Connections to the Land: the Politics of Health and Wellbeing in Arviat, Nunavut is about traditional knowledge as process. The thesis examines the relationships between Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit (IQ) ["the Inuit way of doing things"; traditional knowledge (TK);], Inuit perceptions of health and wellbeing and the land; and what the relationships mean for integrated coastal and ocean management. Among Arviat Inuit (Arviarmiut), IQ, health and wellbeing and the land are tightly interconnected. When one relationship is stressed, disruptions occur throughout the whole system. IQ is embedded in Inuit perceptions of health and wellbeing, and to be healthy, Inuit maintain they must interact with the land in Inuit ways. In 2004, issues surrounding the nature of IQ, its control, production, documentation and legitimation were hotly contested by Arviarmiut. Inuit strongly resented input from academics, resource managers, scientists or other southern "experts". Arviarmiut sensitivities regarding IQ were in part the result of the rapid social change that had occurred over the last half century. Social systems suffered upheaval as colonial processes and institutions impacted values, networks, families and identity. The rate of change did not allow for time for traditional systems to adapt, and aspects of social change happened out of sync with each other resulting in dysfunction. Arviat's history of relocation, uneven social change and expanded communication ability all affected the formation of IQ. Through participatory research, participant observation, interviews and network-building with Inuit organizations, the research explores IQ as process and the interconnections with the land and wellbeing. It recommends greater integration of Inuit into resource management planning and decisionmaking in ways consistent with IQ; and allowing Inuit to decide what processes and policies are most appropriate for them.


This study was carried out to evaluate and compare the shelf life of smoked and salted-dried Oreochromis niloticus over a relative time period. Improved traditional smoking kiln and salting were employed respectively. The smoking kiln was constructed with iron metal with a dimension of 120cm x 70cm and consisting of three smoking racks with dimension of 30 x 30cm each. Table salt was used for preservation of some of the specimens. A total of 30 samples weighing 7.1kg were used. Fifteen (15) samples each were used respectively for smoking and salting. Satisfactory smoking was achieved in two days while salting to dryness was accomplished in four days. The initial percentage proximate compositions of the smoked products were 7.94%, 66. 97%, 8.`84% and 2.96% for moisture, protein, lipid and ash respectively, while that of the salted products were 8.37%, 63.93%, 12.91% and 3.95% for moisture, protein, lipid and ash. Preliminary results of the proximate compositions of the two products at the end of the fifth week of storage were as follows; 8.23%, 65.70%, 10.63% and 2.23% for moisture, protein, lipid and ash respectively of the smoked products, while 6.33%, 64.25%, 11.28% and 2.38% represent the values of moisture, protein, lipid and ash of the salted-dried products. By the individual product proximate characterization, it was discovered that both products were still relatively in good and acceptable condition. However, the protein and moisture values of the smoked products were relatively greater than those of the salted-dried products, while on the other hand, lipid and ash were relatively greater in salted-dried products. The prevailed relative higher moisture in the smoked products constitutes a predisposing condition for microbial activity and spoilage of the products, while the relative higher percentage lipid in the salted-dried products predisposes the products to lipid oxidation and rancidity.


Several studies extend the Rothschild–Stiglitz model of competitive insurance contracting with adverse selection by incorporating additional dimensions of private information and conclude that some insurers may earn positive profit in a separating, self-selection equilibrium, provided each insurer is restricted to making a single contract offer. The main result of this article is that these profitable configurations are not sustainable when individual insurers can offer multiple contracts. It is also shown that the ability to offer multiple contracts overturns equilibria that have applicants from different risk classes pooled as well as those where profits are dissipated by a fixed entry cost.


High- precision and large scale are the developing trend for injection molding machine clamping system .This paper compared the characteristics of three-platen toggle and dual-platen hydraulic clamping system. The key impact factors that effecting plastic parts` precision from clamping system were discussed systematically first time. Based on these analyses, a new clamping system has been proposed and manufactured to improve the plastics parts` precision, including three new technologies: new type dual-platen structure, parallelism adaptive correction technology and numerical controlled hydraulic servo system technology. It has been applied in practical machine successfully, and experiment result proves that it is effective enough to satisfying the high-precision molding of large plastics parts.


This study develops an optical fiber–guided laser ultrasonic system and baseline-free damage detection method that enables structural health monitoring of pipelines employed under a high-temperature environment of nuclear power plants. First, this study designs embeddable optical fibers and fixing devices, so that the laser beams used for ultrasonic excitation and sensing could be transmitted between laser sources and target pipe surfaces through the optical fibers. All devices are specially designed for a high-temperature environment up to 300°C. Then, a damage detection method is developed to identify typical pipe defects without any previous baseline data. This technique is based on the premise that multiple identical wave paths exist in an intact axisymmetric pipe, but the similarity among the ultrasonic signals obtained from these identical wave paths breaks down when there is a nonaxisymmetric defect. The feasibility of the proposed technique has been experimentally verified using a stainless steel pipe specimen under a high-temperature environment.


We report herein, a scalable method for the preparation of alumina (Al2O3)-phosphate ceramics reinforced with carbon nanotubes (CNTs). All composites were manufactured by direct on-site growth of CNTs on ceramic particles via catalytic chemical vapour deposition. Introduction of catalyst metals to the substrate was achieved through two simple approaches, drip-coating and vacuum filtration, both of which have been reviewed. Transmission electron microscopy was utilised to investigate the interface between the Al2O3 surface and the in-situ CNTs. Resultant ceramics were produced by impregnating phosphoric acid into the Al2O3+CNT nanocomposite powder followed by die-pressing. In order to maintain the integrity of the CNTs, dehydration/curing was performed at 130-150C. Scanning electron microscopy was elected to comparatively characterise the microstructure of this type of ceramic nanocomposite against its monolithic equivalent. Possible mechanisms by which specific features have formed are discussed.


The labour market in Rhodesia may be divided, both on a practical and a legal level, into skilled, semi-skilled and unskilled segments. Employment and training policies will, moreover, be directly influenced by the availability of manpower in each of these segments in relation to the requirements of the economy. The criteria by which surplus or shortage of skills are evaluated are not, however, clear-cut, and it was precisely because of the failure of the April, 1971, conference between Government, employer and employee representatives to reach agreement on the existing manpower supply situation that the Central Statistical Office (C.S.O.) was approached to conduct a survey of existing vacancies.1
The survey was conducted by the C.S.O. but the working party set up after the April conference ultimately sanctioned the form of this survey. It is the intention of the author of this note to evaluate the validity of the conclusions reached in the final C.S.O. report, and to reflect upon some of their implications for employment and training policy.


The Routledge Encyclopedia of Citizen Media sets out to chart the territory of citizen media, a new, fast evolving disciplinary terrain. Citizen media is understood in the context of this project as the physical artefacts, digital content, performative interventions, practices and discursive formations of affective sociality that ordinary citizens produce as they participate in public life to effect aesthetic or socio-political change. Pursuing an inclusive agenda, this understanding of citizen media encompasses such diverse forms of political and aesthetic intervention in public life as graffiti and other forms of street art, street performance, community theatre, rap and hip hop, community radio, citizen journalism, citizen photography, blogging, tweeting, documentary film making, hacktivism, fansubbing, and scanlation. As such it allows engagement with participatory cultures across the entire spectrum of a population, irrespective of their level of access to digital media. Citizen Media and Performance Studies Maria Chatzichristodoulou, London South Bank University, UK This entry will examine a diverse range of performance practices that are, in some way, related to the notion of citizen media. As the connections between the two are emergent – and thus, to some extent, in the making – the entry will be led by current practice, adopting an empirical approach in the first instance. It will start by surveying contemporary performances that unfold within, intervene in or disrupt the public sphere, whether this is physical or digital. These could be street performances, activist/citizen actions, cyber-activist events, performance interventions, public forms of docu-dramas, performative gestures that disrupt quotidian happenings, and so on. It will then attempt to differentiate – to the extent this is possible and desirable – between performance as an artistic (and activist) practice, and performative action as a methodological approach in the service of a political end; or what journalist Paul Mason has described as 'gestural politics' (2012: 1). To achieve that, the entry will apply key scholarly work; most notably Richard Schechner's performance studies approach (2002, 2006), Austin's theory of the performative utterance (1962), the notion of the performative turn, the idea of theatricality in relation to gesture and protest (Hughes and Parry 2015), and the concept of the experience economy (Pine II and Gilmore 1998).


Because of the recent focus of public attention on sickle cell disease and the other sickling hemoglobinopathies, the National Institutes of Health sponsored the first National Symposium on Sickle Cell Disease, held in Washington, DC, June 27 through 29, 1974. Each individual who submitted an abstract to this meeting, whether it was presented or not, was asked to write a 500 to 800-word summary, with references, of their contribution for the published proceedings. The book consists of 137 such summaries. The summaries are divided into four sessions. The first contains those papers that were presented in the plenary session, emphasizing the pathogenesis of sickle cell disease. This session also deals with current proposed chemical treatment of sickle cell disease (zinc, cynate, and nitrogen and sulfur mustards). The next three sessions deal with the molecular, cellular, and clinical aspects of sickle cell disease, respectively. In addition to the research summaries, there


Bluetongue, an economically important arthropod-borne viral disease of livestock especially sheep. Presently, there are 27 serotypes of bluetongue virus prevalent worldwide. Traditional bluetongue virus typing methods such as virus isolation and serum neutralization tests (SNT) are cumbersome, time-consuming, and many times inconclusive. The other diagnostic methods such as antigen-capture enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), dot immunobinding assay, and immuno-electron microscopy, have been developed. All these techniques have limited sensitivities and thus are unable to detect the virus at a sub-clinical level. Serotype specific RT-PCR and qRT-PCR based amplification of BTV Seg-2 are most reliable, less time consuming and high specificity for serotype typing. In the present study, standardization of EVA-green based qRT-PCR was done for amplification and quantification of BTV-23 serotype from infected BHK-21 cell culture; the results showed high sensitivity as well specificity of realtime PCR for diagnosis of BTV-23.


HIPPI provides a very-high-speed communication medium, which is very well suited for a large number of bandwidth-demanding distributed applications. Unfortunately, its circuit-switched nature makes it very diicult to provide real-time guarantees when connections contend for network resources. We present a time-division-multiplex access scheme designed to give timing guarantees to high-speed connections. We describe the problem of scheduling the access to a HIPPI network, and show that, although the problem is very unlikely to be computationally tractable, very simple heuristics give high network uti-lizations for moderately-sized networks. We present the RMP/RMCP protocol, our implementation of the scheme described in this paper on the XUNET-West HIPPI testbed.


Multi-Disciplinary teams (MDTs) have often been presented as the key to dealing with a number of intractable problems associated with responding to allegations of physical and sexual child abuse. While these approaches have proliferated internationally, researchers have complained of the lack of a specific evidence base identifying the processes and structures supporting multi-disciplinary work and how these contribute to high-level outcomes. This systematic search of the literature aims to synthesize the existing state of knowledge on the effectiveness of MDTs. This review found that overall there is reasonable evidence to support the idea that MDTs are effective in improving criminal justice and mental health responses compared to standard agency practices. The next step toward developing a viable evidence base to inform these types of approaches seems to be to more clearly identify the mechanisms associated with effective MDTs in order to better inform how they are planned and implemented.


Seven species of the carnivorous plant genus Heliamphora were studied in the wild across four tepuis of the Venezuelan Guyana. All were found to exhibit UV-induced blue fluorescence in their young and developing pitchers, the fluorescence being largely confined to the downwardpointing trichomes of the pitcher interior, with a small contribution from the nectaries. Subsequent work on cultivated plants confirmed the universality of this trait across all known members of the genus. Fluorescence microscopy localized the blue emissions to the surface of the trichomes and unequivocally showed that it represents true fluorescence. The phenomenon was found to be highly transient, generally being seen only in recently opened pitchers. Whether it has a biological function or is an incidental property remains to be determined. Possible roles in the attraction of prey and pitcher inquilines are discussed.


Al/SiCp composite material is rapidly advanced due to its applications to weapon, military, aeronautics and astronautics. In some cases, fields of research are stagnating for its difficulty in material processing. In this study, we are particularly concerned about the cutting mechanism of Al/SiCp through modeling and simulations on wear rate of the tools. These simulations of tool wear rate and cutting mechanism of Al/SiCp are proved by cutting tests on Al/SiCp with nanocemented carbide tool WC-7Co and common cemented carbide tool YG8. A detailed investigation suggests that the cutting instinct of Al/SiCp is of interrupted cutting process. And the grain loss, less tipping and blade fracture during tool wear results from high frequency intermittent shock by SiC grain. The wear behavior on the tool flank is mainly of grain loss. However, the wear behavior of the rake face is not only of grain loss, but also abrasive wear of WC grain by SiC grain. It is conclusively demonstrated that the model of tool wear rate is sufficient for revolution characterization of tool wear rate on grain size, volume fraction of reinforcement, and also significantly important to prove the interrupted cutting process mechanism of Al/SiCp.


This thesis consists of three chapters that analyze theoretically the role of income inequality in consumer markets. Each chapter introduces distributional considerations into an economic model where previously inequality did not play a major role. Chapter one uses a consumer search model to show under what conditions the distribution of income within a community is related to the type of firms that exist within that community, impacting the level of prices. We show that if time and money costs of search are high enough, only the middle class have incentive to search and therefore are the most aggressive shoppers. Using a supply side model, we argue that firms located in more informed communities are more likely to enter the market as large low-priced retailers. Connecting these two results, the model shows under what conditions the size of the middle class can have a negative relationship with the level of prices. Chapter two demonstrates how firm pricing strategy and determinants of household location can interact to determine city structure. In this city, consumers and firms live on a continuous line interval. The model consists of two types of firms; many high-cost perfectly competitive firms located in the Central Business District, and one large low-cost "Superstore", choosing its price strategically. We show how the shopping habits of the consumer population, as determined by the relative price of the Superstore and the Corner Stores, can contribute to the various income segregation outcomes described in previous literature. In addition we consider the impact of city population structure on the pricing decision of a monopolist facing a competitive fringe. Chapter three uses a simple model of banking services to consider how deposit-taking banks price for their services and choose the type of deposit customers that they target. This chapter goes beyond previous theoretical work on consumer banking, identifying the role of household income in the access to deposit services. We show that a higher rate of return on investments available to banks lowers financial exclusion, increasing the profitability of low-income consumers for deposit-taking institutions. This suggests that the possibility of financial exclusion increases in periods of recession. The chapter demonstrates how an increase in income dispersion can lead to a greater proportion of consumers excluded from mainstream banking.


Sudorimetry technology has evolved dramatically, as a rapid, non-invasive, robust, and accurate biomarker for small fibers that can easily be integrated into clinical practice. Though skin biopsy with quantitation of intraepidermal nerve fiber density is still currently recognized as the gold standard, sudorimetry may yield diagnostic information not only on autonomic dysfunction but also enhance the assessment of the small somatosensory nerves, disease detection, progression, and response to therapy. Sudorimetry can be assessed using Sudoscan™, which measures electrochemical skin conductance (ESC) of hands and feet. It is based on different electrochemical principles (reverse iontophoresis and chronoamperometry) to measure sudomotor function than prior technologies, affording it a much more practical and precise performance profile for routine clinical use with potential as a research tool. Small nerve fiber dysfunction has been found to occur early in metabolic syndrome and diabetes and may also be the only neurological manifestation in small fiber neuropathies, beneath the detection limits of traditional nerve function tests. Test results are robust, accomplished within minutes, require little technical training and no calculations, since established norms have been provided for the effects of age, gender, and ethnicity. Sudomotor testing has been greatly under-utilized in the past, restricted to specialized centers capable of handling the technically demanding and expensive technology. Yet, evaluation of autonomic and somatic nerve function has been shown to be one of the best estimates of cardiovascular risk. Evaluation of sweating has the appeal of quantifiable non-invasive determination of the integrity of the peripheral autonomic nervous system, and can now be accomplished rapidly at point of care clinics with the determination of ESC, allowing intervention for morbid complications prior to permanent structural nerve damage. We review here sudomotor function testing technology, the research evidence accumulated supporting the clinical utility of measuring ESC, the medical applications of sudorimetry now available to physicians with this device, and clinical vignettes illustrating its use in the clinical decision-making process.


Anthropogenic land cover change (ALCC) influences global mean temperatures via counteracting effects: CO2 emissions contribute to global warming, while biogeophysical effects, in particular the increase in surface albedo, often impose a cooling influence. Previous studies of idealized, large‐scale deforestation found that albedo cooling dominates over CO2 warming in boreal regions, indicating that boreal reforestation is not an effective mitigation tool. Here we show the importance of past land use decisions in influencing the mitigation potential of reforestation on these lands. In our simulations, CO2 warming dominates over albedo cooling because past land use decisions resulted in the use of the most productive land with larger carbon stocks and less snow than on average. As a result past land use decisions extended CO2 dominance to most agriculturally important regions in the world, suggesting that in most places reversion of past land cover change could contribute to climate change mitigation. While the relative magnitude of CO2 and albedo effects remains uncertain, the historical land use pattern is found to be biased towards stronger CO2 and weaker albedo effects as compared to idealized large‐scale deforestation.


The high penetration level of photovoltaic (PV) generation in distribution networks not only brings benefits like carbon savings, but also induces undesirable outcomes, like more harmonic components and voltage fluctuations. Driven by decreasing costs of energy storage, the focus of this paper is to investigate the feasibility of applying energy storage in the grid-connected PV system to mitigate its intermittency. Firstly, to appreciate the functionality of storage, a generic PV-battery-supercapacitor model was simulated in MATLAB/Simulink, and a flat load profile was obtained to enhance predictability from the network management point of view. However, the usage of supercapacitors at the residential level is limited, due to its high startup costs. Secondly, a detailed residential PV-battery model was implemented in the System Advisor Model (SAM) based on local data in Dubai. The optimal sizing of a battery system was determined by assessing two criteria: The number of excursions, and average target power, which are contradictory in optimization process. Statistical indicators show that a properly sized battery system can alleviate network fluctuations. The proposed sizing method can be also applied to other PV-storage systems. Finally, economic studies of PV-battery system demonstrated its competitiveness against standalone PV systems under appropriate tariff incentives.


A heavily instrumented 1:5 scaled model of the ERICA tilt-wing configuration has been tested in the DNW-LLF wind tunnel as part of the EU co-funded NICETRIP project. Tests were made for a variety of conditions ranging from pure helicopter and conversion corridor cases up to a low speed aircraft mode, with appropriate changes in tilt rotor and outer wing pitching angles. In total over 400 test conditions were measured. Rotor forces and moments have been measured with rotor balances. Blade bending moment and torsion as well as rotor shaft bending and torque were measured with calibrated strain gauge sensors. Measurements were made for fully trimmed and for non-trimmed conditions. The four bladed rotors are counter-rotating, are rigid in plane and allow cyclic blade pitch control through a remote controlled swash plate. Since cyclic pitch control caused damage to the blade pitch bearings, most of the test conditions had to be done without cyclic blade pitch control, leading to a large in-plane moment in the rotor plane and high bending moments in the rotor shaft. Some test cases were both measured with and without cyclic pitch control.
The present paper analysis the rotor induced forces, moments and nacelle vibrations for the trimmed conditions. Both steady and dynamic contents of the signals are analyzed. It is found that with cyclic blade pitch control the time mean rotor in-plane forces and moments and the 1/rev rotor shaft and blade bending moments are effectively suppressed, but the dynamic components of the rotor in-plane forces and moments become larger than without cyclic blade pitch control. Without cyclic blade pitch control the 1/rev blade and rotor shaft bending moments become quite large and, rather surprisingly, for some of these test conditions also a large 2/rev blade bending moment is observed. Careful analysis of the data suggests that the 2/rev flap bending is caused by a 1/rev excitation (in the non-rotating system) of both nacelles, caused by the proximity of the nominal rotor rpm frequency to symmetric and anti-symmetric nacelle torsion eigen-frequency and probably also in combination with other nacelle related eigen-modes.
The measured data are well suited to validate or verify existing semi-empirical or CFD methods to predict the steady and unsteady loads of the rotors. A correlation between rotor dynamics and (outer) wing dynamic loading and the influence of the outer wing and/or flaperon setting on the rotor forces and moments is left for future anal-ysis.
Introduction


In this article the authors reflect upon and critically examine signs of a contradiction in higher education which they discuss in terms of the tension between 'use value' and 'exchange value'. Use value here represents learning as something valuable 'in itself', whereas exchange value represents learning as an achievement of grades and credits to be 'traded' on a market. Their aim in this article is to present a model based on the concepts of use value and exchange value, clarifying how they might relate to surface and deep approaches to learning. The model is suggested as a device to explore and analyse local tensions emanating from the contradiction. They also argue in favour of a pedagogical philosophy based on the notion of community.


The σ54-dependent Po promoter drives transcription of an operon that encodes a suite of enzymes for (methyl)phenols catabolism. Transcription from Po is controlled by the sensor-activator DmpR that binds (methyl)phenol effectors to take up its active form. The σ54 factor imposes kinetic constraints on transcriptional initiation by the σ54-RNA polymerase holoenzyme which cannot undergo transition from the closed complex without the aid of the activator. DmpR acts from a distance on promoter-bound σ54-holoenzyme, and physical contact between the two players is facilitated by the DNA-bending protein IHF. The bacterial alarmone ppGpp and DksA directly bind RNA polymerase to have far reaching consequences on global transcriptional capacity in the cell. The work presented in this thesis uses the DmpR-regulated Po promoter as a framework to dissect how these two regulatory molecules act in vivo to control the functioning of σ54-dependent transcription. The strategies employed involved development of i) a series of hybrid σ54-promoters that could be directly compared and in which key DNA elements could be manipulated ii) mutants incapable of synthesizing ppGpp and/or DksA, iii) reconstituted in vitro transcription systems, and iv) genetic selection and purification of mutant RNA polymerases that bypass the need for ppGpp and DksA in vivo. The collective results presented show that the effects of ppGpp and DksA on σ54-dependent transcription are major, with simultaneous loss of these regulatory molecules essentially abolishing σ54-transcription in intact cells. However, neither of these regulatory molecules have discernable effects on in vitro reconstituted σ54-transcription, suggesting an indirect mechanism of control. The major effects of ppGpp and DksA in vivo cannot be accounted for by consequent changes in the levels of DmpR or other specific proteins needed for σ54-transcription. The data presented here shows i) that the effects of loss of ppGpp and DksA are related to promoter affinity for σ54-holoenzyme, ii) that σ54 is under significant competition with other σ-factors in the cell, and iii) that mutants of σ70, and the beta- and beta prime-subunits of RNA polymerase that can bypass the need for ppGpp and DksA in vivo have defects that would favour the formation of σ54-RNA holoenzyme over that with σ70, and that mimic the effects of ppGpp and DksA for negative regulation of stringent σ70-promoters. A purely passive model for ppGpp/DksA regulation of σ54-dependent transcription that functions through their potent negative effects on transcription from powerful σ70-stringent promoters is presented.


Modern networks need to operate at speeds as high as 100Gbps while running sophisticated algorithms and protocols to provide strict performance, security and reliability guarantees. Moreover, they need to flexibly adapt to the rapidly evolving requirements of online services. Thus, emerging network hardware devices, i.e. switches inside the network and Network Interface Cards (NICs) at the end hosts, are highspeed and programmable, with on-chip memory accessible on a per-packet basis to support stateful packet processing. However, the programming interfaces of these devices are quite low-level, tied to each device's architecture, and only suitable for programming a single device. Thus, programming collections of stateful network devices to realize a local or network-wide functionality efficiently and correctly is extremely difficult and error-prone. This dissertation focuses on the design and implementation of high-level programming abstractions for stateful programming of high-speed network hardware, both at the end hosts and inside the network. At the end host, we focus on the transport layer, the most complicated, constantlyevolving, and stateful component of the network stack. Transport-layer algorithms maintain state across packets to decide what data segments to transmit and when, and are notoriously difficult to implement on programmable NICs at high-speed. We propose Tonic, a hardware architecture for transport algorithms that can support 100Gbps for 128-byte packets while being programmable with a simple API. In designing Tonic, we exploit common patterns across transport algorithms to create efficient fixed-function reusable hardware modules, thus significantly reducing the functionality programmers must specify. To facilitate network-wide stateful programming, we propose SNAP, a programming language that abstracts the entire network as "one big stateful switch". Using SNAP, operators can program using persistent arrays on one big switch without deiii ciding how to distribute and access them in the network's switches. The SNAP compiler discovers read/write dependencies between arrays, translates one-big-switch programs into an efficient internal representation based on binary decision diagrams, and uses it to jointly optimize array placement and routing across the network. All in all, Tonic's modular interface and SNAP's one-big-stateful-switch abstraction relieve programmers from the low-level details of stateful programming of highspeed network hardware throughout the entire network.


Accounting is the spearhead for a company in the financial field for both governmentand private agencies . Business people are in need of financial statements resulting from thewhole recording of financial transactions that occurred in his company to be used as basis fordecision making . In reality there are many companies that use manual or Otomation Office(Microsoft Excel , hereinafter referred Ms.Excel) in the process of accounting records andfinancial statements. Accounting records and financial statements are prepared by hand orusing Ms. Excel still has some drawbacks. With the above reasons , the current will be createdan accounting application that can overcome some of the weaknesses in the manual system.With this accounting application accounting records and financial statements to be moreeffective and efficient .
Keywords : accounting , financial statements , office otomation , vb.net
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The modern web critically depends on aggregation of information from self-interested agents, for example opinion polls, product ratings, or crowdsourcing. We consider a setting where multiple objects (questions, products, tasks) are evaluated by a group of agents. We first construct a minimal peer prediction mechanism that elicits honest evaluations from a homogeneous population of agents with different private beliefs. Second, we show that it is impossible to strictly elicit honest evaluations from a heterogeneous group of agents with different private beliefs. Nevertheless, we provide a modified version of a divergence-based Bayesian Truth Serum that incentivizes agents to report consistently, making truthful reporting a weak equilibrium of the mechanism.


INTERFERENCE OF SLENDER AMARANTH, AMERICAN BLACK NIGHTSHADE, HAIRY BEGGARTICKS AND PURPLE NUTSEDGE ON PROCESSING TOMATO The objective of the present research was to study the effect of interference of slender amaranth (Amaranthus viridis), American black nightshade (Bidens pilosa), purple nutsedge (Cyperus rotundus) and hairy beggarticks (Solanum americanum) on height, leaf area, chlorophyll content, dry mass and macronutrients accumulation and fruits fresh mass of processing tomato. The treatments were: (a) two tomato plants + two ones of A. viridis; (b) two tomato plants + two ones of B. pilosa; (c) two tomato plants + two ones of C. rotundus; e (d) two tomato plants + two ones of S. americanum. Moreover, a weed-free check with two tomato plants was maintained. For each weed species, the effect on tomato was the same for all evaluated characteristics, independently to distance used. A. viridis and S. americanum showed higher competitive potential than B. pilosa and C. rotundus. Chlorophyll content, plant height and leaf area of tomato was not affected by weed coexistence. B. pilosa and C. rotundus did not influenced on tomato macronutrients accumulation while A. viridis and S. americanum affected differentially it in function of distance used, and A. viridis was the most competitive species. Fresh mass of tomato fruits was not reduced due to coexistence with the four weed species.


Guided wave testing has been widely used as an effective way to inspect and monitor structural integrity. Evaluating the performance of damage detection methods is critical for the practical implementation of such methods, especially for long term monitoring systems under complex environmental and operational conditions (EOC). Although damage can be applied to test structures in a laboratory environment to evaluate the performance, it is often prohibitively expensive to comprehensively investigate the sensitivity of damage detection on different damage types, sizes, and locations under different EOC. In this paper, we propose a cost-effective methodology to evaluate the performance and estimate the sensitivity of damage detection methods by synthesizing undamaged records collected under varying EOCs and simulated artificial damage signals. We produce the receiver operating characteristics (ROC) of damage detection methods on different synthetic datasets to predict the performance in practical scenarios. doi: 10.12783/SHM2015/243


ABSTRACT This paper studies original protocols of rapid PES/PVP membrane NaOCl degradation allowing at reaching ageing states that are representative of industrial ageing. The long term objective is to propose basis for further fundamental studies aiming at the improvement of the impact of membrane ageing on behaviour in UF (fouling and cleaning mastering). The key of several protocols is the use of ageing acceleration thanks to microwave irradiation, either continuous or pulsed ones, that can be further associated (or not) with short ageing time in UF conditions. To evaluate the representativeness of obtained aged membranes, comparisons are achieved between pristine, voluntary laboratory aged membranes and an industrial membrane at the end of its service-life. Several physico-chemical analyses were used (ATR-FTIR, SEM-EDX, contact angle, SEC-HPLC). Evaluation of UF performances were made in UF of a model protein (Lysozyme, 14,300 g.mol−1). Finally, the proof of concept is done that conditions using MW exist to reach ageing state representative of industrial ageing. GRAPHICAL ABSTRACT


Background: PPARγ and PPARα belong to a receptor family of ligand-activated transcription factors involved in the regulation of inflammation, cellular glucose uptake, protection against atherosclerosis and endothelial cell function. Through these effects, they might be involved with the ischemic stroke (IS). Methods: One thousand two hundred ninety-six subjects from the Chinese Han Population were chosen to assess the nature of the functional polymorphisms of PPARs and any links with IS. Multivariate logistic regression analysis was used to examine the association between PPARγ and PPARα genotypes and a diagnosis of IS. Results: Pro/Ala carriage may be associated with the decreased risk of IS in Hans (OR 0.542, 95% CI 0.346-0.850). The 162Val allele frequency at the DNA-binding region of PPARα was extremely rare in Chinese Han population. Conclusions: PPARγ 12Pro/Ala resulting in an amino acid exchange in N-terminal sequence may be an independent protective factor for IS in the Chinese Han population. However, more populations are warranted to validate our findings.


Folylpolyglutamate synthetase (FPGS) catalyzes the attachment of glutamate residues to the folate molecule in plants. Three isoforms of FPGS have been identified in Arabidopsis and these are localized in the plastid (AtDFB), mitochondria (AtDFC), and cytosol (AtDFD). We recently determined that mutants in the AtDFB (At5G05980) gene disrupt primary root development in Arabidopsis thaliana seedlings. Transient expression of AtDFB-green fluorescent protein (GFP) fusion under the control of the native AtDFB promoter in Nicotiana tabacum leaf epidermal cells verified the plastid localization of AtDFB. Furthermore, low concentrations of methotrexate (MTX), a compound commonly used as a folate antagonist in plant and mammalian cells induced primary root defects in wild type seedlings that were similar to atdfb. In addition, atdfb seedlings were more sensitive to MTX when compared to wild type. Quantitative (q) RT-PCR showed lower transcript levels of the mitochondrial and cytosolic FPGS in roots of 7 day old atdfb seedling suggesting feedback regulation of AtDFB on the expression of other FPGS isoforms during early seedling development. The primary root defects of atdfb, which can be traced in part to altered quiescent center (QC) identity, pave the way for future studies that could link cell type specific folate and FPGS isoform requirements to whole organ development.


Objective: The purpose of this study is to determine the degree of implementation of a protocol for managing hyperglycemic patients hospitalized in general medical wards. The protocol, recommended by the Israeli Society of Internal Medicine, consists of a target blood glucose level of 140-180 mg/dl and a treatment algorithm based on once-daily administration of subcutaneous basal insulin plus prandial short-acting insulin. Methods: A questionnaire for physicians on various aspects of glucose control in patients hospitalized in medical wards was published on the ISIM website between June and December 2012. Results: One hundred twenty-four physicians responded. Most (53%) targeted glucose levels at 140-180 mg/dl. The large majority (83%) used a basal-bolus insulin-based protocol, and approximately 80% administered a changeable dose of shortacting insulin according to preprandial glucose determinations. The approach used most often for glucose measurements was the triple preprandial method (66%), performed mostly by nurses (72%). Decisions regarding the dose of short-acting insulin were usually made by the physician (75%), with or without involvement of a nurse. The estimated reported rate of patients discharged with a recommendation to continue the protocol was highly variable, ranging from below 25% to above 75%. Conclusions: These results suggest that most physicians in departments of internal medicine in Israel implement the accepted guidelines for glucose control in hyperglycemic hospitalized patients. Further efforts to make the protocol more feasible and clinical studies providing clear evidence of benefit may increase its use.


Energy storage and distribution is an increasingly important problem as renewable (and generally unreliable) energy sources supply more of our power needs. In this extended abstract we consider a simple network of energy suppliers, consumers and buffers modelled as fluid queues. Analytical evaluation of networks of fluid queues is hard as even tandem networks do no have a product form solution. We improve an approximation algorithm previously introduced to work in this new setting and evaluate our results using the Java JINQS simulator.


Immigrant communities such as Chinatowns have been primary sites for research on language maintenance and language shift. While there are many theories modeling the relationship between the mother tongues of immigrants and the dominant language in the host country, the dynamics of the languages within the immigrant communities is often not as clear. In recent years, the use of Mandarin Chinese is observed to be on the rise, displacing Cantonese Chinese and other Chinese dialects in China, Taiwan, and overseas Chinese communities. What might be the factors that lead occupants of Chinatowns to adopt one Chinese dialect over another? In this paper, we examine possible causes of this trend by analyzing political, economic, social, and cultural factors that affect language choice. Specifically, we study the situation of Cantonese, Mandarin, and English in Philadelphia's Chinatown, which is a typical mid-size overseas Chinese community in the US and faces similar changes as other Chinatowns. We discuss how language outcome is affected by the language status of the dialects, the policies of the US, the language maintenance institutions in Chinatown, and the tension between traditional culture and assimilation. Due to the scope of this paper, it is not possible to evaluate the relative strengths of the factors identified in this paper. However, it might be a beginning point for further research in this area, and we hope to at least bring to focus the general language scene of a part of American society that can sometimes be overlooked.


A one-year extensive investigation to assess monthly and seasonal variations in the PM10 associated homologous series of n-alkane (C11–C35) profiles was carried out in New Delhi, India. Quantitative estimation of n-alkanes, involving 3–4 PM10 samples/month, was done by using thermal desorption gas chromatography mass spectrometry (TD-GC-MS). Significant seasonal variations were observed, both in mass concentrations (annual mean: 517 ± 256 ng/m 3 ) and mass fractions (annual mean: 4368 ± 2067 ppm) of total n-alkanes (C11–C35). The impact of the Planetary Boundary Layer (PBL) on the n-alkane profiles was the most significant among all the meteorological parameters considered. A strong positive correlation (r = 0.84) between PM10 load (μg/m 3 ) and mass concentrations of total n-alkanes (ng/m 3 ) was observed; whereas a negative correlation (r = –0.72) was seen between the PM10 load and mass fractions of total n-alkanes (ppm). Annual mean values of the Carbon Preference Index (CPI) and Wax n-alkanes percentage (WNA%) stood at 2.2 ± 0.6 and 39 ± 10%, respectively. Established diagnostic tools indicated that during autumn, the dominant inputs of aerosol associated n-alkanes came from petrogenic (vehicular and industrial) emissions (72 ± 7%), with lesser contributions from biogenic activities (28 ± 7%). In other seasons, although petrogenic sources remained a dominant contributor (53 ± 6%–59 ± 14%), the contributions from biological sources were also comparable (41 ± 14%–47 ± 6%). Emissions of total n-alkanes from both petrogenic and biogenic sources were maximum during spring. In the rest of the months, small variations were observed in the emissions of total n-alkanes from petrogenic sources, whereas large variations were noted in the emissions from biogenic sources.


Segmentation of anatomical and pathological structures in ophthalmic images is crucial for the diagnosis and study of ocular diseases. However, manual segmentation is often a time-consuming and subjective process. This paper presents an automatic approach for segmenting retinal layers in Spectral Domain Optical Coherence Tomography images using graph theory and dynamic programming. Results show that this method accurately segments eight retinal layer boundaries in normal adult eyes more closely to an expert grader as compared to a second expert grader.


Some dynamical characteristics of atmospheric convection are investigated by obtaining an analytical solution for a most simplified set of difference equations which represent a two-layer model of an incompressible buoyant fluid. Several invariants are obtained as a function of initial values of vertical and horizontal potential temperature differences and kinetic energy. Then the analytical solution is obtained in using these invariants. One of the major advantages of using such a simplified model is to make it possible to discuss the nonlinear processes based on an analytical solution. The major disadvantage is caused by the low resolution in the space derivatives (time derivatives are exact). However, invariant quantities obtained for this simple model are equivalent to those obtained for the original differential equations, so that the important characteristics of convection are probably described in the present simplified model. Major results obtained from the model are presented. DOI: 10.1111/j.2153-3490.1967.tb01458.x


Maize, the most important food crop in Kenya, contributes 44 percent of the per-capita, calorie intake. Increases in maize production over the past three decades have been attributed to the availability and adoption of modern maize techniques, especially fertilizer and hybrid seed. This paper estimates the rate of return to maize research to be 53 to 61 percent, and reveals that his impact was aided by complementary agricultural extension and seed multiplication and distribution programs. The paper describes the institutional framework that may have led to one of Kenya's agricultural research success stories. It also poses challenges to the future of maize production in Kenya.


Within the Upper Triassic successions in the Iberian Basin (Spain), the occurrence of both idiomorphic bipyramidal quartz crystals as well as pseudohexagonal aragonite crystals are related to mudstone and evaporite bearing sequences. Bipyramidal-euhedral quartz crystals occur commonly at widespread locations and similar idiomorphic crystals have been described in other formations and ages from Europe, America, Pakistan, and Africa. Similarly, pseudohexagonal aragonite crystals are located at three main sites in the Iberian Range and are common constituents of deposits of this age in France, Italy, and Morocco. This study presents a detailed description of the geochemical and mineralogical characteristics of the bipyramidal quartz crystals to decipher their time of formation in relation to the diagenetic evolution of the sedimentary succession in which they formed. Petrographic and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) analyses permit the separation of an inner part of quartz crystals with abundant anhydrite and organic-rich inclusions. This inner part resulted from near-surface recrystallization (silicification) of an anhydrite nodule, at temperatures that were <40 °C. Raman spectra reveal the existence of moganite and polyhalite, which reinforces the evaporitic character of the original depositional environment. The external zone of the quartz contains no anhydrite or organic inclusions and no signs of evaporites in the Raman spectra, being interpreted as quartz overgrowths formed during burial, at temperatures between 80 to 90 °C. Meanwhile, the aragonite that appears in the same Keuper deposits was precipitated during the Callovian, resulting from the mixing of hydrothermal fluids with infiltrated waters of marine origin, at temperatures ranging between 160 and 260 °C based on fluids inclusion analyses. Although both pseudohexagonal aragonite crystals and bipyramidal quartz appear within the same succession, they formed at different phases of the diagenetic and tectonic evolution of the basin: bipyramidal quartz crystals formed in eo-to mesodiagenetic environments during a rifting period at Upper Triassic times, while aragonite formed 40 Ma later as a result of hydrothermal fluids circulating through normal faults.


In the present study we investigated antimicrobial activity of diethyl ether and methanol extractions of bark and leaves of Ficus religiosa plant against three bacteria ( E.coli, Staphylococcus aureus & Pseudomonas aurignosa ) and one fungi ( Aspergillus niger ). The results showed that the methanol extracts of both leaves and bark showed antimicrobial activity on three tested bacteria and no effect on A.niger. In methanol ext racts S.aureus showed maximum sensitivity (inhibition zone 28mm) followed by E.coli (inhibition zone 16mm) and Pseudomonas aeruginosa (inhibition zone 12mm). D iethyl ether extracts of leaves were also showed maximum inhibition on S.aureus followed by E.co li and P.aeruginosa. Both methanol and die thyl ether extracts of bark showed antimicrobial activity on three types of tested bacteria and very less inhibition activity on A.niger. But comparatively bark extracts of both the solvents were showed less antimi crobial activity than leaves extracts on the tested microbes.


The path to sustainable development involves creating coherence and synergies in the complex relationships between economic and ecological systems. In sustaining their farm businesses farmers' differing values influence their decisions about agroecosystem management, leading them to adopt diverging farming practices. This study explores the values of dairy and beef cattle farmers, the assumptions that underpin them, and the various ways that these lead farmers to combine food production with the provision of other ecosystem services, such as landscape conservation and biodiversity preservation. This paper draws on empirical research from Galicia (Spain), a marginal and mountainous European region whose livestock production system has undergone modernization in recent decades, exposing strategic economic, social and ecological vulnerabilities. It applies a Q-methodology to develop a values-based approach to farming. Based on a sample of 24 livestock farmers, whose practices promote landscape conservation and/or biodiversity preservation, the Q-methodology allowed us to identify four 'farming styles'. Further analysis of the practices of the farmers in these groups, based on additional farm data and interview material, suggests that all 24 farmers valorize landscape and nature and consider cattle production and nature conservation to be compatible within their own farm practices. However, the groups differed in the extent to which they have developed synergies between livestock farming and landscape conservation. We conclude by discussing how rural development policy in Galicia could strengthen such practices by providing incentives to farmers and institutionally embedding a shift towards more diversified farming and product development.


Recognition acuity—the minimum size of a high-contrast object that allows us to recognize it—is limited by optical and neural elements of the eye and by processing within the visual cortex. The perceived size of objects can be changed by motion-adaptation. Viewing receding or looming motion makes subsequently viewed stimuli appear to grow or shrink, respectively. It has been reported that resulting changes in perceived size impact recognition acuity. We set out to determine if such acuity changes are reliable and what drives this phenomenon. We measured the effect of adaptation to receding and looming motion on acuity for crowded tumbling-T stimuli (). We quantified the role of crowding, individuals' susceptibility to motion-adaptation, and potentially confounding effects of pupil size and eye movements. Adaptation to receding motion made targets appear larger and improved acuity (–0.037 logMAR). Although adaptation to looming motion made targets appear smaller, it induced not the expected decrease in acuity but a modest acuity improvement (–0.018 logMAR). Further, each observer's magnitude of acuity change was not correlated with their individual perceived-size change following adaptation. Finally, we found no evidence that adaptation-induced acuity gains were related to crowding, fixation stability, or pupil size. Adaptation to motion modestly enhances visual acuity, but unintuitively, this is dissociated from perceived size. Ruling out fixation and pupillary behavior, we suggest that motion adaptation may improve acuity via incidental effects on sensitivity—akin to those arising from blur adaptation—which shift sensitivity to higher spatial frequency-tuned channels.


In this research, a new pyridine-based calamitic compound Methyl 5-(4-(S)-3,7-dimethyloctyloxyphenyl)pyridine-2-carboxylate (MDPC) was synthesized and the mesomorphic properties was investigated by traditional method. The dielectric parameters of MDPC showing an enantiotropic smectic A phase have also been evaluated from 44 °C to 100 °C and from 1 kHz to 2 MHz. The dielectric parameters (absorption coefficient, relaxation time and dielectric strength) have been determined by Origin Lab 8.5. This material can be used in super capacitors between 65 °C–95 °C. Furthermore, it has been found that the conductivity mechanism of the MDPC exhibits from 44 °C to 60 °C Quantum Tunneling Model (QMT) and after 60 °C exhibits DC conductivity mechanism and QMT mechanisms in low and high angular frequency region, respectively.


We present a formalization in Isabelle/HOL of a comprehensive framework for proving the completeness of automatic theorem provers based on resolution, superposition, or other saturation calculi. The framework helps calculus designers and prover developers derive, from the completeness of a calculus, the completeness of prover architectures implementing the calculus. It also helps derive the completeness of calculi obtained by lifting ground (i.e., variable-free) calculi. As a case study, we re-verified Bachmair and Ganzinger's resolution prover RP to show the benefits of modularity.


Deoxyhypusine synthase (DHS) is encoded by a nuclear gene and is the key enzyme involved in the post-translational activation of the eukaryotic translation initiation factor eIF5A. DHS plays important roles in plant growth and development. To gain a better understanding of DHS, the petunia (Petunia hybrida) PhDHS gene was isolated, and the role of PhDHS in plant growth was analyzed. PhDHS protein was localized to the nucleus and cytoplasm. Virus-mediated PhDHS silencing caused a sectored chlorotic leaf phenotype. Chlorophyll levels and photosystem II activity were reduced, and chloroplast development was abnormal in PhDHS-silenced leaves. In addition, PhDHS silencing resulted in extended leaf longevity and thick leaves. A proteome assay revealed that 308 proteins are upregulated and 266 proteins are downregulated in PhDHS-silenced plants compared with control, among the latter, 21 proteins of photosystem I and photosystem II and 12 thylakoid (thylakoid lumen and thylakoid membrane) proteins. In addition, the mRNA level of PheIF5A-1 significantly decreased in PhDHS-silenced plants, while that of another three PheIF5As were not significantly affected in PhDHS-silenced plants. Thus, silencing of PhDHS affects photosynthesis presumably as an indirect effect due to reduced expression of PheIF5A-1 in petunia. Significance: PhDHS-silenced plants develop yellow leaves and exhibit a reduced level of photosynthetic pigment in mesophyll cells. In addition, arrested development of chloroplasts is observed in the yellow leaves.


Antagonists of GH-releasing hormone (GHRH) and vasoactive intestinal peptide (VIP) inhibit the proliferation of various tumors in vitro and in vivo, but a comparison of their antitumor effects and mechanisms of action has not been reported to date. We recently synthesized and characterized a series of analogs, some of which are primarily GHRH antagonists (JV-1-36, JV-1-38, and JV-1-42), whereas others are more selective for VIP receptors (VPAC-R; JV-1-50, JV-1-51, JV-1-52, and JV-1-53). LNCaP human prostatic cancer cells express VPAC-R, with predominant subtype 1 determined by RT-PCR. Our studies show that GHRH antagonists significantly inhibit the proliferation of both VPAC-R positive LNCaP cells (P < 0.001) and VPAC-R negative MiaPaCa-2 human pancreatic cancer cells cultured in vitro (P < 0.05 to P < 0.001). Growth inhibition of LNCaP cells is accompanied by a proportional reduction in prostate-specific antigen (PSA) secretion (P < 0.001). In a superfusion system, the inhibitory activities of the analogs on the rate of VIP and GHRH-induced PSA secretion correlate well with their VPAC-R binding affinities to LNCaP cell membranes. Antagonists more selective for VPAC-R display a stronger inhibition of inducible PSA release than GHRH antagonists, but have smaller effects or no effects on proliferation and PSA secretion in culture. Collectively, our findings demonstrate that the antiproliferative activity of the analogs on cancer cells is not correlated to their VPAC-R antagonistic potencies. Because GHRH antagonists inhibit the proliferation of LNCaP cells more powerfully than VPAC-R antagonists and also suppress the growth ofVPAC-R-negative MiaPaCa-2 cells, it can be concluded that their antiproliferative effect is exerted through a mechanism independent of VPAC-R.


An increase in internet threats forces organizations to integrate information security system into their fundamental systems. Developers who work in this area should focus on both functionality and quality aspects because a malfunctioned system can endanger organizationpsilas most critical information. Although several approaches to solve a resource distribution problem have been proposed, little attention has been given to the problem which is a combination of resource distribution, tradeoff and multi-criteria optimization. This paper proposes a systematic approach for project leaders to efficiently distribute their limited resource to gain an optimum quality software product by using QFD (Quality Function Deployment) to prioritize quality factors and DF (Desirability Function) to optimize the product quality.


The problems of managing clinical biochemical laboratories are varied. They range from deficiencies in communication and fragmentation of services to misconceptions of the use of automation. The common symptoms of inadequate management are outlined and solutions proposed against the background of the Korean experience.


Determining the on-field heating capacity and coefficient of performance (COP) of residential air-to-air heat pumps (HP) is problematic, given that measuring accurately the enthalpy and, specifically, the mass flow rate of air is challenging. This paper validates a promising on-field performance measurement method for HPs with an internal heat exchanger (IHX) as vapor injection system using experimental data obtained from air-to-water HP prototype in several operating conditions. The method is based on refrigerant fluid measurements and component energy/mass balances. Non-intrusive sensors, such as surface temperature sensors are used to estimate pressure and refrigerant mass flow rate in different types of HP systems, including air-to-air. Obtained results compared with intrusively measured reference values in steady-state conditions are in good agreement, suggesting that a comprehensive performance analysis can be conducted in already-installed high efficiency residential IHX air-to-water HPs, as well as IHX air-to-air HPs.


e13550 Background: Treatment with DP improves survival in mCRCP but is associated with significant toxicity. The question remains as to whether the improved survival is worth the toxicity risk. In this study, we have investigated the ability of a DLF to identify those patients on which treatment with DP is likely to be beneficial. Methods: The dataset (n = 2028) included a compilation of records from 4 randomized phase 3 trials (NCT00273338, NCT00988208, NCT00617669, and NCT00519285) in which the comparator arm consisted of D (75 mg/m2 q3w) plus P (5mg PO bid) as first-line therapy for mCRPC patients. Data was obtained from www.projectdatasphere.org and contained more than 150 clinical variables at baseline. These were used to generate synthetic state representations (SSR) of every patient that were then input into the DLF to identify subgroup of patients based on their similarities. The resultant subgroups were correlated with progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS). Results: DLF identified three patient subgroups with specific clinical traits: LL (n = 438), HL (n = 386) and HH (n = 1204). These subpopulations varied in clinical outcome after DP treatment. LL patients (median PFS 19.3 months) had a lower risk of progression compared to HL (median PFS 8.2 months; HR 0.32, 95% CI 0.26-0.40, p < .0001) and HH (median PFS: 9.2 months; HR 0.44, 95% CI 0.36-0.52, p < .0001). No differences were observed for HL and HH. In reference to OS, patients in LL (median OS not reached) and HL (median OS 27 .2 months) did not show any difference; however, both subpopulations showed a lower risk of death compared to HH (median OS 17.7 months) (HR 0.45, 95% CI 0.38-0.54, p < 0.001; HR 0.55 95% CI 0.46-0.62, p < 0.001, respectively). Feature contribution analysis showed that LL signature was associated with ECOG0 and lower levels of PSA, LDH, ALP and AST. LL patients had received less cancer therapy since diagnosis and were more treated with biguanides. In contrast, HL signature had more patients with ECOG 1, and intermediate levels of PSA, LDH, ALP and AST. HL patients had received more hormonal therapy since diagnosis and were more treated with HMG-COA reductase inhibitors. Finally, HH signature was characterised with the highest levels of PSA, LDH, ALP and AST and were more treated with opioids. Other major differences were observed on anthropometrics, vital signs, testosterone, albumin and ALT levels, and non-opioid concomitant medications. Conclusions: We show a methodology that identifies distinct baseline clinical features correlated to the risk of progression and death after DP treatment. While evident for LL (PFS and OS) and HL (OS), HH patients would not receive any treatment benefit on survival. Further work is required to validate this approach as a novel predictive tool for DP treatment decision making on mCRPC patients.


De-stressing is a common rockburst control measure used in deep mines and tunnels. The benefits of using the de-stressing method to control rockburst have been demonstrated by its successful implementation. However, rockburst remains a threatening phenomenon in many deep underground excavations. Herein, a new de-stressing method for rockburst control is proposed. In this method, the rock is de-stressed by cutting notches at the excavation boundary. First, a circular tunnel is modeled and the stress distribution around the tunnel is then calculated. Thereafter, a notch was placed at the tunnel wall in a different model. The results revealed that when the notch was introduced to the model, the rock at the tunnel wall de-stressed, and the stress concentration zone moved far away from the wall. Additionally, an analysis of the failure zone around the tunnel and the velocity of the failed elements revealed that the failure of the notched tunnel was less violent than that of the tunnel without notches. Finally, a parametric study was conducted to investigate the influence of the notch length on the de-stressing process around the tunnel. The modeling results indicated that the proposed de-stressing method could be used to control rockburst in deep underground excavations.


The landing of aircraft under low visibility conditions has
always been a challenge even with conventional
navigation systems like ILS (Instrument Landing
System). The requirements for CAT III can not be
reached with Ground Based Augmentation Systems
(GBAS) for single frequency GPS only without relaxing
the alarm limits and continuity requirements of air
navigation. Large delay gradients between the GBAS
ground station and the user caused by ionospheric
anomalies, remain the main threat for GBAS.
Using GBAS with both GPS and Galileo in a combined
constellation will increase the robustness of the complete
system. Galileo is providing promising features like the
possibility offered to the aviation community to acquire 3
frequencies: L1, E5a and E5b in the Aeronautical Radio
Navigation Service (ARNS) band. The consideration of
phase observations allows the use of efficient smoothing
techniques: the ionosphere free and the divergence free
dual frequency smoothing algorithms which have been
defined in [1], allow to mitigate or even to cancel the
ionosphere gradient. Due to the different geometry
characteristic of the extended constellation the Geometry
Dilution of Precision (GDOP) is reduced. The low
probability of satellite outages combined with the number
of additionally available satellites will dramatically
improve the availability of the combined GPS and
Galileo system.
The objective of this work is to analyze the impact of
Galileo through the use of a combined constellation on
the performance of GBAS under severe ionospheric
gradients. The errors experienced by a user with a spatial
separation of 5km and 20NM respectively to the GBAS
ground station are evaluated. The simulation scenario
considers an ionosphere anomaly with a gradient of
420mm per km between the ground station and the user –
a value which has turned out to be a worst-case
assumption as explained before in several publications
[2]. The dual frequency smoothing techniques mentioned
above are applied.
The simulation is performed over a period of several days
to account for the effects of the changing satellite
geometry.
The models of the GBAS residual errors used in the
preceding work [3] were considered to be Gaussian
distributed individual errors. To give a more realistic
representation of the individual errors used in the
simulation, we use distributions of errors which are, in
general not Gaussian. The distributions are derived from
measurements or theoretical considerations pertaining to
the origin of the error. Here, we consider the four major
individual sources of pseudorange error in GBAS
systems: receiver noise, ionosphere and troposphere,
multipath.
For this work, the impact of applying smoothing filter,
averaging and position calculation are taken into account.


In this article, I comparatively analyse the imagery of precarious class through the narration of refugee journeys in Turkey for two different films, with an emphasis on the visuality of cinematic narration. Whilst The Guest Aleppo to Istanbul (2017) by Andac Haznedaroglu and More by Onur Saylak certainly offer different portrayals of refugees in Turkey, both reflect on the precarious class dynamics in the context of migration and reveal the complex interplay of citizenship, meritocracy and suffering. By focusing on precarious status, these fictional representations illustrate that the incoming non-citizens provide the opportunity of self-reflexibility for the host community members and expose the fragility of the border between the citizen-self and the refugee. I contend that such distinct comparative portrayals encompassing precarity instead of humanity, as common ground between host and new arrival populations, necessarily requires drawing upon a broader literature on the human conditions for politics of justice rather than pity.


Sedimentary successions developed at the destructive plate margin settings are extremely important as they bear valuable record of contemporary basin tectonics and consequent sedimentation. Intense deformation and metamorphism often obliterate the primary sedimentary texture and structures of the sedimentary successions formed at destructive plate margins. However, sedimentological analysis of young unmetamorphosed forearc successions provides rare opportunity to infer the interplay between tectonics and sedimentation. Therefore, a process-based sedimentological facies analysis and provenance studies of the Cretaceous Pedawan Formation in the Kuching Zone, Borneo, have been undertaken for the first time. The sandstones are compositionally and texturally immature. They are normally graded with sole marks and have erosional lower contacts with mudstones and generally have gradational upper contacts. The massive sandstones, parallel-laminated sandstones, and the combination of rippled sandstones with thin mudstones are interpreted as turbidites. The lack of wave-generated structures, including hummocky cross stratification, indicates that deposition took place below storm wave base, possibly in a shelf setting. The lower part of the Pedawan Formation is mudstone dominated, and the upper part progressively becomes sandstone dominated. The Pedawan Formation bears several penecontemporaneously deformed horizons sandwiched between laterally persistent undeformed beds. Deformation structures include folds with reclined to recumbent geometry and layer-confined normal and reverse faults. We have interpreted these deformed horizons as seismites. Modal analyses of the sandstones indicate recycled orogenic as well as arc provenance and thus indicate mixing of recycled orogenic sediments with arc-derived volcanic material. The sedimentary facies characteristics of the Pedawan Formation in combination with numerous penecontemporaneous deformation features at selected stratigraphic levels indicate that the turbidites formed in a seismically active deepwater depositional setting as part of a long-lived subduction complex in eastern Sundaland during which several crustal fragments were accreted to Borneo.


"Critical analyses of the global financial crisis of 2008 (GFC) have neglected the ways in which structural inequalities around gender and race factor into (and indeed make possible) the current economic order. Scandalous Economics breaks new ground by arguing that an explicitly gendered approach to the GFC and its ongoing effects can help us to understand both the root causes of the crisis and the failure to significantly reform financial institutions and macroeconomic models." These words, from the blurb on the back cover of Scandalous Economics, nicely summarize the book's topic and the general approach to it. Because the book contains contributions from a number of the top political scientists writing about the gendering of political economy, and because this topic is such an important one, we have invited a range of political scientists to comment on the book and on the broader theme of the gendering of political economy.


The thesis explores the nature of religious cults and the question of what it is about such groups that leads some former members to experience them as producing lasting harm. The methodology of Classical Grounded Theory is
identified as the most suitable for this enquiry and two interrelated studies using Classical Grounded Theory are reported. The first gives rise to a coherent and overarching conceptual model of the structure and function ofgroups that are now defined within the study as 'mission focussed'. The second study produces a model of the elements that contribute to what certain members of such groups have identified as lasting difficulties. It is theorised that the mission focussed function of certain groups interacts with elements in some individuals (principally their perception of themselves as'outsiders' with a consequent high 'need to belong') to produce effects which participants within this research experience as lasting difficulties in living. The thesis goes on to explore which main-stream psychological paradigms might lend themselves to an understanding of this interaction and the emergent theory is related to psychotherapeutic constructs to derive an approach which may enable psychotherapists who undertake work with this
client group to have a sound conceptual framework underlying their interventions. In the conclusion the potential generalisability of some of the constructs is considered.


Twentieth-century writers continually claimed that the "nightmare" of contemporary violence was inexpressible. In the past, communal beliefs had justified or condemned the most horrific acts, but the late nineteenth-century crisis of belief made any consensus about the meaning of violence unattainable. This situation produced an aesthetic dilemma because representation always conveys beliefs. Heart of Darkness offered a solution to this dilemma. Standing at the confluence of nineteenth-century realism and turn-of-thecentury symbolism, Joseph Conrad represented the "nightmare" of colonialism by attaching symbolic meanings to realistic accounts of a historically recognizable world. Although this solution has become the target of ethical and political protests, notably those of Chinua Achebe and Fredric Jameson, the multiple meanings of symbolism reflect the competing beliefs of a secular culture. Embedding historical events in multiple narrative patterns, symbolism preserves the structure of meaning without imposing any single meaning.


Teaching to students' local experiences is a tenet of good teaching in many contexts. This study explores the ways eight educators use local meanings in discourse. Through ethnographic work in an elementary school in the township of Roche-Bois, Mauritius, I examine teachers' words about students' localities. Articulating critical discourse analysis with theories of space, I evaluate whether teachers' place-based meanings perpetuate or transform long-standing historical patterns of racialization associated with the town. The analysis identifies how processes of racialization take shape through place-based discourse. I draw implications for a critical pedagogy of the local to support decolonizing teacher knowledge.


For the first time, direct analysis of gaseous mercury (Hg) at a concentration level of a few ng m−3 in ambient air using the gas to particle conversion-gas exchange technique, coupled with inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICPMS) has been achieved. Gaseous Hg was converted to mercury oxide (HgO) and agglomerated with ammonium nitrate (NH4NO3) particles by a gas to particle conversion device (GPD). The agglomerates were consequently introduced and measured by ICPMS through a gas exchange device (GED). The time-resolved signals from gaseous Hg in ambient air could be obtained by GPD–GED–ICPMS with a 10 ms dwell time for ICPMS, which demonstrated the real-time monitoring of gaseous Hg with high temporal resolution. No sample pretreatment procedures such as pre-concentration or separation of gaseous Hg from air, were needed before the introduction of gaseous Hg into GPD–GED–ICPMS. Longer dwell times of the ICPMS, such as 100 ms, 500 ms and 1000 ms revealed more stable time-resolved signals. A limit of detection (LOD) for gaseous Hg from the calibration curve was estimated to be ca. 0.12 ng m−3 when a longer dwell time of 1000 ms was selected. Since the LOD observed was sufficiently low compared to the background concentration level of ca. 2 ng m−3 in Japan, the GPD–GED–ICPMS technique is expected to be used for highly sensitive, direct and real-time monitoring of gaseous Hg in ambient air as well as for working and living environments.


ABSTRACT This article examines the development of diverse quality systems in the otherwise quite similar Danish and Swedish public health sectors. After decades of numerous piecemeal medical and managerial quality development programs in both countries, a nationwide mandatory accreditation system was introduced in the Danish health services in 2009. Nationwide quality indicator projects are also found in Sweden, but there has been political attempt to introduce a compulsory system. This article seeks to explain this difference. It argues, first, that resistance from the medical professions blocked the introduction of compulsory, nationwide quality systems in both countries for decades. Second, the implementation of the Danish accreditation system was triggered by a combination of unintended policy learning produced by local reforms in two counties and of the Ministry of Health's carefully orchestrated policy process that served to co-opt critical voices in the medical profession.


In the article "Chronic Alcohol Disrupts Dopamine Receptor Activity and the Cognitive Function of the Medial Prefrontal Cortex" by Heather Trantham-Davidson, Elizabeth J. Burnett, Justin T. Gass, Marcelo F. Lopez, Patrick J. Mulholland, Samuel W. Centanni, Stan B. Floresco, and L. Judson Chandler, which appeared on pages 3706 –3718 of the March 5, 2014 issue, the sign of one connection in the summary in Figure 8 was incorrect. A corrected version of the figure and corresponding figure legend is presented here. This correction does not affect any conclusions from the study.


On-line resources that reference ancient places are multiplying rapidly, bringing huge potential for the researcher provided that they can be found; but users currently have no way of easily navigating between them or comparing their contents. The Pelagios consortium, a growing international collective of ancient world projects, [1] addresses the problems of discovery and reuse with the twin aims of helping digital humanists to make their data more discoverable, and of empowering real-world users (scholars and the general public) to find information about particular ancient places and visualize it in meaningful ways. While the project focuses on the ancient world, the methodology and tools developed will be of interest to anyone working with data containing references to geo-entities. The Pelagios collaboration intentionally includes partners maintaining a wide range of different document types including, texts, maps and databases. In doing so we take some of the first steps towards building a Geospatial Semantic Web for the Humanities. [2] In this paper we discuss two major elements of the recently completed first phase of Pelagios (a second phase, which has recently been granted funding, will run from November 2011 until July 2012). First, we address the method by which the partners prepare their data so that it can be linked together in an open and transparent manner. Second, we consider the various ways in which the results can be visualized, paying particular attention to the tools and technologies used and the problems encountered. This will include a demonstration of a visualization service that we believe demonstrates the value of lightweight Linked Open Data approaches to addressing problems of discoverability, interconnectivity and reusability of online resources. We will follow this discussion with a brief reflection on the process by which the Pelagios community and services have developed, especially the digital services that have made the coordination of such an international initiative possible. We will conclude by outlining some of the challenges that remain to embedding data and practice in an ancient world online infrastructure, as we develop a comprehensive 'toolkit' that will make it easier for anyone to add their data to the Pelagios multiverse. [3] Throughout the paper we will discuss real-world practical concerns as well as engage in deeper speculation about the significance of this type of approach for escaping the 'siloing' mentality that inhibits many other data integration initiatives. [1] Pelagios includes: Arachne, http://www.arachne.uni-koeln.de; CLAROS, http://explore.clarosnet.org; Fasti Online, http://www.fastionline.org; GAP, http://googleancientplaces.wordpress.com; Nomisma, http://nomisma.org; Open Context, http://opencontext.org; Perseus, http://www.perseus.tufts.edu; Pleiades, http://pleiades.stoa.org; Ptolemy Machine,  http://ptolemymachine.appspot.com, SPQR, http://spqr.cerch.kcl.ac.uk; Ure museum, http://www.reading.ac.uk/Ure. [2] Harris, T. M., Rouse, L. J. and Bergeron, S. (2010): 'The Geospatial Semantic Web, Pareto GIS, and the Humanities'. In Bodenhamer, D. J., Corrigan, J. & Harris, T. M., (eds.), The Spatial Humanities: GIS and the Future of Scholarship . Bloomington: Indiana University Press. [3] A vision that coincides well with Elliott's discussion of the future of Classical scholarship: Elliott, T. (2009): 'Digital Geography and Classics'. DHQ Volume 3 Number 1.


Protein and RNA-mediated forms of pathogen-derived resistance (PDR) have been developed against many viruses in different plants. However, no resistance has been reported against Citrus tristeza virus (CTV), a closterovirus, in Citrus species transformed with coat protein genes or other sequences of CTV. The successful use of replication-associated genes in RNA-mediated resistance in other crops prompted the use of the RNA-dependent RNA polymerase (RdRp) gene of CTV for the development of RNA-mediated PDR in Citrus. The RdRP gene was amplified from CTV isolate DPI3800 from Florida and used to generate antisense (RdRp-AS) and untranslatable (RdRp-UT) constructs with point mutation consecutive stop codons in the 5' end of the RdRp gene for use in plant transformation. A total of 3120 etiolated epicotyl segments of Duncan grapefruit (Citrus paradisi Macf. cv. Duncan) were transformed with these constructs using Agrobacterium tumefaciens-mediated transformation. From these segments 1040 kanamycin-resistant shoots were regenerated, and a total of 131 putative transgenic shoots were identified by fluorescent microscopy and histochemical b-glucuronidase (GUS) assays. One hundred GUS positive plants were rooted and 66 plants survived and were established on soil. A total of 41 plants were tested by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) for the presence of the GUS gene and for the transgenes. Eighteen GUS-positive and transgene-positive plants (8 with RdRp-AS, and 10 with RdRp-UT) were identified.


As a plant operating the C3 photosynthetic pathway and commonly grown under tropical conditions of high light intensity and temperature, rice (Oryza sativa) displays high levels of photorespiration, to the detriment of photosynthetic efficiency. For this reason it is thought that improvements to net photosynthesis via an increased photosynthetic efficiency could provide significant gains in terms of grain yield. There is great interest in 1. Introducing CO2 concentrating mechanisms into C3 crop plants such as the C4 photosynthetic pathway in order to facilitate enhanced photosynthetic efficiency. This requires an understanding of C3 and C4 leaf development and establishing whether there is sufficient plasticity in the rice genome to produce plants with C4-like properties. 2. Improving existing C3 photosynthesis by means of increasing leaf thickness, vein density and investigation of the impacts of mesophyll cell size.

It is in this context that a forward screen of approximately 100 mutant lines of the indica rice variety IR64 was developed at Nottingham to search for relevant changes in leaf morphology. Mutant seed produced using chemical mutagenesis (diepoxybutane and ethylmethanesulfonate) and irradiation (gamma and fast neutron) was supplied by the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) in the Philippines. A rapid low resolution screen was devised using light microscopy of fresh, untreated hand cut leaf sections of plants at the leaf six stage. Seven mutant lines were identified as showing altered leaf morphologies and were termed alm mutants.
alm1, alm5 and alm6 displayed a reduced interveinal distance between neighbouring veins, a common feature of C4 plants with Kranz anatomy, whilst alm1 and alm5 also displayed a reduction in the size of minor veins. alm3 and alm4 produced significantly thicker leaves than wild type plants, whilst the leaves of alm7 were significantly thinner.

A detailed anatomical characterisation of leaf structure revealed that alm3, alm4 and alm5 plants all displayed a significant reduction in the size of mesophyll cells and that for all the mutant lines, the distance between veins was strongly correlated with mesophyll cell size rather than the number of mesophyll cells spanning the interveinal regions.

Physiological properties of the alm lines were investigated using infra-red gas analysis (IRGA) measurements of gas exchange and chlorophyll fluorescence. It was shown that none of the mutant lines displayed an increase in photosynthetic capacity when compared to wild type plants, even in lines which were shown to possess what was thought to be a favourable leaf anatomy, quite possibly a result of widespread effects of the mutation process. The alm1 line was shown to display interesting physiological responses, with almost no transpiration and a severely reduced photosynthetic capacity, yet functioning stomata and an unimpaired stomatal conductance.

In conclusion, the future success of photosynthetic improvement in rice will rely on the screen of much larger numbers of mutant lines of rice and C4 plants in order to identify the genes determining key conserved morphological features such as interveinal cell number, cell size and the degree to which rice mesophyll cells are lobed.


Studies increasingly show that Indian country may be uniquely positioned to develop alternative energy. Indian country in general constitutes a significant portion of land in the United States. In recognition of the increasing interest in alternative energy development within Indian country, some Native Nations have developed critical financial infrastructure to support and foster alternative energy development. The idea is...a form of climate security. Indian tribes stand in a unique nexus between renewable energy resources and transmission of electricity in key areas of the West. Indian tribes would also be natural leaders for hosting and developing these keys areas to promote climate security and energy security. This development would be a call to service that Indian tribes are absolutely ready to answer – and uniquely ready to do so. Outside of Indian country, there is a substantial interest in alternative energy development for a variety of reasons. In general, it appears that there are ample opportunities for domestic alternative energy development as: [i]t has been estimated that…the capacity of new wind generation in 2008 will have reached nearly 7,500 megawatts (at least 35 percent of new capacity added), bringing total installed wind capacity in the United States to about 24,000 megawatts. According to some estimates, the solar industry will have nearly doubled installations of solar photovoltaic modules that same year. In recognition of the increasing opportunities for alternative energy development, industry has increased production of materials necessary for such development, and costs overall have dropped. As a result, "[t]he cost of generating electricity with wind is now less expensive than with natural gas.�? This may be because "[w]ind energy is the world's fasted [sic] growing energy technology...Investment in wind power could bring up to $3 billion into the power generation sector and, by 2020 provide six percent of the nation's electricity.�? Because of the growing interest in alternative energy development and its decreasing costs, third party investors are looking to invest in alternative development. There is also strong political interest in the development of alternative energies spurred by the new Administration. "President Obama campaigned on the creation of a national base renewable portfolio standard of 10 percent of energy to renewable sources by 2012 and 25 percent by 2025.�? The recent political focus on the need to develop alternative energy sources coupled with the financial incentive to do so will likely result in "the best and most efficient way to effectuate the type of national…policy change required.�? This article explores the possibility of increased alternative energy development in Indian country. The purpose of this article is to examine the benefits to alternative energy development in Indian country as well as the obstacles facing many Native Nations in the development of their alternative energy resources under the existing regime. The first Section explores the reasons supporting the development of alternative energy specifically in Indian country. The second Section considers existing alternative energy projects that have been undertaken in Indian country. The third Section then goes on to discuss why and how the existing alternative energy development projects have been limited. Finally, the article concludes by finding that alternative energy development in Indian country is likely an attractive proposition for a variety reasons, but has been significantly hampered because of existing obstacles.


The paper investigates the long-run relationships between budget deficits, inflation and monetary growth in Turkey considering two alternative trivariate systems corresponding to the narrowest and the broadest monetary aggregates. While the joint endogeneity of money and inflation rejects the validity of the monetarist view, lack of a direct relationship between inflation and budget deficits makes the pure fiscal theory explanations illegitimate for the Turkish case. Consistent with the policy regime of financing domestic debt through the commercial banking system, budget deficits lead to a growth not of currency seigniorage but of broad money in Turkey. This mode of deficit financing, leading to the creation of near money and restricting the scope for an effective monetary policy, may not be sustainable, as the government securities/broad money ratio cannot grow without limit.


A study on the evaluation of the selected physical and mechanical properties of multiple leadered Acacia crassicarpa A. Cunn. Ex. Benth, genotype was carried out to maximize its utilization. The study involved two classes of multiple leaders (ML), namely; ML2 (two leadered stems) and ML3 more than two leadered stems and 4 provenances: Claudie River, and Chillie Beach from Queensland (QLD) and Bensbach WP and Bimadebum WP from Papua New Guinea (PNG). ML classes showed significant difference at P<0.05 for physical properties but not between provenances. ML2 produced better mean values of specific gravity, radial and tangential shrinkage, with the values of 0.48%, 1.4% and 2.89% respectively compared to ML3 with values of 0.45, 3.56%, and 5.83%, respectively. Similarly, the ML classes were found to be significantly different at P<0.05 for Modulus of Elasticity (MOE) and Modulus of Rupture (MOR). Once again, ML2 produced higher mean values of 9858.4 N/mm2 and 89.63 N/mm2 for MOE and MOR, respectively, than ML3 (7557.7 N/mm2 and 60.4 N/mm2 respectively). Based on the physical and mechanical properties, it can be concluded that ML2 is more superior in terms of strength and stiffness than ML3.


Systematic studies of occupation, or human doing, have flourished across occupation-based disciplines over the past 3 decades. However, a need for greater attention to the utility and appropriateness of diverse methodologies which can build occupational science research, framed by a critical lens, has been recently identified as key to enhancing the discipline's social relevance. This paper addresses the need for interdisciplinary research methodologies which can be applied to critically interrogate macro-level contextual influences on occupation, participation and inclusion. In doing so, this paper introduces political scientist Carol Bacchi's (2009) 'what's the problem represented to be?' approach to policy analysis, as a useful methodological tool for critical occupational science research. This approach deconstructs and critiques social 'problems' in context, enabling attention to discourses that frame occupational possibilities at an everyday level. An example from the author's doctoral research is presented to demonstrate the utility of Bacchi's methodology.


The in vitro and in vivo characterization of an optimized formulation of nanoparticles (NPs) loaded with a high content of dexamethasone palmitate (DEX-P), a chemotherapeutic adjuvant that decreases interstitial fluid pressure in tumors, and (111) In, a signaling agent, is described. These NPs are uniform in size and composition. Single photon emission computed tomography imaging demonstrates significant tumor uptake of (111) In-labeled DEX-P NPs in tumor-bearing mice. As with many nanoparticle-based drug delivery systems, significant liver accumulation is observed. Assessment of liver histology and blood tests show no apparent hepatic or renal toxicity of the DEX-P NPs. Conversion of DEX-P to DEX occurs when DEX-P NPs are incubated with mouse plasma, human tumor homogenate and ascites from tumor bearing mice, but not with human plasma. This conversion is slower in plasma from Es1(e) ((-/-)) /SCID mice, a potential alternative animal model that better mimics humans; however, plasma from these mice are not completely devoid of esterase activity. The difference between blood and tumor esterase activity in humans facilitates the delivery of DEX-P NPs to tumors and the release of dexamethasone by an esterase trigger.


n recent years, the volume of data generated from all aspects of our lives has been increasing, in parallel with the sophistication of analytical techniques used to process this data. This shift toward a 'data-driven' society has the potential to yield insights that can benefit many sectors of public life, but it has also prompted concerns related to privacy. A recent report by the Royal Society on data management and use [1] is a recognition that the fast pace of all areas of data growth requires careful consideration.


Abstract Research has shown that perceived risk is an important predictor of health behavior change. In turn, drug use risk education is a vital component of many health campaigns. In pregnant women, perceived risk studies have focused primarily on alcohol and tobacco use. Little is known about perceived risks associated with prenatal exposure to illicit drugs. The present study compared drug use attitude (DUA) in both treatment-seeking and non-treatment-seeking drug-using pregnant women as well as a comparison group of non-drug-using pregnant women. The results suggest that non-treatment-seekers are less knowledgeable about specific potential risks of perinatal substance use. In addition, compared to treatment seekers and non-users, non-treatment-seekers were more likely to endorse cutting down on drug use rather than quitting as a means of reducing harm to the developing child. Results ofthe present study suggest drug-using women may benefit from additional education about harmful effects of drug use.


Denoising module is required by any practical video processing systems. Most existing denoising schemes are spatio-temporal filters which operate on data over three dimensions. However, to limit the number of inputs, these filters only utilize one reference frame and cannot fully exploit temporal correlation. In this paper, a recursive temporal denoising filter named multihypothesis motion compensated filter (MHMCF) is proposed. To fully exploit temporal correlation, MHMCF performs motion estimation in a number of reference frames to construct multiple hypotheses (temporal predictions) of the current pixel. These hypotheses are combined by weighted averaging to suppress noise and estimate the actual current pixel value. Based on the multihypothesis motion compensated residue model presented in this paper, we investigate the efficiency of MHMCF, and some numerical evaluations are revealed. Experimental results show that MHMCF demonstrates quite good denoising performance while the inputs are much fewer than spatio-temporal filters. Moreover, as a purely temporal filter, it can well preserve spatial details and achieve satisfactory visual quality.


A novel technique for depositing thick DLC based films on the inside of cylindrical substrates, like pipes, tubes and valves, has been developed. A plasma enhanced chemical vapour deposition (PECVD) technique has been used to engineer and optimize the above mentioned films for maximum coating performance. Of particular importance is the corrosion and wear resistant qualities of these films. Changes in film chemistry, structure and thickness are attributed to the improved corrosion and wear resistance. Details will be given of the corrosion testing which has taken place, such as exposure to HCL (hot and ambient temperature), NaCl and H2S environments. One such test is a very aggressive sour autoclave test where the film is exposed to an aqueous, organic and gas phase over a 30 day period and no damage to the film was found. In depth details of this sour autoclave test will be shown including photographs of the film before and after testing. Wear testing has also been carried out in dry and wet sand slurry environments where very low coefficient of friction (COF) and wear rates were found. It is believed that this thick DLC based film can increase the component life in applications where internal surfaces are exposed to highly corrosive and abrasive media, in particular the oil and gas industry. Examples of such applications are mud pump sleeves, deep well components, directional drilling, abrasive flow spools, pump barrels and in sour fields (H2S).