The field of Computer Vision is concerned with problems that involve interfacing computers with their surrounding environment through cameras. Consequently artificial vision systems can replace human perception in many tasks. Recent advances in technology, such as increase in computational power, good quality low cost CMOS cameras, improvement in peripherals and decreasing form-factor, allow the vision systems to be carried on roaming platforms such as tablet PCs and mobile phones. More generally, it leads to the possibility of wearable visual computing that can assist its carrier such as humans or robots in executing various perception-action tasks. Augmented Reality (AR) technologies already have a history in the field of computer vision and many attempts have been made to use AR to create meaningful, immersive experiences incorporating humans and computers. It is appealing for many applications such as in entertainment and gaming to improve and enrich perception, cognition and interaction by providing extra information and guidance that is not available in the immediate surroundings. This thesis presents the application of computer vision algorithms to create a marker-less, mobile and wearable AR system that can provide assistive services to its users. The overall system design includes definition and implementation of the necessary software modules as well as its combination with digital hardware. In the wearable mobile set-up we discuss in this thesis, the user can perceive 3D virtual moving objects augmenting the real world perceived at the same time. The Delft University of Technology initiated their AR research in 1999 with outdoor head-mounted optical see-through AR, fusing data from a GPS, a natural feature tracking camera, and an inertia tracker, using a desktop PC in a backpack. Soon a switch back was made to indoor AR based on markers and inertia tracker data in order to improve the real-time performance and static and dynamic accuracy of the head-pose estimation by the visual odometry system. For applications we collaborated since 2006 with the Royal Academy of Art in The Hague, which has implemented many projects in art and design with our systems. In this thesis, our focus has shifted from art and design onto the design and implementation of a system for multi-user collaboration and spatial analysis using multiple AR systems; more specifically we selected Crime Scene Investigation (CSI) as our application domain. For this we collaborated with the Systems Engineering Section (SES-TPM) of TU Delft and the National Forensic Institute in The Hague. We also switched from optical see-through head-mounted displays (HMD) to cheaper video see-through head mounted displays a.k.a eye wear. In this thesis, we introduce the challenges of mobile AR and CSI, and derive the system requirements that can meet these challenges. We further discuss how a remote collaborator can work with on-site users by decoupling him/her self from the on-site user's view while assisting the investigation. Then we present the real-time and on-line modules that satisfy these requirements: -Robust, marker-less, extensible auto-motion tracking based on the tracking of 3D key-points observed by a low cost stereo camera pair -Coarse 3D map-building to be able to augment a real scene with virtual objects, while roaming around in e.g. crime scenes -On-line and on-site scene structure capturing by reconstructing a metric, dense 3D map of the scene in real time, with the aim to let off-scene experts guide the CSIs -Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) software that exploits the user's hand motions. This acts as an interaction device for user interface operation instead of other auxiliary equipment, such as keyboard and mouse. With this HCI the user - e.g. a CSI - can place virtual objects in the scene, such as tags indicating the position of found evidence -Software for remote connection to and on-line collaboration with off-scene experts, a lightweight and affordable HMD and a wearable computer The realized head-mounted AR system allows interaction and collaboration between two or more parties and their environment, while it provides tools, guidance and information to on-site and off-site users to perform their tasks both independently and in collaboration with each other. According to our knowledge, this is one of the first examples of a complete 3D stereo AR system that integrates 3D marker-less AR capabilities with dense reconstruction, remote collaboration and HCI in a carefully engineered way that can be applied in the CSI domain and many other applications in which on-scene and off-scene experts work together.


Aizoon canariense , Cynomorium coccineum , Glossonema edule , and Malva parviflora , edible desert plants from Qatar, were selected to deter-mine levels of phenolic bioactives and potential health benefits for managing early stages of type 2 diabetes and hypertension. Aqueous extracts of C. cocineum , contained soluble phenolics and had relatively high levels of antioxidant activity associated with α-glucosidase, α-amylase, and angio-tensin-converting enzyme (ACE). G. edule and M. parviflora had moderate levels of anti-oxidant potential, soluble phenolics, and ACE inhibitory activity. The medicinal properties associated with C. coccineum suggest the plant may have potential as a diet-based solution for combating, preventing, and managing the early stage of type 2 diabetes when coupled with an overall healthy life style and pharmacological management strategies.


Patients undergoing this procedure should be strongly motivated and should have normal or near-normal bowel function. A reservoir is made using an 18-20 cm segment of terminal ileum, caecum and ascending colon. The ureters are implanted along the taenia of the ascending colon. The result is a neo-bladder that is close to the ideal ellipsoid shape. The stapling technique used decreases operating time and the detubularisation maintains low pressure in the neo-bladder. Although the operation has so far been performed on only 10 patients results have been very favourable and it has proved to be a useful alternative form of diversion.


This study investigates the role of bromide and the structure of precursors in DBPs formation. Resorcinol (1,3-dihydroxylbenzene) and 2,4-pentadiol were used to represent the aromatic and aliphatic precursors. Laboratory prepared hydrophilic organic acids was used to simulate the mixtures of the aqueous natural organic matter. The results showed that about 60% of the bromide was transformed into HOBr and OBr - by chlorine when the chlorine dosages was high (5-20 mg/L of free chlorine). However, only 20% of bromide was transformed into HOBr and OBr - at low chlorine dosage (1 mg/L). Trihalomethane formation potential (THMFP) measurements showed that higher THMs formation was obtained at higher pH for 2,4-pentadiol, mainly due to the presence of the bromo-THMs. For resorcinol, however, no bromo-THMs are formed at either pH 7 or 9. For THMFP from hydrophilic organic acids, no apparent pH effect was observed. It is concluded that the higher THM formation at higher pH was mainly due to the formation of bromo-THMs from the aliphatic precursors. Similar trends are obtained in THMFP measurements for haloacetic acids formation potential (HAAFP).


ABSTRACT This research reports ticks on wild raptors in Brazil. Between the years 1936 and 2019, 127 larvae, 230 nymphs and 34 adult ticks were collected on 92 raptors (among 27 different species) from 35 localities in distinct Brazilian biomes. Additionally, an extensive literature review on ticks on wild raptors has been carried out, demonstrating that from 1993 to 2016, 29 larvae, 81 nymphs, 29 adults and 186 indeterminate immature ticks (larvae or nymphs) were collected on 41 raptors (16 different species) in 17 distinct localities in the Brazilian territory. The following tick species were identified on wild raptors in the country: Amblyomma aureolatum (Pallas, 1772), Amblyomma auricularium (Conil, 1878), Amblyomma brasiliense Aragão, 1908, Amblyomma cajennense (Fabricius, 1787) sensu stricto, Amblyomma calcaratum Neumann, 1899, Amblyomma coelebs Neumann, 1899, Amblyomma dubitatum Neumann, 1899, Amblyomma longirostre (Koch, 1844), Amblyomma nodosum Neumann, 1899, Amblyomma ovale Koch, 1844, Amblyomma parkeri Fonseca & Aragão, 1952, Amblyomma sculptum Berlese, 1888, Haemaphysalis juxtakochi Cooley, 1946, Rhipicephalus microplus (Canestrini, 1888), and Rhipicephalus sanguineus (Latreille, 1806) sensu lato. This study is therefore a significant contribution to our knowledge of the ticks associated with Brazilian raptors.


The theory of Carleson measures, stopping time arguments, and atomic decompositions has been well-established in harmonic analysis. More recent is the theory of phase space analysis from the point of view of wave packets on tiles, tree selection algorithms, and tree size estimates. The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate that the two theories are in fact closely related, by taking existing results and reproving them in a unified setting. In particular we give a dyadic version of extrapolation for Carleson measures, as well as a two-sided local dyadic T(b) theorem which generalizes earlier T(b) theorems of David, Journe, Semmes, and Christ.


Transient muscle paralysis engendered by a single injection of botulinum toxin A (BTxA) rapidly induces profound focal bone resorption within the medullary cavity of adjacent bones. While initially conceived as a model of mechanical disuse, osteoclastic resorption in this model is disproportionately severe compared with the modest gait defect that is created. Preliminary studies of bone marrow following muscle paralysis suggested acute upregulation of inflammatory cytokines, including TNF-α and IL-1. We therefore hypothesized that BTxA-induced muscle paralysis would rapidly alter the inflammatory microenvironment and the osteoclastic potential of bone marrow. We tested this hypothesis by defining the time course of inflammatory cell infiltration, osteoinflammatory cytokine expression, and alteration in osteoclastogenic potential in the tibia bone marrow following transient muscle paralysis of the calf muscles. Our findings identified inflammatory cell infiltration within 24 h of muscle paralysis. By 72 h, osteoclast fusion and pro-osteoclastic inflammatory gene expression were upregulated in tibia bone marrow. These alterations coincided with bone marrow becoming permissive to the formation of osteoclasts of greater size and greater nuclei numbers. Taken together, our data are consistent with the thesis that transient calf muscle paralysis induces acute inflammation within the marrow of the adjacent tibia and that these alterations are temporally consistent with a role in mediating muscle paralysis-induced bone resorption.


Dimensional precision is a critical parameter in net shape processing of ferrous PM components. Beyond the dimensional changes associated with pressing and sintering of typical low alloy PM steels, sinter-hardening alloys undergo a transformation from austenite to martensite. The formation of martensite results in a large expansion during cooling, as martensite is the lowest density phase in steels. Tempering hardened steels results in shrinkage, as the martensite converts to a ferrite and carbide microstructure of higher density. Both of these transformations have a large impact on the dimensional change. In addition, martensitic regions with high Cu and C contents may contain large amounts of retained austenite. As austenite is the highest density phase, retained austenite results in less growth of the compact. The presence of martensite and retained austenite, in addition to the tempering step, all play a role in the final dimensions of a component. This paper reviews two sinter-hardening grades and investigates the dimensional and microstructural changes of those grades through different post-sintering thermal treatments.


Background: The remarkable ability of the body to adapt to long-term starvation has been critical for survival of primitive man. An appreciation of these processes can provide the clinician better insight into many clinical conditions characterized by ketoacidosis. Summary: The body adapts to long-term fasting by conserving nitrogen, as the brain increasingly utilizes keto acids, sparing the need for glucose. This shift in fuel utilization decreases the need for mobilization of amino acids from the muscle for purposes of gluconeogenesis. Loss of urinary nitrogen is initially in the form of urea when hepatic gluconeogenesis is dominant and later as ammonia reflecting increased glutamine uptake by the kidney. The carbon skeleton of glutamine is utilized for glucose production and regeneration of consumed HCO3−. The replacement of urea with NH4+ provides the osmoles needed for urine flow and waste product excretion. Over time, the urinary loss of nitrogen is minimized as kidney uptake of filtered ketone bodies becomes more complete. Adjustments in urine Na+ serve to minimize kidney K+ wasting and, along with changes in urine pH, minimize the likelihood of uric acid precipitation. There is a sexual dimorphism in response to starvation. Key Message: Ketoacidosis is a major feature of common clinical conditions to include diabetic ketoacidosis, alcoholic ketoacidosis, salicylate intoxication, SGLT2 inhibitor therapy, and calorie sufficient but carbohydrate-restricted diets. Familiarity with the pathophysiology and metabolic consequences of ketogenesis is critical, given the potential for the clinician to encounter one of these conditions.


Alkali metal (Li, Na, and K) ion batteries are vital in portable and large-scale stationary energy storage. Recently, organic anodes have attracted increasing attention for alkali metal ion batteries due to their chemical diversity and potential high capacity. In this work, we discovered that cyclized polyacrylonitrile (cPAN) can serve as a superior anode for alkali metal ion batteries. Remarkably, upon activation cycling, as an anode of lithium-ion battery, cPAN exhibits a reversible capacity as high as 1238 mAh g-1 under a current density of 50 mA g-1. Based on electrochemical experiments and first-principles calculations, it is demonstrated that the hexagonal carbon ring, piperidine ring, and pyridine nitrogen in ladder cPAN are the main active sites for lithium-ion storage. In addition, we show that cPAN displays a unique potential-dependent solid electrolyte interphase formation from 0.1 to 0.01 V vs. Li/Li+. Furthermore, cPAN displays decent performance as an anode in SIBs and PIBs. The discovery of cPAN anode could pave the way for the future development of organic anodes for alkali metal ion batteries.


After been told that an ordinary winter service for our combine should cost more than
20000 SEK, not included spare parts, I decided to write this paper about today's
requirement of the workshop on a farm. I think that the lack of proper premises is the
reason way not more of the ordinary machinery maintenance or upkeep is performed on
the farm.
When I did my literature survey I found that the Swedish environmental code, set by the
Swedish law regulate how drain or sewer should be built. The environmental code
however leaves a lot for your own interpretation. It might not be so bad but it must be
very hard for the local environmental office to interpretation the regulations, since they
are the ones that gives permission for the sewer in your workshop. If they establish a
small or insignificant environmental influence they give their permission, if not the
matter goes further.
When it comes to fire safety the main Swedish insurance company bases their demands
on the recommendations from the Swedish agriculture fire security committee (LBK).
Those recommendations distinguish the between workshop in existing building and
workshop in free-standing building. Free-standing means building not closer than 15 m
from nearest other building.
For collecting facts I spoke to the different public authorities such as National
Environment Protection Board to find out where I could find written information about
the subject. I also interviewed four farmers that recently built their own farm workshop.
Two of them have built in existing buildings and two of them have built new freestanding
workshops.
In the result from the interviews it shows that the two farmers with brand new
workshops in free-standing buildings is very happy with both shop size (length, width
and height) and the indoor design. These two buildings where kept warm all the time,
either with water based floor heating or air based heating.
The two farmers that build their workshop in existing buildings very happy with the
placement compared to the other buildings on the farm. On the other hand could they
state that existing buildings often had limitations concerning length, width and height.
Both farmers had chosen a system that warmed up the workshop quickly.
Finally I would like to say that it's been very interesting to do this paper. I have seen a
couple of god example of farm-workshops and I've got some new ideas for our
workshop at home I hope this paper will be interesting for you to read as well.
The hardest thing with this paper has been to find the right person at the right place,
especially at the public authority.
My conclusions is that you always have to discuss the location, construction and heating
system with your insurance company. Further you have to talk with your local
environmental office concerning sewer. When it comes to the workshop size I suggest
that the height should not be less than 4,5 m. This guarantees that you can fit in all the
vehicles that are allowed to drive on the public roads. I can also state that today's big
combines require a floor space of 8 by 11 m if you want to be able to keep both side
hatches open at the same time.


Tailor-made for massive connectivity and sporadic access, grant-free random access has become a promising candidate access protocol for massive machine-type communications (mMTC). Compared with conventional grant-based protocols, grant-free random access skips the exchange of scheduling information to reduce the signaling overhead, and facilitates the sharing of access resources to enhance access efficiency. However, some challenges remain to be addressed in the receiver design, such as the unknown identity of active users and multiuser interference (MUI) on shared access resources. In this work, we deal with the problem of joint user activity and data detection for grant-free random access. Specifically, the approximate message passing (AMP) algorithm is first employed to mitigate MUI and decouple the signals of different users. Then, we extend the data symbol alphabet to incorporate the null symbols from inactive users. In this way, the joint user activity and data detection problem is formulated as a clustering problem under the Gaussian mixture model. Furthermore, in conjunction with the AMP algorithm, a variational Bayesian inference-based clustering (VBIC) algorithm is developed to solve this clustering problem. Simulation results show that, compared with state-of-art solutions, the proposed AMP-combined VBIC (AMP-VBIC) algorithm achieves a significant performance gain in detection accuracy.


Hyperbaric oxygenation consists in exposing patients to increased gas pressures while inhaling pure oxygen. It involves the use of hyperbaric chambers that can double or triple gas pressure inside them. Hyperbaric oxygenation may be useful in different clinical situations, but mostly for the treatment of decompression syndrome. In the last decades, it has been used for the management of different kinds of wounds. Hyperbaric oxygenation not only increases the delivery of oxygen to damaged tissues, but also stimulates angiogenesis, collagen synthesis, stem cell migration and local immune response. Clinical trials that have addressed the use of hyperbaric oxygenation are difficult to compare due to their heterogeneity in terms of experimental design, kind of injuries involved and assessment of outcome. Even though, most studies support the concept that hyperbaric oxygenation accelerates the healing process.


Photopolymerization is known to be limited in depth by light absorption. In addition, oxygen inhibition of acrylate films under air leaves some unreacted double bonds at the surface. Both phenomena account for heterogeneity in the conversion of the cured layer. Therefore, it can be relevant to build thick photopolymers through a multilayering process. 450 μm thick-photopolymers were prepared either through a bulk or a layering process, in the presence and in the absence of oxygen. They were compared in terms of conversion and the three point bending test. The results highlight an improvement in the conversion homogeneity with depth and in the mechanical properties of the layered samples. Experiments also showed that the presence (or absence) of an oxygen affected layer (OAL) does not make any mechanical differences. The oxygen inhibition of free radical photopolymerization leaves some unreacted double bonds at the surface of the film which could further bond to the subsequent layers. Therefore, the oxygen inhibition is not detrimental in a multilayer process.


Excerpt] The Work Opportunity Tax Credit (WOTC) is meant to induce employers to hire members of families receiving benefits under the Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF) program and other groups thought to experience employment problems regardless of general economic conditions (e.g., food stamp recipients and ex-felons). In 1997, Congress passed the Welfare-toWork (WtW) tax credit to focus specifically on more disadvantaged TANF recipients. The 109th Congress folded the WtW credit into a revised WOTC as part of the Tax Relief and Health Care Act of 2006. This report contains a description of the WOTC and closes with a legislative history of the WOTC.


Brain tumours are a frequent cause of intracraneal hypertension syndrome, clinically manifested by headache, nausea and vomiting, and a decrease in the level of consciousness. The keypoint sign of intracraneal hypertension is papilloedema. Other manifestations depend on the localization of the tumour, appearing as neurological focality and seizures. The causes of intracranial hypertension of tumoural origin are the mass effect of the tumour, brain edema, the possibility of intratumoural haemorrhage and hydrocephalus caused by obstruction in the circulation of cerebrospinal fluid. The treatments employed, medical or surgical, act against these causes.


This study describes attitudes and social and environmental factors that affect African American parents' intent to vaccinate their daughters against human papillomavirus (HPV). Thirty African American parents of daughters aged nine to 17 years and no history of HPV infection completed semi-structured interviews. Interviews addressed factors that influenced intent to vaccinate, perception of community norms related to vaccination, vaccination scenarios involving place of vaccination, and vaccination prior to or after the child's initiation of sexual activity. A recurring theme was the influence of physician recommendation on African American parents' intent to obtain HPV vaccination for their daughters. Most parents reported that they could overcome barriers to vaccination, except vaccine costs and lack of insurance. While religious beliefs were important to parents, they reported that they would not interfere with vaccination decisions; fears of early sexuality due to vaccination were limited. The implications of these findings are discussed.


Abstract The paper presents a review of information on control measures used to prevent damages due to cockchafer Melolontha spp. grubs in European countries including Poland. There are described the methods used at times when mechanical and chemical treatments were applied as well as those under advanced research. In the past, cockchafer grubs were manually removed from plowed soils. Later on, chemical pest control commenced in plant protection practice, and a range of insecticides were either spotted directly onto plants or applied into planting rows, otherwise an entire planting area was treated. In that case, powder or granular insecticide formulations were mixed with upper soil layers, but liquid insecticides were poured into the soil around seedlings. The active substance of initial plant protection products used in Poland to control cockchafer grubs was lindane (organochlorine neurotoxin), which showed pretty high efficacy. Nevertheless, organochlorine products must have been withdrawn from the market and less damaging to the environment pesticides (organophosphates and carbamates) were recommended for use in forest protection against cockchafer grubs. As a result of progressive restrictions concerning application of chemicals into forest environment, alternate solutions have been sought, e.g. biological methods of cockchafer grub control have been tested. Up to date studies showed insecticidal properties of bacteria, fungi and nematodes. However, even though the knowledge and awareness of practitioners have raised with time, the problem of cockchafer grub populations damaging forest crops has not yet been solved and seems to be more and more difficult to overcome.


Dissolution of calcium phosphate powders with different compositions in simulated body fluid was investigated. Hydroxyapatite (HA) and β-tricalcium phosphate (β-TCP) powders were synthesized by a precipitation method and by controlling pH of the solution. Biphasic calcium phosphate (BCP) powders were prepared by mixing the HA and β-TCP powders with ratio of 80:20 and 60:40 in weight % in a planetary mill for 4 h. For dissolution test, 0.5g of each β-TCP, HA and BCP powders were immersed in 50 ml of SBF at 37°C for 3-28 days. HA powders with stoichiometric composition showed no significant morphological change regardless of the immersion time. β-TCP powders were not dissolved in SBF in spite of its high solubility. The surface of BCP powders became rough due to dissolution with increasing immersion time. This surface dissolution gradually extended into the core region of the particles resulting in disintegration of the dense particle into fine crystallites. It may be caused that the milling process during preparation of BCP powders may induce stress concentration or formation of dislocation on the surface of particles.


HYPOTHESIS
Assess the clinical acceptability of direct acoustic cochlear implantation for patients with advanced otosclerosis and the support for conducting a controlled trial of its effectiveness in the United Kingdom.

BACKGROUND
Emerging evidence supports the efficacy of direct acoustic cochlear implantation in patients with advanced otosclerosis whose needs cannot be managed using the combination of stapes surgery and hearing aids. A controlled trial would provide evidence for its effectiveness and cost-effectiveness to healthcare commissioners.

METHODS
An online survey of clinical professionals was constructed to characterize current standard of care for patients with advanced otosclerosis and to assess whether clinicians would be willing to refer patients into a trial to evaluate direct acoustic cochlear implantation. A consensus process was conducted to define inclusion criteria for the future trial.

RESULTS
No survey respondent considered direct acoustic cochlear implantation to be inappropriate with a majority indicating that they would refer patients into a future trial. The consensus was that there is a lack of available treatment options for those patients with bone conduction thresholds worse than 55 dB HL and who did not meet current criteria for cochlear implantation.

CONCLUSION
The present study confirms that a controlled trial to evaluate the effectiveness of direct acoustic cochlear implantation would have the support of clinicians in the United Kingdom. A feasibility study would be required to determine whether patients who meet the inclusion criteria could be recruited in a timely manner and in sufficient numbers to conduct a formal evaluation of effectiveness.


Abstract Since the introduction of the iPhone in 2007, the global retail market has witnessed massive demographic and technological changes that have re-defined consumer experience. Such changes include the rise of the millennial consumer cohort, and the introduction of retailers
 implementing enhanced artificial intelligence (AI) data methodology to analyse business, augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) to enhance experience and co-customization interfaces. Two seminal pieces of literature regarding consumer experience are Ballantine and Parson's analysis
 of consumer experience factors and Pine and Gilmore's (1999) Experience Economy. However, these studies were conducted nearly a decade ago, leaving a void in the literature that does not consider more current factors impacting consumer experience. The purpose of the present research was to:
 analyse popular press coverage to understand trends in experiential elements; and to extend the Ballantine and Parsons' framework by proposing more current experiential elements. The researchers used the EBSCO database to generate a list of articles written from 2008 to 2018; these articles
 were then analysed via a qualitative content analysis method, using Ballantine and Parson's and Pine and Gilmore's frameworks as a base. Emergent themes that did not fit the above frameworks were added, thereby updating and extending the current body of knowledge. Findings indicated an increased
 emphasis on 'experiential retailing' over the years 2016‐18. Product display, employees, colour and comfort features emerged as the most important Ballantine and Parsons themes, while new emergent themes of technology, uniqueness/personalization and entertainment/escapism/discovery
 were added to the Ballantine and Parsons framework, thus updating it to reflect current retailing trends. Implications for industry and academia, along with directions for future research are provided.


The method of generalized modeling has been used to analyze differential equations arising in applications. It makes minimal assumptions about the precise functional form of the differential equation and the quantitative values of the steady-states which it aims to analyze from a dynamical systems perspective. The method has been applied successfully in many different contexts, particularly in ecology and systems biology, where the key advantage is that one does not have to select a particular model but is able to provide directly applicable conclusions for sets of models simultaneously. Although many dynamical systems in mathematical biology exhibit steady-state behaviour one also wants to understand nonlocal dynamics beyond equilibrium points. In this paper we analyze predator-prey dynamical systems and extend the method of generalized models to periodic solutions. First, we adapt the equilibrium generalized modeling approach and compute the unique Floquet multiplier of the periodic solution which depends
upon so-called generalized elasticity and scale functions. We prove that these functions also have to satisfy a flow on parameter (or moduli) space. Then we use Fourier analysis to provide computable conditions for stability and the moduli space flow. The final stability analysis reduces to two discrete convolutions which can be interpreted to understand when the predator-prey system is stable and what factors enhance or prohibit stable oscillatory behaviour. Finally, we provide a sampling algorithm for parameter space based on nonlinear optimization and the Fast Fourier Transform which enables us to gain a statistical understanding of the stability properties of periodic predator-prey dynamics.


Today, there is a growing interest in network water quality modelling. The water quality issues of interest relate to both dissolved and particulate substances. For dissolved substances the main interest is in residual chlorine and (microbiological) contaminant propagation; for particulate substances it is in sediment leading to discolouration. There is a strong influence of flows and velocities on transport, mixing, production and decay of these substances in the network. This imposes a different approach to demand modelling which is reviewed in this article. For the large diameter lines that comprise the transport portion of a typical municipal pipe system, a skeletonised network model with a top-down approach of demand pattern allocation, a hydraulic time step of 1 h, and a pure advection-reaction water quality model will usually suffice. For the smaller diameter lines that comprise the distribution portion of a municipal pipe system, an all-pipes network model with a bottom-up approach of demand pattern allocation, a hydraulic time step of 1 min or less, and a water quality model that considers dispersion and transients may be needed. Demand models that provide stochastic residential demands per individual home and on a one-second time scale are available. A stochastic demands based network water quality model needs to be developed and validated with field measurements. Such a model will be probabilistic in nature and will offer a new perspective for assessing water quality in the drinking water distribution system.


We study the problem of automatically analyzing the worst-case resource usage of procedures with several arguments. Existing automatic analyses based on amortization, or sized types bound the resource usage or result size of such a procedure by a sum of unary functions of the sizes of the arguments.
 In this paper we generalize this to arbitrary multivariate polynomial functions thus allowing bounds of the form mn which had to be grossly overestimated by m2+n2 before. Our framework even encompasses bounds like ∗i,j≤n m_i mj where the mi are the sizes of the entries of a list of length n.
 This allows us for the first time to derive useful resource bounds for operations on matrices that are represented as lists of lists and to considerably improve bounds on other super-linear operations on lists such as longest common subsequence and removal of duplicates from lists of lists.
 Furthermore, resource bounds are now closed under composition which improves accuracy of the analysis of composed programs when some or all of the components exhibit super-linear resource or size behavior.
 The analysis is based on a novel multivariate amortized resource analysis. We present it in form of a type system for a simple first-order functional language with lists and trees, prove soundness, and describe automatic type inference based on linear programming.
 We have experimentally validated the automatic analysis on a wide range of examples from functional programming with lists and trees. The obtained bounds were compared with actual resource consumption. All bounds were asymptotically tight, and the constants were close or even identical to the optimal ones.


Dopamine is a catecholamine that is involved in the etiopathology of neurodegenerative diseases like Parkinson's and schizophrenia. Parkinson's disease develops as a result of dopamine deficiency in the glial beds of the brain. Schizophrenia, on the other hand, is characterized by excessive dopamine. The limited number of drugs used in Parkinson's disease either makes up the dopamine deficiency (L-Dopa), or exercise dopamine-like effects, or prevent the breakdown of dopamine in the brain.


Tourism has become an important economic sector in many parts of the world, and many regions, states, and local areas are increasingly looking to expenditures by visitors as a potential source of economic growth. Some communities have developed facilities to host sports events or other forms of entertainment to attract out-of-town visitors. Thus, the multi-purpose sports arena/auditorium has joined the industrial park as a community economic development initiative. This paper estimates the economic contribution of a multi-purpose sports and auditorium facility located in Fargo, North Dakota. Since opening its doors in December of 1992, the FARGODOME has hosted a wide variety of sporting events (e.g., college and high school football, rodeo, professional basketball), concerts, trade shows, and other forms of entertainment (e.g., ice shows, circuses, motor sports events). The purpose of this study was to estimate the contribution that FARGODOME event attendees and participants make to the Fargo area economy. The assessment process included (1) determining the residency and expenditure patterns of event attendees and participants, (2) estimating the aggregate direct economic contribution to the area economy by combining event attendee attributes and expenditures with FARGODOME records of the number of events held at the facility and attendance at each, and (3) estimating the secondary economic impacts associated with the FARGODOME's direct economic contribution. Event attendees' and participants' (e.g., exhibitors, athletes, and accompanying persons) place of residence and expenditures were obtained through intercept surveys of attendees/participants at selected FARGODOME events. The expenditures made directly by the FARGODOME to local entities (i.e., for payroll, benefits, utilities, etc.) were added to the attendees'/participants' expenditures outside the facility to arrive at the total direct economic impact (contribution) to the Fargo area. Then, the North Dakota Input-Output Model was used to estimate the secondary (multiplier) effects resulting from FARGODOME activities. Economic impacts will be reported using indicators such as gross business volume (gross receipts) of various economic sectors (e.g., retail trade), personal income, and employment.


This paper presents the design strategy of serial manipulators with constraint satisfaction. The algorithm provides certified solutions to the range of values of the manipulator design parameters that satisfy the given constraints for all points inside a desired workspace. Alternatively, it can also be used to obtain the achievable workspace of a particular manipulator topology within which a set of given constraints are satisfied. This strategy can therefore be applied to the general case of a serial manipulator design problem, robots of adjustable parameters, or even reconfigurable robot strategy to obtain a suitable topology. The interval-based algorithm was implemented on an example serial anthropomorphic manipulator with joint displacement constraints and obtains the possible variations to the manipulator topology that allow the required workspace to be achievable under the given joint displacement constraints. Results are presented and discussed.


Background: Inflammatory breast cancer is a very aggressive type of breast cancer which invades skin lymphatics. The standard treatment includes neoadjuvant chemotherapy followed by modified radical mastectomy and postsurgical radiation. Preserving the skin or nipple are not considered reasonable due to the involvement of the dermal lymphatics and therefore skin sparing or nipplesparing mastectomy are not usually carried out for this type of breast cancer.
Case presentation: In this article, we present a case of inflammatory breast cancer in a very young woman who was positive for BRCA2 genes.
Question: The possibility to perform nipple sparing or skin sparing mastectomy and immediate breast reconstruction, and the indication for prophylactic contralateral mastectomy as discussed in the tumor board are presented in this article.
Conclusion: Neither of the more conservative techniques of mastectomy was appropriate for this case. Also, the prognosis of the patient mostly depends on the course of the ipsilateral tumor and prophylactic mastectomy would be wise only if the subsequent course of the disease is favourable.


A psychosocial approach to national behavior, emphasizing the foreign policy roles selected by states, has proven to be a fertile source of insights into the ways states respond to their external environment. Disaggregating the phenomenon of role into several distinct processes—e.g., roletaking, role contestation, role enactment, and role transition—highlights interactions across different levels of analysis as part of a general process of role location. We focus in this paper specifically on the process of role-taking leading to role selection and conceive of this process as operating simultaneously at the state, domestic, and individual levels of analysis. Rather than assume that states simply choose roles, or that elite policy makers choose roles on behalf of their states, we propose in this paper a systems model and hypotheses about cross-level effects among elements in a complex adaptive system. This model relies on the auxiliary assumption that the congruence of strategic orientations across levels of analysis facilitates role selection, and that this congruence is observable in the rhetoric of political leaders. To analyze these cross-level effects, we employ Leadership Trait Analysis (LTA) coding of national role conceptions (NRCs), coupled with motive imagery assessment of U.S. presidents and statistical measures of U.S. power and domestic political arrangements, to test the theoretical proposition that coherent national role selection will emerge primarily when international, domestic, and individual motivations are congruent (aligned with one another). We hypothesize that these conditions are likely instances of role-taking that result empirically in the selection of strategic role orientations that are congruent with these role demands.


Aimed at improving the maximum available power density in a planar-type solid oxide fuel cell, an analytical model is proposed in this work to find the optimum size of a current collector that collects the current from a specific active area of the electrode-electrolyte layer. Distributed three-dimensional current collectors in gas delivery field are designated to allow a larger area of the electrode-electrolyte layer to be active for electrochemical reaction compared to conventional designs that gas channels are separated by current collectors. It has been found that the optimal operating temperature of a planar-type solid oxide fuel cell might be around 850°C, if the sizes of the distributed current collectors and their control areas are optimized. Decreasing the size of both the current collector and its control area is advantageous in achieving a higher power density. Studies also show that the optimal sizes of the current collector and the current collection area investigated at 850°C and zero concentration polarization are applicable to situations of different operating temperatures, and different concentration polarizations. The optimization results of the sizes of current collectors and their control areas are relatively sensitive to the contact resistance between the current collectors and the electrodes of the fuel cell. Results of great significance are provided in the analysis, which will help designers to account for the variation of contact resistance in optimization designing of a bipolar plate of fuel cells.


Geometric isomerization of light-activated olefins plays a significant role in biological events as well as in modern materials science applications. In these systems, the isomerization occurs in highly confined spaces, and concepts derived from solution investigations are only partially applicable. This study makes contributions in understanding the excited-state behavior of olefins in confined spaces by investigating the excited-state behavior of 1,4-diphneyl-13-butadiene (DPB) and 1,4-ditolyl-1,3-butadiene (DTB) encapsulated in a well-defined organic capsule made up of the octa acid (OA) host. Both of these dienes that exist in three isomeric forms (trans,trans; trans,cis; and cis,cis) formed 1:2 guest-host complexes with OA in aqueous borate buffer. Competition experiments monitored by (1)H NMR signals revealed that among the three isomers the cis,cis isomer of DPB and DTB formed the most stable complex with OA. Molecular modeling studies suggested that all six isomers of DPB and DTB preferred the cisoid conformation within the OA capsule. Irradiation (>280 nm) of the diene-OA complex (diene@OA2) resulted in geometric isomerization, and the photostationary state consisted of cis,trans isomer as major and cis,cis as minor products. The photostationary state could be enriched with the cis,cis isomer in yields close to 70% with proper cutoff filters because the cis,cis isomer absorbs at shorter wavelength than the other two isomers. Consistent with the MD simulation prediction that trans,trans-DPB and trans,trans-DTB existed in cisoid conformation within OA capsule, the generation of singlet oxygen in the presence of OA encapsulated DPB or DTB resulted in facile [4 + 2] addition between the diene and the singlet oxygen.


The National Timber Industry Plan was the first major dedicated policy framework for the wood products industry in Malaysia. This plan aimed to transform the industry into a high value-added products manufacturer and exporter, with a targeted export value of USD 13 billion in 2020. Unfortunately, this target was revised downwards in 2017 due to stagnating growth; in 2020, wood products export was valued at USD 5.43 billion. A survey of 914 different wood products manufacturers, involving sawmillers, molding, furniture, and joinery manufacturers, were conducted to examine the constraints faced, and the weaknesses of the policy framework that hampered its intended objectives. The results revealed that the policy framework did not have much impact on transforming the industry, and its growth continued to be fueled by incremental factor inputs, rather than by productivity gains. Uncertainty with the policy framework, especially with addressing raw materials supply and workforce, were highlighted as the two most important constraints faced. In essence, the outcomes suggest that business confidence, associated with industrial growth factors, are the prerequisite for the policy framework to succeed, and if confidence falters, it will adversely affect the targeted outcome of the policy.


Non-parametric selection indexes (that is, require no estimation of parameters) can be used to help the selection process in the final stage of genetic enhancement. In this context, the objective of this study was to evaluate the efficiency of non-parametric selection indexes to choose promising lineages of loose-leaf lettuce, so that genetic gain of each lineage can be estimated and then registered in the Ministry of Agriculture. The indexes of Mulamba and Mock, Elston and Schwarzbach were used in the analysis. Ten genotypes of loose-leaf lettuce were evaluated, with eight of them being lineages (L1, L2, L3, L4, L5, L6, L7, L8) and two commercial cultivars (Vanda and Vera). The experiments occurred in six different locations of cultivation during the autumn and winter seasons of 2014. Experimental delineation was composed of random blocks, with four repetitions and the evaluated characteristics were: total production, commercial production, number of leaves, plant volume and stem length. The effects of genotype (G), location (L), and G x L interaction were significant for all characteristics. Indexes were correlated to classify the genotype. The Mulamba and Mock index stood out because it enabled good direct gains for the evaluated characteristics and because of its easy construction. Therefore, this index is recommended for selection of loose-leaf lettuce genotypes in the stage of cultivar recommendation in different locations. As the best lineages of loose-leaf lettuce were L2, L3, L7 and L8, these lineages have been considered promising and are recommended for registration.

 Key words: Agronomic performance, Lactuca sativa, nonlinear indexes, spearman correlation.


Isolated dilation of common bile duct (CBD) with normal sized pancreatic duct and without identifiable stones or mass lesion (unexplained) is frequently encountered by computed tomography/magnetic resonance imaging. We studied the final diagnoses in these patients and tried to elucidate factors that can predict a malignant etiology. This is a retrospective analysis of prospective database from a University based clinical practice (2002- 2008). We included 107 consecutive patients who underwent endoscopic ultrasound (EUS) for evaluation of isolated and unexplained CBD dilation noted on contrast computed tomography scans. EUS examination was performed using a radial echoendoscope followed by a linear echoechoendoscope, if a focal mass lesion was identified. Fine-needle aspirates were assessed immediately by an attending cytopathologist. Main outcome measurements included i) prevalence of neoplasms, CBD stones and chronic pancreatitis and ii) performance characteristics of EUS/EUS-fine needle aspiration (EUS-FNA). A malignant neoplasm was found in 16 patients (14.9%) of the study subjects, all with obstructive jaundice (ObJ). Six patients had CBD stones; three with ObJ and three with abnormal liver function tests. EUS findings suggestive of chronic pancreatitis were identified in 27 patients. EUSFNA had 97.3% accuracy (94.1% in subset with ObJ) with a sensitivity of 81.2% and specificity of 100% for diagnosing malignancy. Presence of ObJ and older patient age were only significant predictors of malignancy in our cohort. Amongst patients with isolated and unexplained dilation of CBD, the risk of malignancy is significantly higher in older patients presenting with ObJ. EUS-FNA can diagnose malignancy in these patients with high accuracy besides identifying other potential etiologies including missed CBD stones and chronic pancreatitis.


Spherical LiNi0.8Co0.2O2 powders with particle size of 8~10μm were prepared based on controlled crystallization, and coated with Al2O3 by Al(OH)3 sol, that was prepared from Al(NO3)3 and NaOH, at first time. SEM, XRD and surface element analysis showed that the nano-sized Al2O3 was coated uniformly on the surface of LiNi0.8Co0.2O2 powder. At 25 °C, the initial discharge capacity decreased from 160 to 149 mAh g-1 after coating of Al2O3. The initial discharge capacity decreased from 168 to 163 mAh g-1 after coating of Al2O at 55 °C. After coating of Al2O3, the capacity retentions increased from 83.8% to 92.6% at the 50th cycle at 25°C, and from 36.3% to 90.8% at the 10th cycle at 55°C. This paves effective way to improve the performance of LiNi0.8Co0.2O2 material for rechargeable lithium ion batteries.


Everyone forever (EF) and Sanitation as a Business are both water and sanitation models respectively being implemented in seven districts of Africa including; Rwanda, Malawi and Uganda. EF is collaboration amongst WASH partners to ensure that every household, clinic and school receives basic water and sanitation services on a sustainable basis. As a result of EF efforts in peri-urban Blantyre, Malawi levels of service for water shifted from 19% in 2010 to 57% in 2012. In Rwanda, EF aims to provide full water coverage for the Rulindo District by 2015. In Uganda, EF has been exploring different approaches to supporting sustainable access to improved water and sanitation facilities as well as working with Business Development Service provider to promote sanitation entrepreneurs. One significant challenge is that many communities view water as a common good that they have been collecting from open springs and which should not be paid for.


We determine which simple algebraic groups of type D4 over arbitrary fields of characteristic different from 2 admit outer automorphisms of order 3, and classify these automorphisms up to conjugation. The criterion is formulated in terms of a representation of the group by automorphisms of a trialitarian algebra: outer automorphisms of order 3 exist if and only if the algebra is the endomorphism algebra of an induced cyclic composition; their conjugacy classes are in one-to-one correspondence with isomorphism classes of symmetric compositions from which the induced cyclic composition stems.


This study measured the rate of returns for knowledge asset as Gross Domestic Product (GDP) per capita, (a human progress indicator) rather focuses on production and consumption of scarce tangible assets. Knowledge investment rate of return is beneficial, because, knowledge is a limitless intangible asset, growth enhancing and sustainable, thus, also averting the challenges of Knowledge Economy Index (KEI). Sustainable Knowledge Investment Returns can ensure quality higher education, improvement in scientific research and accelerate attainment or consolidation of achieved Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) in a poor country like Ghana. The Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), Ghana, data from 2009 to 2015 was used. In 2009, a rate of return of approximately 54% was obtained through the production function method. The financial method was used to calculate the remaining mean rates of approximately 36% for 2010 and 2011, negative 18% for 2012 and 2013 and approximately 59% for 2014 and 2015. Fluctuation in investment returns were accounted for by investments, incentives and schemes that foster demand for knowledge (IP patenting etc). Establishment and or operationalisation of Knowledge Production Fund and its open competitive access were recommended for sustaining higher knowledge investment and returns.


That knowledge is power is fast becoming a cliche within the intelligentsia. Such power however, depends largely on how knowledge itself is exchanged and used, which says a lot about the tools of its transmission, exchange, and storage. Information and communication technology (ICT) plays a significant role in this respect. As a networked tool, it enables efficient exchanges of video, audio and text data beyond geographical and time constraints. Since this data is exchanged over the worldwide web (www), it can be accessible by anyone in the world using the internet. The risk of unauthorised access, interception, modification, or even theft of confidential information, leading to financial losses in information dependant competitive institutions is therefore high. Improving efficiencies through ICT therefore, comes with security responsibilities. The problem however is that most organizations tend to focus on task-enhancing efficiencies and neglect security. Possibly due to limited awareness about security, underestimating the problem, concerns about security costs, or through plain negligence. The activity theory of Engestrm and the activity analysis development framework of Mursu et al are used as analytical lenses to the cybercrime challenge in this paper. A practical case study of Company X, an IT service provider in Malawi is then used to understand the extent to which organisations that offer electronic data solutions prioritise security in their operations. It is found that even better informed organisations fall short in taking adequate data security measures. A recommendation for all organisations is that they should not only have a clear policy, but also ensure that it is routinely and consistently implemented throughout the operations if information capital is to be secured. A framework towards a holistic approach to thinking about, and in addressing cybercrime is suggested, and recommended in the paper.


The objective of this study was to evaluate the relevance of using excess air (EA) for the characterization of drain/matrix exchange in karst systems using a rainfall discharge model coupled with the simulation of EA measured at the outlet of the studied system. The conceptual model assumes a linear relationship between the formation of EA and the increase of hydrostatic pressure in the capacitive part of the aquifer. The simulated EA at the spring consists of the mixing of water circulating in the different compartments of the aquifer, with their own EA signature. The analysis is performed taking as an example the Durzon karst system (Larzac, France). The modeling is applied using daily rainfall discharge time series and 18 EA measurements at the main outlet of the karst system within 3 hydrological cycles. The main modeling results show that EA variations measured at the karst spring can be explained by recharge processes and exchange between conduit and matrix. EA measurements at the spring thus contain valuable information about the flow dynamics within the aquifer. Furthermore, results show that the use of EA measurements, despite their sparse temporal resolution, allows for reducing uncertainties in the estimation of some parameters of the reservoir model used for the simulation of karst spring discharge.


of codons mRNA. the (aa-tRNA) binding (A on the 30S The binding of eEF1A:GTP to aminoacyl tRNA (aa-tRNA) results in the formation of a ternary complex (eEF1A:GTP:aa-tRNA). Human eEF1A and rabbit eEF1A are 100% identical, and prokaryotic homologue of eEF1A (EF-Tu) shows 59% identity in the GTP-binding domain.This process is illustrated below with: a GTP molecule in white and eEF1A protein in yellow.


PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to illustrate the use of the p-median model to construct optimal patrol areas. This can improve both time spent traveling to calls, as well as equalize call load between patrol areas.Design/methodology/approachThe paper provides an introduction to the use of integer linear programs to create optimal patrol areas, as many analysts and researchers in the author's field will not be familiar with such models. The analysis then introduces a set of linear constraints to the p-median problem that are applicable to police agencies, such as constraining call loads to be equal and making patrol areas geographically contiguous.FindingsThe analysis illustrates the technique on simplified simulated examples. The analysis then demonstrates the utility of the technique by showing how patrol areas in Carrollton, TX can be made both more efficient and equalize the call loads given the same number of patrol beats as currently in place.Originality/valueUnlike prior applications of creating patrol areas, this paper introduces linear constraints into the p-median problem, making it much easier to solve than programs that have non-linear or multiple objective functions. Supplementary code using open source software is also provided, allowing other analysts or researchers to apply the model to their own data.


In the neural network field, many application models have been proposed. A neuro chip and an artificial retina chip are developed to comprise the neural network model and simulate the biomedical vision system. Previous analog neural network models were composed of the operational amplifier and fixed resistance. It is difficult to change the connection coefficient. In this study, we used analog electronic multiple and sample hold circuits. The connecting weights describe the input voltage. It is easy to change the connection coefficient. This model works only on analog electronic circuits. It can finish the learning process in a very short time and this model will enable more flexible learning.


This paper studied the relationship between the supportive leadership behavior of bank managers and its impact on their level of satisfaction. The study investigated the relationship between 13 specific leadership behaviors indicating supportive attitude towards the subordinates and whether it helps in keeping the employee satisfied or not. The two sample proportion test is applied in the Research Methodology based on an instrument developed by Gary Yukl (2000). The hypothesis was supported, indicating that the supportive behavior of managers was positively correlated to their satisfaction.


Abstract In the context of agricultural post-productivity, rural spaces acquire new functions or reinforce the existing ones. Thus, the production of quality food, as a part of agroindustry, and tourism appear as common activities in rural development strategies. Special attention is drawn to gastronomic tourism and the creation of routes as a creative expression of the integration and structuring of the territories. The Iberian ham is a unique product, known worldwide, produced exclusively in the SW quadrant of the Iberian Peninsula. It is linked to a unique agro-system of the anthropised Mediterranean forest, also known as dehesa4, and comparably limited Iberian pig livestock, which has given rise to traditional culture and industry constituted in Local Productive System in many municipalities, supported by Protected Designation of Origin. The central objective of the research is to analyse existing tourist attraction related to the Iberian ham, its potential and the routes and products that have arisen around it. Having placed the territorial recognition as the starting point, the analysis of the resources and locations of the activities related to the Iberian ham was carried out based on scientific literature and the use of different databases. Secondly, the analysis of the potential tourism activities in the Sierra de Huelva region was implemented based on primary sources, namely surveys and interviews with intervening actors. The following results are obtained: a) the tourist potential of the Iberian pig world; b) complementarity with other tourist activities; c) difficulties in structuring existing attractions; d) multiplication of disconnected and sometimes coincident tourism initiatives; e) scarce participation of private actors in the initiatives launched.


Deep reinforcement learning has achieved great successes in recent years, however, one main challenge is the sample inefficiency. In this paper, we focus on how to use action guidance by means of a non-expert demonstrator to improve sample efficiency in a domain with sparse, delayed, and possibly deceptive rewards: the recently-proposed multi-agent benchmark of Pommerman. We propose a new framework where even a non-expert simulated demonstrator, e.g., planning algorithms such as Monte Carlo tree search with a small number rollouts, can be integrated within asynchronous distributed deep reinforcement learning methods. Compared to a vanilla deep RL algorithm, our proposed methods both learn faster and converge to better policies on a two-player mini version of the Pommerman game.


Abstract. Soil information (e.g., soil texture and porosity) from existing soil datasets over the Tibetan Plateau (TP) is claimed to be inadequate and even inaccurate for determining soil hydraulic properties (SHP) and soil thermal properties (STP), hampering the understanding of the land surface process over TP. As the soil varies across three dominant climate zones (i.e., arid, semi-arid and subhumid) over the TP, the associated SHP and STP are expected to vary correspondingly. To obtain an explicit insight into the soil hydrothermal properties over the TP, in situ and laboratory measurements of over 30 soil property profiles were obtained across the climate zones. Results show that porosity and SHP and STP differ across the climate zones and strongly depend on soil texture. In particular, it is proposed that gravel impact on porosity and SHP and STP are both considered in the arid zone and in deep layers of the semi-arid zone. Parameterization schemes for porosity, SHP and STP are investigated and compared with measurements taken. To determine the SHP, including soil water retention curves (SWRCs) and hydraulic conductivities, the pedotransfer functions (PTFs) developed by Cosby et al. (1984) (for the Clapp–Hornberger model) and the continuous PTFs given by Wösten et al. (1999) (for the Van Genuchten–Mualem model) are recommended. The STP parameterization scheme proposed by Farouki (1981) based on the model of De Vries (1963) performed better across the TP than other schemes. Using the parameterization schemes mentioned above, the uncertainties of five existing regional and global soil datasets and their derived SHP and STP over the TP are quantified through comparison with in situ and laboratory measurements. The measured soil physical properties dataset is available at https://data.4tu.nl/repository/uuid:c712717c-6ac0-47ff-9d58-97f88082ddc0.


Cariological Studies on Endodontically Treated Teeth Khalid Merdad, Departments of Cariology and Endodontics, Institute of Odontology, The Sahlgrenska Academy, University of Gothenburg, Box 450, SE-405 30 Gothenburg, Sweden. Caries might jeopardize the long-term successful outcome of endodontic therapy. Therefore, it is of an interest for the endodontist to evaluate caries susceptibility of root-filled teeth (RFT). In the present thesis, several studies were conducted to explore this relationship. In the first study, caries risk profile of 200 Saudi adults, using the Cariogram, and the frequency of recurrent caries in RFT were evaluated. All individuals were interviewed about their oral health, dietary habits and use of fluoride. Caries was registered both clinically and radiographically. Salivary and microbiological data were obtained using chair-side tests. The findings from this study did not show any significant difference in caries risk profile, at the individual level, except for the mutans streptococcus count. A significant difference was detected, however, in the proportion of recurrent caries, which was higher in RFT compared to vital teeth. Caries susceptibility of RFT can be attributed to both extrinsic and intrinsic factors. In the second study, caries susceptibility of RFT was compared with contra-lateral non-root-filled teeth (NRFT) plaque-related factors. This study was carried out on a subsample (20 patients) with two or more RFT, recruited from the participants in the first study. Each patient was examined regarding cariogenic microflora of proximal plaque, in situ plaque pH-drop after a sucrose rinse (the Stephan curve) and de novo plaque formation. Recurrent caries and the quality of the coronal fillings/crowns of the teeth were also evaluated. The results showed that endodontically treated teeth had an increased susceptibility to caries, ascribed either to alteration in their biological environment, or to inadequacy of the marginal fit of the dental restoration. In the third study, the frequency of recurrent caries in RFT versus NRFT was evaluated, retrospectively. The material consisted of totally of 11,554 teeth in 832 subjects, pooled from a large cross-sectional epidemiological study conducted in Jonkoping, Sweden. The findings showed a significant association between endodontically treated teeth and recurrent caries. The fourth study assessed the effects of sodium hypochlorite (NaOCl), ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA) and chlorhexidine (CHX) in various strengths and combinations on the demineralization of dentin, considering their use as irrigation solutions. Thirty-five single-rooted teeth were extracted and randomly allocated into seven groups. The teeth were analyzed with micro-computed tomography (micro-CT), before and after the treatment. Volume measurements, to assess the demineralization effect, were carried out with software. The data showed that NaOCl and EDTA irrigation solutions changed the quality of dentin, in a way that it may increase the caries susceptibility. To conclude, the results from this thesis should raise the awareness among dental clinicians regarding the potential increase in caries risk following endodontic treatment, and accordingly, precautionary measures should take place.


Patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) exhale more hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) and lipid peroxidation products than healthy subjects. This may reflect oxidative stress in the airways that plays important role in the development and progression of COPD. N-acetylcysteine (NAC), a mucolytic drug, possesses antioxidant properties as it is a precursor of reduced glutathione that together with glutathione peroxidase may decompose H2O2 and lipid peroxides. We aimed to determine the effect of NAC, 600 mg effervescent tablets (Fluimucil), once a day for 12 months, and placebo on the concentration of H2O2 and thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARs) in expired breath condensate and serum levels of two lipid peroxidation products (TBARs, lipid peroxides) in patients with COPD. The study was performed as a double-blind, double-dummy comparison between active drug and placebo in two parallel groups. Forty-four outpatients with stable COPD (22 in the NAC group and 22 in the placebo group) completed the study. Specimens of expired breath condensate and serum were collected at the randomization visit and then every 3 months over 1 year. The concentration of TBARs and H2O2 in expired breath condensate was measured spectrofluorimetrically by the thiobarbituric acid and homovanillic acid methods, respectively. Serum levels of lipid peroxides were determined spectrophotometrically after extraction with butanol and pyridine. Initially, H2O2 exhalation did not differ between the placebo and NAC groups up to 6 months of treatment. After this the significant differences were observed. After 9 and 12 months of treatment NAC group exhaled 2.3-fold (0.17+/-0.33 microM vs. 041+/-0.26 microM, P<0.04) [median 0.01 microM, quartile range (qr)=0.22 vs. median 0.15 microM, qr =0.43] and 2.6-fold (0.15+/-0.23 microM vs. 0.40+/-0.25 microN, P<0.05) median = 0.00 microM, qr = 0.23 vs. median = 0.36 microM, qr = 0.51] less H2O2 than placebo receivers, respectively. No significant effect of NAC administration on TBARs exhalation and serum levels of TBARs and lipid peroxides were noted over the whole treatment period. Also no significant associations between exhaled H2O2 and concentrations of lipid peroxidation products were noted in both treatment groups at any time-point. These results indicate that long-term oral administration of NAC attenuates H2O2 formation in the airways of COPD subjects and prove anti-oxidant action of drug. However, further studies are necessary to estimate the clinical significance of this finding.


Protic organic ionic plastic crystals (POIPCs) are a type of novel solid-state proton conductors. In this work, guanidinium nonaflate ([Gdm-H][NfO]) is reported to be a model POIPC. Its structure–property relationship has been investigated comprehensively. Infrared analysis of [Gdm-H][NfO] and its deuterated analogue [Gdm-D][NfO] confirms the complete formation of the protic salts. The cations in as-prepared [Gdm-D][NfO] are estimated to consist of [C(ND2)2(NHD)]+ and [C(ND2)3]+ with a molar ratio of around 1 : 1. The deuteration also proves that each guanidinium cation has six displaceable protons. Thermogravimetric analysis demonstrates that [Gdm-H][NfO] exhibits superior thermal stability in both nitrogen and air atmospheres. Isothermogravimetric analysis reveals its negligible vapor pressure with an estimated high enthalpy of vaporization (120.9 kJ mol−1). Differential scanning calorimetry measurements of [Gdm-H][NfO] show four evident endothermic peaks prior to its melting transition at 186.2 °C with a low entropy of melting (17.70 J K−1 mol−1). Shortly before the onset temperature of melting transition (186.2 °C), partial melting (partial liquefaction) was observed via polarized optical microscopy in the temperature region of 176–186 °C while the reason for partial melting of ionic plastic crystals is not clear yet. Variable-temperature powder X-ray diffraction tests confirm the related solid-solid phase transitions and demonstrate that [Gdm-H][NfO] exhibits short-range disorder and long-range positional order in the plastic crystalline phases. Dielectric spectroscopy measurements show that its ionic conductivity reaches 2.1 × 10−3 S cm−1 at 185 °C. The proton conduction in the plastic crystalline phases of [Gdm-H][NfO] is assumed to happen via the vehicle mechanism. In the molten state, the proton conduction follows a combination of the vehicle mechanism and the Grotthuss mechanism (structural diffusion). In summary, due to their exceptional physicochemical properties, POIPCs like [Gdm-H][NfO] are promising electrolyte materials for high temperature (100–200 °C) proton exchange membrane fuel cells. In addition, POIPC-based solid-state proton conductors are also expected to find applications in sensors and other electrochemical devices.


Hemophilic arthropathy from joint bleeding remains a complication with major morbidity in the increasingly aging patients with hemophilia. Prophylactic clotting factor infusions, based on pharmacokinetic dosing to reduce bleeding rates, are being explored more and more. However, there is little evidence on the benefits of pharmacokinetic dosing in direct association with bleeding events. Here, we prospectively followed a cohort of adult patients with hemophilia A and B (n = 26) and arthropathic joints on various clotting factor products over a period of 2 years with clinical and radiographic joint health assessments, frequent joint ultrasound, and pharmacokinetic studies. Joint bleeds and synovitis with synovial vascularity changes were objectively diagnosed by musculoskeletal ultrasound and power Doppler and analyzed in relation to pharmacokinetic, joint- and patient-specific parameters. Results revealed that, contrary to common beliefs, bleeding episodes were not readily explained by pharmacokinetic features, as they were not associated with more time spent below certain clotting factor thresholds. Joint bleeding was found to be associated with prominent vascularity changes, suggesting that vascular remodeling and leakiness may contribute to joint bleeding that cannot be prevented by clotting factor replacement alone.


Economic growth will be unbalanced, but development can still be inclusive-that is the message of this year's World development report, the thirty-first in the series. As economies grow from low to high income, production becomes more concentrated spatially. Some places, cities, coastal areas, and connected countries-are favored by producers. As countries develop, the most successful ones also institute policies that make living standards of people more uniform across space. The principle for a successful spatial transformation, getting the immediate benefits of concentration of production, and the long term benefits of a convergence in living standards, is economic integration. The report first describes the spatial transformations needed for development. It analyzes these changes using the insights from economic history and recent research. Then it revisits the policy debates on urbanization, regional development, and international integration.


Abstract:
 Recent authors have considered there to be just one species of Chaptalia in central, southern, and western Texas and have called it C. nutans, C. nutans var. texana, or C. texana. Field studies in Travis and Hays counties indicate the existence in that area of two populations with morphological, phenological, and behavioral differences, and revision of herbarium material shows that they correspond to two distinct taxa that occupy different but partially overlapping ranges in Texas and northern Mexico. Evidence is provided in support of their recognition as distinct species that correspond to C. texana and C. carduacea, both described by E. L. Greene. Descriptions of the two species and a revised key for Chaptalia in Texas are provided.


This abridgement of The Oxford Companion to African American Literature will make the entries of the greatest general interest available to a wider audience, providing the same calibre of scholarship and information as the original volume. The Concise collects more than 400 biographies (authors, critics, literary characters and historical figures) of both well-known figures and the lives and careers of writers not found in other reference works. The abridgement also includes the 150 plot summaries of major works. The editors briefly update the biographic details for author entries to include mention of major new works, death dates, and awards since the Companion's 1997 publication. A revised introduction, contributors list, subject index, cross-references, and updated bibliographical notes are also included. The volume reprints in its entirety the five-part fifteen page essay, "Literary History", capturing the full sweep of African American writing in the U.S. from the colonial and early national eras to the present day.


This paper develops a spatial model for a water basin that allows for surface water allocation and re-use of the water that is lost. The analytical solution suggests specialisation of production over space - upstream farmers use canal water and downstream farmers pump groundwater that is lost upstream. Groundwater emerges as an endogenous "backstop". The empirical results suggest that when traditional conservation technologies are used, optimisation over the entire basin leads to significant increases in aggregate output, project area and water use. Somewhat counter-intuitively, rents from water decrease if farmers switch from traditional to modern irrigation technology.


Although the participatory action-research programs with young people are increasingly common around the world, their inclusion in the evaluation of intervention programs in the area of health promotion is still not a rule. This study presents youths' assessment of strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats of the Dream Teens project, along with its impact on their development as a person, the development of their individual action and their social support (family, school and community). Two studies are presented: study 1, referring to individual interviews, including a total of 12 young people, with a mean age of 18.5 years (± 1.62), mostly girls (83.3%) attending secondary school (41.67%), higher education (33.33%) and third grade (25%); and study 2, referring to a focus group that involved 8 young people, mostly girls (75%), age 18.5 years ( ± 2) attending higher education (37.5%), secondary school (37.5%) and third grade (25%). The NVivo software was used for the analysis and processing of data.
Overall, young people identify the establishment of goals in the project, the relationships established, the acquired knowledge and face-to-face meetings as forces; their difficulty in dealing with empowerment, and weak participation of some young people as weaknesses; the availability of local authorities and some teachers to listen to young people as opportunities; and the necessary bureaucracy in order for a project to be implemented, the lack of support from the educational community and some teachers, along with the lack of support of political power as threats.
In terms of impact on the participants, there is an increase in their capacity for the development of the person, in the promotion of their self-esteem, personal goals, a sense of community participation, communication skills and respect for themselves and for others; and their development of individual action, a greater political empowerment, development of skills and confidence for research-action, and relationships established. The opportunities created include the establishment of new contacts and the feeling of support from some political bodies at a social support level; promotion of active listening, capacity for argumentation and development of new interests at the family level; at school, these include better relationships with teachers and colleagues, better academic performance, easier coping with frustration, better acceptance of the other; and in the community, although they have not noticed significant changes, they believe that their work will have future repercussions.
This work is expected to contribute to an increase in the number of research-action programs with the participation of young people, enhancing their effectiveness as a way to promote their health and wellbeing.


Peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma (PPARγ) plays a role in regulating a myriad of biological processes in virtually all brain cell types, including neurons. We and others have reported recently that drugs which activate PPARγ are effective in reducing damage to brain in distinct models of brain disease, including ischemia. However, the cell type responsible for PPARγ-mediated protection has not been established. In response to ischemia, PPARγ gene is robustly upregulated in neurons, suggesting that neuronal PPARγ may be a primary target for PPARγ-agonist-mediated neuroprotection. To understand the contribution of neuronal PPARγ to ischemic injury, we generated conditional neuron-specific PPARγ knock-out mice (N-PPARγ-KO). These mice are viable and appeared to be normal with respect to their gross behavior and brain anatomy. However, neuronal PPARγ deficiency caused these mice to experience significantly more brain damage and oxidative stress in response to middle cerebral artery occlusion. The primary cortical neurons harvested from N-PPARγ-KO mice, but not astroglia, exposed to ischemia in vitro demonstrated more damage and a reduced expression of numerous key gene products that could explain increased vulnerability, including SOD1 (superoxide dismutase 1), catalase, glutathione S-transferase, uncoupling protein-1, or transcription factor liver X receptor-α. Also, PPARγ agonist-based neuroprotective effect was lost in neurons from N-PPARγ neurons. Therefore, we conclude that PPARγ in neurons play an essential protective function and that PPARγ agonists may have utility in neuronal self-defense, in addition to their well established anti-inflammatory effect.


We present a method for nonparametric regression that performs bandwidth selection and variable selection simultaneously. The approach is based on the technique of incrementally decreasing the bandwidth in directions where the gradient of the estimator with respect to bandwidth is large. When the unknown function satisfies a sparsity condition, our approach avoids the curse of dimensionality, achieving the optimal mini-max rate of convergence, up to logarithmic factors, as if the relevant variables were known in advance. The method—called rodeo (regularization of derivative expectation operator)—conducts a sequence of hypothesis tests, and is easy to implement. A modified version that replaces hard with soft thresholding effectively solves a sequence of lasso problems.


Exercise affects muscle metabolism and composition in the untrained muscles. The proteome of muscle tissue will be affected by exercise and resting. This is of economic importance for pork quality where transportation relates to exercise of untrained muscles. Rest reverses exercise effects. The objective of this research was to develop potential protein biomarkers that predict the optimal resting time after exercise related to optimal pork quality. Ten litters of four female pigs were within litter allocated to the four treatment groups: exercise by running on a treadmill for 27 minutes followed by rest for 0, 1, or 3 h; control pigs without exercise. Proteome profiles and biochemical traits measuring energy metabolism and meat quality traits expected to be related to exercise were determined in the Longissimus and the Biceps femoris of the pigs. The results indicated associations between protein abundances in muscles and exercise, resting, and biochemical traits.


ABSTRACT The creation of a new venture is at the heart of entrepreneurship. Chinese governments at different levels are proactive in promoting the entrepreneurial ecosystem (EE) and fostering new venture creation (NVC). However, it is still far from clear how governments as focal actors in the EE affect and regulate the process and pattern of NVC. This study borrows from the theory of temporary organization and conducts a comparative case study of two entrepreneurial projects in the Hangzhou Dream Town EE. This study proposes an integrated conceptual framework to illustrate NVC in two dimensions of projectification (the process of NVC) and partnering (a pattern of NVC) and specifies that the main role of local governments is as a sponsor, feeder, and endorser in that order. The three functional roles enable local governments to catalyze the creation of new ventures through projectification and partnering. Our study not only contributes to the literature on entrepreneurship, governance theory, and the theory of temporary organization but also provides an actionable approach for governments to foster new ventures, especially in transition economies such as China.


Keyphrase extraction is the task of automatically selecting a small set of phrases that best describe a given free text document. Supervised keyphrase extraction requires large amounts of labeled training data and generalizes very poorly outside the domain of the training data. At the same time, unsupervised systems have poor accuracy, and often do not generalize well, as they require the input document to belong to a larger corpus also given as input. Addressing these drawbacks, in this paper, we tackle keyphrase extraction from single documents with EmbedRank: a novel unsupervised method, that leverages sentence embeddings. EmbedRank achieves higher F-scores than graph-based state of the art systems on standard datasets and is suitable for real-time processing of large amounts of Web data. With EmbedRank, we also explicitly increase coverage and diversity among the selected keyphrases by introducing an embedding-based maximal marginal relevance (MMR) for new phrases. A user study including over 200 votes showed that, although reducing the phrases' semantic overlap leads to no gains in F-score, our high diversity selection is preferred by humans.


Background: Prediction models, both diagnostic and prognostic, are developed with the aim to guide clinical decision making. To validate, evaluate their impact and eventually use these models in clinical practice, clear and comprehensive reporting of prediction modelling studies is required. To improve the reporting of prediction models, a guideline for Transparent Reporting of a multivariable prediction model for Individual Prognosis Or Diagnosis (TRIPOD) was launched in January 2015. The TRIPOD statement is a checklist of 22 main items considered essential for informative reporting of studies developing or validating multivariable prediction models. Objectives: To assess the quality of reporting of prediction modelling studies that were published before the launch of TRIPOD in 2015. Methods: We selected the 10 journals with the highest impact factors within 37 clinical domains. A PubMed search was performed to identify prediction models published in May 2014. Publications that described the development and/or validation of a diagnostic or prognostic prediction model were considered eligible. We also included studies evaluating the incremental value of adding a predictor to a model. TRIPOD items were translated into a data extraction form, which was piloted extensively. Three reviewers extracted data. If they disagreed on when to consider an item "adhered", it was discussed in consensus meetings with the other co-authors. Results: Our search identified 4871 references, of which 347 potentially eligible references were assessed in full text. Eventually 148 references (within 28 clinical domains) met our eligibility criteria. Of these, 17% described diagnostic and 83% prognostic prediction models. Model development was described in 43% of the publications, validation of an existing prediction model in 26%, incremental value of adding a predictor to a model in 19% and a combination of development and validation of a model was described in 12%. The analysis showed that overall a mean of 48.4% of the TRIPOD items (on publication level) was adhered (range 20.7%-72.4%). The mean adherence was 46.5%, 51.4%, 47.1% and 48.5% in publications about development, validation, incremental value and combination of development and validation, respectively. There was incomplete reporting of TRIPOD items concerning title and abstract, blinding, model building procedures, final model and performance measures. Source of data, eligibility criteria, study limitations and overall interpretation were adequately reported in the majority of publications. Conclusions: There is room for improvement in the reporting of multivariable prediction models: more than half of the TRIPOD items are currently not or inadequately reported. Our study could serve as a baseline measurement for future research evaluating the impact of the introduction of the TRIPOD statement.


A methodology for developing component-based software has been provided to improve productivity and maintainability of software development. As software component is used as a reusable software unit in the methodology, well-defined methodology can support development of component-based software with systematical and synthetic processes. In this paper, we suggest a new methodology for developing component-based software with major two processes: a process for component generation and a process for component assembly. Our methodology is also consisted of detailed jobs and introduces core artifacts to be generated in each working phase.


Purpose: This paper aims to explore knowledge sharing in virtual teams between individuals with varied cultural perspectives working in different time zones.

Design/methodology/approach: Narrative inquiry design was used to collect in-depth, experiential data from 8 participants working as virtual team managers in the United States. A thematic and critical events approach was used to analyze participant experiences.

Findings: The findings of this research demonstrate the exceptionally complex and dynamic environment in virtual workspaces. Results suggest that challenges and barriers relating to knowledge sharing can be diminished by fostering positive relationship development, utilizing various types of technology platforms, and open communication among virtual team members.

Research limitations/implications: The results highlight the necessity of relationship development to facilitate meaningful knowledge sharing in virtual workspaces. This study also suggests that appropriate use of technology platforms is essential in the knowledge exchange process.

Practical implications: Findings in this study provide managerial implications that support creating and maintaining organizational climates that embrace and value diversity, member knowledge, expertise, and alternate perspectives.

Originality/value: This paper reports the findings of an empirical narrative inquiry study conducted through the lens of reciprocal and social exchange and contributes to a deeper understanding of organizational relationships in diverse virtual teams.


With the race for higher power and efficiency new gas turbines operate at ever increasing pressures and temperatures. Increased compression ratios and firing temperatures require many engine parts to survive extended service hours under large pressure loads and thermal distortions while sustaining relative vibratory motion. On the other hand, wear at elevated temperatures limits part life. Combined with rapid oxidation for most materials wear resistance reduces rapidly with increasing temperature. In order to achieve improved wear performance at elevated temperatures better understanding of combined wear and oxidation behavior of high temperature super alloys and coatings needed. In an attempt to aid designers for high temperature applications, this work provides a quick reference for the high temperature friction and wear research available in open literature. High temperature friction and wear data have been collected, grouped and summarized in tables.Copyright © 2010 by ASME


In Nigeria, after gaining independence there arose a national desire for industrialization in order to reduce the high cost of sustaining national development. This desire has its accompanying problems which are examined with reference to indigenous hospital technology. Solutions to these problems are also suggested.


The spatial competition between industrial companies, both extractive and manufacturing, is one of the major research topics in both Industrial Organization and Regional Science. In general, the spatial competition models focus on location
decisions, pricing and production levels, that one or more companies have to perform when they want to enter or are operating in a given geographic market. The main objective of these companies is to maximize profits by being more
competitive on price and location than other companies operating in the market. Therefore, one of the decisions that recurrently appear in the daily life of an industrial company is whether to increase production and, if so, how to reach such an increase: increasing production of existing plants, building new factories, acquiring competitors, etc. If the chosen option is to increase production via the
construction of new factories, automatically arises a question: which are the best geographical areas to locate the new facility or facilities?. Location of the facilities is a very important decision because it will define, in
many cases, the profitability of the sites, which is primarily controlled by its relative position with respect to raw materials, clients and competitors. If the installation to be built is dependent on natural raw materials that lose a relevant portion of their
weight during processing, such in the manufacture of cement, plaster, ceramic, etc. the optimal position of the system is affected by the existence of such mineral resource in the area. In such a case, it is required the combined analysis from different disciplines to obtain the best locations: geology, economics, operations research, marketing, etc.
From a mining perspective, the selection of the area to explore is the essential step to carry out at any exploration project. Prospectivity studies are a useful tool for the selection and prioritization of areas to investigate. Carranza (2009) defines prospectivity as the possibility or probability of certain mineral deposits of the desired type to be present in a given area. Normally, this probability is calculated by modeling the prospectivity, which seeks, through the implementation of predictive maps, to outline the areas with the greatest potential to host the mineralized zones. The use of this tool helps to reduce costs and minimize risks, both technical and financial, associated with decision making in the mining industry (Porwal and Kreuzer, 2010). This technique is usually applied in prioritizing the areas to explore both at regional and local scales...


This paper suggests that current paradigms and world views guiding research for social action are inadequate for directing rural community change in a high-tech, global community. For several generations, the agrarian and industrial paradigms have been accepted as appropriate for guiding social change and development. However, there are problems associated with these paradigms. First, "rural development" is a concept that embodies conflicting paradigms. The word "rural" generally brings to mind images of rustic, pastoral, agriculture-based settings for the production of food and fiber. On the other hand, "development" denotes patterns of growth, concentration, urbanization, and industrialization. The result is both "paradigm gridlock" and "paradigm obsolescence." The quality-of-life paradigm (QoL) addresses inconsistencies concerning rural development and change. QoL emphasizes sustainability as integral to economic and community development. The QoL paradigm differs radically from the industrial paradigm by emphasizing the end results of social processes; stressing quality and flexibility instead of quantity and standardization; emphasizing individual choice through customization, diversity, and flexibility in contrast to standardization; promoting decentralization of power and control instead of centralization; focusing education and employment on generalization and multiple skills; and allowing for individual discretion that is in harmony with societal values. The QoL paradigm sets the standard for success by appropriate scale, rather than the bigger-is-better, most-is-best principle, and focuses on the overall community as the target of development. Contains 23 references.


A detailed understanding of past temporal patterns and spatial expression of temperature variations is important to place recent anthropogenic climate change into a longer term context. In order to fill the current gap in our understanding of northwest European temperature variability, point‐by‐point principal component regression was used to reconstruct a spatial field of 0.5° temperature grids across Scotland. A sequence of reconstructions utilizing several combinations of detrending and disturbance correction procedures, and a selection of tree‐ring parameters [including ring width (RW), maximum latewood density (MXD) and blue intensity (BI)] was used in an evaluation of reconstruction skill. The high resolution of the reconstructed field serves also as a diagnostic tool to spatially assess the temperature reconstruction potential of local chronologies. Best reconstruction results, reaching calibration r2 = 65.8% and verification r2 = 63.7% in central Scotland over the 1901–1976 period, were achieved using disturbance‐corrected and signal‐free detrended RW chronologies merged with BI data after low‐pass (high‐pass) filtering the RW (BI) chronologies. Calibration and verification r2 > 50% was attained for central, north and east Scotland, >40% in west and northwest, and >30% in southern Scotland with verification of nearly all grids showing some reconstruction skill. However, the full calibration potential of reconstructions outside central Scotland was reduced either due to residual disturbance trends undetected by the disturbance correction procedure or due to other climatic or non‐climatic factors which may have adversely affected the strength of the climate signal.


The yellow sawfly Hoplocampa flava is an important pest of plum all around the world. Larvae feed on the seed with damaged fruit falling prematurely. There are many studies on the control of other pests with entomopathogenic nematode (EPN), but few on the control of plum sawfly. The present study was conducted to determine virulence of four EPN species: Heterorhabditis bacteriophora, H. marelatus, Steinernema carpocapsae Tur-S4 and S. feltiae Tur-S3 against plum sawfly Hoplocampa flava L. (Hymenoptera: Tenthredinidae) under laboratory conditions. For each nematode species, six different doses (3, 5, 7, 10, 15, 20 Infective Juveniles (IJs) /larva) were applied against last instar larvae of H. flava. Assays were done in 24 well tissue culture plates filled with 10 % (w/v) moist silver sand. The most virulent species was H. bacteriophora which had LD50 and LD90 values of 6.51 and 15.46 IJs, respectively. The least virulent was S. carpocapsae Tur-S4 with LD50 and LD90 values of 16.617 and 33.779 IJs, respectively.