A SI probe car, defined here as a normal commercial car equipped with GPS, in-vehicle FTIR tailpipe emission measurement and real time fuel consumption measurement systems, and temperature measurements, was used for measuring greenhouse gas emissions including CO2, N2O and CH4 under real world urban driving conditions. The vehicle used was a EURO4 emission compliant SI car. Two real world driving cycles/routes were designed and employed for the tests, which were located in a densely populated area and a busy major road representing a typical urban road network. Eight trips were conducted at morning rush hours, day time non-peak traffic periods and evening off peak time respectively. The aim is to investigate the impacts of traffic conditions such as road congestion, grade and turnings on fuel consumption, engine thermal efficiency and emissions. The time aligned vehicle moving parameters with fuel consumption and emission data enabled the micro-analysis of the correlations between these parameters. The trip average data for fuel consumption, thermal efficiency and emissions etc were calculated. The impact of vehicle's transient movements and traffic events on emissions were studied. VSP (Vehicle Specific Power) has been used for the determination of engine power output. The results show that the transient emissions were dominated by sharp accelerations occurred at traffic light and pedestrian crossing. The trip average CO2 and CH4 emissions had a good linear correlation with vehicle's average speed which is directly related to vehicle idle periods but no clear correlation between vehicle's speed and N2O emissions.


ABSTRACT By comparing censuses of living, shallow marine molluscan communities with their associated time-averaged dead remains, we gain an understanding of compositional changes that have taken place through time. Our ability to diagnose anthropogenic or natural environmental changes based on dissimilarities between life and death assemblages, however, is contingent on the existence of a time lag between changes in the life assemblage and their manifestations in the time-averaged death assemblage (taphonomic inertia). Here, we utilized a unique set of multiyear census records of live and dead marine mollusks from Smuggler's Cove, St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands to determine the magnitude of taphonomic inertia in this setting. We found that over a more than three-decade interval from 1980 to 2012, both the life and death assemblage composition varied significantly. Most of this variation was driven by shifting rank orders of several key species, including: Cerithium litteratum, Modulus modulus, and lucinid bivalves. Decadal-scale variations in the life assemblage for the most abundant species, C. litteratum, are mirrored in death assemblages collected throughout the entire study interval, suggesting that the upper limit of taphonomic inertia is a decade or less. On the other hand, notable differences in composition between life assemblages, but not death assemblages, among samples collected 1.5 years apart suggest a minimum degree of inertia that is greater than seasonal. Precipitation and temperature, investigated as possible environmental drivers of change, vary significantly over the period in question, and likely play some role in regulating the abundances of these key species, although this remains speculative.


Weather Research and Forecast (WRF) model exploratory sensitivity simulations were performed to determine the impact of vertical grid resolution (VGR) on the forecast skill of Midwest summer rainfall. Varying the VGR indicated that a refined VGR, while adopting the widely used North America Regional Reanalysis (NARR) for initial and lateral boundary conditions, does not necessarily result in a consistent improvement in quantitative precipitation forecasts (QPFs). When averaged over a variety of microphysical schemes in an illustrative case, equitable threat score (ETS) and bias values actually worsened with a greater overpredicted rainfall for half of the rainfall thresholds when the VGR was refined. Averaged over strongly forced cases, ETS values worsened for all rainfall thresholds while biases mostly increased, indicating a further overprediction of rainfall when the number of levels was increased. Skill improved, however, for all rainfall thresholds when the resolution above the melting level was increased. Skill also improved for most rainfall thresholds when the resolution in the surface layer was increased, which is attributed to better-resolved surface turbulent momentum and thermal fluxes. Likewise, a refined VGR resulted in improvements in weakly forced cases, which are governed mostly by thermodynamic forcing and are sensitive to vertical profiles of temperature and moisture. Application of the factor separation method suggested that the refined VGR more frequently had a negative impact on skill through the interaction between lower-atmospheric processes and microphysical processes above the melting level.


This paper presents the design and analysis of a dual-stage servo system with an instrumented suspension for use in hard disk drives. The dual-stage system is equipped with a microelectromechanical system microactuator (MA), either rotational or translational, as a secondary actuator. In both cases, the MA has a resonance mode at 2.2 kHz and has virtually no other modes up to 40 kHz. Two design approaches, the sensitivity decoupling design and the multiobjective optimization, are applied to the design of the servo system. With either approach, the translational dual-stage actuator achieves better tracking performance than the rotational one by about 13%, which is achieved mainly by attenuating airflow-excited suspension vibrations. This improvement is significant when the servo system's track misregistration (TMR) budget approaches the level of 5-10 nm. The airflow-excited suspension vibrations then become a significant contribution to the TMR


Among the Bongando, an ethnic group living in and around the village of Wamba, a well-known base for research on the bonobo (Pan paniscus ( ) in the Democratic Republic of Congo, it has traditionally been taboo to eat bonobo. In Bongando folk taxonomy, bonobos are categorized not as animals, but as human beings. The resemblance of bonobo bodily characteristics and behaviors to those of humans is the main reason for this categoriza- tion. While this recognition has helped in the conservation of this endangered species, social and cultural interchanges with other ethnic groups are changing the tradition of "folk conserva- tion." Through interviews with villagers, we investigated changes in the eating of bonobo meat. This taboo persists in older generations, whereas a certain number of younger people have begun to eat bonobo meat. With regards to this change, bonobo conservation and the meaning of food taboo as a "cultural resource" is discussed.


: Anterior dislocation of the shoulder is the most common dislocation encountered by the emergency room medical officer. Many of the present methods employed, such as Kocher's method, the Hippocratic method and distraction method, necessitate the use of both intravenous pethidine and midazolam, which prolongs the recovery time of the patient in the emergency room, as well as carrying the risk of respiratory depression. Also, such methods are associated with complications such as fractures of the humerus and injury to the axillary vessels and brachial plexus. In view of the above disadvantages, an alternative method of reducing anterior shoulder dislocations was introduced to our emergency room medical officers. For a period of 9 months, the Accident and Emergency Department of Toa Payoh Hospital assessed the method of scapular manipulation for reducing anterior shoulder dislocations. This was a descriptive study. The method was found to have a high success rate (78.4%), was easy to teach, did not rely on the use of strong intravenous sedative agents, and was free of complications. Our experience with this method compared favourably with that of another large series which had a success rate of 79%.


Introduction: The aim of present study was to study the immediate outcome of fibrinolytic therapy, to correlate the time of institution of fibrinolytic therapy with clinical outcomes in patients suffering from Acute Myocardial Infarction in Pravara Rural Hospital, Loni. Material and methods: It was a retrospective study carried out in collaboration with the Department of Medicine, Pravara Rural Hospital, Loni. All complete records of the patients diagnosed with AMI of age 18 & above of both gender and who received fibrinolytic therapy were included in the study. Records of patients with reinfarction, history of renal disorders, congenital cardiac defects, cardiomegaly, and peripheral vascular diseases were excluded. The age, gender, co-morbidities, history of addiction, time to institution of fibrinolytic therapy, immediate clinical outcome, ECG changes was collected from the records. Results: 150 patient's records were included for the study, of which 122(81.3%) were males and 28(18.6) were females. The average age of patients was 56.95±12 years. The common comorbidities seen in the present study were Diabetes mellitus and Hypertension. Addiction of tobacco chewing, smoking and Alcohol consumption was observed in 67.3% of patients. STEMI was observed in 73.3% of patients, while NSTEMI and other ECG abnormalities were observed in 26.6% of patients. Only 21(14%) patients reported within one hour of complaints, 63 (42%) patients reported after between 1 and 6 hours, while 51(34%) patients reported after 6 hours. There was no correlation found in the time of institution of fibrinolytic therapy and clinical outcome of the patients. Conclusion: Delay in hospitalization of patient of AMI is common. There is a rising trend of AMI seen in the younger age group leading to pre mature death and mortality. AMI was commonly observed in males of middle age group, addiction of tobacco, history of hypertension and diabetes and ECG changes of ST segment elevation. There was no correlation found between the time of institution of fibrinolytic therapy and immediate clinical outcome of the patients. Further studies are required to establish the reasons behind delay in hospitalization of patients.


The contemporary default materials for multi-storey buildings – namely concrete and steel – are all significant generators of carbon and the use of timber products provides a technically, economically and environmentally viable alternative. In particular, timber's sustainability can drive increased use and subsequent evolution of the Blue economy as a new economic model. National research to date, however, indicates a resistance to the uptake of timber technologies in Australia. To investigate this further, a preliminary study involving a convenience sample of 15 experts was conducted to identify the main barriers involved in the use of timber frames in multi-storey buildings. A closed-ended questionnaire survey involving 74 experienced construction industry participants was then undertaken to rate the relative importance of the barriers. The survey confirmed the most significant barriers to be a perceived increase in maintenance costs and fire risk, together with a limited awareness of the emerging timber technologies available. It is expected that the results will benefit government and the timber industry, contributing to environmental improvement by developing strategies to increase the use of timber technologies in multi-storey buildings by countering perceived barriers in the Australian context.


Background and Purpose: Employing stance and engagement markers can clearly indicate writers' intentions and opinions in the text. The present study was conducted to examine Iranian EFL learners' use of interaction markers in balancing the reader-writer relationship in their written tasks. Methods and Materials: This study involved 14 male and 16 female participants, who took a writing task after being evaluated for their language levels. The tasks were anonymously coded and scored by two raters, and a checklist was developed for keeping a record of the frequency of stance and engagement markers. The differences between the two sets were investigated by t-test and Mann Whitney U test. Results: The mean age of participants (ranging from 19 to 30 years) was 20.60±1.01. The male and female participants were highly similar in their language levels; however, they had used stance and engagement markers differently, i.e. the frequency of engagement markers (221 cases) exceeded that of the stance markers (99 cases). T-test revealed no significant difference in their using stance markers; however, there was a slight difference in their use of engagement markers. Conclusion: The participants did use stance and engagement markers differently. They used the reader-oriented markers more than the writer-oriented markers. No significant difference in the performance of male and female participants was observed in using stance markers but there was a slight difference for engagement markers. Key Words: Interaction Markers; Stance; Engagement; Writing Instruction; Gender.


A high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) coupled with diode array detector method was developed to monitor the quality consistency of a classical compound preparation, compound bismuth aluminate tablet. Characteristic fingerprints of 30 batches of samples were methodically generated by HPLC, and the validation results have demonstrated that the optimized HPLC method had achieved the desired precision, repeatability and stability. The five-wavelength fusion fingerprint profiles were constructed by integrating the chromatograms at five different wavelengths. A novel and optimized method, which was defined as comprehensive quantified fingerprint method, was used to evaluate the quality consistency of samples. The contents of seven major components were determined and subsequently analyzed by principal component analysis, of which the correlation was explored by orthogonal projection to latent structures method. Furthermore, the antioxidant activities were determined by an off-line antioxidant activity to explore the relationship with fingerprint evaluations. In summary, a synthetic evaluation strategy was established in terms of five-wavelength fusion fingerprints evaluations, multiple component chemometrics analyses, antioxidant activity assay, and a comprehensive quantified fingerprint method was developed to monitor the quality consistency for the preparation of traditional Chinese medicine compounds.


This paper examines a possible vulnerability with the potential for a malicious entity to prevent a mobile device from handing over from a global system for mobile communications (GSM) to universal mobile telecommunications system (UMTS) network because the GSM network maintains the stand-alone dedicated control channel (SDCCH) uplink time slots. The process of testing this vulnerability requires the development of a device that monitors a GSM base transceiver station, identifies when a handover to UMTS message is sent, tracks the time slots of the SDCCH uplink, and transmits a GSM handover-failure message. We present a scheme that utilizes parts of the Open BTS to transmit a GSM handover-failure message using a software defined radio. The method is validated through the collection of the GSM transmitter messages by Air probe's GSM-receiver module.


Context. To date, calculations of planet formation have mainly focused on dynamics, and only a few have considered the chemical composition of refractory elements and compounds in the planetary bodies. While many studies have been concentrating on the chemical composition of volatile compounds (such as H2O, CO, CO2) incorporated in planets, only a few have considered the refractory materials as well, although they are of great importance for the formation of rocky planets.
Aims. We computed the abundance of refractory elements in planetary bodies formed in stellar systems with a solar chemical composition by combining models of chemical composition and planet formation. We also considered the formation of refractory organic compounds, which have been ignored in previous studies on this topic.
Methods. We used the commercial software package HSC Chemistry to compute the condensation sequence and chemical composition of refractory minerals incorporated into planets. The problem of refractory organic material is approached with two distinct model calculations: the first considers that the fraction of atoms used in the formation of organic compounds is removed from the system (i.e., organic compounds are formed in the gas phase and are non-reactive); and the second assumes that organic compounds are formed by the reaction between different compounds that had previously condensed from the gas phase.
Results. Results show that refractory material represents more than 50 wt % of the mass of solids accreted by the simulated planets with up to 30 wt % of the total mass composed of refractory organic compounds. Carbide and silicate abundances are consistent with C/O and Mg/Si elemental ratios of 0.5 and 1.02 for the Sun. Less than 1 wt % of carbides are present in the planets, and pyroxene and olivine are formed in similar quantities. The model predicts planets that are similar in composition to those of the solar system. Starting from a common initial nebula composition, it also shows that a wide variety of chemically different planets can form, which means that the differences in planetary compositions are due to differences in the planetary formation process.
Conclusions. We show that a model in which refractory organic material is absent from the system is more compatible with observations. The use of a planet formation model is essential to form a wide diversity of planets in a consistent way.


Hospice workers are constantly exposed to the trauma experienced by the clients they interact with daily in their work settings. The purpose of the current study was to determine the prevalence of vicarious trauma (VT) among the hospice caregivers in selected hospices in Kenya. A tool adapted from Vicarious Trauma Scale was utilized to assess prevalence and levels of vicarious trauma among the participants. A brief questionnaire was also was used to obtain demographic information of the participants. A total of 70 male and female staff in the various occupations and positions within the hospices were included in the study. Data was then analyzed using descriptive statistics. The study findings revealed a VT prevalence rate of 67% among hospice workers. The findings showed that vicarious trauma is a real threat to care givers working in hospices. The study recommended that there is need to educate caregivers about the existence and possible risk factors of vicarious trauma. These findings offer valuable information for developing staff competencies in the workplace and ensure appropriate intervention as well as practitioner support programs.


This paper presents a systematic algorithm to locate the power-quality (PQ) event source in the distributed monitoring system. Firstly, this paper proposes an improved realization of a distributed monitoring scheme for PQ diagnosis. The algorithm utilizes the topology of power system and the direction of PQ events. As a result, the coverage matrix and the direction matrix are constructed. The algorithm determines the candidate areas for an event source by manipulating these two matrices. For more accurate results, it calculates the distance from the PQ monitor to the location of the PQ event source. It is explained with an illustrative example and is applied to IEEE test feeder in order to validate the accuracy. The proposed algorithm can replace the expert's analysis on the PQ event source with an automated computer program.


— We present here the results for a comparative study of some techniques, available in the literature, related to the relevance feedback mechanism in the case of a short-term learning. Only one method among those considered here is belonging to the data mining field which is the K-nearest neighbors algorithm (KNN) while the rest of the methods is related purely to the information retrieval field and they fall under the purview of the following three major axes: Shifting query, Feature Weighting and the optimization of the parameters of similarity metric. As a contribution, and in addition to the comparative purpose, we propose a new version of the KNN algorithm referred to as an incremental KNN which is distinct from the original version in the sense that besides the influence of the seeds, the rate of the actual target image is influenced also by the images already rated. The results presented here have been obtained after experiments conducted on the Wang database for one iteration and utilizing color moments on the RGB space. This compact descriptor, Color Moments, is adequate for the efficiency purposes needed in the case of interactive systems. The results obtained allow us to claim that the proposed algorithm proves good results; it even outperforms a wide range of techniques available in the literature.


Background Eye-tracking is a behavioural analysis tool which may reveal insights inaccessible to the traditional observer. Established in industry, medical applications remain relatively unexplored. We tested feasibility using ambulant subjects, in a simulated operating theatre. We also attempted to validate the technique by comparing the performance of junior and senior anaesthetists. A fixation duration of ≥200 ms allows recognition and higher cortical processing of visual targets.1 This provides a unique ability to examine disparities between problem recognition and action. Methodology Ethical approval was obtained. 7 junior and 7 senior anaesthetists undertook a standardised simulated difficult airway scenario. All wore eye-tracking glasses (ErgoneersTM). 2 monitoring changes (88% desaturation and ventricular tachycardia) were introduced at set times. Monitor SpO2 and ECG traces were defined as 'areas of interest' (AOI). Primary endpoints were time to first fixation (TFF) on AOI following change, and time to act (TTA). Post scenario questionnaires assessed user acceptability. Parametric data was compared using an unpaired t-test and non-parametric data using the Mann-Whitney U test. Results Mean TFF(s) was less for seniors than juniors, for SpO2 (12.0 vs 29.5, p = 0.05) and ECG (4.1 vs 8.9, p = 0.11). TTA was less for seniors for SpO2 (15.4 vs 53.3, p = 0.02) and ECG (12.9 vs 50.0, p = 0.02). TFF/TTA interval was also less for seniors (SpO2: 21.1 vs 41, p = 0.07. ECG: 8.7 vs 41.2, p = 0.04). 86% of candidates stated the glasses had no impact on their normal behaviour. Conclusions Eye-tracking is acceptable for users and deliverable in a dynamic, simulated environment. It is a valid tool to discriminate certain aspects of performance. A prolonged recognition/action interval in juniors, provides a new insight into critical incident behaviour. It may reflect less efficient clinical interpretation, decision-making and action planning. Further scrutiny of this recognition/action phase, may facilitate approaches to improve response times in critical incidents. Reference Salvucci DD, Goldberg JH. Identifying fixations and saccades in eye-tracking protocols. ETRA 2000: Proceedings of the 2000 symposium on eye-tracking research and applications. New York: ACM, 2000: 71–78


Leprosy is a persistent infectious disease caused by Mycobacterium leprae that still affects over 200,000 new patients annually. The host genetic background is an important risk factor for leprosy susceptibility and the PARK2 gene is a replicated leprosy susceptibility candidate gene. The protein product of PARK2, Parkin, is an E3 ubiquitin ligase that is involved in the development of various forms of Parkinsonism. The human macrophage is both a natural host cell of M. leprae as well as a primary mediator of natural immune defenses, in part by secreting important pro-inflammatory cytokines and chemokines. Here, we report that down-regulation of Parkin in THP-1 macrophages, human monocyte-derived macrophages and human Schwann cells resulted in a consistent and specific decrease in interleukin-6 (IL-6) and monocyte chemoattractant protein 1 (MCP-1/CCL2) production in response to mycobacteria or LPS. Interestingly, production of IL-6 at 6 hours by THP-1 cells stimulated with live M. leprae and M. bovis BCG was dependent on pretreatment with 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3 (VD). Parkin knockdown in VD-treated cells blocked IL-6 induction by mycobacteria. However, IκB-α phosphorylation and levels of IκB-ξ, a nuclear protein required for IL-6 expression, were not affected by Parkin silencing. Phosphorylation of MAPK ERK1/2 and p38 was unaffected by Parkin silencing while JNK activation was promoted but did not explain the altered cytokine production. In a final set of experiments we found that genetic risk factors of leprosy located in the PARK2 promoter region were significantly correlated with M. leprae sonicate triggered CCL2 and IL6 transcript levels in whole blood assays. These results associated genetically controlled changes in the production of MCP-1/CCL2 and IL-6 with known leprosy susceptibility factors.


In this paper, we review current approaches employed by both public health and computer science to develop tailored persuasive messages to foster health-related behavior change. It is based on this review that we propose an integrated framework for merging public health and computer science approaches. We believe that such a framework can lead to new methods to extend current tailoring research. Our method for analyzing persuasive health messages, influenced by this integrated framework, is presented as an example.


Senescence represents the final developmental act of the leaf, during which the leaf cell is dismantled in a coordinated manner to remobilize nutrients and to secure reproductive success. The process of senescence provides the plant with phenotypic plasticity to help it adapt to adverse environmental conditions. Here, we provide a comprehensive overview of the factors and mechanisms that control the onset of senescence. We explain how the competence to senesce is established during leaf development, as depicted by the senescence window model. We also discuss the mechanisms by which phytohormones and environmental stresses control senescence as well as the impact of source-sink relationships on plant yield and stress tolerance. In addition, we discuss the role of senescence as a strategy for stress adaptation and how crop production and food quality could benefit from engineering or breeding crops with altered onset of senescence.