Background: Strengthening health institutions increases the productivity of health spending. Institutions like hospitals which use a large proportion of the health budget are natural targets for productivity improvements, which need to be tracked over time to enable corrective action. This paper measure changes in technical and scale efficiency of hospitals in Uganda, and evaluates changes in productivity over a five year period in order to analyze changes in efficiency and technology. Methods and findings: This was a longitudinal study using five year panel secondary data. Input and output data were obtained from the Uganda Ministry of Health annual health sector performance reports for five financial years (2009/10 to 2013/14) for the 13 public sector regional referral hospitals. We use Data Envelopment Analysis to estimate efficiency of the hospitals in each financial year; and Malmquist Total Factor Productivity Index (MPI) to calculate changes in productivity using STATA 13. Productivity of the hospitals in our sample grew over the five year period, with significant growth between FY 11/12-12/13 and FY 12/13-13/14 (P 0.01). Over the five year period, to become efficient, the inefficient hospitals would need to increase the outpatient department visits by a total of 2,802,318 visits (19%), deliveries by 36,383 (6%) and inpatient days by 1,163,652 (10%) without increasing any of the inputs. Conclusions: The study highlights missed opportunities in providing more hospital services to additional persons by using the existing health system inputs more efficiently. There is scope for further improving hospital productivity in Uganda by focusing on improving hospital efficiency. Keywords: Data envelopment analysis; Efficiency change; Hospital efficiency; Malmquist productivity index; Productivity; Technological change; Uganda Abbreviations: AHSPR: Annual Health Sector Performance Reports; CRS: Constant Returns to Scale; DEA: Data Envelopment Analysis; DMU: Decision Making Unit; DRS: Decreasing Returns to Scale; EFFCH: Efficiency Change; FY: Financial Year; HSSIP: Health Sector Strategy and Investment plan; IRS: Increasing Returns to Scale; MOH: Ministry of Health; MPI: Malmquist Total Factor Productivity Index (MPI); NGOs: Non-Governmental Organization; OPD: Out Patient Department; PNFP: Private Not For Profit; SECH: Scale efficiency change; TECH: Technical Efficiency Change; VRS: Variable Returns to Scale


Abstract. A web-based multi-criteria decision support tool is designed to support the planning, control and deployment of building-integrated photovoltaic (BIPV) in the City of Cape Town, South Africa. Solar energy is one of the renewable sources for generating electricity by means of photovoltaic systems, and it offers a viable and expedient means of generating electricity within a short period of time. Nevertheless, there are some impediments to the extensive deployment of solar photovoltaic systems. The most prominent among these are generation potential and the high capital cost of initial set-up. Hence, the location, design and yield of building-integrated photovoltaic systems have to be well thought-out before their deployment. The interactive web-based tool designed utilises JavaScript and Hypertext Mark-up Language (HTML) to implement a map mashup, which can be queried to retrieve vital information about the solar photovoltaic potential of a building roof. From results generated and the system developed, it becomes possible to remotely and sufficiently evaluate buildings in the city in order to make decisions about solar photovoltaic potentials, designs and installations.


There is increased global recognition of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) as a serious medical condition with long-term consequences. Although originally conceived of as a childhood disorder, ADHD is being increasingly recognized in adults. Individual geographic regions may have specific interests and objectives for the study of ADHD. A systematic review of long-term outcomes (LTOs) in ADHD was conducted to evaluate research on ADHD LTOs on a global scale. Studies that were at least 2 years in duration were examined. A total of 351 studies were identified in the final analysis. We identified nine outcomes of interest and classified studies by specific geographical regions, age groups studied and study design by region and over time. Published studies of LTOs in ADHD have increased in all geographical regions over the past three decades, with a peak number of 42 publications in 2008. This rise in publications on ADHD LTOs may reflect a rise in global interest and recognition of consequences and impairment associated with ADHD. Although many world regions have published on ADHD LTOs, the majority of studies have emerged from the US and Canada, followed by Europe. While investigators in the US and Canada were predominantly interested in drug addiction as a LTO, European researchers were more interested in antisocial behavior, and Eastern Asian investigators focused on both of these LTOs as well as self-esteem. Geographical differences in the focus of ADHD LTO studies may reflect regional variations in cultural values. Proportionally fewer prospective longitudinal studies and proportionally more retrospective and cross-sectional studies have been published in more recent decades. Finally, more studies focusing on ADHD in adolescents and adults have been conducted in recent years, and particularly adolescents in Eastern Asia. These changes in basic study design may reflect an increase in the recognition that ADHD is a lifetime chronic disorder. This systematic review analysis of publication trends in ADHD LTOs reflects geographically based interests that change over time.


Novel, semicrystalline polyamides and co(polyamides) were synthesized from biobased sebacic acid (SA), 2,5-diamino-2,5-dideoxy-1,4;3,6-dianhydroiditol (diaminoisoidide, DAII) as well as from 1,4-diaminobutane (DAB), also known as putrescine in nature. Low molecular weight polyamides were obtained by melt polycondensation of the salts based on these monomers or by interfacial polycondensation. In order to increase their molecular weights the polyamide prepolymers were submitted to a solid state polymerization (SSP) process. The chemical structure of the polymers was confirmed by 2D NMR correlation spectra (COSY), heteronuclear multiple-bond correlation spectra (HMBC) and by FT-IR spectroscopy. In the present work, FT-IR and X-ray techniques were used as a tool for the investigation of the crystal structure of the polymers after SSP. The X-ray diffractograms of the polyamides point to crystals containing both 4.10- and DAII.10-based repeat units. Because of the presence of diaminoisoidide residues the synthesized fully renewable products exhibit tunable polarities and melting points. Since most commercial polyamides have a much higher melting point than their end application requires, especially for fiber applications, this simple adaption can result in a significant reduction of energy consumption during processing.


Different aspects of evolvement and development of university hygiene in this country are considered. The first studies on learning environment, living conditions and health status of students were conducted in the late 19th and early 20th centuries in main Russian scientific centres. Researchers and specialists of their hygiene departments greatly contributed to the development of this discipline. Systematic studies date back to the foundation of the university hygiene laboratory at I.M.Sechenov Moscow Medical Academy. Today the laboratory focuses on the complex problem "Lifestyle and health status of main participants of the educational process, students and professors".


Abstract The distribution of the Critically Endangered tree Manglietia longipedunculata, of which there are only 11 known wild individuals, is restricted to the Nankunshan Nature Reserve in South China. The species is threatened with extinction because of its small number of individuals and the impediments to its reproduction (a combination of protogyny, a short period of stigma receptivity, and a lack of efficient pollinators). To reduce the risk of extinction we conducted two conservation translocation trials: one to augment the sole extant population, and the other 202 km north of the current range. The latter trial was a conservation introduction in which the goals were to increase the population and to buffer against the effects of climate change. We used emerged and grafted seedlings as translocation materials. We compared the survival, growth, and eco-physiological properties of emerged and grafted seedlings at the two sites. The survival rate and growth were higher for grafted seedlings than for emerged seedlings at both sites. Eco-physiological data indicated that grafted seedlings at both sites were as efficient or more so in light and water usage than wild individuals, whereas emerged seedlings were less efficient. Grafted seedlings attained the flowering stage sooner than emerged seedlings. Our study suggests that grafting can facilitate the augmentation and establishment of new populations of M. longipedunculata and perhaps of new populations of other threatened species facing reproductive difficulties and climate change.


The digestive organs contain a large number of neuroendocrine cells as part of the diffuse neuroendocrine system. Neuroendocrine tumors can occur in every digestive organ. It has long been recognized that this is a diverse group of tumors with very different clinical outcomes; however, well-recognized prognostic parameters had been elusive until recently. Over the years, there have been several different classification schemes, each with different strengths and weaknesses. In an effort to standardize the classification and grading criteria for gastroenteropancreatic neuroendocrine tumors, the current World Health Organization classification includes a histologic grade based on proliferative rate (mitotic rate and Ki67 index) and a TNM stage that varies from organ to organ. The prognostic value of both the grade and stage has been validated in multiple studies. However, several issues remain, including the lack of standardized methods to assess proliferative rate, potential discrepancies between the mitotic count and the Ki67 index; intratumoral heterogeneity in proliferative rate; and the need for refinement in proliferative cut-points to define the grades. More studies are needed to further improve the classification of neuroendocrine tumors, thus guiding optimal treatment for these tumors.


Affordance is an integral part of the practical knowledge teachers acquires while using new technologies in their teaching. This article describes the situated learning of two experienced modern language teachers using new technologies as they learned to perceive and implement learning affordances of several new tools in their individual classroom contexts, including Second Life and Wimba. The teachers identified and actualised learning affordances that allowed them to support students' learning according to their respective beliefs about teaching and learning. The implications for computer-assisted language learning (CALL) teacher development are discussed in relation to professional learning and to the enriching of effective teaching practice.


Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to study the Mode I fracture behavior of polycarbonate (PC) parts produced using fused deposition modeling (FDM). The focus of this study is on samples printed along the out-of-plane direction with different raster angles.

Design/methodology/approach
Tensile and Mode I fracture tests were conducted. Semi-circular bend specimens were used for the fracture tests, which were printed in four different raster patterns of (0/90), (15/−75) (30/−60) and (45/−45). Moreover, the finite element method (FEM) was used to determine the applicability of linear elastic fracture mechanics (LEFM) for the printed PC parts. The fracture toughness results, as well as the fracture path and the fracture surfaces, were studied to describe the fracture behavior of the samples.

Findings
Finite element results confirm that the use of LEFM is allowed for the tested PC samples. The fracture toughness results show that changing the direction of the printed rasters can have an effect of up to 50% on the fracture toughness of the printed parts, with the (+45/−45) and (0/90) orientations having the highest and lowest resistance to crack propagation, respectively. Moreover, except for the (0/90) orientation, the other samples have higher crack resistance compared to the bulk material. The fracture toughness of the tested PC depends more on the toughness of the printed sample, rather than its tensile strength.

Originality/value
The toughness and the energy absorption capability of the printed samples (with different raster patterns) were identified as the main properties affecting the fracture toughness of the AM PC parts. Because the fracture resistance of almost all the samples was higher than that of the base material, it is evident that by choosing the right raster patterns for 3D-printed parts, very high resistance to crack growth may be obtained. Also, using FEM and comparing the size of the plastic zones, it was concluded that, although the tensile curves show nonlinearity, LEFM is still applicable for the printed parts.


Background: In dialysis patients, vascular calcification is a common complication and is closely related to the morbidity and mortality of cardiovascular disease. We performed a systematic review to determine the efficacy and safety of sodium thiosulfate (STS) in the progression of vascular calcification in dialysis patients with end-stage renal disease. Methods: The PubMed, Web of Science, Embase, Cochrane Library, Wanfang, CNKI, China Biology Medicine disc and Weipu databases were searched up to 9 March 2022 for clinical trials to synthesise findings on the efficacy and safety of STS in the progression of vascular calcification in dialysis patients. The primary outcome was coronary artery calcifica-tion scores (CACS) or abdominal aortic calcification scores (AACS) or Kauppila index. The secondary outcome was pulse-wave velocity (PWV). Laboratory data were shown in safety data. A random-effect model was used to provide the summary measures of effect [standardised mean difference (SMD) and 95% confidence interval (CI)]. Results: Seven randomised, controlled trials and one non-randomised, controlled trial involving 370 patients were included. Six studies reported that the progression of CACS or AACS was slower in the intravenous STS group compared with the control group (SMD –3.24, 95% CI: –5.29, –1.18, p = 0.002). Two studies showed the increase in PWV was less in the STS group compared with the control group (SMD –0.52, 95% CI: –0.92, –0.13, p = 0.009). During the trial period, a lower high-sensitivity C-reactive protein level (SMD 1.61, 95% CI: 0.19, 3.04, p = 0.03), a decrease in serum bicarbonate level (SMD 0.67, 95% CI: 0.22, 1.11, p = 0.003) and an increase in serum phosphate level (SMD –0.32, 95% CI: –0.62, –0.03, p = 0.03) were noted in the intravenous STS group compared with the control group. However, serum calcium and parathyroid hormone levels showed no difference between the two groups after the trials. The most common adverse events were temporary nausea and vomiting, which occurred in 12.5 to 75% of patients. Conclusions: Intravenous STS may slow down the progression of vascular calcification and ameliorate arterial stiffness in dialysis patients. Reliably defining the efficacy and safety of intravenous STS in attenuating the progression of vascular calcification requires a high-quality trial with a large sample size.


Abstract The inability of certain phagotrophic protozoa to phagocytose right before and right after cell division was utilized to measure the distributions of newborn and dividing cells and obtain information on the kinetics of the cell cycle. A fluorescent microsphere labeling assay was used in conjunction with flow cytometry to identify the non-feeding cells and measure their DNA and protein distributions. These distributions, which are typically bimodal, were decomposed to the two component distributions by means of a new algorithm, which is based on the assumption that cells partition their DNA and the remaining cellular material evenly at division. The estimated population fractions in the two non-feeding phases before and after division and the corresponding DNA and protein distributions provide significant information on the kinetics of the cell cycle. The transient labeling experiments revealed a significant variability in the timing of the pre-division non-feeding phase with the smaller cells of this subpopulation spending more time in preparation for division. From the determined distributions of newborn and dividing cells, the single-cell growth rates and division probabilities were also calculated. This type of analysis provides essential information for the development of corpuscular, multi-staged cell population models.


A variational data assimilation (4D-Var) method is proposed to directly assimilate flood extents into a 2-D dynamic flood model to explore a novel way of utilizing the rich source of remotely sensed data available from satellite imagery for better analyzing or predicting flood routing processes. For this purpose, a new cost function is specially defined to effectively fuse the hydraulic information that is implicitly indicated in flood extents. The potential of using remotely sensed flood extents for improving the analysis of flood routing processes is demonstrated by applying the present new data assimilation approach to both idealized and realistic numerical experiments.


OBJECTIVES: Peripheral arterial disease (PAD) is associated with high rates of morbidity and mortality and serves as an important marker for advanced systemic atherosclerosis accompanied by symptomatic or asymptomatic ischemia of the coronary, cerebral, and visceral vasculature. There are little published data on the use of health care resources and costs attributable to PAD. The objectives of this study were to evaluate, from a societal perspective, PAD-related health care resource utilization and to determine the total annualized costs and cost components for patients with PAD, with particular attention to the key outcomes of myocardial infarction (MI), transient ischemic attacks (TIA), stroke, and amputations. METHODS: This study examined medical, hospital and outpatient, and pharmacy claims from a large managed care database with dates of service from January 1, 1999, through August 31, 2003. Patients with PAD were identified from claims using International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision, Clinical Modification (ICD-9-CM) diagnosis codes (primary or secondary codes), ICD-9-CM procedure codes, current procedural terminology (CPT) codes, or by a pharmacy claim for cilostazol or pentoxifylline. The index date for each patient was the first occurrence of either a medical claim for PAD or a pharmacy claim for 1 of the 2 drugs. Patients were required to be a minimum of 18 years old with continuous plan eligibility. The prevalence of PAD in adults in a managed care setting was also determined, as were annual rates for the key outcomes of MI, TIA, stroke, and amputations. Health care resource utilization and costs were calculated for PAD patients after the index date for a period of at least 12 months per patient for medications, outpatient/physician office visits, laboratory/diagnostic procedures, emergency department visits, and hospitalization. Cost was defined as the allowed charge on each administrative claim, including the amount paid by the insurer plus the amount paid by the health plan members (copay, deductible, and coinsurance). RESULTS: Prior to application of exclusion criteria for patients aged 18 years or older and the minimum period of continuous eligibility, the overall prevalence of PAD was 1.18% of the total managed care organization populations' 6.67 million members. The PAD study cohort consisted of 30,561 patients with a mean age of 70.7 years at index. The most common comorbidities identified in the preindex period for these PAD patients included hypertension (67% of patients); metabolic disorders/hypercholesterolemia (57%); heart disease including cardiomyopathy, dysrhythmias, and heart failure (55%); and ischemic heart disease (47%). Over a mean postindex period of 25.2 months (median 23.4 months), the total mean annualized PAD-related cost was $5,955 per patient per year (PPPY). Hospitalizations accounted for the largest component cost category, averaging $4,442 PPPY or 75% of the total annualized PAD-related cost per PAD patient. PAD-related noncoronary procedures averaged $729 PPPY (12.2% of total annual PAD-related costs), and PAD-related medications (including antihypertensives and lipid-lowering therapy) totaled $610 (10.2% of total annual costs), including $313 PPPY for antihypertensives and $207 for lipid-lowering therapy. For the subgroup of 24,075 newly identified PAD patients, 8,479 (35.2%) were hospitalized during an average 25.2 months of follow-up, with the mean time to first hospitalization of 8.9 months. CONCLUSIONS: Approximately 75% of the total PAD-related patient cost in an average of 25 months of follow-up is contributed by hospital costs, and 35% of patients newly diagnosed with PAD experienced a hospitalization in a mean of 8.9 months after the index diagnosis. Based upon mean annual health and member costs of only $313 PPPY for antihypertensives and $207 for lipid-lowering therapy, drug therapy in PAD patients may be underutilized.


This article discusses the relations between patriotism and food sovereignty in post-Euromaidan Ukraine. It investigates how the rising Ukrainian national identity and patriotic sentiments during the geopolitical conflict with Russia led to a change in the social imaginary of traditional small-scale farming. Formerly, household farming was seen as a coping strategy of the post-Soviet population and a relic of the socialist past, doomed to disappear in the nearest future. Nowadays, more and more Ukrainians view small-scale farming as a sustainable alternative to large-scale industrial agriculture, which could feed Ukraine (and Europe) with ecological and healthy food. This study uses primary qualitative and quantitative data collected during field research before and after the Euromaidan revolution to reveal how pro-European aspirations and rising patriotism contribute to the emerging discourses on the 'rights to food and to farm' in Ukraine. This transformation could bring a new trajectory to the country's agricultural development and might lead to the emergence of a food sovereignty movement.


A new mineral, nioboheftetjernite, ideally ScNbO4, was found in the Befanamo pegmatite, Analamanga, Madagascar. It occurs as anhedral grains and very crude elongated crystals up to 200 μm in length in an intergrowth with rossovskyite, ilmenite, rutile, thortveitite, euxenite-(Y), feldspar, and quartz. The mineral is black with dark-brown to black streak and submetallic luster. It has no cleavage and its fracture is uneven. Dcalc is 5.855 g/cm3. The Raman spectrum and reflectance data are reported. The chemical composition (wt.%) is MgO 0.06, MnO 2.49, Fe2O3 12.14, Sc2O3 11.34, TiO2 5.94, SnO2 1.45, Nb2O5 32.23, Ta2O5 29.93, WO3 3.38, total 98.96. The empirical formula calculated on the basis of 4 O apfu is (Sc0.40Fe3+0.37Ti0.15Mn2+0.08)Σ1.00(Nb0.58Ta0.33W0.03Ti0.03Sn0.02)Σ0.99O4. The simplified general formula is (Sc,Fe3+)(Nb,Ta)O4. Nioboheftetjernite is monoclinic, P2/c, a = 4.7092(3), b = 5.6531(4), c = 5.0530(4) Å, β = 90.453(3)°, and V = 134.515(17) Å3. The strongest reflections of the powder X-ray diffraction pattern [d,Å(I)(hkl)] are: 4.722(22)(100), 3.776(22)(011), 3.628(44)(110), , 2.938(83)(111), 2.472(30)(021), and . The crystal structure, refined from single-crystal X-ray diffraction data (R1 = 0.016), is of the "wolframite" type. The mineral is named as the Nb-analogue of heftetjernite, ScTaO4.


High temperatures have a significant impact on plant growth and metabolism. In recent years, the fruit industry has faced a serious threat due to high-temperature stress on fruit plants caused by global warming. In the present study, we explored the molecular regulatory mechanisms that contribute to high-temperature tolerance in kiwifruit. A total of 36 Hsf genes were identified in the A. chinensis (Ac) genome, while 41 Hsf genes were found in the A. eriantha (Ae) genome. Phylogenetic analysis revealed the clustering of kiwifruit Hsfs into three distinct groups (groups A, B, and C). Synteny analysis indicated that the expansion of the Hsf gene family in the Ac and Ae genomes was primarily driven by whole genome duplication (WGD). Analysis of the gene expression profiles revealed a close relationship between the expression levels of Hsf genes and various plant tissues and stress treatments throughout fruit ripening. Subcellular localization analysis demonstrated that GFP-AcHsfA2a/AcHsfA7b and AcHsfA2a/AcHsfA7b -GFP were localized in the nucleus, while GFP-AcHsfA2a was also observed in the cytoplasm of Arabidopsis protoplasts. The results of real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR) and dual-luciferase reporter assay revealed that the majority of Hsf genes, especially AcHsfA2a, were expressed under high-temperature conditions. In conclusion, our findings establish a theoretical foundation for analyzing the potential role of Hsfs in high-temperature stress tolerance in kiwifruit. This study also offers valuable information to aid plant breeders in the development of heat-stress-resistant plant materials.


Utility computing environments provide on-demand IT services to customers. Such environments are dynamic in nature and continuously adapt to changes in requirements and system state. Errors are an important category of environment state changes as such environments consist of a large number of components, and hence, are subject to errors. In this paper, we design and implement a model-based simulation framework that leverages information about existing service components and their interactions, and provides concrete service behavior in presence of a variety of errors. To evaluate the framework, experiments are conducted on a virtualized blade-server based environment. Results show that the framework is effective and practical in analyzing error impacts on IT services.


Due to extensive morphological variation and inadequately-sampled or poorly-designed studies, the taxonomy of the finless porpoises (genus Neophocaena) has been controversial for some time. An uneasy stability with the arrangement of finless porpoises into a single species consisting of three subspecies dominated for many years. However, in the past decade new data examining both morphological and molecular characters provided strong evidence for the existence of at least two distinct biological species, by demonstrating a lack of interbreeding in sympatry between the two major morphological forms of finless porpoises. All finless porpoise specimens examined have had either a wide dorsal tubercled area or a much-narrower one, and there appears to be no overlap between the two species in this feature. Furthermore, the two species have apparently been reproductively isolated since the last glacial maximum, about 18,000 years ago. Taxonomic studies of finless porpoises are reviewed, the widely-accepted view of one species is rejected, and the two recognized species are redescribed. The revised taxonomy of the finless porpoises includes the Indo-Pacific finless porpoise (Neophocaena phocaenoides) and the narrow-ridged finless porpoise (N. asiaeorientalis), with two subspecies (Yangtze finless porpoise, N. a. asiaeorientalis, and East Asian finless porpoise, N. a. sunameri) within the latter species. [JMATE. 2011;4(1):3-16]


This Master Thesis ends up in a design optimization of a propeller duct profile as an example of multi-objective optimization with computationally expensive objective function evaluation. Computational Fluid Dynamics simulation of the ducted propeller is then done as objective evaluation. Response surface methods are employed in the propeller duct profile optimization.


OBJECTIVES
To evaluate the dental and periodontal condition of patients with unilateral cleft lip and palate (UCLP) before orthodontic treatment and evaluate whether the dental and periodontal condition of these patients during and after orthodontic treatment was jeopardized by the duration of the orthodontic and surgical treatment.

DESIGN
Seventy-five individuals with UCLP (52 males, 23 females), between ages 8 and 20 years, participated in a retrospective study during their final follow-up visit with regard to dental abnormalities, such as hypodontia, external root resorption, crown and root malformation, and supernumerary teeth. Alveolar bone height and periodontal attachment loss on the cleft side were also screened before or after bone grafting and at different stages of orthodontic treatment.

RESULTS
Hypodontia of the lateral incisor was found in more than 50% of the patients on the cleft side. Second premolars and/or lateral incisors outside the cleft area were missing in 27.2% of the patients. In 32%, malformations of the teeth near the cleft were noticed. In general, the teeth around and in the cleft of the patients showed normal septal bone heights and a healthy periodontium. Sixty of the 75 patients received a bone graft to restore the interrupted alveolar process. In 93.3% of these patients, the cleft was grafted before the eruption of the canine.

CONCLUSION
The periodontium of the teeth in and around the cleft in patients with UCLP observed during and after orthodontic treatment can cope relatively well with the long orthodontic treatment and combined surgical interventions. The children, who had not yet started treatment, also showed enough bone support and no periodontal problems of the teeth besides the cleft. Early secondary bone grafting seems to give optimal periodontal results.


The mechanical design of hydraulic turbines is conditioned by the dynamic response of the runner that is usually estimated by a computational model. Nevertheless, the runner has complex boundary conditions that are difficult to include in the computational model. One of these boundary conditions is the water in which the runner is submerged. The effect of the added mass and damping of water can modify considerably the natural frequencies of the runner. In order to analyze this effect on a Francis turbine runner, an experimental and a numerical investigation in a reduced scale model was carried out. The experimental investigation was based on modal analysis. Several impact tests with the runner in air and in water were done. The response was measured with accelerometers located in different positions of the runner. Special attention was taken to determine the most suitable positions of measurements and impacts. From the modal analysis, the natural frequencies, damping ratios, and mode shapes were determined. The simulation of the same runner was also carried out using a FEM method. First, some tests including a sensitivity analysis were done to check the accuracy of the numerical results. Second, the runner was simulated and the frequencies and mode shapes were calculated both in air and in water like in the experiment. The simulation was compared with the experimental results to determine its accuracy especially regarding the added mass effects. Similar mode shapes and frequency reduction ratios were obtained so the simulation gave rather good results. In the paper, the frequencies, damping and mode shapes obtained in air and in water both from experiment and simulation are indicated. The same mode shapes obtained in air were 23 IAHR Symposium Yokohama October 2006 2 (9) obtained in water but with lower natural frequencies and higher damping ratios. The difference in the natural frequencies is shown to be dependent basically on the added mass effect of the water and not on its added damping. This difference also depends on the geometry of the mode presenting different values for different mode shapes. Using nondimensional values, the reduction in the natural frequencies can be extrapolated to other Francis runners presenting similar geometrical characteristics.


This Article examines legal and historical evidence to determine whether, as some have argued, the original legal force of the First Amendment's "freedom of the press" included a per se right to anonymous authorship. The Article concludes that, except in cases in which the press had been abused, it did. Thus, from an originalist point of view, Supreme Court cases such as Buckley v. Valeo and Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, which upheld statutes requiring disclosure of donors to political advertising, were erroneously decided.


The palaeopascichnids are a relatively abundant component of the Ediacara biota. The eponymous Palaeopascichnus delicatus consists of serially arranged, millimetre‐scale allantoid chambers that have variously been interpreted as evidence of movement, feeding traces, and body fossils of various affinities. Palaeopascichnus has most recently been compared to the deep‐marine Xenophyophora, an extant group of large, benthic protists characterized by their greater size and possession of stercomata within their cells. The morphometric variation in palaeopascichnids is assessed using material from the Avalon Peninsula of Newfoundland, Canada. The application of quantitative morphological analysis to the study of over 90 well‐preserved specimens of Palaeopascichnus demonstrates considerable variation in chamber shape and size, and in behaviour along the chamber series. The combination of morphometric and multivariate statistical analysis allows the recognition of natural groups within the dataset, thereby demonstrating variability within and between morphospecies. Morphological comparisons of fossil palaeopascichnids with fossil and extant protistan taxa support the proposed protistan affinity of Palaeopascichnus, allowing further resolution regarding the diversity and disparity within this prominent element of the later Ediacara biotas of Gondwana and Baltica.


This thesis presents a new approach to the hardware test environment for a twist reflector monopulse antenna system with a radome extending current measurement practice. New research is presented on the optimisation of the design of a twist reflector monopulse antenna system with a radome, significantly improving the design and the design process. A unique extension to current measurement practice, for single channel antennas, is presented to determine the best practice method on phase stable measurements of a multichannel antenna on a moving positioner. A novel axis transform for a 3 axis positioner system located within an anechoic chamber is derived. It allows for true performance measurement of a twist reflector antenna with a radome. This progresses the field of antenna measurement as, uniquely, this axis transform allows the aberration caused by the antenna radome to be measured and included. Design improvements have been made on polarisation selective grids, the matched thickness of the radome and a new software method that removes the need for a comparator and increases the robustness of the antenna system. Polarisation selective grids, constructed from a set of parallel conductors, have a wide range of uses in antenna systems. This thesis shows that the depth of a copper grid line can be reduced to 15 μm and still provide better than -25 dB cross-polar isolation. This is contrary to current understanding at 30 times the skin depth. A new combined approach to radome thickness optimisation is presented that reduces the time taken to calculate the optimal thickness by over 3 orders of magnitude and the computer memory by over 2 orders of magnitude without compromising accuracy. The use of a digital comparator is described and leads to a novel method to compensate for a failed feed element, verified in both simulation and anechoic chamber measurements.


This study aimed to develop and compare two methods of inserting computerized virtual lesions into CT datasets. 24 physical (synthetic) nodules of three sizes and four morphologies were inserted into an anthropomorphic chest phantom (LUNGMAN, KYOTO KAGAKU). The phantom was scanned (Somatom Definition Flash, Siemens Healthcare) with and without nodules present, and images were reconstructed with filtered back projection and iterative reconstruction (SAFIRE) at 0.6 mm slice thickness using a standard thoracic CT protocol at multiple dose settings. Virtual 3D CAD models based on the physical nodules were virtually inserted (accounting for the system MTF) into the nodule-free CT data using two techniques. These techniques include projection-based and image-based insertion. Nodule volumes were estimated using a commercial segmentation tool (iNtuition, TeraRecon, Inc.). Differences were tested using paired t-tests and R2 goodness of fit between the virtually and physically inserted nodules. Both insertion techniques resulted in nodule volumes very similar to the real nodules (<3% difference) and in most cases the differences were not statistically significant. Also, R2 values were all <0.97 for both insertion techniques. These data imply that these techniques can confidently be used as a means of inserting virtual nodules in CT datasets. These techniques can be instrumental in building hybrid CT datasets composed of patient images with virtually inserted nodules.


The distribution and appearance characteristics of porosities in laser penetrated weld of aluminum alloy were observed, and the formation mechanisms of porosities were analyzed in detail, and the influences of twin spot laser energy distribution on porosities were investigated. It showed that there are two kinds of porosities, metallurgical and technologic porosities, in laser penetrated weld of aluminum alloy. The formation of metallurgical porosities is related to the separation, congregation and incorporation of hydrogen in the weld pool, while instantaneous instability of the keyhole is an essential reason for the occurrence of technologic porosities. Twin spot laser energy distribution can enlarge diameters of the opening and the root of the keyhole, improve fluctuating conditions of the wall of the keyhole, increase stability of the keyhole, and consequently decrease technologic porosities in number, but it has no obvious influence on metallurgical porosities.


Analysis of sperm chromosomes by G-banding and two-colour fluorescence in-situ hybridization (FISH) was carried out in the father of a child with a de-novo reciprocal translocation t(11;15)(q12;q22). Sperm chromosome complements were obtained after in-vitro fusion of zona-free hamster oocytes and donor spermatozoa. A total of 112 sperm complements was first analysed by G-banding. The frequency of structural chromosome aberrations (9.8%) and the conservative frequency of aneuploidy (0.0%) were not significantly different from those obtained in our control donors. The proportions of X-bearing (53.2%) and Y-bearing (46.8%) spermatozoa were not significantly different from the expected 1:1 ratio. A total of 313 sperm complements was analysed by two-colour FISH. The frequency of structural abnormalities for chromosomes 11 and 15 was 3.2 and 0.3% respectively. The frequency of rearrangements for chromosome 11 was statistically significant when compared with control donors (0.4%) (P < 0.0001). No spermatozoa with the t(11;15)(q12;q22) translocation were observed, showing no evidence for a germ-cell mosaicism. These results suggest that the de-novo involvement of chromosome 11 in a structural rearrangement is not random, and that in this patient an increased risk of de-novo structural chromosome abnormalities in further offspring does exist.


Cavity expansion solutions are often used in geomechanics modelling to investigate problems such as the bearing capacity of piles or interpretation of cone and pressuremeter tests. Conceived as a simplified approach to capturing the transient flow effects in the soil around an expanding cylinder, a non-linear poroelastic model is formulated in this paper based on the concept of proportional poroplasticity. The latter is used to assess rate effects and associated drainage conditions during piezocone penetration. In this context, cone tests performed in gold tailings at penetration rates ranging from 0.1 mm/s to 57 mm/s are used to validate the proposed approach. The model predictions are directly compared with in situ testing results in the space of normalized velocity Vh to cone resistance Q and to degree of drainage U, demonstrating the model capability of capturing the transitions from drained to partially drained and undrained soil regimes.


Textualist - or "new" textualist - statutory interpreters trumpet the virtues of following the ordinary meaning of statutory text, and warn of the vices of introducing extratextual material - particularly, legislative history. But textualism misses a step in the argument. Its understanding of ordinary meaning is admittedly contextual, and context requires attention to purpose. Judges will know much about a statute's purpose-meaning from their background knowledge of the relevant area of law. Textualism can't explain why judges should be permitted to rely on such background knowledge but should be barred from gaining new knowledge about how certain words were used. This failure of explanation is the missing step. The argument for extratextual knowledge gathering, including legislative history, is thus strengthened, and the arguments for an ordinary meaning approach lead to an uneven judicial terrain - nuanced analysis of some statutory terms, but not of others, depending upon what judges already know, versus what they might learn.


The Cosmic Dawn (z ∼ 15 − 35) is the period in the history of our universe when stars first began to form in small Dark Matter minihalos. Light from these first stars is too dim for telescopes to see, which means that the Cosmic Dawn has never been directly measured. However, the first stars impacted the gas, or intergalactic medium (IGM), around them. The impact of the first stars was heating and eventual ionization of the IGM. The process of heating and ionization creates a spectrum that varies over redshift, namely the spatially averaged brightness temperature spectrum of 21-cm light from the IGM. Measurement of this spectrum will give us a first glimpse of the Cosmic Dawn. The Sonda Cosmologica de las Islas para la Deteccion de Hidrogeno Neutro (SCIHI) experiment is a collaboration between Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) and Instituto Nacional de Astrof́ısica, Óptica y Electrónica (INAOE) in Mexico and was designed to make this measurement. The SCI-HI experiment is a small-scale system which travels with the team to remote locations for deployments. These remote locations are necessary to avoid radio frequency interference and other environmental impacts on the system. This thesis describes the development and deployment of the SCI-HI experiment. It starts with the original design and covers development of the system over time. Deployment location selection is then discussed, including the results of site evaluations. In addition, the thesis outlines the data analysis process used for the system and shows results from data collected during the June 2013 deployment of the experiment. Finally, the thesis describes plans for the future of the SCI-HI experiment, including deployment to South Africa in 2015.


This article uses a particular non-parametric approach to examine the conditional drift and variance of credit spreads. The data include Moody's Aaa and Bbb seasoned bond index yields for the period February 1977 through May 2001. The results show that the drift function is linear and mean-reverting for Aaa index spreads, but Bbb spreads show a strong non-linearity in the drift function. Around its mean, the drift of Bbb spreads is essentially zero, behaving like a random walk, but it mean-reverts strongly when far away from the mean. For pricing and hedging applications, the affine class of parametric diffusion specifications is therefore likely to work well for Aaa spreads, while a non-linear specification is preferable for Bbb spreads.


The Livestock Mandatory Reporting Act (MPR) of 1999 was implemented in April 2001. Empirical evidence indicates a significant change in intra-week price dispersion associated with publicly reported fed cattle grid premiums and discounts occurring after MPR implementation. The research objective is to evaluate the effect of increased market transparency resulting from implementation of MPR, on grid intra-week premium and discount dispersion levels. Empirical results suggest that increased transparency is compatible with intra-week dispersion levels increasing. Increased dispersion suggests that during the pre-MPR period weekly premium and discount data may have been drawn from a non-representative sample. From the empirical evidence, it is concluded that reform of the livestock price-reporting system appears to have been necessary in the case of publically reported grid premiums and discounts.


T cell signaling via the CD4 surface antigen is mediated by the associated tyrosyl protein kinase p56lck. The 42-kilodalton mitogen-activated protein (MAP) kinase (p42mapk) was tyrosyl-phosphorylated and activated after treatment of the murine T lymphoma cell line 171CD4+, which expresses CD4, with antibody to CD3. Treatment of the CD4-deficient cell line 171 with the same antibody did not result in phosphorylation or activation of p42mapk. Purified p56lck both tyrosyl-phosphorylated and stimulated the seryl-threonyl phosphotransferase activity of purified p44mpk, a MAP kinase isoform from sea star oocytes. A synthetic peptide modeled after the putative regulatory phosphorylation site in murine p42mapk (Tyr185) was phosphorylated by p56lck with a similar Vmax, but a fivefold lower Michaelis constant (Km) than a peptide containing the Tyr394 autophosphorylation site from p56lck. MAP kinases may participate in protein kinase cascades that link Src family protein-tyrosyl kinases to seryl-threonyl kinases such as those encoded by rsk and raf, which are putative substrates of MAP kinases.


Data are presented comparing upwind versus downwind operation of the National Renewable Energy Laboratory's Phase VI wind turbine. Power was not reduced as expected for downwind, which may be attributed to inboard threedimensional effects. Average flap bending loads were reduced with downwind coning and compared well with prediction. Fatigue loads were increased with downwind; however, fatigue was mitigated with a tower shroud. The shroud needs to align with the freestream, demonstrated by an increase in fatigue loads from a 10◦ shroud misalignment. Pressure data were acquired in the tower wake at the rotor location with and without the shroud. The bare-tower wake data compared well with previous work. The shroud wake data at 10◦ and 20◦ misalignment showed velocity reduction and turbulence exceeding the bare tower values. Downwind operation, with an aligning tower shroud, should be considered for future designs given the load benefits of downwind coning.


This paper examines the water dimensions of recent large-scale land acquisitions for biofuel production in the Ashanti, Brong-Ahafo and Northern regions of Ghana. Using secondary sources of data complemented by individual and group interviews, the paper reveals an almost universal lack of consideration of the implications of large-scale land deals for crop water requirements, the ecological functions of freshwater ecosystems and water rights of local smallholder farmers and other users. It documents the factors responsible for this apparent oversight including the multiplicity of land and water governance systems, sharp sectoral boundaries between land and water policies, property rights and institutions, outdated statutes, poorly resourced and ineffective regulatory agencies, and unequal power relations in land acquisition deals. The paper shows that due to a lack of an approach that jointly considers land and water management policies and institutions in acceding to large-scale land deals, the benefits derived by local people were insufficient to cover the involuntary permanent loss of their water rights and livelihoods and the risks posed to ecosystem services. Options for establishing alternative institutional arrangements that will allow water availability, use and management as well as social and environmental standards to be factored, ex ante, into large-scale land deals are


BACKGROUND
Taking regular exercise may help people give up smoking by moderating nicotine withdrawal and cravings, and by helping to manage weight gain.

OBJECTIVES
To determine whether exercise-based interventions alone or combined with a smoking cessation programme are more effective than a smoking cessation intervention alone.

SEARCH STRATEGY
In July 2008, we searched the Cochrane Tobacco Addiction Group Specialized Register for studies including the terms 'exercise' or 'physical activity'. We also searched MEDLINE, EMBASE, PsycINFO, Dissertation Abstracts and CINAHL.

SELECTION CRITERIA
We included randomized trials which compared an exercise programme alone, or an exercise programme as an adjunct to a cessation programme, with a cessation programme, recruiting smokers or recent quitters, and with a follow up of six months or more.

DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS
We extracted data on study characteristics and smoking outcomes. Because of differences in studies we summarized the results narratively, making no attempt at meta-analysis.

MAIN RESULTS
We identified 13 trials, six of which had fewer than 25 people in each treatment arm. They varied in the timing and intensity of the smoking cessation and exercise programmes. Three studies showed significantly higher abstinence rates in a physically active group versus a control group at end of treatment. One of these studies also showed a significant benefit for exercise versus control on abstinence at the three-month follow up and a benefit for exercise of borderline significance (P = 0.05) at the 12-month follow up. One study showed significantly higher abstinence rates for the exercise group versus a control group at the three-month follow up but not at the end of treatment or 12-month follow up. The other studies showed no significant effect for exercise on abstinence.

AUTHORS' CONCLUSIONS
Only one of the 13 trials offered evidence for exercise aiding smoking cessation at a 12-month follow up. All the other trials were too small to exclude reliably an effect of intervention, or included an exercise intervention which was insufficiently intense to achieve the desired level of exercise. Trials are needed with larger sample sizes, sufficiently intense interventions, equal contact control conditions, measures of exercise adherence and change in physical activity in both exercise and comparison groups.


This paper attempts to provide a comprehensive review of research works in the library and information science (LIS) discipline in India during 1957–2009 in order to identify trends and patterns in doctoral research, both at the national level and within the Department of Library and Information Science, Panjab University, Chandigarh (PU). Research in LIS by PhD students in India was a sporadic activity for about two decades increasing slowly until around 1980, when it increased by more than five times during the 1980s. In the 1990s, the number of PhD theses more than doubled (from 104 to 232). The growth slowed during the next decade, during which 266 theses were completed. The 1990s recorded a rapid growth in both the number of doctoral degrees awarded and the geographic spread of universities/institutes offering doctoral degree programmes in the country. The new millennium recorded continued growth; more than two-fifths of total doctoral degrees were awarded in the first nine years (2001–2009). This growth in doctoral degrees was fueled by parity in pay-scales and promotional avenues accorded by the University Grants Commission to library science professionals, bringing them in line with university teachers at time of the Fourth Pay-Commission. Seventy universities awarded 623 degrees in library science during 1957–2009 giving an average of about nine degrees per university. Nevertheless, there were wide inter-state and inter-university variations. The number varied from a high of 58 degrees by Karnatak University, Dharwad to a low of one degree each in at least nine universities. Research in the LIS discipline in India was characterized by a replication of the themes already researched in foreign universities, a lack of diversification in research themes, a dearth of research on themes dealing with conceptual and methodological issues, and a decline in the quality of research with an increase in quantity of research works. Sub-fields, such as library use studies and user studies, university libraries, public libraries, information storage and retrieval, personnel and bibliometrics were among the most popular research topics, their combined share being more than two-fifths in total research works awarded during the study period. The open access system, repository system and digital libraries were emerging themes; however, some people consider the research to be conceptually and methodologically weak, requiring immediate attention. With forty-one doctoral degrees to its credit, PU is one of the three top universities in India in terms of the number of doctoral degrees awarded. Similar to the trends at the national level, progress remained slow up until 1980 and picked up rapidly during the 1990s. The new millennium brought a phase of rapid growth, with more than two-fifths of total doctoral degrees awarded in the last nine years. With one year remaining, the current decade is likely to make a new history in library science at PU. Thematically, while only about two-fifths of the research sub-fields explored in PhD dissertations at the national level have been examined so far at PU, the diversity of sub-fields and the focus on emerging themes were more marked at PU than at the national level. Diversity of themes and use of scientific methods in research, as a marked feature of doctoral dissertations at PU in recent years, prompted one of the researchers to formulate as many as twenty hypotheses for empirical testing. Interestingly, six of the ten theses awarded between 2000 and 2003 in the department contained themes either focusing on Iran or comparing Iran with India. This was indicative of the department's popularity with foreign students, especially Iranians. Another interesting feature was that two of the teachers in the department supervised more than a half of the total PhD theses awarded up to 2009.


Abstract This paper reports on quasi-elliptic dual-band bandpass filters (BPFs) that were designed for the Filter Student Design Competition of the 2019 European Microwave Week. The proposed lumped-element (LE) BPF concept is based on two dual-band transversal cells and one multi-resonant cell that allow the realization of symmetric and asymmetric dual-band transfer functions shaped by six poles and five transmission zeros. A compact implementation scheme based on LE series resonators is proposed for size compactness and wide spurious free out-of-band response. For proof-of-concept demonstration purposes, a dual-band LE prototype with two passbands centered 1 and 1.5 GHz was designed, manufactured, and measured. It exhibited the following radio frequency measured performance characteristics. Passbands centered at 1.02 and 1.45 GHz, minimum insertion loss levels of 2.0 and 2.7 dB, and bandwidth of 146 and 105 MHz, respectively, for the first and the second passband, and out-of-band rejection >30 dB between 0 and 894 MHz, 1.17–1.34 GHz, and 1.72–6.9 GHz.


The way the assembly of colloidal nanostructures into heterostructures takes place substantially affects their physicochemical properties and performance. The layer‐by‐layer self‐assembly has shown in this regard a huge ability to drive nanomaterials onto curved substrates. Hindering the clustering to improve the distribution and allocation of nanoparticles on these assemblies can be partially controlled by geometric frustration, herein demonstrated driving magnetic nanocrystals with different morphology onto spherical substrates of tuned curvature.


We present a numerical model for the analysis of an E-plane right-angle bend in parallel-plate waveguide (PPW), with a single square step for matching purposes. This design can achieve wideband matching and can be implemented using hollow waveguides as well as multilayer printed circuit boards. An even-and odd-mode analysis is performed exploiting the symmetry of the structure. Two auxiliary problems are defined considering the bisecting plane of the bend as a perfect electric conductor or a perfect magnetic conductor, respectively. They are solved using a mode matching method. The mathematical derivations are discussed in detail. The proposed procedure can be embedded in efficient tools for the analysis of complex PPW systems, such as feed networks for antenna arrays.


Background The purpose of this study was to assess the effectiveness of 2% ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA) for the treatment of band-shaped keratopathy. Methods We studied 24 eyes of 16 patients with band-shaped keratopathy who underwent EDTA chelation treatment from April 1, 2011 to December 31, 2012. We compared preoperative and 1 month postoperative logarithm of the minimum angle of resolution (logMAR) best corrected visual acuity, intraocular pressure, and corneal curvature radius (K1, horizontal meridian; K2, vertical meridian; Km, average of K1 and K2). The Mann-Whitney U-test was used to determine the significance of differences. Results There was a significant difference in preoperative and postoperative logMAR best corrected visual acuity (P=0.01). There were no significant differences in preoperative and postoperative intraocular pressure (P=0.24) or corneal curvature radius (K1, P=0.54; K2, P=0.49; Km, P=0.45). Conclusion After 2% EDTA chelation treatment, post-operative logMAR best corrected visual acuity improved significantly. Moreover, since there was no significant difference in corneal curvature radius, there was little influence on corneal surface form. We believe that the results of our 2% EDTA chelation treatment were comparable with results obtained with 3.75% EDTA chelation treatment in previous reports. Two percent EDTA chelation is an effective treatment for band-shaped keratopathy and a useful method for any institution.


Awkward postures are associated with a number of musculoskeletal
 disorders in almost all work sectors. Various studies have indicated the
 prevalence of awkward postures in different work setups and have provided
 ways to assess postural deviations and their unfavourable effects on general
 well being of the workers. The need of the hour is to have an aid that
 provides a means not only to assess the awkwardness of a posture, but also
 to correct it as soon as it is identified. The study, here, is designed to
 develop a solution for assessment and correction of the awkward posture as
 soon as it is attained. An ergonomic cushion is presented which is fitted
 with printed flex sensors to detect the awkward postures, considering lumbar
 curve, thoracic curve and cervical curve. A mobile application is used to
 configure the sensing range of the sensors. The application collects the
 data for the flex pressure sensors positioned at different points and warn
 the user to correct the posture. If not corrected within the stipulated
 time, the cushion automatically corrects the posture with the help of a
 microcontroller that expands or deflates the cushion as per postural
 requirement.


Rat liver postmitochondrial (S-12) fractions accounted for the bulk of the activity of whole cell homogenates in reducing chromium(VI) and accordingly in decreasing its mutagenicity. Both cytosolic (S-105) and microsomal fractions concurred to this process, which in all subcellular preparations tested was selectively induced by phenobarbital and especially by Aroclor 1254, but not by 3-methylcholanthrene. Cytosolic fractions were markedly more efficient in reducing chromium(VI) than microsomal fractions recovered from the same amount of tissue (liver or lung), although the latter preparations had a higher specific activity. The microsomal activity was exclusively NADPH dependent. A minor part of the cytosolic reduction was determined by nonenzymatic components, notably by some electron donors and chiefly by reduced glutathione, which proved to reduce chromium(VI) at physiological concentrations. However, also in cytosolic fractions, the most important contribution to chromium reduction was enzyme catalyzed, as shown by the following properties: thermolability; requirement for exogenous NADH or NADPH [supplied as such or in the form of a NADPH-generating system (S-9 mix)]; and saturation by chromium(VI). The likely involvement of DT-diaphorase in this metabolic process is supported by several findings, including its sharp pH dependence and its partial suppression by known inhibitors of this enzyme protein, such as p-chloromercuribenzoate, L-thyroxine, and dicumarol (which conversely did not counteract the metabolic deactivation of the other direct-acting mutagens 2-methoxy-6-chloro-9-[3-(2-chloroethyl)aminopropylamino]acridine 2HCl and epichlorohydrin). Similarly, cytosolic reduction of chromium(VI) was partially inhibited by selective metabolic depletors of both coenzymes of DT-diaphorase, i.e., NADPH and NADH. Pretreatment of rats with enzyme inducers (phenobarbital and 3-methylcholanthrene) stimulated the activity of DT-diaphorase in liver cytosolic fractions. A dramatic stimulation (35 to 40 times over untreated controls) was produced by Aroclor 1254, which also coinduced the liver cytosolic activity of enzymes involved in the glucose 6-phosphate-dependent pathway of both nicotinamide-adenine-dinucleotide phosphate and glutathione reduction (glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase, 6-phosphogluconate dehydrogenase, and glutathione reductase). In the lung cytosol, a slight yet significant stimulation of some of these enzyme activities was determined by the daily intratracheal instillations of high doses of chromium(VI) itself for 4 weeks, a condition which has been found to enhance the pulmonary metabolism of this metal ion.


The WASP (wide angle search for planets) project is an exoplanet transit survey that has been automatically taking wide field images since 2004. Two instruments, one in La Palma and the other in South Africa, continually monitor the night sky, building up light curves of millions of unique objects. These light curves are used to search for the characteristics of exoplanetary transits. This first public data release (DR1) of the WASP archive makes available all the light curve data and images from 2004 up to 2008 in both the Northern and Southern hemispheres. A web interface (www.wasp.le.ac.uk/public/) to the data allows easy access over the Internet. The data set contains 3 631 972 raw images and 17 970 937 light curves. In total the light curves have 119 930 299 362 data points available between them.


Tengger people are known as those who are very obedient in carrying out traditional ceremonies and highly uphold honesty. The research problem in this dissertation is that people of Madurese descent prefer their main identity as Tengger people. Data collection uses observation methods involved and in-depth interviews. The results of the study concluded that the "ethnic boundary" or Tengger people's social boundary was to have attributes, such as sarong, Tengger language, farming communities, and obediently carrying out traditional ceremonies, and having the value of those living in the Tengger region, hardworking, egalitarian, peace-loving and always doing good, obeying the leader and obeying the customary rules, maintaining family ties and being close to the spirit world. Madurese people carry out the process of "becoming Tengger" to get various accesses whose legality is owned by the original Tengger people. These accesses are social identity, market, capital, knowledge, through negotiations from other social relations, a better life and authority for the original Tengger people. The Tengger's strong efforts to maintain "ethnic boundary" resulted in a social construction that depicted the Tengger region as a sacred area that only certain people could live in, which ultimately gave Tengger people full autonomy to manage their territory with minimal outside intervention.


The Zhang 22 well was drilled in the Ordos Basin, penetrating the Chang 7 Member of the Triassic Yanchang Formation, which, cumulatively, has more than 80 m (>260 ft) of black organic-rich shale of oil window maturity. Using 76 samples collected every 1 m (3 ft) from the well, the effects of stratigraphic fractionation and petroleum expulsion within five intervals of the Chang 7 shale were qualitatively and quantitatively documented. The organic-rich intervals 1, 2, and 5, having an average total organic carbon (TOC) of 6.79 wt. % and pyrolyzable hydrocarbon potential of 9.40 mg/g rock (i.e., the amount of hydrocarbons generated by pyrolysis between 300°C and 650°C [S2]), are defined as "generative units" in the Chang 7 shale system, compared to the "in-source reservoirs" or "sweet spots" (i.e., the third and fourth intervals), which contain a lower average TOC of 4.19 wt. % and an average S2 value of 7.17 mg/g rock, but the highest amount of free oil (average total oil of 7.35 mg/g rock). Geochemical and molecular compositions display distinctive differences between samples from these source and reservoir groupings. For example, bitumens from the generative units proportionally possess lower saturated hydrocarbons (56%–66%) than those from the in-source reservoirs (up to 81%). The proportions of aromatic and polar compounds in the generative units are accordingly higher than in their counterpart. The individual molecular weight distribution of sample extracts displays more light-end moieties being enriched in the generative units. By applying the compositional mass balance calculation, the overall and compound-specific expulsion efficiencies in the in-source reservoirs are abnormally negative compared to the positive values in the generative intervals. This finding, in conjunction with the effects of the preferential retention of aliphatic hydrocarbons and the differential expulsion of light molecular weight compounds in the in-source reservoirs, indicates a short-distance intrasource migration of generated petroleum into the sweet-spot intervals (intervals 3 and 4) from the overlying units (intervals 1 and 2) and the underlying interval 5. Furthermore, when quantifying the total amount of retained petroleum in the shale system, an amended assessment has been introduced to overcome the systematic misestimations if only unextracted values for the amount of thermally extractable hydrocarbons volatilized at 300°C (mg HC/g rock) were considered. Thus, the oil crossover effect, temperature at which the rate of S2 generation is at maximum shift phenomenon, and the hydrogen index being shifted to higher values after extraction all account for identifying intervals 3 and 4 as the in-source reservoirs. In this study, we have not only identified a set of promising in-source targets for shale oil exploration and production, but we also presented the chemical and molecular composition for these shale oils. We have additionally speculated for the intrasource migration model and further discussed the different expulsion efficiencies in the shale system upon the compositional mass balance calculation as well as the stratigraphic fractionation on differentiating the chemical compositions during migration. The improved oil quality by fractionation, the extra storage potential derived from microfossil quartz, the weak adsorptive affinity of oil to organic matter, and the good shale susceptibility to hydraulic fracturing all give a promising prospective for exploring and producing shale oil from the Chang 7 shale system in the Ordos Basin.


Sixty years ago, Samuelson's "Pure Theory of Public Expenditure" expounded the classification of goods, and Bain's "Economies of Scale, Concentration and the Condition of Entry in Twenty Manufacturing Industries" expounded the structure-conduct-performance paradigm. To the present day, rivalry in- and excludability from consumption classify goods, and subadditivity and irreversibility in production classify market structure. Opportunity costs of production in the form of prospective sunk costs incentivise investment and production, and the sunk costs themselves induce subadditivities, specialization and convexity of the marginal rate of technical substitution. Opportunity costs in consumption are determined by the marginal costs of replacement. In light of the recent Nobel price award to Jean Tirole, we revisit some of the forgotten discussions and clarify some of the terminology under a more economic framework of opportunity costs.


The identification of relevant attributes is an important and difficult task in data mining applications where induction is used as the primary tool for knowledge extraction. This paper introduces a new rule induction algorithm, RITIO, which eliminates attributes in order of decreasing irrelevancy. The rules produced by RITIO are shown to be largely based on only the most relevant attributes. Experimental results, with and without feature selection preprocessing, confirm that RITIO achieves high levels of predictive accuracy.


We study the question of how to build "compilers" that transform a unilaterally authenticated (UA) key-exchange protocol into a mutually-authenticated (MA) one. We present a simple and efficient compiler and characterize the UA protocols that the compiler upgrades to the MA model, showing this to include a large and important class of UA protocols. The question, while natural, has not been studied widely. Our work is motivated in part by the ongoing work on the design of TLS 1.3, specifically the design of the client authentication mechanisms including the challenging case of post-handshake authentication. Our approach supports the analysis of these mechanisms in a general and modular way, in particular aided by the notion of "functional security" that we introduce as a generalization of key exchange models and which may be of independent interest.


This research aims at investigating the varieties of hedonistic lifestyles adopted by university students based on their sexes and cultural backgrounds. Culture is referred to in this research is the culture of Batak and Minang culture. The formulation of the problem in this research is there any difference in the lifestyle of hedonism in terms of gender and culture. This research method using descriptive quantitative. The sample in this study were students numbered 80 people. Data collection techniques in this study using a questionnaire about the behavior of hedonism. Data were analyzed using t-test. based on testing and data analysis significance level of <0.005. Namely, the hedonistic lifestyle in terms of gender has the significance of 0.000, and the lifestyle of hedonism in terms of culture has a significance of 0.005. This means that there are differences in terms hedonistic lifestyle of sex and Minang and Batak culture at the level of students.


Measuring code coverage is a popular way to ensure that software is being adequately tested and gives software teams confidence in the quality of their product. In particular, decision coverage of both automated and manual tests is a good way to ensure that as many paths as possible are covered in testing and the team is not missing possible defects. Management likes to report high decision coverage numbers as an indicator of product quality, and many QA teams set a goal of reaching a target percentage as a way of demonstrating that the code has been thoroughly tested. But what does high decision coverage mean in terms of overall product quality? Clearly it is good to cover as many decisions as reasonably possible. A good set of functional test cases will cover the "lowhanging fruit", but may leave many uncovered decisions. Some of these uncovered decisions may be difficult or impossible to cover under normal testing conditions, but many can be covered by adding automated functional tests, unit tests, and manual tests. Hard to reach "corner cases" can be covered by setting up special testing environments. Some of these new tests may cover important use cases while others may provide little benefit. The question this paper aims to answer is, how do you determine where to invest your efforts to increase decision coverage? This paper presents strategies to increase your decision coverage by targeting areas of the code with the highest ROI. Rather than focus on reaching a target percentage, we show how you can set realistic decision coverage goals that will improve your overall software quality. We present specific examples of how this approach has benefitted our team, including: o Identifying automated functional test cases that were overlooked by QA o Removing dead or obsolete code o Finding product defects that cause some code to not get executed o Identifying manual test cases to cover parts of code that are difficult to test through automation o Determining areas of the code that would benefit from increased unit testing Through these efforts, our team has increased our percentage decision coverage, but more importantly, has improved overall quality by finding defects that otherwise may have been missed.


Libya, as one of the main Arab States, was once inhabited by Arab Bedouins and farmers. It was a poor country and experienced underdeveloped economic, political and social circumstances. It is a country which, until the discovery of petroleum in the 1960s, developed slowly over centuries because it had few resources available for advanced growth. This forced Libya to delay the establishment and development of its broadcast media (particularly
television) until 1968. Libya has since developed into a modern State, thanks largely to its oil resources and its considerable commercial attributes. In turn, this has brought about rapid changes in Libyan society and caused drastic transformations-from simple nomadic communities to a highly sophisticated society which affects all its economic, political, and social habits. Hence, the broadcast media, specifically television, now play an important role in serving Libyan society and contributes to its general national development.

This thesis is devoted to investigating the verification, progress and structure of the Libyan broadcasting system; tracing the growth of broadcasting technology from its earliest arrival on Libyan soil, to the impact of previous and present national governments on the establishment and
development of the broadcasting system. Presenting the artistic and technical procedures of local programme production and the varying forms of daily television shows, it also analyses their content and presentation and gives
suggestions for further improvements. As such, it explores the historical development of broadcast regulations and their impact on present television broadcast guidelines. It also defines the structure and function of broadcast
administrations, including their departments, divisions, units and bureaux and subsequently, their roles in day to day transmission services. It is the first such study of its kind in Arabic and English.


The current study examined the impact of non-specific treatment factors, therapeutic dosage and treatment satisfaction, on drinking behaviors and consequences among adolescents participating in a voluntary, high school- based alcohol intervention (N = 94). Path analysis served to test the primary model in which satisfaction and dosage were predicted to influence severity of alcohol use (i.e., number of binge drinking episodes and alcohol-related problems within the past 30 days) three months after initial intervention participation. Student attempts to reduce or quit drinking alcohol were proposed as an intervening variable in the model, accounting for part of the relationship between treatment variables and changes in alcohol involvement. In addition, student estimates of peer frequency of alcohol use were included in the model as a covariate to account for previous findings of the current intervention, which demonstrated that reductions in perceived peer alcohol use were associated with decreased drinking. Two theoretically-sound alternative models were also tested to determine which model best fit the data. The model exhibiting the best relative fit included direct paths 1) from treatment satisfaction and peer drinking estimates to 1-month alcohol quit attempts, and 2) direct paths from quit attempts and peer drinking estimates to 3-month binge drinking episodes. Examination of path coefficients revealed three significant relationships. First, students reporting greater peer estimates of alcohol use at intake were more likely to report at least one quit attempt at 1-month follow-up. Next, students who had a reported quit attempt were more likely to report greater alcohol use severity two months later. Finally, greater baseline alcohol use severity was associated with greater follow-up alcohol use severity. Overall, it appears that adolescents self-selecting into an alcohol intervention are likely to make change efforts early in treatment, with little change in quit attempts between one and three months post-intake. Similarly, more did not mean better in terms of therapeutic dosage or treatment satisfaction and drinking outcomes. These findings suggest that adolescents voluntarily attending a school-based intervention are able to effectively optimize their therapeutic dose and quickly utilize strategies taught in session. Understanding how non-specific treatment factors affect change efforts and drinking patterns can help tailor secondary interventions for adolescents with moderate alcohol histories by maximizing engagement, motivation, and possibly future help-seeking behaviors.


In this paper, we present a UPnP-ZigBee internetworking architecture. Different from traditional internetworking architectures which focus on integrating either wired networks or single-hop wireless networks into UPnP networks, integrating ZigBee with UPnP is more difficult because ZigBee nodes communicate over multi-hop wireless network, and further their short addresses can be changed due to mobility of ZigBee nodes. To cope with it, we combine UPnP-ZigBee gateway with ZigBee network topology monitoring functions. A UPnP-ZigBee gateway mirrors ZigBee network topology; therefore, it creates, terminates, and updates virtual UPnP proxies according to ZigBee topology changes. Thus, the proposed internetworking architecture dynamically and automatically integrates ZigBee devices into the UPnP network and provides seamless internetworking between a multi-hop ZigBee network and the UPnP network. We have demonstrated the proposed architecture by implementing both the UPnP-ZigBee gateway and network monitoring functions and integrating them together. By conducting experiments on physical testbed, we have shown that the proposed architecture provides dynamic integration and seamless internetworking.


Summary: Results of open reduction and internal fixation of two- and three-part proximal humerus fractures can be maximized with a thorough understanding of shoulder anatomy, accurate fracture classification based on quality radiographs in three planes, strict attention to detail, and minimizing further injury to the soft tissues at the time of surgery. Almost all of these fractures can be managed by one of two surgical approaches, the deltoid-splitting or deltopectoral, both of which leave the deltoid origin intact. Minimal osteosynthesis fixation in the form of heavy, nonabsorbable suture or wire incorporating the strong rotator cuff tendons, tuberosities, and shaft is a sound method of achieving both rigid fixation and fracture healing. Ender nails used in conjunction with figure-of-eight suture or wire in a tension band configuration gives additional longitudinal and rotational stability in surgical neck fractures, especially if comminution exists. The use of this limited internal fixation minimizes the complications of soft-tissue stripping and loss of fixation in osteoporotic bone seen with the use of plates and screws, while allowing an early passive rehabilitation program. A physician-supervised rehabilitation program for at least 1 full year is required for optimum results.


Attitudes are of crucial importance in nursing. Attitudes help us to understand how people perceive issues and processes in care and determine what they deem important, good, relevant and appropriate. We should understand attitudes if we are to provide collaborative, patient-centred care; however, they are poorly understood. This article enables the reader to examine attitudes and their constituent beliefs and values. It explores the function of attitudes, considers how they are formed and reflects on the process of attitude change, examining how persuasion can be used to enable individuals to revisit behaviours that seem problematic or less effective.


Cardiac aging is accompanied by progressive loss of cellular function, leading to impaired heart function and heart failure. There is an urgent need for efficient strategies to combat this age-related cardiac dysfunction. A growing number of events suggest that age-related cardiac diseases are tightly related to metabolic imbalance. This review summarizes recent findings concerning metabolic changes during cardiac aging and highlights the therapeutic approaches that target metabolic pathways in cardiac aging.


BACKGROUND
Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease is a transmissible neurodegenerative disorder that occurs more than 100 times more frequently among Libyan Jews than in the worldwide population. We examined 11 patients with the disease--10 Libyan Jews from Israel and 1 Libyan Jew from Italy--to determine whether abnormalities of the prion protein could be detected in them. Abnormal forms of this host-encoded protein are the predominant if not sole components of the transmissible agent that causes the disease.

METHODS
The prion-protein open-reading frame in peripheral-leukocyte DNA from the Italian patient was amplified with the polymerase chain reaction and sequenced. Allele-specific oligonucleotide hybridization was used to assess a prion-protein codon 200 lysine mutation in the 10 Israeli patients and 37 control subjects.

RESULTS
The prion-protein sequence in DNA from the Italian patient revealed a single nucleotide change (G----A) at the first position of codon 200 that resulted in a substitution of lysine for glutamate. This substitution was detected in all 10 Israeli patients, 8 of whom had a positive family history of Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease. One patient was homozygous for the lysine mutation, and her clinical course did not differ from that of the patients heterozygous for the mutation. The lysine mutation was not found in one Moroccan Jew from Israel with Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease.

CONCLUSIONS
The codon 200 lysine mutation of the prion-protein gene is consistently present among Libyan Jews with Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, strongly supporting a genetic pathogenesis of their illness. The similarity of the clinical courses of the patient homozygous for this mutation and the patients heterozygous for it argues that familial Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease is a true dominant disorder.


ABSTRACT
 Inspired by recent works by Lina Álvarez and Brendan Coolsaet in Capitalism Nature Socialism, this commentary introduces the concept of anarchist decolonization for further exploration. Recognizing constructive decolonial criticisms, the article briefly reviews the multiplicity of anarchist positions and their relationship to anti-colonial/decolonial struggles. Then observable tensions within decolonial theory are discussed, highlighting issues to which anarchist decolonization responds. Finally, exploring anarchist decolonization reinforces and expands on the issues voiced by Álvarez and Coolsaet with Environmental Justice (EJ) studies.


The J-DSP editor is an object oriented environment that enables distance learning students to perform on-line laboratories. The editor has a rich collection of signal processing functions and is currently being used in a senior-level DSP course at ASU. In this paper, we present new enhancements to the infrastructure of J-DSP that provide embedded MATLABTM scripting capabilities. The synergy of the J-DSP object-oriented environment with MATLAB programming enables students and instructors to exchange data and perform DSP simulations on both platforms. The advantage here is that complex algorithmic programming can be done visually on the internet using J-DSP and then executed in MATLAB. Conversely MATLAB programs can be mapped to flowchart-like diagrams and run in J-DSP. Although Simulink does the latter as well, the J-DSP tool runs on any platform requiring only a Java-enabled browser. Moreover the Java software integrates seamlessly with web content and animations supporting internet courses. The MATLAB scripts are generated with a new interpreter that has been developed for J-DSP. This interpreter encodes all simulation parameters in a script that contains the equivalent MATLAB code. When the generated script is loaded through the MATLAB editor (M-editor) the user can reproduce the J-DSP simulation in the MATLAB environment. It is also noted that there is a provision in J-DSP for generating HTML embeddable scripts that allows the user to embed simulations in web content. These synergies of MATLAB-JDSP-HTML can be very useful not only for students but also instructors. We have used embedded HTML scripts in our web course called MATLAB for DSP applications.


Background Konzo is an irreversible paralysis of the legs that occurs mainly among children and young women in remote villages in tropical Africa and is associated with a monotonous diet of bitter cassava. Konzo was discovered in 1938 by Dr. G. Trolli in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). It also occurs in Mozambique, Tanzania, Cameroon, Central African Republic, and Angola. It was first controlled in Kay Kalenge village, DRC, in 2011 with the use of a wetting method to remove cyanogens from cassava flour. Fourteen months later, another visit was made to Kay Kalenge. Objective To determine whether Kay Kalenge women were still using the wetting method, whether there were new cases of konzo, and whether the wetting method had spread to other villages. Methods Meetings were held with chiefs, leaders, and heads of mothers' groups, women from 30 households were interviewed, and three nearby villages were visited. Total cyanide and thiocyanate were analyzed in cassava flour and urine samples, respectively. Results The women in Kay Kalenge village still used the wetting method. There were no new cases of konzo. The mean cyanide content of the flour samples was 9 ppm, and no child had a mean urinary thiocyanate content greater than 350 μmol/L. The use of the wetting method had spread naturally to three adjacent villages. Conclusions The wetting method has been readily accepted by rural women as a simple and useful method to control konzo by removing cyanide from cassava flour, and its use has spread to nearby villages. The wetting method should be promoted by health authorities to control konzo and reduce cyanide poisoning from high-cyanide cassava flour.


The remediation of single-shell radioactive waste storage tanks is one of the urgent tasks of the Department of Energy that challenge state-of-the-art equipment and methods. The use of long-reach manipulators is being seriously considered for this remediation task. Because of high payload capacity and high length-to-cross-section ratio requirements, these long-reach manipulator systems are expected to use hydraulic actuators and to exhibit significant structural flexibility. The controller has been designed to compensate for the hydraulic actuator dynamics by using a load-compensated velocity feedforward loop and to increase the bandwidth by using a pressure feedback loop. Shaping filter techniques have been applied as a feedforward controller to avoid structural vibrations during operation. Among various types of shaping filter methods investigated an approach, referred to as a "feedforward simulation filter" that uses embedded simulation, has been presented.


In this letter, we investigated an inversion technique to estimate snow water equivalence (SWE) under Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer for Earth Observing System (AMSR-E) sensor configurations. Through our numerical simulations by the advanced integral equation model (AIEM), we found that the ground surface emission signals at 18.7 and 36.5 GHz were highly correlated regardless of the ground surface properties (dielectric and roughness properties) and can be well described by a linear function. It leads to a new development for describing the relationship between snow emission signals observed at 18.7 and 36.5 GHz as a linear function. The intercept (A) and slope (B) of this linear equation depend only on snow properties and can be estimated from the observations directly. This development provides a new technique that separates the snowpack and ground surface emission signals. With the parameterized snow emission model from a simulated database that was derived using a multiscattering microwave emission model (dense medium radiative transfer model-AIEM-matrix doubling) over dry snow covers, we developed an algorithm to estimate the SWE using the microwave radiometer measurements. Evaluations on this technique using both the model simulated data and the field experimental data with the airborne Polarimetric Scanning Radiometer data from National Aeronautics and Space Administration Cold Land Processes Experiment 2003 showed promising results, with root-mean-square errors of 32.8 and 31.85 mm, respectively. This newly developed inversion method has the advantages over the AMSR-E SWE baseline algorithm when applied to high-resolution airborne observations.


by Breton Sigfredo Rodriguez Narratives of Power: Royal History and the Language of Legitimacy in Medieval Castile ofers an interdisciplinary analysis – utilizing the skils of both literary criticism and historical inquiry – of the evolution of royal history and historians in medieval Castile between the reign of Alfonso X and that of the Catholic Monarchs. To address such a large topic, it focuses on the works of three historians – Alfonso X, Pero López de Ayala, and Fernando del Pulgar – who wrote on behalf of the Castilian crown folowing periods of immense political and social upheaval in the thirteenth, fourteenth, and fifteenth centuries. I argue that legitimizing political power became an increasingly critical part of historical naratives in late medieval Castile, which determined the evolution of these texts while forming a lasting connection between history and legitimacy. I also assert that royal histories evolved into a prominent literary genre as wel as a space for literary innovation, helped to develop the concept of Castilian kingship, and were crucial to the construction of national identity. In addition, I iluminate the progression of the role of Breton Sigfredo Rodriguez royal historians from anonymous scribes to prominent literary figures, and I claim that the increased importance and sophistication of royal histories led to the professionalization of writing history in medieval Castile. Through this project, I offer a diachronic investigation of the evolution of royal history and historians over the course of more than two centuries. In addition, I provide an in-depth analysis of the work of three of the most prominent historians of medieval Castile whose histories would not only impact contemporary ideas and values, but would also become models for historians, poets, and playwrights for centuries.


Background The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) provides approximately US$70 billion annually to support food purchases by low-income households, supporting approximately 1 in 7 Americans. In the 2018 Farm Bill, potential SNAP revisions to improve diets and health could include financial incentives, disincentives, or restrictions for certain foods. However, the overall and comparative impacts on health outcomes and costs are not established. We aimed to estimate the health impact, program and healthcare costs, and cost-effectiveness of food incentives, disincentives, or restrictions in SNAP. Methods and findings We used a validated microsimulation model (CVD-PREDICT), populated with national data on adult SNAP participants from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) 2009–2014, policy effects from SNAP pilots and food pricing meta-analyses, diet–disease effects from meta-analyses, and policy, food, and healthcare costs from published literature to estimate the overall and comparative impacts of 3 dietary policy interventions: (1) a 30% incentive for fruits and vegetables (F&V), (2) a 30% F&V incentive with a restriction of sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs), and (3) a broader incentive/disincentive program for multiple foods that also preserves choice (SNAP-plus), combining 30% incentives for F&V, nuts, whole grains, fish, and plant-based oils and 30% disincentives for SSBs, junk food, and processed meats. Among approximately 14.5 million adults on SNAP at baseline with mean age 52 years, our simulation estimates that the F&V incentive over 5 years would prevent 38,782 cardiovascular disease (CVD) events, gain 18,928 quality-adjusted life years (QALYs), and save $1.21 billion in healthcare costs. Adding SSB restriction increased gains to 93,933 CVD events prevented, 45,864 QALYs gained, and $4.33 billion saved. For SNAP-plus, corresponding gains were 116,875 CVD events prevented, 56,056 QALYs gained, and $5.28 billion saved. Over a lifetime, the F&V incentive would prevent approximately 303,900 CVD events, gain 649,000 QALYs, and save $6.77 billion in healthcare costs. Adding SSB restriction increased gains to approximately 797,900 CVD events prevented, 2.11 million QALYs gained, and $39.16 billion in healthcare costs saved. For SNAP-plus, corresponding gains were approximately 940,000 CVD events prevented, 2.47 million QALYs gained, and $41.93 billion saved. From a societal perspective (including programmatic costs but excluding food subsidy costs as an intra-societal transfer), all 3 scenarios were cost-saving. From a government affordability perspective (i.e., incorporating food subsidy costs, including for children and young adults for whom no health gains were modeled), the F&V incentive was of low cost-effectiveness at 5 years (incremental cost-effectiveness ratio: $548,053/QALY) but achieved cost-effectiveness ($66,525/QALY) over a lifetime. Adding SSB restriction, the intervention was cost-effective at 10 years ($68,857/QALY) and very cost-effective at 20 years ($26,435/QALY) and over a lifetime ($5,216/QALY). The combined incentive/disincentive program produced the largest health gains and reduced both healthcare and food costs, with net cost-savings of $10.16 billion at 5 years and $63.33 billion over a lifetime. Results were consistent in probabilistic sensitivity analyses: for example, from a societal perspective, 1,000 of 1,000 iterations (100%) were cost-saving for all 3 interventions. Due to the nature of simulation studies, the findings cannot prove the health and cost impacts of national SNAP interventions. Conclusions Leveraging healthier eating through SNAP could generate substantial health benefits and be cost-effective or cost-saving. A combined food incentive/disincentive program appears most effective and may be most attractive to policy-makers.


A 2-D periodic array of annular apertures (or ring slots) is studied using an accurate circuit model. The model accounts for distributed and dynamic effects associated with the excitation of high-order modes operating above or below cutoff but not far from their cutoff frequencies. This paper allows to ascertain the substantial differences of the underlying physics when this structure operates as a classical frequency selective surface or in the extraordinary-transmission (ET) regime. A discussion of two different designs working at each regime is provided by means of the equivalent circuit approach (ECA), full wave simulation results, and experimental characterization. The agreement between the equivalent circuit calculation applied here and the simulation and experimental results is very good in all the considered cases. This validates the ECA as an efficient minimal-order model and a low computational-cost design tool for frequency selective surfaces and ET-based devices. Additional scenarios such as oblique incidence and parametric studies of the structural geometry are also considered.