Pyrochemical technology using high-temperature molten salts and molten metal media presents a potential interest for an overall separation and transmutation strategy for long-lived radionuclides. Within the frame of the two French acts on radioactive waste management, a pyrochemical R&D program was launched at the CEA Marcoule in the late 90's. The developed so called DOS (Direct Oxide Solubilisation) process, based on a two- step liquid-liquid (molten salt/liquid metal) extraction, aims to demonstrate the feasibility of a group separation of actinides with sufficient decontamination from fission products.
The first step consists of a selective reductive extraction of actinides coming from direct dissolution of oxide fuel in the molten fluoride salt, into liquid aluminium metal. The second step is the actinides back-extraction, which consists of a liquid/liquid oxidative stripping of the An from aluminium matrix into molten chloride media. The DOS process has been successfully demonstrated for treatment of oxide type fuels within the last years: the core of the process has been already assessed and the studies have shown high selectivity and a quantitative recovery of actinides.
Within the framework of the SACSESS European research program, the present work focuses on a potential application of the DOS process for the reprocessing of MgO based CERCER transmutation targets. The behaviour of Mg was investigated regarding the solubility of MgO in the fluoride salt and then regarding Mg reductive extraction in metallic Al. The impact of Mg on the efficiency of An reductive extraction was also studied using U3O8 simulating the behaviour of MA oxides. Eventually, the validity of the DOS process was demonstrated on a Pu0.5Am0.5O2-x-MgO FUTURIX CERCER pellet synthesized at the ATALANTE facility within the framework of Eurotrans program. Substantial amount of Nd2O3 was added during the demonstration experiment in order to simulate fission products behaviour. Quantitative recovery of purified Pu and Am was achieved in a single batch experiment.


Frozen tissue immunoreactivity with Ki-67, a monoclonal antibody that recognizes a nuclear antigen in nonresting or proliferating cells, was compared to DNA flow cytometry results (from fresh tissue) in a diverse group of 60 soft-tissue lesions. Both DNA index and Ki-67 score were independently reported to be associated with grade and prognosis in sarcomas, but no direct comparison of these two variables was made. It was attempted to measure proliferative activity in fixed paraffin-embedded tissues immunohistochemically in a subset of lesions using an antibody to another nuclear proliferation antigen, p105. Lesions were given a grade according to lesion category (reactive, 1; benign, 2; low-grade malignant, 3; and high-grade malignant, 4). Ki-67 reactivity correlated relatively well with this grading system (r = 0.59); benign lesions usually exhibited a low Ki-67 score and malignant lesions usually but not always exhibited a high score. For example, some malignant fibrous histiocytomas contained only rare positive cells. Some disparity between Ki-67 score and grade and within histologic types indicates some independence from these features, a fact that may be important when correlation with prognosis is performed. However Ki-67 did not correlate well with flow data such as percentage S phase (r = 0.30), percentage S + G2M phases (r = 0.37), or DNA index (r = 0.39). This probably is due to the fact that Ki-67 also marks cells in the G1 phase, whereas these are excluded in flow data analyses. Anti-p105 highlighted almost all nuclei in all cases tested, including fibromatosis, and did not correlate with Ki-67 score, histologic grade or DNA flow cytometric data. Results with p105 could not be favorably affected by titration experiments. It is reasonable to conclude that the Ki-67 score is a variable related to but independent of histologic grade, histologic type, and DNA flow values. Whether it is prognostically important in human sarcomas, as has been suggested, awaits further clinicopathologic study.


Nanocomposites prepared from blend of high density polyethylene (HDPE), natural rubber (NR) and organoclay were melt compounded using an internal mixer. The phase morphology and mechanical properties of this thermoplastic natural rubber nanocomposites samples were examined. The transmission electron microscope (TEM) and wide angle X-ray scattering (WAXS) was used to determine the exfoliation of organoclay in this blend. The tensile and Izod impact test were used to evaluate the mechanical properties of HDPE/organoclay nanocomposites with and without the presence of NR. The Izod impact results shows an improvement more than 300% with addition of 10% NR content in the matrix. The X-ray diffraction results indicated intercalation of blend into the silicate interlayer of nano-filler I.44P and partially exfoliation of silicate layer into the blend. The SEM morphology revealed that there was some part of uneven dispersion of organoclay in the blend.


This paper aims to highlight the important role of the social work supervision relationship and professional code of ethics for establishing and developing social work values in new graduates as part of practitioner development. In order to achieve this a case study is presented regarding the experience of a first-year, Australian, social work undergraduate faced with attempting to balance professional social work values with those of another discipline and client goals. A discussion takes place regarding the process of resolving the ethical practice dilemma, using the lens of the Solution Focused framework in supervision and the Australian Association of Social Work (AASW) 'Code of Ethics' during critical reflection processes. The ethical dilemma presented provides a catalyst to identify how these practices provide core frameworks for developing new social work practitioners. Finally, a brief discussion will take place regarding future research in the area of new social work graduate experiences and the implications this could have for social work education and practice.


Systemic sclerosis (SSc) is characterized by a progressive fibrosis of the perivascular and interstitial connective tissues which can involve the skin, heart, lungs, kidneys, and the gastrointestinal tract. SSc is an uncommon, debilitating condition, associated to a vital risk linked to visceral extensions and has a high case-fatality rate among connectivitis. SSc begins in the vast majority of cases with a Raynaud's phenomenon, may have a limited or diffuse skin extension, and is often associated to arterial occlusions, digital ulcerations or necrosis. SSc clinical manifestations are heterogeneous and classifications distinguish limited to diffuse disease, depending on the distribution of the skin lesions and organ involvement [1-3]. There is today no curative treatment. Disease susceptibility differs according to sex, age and race, there is a notable familial clustering, and SSc incidence may be rising [4, 5]. The clinical management of the patients still remains a difficult challenge and the pharmacopeia offers limited choices to the clinician to bring relief to patients. Pulmonary, renal and myocardial complications have benefited from the introduction of angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitors, calcium pump inhibitors, prostacyclin analogs and endothelin antagonists. Based on recent pathophysiological insights, a number of novel agents are being developed [6-8].


Utopians organized space, nature and society to perfection, including land and water governance -- rescuing society from deep-rooted crisis: "The happiest basis for a civilized community, to be universally adopted" (Thomas More, 1516). These days, similarly, well-intended utopian water governance regimes suggest radical transformations to combat the global Water Crisis, controlling deviant natures and humans. In this essay I examine water utopia and dystopia as mirror societies. Modern utopias ignore real-life water cultures, squeeze rivers dry, concentrate water for the few, and blame the victims.
But water-user collectives, men and women, increasingly speak up. They ask scholars and students to help question Flying Islands experts' claims to rationality, democracy and equity; to co-create water knowledges and co-design water governance, building rooted socionatural commons, building "riverhood".


Autonomic innervation of the atrioventricular (AV) junction modulates conduction of the cardiac impulse, the sympathetic nerves facilitating and parasympathetic nerves impeding conduction. Experiments assessed the relative importance of parasympathetic vs. sympathetic control by pharmacologic blockade with atropine (0.2 mg/kg) or propranolol (1.0 mg/kg) while pacing the right atrium (100-400 beats/min) in normal, conscious resting dogs and in dogs that had undergone chronic, intrapericardial cardiac denervation. Maximum pacing rate with 1:1 atrioventricular conduction was termed Rmax. Control Rmax at rest was 125.69 +/- 9.49 beats/min and was slightly reduced after propranolol to 118.28 +/- 10.98 (P = 0.043). After atropine, Rmax was significantly increased to 344 beats/min. Propranolol and atropine together resulted in an Rmax of 308 beats/min, which was significantly less than after atropine alone. Rmax in cardiac-denervated dogs was 301 beats/min, which was not significantly different from that following total pharmacologic blockade. In conscious, resting, unsedated dogs, the upper limit of AV nodal conduction is associated with the level of parasympathetic rather than sympathetic tone; during exercise the sympathetics assume greater importance.


Many customers of today are members in a variety of membership progammes. In the tourism and hospitality industry membership programmes are of increasing importance as competitive marketing tools. Memberships have been applied in different ways in tourism settings since the 1970s. Gradually memberships have developed from merely rewarding loyal or frequent customers into building long-term relationships generating mutual value. In this study member interaction is approached from a relationship marketing perspective focusing on member interaction as participation, co-creation, and, retention related to spatial aspects. The purpose is to study different kinds of member interaction and furthermore to discuss possible relationships between interaction and distance i.e. the distance between members´ homes and the supported attraction. A survey of 755 members was conducted at a major tourist attraction. Results show that member interactions as support, number of visits, use of information channels, member recruitment, performing volunteer work and appreciation of member work show significant differences due to how far away members live. Further studies of the individual members are needed to find ways of developing memberships as strategic resources and especially member interactions as important innovative elements in performance and competition in tourism settings.


This paper reports on the results of a study carried out in the Turkish machinery industry. The purpose of the study was to identify the benefits the sector can seize from e-business and to develop a conceptual framework for potential e-business applications. We analysed the current state of e-business use in the machinery industry in order to understand the future requirements and application opportunities and to come up with a conceptual e-business design that would suit both the needs and the characteristics of the sector. The study included those companies, which are members of the Machine Manufacturers' Association (MMA) in Turkey. Information about the existing applications and future requirements was obtained from the results of a survey conducted among the member companies. Statistically adequate number of responses was obtained to make the results representative of the machine industry. Web sites of the member companies were also reviewed for further information gathering. Results indicated that most of the companies are Small and Medium Enterprises (SME) and it would be better for them to carry out certain operations through an e-market specifically designed for the sector. The proposed conceptual e-market design is based on the characteristics of the industry emerging from the survey.


Messaging systems operating within the public cloud are gaining popularity. To protect message confidentiality from the public cloud including the public messaging servers, we propose to encrypt messages in messaging systems using Attribute-Based Encryption (ABE). ABE is an one-to-many public key encryption system in which data are encrypted with access policies and only users with attributes that satisfy the access policies can decrypt the ciphertexts, and hence is considered as a promising solution for realizing expressive and fine-grained access control of encrypted data in public servers. Our proposed system, called Attribute- Based Secure Messaging System with Outsourced Decryption (ABSM-OD), has three key features: enabling expressive and fine-grained access control of encrypted messages by users, supporting outsourced decryption to the cloud while without compromising confidentiality of decrypted messages, and allowing server-aided revocation to provide effective and instant user revocations.


While a growing body of scholarship suggests that Paul's scriptural hermeneutics may fruitfully be illuminated "backwards" in the light of his early Christian reception and interpretation, the enigma of the precise Jewish character of his exegetical method remains tantalizingly unsolved. Any attempt to illuminate this obscurity by way of Paul's Jewish matrix must wrestle with one intractable fact and its correlative question: Paul was a Pharisee (Phil 3:5), but what kind of Pharisee? Past answers to this question in terms of various first-century rabbis—as exemplified by the studies of Joachim Jeremias, Hans Hübner, and, more recently, N. T. Wright—stumble upon the methodological skandalon of the late dating of Tannaitic sources. The present article proposes a new way through this impasse, in the form of a twofold contribution. First, a comparison of the scriptural hermeneutics of the Pauline letters—particularly Galatians—and the midrash attributed to the school of Rabbi Ishmael reveals an important and overlooked similarity: their common personification of "Scripture" as a self-interpreting authority. Triangulating between this common complex of hermeneutical features and Essene and Alexandrian exegetical methods, one can then recover with reasonable probability some contours of Paul's first-century Pharisaism that have ramifications for understanding Paul's Jewish education, his relationship to Torah, and his apocalypticism and mysticism.


Background Cannabis is the most frequently used illicit substance in the United States resulting in high rates of cannabis use disorders. Current treatments for cannabis use are often met with high rates of lapse/relapse, tied to (1) behavioral health factors that impact cannabis use such as poor sleep, and (2) access, stigma, supply, and cost of receiving a substance use intervention. Objective This pilot study examined the feasibility, usability, and changes in cannabis use and sleep difficulties following mobile phone–delivered Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Insomnia (CBT-I) in the context of a cannabis cessation attempt. Methods Four male veterans with DSM-5 cannabis use disorder and sleep problems were randomized to receive a 2-week intervention: CBT-I Coach mobile app (n=2) or a placebo control (mood-tracking app) (n=2). Cannabis and sleep measures were assessed pre- and post-treatment. Participants also reported use and helpfulness of each app. Changes in sleep and cannabis use were evaluated for each participant individually. Results Both participants receiving CBT-I used the app daily over 2 weeks and found the app user-friendly, helpful, and would use it in the future. In addition, they reported decreased cannabis use and improved sleep efficiency; one also reported increased sleep quality. In contrast, one participant in the control group dropped out of the study, and the other used the app minimally and reported increased sleep quality but also increased cannabis use. The mood app was rated as not helpful, and there was low likelihood of future participation. Conclusions This pilot study examined the feasibility and initial patient acceptance of mobile phone delivery of CBT-I for cannabis dependence. Positive ratings of the app and preliminary reports of reductions in cannabis use and improvements in sleep are both encouraging and support additional evaluation of this intervention.


This work documents the important design considerations and high--level development of an efficient Continuous-Time DS A/D converter for given system requirements. Projecting characteristics is especially essential in the design of the option-versatile DS converter and involves both advanced control and signaling theory, in addition to circuit and system design. Thus, extensive simulations were carried out through synthesis and behavioral modelling. Synthesis was performed using R. Schreiers DS toolbox while modelling was done using the framework of Cadence with Virtuoso and Spectre. Behavioral modelling was based on the mixed-signaling language VerilogA. A list of candidates, meeting the performance requirements set, were formed from synthesis and two modulator architectures stood out; a multi-bit third order and a single-bit fifth order, both with an oversampling ratio of 32. Both feedback and feedforward loop filter structures were analyzed. A useful and powerful analysis was carried out to characterize and quantify the impact of location on nonidealities in DS modulators. The model was prepared for verification, helping to analyze, characterize and specify crucial parts of each structure. Decisive nonidealities, such as excess loop delay, finite DC gain, limited GBW, circuit noise and their influence on the overall modulator were included and examined. From this, a specification for the integrators as well as a preliminary noise and power budget was established. The final result ends in a realistic environment capable of analyzing different types of CTDS structures and making an informed decision on the most optimal and suitable configuration. Results from synthesis and behavioral modelling showed a great correspondance between the results obtained in each part. After an iterative process of evaluating performance among other metrics with nonideal effects, the best architecture was found to be the third order multi-bit feedback modulator, which achieved all of the requirements while consuming 3724uW


The sum-rate capacity of a noncoherent memoryless multiple-access Rician fading channel is investigated under three different categories of power constraints: individual per user peak-power constraints, individual per user average-power constraints, or a global power-sharing average-power constraint. Upper and lower bounds on the sum-rate capacity are derived, and it is shown that at high signal-to-noise ratio the sum-rate capacity only grows double-logarithmically in the available power. The asymptotic behavior of capacity is then analyzed in detail and the exact asymptotic expansion is derived including its second term, the so-called fading number. It is shown that the fading number is identical to the fading number of the single-user Rician fading channel that is obtained when only the user seeing the best channel is transmitting and all other users are switched off at all times. This pessimistic result holds independently of the type of power constraint that is imposed.


Control, for a long time, has been a constitutive aspect of organisational sociology. However, much of the scholarly account on the concept has overlooked a critical character of discretion in organisational discourse. By meticulous application of Herbert Simon's theory of administrative behaviour, this theoretical piece reveals the interesting dynamics of organisational control to bring the enduring significance of discretion in the control of subordinates at work. The analysis draws on the idea that control is not merely about the predetermination of goals that are achieved at the lower level. In views of this, the research advances a primary conceptualisation of control as double-edged model, adding the application of discretion that, occasionally, makes subordinates lead and encourage vital control practices that drive the life of the organisation.


Dramatic springtime ozone losses have occurred over the Antarctic every year since the early 1980s. During a six-week period between mid-August and the end of September, more than 99% of the ozone is destroyed in a layer 3–5km deep at altitudes between 15 and 21km. With the exception of one year (2002) the ozone loss has remained until at least the end of October and sometimes into December, depending on the stability of the Antarctic vortex in each particular year. In contrast, the ozone loss that occurs over the Arctic varies enormously from year to year. In some years there is little or no loss; in other years as much as 60% or 70% of the ozone is lost at some altitudes. This chapter looks in some detail at the main factors that determine the ozone loss over the two poles using a mixture of observational and modeling studies.


Many multicellular systems problems can only be understood by studying how cells move, grow, divide, interact, and die. Tissue-scale dynamics emerge from systems of many interacting cells as they respond to and influence their microenvironment. The ideal "virtual laboratory" for such multicellular systems simulates both the biochemical microenvironment (the "stage") and many mechanically and biochemically interacting cells (the "players" upon the stage). PhysiCell—physics-based multicellular simulator—is an open source agent-based simulator that provides both the stage and the players for studying many interacting cells in dynamic tissue microenvironments. It builds upon a multi-substrate biotransport solver to link cell phenotype to multiple diffusing substrates and signaling factors. It includes biologically-driven sub-models for cell cycling, apoptosis, necrosis, solid and fluid volume changes, mechanics, and motility "out of the box." The C++ code has minimal dependencies, making it simple to maintain across platforms. PhysiCell has been parallelized with OpenMP, and its performance scales linearly with the number of cells. Simulations up to 105-106 cells are feasible on quad-core desktop workstations; larger simulations are attainable on single HPC compute nodes. We demonstrate PhysiCell by simulating the impact of necrotic core biomechanics, 3-D geometry, and stochasticity on the dynamics of hanging drop tumor spheroids and ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) of the breast. We also demonstrate stochastic motility, chemical and contact-based interaction of multiple cell types, and the extensibility of PhysiCell with examples in synthetic multicellular systems (a "cellular cargo delivery" system, with application to anti-cancer treatments), cancer heterogeneity, and cancer immunology. PhysiCell is a powerful multicellular systems simulator that will be continually improved with new sub-models, capabilities, and performance improvements. It also represents a significant independent code base for replicating results from other simulation platforms. The PhysiCell source code, examples, documentation, and support are available under the BSD license at http://PhysiCell.MathCancer.org and http://PhysiCell.sf.net. Author Summary This paper introduces PhysiCell: an open source, agent-based modeling framework for 3-D multicellular simulations. It includes a standard library of sub-models for cell fluid and solid volume changes, cycle progression, apoptosis, necrosis, mechanics, and motility. PhysiCell is directly coupled to a biotransport solver to simulate many diffusing substrates and cell-secreted signals. Each cell can dynamically update its phenotype based on its microenvironmental conditions. Users can customize or replace the included sub-models. PhysiCell runs on a variety of platforms (Linux, OSX, and Windows) with few software dependencies. Its computational cost scales linearly in the number of cells. It is feasible to simulate 500,000 cells on quad-core desktop workstations, and millions of cells on single HPC compute nodes. We demonstrate PhysiCell by simulating the impact of necrotic core biomechanics, 3-D geometry, and stochasticity on hanging drop tumor spheroids (HDS) and ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) of the breast. We demonstrate contact- and chemokine-based interactions among multiple cell types with examples in synthetic multicellular bioengineering, cancer heterogeneity, and cancer immunology. We developed PhysiCell to help the scientific community tackle multicellular systems biology problems involving many interacting cells in multi-substrate microenvironments. PhysiCell is also an independent, cross-platform codebase for replicating results from other simulators.


Ever since the FCC approved the use of UWB devices in commercial and federal bands, various agencies whose operations and/or products rely on the integrity of signals within certain "restricted" radio frequency bands have voiced concerns over the potential impact of the UWB interference. GPS signals are among these "restricted" bands. Several groups in the GPS community have conducted experimental studies concerning the impact of UWB interference on the performance of various grades of commercial and aviation GPS receivers. In this paper, we present a software approach to simulate and evaluate UWB interference on GPS receivers. The software approach provides greater flexibility in the design of testing scenarios, such as the inclusion of a large number of aggregated UWB devices, the generation of new UWB signals and modulation schemes, and the possibility of extending the study to new GPS signals. The paper will discuss a general framework for developing algorithms to evaluate UWB and GPS interference under a wide variety of hardware and software conditions. This framework consists of three classes of components: Input, Processing, and Analysis. The input components are responsible for the generation of current UWB signal waveforms, UWB signal modulation schemes, and various forms of GPS signals. The processing components include a simulated model of GPS RF front end and software implementation of GPS processing blocks, such as acquisition, tracking, and post-processing. The Analysis components focus on the study of specific receiver processing component outputs. Both real and simulated UWB signals can be used in the study. The real UWB signals are primarily used to validate the simulation procedure, whereas the simulated UWB signals are used to allow the immediate incorporation of new UWB waveforms and modulations in the evaluations. The paper will present details of the software components developed and the preliminary results obtained to date.


Biogeographical transition zones present good opportunities for studying the effect of the past ice ages on genetic structure of species because secondary contact zones of post-glacial lineages can be formed. In this study, we investigated the population genetic structure of the marbled rock crab, Pachygrapsus marmoratus along the coasts of Turkey. We genotyped 334 individuals from the Black Sea, the Turkish Straits System (TSS), the Aegean, and the Eastern Mediterranean basins. In order to reveal its evolutionary history and its population connectivity, we used mitochondrial CO1 region and five microsatellite loci. CO1 analyzes also included 610 additional samples from Genbank, which covered most of its distribution range. Both microsatellites and mtDNA showed decreased diversity in sampling sites of the TSS and the Black Sea as compared to those along the Aegean and the Levantine coasts. There is an especially strong geographical pattern in distributions of haplotypes in mtDNA, most probably as a result of genetic drift in the Black Sea and the Sea of Marmara (SoM). Microsatellite data analyses revealed two genetically distinct clusters of P. marmoratus (clusters C and M). While individuals belonging to cluster C are present in all the sampling locations, those belonging to cluster M are only detected along the Mediterranean coasts including the Aegean and the Levantine basins. These clusters shared similar haplotypes in the Mediterranean. Haplotypes of two sympatric clusters could be similar due to incomplete lineage sorting of ancestral polymorphisms. In order to retrieve the complex demographic history and to investigate evolutionary processes resulting in sympatric clusters in the Aegean Sea and the Levantine basin, mitochondrial markers with faster mutation rates than CO1 and/or SNP data will be useful.


Background Although previous research has consistently found considerable rates of acute stress disorder (ASD) in children with accidental injuries, knowledge about determinants of ASD remains incomplete. Guilt is a common reaction among children after a traumatic event and has been shown to contribute to posttraumatic stress disorder. However, its relationship to ASD has never been examined. Objective This study assessed the prevalence of ASD in children and adolescents following road traffic accidents (RTAs). Moreover, the association between peritraumatic guilt and ASD was investigated relying on current cognitive theories of posttraumatic stress and controlling for female sex, age, socioeconomic status (SES), injury severity, inpatient treatment, pretrauma psychopathology, and maternal posttraumatic stress symptoms (PTSS). Methods One hundred and one children and adolescents (aged 7–16 years) were assessed by means of a clinical interview approximately 10 days after an RTA. Mothers were assessed by questionnaires. Results Three participants (3.0%) met diagnostic criteria for full ASD according to DSM-IV, and 17 (16.8%) for subsyndromal ASD. In a multivariate regression model, guilt was found to be a significant predictor of ASD severity. Female sex, outpatient treatment, and maternal PTSS also predicted ASD severity. Child age, SES, injury severity, and pretraumatic child psychopathology were not related to ASD severity. Conclusions Future research should examine the association between peritraumatic guilt and acute stress symptoms in more detail. Moreover, guilt appraisals in the acute phase after an accident might be a relevant target for clinical attention.


Understanding where U.S. households acquire food, what they acquire, and what they pay is essential to identifying which food and nutrition policies might improve diet quality. USDA's National Household Food Acquisition and Purchase Survey (FoodAPS) provides a complete picture of where households acquire food, what they acquire, and how much they pay during a 7-day period in 2012. Nearly all households acquire food at least once during the week; 87 percent visited large grocery stores and supermarkets, and 85 percent visited restaurants and other eating places at least once. Households acquired food at no cost on 22 percent of occasions, and these events occurred mainly at food pantries/Meals on Wheels, schools, meals with family or friends, community events, and workplaces.


There is currently minimal understanding as to how explainer training in Informal Science Institutions (ISIs) incorporates socio-cultural contexts. This thesis investigates this gap in the literature by examining the role of socio-cultural context in explainer training programmes within Informal Science Institutions, through the examination of three research questions. The research employs a mixed methods approach comprising 21 interviews, three international case studies, a questionnaire survey of 600 visitors and 41 explainers, in addition to observations of explainer-visitor interaction.
From the international perspective, fifteen experts from 13 countries were interviewed. From the international experts' viewpoint it was found that socio-cultural context influences the main roles of ISI explainers, and the knowledge and skills associated to success (knowledge of visitor, communication skills and knowledge of scientific content). Additionally, training programmes that provide opportunities for explainers' active participation and collaboration were highlighted as important.
The three case studies incorporated observation of eleven types of training session and questionnaires for explainers (n=55) over three ISIs: the New York Hall of Science (NYSCI) in the USA, Petrosains – the Discovery Centre (Petrosains), in Malaysia and the Natural History Museum (NHM) in the UK. The three case studies reveal detailed information on how socio-cultural context can support explainers' active participation and collaboration within a training context, as well as the role of techniques such as exploring theory, being an observer, practicing communication, being observed and feedback, and coaching by others within training settings. The case studies also expose the multiple participants who may be involved in training; educators, experienced explainers, peers and visitors, as well as the role of training delivery through discussion and interaction.
In the specific context of Thailand 600 visitors and 41 explainers completed questionnaires, six Thai educators were interviewed, and ten explainer-visitor interactions were observed. The Thai educators indicated the role, knowledge and skills required of explainers in the Thai socio-cultural context, and how training supports the personal skill development of explainers. The Thai interview and explainer data also highlights some gaps in Thai explainer training at present, whereby interaction appears mainly between educators and explainers, overlooking the role of experienced explainers or peers. Additionally, organisational policy support directed at ongoing training more strongly featuring social interaction is discussed in terms of its potential shortcomings.
At the specific at level of explainer-visitor interaction, visitors are evidenced to have positive attitudes towards explainers in general, though the social interaction between explainer and visitors suggest multiple perceptions of the explainers' role; activities that are seen to be more likely to generate interaction and that the explainer-visitor relationship is developed through local activities and tools which could be more widely considered in the context of all explainer training.
The thesis concludes that socio-cultural context shapes the explainers' role, the conception of knowledge and skills required for explainers, and the design and delivery of training programmes for explainers in ISIs. The research contributes new knowledge in analysing a range of training practices for explainers in international ISI settings, and how these may be relevant to and potentially include a socio-cultural perspective. It is argued that the role of socio-cultural context in explainer training programmes raised by this thesis should be further explored by ISI educators, in order to divert from a set of practices that may be unduly influenced by a transmission approach.


The recent earthquakes exhibit that the uses of seismic design codes of practice yet do not provide sufficient comprehensive safety for buildings. This means that during earthquakes all structures would behave various performances, while the design objectives in current building codes address life safety, control damage in minor and moderate earthquakes, and prevent collapse in a major earthquake. In this respect, evaluation of performance of existing buildings designed in accordance with the current seismic code of practices could improve these codes and provide ample precision related to the expected structural behavior. This paper investigates the various performances of 72 reinforced concrete moment resisting frames (RCMRF) with low and moderate ductility. These structures are designed in accordance with Iranian seismic standard 2800 and Iranian concrete code of practice. The seismic performances of all structures investigated, discussed and compared under the nonlinear static (pushover) and nonlinear dynamic analysis. The moderate ductile structures (except two stories) due to earthquake hazard level 1 exhibit life safety level of performance, which transfers to immediate occupation level by increasing the height of the structure. Among the low ductile structures, all regular six, eight and ten stories have life safety performance while the two and four stories show low level of performance expected by standard 2800. The general comparisons among all moderate and low ductile structures show the better performance for that of moderate structures.


TiO2/Ti-Al-MCM-41 (TAM) with high Ti content (Si/Ti=6.2) was prepared by chemical vapor deposition (CVD) of TiCl4 on Al-MCM-41 at low reaction temperature (423 K). The sample was characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), N2 adsorption/desorption, high resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM) and diffuse reflectance ultraviolet-visible spectroscopy (DR UV-vis). The results showed that Ti atoms were in tetrahedral coordinated in the framework of Al-MCM-41. Meanwhile, higher Ti4+ ions coordination and bulk anatase titania was observed in the DR UV-vis spectra. TAM still exhibited hexagonal p6m pore architectures, large specific surface area and narrow pore distribution. Catalytic activity of TAM for polystyrene (PS) pyrolysis has been investigated. The results showed that TAM exhibited high activity for the PS pyrolysis and good selectivity to liquid hydrocarbons of C5-C12 hydrocarbons.


Background Palliative care went through a significant evolution in the 20th century, but the 19th century has been seen my some scholars as the real turning point toward the more modern concept of hospices and palliative care. Methods To investigate some examples of earlier uses of the word 'palliative', a literature search was conducted within the earliest available BMJ archive sections, the years 1840 to 1842. This provided a glimpse into how the word was used in the medical literature in Victorian times, mid-nineteenth century. Results Search results brought up a number of case reports, and the word was employed to describe medicines ('use of palliatives') as well as passive, non-active treatment approaches, probably best described as a watch-and-wait strategy. Of note is that the first recorded use of the word in the archives is by a surgeon. Conclusions Some doctors associated the word palliative with there not being any prospect for cure and only for the relief of symptoms and greater comfort of the patient. There were, however, early reflections on whether palliative treatments may in some cases increase the length of patients' lives.


Changes in alcohol pricing have been documented as inversely associated with changes in consumption and alcohol-related problems. Evidence of the association between price changes and health problems is nevertheless patchy and is based to a large extent on cross-sectional state-level data, or time series of such cross-sectional analyses. Natural experimental studies have been called for. There was a substantial reduction in the price of alcohol in Finland in 2004 due to a reduction in alcohol taxes of one third, on average, and the abolition of duty-free allowances for travellers from the EU. These changes in the Finnish alcohol policy could be considered a natural experiment, which offered a good opportunity to study what happens with regard to alcohol-related problems when prices go down. The present study investigated the effects of this reduction in alcohol prices on (1) alcohol-related and all-cause mortality, and mortality due to cardiovascular diseases, (2) alcohol-related morbidity in terms of hospitalisation, (3) socioeconomic differentials in alcohol-related mortality, and (4) small-area differences in interpersonal violence in the Helsinki Metropolitan area. Differential trends in alcohol-related mortality prior to the price reduction were also analysed.  A variety of population-based register data was used in the study. Time-series intervention analysis modelling was applied to monthly aggregations of deaths and hospitalisation for the period 1996-2006. These and other mortality analyses were carried out for men and women aged 15 years and over. Socioeconomic differentials in alcohol-related mortality were assessed on a before/after basis, mortality being followed up in 2001-2003 (before the price reduction) and 2004-2005 (after). Alcohol-related mortality was defined in all the studies on mortality on the basis of information on both underlying and contributory causes of death. Hospitalisation related to alcohol meant that there was a reference to alcohol in the primary diagnosis. Data on interpersonal violence was gathered from 86 administrative small-areas in the Helsinki Metropolitan area and was also assessed on a before/after basis followed up in 2002-2003 and 2004-2005. The statistical methods employed to analyse these data sets included time-series analysis, and Poisson and linear regression.  The results of the study indicate that alcohol-related deaths increased substantially among men aged 40-69 years and among women aged 50-69 after the price reduction when trends and seasonal variation were taken into account. The increase was mainly attributable to chronic causes, particularly liver diseases. Mortality due to cardiovascular diseases and all-cause mortality, on the other hand, decreased considerably among the-over-69-year-olds. The increase in alcohol-related mortality in absolute terms among the 30-59-year-olds was largest among the unemployed and early-age pensioners, and those with a low level of education, social class or income. The relative differences in change between the education and social class subgroups were small. The employed and those under the age of 35 did not suffer from increased alcohol-related mortality in the two years following the price reduction. The gap between the age and education groups, which was substantial in the 1980s, thus further broadened. With regard to alcohol-related hospitalisation, there was an increase in both chronic and acute causes among men under the age of 70, and among women in the 50-69-year age group when trends and seasonal variation were taken into account. Alcohol dependence and other alcohol-related mental and behavioural disorders were the largest category in both the total number of chronic hospitalisation and in the increase. There was no increase in the rate of interpersonal violence in the Helsinki Metropolitan area, and even a decrease in domestic violence. There was a significant relationship between the measures of social disadvantage on the area level and interpersonal violence, although the differences in the effects of the price reduction between the different areas were small.  The findings of the present study suggest that that a reduction in alcohol prices may lead to a substantial increase in alcohol-related mortality and morbidity. However, large population group differences were observed regarding responsiveness to the price changes. In particular, the less privileged, such as the unemployed, were most sensitive. In contrast, at least in the Finnish context, the younger generations and the employed do not appear to be adversely affected, and those in the older age groups may even benefit from cheaper alcohol in terms of decreased rates of CVD mortality. The results also suggest that reductions in alcohol prices do not necessarily affect interpersonal violence. The population group differences in the effects of the price changes on alcohol-related harm should be acknowledged, and therefore the policy actions should focus on the population subgroups that are primarily responsive to the price reduction.


A recent method for robust fixed-order H∞ controller design by convex optimization proposed in [1] is investigated in this paper for the tuning of multivariable controllers. Linear Time-Invariant Multi-Input Multi-Output (LTI-MIMO) systems represented by a finite set of complex values in the frequency domain are considered. It is shown that the Generalized Nyquist Stability criterion can be approximated by a set of convex constraints with respect to the parameters of a multivariable linearly parameterized controller in the Nyquist diagram. Simultaneously, diagonal elements of the controller are tuned to satisfy the desired performances, while the off-diagonal elements decouple the system. Multimodel uncertainty can be directly considered in the proposed approach by increasing the number of constraints. An application example illustrates the effectiveness of the proposed approach.


Biochemistry parameters of vegetation are important indicators of the photosynthetic process and provide a substantial amount of data about the status of ecosystems. Estimation of these parameters are greatly affected by the correlations of spectral bands and the sensitivity of each biochemistry parameter to inversion models. Hence, reducing the spectral dimension and inefficient computation process using an appropriate inversion strategy is significant for biochemistry parameters' estimation. In this work, we used band-selection-based artificial neural networks (ANNs) combined with feature weighting (FW) and principal component analysis (PCA) process to reduce the sensitive spectral correlations and to improve the inversion model predictability for four biochemistry parameters: chlorophyll a and b (Cab), carotenoid (Car), equivalent water thickness (EWT), and leaf mass per area (LMA). We analyzed the model performance by conducting different inversion strategies, including: (1) linking reflectance (R), transmittance (T), and R&T spectral properties in different numbers of band to four biochemistry parameters; (2) simultaneously and then separately inverting them using FW- and PCA-ANNs considering their sensitivity to the ANN model; and (3) choosing a spectral subset from R, T spectrum for EWT, and LMA inversion successively. The results show that: (i) the FW- and PCA-ANN models exhibit efficient improvements by selecting less spectral characteristics; (ii) concurrently inverting EWT and LMA can achieve a satisfactory R2, while it is inappropriate for Cab and Car whose optimal R2 are obtained by separately inverting all four biochemicals; (iii) the properties of R, T, and R&T spectra exhibit various performances on parameters inversion.


This work presents an automated contingency management (ACM) software simulation test bed developed in Simulink that can be applied to various unmanned platforms for developing; testing and verifying automated fault accommodation strategies. Specifically, this paper introduces the required software components and integrated health management and control architecture for performing these tasks and applies it to the unmanned combat armed rotorcraft (UCAR). The ACM Simulink Blockset provides for ''plug in play" integration of UAV models, prognostic and health management (PHM) algorithms, adaptive flight control logic, and intelligent agents into a simulation-based design environment. By integrating advanced health management, intelligent control, and intelligent reasoner strategies, the ACM simulation test bench allows designers to examine optimal fault accommodation techniques that can increases availability, improve safety, and optimize maintenance resource planning for complex vehicle systems. The demonstrated graphical user interface enables the end users to initially configure the ACM system and monitor the effectiveness of the vehicle simulation under various fault scenarios. It also enables users to rapidly design and simulate ACM components for integrated health monitoring and control system for helicopter robotics, UCARs, reusable launch vehicles, propulsion, aircraft, automotive, etc.


Renal venous renin activity was measured in 50 children with hypertension. Main renal vein and segmental renal vein sampling was feasible in children as young as 15 months. In all cases in which there was a clear difference in renin secretion between the kidneys--that is, a main vein renin ratio above 1.5--surgery, when undertaken, successfully restored normal blood pressure. Most of the children with main renal vein renin ratios below 1.5 had bilateral disease or apparently normal kidneys. Segmental renal vein sampling contributed useful information additional to that provided by main renal vein measurements and permitted identification of local sources of renin production. In children with renal transplants who developed hypertension renal vein renin measurements helped in determining the cause and facilitating the management of the raised blood pressure.


The pervasiveness of cellular phones combined with Internet connectivity, GPS embedded chips, location information, and integrated sensors provide an excellent platform to collect data about the individual and its surrounding environment. As a result, new applications have recently appeared to address large-scale societal problems as well as improve the quality of life of the individual. However, these new applications, recently called location-based services, participatory sensing, and human-centric sensing, bring many new challenges, one of them being the management of the huge amount of traffic (data) they generate. This article presents G-Sense, for Global-Sense, an architecture that integrates mobile and static wireless sensor networks in support of location-based services, participatory sensing, and human-centric sensing applications. G-Sense includes specific mechanisms to control the amount of data generated by these applications while meeting the application requirements. Furthermore, it creates a network of servers organized in a peer-to-peer architecture to address scalability and reliability issues. An example prototype application is presented along with some basic results and open research issues.


In this pilot study staff researchers work with a Students-as-Partners team as co-researchers to explore the rapid shift to emergency remote teaching in 2020. The surveying and analysis was conducted with five undergraduate engineering students. The feedback from both the Students-as-Partners team and the surveyed student cohort underlines the significance of integrating students into education practices and training them to become the driver for change by focussing on students as active partners in their own learning. Future work will expand the survey methods where Students-as-Partners lead focus group discussions to obtain more detailed feedback to address and eventually overcome the challenges for online teaching and learning.


Heat transfer and fluid flow on the air side for heat exchanger in the air conditioning system are numerically simulated by FLUENT commercial software. Numerical analysis is conducted on the plate louver fin, the sinusoid louver fin and the leaf louver fin when the inlet velocity rang is from 2m/s to 7m/s. Heat transfer factor and friction coefficient are respectively fitted with the Reynolds number by the correlation. The sinusoid louver fin is found to have the best comprehensive heat transfer performance. Not only the leaf louver fin's comprehensive heat transfer performance is good, but also its pressure drop loss is 28.1%~38.8% lower than that of plate louver fin


Cell, a model for strongly Distributed Object Based systems is discussed. Its components, the nucleus and the membrane, are presented and their characteristics are described. The notions of trading and type transparency in the context of the Cell model are described and issues related to their design and implementation are presented.


In this research, an improved binary material-classification algorithm is developed to discriminate between metals and dielectrics using passive polarimetric imagery degraded by atmospheric turbulence. The technique implements a modified version of an existing polarimetric blind-deconvolution algorithm in order to remove atmospheric distortion and correctly classify the unknown object. The classification decision is based on degree of linear polarization (DoLP) estimates provided by the blind-deconvolution algorithm augmented with two DoLP priors—one statistically modeling the polarization behavior of metals and the other statistically modeling the polarization behavior of dielectrics. The proposed algorithm significantly improves upon a similar published polarimetric classification method by adaptively updating the DoLP priors as more information becomes available about the scene. Three approaches for implementing the adaptive DoLP priors are presented— the higher-order super-Gaussian method, the Gaussian method, and the distributionaveraging method. The higher-order super-Gaussian method fits the distribution of the in-progress DoLP estimates from the blind-deconvolution algorithm with a sum of two super-Gaussian functions. The results of the nonlinear fit are then used to form the DoLP priors. The Gaussian method fits the distribution of DoLP estimates with the sum of two Gaussian functions to compute a classification threshold value. The resulting threshold is then used to update the DoLP priors. The distributionaveraging method approximates the threshold value by finding the mean of the DoLP distribution. Using this threshold value, the DoLP priors are then formed. The proposed technique is experimentally validated by comparing classification results of a dielectric and metallic sample obtained using the new method to those obtained using the existing approach. The experimental results confirm that the new adaptive method significantly extends the range of validity of the existing polarimetric


In this paper we present a hybrid approach to segment and classify contents of document images. A Document Image is segmented into three types of regions: Graphics, Text and Space. The image of a document is subdivided into blocks and for each block five GLCM (Grey Level Co-occurrence Matrix) features are extracted. Based on these features, blocks are then clustered into three groups using K-Means algorithm; connected blocks that belong to the same group are merged. The classification of groups is done using pre-learned heuristic rules. Experiments were conducted on scanned newspapers and images from MediaTeam Document Database


Rising in the Gloucestershire Cotswolds, the Thames flows in a generally easterly direction for 215 miles to the sea. In its upper reaches, the river glides through meadows, passing Cricklade, Lechlade and Eynsham. Part of the upper river's enchantment lies in the fact that much of the countryside has a timelessness about it as villages are often some distance from its banks. Leaving the 'dreaming spires' of the city of Oxford, the Thames passes Abingdon and Wallingford before running through attractive scenery at the Goring Gap, between the Berkshire Downs and the Chiltern Hills. From Pangbourne, the river flows past Caversham to Reading and its junction with the Kennet & Avon Canal. In this new study of the Upper and Middle Thames, 18th-century aquatints, 19th-century engravings and old photographs of the river and the settlements along its banks illustrate an historical journey from source to Reading. Ancient bridges, ferries, flash locks and pound locks are featured, plus centuries-old churches, mills and inns. River craft used for work and pleasure are portrayed, too. This collection will engage the interest of river users, ramblers and residents alike who enjoy the history of this most famous of Britain's rivers.


Mobility of partnership increases in our times. There is a multifactorial package of causes with different preponderance in different age groups. Named be for example: the increasing average age of mankind with prolonged activities, emancipation of women, as well as sexual emancipation, new social structures etc., etc. If we analyse the factors which not only count for one single moment but in the long run for evolution of partnerships we see many different aspects. It may be useful to know them and include them in selfreflection and/or psychotherapeutic assisted changement of behavioral patterns. It may help to: on the one hand maintain human relationships; on the other hand, if separation is necessary, to make it less painful and critical.


Objective: To compare therapeutic effects in terms of menstrual irregularities between Statins and Metformin in unmarried patients with polycystic ovarian syndrome.
Study Design: Quasi-experimental study.
Place and Duration of Study: Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Combined Military Hospital, Zhob Pakistan, from Sep 2021 to Feb 2022.
Methodology: A study sample of 60 unmarried women aged 18-35 years diagnosed with PCOS having menstrual irregularity was collected and randomly allocated into two treatment groups. Women in Group-A were given simvastatin, while Group-B received Metformin. The outcome variable was an improvement in menstrual irregularity, assessed after three months of treatment in terms of the spontaneous normal menstrual cycle (28-35 days).
Results: The mean age of the patients was 27.43±4.72 years, while the mean duration of the disease was 23.63±5.99 months. The mean BMI of these women was 26.78±3.47 Kg/m2, and 20 (33.3%) women were obese. The frequency of improvement in menstrual irregularity was significantly higher in women receiving Simvastatin as compared to Metformin [24 (80.0%) vs. 10 (33.3%); p-value<0.001)].
Conclusion: In the present study, simvastatin was found more efficacious in the treatment of women with polycystic ovarian syndrome than Metformin in terms of normalization of menstrual irregularities regardless of patient's age, duration of disease and BMI, which advocates the preferred use of statins in the management of future gynaecological practice.


A reconfigurable systolic array is described. The concept centers on the direct mapping of a static data flow into hardware; each node (or group of nodes) of the data flow graph is replaced by a processing element (PE). Several PEs can be grouped together forming an optimal interconnection structure to process subgraphs. This architecture permits implementation of most algorithms that can be described using static data flow graphs. This class of algorithms encompasses most common signal processing applications.<<ETX>>


Background: Fetal development involves cellular differentiation and epigenetic changes—complex processes that are sensitive to environmental factors. Maternal nutrient levels during pregnancy affect development, and methylene tetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR) is important for processing the nutrient folate. Hypothesis: We hypothesize that supplement intake before pregnancy and maternal genotype are associated with DNA methylation in newborns. Methods: In the pregnancy cohort, Early Autism Risk Longitudinal Investigation (EARLI), health history, and genotype information was obtained (n = 249 families). Cord blood DNA methylation (n = 130) was measured using the Illumina HumanMethylation450k array and global DNA methylation levels were computed over 455,698 sites. Supplement use preconception and during pregnancy were surveyed at visits during pregnancy. We evaluated associations between maternal preconception supplement intake and global DNA methylation or DNA methylation density distributions of newborn cord blood, stratified by the presence of a variant maternal MTHFR C677T allele. Results: Maternal preconceptional multivitamin intake was associated with cord blood methylation, dependent on maternal MTHFR genotype (interaction term p = 0.013). For mothers without the MTHFR variant allele, multivitamin intake was associated with 0.96% (95% CI: 0.09, 1.83) higher global cord blood methylation (p = 0.04) and was also associated with the cumulative density distribution of methylation (p = 0.03). For mothers with at least one variant allele, multivitamin intake had a null −0.06% (95% CI: −0.45, 0.33) association with global cord blood DNA methylation, and was not associated with the cumulative density distribution (p = 0.37). Conclusions: We observed that cord blood DNA methylation was associated with maternal supplement exposure preconception and maternal genotype. Genetic context should be considered when assessing DNA methylation effects of modifiable risk factors around the time of pregnancy.


Abstract Patellofemoral arthritis is a relatively common and frequently complex problem encountered by those who treat patients with anterior knee pain. Because the pathologic conditions that precipitate this pain are so varied, the treatment options must also be varied. Using the Insall classification system for chondral injuries, we explored the treatment options available. Special emphasis was placed on grade IV changes and the surgical treatment of this condition. We reviewed the following options: spongialization, tibial tubercle elevation, patellectomy, patellar resurfacing, patellofemoral arthroplasty, and autologous chondrocyte transplantation. Regardless of the procedure favored, proper patellar tracking must be restored. Without such attention to patellar alignment, patients cannot achieve pain-free function.


Denim fabric is one of the most popular casual wear fabrics worldwide. The performance characteristics of denim fabrics have been improved by using functional fibers and elastane to make them comfortable to wear. Elastane fibers with high elasticity are used extensively in denim fabric production. Elastane fibers are generally used as the core part of the core-spun yarns as weft yarns. Besides elastane fibers; polyester and polyester derivatives are commonly used. This study examines the effects of filament fineness and yarn count on denim fabric performance. Textured polyester filaments with medium, fine and micro linear densities were used as the core part of the core-spun yarn and cotton fiber was used as sheath material. Yarn samples manufactured with the same production parameters at different yarn count were used as weft yarns of denim fabrics. Denim fabrics were produced with the same fabric cover factor to eliminate yarn count difference effects. Tensile, static tearing and dynamic tearing properties of denim fabrics were determined. To evaluate the effects of core part, 100 % cotton denim fabric was manufactured and tested. Statistical analysis was performed to analyze the significance of filament fineness and yarn count ratio. Results showed that there was a significant effect of filament fineness on tensile, static tearing and dynamic tearing properties of denim fabrics. In addition, it was found that yarn count had no significance effect on static tearing properties of denim fabrics.


Abstract The vacuum energy density of electromagnetic field inside a perfectly conducting wedge is calculated by making use of the local zeta function technique. This regularization completely eliminates divergent expressions in the course of calculations and gives rise to a finite expression for the energy density in question without any subtractions. Employment of the Hertz potentials for constructing the general solution to the Maxwell equations results in a considerable simplification of the calculations. Transition to the global zeta function is carried out by introducing a cutoff nearby the cusp at the origin. Proceeding from this the heat kernel coefficients are calculated and the high temperature asymptotics of the Helmholtz free energy and of the torque of the Casimir forces are found. The wedge singularity gives rise to a specific high temperature behavior ∼ T 2 of the quantities under consideration. The obtained results are directly applicable to the free energy of a scalar massless field and electromagnetic field on the background of a cosmic string.


In this thesis, Semantics, Meta-Semantics, and Ontology, I provide a critique of the method of truth in metaphysics. Davidson has suggested that we can determine the metaphysical nature and structure of reality through semantic investigations. By contrast, I argue that it is not semantics, but meta-semantics, which reveals the metaphysically necessary and sufficient truth conditions of our claims. As a consequence I reject the Quinean (semantic) criterion of ontological commitment. In Part I, chapter 1, I argue that the metaphysically primary truth bearers are not propositions, but rather concrete representations, either beliefs or sentences. I show, in chapter 2, that we can give sense to a truth predicate applying to sentences, given a truth operator and quantification into sentence position. I argue that this strategy does not commit us to the existence of propositions serving as truth bearers. In Part II I argue that although we must assign semantic values to sentences and/or predicates, the meaningfulness of these expressions is not thereby explained. In chapter 3 I articulate Davidson's problem of predication and his solution, but argue that he was wrong to attribute this solution to Tarski. In chapter 4 I examine the semantics of modal languages; I conclude that although they require semantic values for predicates and/or sentences we should be instrumentalists about these theories. In Part III I consider the relationship between truth and existence. In chapter 5, I defend Pluralism about truth: in some (though not all) domains of discourse, I claim, semantic reference plays a merely instrumental role in explaining truth. In chapter 6, I show that Hume's Principle, which is committed by the Quinean criterion to the existence of numbers, can be true even though numbers do not exist. In doing so, I appeal to meta-semantic and diachronic considerations. In the conclusion I compare my views on ontology and commitment to Jody Azzouni's; and in the appendix I suggest how one might pursue diachronic linguistics.


SUMMARY The need for separate swab transport methods for aerobes and anaerobes may result in inadequate transport of specimens for anaerobic bacteriology. Most microbiology laboratories in Australia rely on Stuart's transport medium to protect anaerobic bacteria. This paper presents a new, simple transport medium (Transport Deep) suitable for use with aerobes and anaerobes. Comparative evaluations demonstrate that Transport Deep is as good as Stuart's medium for the maintenance of fastidious bacteria and is far superior for the protection of even extremely oxygen-sensitive anaerobes. This medium has been used successfully in a large Sydney hospital for more than a year. It is proposed that Transport Deep be used on a routine basis for all swab specimens.


[Session abstract]

The panel will discuss the character of scientific discourse in the digital era by considering these questions.

• How has the character of scientific discourse developed in the digital era?
o In what ways have digital technologies influenced traditional scientific discourse?
o How will this influence evolve in the 21st century in basic and applied research?
• What is the reality of, and potential for, inter-, cross- and trans-disciplinary discourse in the sciences in the digital era?
• Define the issues and potential resolutions in the relationship between scientific discourse and policy, governance, management, adaptation, and mitigation regimes?
• In what manner is scientific discourse socially constructed?
• How should research data, on which scientific analyses are based, be reviewed, valued, and shared?


Acacia nilotica is a natural forest tree with many traditional uses in Sudan. Preliminary laboratory studies were conducted to analyze the phytochemical constituents of three extracts (water, ethanol and petroleum ether) prepared from A. nilotica (leaves and fruits), and to evaluate their larvicidal effects against the malaria vector mosquito,Anopheles arabiensis. The knockdown and residual effects of the extracts were tested in separate bioassay experiments, compared with two standard insecticides. The results showed wide range of secondary metabolites in water and ethanol extracts, mainly alkaloids, saponins, flavones and tannins, while the petroleum ether extracts were dominated by triterpenes and sterols. The fruits extracts seemed to be richer in active compounds than the leaves extracts. Therefore, the petroleum ether extracts exerted better mortality effects than other extracts, with fruits treatments being superior to leaves in all cases. Moreover, the fruits petroleum ether extract (0.5%) showed similar mortality percent (90.0%) as those of the two insecticides at 24 h post exposure. This treatment also manifested significantly the best residual actions up to three weeks, but lied next in order to both insecticides. Hence, the extract was recommended for further studies to indicate its toxic compound(s) and their possible usage for A. arabiensis control.

 Key words: Acacia nilotica, Anopheles arabiensis, extracts, phytochemical analysis, larvicidal effect.


Introduction Clinicians' knowledge and practice may directly affect patients' diagnostic pathway. An Endomysial antibody (EMA) has a>90% positive predictive value for coeliac disease. Furthermore NICE have recommended that patients with suspected coeliac disease should have an endoscopy and biopsy within 6 weeks. This should serve to reduce the temptation by the patient to start a Gluten free diet (GFD). We aimed to determine GI Consultant practice by assessing their 'grading' for patients referred from primary care with a positive EMA. In addition, we sought to determine Gastroenterologists' views about coeliac disease. Method Data regarding time to diagnostic endoscopy was collected from adult patients who had a positive EMA test in primary care from 2 centres (n=151). As a comparator cohort, we collected data regarding the time from symptom presentation in primary care to index endoscopy in adults referred with suspected IBD (n=92). In addition, an unselected cohort of Gastroenterology consultants and specialist registrars (n=50) completed a questionnaire regarding coeliac disease. Results The median time from positive EMA identified in primary care to referral for diagnostic endoscopy was 23 (12-35) days; the time from referral to endoscopy was 55 (26-90) days. Overall, coeliac patients waited significantly longer from referral to endoscopy than patients who were diagnosed with IBD (34.5 [18-70] days; p=0.006). Overall time from EMA positive blood test to endoscopy was 78 (58-120) days. 32% (16) of Gastroenterologists failed to identify that coeliac disease was more prevalent in the adult population than IBD. 16% (8) of respondents felt that a diagnosis of coeliac disease does not significantly impact patient quality of life. 36% (18) felt that doctors were not required for the adequate management of coeliac disease. Conclusion There are delays in diagnosis for patients with coeliac disease. This may impact treatment intensification and thus patient related outcomes. Our data suggest that provider-related beliefs may contribute to clinical inertia in this condition. We advocate enhancing both undergraduate and postgraduate training about coeliac disease to help reduce this effect. Disclosure of Interest None Declared


Salmonella enterica strains are widely employed as a live delivery vector for subunit vaccine construction. Vaccine strains must be safe but still immunogenic; therefore, it is crucial to obtain a proper balance between the attenuation and the reactogenicity of the constructed strains. Salmonella strains used in immunoprophylaxis are mainly constitutively disrupted in genes involved in auxotrophy, virulence or regulation. A novel promising concept of the Salmonella-based vaccine design is a regulated delayed attenuation in vivo combined with a delayed antigen expression system. Using this approach bacteria display features of a wild-type strain at the time of oral vaccination to e=ectively colonize the lymphoid tissue and the fully attenuated phenotype a>er host tissue colonization. Expression of heterelogous genes in Salmonella cells is mainly achieved by introducing recombinant plasmids harboring gene of interest. Alternatively, a transgene can be integrated into a chromosomal DNA. Diverse strategies were developed to control plasmid maintenance and foreign gene expression. Among them the most frequently used are the balanced-lethal and toxin-antidote systems or operator-repressor titration technology. Overproduction of a recombinant protein o>en causes a metabolic burden in vaccine cells resulting in the loss of their viability. To overwhelm the problem, the transgene expression is kept under control of an in vivo inducible promoter or a promoter which activity is regulated by appropriate small molecules. Alternatively, plasmids with a regulated copy number or a delayed antigen synthesis system have been employed by various research groups. Localization of an antigen in a carrier cell is also critical for the strength and type of immune response. A programmed lysis of carrier cells is used to deliver the antigen to host immune cells. Moreover, Salmonella is used to carry DNA vaccines. Here, we review the latest strategies in the design of Salmonella-based subunit vaccines.


Cervical cancer is a major world health problem for women, but the pathophysiology of this disease has received scant attention. Here we show that the growth and invasion of cervical cancer cells are strongly linked the expression and activity of the KCl cotransporter (KCC), an important regulator of the ionic and cellular osmotic homeostasis. Functional assays of KCl cotransport activation by osmotic swelling, staurosporine, and N-ethylmaleimide indicate that removal of the N-terminal 117 amino acids from KCC1 produces a dominant-negative loss-of-function phenotype for KCl cotransport in human cervical cancer cells. The capability for regulatory volume decrease is much attenuated in the loss-of-function KCC mutant cervical cancer cells. The loss-of-function KCC mutant cervical cancer cells exhibit inhibited cell growth accompanied by decreased activity of the cell cycle gene products retinoblastoma and cdc2 kinase. Reduced cellular invasiveness is in parallel by reduced expression of αvβ3 and α6β4 integrins, accompanied by decreased activity of matrix metalloproteinase 2 and 9. Inhibition of tumor growth in SCID mice confirms the crucial role of KCC in promoting cervical cancer growth and invasion. Thus, blockade of KCl cotransport may be a useful therapeutic adjunctive strategy to retard or prevent cervical cancer invasion.


This thesis describes the work on the development of a new electronic tongue for water quality assessment. The aim of this work is to build a complete system including a sensor and associated data analysis methods which is able to detect quality changes in drinking water and warn the user if the water is not suitable for drinking. Therefore, the main design issues were to build a portable, robust electronic tongue which provides a fast estimate of the water quality rather than identify the type of the contamination. In this sense, the system has a simple interface resembling traffic light signals. The system responds with green light for good water quality, red for bad quality and yellow if the result is uncertain. The electronic tongue sensor is based on voltammetry, which gives a relatively simple and robust system. It is suitable for the considered applications, since it is able to measure small changes in the chemical and micro-organic content in water. These properties are very important for our goal to develop an electronic tongue for water quality assessment. During the development process, the sensor system was modified in order to improve the system's mobility and robustness. Moreover, the long-term stability and the extent of the sensor drift were evaluated for continuous use. The response time for the sensor is relatively short, but it generates large amounts of data. Therefore, there is a need for pre-processing and feature extraction methods to deal with the complexity of data. This is done with the help of multivariate analysis method. The quality assessment is done with different classification algorithms. We implemented fuzzy clustering and self-organizing maps. In this thesis, two real applications are also considered, where the measurement is taking place in streaming water. In the first case, the electronic tongue could be placed directly at a water tap where random measurements occur. In the second application continuous measurements are performed and information about the sensor drift is used in the data analysis. The evaluation confirmed that the improved sensor system fulfills the requirements for on-line measurements of water quality.


In the 1980s a "perfect storm" emerged that enabled trails and greenways to move to a central role in contemporary discussions of urban planning. It was comprised of three elements: Railbanking legislation that preserved railroad corridor rights-of-way and authorized their conversion to trails; federal funding for trails in transportation bills; and a public perception of trails as a priority urban infrastructure amenity. When trails are retrofitted through communities, they are invariably opposed by some proportion of proximate property owners who fear a devaluation of their property. To address this issue, a number of opinion surveys were administered between 1978 and 2006 to residents living proximate to trails. 16 such studies were reviewed. They revealed that in both urban and rural contexts only 6% perceived the trail to negatively impact their property value. However, while 47% of the 2,647 respondents living close to one of the 22 urban trails believed it increased their property's value, this was believed by only 16% of the 1,212 who resided proximate to one of 10 rural trails. Opinion data provide general impressions, but they lack empirical verification and quantitative dollar amounts. The emergence of GIS technology and hedonic analysis in the post-2000 era remedied these limitations. Twenty hedonic analyses were identified and their results showed that proximity to a trail resulted in home prices that typically were between 3% and 5% higher than those of comparable homes in the area. In the past decade, several cities have developed urban mega-trails which are defined as large-scale investments that receive enduring visibility, have long-term mass appeal, and have a substantial impact on a community's image and identity. Reviews of hedonic analyses undertaken at the three most prominent mega-trails in New York City, Chicago, and Atlanta confirmed the proximate premiums were generally much higher than those of ordinary trails. Invariably, this created a need to address issues of gentrification and social justice. The review's findings suggest that future research on trails should focus on two nuances. First, it is clear that trails are not homogeneous. There is a need for studies to differentiate among trails with diverse characteristics. Second, the use of electronic data bases has resulted in hedonic analyses incorporating larger samples drawn from more expansive geographical areas. A consequence of this "scaling up" is that potentially substantial differences in the local impact of trails are obscured because only average values are reported. The averages likely underrepresent the impact of some trails and over-represent that of others. The need is for trail specific studies that disaggregate the data by specifying the characteristics of both trail type and abutting demographics. Subscribe to JPRA


Economic integration may directly increase the need for private funding of consumption and investment, and should make it difficult for national governments to repress financial markets and to enforce redistribution policies that substitute private contractual arrangements. We analyze the trajectories since the 1980s of financial market development and policy choices and interpret them structurally as reactions, shaped by country-specific characteristics, to exogenous globalization pressures.


Electronic communication is changing the ways of scientific information exchange. We all witness it and practise it by using the Web, communicating over email and videoconferencing, however, what the implications of these change ares, how they quantify in scientific research, is not known. A survey in the fields of construction IT (2/3 of respondents) and management (1/5 of respondents) was conducted in February 2000, that sheds some light one these questions. The questions dealt with how researchers find, access and read different sources, how much and what they read, how often and which conferences they travel to, how much they publish, how they choose where to publish. Questions dealt with traditional and electronic publishing with one final section dedicated to opinions about electronic publishing. The shift that the web is achieving seems to be towards the "just in time" reading of literature. Also, users of the Web rely less on scientific publications and tend to read fewer articles. If readily available, journals are preferred, if not, the articles should be on the Web. People don't want to go into trouble of subscribing or even going to the library to fetch a paper - they go to the Web.The situation does not look good for new paper based journals. In these circumstances, the role of paper based journals published by established publishers is shifting from the core "information exchange" to the building of authors prestige. To be read, the author should build up his reputation by publishing in journals and relevant conferences, but then make his work freely available on the Web.


Upper layer wireless security relies on the computational intractability assumption for solving certain number-theoretic problems. These methods can be complemented by techniques that exploit, at the physical layer, the intrinsic properties of the wireless channel and interference. This paper considers communications with intrinsic secrecy in the presence of spatially distributed nodes, namely legitimate users, eavesdroppers, and interferers. We characterize the role of aggregate interference on intrinsic network secrecy, providing insights into regimes in which interference is beneficial for network secrecy.


Summary The ErbB family of receptor tyrosine kinases comprises four members: epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR)/ErbB1, HER2/ErbB2, ErbB3 and ErbB4, and plays roles in signal transduction at the plasma membrane upon ligand stimulation. Stimulation with neuregulin-1 (NRG-1) cleaves ErbB4 and releases the ErbB4 intracellular domain (4ICD) that translocates into the nucleus to control gene expression. However, little is known about the regulation of 4ICD nuclear signaling through tyrosine phosphorylation. We show here that 4ICD nuclear signaling is antagonized by EGF-induced c-Src activation through EGFR. Generation of 4ICD by NRG-1 leads to increased levels of trimethylated histone H3 on lysine 9 (H3K9me3) in a manner dependent on the nuclear accumulation of 4ICD and its tyrosine kinase activity. Once EGF activates c-Src downstream of EGFR concomitantly with NRG-1-induced ErbB4 activation, c-Src associates with phospho-Tyr950 and phospho-Tyr1056 on 4ICD, thereby decreasing nuclear accumulation of 4ICD and inhibiting an increase of H3K9me3 levels. Moreover, 4ICD-induced transcriptional repression of the human telomerase reverse transcriptase (hTERT) is inhibited by EGF–EGFR–Src signaling. Thus, our findings reveal c-Src-mediated inhibitory regulation of ErbB4 nuclear signaling upon EGFR activation.


Islamic Business Ethics: Concept and Implementation on Medium Small Enterprise . This study is aimed at determining how the concept and application of Islamic business ethics for small businesses (SMEs). The purpose of this study is to determine how the concept of Islamic business ethics and how its implementation for SMEs. Research conducted in the form of descriptive analysis. The results showed that Kampoeng Creative, Bazar Medina and SMEs in the environment of UIN Jakarta has implemented a business ethics of Islam, both by employers and employees. In conducting its business and activities, entrepreneurs have to understand and implement the principles or values based on Islam values acoming from the Qur'an and Hadith. The implementation of Islamic business ethics comprises four aspects : principles, management, marketing/advertising and product / price DOI: 10.15408/aiq.v6i1.1373


regarded as incompatible with clinical medicine. The constrution of questionnaires remains a ticklish problem. I have recently attempted to simplify my own questionnaire' by identifying and rejecting redundant questions. A correlation matrix was drawn up from 100 consecutive completed forms. The matrix showed which pairs of questions were or were not obtaining substantially the same information from the patient. If they were, then one of the pair oould be left out. Furthermore, even elementary cluster analysis of the matrix revealed significant grouping of symptoms. "Neurotic" and "senile" groups were easily definable, and a more detailed factorial analysis is at present being undertaken. The emergence of factors -that is, symptom patterns-raises interesting questions as these do not always seem to correspond to our preconceived notions of so-called objective diagnoses. Anyone who uses questionnaires will soon find himself faxinated and stimulated by the light they throw on the theory and practice of the medical interview.-I am, etc.,


Abstract Good governance is essential for sustaining economic transformation in developing countries. However, many developing countries currently lack the capacity, as opposed to the will, to both achieve and sustain a climate of good governance. This article addresses, from a practitioner's field perspective, the fundamental objectives, principles, and key areas that need to be addressed for developing capacity for good governance. These frameworks are now beginning to be recognized as both governments and donor institutions attempt to take advantage of the current demand and opportunities for addressing governance deficits. In pursuing capacity development for good governance, developing countries must ensure that such initiatives are comprehensively designed to be simultaneously related to change and transformation at the individual, institutional, and societal levels and be owned and controlled locally.


Angle-resolved measurements of the Ar 2p1/2"14s,3d,4d and 2p3/2"14s,3d,4d resonant Auger transitions have been carried out using photons from an undulator beamline at the Advanced Light Source of Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. The intensity distributions and angular distribution anisotropy (P) parameters have been reported for nearly all of the possible 3p4nl final ionic states. These results further verify the predictions of the spectator model for the 2p,/2 '14s resonances and the subsequent breakdown ofthis model for the 2p1/2>3/2"13d and 2p1/2j3/2"14d relative intensities. This work produced the first report of the resonant Auger P parameters ofthe 2p1/23/2"13d and 2p1/23/2"14d resonances and the intensity distribution for the 2p1/2"14d resonance. These results have been compared with previous experimental and theoretical results wherever possible.


This study explores the tensions between the mission and pluralism of the media versus the participation of the public service media (PSM) in government propaganda in Poland. We present the results of the hybrid qualitative-quantitative content analysis of the propaganda techniques used in Wiadomości – the main public TVP1 news program. Two weekly blocks of news were analyzed. The first was randomly selected from 2015-2020. The second was subsequently chosen for the same seven days, two years later. We assumed that this chronological difference would reveal changes in narration and propaganda used in the news. The analysis refers to the mission of PSM, as defined by the law in the Broadcasting Act (1992). The changes that occurred after 2015 were also the result of new legal regulations and personnel changes. The conclusions confirm that the news from the PSM is controlled and manipulated by the government.


Treatment results of 763 patients with acute cholecystitis were analyzed. Destructive forms of the disease was diagnosed by the ultrasound examination in all cases. Choledocholithiasis was diagnosed in 35 (4.6%), choledocholithiasis with papilla Vatery stricture was in 9 (1.2%) patients and isolated papilla Vatery stricture was registered in 5 (0.7%) patients. All patients were attempted to treat laparoscopically with the use of original "Device for antegrade papillotomy" and "Method of antegrade bipolar papillosphincterotomy". Authors state, that a final decision about the possibility of endoscopic treatment of the acute cholecystitis can be made after detection of anatomical structures of the Calo triangle. By complicated forms of the disease a one-stage laparoscopic treatment should be preferred. Endoscopic papillosphincterotomy should be performed only by the enblocked concrement of the papilla Vatery.


OBJECTIVE
The purpose of this study was to evaluate a pilot occupational therapy wellness program designed to teach elders the importance of participation in meaningful social and community occupations to their quality of life.

METHOD
Sixty-five older adults participated in this pilot wellness program held at each of three senior apartment complexes. Measures of health-related quality of life using the SF-36 Health Survey and frequencies of social and community participation from a program-specific intake form were completed by 39 participants before and after the 6-month program. Participants also evaluated components of the program through a satisfaction survey.

RESULTS
Scores on the SF-36 Health Survey were significantly higher in vitality, social functioning, and the mental health summary scores following participation in the program. Participants reported an increased frequency of socialization and community participation with an average of 55% participating in at least three or more activities per week before the program to an average of 66% participating after the program. Participants who benefited the most attended more classes, were older, and were nondrivers. Eighty percent of those polled rated the pilot program as good or excellent.

CONCLUSION
This pilot study provides additional support for prevention efforts for elders in the community. Wellness programs for seniors may be most effective if targeted to those who are older and nondrivers.


The world is not ignorant of the plight facing the most vulnerable communities, yet there are no enforceable binding mechanisms to identify, prevent, or intervene in the development of state genocidal regimes. As the global community advanced international legal customs for prosecuting state actors of genocide, limited development has been made towards identifying cognizable factors forlegitimizing early intervention. The international community has repeatedly stated "never again" following atrocities, but will States ever enforce their "Responsibility to Prevent" to hinder sovereign domestic policies from escalating to the crime of genocide? Can there be a preventative approach to genocide, or has the codification of the crimes of persecution and genocide confined theinternational community to retrospectively punish genocidal actors?


Compressive imaging systems with spatial-temporal encoding can be used to capture and reconstruct fast-moving objects. The imaging quality highly depends on the choice of encoding masks and reconstruction methods. In this paper, we present a new network architecture to jointly design the encoding masks and the reconstruction method for compressive high-frame-rate imaging. Unlike previous works, the proposed method takes full advantage of denoising prior to provide a promising frame reconstruction. The network is also flexible enough to optimize full-resolution masks and efficient at reconstructing frames. To this end, we develop a new dense network architecture that embeds Anderson acceleration, known from numerical optimization, directly into the neural network architecture. Our experiments show the optimized masks and the dense accelerated network respectively achieve 1.5 dB and 1 dB improvements in PSNR without adding training parameters. The proposed method outperforms other state-of-the-art methods both in simulations and on real hardware. In addition, we set up a coded two-bucket camera for compressive high-frame-rate imaging, which is robust to imaging noise and provides promising results when recovering nearly 1,000 frames per second.


The latest generation of shock wave lithotripters, with therapy heads mounted on articulated arms, have found widespread application in the treatment of orthopedic diseases. Currently, integration of an ultrasound probe in the therapy head is the dominant modality for positioning the shock wave focus on the treatment area. For orthopedic applications, however, X-ray imaging is often preferred. This article describes a new method to locate the therapy head of a lithotripter. In the first step, the surgeon positions the tissue to be treated at the isocenter of a C-arc. This is achieved using AP and 30-degree lateral projections, with corresponding horizontal and vertical movements of the patient under fluoroscopic guidance. These movements register the anatomic location in the coordinate system of the C-arc. In the second step, the therapy head is navigated to align the shock wave focus with the isocenter. Position data are reported from an optical tracker mounted on the X-ray system, which tracks an array of infrared LEDs on the therapy head. The accuracy of the tracking system was determined on a test bench, and was calculated to be 1.55 mm (RMS) for an angular movement of ±15 degrees around a calibrated position. Free-hand navigation and precise alignment are performed with a single virtual reality display. The display is calculated by a computer system in real time, and uses graphical symbols to represent the shock wave path and isocenter. In an interactive process, the physician observes the display while navigating the therapy head towards the isocenter. Precise alignment is achieved by displaying an enlarged view of the intersecting graphical symbols. Results from the first tests on 100 patients demonstrate the feasibility of this approach in a clinical environment.


A study is presented on applying deep reinforcement learning (DRL) for visual navigation of wheeled mobile robots (WMR), both in simulation and real-time implementation under dynamic and unknown environments. The policy gradient based asynchronous advantage actor critic (A3C), has been considered. RGB (red, green and blue) and depth images have been used as inputs in implementation of A3C algorithm to generate control commands for autonomous navigation of WMR. The initial A3C network was generated and trained progressively in OpenAI Gym Gazebo based simulation environments within robot operating system (ROS) framework for a popular target WMR, Kobuki TurtleBot2. A pre-trained deep neural network ResNet50 was used after further training with regrouped objects commonly found in laboratory setting for target-driven visual navigation of Turlebot2 through DRL. The performance of A3C with multiple computation threads (4, 6, and 8) was simulated and compared in three simulation environments. The performance of A3C improved with number of threads. The trained model of A3C with 8 threads was implemented with online learning using Nvidia Jetson TX2 on-board Turtlebot2 for mapless navigation in different real-life environments. Details of the methodology, results of simulation and real-time implementation through transfer learning are presented along with recommendations for future work.


The flight route planning method for an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) to search for a dynamic object in a forest-steppe area was developed. Indicators and criteria of search efficiency with the participation of UAV were proposed. They allow you to choose the route that most fully meets the goals and objectives of the search. A numerical estimates of the search efficiency indicator were obtained for choosing a rational UAV flight route under conditions of uncertain behavior of a dynamic object.


Artificial neural networks have become increasingly popular for statistical model fitting over the last years, mainly due to increasing computational power. In this paper, an introduction to the use of artificial neural network (ANN) regression models is given. The problem of predicting the GDP growth rate of 15 industrialized economies in the time period 1996-2016 serves as an example. It is shown that the ANN model is able to yield much more accurate predictions of GDP growth rates than a corresponding linear model. In particular, ANN models capture time trends very flexibly. This is relevant for forecasting, as demonstrated by out-of-sample predictions for 2017.