Multiple sclerosis (MS) fatigue is one of the most common symptoms in MS, but its pathophysiology is still not understood. Sympathovagal imbalance was suggested as a reason for fatigue in chronic fatigue syndrome. We examined the role of an imbalance in the central autonomic nervous system (ANS) as a cause of MS fatigue in 51 MS patients and a control group of 22 healthy volunteers. Fatigue was assessed with the revised MS Fatigue Severity Scale (FSS) and the Modified Fatigue Impact Scale (MFIS). Depression was evaluated with the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI). Disintegration of the central ANS expressed by pupillary fatigue waves was measured with pupillography and documented in the pupillary unrest index (PUI). All subjects had less than five points on the seven-point Stanford Sleepiness Scale and were therefore not sleepy. MS patients had significant higher mean FSS scores (p =0.001) and mean MFIS scores (p =0.003) than our control group. Mean BDI scores were significant higher (p=0.001) in the MS group, but were in the lowest score range (0 -10 points) in both groups. Surprisingly, we found a statistically significant inverse correlation between PUI values and either FSS scores (p=0.001; r = −0.521) or MFIS scores (p =0.002; r = −0.423) in the MS group, but not in healthy participants. We therefore conclude that autonomic instability, as measured by pupillary unrest, is not associated with MS fatigue severity.


It is often observed that superiors within an organization can lead subordinates because the former are smarter or have more organization-related knowledge. In this paper, we argue that even without such superior talent or prior knowledge, superiors can outperform and lead subordinates. Combining empirical data for a hierarchical network, we develop computational models of learning to validate our argument. Our results show that transient learning performance is systematically higher for individuals of higher rank in the hierarchy than for those of lower rank. This remarkable order in learning dynamics arises from the structural regularity inherent in typical hierarchical structures, where superiors are reachable to other organizational members by a fewer steps in the formal chain of connections than their subordinates and where rank determines the scope of an actor's access to various subunits. Our numerical analysis shows that different ideas and knowledge are primarily exchanged through superiors who have more exposure to diverse sources of organizational knowledge across different subunits. The implication of our findings is that superiors do not have to be smarter or more knowledgeable about organizational tasks. They can have a positive influence on organizational learning if they know how to leverage their positional advantage, which is embedded in the hierarchical network.


In the present investigation, jellyfish protein hydrolysates (JPHs) of the umbrella or oral arm of the sand jellyfish (Rhopilema hispidum) and white jellyfish (Lobonema smithii) were produced by acetic acid hydrolysis with the aid of temperature and pressure. Volatile flavor compounds found in the hydrolysates were categorized into 6 groups: aldehydes (hexanal, heptanal, octanal, and 2-butyl-2-octenal), furan (2-butylfuran), terpene (beta-terpinol), alkane (2, 4-dimethyl undecane), acid (pterin-6-carboxylic acid), ester (isobornyl formate) and ketones (β-ionone and propanone). Hexanal, heptanal and octanal that are indicators of fishy flavors were accentuated by acetic acid treatment.


Computer modeling of protein-ligand interactions is one of the most important phases in a drug design process. Part of the process involves the optimization of highly multi-modal objective (scoring) functions. This research presents the Minimum Population Search heuristic as an alternative for solving these global unconstrained optimization problems. To determine the effectiveness of Minimum Population Search, a comparison with seven state-of-the-art search heuristics is performed. Being specifically designed for the optimization of large scale multi-modal problems, Minimum Population Search achieves excellent results on all of the tested complexes, especially when the amount of available function evaluations is strongly reduced. A first step is also made toward the design of hybrid algorithms based on the exploratory power of Minimum Population Search. Computational results show that hybridization leads to a further improvement in performance.


Common-mode currents induced on cables attached to printed circuit boards (PCBs) can be a significant source of unintentional radiated emissions. This paper develops a model for estimating the amount of common-mode cable current that can be induced by the signal voltage on microstrip trace structures or heatsinks on a PCB. The model employs static electric field solvers or closed-form expressions to estimate the effective self-capacitances of the board, trace, and/or heatsink. These capacitances are then used to determine the amplitude of an equivalent common-mode voltage source that drives the attached cables. The model shows that these voltage-driven common-mode cable currents are relatively independent of the cable parameters and the trace or heatsink location when the PCB is small relative to the cable length and to a wavelength.


With K-pop groups beginning to include non-Korean members, K-pop has become increasingly transnational and hybridized. All aspects of K-pop have now transcended Korea's national borders, from production to consumption and from performers' nationalities to their music and fashion styles. There have even been some intriguing experiments in creating K-pop groups composed mainly, or even entirely, of non-Korean/Asian members, such as EXP Edition, CoCo Avenue, and KAACHI. Interestingly, and perhaps predictably, these groups have faced vigorous pushback from K-pop fan communities and have generated heated controversy about the definition of K-pop. In this article, I interrogate the racial politics of K-pop by carefully examining international K-pop fans' reactions to and discourse about these three groups. By examining how fans' online engagement has challenged the conventions of K-pop with non-Asian performers, I advance the discussion of the racial dimension of the genre, which has received little attention in the current Korean Wave scholarship.


Wild plants are a critical part of the regular South Sudanese diet and become even more important during the lean season. This paper explores seasonal consumption patterns and recent significant changes in those patterns in Panyijar County, Unity State during the acute food crisis in 2017. It provides information on local preferences and health perceptions of wild foods, and reconsiders the idea that wild food consumption is primarily a coping strategy. This report draws on and is accompanied by research conducted in 2015 and presented in the report Indigenous Solutions to Food Insecurity: Wild food plants of South Sudan , by Michael Arensen.


The concept of innovation refers to the process of bringing new ideas into use. It has been studied from the perspective of classical, organizational, and political theory; yet many aspects of the process remain unknown. Addressed here is the management of innovations, whether social, organizational, or technical in nature. The use of power, participation management, and the construction of change are offered as skills useful in the managing process. Opportunities or sources for creating innovation are reviewed, as are the principles that guide the innovation process.


Private collectors have a long history of generous donations to cultural heritage institutions, but donors and said institutions have had a contentious relationship. Both private collector and institution have a different relationship to the objects in the collection and this is reflected in the narratives attached to them, which can create tensions between the private collector and the public institution that accepts the donation. Film memorabilia collections and donations are subject to these very same tensions, but they have not been discussed at length in academic literature. This thesis examines the "Rob Brooks Mary Pickford Collection" at the TIFF Film Reference Library (FRL). It assesses the emotional narrative of the collector, Rob Brooks, who as a private collector gifted his collection, as well as the aims of the cultural institution, the narratives that are attached to the collection once it received, and how touring the collection may change that narrative.


The objective of this study was to examine the effects of health-related knowledge and aerobic exercise on lower secondary school students' obesity awareness and physical activity levels. A total of 50 obese and 20 normal-weight female students, ranging in age from 12-14 (mean 12.10±1.7), participated in the study. Obesity awareness was determined using the Obesity Awareness Scale, which also incorporates awareness of nutrition and physical activity. Physical activity levels were determined using a pedometer. The participants were divided into one obese experimental group and 2 control groups, obese and normal weight. The obese experimental group received instruction in health and nutrition and followed an aerobic exercise program, while the control groups received no such instruction and did not participate in an exercise program. The health education program was conducted once a week, while the aerobic exercise program was performed three times a week, with each session lasting 45-60 minutes. At the conclusion of the study, the obesity awareness, nutrition awareness, and physical activity awareness scores of the students in the obese experimental group increased significantly compared to those of the obese control and normal control groups. Similarly, the physical activity levels of the students in the obese control group increased with respect to those of the obese and normal-weight control groups. These findings suggest that health-related knowledge and aerobic exercise were effective in increasing obesity awareness and the physical activity levels of lower secondary school students. and of than of the same the physical activity levels of and that had higher levels of compared


Transparency in the Food Sector and especially towards consumers is an issue which receives increasingly attention in public and research. There is widespread agreement that the present state of transparency is not sufficient and needs engagement by research and the sector to move forward. A Strategic Research Agenda on Transparency (SRA) identifies opportunities and challenges for research to contribute to improvements in transparency supporting consumers' trust in food and the society's interest in food that is safe and considers the evolving environmental and social concerns


This paper describes implementation of a Lesson Study project with third grade teachers in a small school district to study the development of the critical lenses (perspectives) necessary for meaningful lesson study work. Adapting the Lesson Study process to meet school system needs, two outside facilitators stimulated teacher thinking with math explorations and probing/what if questioning. Using a qualitative methodology and the group as the unit of analysis, data were coded for evidence of and change in the lenses. After one year, the 8 participating teachers showed a qualitative difference in two of the three lenses: the student lens and the curriculum developer lens.


We present a brief survey of some results on electroweak properties of composite systems that are obtained in the frameworks of our version of the instant form of relativistic quantum mechanics (RQM). Our approach describes well the $\pi$- and the $\rho$- mesons in wide range of momentum transfers $Q^{2}$. At large $Q^{2}$ the obtained pion form factor asymptotics coincides with that of QCD predictions. The method permits to perform analytic continuation of pion form factor to complex plane of momentum transfers that is in accordance with predictions of quantum field theory.


A large eddy simulation (LES) study of turbulent non-equilibrium boundary layer flow over 2D Bump, at comparatively low Reynolds number Reh=U∞h/ν=1950, was conducted. A well-known LES issue of obtaining and sustaining turbulent flow inside the computational domain at such low Re, is addressed by conducting a precursor calculation of the spatially developing boundary layer flow. Those results were subsequently used as turbulent inflow database for the main non-equilibrium boundary layer flow computation. The Sagaut (Rech. Aero., pp. 51–63, 1996) sub grid scale (SGS) turbulence model, based on a local estimate of the subgrid scale turbulent kinetic energy ksgs and implicit damping of turbulent SGS viscosity νt(sgs) in the near-wall region, was selected as a suitable basis for the present LES computations due to the fact that block structured MPI parallelized CFD code used in the current computations did not provide a direct possibility for wall-damping of, e.g., the Smagorinsky constant in the near-wall region. The grid utilized in the main calculation consisted of approximately 9.4 × 106 grid points and the boundary layer flow results obtained, regarding both mean flow profiles and turbulence quantities, showed a good agreement with the available laser Doppler anemometry (LDA) measurements. Analysis of the flow was directly able to identify and confirm the existence of internal layers at positions related to the vicinity of the upstream and downstream discontinuities in the surface curvature and also partially confirm a close interdependency between generation and evolution of internal layers and the abrupt changes in the skin friction, previously reported in the literature.


The transmission bit rate on wireless media has increased, and will continue to increase, rapidly. However, the high overhead of 802.11 MAC (Media Access Control) protocol degrades the theoretical bandwidth. We therefore propose a block ACK approach to reduce the overhead and increase system capacity. Using block ACK to increase packet size overcomes the constraint of co-existing with Ethernet's maximum packet size. Our approach includes block ACK for the basic mode, the RTS/CTS mode, and IABA (Initial ACK then Block ACK). To understand delay and throughput effects, we propose an extended analytical model. The numerical results show the total throughput of the basic mode degrades as the number of MHs (Mobile Host) increases, but the IABA approach degrades smoothly. The RTS/CTS mechanism not only avoids hidden terminal problems, but also improves the total throughput so that it is higher than the maximum throughput of the original mechanism. Considering the delay issues, the numerical results show that the number of packets per block can not be increased infinitely.


Discrete element simulations have been carried out to explore micromechanics and macroscopic deformation behavior of granular shear zones. Such numerical experiments allow us to look inside deforming fault zones and identify controls on fault zone structure, mechanical strength, and rheology. To date, simulations have focused on steady-state deformation of two dimensional non-cohesive granular assemblages, but more recently include velocity-dependent and time-dependent boundary conditions and contact laws. These discrete numerical simulations have successfully captured many features and behaviors observed in natural shear zones in the field and lab. The results are summarized below.


Background: Medicinal plant species contribute significantly to folk medicine in Colombia. However, few local studies have investigated whether species used are introduced or native and whether there is a difference in importance of native and introduced medicinal plant species. The aim of the present study was to describe the use of medicinal plants within two municipalities, Campo Hermoso and Zetaquira, both in the department of


Security in wireless mesh networks (WMNs) has always been a major concern ever since the existence of these networks. The open medium and the lack of physical security make the WMNs susceptible to various kinds of attacks. This study addresses the problem of intrusion detection in WMNs. The authors propose a routing protocol that is capable of detecting intrusions, while undertaking the tasks of routing in WMNs. The authors base the routing tasks in the existing protocol on the existing optimised link-state routing protocol. This protocol uses the sampling mechanism for the detection of malicious information in the network. Concepts of learning automata have been introduced to optimise the sampling process. Two new frame formats and its associated handling procedures have been developed. The authors evaluated the performance of our protocol using network simulator 3. In the experiments performed, the highest achieved intrusion detection rate with the proposed protocol was observed to be 94%.


A kinetic study of the reaction of singlet oxygen (1O2) with eight vegetable oils 1-8 containing different concentrations of tocopherols (Tocs) and tocotrienols (Toc-3s) was performed. The second-order rate constants (kQ) for the reaction of 1O2 with vegetable oils 1-8 (rice bran, perilla, rape seed, safflower, grape seed, sesame, extra virgin olive, and olive oils) were measured in ethanol/chloroform/D2O (50:50:1, v/v/v) solution at 35°C using UV-vis spectrophotometry. Furthermore, comparisons of kQ values determined for the above oils 1-8 with the sum of the product {∑kQAO-i [AO-i]/105} of the kQAO-i values obtained for each antioxidant (AO-i) and concentration (in mg/100 g) ([AO-i]/105) of AO-i (Tocs and Toc-3s) contained in the oils 1-8 were performed. The observed kQ values were not reproduced by the kQ values calculated using only the concentrations of the four Tocs and Toc-3s. These results suggest that the contribution of fatty acids contained in the oils 1-8 is also necessary to fully explain the kQ values. Recently, the second-order rate constants (kS) for the reaction of aroxyl radical (ArO・) with the same vegetable oils 1-8 were measured in the same solvent at 25℃ using stopped-flow spectrophotometry (Ref. 23). The kS values obtained could be well explained as the sum of the product {Σ kSAO-i [AO-i]/105} of the kSAO-i and the [AO-i]/105 of AO-i (Tocs and Toc-3s) contained in the vegetable oils.


Coastal wetlands rank among the most productive and ecologically valuable natural ecosystems on Earth. Unfortunately, they are also some of the most disturbed. Because they are productive and can serve as transportation arteries, coastal wetlands have long attracted human settlement. More than half of the U.S. population currently lives within 80 km of its coasts, and one estimate places 70% of all humanity in the coastal zone. Human impacts to coastal wetlands include physical alteration of hydrological processes; the introduction of toxic materials, nutrients, heat, and exotic species; and the unsustainable harvest ofnative species. Between 1950 and 1970, coastal wetland losses in the U.S. averaged 8 100 ha/year. In Central and South America, development pressures along the coastal zone rank among the most serious natural resource problems in the region. Here, we (1) briefly describe coastal wetland avifauna, (2) discuss the threat of global warming on coastal wetlands, (3) use several Western Hemisphere wetlands as site-specific examples of development pressures facing these habitats, and (4) provide synopses of non- governmental and governmental approaches to wetland conservation. Overall, we provide a socio-economic context for conservation of coastal wetlands in the Western Hemisphere. We suggest that efforts aimed at conserving sites of particular importance for their biological diversity should be pursued within a framework of wise use that addresses the broader issues of human population growth and economic development.


Study Design. A retrospective analysis of cervical sagittal alignment (CSA) in Lenke 3C and 6C adolescent idiopathic scoliosis (AIS). Objective. The aim of this study was to evaluate CSA according to upper instrumented vertebra (UIV) level. Summary of Background Data. Hypokyphotic effect of extensive fusions of Lenke 3C and 6C curves on thoracic spine leads to kyphotic changes in cervical region. No study has evaluated the CSA in these patients according to UIV level. Methods. A total of 55 Lenke 3C and 6C AIS patients who underwent posterior fusion with pedicle screw instrumentation were recruited in this study. Patients were divided into three groups according to UIV level, which was determined preoperatively on the basis of shoulder balance. There were 22, 19, and 14 patients in T2, T3, and T4 groups, respectively. Three groups were similar according to demographic and preoperative coronal and sagittal alignment parameters. Patients were compared at two-year follow-up according to radiographic changes in coronal and sagittal planes. Main sagittal parameters were C2-C7 cervical lordosis (CL), T1 slope, T1-T5, and T5-T12 kyphosis. Clinical outcomes were assessed using scoliosis research society (SRS)-22 and short form (SF)-36 questionnaires. Results. In all patients, C2-C7 CL, T5-T12 kyphosis, and T1 slope significantly decreased postoperatively (P < 0.05). The amount of decrease was similar between groups. T1-T5 kyphosis did not change significantly in all groups. Twenty-seven patients had postoperative cervical kyphosis (CK). Thirteen of them had preoperative CL and 14 had CK. Twenty-eight of 41 patients with preoperative CL remained in lordotic CSA postoperatively. SRS-22 and SF-36 scores did not change significantly after the surgery. Conclusion. In Lenke 3C and 6C AIS, postoperative CSA is independent from UIV level. Decreased CL is mainly caused by T5-T12 and T1 slope decrease. In order to achieve level shoulders, fusion can be extended to appropriate upper level, without increased risk of CK. Level of Evidence: 4


Unlike for classical electronic component, the transport properties of a quantum component are not intrinsic and depend on its embedding circuit. This originates from the probabilistic character of quantum transmission of individual electrons through the device, which results in a broad-band current noise called shot noise. When the impedance of the embedding circuit becomes comparable to the resistance quantum h/e^2, shot noise effectively excites its electromagnetic modes, and electronic transfer becomes inelastic. This modifies electrical transport, a phenomenon called Dynamical Coulomb Blockade (DCB). Experimental investigations of this environment feedback have so far been limited to dc conductance measurements, and a complete description of quantum transport, including the current and its fluctuations in the presence of DCB is still lacking. In this work, we have embedded a tunnel junction in a microwave quarter-wave resonator which implements a "single-mode" electromagnetic environment. With such circuit, we can both measure the I(V) characteristic of the junction and the shot noise emitted by the junction at microwave frequencies (~6GHz). Obtaining strong DCB effects requires the resonator to display a characteristic impedance comparable to the resistance quantum (h/e^2~26kOhm), which is hardly achievable by exploiting plain geometric considerations. We have taken advantage of the kinetic inductance of an array of Josephson junctions, to increase up to ~1.5 kOhm the characteristic impedance of an otherwise standard coplanar waveguide. The resulting coupling is strong enough to observe DCB corrections to the shot noise emitted by the tunnel junction, interpreted as spontaneous two-photon emission processes. We can reproduce the observed corrections to the shot noise with the help of an extension to the DCB theory. The methods developed here is applicable to widely used quantum components such as point contacts and quantum dots.


This study investigates the validity of Wagner's law and Keynesian hypothesis of the long-run relationship between government expenditure and economic growth in Tanzania using annual time series data from 1978 to 2014. The data series were tested for stationarity using Phillips-Perron unit root test and the results revealed that they were all stationary and integrated of order one I(1) . The Johansen test of cointegration revealed that there are cointegrating vectors in the system which indicates the existence of long-run equilibrium relationship among the variables. The Granger causality test was performed within vector error correction model and the results revealed strong support for both Wagner's law and Keynesian hypothesis when government expenditure was taken at its aggregate level. At the disaggregated levels, the results depict that recurrent expenditure and development expenditure from foreign sources promote economic growth hence supporting the Keynesian hypothesis. Wagner's law was only supported in one instance where causality runs from economic growth to development expenditure from domestic sources. These results highlight the need for policy makers to direct development expenditure from domestic sources to sectors that stimulate economic growth. Keywords: Government expenditure, Economic growth, Wagner's law, Keynesian hypothesis, Causality analysis and Tanzania


A behavioural theory, based on the Theory of Planned Behaviour and Diffusion of Innovations, was previously developed to understand wool producers' intentions to adopt the use of forward contracts. The purpose of this research is to test the reliability and validity of our model using structural equation modelling. Empirical results indicate that the most significant variables in the model related to the nature of the Australian wool industry and a range of variables internal to the farm business. Relative advantage, compatibility and risk were also highly significant variables. The single message from this research is that there are a number of behavioural characteristics accounting for the slow adoption of price risk management strategies that are available to stabilise income. These findings will be useful to those wool traders and researchers looking to strengthen the international wool supply chain by using forward contracts to improve knowledge of wool qualities and quantities.


We present GERBIL, an evaluation framework for semantic entity annotation. The rationale behind our framework is to provide developers, end users and researchers with easy-to-use interfaces that allow for the agile, fine-grained and uniform evaluation of annotation tools on multiple datasets. By these means, we aim to ensure that both tool developers and end users can derive meaningful insights pertaining to the extension, integration and use of annotation applications. In particular, GERBIL provides comparable results to tool developers so as to allow them to easily discover the strengths and weaknesses of their implementations with respect to the state of the art. With the permanent experiment URIs provided by our framework, we ensure the reproducibility and archiving of evaluation results. Moreover, the framework generates data in machine-processable format, allowing for the efficient querying and post-processing of evaluation results. Finally, the tool diagnostics provided by GERBIL allows deriving insights pertaining to the areas in which tools should be further refined, thus allowing developers to create an informed agenda for extensions and end users to detect the right tools for their purposes. GERBIL aims to become a focal point for the state of the art, driving the research agenda of the community by presenting comparable objective evaluation results.


Layered silicates become widely used reinforcement material in the polymer nanocomposite production in recent years due to their high aspect ratio, ease of processing, and low cost. In this present study, the aim was to evaluate the usability of a raw clay source (Resadiye, Turkey) in the production of epoxy/clay nanocomposites and to investigate the effects of different surface modifiers. For this purpose, raw Na–montmorillonite clay was first purified and then surface modified by using different types of alkylammonium salts: tetramethyl ammonium bromide, benzyl triethyl ammonium bromide, dodecyl trimethyl ammonium bromide, hexadecyl trimethyl ammonium bromide, and octadecyl trimethyl ammonium bromide. Purification and surface modification of this clay were evaluated by using the following analyses; X-ray diffraction (XRD), cation exchange capacity (CEC), particle size distribution, and dissolved organic content. These analyses simply indicated that surface modification increased both interlayer spacing between the silicate layers and CEC of the clay. These improvements were directly proportional with the chain length of the surface modifier. Nanocomposite specimens were produced by adding 0.5 wt% surface modified clay into the epoxy matrix. These specimens were characterized by XRD, Si-mapping facility of SEM, and mechanical tests. XRD results indicated an exfoliated structure whereas Si-mapping showed the uniform distribution of clay particles in epoxy, leading to improved mechanical properties, for instance more than 100% increase in fracture toughness of the neat epoxy specimen. POLYM. COMPOS., 2009. © 2008 Society of Plastics Engineers


A response surface model was developed for predicting the growth rates of Staphylococcus aureus in tryptic soy broth (TSB) medium as a function of combined effects of temperature, pH, and NaCl. The TSB containing six different concentrations of NaCl (0, 2, 4, 6, 8, and 10%) was adjusted to an initial of six different pH levels (pH 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, and 10) and incubated at 10, 20, 30, and 40 degrees C. In all experimental variables, the primary growth curves were well (r2=0.9000 to 0.9975) fitted to a Gompertz equation to obtain growth rates. The secondary response surface model for natural logarithm transformations of growth rates as a function of combined effects of temperature, pH, and NaCl was obtained by SAS's general linear analysis. The predicted growth rates of the S. aureus were generally decreased by basic (pH 9-10) or acidic (pH 5-6) conditions and higher NaCl concentrations. The response surface model was identified as an appropriate secondary model for growth rates on the basis of correlation coefficient (r=0.9703), determination coefficient (r2=0.9415), mean square error (MSE=0.0185), bias factor (B(f)=1.0216), and accuracy factor (A(f)=1.2583). Therefore, the developed secondary model proved reliable for predictions of the combined effect of temperature, NaCl, and pH on growth rates for S. aureus in TSB medium.


Abstract A new species of Skrjabinolecithum (Digenea: Waretrematinae), Skrjabinolecithum pyriforme n. sp., has been found in the intestines of Liza haematocheila and Mugil cephalus from the Primorsky Region, Russia. These worms differ from S. vitellosum and S. lobolecithum by the presence of two caeca, as do S. spasskii, S. indicum and S. bengalensis. These species differ morphologically from S. pyriforme n. sp. by a number of features, including body width, oral sucker, pharynx, eggs and ratio of length and width of the body. The most similar species to S. pyriforme n. sp. is Platydidymus flecterotestis (Zhukov, 1971) with some differences in maximal body length, testis and egg sizes. The results of molecular analysis confirmed that this new species belongs to Skrjabinolecithum on the basis of close relationships with S. spasskii-type species.


The Nazi regime was essentially a religious cult relying on the hypnotic personality of Adolf Hitler, and it was fated to die with him. But while it lasted, his closest lieutenants competed ferociously for power and position as his chosen successor. This peculiar leadership dynamic resulted in millions of deaths and some of the worst excesses of World War II. The Devil's Disciples is the first major book for a general readership to examine those lieutenants, not only as individuals but also as a group. It focuses on the three most important Nazi paladins-Goring, Goebbels, and Himmler-with their nearest rivals-Bormann, Speer, and Ribbentrop-in close attendance. Perceptive, illuminating, and grandly ambitious, The Devil's Disciples is above all a powerful chronological narrative, showing how the personalities of Hitler's inner circle developed and how their jealousies and constant intrigues affected the regime, the war, and Hitler himself.


The unique properties of polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) and polysulfone (PSf), such as good membrane-forming ability and adjustable structure, provide a great opportunity for CO2-separation membrane development. This work focuses on the fabrication of PVA/PSf composite membranes for CO2/N2 separations. The membranes prepared by coating a 7.5 wt% PVA on top of PSf substrate showed a relatively thin selective layer of 1.7 µm with an enhanced CO2/N2 selectivity of 78, which is a ca. 200% increase compared to the pure PSf membranes. The CO2/N2 selectivity decreases at a rapid rate with the increase of feed pressure from 1.8 to 5 bar, while the CO2 permeance shows a slight reduction, which is caused by the weakening of coupling transportation between water and CO2 molecules, as well as membrane compaction at higher pressures. Increasing operating temperature from 22 °C to 50 °C leads to a slight decrease in CO2 permeance, but a significant reduction in the CO2/N2 selectivity from 78 to 27.1. Moreover, the mass transfer coefficient of gas molecules is expected to increase at a higher velocity, which leads to the increase of CO2 permeance at higher feed flow rates. It was concluded that the CO2 separation performance of the prepared membranes was significantly dependent on the membrane operating parameters, and process design and optimization are crucial to bringing CO2-separation membranes for industrial applications in post-combustion carbon capture.


It is the easy and widely used way to make light calcium carbonate and magnesium carbonate from dolomite by carbonizing process. During this process, the dolomite is calcined at different temperature, from 700°C to 950°C to get the mixture including either calcium carbonate and magnesia or calcia and magnesia. Then the mixture is blended with water in different temperature from room temperature to 80°C. As a result, it is supposed to get calcium hydroxide and magnesium hydroxide, but XRD analysis reveals that it is not accord with the theory. Magnesium hydroxide can not be obtained during this reaction. After the carbonization process, the calcium carbonate and a kind of mixture which is composed with different crystal phase of Mg5(CO3)4(OH)2[H2O]4 have been produced, instead of magnesium carbonate. The magnesia is gotten when the mixture is calcined at 450~750°C.


Background In many clinical trials designed to assess the efficacy of anticancer treatments, overall survival (OS) is often used as a primary endpoint despite its several points of weakness. Methods This study evaluated the role of progression-free survival (PFS) in the first three lines of treatment as a potential surrogate endpoint of OS in patients with metastatic colorectal cancer (MCRC). One hundred and twenty patients with MCRC were enrolled in this study. The median PFS of the first-, second-, and third-lines of treatment and the OS were evaluated. The correlation between the time to progression and the OS was analyzed. The median PFS of the three lines of treatment were 8.5, 5, and 3 months, respectively. Results The median OS was 32.4 months. A modest correlation was found between the PFS to the first-line treatment with Folfox–avastin and OS. Similar data were obtained with the second-line treatment. However, no correlation was found between the PFS and OS during the third-line treatment. The regression analysis revealed that PFS is predictive of OS. Conclusion In brief, the PFS of the first- and second-lines of treatment could be a good candidate as a surrogate endpoint of OS in patients with MCRC.


The purpose of this paper is the analysis and evaluation of the mobile interface design. This study consisted of a random sample of 55 user interfaces for mobile applications. In addition, the restriction of all the components of the user interface quantified. An analysis was conducted of these interfaces, in order to represent graphically. Then, evaluated and produced the following results: First, the smaller number of pages in the application is better. Second, decreasing the navigation bars, buttons and menus in user interfaces for mobile applications gives additional space on the screen, making the application easy to use and maintaining the context. Third, diversity, the use of tools ensures good interaction with the user. Finally, a range of results for the design of the user interface and some ideas are provided about what should be taken of these results in mind when designing interfaces for mobile applications.


Building Information Modelling (BIM) enables a holistic approach to facility design, construction, and management. However, present BIM implementation largely focuses on just the design and construction phases of the project lifecycle, with design and engineering teams using BIM three-dimensional information to analyse and predict facility performance. Information modelling can assist building operators in making existing data collection, and asset management processes, more efficient, and can improve maintenance procedures, allowing whole-life costing evaluation. Moreover, the incorporation of operational information within the model, from the earliest stages of design, facilitates end users, who commission/own, manage, and maintain a large stock of buildings, though all lifecycle stages, to optimise future decisions concerning asset management and maintenance. To understand the opportunities of using BIM in assisting building operators to make decisions about lifetime management and maintenance, an educational-based case study is used to review Birmingham City University's (BCU) use of BIM in the development of the multidisciplinary Birmingham Institute of Art and Design (BIAD). The study considers the necessary levels of detail at each stage of the project lifecycle, and the supply chain's adaptive journey of collaborating within a BIM environment. Qualitative data gained through stakeholder interviews and thematic mapping of associated documents and model structures; highlight several core areas of consideration to facilitate BIM-enabled Facilities Management. This paper discusses a number of successes and challenges, in addition to offering lessons learned for future BIM adoption.


Esophageal cancer (EC) recently has become a common malignancy of digestive system worldwide. RAB11A is a critical member of the small GTPases superfamily and was reported to affect a variety of cellular functions. However, its potential effects on EC progression and the specific regulatory mechanisms are still unclear. In this study, RAB11A was upregulated in human EC tissues and cells and predicted poor diagnosis. RAB11A expression was correlated with clinical-pathological features including pTNM stage (P=0.001*) and recurrence (P=0.000**) in patients with EC. Furthermore, RAB11A knockdown decreased the proliferation, migration, and invasion of EC cells via WNT pathway in vitro. Subsequently, the in vivo experiments confirmed that RAB11A contributed to EC tumor growth via WNT pathway. Therefore, these results provided evidence showing that RAB11A could promote the progression of EC via WNT pathway and might serve as a promising therapeutic target for EC treatment.


This chapter stands outside of the theme of "advances in sign language development of deaf children." Those advances are admirably documented in the rest of this volume; and the development of sign languages has been illuminated by other recent collections as well (see Baker, van den Bogaerde, & Crasborn, 2003; Chamberlain, Morford, & Mayberry, 2000; Morgan & Woll, 2002). Indeed, this decade has begun with a flowering of crosslinguistic and interdisciplinary attention to signing children and their caregivers. The task of this chapter is twofold: first to consider some lessons that have been learned from the crosslinguistic study of hearing children and their acquisition of a range of spoken languages (Berman & Slobin, 1994; Slobin, 1985a, 1985b,1985c, 1992, 1997b, 1997c; Strömqvist & Verhoeven, 2004), and then to attempt to situate the study of sign languages in a typological framework. My focus is thus on issues of linguistic analysis, with special attention to typology (Slobin, 1997e). The languages of the world—spoken and signed—present a kaleidoscopic array of diversity. Although linguists have striven, for centuries, to find an underlying uniformity, it now seems that the most interesting universals are revealed in systematic patterns of constrained variation, rather than in surface deviations from a single preordained formal structure. These universals are a collection of dimensions or parameters, making it possible to classify languages according to their positions on such dimensions—that is, to deal with types of languages.


Ethical attitudes and behaviors of individuals influence information systems (IS) use. For organizations that operate across national borders, differences in ethical attitudes and behaviors will impact the actions of employees and customers. This research looks at the differences in attitudes and behaviors that exist among three different countries with distinct national cultures, and examines how these differences might impact information security. Building on existing ethical frameworks, we developed a set of ethical scenarios concerning data access, data manipulation, software use, programming abuse, and hardware use. We surveyed 537 students from three countries about their own ethical experiences and our ethics scenarios. The results indicated interesting differences among the countries that IS professions should be aware of when evaluating information and technology use for a multinational organization. We conclude with implications for current research and future research dimensions to further explore the impact of these differences.


Bio-diesel crops are presented as a potential tool to mitigate global warming. However, these crops are often highly water consuming, which limits their use in semi-arid areas. In this respect, the Jatropha is considered by many researchers as the most appropriate species in these dry conditions. The aim of our investigation was to study the possibility of its use in Tunisia regarding its behavior in semi-arid area of the north-west region. Eight provenances of Jatropha curcas L. introduced from Brazilia (5), Surinam (1), Mosambic (1) and Tanzania (1) were compared on the basis of their ecophysiological performance. Results showed variability in photosynthesis, leaf transpiration, chlorophyll content and leaf growth between accessions during the growing season. Average photosynthesis and leaf transpiration values ranged from 7 to 13 μmol m-2 s-1 and from 2.5 to 3.5 mmol m-2 s-1, respectively. Specifi c dry matter per unit leaf area varied from 50 g m-2 to 90 g m-2. Provenances from the Mozambic and Pranà with the lowest biomass per unit leaf area and high photosynthetic capacity are more likely to offer greater productivity in semi-arid zone.


The long-term objective of this work is to develop an integrated continuous-flow microfluidic device for the analysis of genetic changes in DNA. Initially, this required the development of new techniques to simulate and then quantify DNA damage using existing laboratory instrumentation. Many analytical protocols exist for the quantification of varied types of DNA damage, which span a range of complexity and sensitivity. As an efficient alternative to the existing procedures, this work demonstrates the application of quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) and high-resolution DNA melting analysis (HRMA) to the detection and quantification of intramolecular DNA damage and/or strand breaks. These proven molecular biology methods are essentially single-step processes. When implemented with a third-generation saturating DNA dye, we have demonstrated that high sensitivity can be obtained with both qPCR and HRMA. This work reinforces the applicability of these techniques in the real-time analysis of biological changes using existing laboratory instrumentation. In order to begin the next step of miniaturizing these protocols, we have refined a microfluidic fabrication protocol. Using these optimized processing conditions to manufacture prototype microfluidic devices, we have successfully achieved on-chip DNA amplification, which is the most critical component of the qPCR methods that we have developed for DNA damage analysis. By further integrating a fluorescence-imaging functionality into this system (which is beyond the scope of this current project), this microfluidic system will provide a rapidity and sensitivity of DNA damage quantification that does not currently exist.


ABSTRA C T We analysed the Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer (RXTE) archival data of 1E 1048.125937 covering a time-span of more than one year. The spin-down rate of this source decreases by ,30 per cent during the observation. We could not resolve the X-ray flux variations because of contamination by eta Carinae. We find that the level of pulse frequency fluctuations of 1E 1048.125937 is consistent with typical noise levels of accretion-powered pulsars. Recent RXTE observations of 1E 22591586 have shown a constant spin-down with a very low upper limit on timing noise. We used the RXTE archival X-ray observations of 1E 22591586 to show that the intrinsic X-ray luminosity times-series is also stable, with an rms fractional variation of less than 15 per cent. The source could have been in a quiet phase of accretion with a constant X-ray luminosity and spin-down rate.


Sorghum [Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench] homozygous for ma3R lacks a type II, light-stable phytochrome of 123 kD and has a number of phenotypic characteristics consistent with the absence of functional phytochrome B. We have used plants heterozygous at Ma3 (Ma3/ma3R and ma3/ma3R) to determine the effect of dosage of ma3R on plant growth, flowering, gibberellin (GA) levels, and content of the 123-kD phytochrome. Both Ma3/ma3R and ma3/ma3R produced the same number of tillers per plant as their respective homozygous non-ma3R parents. Height of the heterozygotes was intermediate between the homozygous parents, although it was more similar to the non-ma3R genotypes. In both field and growth-chamber environments, the timing of floral initiation and anthesis in the heterozygotes also was intermediate, again more similar to non-ma3R plants. In Ma3/ma3R, levels of GA53, GA19, GA20, and GA1 were almost exactly intermediate between levels detected in Ma3/Ma3 and ma3R/ma3R plants. Immunoblot analysis indicated that there was less of the 123-kD phytochrome in Ma3/ma3R than in homozygous Ma3, whereas none was detected in ma3R/ma3R. The degree of dominance of Ma3 and ma3 over ma3R varies with phenotypic trait, indicating that mechanisms of activity of the 123-kD phytochrome vary among the biochemical processes involved in each phenotypic character. Although the heterozygotes were similar to homozygous Ma3 and ma3 plants in growth and flowering behavior, Ma3/ma3R contained 50% less of the bioactive GA (GA1) than non-ma3R genotypes. Thus, sensitivity to endogenous GAs also may be regulated by the 123-kD phytochrome. To fully regulate plant growth and development, two copies of Ma3 or ma3 are required to produce sufficient quantities of the light-stable, 123-kD phytochrome.


A formulation is developed for the analysis of coupled acoustic–structural systems using the boundary element method (BEM) in order to apply the coupled method to the open field in addition to the closed field. In this formulation the most general mode superposition method by Ma‐Hagiwara, namely, the high‐ and low‐order truncatable mode superposition method, is used where the higher and the lower modes are truncated. The propriety of this formulation is verified by comparing it with a theoretical solution in a one‐dimensional problem and with the solution by a method in an interior noise problem, which was developed using the finite‐element method (FEM).


Polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) which is also called as "TEFLON" is a synthetic fluoropolymer of tetrafluoroethylene that has wide applications due to its differentiating properties. In this study, different PTFE dispersions for preparation of polytetrafluoroethylene mesoporous active membranes doped by basalt and carbon particles which were created in high voltage electrostatic field has been studied. The adjusting of process parameters of common electrospinning system (Nanospider) for preparation of membranes with tunable porosity created by nanofibrous assembly (electrospinning) and interconnected particles (electrospraying) has also been investigated. The nanoparticles based on milled basalt and carbon was used for activation and achieving of special effects. Superhydrophobic Polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) microporous membranes with different surface structures were obtained by controlling operating parameters in the electrospinning process. The diameters and microstructure of the PTFE microporous membrane were characterized by scanning electron microscopy. The contact angles on the microporous membranes were evaluated by static micro-drop observation, and a modified Yang equation was applied to analyze the contact angles. The superhydrophobic PTFE microporous membranes were also tested for thermal properties. As a result of this study, optimized PTFE blend solutions were identified. The results also revealed that the specific surface area was the key factor affecting the contact angles. The thermal properties revealed that thermal conductivity was higher and thermal resistance was lower for carbon and basalt doped membranes.


Rural areas in Pakistan are confronted with multiple problems including the provision of quality education to rural children. The key component of quality education is the level of pedagogy in rural schools. Effective pedagogy contributes significantly towards students' learning. The current study was conducted to assess the role of pedagogy as a major determinant in schools' performance in four rural sectors of Islamabad. The universe of this study included all public schools located in four rural sectors of Islamabad. There are a total of 275 public schools in rural Islamabad. A sample of 83 schools, both primary and secondary schools, was selected out of the total schools by using proportionate stratified random sampling technique. A self-developed questionnaire entailing the objectives of the study was used to collect data. Descriptive statistics and regression analysis were used to analyze data. Pedagogy was assessed through three major components. These are communication skills (CS), lesson planning (LP), and command of content (CoC). These components were quantified accordingly. Results showed that pedagogy had a positive and highly significant effect on school performance at both primary and secondary levels. Provision of quality education is the right of rural children like those in urban settings where access to and quality of education are much better. Efforts should be made to improve and diversify pedagogical practices in rural schools and bring these at par with urban schools.


Oxidative stress has been implicated in the pathogenesis of a number of diseases including neurodegenerative disorders, cancer, ischemia, etc. Alzheimer's disease (AD) is histopathologically characterized by the presence of extracellular senile plaque (SP), predominantly consisting of fibrillar amyloid-peptide (Aβ), intracellular neurofibrillary tangles (NFTs), composed of hyperphosphorylated tau protein, and cell loss in the selected regions of the brain. However, the pathogenesis of AD remains largely unknown, but a number of hypothesis were proposed for AD mechanisms, which include: the amyloid cascade, excitotoxicity, oxidative stress and inflammation hypothesis, and all of them are based, to some extent on the role of A. Accumulated evidence indicates that the increased levels of ROS may act as important mediators of synaptic loss and eventually promote formation of neurofibrillary tangles and senile plaques. Therefore a vicious circle between ROS and Aaccumulation may accelerate progression of AD.
For these reasons, growing attention has focused on oxidative mechanism of Atoxicity as well as the search for novel neuroprotective agents. A strategy to prevent the oxidative stress in neurons may be the use of chemopreventive agents as inducers of antioxidant and phase 2 enzymes. Sulforaphane (SF), derived from corresponding glucoraphanin, glucosinolate found in abundance in cruciferous vegetables, has recently gained attention as a potential neuroprotective compound inducer of antioxidant phase 2 enzymes. Consistent with this evidence, the study is aimed at identifying the SF ability to prevent and counteract the oxidative damage inducted by oligomers of Aβ (1-42) in terms of impairment in the intracellular redox state and cellular death in differentiated human neuroblastoma and microglia primary cultures. In addition we will evaluated the mechanism underlying the SF neuroprotection activity.


This book provides a comprehensive overview of what Asian industrial clusters might teach us. At a time when the dynamics of the world's economy are increasingly being influenced by developments in Asia, the question takes on particular relevance because of the explosion of clusters and cluster policies throughout the region; and because of the great variety of models which can be seen developing in the various countries. Based on robust empirical surveys and interviews conducted in China, Vietnam, Thailand, Malaysia and Japan, the studies collected in this book were first debated at an international workshop in Lyon. From industrial districts to poles of competitiveness, these studies explored the transformation of traditional systems of activities or industrial districts to new networks ready for global competition or innovation, and also the development of new agglomerations or scientific knowledge clusters. The wide range of case studies in this collection offers a rich store of theoretical and practical lessons for analysts, policy-makers and economists. The book will also be a useful guide for graduate students as well as researchers in economics, sociology and political studies.


Value-based management and the balanced scorecard are two of the most distinguished management concepts of the past decades. The main criticism levelled at value-based management is that it is rarely applied in business practice. By contrast, the balanced scorecard is mainly criticized for its insufficient integration into corporate strategy. The two concepts are occasionally described as competing business philosophies in management theory. This chapter offers an integrative view of value-based management and the balanced scorecard. The resulting 'value-based scorecard' incorporates the value-based business philosophy while creating a link between the scorecard and the 'value–added' corporate strategy. This minimizes a multitude of other critical aspects of both concepts. In light of this, it is recommended that both management theory and business practice further interpret or use the value-based scorecard presented in this study as a tool for value-based management.


Diabetes is a chronic disease affecting over 2% of the population in the UK [1]. Long-term complications of diabetes can affect many different systems of the body including the retina of the eye. In the retina, diabetes can lead to a disease called diabetic retinopathy, one of the leading causes of blindness in the working population of industrialised countries. The risk of visual loss from diabetic retinopathy can be reduced if treatment is given at the onset of sight-threatening retinopathy. To detect early indicators of the disease, the UK National Screening Committee have recommended that diabetic patients should receive annual screening by digital colour fundal photography [2]. Manually grading retinal images is a subjective and costly process requiring highly skilled staff. This thesis describes an automated diagnostic system based oil image processing and neural network techniques, which analyses digital fundus images so that early signs of sight threatening retinopathy can be identified. Within retinal analysis this research has concentrated on the development of four algorithms: optic nerve head segmentation, lesion segmentation, image quality assessment and vessel width measurements. This research amalgamated these four algorithms with two existing techniques to form an integrated diagnostic system. The diagnostic system when used as a 'pre-filtering' tool successfully reduced the number of images requiring human grading by 74.3%: this was achieved by identifying and excluding images without sight threatening maculopathy from manual screening.


The model of rational decision-making in most of economics and statistics is expected utility theory (EU) axiomatised by von Neumann and Morgenstern, Savage and others. This is less the case, however, in financial economics and mathematical finance, where investment decisions are commonly based on the methods of mean-variance (MV) introduced in the 1950s by Markowitz. Under the MV framework, each available investment opportunity ("asset") or portfolio is represented in just two dimensions by the ex ante mean and standard deviation $(\mu,\sigma)$ of the financial return anticipated from that investment. Utility adherents consider that in general MV methods are logically incoherent. Most famously, Norwegian insurance theorist Borch presented a proof suggesting that two-dimensional MV indifference curves cannot represent the preferences of a rational investor (he claimed that MV indifference curves "do not exist"). This is known as Borch's paradox and gave rise to an important but generally little-known philosophical literature relating MV to EU. We examine the main early contributions to this literature, focussing on Borch's logic and the arguments by which it has been set aside.


The wallpaper-type crystal structure of wightmanite, Mg5(BO3)O(OH)5·1–2H2O, has been reanalyzed in order to better understand the position and bonding of hydrogen atoms. Single-crystal structure refinement yielded the monoclinic I2/m unit cell a = 13.5165(18), b = 3.0981(3), c = 18.170(3)Å, ß = 91.441(6)°, and V = 760.65(17)Å3, Z = 4. Hydrogen atoms of OH groups pointing to the inside of the elliptical channels oriented parallel to [010] are arranged in the form of two overlying, a–c parallel planar pentagons. The two pentagons point in opposite directions. Hydrogen-bond analysis shows that the hydroxyl groups are linked by complex polyfurcated, intra-molecular hydrogen bonds forming a web-like network coating the walls of the channels. The longest distance between hydrogens (7.226 Å) is observed in the pentagonal planes of the channel. The anisotropically refined oxygen atoms of the zeolitic water show their strongest vibration parallel to the b axis and in the direction of the largest diameter of the elliptical channel and similarly form a complex inter-molecular hydrogen-bond system to the hydroxyl groups coating the channel walls. This complex bonding is expressed in the Raman spectrum by a broad band between 3100 and 3300 cm–1 that is assigned to the OH / H2O stretching mode and one strong band at 3661 cm–1 attributable to an OH-stretching mode. Infrared spectra also show a pronounced broad band between 3200 and 3700 cm–1 attributed to H2O and OH-stretching modes. The weak bands around 1600 cm–1 observed in the Raman and IR spectra are probably due to relatively weakly bound water in the channels.


Empirical studies analysing productivity effects of inward FDI in Latin America (LA) are inconclusive. We argue that investigating aggregate FDI masks interesting effects of FDI that take place within and across sectors. Moreover, the potential of FDI to generate productivity effects differs across sectors. For these reasons and because sectoral FDI intensities vary significantly among LA countries and change over time, we investigate the productivity effects of FDI in eight different sectors including the primary sector, manufacturing and services. Besides FDI, sector-specific institutional factors, education and a sector's export share are considered as control variables. Given the likely endogeneity of variables, a GMM system estimation approach is used. The results indicate that positive productivity effects can be found in all sectors, although they may depend on specific conditions or are limited to a certain time period. Direct productivity effects are highest in the primary sector (agriculture, mining and petroleum production) and in financial services. In contrast, FDI in manufacturing and in transport and telecommunications generates productivity spillovers to nearly all other sectors.


The paper proposes a device that allows to remotely carrying out daily monitoring of the patient's blood pressure. The device is autonomous, uses oscillometric pressure measurement method with a stepwise pressure releasing and saving records of the pressure in the cuff. The authors describes the method of determining the blood pressure and the heart rate, as well as the data analysis algorithm, which was received by a device for daily monitoring of the blood pressure.


SUMMARY. The immunity profile against H5N1 highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) in the commercial poultry value chain network in Egypt was modeled with the use of different vaccination scenarios. The model estimated the vaccination coverage, the protective seroconversion level, and the duration of immunity for each node of the network and vaccination scenario. Partial budget analysis was used to compare the benefit-cost of the different vaccination scenarios. The model predicted that targeting day-old chick avian influenza (AI) vaccination in industrial and large hatcheries would increase immunity levels in the overall poultry population in Egypt and especially in small commercial poultry farms (from <30% to >60%). This strategy was shown to be more efficient than the current strategy of using inactivated vaccines. Improving HPAI control in the commercial poultry sector in Egypt would have a positive impact to improve disease control.


Epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC) has a high mortality rate, which is due primarily to the fact that early clinical symptoms are vague and nonspecific; hence, this disease often goes undetected and untreated until in its advanced stages. Sensitive and reliable methods for detecting earlier stages of EOC are, therefore, urgently needed. Epidermal growth factor (EGF) is a ligand for EGF receptor (ErbB1); this receptor is the product of the c-erbB1 proto-oncogene. ErbB1 overexpression is common in human ovarian carcinoma-derived cell lines and tumors, in which overexpression is thought to play a critical role in tumor etiology and progression. Furthermore, ErbB1 overexpression is associated with disease recurrence and decreased patient survival. Recently, we have developed an acridinium-linked immunosorbent assay that detects a approximately 110-kDa soluble analogue of ErbB1, ie., sErbB1, in serum samples from healthy men and women (A. T. Baron, et al., J. Immunol. Methods, 219: 23-43, 1998). Here, we demonstrate that serum p110 sErbB1 levels are significantly lower in EOC patients with stage III or IV disease prior to (P < 0.0001) and shortly after (P < 0.0001) cytoreductive staging laparotomy than in healthy women of similar ages, whereas EGF levels are significantly higher than those of age-matched healthy women only in serum samples collected shortly after tumor debulking surgery (P < 0.0001). We observe that the preoperative serum sErbB1 concentration range of advanced stage EOC patients barely overlaps with the serum sErbB1 concentration range of healthy women. In addition, we show that serum sErbB1 and EGF levels changed temporally for some EOC patients who were surgically debulked of tumor and who provided a second serum sample during the course of combination chemotherapy. Finally, we observe a significant positive association between sErbB1 and EGF levels only in serum samples of EOC patients collected prior to cytoreductive surgery (correlation coefficient = 0.61968; P = 0.0027). These data suggest that epithelial ovarian tumors concomitantly affect serum sErbB1 and EGF levels. In conclusion, these data indicate that serum sErbB1 and EGF (postoperative only) levels are significantly different between EOC patients and healthy women and that altered and/or changing serum sErbB1 and EGF levels may provide important diagnostic and/or prognostic information useful for the management of patients with EOC.


The hospital is a place that covers different phases of the human life cycle, from birth, diagnostic discoveries to proximity to finiteness of life, which favors the pursuit of essential meanings to life and the treatment process itself. Research shows that the inclusion of spirituality in the therapeutic processes can improve the patients' quality of life as well as stimulate either a faster healing process or confrontation with the diseases. Thus, spirituality has been gaining ground in the academic world, being increasingly present in the triad patient-care in health-support team. This study aimed to identify how health professionals who working in the infectious diseases ward at Américo Brasiliense State Hospital, located in Américo Brasiliense, São Paulo, signify spirituality and how they offer spiritual care to hospitalized patients. This is an observational study with a qualitative approach, was carried out with 25 health professionals. Data collection was conducted through an open interview consisting of two guiding questions: "What does spirituality mean to you?" and "How do you offer spiritual care to hospitalized patients in the ward of infectious-contagious diseases?" examined using thematic content analysis. The results showed that professionals conceptualize spirituality as the connection with the transcendent, sometimes calling it God or superior Being, and perform spiritual care based on their own conception of spirituality, which causes difficulties when the subject, the focus of care, has a concept of spirituality divergent from that of the professional. Both the lack of and the little knowledge of the subject was highlighted as a limiting factor in the approach to the spirituality in the process of health care.


English and Swedish, which are both Germanic languages spoken in similar cultures in the Western World, display many similarities with regard to the conceptual metaphors reflected in them. However, the way that the same conceptual metaphor is linguistically instantiated in both languages may be somewhat different. This chapter is a corpus-based analysis of metaphorical 'path', 'road', and 'way' sentences in English produced by speakers with British English as their first language (L1) and Swedish university students with English as their second language (L2). The aim is to see how these L2 speakers of English deal with differences at the level of linguistic metaphor in the two languages, and find out how important this level of organization really is.


InAs quantum dots(QDs) were investigated by using optical spectroscopy, in order to understand the experimental observation of strong enhancement of their photoluminescence efficiency. When a tunneling barrier is introduced between the InAs layer and the GaAs cap layer, the intensity of the InAs QD emission increases by more than an order of magnitude at the excitation density of 60 W/cm 2. The enhancement of the optical recombination efficiency is due to the suppression of the nonradiative transitions in the wetting layer. The strong enhancement of the InAs emission can lead to an increase in the optical gain of the InAs laser structure.


Abstract. Images from satellite-based synthetic aperture radar (SAR) instruments
contain large amounts of information about the position of floodwater during
a river flood event. This observational information typically covers a large
spatial area but is only relevant for a short time if water levels are
changing rapidly. Data assimilation allows us to combine valuable SAR-derived
observed information with continuous predictions from a computational
hydrodynamic model and thus to produce a better forecast than using the model
alone. In order to use observations in this way, a suitable observation
operator is required. In this paper we show that different types of
observation operators can produce very different corrections to predicted
water levels; this impacts the quality of the forecast produced. We
discuss the physical mechanisms by which different observation operators
update modelled water levels and introduce a novel observation operator for
inundation forecasting. The performance of the new operator is compared in
synthetic experiments with that of two more conventional approaches. The
conventional approaches both use observations of water levels derived from
SAR to correct model predictions. Our new operator is instead designed to use
backscatter values from SAR instruments as observations; such an approach has
not been used before in an ensemble Kalman filtering framework. Direct use of
backscatter observations opens up the possibility of using more information
from each SAR image and could potentially speed up the time taken to produce
observations needed to update model predictions. We compare the strengths and
weaknesses of the three different approaches with reference to the physical
mechanisms with which each of the observation operators allow data assimilation
to update water levels in synthetic twin experiments in an idealised domain.


A production method for porous metal components has been developed by applying powder space holder (PSH) method to metal powder injection molding (MIM) process. The PSH-MIM method has an industrial advantage which is capable of net-shape manufacturing the micro-size porous metal products with complicated shapes and controlled porosity and pore size. In this study, a small impeller made of stainless steel 316L was manufactured by injection molding, and a plate specimen was produced by extrusion molding to evaluate the dimensional accuracy of the porous sintered parts produced by the PSH-MIM method. The effects of combinations of size and fraction of space holder particle on the dimensional deviation and its coefficient of variance were investigated. It was concluded that the PSH-MIM method could manufacture commercially micro-porous metal components with high dimensional accuracy.


Abstract
We have investigated the possible role of the bis-(3' to 5')-cyclic dinucleotides UpUp and ApUp as kinetic inhibitors of the DNA dependent RNA polymerase enzyme of E. coli, using T7 delta D111 deletion mutant DNA and several synthetic DNA polymers as templates. We have established that UpUp is a linear competitive inhibitor of the initiation phase of the polymerization (Ki = 28 microM using T7 delta D111 DNA as a template), but that it has no effect when added during the elongation phase. The compound ApUp is an inhibitor of the reaction only when poly(dA-T).poly(dA-T) is used as a template, and UpUp is an inhibitor of the reaction when poly(dA).poly(dT) was employed as the DNA template.


In the Java world, a standardised interface exists for Message-Oriented Middleware (MOM): Java Messaging Service or JMS. Like other middleware, some JMS implementations use clustering techniques to provide some level of performance and fault tolerance. In this paper, we analyse the efficiency of various clustering policies in a real-life cluster and the key parameters impacting the performances of MOMs. We show that the resource efficiency of the clustering methods can be very poor due to local instabilities and/or global load variations. To solve these issues, we describe the rules that control these parameters for optimal performances and propose a solution based on autonomic computing to (1) dynamically adapt the load distribution among the servers (load-balancing aspect) and (2) dynamically adapt the replication level (provisioning aspect). We present an evaluation that shows the impact of these rules on the performances and behaviour of the dynamic provisioning of replicated queues.


Heteronormal histories have been shaped by a recurring set of debates about what kinds of explicit sexual expression and representation are publicly allowed, structured by a form of line-drawing that sanctions certain forms of public heterosexual practice in popular culture and representation. While depictions of heterosexual activity in popular cultural representations are tolerated within certain parameters, and while such parameters around what is possible and acceptable have shifted over time in Anglophone discourses of sexuality, overtly pornographic depictions are consistently cast as a non-normative, deviant form of heterosexual expression. Over the past decade, the emergence of 'pornified' culture prompts us to ask new kinds of questions about heterosexual practice, pointing to some interesting transgressive potentials. What happens when a historically non-normative form of public sexual expression attains a measure of social acceptability? Does this challenge the historical signifiers of good heterosex? To explore these questions, this article draws on a study with young people aged 12–16 in South Australian schools who have some interesting things to say about the 'explicit' in public. They describe an alteration to the historical relegation of explicit porn sex to secret private spaces, and articulate how pornified culture works as moments for curious exploration: a fun, fleshy spectacle. However, in making this claim, I (and they) walk a careful line. The extent to which heterosexual porn can be a matter of 'fun' and experimentation is simultaneously moderated by historically persistent signifiers of classed and gendered respectability. While the repertoire for open acknowledgment of certain forms of play and pleasure may be opening up (perhaps disrupting existing orthodoxies of heteronormativity in some key ways), heteronormal conventions simultaneously constrain these possibilities.


This study examines the role played by the West in the destruction of the Indonesian communist party, the PKI, and the removal of the radical Indonesian president, Sukarno, in 1965–66. After the murder of six generals in October 1965 the Indonesian army massacred thousands of communists and seized power from Sukarno. The United States secretly helped the army in this period by providing intelligence, arms, medicines and radios and by giving assurances that Britain would not attack Indonesia while the army was suppressing the PKI. The US, Britain, Australia and Malaysia also used propaganda to encourage hostility in Indonesia towards the PKI. The article assesses the impact of Western covert intervention and concludes that Western propaganda may have encouraged the mass killings of the communists.


The prevalence of clinically relevant, obstructive sleep apnoea syndrome (OSAS) in the general population is 2% in women and 4% in men. With increasing age and onset of postmenopausal status, the prevalence of OSAS in women becomes comparable to that of males. However, compared to prevalence data, women are under-represented in clinical sleep laboratories. The present overview deals with the potential reasons for clinical under-recognition of OSAS in women. The fact that OSAS frequency is underestimated in women probably derives from the atypical clinical symptoms, dominated by difficulties of initiating and maintaining sleep and by a depressive mood. There are several protecting mechanisms in women that prevent or postpone OSAS development to higher age groups or until the onset of menopause. These factors include craniofacial morphology and function, gender-specific body-fat distribution and hormonal influences on ventilation and dilating muscles in the oropharynx. Physicians should be aware of the presence of sleep-disordered breathing in women and of their special features.


The fractional Fourier transform, which is a generalization of the ordinary Fourier transform (FT), was introduced 70 years ago, but only in the last decade has it been actively applied in signal processing, optics and quantum mechanics. The fractional FT gives a more complete representation of the signal in phase space and enlarges the number of applications of the ordinary FT [1]. In addition to the FT, the cosine and sine transforms (CT, ST), which are based on half-range expansions of a function over cosine and sine basis functions, respectively, are also important tools in signal processing. Despite of some lack of elegance in their properties compared to the FT, the CT and ST have their own areas of applications. The idea of fractionalization of the CT and ST was proposed in [2], where the real and imaginary parts of the fractional FT kernel were chosen as the kernels for a fractional CT and a fractional ST, respectively. Nevertheless, the authors note that their fractional transforms are not index additive and, in our point of view, cannot be considered as a fractional version of the CT and ST. In this paper we introduce fractional cosine and sine transforms that are additive on the index and preserve the similar relationships with the fractional FT as the ordinary CT and ST have with the FT. We derive the main properties of the fractional CT and ST and show, as examples, the fractional CT of some selected signals. Note that, although there are different ways for the fractionalization of cyclic transforms [3] like the FT, the CT, and the ST, in this paper we consider the fractional CT and ST in relation to the fractional FT, which is more useful for signal analysis because the fractional FT corresponds to a rotation of the Wigner distribution and the ambiguity function in phase space. 1. L.B. Almeida, "The fractional Fourier transform and time-frequency representations," IEEE Trans. Signal Process., vol. 42, pp.3084-3091, 1994. 2. A.W. Lohmann, D. Mendlovic, Z. Zalevsky, and R. G. Dorch, "Some important fractional transformations for signal processing," Opt. Commun., vol. 125, pp.18-20, 1996. 3. T. Alieva and M.L. Calvo, "Fractionalization of cyclic transforms," J. Opt. Soc. Am., vol. 17, pp. 2330-2338, 2000.


In agro-food enterprises from Romania, management of risk control is seen as a dynamic process that, in order to work involves a cycle that incorporates risk identification, assessment, administering and verification. Risk management is closely related to the performance management, so that it has been set establishing key indicators of the performance. The pyramid of risk management provides to the managers a model of effective approach of risk and the ability to manage them, thus increasing consolidation capacity of added value. Risk management is necessary because all agro-food enterprises face uncertainty and the management team must determine the acceptable level of risk The paper presents a case study on the pyramidal management of risk control for two major agro-food enterprises from Iasi County. The authors have established as main goals in this paper identifying the objectives of the audit, assessment and measuring risk according to the probability of impact occurrence and the period of events consequences, prioritizing risks, risks analyzing and reporting.


Self-calibration can be a desirable feature for an intelligent machine such as a computer controlled numerical machine tool that must function outside of controlled laboratory conditions. This is because it is inevitable that variations in the kinematic model arise from imperfections in the manufacturing process and changes of environment conditions. Self-calibration facilitates online compensation of errors induced by loading, thermal and other nongeometric errors.
 This paper focuses the determination of the maximum number of independent kinematic parameters of a parallel-link mechanism for system self-calibration. Under the assumption of ideal joints and links, a method for obtaining this number is given. A number of examples is given to illustrate the applicability of the proposed method. The result can also be extended to tackle conventional calibration tasks.


Synchronous averaging is commonly known as time synchronous averaging (TSA) but is applicable to many independent variable domains that demonstrate periodic signals of interest. An alternative domain of example is the spatial domain. The common use of the synchronous averaging technique is the attenuation of both non-coherent components and the non-synchronous components to negligible levels. A common rule of thumb is that the amount of attenuation is related to the reciprocal of /spl radic/N where N is the number of averages. This rule is highly representative for the non-coherent components but is not representative for the non-synchronous terms. This paper lays down a synchronous averaging theory in a one dimension domain for both the synchronous components and the non-synchronous components, with some interesting results. The paper is of interest to anyone who uses the synchronous averaging process.


Edutainment is a mixture of education and entertainment. In the software industry edutainment was very popular
in the 80's and the first part of the 90's when the graphic capabilities of PC-s were very limited. The early computer
games were based on textual information. From the second part of the 80's low resolution pictures became a part of a
computer game, but that was still quite far from the so called multimedia. As the CPUs and graphic cards became more
powerful computer games started to develop rapidly. Nowadays the 3D, the virtual reality, the real time animation and
the high quality sound are the essential parts of computer games. The computer games in edutainment are nearly totally
disappeared. In the last some years the internet games turned to be more popular: the relatively low bandwidth and the
lack of web multimedia standards gave new opportunities for the edutainment in this environment. Cartography can profit
form this revival because maps are very popular content of the web.


We propose a new definition of "horizon molecules" in Causal Set Theory following pioneering work by Dou and Sorkin. The new concept applies for any causal horizon and its intersection with any spacelike hypersurface. In the continuum limit, as the discreteness scale tends to zero, the leading behaviour of the expected number of horizon molecules is shown to be the area of the horizon in discreteness units, up to a dimension dependent factor of order one. We also determine the first order corrections to the continuum value, and show how such corrections can be exploited to obtain further geometrical information about the horizon and the spacelike hypersurface from the causal set.


The behavioural framework has several attractions to offer for the identification of multivariable systems. Some of the variables may be left unexplained without the need for a distinction between inputs and outputs; criteria for model quality are independent of the chosen parametrization; and behaviours allow for a global (i.e., non-local) approximation of the system dynamics. This is illustrated with a behavioural least squares method with an application in dynamic factor analysis.


The homeodomain transcription factor Pdx1 is required for pancreas development, including the differentiation and function of beta cells. Mutations in Pdx1 or upstream hepatocyte nuclear factors cause autosomal forms of early-onset diabetes (maturity-onset diabetes of the young [MODY]). In mice, the Irs2 branch of the insulin/Igf signaling system mediates peripheral insulin action and pancreatic beta cell growth and function. To investigate whether beta cell failure in Irs2(-/-) mice might be related to dysfunction of MODY-related transcription factors, we measured the expression of Pdx1 in islets from young Irs2(-/-) mice. Before the onset of diabetes, Pdx1 was reduced in islets from Irs2(-/-) mice, whereas it was expressed normally in islets from wild-type or Irs1(-/-) mice, which do not develop diabetes. Whereas male Irs2(-/-)Pdx1(+/+) mice developed diabetes between 8 and 10 weeks of age, haploinsufficiency for Pdx1 caused diabetes in newborn Irs2(-/-) mice. By contrast, transgenic expression of Pdx1 restored beta cell mass and function in Irs2(-/-) mice and promoted glucose tolerance throughout life, as these mice survived for at least 20 months without diabetes. Our results suggest that dysregulation of Pdx1 might represent a common link between ordinary type 2 diabetes and MODY.


The electromagnetic momentum and its flow in dielectric waveguides is investigated. Expressions for momentum and momentum flow in terms of the fields of the waveguide modes are derived, allowing for dispersion and anisotropy of the dielectric medium. A slowly-varying-envelope approach is used to obtain a complex momentum theorem from Maxwell's equations. Simple relations between the momentum quantities, the phase and group velocities of the guide, and the energy and energy flow in the guide are established. A simple mechanical model is described which allows a physical interpretation of the energy and momentum expressions in the presence of medium dispersion.


BACKGROUND
Many patients with locally advanced or metastatic urothelial carcinoma (mUC) need additional treatment options beyond PD-1 or PD-L1 inhibitors and platinum-based chemotherapies. Enfortumab vedotin-ejfv (EV) is an antibody-drug conjugate directed at Nectin-4 that received accelerated approval for treatment of adults with locally advanced or mUC previously treated with PD-1/PD-L1 inhibitors and platinum- containing chemotherapy in the neoadjuvant/adjuvant, locally advanced, or metastatic settings.

OBJECTIVES
This article provides practical considerations and recommendations regarding common and potentially treatment-limiting adverse events that may arise with EV therapy.

METHODS
The clinical data that supported the approval of EV are reviewed, and supporting safety and management considerations are provided based on the authors' experience.

FINDINGS
EV therapy can be optimized through patient and caregiver education, proactive patient monitoring, early identification of adverse events, and timely intervention to alleviate symptoms.


The Artemis accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) facility is dedicated to high-precision radiocarbon measurements. It routinely measures over 4500 samples a year for French laboratories. This paper is a status report, showing the measurements of standard, blank, and FIRI intercomparison samples. Since 2008, research and development programs have been established by the Artemis team. During the collaborations with other research laboratories, intercomparisons on archaeological samples were performed and are listed here to show the quality of the Artemis measurements. Three areas of specific research and development are investigated: technical development, beam optic simulations, and specific archaeological studies. The technical developments of the facility are based on the setup of a new bench for water sample preparation and routine microsample preparation and measurement. Beam optic simulations are carried out to control the quality of the measurement related to the tuning of the facility. International collaborations are always in progress. In 2012, the programs include improving the accuracy of reigns for the dynastic Egypt period and the 14C dating of ancient iron.


Based on how a wetland is defined by the Ramsar Convention, the Erzurum province is a rich region in terms of wetlands. This study aimed to identify capabilities to use wetland plants, which are grown in running waters (rivers, streams, brooks, and estuaries), temporary wetlands, swamp lakes, and high-water table area located within the provincial confines of Erzurum, for landscape design. As a part of the study, the samples were taken from a total of 287 spots in 6 main locations to identify wetland plants. A survey was conducted for the plants identified, carried out a one to one questionnaire with 100 students of different ages educated in the Department of Landscape Architecture. Plants were evaluated with their aesthetic properties such as their color, form, tissue, richness, and fascination. Based on the survey, it was concluded that 36 of them could be used for landscape architecture on grounds of their aesthetic characteristics.


In this study, we first carried out a survey of empirical research studies on knowledge management processes in international business alliances published during the years 1990-2003, and organized them using two dimensions: the process focus of a study knowledge creation/transfer, and the research objective- theory testing/theory building. We had then examined the research approaches employed to conduct these studies, and categorized the latter using the dimensions: the type of data - cross-sectional / longitudinal, and the method of analysis - qualitative/quantitative. The insights gained from this two-pronged analysis are used to make some recommendations on appropriate research approaches to further our understanding of knowledge management processes in international business alliances. With the emergence of the knowledge based view (Nonaka, 1991 ; Nonaka & Takeuchi, 1995) that extrapolated the insights provided by the resource based view of the firm (Penrose, 1959; Barney, 1991), and the rapid increase in the 1990s of the use of international strategic partnerships such as joint ventures and strategic alliances by multinational enterprises to conduct business worldwide (Mowery, Oxley & Silverman, 1996), knowledge management issues in cross-border alliances have engaged the attention of academic scholarship in the last decade of the 20th century. Theoretical postulations concerning the creation, transfer and application of knowledge in business firms generally have been subjected to substantial empirical research in the context of international alliances designed both to test hypotheses to validate the existing theories as well as to generate new hypotheses that could potentially form the building blocks of a new theory. It would therefore be interesting and instructive from an academic standpoint to look back in retrospect, and assess the state of the art in our understanding of knowledge related processes in international business alliances to the extent they are verified and vindicated by empirical research. With this end in view, in this study we carried out a survey of extant empirical studies on knowledge management in international business alliances published during the period 1990-2003. The specific research questions that we sought to address are as follows: 1. What were the broad issues and themes that academics have focused on while conducting empirical research on learning processes in international alliances? To what extent, have these studies succeeded in testing existing theory of knowledge management in general, and what, if any, are their contributions to enriching and building new theoretical perspectives in this field? 2. What methodological approaches were adopted to carry out empirical research on knowledge management in international alliances? What were the methods of data collection and analysis? Have the researchers relied upon cross-sectional or longitudinal data? Were the techniques of analysis quantitative or qualitative? What are the relative merits and shortcomings of the alternative approaches in the context of studies to investigate the learning processes in international alliances? Drawing upon the insights from a study of the foregoing two sets of process-specific and methodological issues, we hoped to suggest methodological approaches most likely to be productive for carrying out research on the knowledge management processes in international alliances. Our use of the term international alliance covers varied forms of inter-firm collaboration, and includes international joint ventures, franchises, coalitions partnerships, hybrid organizational arrangements, research consortia, strategic networks, cooperative ventures, and/or strategic alliances, by whatever term they are referred to. Using key-word searches in Proquest ABI-Inform and EBSCO Business Source Premier electronic databases, we generated a fairly exhaustive list of the articles dealing with the topic of knowledge management in international alliances. …


We describe a novel method to track targets in a large field of view. This method simultaneously images multiple, encoded sub-fields of view onto a common focal plane. Sub-field encoding enables target tracking by creating a unique connection between target characteristics in superposition space and the target's true position in real space. This is accomplished without reconstructing a conventional image of the large field of view. Potential encoding schemes include spatial shift, rotation, and magnification. We briefly discuss each of these encoding schemes, but the main emphasis of the paper and all examples are based on one-dimensional spatial shift encoding. Simulation results are included to show the efficacy of the proposed sub-field encoding scheme.


The effect of side methyl and dimethyl groups of the soft segment component on the microphase-separated structure and mechanical properties of polyurethane elastomers (PUEs) was investigated. Poly(oxytetramethylene) glycol (PTMG), and PTMG incorporating dimethyl groups (PTG-X) and methyl side groups (PTG-L) were used as a polymer glycol, which forms a soft segment in the PUEs. The PUEs were synthesized with 4,4′-dipheylmethane diisocyanate [1,1′-methylenebis(4-isocyanatobenzene)], 1,4-butane diol, and 1,1,1-trimethylol propane by a prepolymer method. The degree of microphase separation of the PUEs became weaker with increasing side group content in polymer glycols. Dynamic viscoelastic properties measurement showed reorganized-crystallization and melting of the soft segment for the PUEs based on PTMG, PTG-L, and PTG-X with a lower content of the side groups, but not for a PTG-L and PTG-X with higher content of the side groups. Tensile testing revealed that increasing methyl group concentration made the PUEs soften and weaken. The PTMG-based PUEs obviously exhibited strain-induced crystallization of the soft segment chains during elongation process. In contrast, for the PTG-L and PTG-X-based PUEs, crystallinity decreased with increasing side group content, and the PUEs with PTG-L and PTG-X with highest methyl group content did not crystallize even at a large strain. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys 46: 2054–2063, 2008


As one of the beneficial resources reclaimable from municipal solid waste incineration residues (MSWIR), we studied the resource of cement and a dechlorination system to meet the JIS standard governing chlorine content in cement. A key problem of such a system is how to remove chlorines, especially insoluble chlorines such as Friedel's salt, from MSWIR by means of a low-cost treatment system. To develop an innovative dechlorination system for MSWIR, a pilot plant experiment to confirm the effectiveness of organic materials as additives for the dechlorination of MSWIR was conducted using large lysimeters. In addition, to estimate the chlorine-removal efficiency and the period required for sufficient dechlorination, a numerical simulation was carried out. In cases where no organic materials had been added to MSWIR, soluble forms of chlorine could be removed, but insoluble forms of chlorine—such as Friedel's salt, remained after treatment. On the other hand, when garbage compost was present as an organic additive, both soluble and insoluble forms of chlorine could be effectively removed. The removal of insoluble forms of chlorine was made possible by the decomposition of the insoluble forms resulting from a lowering of the pH level as a result of the decomposition of organic substances, and the generation of sulfuric acid derived from the decomposition of garbage compost. As a result, the total chlorine content of MSWIR can be decreased to 0.1 % in about two years.


This study examined the frequency with which children were exposed to various parental actions, materials, events, and conditions as part of their home environments, and how those exposures related to their well-being. Part 1 focused on variations by age, ethnicity, and poverty status. In Part 2 of the study, relations between major aspects of the home environment (including maternal responsiveness, learning stimulation, and spanking) and developmental outcomes for children from birth through age 13 were investigated. The outcomes examined were early motor and social development, vocabulary development, achievement, and behavior problems. These relations were examined in both poor and nonpoor European American, African American, and Hispanic American families using hierarchical linear modeling. The most consistent relations found were those between learning stimulation and children's developmental status, with relations for parental responsiveness and spanking varying as a function of outcome, age, ethnicity, and poverty status. The evidence indicated slightly stronger relations for younger as compared with older children.


Modern genetic association studies require modeling population structure and family relatedness in order to calculate correct statistics. Principal Components Analysis (PCA) is one of the most common approaches for modeling this population structure, but nowadays the Linear Mixed-Effects Model (LMM) is believed by many to be a superior model. Remarkably, previous comparisons have been limited by testing PCA without varying the number of principal components (PCs), by simulating unrealistically simple population structures, and by not always measuring both type-I error control and predictive power. In this work, we thoroughly evaluate PCA with varying number of PCs alongside LMM in various realistic scenarios, including admixture together with family structure, measuring both null p-value uniformity and the area under the precision-recall curves. We find that PCA performs as well as LMM when enough PCs are used and the sample size is large, and find a remarkable robustness to extreme number of PCs. However, we notice decreased performance for PCA relative to LMM when sample sizes are small and when there is family structure, although LMM performance is highly variable. Altogether, our work suggests that PCA is a favorable approach for association studies when sample sizes are large and no close relatives exist in the data, and a hybrid approach of LMM with PCs may be the best of both worlds.