Within psychology, the term habit refers to a process whereby contexts prompt action automatically, through activation of mental context–action associations learned through prior performances. Habitual behavior is regulated by an impulsive process, and so can be elicited with minimal cognitive effort, awareness, control, or intention. When an initially goal-directed behavior becomes habitual, action initiation transfers from conscious motivational processes to context-cued impulse-driven mechanisms. Regulation of action becomes detached from motivational or volitional control. Upon encountering the associated context, the urge to enact the habitual behavior is spontaneously triggered and alternative behavioral responses become less cognitively accessible.
 By virtue of its cue-dependent automatic nature, theory proposes that habit strength will predict the likelihood of enactment of habitual behavior, and that strong habitual tendencies will tend to dominate over motivational tendencies. Support for these effects has been found for many health-related behaviors, such as healthy eating, physical activity, and medication adherence. This has stimulated interest in habit formation as a behavior change mechanism: It has been argued that adding habit formation components into behavior change interventions should shield new behaviors against motivational lapses, making them more sustainable in the long-term. Interventions based on the habit-formation model differ from non-habit-based interventions in that they include elements that promote reliable context-dependent repetition of the target behavior, with the aim of establishing learned context–action associations that manifest in automatically cued behavioral responses. Interventions may also seek to harness these processes to displace an existing "bad" habit with a "good" habit.
 Research around the application of habit formation to health behavior change interventions is reviewed, drawn from two sources: extant theory and evidence regarding how habit forms, and previous interventions that have used habit formation principles and techniques to change behavior. Behavior change techniques that may facilitate movement through discrete phases in the habit formation trajectory are highlighted, and techniques that have been used in previous interventions are explored based on a habit formation framework. Although these interventions have mostly shown promising effects on behavior, the unique impact on behavior of habit-focused components and the longevity of such effects are not yet known. As an intervention strategy, habit formation has been shown to be acceptable to intervention recipients, who report that through repetition, behaviors gradually become routinized. Whether habit formation interventions truly offer a route to long-lasting behavior change, however, remains unclear.


The study of the thermal stability of Ni3Al nanoneedles in the dependence on the sharpness and crystallography orientation of the needle axis was held using molecular dynamics method. It is shown that the most stability nanoneedles in the conditions of thermal influence are the ones with the axis along [111] direction. Violation of the nanoneedles stability associated with their blunting, which is caused by surface diffusion. Stable radius of curvature of the needles at low temperatures, depending on the angle of the tip and orientation of the needle axis, is 0.6-1 nm.


The accurate prediction of operating temperatures of temperature-sensitive electronic parts at the component-, board-, and system-level is seriously hampered by the tack of reliable, standardized input data. The situation which prevails today is that component manufacturers supply to end users experimental data which characterizes the thermal behavior of packages under a set of standardized and idealized conditions. Such characterizations normally involve the junction-to-case thermal resistance or the junction-to-ambient resistance according to MIL or SEMI standards. There are several practical difficulties associated with such an approach, which will be shortly commented upon. Today, the need for more accurate junction temperature prediction becomes increasingly urgent, and the call for a precise definition of the various thermal resistances is heard by a growing number of researchers. An earlier paper discussed the pros and cons of several methods that describe the thermal behavior of electronic parts. It was concluded that none of these methods is capable of meeting the objectives that are proposed. In this paper, a novel approach is introduced, based on the derivation of a simple resistance network starting from a detailed model, using optimization techniques. The proposed method is applied to two cases:a so-called "validation" chip, functioning as a benchmark for the software that is used to generate the detailed model; and a 208-PQFP component. It is demonstrated that it is possible to create a compact model comprising a simple resistance network, representing the detailed model to a high accuracy, which is independent of the boundary conditions.


The transcription factor IRF5 promotes macrophage differentiation in Helicobacter-driven intestinal inflammation in mice. Targeting overzealous macrophages Intestinal homeostasis relies on maintenance of a complex set of interactions between intestinal microbiota and the intestinal immune system. Pathogens that colonize the gut invariably disrupt these interactions and promote intestinal inflammation. Here, Corbin et al. have used a mouse pathobiont, Helicobacter hepaticus, that causes inflammation akin to human inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) to study the role of intestinal macrophages in driving inflammation. Using this model, they found the transcription factor IRF5 to be a critical regulator of macrophage inflammatory potential and that deletion of IRF5 rendered mice resistant to H. hepaticus–driven intestinal inflammation. Their studies propose IRF5 and molecules upstream of IRF5 to be potential drug targets in the treatment of human IBD. Mononuclear phagocytes (MNPs) are vital for maintaining intestinal homeostasis but, in response to acute microbial stimulation, can also trigger immunopathology, accelerating recruitment of Ly6Chi monocytes to the gut. The regulators that control monocyte tissue adaptation in the gut remain poorly understood. Interferon regulatory factor 5 (IRF5) is a transcription factor previously shown to play a key role in maintaining the inflammatory phenotype of macrophages. Here, we investigate the impact of IRF5 on the MNP system and physiology of the gut at homeostasis and during inflammation. We demonstrate that IRF5 deficiency has a limited impact on colon physiology at steady state but ameliorates immunopathology during Helicobacter hepaticus–induced colitis. Inhibition of IRF5 activity in MNPs phenocopies global IRF5 deficiency. Using a combination of bone marrow chimera and single-cell RNA-sequencing approaches, we examined the intrinsic role of IRF5 in controlling colonic MNP development. We demonstrate that IRF5 promotes differentiation of Ly6Chi monocytes into CD11c+ macrophages and controls the production of antimicrobial and inflammatory mediators by these cells. Thus, we identify IRF5 as a key transcriptional regulator of the colonic MNP system during intestinal inflammation.


The technique of photogrammetric survey has seen in recent years some significant progress. It is now possible to calculate three-dimensional models almost fully automatically from digital images. Preventive archaeology often requires exhaustive recording of huge datasets in a limited period. Digital photogrammetry enables to record complex elements in a simple and costless way. The originality of the implemented solution resides in the use of a free and open-source software and in the use of a low-cost hardware for photographic acquisition. The French National Geographic Institute (IGN) has developed a software package dedicated to photogrammetry. This software is free and under open-source license. It is dedicated to scientific use and can generate three-dimensional models similar to those obtained by commercial softwares. The software package is well documented and has an active community of developers and users. Preventives excavations are documented with conventional techniques by topographic surveys, manual drawings and photographs. But when the amount and complexity of the structures make it difficult for a classic recording, then a photogrammetric survey is performed. The objective is to record and document the excavation as quickly as possible. An aerial photogrammetric survey is able to complete or replace a topographic survey and classical drawing operations (stone by stone). Unfortunately, using an UAV (Unmanned Aerial Vehicle) is often unthinkable for security issues, administrative permissions and cost. This is why a pole is used to perform detailed vertical recordings of excavation sites. The pole is initially designed to sound recording. It is equipped with a two axes head permitting to correctly adjust the vertical position of the camera. It has the advantage of being handy and light, allowing the activation of a remote triggering system while holding the pole in position. Point clouds can then be exploited by archaeologists with CloudCompare. It is a free and open-souce software for processing point clouds. It was originally designed to make comparisons between clouds, but now has a whole toolbox. It is main interest arises from it is ability to process large point clouds. Orthophotographs are georeferenced and come with a DTM (Digital Terrain Model) which enables direct measurement of the altitude of the elements through a GIS (Geographic Information System) interface. The GIS software used at INRAP is the free and open-source software QuantumGIS. Orthophotographs are directly integrated into the GIS, in addition to traditional surveying and vectorized manual drawings. This methodology of acquisition and processing is now commonly used at INRAP and more particularly in Corsica. Indeed preventives excavations, in this offshore region, involve some logistical problems. The interest of this methodology is also the use of a completely free and open-source professional software suite and a low-cost hardware. Ultimately, this methodology tends to be used in other regions, when the use of an UAV is not possible.


GAUDI is a software framework in C++ used to build event data processing applications using a set of standard components with well-defined interfaces. Simulation, high-level trigger, reconstruction, and analysis programs used by several experiments are developed using GAUDI. These applications can be configured and driven by simple Python scripts. Given the fact that a considerable amount of existing software has been developed using serial methodology, and has existed in some cases for many years, implementation of parallelisation techniques at the framework level may offer a way of exploiting current multi-core technologies to maximize performance and reduce latencies without re-writing thousands/millions of lines of code. In the solution we have developed, the parallelization techniques are introduced to the high level Python scripts which configure and drive the applications, such that the core C++ application code requires no modification, and that end users need make only minimal changes to their scripts. The developed solution leverages from existing generic Python modules that support parallel processing. Naturally, the parallel version of a given program should produce results consistent with its serial execution. The evaluation of several prototypes incorporating various parallelization techniques are presented and discussed.


In Starting Out with App Inventor for Android, Tony Gaddis and Rebecca Halsey teach the fundamentals of programming while simultaneously showing students how to create fun, useful, and imaginative apps. Because App Inventor allows students to create apps and see them running on a phone, programming becomes a personally meaningful skill. Gaddis's highly accessible, step-by-step presentation presents all the details needed to understand the "how" and the "why"-but never loses sight of the fact that most novice programmers struggle with this material. His gradual approach ensures that readers understand the logic behind developing high-quality programs. Teaching and Learning Experience This program presents a better teaching and learning experience-for you and your students. It will help: *Engage Students with Dynamic Mobile Apps: Students not only learn how to create their own apps, they can actually see them run on their phone or the Android emulator. *Enhance Learning with the Gaddis Approach: Gaddis's accessible approach features clear and easy-to-read code listings, concise real-world examples, and exercises in every chapter. *Motivate Learning: When students learn they can easily create their own mobile apps, they become motivated to learn programming-whether that is in the CSO or CS1 course. *Integrate App Inventor in the Classroom: App Inventor can be used in a variety of ways in the classroom, and this text is designed to accommodate all of them.


Anomalous microwave emission (AME) is detected in many astrophysical environments as a foreground feature typically peaking between 20–30 GHz and extending over a 10–60 GHz range. One of the leading candidates for the source of AME is small spinning dust grains. Such grains should be very small (approx. ≤1 nm diameter) in order for the rotational emission to fall within the observed frequency range. In addition, these nanosized grains should possess a significant dipole moment to account for the observed emissivities. These constraints have been shown to be compatible with spinning bare nanosilicate clusters, assuming that ∼1% of the total Si mass budget is held in these ultrasmall grains. Silicate dust can be hydroxylated by processing in the interstellar medium and is generally known to provide seeds for molecular water ice nucleation in denser regions. Herein, we use quantum chemical calculations to investigate how the dipole moment of Mg-rich pyroxenic (MgSiO3) nanoclusters is affected by both accretion of molecular water and dissociative hydration. Our work thus provides an indication of how the formation of water ice mantles is likely to affect the capacity of nanosilicates to generate AME.


On October 2002, a seismic swarm occurred on Mt. Etna. One of the strongest events caused severe damage, up to a European Macroseismic Scale inten- sity of VIII that contrasts with its local magnitude of 4.4. The occurrence of significant damage at such a small magnitude is repeatedly observed in the area and is tradition- ally attributed to shallow source. Recorded strong-motion accelerograms and broad- band seismograms demonstrate that there is one more cause for the severe damage, that is, an anomalously strong low-frequency (0:1 <f< 1 Hz) radiation deviating from the conventional Brune (1970) spectral scaling. Therefore, these earthquakes cause large ground displacements and long (≈20 sec) durations of shaking. The integration of digital accelerograms yields a maximum peak ground displacement as large as 1.8 cm at a distance of 18 km. Based on the sharp local attenuation of ground motion in the study area, we infer that peak ground displacements near the epicenters did exceed 10 cm. The occurrence of large displacements caused selective damage to medium-rise (≥3 stories) reinforced concrete buildings and elements like church facades. The frequency cutoff below 1.25 Hz in the Wood-Anderson response attenuates the peak-to-peak amplitudes used to assess local magnitudes. Therefore, ML values are not representative of the real strength of volcanic earthquakes. Because a prompt magnitude (and damage potential) assessment is crucial for civil protection actions, a procedure is proposed which, in near-real time, can be successful in identifying po- tentially damaging earthquakes of Mt. Etna through the computation of pseudove- locity response spectra. The procedure provides a magnitude value that is derived on a statistical basis from the Housner (1952) spectral intensity computed in the low-frequency band. This parameter is a suitable near-real-time indicator of large earthquake-induced building shaking and could also be applied for a preliminary es- timate of the epicentral macroseismic intensity.


OBJECTIVE
To describe the vulnerability to sexually transmitted HIV/AIDS of short distance truck drivers.

METHODS
Using a snowball sampling procedure, 279 truck drivers working in the port area and vicinities, unions and workers' associations of Santos, Brazil, were selected and interviewed. Face-to-face interviews were carried out using open and closed questions covered demographic characteristics, sexual practices, drug use, knowledge of HIV and AIDS, previous contact with HIV prevention programs, and perception of their vulnerability to HIV and Aids. A descriptive analysis was carried out and reports are presented to illustrate some scenarios of vulnerability.

RESULTS
Of all 279 truck drivers interviewed, 93% had a stable female partner, 40% engaged in casual sexual with female partners, and 19% said to have sex with other regular partners. Vulnerability to HIV is increased by inconsistent condom use in all categories of sexual partners. Long periods away from home seem not to be the only factor for their vulnerability to HIV as seen in studies on long distance truck drivers.

CONCLUSIONS
The macho culture and traditional male behaviors are prominently seen among truck drivers. There is a need of investing more on prevention in this professional group. Prevention programs at the work environment seem to be a promising strategy, since it allows a better understanding of the workers' setting and development of customized educational interventions.


A diagnosis of anomalous pulmonary arteries is seldom made before surgery. Preoperative recognition of this condition is most important in cases of pulmonary disease requiring surgery of a lower lobe. The severance of such a vessel may result in exsanguination. In such a case we found the EPA (erect posterior-anterior roentgenogram) of the chest and the planogram to be of great aid in making the diagnosis. Anomalous pulmonary arteries are frequently associated with another congenital defect, called intralobar sequestration of the lung. This latter condition consists of normal or polycystic lung substance within normal lung tissue. The abnormal pulmonary mass may have no bronchial drainage or may be supplied by a normal bronchial tree which is closed at the hilus; occasionally, the sequestrated lung tissue is associated with an abnormal bronchus which courses inferiorly towards the diaphragm. When the lung is involved in a pneumonic process, this sequestrated tissue similarly


Abstract The thick sequences of Upper Palaeozoic strata present in the Southern North Sea Basin were probably deposited on a basement of Caledonian low-grade metamorphic rocks intruded by numerous late-Caledonian granitoids which form part of the subsurface extension of the Mid-European Caledonides linking the English Lake District and Northern Pennines to the Ardennes. This basement, along with the better known onshore areas of the British Isles and Ireland was intensely fragmented during late Devonian to mid-Carboniferous times by a major phase of extensional tectonics. Active fault-bounded tilted blocks developed in the Dinantian with deposition of fluviatile redbeds, marine carbonate/deltaic clastic cycles and deltaic coastal plain facies. These are penetrated by a number of wells on the southern flanks of the Mid-North Sea High, but details of basin geometries and facies distributions remain unclear. Crustal stretching appears to have given way to thermal subsidence by early to mid-Namurian times. This was coincident with a major climatic change, probably forced by glacial expansion in Gondwanaland. The major drainage system that resulted dominated sedimentation in the SNSCB, punctuated by numerous marine transgressions of undoubted glacio-eustatic origins. Within this broad depositional framework, Namurian facies were closely controlled by basement tilt block topography, with good evidence for a gradual southerly migration of the active fairways of fluviodeltaic sandbodies. Westphalian facies were dominated by the interplay between glacio-eustatic and sedimentary processes on a vast low-gradient alluvial plain with much less pronounced tectonic control. By late-Westphalian B times a phase of basin inversion caused the gradual elevation of the area as a retro-arc foreland basin. Vadose diagenesis and pedogenesis occurred in the fluviatile facies of the so-called Barren Red Measures (BRM). With continued compressive deformation a series of over 50 NW-SE orientated folds, some associated with thrusts, developed. Significant erosion and truncation of these inversion anticlines was accompanied by the deposition of the BRM facies in characteristic growth fold basins, with marked onlap around the basin margins. The Carboniferous play in the SNSCB has been greatly influenced by the subsequent Mesozoic/Cenozoic geological history of the basin, including periods of subsidence and uplift. We demonstrate that variations in original detrital mineralogy and various diagenetic processes have exerted significant controls upon Carboniferous reservoir quality.


In the paper the inference machine model for vocation psychology was build and developed by a rule-based rough set theory. At first, the rough set is used to optimize the rules for career psychological identification, by which the complexity of the neural network can be avoided. Second, the features used by the questionnaires are selected for input parameters of the classifier to incorporate more human like decision-making, whereas in other works, only a few of features or different characteristic options on the questionnaire, are used as deterministic parameters. A knowledge base of the behaviour characteristics and questionnaire analysis is developed from the feedbacks of some reputed career guides. These features are extracted from the carefully designed questionnaire. A rule -based rough set decision system is developed from these features to make an inference engine for career psychological identification.


ABSTRACTThere is an increasing demand of air filters with a high collection performance, i.e., high collection efficiency and low pressure drop, for the application to indoor air cleaning. Air filters consisting of nanofibers have attracted great interests since they may have a low pressure drop because of slip flow effect and high collection efficiency due to interception. Although various nanofiber filters are available on the market, their collection performance is not as high as expected by the conventional filtration theory because non-uniform packing of fibers plays a significant role. In the present work, the collection performance of nanofiber (780 nm) and microfiber (11.2 µm) mixed filters with various mixing fractions was studied in order to maximize the quality factor of filter, qF, as a function of mixing fraction of nanofibers. The collection performance of mixed fiber filters was predicted by using theoretical equations reported by Bao et al. (1998) for bimodal distribution of fibers. As a result, it was found that the mixed fiber filters had a uniform fiber packing compared to laminated filters and that the collection efficiency was well predicted by introducing the inhomogeneity factor calculated for the filter consisting of two distinct fiber sizes. Furthermore, we found that the mixed fiber filter with the nanofiber mixing fraction of 5% in mass had the highest quality factor.


There has been much recent discussion about the idea that large whales are potential competitors with fisheries for available marine resources. Based on this idea, often referred to as the 'whales eat fish' conflict, culling whales has been proposed as a way to increase resources available for human consumption and thereby ensuring global food security. However, the scientific basis for such arguments remains unclear, especially in the Caribbean waters where baleen whales generally do not feed. In this article, we (i) develop an ecosystem model describing the trophic interactions between whales, fish and fisheries in the Caribbean waters, (ii) calculate the level of overlap between cetaceans and fisheries for food resources, and (iii) simulate the removal of cetaceans from the Caribbean waters in order to quantify the potential increase in available biomass of commercially important fish. Ten groups of cetaceans are considered in the model, including baleen whales, toothed whales and small cetaceans. Our results suggest that baleen whales are not a threat to fisheries in Caribbean waters, while toothed cetaceans seem to be more impacted by fisheries than they actually impacting them. Whales target different types of food resources and consume significantly less than what is taken by fisheries. Moreover, simulated reductions in large whale abundance do not produce any appreciable increase in biomass of the commercially important fish species. In some cases, the presence of some whales actually improves fishery yield as a result of indirect predation effects.


BACKGROUND
This article reviews the potential of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in prostate cancer diagnosis.

METHODS
Systematic scan of Pubmed, Ovid, Medline, Elsevier search engines was used, additional information was found through bibliographic review of relevant articles. Results. Substantial progress has been made in the imaging of prostate cancer in MR imaging, as well as in advanced MR spectroscopy.

CONCLUSIONS
MRI is a non-invasive and direct imaging modality useful for cancer staging, therapy response, detection of recurrence and guided biopsy in previous negative biopsies. MRI with 3.0T system, whole-body MRI, dynamic contrast enhanced MRI, diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI) and MR spectroscopy (MRS) have improved tumor staging, assessment of tumor volume, aggressiveness or recurrence. Implementation of endorectal/phased array superficial MRI findings on 1.5 or 3.0T systems into nomograms for prostate pretreatment prediction is warranted. Surface phasedarray coil MRI accurately defines prostate cancer with elevated risk of extraprostatic disease.


The increase in both power and packing densities in power electronic devices has led to an increase in the market demand for effective heat-dissipating materials, with high thermal conductivity and thermal- expansion coefficient compatible with chip materials still ensuring the reliability of the power modules. In this context, metal matrix composites: carbon fibers and diamond-reinforced copper and aluminum matrix composites among them are considered very promising as a next generation of thermal-management materials in power electronic packages. These composites exhibit enhanced thermal properties compared to pure copper combined with lower density. This article presents the fabrication techniques of copper/carbon fibers and copper/diamond and aluminum/carbon fibers composite films by powder metallurgy and hot pressing. The thermal analyses clearly indicate that interfacial treatments are required in these composites to achieve high thermomechanical properties. Interfaces (through novel chemical and processing methods), when selected carefully and processed properly will form the right chemical/mechanical link between metal and carbon, enhancing all the desired thermal properties while minimizing the deleterious effect.


Purpose: It has been suggested that a subgroup of human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2)–negative breast cancer patients with chromosome 17 (Chr-17) polysomy benefit from HER2-directed therapy. This hypothesis was examined using the data from a phase III trial that randomized patients with HER2-negative or HER2-untested metastatic breast cancer to first-line therapy with paclitaxel along with either lapatinib or placebo. Experimental Design: HER2 expression level by immunohistochemistry, fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH), and mean HER2 ratio of Chr-17 values were determined centrally using archival tissue. Polysomy means of 2.0 and 2.2 served as thresholds. Results: Of 580 patients on the original trial, 406 were HER2 negative by FISH. Progression-free survival (PFS) data were available for 405 patients, of whom 44 (11%) met the definition of polysomy (Chr-17 ≥2.2, FISH negative for HER2). Median PFS in the polysomy group was 20.9 and 24.4 weeks for paclitaxel plus lapatinib and paclitaxel plus placebo, respectively. In the nonpolysomy group, median PFS was 24.6 and 23.1 weeks for paclitaxel plus lapatinib and paclitaxel plus placebo, respectively. Log-rank testing showed no treatment advantage for either group. Similar results were found using a Chr-17 polysomy cutoff of 2.0. Response rates in the polysomy group were 17% for paclitaxel plus lapatinib and 10% for paclitaxel plus placebo. In the nonpolysomy group, response rates were 32% for paclitaxel plus lapatinib and 25% for paclitaxel plus placebo. Neither comparison was statistically significant. Conclusion: This analysis could not confirm the hypothesis that Chr-17 polysomy in HER2-nonamplified patients improved chemotherapy outcome when lapatinib is added as a HER2-targeted treatment. Clin Cancer Res; 16(4); 1281–8


In the past fifteen years, financial regulators from the developed world have attempted to create international regulatory standards in a variety of financial issue areas. Their negotiations are notable for the stark variation in the preferences of regulators toward international regulatory harmonization. Certain regulators actively resist any attempts at regulatory harmonization, while others are vocal in their advocacy for an international agreement. When will regulators seek to harmonize their rules with their foreign counterparts? I propose a principal-agent framework for analyzing regulator behavior that views international harmonization as a means of satisfying domestic political pressures. The framework predicts that regulators are more likely to seek international regulatory harmonization when confidence in the stability of financial institutions is declining, and when competitive pressures are increasing from foreign firms facing less stringent regulations. I explore the consistency of the framework with two important cases in the history of international financial regulation: the negotiations among bank regulators leading up to the 1988 Basel Accord on bank capital adequacy, and the negotiations among securities regulators over capital adequacy for securities firms between 1988 and 1992.I thank Gabe Aguilera, David Bach, Ethan Bueno de Mesquita, Dan Carpenter, Bill Clark, Mark Copelovitch, Jeff Frieden, Dan Gingerich, Dan Ho, Devesh Kapur, Joseph N. R. Sanberg, Ross Schaap, Allan Stam, Matt Stephenson, two anonymous reviewers, and the editors of IO for helpful comments, discussions, and feedback. I am also indebted to the thirty current and former regulators and financial industry executives who participated in interviews to advance this project. Finally, I thank the Weatherhead Center for International Affairs and the Center for European Studies for research funding.


In Mobile Ad Hoc Networks (MANETs), the security threats are critical, when deploying secure applications especially considering the confidentiality of the data that can be compromised. In usual communication networks, there is a need to establish ad hoc temporary connections in many scenar-ios. Data transfer in this ad hoc wireless network is important and it is not easy to establish the large infrastructure. When data is highly confidential, then it is a challenging task to provide security particularly in the malicious environment. Many papers proposed various solutions as to counter-act internal and external security attacks. However, most solutions have certain trade-offs. There are some methods designed only to counter-act specific attacks. Others provide solutions to counter-act general attacks but con-sider the factors such as delay, high resource utilization. This paper surveys many security solutions that have been developed from in the past years. We present the current approaches in the development of secured systems. These methods can be used by simple approaches to enhance the security with small complexity. To the best of our knowl-edge,there is no other surveys that discusses the new secured methods in the literature.


Abstract The Cohort Consortium is an extramural-intramural partnership formed by the National Cancer Institute (NCI) to foster communication among investigators leading cohort studies of cancer; promote collaborative research projects for topics not easily addressed in a single study; and identify common challenges in cohort research and search for solutions. The Cohort Consortium includes investigators responsible for more than 40 high-quality cancer epidemiology cohorts involving more than 4 million people. The cohorts are international in scope and cover large, rich, and diverse populations. Extensive risk factor data are available on each cohort, and biospecimens, including germline DNA collected at baseline, are available on more than 2 million individuals. Investigators team up to use common protocols and methods, and to conduct coordinated parallel and pooled analyses. Some recent accomplishments include publications of genome-wide association studies of pancreatic cancer and on the effect of high body mass index on mortality after eliminating the influence of tobacco smoking and co-morbidities. The Consortium provides a forum to discuss scientific questions in cancer research that cohort studies can help address such as how metabolomics can best be examined in human population studies and how cohort studies can better address the role of physical and chemical agents on cancer risk. It also can focus attention on new methodologies such as the use of social media and new ways of interacting with cohort study participants that could enhance data collection, data quality, and study participant retention and engagement. Citation Format: Deborah M. Winn. The NCI Cohort Consortium: Increasing power, enhancing collaborations, advancing science. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the AACR Special Conference on Post-GWAS Horizons in Molecular Epidemiology: Digging Deeper into the Environment; 2012 Nov 11-14; Hollywood, FL. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev 2012;21(11 Suppl):Abstract nr IA20.


Lithium-ion capacitors (LICs) are emerging as one of the most advanced hybrid energy storage devices. The key challenge in constructing a high-performance LIC is to couple an appropriate capacitive cathode with an intercalation anode, wherein they can match well in internal kinetics and capacity simultaneously. Here, we present a strategy for constructing an advanced LIC using a 3D N-doped hollow carbon microsphere (NHCM-12) anode combined with a hierarchical porous carbon (NHCM-A) cathode, which have both been prepared by the same polyimide precursor without any additional catalyst and template for the first time. Quantitative kinetics analysis and density functional theory (DFT) calculations are performed to demonstrate the surface-dominated Li-storage mechanism, revealing that pyrrolic-N and pyridinic-N are beneficial for stronger Li adsorption compared to quaternary-N. As expected, the fully assembled LIC (NHCM-12//NHCM-A) delivers a maximum energy density of 162 W h kg−1 and exhibits an outstanding lifespan over 5000 cycles with 86.2% capacity retention. Accordingly, our simultaneous manipulation of hierarchical N-doped porous carbon as both anode and cathode materials for energy storage using the same precursor may open an avenue for fabricating other ideal electrode structures.


Under the group defamation rule, a member of a defamed group may not recover unless the defamatory statement can be reasonably understood to refer specifically to that individual. The predominant approach in making the determination of whether a member has an actionable claim places heavy emphasis on the distinction between large and small groups. While that distinction is defensible, the imprecise underpinnings of the approach has left it vulnerable to criticism and to periodic proposals for other standards that do not serve the rule's purposes as well. This article offers the certainty principle as a central justification of the prevailing standard for group defamation issues and explains how the principle operates in a number of distinct settings where the group defamation problem arises.


The objectives of this paper are to advance dynamic inversion (DI) and explicit model following (EMF) flight control laws for quadrotor unmanned aerial systems (UAS) and to develop an efficient strategy to compute the stability and performance robustness statistics of such control laws
 given parametric model uncertainty. For this purpose, a parametric model of a quadrotor is identified from flight-test data. The identified model is validated both in frequency and time domains. Next, DI and EMF flight control laws are designed for both inner attitude and outer velocity loops.
 Finally, a novel approach based on an unscented transform is used to evaluate the statistics of the controller's performance based on the statistics of the uncertain model parameters.


We present a method for detecting and labeling the edge structures in digital gray-scale images in two distinct stages: First, a variant of the cubic facet model is applied to detect the location, orientation and curvature of the putative edge points. Next, a relaxation labeling network is used to reinforce meaningful edge structures and suppress noisy edges. Each node label of this network is a 3D vector parameterizing the orientation and curvature information of the corresponding edge point. A hysteresis step in the relaxation process maximizes connected contours. For certain types of images, prefiltering by adaptive smoothing improves robustness against noise and spatial blurring.


The LHCb experiment has chosen to use the SAM framework (Service Availability Monitoring Environment from EGEE-II) [1] make extensive tests of the LHCb environment at all the accessible grid resources. The availability and the proper definition of the local Computing and Storage Elements, user interfaces as well as the WLCG software environment are checked. The SAM framework is also used to pre-install the LHCb applications in the shared software area provided by each site. The deployment of the LHCb applications is based on a python tool developed inside the experiment. It is used for software management including incremental installation of interdependent packages and clean package removal. After the application software is installed a validation test of the whole MC chain is run. According to the results of the experiment specific SAM tests, the sites are (re)integrated into the LHCb production system managed by DIRAC [2]. The possibility of automated dynamic site certification using the SAM test suite is explored. This paper will describe the various ways of the LHCb use of the SAM framework. Practical experience in the recent production runs, current limitations and future developments will be presented.


Abstract. The scaling behaviour of landscape properties, including both morphological and landscape patchiness, is examined using monofractal and multifractal analysis. The study is confined to two neighbouring meso-scale catchments on the west coast of the South Island of New Zealand. The catchments offer a diverse but largely undisturbed landscape with population and development impacts being extremely low. Bulk landscape properties of the catchments (and their sub-basins) are examined and show that scaling of stream networks follow Hack's empirical rule, with exponents ∼0.6. It is also found that the longitudinal and transverse scaling exponents of stream networks equate to νl ≈0.6 and νw≈ 0.4, indicative of self-affine scaling. Catchment shapes also show self-affine behaviour. Further, scaling of landscape patches show multifractal behaviour and the analysis of these variables yields the characteristic parabolic curves known as multifractal spectra. A novel analytical approach is adopted by using catchments as hydrological cells at various sizes, ranging from first to sixth order, as the unit of measure. This approach is presented as an alternative to the box-counting method as it may be much more representative of hydro-ecological processes at catchment scales. Multifractal spectra are generated for each landscape property and spectral parameters such as the range in α (Holder exponent) values and maximum dimension at α0, (also known as the capacity dimension Dcap), are obtained. Other fractal dimensions (information Dinf and correlation Dcor) are also calculated and compared. The dimensions are connected by the inequality Dcap≥Dinf≥Dcor. Such a relationship strongly suggests that the landscape patches are heterogeneous in nature and that their scaling behaviour can be described as multifractal. The quantitative parameters obtained from the spectra may provide the basis for improved parameterisation of ecological and hydrological models. Keywords: fractal, multifractal, scaling, landscape, patchiness


A data collection method is presented, by which identification of high order linear models is achieved. A closed loop experiment with a controller is performed. Frequency characteristics are used and parameters of the model, i.e. the critical operating mode values are obtained. The critical operating mode is realized by two state controller. A system of non-linear equations is compiled, according to the parameters of the model by using the analytical expressions of the amplitude-frequency and phase-frequency characteristics. A method for solving the system is proposed.


Using computational modeling, we probed the utility of actuated synthetic cilia for enhancing heat transport in microfluidic channels. Cilia are elastic filaments that are attached to the bottom channel wall with a constant tilt and actuated by a periodical vertical force applied to their free ends. We show that periodical oscillations of elastic cilia mix the heated fluid and create secondary flows in the microchannel that facilitate heat transport between channel walls. The magnitude of the secondary flows and the cilium deformation pattern are controlled by the frequency and amplitude of the periodic driving force. Thus, by varying the force parameters one can effectively regulate the local heat transport in ciliated microchannels.


The crystallographic orientation distribution, and its change as a function of creep deformation in Ni-based single crystal superalloys have been investigated by X-ray diffractometry. The distribution of the crystallographic orientation has significantly broadened by creep deformations. Directional broadening of the distribution agrees with creep dislocations having the burgers vector of 1/2<101>. High temperature creep strain of superalloys can be estimated by a non-destractive test where the width of rocking curve of a diffraction peak is measured.


The Internet is unquestionably having a profound effect on many aspects of the social, cultural, economic, and legal systems of planet Earth. Indeed, advances in the Internet and in other global communications technologies make it possible to contemplate the development of a global information society. Such a society may offer many benefits to humankind, but constructing policies to enable and promote this information society presents significant challenges. Among the most difficult questions now confronting legal decisionmakers are these: Can existing laws successfully be applied to activities occurring via the Internet? Can existing law be adapted to regulate these activities? Are existing laws outmoded or inadequate? Are completely new laws needed to deal with Internet and other information technology developments? When old laws do not fit and cannot easily be adapted, it may be necessary to go back to first principles and consider how to preserve social and cultural values in the new context of the Internet. Decisions about the law of the Internet, whether carried out by judges, legislatures, or regulators, will have an important impact on the kind of information economy and information society that will emerge. This article offers some suggestions about how regulators might more wisely make policy choices to promote a global information society in which we would all like to live.


A primary goal of the Hydrogen Storage Program (the Program), part of the U.S. Department of Energy's Fuel Cell Technologies Office, is to develop and demonstrate advanced hydrogen storage technologies to enable successful commercialization of fuel cell products. Compact, reliable, safe, and cost-effective storage of hydrogen is a key technology requirement for the widespread commercialization of Fuel Cell Electric Vehicles (FCEVs) and other hydrogen fuel cell applications. While some light-duty FCEVs with a driving range of about 300 miles are emerging in limited markets, affordable onboard storage still remains a roadblock to commercialization beyond limited vehicle platforms and niche markets. A key challenge is how to cost effectively store sufficient quantities of hydrogen onboard without sacrificing passenger and cargo space. While the energy per mass of hydrogen is substantially greater than most other fuels, its energy by volume is much less than liquid fuels, such as gasoline. The current state of the art is to store hydrogen in Composite Overwrapped Pressure Vessels (COPVs) with polymer liners at 700-bar pressure. The following is an overview of technical challenges and R&D needs to enable successful deployment of high-pressure hydrogen storage systems into commercial FCEVs. These technical challenges primarily concern the contributions of composite materials to compressed hydrogen storage system cost, mass, and volume. To achieve the performance requirements for FCEVs, the Program, with input of US automobile manufacturers, has developed 2020 performance targets for onboard hydrogen storage that include costs of $10/kWh, gravimetric density at 1.8 kWh/kg system, and volumetric density at 1.3 kg H2/L system to provide for a driving range of at least 300 miles. The Program is developing strategies and supports R&D efforts to address composite materials for high-pressure COPV use with FCEVs. Examples of projects and activities the Program has supported are provided for illustrative purposes.


we are going to trace the ideas and experiments, since Galileo and until Leon Foucault, aimed at proving the Earth's rotation. Galileo - incorrectly – tried to explain the phenomenon of tidal forward and backward flow with the Earth's rotation. After Galileo, the cannon shots towards the zenith and the experiments on falling objects were considered reliable evidences. In Florence Vincenzo Viviani observed and described the rotation of pendulums, but he did not realize its scientific importance. At the end of the XVII century, Newton had the idea of showing the Royal Society, through Hooke, the proof of the eastward deflection of a falling body from considerable height. In the XVIII century, new geophysical proofs of the Earth's rotation were available. At the end of the century, in Italy, Newton's direct experiment was taken into consideration again. In Bologna, Guglielmini measured the deviations towards the east and south of small leaden balls falling inside the Asinelli Tower. The experiment was first repeated in other Italian cities and then, in the first years of the XIX century, Benzenberg proposed it again in Germany, exploiting first the height of a bell tower and then the depth of a coal mine. In this period Laplace and Gauss, though with different approaches, came to the correct mathematical interpretation of the phenomenon. Even more accurate experiments in the deviations of falling objects were performed in 1831 by Reich in Freiberg, in Saxony. In 1837 and 1838 Poisson studied the motion of projectiles related to the Earth's rotation from a mathematical point of view. This study influenced Foucault who may have found inspiration there for his famous experiment on the pendulum, made in the Paris Pantheon in 1851.


Abstract There is paucity of data on the impact of surgical incision and analgesia on relevant outcomes. A retrospective STROBE-compliant cohort study was performed between July 2007 and August 2017 of patients undergoing lung transplantation. Gender, age, indication for lung transplantation, and the 3 types of surgical access (Thoracotomy (T), Sternotomy (S), and Clamshell (C)) were used, as well as 2 analgesic techniques: epidural and intravenous opioids. Outcome variables were: pain scores; postoperative hemorrhage in the first 24 hours, duration of mechanical ventilation, and length of stay at intensive care unit (ICU). Three hundred forty-one patients were identified. Thoracotomy was associated with higher pain scores than Sternotomy (OR 1.66, 95% CI: 1.01; 2.74, P: .045) and no differences were found between Clamshell and Sternotomy incision. The median blood loss was 800 mL [interquartile range (IQR): 500; 1238], thoracotomy patients had 500 mL [325; 818] (P < .001). Median durations of mechanical ventilation in Thoracotomy, Sternotomy, and Clamshell groups were 19 [11; 37] hours, 34 [IQR 16; 57.5] hours, and 27 [IQR 15; 50.5] hours respectively. Thoracotomy group were discharged earlier from ICU (P < .001). Thoracotomy access produces less postoperative hemorrhage, duration of mechanical ventilation, and lower length of stay in ICU, but higher pain scores and need for epidural analgesia.


of research papers forms the core of the subject matter, but theses, review articles, book reviews, grant pro posals, and curricula vitae are included; short talks and poster presentations have been sneaked in for the sake of completeness. Some chapters, such as those on preparing tables and figures, give a lot of detail, which makes them more suitable for reference than for reading at leisure. Unfortunately, therefore, these chapters come near the beginning, as a chronological sequence is followed, from preparing and revising drafts, through submission, to proofs and publication. From all the sensible advice and suggestions, one general theme emerges: writing a good paper requires much work. This work should have to be done before publication anyway, depending on the journal and the particular referees; if you follow the advice in this book, the work will be done early on, and the path to publication be the quicker and easier for it. This book is not a guide to good grammar or good prose style, although such points are dealt with. As the title suggests, this is a book that will improve your chances of success.


Due to the emergence of new technologies and the wide use of them in the educational environment it's more and more difficult to evaluate the activities of students, especially of those who use e-learning solutions. Sometimes the academic results obtained after the e-learning process are viewed with doubt by persons outside of the system. Classical evaluation of on-line students presents a few inconveniences and presents the possibility of subjective classification of them. In this article we present an expert system that is created over SlapOS, an open source, distributed cloud computing system. This expert system allows the whole examination of students based on the entire curricula that he or she had to study and the extracurricular activities that the student is supposed to complete. Due to this system the evaluation is objective, an issue that is very important in our view. In some conditions is possible to realize the classification of students with objectivity. Because there are a considerable conditions to make an objective classification and because the testing environment has to be set up by a human operator to realize a fully objective evaluation of students is very difficult. The expert system presented by us is able to realize a more objective evaluation of student activity during a module or a curricula or even thru an entire qualification process. Also, the system presented by us permits a personalized evaluation of every student, that can be made independently for every each of them, based on the supposed duties and activities of the evaluated student.


In order to study the soil moisture of peanut fields in the region of low hilly area and to develop water-saving agriculture along gentle slope upland in southern China , the numerical modeling of soil moisture content was established, based on Richard movement equitation. The simulated soil moisture was in good agreement with measured data. Modeling analysis showed that the soil hydraulic parameters are more sensitive than other kind of parameters. The simulation also demonstrated that the cumulative evapotranspiration in the 150 cm soil profile at upper slope is higher than lower slope. In conclusion, it' s advantageous for tillage soil at the lower slope to keep soil moisture and resist the drought in the peanut field during dry season in southern China. The numerical modeling of soil moisture has practical significance to improve the management of water capture and retention and development of water-saving agriculture.


Background. Gut-associated lymphoid tissue (GALT), is a primary lymphoid tissue and a part of the mucosal lymphoid system. Depending on the location, it present as aggregations of lymphoid cells. There are several reports of structural differences in the lymphoid tissue attached to the gastrointestinal tract between different species of fish, as well as different areas of the gastrointestinal tract of a fish in the cold and warm seasons. Identifying and expressing these differences in terms of tissue structure, in addition to diagnosing aquatic diseases, is also of particular importance for vaccination and disease control. Material and methods. For this purpose, after collecting the desired samples routine histological procedure was performed and 4–6 μm sections were obtained and were subsequently stained with hematoxylin-eosin, periodic acid–Schiff, and TUNEL immunohistochemical staining method. Results. The results showed that four main layers, i.e., tunica mucosa, tunica submucosa, tunica muscularis, and tunica serosa, were observed in the wall of the gut of Arabibarbus grypus (Heckel, 1843), as had been observed in other teleosts. GALT was seen in two different shapes in two areas. The former consisted of intra-epithelial scattered cells, which were arranged in the pillar structures and extended to the upper regions of the epithelium, but were more concentrated in the mid bases. The latter was found in lamina propria and submucosa regions. In the lamina propria, they had a strip-shaped arrangement and were placed in several rows below the base membrane, but in the submucosa, they were scattered and less densely packed. Micrometric results showed that not only the distribution of the lymphocytic cells in the intestine of both male and female specimens varied in different areas but also in some areas, the difference was statistically significant in both cold and warm seasons (P < 0.05). TUNEL immunohistochemical staining revealed that the number of apoptotic cells in both sexes was more in the anterior part of the intestinal bulb and in the posterior part of the proper intestine in the warm season compared to the cold season. Conclusion. Based on a recent study on gut-associated lymphoid tissue in A. grypus in two warm and cold seasons revealed that mucosal immunity is more active in the cold season than in the warm season.


The acquisition of effective reading comprehension for adolescents with a cochlear implant (CI) in inclusive settings is crucial for ensuring the benefit of current traditional reading curricula and instructional practices. Executive functions (EF) are recognized as important cognitive processes during reading by students with typical hearing (TH). This study compared the relationship between EF and reading comprehension in adolescents with TH and a CI. Three tests sessions were performed on two groups of adolescents between 12 and 16 years old (36 with CI and 54 with TH). Reading comprehension was assessed by a standardized reading battery and EF by computerized tests. The results indicated that adolescents with CI perform EF tasks with a similar efficiency as the TH group, but the performance of CI group on expository texts was lower than in TH students. Reading comprehension of expository texts was related to inhibition and shifting in adolescents with CI.


Understanding how crash factors are impacted by rain is critical to road safety planning and management. This study assesses the impact of rain on traffic safety by conducting an analysis of the fatal crashes related to rain in Texas from 1994 to 2018. The fatal crash data was gathered from the Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS) database maintained by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). Environmental variables used in the analysis include month of the year, time of the day, temperature, and weather condition. The roadway-related factors identified include the posted speed limit, the number of lanes, route sign, and Vehicle Miles Traveled (VMT). The driver-related factors identified include age, gender, and the number of licensed drivers in total. Relative risk analysis was performed to statistically quantify the impact of rainy conditions at the hourly and monthly time scales. On average, rain-related fatal crashes represented about 6.8% of the total fatal crashes. However, the proportion shows higher variability at the annual, monthly, and hourly time scales and seems to be influenced by other factors such as the age and gender of the driver, type of the road, and posted roadway speed limit. Total and rain-related crashes show statistically significant decreasing trends when normalized by the total number of licensed drivers or vehicle miles travelled. The relative risk of a fatal crash during rainy conditions was always greater than 1.0 at hourly, monthly, and annual time scales. However, it shows significant variability at the monthly (1.07 to 2.78) and hourly scales (1.35 to 2.57). The relative risk is higher in less urbanized and drier counties, in general. Gender and age analysis reveals that male and young drivers are more likely to be involved in a fatal crash but less likely to be killed in the crash.


In the last five years, crime and accidents rates have increased in many cities of America. The advancement of new technologies can also lead to criminal misuse. In order to reduce incidents, there is a need to understand and examine emerging patterns of criminal activities. This paper analyzed crime and accident datasets from Denver City, USA during 2011 to 2015 consisting of 372,392 instances of crime. The dataset is analyzed by using a number of Classification Algorithms. The aim of this study is to highlight trends of incidents that will in return help security agencies and police department to discover precautionary measures from prediction rates. The classification of algorithms used in this study is to assess trends and patterns that are assessed by BayesNet, NaiveBayes, J48, JRip, OneR and Decision Table. The output that has been used in this study, are correct classification, incorrect classification, True Positive Rate (TP), False Positive Rate (FP), Precision (P), Recall (R) and F-measure (F). These outputs are captured by using two different test methods: k-fold cross-validation and percentage split. Outputs are then compared to understand the classifier performances. Our analysis illustrates that JRip has classified the highest number of correct classifications by 73.71% followed by decision table with 73.66% of correct predictions, whereas OneR produced the least number of correct predictions with 64.95%. NaiveBayes took the least time of 0.57 sec to build the model and perform classification when compared to all the classifiers. The classifier stands out producing better results among all the classification methods. This study would be helpful for security agencies and police department to discover data patterns and analyze trending criminal activity from prediction rates.


In this study, it has been investigated whether the energy and momentum can be localizable for five-dimensional homogeneous and anisotropic universes. In this connection, energy and momentum of five-dimensional Bianchi type-I, type-III and type-V spacetimes have been calculated in the framework of general relativity (GR) and teleparallel gravity (TG). Einstein, Bergmann–Thomson, Landau–Lifshitz, Papapetrou, Tolman and Moller energy–momentum complexes have been used to obtain these related quantities of given the spacetimes in GR, while Einstein, Bergmann–Thomson, Landau–Lifshitz and Moller prescriptions have been used to obtain these related quantities of the spacetimes in TG. It has been found that all of the energy and momentum distributions of five-dimensional Bianchi type-I spacetime are equal to zero in GR and TG. For five-dimensional Bianchi type-III and type-V spacetimes, Bergmann–Thomson, Einstein and Tolman energy and momentum components give the same results, however Moller, Landau–Lifshitz and Papapetrou energy–momentum distributions give different results in general relativity. Also, in TG, Bergmann–Thomson and Einstein energy and momentum components give the same results for the Bianchi type-III and type-V spacetimes, too. In this sense, it is seen that Einstein, Bergmann–Thomson and Landau–Lifshitz energy and momentum descriptions of these spacetimes have been given same results in both theories, GR and TG.


It is widely accepted that a wellfunctioning global trading system is a prerequisite for trade promotion and the economic growth of developing countries. It is equally recognized that the current trading system has not worked to the advantage of many Third World nations. Negotiations launched at the World Trade Organization to rectify the situation —the Doha Development Agenda —have failed to resolve the system's inherent problems. Compared to just ten years ago, developing countries are much better informed with respect to trade negotiations. Also, they now comprise two-thirds of the membership of the WTO. Because the organization is based on consensus, this majority gives them a new power and authority in future negotiations. For this reason, it is critical that these nations have clear proposals for reform that are both ambitious and realistic. Only then can they constructively promote their interests in the coming years. This book addresses the critical trade policychoices now facing developing countries. Experienced negotiators, scholars, and trade officials from different backgrounds offer policy prescriptions to secure a world trading system that will meet these nations' needs.


Cystic fibrosis patients and patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, trauma, burn wound, or patients requiring ventilation are susceptible to severe pulmonary infection by Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Physiological innate defense mechanisms against this pathogen, and their alterations in lung diseases, are for the most part unknown. We now demonstrate a role for the sphingoid long chain base, sphingosine, in determining susceptibility to lung infection by P. aeruginosa. Tracheal and bronchial sphingosine levels were significantly reduced in tissues from cystic fibrosis patients and from cystic fibrosis mouse models due to reduced activity of acid ceramidase, which generates sphingosine from ceramide. Inhalation of mice with sphingosine, with a sphingosine analog, FTY720, or with acid ceramidase rescued susceptible mice from infection. Our data suggest that luminal sphingosine in tracheal and bronchial epithelial cells prevents pulmonary P. aeruginosa infection in normal individuals, paving the way for novel therapeutic paradigms based on inhalation of acid ceramidase or of sphingoid long chain bases in lung infection.


In this study, the effect of mathematics teacher candidates' locus of control on math anxiety was tested, along with the effects of gender, achievement and class level moderators. The study was carried out according to a causal design in which locus of control was taken as an independent variable, while math anxiety was taken as the dependent variable, and gender, achievement and class levels were considered as moderator variables. The participants were 402 students from three different state universities in Turkey who were selected using a combination of convenience and purposive sampling. Data were collected from the participants using the Locus of Control Scale (LCS) and the Math Anxiety Rating Scale-Short Version (MARS-SV). A path analysis was then used to provide a combination of measurement error in both latent and observed variables. The results of the path analysis revealed that the participants' locus of control positively affected math anxiety. Furthermore, the moderator analysis showed that this effect was higher in males and in groups with lower achievement scores. Finally, a significant positive correlation was found between the external locus of control and the total and sub-scale scores of math anxiety. Article visualizations:


In this article a macro synthetic fibre reinforced precast concrete trackslab's design process will be presented. The analysis was done with using an advanced finite element software called ATENA (Cervenka et al 2013). Beside the static loads, the precast slab was also checked for dynamic and fatigue loads. The structure was verify for early ages, for demoulding, rotating, lifting and for transport as well. With the analysis a necessary fibre dosage was determined. After the design AECOM prepared a real scale test for two full slab. During the test the displacements were measured on different places with using Geophones. Finite element model of the test was made with all the details of the real scale test. The results from the tests and from the finite element models were close to each other in every checked case.


Abstract : Plasma etching using an electron cyclotron resonance (ECR) source has been used to study dry etching of SiC. Gas chemistries studied include C12/Ar, Cl2/ H2, SF6/Ar, IBr/Ar, and Ar. The variables studied include ECR power (400 to 1000 W), RF power (50 to 350 W), chamber pressure (1.5 to 10 mTorr), and active to total gas flow rate ratios (0 to 1). Etch rates in excess of 2000 A/min. have been achieved with SF6/Ar ECR discharges at low power (400 Watts) and moderate RF power (100-150 Watts). The rates for Cl2/Ar are comparable to SF6/Ar rates with those for Cl2/ H2 being somewhat lower. IBr/Ar is found to be a very poor chemistry for SiC with etch rates reaching only 1000 A/min. Pure Ar sputtering achieved rates of less than 800 A/min. Smooth surfaces (0.6-0.8 nm RMS roughness) have been achieved in all plasma chemistries with no dependence of roughness on plasma conditions. Auger electron analysis confirmed carbon enrichment of the surface in most cases. High RF biases resulted in stoichiometric termination of the SiC surface. Silicon depletion was noted for low RF biases and high chlorine content plasmas. Contamination by F and S was noted in SF6/Ar discharges. All gas chemistries studied favored the chemically dominant side of the theoretical etch rate curve with the exception of pure argon, which favored the sputter dominant side. Chlorine showed the most synergistic effects and covered the largest range of the theoretical etch rate curve for the experimental conditions studied.


The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic is the largest health crisis ever faced worldwide. It has resulted in great health and economic costs because no effective treatment is currently available. Since infected persons vary in presentation from healthy asymptomatic mild symptoms to those who need intensive care support and eventually succumb to the disease, this illness is considered to depend primarily on individual immunity. Demographic distribution and disease severity in several regions of the world vary; therefore, it is believed that natural inherent immunity provided through dietary sources and traditional medicines could play an important role in infection prevention and disease progression. People can boost their immunity to prevent them from infection after COVID-19 exposure and can reduce their inflammatory reactions to protect their organ deterioration in case suffering from the disease. Some drugs with in-situ immunomodulatory and anti-inflammatory activity are also identified as adjunctive therapy in the COVID-19 era. This review discusses the importance of COVID-19 interactions with immune cells and inflammatory cells; and further emphasizes the possible pathways related with traditional herbs, medications and nutritional products. We believe that such pathophysiological pathway approach treatment is rational and important for future development of new therapeutic agents for prevention or cure of COVID-19 infection.


This thesis is concerned with the design and ultimately, the fabrication of a ring-resonator filter for integrated optics. The resonant structure of such a filter consists of a closed circular loop of stripe (2-D) optical waveguide which resonates whenever the circumference is an integer number of guide-wavelengths. It thus possesses a "comb" frequency response. In order to construct the required conceptual framework, a fairly brief treatment of dielectric waveguide theory is included. This is followed by a more detailed consideration of the elements which constitute a ring-resonator; the directional coupler (used for coupling light into the ring), the curved dielectric waveguide and the resonator itself. The .optimum; input coupling is derived in terms of the ring losses and various theoretical frequency-response curves are given. A major part of the thesis, and almost all of the experimental work, is devoted to the study of stripe-waveguides made by silver/sodium ion- exchange in soda-lime glass, made by immersing the glass in a bath of molten silver nitrate for a period of time. This is the type of guide which was chosen as a basis for the ring-resonator design work; its lateral refractive index difference is such as to offer a suitable compromise to the conflicting requirements of (i) low bending loss and (ii) strong directional coupling. In order that some non-empirical design work might be possible (of the directional coupler in particular) an accurate mathematical model of the ion-exchanged waveguide is required. Accordingly, some space is given to the theory of ion-exchange and the resulting model. This takes the form of two computer programs; one to solve the non-linear partial differential equation which describes the ion-exchange process, in two dimensions, using a finite difference technique; the other to solve the wave equation in a two-dimensional region of arbitrary, varying refractive index, using a variational technique. The substantial accuracy of these numerical solutions is demonstrated. As essential background, and also to determine the physical parameters of the ion-exchange system, a study of slab (1-D) ion-exchanged waveguides was undertaken, comparing computed and measured guided modes. It is concluded that the computed diffusion profile,, differs from the real profile in certain respects; this is caused by factors for which the ion- exchange theory does not account. Stripe waveguides are defined by coating the glass with a diffusion mask in which slit-like apertures are opened prior to diffusion. The aperture width is accurately measured by utilising fraunhofer diffraction, and the waveguide effective refractive indices by prism-to-guide coupling. When the diffusion mask is of aluminium, metallic silver is reduced along each edge, causing high attenuation of the guided power and other strong deviations from the computed theory. When the aluminium diffusion mask is converted to aluminium oxide, by anodisation, these effects do not occur; the anodised mask is capable of producing waveguides which behave as predicted by the mathematical model, and have low loss. Experimental directional couplers have been made, with transfer lengths which are generally in good agreement with the computed values. Low-loss waveguide bends with radii less than 300 microns are reported, and 2 micron wide stripe waveguides with a linear attenuation of less than 3 dB/cm have been made. Finally, design parameters for a ring-resonator are suggested, but none has yet been made.


The dynamic phasor model of a time-periodic system is used to derive a stability test involving a harmonic Lyapunov function. This reveals a new interpretation of the harmonic Lyapunov function with an appealing time-domain representation. Most importantly, it indicates that the ideas behind the harmonic Lyapunov equation can be generalized to include cyclic switching systems that have different pulse form in each period.


ABSTRACT Background Interferon (IFN)-α is the only approved treatment for chronic hepatitis C. Interstitial pneumonia and, rarely, exacerbation of bronchial asthma have been reported as adverse pulmonary effects of IFN-α treatment. The purpose of the present study was to clarify whether IFN-α treatment affects pulmonary function and airway responsiveness in patients with chronic hepatitis C. Methods We studied 17 patients (nine males and eight females; mean age 46 years; range 30–62 years) with chronic active hepatitis C diagnosed by serum tests and liver biopsy. Pulmonary function tests included vital capacity (VC), forced expiratory volume in 1 s (FEV 1 ), forced expiratory flow in the middle half of the forced vital capacity (FVC 25–75% ), total lung capacity and carbon monoxide diffusing capacity of the lung (D LCO ), which was adjusted for hemoglobin concentration. Airway responsiveness was measured by methacholine inhalation challenge and determination of the provocative concentration of methacholine causing a 20% fall in FEV 1 (PC 20 ). These tests were performed before and 3 months after initiation of IFN-α therapy. Results No patient developed interstitial pneumonia, although there was a tendency for the hemoglobin-adjusted D LCO to decrease. Other pulmonary function test parameters were not affected. Overall, there was no significant change in PC 20 (from 15.0 to 11.4 mg/mL). In three patients whose initial PC 20 was within the normal range, airway hyperresponsiveness was induced and one patient developed bronchial asthma after IFN-α therapy. Conclusions These findings suggest that IFN-α induces airway hyperresponsiveness to methacholine in a few patients with chronic hepatitis C.


Digital innovations are persuasively shifting the business landscape thus challenging traditional business models of incumbents. Information intensive sectors have been most affected and challenged to embrace the new realm. The central argument is that transformation of the business model from non-digital to digital involves a distinct set of activities and distinct assumptions about value creation and capture. Non-digital businesses operate and are guided by the conventional economic rules, whereas digital world of businesses function based on digital economics and economics of digital information (negligible marginal costs, transaction cost reduction, distinct cost structure mechanisms, different sources of revenues, etc). Thus a change of the business model involves a fundamental shift of existing core assumptions that profoundly challenges managers' beliefs about value creation and capture.


We have developed a new three-dimensional (3D) microfabrication method for agarose gel, photothermal microneedle etching (PTMNE), by means of an improved photothermal spot heating using a focused 1064 nm laser beam for melting a portion of the agarose layer at the tip of the microneedle, where a photoabsorbent chromium layer is coated to be heated. The advantage of this method is that it allows the 3D control of the melting topography within the thick agarose layer with a 2 µm resolution, whereas conventional photothermal etching can enable only two-dimensional (2D) control on the surface of the chip. By this method, we can form the spheroid clusters of particular cells from isolated single cells without any physical contact with other cells in other chambers, which is important for measuring the community effect of the cell group from isolated single cells. When we set single cancer cells in microchambers of 100 µm in diameter, formed in a 50-µm-thick agarose layer, we observed that they grew, divided, and formed spheroid clusters of cells in each microchamber. The result indicates the potential of this method to be a fundamental technique in the research of multicellular spherical clusters of cells for checking the community effect of cells in 3D structures, such as the permeabilities of chemicals and substrates into the cluster, which is complementary to conventional 2D dish cultivation and can contribute to the cell-based screening of drugs.


Despite extensive research which has examined the impact of word-of-mouth (WOM) valence, results are often conflicting with regard as to whether receivers are biased toward positive or negative WOM. In this study, the impact of WOM valence on receivers' use of actual WOM in their decision making is directly examined. Results indicate that positive WOM has a significantly greater effect on receivers' attitude toward the focal product than does negative WOM. Receivers perceive senders of WOM concerning utilitarian products to be more trustworthy when their WOM is positive rather than negative, though no differences in the perceived altruism of senders is found. Senders of positive WOM are also viewed as having greater experience and evidence of their claims than are senders of negative WOM. Implications for marketing practitioners, in addition to directions for future research, are provided.


We present a cost-efficient and rapid prototyping technique for polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA) microfluidic devices using a polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS)-based hot embossing process. Compared to conventional hot embossing methods, this technique uses PDMS molds with enhanced thermo-mechanical properties. To improve the replication performance, increases in both PDMS stiffness and hardness were achieved through several processing and curing means. First, the amount of curing agent was increased from 1/10 to 1/5 with respect to the amount of prepolymer. Second, the cured PDMS was thermally aged either over three days at 85 °C or for 30 min at 250 °C. Those combined steps led to increases in stiffness and hardness of up to 150% and 32%, respectively, as compared to standard PDMS molds. Using these enhanced molds, structures with features of the order of 100 µm in PMMA are successfully embossed using a standard laboratory press at 150 °C. The PDMS molds and process produce identical structures through multiple embossing cycles (≥10) without any mold damage or deterioration. A Y-shaped microfluidic mixer was fabricated with this technique. The successful demonstration of this enhanced PDMS-based hot embossing technique introduces a new approach for the rapid prototyping of polymer-based microfluidic devices at low-cost.


Most recent work on vision-based human activity recognition (HAR) focuses on designing complex deep learning models for the task. In so doing, there is a requirement for large datasets to be collected. As acquiring and processing large training datasets are usually very expensive, the problem of how dataset size can be reduced without affecting recognition accuracy has to be tackled. To do so, we propose a HAR method that consists of three steps: (i) data transformation involving the generation of new features based on transforming of raw data, (ii) feature extraction involving the learning of a classifier based on the AdaBoost algorithm and the use of training data consisting of the transformed features, and (iii) parameter determination and pattern recognition involving the determination of parameters based on the features generated in (ii) and the use of the parameters as training data for deep learning algorithms to be used to recognize human activities. Compared to existing approaches, this proposed approach has the advantageous characteristics that it is simple and robust. The proposed approach has been tested with a number of experiments performed on a relatively small real dataset. The experimental results indicate that using the proposed method, human activities can be more accurately recognized even with smaller training data size.


In this work, we propose to estimate the point at high risk, which are based on the estimation of the conditional hazard function, so we introduce a new nonparametric estimation procedure of the conditional hazard function of a scalar response variable given a random variable taking values in a semi-metric space. Under some general conditions, we establish both the pointwise and the almost-complete consistencies with rates of this estimator. Moreover, we give some particular cases of our results which can also be considered as novel in the finite-dimensional setting.


We present a method for calcg. multidimensional free energy surfaces within the limited time scale of a first-principles mol. dynamics scheme. The sampling efficiency is enhanced using selected terms of a classical force field as a bias potential. This simple procedure yields a very substantial increase in sampling accuracy while retaining the high quality of the underlying ab initio potential surface and can thus be used for a parameter free calcn. of free energy surfaces. The success of the method is demonstrated by the applications to two gas phase mols., ethane and peroxynitrous acid, as test case systems. A statistical anal. of the results shows that the entire free energy landscape is well converged within a 40 ps simulation at 500 K, even for a system with barriers as high as 15 kcal/mol. [on SciFinder (R)]


. Let A be an AF C*-algebra, and let 6 be a closed »-derivation which annihilates the maximal abelian subalgebra C of diagonal elements of A. Then we show that 6 generates an approximately inner C*-dynamics on A, and that 6 is a commutative »-derivation. Any two closed »-derivations vanishing on C are shown to be strongly commuting. More generally, if 6 is a semiderivation on A which vanishes on C, we prove that 6 is a generator of a semigroup of strongly positive contractions of A.


We have shown previously that cruciferous vegetable constituent benzyl isothiocyanate (BITC) suppresses viability of cultured MCF-7 and MDA-MB-231 human breast cancer cells and retards mammary cancer development in MMTV-neu mice by causing apoptosis, but the mechanism of cell death is not fully understood. We now show that whereas p53 is dispensable for BITC-induced cell death, proapoptotic response to this promising chemopreventive agent is mediated by suppression of X-linked inhibitor of apoptosis (XIAP) protein expression. The BITC treatment increased levels of total and Ser15-phosphorylated p53 protein in MCF-7 cells, but the proapoptotic response to this agent was maintained even after knockdown of the p53 protein level. Exposure of MCF-7 and MDA-MB-231 cells to BITC resulted in a marked decrease in protein level of XIAP as early as 8 hours after treatment. Ectopic expression of XIAP conferred statistically significant protection against BITC-mediated cytoplasmic histone-associated apoptotic DNA fragmentation in both cell lines. Moreover, inhibition of MDA-MB-231 cell growth in vivo in female athymic mice by BITC administration correlated with a modest but statistically significant decrease in XIAP protein level in the tumor xenograft. The BITC treatment also resulted in induction as well as nuclear translocation of survivin only in the MCF-7 cells. The BITC-induced apoptosis was modestly but statistically significantly augmented by RNA interference of survivin in MCF-7 cells. In conclusion, the present study provides novel insight into the molecular circuitry of BITC-induced apoptosis to indicate suppression of XIAP expression as a critical mediator of this process. Cancer Prev Res; 3(6); 718–26. ©2010 AACR.


Speaker Indexing has recently emerged as an important task due to the rapidly growing volume of audio archives. Current filtration techniques still suffer from problems both in accuracy and efficiency. The major reason for the drawbacks of existing solutions is the use of inaccurate anchor models. The contribution of this paper is two-fold. On the theoretical side, a new method is developed for simulating GMM scoring. This enables to fit a GMM not only to every target speaker but also to every test utterance, and then compute the likelihood of the test call using these GMMs instead of using the original data. The second contribution of this paper is in harnessing this GMM simulation to achieve very efficient speaker indexing in terms of both search time and index size. Results on the SPIDRE corpus show that our approach maintains the accuracy of the conventional GMM algorithm.


A randomized control trial examining the effects of alternate day fasting (ADF) with a high fat (HF) or low fat (LF) background diet on body weight and coronary heart disease (CHD) risk in obese humans was conducted over 10 weeks. Obese subjects were randomized to either an ADF-HF (45% fat) group or ADF-LF (25% fat) group. The 10-week study consisted of a 2-week baseline weight maintenance period, followed by an 8-week weight loss period. Food was provided to all subjects during the 10-week trial. During each study week, subjects came to the Human Nutrition Research Unit for body weight, body composition, waist circumference, and blood pressure measurements. At week 1, 3, and 10, vascular function, plasma lipids, and plasma adipokines were assessed.

Results reveal that the ADF-HF diet is equally as effective as an ADF-LF diet in helping obese subjects lose weight and improve CHD risk factors. Body weight reductions were comparable between the ADF-HF diet and the ADF-LF diet, with no differences between groups. Similar decreases in fat mass were also observed for the ADF-HF and ADF-LF groups, with retention of lean mass. Reductions in several key biomarkers for CHD risk, such as total cholesterol, LDL cholesterol, and triacylglycerols, were also comparable between the HF and LF diet regimens. Moreover, the ADF-HF diet was as effective as the ADF-LF intervention at increasing LDL particle size, elevating the proportion of large LDL particles, and decreasing the proportion of small LDL particles. HDL particle size and distribution were not affected by either diet. As for endothelial function, ADF-LF diets increased brachial artery flow mediated dilation (FMD) while ADF-HF diets decreased FMD. Both intervention groups demonstrated increases in adiponectin and decreases in leptin and resistin. However, only adiponectin was positively correlated with FMD in the ADF-LF group. Taken together, these data suggest that individuals who typically consume HF foods do not need to lower the fat content of their diet to experience the benefits of ADF.


Laser technology offers new treatment possibilities in dentistry. The effect thereof on dental biomaterials is however not yet known. Two fluoride (F) containing orthodontic bonding materials were investigated in this study. Group A = FluorEver OBA (Macro Chem) and group B = Light-Bond (Reliance Orthodontic Prod. Inc.). A galium arsenide aluminium (Ga As Al) low level laser with an energy transmission of 5.45 J (30 mW for 180 seconds) and an energy density of 27.54 J/cm" was used to irradiate the orthodontic bonding materials. SEM evaluation showed that the laser irradiation had no superficial physical ultrastructural effects on either of the two materials. In addition, the F release of Group A could be enhanced for up to seven months by a sole laser treatment (p < 0.05). Although the F release in the lased Group B was also higher, it was not statistically significant (p > 0.05). The difference in the F release of the two materials after laser irradiation may be due to differences in the composition of the orthodontic bonding materials, but cannot be adequately explained.


This paper presents a novel method for controlling force and position simultaneously using a sliding-mode position controller and a sliding-mode position error estimator for the position controller according to force error (which is used to control force essentially). The main advantage of this method is that there is no explicit control mode switching between distinct force and position controllers, but one sliding-mode position controller, for which the force error affects the position error by means of a sliding-mode position error estimator, is used for both cases. With experimental results on a voltage-driven piezo actuator, submicron accuracy (a maximum position error of 0.2 μm) for position control and a maximum force error of 0.02 N are achieved. Also, it is shown that with this approach, the jump of control input (the main stability problem of using separate force and position controllers) is removed without losing control power.


Deep learning (DL) based autoencoder is a promising architecture to implement end-to-end communication systems. One fundamental problem of such systems is how to increase the transmission rate. Two new schemes are proposed to address the limited data rate issue: adaptive transmission scheme and generalized data representation (GDR) scheme. In the first scheme, an adaptive transmission is designed to select the transmission vectors for maximizing the data rate under different channel conditions. The block error rate (BLER) of the first scheme is 80% lower than that of the conventional one-hot vector scheme. This implies that higher data rate can be achieved by the adaptive transmission scheme. In the second scheme, the GDR replaces the conventional one-hot representation. The GDR scheme can achieve higher data rate than the conventional one-hot vector scheme with comparable BLER performance. For example, when the vector size is eight, the proposed GDR scheme can double the date rate of the one-hot vector scheme. Besides, the joint scheme of the two proposed schemes can create further benefits. The effect of signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) is analyzed for these DL-based communication systems. Numerical results show that training the autoencoder using data set with various SNR values can attain robust BLER performance under different channel conditions.


We present a new method for the form measurement of optical surfaces using the spatial coherence function, which enables a shearing interferometer in combination with an LED multispot illumination to function as a measurement device. A new evaluation approach connects the measured data with the surface form by inverse raytracing. First measurement results with the inverse evaluation procedures are shown. We present the whole measurement in combination with the evaluation procedure. In addition, the convergence and stability of the implemented optimization task is investigated.


The demand for early palliative care (PC) involvement has never been greater in the setting of capitated healthcare delivery systems. The review by Alesi et al is timely in that it illustrates innovative practice partnerships with oncology groups during a time when PC is being thrust into mainstream outpatient care.[1]


This paper explores emotional labour strategies among Swedish prison officers, and how these affect the emotional strain. Case studies of five Swedish prisons and a national survey of prison officers are used. Analysis indicates that prison officers perform complex emotional labour. Due to differences in subcultures and informal norms, the strategies officers use in managing their emotional display vary between wings and roles. Different strategies may also cause different kinds of emotional strain. Emotional surface acting may lead to cynicism and alienation tendencies, while deep acting may lead to stress and exhaustion.


Upon activation, T lymphocytes accumulate high levels of the neuropeptide enkephalin which correlate with high levels of proenkephalin mRNA in the cells. Here we investigated the transcriptional basis for these changes. The proenkephalin promoter contains a sequence GGGGACGTCCCC, named B2, which is similar to the kappa B sequence GGGGACTTTCC, the binding site of the transcription factor nuclear factor (NF)-kappa B. Activation of T lymphocytes induces an NF-kappa B-like binding activity to the B2 site, concomitant with activation of the proenkephalin promoter. Mutations at the B2 site abolish this transcriptional activation. The purified homodimer (two p50s) of the DNA-binding subunit of NF-kappa B binds the B2 site of proenkephalin relatively better than does the heterotetramer (two p65s plus two p50s) form of the factor. Thus, it appears that the T-cell-specific activation of the proenkephalin promoter is mediated by NF-kappa B. However, as NF-kappa B is ubiquitous and the transcriptional activation through the B2 site is T cell specific, yet another T-cell-specific factor which synergizes with NF-kappa B should be considered.


In Part I a general account was given of the silicified peat-bed found at Rhynie, and one vascular plant was described in detail under the name of Rhynia Gwynne-Vaughani. Further study has shown that there are two species of Rhynia which we now distinguish as Rhynia Gwynne-Vaughani and Rhynia major. The account in Part I applies to both these species. Along with them there occurs a plant of similar grade of organisation to Rhynia, though quite distinct from that genus: this we name Hornea Lignieri. Asteroxylon Machiei, on the other hand, which will be described in the next part, was a plant of larger size and much more complex morphology. We are thus now able to establish the existence and main features of four archaic Vascular Cryptogams from the Rhynie bed. In the present paper additional notes on R. Gwynne-Vaughani are given, and R. major and Hornea Lignieri described in detail. In conclusion, the morphological bearings of the facts will be briefly considered.


Intellectual capital at the macroeconomic (country) level is a new area of research that focuses on understanding, measuring and reporting of intangible assets that can have an influence the creation of national wealth. The concept is abstract, unequivocal and complex, which causes individual authors to differentiate their interpretation of this economic category. The paper presents an analysis of approaches to defining and classifying national intellectual capital (NIC). This enables the authors to identify various perspectives on the topic.


Small-angle neutron scattering (SANS) measurements were performed on large unilamellar vesicles (LUVs) in order to investigate solute effects on membrane properties. Although SANS is a well established technique for the measurement of membrane thickness in unilamellar vesicles, earlier measurements have depended on approximate treatments of the scattering function and have suffered from effects of multilamellarity or difficulty in sample preparation. More recent studies of temperature induced thickness changes in DPPC LUVs which have included explicit treatment of the full scattering function were complicated by disparities between the predicted and measured scattering curves. Here, we reexamine theoretical descriptions of SANS from LUVs. Motivated by our observations, we then introduce a new method for interpretation of SANS data, which we compare to established techniques and apply to our measurements.


Could the Federal Reserve have reversed the decline in the money supply during the Great Depression without causing a loss of confidence in the U.S. commitment to the gold standard? This article uses the $1 billion expansionary open market operation in 1932 as a crucial case study. Using forward exchange rates and interest rate differentials to measure devaluation expectations, we find virtually no evidence that the large monetary expansion led investors to believe that the United States would devalue. The financial press and Federal Reserve records also show scant evidence of expectations of devaluation or fear of speculative attack.


This report presents life-cycle impact assessment analysis of near-woods processing of post-harvest forest residues (a biomass raw material) into torrefied wood for bioenergy production. The study was part of the Waste to Wisdom project with a broader goal of evaluating the use semimobile biomass conversion technologies to optimize biomass logistics, thereby overcoming the barriers of valorizing woody biomass residues for renewable energy and material production. Cradle-to-grave analysis of the torrefied briquettes (TOB) supply chain included feedstock procurement, hauling, feedstock preparation and bioconversion (torrefaction and densification) stages, product transportation (distribution), and combustion of TOB in domestic wood stoves for heat generation. The results showed that a large portion of the global warming (GW) impact of the TOB supply chain resulted from the torrefaction process (59%) followed by the drying process with about 24% of the contribution. The large contribution of these processes resulted from propane use. Comparative analysis showed that 50% substitution of propane used in domestic heating with TOB resulted in a 41% decrease in GW impact. The near-woods operation resulted in a 55% lower GW impact compared with transporting the feedstock to an in-town facility with access to grid electricity.