Classical inconsistency-tolerant query answering relies on selecting maximal components of an ABox/database which are consistent with the ontology. However, some rules in ontologies might be unreliable if they are extracted from ontology learning or written by unskillful knowledge engineers. In this paper we present a framework of handling inconsistent existential rules under stable model semantics, which is defined by a notion called rule repairs to select maximal components of the existential rules. Surprisingly, for R-acyclic existential rules with R-stratified or guarded existential rules with stratified negations, both the data complexity and combined complexity of query answering under the rule repair semantics remain the same as that under the conventional query answering semantics. This leads us to propose several approaches to handle the rule repair semantics by calling answer set programming solvers. An experimental evaluation shows that these approaches have good scalability of query answering under rule repairs on realistic cases.


Pipelines installed on active slopes can be exposed to slope failure mechanisms. The soil movement can introduce substantial axial and bending strains on buried pipeline, and possibly damage. The techniques to predict pipeline displacements, loads, stress or strains are not well described in design standards or codes of practice. The practice of using finite element analysis of soil-pipe interaction has developed in recent years and is proving to be a useful tool in evaluating the pipeline behavior in response to slope movement.A description of advanced pipe soil interaction modeling tools and their validation against full scale trails has been previously presented. This paper describes the ongoing work involved in a study investigating the mechanical behavior of buried pipelines interacting with active slope movement and evaluation of pipeline strain demand. Detailed pipe-soil interaction analyses were completed with a 3D continuum SPH (Smooth Particle Hydrodynamic) model to examine the pipeline behavior and evaluate the pipeline strain demand in relation to key parameters. This includes the effect of soil movement mechanism, pipeline geometry (D/t), material grade, pipeline burial depth and soil conditions and properties.Sample results of the application of the validated 3D continuum modeling process will be presented. The strain demand determined from the analyses were compared with calculated CSA-Z662 strain limit design, local FEA analyses and BS 7910. These results are being used to develop generalized trends in pipeline response to slope movements.Copyright © 2014 by ASME


Factors modulating host resistance to Histoplasma capsulatum are only partially understood. The role of iron-binding proteins in infectious diseases has been an area of recent in-depth investigation. The present study reaffirmed the necessity of iron for growth of H. capsulatum. Transferrin saturation was found to be of importance in withholding iron, and antigen-specific antibody had no added effect. Serums of patients with various clinical classes of histoplasmosis were found to exhibit abnormalities in iron metabolic parameters. However, based on transferrin saturation data, iron withholding by transferrin does not appear to be a significant host defense mechanism in vivo. Further studies presented herein suggest a protective effect of phagocytosis and sequestration by the macrophage-phagocyte system.


We describe the design and implementation of a technology which provides an application with the ability to seek out and exploit remote computing resources by migrating tasks from site to site, dynamically adapting the application to a changing Grid environment. The motivation for this migration framework, dubbed "The Worm", originated from the experience of having an abundance of computing time for simulations, which is distributed over multiple sites and split in time chunks by queuing systems. We describe the architecture of the Worm, describing how new or more suitable resources are located, and how the payload simulation is migrated to these resources following a trigger event. The migration technology presented here is designed to be used for any application, including large-scale HPC simulations.


DNA methylation plays a central role in regulating many aspects of growth and development in mammals through regulating gene expression. The development of next generation sequencing technologies have paved the way for genome-wide, high resolution analysis of DNA methylation landscapes using methodology known as reduced representation bisulfite sequencing (RRBS). While RRBS has proven to be effective in understanding DNA methylation landscapes in humans, mice, and rats, to date, few studies have utilised this powerful method for investigating DNA methylation in agricultural animals. Here we describe the utilisation of RRBS to investigate DNA methylation in sheep Longissimus dorsi muscles. RRBS analysis of ∼1% of the genome from Longissimus dorsi muscles provided data of suitably high precision and accuracy for DNA methylation analysis, at all levels of resolution from genome-wide to individual nucleotides. Combining RRBS data with mRNAseq data allowed the sheep Longissimus dorsi muscle methylome to be compared with methylomes from other species. While some species differences were identified, many similarities were observed between DNA methylation patterns in sheep and other more commonly studied species. The RRBS data presented here highlights the complexity of epigenetic regulation of genes. However, the similarities observed across species are promising, in that knowledge gained from epigenetic studies in human and mice may be applied, with caution, to agricultural species. The ability to accurately measure DNA methylation in agricultural animals will contribute an additional layer of information to the genetic analyses currently being used to maximise production gains in these species.


The need for intelligent machines in areas such as medical diagnostics, biometric security systems, and image processing motivates researchers to develop and explore new techniques, algorithms, and applications in this evolving field.Cross-Disciplinary Applications of Artificial Intelligence and Pattern Recognition: Advancing Technologies provides a common platform for researchers to present theoretical and applied research findings for enhancing and developing intelligent systems. Through its discussions of advances in and applications of pattern recognition technologies and artificial intelligence, this reference highlights core concepts in biometric imagery, feature recognition, and other related fields, along with their applicability.


OBJECTIVE
The diagnostic value of cine magnetic resonance imaging (CMRI) that visualizes fluid and tissue movement was evaluated in patients with spinal intradural arachnoid cysts, a rare but increasingly detected cause of spinal cord dysfunction.

METHODS
Four patients with thoracic spinal intradural arachnoid cysts were investigated with conventional T1- and T2-weighted and cardiac-gated CMRI. Four normal volunteers also underwent CMRI for comparison.

RESULTS
Sagittal T1- and T2-weighted imaging showed lesions as an abnormal widening of the posterior spinal subarachnoid space, but mixed high- and low-signal intensities on T2-weighted imaging suggested cystic lesions. CMRI, using 16 to 20 sagittal gradient echo images during the cardiac cycle of normal volunteers, indicated synchronous signal changes along the subarachnoid space, suggesting a smooth cerebrospinal fluid flow. CMRI of patients detected that the caudal or cranial direction of the high-signal propagation suddenly reversed at some locations (as if rebounding) in an asynchronous fashion along the lesion (asynchronous rebound phenomenon), which was well demonstrated by the closed-loop video mode. Cystectomy revealed that the cysts consisted of multiple lobules and that the asynchronous rebound phenomenon corresponded with some boundaries of cyst lobules. CMRI also visualized dynamic spinal cord compression by the cyst.

CONCLUSION
CMRI can demonstrate abnormal fluid flow and spinal cord compression caused by a spinal intradural arachnoid cyst.


The Article takes as its starting point the recent transformation in our legal, political, and social relations that is suggested in the literature on "new governance." It asks, what are the implications of this transformation for our conception of law and legality, and, specifically, what is the relationship between law and new governance? The existing responses to this question are presented as generally falling into two groups: those that argue that law is transformed in the move to new governance, and those that argue that there is an irredeemable conceptual and normative gap between law and new governance. At the back of each of these accounts of the relationship between law and new governance is a more fundamental conception of legality: in the former case, a functionalist, and in the latter case, a liberal-legalist conception of legality. Arguing that neither of these approaches is satisfactory, I propose a third account of the relationship between law and new governance, the contingency thesis, which is supported by a democratic conception of legality.


The new full-metal ITER-like wall at JET was found to have a deep impact on the physics of disruptions at JET. In order to develop disruption classification, the 10D operational space of JET with the new ITER-like wall has been explored using the generative topographic mapping method. The 2D map has been exploited to develop an automatic disruption classification of several disruption classes manually identified. In particular, all the non-intentional disruptions have been considered, that occurred in JET from 2011 to 2013 with the new wall. A statistical analysis of the plasma parameters describing the operational spaces of JET with carbon wall and JET ITER-like wall has been performed and some physical considerations have been made on the difference between these two operational spaces and the disruption classes which can be identified. The performance of the JET- ITER-like wall classifier is tested in real-time in conjunction with a disruption predictor presently operating at JET with good results. Moreover, to validate and analyse the results, another reference classifier has been developed, based on the k-nearest neighbour technique. Finally, in order to verify the reliability of the performed classification, a conformal predictor based on non-conformity measures has been developed.


This work attempted to appraise the usefulness of ultrasound as a diagnostic tool for use in dentistry. A number of possibilities were modelled and the most promising, at this time, was monitoring tooth surface loss (TSL). TSL is a serious dental condition affecting patients worldwide. Current methods used to monitor TSL in the dental surgery are subjective and unreliable. Laboratory-based monitoring methods are time consuming and costly. Ultrasound is a non-invasive, non-destructive method that is mainly used in the medical field. Its use in dentistry started in the 1950s but is still limited to therapeutics (e.g. periodontics and endodontics) and head and neck imaging. There are several modes of ultrasound imaging. Of particular note are amplitude mode (A-mode) and brightness mode (B-mode) ultrasound. In A-mode, a single beam is sent to an object, and its reflected echo is captured. This mode does not produce an image but is rather displayed as a waveform in time and amplitude domains. B-mode ultrasound has two spatial axes and therefore is used as a cross-sectional imaging tool.
To date, there are no in vivo studies investigating the use of ultrasound to directly monitor TSL in the dental surgery. The aim of this thesis was to assess the feasibility and optimisation of ultrasound as a potential clinical dental tool in monitoring erosive TSL in vivo. This thesis investigated the coupling efficiency of various dental and other materials and their suitability as couplants. The results showed that Perspex was a suitable ultrasonic couplant for the purpose of enamel thickness measurements and the tightness of the coupling at an interface was of importance for efficient transmission of ultrasound energy into an object. However, a purpose-built apparatus was required for this as the ultrasound echoes were angle dependent. It further investigates the angle dependency of echoes arising from premolars compared to synthetic maxillary central incisors, as natural incisors were not available. The results demonstrated that the more planar incisors reflected ultrasound more readily and were less angle dependent than premolars (p-value < 0.001).
B-mode ultrasound imaging was then investigated to measure intact enamel in human teeth and validated with μ-computed tomography (μ-CT). Two systems were evaluated for this purpose; the first was an in-house ultrasound apparatus and the second was a commercial ultrasound scanner, with the data obtained validated with μ-CT. The results showed that the commercial ultrasound scanner was more accurate than the in-house scanner with Bland-Altman 95% limits of agreement of -0.48 to 0.47 mm and -1.21 to 0.87 mm respectively. However, the B-mode images produced were not of sufficient clarity and consequently the accuracy of the enamel thickness measurements was not suitable for monitoring progressive enamel loss. Therefore, the simpler A-mode ultrasound approach was investigated for enamel thickness measurements and validated with histological sections of the same teeth. A study of speed of sound (SOS) variations in enamel was also performed. It was found that A-mode ultrasound was able to measure enamel thickness in vitro with an accuracy of 10% compared to histology and the mean SOS in enamel was 6191 ±199 ms-1.
Finally, A-mode ultrasound was assessed in vivo (n = 30) to determine if it could monitor enamel thickness reliably and reproducibly on the labial surface of maxillary central incisors. The results showed that ultrasound was a highly reproducible and reliable technique for monitoring enamel thickness with 95% limits of agreement of -0.04 to 0.05 mm. The results demonstrated for the first time in vivo that A-mode ultrasound had sufficient precision (0.05 mm) to allow it to be used as a direct method for serial assessment of erosive TSL. The preferable site for making ultrasonic measurements was the cervical site (site 1) followed by the mid-buccal site (site 2). Therefore ultrasound is a promising and simple method to monitor early erosive changes in thickness of the enamel layer, especially in vulnerable patients with frequent acidic intake or in patients with gastro-oesophageal reflux disease (GORD).


We address the problem of efficient exploration for transition model learning in the relational model-based reinforcement learning setting without extrinsic goals or rewards. Inspired by human curiosity, we propose goal-literal babbling (GLIB), a simple and general method for exploration in such problems. GLIB samples relational conjunctive goals that can be understood as specific, targeted effects that the agent would like to achieve in the world, and plans to achieve these goals using the transition model being learned. We provide theoretical guarantees showing that exploration with GLIB will converge almost surely to the ground truth model. Experimentally, we find GLIB to strongly outperform existing methods in both prediction and planning on a range of tasks, encompassing standard PDDL and PPDDL planning benchmarks and a robotic manipulation task implemented in the PyBullet physics simulator. Video: https://youtu.be/F6lmrPT6TOY Code: https://git.io/JIsTB


This article explores interactions with difference, highlighting what
I call the "generosity paradox," a term that refers to how we suspend disbelief
and certainty in favor of a constructed potentiality not limited by preexistent
knowledge or categories of authenticity and legitimacy. Touching on overlapping
concepts from rhetoric, philosophy, gender studies, disability studies,
and queer theory, the discussion explicates fictional encounters with radical
alterity in the film Her (Spike Jonze, 2013) to show that attempted respite
from frustrating, confusing, and frightening interactions limits our voice,
undermines difference, and favors a unifying persuasive intent, which more
likely than not involves an attempt to change Others rather than allowing our
mutual differences to generatively remain.


We consider the problem of interactive string searching, and propose two k-NN (k-nearest neighbor) search algorithms. For a given query, our techniques start reporting the initial results quickly. Later, these results are periodically refined depending on the user satisfaction. We briefly discuss the two techniques. The first technique, called LIS (Local statistics-based Interactive Search),and the second technique, called GIS (Global Statistics-based Interactive Search).


General Value Function (GVF) is a powerful tool to represent both the {\em predictive} and {\em retrospective} knowledge in reinforcement learning (RL). In practice, often multiple interrelated GVFs need to be evaluated jointly with pre-collected off-policy samples. In the literature, the gradient temporal difference (GTD) learning method has been adopted to evaluate GVFs in the off-policy setting, but such an approach may suffer from a large estimation error even if the function approximation class is sufficiently expressive. Moreover, none of the previous work have formally established the convergence guarantee to the ground truth GVFs under the function approximation settings. In this paper, we address both issues through the lens of a class of GVFs with causal filtering, which cover a wide range of RL applications such as reward variance, value gradient, cost in anomaly detection, stationary distribution gradient, etc. We propose a new algorithm called GenTD for off-policy GVFs evaluation and show that GenTD learns multiple interrelated multi-dimensional GVFs as efficiently as a single canonical scalar value function. We further show that unlike GTD, the learned GVFs by GenTD are guaranteed to converge to the ground truth GVFs as long as the function approximation power is sufficiently large. To our best knowledge, GenTD is the first off-policy GVF evaluation algorithm that has global optimality guarantee.


Ergativity in the Indo-Aryan languages is a very intricate phenomenon. At the morphological level, we can observe a certain continuum, from disappearance of ergativity to its reinforcement. The first tendency is clearly visible not only in Eastern Hindi and Bihari dialects, but also in Western Rajasthani. The second tendency can be noted in the Pahari dialects. Somewhere in between are the Western Hindi dialects, which have introduced analytical marking for agent and patient. The transitional character of ergativity in Indo-Aryan can be observed in considering the alignment of the three syntactic-semantic Dixonian primitives, namely A, S, and O (Dixon 1979; 1994). It appears that, in fact, all possible alignments are traceable, even that in which A and O receive the same marking and which has been excluded by typologists (Comrie 1978). However, extending the Dixonian three-primitive system by Obl. (Klimov 1983), we can also observe that the same treatment of A and Obl. (perceived as one of the implications of ergativity) is shared by, for example, early Rajasthani, contemporary Pahari and Western Hindi, where it is closely connected with the polyfunctionality of the ergative postposition.


Introduction The exact pathogenesis of idiopathic intracranial hypertension (IIH) is debated, though it is commonly believed to be due to some form of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) outflow resistance or cerebral venous outflow abnormalities. The incidence of IIH is only 1-2 per 100,000 with a much higher incidence in the subpopulation of obese women of reproductive age, up to 21 per 100,000 women aged 15–44 years of age. The most common clinical presentations include headache, visual defects and papilledema, with the possibility of symptoms worsening to permanent vision loss. Treatment typically provides gradual improvements and is specifically oriented to preserve vision. Carbonic anhydrase inhibitors are considered the first-line of treatment, and failure to improve may indicate surgical intervention. Optic nerve sheath fenestration (ONSF) and CSF shunting procedures are the typically utilized surgical procedures. However, in patients with IIH who have evidence of dural sinus stenosis, dural sinus stenting (DSS) has become an interesting treatment method that has been studied little thus far. Methods We present a single-center retrospective study of 22 cases of IIH that were refractory to medical treatment, treated with DSS over 35 months. Results There were 22 females with a median age of 31 years. These patients, on average, suffered for 19.9 months prior to intervention and were followed for a median of 3 months. The most common symptoms encountered were headache (86.4%), visual obscurations (63.6%), and visual acuity changes (56.5%). Papilledema was encountered in only half of these patients. Acetazolamide was attempted to control the symptoms of IIH in 68.1% of patients, with little to no improvement. DSS was the first attempted surgical intervention in 90.4%, with only two patients having undergone ONSF and none receiving CSF shunting procedures. During cerebral venography, the pressure gradients across the stenosis averaged 14.5 mmHg, and the common locations for most significant stenosis were the transverse-sigmoid sinus junctions (54.5%) and the transverse sinuses (36.3%). There was a single case where stent placement was not successful from a femoral vein approach due to tortuosity resulting in a technical success rate of 95.5%. This outlier was eventually successfully treated with a jugular vein puncture. In patients receiving a stent, an immediate elimination of the pressure elevation and gradient was achieved in 100% of the cases. Two patients (9%) required placement of a second stent after follow-up revealed restenosis and development of a recurrent pressure gradient. There were no major or minor complications. Conclusion IIH is an uncommon condition with presenting symptoms that are relatively nonspecific. Though medical therapy is first-line, an important subset of patients who experience IIH secondary to dural sinus stenosis are commonly refractory to medications alone. DSS is becoming a more commonly used therapy for treatment of this subpopulation. This study demonstrates that stenting is an effective procedure that can be performed with good technical success and minimal complications in specialized high volume stroke centers. Further research comparing DSS to ONSF and CSF shunting is required to determine the relative efficacies and long-term effects on symptom resolution and recurrence. Disclosures: D. Leonard: None. A. Haider: None. R. Thakur: None. C. Gottlich: None. U. Khan: None. J. Hise: None. K. Layton: None.


Natural populations respond to selection pressures like increasing local temperatures in many ways, including plasticity and adaptation. To predict the response of ectotherms like lizards to local temperature increase, it is essential to estimate phenotypic variation in and determine the heritability of temperature-related traits like average field body temperature (Tb) and preferred temperature (Tp). We measured Tp of Uta stansburiana in a laboratory thermal gradient and assessed the contribution of sex, reproductive status and throat color genotype to phenotypic variation in Tb of adult lizards. Females had higher Tp than males. However, they temporarily preferred lower temperature when gravid than when nongravid. Using a nested half-sib design for genetic crosses in the laboratory, we estimated relative contributions of additive genetic variation and maternal effects to Tp of hatchlings. Our results show that maternal effects, but not additive genetic variation, influence Tp of hatchlings in U. stansburiana. Maternal Tp and the presence or absence of blue throat color alleles significantly influenced Tp of hatchlings. We discuss ecological and evolutionary consequences of these maternal effects in the context of rapid climate change and natural selection that we measure on progeny survival to maturity as a function of maternal Tp.


Colloquial language is a nonstandard language commonly used by certain groups of society. The language is characterized by the following: oral, informal, situational, communicative, intense, expressive, and emotional. This research is aimed to describe the forms, functions, and meanings of colloquial language used in Kawanku magazine. This research is qualitative descriptive in nature. The data of the research are words, phrases, cluases, and sentences taken from nine magazines of Kawanku issued in January up to August 2007. The data were randomly collected. The data analysis shows that (1) the forms of colloquial langage are reflected by the use of specific terms, such as verbs ending in –in, specific adjectives, vocatives, nonstandard lexical units, special abbreviations and acronyms, (2) the functions of colloquial language are clearly evidenced from the use of greetings, closings, questions, requests, and feeling expressings, and (3) special meanings are obviously seen in the use of English in fashion and entertainment.


This article examines the role of the anger and fear emotions in the loss of control and duress defences and argues that, although fear is now included as a trigger in loss of control, priority is still given to anger as a triggering event. Furthermore, in duress, although fear is the overriding mental state of the duressee, it wrongly forms no part of the rationale of the defence at all.
Following a brief examination of both emotions, the article – individually with respect to each defence – considers issues relating to the (in)sufficiency of the objective element contained in the defences, specifically because neither properly take fear into account as a characteristic which should be attributed to the reasonable person, and then, to a lesser extent, what impact theoretical principles, such as mechanistic and evaluative approaches, have on the role emotion plays in both defences (if any). It is clear that none of these, nor indeed the relatively new discipline of neuroscience, examined in the penultimate section of the article, can tell us about the effects of emotion on decision-making, reasoning, control and responsibility, nor can they provide an answer as to how emotions – fear especially – can be properly incorporated into both defences.
Numerous emotion-based alternative solutions are disseminated, and, although no preference is expressed here, it is recommended, firstly, that fear should be more effectively incorporated into the loss of control defence and, secondly, that duress should include fear as a characteristic attributed to the reasonable person.


Scrip points highlights the problems that can arise when writing prescriptions and advises how queries from the pharmacy can be reduced and potentially dangerous errors avoided. Copyright © 2011 Wiley Interface Ltd


The aim of this contribution is to give a coherent account of the World Parliament of Religions held in Chicago in 1893. The meeting was organised in the context of the Columbian World Exhibition, which celebrated 400 years of America. The Parliament convened in the main hall of the Chicago Art Institute and attracted 150,000 people, according to one of the lengthy reports. Various aspects are addressed: the objectives of the organisers, the character of the various reports of this mega-event, the participation of women, the relationship between the Christian organisers and the representatives of the East, the various – opposing – claims about the superiority of specific forms of religion and culture (for instance, the juxtaposition of the material West and the spiritual East), the tendency to spiritualize religion, and the role of the emerging field of religious studies versus the 'interfaith' character of the Parliament. It is hardly possible to draw one final conclusion from this heterogeneous event, but perhaps one can say that the participants were convinced of the ultimate meaning of 'religion' – however defined – as a force against indulging in consumerism and materialism.


Girard, Kenneth F. (St. Margaret's Hospital, Boston, Mass.), Anthony J. Sbarra, and Wadi A. Bardawil. Serology of Listeria monocytogenes. I. Characteristics of the soluble hemolysin. J. Bacteriol. 85:349–355. 1963.—Our results clearly demonstrate that Listeria monocytogenes (strain 9-125) produces a soluble hemolysin. Such hemolysin is completely precipitated out of sterile culture filtrates by 60% saturation with ammonium sulfate at 5 C, and virtually all of the hemolytic activity resides in the so-called "euglobulin" fraction. The protein nature of this hemolysin is further indicated by its nondialyzable property, heat lability, susceptibility to proteolysis by trypsin, and antigenicity in the full sense. Paper electrophoresis indicates that the isolated active fraction migrates as a γ-type globulin. A procedure for determining Listeria antihemolysin levels in sera adapted from a method commonly employed for quantitating antistreptolysin O is described. The relative value of anti-Listeria hemolysin titration as a possible serological aid in diagnosis remains to be determined and is presently under investigation.


In this paper, a robust controller design with H/sub /spl infin// performance using a recurrent neural network (RNN) is proposed for the position tracking control of a permanent-magnet linear synchronous motor. The proposed robust H/sub /spl infin// controller, which comprises a RNN and a compensating control, is developed to reduce the influence of parameter variations and external disturbance on system performance. The RNN is adopted to estimate the dynamics of the lumped plant uncertainty, and the compensating controller is used to eliminate the effect of the higher order terms in Taylor series expansion of the minimum approximation error. The tracking performance is ensured in face of parameter variations, external disturbance and RNN estimation error once a prespecified H/sub /spl infin// performance requirement is achieved. The synthesis of the RNN training rules and compensating control are based on the solution of a nonlinear H/sub /spl infin// control problem corresponding to the desired H/sub /spl infin// performance requirement, which is solved via a choice of quadratic storage function. The proposed control method is able to track both the periodic step and sinusoidal commands with improved performance in face of large parameter perturbations and external disturbance.


We describe a design for generics in Go inspired by previous work on Featherweight Java by Igarashi, Pierce, and Wadler. Whereas subtyping in Java is nominal, in Go it is structural, and whereas generics in Java are defined via erasure, in Go we use monomorphisation. Although monomorphisation is widely used, we are one of the first to formalise it. Our design also supports a solution to The Expression Problem.


[1] We report measurements of light (C2–C4) nonmethane hydrocarbons (NMHCs) and C1–C4 alkyl nitrates made at Summit, Greenland, over a full annual cycle (June 1997–1998). The remoteness of the Summit camp from industrial source regions resulted in trends of these trace gases that showed a clear seasonal variation with low variability. Variability (calculated as the percentage 1-sigma deviation of a running 10-point mean) averaged 7–9% for ethane over the entire study. The shorter-lived species (ethyne, propane, and the butanes) exhibited variability from 12–20% in winter to 20–100% in summer. The best fit curve to the annual cycle of ethane is a sinusoidal oscillation, but each of the shorter-lived NMHCs exhibited flat periods of low concentrations during the summer months. The C2–C4 NMHCs peaked between 8 and 24 February, with the longer-lived NMHCs maximizing latest. These data were broadly consistent with literature values, confirming that high-latitude Northern Hemisphere (NH) emissions are similar year to year. Employing their linear fall accumulation rates, we calculated average NMHC ratios versus ethane of 0.59(±0.10):0.33(±0.05):0.26(±0.08):0.14(±0.04) for propane, ethyne, n-butane, and i-butane, respectively. We suggest that these ratios represent useful quantities with which to compare averaged mid- and high-latitude NH emission ratios. We also report the first year-round observations of the seasonal cycle of light C1–C4 alkyl nitrates. Similar to the NMHCs, the seasonal trend of these gases shows primary dependence on transport to Summit during winter, and photochemical removal during summer. Unlike their parent NMHCs, alkyl nitrate concentrations did not asymptote to low levels during summer and they exhibited winter maxima later with decreasing photochemical lifetime.


During December 12, 1983 through March 1, 1984 of the 14th Winter Olympic Games at Sarajevo, supercooled fog dispersal experiments were carried out at the airport and over the skiing slopes using simple, new ground-based liquid propane seeding devices. After successful preliminary tests in December and the first half of January, a fog dispersal operation was conducted operationaIIy at the Sarajevo airport. A seeding network of a combination of stationary and mobile liquid propane dispensers was used. Eleven seedings were performed, nine of them being successful (visibility above the required minimum) and two partially successful. Especially significant were the seeding operations at the airport on February 6 and 7, 1984 (the day before the opening of the Olympic Games) enabling the landing and taking off of 30 airplanes, permitting the scheduled opening of the games. Following preliminary confirmation of seeding effect on clouds over the skiing slopes on Mr. Bjelasnica, the visibility reducing clouds were effectively cleared during the official downhill competition on February 16, 1984.


Mobile Health Teams, Decolonization, and the Eradication Era in Cameroon, 1945-1970 Sarah Cook Runcie This dissertation examines the intersecting changes of African decolonization and the post-World War II internationalization of public health by showing how Cameroonian and French health officials shaped global health programs on the ground in the 1950s and 60s. I approach this topic through the lens of two tightly interwoven developments in Cameroon: the history of colonial mobile health teams created by French military doctors and the advent of postwar global disease eradication campaigns. While colonial medicine and international health are typically treated as distinct historical subjects, I argue that global disease eradication programs in this period in Cameroon relied entirely on colonial mobile health teams and their reformulation after independence as a basis of infrastructure, personnel and knowledge. I specifically assert that Cameroonian and French health officials positioned mobile health teams as cornerstones of national health policy and regional health coordination in Central Africa and, in turn, as the basis for operations of attempted global disease eradication programs within Cameroon. As Cameroonian, French and international health officials negotiated the work of the mobile health teams through decolonization and the first decade of the independence, they were moreover charting new structures of authority and control over medicine and public health between the global and the local, and forging an international politics of public health rooted in the particular tensions of decolonization in the country. My project thus demonstrates how Africans charted new models for public health through decolonization, models that reflected both the deeply enduring impact of empire and a new post-colonial politics.


The structure of boron–nitride nanotubes (BNNTs) is very similar to that of CNTs, and they exhibit many similar physical and chemical properties. In particular, a single walled boron nitride nanotube (BNNT) and a single walled carbon nanotube (CNT) have been reported. The spectral moment's method (SMM) was shown to be a powerful tool for determining vibrational spectra (infrared absorption, Raman scattering and inelastic neutron-scattering spectra) of harmonic systems. This method can be applied to very large systems, whatever the type of atomic forces, the spatial dimension, and structure of the material. The calculations of vibrational properties of BNNT@CNT double-walled hybrid nanostructures are performed in the framework of the force constants model, using the spectral moment's method (SMM). A Lennard–Jones potential is used to describe the van der Waals in-teractions between inner and outer tubes in hybrid systems. The calculation of the BNNT@CNT Raman active modes as a function of the diameter and chirality of the inner and outer tubes allows us to derive the diameter dependence of the wave number of the breathing-like modes, intermediate-like modes and tangential-like modes in a large diameter range. These predictions are useful to interpret the experimental data.


Nowadays standard technologies play important roles in enhancing sharability, reusability and interoperability of learning contents. However, there is a lack of pedagogical justification of the contents implemented with the standards. This paper discusses the standardcompliance of our ontology-based modeling framework and how the framework gives theoretical justification to standard-compliant learning/instructional scenarios in a theory-aware authoring tool.


This study documents three localities in the Franciscan accretionary complex of northern California, now adjacent to the San Andreas fault, that were overprinted thermally between 13.9 and 12.2 Ma: Point Delgada–Shelter Cove (King Range terrane); Bolinas Ridge (San Bruno Mountain terrane); and Mount San Bruno (San Bruno Mountain terrane). Vein assemblages of quartz, carbonate, sulfide minerals, and adularia were precipitated locally in highly fractured wall rock. Vitrinite reflectance (R m ) values and illite crystallinity decrease away from the zones of metalliferous veins, where peak wall-rock temperatures, as determined from R m , were as high as 315 °C. The δ 18 O values of quartz and calcite indicate that two separate types of fluid contributed to vein precipitation. Higher δ 18 O fluids produced widespread quartz and calcite veins that are typical of the regional paleothermal regime. The widespread veins are by-products of heat conduction and diffuse fluid flow during zeolite and prehnite-pumpellyite–grade metamorphism, and we interpret their paleofluids to have evolved through dehydration reactions and/or extensive isotopic exchange with accreted Franciscan rocks. Lower δ 18 O fluids, in contrast, evolved from relatively high temperature exchange between seawater (or meteoric water) and basaltic and/or sedimentary host rocks; focused flow of those fluids resulted in local deposition of the metalliferous veins. Heat sources for the three paleothermal anomalies remain uncertain and may have been unrelated to one another. Higher temperature metalliferous fluids in the King Range terrane could have advected either from a site of ridge-trench interaction north of the Mendocino fracture zone or from a "slabless window" in the wake of the northward migrating Mendocino triple junction. A separate paradox involves the amount of Quaternary offset of Franciscan basement rocks near Shelter Cove by on-land faults that some regard as the main active trace of the San Andreas plate boundary. Contouring of vitrinite reflectance values to the north of an area affected by a.d. 1906 surface rupture indicates that the maximum dextral offset within the interior of the King Range terrane is only 2.5 km. If this fault extends inland, and if it has been accommodating most of the strike-slip component of San Andreas offset at a rate of 3–4 cm/yr, then its activity began only 83–62 ka. This interpretation would also mean that a longer term trace of the San Andreas fault must be nearby, either offshore or along the northeast boundary of the King Range terrane. An offshore fault trace would be consistent with peak heating of King Range strata north of the Mendocino triple junction. Conversely, shifting the fault to the east would be compatible with a slabless window heat source and long-distance northward translation of the King Range terrane after peak heating.


The existence of anthropology as an academic and research discipline in Arunachal Pradesh is at infancy. The traditional ethnographic studies among the tribes were initiated by the early British administrators, missionaries, travellers, explorers, etc. Professor Furer-Haimendorf and Verrier Elwin were perhaps the first professional anthropologist and ethnographer to delve into the various cultural aspects of Arunachal tribes. The official recognition of the discipline took place with the introduction of Arunachal Institute of Tribal Studies (AITS) in 1995 under Arunachal University (Now Rajiv Gandhi University, Doimukh) which was established in 1984; for which anthropology – as a discipline – was introduced in 2001. The establishment of the Directorate of Research, Government of Arunachal Pradesh and introduction of Anthropology at the University and College levels significantly count towards the development of this discipline in the state. Research contributions have been witnessed over time in the field of social and cultural aspects of the tribes. Though not completely absent, researches on physical-biological aspects, genetic studies, linguistic and archaeology, growth, nutrition and health have been witnessed but limited. Taking into consideration the broad scope of Anthropology as a discipline of holistic approach, this paper urge for a need of wider coverage of studies in terms of research, projects, and publications in developing tribal state like Arunachal Pradesh. The relevance of Anthropology in the state could be ensured through rigorous research taken up at various levels of standard, support from the government, collaboration between academic institutions and funding agencies. At the same time, its dimension and scope as a relevant research and academic discipline could be broadened and expanded through addressing new research questions, formulation of hypotheses, and through standard conduct of empirical researches.


English This thesis attempts to provide a brief overview of major pieces of the English-language scholarship concerning the Norse berserker. It tries to demonstrate consistent flaws in scholarly treatment and the hollow nature of many major theories and attitudes. In doing so, I hope to demonstrate the importance of brining in outside scholarship on the berserker, specifically the work of Jonathan Shay, who's book Achilles in Vietnam, demonstrated a strong continuity of experience between Achilles in Homer's Iliad, and the experiences of American soldiers in the Vietnam War. I believe his work can be equally applied to the Norse berserker, and hope to introduce Shay into the conversation.


Accurate instrument clocks are essential for quantitative studies in seismology. Recent studies demonstrate that ambient seismic noise can be used to detect clock time drift for ocean‐bottom seismometers (OBSs) or inland seismometers with internal hardware or software problems, but the short‐period (<20  s) interstation Rayleigh waves extracted from ambient seismic noise are too weak for intercontinental seismic station‐pair correlations and thus are less effective for synchronizing sparse global seismic networks. The 26 s persistent localized microseismic source in the Gulf of Guinea radiates strong seismic signals that can be recorded on global stations, thus providing an alternative approach for synchronizing seismometers at large interstation distances. In this study, we test the feasibility of synchronizing seismic stations in Africa, North America, and Europe using the 26 s signals in the noise cross‐correlation functions. We find that the clocks at the TAM and OBN stations are relatively stable during the years from 2002 to 2009; an ∼1  s time shift occurred at the CCM station from 2006 to 2009, and the clock drift was not constant. We also detected about 150 s time shifts at the KOWA station in October 2012 and up to 500 s in January 2013. We validate our results via comparison with the ambient noise method by Stehly et al. (2007) and teleseismic P ‐wave arrival‐time residuals. The method proposed in this study can be used to calibrate the OBSs in the north Atlantic by synchronizing their clocks with the precisely calibrated inland seismometers.


In calves made cryptorchid at birth, serum LH concentrations were elevated (P <0-01) over those of intact controls by 7 weeks of age; a difference which persisted until after puberty. When intact and cryptorchid bulls were given LH-RH, i.v., at approximately 18 months of age, cryptorchid bulls were more responsive. Serum LH concentrations (mean + s.e.m.) after 250, 1000 and 4000 ng LH-RH were 0.2 + 0.03, 1.2 + 0.3 and 12.1 + 2.0 ng/ml for intact bulls and 1.0 + 0.6, 5.1 + 0.8 and 19.6 + 2.1 ng/ml for cryptorchid bulls. Testes from cryptorchid bulls weighed less (P <0.01) than testes from intact bulls (68 + 6 and 655 + 36 g) at 24 months of age. Ability to secrete testosterone in vitro was determined by incubating minced pieces of testes at 36°C for 3 h in Krebs—Ringer—bicarbonate buffer (pH 7.2) containing 1 mg glucose/ml and 100 mi.u. hCG/ml. Cryptorchid testes secreted slightly more testosterone than scrotal testes on a unit weight basis, but when expressed on a paired testis weight basis, testosterone secretion by cryptorchid testes was less (8 + 2 and 60 + 10 mg, P < 0.01). Autoradiographic localization techniques were used to show the existence of LH/hCG binding sites in cryptorchid testes. These studies suggest that cryptorchid bull testes have a reduced capacity to secrete testosterone and the near-normal serum testosterone concentrations are maintained in the presence of increased serum gonadotrophins.


An integrative review was conducted to identify, in the scientific literature, the articulation of the dimensions of health care management in the context of integrative and complementary practices in oncology in Latin America.


BACKGROUND
The appropriate duration of oral anticoagulation after a first episode of venous thromboembolism (VTE) is uncertain and depends upon VTE recurrence rates.

OBJECTIVE
To estimate VTE recurrence rates and determine predictors of recurrence.

METHODS
Patients in Olmsted County, Minnesota, with a first lifetime deep vein thrombosis or pulmonary embolism diagnosed during the 25-year period from 1966 through 1990 (N = 1,719) were followed forward in time through their complete medical records in the community for first VTE recurrence.

RESULTS
Four hundred four patients developed recurrent VTE during 10,198 person-years of follow-up. The overall (probable/definite) cumulative percentages of VTE recurrence at 7, 30, and 180 days and 1 and 10 years were 1.6% (0.2%), 5.2% (1.4%), 10.1% (4.1%), 12.9% (5.6%), and 30.4% (17.6%), respectively. The risk of recurrence was greatest in the first 6 to 12 months after the initial event but never fell to zero. Independent predictors of first overall VTE recurrence included increasing age and body mass index, neurologic disease with paresis, malignant neoplasm, and neurosurgery during the period from 1966 through 1980. Independent predictors of first probable/definite recurrence included diagnostic certainty of the incident event and neurologic disease in patients with hospital-acquired VTE. Recurrence risk was increased by malignant neoplasm but varied with concomitant chemotherapy, patient age and sex, and study year.

CONCLUSIONS
Venous thromboembolism recurs frequently, especially within the first 6 to 12 months, and continues to recur for at least 10 years after the initial VTE. Patients with VTE with neurologic disease and paresis or with malignant neoplasm are at increased risk for recurrence, while VTE patients with transient or reversible risk factors are at less risk.


EXPORT STRATEGY FOR SMALL BUSINESS Exporting is increasingly seen as an opportunity for corporate growth and increased profitability among small-to medium-sized firms in many industries. Many U.S. markets have become or are becoming international, mainly because of reduced market differences among such major trade powers as the United States, Japan, and the European countries. Many companies also look to foreign markets because of intensified competition at home, maturing domestic markets, or limited domestic market opportunities. Exporting as a means to corporate growth is particularly appropriate for manufacturers of industrial goods or products with innovative advantages, and for smaller firms without the financial and managerial resources necessary for more extensive international operations such as joint ventures and foreign direct investment.(1) (1)Robert G. Cooper and Elko J. Kleinschmidt, "The Impact of Export Strategy on Export Sales Performance," The Journal of International Business Studies (Spring 1985), pp. 37-55. Dr. Namiki is an associate professor of management at California State University in Sacramento. He is co-author of The False Promise of the Japanese Miracle (Pitman Publishers) and a number of articles on business strategy. Although competition in export markets has become important for many small firms in the United States, studies have rarely been conducted of competitive strategy in export markets.(2) Many studies of competitive strategy employed by firms in the U.S. market have found that firms competing in the same industry or similar environments tend to use more than one type of strategy, and certain types of strategy lead to better corporate performance than others.(3) In other words, the current trend in strategic management research is to classify firms by strategy type or group, and then to identify successful strategy types within a given industry or set of circumstances. This type of research is called "strategic group analysis." Few studies, however, have examined export strategy types and their effect (2) For an example, see Kendall Roth and Patricia P. McDougall, "An Empirical Comparison of Domestic and International Strategic Behavior," paper presented at the 46th Annual Academy of Management Meeting, August 1986, Chicago. (3) See, for example, Gregory G. Dess and Peter S. Davis, "Porter's (1980) Generic Strategies as Determinants of Strategic Group Membership and Organizational Performance," Academy of Management Journal (September 1984), pp. 467-488. on performance, especially for small business exporters. Most studies of exporters have investigated the relationship between firm or market characteristics (e.g., commitment to export, size of foreign markets and size of firm) and export performance.(4) Other studies have examined the relationship between a firm's export marketing activities (e.g., product adaptation and market segmentation) and export performance.(5) This article presents the results of a strategic group analysis of small firms competing in export markets. The following questions are addressed: . What types of strategy are followed by small firms in export markets? . What types of strategy are instrumental in providing small firms with competitive advantages in export markets, thereby leading to export success? COMPETITIVE STRATEGY Many studies have reported that several different types of strategy are pursued by firms within an industry, and certain types of strategy tend to outperform others. Examples of strategy types are Porter's generic strategies (differentiation, low cost leadership, and focus) and Miles and Snow's typologies (defenders, prospectors, analyzers, and reactors).(6) The present study (4)For example, Salih T. Cavusgil, "Organizational Determinants of Firms' Export Behavior: An Empirical Analysis," unpublished doctoral dissertation, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 1976; Seev Hirsh, "Technological Factors in the Composition and Direction of Israel's Industrial Exports," The Technology Factor in International Trade, ed. …


WebRTC provide the possibility of establishing peer-to-peer connections within a web browser, without requiring plug-ins. This suggests that peerto-peer technology that was previously only available through specialized software is now available in a browser. This thesis presents Dugnad; a scalable live video streaming architecture designed for WebRTC. In the core of the architecture is use of virtual coordinates to push data in implicit directed acyclic graphs. Challenges and opportunities related to the architecture and the WebRTC platform are identified and discussed. Experimentation with a simple implementation of Dugnad is conducted, and as the presented results identify some issues with the implementation, improvements are suggested. The results show that WebRTC is a capable building block for scalable live video streaming within a web browser.


Why do people violate the law? The Hobbesian outlook would be that people violate the law in the absence of appropriate punishment. John Stuart Mill would have attributed the violation to the lack of incentives to behave legally. In this paper, we combine these two factors to examine the effect of antitrust regulation on price competition. We examine the case of public drug procurement in St. Petersburg, Russia between 2008 and 2010. Our results highlight that the Russian Federal Antitrust Service was unable to enforce competitive bidding when the main regulators interpreted the competition law differently. The Committee for Public Health in St. Petersburg notably leveraged the loopholes in antitrust enforcement and successfully maintained illegal relationships with different economic agents. We use data on Russian drug procurement to illustrate these effects. Based on our estimates, we suggest policy implications regarding antitrust policy.


We stack Spitzer 24 μm images for ~7000 galaxies with 0.1 ≤ z < 1 in the Chandra Deep Field South to probe the thermal dust emission in low-luminosity galaxies over this redshift range. Through stacking, we can detect mean 24 μm fluxes that are more than an order of magnitude below the individual detection limit. We find that the correlations for low- and moderate-luminosity galaxies between the average LIR/LUV and rest-frame B-band luminosity, and between the star formation rate (SFR) and LIR/LUV, are similar to those in the local universe. This verifies that oft-used assumption in deep UV/optical surveys that the dust obscuration-SFR relation for galaxies with SFR ≤ 20 M☉ yr-1 varies little with epoch. We have used this relation to derive the cosmic IR luminosity density from z = 1 to z = 0.1. The results also demonstrate directly that little of the bolometric luminosity of the galaxy population arises from the faint end of the luminosity function, indicating a relatively flat faint-end slope of the IR luminosity function with a power-law index of 1.2 ± 0.3.


The pre-WWI period saw the heyday of "financial capitalism" in the United States: the concentration of securities issues in the hands of a few investment bankers which had substantial representation on corporate boards of directors. This form of organization had costs: it created a conflict of interest that allowed investment bankers to heavily tax operating corporations. It also had benefits: investment banker representation on boards allowed bankers to monitor the performance of firm managers, quickly replace mangers whose performance was unsatisfactory, and signal to ultimate investors that a company was well managed and fundamentally sound. The presence on one's board of directors of a partner in J.P Morgan and Co. was associated with a rise of perhaps 30 percent in common stock equity value. Some share of the increase in value almost surely arose because investment banker representation on the boards of competing companies aided the formation of oligopoly. But the development of similar institutions in other countries that like the Gilded Age U.S. experienced exceptionally rapid economic growth-Germany and Japan are the most prominent examples-suggests that a substantial share of value added may have arisen because "financial capitalism" improved the functioning of financial markets as social capital allocation mechanisms.


President Obama early in January signed the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA), which Congress passed days earlier during a frenzied lame-duck session (Microbe, February 2011, p. 54). The new law, the biggest overhaul of federal food safety legislation in decades, emphasizes the importance of preventing foodborne illness and grants significant new authority to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Although many stakeholders—including food-safety experts, food producers and marketers, and consumer groups—welcome the new law, they already are voicing concerns that federal budget tightening and political maneuvering could undercut near-term efforts by FDA officials to implement some of its provisions.


A pulse shaping mechanism applied to mode-locked lasers is proposed. By adding a linear (forcing) term in the power energy saturation model, we are able to control the resulting pulses in both energy and shape. In fact, this term also provides a focusing effect keeping most of the pulse's energy confined within the width of the forcing. The appropriate condition for which mode-locking occurs is also derived and links the physical parameters of the system (gain, loss, filtering) to those of the pulse (amplitude, width, energy). Thus, given the desired pulse one only needs to fix the laser's parameters accordingly, so as to obey this condition, and mode-locking will occur.


Abstract: Background: To evaluate demographic profile of traumatic and non-traumatic spinal cord injured (SCI) patients. Methods: Mobile rehabilitation teams gathered data in 20 out of 30 provinces in Iran. Of 8104 traumatic and non-traumatic SCI patients under coverage of the State Welfare Organization of Iran registered in the database, 7273 were included in the analysis. The aggregate data on SCIs, including age, gender, place of residence, education level, marital status, etiology of injury, age at the time of injury, time passed since injury, level of injury, type of cord injury, having caregiver, and occupation were recorded. Results: Of 7273 patients, 5175 (71.1%) were male. At the time of the study, 46% were in the age group 20-40 years old, 34% were more than 40, and 20% were less than 20 years old. The residential place of 26% was in villages. 23.9% were illiterate, 6.9% had high school diploma or higher. The distribution of cervical, thoracic, and lumbar levels of injury was 17.7, 24.4, and 57.9%, respectively. Overall, there were 49% married and 45.8% never married, while 1.4% patients were single because their partners had left them, 1.7% of partners had died, 1.9% had divorced, and 0.3% had remarried. At the time of the presentation of patients, 33% were 21-30 years-old, 17% were 31-40, and 16% were less than 20 years. About the type of cord injury, the paraplegia, paraparesia, quadriplegia, quadriparesia, and hemiparesia were present in 72.1, 12.5, 10.2, 4.0, and 1.1% of patients, respectively. Unemployment was reported in 55.6% of patients. However, 17% were unable to work, 7.1% had a job, and 3.4% were retired. Caregiver was not provided for 7.5% of them. The most prevalent causes of the injury were: trauma (57.4%), congenital (14.4%), tumors (4.4%), spinal degenerative disorder such as canal stenosis (2.2%), genetic (2.0%), infection (1.9%), scoliosis (1.1%), and miscellaneous (10.6%). Conclusions: These data will provide the information to guide future studies on SCI patients for better prevention and management of SCI patients. Keywords: Demography, Traumatic, Non-traumatic, Spinal cord injury, Etiology


Competing interests shared between agricultural sectors, environmental authorities, and the public community can be reconciled through maintaining sustainable agricultural practices. As the Australian dairy industry continues to intensify, the need to improve farm sustainability is mounting, as higher inputs of phosphorus (P) raise a number of concerns pertaining to environmental, economical, as well as ethical agendas. To address this issue, improved nutrient management strategies must be implemented to minimise losses of farm P to the environment. Alluvial landscapes are often utilised for agricultural production, but, they are frequently mismanaged due to the inherently variable nature of alluvial soils. Thus, this study was designed to investigate the influence of variable alluvial soils on P dynamics, and assess what implications this might have for improving P management strategies. A case study approach was adopted for this study, focusing on one large scale dairy operation, located on the Manning River, on the mid-north coast of New South Wales (NSW). The study investigated variations in soil properties between four major alluvial units present within the study site, including, a modern floodplain (MF) unit and three abandoned terrace units (T1T3) with increasing height (and inferred tentative age) above the existing channel. This was carried out by extracting a number of soil cores and collecting subsamples at various depths, which were then analysed for a range of parameters. Soil properties revealed to have the greatest influence on P dynamics were those most strongly correlated with the phosphorus buffering index (PBI); namely, clay content (rs =0.680; p = < 0.001), sand content (rs = -0.831; p = < 0.001), mean grain size (rs = -0.698; p = < 0.001), and oxalate extractable aluminium content (Alox) (rs = 0.822; p = < 0.001). Variations in these parameters between major alluvial units were discovered to be influencing the cumulative PBI (including all depth ranges sampled) in the following pattern: MF < T1 < T2 ≤ T3. This suggested that paddocks containing two or more alluvial units of variable height are highly susceptible to (P) fertiliser use inefficiencies, which may potentially be resulting in increased P losses. The main finding of this study, therefore, is that P fertiliser management strategies should take into account soil variations between major alluvial units of differential height, as this may have implications for improving fertiliser use efficiencies, in turn, minimising losses of P to the environment.


Post-full bloom foliar applications of boron in
combination with calcium (B+Ca) suppress fruit sunburn-browning incidence in
apples (Malus domestica). However,
the mode-of-action is not yet explained and hence, protocols to exploit this
seemingly cost-effective peel physiology augmenting approach compared to usual
methods (shade-netting, overhead cooling and kaolin application which attenuate
excess fruit heat-load), cannot be fully developed or promoted justifiably
among growers. Apple fruit sunburn-browning disorders are rampant worldwide,
partly because of climate change as well as high cost and inefficacy of the
established methods. However, knowledge of B+Ca effect on apple peel physiology
may unravel the mode-of-action, paving the way for commercialization of this
novel approach. In this study, B+Ca effect on apple peel phenolics and selected
fruit physico-chemical attributes was investigated, using studies conducted at
two farms for two seasons in Western Cape, South Africa. Four foliar treatments
varying in B, Ca and inclusion of zinc (Zn), were applied on 'Cripps Pink', 'Golden Delicious' and 'Granny Smith' apples
in 2014/15 (only 'Cripps
Pink') and
2015/16 (all cultivars) in randomized complete block design experiments with
five replications. Fruit peel samples for quantitative determination of total
phenolics and total flavonoids analyses were collected at different fruit
maturity stages. Significant (p 0.05) interaction (treatments and fruit
maturity stages) effect was observed for total phenolics ('Golden Delicious' and 'Granny Smith' only) and total flavonoids
(all cultivars). Physico-chemical attributes (fruit diameter, size and total
soluble solids) were only evaluated in 'Golden Delicious' and 'Granny Smith',
and no significant differences among treatments occurred. Since no clear
treatment differences in apple peel phenolic patterns were observed, other appropriate
biochemical aspects like photosynthetic pigments should be investigated among
such foliar B+Ca treatments.


Motivated by the possible synergistic electronic effect observed in the Ag and Pd system, simple galvanic replacement reaction (GRR) is carried out for the large scale fabrication of bimetallic AgPd nanoparticles using a modified hydrothermal (MHT) technique. The typical galvanic replacement process under MHT drives the evolution process for AgCl free etched AgPd nanostructure. In the reaction, a sacrificial Ag nanoparticle template in a surfactantless condition is consumed quantitatively depending on the Pd2+ ion concentration. Verification of the synthetic technique has been proved by the change in the nature of the surface plasmon resonance (SPR) peak of the Ag nanoparticle. The as-synthesized unsupported AgPd nanostructure exhibits a superior electrochemical property towards the ethanol oxidation reaction (EOR) in an alkaline medium in comparison to electrochemically active commercial Pd/C. The enhancement of the catalytic Pd activation relates to its active sites in the presence of Ag. The presence of oxophilic Ag and synergism between Ag and Pd drastically reduces the catalyst poisoning effect, explained by the electron affinity and electronegativity parameters of the participating metals. The Ag-driven electron drift from Pd and the Ag/Pd composition variation successfully illustrate the EOR mechanism.


Recently developed single‐cell profiling technologies hold promise to provide new insights including analysis of population heterogeneity and linkage of antigen receptors with gene expression. These technologies produce complex data sets that require knowledge of bioinformatics for appropriate analysis. In this minireview, we discuss several single‐cell immune profiling technologies for gene and protein expression, including cytometry by time‐of‐flight, RNA sequencing, and antigen receptor sequencing, as well as key considerations for analysis that apply to each. Because of the critical importance of data analysis for high parameter single cell analysis, we discuss essential factors in analysis of these data, including quality control, quantification, examples of methods for high dimensional analysis, immune repertoire analysis, and preparation of analysis pipelines. We provide examples of, and suggestions for, application of these innovative methods to transplantation research.


Thomas King is the first Native writer to generate widespread interest in both Canada and the United States. He has been nominated twice for Governor General's Awards, and his first novel, Medicine River, has been transformed into a CBC movie. His books have been reviewed in publications such as The New York Times Book Review, The Globe and Mail, and People magazine. King is also the author of the serialized radio series The Dead Dog Cafe and is an accomplished photographer. Border Crossings is the first full-length study to explore King's art. Davidson, Walton, and Andrews employ a framework of postcolonial and border studies theory to examine the concepts of nation, race, and sexuality in King's work. They examine how King's art routinely explores cross-cultural dynamics, including Native rights and race relations, American and Canadian cultural interaction, and the artistic traditions of Europe and North America. The authors argue that, by situating these concepts within a comic framework, King avoids the polemics that often surface in cultural critiques. His writing engages, entertains, and educates. This provocative analysis of King's art reads across cultures and between borders, and makes an important contribution to the study of Native writing, Canadian and American literature, border studies, and humour studies.


Introduction. A 4 year retrospective follow up of 996 patients who pre-sented with no DR and 500 with background DR at baseline digital DR screening in 2006. Purpose. To evaluate the safety of increasing screening intervals in patients with no diabetic retinopathy (DR) or with background DR.Methods. A 4 year retrospective follow up of 996 patients who presented with no DR and 500 with background DR at baseline digital DR screening in 2006.results. Background DR Group: Of the 500 subjects that had back-ground DR in 2006, 231 were referred for DR, with an average DR routine referral rate of 12% (46 subjects) per year. nodrgrouP. Of the 996 patients who had no DR at baseline, 51 were referred over the 4 years for sight threatening DR (STDR), of these 45 patients have definite STDR confirmed by ophthalmological examination. 78% of these had type 2 diabetes and mean age at referral was 60 years (25-87). Mean diabetes duration was 10.7 years (3-32), with a mean HbA1c of 7.8% (5.7-11.3%). Eight patients (0.9%) were referred in the first year, 9 (0.9%) in the second year, 19 (1.9%) in the third year and 15 (1.5%) in the fourth year. 86% of referrals were for maculopathy, and all had observable retinopathy and none required ophthalmology clinic assessment or laser treatment.If biannual screening was adopted for patients with no DR at baseline, allowing for patients who subsequently develop background DR and would then revert to annual screening, a total of 7 (0.7%) patients would not have been appropriately referred for STDR and would have waited a further year for identification. None of the 51 referrals across the 4 years required laser treatment apart from just one patient who developed PDR in year 4 (2010) and had background since 2007.conclusIons. It could be recommended that it is safe to screen pa-tients with no DR biannually due to the low risk of developing STDR. However, patients who present with background DR should continue to be screened annually as there is a significant proportion developing STDR and would not be identified at an appropriate screening interval.


Various procedures to decontaminate and purify M leprae free of host tissue material resulted in total retention of their intracellular ATP and also infectiousness. The ATP content of one million M. leprae cells, isolated from either livers, spleens, or lymph nodes of infected armadillos, or a nude mouse foot pad or a human biopsy specimen, was in the range of 1.17 to 1.40 picograms. Suspensions could be decontaminated with 4% NaOH and all non-bacterial ATP could be eliminated by the combined action of trypsin, chymotrypsin, and collagenase initially, followed by Triton X-100 plus ATPase. These findings further assure that M. leprae are different from M. lepraemurium in that they can withstand even the severest purification procedures that are necessary in order for them to be used for sophisticated biochemical and metabolic studies.


ABSTRACT Can Xue's Chinese novel, Frontier, seems to have little coherence. It is often thought to offer a pastiche of dream images. However, an understanding of Zen Buddhism, provided by T. P. Kasulis' Zen Action Zen Person, offers a vocabulary to explain how the characters in the novel seek answers to koans as they struggle to find meaning in their dreams, perceptions, and meditation. Liujin, the main character, doesn't find Western philosophic answers, but is described in the end as giving up thinking, the goal in Zen Buddhism and in Taoism (cf. wu-wei) to enjoy "the touch of the cool evening air." Like Kasulis' enlightened monk, Liujin sits to sit (in zazen or meditation), rather than sitting in hopes of enlightenment. She sits to have being, to taste being (rasa). "Bit by bit, her mind became luminous."


Hutchinson–Gilford progeria syndrome (HGPS) is a rare, uniformly fatal, premature aging disease with distinct dermatologic features. We sought to identify and describe the initial skin and hair findings as potential diagnostic signs of the disease. We performed a chart review of the structured initial intake histories of 39 individuals with HGPS enrolled in clinical trials from 2007 to 2010 at Boston Children's Hospital, limited to cutaneous history from birth to 24 months. Medical photographs were provided through the clinical trials and the Progeria Research Foundation Medical and Research Database at Brown University Center for Gerontology and Healthcare Research. All 39 patients reported skin and hair abnormalities within the first 24 months of life. Pathologies included sclerodermoid change, prominent superficial veins, dyspigmentation, and alopecia. The mean age of presentation for each finding was <12 months. The most frequently reported skin feature was sclerodermoid change, which commonly involved the abdomen and bilateral lower extremities. Prominent superficial vasculature manifested as circumoral cyanosis and pronounced veins on the scalp and body. Hypo‐ and hyperpigmentation were observed over areas of sclerodermoid change. Scalp alopecia progressed in a distinct pattern, with preservation of the hair over the midscalp and vertex areas for the longest period of time. HGPS has distinct cutaneous manifestations during the first 2 years of life that may be the first signs of disease. Awareness of these findings could expedite diagnosis.


The catalytic pyrolysis of carbohydrates over a phosphoric acid-activated carbon catalyst (ACC) was investigated to obtain phenol-rich bio-oils and syngas production in a facile fixed bed reactor for the first time. The central composite design (CCD) was adopted to optimize the experimental operating conditions of glucose catalytic pyrolysis, where the effects of reaction temperatures and ratios of catalyst to reactant on product distributions were studied. The main chemical components of the obtained catalytic bio-oils from glucose were phenols, ketones, and anhydrosugars, in which the selectivity of phenols ranged from 4.8 to 100% depending on various reaction conditions. The highest selectivity of phenols was achieved at a reaction temperature of 450 °C with a catalyst to reactant ratio of 1. Carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, methane, and hydrogen were the main gas fractions in the gaseous products, where high concentrations of carbon monoxide (50.2%) and hydrogen (9.2%) could be attained. Additionally, the catalytic pyrolysis of cellulose with different catalyst to reactant ratios at a reaction temperature of 450 °C was also investigated and the results exhibited a similar phenomenon to that of glucose. A high selectivity of phenols (96.7%) could also be achieved integrated with a high concentration of carbon monoxide (42.1%). The mechanism of phenol generation was further discussed and the "phenol pool" was proposed to describe the catalytic function of the ACC in the catalytic conversion of volatiles into phenols. Our findings suggest that the catalytic pyrolysis of renewable and earth-abundant carbohydrates over the ACC might provide a novel and viable route to generate high-purity phenols to ultimately advance the utilization of biomass energy.


Alkaline niobate (Na0.5K0.5)NbO3 ceramic system has attracted major attention in view of its potential for replacing the highly toxic but superior lead zirconate titanate (PZT) system for piezoelectric applications. Recently, a more detailed study of this system reveals that the ferroelectric and piezoelectric properties are optimized in the Liand V-modified system having the composition (K0.485Na0.5Li0.015)(Nb0.98V0.02)O3. In the present work, we further study the pyroelectric behaviour of this composition along with another doped with Mn4+. So, (K0.485Na0.5Li0.015)(Nb0.98V0.02)O3 + x MnO2 (x = 0, and 0.01 wt. %) ceramic compositions were synthesized by conventional ceramic processing route. X-ray diffraction study reveals that both the undoped and Mn4+-doped ceramic samples prepared crystallize into a perovskite structure having orthorhombic symmetry. Dielectric study indicates that Mn4+ doping has little effect on both the Curie temperature (Tc) and tetragonal-orthorhombic phase transition temperature (Tot). The bulk density, room-temperature dielectric constant (εRT), and room-c The room-temperature coercive field (Ec) is observed to be lower in Mn4+ doped sample. The detailed analysis of the P-E hysteresis loops over the range of temperature from about room temperature to Tot points out that enhanced ferroelectric properties exist in this temperature range with better thermal stability for the Mn4+ doped ceramic. The study reveals that small traces of Mn4+ can modify (K0.485Na0.5Li0.015)(Nb0.98V0.02)O3 system so as to improve its ferroelectric properties with good thermal stability over a wide range of temperature. Keywords—Ceramics, dielectric properties, ferroelectric properties, lead-free, sintering, thermal stability.


There is a growing tendency for policy makers to frame climate change action in terms of non-climate benefits, raising important empirical questions regarding the utility of such approaches. Across three studies we explore whether (and when) non-climate frames can lead to greater support for climate policy relative to climate frames. In Study 1 we framed a car-use reduction policy in relation to climate change or public health and showed that non-climate frames can stimulate greater support for climate policy. Study 2 explored frame relevance as a potential boundary condition to the efficacy of non-climate frames. Study 3 found that attempts to frame climate policy in relation to non-climate issues that affect participants personally can fail if that issue is not seen as being sufficiently relevant. We suggest that non-climate frames can be an effective tool in stimulating support for climate policy, however greater consideration of the key mechanisms is required.


Investors' previous experiences with a stock affect their willingness to repurchase that stock. Using detailed trade data from two brokers, the authors document that investors are reluctant to repurchase stocks previously sold for a loss and stocks that have risen in price subsequent to a prior sale. The authors propose that this behavior reflects investors' emotional reactions to trading and their attempts to distance themselves from negative emotions (e.g., disappointment, regret). Investors are disappointed when they sell a stock for a loss and regret having ever purchased the stock; these negative emotions deter investors from later repurchasing stocks they sold for a loss. Having sold a stock, investors are disappointed if the stock continues to rise and regret having sold the stock in the first place; these negative emotions deter investors from repurchasing stocks that go up since being sold. Thus, investors engage in reinforcement learning by repurchasing stocks whose previous purchase resulted in positive emotions and avoiding stocks whose previous purchase resulted in negative emotions.


This paper deals with a rotor temperature estimation scheme for fan-cooled mains-fed squirrel-cage induction motors. The proposed technique combines a rotor resistance estimation method with a thermal equivalent circuit. Usually, rotor resistance estimation works quite well under rated load conditions. By contrast, if the motor is slightly loaded, rotor resistance estimation becomes inaccurate due to the small slip. Therefore, rotor temperature estimation under low-load conditions may be estimated by a thermal equivalent model. In order to determine the rotor resistance and, thus, rotor temperature accurately, several machine parameters have to be obtained in advance. Load tests provide the leakage reactance and the iron losses of the induct machine. The stator resistance has to be measured separately. The parameters of the thermal equivalent model are a thermal resistance and a thermal capacitance. These parameters are derived from a heating test, where the reference temperature is provided from the parameter model in the time domain. This lumped thermal parameter model is based on the assumption that the total rotor temperature increase is caused by the total sum of the losses in the induction machine. Measuring results of a 1.5-kW and an 18.5-kW four-pole low-voltage motor and a 210-kW four-pole high-voltage motor are presented and compared.


The reaction products formed upon exposure of selected
artists' colorants to gas-phase nitric acid have been identified
using chemical ionization mass spectrometry. The
two organic colorants that were most nitric acid-fugitive
were triphenylmethane derivatives: the chloride cationic
dye basic fuchsin yielded the corresponding nitrate salt,
and the carbinol pararosaniline yielded the corresponding
organic nitrate ester. Both also yielded small amounts of
benzophenones. Other colorants studied yielded only small
amounts of oxidation (but not nitration) products, i.e.,
phenols and/or ring-opening products: benzoic acid and
hydroxyquinacridone from acridones, isatin and isatoic
anhydride from indigo, trihydroxyanthraquinone from
alizarin, and phthalic acid from Alizarin Crimson. The
corresponding reaction mechanisms are outlined. The
results are discussed in terms of possible damage to colorants
in museum collections resulting from exposure to
atmospheric nitric acid.


A significant portion of recent research in computer vision has focused on issues related to sensitivity and robustness of existing techniques. In this paper, we study the classical structure from motion problem and analyze how the statistics representing the quality of the input video propagates through the reconstruction algorithm and affects the quality of the output reconstruction. Specifically, we show that it is possible to derive analytical expressions of the first and second order statistics (bias and error covariance) of the solution as a function of the statistics of the input. We concentrate on the case of reconstruction from a monocular video, where the small baseline makes any algorithm very susceptible to noise in the motion estimates from the video sequence. We derive an expression relating the error covariance of the reconstruction to the error covariance of the feature tracks in the input video. This is done using the implicit function theorem of real analysis and does not require strong statistical assumptions. Next, we prove that the 3D reconstruction is statistically biased, derive an expression for it and show that it is numerically significant. Combining these two results, we also establish a new bound on the minimum error in the depth reconstruction. We present the numerical significance of these analytical results on real video data.


Tumor growth curves are classically modeled by ordinary differential equations. In analyzing the Gompertz model several studies have reported a striking correlation between the two parameters of the model. We analyzed tumor growth kinetics within the statistical framework of nonlinear mixed-effects (population approach). This allowed for the simultaneous modeling of tumor dynamics and interanimal variability. Experimental data comprised three animal models of breast and lung cancers, with 843 measurements in 94 animals. Candidate models of tumor growth included the Exponential, Logistic and Gompertz. The Exponential and – more notably – Logistic models failed to describe the experimental data whereas the Gompertz model generated very good fits. The population-level correlation between the Gompertz parameters was further confirmed in our analysis (R2 > 0.96 in all groups). Combining this structural correlation with rigorous population parameter estimation, we propose a novel reduced Gompertz function consisting of a single individual parameter. Leveraging the population approach using bayesian inference, we estimated the time of tumor initiation using three late measurement timepoints. The reduced Gompertz model was found to exhibit the best results, with drastic improvements when using bayesian inference as compared to likelihood maximization alone, for both accuracy and precision. Specifically, mean accuracy was 12.1% versus 74.1% and mean precision was 15.2 days versus 186 days, for the breast cancer cell line. These results offer promising clinical perspectives for the personalized prediction of tumor age from limited data at diagnosis. In turn, such predictions could be helpful for assessing the extent of invisible metastasis at the time of diagnosis. Author summary Mathematical models for tumor growth kinetics have been widely used since several decades but mostly fitted to individual or average growth curves. Here we compared three classical models (Exponential, Logistic and Gompertz) using a population approach, which accounts for inter-animal variability. The Exponential and the Logistic models failed to fit the experimental data while the Gompertz model showed excellent descriptive power. Moreover, the strong correlation between the two parameters of the Gompertz equation motivated a simplification of the model, the reduced Gompertz model, with a single individual parameter and equal descriptive power. Combining the mixed-effects approach with Bayesian inference, we predicted the age of individual tumors with only few late measurements. Thanks to its simplicity, the reduced Gompertz model showed superior predictive power. Although our method remains to be extended to clinical data, these results are promising for the personalized estimation of the age of a tumor from limited measurements at diagnosis. Such predictions could contribute to the development of computational models for metastasis.


Scaffold design for bone regeneration is currently widely investigated as pore architecture can dramatically impact tissue formation in porous biomaterials used in regenerative medicine. A wide variety of 3D structures is used for this purpose, which has become even more important given the geometric freedom offered by emerging rapid prototyping techniques. Therefore, optimal design of pore architecture to maximize tissue formation and ingrowth is required. Tissue formation is frequently assessed in certain established scaffold structures, produced mainly as the end result of a particular fabrication process and its limitations. However, instead, scaffold architecture design should be based on the knowledge of how tissue actually forms in porous structures in the first place. Tissue formation within porous structures can be dependent on several parameters, such as cell generated forces, cell division, cytoskeleton and extracellular matrix arrangement. Tissue differentiation is also an important aspect as once cells commit to a lineage, the proliferation could decrease. These aspects have been extensively shown to be modulated biochemically. However, the impact of different 3D structures is still largely unclear. Therefore, in this thesis, it is aimed to characterise 3D tissue formation within different structures. For this purpose, an in vitro system with well-defined open pore slots of 1cm length, 1mm thickness and varying width (hundreds of micrometres) was used to characterise tissue growth solely as a function of pore geometry. This system provided a 3D environment for neo-tissue formation while minimizing nutrient limitations associated with full 3D constructs. This thesis is the outcome of three studies. The first was focused on tissue formation kinetics in four different pore widths of 200, 300, 400 and 500 ?m. For this purpose, a unique system made of calcium phosphate cement with open pores was designed and fabricated. Several types of microscopy were used such as optical microscopy, time-lapse microscopy, epi-fluorescence microscopy and confocal microscopy. Results demonstrated that the material was biocompatible with Human Bone Marrow Stromal Cells and that tissue formation was strongly influenced by pore geometry. Both velocity of tissue invasion and area of tissue formed increased as pores became narrower. This was associated with distinct patterns of actin cytoskeleton organisation depending on pore width, indicating the role of active cell generated forces. The second study is a more detailed characterisation of the type of tissue regenerated and its organisation. The neo-tissue was seen to display an osteoid-like collagen matrix. The main elements constituting a tissue i.e. cells, actin cytoskeleton and collagen matrix were imaged and their organisation was quantified with various image analysis methods. Results showed a significantly higher alignment with the longitudinal pore axis in the 200 ?m compared to the 500 ?m pores for all the tissue components analysed. By relating tissue orientation with its expansion rate, the results suggested that increased tissue alignment could be an important factor enhancing tissue formation. In the third study, tissue differentiation was assessed as a function of pore size. Expression of intermediate and late bone markers was assessed, Alkaline Phosphatase and Osteopontin respectively. Results showed that both markers were expressed, indicating that the neo-tissue regenerated reached late state of differentiation and is prepared for mineralization. The expression of these markers was semi-quantitatively evaluated. ALP expression was expressed increasingly as tissue "age" increased. A gradient was observed with increasing staining intensity towards the starting point of tissue formation. Thus, the results revealed presence of distinct zones in which cells are in different states associated with various functions (proliferation or differentiation). Additionally, the expression of Osteopontin assessed semi quantitatively did not show any notable differences between pore widths. However, the results obtained displayed high variability between replicates. Therefore, it was only concluded that neo-tissue formed in both structures was able to express early (second study, chapter 4), intermediate and late osteogenic markers, although no significant differences were found between the different pore widths. This demonstrated that the tissue regenerated had committed to the osteogenic pathway, with the potential for full differentiation into mineralized tissue, which needs to be confirmed in future studies. Overall, the results presented in this thesis provide evidence for the hypothesis that pore geometry affects tissue growth capacity by modulating tissue organisation. Key factors governing tissue formation in vitro were elucidated, highlighting the importance of the interplay between cell division, cell mechanics, cytoskeleton dynamics, tissue spatial organisation, matrix deposition and differentiation in relation to porous structure.


The following bibliography is intended to assist people interested in studying the economics of world grain trade. The intended audience is professional economists and students with a research interest. The bibliography includes material on analytical techniques, history, and institutions related to grain trade. A separate list of data sources follows the main entries. The subject is limited to economic aspects of grain rather than to technical agriculture. Coverage is more extensive for wheat than for other grains. The list emphasizes international trade in grain, although for some countries domestic agriculture and trade are inseparable. Interdependence between the domestic and foreign sectors is particularly prominent in the area of trade policy.


Considerable progress has been made in understanding implant wear and developing numerical models to predict certain aspects of wear for new orthopaedic devices. However, any model of wear could be improved through a more accurate representation of the biomaterial micromechanics, including time-varying dynamic and inelastic behaviour such as viscous and plastic deformation as well as any history-dependent evolution of its microstructural properties. Under in-vivo conditions, the contact surface of the UHMWPE tibial insert evolves as a result of applied loads and complex multidirectional motions of the femoral component against it. Overt time, severe inelastic deformations and damage mechanisms occur and ultimately lead to wear. This process is accompanied by the release of UHMWPE debris in the surrounding tissues with the direct consequences of triggering an inflammatory response that leads to osteolysis and subsequently periprosthetic implant loosening. In that case a revision surgery is required. Motivated by these facts, the current research effort has been motivated by the need to gain a mechanistic insight into the micromechanical mechanisms associated with wear of UHMWPE in knee arthroplasty. To this end, two main lines of focus have been followed in this work. One line of focus concerns the inelastic mechanisms of deformation such as creep and plasticity since they are critical in altering the contact properties of the articulating surface of UHMWPE components, leading to damage and formation of wear debris. Therefore, the relative contributions of elastic, creep, and plastic deformations on the contact area, and so contact pressure has been investigated through different numerical techniques. Additionally, contact pressure is a critical input parameter of computational wear algorithms, and it is therefore essential to establish the nature of and quantify the interplay between contact pressure, contact area, creep and plastic deformations. What are the consequences of neglecting creep deformations on wear predictions? A first approach to investigate these aspects consisted in conducting a series of physicallybased finite element analyses replicating the mechanical characteristics and operating conditions of an AMTI Knee Simulator. Experimental creep testing on a unicondylar knee replacement system in a physiologically representative context was simulated. In both studies, linear elastic, plastic and time-varying visco-dynamic properties of computational models were benchmarked using literature data to predict contact deformations, pressures and areas. Results indicate that creep deformations have a significant effect on both experimental and simulated contact pressures at the surface of the UHMWPE tibial insert. The use of a purely elastoplastic constitutive model for UHMWPE lead to compressive deformations of the insert which were in general smaller than those predicted by a creep-capturing viscoelastic model. At high compressive loads, inelastic deformation mechanisms dominate the mechanical response of UHMWPE components by altering the surface geometry (i.e. contact area), and therefore the contact pressure. The second line of focus concerns the study of the role of transient and permanent polymer chain realignment during multidirectional sliding, and its potential correlation to wear. The main working hypothesis is that the evolution of the UHMWPE microstructure during multidirectional pin-on-disk (POD) tests can provide information on possible correlations between wear, sliding track characteristics and the mechanics of UHMWPE. Therefore, finite element-based POD tests were used to investigate the effects of motion paths in simulated multidirectional sliding motions on metrics related to the mechanical response of UHMWPE, with particular attention to evolution of molecular chain realignment. For this purpose, the concept of anticoaxiality as a measure of molecular chain realignment (or anisotropy) has been introduced. The concept of anticoaxiality as a measure of molecular chain realignment (or anisotropy) was introduced to quantify the deviation from mechanical isotropy of UHMWPE microstructure. Results from these metrics support the hypothesis that multidirectional sliding as well as long sliding distances produced microstructural changes in UHMWPE, resulting in an enhanced likelihood of material damage, and so wear.


This paper presents an analytical investigation on the design method and modeling of an air bearing system for ball-joint-like actuators. It addresses the method of regulating the three DOF translations of the rotor introduced by the air bearing system and thereby improving the dynamic performance of the orientation motion manipulation. The kinematics, which relates the rotor displacement and the air gaps, are essential for design optimization, dynamic simulation and motion control, are derived in closed-form. With a detailed modeling of the pressure-flow relationship as a function of the rotor position, the forces and dynamics of the system are formulated, and design methods of regulating the rotor displacement have been explored analytically. Simulation results suggest that the fluid forces could be generated to passively stabilize the otherwise open loop unstable electromagnetic system. It is expected that this research will be a basis for designing and evaluating an improved VR spherical motor with enhanced torque capability by eliminating mechanical friction.