. In this paper, we examine reasons why these methods work better and the situations in which they are worse than traditional action space exploration methods. Through a simple theoretical analysis, we show that when the parametric complexity required to solve the reinforcement learning problem is greater than the product of action space dimensionality and horizon length, exploration in action space is preferred. This is also shown empirically by comparing simple exploration methods on several toy problems.


Previous studies of surface particle structures in gravel‐bed rivers, in particular coarse‐grain clusters, conclude that these bedforms increase bed stability and reduce sediment transport rates. However, few studies have quantitatively analysed the effect of the surface distribution of coarse grains, in isolation or arranged into distinct bedforms, on particle entrainment, focussing on descriptions of bedform formation and mechanical behaviour. A novel image analysis technique was employed that allowed recognition of coarse grains and calculation of particle cluster areas. Under laboratory conditions, increasing discharges were applied to a unimodal sand‐gravel bed. The size class containing the D90 size was painted in ultraviolet paint. Image analysis software was used to identify this size class on digital images of the bed surface taken under ultraviolet light. Both the total surface area occupied by ultraviolet grains and the area of accumulations of connected grains were related to the threshold shear stress for entrainment. As discharge magnitude increased, coarse grains actively grouped together forming fewer, larger accumulations of coarse particles. Lower values of critical bed shear stress occurred for beds with higher degrees of clustering; beds are more stable when coarse grains are distributed more evenly over the bed surface; this implies that using bed surface composition as a descriptor of bed resistance to entrainment may need to be complemented by a descriptor of the spatial distribution of the coarsest grains.


A novel design procedure of broad-band multilayer antireflection (AR) coatings for optical and optoelectronic devices is proposed. The design algorithm is based on the optical admittance detuning, with the bandwidth of finite reflectivity as a new merit function. Coating structures consist of only two materials with nonquarter-wave thicknesses. Numerical mappings on the four-layer structure showed four optimizing regions where an optimized four-layer AR coating on 1.55 /spl mu/m GaInAs-AlGaInAs MQW semiconductor laser facet was predicted to have a broad bandwidth of 106 mm for a reflectivity of less than 10/sup -5/. TiO/sub 2/ and SiO/sub 2/ were electron-beam (EB) evaporated to form the four-layer AR coating on glass and InP substrates with an ion-beam assist and a real time in situ optical thickness monitor and experimentally verify its broad-band performance.


Background and Purpose: It is estimated that only 1 in 5 cases of elder abuse is reported. Physical therapists (PTs) should recognize elder abuse and how to report it. The purpose of this study was to determine the knowledge that PTs possess in 3 areas of abuse management: recognition of signs/symptoms of physical abuse, awareness of state mandatory reporting laws, and knowledge of facility protocols for reporting abuse. An additional purpose was to determine the frequency PTs suspected elder abuse and the compliance to Michigan law, which requires the reporting of suspected abuse by the health care worker. Method: A survey was distributed to 400 randomly chosen licensed PTs who reside in one county in Michigan; 137 surveys were completed for a 36% return rate with 31% being usable. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and independent t‐tests. Results: Facility training was a significant factor in the knowledge of the mandatory reporting law. Facility training showed a trend towards improving the knowledge level of the signs and symptoms of abuse. Twenty five percent of respondents had suspected abuse of one of their patients, however, over half failed to report their suspicions. Conclusions: This study identified a lack of knowledge in recognition and management of elder abuse including Michigan's mandatory reporting law. Although required by law, all therapists that suspected abuse did not report their suspicions to proper legal authorities. Continued professional education and research in this area is needed.


Wheat (Triticum aestivum L. cv Minaret) was grown long-term under CO2 partial pressures of 36 and 70 or 100 Pa with various N applications (4 to 23 g m-2 N), to test hypotheses of N re-allocation: 1) a decrease in N from leaves to other organs, 2) a relative decrease in N from Rubisco to other photosynthetic components.
 Elevated CO2 did not affect phenology, main stem leaf appearance, the pattern of N allocation throughout the plant, or the fraction of crop N in grain at harvest, but 1) stimulated biomass and yield by 5 to 20% over the N range used, and 2) caused a faster loss of N and components from flag leaves during grain-fill.
 Responses of photosynthesis to varying pCi were fitted, and rates of maximal carboxylation and non-photorespiratory respiration estimated. The former, was proportional to Rubisco content, and light-saturated photosynthetic rate at 70 Pa CO2 was proportional to A TP-synthase. Potential photosynthetic rates at 70 Pa CO2 were calculated, compared with observed, and used to estimate excess investment in Rubisco. The excess was greater in high N treatments than low, declining as leaves senesced. The fraction of Rubisco estimated to be in excess, was strongly dependent on leaf N content, increasing from - 5% in leaves with 1 g N m-2 to -40% in leaves with 2 g N m-2. Growth at elevated CO2 usually decreased the excess somewhat, but only as a consequence of a general decrease in leaf N, given that relationships of components to leaf N content were independent of CO2 and N treatment, demonstrating that no direct CO2 effect on N allocation within leaves had occurred. It is concluded that there is scope for improving the N-use efficiency of C3 crop plants in elevated CO2 conditions, by genetic manipulation to decrease the amount of Rubisco.


In the noisy intermediate-scale quantum (NISQ) era, the idea of quantum multiprogramming, running multiple quantum circuits (QCs) simultaneously on the same hardware, helps to improve the throughput of quantum computation. However, the crosstalk, unwanted interference between qubits on NISQ processors, may cause performance degradation when using multiprogramming. To address this challenge, we introduce palloq (parallel allocation of QCs), a novel compilation protocol. Palloq improves the performance of quantum multiprogramming on NISQ processors, while paying attention to 1) the combination of QCs chosen for parallel execution and 2) the assignment of program qubit variables to physical qubits, to reduce unwanted interference among the active set of QCs. We also propose a software-based crosstalk detection protocol using a new combination of randomized benchmarking methods. Our method successfully characterizes the suitability of hardware for multiprogramming with relatively low detection costs. We found a tradeoff between the success rate and execution time of the multiprogramming. Our results will be of value when device throughput becomes a significant bottleneck. Until service providers have enough quantum processors available to more than meet demand, this approach will be attractive to the service providers and users who want to optimize job management and throughput of the processor.


Standard and high resolution transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and advanced post processing of the TEM images have been applied for quantitative characterization of the hardening particle structure of an Al-Mg-Si alloy optimized for formation of the metastable phase β'. The relation between the structural characterization and the mechanical properties has been developed. A first attempt is presented on visualization and quantification of the coherency strain field of β', based on a combination of Vienna Ab-initio Simulation Package (VASP) calculations and continuum mechanical modelling.