The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia seeks to have at least five universities in the top 200 of international rankings by 2030; which urges academics to develop strong research partnerships with the private sector. Furthermore, the intermediary company has emerged in several universities to facilitate knowledge transfer processes between universities and the private sector mutually. Nevertheless, despite the growing awareness of the importance of research partnership, studies stressed that current partnerships' level is relatively low. Thus, there is a need to investigate this issue further. Besides, there is a need to in-depth analyse the gender-difference to understand the phenomenon. Accordingly, this mixed-methods study aims to examine the influence of social capital theory factors on the knowledge transfer process, with the existence of the intermediary company between public universities and private sector during the Engagement phase in Saudi Arabia based on the perspectives of the leaders' gender.


Parameters of widely used nuclear rms charge radius formulas have been refitted based on the latest experimental data for about 900 nuclei. It has been seen that the new parameters in the formulas give better results than the previous ones. Besides, an N-dependent formula has been proposed and discussed. This formula gives effective results for rms charge radius. The standard deviation in all formulas with new parameters are concentrated between −0.1 and 0.1. In other words, for about 90% of nuclei, the differences of charge radii from experimental values are lower than 0.1 fm.


Three new materials of composition Fe1−xMgxSb2O4 (x = 0.25, 0.50, 0.75) with the tetragonal schafarzikite structure have been synthesised. Magnetic susceptibility measurements suggest that Fe1−xMgxSb2O4 (x = 0.25, 0.50) are canted antiferromagnets whilst Fe0.25Mg0.75Sb2O4 is paramagnetic. The magnetic ordering temperatures decrease as the Mg2+ concentration increases. The materials form oxygen-excess phases when heated in oxygen-rich atmospheres at temperatures of ∼350 °C. 57Fe Mossbauer spectroscopy shows that the oxidation process involves the oxidation of Fe2+ to Fe3+. Powder neutron diffraction confirms the location of the excess oxygen within the structural channels and reveals a change in magnetic order at low temperatures from A-type (magnetic moments along 〈100〉) for Fe1−xMgxSb2O4 to C-type (magnetic moments along [001]) for the oxidised materials. The change is attributed to a weakening of the antiferromagnetic exchange interactions between edge-linked FeO6 octahedra for the Fe3+-containing materials.


Lethal concentration of bupivacaine was determined based on the examination of a case of poisoning with this local anesthetic agent taken at a dose 5 times the normal value. This study is of special interest taking into consideration the lack of data on toxic and lethal doses of bupivacaine in splanchnic organs and tissues in the literature.


We conducted a nested case-control study to determine potential risk factors for developing encephalitis from West Nile virus (WNV) infection. Retrospective medical chart reviews were completed for 172 confirmed WNV cases hospitalized in Houston between 2002 and 2004. Of these cases, 113 had encephalitis, including 17 deaths, 47 had meningitis, and 12 were fever cases; 67% were male. Homeless patients were more likely to be hospitalized from WNV compared to the general population. A multiple logistic regression model identified age [odds ratio (OR) 1·1, P<0·001], history of hypertension, including those cases taking hypertension-inducing drugs (OR 2·9, P=0·012), and history of cardiovascular disease (OR 3·5, P=0·061) as independent risk factors for developing encephalitis from WNV infection. After adjusting for age, race/ethnicity (being black) (OR 12·0, P<0·001), chronic renal disease (OR 10·6, P<0·001), hepatitis C virus (OR 23·1, P=0·0013), and immunosuppression (OR 3·9, P=0·033) were identified as risk factors for death from WNV infection.


In this study, we investigated the perception of a musician who sells his music on a digital platform in Ghana. We specifically examined the motivations for choosing that digital platform, the benefits being derived, and what could make him stop using that platform. We adopted a qualitative research approach and conducted in-depth interviews with the musician, and the owner of our target digital platform, Aftown.com. We found that the digital platform extends a musician's reach to an audience beyond her geographical boundary, generates increased sales, and removes intermediaries between her and the customer. Digital platforms, especially a local one also helps overcome digital payment constraints because it is equipped with solutions like mobile money that enables local purchases, and not restricted to just popular international payment systems. The originality of this study lies in the fact that, it is one of the few scholarly investigations focusing on digital platforms from of a sub-Saharan country perspective.


The Black-Scholes option model created a revolution in finance. It was perceived that the model opened up a methodology to price option contracts. The methodology has been problematic as numerous empirical contradictions and anomalies have been noted. Born out of Frequentist decision theory, a key assumption in the formula is that all parameters are known. When viewed as an estimator, however, it is shown that it does not converge to a population parameter. Consequently, a new model is built using Bayesian decision theory rather than Frequentist decision theory. This is done as it assures that the estimator will be both admissible and coherent, something that cannot generally happen with existing methods using Itô calculus or binomial trees. The model proposed is derived in two distinct ways. The first is both distribution-free and presumes no first moment. The second follows the work of Harris in deriving the density functions of various asset classes. The former should be robust, the later, powerful.


Replication studies that contradict prior findings may facilitate scientific self-correction by triggering a reappraisal of the original studies; however, the research community's response to replication results has not been studied systematically. One approach for gauging responses to replication results is to examine how they affect citations to original studies. In this study, we explored postreplication citation patterns in the context of four prominent multilaboratory replication attempts published in the field of psychology that strongly contradicted and outweighed prior findings. Generally, we observed a small postreplication decline in the number of favorable citations and a small increase in unfavorable citations. This indicates only modest corrective effects and implies considerable perpetuation of belief in the original findings. Replication results that strongly contradict an original finding do not necessarily nullify its credibility; however, one might at least expect the replication results to be acknowledged and explicitly debated in subsequent literature. By contrast, we found substantial citation bias: The majority of articles citing the original studies neglected to cite relevant replication results. Of those articles that did cite the replication but continued to cite the original study favorably, approximately half offered an explicit defense of the original study. Our findings suggest that even replication results that strongly contradict original findings do not necessarily prompt a corrective response from the research community.


The codes obtained from the responses of large populations of neurons are known as population codes. Several studies have shown that the amount of information conveyed by such codes, and the format of this information, is highly dependent on the pattern of correlations. However, very little is known about the impact of response correlations (as found in actual cortical circuits) on neural coding. To address this problem, we investigated the properties of population codes obtained from motion energy filters, which provide one of the best models for motion selectivity in early visual areas. It is therefore likely that the correlations that arise among energy filters also arise among motion-selective neurons. We adopted an ideal observer approach to analyze filter responses to three sets of images: noisy sine gratings, random dots kinematograms, and images of natural scenes. We report that in our model, the structure of the population code varies with the type of image. We also show that for all sets of images, correlations convey a large fraction of the information: 40% to 90% of the total information. Moreover, ignoring those correlations when decoding leads to considerable information lossfrom 50% to 93%, depending on the image type. Finally we show that it is important to consider a large population of motion energy filters in order to see the impact of correlations. Study of pairs of neurons, as is often done experimentally, can underestimate the effect of correlations.


This paper examines a potentially fatal type of pathogen transmission, namely, the spillover of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) from COVID-19-positive humans to nonhuman animals. This neglected direction of pathogen transmission ("anthroponosis") was first publicized in March 2020, when eight large felids at a zoo in New York City were infected with SARS-CoV-2 by a COVID-19-positive employee. The paper gathers and problematizes the as-yet sparse evidence of anthroponotic transmissions of SARS-CoV-2 at sites in the animal–industrial complex where animals are held captive in zoos; appointed as human companions; used in scientific experiments; and raised and slaughtered in industrialized agriculture. The great fear is that animals infected with SARS-CoV-2 by COVID-19-positive humans will develop mutant strains of the virus, that these variants will be transmitted back to humans, and that the variants will be immune to the vaccines currently in use or in development. When we harm animals, we harm ourselves. Never has the need for a nonspeciesist approach to public health and safety been more urgent.


Four entrance channels to the pentachlorodisilane (Si2HCl5) potential energy well, namely, SiCl2 + SiHCl3, SiCl4 + SiHCl, Cl3SiSiCl + HCl, and SiCl3 + SiHCl2, were analyzed in detail through transition state theory, Rice–Ramsperger–Kassel–Marcus (RRKM) theory, and solution of the multichannel master equation. The stationary points in the potential energy surface were optimized, and their vibrational frequencies and rotational constants calculated at the (U)B3LYP/6–31+G(d,p) level of theory; the (U)CCSD(T)/aug-cc-pVTZ level was then used for accurate estimation of activation energies. The pressure and temperature dependence of the rate coefficients of the channels related to Si2HCl5 stabilization/dissociation was determined along a wide range of conditions, for the first time. All channels showed strong pressure dependence in the four cases, at least at low-to-moderate pressure conditions. Each entrance channel leads to the formation of different products under different conditions, and the mechanism was analyzed in detail. The results indicated that at atmospheric pressure the reactions are in the falloff region, and therefore do not support the adoption of high-pressure limit rate coefficients in reaction models designed for simulation of systems at atmospheric or subatmospheric pressure conditions.


Fibrodysplasia ossificans progressiva (FOP) or myositis ossificans, is a genetic disease, with a prevalence of 1 in 2.000.000. It is caused by pathogenic variants in ACVR1 gene and characterized by soft tissue heterotopic ossification, starting in the second decade of life. It is associated to early mortality caused by respiratory complications. It evolves in flare-ups, triggered by soft tissue injuries; therapy is symptomatic, using analgesia, steroids and diphosphonates. We report a 12-year-old female with left renal agenesis, hallux valgus and intellectual disability, presenting with a six months history of thoracic kyphosis, tender nodules in the thorax, and rigidity of right elbow and left knee. Clinical examination revealed dysmorphic facial features. A magnetic resonance showed heterotopic ossification nodules, which was confirmed with spinal radiography. These findings prompted the diagnosis of FOP. Pain treatment was started, and prednisone was used during flare-ups. The ACVR1 gene was analyzed and a pathogenic variant, p. Arg206His, was found, confirming the diagnosis of FOP.


This paper presents an application of the steady-state network equivalents and an expert system for voltage and reactive power (VAr) control in large-scale power systems. A steady-state network equivalencing technique is used to construct the "three-tier" subsystem which is adequate to solve voltage violation problems. An expert system utilises the sensitivity tree method to select the optimal set of control actions to alleviate the voltage problem. The expert system was developed using the VP-EXPERT system shell. VP-EXPERT interacts with the power system analysis software providing analysis of the network sensitivity matrix and data for the knowledge base. Practical application of the developed expert system is demonstrated on the example of the Hydro-Electric Commission (HEC) power system of Tasmania, however the proposed approach is not limited by the system size.


Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) into Mexico has increased dramatically since the inception of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), raising questions about its effect on the Mexican economy. This paper studies the impact of FDI on industry productivity and wages over the first ten years of NAFTA, paying particular attention to the source country and destination industry of investments. It also offers a detailed description of the evolution of FDI, its components, sectoral composition, and sources from 1994-2005. There is evidence of a positive effect of FDI on productivity, particularly total factor productivity (TFP). The effect on wages is negative or zero at best, suggesting a divergence from productivity over this time period. The positive productivity effect stems largely from U.S. FDI into non-maquiladora industries, which receive over two thirds of manufacturing FDI. There is no evidence that more distant source countries have a differential effect. Consistent with theoretical expectations, FDI into maquiladoras benefits unskilled workers at the expense of skilled workers. This effect may be strong enough to dampen income inequality.


One of the characteristics of the cerebellum is its beautiful layered architecture, which provides a basis for cerebellar control of motor coordination. Cerebellar granule cells are the most abundant type of neuron within the cerebellum (and indeed within the brain); nevertheless, the molecular mechanisms that control their proliferation are not yet understood. In an elegant study, Wechler-Reya and Scott (1) now demonstrate that Sonic hedgehog (Shh), which is produced by Purkinje cells, controls the division of granule cell precursors. Exposure of these precursors to Shh triggers a long-lasting proliferative response, which can be inhibited by basic fibroblast growth factor or activation of protein kinase A. Conversely, blockade of Shh function in vivo resulted in a dramatic reduction in the prolifI


Handing down health knowledge and behavior patterns is a main objective of health promotion. Often, interventions do not bring about the intended change of behavior. This could be due, among other things, to the fact that the majority of intervention programs are not based on principles of instructional design to bridge the gap between knowledge and action. A situated design of health promotion measures is to be considered particularly suitable. That accounts for the fact that the acquisition and application of knowledge is an active construction process on the part of the individuals involved, and one that includes the possibility to improve the quality of learning processes in the area of health promotion, and thus increases the probability that acquired knowledge can be applied in real situations. In the context of the problem that most health promotion interventions frequently do not show the desired permanent behavioral changes of the participating individuals, from a pedagogical perspective, it is crucial that current didactic-methodological principles be taken into account. This, too, should be taken into account in connection with an empirical analysis of the reflections in this article. In the following paper, various suggestions for implementation are explained and discussed.


Climate change poses several risks to the value of financial assets and to financial stability. In this study, we estimate the exposure of the Austrian banking sector to climate risks that might arise from a disorderly transition to a carbon-neutral economy. To this end, we identify climate policy-relevant sectors (CPRSs), i.e. sectors which are particularly sensitive to these transition risks, and match that information with granular data of outstanding credits and bonds held by Austrian banks. We find that the Austrian banking sector's direct exposure to CPRSs is comparable with banks' exposure in other countries and relevant to financial supervision. As some banks are particularly exposed to climate transition risk, both banks and supervisors should take this risk seriously and monitor it closely.


At home and abroad the process of refined cotton mainly used pressing for washing and dehydration. The refined cotton with high water content, drying energy consumption is high. In this paper, base on the application of centrifugal dewatering process nitrocellulose, combined the characteristics of refining cotton with centrifugal dewatering process principles, the key technology of overflow limit and Pusher resistance were analyzed and discussed. Centrifuge dewatering replaced pressing dewatering, can improve product quality, and achieve energy saving with good socio-economic benefits.


1. Extracts of the sea anemones, Calliactis parasitica and Metridium senile , have been prepared and their effects on the neuromuscular response of these anemones tested. The presence of extract sensitizes the organism so that a response is given to a single stimulus, whereas normally this occurs only on the second and subsequent stimuli. No other significant effects were observed. 2. The sensitizing effect of the extract differs from the effect of a sensitizing drug like tyramine; it appears more quickly, more regularly, and it is rarely accompanied by an increase in the size of the muscular contraction. 3. The fact that a substance with sensitizing properties has been detected in anemones supports the view that a 'sensitizer' or 'facilitator' exists and takes part in neuromuscular transmission in these animals. Nevertheless, the extract, like the sensitizing drugs, lacks some of the properties that would be expected of a true 'sensitizer' or 'facilitator'.


Mild fetal cerebral ventriculomegaly was the subject of one presentation that was given on the very first day of the first ISUOG congress, in 1991. It was a brand new topic then. Surprisingly enough, the terms of the problem are not very different 12 years later. The definition of the condition is unchanged (a measurement of the atrium or posterior horn of lateral ventricle of 10–15 mm in the transverse plane, or 10–12 mm according to a different view), the clinical implications virtually the same (the finding carries an increased risk of adverse outcomes, including mostly malformations, aneuploidies and neurologic sequelae). The approach has not changed and the data to counsel the couples with are pretty much the same (once malformations, aneuploidies and infections are ruled out, most of the infants do well but there remains a slight risk of a major cerebral abnormality, in the range of about 4%, and a very uncertain risk of minor disabilities). The reasons beyond this failure of progress in the knowledge about this conditions are heterogeneous. Some of them are simply practical (it is very difficult to obtain appropriate follow-up data). Some of them are biological (mild ventriculomegaly includes a very heterogenous group of both normal variants and underlying brain damage of variable etiology and entity). Although diagnostic refinement is possible by high resolution expert neurosonography and other imaging techniques such as MRI, it is unlikely that a solution to the problems posed by this finding will be possible in the near future. In a way, mild ventriculomegaly represents a turning point in the story of fetal sonography. For the first time, couples were counseled on a purely probabilistic basis that their offspring could be anything from completely normal to severely brain damaged. Tremendous uncertainties and suffering continue to be involved in the decision making process. In a way, mild fetal cerebral ventriculomegaly marked the end of an age of innocence.


Mild to moderate COVID-19 can be found in about 80% of patients. Although mortality is low, mild to moderate COVID-19 may progress to severe or even critical stages in about one week. This poses a substantial burden on the health care system, and ultimately culminates in death or incapacitation and hospitalization. Therefore, pharmacological treatment is paramount for patients with this condition, especially those with recognized risk factors to disease progression. We conducted a comprehensive review in the medical literature searching for randomized studies carried out in patients with mild to moderate COVID-19. A total of 14 randomized studies were identified, enrolling a total of 6848 patients. Nine studies (64%) were randomized, placebo-controlled trials, whereas five were open-label randomized trials (35%). We observed that Bamlanivimab and nitazoxanide reduced viral load, whereas ivermectin may have shortened time to viral clearance; Interferon Beta-1 reduced time to viral clearance and vitamin D reduced viral load; Favirapir, peginterferon, and levamisole improved clinical symptoms, whereas fluvoxamine halted disease progression; inhaled budesonide reduced the number of hospitalizations and visits to emergency departments; colchicine reduced the number of deaths and hospitalizations. Collectively, therefore, these findings show that treatment of early COVID-19 may be associated with reduced viral load, thus potentially decreasing disease spread in the community. Moreover, treatment of patients with mild to moderate COVID-19 may also be associated with improved clinical symptoms, hospitalization, and disease progression. We suggest that colchicine, inhaled budesonide, and nitazoxanide, along with nonpharmacological measures, based on efficacy and costs, may be used to mitigate the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic in middle-income countries.


The paper presents general principles underlying the construction of mathematical systems used to predict the human health status in space flight. It describes methods of prediction based on the concepts of homeostasis and general adaptation syndrome. The paper discusses applications of methods of statistic approximation and expertise estimates to predict changes in different parameters of the Salyut crewmembers. It gives an evaluation of the accuracy with which variations in the heart rate of the Salyut crewmembers were predicted using a linear model and expertise estimates.


Abstract Horseweed is a winter annual weed that has evolved resistance to multiple herbicide modes of action in 11 countries worldwide. A paraquat-resistant horseweed population in an Ontario orchard that was being managed by a rotation of herbicides began to show increased tolerance to the herbicide linuron. Experiments were conducted in the greenhouse to compare the response of this population and several paraquat-susceptible populations to linuron, diquat, and oxyfluorfen. Plants were sprayed with a range of doses of each herbicide when they were from 5 to 10 wk old, and the ED50, or dose at which shoot dry weight was reduced by 50%, was estimated. There was a sevenfold difference in the ED50 values of the paraquat-resistant and -susceptible populations in response to diquat and a threefold difference in response to linuron. The response to oxyfluorfen was age dependent. The ratio of resistance to susceptible ED50 values was estimated as 57 for 5-wk-old plants and 11 for 8-wk-old plants in response to oxyfluorfen. Ten-week-old plants from both populations showed no response to oxyfluorfen at rates up to 4.8 kg ai ha−1. Nomenclature: Diquat; linuron; oxyfluorfen; paraquat; horseweed, Conyza canadensis L. ERICA.


Taking a wider view, departing from the specific case of the Hamburg exchange between artists and climate scientists, this comment envisages some radical potential for the collaboration of artists and climate scientists: moving beyond the traditional boundaries of social systems, artistic research and climate science may engage in a shared transdisciplinary learning process. They may communicate with the rest of society by engaging with others to develop 'spaces of possibilities', thus nurturing the creative resilience of communities.


: This study was developed upon my reflections as a nurse working at the Antineoplastic Chemotherapy Center at Luiza Gomes de Lemos Hospital of the National Cancer Institute (Inca), and as a Master course student at Anna Nery Nursing School. Developing my Master thesis on Martin Heidegger's philosophical thinking it has enabled me to reflect about the nursing care, considering this philosopher's thinking. In this study, I have registered some situations that occurred on my working days, in the scenery mentioned above, and reflected about them, seeking to analyze their proximity and distance from Heidegger's philosophical thinking. This study was also a reflection about questions emerging from the research process and care practice which leaded me to another understanding of nursing care to women who are submitted to chemotherapy treatment. Then, I was able to see nursing care in another way, that one of comprehension as a possibility of professional action.


Holiday clubs—publicly or privately operated organizations that provide child care services and healthy food to disadvantaged children in the United Kingdom (UK) when schools are not in session—are increasing in number. We know a good deal about the effectiveness of the clubs in terms of nutrition-related outcomes, but little is known about the anti-poverty resources these holiday clubs may provide. The possibility that club funding may be centralized through the national government requires a better understanding of holiday club resources. This study describes the range of resources that holiday clubs deliver and reports on how these resources are acquired and brokered by club staff and volunteers. We use data from seventeen clubs operating in disadvantaged communities in North East England during the summer of 2017, and find that clubs deliver an assortment of anti-poverty resources that are often tied to staff (personal and professional) networks.


We present a SAT-based approach for solving the modal logic S5-satisfiability problem. That problem being NP-complete, the translation into SAT is not a surprise. Our contribution is to greatly reduce the number of propositional variables and clauses required to encode the problem. We first present a syntactic property called diamond degree. We show that the size of an S5-model satisfying a formula phi can be bounded by its diamond degree. Such measure can thus be used as an upper bound for generating a SAT encoding for the S5-satisfiability of that formula. We also propose a lightweight caching system which allows us to further reduce the size of the propositional formula.We implemented a generic SAT-based approach within the modal logic S5 solver S52SAT. It allowed us to compare experimentally our new upper-bound against previously known one, i.e. the number of modalities of phi and to evaluate the effect of our caching technique. We also compared our solver againstexisting modal logic S5 solvers. The proposed approach outperforms previous ones on the benchmarks used. These promising results open interesting research directions for the practical resolution of others modal logics (e.g. K, KT, S4)


We have performed comparative studies of the neutral glycosphingolipids synthesized by three human myeloid leukemia cell lines, K562, KG1, and HL-60, which were metabolically labeled with [14C]galactose, to evaluate changes in neutral glycosphingolipid synthesis with myeloid cell differentiation. Individual neutral glycosphingolipids containing one to four sugars were purified by a combination of the following methods: diethylaminoethyl-Sephadex column chromatography, acetylation-Florisil column chromatography, and high-performance liquid chromatography using an Iatrobead column. Compounds with one sugar were analyzed by thin-layer chromatography on borate plates. This analysis showed that HL-60 cells synthesize only glucosylceramide, whereas K562 and KG1 cells synthesize predominately glucosylceramide, but also a small amount of galactosylceramide. Compounds with two to four sugars were characterized by treatment with exo- and endoglycosidases. The results showed that K562 and KG1 cells are similar to cells from patients with acute leukemia in expressing two series (globo and neolacto) of natural glycosphingolipids, whereas the HL-60 cells are similar to mature human myeloid cells in expressing only one series (neolacto). Therefore, human myeloid leukemia cells blocked at different stages of differentiation vary in their ability to synthesize neutral glycosphingolipids.


The present study aimed to apply a network analysis model to provide an exploratory empirical conceptualization of dynamic networks of posttraumatic growth (PTG) symptoms in 7,434 people who experienced the death of a loved one from COVID-19 in 16 Latin American countries. The Post-Traumatic Growth Inventory: Short Form of Eight Items was used. A non-regularized network with partial correlation coefficients was estimated through the ggmModSelect algorithm. The network architecture was analyzed for each country through its local properties and global properties. The results indicated that the networks differed significantly between countries. The core dimensions in the networks were relating to others, personal strength, and life value and opportunities, which were more related dimensions that reinforce the emergence of PTG in all countries. The findings may be useful to motivate researchers and mental health professionals to consider the importance of the individual dimensions of PTG in groups of people who experienced the death of a loved one from COVID-19 in 16 Latin American countries, as well as their interrelationships.


From 2015, the cover title of this journal changed from a bilingual (English/Afrikaans) title to an English only title. The bilingual title is retained on the inside cover as a way of acknowledging the history of the journal and indeed the language politics of 20th century South Africa from which the journal emerged. There are two reasons for the change. First, all submissions to the journal are now in English. Second, there are now eleven official languages in South Africa. However, the Council acknowledges that the increasing dominance of English in the publishing world has its own implications and limitations.


The Eastern Metals deposit, Montmagny County, Quebec, is characterized by two sub-parallel zones of mineralization approximately 400 ft. apart on the surface. The Ni minerals millerite, gersdorffite, and violarite have been identified in the North zone, and chalcopyrite is the ore mineral of the South zone. Sphalerite is present in each zone. The ores are localized in zones of silicification and carbonatization along the contact between a serpentinized peridotite and slate fingers penetrating into the SW. end of the peridotite. The mineralization is postulated to have come about by the dissolving of separate pods of copper and nickel sulfides that originated during the crystallization of the peridotite. The agent responsible for the solution and deposition of the sulfides was oxidizing solutions that accompanied the intrusion of granodiorite dikes. The minerals were deposited in the alkaline environment of the silica-carbonate zone. The sphalerite was derived from the surrounding sediments by solution by the same solutions that carried the Cu and Ni.


This archive contains supporting documentation for a Legislative Drafting Workshop in Sri Lanka which was carried out from July 15-31, 1998 and a course at Boston University in the Fall of 1998 for Sri Lankan representatives to attend the "1998 Boston University Program for
Legislative Drafting for Democratic Social Change". The objective of the workshop was to train a number of government officials draft bills and research reports to implement Sri Lanka's 1987 Constitutional Amendment devolving greater powers to the provinces(Land Alienation, Securities Market, Private Hospitals Statute, Insurance Bill, Insurance Law, Child Abuse Statute, Intellectual Property Law).


Malaria is a major public health problem in Indonesia. Therefore, an effective vaccine against this disease is actively being sought by using gamma rays to attenuate the parasites. However, the safety and efficacy of the resulting vaccine are dependent on the precise irradiation dose. The aim of this research was to determine the exact time when the parasites are attenuated by gamma ray exposure. Mice blood containing Plasmodium berghei of 5,0 X 10 7 parasites/ml was irradiated with gamma rays at doses of 0, 150, 175 and 200 Gy (doses rate of 380 Gy/h) and then was injected intraperitoneally to mice at 0, 1, 2, 3, and 4 h post irradiation. The parasitemia (parasite density) in mouse blood was observed starting with day 2 and repeated every 2-4 days up to 28 days. The survival of the mice was also observed during the experiment. The results showed that the pre-patent period advanced with exposing infected blood to 150 and 175 Gy irradiations, suggesting some degree of attenuation. The amount of radiation required to render the parasites non-viable is about 175 Gy for an inoculum of a number of parasites, but a delay of 4 h resulted in the death of parasites. There was no difference in the infectivity of irradiated parasite injected 1 h and 2 h post irradiation in terms of parasitemia and the survival of mouse. For a dose of 200 Gy which was injected 2 h post irradiation, no parasitemia was found in the blood and animals which died after times varying from 1 to 4 weeks. We concluded that irradiated parasites should be injected into the host within 1 h after irradiation. Received: 16 January 2013; Revised: 23 April 2013; Accepted: 24 April 2013


BACKGROUND
Fungal contamination in food products leads to mustiness, biochemical changes, and undesirable odor, which results in lower food quality and market value. In order to develop a rapid method for fungi detection, hyperspectral imaging (HSI) was applied to identify five fungi inoculated on plates (Aspergillus niger, Aspergillus flavus, Penicillium chrysogenum, Aspergillus fumigatus, Aspergillus ochraceus). Meanwhile, near infrared (NIR), mid infrared (MIR) and electronic nose (E-nose) were applied to detect and identify freeze-dried A. bisporus infected with five fungi.

RESULTS
For HSI spectrum of the five fungi on plates, PLSR models were used to distinguish these groups. A. ochraceus group had the highest calibration performance (Rc 2 =0.786, RMSEC=0.125 log CFU/g), while A. flavus group had the highest prediction performance (Rp 2 = 0.821, RMSEP = 0.083 log CFU/g). RPD values of all models were higher than 2.0 for NIR, MIR and E-nose results of freeze-dried A. bisporus infected with different fungi. Fungal species and infection degree can be distinguished by principle component analysis (PCA) and partial least squares discriminant analysis (PLS-DA) using NIR, MIR and E-nose, since the discrimination accuracy was more than 90%. In addition, NIR methods had higher recognition rate than MIR and E-nose methods.

CONCLUSION
PCA and PLSR models based on full spectra of HSI can achieve good discrimination results for the five fungi growth on plates. Moreover, NIR, MIR and E-nose were proven to be effective in the monitoring of fungal contamination on freeze-dried A. bisporus. However, NIR could be a more accurate method. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.


The clinical efficacy of evaluating genetic anomalies in metaphase cells versus interphase nuclei for multiple myeloma (MM) is poorly understood. Therefore, survival for 154 patients with newly diagnosed untreated MM was compared with results from analysis of metaphase and interphase cells. Metaphases were studied by conventional cytogenetics and fluorescent-labeled DNA probes (fluorescence in situ hybridization [FISH]), whereas inter-phase nuclei were evaluated only by FISH. All FISH studies were done using DNA probes to detect t(4;14)(p16;q32), t(11;14)(q13;q32), t(14;16)(q32;q23), del(17) (p13.1), and chromosome 13 anomalies. Metaphases were abnormal by cytogenetics and/or metaphase FISH in 61 (40%) patients. Abnormal interphase nuclei were observed in 133 (86%) patients, including each patient with abnormal metaphases. FISH was a necessary adjunct to cytogenetics to detect t(4;14) and t(14;16) in metaphase cells. Patient survival was especially poor for patients with greater than 50% abnormal interphase nuclei, although this result was more likely due to level of plasma cells than specific chromosome anomalies. For metaphase data, patients with t(4;14), t(14;16), del(17) (p13.1), and/or chromosome 13 anomalies (primarily monosomy 13) had poor survival. A different outcome was observed for interphase data as patients with t(4;14) or t(14;16) had poor survival, whereas patients with chromosome 13 anomalies had intermediate survival: interphase FISH did not substitute for metaphase analysis.


Thromboembolism is a clinical finding that occurs due to thrombus; formed in the vascular system and has various etiological factors. It can be classified as central and peripheral thromboembolism. Our objective in this study is to explore genetic risk factors in central and peripheral thromboembolism and reveal the differences. 342 thromboembolism patients were retrospectively included to the study between January 2016 and December 2019. Demographic characteristics, risk factors for thromboembolism and genetic mutations in central and peripheral thromboembolism groups were overviewed. The genetic mutations evaluated in patients were Factor V Leiden G1691A, Factor V HR1299R, Factor II (Prothrombin) G20210A, MTHFR (Methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase) C677T, MTHFR A1298C, PAI 4G/5G. Within the scope of the study, genetic analyzes of 106 patients were reached and included in the study. Seventy-two central thromboembolism (69.8%), 34 (31.2%) peripheral thromboembolisms were detected. Sixty-three of the central thromboembolisms were from arterial and nine were from venous origin. There was no significant difference between age, gender and risk factors of central thromboembolism and peripheral thromboembolism patients (p˃0.05), but smoking was more common in central thromboembolism patients (p: 0.041). 4G/5G polymorphism was observed more frequently in patients with central thromboembolism (p: 0.039). Thromboembolism is a multifactorial disease, PAI-1 4G/5G polymorphism is a medium risk factor for thromboembolism. We conclude that PAI-1 4G/5G polymorphism is more frequent in central thromboembolism than peripheral thromboembolism and its evaluation can give more information about the thromboembolic risk analyze.


Abstract. A comprehensive comparison of more than 70 000 synchronous 1 min aerosol optical depth (AOD) data from three Global Atmosphere Watch precision-filter radiometers (GAW-PFR), traceable to the World AOD reference, and 15 Aerosol Robotic Network Cimel radiometers (AERONET-Cimel), calibrated individually with the Langley plot technique, was performed for four common or "near" wavelengths, 380, 440, 500 and 870 nm, in the period 2005–2015. The goal of this study is to assess whether, despite the marked technical differences between both networks (AERONET, GAW-PFR) and the number of instruments used, their long-term AOD data are comparable and consistent. The percentage of data meeting the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) traceability requirements (95 % of the AOD differences of an instrument compared to the WMO standards lie within specific limits) is >92 % at 380 nm, >95 % at 440 nm and 500 nm, and 98 % at 870 nm, with the results being quite similar for both AERONET version 2 (V2) and version 3 (V3). For the data outside these limits, the contribution of calibration and differences in the calculation of the optical depth contribution due to Rayleigh scattering and O3 and NO2 absorption have a negligible impact. For AOD >0.1, a small but non-negligible percentage (∼1.9 %) of the AOD data outside the WMO limits at 380 nm can be partly assigned to the impact of dust aerosol forward scattering on the AOD calculation due to the different field of view of the instruments. Due to this effect the GAW-PFR provides AOD values, which are ∼3 % lower at 380 nm and ∼2 % lower at 500 nm compared with AERONET-Cimel. The comparison of the Ångström exponent (AE) shows that under non-pristine conditions (AOD >0.03 and AE <1) the AE differences remain <0.1. This long-term comparison shows an excellent traceability of AERONET-Cimel AOD with the World AOD reference at 440, 500 and 870 nm channels and a fairly good agreement at 380 nm, although AOD should be improved in the UV range.


Changes in color of Upper Jurassic glauconite of the Georgiev Formation, in the West Siberian Basin, in Russia, are related to changes in physicochemical conditions that caused glauconite maturation and alteration, driven by regional paleoenvironmental evolution. Maturation produces dark green (bluish) glauconite formed from Fe-rich smectite by increasing the content of Fe 2+ together with K. Alteration produces brown rims and cracks that are enriched in Al and depleted in Fe and K with respect to the glauconite cores. The change from a yellowish green to dark green color in progressively more mature glauconite is explained by light absorption induced by enrichment in octahedrally coordinated Fe 2+ relative to the total Fe, associated with the progressive decrease in the proportion of Fe 3+ -rich smectite interleaved with glauconite. The brown color in alteration rims is due essentially to light scattered by nanometric inclusions of Fe oxyhydroxides. These, together with residual Al-rich glauconite and a subordinate Fe-rich smectite, constitute reaction products formed by leaching of K and Fe 2+ , and by the oxidation of yellowish green glauconite cores. Berthierine formed later in the brown rims on Al-rich glauconite, and pyrite formed as a result of drowning of the platform during the latest Jurassic – earliest Cretaceous and sedimentation of black shales under increasingly reducing conditions.


A technique to couple computational fluid dynamics (CFD) and boundary element method (BEM) models is proposed that allows the total sound pressure field produced by low Mach number flow past a rigid body to be predicted. An incompressible CFD solver is used to calculate the transient hydrodynamic flow field. Acoustic sources based on Lighthill's analogy are then extracted from the flow field data. The CFD/BEM coupling technique is used to compute the acoustic field incident on the body. The incident acoustic field is calculated based on a near-field solution of Lighthill's analogy, which employs numerical techniques to accurately evaluate singular and near-singular integrals. This incident field is combined with a BEM model of the cylinder to predict the scattered sound pressure field. The results from this CFD/BEM coupling technique are presented for flow past a circular cylinder with Reynolds number, ReD=100 and Mach number, M=0.02. The directivity of the sound pressure field at the vortex shedding frequency is compared with results of alternate methods available in the literature.


The thesis primarily engages with Proust and China from the following three aspects: the Chinese translations and retranslations of Proust's A la recherche du temps perdu, contemporary mainland Chinese writers' intertextual engagement with Proust, and the transcultural dialogue between Proust and the Franco-Chinese author, François Cheng. Part I Chapter I compares and contrasts different – integral and selective – Chinese translations of La Recherche, and explores their different emphases as well as negligence of Proustian themes, e.g. time and memory over anti-Semitism and homosexuality, due to the former's strong resonance with Chinese philosophical and aesthetic traditions. The chapter is further substantiated by a close examination of various strategies employed to translate passages on sadomasochism and homosexuality in Proust's work, which reflect changing discourses on and attitudes to the subjects in China. Chapter II focuses on the creative reception of Proust's work in China. It explores how three mainland Chinese writers' intertextual engagement with Proust is influenced by the first integral translation of La Recherche, and how they cite Proust partly to enhance the cultural prestige of their own works, while creating a horizon of expectations and a favourable climate of reception of Proust's work in China. With a shift of focus to the Chinese diaspora in France, Part II explores Cheng's French-language novel Le Dit de Tianyi as the author's intellectual and artistic dialogue with Proust's work. In addition to the intertextual relations, this part particularly examines Cheng's conceptual and structural engagement with Proust's novelistic conceptions of Bildungsroman and Künstlerroman, his approach to the fine arts, and finally his use of mythological motifs. Through the case of Proust, the thesis tries to gain a better understanding of the interaction between literatures and cultures, and particularly, the phenomena of cultural appropriation and dialogue in literature. More specifically, it demonstrates how the cultural heritages of China and the West can be re-negotiated, re-thought, and put into dialogue through the fictional and creative medium of literature.


emotional state. (5) Cold "proneness" disappears completely as a result of successful treatment, and does not recur. Though these observations have little immediate practical value, my experience demonstrates to me at least that the solution of the problem of the common cold lies in the sphere of preventive psychological medicine. The specific factor is psychological; the microbic one secondary.-I am, etc.,


The crack nucleation and propagation process in ultrasonic grinding engineering ceramics are studied based on indentation fracture mechanics. The study shows ultrasonic grinding can be considered as continuous loading and unloading process in view of a single grain. The loading makes cracks form and preliminarily propagate; while the unloading makes them propagate further and makes the direction of crack propagation offset to the workpiece surface, not so far as to extend to the material interior. In common grinding cracks have extended to the material interior, resulting in deep subsurface crack in the subsurface layers. In this paper, the ground surface of small crack damage can be obtained with large grinding depth in ultrasonic grinding compared with common grinding under the same conditions.


Economic recession and crisis have been significant constraining parameters for sustainable development of cities and regions in eastern and southern parts of Europe during the last two decades. In the case of Greek cities in particular, the ongoing economic crisis has resulted in urban shrinkage: In inner city areas and yet the city centre, there is a large number of vacant commercial shops and offices in former lively commercial streets. As a consequence of the shrinking economic activities, out- migration flaws have appeared. Population decreases in the city centres or live under stressful processes of the new changes. This paper investigates the driving forces and the negative impacts of urban shrinkage in Greece and especially in Larissa - a middle-sized typical Greek city. It describes the changing urban landscapes in Larissa in terms of closing enterprises and the emerging vacant spaces, using data provided by the Ministry of Finance during the period 2008-2014. The phenomenon of shrinkage can vary from city to city, from area to area, according to the context in which it occurs. Investigating different types and aspects of shrinkage and their effects is a critical concern in urban planning. Such investigation can provide guidelines for urban regeneration of the shrinking areas/and cities.


Introduction: Skin aging is primarily caused by increased free radicals and decreased cellular anti-oxidant system in keratinocyte. Broccoli flower contains several important antioxidant molecules that can inhibit aging process of the skin. Therefore, the aim of this research is to prove the effectivity of administration broccoli flower extract cream on inhibiting the elevation of melanin level on guinea pig (Cavia porcellus) exposed with UV-B.
Methods: An animal experiment with post-test only controls group design was conducted using 36 guinea pigs which were divided into 2 groups. The control group was treated with placebo cream while treatment group was treated with 10% broccoli flower extract cream. All groups were exposed with UV-B with dose at 390 mJ/cm2 for 2 weeks and biopsy was taken to examine the level of melanin.
Results: The results showed that the average amount of melanin expression in the control group (P0) was 21.48 ± 1.48% while it was 1.32 ± 0.85% in treatment group (P1). Independent T-test analysis showed that the difference was statistically significant (t = 33.95; p = 0.001).
Conclusion: It can be concluded that the topical administration of broccoli flower extract cream prevented increase in skin melanin in UV-B exposed guinea pig.


Sustainability has been worldwide discussed, and when it comes to sugarcane-ethanol production, there are many standards required from importing countries to its suppliers. Brazil is the second biggest producer of ethanol in the world, and it has a competi- tive advantage over other countries since it has a high established production and land for agricultural expansion. The aim of this research is to evaluate the situation of etha- nol plants in Minas Gerais state concerning their compliance to sustainability criteria and to briefly present the current situation of ethanol plants in Brazil. This evaluation is based on Bonsucro certification. A multicase study, composed of four sugarcane-ethanol plants, was conducted. The results indicated that the studied plants were not prepared to receive Bonsucro certification. They justified it due to constant changes in legislation relating to sustainability, and the fact that these criteria are not required by their custom- ers, however, was concluded that the companies did not take a proactive posture, seek-ing knowledge about standards related to the topic. Obtaining international certification did not look appealing by the time of the study, but attendance to national legislation is mandatory. In 2017, the number of certified plants has increased, showing that there has been progress.


A procedure is described for finding sets of key players in a social network. A key assumption is that the optimal selection of key players depends on what they are needed for. Accordingly, two generic goals are articulated, referring to key player problem in positive (KPP-1) and negative (KPP-2) terms. KPP-1 is defined as the identification of key players for the purpose of optimally diffusing something through the network by using the key players as seeds. KPP-2 is defined as the identification of key players for the purpose of disrupting or fragmenting the network by removing the key nodes. It is found that off-the-shelf centrality measures are not optimal for solving either generic problem, and therefore new measures are presented.


When the formulae for calculating the interplanar spacing d′hkl for the seven primary lattices among the 14 Bravais lattices are used for crystal structures containing an additional atom, d′hkl must be corrected by multiplying by a correction coefficient. Based on a simple principle of analytical geometry, a new position-factor method has been developed to calculate these correction coefficients. The position factor P [where P = hx + ky + lz = s + m/q, the scalar product of the position (x, y, z) of an additional atom in a unit cell and any plane (hkl) passing through the additional atom] indicates the following characteristics of the (hkl) plane: whether there is an additional plane (m ≠ 0) or not (m = 0), what the correction coefficient (m/q) is for the interplanar spacing if m ≠ 0, and what the distance [(s + m/q)d′hkl] is from the plane to the origin. In order to provide two examples of calculations using P, six possible interplanar spacings were obtained for a hexagonal close-packed crystal, and four possible interplanar spacings and the structure factor were obtained for a diamond crystal. In addition, the 12 undetermined plane indices in X-ray diffraction card 1-1249 (PDF-2, ICDD, Newtown Square, PA, USA) for diamond were determined using the new calculation.


Background: Interest in plant root systems by plant physiologists and breeders has grown in recent years as challenges compounded by global warming further increases the complexity of crop production systems. Given the difficulties of assessing roots under field conditions, work or roots are increasingly being carried out using artificial media in containers indoors. This study addresses the question of which media to use by comparing above and below ground plant growth characteristics of lentil genotypes grown under fully watered and drought conditions in both inorganic and organic media compared to soil.Methods: Five lentil genotypes were grown indoors until flowering in these media. Above/below ground biomass was assessed in each media. Root traits were evaluated with the aid of the root program, WinRhizoTM.Results: This study demonstrated that under fully watered and drought conditions, lentil genotypes partitioned resources to above and below ground structures differently in soil as opposed to artificial media indoors. The organic compared to the inorganic medium, had similar root traits as soil for most lentil genotypes under both moisturelevels.Conclusions: The inorganic media cannot be recommended for lentils cultivation because plants were stunted with large root systems. Secondly, preliminary projects on below ground parameters should be carried out in artificial media to see how they compared to soil before plants are grown in artificial media.


: Dietary intake from kindergartens and boarding schools was studied. Analysis of nutrient and energetic content of rations was given. It is determined that there are a disbalance of the main components and deficient of some vitamins and minerals. Recommendations for correction of children's nourishment were proposed.


Sludge of waste treatment represent main problem of processing chemically because needing special handling. Processing of this mud cost money which quite a lot, at least 50% from expense of processing of waste water needed to to overcome yielded mud, as a result most in Indonesia this direct mud thrown to river or piled up. Treatment of sludge was composting with inoculate microorganism from several of sediment and soil. Phase of seeding was conducted by addition of NPK and other micro-nutrient in 3 L of basin. Growth of microorganism was measured of each every 2 day during one week with measuring value of biomass till reach price 2000 mg / L. Active mud as product inoculated to composting process of organic material with sludge. All active mud result of seed into each place of that is Place of A : active mud of river sediment of Badung, Place of B : active mud of moat sediment, place of C : active mud of fertile land, Place of D : without addition of active mud as control. Change of fastest physical happened at sample with addition of active mud from fertile land. Degradation of rate of C organic and highest total N happened at sample with addition from active mud of moat, while highest available K happened at sample with addition from active mud of fertile land. Rate of N highest total obtained by sample with addition from active mud of River of Badung and from fertile land. Product of composting process were fulfill SNI (19-7030-2004) for the parameter of physical that is temperature, color and odour


In the last decade Grid Computing Technology, an innovative extension of distributed computing, is becoming an enabler for computing resource sharing among the participants in "Virtual Organisations" (VO) [1]. Although there exist enormous research efforts on grid-based collaboration technologies, most of them are concentrated on large research and business institutions. In this paper we are considering the adoption of Grid Computing Technology in a VO of small to medium Further Education (FE) and Higher-Education (HE) institutions. We will concentrate on the resource sharing among the campuses of The University of Huddersfield in Yorkshire and colleges in Lancashire, UK, enabled by the Grid. Within this context, it is important to focus on standards that support resource and information sharing, toolkits and middleware solutions that would promote Grid adoption among the FE/HE institutions in the Virtual HE organisation.


Inference of the routing topology and link performance from a node to a set of other nodes is an important component of network monitoring and application design. In this paper we propose a general framework for designing topology inference algorithms based on additive metrics. Our framework allows the integration of both end-to-end packet probing measurements and traceroute type measurements. Based on this framework we design several computationally efficient topology inference algorithms. In particular, we propose a novel sequential topology inference algorithm to address the probing scalability problem and handle dynamic node joining and leaving. We provide sufficient conditions for the correctness of our algorithms and derive lower bounds on the probability of correct topology inference. We conduct Internet experiments to evaluate and demonstrate the effectiveness of our algorithms.


The experiments on male albino rats have shown that both stress and hydrocortisone elevate the urinary excretion of hydrogen ions in the form of titrated acids and ammonium ions. Desoxycorticosterone acetate (DOCSA) in intact rats, adrenal- and hypophysectomy lower ammonium ions excretion. Both stress and DOCSA increase the tubular sodium reabsorption, while hydrocortisone, adrenal- and hypophysectomy decrease it. A conclusion is made that both glucocorticoids and mineralocorticoids participate in the renal functional change under stress. It should be underlined that glucocorticoids stimulate the secretion while mineralocorticoids play the leading part in maintenance of sodium homeostasis.


OBJECTIVE
To explore the application of Parallel Distributed Processing (PDP) models to biological cortical-subcortical re-entrant circuits, and their implications for recurrent psychiatric symptomatology.

METHOD
The literature on cortical-cortical and cortical-subcortical re-entrant circuits is reviewed and possible neural network (PDP) analogies are described. Examples from the attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) literature are explored and compared.

RESULTS
A common circuit architecture for at least five circuits was found. Recurrent PDP models suggest that subcortical centres can exert significant influences on behaviour, but their effect will depend on gating processes at higher centres, governed by both feedback (phasic arousal/reinforcement) and synaptic activity at higher levels. The latter can vary around a 'Golden Mean' at cortical receptor levels, which degrades when it is either over-aroused or under-aroused. The Continuous Performance Task, which models both working memory and inhibitory processing is a useful task for functional imaging of an attentional network.

CONCLUSION
Recurrent symptoms occur as a result of incoordination between phasic subcortical inputs and synaptic gating processes in cortical-subcortical circuits. Obsessive-compulsive disorder and ADHD represent opposite manifestations of recurrent cortical-subcortical processing deficits, with excess arousal in the former and insufficient maintenance of reinforcement and working memory in the latter. These processes may be subject to separate genetic influences at cortical versus subcortical levels.


A 46-year-old woman who has had two admissions to the intensive care unit (ICU) for asthma during the past year presents with a 4-day history of upper respiratory illness and a 6-hour history of shortness of breath and wheezing. An inhaled corticosteroid has been prescribed, but she takes it only when she has symptoms, which is rarely. She generally uses albuterol twice per day but has increased its use to six to eight times per day for the past 3 days. How should this case be managed in the emergency department?


CRM Treasury Systems AB is one of the Nordic Countries' leading companies within treasury management. Their main product CRM Finance is a software program for financial administrators with roots back to the early 90s. Computer usage and software has changed considerably since then and the company is currently considering choosing a new technology to base future products upon. In this thesis Oracle ADF, Microsoft Lightswitch beta 1 and Silverlight with WCF RIA Services, are compared in order to select a suitable technology to base future applications on. The frameworks are used to implement a simple application with a small number of screens displaying database data in order to get to know the frameworks and capture the time required to get started. After the basic applications have been implemented in all the three frameworks and evaluated it is decided to continue by implementing a number of more advanced authorization and internationalization scenarios. It is decided to continue with only two of the selected frameworks due to lack of time once the simple application has been implemented successfully. Lightswitch beta 1 is chosen for discontinuation due to an uncertain future for the application as it is the first public available beta of the product. Based on the experience from the implementations performed, the time required for them as well as how the platforms fit the company's requirements the .NET platform with Silverlight + WCF RIA Services is recommended as the base for future applications.


Although implicitly measured bias was once assumed to be highly stable, subsequent research has shown that it is, in fact, malleable. One technique for altering implicit bias is through counter-prejudicial training. At least two broad mechanisms may drive this effect. First, training people to respond in counter-prejudicial ways may diminish the extent to which biased associations are activated in memory. Second, training may strengthen processes that reduce the influence of biased associations on responses. Participants received either counter-prejudicial, pro-prejudicial, or no training and then completed an implicit measure of bias. Application of the quadruple process model revealed support for both mechanisms: Counter-prejudicial training produced less activation of biased associations as well as enhanced detection of appropriate responses compared with pro-prejudicial or no training. Implications for the development of bias-reduction training are discussed. © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.


The data presented here and elsewhere (36, 37) implicate an active metabolite of certain allyl-containing barbiturates and their derivatives in the destruction of cytochrome P-450 heme. Since epoxides are reactive intermediates in the oxidative metabolism of certain olefins and aromatic compounds (30), metabolic conversion of the allyl group of these compounds to an epoxide may be involved in the breakdown of cytochrome P-450 heme to the so-called green pigments. Foreman and Maynert (38) have demonstrated the formation of an epoxide of secobarbital in vitro and Doedens (39) has tentatively identified AIA epoxide in the urine of rats administered 200 mg of AIA per kg. The important pharmacological and toxicological implications of the formation of reactive epoxide intermediates in the metabolism of a wide variety of compounds have recently been discussed (40-43). Epoxide intermediates in the oxidation of bromobenzene and polycyclic hydrocarbons have been implicated in hepatotoxicity (43-45) and chemical carcinogenesis (40-42); however, these compounds did not cause the destruction of cytochrome P-450 (personal communication, J. Gillette). The possible toxicological significance of the breakdown of cytochrome P-450 is unknown.


The present cross sectional study was conducted to assess the socio-demographic and clinical profile of HIV/AIDS patients at ART centre of a rural tertiary care hospital, situated in Marathawada region of Maharashtra state of India, from Nov 2008 to October 2010. 801 HIV positive patients coming to ART centre for treatment were included in the study. The NACO guidelines for diagnosis of HIV were followed. For these patients a preformed questionnaire was made to enquire about socio-demographic characteristics such as age, sex, literacy status, marital status, occupation, socioeconomic status & clinical presentation ensuring confidentiality at their homes after informed consent and guarantee of anonymity to the individuals. The data was analyzed using mean, standard deviation and Chi-Square test. The male patients (68.04%) outnumbered the female patients (31.96%). Maximum number of males (79.81%) as well as females (84.77%) was in the age group of 20-39 years. Age of the patients ranged between 20-70 years. The most common route of transmission was found to be heterosexual in 94.39% patients and 2.99% patients had given a history of blood transfusion. The distribution of patients according to HIV status of their spouse shows that spouses of 62.94% were HIV positive and spouses of 17.29% were HIV negative whereas HIV status of 19.77% spouses was unknown. Among the spouses of male patients 51.46% were HIV positive and among the spouses of female patients 85.94% were HIV positive. Majority of patients presented with fever (52.93%), loss of weight (48.81%) and cough (40.82%). Most of the affected population was from lower socioeconomic class & reproductive age group i.e. 15-44 years which increases the economic burden & affects the overall development of the family, community and country. Marital life itself becomes a risk factor for those women who get infected by their HIV positive spouse.


This paper presents a methodology and a tool box for system-level partitioning in the behavioral domain. The methodology is based on an extended finite state machine model. Partitioning is achieved interactively through the application of five system-level transformation primitives: MOVE, MERGE, SPLIT, CUT and MAP. This scheme allows an interactive exploration of the solution space. The result of the partitioning is a set of interconnected and heterogeneous sub-systems. The partitioning tool box which has been developed is named PARTIE PARTIF includes an evaluation feedback loop that helps the designer estimate the quality of the design.


Smart spaces – like smart homes, smart offices and smart cities – exploit various resources in order to offer enriched services and information for the end users. Achieving security in such a dynamic and heterogeneous environment with predefined and static security mechanisms is a challenging task. Hence, solutions for self-adaptive security are needed. Self-adaptive security is able to automatically select security mechanisms and their parameters at runtime in order to preserve the required security level in a changing environment. The research problem of the dissertation is how to achieve security adaptation in a smart-space application. For this dissertation, architecture and knowledge base objectives were set. The objectives were satisfied with security-adaptation architecture that contains an adaptation loop and an ontology-based knowledge base for security. The adaptation loop conforms to the Monitor, Analyse, Plan, Execute and Knowledge (MAPE-K) model, which is a widely applied reference model in autonomic computing. The ontology-based knowledge base offers input knowledge for security adaptation. The research was carried using five cases, which iteratively developed the architecture and the knowledge base for security adaptation. The contributions of the dissertation are: Firstly, reusable adaptation architecture for security is presented. The architecture strictly conforms to the MAPE-K reference model and defines all phases in it. Moreover, the architecture is the first that specifically separates security knowledge from the adaptation loop. Secondly, the architecture supports the utilisation of security measures to recognise an adaptation need. Security measures are presented by means of a three-level structure in order to achieve systematic monitoring. Due to the suggested architecture, it is possible to reuse and extend the defined security measures. Thirdly, this is the first time that an ontology has been applied for security adaptation. Hence, the Information Security Measuring Ontology (ISMO) acts as the knowledge base for the security adaptation. The ISMO is applicable at design-time and runtime alike. At design-time, the ISMO offers knowledge for the software architect, in order to design an application with security-adaptation features. In contrast, the application searches knowledge from the ISMO at runtime, in order to automatically perform the security adaptation. Utilising the ontology as a knowledge base ensures that the knowledge is presented in a reusable and extensible form. Moreover, the application does not need hard-coded adaptation knowledge.


The recent advances in immersive technologies have been essential in the development of a wide range of novel standalone and networked immersive media applications. The concepts of virtual reality, augmented reality, and mixed reality relate to different compositions of real and computer-generated virtual objects. In this context, 360° video streaming has become increasingly popular offering improved immersive experiences when viewed on a head-mounted display (HMD). An important component in the development of novel immersive media systems are subjective tests in which participants assess the quality of experience of representative test stimuli. In this paper, the annotated ACR360 dataset is presented which is publicly available on GitHub. The ACR360 dataset contains a wide range of psychophysical and psychophysiological data that was collected in Subjective tests on 360° video quality. The test stimuli were shown on an HMD and rated according to the absolute category rating (ACR) and modified ACR (MACR) methods. To support an easy exploration and utilization of the ACR360 dataset by the research community, its structure on GitHub is described and a comprehensive illustration of analysis options are provided for each data category. The ACR360 dataset may be used for conducting meta-analysis in combination with other datasets to improve precision and to pursue research questions that cannot be answered by an individual study.


The increasing trend of engaging multiple vendors, coupled with the concern for "possible" loss of knowledge in outsourcing relationship, compels us to investigate organizational learning in multivendor outsourcing from a social relation perspective. The nature of social relation has been conceptualized in terms of how organizational relationships with social entities facilitate and/or inhibit organizational learning. In particular, we examine how two different relational structures – single vendor dominant model and multi-vendor dominant model – are associated with the two types of organizational learning – exploitative and exploratory learning. Furthermore, this study tries to investigate how three critical dimensions – structural (core vs. non-core functions), affective (partnership vs. transaction) and cognitive (business value vs. IT capability) in social relations affect the relationships between the two relational structures and the two types of organizational learning in the context of IT outsourcing. The proposed hypotheses will be empirically tested via questionnaires in a field-study. This study attempts to shed light on how clients can better engage in exploitative and exploratory learning to reap the benefits of multi-vendor outsourcing approach.


The improvement of the amount of OH functional groups and bioactivity of titanium metal was attempted by chemical treatment and subsequent hot water treatments. The surface morphology, chemical composition and crystal structure were used to characterize the Ti surfaces and their biocompatibility was evaluated by culturing with osteoblasts. Porous network bioactive anatase were prepared by immersion in the 5 M NaOH at 80ı for 24 h, followed by soaking in the water at 80ı for 48 h. The treatment with H2O2/HCl solution at 80ı for 30 min followed by hot water aging also produced an anatase titania gel layer. Percentage of surface OH groups was determined by XPS analysis. After chemical treatment and subsequent aging in hot water, the amount of surface OH groups increased. The modified Ti surface promoted the proliferation and the ALP activities of osteoblasts. These results indicate that the NaOH or H2O2/HCl treatment and subsequent hot water immersion improve the biocompatibility of Ti samples. On the other hand, a high OH group concentration is very important as functional groups for the apatite nucleation or biochemical modification via an organometallic interface of immobilizing biomolecules.


Experimental studies of monolithically integrated double-clamped smart-pixel optical receivers are presented. Circuits are realized in FET-SEED (field-effect transistor self-electrooptic effect device) integration technology, which permits fabrication of GaAs-based FET's, together with normal-incidence multiple-quantum-well detector/modulator devices. Novel features of the circuit include the use of two input signal beams, and the ability to control the input voltage swing with clamping diodes. Two variations of our circuit are found to have input capacitances of 50 or 60 fF. Resultant input optical switching energies depend on the voltage swing, the FET performance, and the input data format, but operation at 200 Mb/s with 40 fJ is demonstrated under ideal conditions with nonreturn-to-zero (NRZ) data. Finally, operation of the receiver with pulses that are short compared to the bit period is found to be advantageous as compared to the case of pulses equal to the bit period in length (NRZ format). 650 Mb/s operation is demonstrated. >


The fundamental puzzle of personality is why personality – between-individual differences and within-individual consistency of behaviour – exists. Personality has been
measured in many taxa and understanding the origins of personality means understanding a common basis to all behaviours. This study uses the isolated Lundy Island house sparrow Passer domesticus system to give a whole-population overview of how personality is formed, maintained, and may influence fitness. House sparrows are globally successful, and might help us to understand the role of personality – inflexible behaviour – in a highly adaptable species. This research uses cross-fostering, where offspring are exchanged
between broods, to separate genetic and environmental effects on personality, and first examines whether cross-fostering has inherent biases. We establish that cross-fostering is linked to spatio-temporal breeding heterogeneity, changes to the rearing environment, and, possibly, observer-based sampling bias, influencing individual survival and potentially study outcomes. Thus, we provide practical guidelines for reducing such bias. Second, this thesis investigates how personality traits develop and might link to fitness by measuring three main personality traits. Our results indicate that heritability varied widely among personality traits. No traits were correlated across contexts, implying no cross-context
constraint between these traits. Physiological state, in this case nestling mass, was an important factor shaping personality in nestlings. Social broods also shaped nestling
personality, though personality was more similar within social broods, which is contrary to theoretical predictions. Lastly, personality was weakly correlated with fitness in females but not in males, and male behaviour might influence female behaviour and reproductive
investment. Therefore, the partner can probably modulate the link between fitness and behaviour. This thesis shows that personality can have stable genetic and physiological
bases, but social interactions are associated with more similar personalities between interacting individuals. The fitness consequences of personality might be sex specific and moderated by partners.


The Roma are the largest but also most marginalized minority group in Europe. In spite of efforts by both public institutions and private organizations to promote inclusivity, marginalization of Roma and other ethnic/minority groups seems to be maintained by geographic education in schools. This study (i) explores the content of Roma in Polish school textbooks at elementary, lower and upper secondary level, (ii) documents the striking absence of the objective narrative, map, photographic materials on the largest minority group in Poland in textbooks, (iii) discusses the reasons behind the paucity of text and illustrative coverage, and (iv) indicates the stereotypes in the depiction of the Roma in the existing textbook content. The lack of Roma content in the Core Curriculum, the official source of material on Poland's history, culture, and geography, is addressed within the context of the "geography of silence" to discusses reasons behind the paucity of text, photo and map coverage. Finally, innovative techniques are presented that can help teachers identify and address these and other silences they may encounter in the curricula.


Objective: The objective of this article is to review the quality  equirements and recommended uses of the different types of face masks  with a view to helping optimize their use and facilitating identification of  nonconforming products. Method: A literature search was conducted in PubMed, the Spanish Official State Gazette and Eudralex. The websites of the Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Tourism and of the Ministry of Health, as well as  the relevant UNE standards were also reviewed. Results: The different types of face masks available on the market meet different regulatory requirements. Community masks are not  considered medical devices or personal protective equipment and do not  require marketing authorization. They do not carry a CE mark and need  not comply with the general regulations applicable to consumer products.  Surgical masks, for their part, must meet the quality criteria defined in  UNE-EN standard 14683: 2019. According to Regulation (EU) 745/2017  they are class I devices, subject to an EU declaration of conformity, and  must bear a CE mark. Filtering masks are considered category III personal protective equipment, regulated by Regulation (EU) 2016/425, and must  also bear a CE mark. In spite the abundant regulations in place, market  control instruments have detected counterfeit face masks, which means  that public authorities and users should ask manufacturers or suppliers for  additional information in case of doubt. Conclusions: The legal and quality requirements of the masks are  sufficient for their safe use. It is necessary for the general public to know  these requirements to avoid the fraudulent use of high consumption  products.


I am very pleased to be
offered the opportunity to write a portrait of Professor Douglas G. Pearce for Anatolia.
Although an autobiographic account of Doug's evolution from 'Geographer
to Tourism Geographer to Tourism Management scholar' was published in Stephen
Smith's 2010 book The Discovery of
Tourism, a comprehensive account of a four decade long contribution to our
field is arguably not adequately established without insights on the breadth
and depth of a pioneering scholar's contributions by his colleagues and
peers. In this context I wholeheartedly
embrace this opportunity to share the views of several (indeed I hope most) of
Doug's colleagues, peers and mentees about his numerous, long-standing and
enduring contributions to our field. My
own position is best described by stating that I reside in both the colleague
and mentee cohorts. I have had the pleasure of being Doug's colleague in the
Tourism Management Group at Victoria University of Wellington (VUW), New Zealand, and co-authored of several of
Doug's publications. But at the same
time I have benefitted greatly from Doug's advice, guidance and overall
leadership of the VUW Tourism Management Group and as such regard him as a
longstanding mentor.


Epithelial to mesenchymal transition (EMT) and wound vascularization are two critical interrelated processes that enable cutaneous wound healing. Zinc finger E-box binding homeobox 1 (ZEB1), primarily studied in the context of tumor biology, is a potent EMT activator. ZEB1 is also known to contribute to endothelial cell survival as well as stimulate tumor angiogenesis. The role of ZEB1 in cutaneous wounds was assessed using Zeb1+/− mice, as Zeb1−/− mice are not viable. Quantitative stable isotope labeling by amino acids in cell culture (SILAC) proteomics was used to elucidate the effect of elevated ZEB1, as noted during hyperglycemia. Under different glycemic conditions, ZEB1 binding to E-cadherin promoter was investigated using chromatin immunoprecipitation. Cutaneous wounding resulted in loss of epithelial marker E-cadherin with concomitant gain of ZEB1. The dominant proteins downregulated after ZEB1 overexpression functionally represented adherens junction pathway. Zeb1+/− mice exhibited compromised wound closure complicated by defective EMT and poor wound angiogenesis. Under hyperglycemic conditions, ZEB1 lost its ability to bind E-cadherin promoter. Keratinocyte E-cadherin, thus upregulated, resisted EMT required for wound healing. Diabetic wound healing was improved in ZEB+/− as well as in db/db mice subjected to ZEB1 knockdown. This work recognizes ZEB1 as a key regulator of cutaneous wound healing that is of particular relevance to diabetic wound complication.


The bond dilution effects are investigated for the spin-1 Blume–Capel model on the Bethe lattice by using the exact recursion relations. The bilinear interaction parameter is either turned on ferromagnetically with probability p or turned off with probability 1 – p between the nearest-neighbor spins. The thermal variations of the order-parameters are studied in detail to obtain the phase diagrams on the possible planes spanned by the temperature (T), probability (p) and crystal field (D) for the coordination numbers q = 3, 4, and 6. The lines of the second-order phase transitions, Tc-lines, combined with the first-order ones, Tt-lines, at the tricritical points (TCP) are always found for any p and q on the (T, D)-planes. It is also found that the model gives only Tc-lines, Tc-lines combined with the Tt-lines at the TCP's and only Tt-lines with the consecutively decreasing values of D on the (T, p)-planes for all q.


The viability of probiotics is important to be determined, as is its probiotic potency in the small instestine of fish. The result can be used as a basis to determine the feeding frequency of the probiotics to the fish.The aim of this study is to gain information about the viability of lactic acid bacteria (LAB) in the small intestine of fish by using the 32 P isotope technique. Catfish ( Pangasius djambal ) was used as a test fish, and the LAB with the code of P2.1 PTB was the subject of the experiment. Before its viability was tested, the LAB had been labelled with radioisotope 32 P, then mixed into catfish feed. Its viability could be determined by counting the activity of 32 P. The results showed that the percentage of LAB viability in the small intestine of catfish declined until day 7. The percentage of LAB viability was decreased at an amount of 30% at day 3. Based on this result, the feeding frequency of LAB P2.1 PTB is every 3 days. Received: 04 October 2014 Revised: 26 March 2015; Accepted: 05 April 2015


Operating losses are being suffered by academic and private health centers operating primary care practices. The MGMA Cost Survey: 1998 Report Based on 1997 Data reports hospital-owned primary care practices receive an average of $80,819 in financial support for operating costs per full-time equivalent physician. However, little research has been conducted on the factors contributing to the primary care deficit. Moreover, few studies exist regarding the quantification of the benefit of primary care. This presentation seeks to demonstrate (a) the factors contributing to the deficit of a primary care practice and (b) the quantification of primary care referrals to an academic health center.


To collect totally 2340 cases of patients' hospital costs and related information in June 2009-March 2011 in a 3A-grade hospital's Surgical Oncology of Tangshan City. Gender, age, occupation, marital status, number of admission, admission illness, payment methods, surgical cases, secondary diagnosis, length of stay and treatment outcome are reduced dimensionality and denoising by Principal component analysis, BP neural network model was built between the selected principal component score matrix which is as input variables and hospital costs which is as output variables, and on the basis of the built model, the factors of hospital costs were analyzed by sensitivity analysis. The results showed that 8 Principal components were selected, and the cumulative contribution rate reached to 82.48%, Using a Bayesian algorithm, optimal BP neural network model was built basing on that the number of hidden layer neurons is 5, sensitivity analysis results showed that the top three influence factors on the costs of hospitalization were age, the number of days in hospital and treatment results. By this study, it was founded that using principal component analysis and BP neural network model to analyze the influence factors on the costs of hospitalization is feasible, and the hospital costs may be controlled by improving hospital efficiency, strengthening medical quality management and shortening the number of days in hospital appropriately.


Abstract This paper presents the fabrication and characterization of laser-treated conductive cotton fabrics by means of copper metallization techniques. The physical properties of the laser-treated knitted samples were examined in terms of thickness, durability, and abrasion impact. Furthermore, the surface topography of the laser-treated substrates was analyzed using a scanning electron microscope (SEM) before and after the coating process and samples demonstrated remarkably uniform deposition of copper metal nanoparticles on the surface of the fabric. An energy dispersing spectroscopy (SEM-EDX) analysis was carried out to determine the elemental composition on the surface of the substrate after the electroless metallization method. The study found that laser-treated samples showed better resistance to wear compared to untreated fabric samples. Since abrasion resistance is key property in electronic textile applications, laser-treated samples could, therefore, be ideal candidates for electronic textile applications. As a result, laser treatment has been shown to be successful in improving the abrasion resistance of conductive textile fabrics.


BACKGROUND
Appropriate tissue retraction is essential in laparoscopic surgery, and colorectal operations often require an additional incision and trocar that can disturb visualization and maneuverability. Each incision carries an increased risk for complications as well as increased pain and cosmetic issues. Magnetic devices have been developed for a less invasive retraction. The objective of this study is to report our initial experience using magnet retraction.

METHODS
Ten consecutive patients who underwent laparoscopic colorectal procedures by a single surgeon using a magnetic retractor (Levita Magnetics® Surgical System, San Mateo, CA) between October 2017 and June 2018 at Duke Regional Hospital in Durham, NC, were included.

RESULTS
The cases included four single-port right colectomies, one sigmoidectomy, and five rectopexies. Nine cases were completed laparoscopically, as one right colectomy required conversion due to adhesions and bulky specimen. Indications included adenocarcinoma, diverticular disease, and rectal prolapse. The magnet was successfully used for uterus, colon, or colonic pedicle retraction. No intraoperative or 30-day complications were observed.

CONCLUSION
Magnetic surgical retractors are a safe, dynamic, and incision-less option for surgical field exposure during laparoscopic colorectal surgery. Reduced trocars decrease tissue trauma, enhances maneuverability, and potentially improves outcomes; however, further studies are required.


Electronic sports (e-sports) represents the configuration of competitive videogaming as spectatorial, professionalized sport, problematizing conventional distinctions between work and leisure, 'geek' and 'jock' cultures, and crucially, between playing games and watching others play.

Much of the scholarship on e-sports has focused primarily on players and player communities involved in the 'professionalization' of digital gaming, examining players' game-based skillsets (Rambusch, Jakobsson & Pargman, 2007), the ways they negotiate the rules, expectations and challenges that come with professional play (Witkowski, 2012), and the formation of gendered subjectivities afforded (and constrained) by the confluence of gaming and sport (Taylor, 2010). Recent work by TL Taylor (2012) and Todd Harper (2010) have begun to extend the study of competitive play beyond players, examining the fundamental role of spectatorship in the social, technological and economic development of e-sports.

As TL Taylor points out in Raising the Stakes, the connections between spectatorship and play run deep. While The Wizard, Twin Galaxies, and Starcade may have presented spectatorial gaming as an entertaining, if quirky sideshow, watching others play - whether attending tournaments, bars or arcades in person, or simply watching others in between turns at the controls - has arguably always been an integral, albeit understudied, part of gaming culture (Alloway & Gilbert, 1998; Lin & Sun, 2011; Taylor, 2012). Over the last 15 years, however, the loosely affiliated and often volatile assortment of clans, tournaments and leagues collectively representing the e-sports industry has sought to cultivate a mass online audience for competitive, elite gaming.

Recent developments have demonstrated that there is indeed a global audience for e-sports, made possible both by the surging popularity of specific games as well as by the emergence of high definition, live streaming webcasts, and the various viewer practices and business models these make possible. Major League Gaming (MLG), the self-proclaimed "world's largest e-sports organization", recently reported 11.7 million "live online viewers" for online, streaming webcasts of MLG's Pro Circuit tournament play in 2012 (MLG, 2012). The last day of competition of the 2012 Spring Championship, held June 8-10 in Anaheim, CA, which featured the League of Legends and Starcraft 2 finals, drew 2.2 million viewers to MLG's webcast – more than their total number of unique viewers for all 2010. Over roughly the same period of time, Twitch (http://www.twitch.tv/) has emerged as a highly popular venue to watch live-streaming videogame play, including e-sports. Boasting over 23 million subscribers a month, the platform has not only offered a means for e-sports organizations, teams and individual players to reach potentially massive audiences, but it has served to further enact and legitimate the notion of gaming as something we watch as well as something we do.

The recent success of MLG and Twitch, as well as the (related) surging popularity of Starcraft 2 and League of Legends, have seemed to establish e-sports as a legitimate and viable entertainment media industry (Tassi, 2013). At the same time, the short history of professional gaming is marked as much by sudden declines as by sudden success; claims that 'e-sports has finally arrived' were heard shortly before the collapse of the longstanding Cyberathlete Professional League (CPL) and the much-touted Championship Gaming Series (CGS) in 2008-2009, for instance (Kane, 2010). Outside of South Korea, where e-sports has had a solid foothold for some time (Jin, 2010), competitive gaming organizations struggle to attract and maintain sponsorship for what is still largely seen, by potential sponsors, as a marketing experiment (Taylor, 2012, p. 146). Adding to this the high "churn" rate of players, games, and tournaments (p. 153); the brevity of players' careers and the relatively short shelf life of games and gaming platforms means that the constellation of pro-gaming 'stars' shifts rapidly. For these reasons, competitive gaming is very much a moving target for researchers: often, by the time a particular community, tournament, or organization is reported on in academic publications, it no longer exists in the same form, if at all.

Given this dynamic and unpredictable terrain, one of the central challenges for e-sports researchers is to link accounts of competitive gaming to larger transformations in digital games, social media, and emerging forms of both leisure and labor. Each of the papers on this panel undertakes this project, whether through linking e-sports spectatorship in China to issues of censorship, nationality, and broadcasting, analyzing the fundamental role of spectators in enacting and shaping the psychological and social experiences of play, or exploring changes in the ways spectators have been incorporated into the 'assemblage' of North American e-sports broadcasting over the past five years. Collectively, this panel represents an attempt to more productively understand the crucial role that audiences carry out in the ongoing socio-technical transformation of digital play as spectatorial activity.


The pervaporation catalytic membrane reactor (PVCMR) is an innovative process where the reactor is combined with a separation unit. The PVCMR consumes less energy than conventional processes and is an environmentally friendly process. The catalytic composite membrane is used in which catalysts are embedded onto the permselective membrane. The production process of ethyl levulinate is a progressive, green, energy-efficient technology by the PVCMR. In present paper, a catalytically active membrane is prepared and used in the synthesis of ethyl levulinate. Ethyl levulinate is one of the fuel bioadditives. A heterogeneous catalyst (silicotungstic acid) was embedded in the membrane. A hydrophilic hydroxyethyl cellulose membrane was prepared. Reaction parameters, such as the temperature, catalyst concentration in the membrane, and initial molar ratio of reactants, were investigated on the conversion of levulinic acid. The reaction performance of the PVCMR and batch reactor was compared, and it was found that th...


Dr. Terry Herman, Advisor A deficit exists in Ohio high schools students' performance on the social studies section of the Ohio Graduation Test (Ohio Department of Education, 2007b). In this thesis, the researcher has studied and proposed a curriculum model integrating gaming into the social studies curriculum, with the purpose of aiding students on the social studies section of the Ohio Graduation Test. Digital game-based learning has been endorsed by many expert supporters as an effective learning tool. However, little research has been conducted to explore how to implement a pedagogically-sound digital game-based learning model into an existing curriculum (Van Eck, 2006). Digital game-based learning may be the solution to engaging today's students who are unengaged in the classroom but engaged by nearly every other aspect of their lives (Prensky, 2005). To assess the validity and potential success of the curriculum, the researcher presented a series of questions to an expert panel comprised of a subject matter expert, curriculum specialist and gaming expert. This study is one step in garnering a body of knowledge and research to support integration of digital-game based learning into K-12 curriculum to reinforce student learning.


This exhibition at the National Gallery of Victoria International features the world-class collection of Blake works housed there, an impressive 124 individual items spanning the length of his career. Most of the gallery's Blake holdings were acquired in 1918–20 through the Felton bequest. These include thirty-six of 102 watercolors illustrating the Divine Comedy, two watercolors illustrating Milton's Paradise Lost, the set of twenty-two engravings to the book of Job, and three prints from Blake's prophetic books. Copies of Songs of Innocence and Night Thoughts were added to the collection in the 1980s, and other works have been acquired from time to time. Because of the sensitivity to light of the works in the collection, the NGV's Blake holdings are displayed very infrequently; the last exhibition was held fifteen years ago, and the next one will probably not take place for at least another decade.